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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

MUNICIPAL HISTORY

TOWN AND CITY OF BOSTON,

fm^ CENTUEIES.

SEPTEMBER 17, 1630, TO SEPTEMBER 17, 1830.

ET
JOSIAH QUINCY

BOSTON:
CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN.
1852.

7^Q>'i>

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by Josiah Quincy, in the Clerk's
office of the District Court of tlie District of Massachusetts.

•i I. i- '

CAMBRIDGE:
STEKEOTYPED AND PEINTED BY
HOUGHTON .A.ND H.iYWOOD.

ERRATUM.
Page 38, line 21, for Six thousand three hundred, read Sixty-three.

«ssss:r ; --.-«."^~,^ ~ T-r,?.^

PREFACE

The municipal affairs of the inhabitants of Boston were
conducted under the form of town government, established
by the early settlers of New England, from 1630 to 1822,
when, on their petition, they were incorporated into a city
by the Legislature of Massachusetts. Through eight suc
ceeding years, three successive administrations presided
over the new form of government thus established. The
author , of this history held the office of Mayor during
almost six of these years, at a period when the principles,
by which legislative and executive measures ought to be
guided, were diligently sought and carefully applied, ac
cording to the powers conferred by the city charter. The
people of Boston had surrendered, with reluctance, the'
management of their municipal concerns, which they had
maintained in popular assemblies for nearly two centuries ;
and the jealousy with which they watched the measures
of the new authorities, rendered a frequent and full deve
lopment of motives and consequences expedient and im
portant. At the close of his administration, it therefore appeared
to the author, that a municipal history of the town, and an
accurate account of the transactions in the first years of
the city government, would be useful and interesting to

iv PREFACE.
the public in future times, and was due to the wisdom,
fidelity, and disinterested services of his associates.
These views were intimated in an address to the Board
of Aldermen, on taking final leave of the office of Mayor,
on the third of January, 1829 ; and on the sixth, on his
petition, the succeeding City Council having granted liberty
of access to the City Records, this History was commenced.
The completion of it was unavoidably postponed by the
acceptance of the Presidency of Harvard University, an
appointment made and confirmed by the Corporation and
Overseers of that Seminary, on the fifteenth and twenty-
ninth of the same month, and by the official duties assumed
and discharged until August, 1845.
After the lapse of twenty years, at the urgency of friends
who had a right to influence, the work was resumed ; and,
being finished, is now, at the close of the author's eightieth
year, offered to his fellow-citizens, with his best wishes for
their long enjoyment of an efficient municipal government,
and for the uninterrupted prosperity of the city of Boston.
JOSIAH QUINCY.'
Boston, February 4, 1852.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
TOWN GOVEENMENT. 1630-1783. page
Constitution of Towns — Settlement and Organization of Boston — General
Proceedings — Instructions to Selectmen and the Watch — Establishment
of an Almshouse — Of Schools — Erection of Faneuil Hall — Manifest
ations of the Spirit of Liberty by the Inhabitants of Boston — Attempt to
change the Form of Town Government — Population under the Colonial
Government . .  . 1
CHAPTER II.
T0W:N government. 1783-1821.
State of the Public Schools — Measures in regard to them — Successive
Attempts to change tie Government of the Town - — Plan of a City Go
vernment adopted  20
CHAPTER III.
TOWN GOVERNMENT. 1821-1822.
The Almshouse removed from Beacon Street to Leverett Street — Over
seers of tbe Poor remonstrate on its Condition — Proceedings of the
Legislature of Massachusetts on the Subject of Pauperism — Erection of ;
a House of Industry authorized by the Inhabitants of Boston — Noble
Conduct of Samuel Brown — His Character - — House of Industry erect- '
ed — Act of Incorporation of tie City obtained and accepted — John
Phillips cbosen Mayor  34
CHAPTER IV.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1822-1823.
John Phillips, Mayor.
Inauguration — Address of tie Selectmen, on surrendering the Government
and Muniments of the Town of Boston — Reply of the Mayor — Mea
sures adopted to carry into effect the City Charter — Donation of Mr.
A*

v

vi CONTENTS. PAGE
Sears — Proceedings relative to the House of Industry — Result of the
First Year's Administration of the City Government — Tribute to Mr.
Phillips  • 42
CHAPTER V.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quincy, Maym:
Organization of the City Government — Mayor's Address — Importance of
the Official Responsibility of that Officer — Difficulties relative to the
Office of Surveyors of Highways — Embarrassments from the Board of
Health — Duty of Cleansing the Streets devolved on the Mayor and
Aldermen, and how executed — Board of Health discontinued, and their
Duties transferred to other Officers  58
CHAPTER VI.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Inconvenient State of Faneuil HaU Market — Difficulties attending its
Extension — Measures taken for surmounting them — Invitation to the
Proprietors of the Land in the Vicinity to become Associates in the
Improvement — Not accepted by them — The Project approved by the
Citizens in a General Meeting — Authority obtained from the Legis
lature — Purchase of the Estates commenced . . . 74
CHAPTER VII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Proceedings relative to the House of Industry — Opposition of the Over
seers of the Poor to the Removal of the Inmates of the Almshouse —
A House of Correction erected at South Boston — Attempts to Conciliate
the Overseers of the Poor — Its Effiscts — Liberty to use the Cellars of a
Church for Burial denied — Department of Police .... 88
CHAPTER VIII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Measures for the Suppression of Idleness, Vice, and Crime — A House of
Correction — Its ElFeots — Building provided for Juvenile Offenders —
Its Results — • Petition for General Meetings in Wards — Loans proposed
for City Improvements — Theatrical Licenses — Ropewalk Lands 
Islands in the Harbor — Common Sewers . . . . ] 02

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1824-1825.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor. PAGB
Proceedings of the City Council of the past Year Recapitulated — Import
ance of the Responsibility of the Mayor — Estates purchased for the
Enlargement of Faneuil Hall Market — Plan of the New Market —
North Block of Stores built and sold — First Plan enlarged — Southern
Block of Stores built and sold — Corner Stone of Market House laid . 121
CHAPTER X.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1824-1825.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Proceedings relative to the House of Industry — Opposition of the Over
seers of the Poor to the Measures of the City Council — Sale of tiie
Almshouse in Leverett Street — The Paupers transferred to the House
of Industry — The question of applying to the Legislature for a Modifica
tion of the Powers claimed by the Overseers of the Poor, submitted to a
General Meeting of the Citizens — Its Result , — Death of Alderman
Hooper — Claims of Political Parties for the use of Faneuil HaU — Diffi
culties relative to the Board of Health — Change in that Department —
Visit and Reception of General Lafayette  138
CHAPTER XI.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1824-25.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
State of the Fire Department — Claims of the Engine Companies — The
Result — They surrender their Engines and resign — Other Engine
Companies formed — ¦ A new Organization of the Fire Department recom
mended — Measures taken to carry it into effect — Office of Auditor of
Accounts established  153
CHAPTER XII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1825.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
The Citizens accept the Report of their General Committee on the inex
pediency of modifying the powers of the Overseers of the Poor — Over
seers decline, taking care of the Poor at the House of Industry — Their

viii CONTENTS. PAGE
Rights and Duties submitted to Legal Counsel — Their Report, and
consequent Proceedings of the City Council — Measures to introduce a
Supply of Fresh Water — Proceedings relative to Faneuil Hall Mar
ket — Census of the City — Tune of Organizing the City Government
changed  16^

CHAPTER XIII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1825.
Josiah QumcT, Mayor.
An Act authorizing a New Organization of the Fire Department applied
for and obtained from the State Legislature — Sanction of the Act by the
Citizens — Measures pursued to carry it into effect — Sites for Engine
Houses selected — Reservoirs constructed — Lafayette revisits the City
— Measures adopted on the Occasion by the City Council . . . 181
CHAPTER XIV.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1826.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Prosperity of the City — Measures for introducing Water — Views of the
Mayor on the Subject — • Proceedings of the City Council — Powers of
the Mayor in the Suppression of Riots — Petitions for a General Contri
bution for Relief by Sufferers from Fire — The Result — Progress of
Faneuil HaU Market — Final Settlement of the whole Improvement —
Organization of the new Fire Department — Celebration of the Fourth
of July, 1826 — Deatii of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — Tribute
to their Memories  197
CHAPTER XV.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1827.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
General Relations of the City — Views concerning the City Debt — The
Location of a City HaU — The ResponsibiUty for the Correctness of the
Voting Lists — General State of the Schools , — Proceedings of the City
Council in relation to them — School Committee object to their Inter
ference, and claim Independence — Opening of the Hancock School 
High School for Girls established as an Experiment — Its Result — The
School discontinued, and the Privileges of Females in the Common
Schools extended — The Relation of the Mayor to the School Com
mittee . . . . . . 210

CONTENTS. ix
CHAPTER XVI.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1828.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor. PAGE
General Relations of the City in respect of Debt — Health — Protection
against Fire — Its Duty in respect of Education — Effect on its Pros
perity by the Principle of Arbitrary Valuation without Relief — Prin
ciples of Proceeding relative to the Voting Lists — Indemnity of City
Officers for Acts of Official Duty — Sale of Spirituous Liquors prohi
bited on the Common — Inexpediency of Selling the Flats to the East
ward of the New Market-House, and the Result of the Measures taken
on that Subject  .... 229
CHAPTER XVII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1828.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
The Annexation of South Boston to the Ancient City, and the Difficulties
attending it — Project of Semi- Annual Sales of Domestic Manufactures
in the City — The HaU over the New Market appropriated for the
Object — Question concerning the Eligibility of Members of the City
Council to City Offices — State and Progress of the Fire Department —
Resignation of the Chief Engineer — His gratuitous Services — Vote
of Thanks to him by the City CouncU — Prosperous State of City Af
fairs , — The Mayor declines being a Candidate for Reelection — Harrison
Gray Otis chosen Mayor .... . 246
CHAPTER XVIII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1828.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Address of the Mayor on taking final Leave of the Office — His Acknow
ledgments to the Members of the Board of Aldermen, Common CouncU,
and his FeUow-Citizens — Measures and Results of the past Administra
tion : for Protection of the City against Fire ; and of the Islands against
Storms ; for the Health of the Inhabitants ; for Public Education ; in
Favor of Public Morals ; for increasing the Financial Resources of the
City and reducing its Debt — Principles on which his Conduct in Office
had been guided — Tribute to his Successor .... .259
CHAPTER XIX.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1829.
Harbison Gkat Otis, Mayor.
Circmnstances recalling the Mayor from Private Life — Tribute to his Pre
decessors — Views concerning the City Debt — On the Supply of Pure

X CONTENTS. PAGE
Water — The Importance of Railroads — PoUtical Relations of the State
and Union — Flats to the Eastward of the New Market — Attempts to
authorize Inspectors to place Names on the Voting Lists — Tribute to
the Directors of the House of Industry — Chief Engineer of the Fire
Department appointed — Resignation of all the Assistant Engineers —
Petitions to extend Wharves to the Channel — Relief to Sufferers by
Fire in Georgia — Petitions for a General Meeting of Citizens on Rail
roads, and for a Grant of Land for their Accommodation . . . 280
CHAPTER XX.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harbison Grat Otis, Mayor.
Prosperous State of the City — Embarrassment of the Manufacturing In
terests, and its Causes — Completion of the City WTiarf , — State of the
City Debt — Sale of Public Lands — Condition of the Flats to the West
of the Neck , — State of the Court-Houses — Protection of our Outer
Harbor — Centennial Celebration resolved upon — Grant of the City
HaU for Sales of Domestic Manufactures rescinded — Sale of Spirituous
Liquors on the Common prohibited — Old Slate House to be called
" The City HaU " — Centennial Celebration of the Settiement of Boston 298
CHAPTER XXI.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harrison Gray Otis, Mayor.
Address of the Mayor to the Members of the City CouncU, on the Removal
of the Municipal Government to the Old State House, on the Morning
of the seventeenth of September, 1830  309
CHAPTER XXII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harrison Grat Otis, Mayor.
Address to the Citizens of Boston, on the seventeenth of September, 1830
the Close of the Second Century from the first Settlement of the City.
By Josiah Quincy, President of Harvard University .... 318
CHAPTER XXIII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harrison Grat Otis, Mayor.
An Ode, pronounced before the Inhabitants of Boston, on the seventeenth
of September, 1830, at the Centennial Celebration of the Settlement of
the City. By Charles Sprague  ggg

CONTENTS. xi

APPENDIX. PAGK
Mayor's Inaugural Addresses, 1822 - 1828  373-406
Message of the Mayor to the City CouncU, recommending the Extension of
the Plan of the Improvement of FaneuU HaU Market to Butier's Row,
and explaining the Motives of the Committee for this Recommendation . 412
Proceedings on laying the Corner Stone of FaneuU Hall Market . .415
Statements relative to the irresponsibUity claimed by the Overseers of the
Poor for public moneys  418
An Address, delivered at the unanimous Request of both Branches of the
City Council on the Fourth of July, 1826, it being the Fiftieth Anniver
sary of American Independence, by Josiah Quincy, Mayor of the City . 421
The Members of the City Government, from 1822 to 1830, inclusive . 434

M-OICIPAL HISTORY.

CHAPTER I.
TOWTSf GOVERNMENT. 1630-1783.
Constitution of Towns — Settiement and Organization of Boston — General Pro
ceedings — Instructions to Selectmen and the Watch — Establishment of an
Almshouse — Of Schools — Erection of Faneuil HaU — Manifestations of the
Spirit of Liberty by the Inhabitants of Boston — Attempt to change the Form
of Town Government — Population under the Colonial Government.
The settlements made in 1630 around the Bay of Massachu
setts, by John Winthrop and his associates, early received the
name of " towns," under the sanction of the colonial legislature,
denominated, in conformity with the language of the first char
ter, « The General Court."
After declaring " that particular towns had many things
which concerned only themselves, and the ordering their own
affairs, and disposing of business in their own town," the General
Court, in 1630, ordered that " the freemen of every town, or a
major part of them, should have power to dispose of their own
lands and woods, to grant lots, and choose their own particular
officers, as constables, surveyors of highways and the ]ilie, annu
ally, or otherwise, if need required ; also to make such laws and
constitutions as concern the welfare of their town. Provided
they are not of a criminal, but of a prudential nature, and that
their penalties exceed not twenty shillings for one offence, and
that they be not repugnant to the public laws and orders of the
country." In case of the refusal of any inhabitant to obey the
laws of the town, the appointed penalty was authorized to be
levied by " distress." If any person behaved offensively in town
meeting, those present had power to sentence him for the offence
to pay any sura, not exceeding the above-prescribed penalty. To

2 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
every town was also granted the power to choose yearly, or for
less time, " a convenient number of fit men, to order the pruden
tial affairs of the town, according to instructions given them in
writing, they doing nothing contrary to the laws and orders of
the country ; and the number of selectmen to be not above nine."
The local limits of each town, within which its jurisdiction ex
tended, were established, enlarged, or diminished by the General
Court, who subsequently authorized new officers to be chosen
and granted new powers to each town, as new wants arose, or as
local interests or state pohcy suggested.
Such was the first and simple outline of that constitution of
towns, which, originating in the convenience and practical spirit
of those early emigrants, and being thus gradually modified, by
occurring exigencies and policy, formed that assemblage of re
publics, with qualified powers, which constitutes some of the
pecuhar characteristics of Massachusetts and the other New
England States, and had an effective, indeed, a controlling in
fluence upon their principles and destinies.
One of the earliest of these settlements was established on the
peninsula formed at the mouth of Charles River, by its waters
and those of the Bay of Massachusetts. From the Indian natives
it received the name of " Shawmut ; " from the inhabitants of
Charlestown, that of " Trimountain ; " and from the General
Court, by an order passed on the seventh of September, (old
style,) 1630, that of " Boston." In 1632, the same colonial
legislature declared it to be " the fittest place for public meet
ings of any place in the Bay," and thenceforth it was, and ever
since has continued the capital of Massachusetts.
The peninsula of Shawmut, being only about four miles in
circumference, did not offer sufficient accommodation for pastur
age and cultivation of the land. The General Court, therefore,
during the four or five first years after the settlement, included
within the boundaries of Boston the islands in the harbor, Muddy
River, (now Brookline,) Winnisimet, (now Chelsea,) Mount
WoUaston, and the land east of Neponset River, afterwards
incorporated into a town by the name of Braintree, and now
constituting the towns of Braintree, Randolph, and Quincy.
The assignment of house lots within the peninsula, and the
allotting farms to succeeding emigrants, formed the chief busi
ness of the town authorities for nearly half a century.

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 3
Boston being the place of the residence of John Winthrop, the
first Governor of Massachusetts, and of some of the principal
assistants, they took the lead in the early conduct of its affairs.
The first order on the town records is dated 1634, March 7th day,
1st month, and purports to be passed by John Winthrop and
nine others, but they take not the name of " selectmen," or any
other indicative of authority. The order related only to laying
stones and logs near landing places, so as not to be seen at high
water, without some beacon to give notice thereof, " under pain
of paying recompense, by way of damage, for any vessel injured
thereby." The persons passing this order, however, seem to have
been under some apprehension lest their authority might be
questioned, for the order adds, " it being only a declaration of the""
common law herein." ~
The name of "selectmen" does not appear on the records of
the town until November, 1643, and then only incidentally.
The persons chosen to do the business of the town are often
without any designation of their office. Sometimes they are
called "the overseers of the town concerns;" at others, are desig
nated as persons " chosen for the occasions of the town," and for
the first time on the town records, on the 29th of November, 1645,
John Winthrop and nine others are formally stated to be chosen
" selectmen." The duties of the persons thus chosen, as ex
pressed in one of the votes of the inhabitants, were " to oversee"
and take order for all the allotments within us, and for all comers
into us, and also for all other the occasions and business of this_
town." ,
The allotments of land assigned within the peninsula were
very limited in extent. Those out of it, and within the jurisdic
tion of the town, were large, and granted with great liberality.
In the 9th of the 12th month, (February, 1635,) the rule esta
blished by the town for these allotments was, " two acres to plant
on, and for every able youth, one acre within the Neck and Nod
dle's Island." As to those at Mount WoUaston and Muddy
River, the allotters were authorized to " take a view and bound
out what may be sufficient there " for the particular farms of
the allottees, and four hundred acres were often given to a single
individual. The year 1635, however, did not elapse before, in
conformity with the settled policy of the emigrants at that period,"
the town " agreed that no further allotments should be granted

4 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
unto any new-comer, but such as may be likely to be received
members of the congregation."
~~ During the political ascendency of Henry Vane, the name of
Winthrop does not appear on the town records. As governor
of the colony, in 1636, Vane probably assumed the superintend
ence of the concerns of the town. But in November, 1639, the
name of John Winthrop, Governor, appears, with the names of
nine others, chosen, as formerly, for the town's affairs ; and he
held this relation until 1648, the year before his death.
At this early period, the limits between the powers of the
colonial legislature and those of the town seem not to have been
well defined or carefully observed. Besides the local authority
incident to municipal jurisdiction, such as " taking care of the
common fences," " regulating the going at large of cattle, goats,
and swine ; " " the cutting wood upon the Neck ; " and reserv
ing that "near Roxbury for the poor," — the town, in 1635, un
dertook to exercise a more extensive power, and one somewhat
dubious, both in point of principle and expediency. Thus, it
then appointed a committee " to set prices upon all cattle, com
modities, victuals, and laborers' and workmen's wages, and that
no other prices or rates be given or taken." They also voted
that "none of the members of this congi-egation, or inhabit
ants among us, shall sue one another at the law, before that
Mr. Henry Vane, and the two elders, Mr. Thomas Ohver and
Thomas Leverett, have had the hearing and deciding of the cause,
if they can." In the same year it was voted, " that whosoever,
at any pubfic meeting, shall fall into private conference, to the
hindering of public business, shall forfeit for every such offence
tivelve pence, to be paid into the constable's hands for public
use." In this year the town first assumed the care of the schools,
by voting that " our brother Philemon Pormont be entreated to
become schoolmaster, for the teaching of the children among
us." The General Court having rejected the persons they had
chosen as their deputies to that body, the spirit of the inhabit
ants was manifested by the following proceedings: 
" The 9th of ye 3d Mo. 1637. At a general meeting, upon pri
vate or particular warning, from house to house, and by reason
of the Court's refusal of the former choice, Mr. Henry Vane, Esq.,
Mr. William Coddington, Mr. Atherton Hough, are now again

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 5
chosen deputies, or committees, for the service of the present'
General Court, and that upon warrant to us from the Court for
a new choice." Notwithstanding the obnoxiousness, at that
time, of these deputies to the predominating party in the Court,
they were in consequence admitted to their seats.
The records of the town, though voluminous, contain little of
permanent importance or interest. A few of them, indicative of
the opinions and views of the inhabitants in those early times,
will be here recapitulated : —
1638. Allotments were granted on condition of "inoffensive
carriage." 1652. No strangers were permitted to live in the town, with
out giving bonds to save the town harmless from all damage and
charge for entertaining them. It was ordered, that persons whose
houses were pulled down by the authorities, in case of fire, should
" not be entitled to damages therefor."
1653. Leave was given to a citizen "to sink a twelve-feet
cistern, at the pump which stands in the highway, to hold water
to be helpful against fire, he making it safe from danger of
children." Ladders were placed at the meeting-houses, with
penalty against their use, except in case of fire. At the same
place were also hung strong crooks and chains, poles and ropes,
for the same purpose. Every householder was required to have
a ladder which should reach to the roof of his house.
1655. " For galloping through the streets, except upon days of
military exercise, or any extraordinary case require," a fine of
two shillings was imposed. Football was prohibited from being
played in the streets. Butchers were ordered to cast all their
offal into the miU creek, and not elsewhere ; and all rubbish to
be removed before every house.
1657. None but admitted inhabitants could keep shop or set
up a manufacture within the town, except those who were--
twenty-one years of age, and had served seven years' apprentice-"
ship, under penalty of ten shillings a month. An inhabitant was
allowed " to set up a pump in the streets, and might deny any
neighbor its use who did not contribute to the expense."
Licences were required for drawing beer, wine, brandy, strong
water, cider ; for keeping a public house, and for selling coffee
and chocolate.
1658. The order passed in 1652 was revoked, and owners of

6 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
houses pulled down by the authorities in case of fire, were en
titled to damages. No person was allowed to carry fire from one
house to another, except in some safe vessel secure from wind.
If a chimney took fire and flamed out, the owner was fined ten
shillings. Persons were appointed to inspect the chimneys of
the town, and cause defects in them to be remedied so as to be
safe against fire.
1659. Inhabitants were fined " for entertaining foreigners," and
ordered to discharge them from their houses. If they received
" inmates, servants, or journeymen, coming for help in physic or
surgery, without leave of the selectmen, and without giving
bonds to save the town harmless, their fine was twenty shillings
a week." 1662. Persons were appointed to prevent disorders by youth
on the Lord's day ; particularly in the meeting-house, in time of
God's solemn worship ; with authority to correct those who were
disorderly with a small wand, and in case of contempt, to take
their names and bring them before the magistrates.
1670. " There having been found a great want of water in
case of fire, every inhabitant was ordered to have a hogshead
well filled with water near his door, with the head open, under a
penalty of five shillings."
^ 1672. Under the authority of colonial laws, the selectmen
ordered parents to put their children out to service, or to indent
them out ; and if they did not, the authority had power to take
them from their parents for that purpose.
1678. Every family was ordered to be provided with "fire-
buckets, swabs, and scoops, according to their state." In the
same year an engine was imported from England, and persons
appointed to take charge of it in case of fire.
1683. Those who had the care of the water engine, (now called
fire engines,) were exempted from "train bands."
1702. Two water engines were ordered to be imported from
England. The inhabitants in general town meeting were accustomed,
annually or semi-annually, to vote insti-uctions to their select
men, presenting the objects of attention, and their duties con
cerning them. Those issued in 1657 were full, and the follow
ing abstract will give an idea of their general tenor, and throw
light on the character of the times : —

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 7
" Relying on your wisdom and care in seeking the good of the town, we
recommend, that you cause to be executed aU the orders of the town which you
have on the records, according to the power given you by law, as found in the
printed laws, under the tities of Townships, Ecclesiastics, Freemen, Highways,
SmaU Causes, Indians, Corn Fields, ChUdren, Masters, Servants, Pipe Staves,
Stones, Weights and Measures, and any other orders in force ; and where you
find any defect, to issue thereon good orders, to be approved by the town and
the General Court. Subjects most necessary to be understood are, 1. About
entertaining new inhabitants. 2. That none transplant themselves from the
country to inhabit here without giving notice ; concerning whom you may in
quire their calling and employment, and whether they are about to live under
other men's roofs as inmates, and deal with them according to law. If they are
poor and impotent, deal with them as directed, under the title of Poor. If they
buy houses and land, have a vigilant eye that they live not idly, but be dUigentiy
employed in some lawful caUing. If, by reason of sickness, they cannot subsist
their chUdren, you are to take their chUdren from them, and put them to
apprenticeship. If any be debauched and Hve idly, you must provide a house
of correction for them, at the charge of the town and the county. We commit
unto you the disposal of the waste lands belonging to the town, for the benefit of
the town, giving account from time to time.
" We require you to make some effectual order to prevent harm from swine.
As to the law relative to particular highways, to each man's lot, if the General
Court's order do not reach it, you must remind our deputies to procure some
addition. You are to take constant precaution as to buildings, that they encroach
not on the streets or town's lands. You are to appoint meet persons to keep the
streets and flats near wharves and places of land clear of stones and other
encumbrances. You must see that some Ufe be put into the laws about casks, and'
that they be of due gauge to prevent fraud, and that deceitful packing of beef
and pork be duly punished ; that sworn men be appointed for measuring grain, -
cording wood and boards. We think it meet a jury should be chosen on weights
and measures, to observe defects in chimneys, and in houses in danger of falUng,
and to present the same to the county courts ; that orders be passed against
regrators and forestaUers, and our deputies get them confirmed by the General
Court. " That a meeting be held by you, at least monthly, seriously to consider these
things, for the good of the town, the glory of God, and establishing truth and
love among us.
" That every half year a town meeting be caUed, the orders passed submitted
for its approbation ; the accounts may be credited, and particularly of what has _
been spent for buckets, hooks and ladders, and for powder, and whether ladders
have been provided for each house, according to law ; also as to what has been
spent as to the great guns and ammunition of the town, that provision may be
made for them.
"These orders, with occasional variation, were apparently renewed every
year in town meeting, untU the year 1694."
The orders to the town watch also characterize ,the state of
the times.

8 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
" The town watch to be set at nine and dismissed at five. It shaU not be
trusted to youth, but one half consist of householders ; none to be employed of
notorious evU life ; nor those who would watch two nights together, not having
sufficient sleep between ; the number to be eight. The foUowing charge to be
given unto the watch every night : — •
"1. To walk two by two together; a youth to be joined with an older and
more sober person.
" 2. If after ten o'clock they see lights, to inquire if there be warrantable
cause ; and if they hear any noise or disorder, wisely to demand the reason ; if
they are dancing and singing vainly, to admonish them to cease ; if they do not
discontinue after moderate admonition, then the constable to take their names
and acquaint the authorities therewith.
" 3. To watch the water side and about the shore, and prudently take account
of such as go out or come in, not hindering lawful business, but preventing
unlawful practice and disorders.
" 4. To look at the guns and fortifications.
" 5. If they find young men and maidens, not of known fidelity, walking after
ten o'clock, modestly to demand the cause ; and if they appear iU-minded, to
watch them narrowly, command them to go to their lodgings, and if they refuse,
then to secure them tiU morning.
" 6. That the watch be exemplary themselves, using no corrupt language, and
so conduct themselves, that any persons of quaUty who are abroad late may
acknowledge that the watch does not neglect due examination nor misconduct."
In 1660, the first steps towards erecting an almshouse were
taken, by authorizing the selectmen to use a piece of ground fof
that purpose. In 1662, the design was carried into effect, in
consequence of the encouragement given by sundry legacies and
subscriptions. The building thus erected having been burnt
down, a vote was passed by the town, in 1682, for rebuilding it.
In this vote the object of the institution is specified to be " for
the relief of the poor, the aged, and those incapacitated for labor;
of many persons who would work, but have not wherewithal to
employ themselves ; of many more persons and famUies, who
spend their times in joUiness and tipling, and who suffer their
Eildren shamefully to spend their time in the streets, to assist,
iploy, and correct whom the proposed institution was pro-
ied." It appears, however, by the records, that the original design of
the house, for the accommodation of the respectable poor, was
in a gi-eat measure defeated from the predominating character
of its inmates ; and in 1712, an attempt was made by the town
" to restore the almshouse to its primitive and pious design, even
for the relief of the necessitous, that they might lead a quiet,

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 9
peaceable, and godly life there, where it is now made a bridewell
and house of correction, which obstructs many honest poor people
going there for the designed relief and support." As a remedy,
the town proposed the building a house of correction, and a
committee was raised for that purpose. That committee reported
that " the poor honest people, who were sent as objects of charity,
should be kept separate ; and that the justices of the peace of
the county should be petitioned to erect a house of correction,
as the law directs." Nothing farther was done upon the subject
until the year 1720, when a vote was passed in town meeting '
for the erection of a workhouse, independent of an almshouse. „
This design was not, however, carried into effect until 1735,
when measures were adopted for the enlargement and erecting
new buildings, in connection with the preexisting almshouse, in
virtue of the province law, passed in that year, on the special
representation and petition of the town to that effect. The
land now included, between Park and Beacon Streets, and the
west line of the burying ground to the north line of the land
now occupied by Park Street Church, was at that time the site
appropriated for this establishment. The expenses incident to
the erection of the buildings were originally defrayed from the
funds of the town, aided b^ subscriptions of private individuals.
It early received the name of the Boston Almshouse, probably
to render a resort to it less obnoxious to the more respectable
class of poor. But this appellation had no sanction in the pro
vince law authorizing its erection. " Workhouses for the idle
and the indigent," " houses of correction for rogues and vaga
bonds," are the only designations given by that law, to institu
tions for either of those objects. The defects and inconveniences
of the Boston Almshouse, which the comparative poverty of the
times,, and the embarrassments consequent on the revolutionary
war, prevented from being remedied until after its close, will be
noticed hereafter in this work.
The obedience of the town to the province law, which required
that every town having fifty householders should be provided
with a schoolmaster to teach children and youth to read and
write, and having one hundred families, with a grammar school,
with some discreet person well instructed in the tongues to keep
such school, seems, from the earliest times, to have been constant
and regular. Their proceedings are not very distinctly traced in

10 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the town records. In 1662, the rent of Deer Island was appro
priated for the use of free schools. And, in 1679, two free schools
were established "to teach children to write and to cipher,"
accompanied with a recommendation to " those who sent their
children to school and were able, to pay something for the
encouragement of the master." It was not until 1709, that the
town, on the report of a committee, voted " annually to appoint
a certain number of gentlemen of liberal education, together with
some of the reverend ministers of the town, to be inspectors of
the schools, and, under that name and title, to visit the schools
when, and as often as they think fit, to inform themselves of the
methods used in teaching of the schools, and to inquire of their
proficiency, and to be present at the performance of some of their
exercises, the master being before notffied of their coming, and
with him to consult and advise of further methods for the
advancement of learning and the good government of the school;
and, at their visitation, one of the ministers by turns to pray with
the scholars, and entertain them with some instructions of piety
specially adapted to their age and education." By the same
vote, " the inspectors were authorized, with the master, to intro
duce an usher upon such salary as the town shall agree to grant
for his services." Five inspectors of the schools were accord
ingly appointed, and the system was persevered in for several
years ; afterwards it was discontinued ; and the practice pre
vailed for the selectmen annually to visit the schools, accompa
nied by as many gentlemen as they chose to invite, which were
often not less than fifteen or twenty. This practice continued
until after the American Revolution and the treaty of peace sub
sequent. The proceedings of the town in relation to these insti
tutions will be related hereafter in connection with those of the

y/ For more than a century after the settlement of the town, it
was destitute of an estabhshed public market. Provisions were
brought in carts to the doors of the inhabitants, and an opinion
generally prevailed that the tendency of a local market was to
1 In 1739, the whole number in aU the town schools was 593
1741, « «
1743, " «
1754,
1763, « «
1773, « «

(( i

474

(C^ t

585

C( i

848
((
832
((
719
TOWN GOVERNMENT. 11
encourage forestalling and raise the price of provisions. In 1733,
the question of establishing a public market was first decided in
the affirmative ; ayes 366, nays 339. But at an adjourned meet-
mg, a few days after, the former vote was rescinded, and the
question decided in the negative ; 390 ayes, 415 nays.
In 1734, by way of compromise, three markets were esta
blished by vote of the inhabitants, — a south, centre, and north.
In April, 1737, the town voted that the south and north mar
ket should be appropriated to some other use ; and to what use
they should be put was referred to the selectmen. Before their
decision was known, the centre market, near the town dock, was
pulled down by a mob, and the selectmen reported that the south
market should be leased for shops, and that the north market^
should be removed.
This report occasioned warm debates, and one of the inhabit-'^
ants was reprimanded by the town, and ordered to be silent, for
language implying that the selectmen had made their report in
agreement with the mob. Their report was accepted, and the
subject was not again revived until 1740, when Peter Faneuil
offered, " on his own proper cost, to build a noble and complete
structure to be improved for a market, for the sole use and bene
fit of the town, provided the town would accept the same, and
make proper regulations," a meeting being called " to know the
minds of the inhabitants, whether they would accept the same,
on condition that the market people should be at liberty to carry '
their marketing wheresoever they pleased about town." Notwith
standing this condition, and although a vote was passed thanking
Mr. Faneuil for his generous offer, the question of accepting it |
was carried only by a majority of seven; 367 ayes and 360
nays. In 1742, the market house was erected by Mr. Faneuil on the
town's land, near the dock. The edifice was of brick, two sto
ries in height, and one hundred feet in length by forty in breadth.
"A noble structure," say the records, " far exceeding his first pro
posal, inasmuch as it contains not only a large and sufficient
accommodation for a market-place, but has also superadded a^
spacious and most beautiful town-hall over it, and several other -
convenient rooms." Votes were immediately passed by the town, "
appointing the selectmen and the representatives, and twelve
others of the most distinguished inhabitants, a committee to

12 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
wait upon Mr. Faneuil, and "in the name of the town to render
him their most hearty thanks for so bountiful a gift, with their
prayers that this and other expressions of his bounty and charity
may be abundantly recompensed by the Divine blessing. It was
also voted that, " in testimony of the town's gratitude, and to
perpetuate his memory, the hall over the market-place should be
called Faneuil Hall, and that a picture of him, at full length, be
drawn, and placed in said hall, at the expense of the town."
Mr. Faneuil died on the third of March, 1743, and, on the
fourteenth, " being the first meeting in Faneuil HaU after his
death," at the request of the selectmen, "John Lovell, master of
the South Grammar School, delivered, in presence of the town,
an oration on his death ; the moderator's seat being hung in
mourning cloth on the occasion." This oration was transcribed
at length on the town's records, and celebrates with great pathos
and power " the largeness of his heart, the unbounded nature of
his private charities," and his " public spirit and munfficence." '
Afterwards the arms of his family were placed in Faneuil Hall
by vote of the town. These proceedings did not extinguish the
spirit of opposition to a market-house.
In 1746, a number of the inhabitants petitioned " that Faneuil
HaU should be shut up, and the building appropriated to some
.other purpose." Although the attempt was not at this time
successful, it was renewed the next year, (1747,) and the market
shut up until September foUowing, and then till March, 1748,
when it was again opened, at first for three days, and afterwards
for every day in the week. In 1752, the contest was again
renewed, and the market was shut up until the farther order of
the town. In August of that year, the question of opening the
market was again raised, and, after violent debates, passed in
the negative ; only one hundred and two votes being in the
affirmative, and one hundred and twenty-nine in the negative.
In March, 1753, however, a vote for opening it was obtained,
and the staUs were authorized to be leased ; in which result the
inhabitants finaUy acquiesced.
In February, 1761, FaneuU Hall was destroyed by fire, the
' Mr. Faneuil's mansion house was situated in Tremont Street, in the midst of
extensive gardens, opposite the Chapel Burial Ground. His famUy fled from
France with the Huguenots, in 1686. The grasshopper, on the vane of Faneuil
HaU, was the crest of their arms.

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 13
waUs only being left standing. The town resolved, in March
foUowing, that the edifice should be rebuilt, and that the lower
part should " not be improved as a market until the farther order
of the town." To defray the expense, the General Court granted-
a lottery. The first meeting in the haU, after it was repaired,
was on the fourteenth of March, 1763. The original dimensions
of the building, as erected by Mr. Faneuil, were not enlarged
untU the year 1805, when it was extended in breadth to eighty^
feet, and a third story was added to its height.
//The spuit of liberty and jealousy of town and colonial rights''
breathe through the records of Boston from the earliest period of
the settlement. By the early laws of the colony, every town"
having ten freemen might send one deputy to the General Court.
Every town having twenty freemen might send tiuo ; but no town
more than two. The town of Boston, as its population increased,
became sensible of the inequaUty of their influence in the colo
nial legislature, compared with their numbers. " We have four
churches," say the records ; " our members are twenty times
twenty ; the number of our representatives should be proportion
ate." No reUef was, however, granted in this respect, until after
the charter of WUliam and Mary, in 1692, by which the legisla
ture of the province was allowed to fix the number of deputies
each town might send ; and Boston was immediately aUowed ~
four representatives.
The practice of instructing the representatives of the town in
the General Court was early adopted, and occasionally, and often
annually, continued through every period of colonial history. In
these instructions, not only objects of temporary and local inte
rest were pressed upon the attention of their representatives, by
the town, but the views and feelings of the inhabitants of a gene
ral nature were indicated, and their sentiments concerning muni
cipal and colonial rights unequivocally expressed. Thus, in
1751, they were instructed to obtain the passage of laws re
gulating " the accepting and entertaining new inhabitants ; "
against persons "transplanting themselves from one place to
another, without notice to the selectmen ; " and for " inquiring
concerning the calling and employment of those who present
themselves as inhabitants ; " and, subsequently, in almost every^
successive year, the subjects most interesting at the period, such
as measures for " preventing the poor from being chargeable to
2

14 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the town," and "providing workhouses for tfie idle and de
bauched," were urged upon the notice of their representatives.
The vigilance of the inhabitants in regard to their charter rights
and privileges, never failed to be shown, on these occasions, by
their votes ; thus, in 1677, when the claims of Mason and Gorges
struck at the powers of the colonial government, " it is a time,"
say the inhabitants to their representatives, " to unite, and for
peace and amity to be attended to," and they were warned, " in
matters of judicature, not to assume any arbitrary power," and
" to do nothing which should, in the least measure infringe our
Uberties, civU or ecclesiastical, granted us by our charter."
After the commencement of the eighteenth century, and in the
incipient stages of those discontents, which ultimately resulted
"Jn the American Revolution, the votes of the inhabitants of the
metropolis exhibited a spirit, which, in fact, constituted a lead
ing influence in the policy of the colony. Thus, in 1721, then
representatives were instructed " to maintain our just rigl^ts and
privileges ; to pass laws encouraging toade, husbandry, and man
ufactures ; to vindicate the town against the aspersions which
had been made against it of being inclined to mobs and
tumults ; in all elections to have regard to the preservation of
the just and laudable usages and customs of reserving the aUow-
ances, gratuities, &c., untU the acts and elections be fully com-
jpleted." In 1723, the town addressed the king, repeUing the
charge " of being under no magistracy and of being of a muti
nous disposition," which had been brought against it by Governor
'Shute. In 1728, the town voted extra pay to their representatives for
unusual hardships they had sustained, « for their steadfast adhe
rence to the rights and privileges of the people." In the same
year, the question was taken in town meeting, whether "the
governor, (Burnett,) shaU have a salary settled upon him for the
time being, and the vote was unanimously in the negative ; and
the same was the result on the question whether " a salary might
be settled upon him for a Umited time." In the same spuit the
town instructed their representatives, in 1729, "to pay due
respect to the governor, but to use your utmost endeavors that
the house of representatives may not, by any means, be prevailed
upon, or brought into the fixing, a certain salary for any certain
time to the governor. But that they improve their usual freedom,

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 15
in granting their money from time to time, as they shall judge
the province to be able, and in such a manner as they shall think
most for the benefit and advantage thereof; and if your pay
should be diverted, you may depend upon aU the justice imagin
able from this town whom you represent."
The same direct and jealous spirit, manifested in the votes of
the town in successive causes of popular discontent, from this
period to the declaration of independence, shows the leading influ
ence of the town of Boston on all the measures which were the
precursors of that event. But as these proceedings belong to the
general history of Massachusetts, only some of the chief occasions
seized upon to excite an interest and union in the principles of
civil liberty will be enumerated. Thus, in 1732, resistance " to
granting a certain salary to the governor," and " to compliance
with his majesty's instructions, relative to supplying the trea
sury," was enjoined by the town on its representatives. In
almost every subsequent year, until 1754, a similar spirit is evi
denced in the votes of the town, accompanied sometimes, as in
1736 and the years ensuing, with complaints of the disproportion
of taxation, misapplication of public moneys, against the excise
upon spirits ; and, in 1745, their representatives were instructed
"to take care that excisemen and their assistants should be
excluded from the house of representatives ; " and, in 1754, to-
obtain " a law, whereby the seats of such gentlemen as shall
accept posts of profit from the crown or the governor, shall be
vacated agreeably to an act of the British Parliament, until their
constituents may have an opportunity of reelecting them, if they
please." When the policy of .the British government, to coUeef
a revenue from the colonies, was manifested by the stamp act
and its accompanying measures, the spirit of the town was evi
denced by votes of the most decided character, expressed in
instructions to their representatives, and in petitions and remon*^
strances to the king and the people of Great Britain.
In 1767, the town voted funds to procure the pictures of Colo
nel Barre and General Conway, and which, when received, they
ordered to be hung in Faneuil Hall, as indications of their grati
tude for their opposition to the projects of the ministry. From
that period to the declaration of independence, the unanimity of
the inhabitants, and the principles by which they were actuated,
are inseparably identffied with the chief causes and characters of

16 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the American Revolution, and are among the most prominent
and effective influences of that momentous crisis.
During the seventeenth century, no indication of dissatisfaction
with the form of town government is apparent on the records.
As early as 1667, among the instructions given by the town to
its representatives, there was inserted the endeavor to obtain a
law " making the town a corporation, or making it a county by
i self." But this desire had probably no connection with any
discontent at that self-government which a town organization
secured to its inhabitants ; but exclusively with that of getting
rid of the Court of Sessions, whose authority it was thought
might more properly be vested in the selectmen, and give more
efficiency and uniformity to the proceedings of the town. In
that court was invested the power to establish a house of cor
rection, which, in utter neglect of -the injunctions of the colonial
law, they had omitted to erect, choosing, from motives of eco
nomy, to use the common jail for that pm-pose ; an omission of
which the town had reason, and did not fail occasionally, to
"complain. The first proposal of change in the form of town
government appears to have originated with the selectmen them
selves, who, in 1708, offered to the inhabitants, at a meeting
called for that purpose, the following proposition for their con
sideration, namely : —
--' " That the orders and by-laws of this town already made, for the directing,
ordering, and managing of the raudential affairs thereo^^ave not answered the
ends for "which they were made^ and the principal cause thereof is a general
defect or neglect in the execution, without which the best laws will signify
"httle ; and one great reason why they are no better executed, is the<want of a
~^roper head/ or town officer or officers, empowered for that purpose, the law
having put the execution of town orders into the hands of the justices only, who
are not town, but county officers, and it cannot be expected that they should
take the trouble and care, or make it so much their business, as a town officer or
officers, particularly appointed or chosen thereunto, must needs do. And, in
deed, for any body or society of men, as a town is, to be vested with power to
make rules and by-laws for their own good regulation, and not to have power
to choose and appoint the head officer or officers, who shall have power to exe
cute their own orders and by-laws, seems incongruous, aii^good orderts not
to be expected whUe it remains so ; fojB^s a town grows more populous, it wIU
stand in need of more strict regulation?;! The said selectmen, therefore, pro
pose that tliis town do now choose a committee of a considerable number of
the freeholders and other inhabitants of the town to draw up a scheme or
draft a charter of incorporation for encouragement anH better governmepf of
this town, iu the best manner they shaU think suitable, and of the best and

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 17
most suitable means for the obtaining thereof, and to present the said scheme
or draft to the town, at their annual meeting in March next."
A vote to that effect was accordingly passed. Thirty-one'
inhabitants of chief influence were elected to constitute the
committee. On the fourth of March, 1708 - 9, they reported the
required draft or scheme. ^But the town not only refused to
accept it, but also refused to refer the subject to any future
meeting ; at the same time passing votes of thanks to the com
mittee for their labors. In May, 1744, the subject was again
revived, in a form, as was probably supposed, less exceptionable.
" The town," say the records, " having grown exceedingly popu
lous, a proposition was made to apply to the General Court,
that the selectmen, for the time being, might have power, with
the consent of the Court of Sessions, to make by-laws, with a
penalty not exceeding forty shillings; and that they might be
constituted a court of record, to try and determine all offences
against the by-laws, with an appeal from their judgment to the
Court of Sessions." The proposition, however, after a long
debate, received a decided negative from the inhabitants, and no
similar attempt was made until after the peace of 1783. The
few municipal relations, during this period of general and per
manent interest and importance, will be found hereafter stated
in this history, in connection with some of the principal institu
tions of the town and city.
The receipts and expenditures of the town, during its colonial
period are obscm-ely traced on its records, and the glimpses they
give of its wants and resources excite neither interest nor curi
osity. The ratio of the increase of its population cannot at this
day be ascertained. It was slow and gradual. During the
seventeenth century, it never exceeded seven thousand. In
1730, at the close of the first century from its settlement, its
population was only fifteen thousand; and, although in the
middle of the eighteenth century its numbers rose to eighteen
thousand, yet the effects of wars with France, Spain, and the
Indians, and that of the American Revolution, reduced that
amount, at the peace of 1783, to twelve thousand, according to
the most exact estimates. The wants of the community were
during this period of the first necessity, and its resources of
the most limited and attainable kind. The government being
popular, and in effect democratic, the study of those who ma-

18 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
naged its concerns was chiefly to avoid debt and taxation; and
when exigencies requiring an enlargement of means occurred,
even where the objects were both general and permanent, a re
sort was had to the liberality of the rich, to avoid the recurrence
to a tax, which might excite the discontent of the less prosper
ous. Thus, the establishment of an almshouse, a workhouse,
and even the provision for the absolute wants of the inmates of
those institutions, were occasionally provided for by subscrip
tions, which were regarded and responded to as approved means
in all such exigencies.
During the revolutionary war, the exertions of the inhabitants
of the town were directed to providing for the urgent wants of
the period.
In 1776, the town was occupied in measures encouraging the
declaration of independence, and in pledging unanimously their
lives and fortunes for its support; in forming committees of
correspondence and of safety ; offering bounties for volunteers
for the army, and providing arms and ammunition for the in
habitants. In 1777, the town negatived the proposition, to invest in the
General Court the power of forming a constittition for the com
monwealth ; took measures to fortify the harbor ; remonstrated
against the return of the Tories ; borrowed money for the town,
and raised subscriptions for the poor, and recommended to the
churches to make collections for the families of the non-commis
sioned officers and privates of the army.
In 1778, the articles of confederation were discussed and ap
proved ; monopolists^ and forestaUers denounced ; the inhabitants
were desired, in consideration of the necessities of the time, not
to have more than two dishes of meat on their tables ; and com
mittees were raised to provide shirts, stockings, and shoes for
the army.
In 1779, measures were taken to reUeve the town from the
great scarcity of provisions and necessaries of life; to borrow
money ; to raise contributions for the poor ; to form a conven
tion; to frame a new constitution for the state; for protection
against invasion; for regulating the prices of goods and pro
visions, and prosecuting those who violated the rules on this
subject. In 1780, the new constitution proposed for the state was con-

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 19
sidered by sections in town meeting ; many days were occupied
in the discussion, several amendments proposed, and the consti
tution partially accepted ; measures were taken to enlist men for
the army, and to raise contributions for the poor.
In 1781, heavy assessments were voted by the inhabitants for
procuring men, and beef and clothing for the army, and for con
tributions for the support of the poor in the almshouse. Mea
sures were also taken on the subject of the depreciation of paper
money; and the subject of the fisheries was made a topic of
earnest representation to the General Court. On occasion of a
visit to the town by the Marquis Lafayette, he was formally
addressed by the inhabitants, with expressions of " their cordial
esteem and affection ; " to which Lafayette responded, in terms
manifesting his " lively sense of attachment and gratitude to the
inhabitants." Irf 1782, measures were taken, on the memorial of the over
seers of the poor, who represented the inmates in the almshouse
to be in want of the necessaries of life, and the master of it to
be greatly in debt for his advances for their relief. Committees
were raised on the subject of "the alarming combination of the
bakers ; " against " illicit trade ; " and " the foolish predilection for
British manufactures;" and for the purpose of forming associ
ations to prevent smuggling; and for the memorializing the
General Court on the unconstitutionality of the Lord's Day Act.
These measures, with others too numerous to be recapitu
lated, accompanied with reports, memorials, and instructions to
representatives, which fill the town records, so engrossed the
thoughts of the inhabitants with topics of general interest and
vital importance, as to supersede all recurrence to subjects of a
municipal character, until the peace of 1783.

CHAPTER IL
TOWN GOVERNMENT. 1783-1821.
State of the PubUc Schools — Measures in regard to them— Successive At
tempts to change the Government of the Town — Plan of a City Government
adopted. For upwards of forty years after the adoption of the constitti
tion of Massachusetts, in 1780, the municipal affairs of the town
of Boston were conducted on the same simple and economical
scale, which antecedent practice had sanctioned. During this
interval, the management of the schools, the attempts to incor
porate the town, and the arrangements for the support of the
poor, constitute the chief topics of interest and excitement.
Our knowledge of the proceedings relative to the schools, from
their first establishment under the colonial law, in 1635, until the
American Revolution, is chiefly derived from the reports of the
selectmen, or of committees annually appointed for their super
vision. These state, in general, their good condition, and the
number of scholars.
After the peace of 1783, a committee on the schools "lament
that so many children should be found in the streets playing and
gaming in school hours, owing either to the too fond indulgence
of parents, or the too lax government of the schools. They
deprecate the effect upon the rising generation ; and recommend
that the selectmen should be enjoined to take care that no per
son should open a private school without then recommendation,
agreeably to the good and salutary laws of the commonwealth."
Occasional efforts were made for improvements of the schools;
but no general system was adopted until October, 1789, when
a large committee was appointed on the subject, who with
much deUberation reported a system which, after some opposi
tion, was sanctioned and carried into effect. The schools then
constituted by this arrangement were, one for the instruction of
boys in Greek and Latin, and for fitting them for the university,
caUed the Latin School, in which duly qualified candidates might

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 21
be admitted at ten years of age, and continue four years ; tnree
reading and three writing schools, one of each at the north, the
centte, and the south part of the town, into which candidates
were admitted at seven years of age, and might continue till six
teen. Boys might attend aU the year round; girls, from the
20th of April to the 20th of October.
The selectmen, and twelve other persons, annually elected in
town meeting by ballot, were authorized to superintend the
schools ; to appoint masters and ushers, and fix their salaries ;
to visit the schools once every quarter, by sub-committees, and
exercise all the powers the selectmen had done under the colo
nial government. Votes were, subsequently, annually passed by
the town, confirming the above authority, and occasionally
enlarging and sttengthening it.
The school committee was organized by this arrangement
in 1790, and its records, which commence in 1792, have been
regularly continued.^
At this period there were only seven town schools, denomi
nated the Latin Grammar, the North Reading, the North Writ
ing, the South Reading, the South Writing, the Centte Reading,
and the Centre Writing Schools.
Their number was increased by the erection of the Mayhew
School, at West Boston, in 1803 ; of the Hawes, at South Boston,
in 1811 ; and of the Smith, for colored chUdren, in 1812.
The inability of the poorer classes to qualify their children for
admission to the common schools, led the town, in 1818, to
sanction the establishment of primary schools, for the education
of children between four and seven years of age.
For their management, the school committee were authorized,
annuaUy, to appoint three inhabitants in each ward, whose duty
it was to provide instruction for children between the above-
mentioned ages, and apportion the expenses among the several
schools. In 1818, the Boylston School was authorized, and a school-
house erected in 1819.
In 1820, an English classical school was established, having
1 The first elected members were, Hon. Thomas Dawes, Rev. Samuel West,
Rev. Dr. Lathrop, Rev. James Freeman, Dr. Nathaniel Appleton, Dr. Aaron
Dexter, Dr. Thomas Welsh, John C. Jones, Jonathan JIason, Jun., Christopher
Gore, George Richards Minot, and WilUam Tudor.

22 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
for its object to enable the mercantile and mechanical classes to
obtain an education adapted for those children, whom their pa
rents wished to qualify for active life, and thus relieve them from
the necessity of incurring the expense incident to private aca-^
demies. The candidates were to be admitted at twelve years of
age, and continue three years ; good acquaintance with reading,
writing, English grammar in all its branches, and with arith
metic as far as Proportions, were requisite for admission.
At the time of the transfer of the schools from the town to the
city, their number were as foUows :
The Latin, estabhshed in 1635; the Eliot, in 1713; the
Adams, in 1717 ; the Franklin, in 1785 ; the Mayhew, in 1803 ;
the Hawes, in 1811; the Smith, in 1812; the Boylston, in 1819;
and the English Classical, in 1820. The number of primary
schools were thirty-five.
The annual expenses of the whole system, with sufficient
accuracy, may be stated at forty thousand dollars. The salaries
of the masters of the Latin and English Classical Schools were
two thousand dollars each ; of the sub-masters, twelve hundred ;
of their ushers, averaging at seven hundred. Those of the
reading and writing masters being twelve hundred; of their
ushers, six hundred, with some diminution of salary in respect
of the master at South Boston, and of the master of the school
for colored chUdren; the former receiving only eight, and the
latter only six hundi-ed dollars annual salary.
The number of boys attending the Latin, English, classi
cal, and reading schools being  1844
Those attending the writing,  945
 2789
The number of girls attending the reading schools, . . 883
Those attending the writing schools, .... 864
 1747
4536
The above may be regarded, for all general purposes, a suffi
ciently near approximation to the number and expenses of the
schools, and the number of those of both sexes insttucted in
them, when taken possession of by the city government.
The events of the American Revolution had strengthened the
attachment of a great majority of the inhabitants of Boston to

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 23
the form of town government. In town meetings their measures
of opposition to the pretensions of Great Britain had been origin
ated, been agitated and adopted, and the affection of the inha
bitants to the forms, under which their efforts had been crowned
with success, was increased. The name and character of " town"
became identified with the idea of popular power and civil Hberty.
This sentiment, united with the natural reluctance with which
every people part with authority they have long and successfully
exercised, rendered all attempts at change, not so much unpopu
lar, as hateful, to a majority of the inhabitants.
The inconveniences, resulting from the form of town govern
ment, became, however, every year more apparent to intelhgent
and influential citizens, and in May, 1784, on the petition of a
large number of the inhabitants, a committee ^ of thirteen was
appointed " to consider the expediency of applying to the Gene
ral Court for an act to form the town of Boston into an incorpo
rated city, and report a plan of alterations in the present govern
ment of the police, if such be deemed eligible." This committee
was selected with great care from among the most influential and
popular inhabitants, and on the fourth of June ensuing, they
reported two plans ^ of a corporation, which, being read, were
J The committee were Samuel Adams, Joseph Barrell, Stephen Higginson,
Charles Jarvis, WiUiam Tudor, Robert Treat Paine, Perez Morton, Samuel
Breck, Edward Paine, James SulUvan, Thomas Dawes, Benjamin Hichborn,
and Caleb Davis.
2 The following condensed abstracts of these plans wUl give a sufficient gene
ral idea of their import : — FIEST PLAN.
The town to be a body politic by the name and style of the Mayor, Aldermen,
and Common CouncU of the City of Boston, with the foUowing powers and privi
leges : —
1. To be invested with aU the real and personal estate of the town, with power ,
to dispose of the same under specified limitations.
2. To be capable to sue and of being sued.
3. Three meetings of the inhabitants to be held in the year, namely, — in
March, to choose city officers ; in April, to choose state officers ; in May, to
choose representatives. General meetings to be caUed by the mayor, at the
request of fifty citizens.
4. In March, the qualified voters were to choose by ballot a mayor, a recorder,
twelve overseers of the poor, sixteen firewards, seven assessors, a county trea
surer and registrar ; and, on the day following, the inhabitants of each ward to
choose in its ward one alderman and two common councilmen.
5. The legality of the electors to be determined by the common council.
6. The city officers to take the oaths of aUegiance and office.
7. The recorder to be a person discreet in the law.
8. The mayor, recorder, and common councilmen to constitute a common

24 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
ordered to be printed and distributed to each house, the town
adjourning to the seventeenth of the same month to take them,
into consideration. At this meeting, it was voted that " the sense
of the town be taken on the expediency of making any alterations
in the present form of town government." On which question
the records state, — " but the impatience of the inhabitants for
the question being immediately put, prevented any debate
thereon, and it passed in the negative by a great majority, and
the meeting was immediately dissolved."
This result did not, however, deter the friends of a change
from further effort; and in November, 1785, the attempt was
renewed, on petition of a number of the inhabitants, and a com
mittee was chosen " to state the defects of the present constitu
tion of the town, and to report how far the same may be reme
died without an act of incorporation." This committee, com
posed of men of great popularity and influence, reported, pro
bably more from a sense of the impracticability of effecting any
change arising from the existing state of prejudice, than from any
want of perception of the inconveniences experienced, " that they
do not report any- defects in the constitution." After debate, this
report was accepted, and leave given to the petitioners to with
draw their petition.
council, with power to make by-laws and ordinances not repugnant to the laws
of the commonwealth, and not to be in force until pubhshed in two newspapers.
9. The common council to have power to raise money ; of which the mayor
and aldermen were to have the exclusive right of appropriating, laying an
account of their expenditures before the people annually, in March.
10, 11, and 12, relate to the trial of breaches of the by-laws, the making a
common seal, and to times of meeting of the common councU.
13. No assembly was to be deemed a common council, unless either the mayor
or recorder, at least seven aldermen and thirteen common councilmen were
present. The remaining articles relate to the choice of a town clerk, to the granting the
freedom of the city, to the removal of city officers for misconduct, and to the fill
ing vacancies in case of their death. SECOND PLAN.
This coincides with the first, except that the style of the body politic was to be
" The President and Selectmen of the City of Boston."
Art. 4. In March, the quaUfied voters were to choose by baUot a president and
six selectmen, twelve overseers of the poor, sixteen firewards, seven assessors, a
county treasurer and registrar ; and the day foUowing, each ward should choose
one selectman for such ward.
Art. 7. The president and eighteen selectmen to constitute a city board. The
president always to be present, with powers to make laws.
The other articles not materially different from those of the first plan.

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 25
The subject remained dormant until December, 1791, when it
was again renewed, by a petition of a number of the inhabitants,
" setting forth the want of an efficient police " on which was
raised a large and respectable committee,^ consisting of inhabit
ants of leading influence in both the political parties of the
period. This committee, after long deliberation, reported a sys-
tem,2 which, after being read, discussed, amended in town meet
ing, and accepted by paragraphs, was ordered to be printed and
distributed in handbills. The town then adjourned until the
twenty-sixth of January ensuing, for its final consideration, when
it was rejected ; five hundred and seventeen voters being in the
affirmative, and seven hundred and one in the negative.
In May foUowing, the attempt to effect a change in the sys
tem of town poUce, and for the better execution of the laws, was
revived, and met a similar fate.
No subsequent attempt of this kind was made until January,
1804, when, by the increase of its population, the inconvenience
of conducting town affairs, in general meetings, became more
apparent to the inhabitants. A large committee ^ was, in conse-
1 The members of the committee were, — James SulUvan, Charles Jarvis,
Thomas Dawes, Jr., Judge Paine, WiUiam Tudor, Caleb Davis, Benjamin Aus
tin, Jr., Jonathan Mason, Jr., Stephen Higginson, WiUiam Eustis, Christopher
Gore, WUliam Little, John Q. Adams, Edward Edes, John Lucas, Thomas
TUeston, James Prince, Thomas Edwards, Paul Revere, Edward Tyler, Charles
BuMnch. 2 The following is a brief outline of the system reported : —
1. That the town be divided into nine wards, as equal as may be in point of
the numbers of the inhabitants of each, which the selectmen might change, if they
saw fit, once in three years.
2. Each ward to elect two men residing in the ward, who, with the selectmen,
should constitute a town councU, and possess the foUowing powers : —
First, of making by-laws vdth limited penalties. No by-law to be enacted^
untU it shall have had three several readings on three several days, and shall
have been published for the inspection of the inhabitants ; nor be perpetual untU
reenacted by a subsequent town council, by the same formalities.
Second, to regulate all public carriages within the town, and to raise duties
upon them.
Third, that the town councU have power to appoint annually all the executive
officers then appointed by the town, except selectmen, tovpn clerk, overseers of
the poor, assessors, town treasurer, school committees, auditors of accounts, fire
wards, collectors of taxes, and constables.
Fourth, to direct prosecutions for violations of the by-laws, and for this purpose
to appoint an attorney.
Fifth, to apply to the General Court for the establishment of a tribunal with
one judge, having exclusive jurisdiction of such prosecutions.
3 The members of this committee were as follows : —
Josiah SneUing, Ozias Goodwin, Robert Gardner, Jacob Rhoades, Redford

26 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
quence, appointed, composed of persons very equaUy selected
from the two pohtical parties, which, at that time, divided the
town and commonwealth, with instructions to consider and
report any alteration in the town government they deemed expe
dient. They had frequent meetings and long deliberations, and in
March reported to the inhabitants a system ^ of municipal govern
ment, in which they had carefully endeavored to combine a sttict
regard to the efficiency of the new organization of authority,
with as little offence as possible to the prejudices and habits of
the inhabitants. Notwithstanding this endeavor, and, although
the composition of the committee had effectuaUy neuttalized all
political elements, the inherent attachment of the inhabitants to
the form of town government was not diminished. A warm,
and somewhat tumultuous debate ensued, resulting in a decided
negative of the whole report.
No farther attempt to change the town organization occurred
until 1815, when Charles BiUfinch, who had been chairman of the
board of selectmen and superintendent of poUce ever since the
year 1800, and two other efficient members of that board, were
not reelected. The circumstance was a subject of very general
surprise and regret. Every elected member of the board of select
men immediately resigned, and, on a second ttial, Mr. Bulfinch^
Webster, Thomas Lewis, Jr., Amasa Stetson, Samuel Sturges, Thomas Edwards,
Nathan Webb, Isaiah Doane, Joseph HaU, WiUiam Spooner, James Prince,
William Smith, Edward Gray, Harrison G. Otis, Rufus Green Amory, James
SuUivan, George Blake, John Davis, Charles Jarvis, WiUiam Brown, and Charles
Paine. 1 The following outUne wUl give a sufficient general idea of this system: —
A town councU to be constituted of the selectmen, chosen by the citizens in
general meeting, and of two delegates from each ward, chosen in ward meetings.
By this town councU an iutendant and aU other town officers were to be chosen;
except the town clerk, the overseers of the poor, board of health, firewards,
school committee, and assessors, aU of whom were to be chosen by the inhabit
ants in town meeting ; the intendant to have the appointment of a poUce officer,
and to be ex officio the presiding officer of the board of selectmen, and with them
to have the superintendence of the police and execution of the laws.
2 Few men deserve to be held by the citizens of Boston in more grateful
remembrance than Charles Bulfinch. After being graduated at Harvard, his
father, a physician of eminence and fortune, permitted him to travel in Europe
and cultivate his taste for the fine arts. On his return, he turned his attention
to the improvement of his native town, and induced other citizens of wealth and
enterprise to unite with him in the purchase of a portion of waste and marsh
land, in forming it into streets, and erecting a range of buildings, now known as
Franklin Place. The cenotaph of Franklin and the open space around it were
given by him and his associates to the pubUc, This undertaking, which was too

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 27
and the other members of the board of the preceding year were
reinstated by decided majorities.
These occurrences again directed public attention to the dis-^
advantages of town government, and, on the petition of a large
number of the inhabitants, a committee formed of two indi
viduals, elected in each ward, was authorized to consider the
expediency of a change of the government.
In October, 1815, this committee ^ presented a bill, accompa
nied by an explanatory report, which were printed for general
distribution, and a town meeting was called on the thirteenth of
November ensuing, to decide upon its acceptance. The system
now proposed, was the nearest approximation to a city form of
government any previous committee of the town had ventured
to attempt,^ and the result came nearest to success, it being
rejected only by a majority of thirty-one ; nine hundred and fifty-
one being in the negative, and nine hundred and twenty in the
affirmative.
expensive for the period, seriously affected his fortunes, and the art he had stu
died for amusement became his profession. As the principal architect of the
town of Boston and its vicinity, the state house and many other pubUc build
ings were erected on his plans. During the many years he presided over the
town government, he improved its finances, executed the laws with firmness, and
was -distinguished for gentleness and urbanity of manners, integrity and purity
of character. Under his superintendence, Faneuil Hall was enlarged to double
its ancient area, and the streets of the town greatly improved. In 1818, he was
appointed by President Monroe architect of the Capitol at the city of Washing
ton. 1 The members were, — John PhUlips, John T. Apthorp, Ebenezer T. An
drews, Francis Welsh, John Mackay, Lynde Walter, Jonathan Whitney, Wil
liam Homer, Jacob Rhoades, Thomas Badser, J. C. Rainsford, John Cotton,
Redford Webster, A. Crocker, WiUiam Mackay, John Wood, Joseph Howe,
James Robinson, Benjamin Smith, Josiah Quincy, George Blake, Benjamin
West. 2 The following outline wiU give a sufficient general idea of this plan : — ¦
The style or title for the municipal organization was proposed to be, — " The
Intendant and MunicipaUty of the Town and City of Boston." The municipal
ity to consist of the selectmen chosen by all the citizens in town meeting, and of
two delegates from each ward, chosen by the inhabitants of the ward. This
municipality to have power to elect annually all the officers now chosen by the
town, except selectmen, overseers of the poor, school committee, town clerk, fire
wards, board of health, and assessors, who were to continue to be chosen by the
inhabitants at large in town meeting. The " intendant " was to be chosen annu
aUy by the selectmen and delegates, together with the overseers of the poor and
board of health. The powers to be exercised, according to this project, by the
intendant and the other organic bodies it constituted, were marked out with suffi
cient general precision ; and as aU the then existing boards were continued,
and to two of them a voice was given, in conjunction with the municipality, iu
the election of the intendant, it was hoped that a sufficient deference had been
paid to popular habit and feeUngs, to insure its adoption.

28 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
In 1821, the impracticabUity of conducting the municipal
interests of the place, under the form of town government, be
came apparent to the inhabitants. With a population upwards
oi forty thousand, and with seven thousand qualified voters, it was
evidently impossible calmly to deliberate and act. When a
town meeting was held on any exciting subject in Faneuil HaU,
those only who obtained places near the moderator could even
hear the discussion. A few busy or interested individuals easily
obtained the management of the most important affairs, in an
assembly in which the gi'eater number could have neither voice
or hearing.
" When the subject was not generally exciting, town meetings
were usually composed of the selectmen, the town officers, and
thirty or forty inhabitants. Those who thus came were, for the
most part, drawn to it from some official duty or private interest,
which, when performed or attained, they generally troubled them
selves but little, or not at all, about the other business of the
meeting. In assemblies thus composed, by-laws were passed ;
taxes, to the amount of one hundred or one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, voted, on statements often general in their
nature, and on reports, as it respects the majority of voters pre
sent, taken upon trust, and which no one had carefully considered
except perhaps the chairman.
In the constitution of the town government there had resulted
in the course of time, from exigency or necessity, a complexity,
little adapted to produce harmony in action, and an irresponsibi
lity irreconcilable with a wise and efficient conduct of its affairs.
On the agents of the town there was no direct check or control;
no pledge for fidelity, but their own honor and sense of charac
ter. The prosperity of the town of Boston, under such a form
of government; the few defalcations which had occurred; the
frequent, and often for years uninterrupted, reelection of the same
members to the officiating boards, are conclusive evidences of
the prevailing high state of morals and inteUigence among the
inhabitants. Besides the principal boards of selectmen, the overseers of the
poor, and that of health, there were the board of firewards, of
assessors, and of the committee of the schools. The executive
power was, in effect, divided among the three first above-named.
Each of these claimed independence of the other; each pos-

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 29
sessed a qualified conttol in respect of expenditures ; whUe, at
the same time, their respective authorities were often obscurely
separated, and sometimes identical. It is evident that, among
independent boards thus constituted, petty jealousies, rivalry,
and coUisions must occasionally take place ; which accordingly
happened. The management of the finances of the town presented a
curious and somewhat anomalous spectacle. The three boards,
of selectmen, overseers of the poor, and board of health, being
the exclusive expending agents of the town, were also consti
tuted a committee of finance. They chose annuaUy, in conven
tion, the teeasurer and coUector of the town, settled his accounts,
and every year, in the month of March, presented to the town a
general statement of the expenditure of each board ; and, after
deducting the effective incomes, an estimate of the amount of
tax necessary to be raised, to meet the anticipated expendi
tures of aU the boards for the ensuing year. The tax thus
proposed was often voted at a town meeting, in which the
members of those boards themselves constituted a majority of
the inhabitants present. When raised and coUected, the pro
ceeds of the tax were drawn for by each of these boards, according
to their respective exigencies, of which each board was the sole
judge for itself. Thus, while these boards were exclusively the
expending power, they virtually exercised the whole power of
taxation. For the annual town tax was almost ever, without
exception, regulated by their estimates ; and each board having,
individuaUy, or in conjunction with the other boards, the power
of borrowing money and of making contracts, independent of
any previous vote of the town, both the power of forming and
declaring the requisite annual amount of tax was, in fact, in their
hands. A conviction of the want of safety and of responsibility
in a machine thus complicated and loosely combined, became
at length so general, that the inherited and inveterate antipathy
to a city organization began perceptibly to diminish. About this
time, also, one of the most common and formal objections to a
city organization was removed. The constitution of Massa
chusetts, which was passed in 1780, contained no express author
ity to estabUsh a city organization; and, in every attempt to
change that of the town, it never faded to be zealously con-

30 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tended, that the legislature of the commonwealth possessed no
such power. But by the amendments to the constitution, made
by the convention of 1820, and adopted by the people, this power
was expressly recognized. The question, therefore, now stood
on its own merits, and independent of constitutional objections.
The debates, also, which occurred in this convention had a tend
ency to open the eyes of the inhabitants to their own interests,
and to allay some of the long-cherished prejudices against a
city organization.
The first step to the measures which finally led to this great
change in the form of town government was rather incidental
than preconcerted, and was the result of circumstances, which
might be anticipated from the complicated and ill-arranged
organization of the town system.
Early in the commencement of the civil year, 1821, votes
had passed in town meeting, for uniting the office of county and
town treasurer in one person. The three boards constituting the
committee of finance had disregarded those votes, and different
persons were chosen to these offices.
This proceeding was highly disapproved by the inhabitants.
Votes were passed in town meeting censuring the committee of
finance ; and a committee was chosen to take measures for car
rying into effect their views relative to the union of those offices
in one person.
About the same time, great discontent arose in respect to the
county expenditures ; and a committee was chosen to devise
measures that the town might become a county by itself. Very
full reports were made by both these committees, and a very
general desire became apparent, that a more economical and
practical management of the town concerns should be effected.
Accordingly, on the twenty-second of October, a committee of
thirteen inhabitants ^ was selected, to whom the two former
•reports were referred, with insttuctions to report to the town " a
complete system relating to the administration of the town and
¦county, which shall remedy the present evUs."
1 The members of this committee were, — John PhUlips, WiUiam SuUiyan,
Charles Jackson, Josiah Quincy, WiUiam Prescott, WUliam Tudor, George
Blake, Henry Orne, Daniel Webster, Isaac Winslow, Lemuel Shaw, Stephen
Codman, Joseph TUden.

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 31
On the tenth of December, 1821, this committee made their
report;! but did not venture to go farther than to recommend
some improvements in the government of the town ; and directed
their principal endeavors to the establishing of a police court,
consisting of three justices paid by salaries, instead of a comt of
sessions, paid by fees ; and to effect the tt-ansfer of the ttansac-
tion of the financial and other business of the town from a gene-
ral meeting of the inhabitants to a town council. The com
mittee did not deem the inhabitants to be prepared to change
the form of the executive of the town ; they, therefore, left it in
the hands of the selectmen, with such powers as the town coun
cil might from time to time confer on them.
After considerable debate, Benjamin RusseU, an inhabit
ant at that period distinguished for his great activity and influ
ence on all occasions of political excitement, popular with the
party predominating at that time in the politics of the town, and
a leader among the mechanics, openly declared that the commit
tee " had not gone far enough in its alterations, and, in his opi
nion, a great change had been effected in the minds of the inha
bitants on the subject of city government," and concluded his
remarks, by moving "that the report should be recommitted to the
same committee, with the addition of one person from each ward
of the town, with insttuctions to report a system for the govern
ment of the town, with such powers, privileges, and immunities
as are contemplated by the amendment of the constitution of the
commonwealth, authorizing the General Court to constitute a
city government." This motion was accordingly adopted, and
twelve persons chosen and added to the former committee.^
On the thirty-first of December, 1821, this committee of twenty-
1 Of this system the following is a brief outline : —
The town government to be thus altered, — a body of assistants, to be chosen
annuaUy in the wards, in a ratio of one for each nine hundred inhabitants,
¦which, according to the then last census, would constitute the number of forty-
one. These assistants, -with the selectmen, were to form a town councU, and be
charged with specified powers, and subject to specified restrictions.
The town to form a county by itself; and the treasurer of the town to be that
of the county. The Court of Sessions to be aboUshed, and its duties transferred
to other bodies.
A poUce court to be estabhshed, to have cognizance of all civU and criminal
causes cognizable by justices of the peace.
2 This addition to the committee was constituted of George Darracott, Redford
Webster, Thomas Badger, James Davis, Henry Farnham, Michael Roulstone,
John Cotton, Lewis G. Pray, Benjamin Russell, WiUiam Sturgis, Daniel Messin-
ger, and Gerry Fairbanks.

32 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
five reported a system of municipal government conformably to
their instructions, recommending indeed a change of the name
of " town " for that of " city," but not venturing to inttoduce the
names usual in city organizations, lest the ancient jealousy,
which now seemed to slumber, should be awakened. In their
stead, the committee proposed that the executive should be caUed
" Intendant," the executive board, consisting of seven persons,
" Selectmen," and the more numerous branch " a Board of Assist
ants ; " aU of whom, in their aggregate capacity, should be caUed
"the Common CouncU." The intendant to be elected by the
selectmen ; the selectmen by general ticket ; the assistants, being
forty-eight in number, four to be chosen for each ward ; the over
seers of the poor, firewards, and school committee, by the intend
ant, selectmen, and assistants ; the state and United States offi
cers by general ticket.
After a debate of three days, in which the report was amended,
by denominating the executive board " Mayor and Aldermen,"
the latter to consist of eight persons, the name of the " Board of
Assistants " being also changed into that of the " Common Coun
cil," and, in their aggregate capacity, "the City CouncU," the
mayor, aldermen, overseers of the poor, firewards, state, and Uni
ted States officers to be chosen by the citizens at large, voting in
wards, the report was so far accepted as to be submitted to the
inhabitants for their acceptance. On the points connected ¦with
these amendments, the debate in town meeting chiefly turned;
but little opposition was made, or modifications proposed, to
those features of the plan, which related to the disttibution and
Hmitations of powers among the several branches of the govern
ment, or to the organization of the police court.
During the debate of the three days, considerable warmth was
manifested, and some confusion occurred ; but the report, as
amended, was finally submitted to the inhabitants for then sanc
tion, in the form of five resolves, to be decided by bedlot of yea
and nay. Of which the tenor was as follows : —
1. That we approve of the alteration in the form of town
government submitted by this report.
2. That the United States and commonwealth officers be
chosen in ward meetings.
3. That the city councU determine the number of representa
tives to the General Court.

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 33
4. That we approve that the town should be a county by
itself, and that the town treasurer be county treasurer, that the
court of sessions be abolished, and a police court substituted.
5. That the name of " Town of Boston " should be changed
into that of " City of Boston."
On Monday, the seventh of January, 1822, the baUots of the
inhabitants were taken on the above resolves, and aU were passed
in the affirmative as foUows : —

Yeas.

Nays.

Majority.

1. 2805

2006

799

2. 2611

2195

416

3. 2690

2128

462

4. 4557

257

4300

5. 2727

2087

640

The assent of the inhabitants being thus expressed in favor of
this great change, measm-es were immediately taken to obtain
the sanction of the legislature of the commonwealth.

CHAPTER III.
TOWN GOVERNMENT. 1821-1822.
The Almshouse removed from Beacon Street to Leverett Street — Overseers of
the Poor remonstrate on its Condition — Proceedings of the Legislature of
Massachusetts on the Subject of Pauperism — Erection of a House of Industry
authorized by the Inhabitants of Boston — Noble Conduct of Samuel BroTvn—
His Character — House of Industry erected — Act of Incorporation of the
City obtained and accepted — John PhiUips chosen Mayor.
The defects and insufficiency of the Boston Almshouse became
a subject of earnest complaint soon after Massachusetts attained
the rank of an independent state. By a report of a committee
of the town in the year 1790, it appears that it was destitute of
a separate hospital or infirmary ; that persons of every age and
character were lodged under the same roof ; the sick disturbed by
the noise of the healthy ; and the aged and infirm endangered
and annoyed by the diseased and profligate. All attempts to
change the locaUty of the institution were unsuccessful until the
year 1801, when an almshouse was erected in Leverett Street,
and that in Beacon Stteet discontinued and the land sold.
The new building was of enlarged dimensions and accommo
dations, but its interior arrangements did not permit the separa
tion of age and misfortune from vice and vagrancy. In 1802,
one year after the removal of the almshouse to Leverett Stteet,
the importance of erecting another buUding, for a house of cor
rection, was forcibly urged on the town by a committee of the
selectmen, of which Charles Bulfinch was chairman, accompa
nied by estimates of the probable co§t. Its immediate erection
was, however, postponed, on account of the pecuniary exigencies
of the town. No further proceedings occurred until 1812, when
the Overseers of the Poor themselves memorialized the town on
the inconveniences of the Leverett Street Almshouse, and stated
that among four hundred persons, then its inmates, nearly three
hundred were aged, or invalids, or children ; fifty were sick in the
hospital, and twenty insane ; ^^.i fifty were able to perform differ-

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 35
ent kinds of work, some of whom were subjects of the House of
Correction ; and with much feeling and pathos urged upon the
town the necessity of erecting a building for that purpose, in the
yard of the Almshouse, and prayed for authority and an appro
priation for the object. The report was unanimously accepted
by the town, but nothing was effected in consequence ; and the
condition of the poor in the Almshouse continued without ame
lioration. In 1820, the state of pauperism atttacted the attention of the
legislature of Massachusetts ; and on the motion of one i of the
representatives of the town of Boston, a special committee was
raised on the pauper laws, of which the mover was appointed
chairman. On the recommendation of this committee, the legislature
passed a resolve, requesting the towns in Massachusetts to ttans-
mit to the secretary of state such information as their experience
had suggested, on the best mode of supporting the poor. In
January, 1821, the returns of the towns were referred to the
same committee, who made a report containing absttacts of the
most important statements in those returns, and of their conclu
sions on the subject, which were printed by order of the legisla
ture, and distaibuted throughout the Commonwealth.
In May foUowing, the town of Boston, on the petition of
Joseph May and others, raised a committee to consider the sub
ject of " pauperism at large." Of this committee, the chairman
of the legislative committee was also appointed chairman, and
not having been present at the town meeting, he had no know
ledge of the petition, untU he was apprised by the petitioners
that the cause of his selection, as the chairman of the committee,
was the coincidence of their views with the principles of his
legislative report. That committee, therefore, in general, guided
their proceedings by those principles, and referred to them in
their reports to the town, which, being successively sanctioned
by the votes of the inhabitants, became the basis of the institu
tion now called " the House of Industry," at South Boston.
The principles of that report to the legislature, being the
results of the experience of both England and Massachusetts,
were as foUows : — 1 Josiah Quincy.

36 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
"1. That of aU modes of providing for the poor, the most
wasteful, the most expensive; and most injurious to their morals,
and destructive of their industrious habits, is that of supply in
their own families.
"2. That the most economical mode is that of almshouses,
having the character of workhouses or houses of industry, in
which work is provided for every degree of abiUty in the pauper,
and thus the able poor made to provide, partially, at least, for
their own support ; and also the support, or at least the com
fort, of the impotent poor.
" 3. That of aU modes of employing the labor of the pauper,
agriculture affords the best, the most healthy, and the most cer
tainly profitable ; the poor being thus enabled to raise always at
least their own provisions.
"4. That the success of these estabUshments depends upon
their being placed under the superintendence of a board of over
seers, constituted of the most substantial and intelligent inhabit
ants of the vicinity.
" 5. That of all causes of pauperism, intemperance in the use
of spirituous liquors is the most powerful and universal."
Coinciding in the above views, the committee of the town of
Boston 1 held frequent meetings and discussions ; and examined
particularly into the situation of the Boston Almshouse. Their
views were corroborated and confirmed by a report made to them,
at their request, by the Overseers of the Poor of the town, dated
the twenty-ninth of March, 1821, which stated that only thirty-
six rooms could be appropriated to lodging the inmates of the
institution ; that these rooms ought not to have more than eight
or ten persons each, but that some of these rooms have been, in
some winters, crowded to nearly double that number for a short
time ; that the overseers could not distinguish the cases of the
deserving and undeserving by any certain rule, but that not more
than one fourth part were absolutely of the former class ; and
that the others might be graduated from temporary to absolute
dissoluteness, intemperance, &c.
The report further stated, that the old almshouse included
1 This committee were, — Josiah Quincy, Joseph Levering, James Savage,
Henry J. OUver, Francis Welsh, Joseph May, Thomas Howe, WiUiam Thurston,
Abram Babcock, Samuel A. Welles, James T. Austin, Benjamin Rich, and
Joseph Woodward.

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 37
three distinct establishments, — the almshouse, the workshop,
and the bridewell. The first for the poor, who, from sickness,
age, or infirmity, were unable to work at all ; the second, for the
poor who were able to work, more or less ; the third, for persons
committed on justices' warrants, for petty offences. That in
December, 1800, the building in Leverett Street was erected and
intended for an almshouse; but that "no building had been
erected either for a workhouse or bridewell, and that, therefore,
from necessity, the inhabitants of the three establishments were
obliged to be aU taken into the Almshouse, which had been thus
occupied from the year 1800 to the date of that report, without
the possibility of classing or separating them.
After receiving this report from the overseers, the committee
visited Salem, Marblehead, and Cambridge, and minutely exa
mined their respective almshouses ; and in May, 1821, made a
report embracing the same general views and arguments as those
contained in the legislative report, and showing the success of
simUar institutions in other towns of the state, and urged on the
inhabitants of Boston the duty of discriminating between the
poor, by reason of misfortune, old age, and infancy, and the poor,
by reason of vice ; asserting the impossibility of making such a
discrimination in the Boston Almshouse, and, after setting forth
the advantages of having attached to the house erected for the
poor a ttact of land to give them the benefit of air, employ
ment, and exercise, and the town that of their labor, con
cluded with recommending the establishment of a house of
industty, with an extent of land not less than fifty acres, that
twenty thousand dollars should be appropriated for its com
mencement, and authority given to purchase the land and erect
such buildings as might be necessary.
This report was accepted by the inhabitants, the appropriation
voted, and a committee appointed to carry it into effect.^
At the time this report was presented, the committee had
selected as the most eligible locality for the proposed institution,
that beautiful hiU and site, commanding a view of Boston and
its whole harbor, where the House of Industry, of Correction,
1 This committee was coroposed of the same indi-viduals as the former, except
that David W. Child, John BeUows, John French, and George Darracott were
substituted for Messrs. Austin, Levering, May, and Woodward, who decUned
longer service upon it. '
4

38 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
and of JuvenUe Offenders are now (1851) erected, being at that
time an open country, with comparatively no inhabitants in its
vicinity. The tract of land, including upwards of sixty acres,
with an immense extent of flats annexed to them, was then the
property of Samuel Brown, a merchant, distinguished on the
Boston Exchange for his integrity and capacity ; and it is due to
the memory of this noble spirited individual, that a fact relative
to this purchase should be here recorded.
As soon as the committee had agreed on the eUgibiUty of this
estate for the location of the House of Industry, the chairman
waited on Mr. Brown, and fully explained their plans, and that
if authorized by the town, they wished to purchase it for that
purpose, if it could be obtained for a fan price. Mr. Brown.
replied, that he highly approved the object, thought the situation
an eligible one, and that he had valued the land at one hwndred
dollars an acre, at which price the committee should have it,
provided an authority should be obtained to purchase, and a
selection made of it by the committee within three weeks. On
being asked to make that promise in writing, he declined ; say
ing only, "on the terms above expressed, you shall have the
whole ttact, being six thousand- tiiree-hundi'ed acres for six thou
sand three hundred dollars."
A vote of the town was accordingly obtained, and the com
mittee authorized the chairman, within the three weeks, to close
the bargain with Mr. Brown on the terms specified. On stating
the facts to that gentleman, he replied, — " Mr. Quincy, you
know the agreement was verbal, and not binding in law ; and
since our interview I have been offered five hundred dollars an
acre for my land, making a difference to me over your offer of
upwards of twenty-five thousand dollars. However, sir, I like the
object. I think the land uncommonly weU adapted to it. You
have my word, and I am not disposed to faU back from it. You
shall have my deed." This was accordingly prepared imme
diately and executed. The value of the lands in that vicinity
immediately rose to one thousand doUars an acre, and at no
subsequent period could they have been purchased for less.
Samuel Brown had been the architect of his own fortunes, was
active, judicious, and punctual, as a man of business ; of a high
sense of honor, distinguished for his readiness to assist his friends
with his advice and his fortune ; public spirited, without ostenta-

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 39
tion or any selfish views in exhibiting it. Respect for his me
mory should ever be cherished by the citizens of Boston.
The estate thus obtained, was laid out by the committee, the
House of Industry erected upon it, and on the twenty-second of
October, they presented a detaUed report, stating the pecuHar
adaptation of the situation to the wants of the contemplated
institution to be altogether unequaUed ; the soil being exceUent
and various ; the distance from the centre of the town, only two
and a half miles by land and one and a half by water, with a
certainty that the faciUty of communication must daily increase,
and the natural gro-wth of the town soon intimately connect the
site with the ancient parts of it ; that the building erected was
two hundred and twenty feet in length, forty-three feet broad,
twenty-nine feet high ; that steength, durabiUty, and adaptation
to the wants of the inmates had been consulted without special
regard to the gratification of taste or architectural effect.
The committee received the thanks of the town, and an addi
tional appropriation of six thousand dollars was voted for the
object. On the twenty-eighth of March, 1822, the committee made
their last report to the town. The inhabitants had, prior to this
meeting, accepted the charter for a city, which the legislature
had granted, and which was to be organized on the May ensu
ing. In this report the committee represent the progress of the
work ; recall the attention of the inhabitants to the original
design of the institution ; moral effect ; separation of the idle
and vicious poor from those of an opposite character, secluding
them from any occasional intercourse with the populous parts
of the town and their old haunts, affording to them moral and
religious instruction ; reUeving the town from open drunken
ness and stteet beggary, and the petty pilfering carried on by
children of the idle and vicious poor, on the wharves, in the
streets and the market-places, and thereby, if possible, diminish
also the expenses of the town. The inhabitants accepted the
report; placed the additional appropriation asked for at the
disposal of the committee ; authorized them to provide for the
care of the house and land, to prepare a system for the general
conduct and management of the institution, and to lay the
same before the city authorities, who were requested to take the
subject into their early consideration, and to carry the same into

40 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
effective operation ; the overseers being also requested to deUver
over any of the able-bodied poor, on the application of the com
mittee, to be employed at the House of Industry.
This was the last meeting, and one of the last acts, of the
" town of Boston ;" and in this position the subject of the House
of Industty stood at the organization of the city government in
May, 1822.
After the peace of 1783, the increase of the population of the
town of Boston was slow and gradual, amounting in 1790 to
about eighteen thousand ; in 1800, to twenty-five thousand ; in
1810, to thirty-three thousand ; and in 1820, to forty-three thou
sand, which may be regarded, with sufficient accuracy, the num
ber of inhabitants at the period of the change of Boston from a
town to a city. During the latter years of the town government,
the data for its financial history are very complete and satisfac
tory, and evidence the wisdom and fidelity with which its affahs
had been conducted. The only debt transferred from the town
to the city government but Uttle exceeded seventy-one thousand
dollars, which was wholly incurred by the cost of two prisons,
then in the course of erection, and a new court house. If Uttle
had been done by the town government for the -widening of
streets and increasing the general comfort of the inhabitants,
expenditures had been kept within its incomes, and the resources
of the town were unembarrassed and unimpaired.
The property delivered over by the town to the city was large
and valuable, but unproductive, consisting chiefly of lands on
the Neck or the islands, and the market under Faneuil HaU.
The entire annual income of this property did not exceed eigh
teen thousand doUars.
The measures taken to obtain from the legislature of Massa
chusetts a charter of incorporation were successful ; and, on the
twenty-thii-d of February, 1822, an act passed that body, en
titled "An Act Establishing the City of Boston," commonly
called "The City Charter."
In conformity with its provisions, the inhabitants assembled
in general meeting on the fourth of March ensuing, and accepted
the act by vote, taken by ballot, by a majority of nine hundred
and sixteen. The whole number being four thousand six hun
dred and seventy-eight, of which two thousand seven hundred
and ninety-seven voted in the affirmative, and one thousand
eight hundred and eighty-one in the negative.

TOWN GOVERNMENT. 41
On the eighth of AprU ensuing, a meeting of the citizens was
held for the election of city officers. The whole number of votes
for mayor was three thousand seven hundred and eight. They
were chiefly divided between Harrison Gray Otis, and Josiah
Quincy ; but neither having a majority, no choice was effected.
Immediately on this result, Mr. Otis and Mr. Quincy each
decUned being a candidate for the office. On the sixteenth of
April, John PhiUips was elected mayor with great unanimity .^
1 The foUoTving brief outline of the principal features of this charter will
enable those who have not the means of being familiar with its details, to com
pare its general provisions -with the former unsuccessful attempts to obtain an
aet of incorporation for the city : —
1. The tide of the corporation to be, " The City of Boston."
2. The control of all its concerns are vested in a mayor ; a board of alder
men, consisting of eight ; and a common councU, of forty-eight inhabitants ; to
be caUed, when conjoined, " The City CouncU."
3. The city to be divided into twelve wards. The mayor and aldermen, and
the common councU, to be chosen annuaUy by ballot, by and from inhabitants ;
four of the common councU from and by those of each of the wards.
4. The city clerk to be chosen by the city council.
5. The mayor to receive a salary. His duty — to be vigUant and active in caus
ing the laws to be executed ; to inspect the conduct of aU subordinate officers ;
to cause carelessness, negligence, and positive violation of the laws, to be prose
cuted and punished ; to summon meetings of either and both boards ; to com
municate and recommend measures for the improvement of the finances, the
poUce, health, security, cleanliness, comfort, and ornament of the city.
6. The mayor and aldermen are vested with the administration of the poUce,
and executive power of the corporation generally, with specific enumerated
powers. 7. All other powers belonging to the corporation are vested in the mayor,
aldermen, and common councU, to be exercised by concurrent vote.

4*

CHAPTER IV.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1822-1823.
John Phillips, Mayor.^
Inauguration — Address of the Selectmen, on surrendering the Government
and Muniments of the To'wn of Boston — Reply of the Mayor — Measures
adopted to carry into effect the City Charter — Donation of Mr. Sears —
Proceedings relative to the House of Industry — Result of the First Year's
Administration of the City Government — Tribute to Mr. Phillips.
The city government was organized, for the first time, on
Wednesday, the first of May, 1822, with a solemnity adapted
to the general interest excited by the occasion, and the great
advantages anticipated from the new powers conferred by the
city charter.
A platform was raised at the west end of FaneuU HaU, with
seats for the mayor, aldermen, and city councU ; the selectmen
of the past year, with other town authorities, and the chief offi
cers of the Commonwealth. The floor of the house and the
gaUeries were fUled with a crowded assembly. The city charter,
inclosed in a sUver case, was laid upon a table in front of the
city councU. After prayer, offered by the Rev. Thomas Bald
win, D.D., the oldest settled clergyman in Boston, the oaths of
aUegiance and of office were administered to John PhiUips, the
mayor elect, by Isaac Parker, Chief Justice of the Common
wealth; and afterwards, by the mayor, to the aldermen and
common council.
The chairman of the last board of selectmen^ then rose and
addressed the convention, stating the grant of a city charter by
the legislature of the State to the inhabitants of Boston; their
1 The whole number of votes cast at this election for city officers were 2650 ;
of which Mr. PhilUps had 2500. The aldermen elected were : —
Samuel Billings, Joseph Jenkins,
Ephraim EUot, Joseph Lovering,
Jacob HaU, Nathaniel P. Russell,
Joseph Head, Bryant P. TUden.
2 Eliphalet WUUams.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 43
acceptance of it ; their election of the members of the respective
executive and legislative boards; the presence of these boards,
and their complete organization, according to the provisions of
the city charter. In obedience, therefore, to the law, and in con
formity -with the will of the inhabitants of Boston, and in behalf
of the selectmen of the ancient town, he deUvered into the charge
of the new authorities the town records and title deeds, and the
act establishing the city of Boston. He then concluded with
congratulating his feUow-citizens on the organization of their
municipal affairs under a city charter, and on the wisdom with
which they had selected those who were destined to give the first
impulse and direction to the operations of the new government.
The Mayor, in reply, paid a just tribute to the wisdom of our
ancestors, as displayed in the institutions for the government of
the town of Boston, under which, for nearly two centuries, so
great a degree of prosperity had been attained, and during which
the great increase of the population of the place had alone made
this change in the administtation of its affairs essential. He
then responded to the congratulations and civUities of the Chair
man ; acknowledged the obligations of the city government for
the care the selectmen had taken in providing for the accommo
dation of their successors ; and bore testimony to the fuU evi
dence, exhibited by the records, of the ability, diligence, and
integrity of those who had been successively, and justly, denomi
nated " The Fathers of the Town."
The Mayor then proceeded to remark, in respect of those
" who encouraged hopes, which could never be realized, and of
those who indulged unreasonable apprehensions, in regard to the
city charter, that they would derive benefit from reflecting, how
much social happiness depended on other causes than the pro^vi-
sions of a charter. Purity of manners; general diffusion of
knowledge ; strict attention to the education of the young ; and,
above aU, a firm, practical beUef in Divine revelation and its
sanctions, wiU counteract the evils of any form of government ;
and, while love of order, benevolent dispositions, and Christian
piety, distinguish, as they have done, the inhabitants of Boston,
they may enjoy the highest blessings under a charter with so
few imperfections as that which the -wisdom of the legislature
had sanctioned." ^ 1 See Appendix A.

44 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
After retiring from FaneuU HaU, the members of the respect
ive boards met in separate rooms, and the common councU, hav
ing chosen then president i and clerk,^ both boards assembled in
convention and elected a city clerk.^ They then, respectively, in
their separate chambers, proceeded to the consideration of business
requiring immediate attention ; established rules and orders regu
lating the intercourse between the two boards ; passed orders con
tinuing in force the by-laws of the late town ; estabUshing rules
and regulations for the preservation of public health, and for the
appointment of temporary health commissioners. And in due
course of the ensuing and succeeding months, aU the various
measures, for the choice of city officers, and for the efficient
organization of the different departments incident to city poUce,
and requned by law, were taken ; and, as far as practicable, the
customs and forms to which the citizens had been famUiarized
under the government of the town, were adopted. Three sur
veyors of highways were appointed, and also a committee of
the board of aldermen for their advisement. The city engines
were inttusted to the firewards. Salaries for the respective city
officers voted. A board, consisting of a joint committee of the
two boards, denominated "Auditors of City Accounts," was
constituted, whose prescribed duty it was to audit them, to
report cases of difficulty, with their opinion, to the city council,
monthly. The amount of each account, when sanctioned by
them, was drawn for, on the city treasurer, by the city clerk.
A city seal was adopted, its impression exhibiting a general
view of the city of Boston, with the respective dates of the
foundation of the city and of the grant of its charter, bearing
the motto, " Sicut Patribus sit Deus nobis." In December of this
year a vote passed both boards, authorizing an application to the
legislatm-e for investing the mayor and aldermen with the power
of surveyors of highways. No further steps -were taken, how
ever, to effect this change in the provisions of the city charter.
Early in 1823, a colUsion of opinion occurred between the
mayor and aldermen and the common councU, concerning the
interest of the city, which brought before those authorities, for
distinct consideration, the question, whether the mayor and alder
men had the power to receive a gift, upon condition, for the
1 WiUiam Prescott. 2 Thomas Clarke.
3 Samuel F. McCleary.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 45
benefit of the city, without the concurrence of the common
councU. David Sears, a citizen distinguished for wealth, libe
rality, and public spirit, had tt-ansferred rights, consisting of six
hundred shares in certain lands and buUdings, near the public
market of the city, called " Museum HaU," of the estimated
value of sixty thousand doUars, to the mayor and aldermen of
the city, on condition that the whole property should be vested
and managed by them at their discretion ; and one half of the
income, forever, paid over to Mr. Sears or his heirs, and the other
half be applied to improving or ornamenting the lands of the
city, fighting the stteets, and other specified objects. This dona
tion was received unanimously by the mayor and aldermen.
And, so much pleased were they with the gift, that, at their sug
gestion, Mr. Sears, at some labor and expense, possessed himself
of the whole remaining rights in those lands and buUdings, con
sisting of two hundred additional shares, of the estimated value
of sixteen hundred doUars, and tt-ansferred them to the same
board, on like conditions. The arrangement had proceeded thus
far before it was communicated to the common council; and,
when apprized of this ttansaction, that board took it into very
serious consideration by a committee, and finaUy voted unani
mously that it was not for the interest of the city to accept the
donation. Whatever other motives may have mingled in pro
ducing the rejection of this gift, the principal reason stated was,
that it would interfere with the profitable employment of the
property which the city then held, and thus prove ultimately
injurious to it.
The consequent embarrassment of the mayor and aldermen
was of course excessive ; which was increased by the declaration
of the committee of the common councU to the donor, that,
although it might be a complete conttact between him and the
present mayor and aldermen, as individuals, it would not bind
their successors, as the ttansaction had not the concurrence of
the common councU.
From the dilemma in which the mayor and aldermen were
thus involved they were immediately relieved, in a highly
honorable manner, by Mr. Sears ; who, in writing, requested
them to reinvest him with the property, preferring to bear the
great loss to which he was thus subjected, rather than be the
occasion of any embarrassment to that body, or any cause of

46 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
conttoversy between the two boards. The reinvestment was
accordingly made ; and a vote passed by the mayor and alder
men, expressing their respectful sense of Mr. Sears's intentions
and views, and their high approbation of his delicacy, in reliev
ing the city government from the embarrassment in which it had
been involved, by the different views taken by the common
councU and the board of aldermen of this donation.
During the first year of the city, its financial concerns were
managed on a scale not materiaUy varying, either in spirit or
amount, from that of the town government. The committee on
that subject expressed "theij unquaUfied approbation of the
manner in which the affairs of Boston have hitherto been con
ducted, throughout all the departments : " and their " hope, that
changes, not absolutely necessary, will be made with caution
and distrust, and with much consideration." These views had
been carried into effect by the first administration, and this hope
realized. No new debt had been created dm-ing the year. The
expenses, both of the county and city, had been kept within their
incomes ; and the second administration received from the first
all the property it had received from the town, unembarrassed
and unimpaired.
Under the town government, the financial year had com
menced on the first day of May. This year, its commencement
was changed to the first day of June. The change was not
found convenient ; and in the year 1826, the first of May was
again constituted its commencement.
In July, 1822, the sole existing debt of the city to be provided
for, was stated to be $ 100,000.
The current expenses were estimated to amount,
in round numbers, to  $ 249,000
And were provided for by loan of . $ 28,000
By specified ways and means . . 81,000
And by a city tax .... 140,000
 $ 249,000
The course pursued by the city government, in relation to the
House of Industry, forms an important feature of its proceedings
during this period. The ffi-st city council of Boston were organized
on the fii-st of May, 1822. On the third of that month, the
committee on the House of Industt-y made a communication to
the city councU, recapitulating the authority given to them by

CITY GOVERNMENT. 47
the town, to prepare a system for the general conduct, manage-
men-t, and discipUne of the institution ; and informing that body
that, by the laws of the Commonwealth, the power to devise
such a system was speciaUy invested in the Board of Overseers
of the Poor, a fact which was not considered by the to-wn when
that vote was passed. The Committee, therefore, stated, that
they had omitted the execution of that authority untU they
apprized the city government of that fact, and received their
insttuctions. They also stated, that the House of Industry was
far advanced towards its completion, and would be in a condi
tion to receive tenants in five or six weeks ; and suggested the
expediency of an application to the legislature of the Common
wealth, or a reference of the subject to the Overseers of the
Poor. Several considerations induced the Committee to adopt this
course. In the first place, doubts began to be entertained, whe
ther the House of Industt-y would ever be put into operation.
The Overseers made no concealment of their hostiUty to the
plan of removing the poor to South Boston. It was known
that there was a powerful influence at work in that body in
favor of seUing the House of Industty, and enlarging the ac
commodations in Leverett Stteet. It therefore could not be ex
pected the Committee should assume the labor and responsibility
of preparing the detaUs of a system for an establishment which
might never be carried into effect; and, if it were, might be
placed in hands hostUe or indifferent to the principle on which
they might recommend it should be conducted. They were also
apprehensive that, if they assumed, even under the vote of the
town, the authority which the laws of the Commonwealth in
vested in the Overseers of the Poor, it might create an increased
repugnance in them to the institution at South Boston.
The animosity of that board to this estabUshment wiU appear
hereafter. It is here aUuded to, as explaining why the House of
Industry remained unoccupied the whole of the first year of the
city government, and 'indicating the cause of the general course
of proceeding during that year, in relation to it.
The communication of the Committee was referred by the
City CouncU to the Overseers of the Poor, and to the Committee
of the House of Industty ; and they were requested, in conjunc
tion, to take the subject into consideration, and to devise a plan

48 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
for the superintendence and government of said house, such as
they should deem useful, and report it to the City Council.
Those two bodies had, accordingly, several meetings on the sub
ject, in which the Overseers made no concealment of their want of
sympathy with the institution at South Boston ; refused to be in
any way concerned in its superintendence ; and declined enter
ing upon the consideration of a system for its discipline and
management. The result of their deUberations was reported to
the City CouncU by the Committee of the House of Industry:
that the Board of Overseers and that Committee, after joint con
sideration, were unanimous in the opinion that, in the present
increased and rapidly increasing state of this mettopolis, and the
necessarUy extensive character of the contemplated institution,
it would be impracticable for the Overseers of the Poor to under
take the management and discipline of said house ; and recom
mended that an application should be made to the legislature of
Massachusetts for the establishment of a new board, for these
purposes, -with powers simUar to those now possessed by the
Overseers of the Poor; reserving to the latter a concurrent
power, of committing persons Uable to be sent to that house.
A biU was also prepared by the Committee, which, if approved
by the City Council, they recommended as the basis of an act
to be appUed for to the State legislature. The City Council
accepted the report, adopted the biU, and requested the represent
atives of the city to endeavor to obtain an act from the legisla
ture in conformity with its provisions. Objections to the bill
were raised, and nothing effectual done by the legislature during
the spring session of that body.
In June, 1822, Mr. Brooks, chairman of the Committee of
Finance, addressed a note to the chairman of the Committee
of the House of Industty, inquiring concerning " the time and
manner in which it was proposed to put that estabUshment into
operation; and whether any further sums would be wanting
from the city tteasury?" To which it was replied, that, "in
all essential and important particulars, the buUding had been
erected within the appropriations ; that furniture, fences, work
shops, and subsidiary buildings were stiU to be provided. That
the Committee of the House of Lidustry considered themselves
only as agents, to carry into effect the wise and humane inten
tions of the inhabitants ; that they wanted no additional appro-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 49
priation ; and that they were preparing to deliver up the house to
the care of the city authorities, as soon as certain minor details
were effected." This they accordingly did, on the sixteenth of
September following, in a report stating the degree of complete
ness it had attained ; and that, excepting fences and outbuUd-
ings, the establishment was ready for occupation. After recapi
tulating the several successive authorities under which the land
had been purchased, the house buUt, and the amount expended,
(forty thousand and one hundred doUars,) they expressed a hope,
that the great and interesting objects the inhabitants of the
town had in view in its foundation, might be attained under
the wise management of the City Council ; and that it might
result, " as they cannot doubt it wUl, in much moral reformation
among the poor, and in a considerable annual reduction in one
of the heaviest branches of city expenditure."
The City Council referred this report to a joint committee;
but before any proceedings occurred under that reference, a vote
passed both branches of that body, on the twenty-third of the
same month, implying a neglect of duty in the Committee of
the House of Industry, in the following words : " Whereas, the
Committee raised to erect a House of Industty were insttucted
in the month of March, 1821, ' to form a system for the conduct
of that institution;' and that Committee having reported that
the house is nearly completed, but that Committee not having
reported any such system, — voted, that the Mayor of the city be
requested to caU on that Committee to favor the city govern
ment with their opinion on the most expedient mode of putting
the said institution to the uses intended by the estabUshment
thereof." The object of this vote was too apparent not to be perceived
by the Committee of the House of Industry. They held an im
mediate meeting ; and, on the thirty -first of October, their chair
man, under their sanction, made a report, stating, in vindication
of the Committee, " that, so far from neglecting the duty im
posed upon them by the town, as the vote of the City CouncU
indicated, that Committee did, on the third of May, two days
after the organization of the city government, make a communi
cation to the City CouncU, informing them that, by the laws of
the Commonwealth, the power to devise such a system for the
poor, as the vote of the town indicated, was vested alone in the
5

50 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Overseers of the Poor; that the City CouncU had thereupon
refen-ed that subject to the Overseers of the Poor and the Com
mittee of the House of Industty ; that, on the seventeenth of
May, those two bodies met in convention, agreed upon the provi
sions of a bill for the discipline and management of said house,
which, having been subsequently modified in both branches
of the City CouncU, had been referred to the representatives of
the city, for the purpose of obtaining the sanction of the legisla
ture ; and that thus, the Committee of the House of Industty,
so far from not having fulfiUed the insti-uctions of the town, as
the vote of the City CouncU intimated, they had specifically
performed it, as far as the nature of their powers authorized, and
this, not only with the acquiescence, but under the sanction and
with the assistance of the City CouncU which had passed this
vote of impUed censure.
Touching the most expedient mode of putting the institution
to the uses proposed by those who established it, they intimated
that the first step was to obtain the sanction of the legislature
to the bUl which the City CouncU had recommended; that,
whenever such a bUl should pass, and the superintending board
of directors be elected, it would tie easy to adopt a system
for its discipline and management, by selecting and coUat-
ing the wise rules which the experience of other towns in the
Commonwealth had shown to be effectual for the attainment of
the object the inhabitants of the town proposed to themselves
by its estabUshment, namely, — 1st. To occupy the able-bodied
poor on the land, thereby giving them a healthful exercise, and
enabling them to contribute somewhat to their own support
2d. By giving the sick and infirm poor a freer air, and enabhng
them to have a freer range for exercise, in a farm of fifty or sixty
acres, than it was possible in thickly settled parts of the town to
obtain. 3d. By removing them from the city, within which the
necessity of allo-wing the inmates of the Almshouse an oppor
tunity to take air and exercise, led to a practice of turning them
weekly upon the inhabitants, subjecting famiUes to a weekly
visitation of vice and beggary ; a practice not less annoying to the
citizens, than it was incompatible with good order and discipline,
The Committee proceeded to state, that the want of an institu
tion of this kind had long been felt, and had been urged on the
town, by one of its committees, in the year 1802. Again, in 1812,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 51
the Overseers of the Poor themselves had memoriaUzed the town
on the subject of the inadequacy of the Boston Almshouse to the
necessities of the town. In 1821, it had been taken up by the in
habitants, on their own voluntary motion ; and that the House of
Industty had been buUt, and the land on which it was located pm-
chased, at an expense of nearly fifty thousand dollars. The Com
mittee then proceeded to iUusteate the views entertained by the
friends of the institution, and to show how it was expected both to
promote the comfort of the poor and diminish the expenditures
of the town. They then illustrated the exttaordinary convenience
and adaptation of the location for such an institution ; recom
mended its being put into immediate operation in the spirit and
on the principles in which it originated, as soon as the ensuing
season wUl permit ; and tendered to the City CouncU their col
lective and individual communication of whatever knowledge
or opinion they may possess on the subject of the government
and discipUne of the house, whenever the City CouncU should
honor them with such a request.
This report -was committed to a joint committee of the City
CouncU, of which the Mayor, (John PhUUps,) was chairman ;
who, on the twelfth of December foUowing, reported to the
City CouncU that they had examined the House of Industry
and its buUdings ; that great credit was due to the Committee
which had superintended it; th'at the Committee of the City
CouncU were surprised to find so spacious and convenient a
stoucture, with a wharf, barn, and house for a superintendent,
completed for forty thousand doUars ; that luhatever doubt the
Committee might have felt in recommending the erection of such
an establishment, they declare their opinion that it ought now to
be completed ; and they recommend a fm-ther appropriation of
five thousand doUars, to be placed at the disposal of the same
Committee, who had so generously and faithfully superintended
the erection of the building, to lay out the grounds and purchase
implements of agriculture, and for the erection of additional out
houses. As to the occupation of the house, the Committee of the City
CouncU expressed great difficulty. They recommend, however,
that such of the poor as were capable of labor should be removed
to it, as soon as the contemplated improvements were completed,
they being of opinion that the poor of the city would be more

52 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
comfortably situated at South Boston than in the Boston Alms
house, the air being more pure, the buUdings more commodious,
the yard more spacious and comfortable; and they declared
themselves not aware of any inconvenience which would attend
their removal.
This report was accepted in the Board of Aldermen, and was
the only step taken during the first year of the city government
indicative of even an intent to carry the project of a ttansfer of
the poor to South Boston into execution.
The measures proposed by the aldermen were, however,
checked in the Common CouncU, by a vote recommitting the
whole subject, and " insttucting the Committee to report to what
use the House of Industty may be put; and what difficulties
present themselves, if any, in using the said house conform
ably to the original objects in creating said estabUshment; and
that said Committee be requested to report in writing their
opinion, in conformity to this vote ; and that if said Committee
should be of opinion that any legislative act be necessary, that
they report any bUl, in conformity with that opinion."
Under this vote, on the recommendation of that Committee,
the bill originaUy submitted by the Committee of the House of
Industry was revived by vote of the City Council ; and, on the
third of February, 1823, an act was obtained from the legislature
of Massachusetts, vesting in the Directors of the House of In
dustty like powers, relative to governing that house, as were
before had and exercised by Overseers of the Poor, -with other
provisions the above Committee had recommended.
On the thnteenth of January, 1823, the subject had assumed a
different attitude. Another Committee of the City CouncU had
reported that a house of correction was wanted in the County of
Suffolk ; that the Almshouse in Boston was now the only place of
restraint ; that it had only thirty-two rooms for the accommodation
of more than tliree hundred and eighty inmates ; that some contain
fourteen persons, and none less than five, of all ages and colors,
and in every stage of poverty and disease, produced by misfortuM
and vice ; in rooms miserably adapted to the numbers crowded into
them ; that few places exhibit a more incongruous and unfit mixture
of the departments of a hospital, — an almshouse and house of cor
rection ; that those who ivould contribute to their own maintenance
cannot in such a place, and that many could do so cannot be doubted.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 53
They, therefore, recommend that the Boston Almshouse and
the House of Industry should both be maintained ; the former to
be a receptacle of the aged, infirm, and sick poor, and little
chUdren, under the care of the Overseers of the Poor, the latter
to be a house for the employment of those poor who are subjects
of commitment to a house of correction, and under the care of
the Directors of the House of Industty.
This report was accepted in both branches of the City Council.
And in concurrence -with its recommendations, the act authoriz
ing the City CouncU to choose nine directors of the House of In
dustty contained a section, giving to the Overseers of the Poor
and Justices of the Police Com-t concurrent jurisdiction and
the same powers, in relation to commitments to the House of
Industry as previously existed in the laws of the Commonwealth
in relation to commitments to houses of correction.
This attempt to turn the House of Industty into a house of
correction, was not only whoUy incompatible with the original
design of the town, in authorizing its erection, but would have
defeated the whole project had it been carried into execution.
The comfort, the health, the exercise, and the useful employment
of the virtuous and respectable poor, was the fundamental prin
ciple of the design. The superior advantage for these purposes,
in a situation removed from the throng of a city, and having
space enough for the useful employment of the poor on the land,
and the adaptation of this mode of employment for every age,
sex, and state of capacity for labor, were among the declared
inducements for the selection of the location and the appropria
tion for the buUding. The House of Industty was not constructed,
nor had it any sttong rooms and iron vaulted cells, for the restraint
of sturdy rogues and vagabonds.
The picture drawn by this last Committee of the City Council,
of the actual state of the Boston Almshouse, is sufficient to show
not only the wisdom, but the necessity of a total change in that
institution. It was not exaggerated ; but, on the contrary, defi
cient in details, of a very gross and disgusting character, esta
blishing still more sttongly the necessity of a change in the local
relations of the poor in the city of Boston.
Such was the state of the question, relative to the establish
ment of the House of Industty, at the termination of the fnst
year of the city government. The decided animosity to the insti-
5*

54 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tution now began to assume an unquestionable shape, and it was
very apparent to aU who took an interest in the subject that its
fate depended upon the character and dispositions of the next
City CouncU.
The preceding outline embraces aU the measures during this
year of the city government, which were important or conclu
sive, except those which are incident annuaUy to the organiza
tion of every municipal authority; — such as the organization of
the several boards of firewards, health, and highways ; appoint
ing the various officers of police and finance, with the several
classes of surveyors, sealers, and inspectors ; superintending the
pubUc lands and pubUc schools ; establishing rules and regula
tions for the watch; repairing of the stteets and public buUdings;
Ucensing theatrical and other exhibitions ; establishing the sala
ries of city officers ; and, in general, exercising all the duties
natm-ally incident to the ordinary routine of municipal organiza
tion and to the exercise of municipal powers.
The proceedings of the city government, during the first year of
its existence, relative to the Commissioners of Health, the en
largement of Faneuil HaU Market, the erecting tombs under
chm-ches, the lands west of Charles Stteet and the Common,
then caUed " the ropewalk lands," though taken into considera
tion, yet having resulted in no action of a general and permanent
character, wiU be stated in connection with the account given of
those subjects in the history of the next succeeding administration
of the city, when they were each successively and carefully invest
igated and arranged in new forms, or finally settled on appro
priate principles.
The result of the administration of city affans during this first
year had not met the expectations of the inhabitants. They had
anticipated from the new charter great changes in the conduct
of their municipal concerns. They had flattered themselves that
the new form of organization would lead to more efficient, ener
getic, and responsible measures than could be obtained under the
old. Obscm-e and indefinite hopes had been entertained of
improvements in particular localities, which would result in
increased accommodation of the inhabitants, and encourage both
the growth and enlargement of the city. But when, at the close
of the city year, they found none, or but few of these fond antici
pations realized, and that their affairs, though conducted with

CITY GOVERNMENT. 55
great care, judgment, and fidelity, had received no new impulse
from the newly invested powers, but that the course of manage
ment had deviated but Uttle from that they had experienced
under the ancient form of government, the disappointment was,
in a manner, general, and began to be expressed.
The Mayor himself was not insensible to this state of feeling ;
and so far as he was responsible for it, the circumstances in
which he had been placed explained the cause, and were a justi
fication of the course of his administration. Prudence, caution,
and conservatism, were his predominating characteristics; and,
when called suddenly to a station he had not anticipated, he
naturally hesitated to venture upon changes, of which the de
vising was critical and laborious, and the result uncertain. These
tendencies of his mind were increased and steengthened by a state
of health, which within one month after the close of his mayor
alty, terminated his Ufe.
Few citizens have fidfUled the duties of the respective stations
to which they have been caUed with more fidelity than Mr. .Phil
Ups. The evidence of the confidence of his feUow-citizens was
continued through a long series of years. He had for more than
twenty-five years been, without an omission, elected a member
of one of the branches of the state government, and for ten years
had been uninterruptedly chosen President of the Senate of the
Commonwealth, and in aU been distinguished for acceptable and
efficient ser-vice.
The ttibute paid to his administtation, by his successor, in his
inaugural discourse, it is proper here to quote, on account both
of its truth and justice. "After examining," he states, " and con
sidering the records of the proceedings of the city authorities, for
the past year, it is impossible for me to refrain from expressing
the sense I entertain of the services of that high and honorable
individual who filled the Chair of this city, as well as of the wise,
prudent, and faithful citizens who composed, during that period,
the City CouncU. Their labors have been, indeed, in a measure,
unobttusive ; but they have been various, useful, and weU con
sidered. They have laid the foundations of the prosperity of our
city deep and on right principles. And whatever success may
attend those who come after them, they wiU be largely indebted
for it to the wisdom and fidelity of their predecessors. A task
was committed to the first administration to perform, in no com-

56 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
mon degree arduous and delicate. The change from a town
to a city had not been effected without considerable opposition.
On that subject many fears existed, which it was difficult to
allay, many jealousies hard to overcome. In the outset of a
new form of government, among variously affected passions and
interests, and among indistinct expectations, impossible to realize,
it was apparently wise to shape the course of the first adminis
ttation rather by the spirit of the long experienced constitution
of the town, than by that of the unsettled charter of the city.
It was natural for prudent men, first intrusted -with city author
ities, to apprehend that measures partaking of the mUd, domestic
character of our ancient institutions, might be as useful, and
would be Ukely to be more acceptable than those which should
develop the entire powers of the new government. It is yet to
be proved, whether in these measures our predecessors were not
right. In aU times the inhabitants of this mett-opoUs have been
distinguished preeminently for a free, elastic, repubUcan spirit
Heaven grant that they may be forever thus distinguished 1 It
is yet to be decided, whether such a spirit can, for the sake of
the peace, order, health, and convenience of a great and rapidly
increasing population, endure vdthout distrust and discontent,
the application of necessary city powers to aU the exigencies
which arise in such a community."
Neither the inclination nor the health of Mr. PhUUps permitted
him to become a candidate for a second election ; and his with
drawal being announced, the several parties into which the city
was then divided, held, as is usual on such occasions, then assem-
bUes for the selection of his successor. A committee ^ of the depu
tation from aU the wards of the city soon waited upon the
individual whom they had agreed upon, and who was finally
elected to the office of mayor, and distinctly stated to him,
that the municipal affans of the city had become a subject of
more than common solicitude, and that, in communicating to
him his selection, by a large meeting of citizens, as the candidate
for that office, they deemed it proper to express, as the wishes
and expectations of that assembly, that the measm-es of the ensu
ing administration should be characterized by great activity and
energy, and that a fuU development should be given as far as
1 Benjamin Russell, Jonathan HunneweU, John T. Apthorp.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 57
possible to aU the executive powers granted by the charter. To
which that individual repUed, that should the suffrages of his
feUow-citizens result in his election, the affairs of the city should
be guided, so far as his influence extended, by the principles and
views the Committee, in then behalf, had expressed. '
1 For the members of the City CouncU from 1822 to 1830, inclusive, see
Appendix, M.

CHAPTER V.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.^
Organization of the City Government — Mayor's Address — Importance of the
Official ResponsibiUty of that Officer — Difficulties relative to the Office of
Surveyors of Highways — Embarrassments from the Board of Health — Duty
of Cleansing the Streets devolved on the Mayor and Aldermen, and how exe
cuted — Board of Health discontinued, and their Duties transferred to other
Officers. The municipal authorities of the City of Boston were organ
ized for the second time on the first of May, 1823, in conformity
with the provisions of its charter, in FaneuU HaU, in the presence
of a large concourse of citizens. After a prayer by the Rev.
James Freeman, John PhUlips, the ffi-st Mayor of Boston, admin
istered, as Justice of the Peace, the oaths of office to his suc
cessor. The Mayor, in his inaugural address, after paying a due ttibute
to his predecessor,^ deduced the spirit of the city charter from its
language and the exigencies which led to its adoption, and
explained his views of the powers and duties of the office of
Mayor, and the principles by which he should endeavor to exe
cute and fulfil them. Among the defects of the ancient town
organization, was the division of the executive power among
several independent boards, whereby the responsibiUty of the
individual members of each was lessened, and that which did
exist could easily be transferred from one board to another.
The general superintendence over all the boards, being vested
1 The whole number of votes were 4,766 ; of which Josiah Quincy had 2,505.
The Aldermen elected were, — David W. ChUd, Ashur Benjamin, Enoch
Patterson, Joseph H. Dorr, Stephen Hooper, Daniel Baxter, Caleb Eddy, and
George Odiorne.
The Common Council elected John Welles its President, and Thomas Clark its
Clerk. The City Council elected Samuel F. McCleary City Clerk, an ofiice
which he now holds, and has held by successive annual elections to this day,
(1851.) 2 See chap. iv. pp. 55, 56.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 59
particularly in no one, the important duty of investigating their
relations to one another, and their adequacy to the public service,
was either whoUy neglected, or performed only occasionally, and
in a very irresponsible manner. To remedy these defects, the
city charter enjoins on the Mayor, as the executive officer, the
performance of these duties, invests him -with the requisite
powers, and thus renders him responsible, both in character and
station, for their efficient exercise and fulfilment ; ample secu
rity against the abuse or neglect of those powers being provided
for in the constitutional conttol of the City Council and the
annual elections by the citizens. With these general views, the
Mayor proceeded to state, that he regarded the duties of the
executive officer, as resulting from the provisions of the charter,
to be the identifying himself, absolutely and exclusively with the
character and interests of the city, studying and understanding
aU its rights, whether affecting property, or Uberty, or power, and
the maintaining them, not merely with the zeal of official sta
tion, but with the pertinacious spirit of private interest. Of local
sectional, party, or personal divisions, he should know nothing.
except for the purpose of heaUng the wounds they inflict, or soft
ening the animosities they excite. The honor, happiness, dig-
nity, safety, and prosperity of the city, the development of its
resources, its expenditures, and police, should be the perpetual
object of his purpose, and labor of his thought. All its public
institutions should be the subject of frequent inspection ; and
above all, its schools should engage his utmost soUcitude and
unremitting superintendence. Anticipating the rival projects,
individual interests, personal influences, by which an executive
officer would be beset in executing the poUce, protecting the
rights, and promoting the prosperity of the city, and that, in pro
portion to his firmness and inflexibUity, his motives and princi
ples would be assaUed, the Mayor relied with confidence, that his
faithful endeavors to uphold the interests of the city, would
receive countenance and support from the inteUigence and virtue
of the citizens. In relation to his fulfilment of the obligations
resulting from the city charter, he promised nothing except a
laborious fuffilment of every known duty, a prudent exercise of
every invested power, and a disposition shrinking from no official
responsibUity.i 1 See Appendix B.

60 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
The prominence given in this address to the defects of the
ancient town organization, and of the remedy provided for them
in the powers of the Mayor, was, in his view, made necessary
from the particular circumstances of the city at that time, and
from the apprehension that the changes those circumstances
required, might be the occasion of jealousy and discontent.
Five distinct Boards, — that of Health, of Smveyors of High
ways, of the Overseers of the Poor, of Firewards, and of the
School Committee, — then exercised powers, of which some were
unequivocaUy executive, and of which all were, under the city
charter, without question, properly subject to the general super
vision of the Mayor. AU these Boards were, more or less, iden
tified with the habits and prejudices of the citizens ; the mem
bers of many of them had been long in office, and under the
town form of government had enjoyed, in their respective spheres,
unquestionable authority. Some of them had exercised under
the same name the same powers, from very distant, and others
from the most ancient periods of the existence of the town.
Each had proportions of efficient power and local influence.
Each friends, by whom, and circles, within which, the exercise
of its particular authorities was deemed useful, and often indis
pensable. With some, emoluments were connected ; and with all,
the pleasure of exercising beneficial authority and enjoying use
ful distinction.
By the pro-visions of the city charter, the members of some of
the boards continued to be chosen directly by the citizens ; and
thus deriving their authority immediately from the people, were
disposed to consider themselves subject to very limited respon-
sibUity to the City CouncU, and as independent of the authority
of the Mayor. They were reluctant to acknowledge themselves
subject to the inspection of that officer, "as this implied they were,
in the language of the city charter, " subordinate officers," which,
from a natural pride of place, they were not prepared to admit.
The relations of these boards to the city government, rendered
the duties of the Mayor, at this juncture, peculiarly difficult and
delicate. This division of executive power among independent
boards, was evidently incompatible with its efficient exercise and
¦with that personal responsibUity which the terms of the cily
charter had devolved upon the Mayor, and which the people had
been led to expect from the individual who might hold that office,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 61
It was apparent, also, that unless the powers of these boards were
either immediately modified or aboUshed, they would be fixed
upon the city, with pretensions enlarging -with time, untU the
inconvenience resulting from them should become insupportable.
Yet it was easy to foresee that an attempt to abolish institu
tions long famUiEu: to the people, and with which they had been
accustomed to associate the comfort, health, and safety of their
famUies and buUdings, would expose the officer who should
recommend such measures to suspicions and calumnies tending
to affect, if not destt-oy his influence and popularity. After
weighing deUberately aU the duties and consequences, the Mayor
decided that no personal considerations ought to have any weight
in competition with the obvious advantages which must result
to the city from the removal or modification of boards, behind
which a weak, a cunning, or indolent executive officer might take
refuge to hide imbecUity or seffishness, or find an apology for
inefficiency. These views of the Mayor were founded on researches and
observations relative to municipal governments in Europe and
the United States. Either from the terms of then charters, or
from a long course of usage and precedents, the powers exercised
by mayors were chiefly judiciaL Then executive powers were
very limited, bemg chiefly exercised through the medium of
boards or of committees ; the mayors being deemed Uttle more
than presiding or certifying officers, were not held by pubUc opi
nion more responsible than other members of the board. The
power and practical efficiency of this officer consequently degene
rated, and the amount of supervision and labor appUed to the per
formance of his duties depended almost whoUy on the disposition
of the incumbent. As the importance of the office of mayor thus
diminished, the quaUties'essential to a vigUant and efficient exer
cise of its duties were apt to be disregarded by the community
in the selection of candidates. In some places, party spirit gave
the office away to its favorite, looking only to his political faith,
and not at aU to any adaptation of his talents to the fuffilment
of its duties. In others, ambition made it a stepping-stone.
Here, charity had bestowed it on a needy, popular favorite,
honest, but ttembling for his bread at eveiy critical exercise of
his authority. There, some one of the popular classes, into
which every city becomes divided, had placed the head of the

62 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
class at the head of the city, -with no special regard to quaUfica-
tion. To postpone, and if possible, to prevent the occmrence of such
a state of indifference to the essential quafities of the executive
officer in the city of Boston, the Mayor elect deemed it his chief
official duty to produce and fix in the minds of aU the influential
classes of citizens a sttong conviction of the advantage of ha-ring
an active and wiUingly responsible executive, by an actual expe
rience of the benefits of such an administtation of their affairs ;
and also of their right and duty of holding the Mayor responsible,
in character and office, for the state of the poUce and finances of
the city.
To bring the responsibUity of the executive officer into distinct
relief before the citizens, was accordingly a leading principle, by
which he endeavored to regulate his conduct in that office. This
purpose he avowed, and never ceased to enforce by precept and
example, during his administtation of nearly six years. And the
long continuance of support he received fi-om the citizens, suffi
ciently evidenced that his views were in accordance with those
entertained at that period by a great majority of the inhabitants
of Boston.
One of the most urgent duties enjoined on the Mayor, by the
city charter, was attention to the health, security, and cleanliness
of the city. Immediately, therefore, after the organization of the
city government was completed, in May, 1823, the Mayor recom
mended to the consideration of the City CouncU the state of the
stteets, .and in what body the care of cleaning them was, or
ought to be invested, and what powers and authorities are
required to be granted for the purpose of keeping them clean;
and also the consideration of the measures which ought to be
taken to put the House of Industry into effectual operation.
Each of these recommendations were referred to joint conimit-
tees in both branches ; ^ that in respect of the stteets was parti
cularly directed to inquire in whom the powers and duties of
surveyors of highways were invested.
1 That relative to the streets, to the Mayor and Alderman Baxter; and to
Messrs. EUphalet WUUams, Silsby, Stodder, Bates, and Dexter, of the Common
CouncU. That relative to the House of Industry, to the Mayor, Aldermen Odiorne and
ChUd ; and to Messrs. Davis, J. K. WUUams, Baldwin, Jackson, and Lincoln, of
the Common CouncU

CITY GOVERNMENT. 63
The relations of several of the independent boards, which
under the town government had the management of important
branches of the pubUc service, were left by the city charter, either
obscurely defined or wholly unprovided for. The embarrassments
arising from the Surveyors of Highways were the first experi
enced, and earliest received attention.
Under the town, organization, the Board of Selectmen had
fulfiUed the duties of the Surveyors of Highways. But the city
charter had made no special provision for the election of these
officers. The power of appointing them was only inferred from
the general authority it gave to the City CouncU " to elect aU
necessary officers for the good government of the city, not other-
-wise provided for," and under this clause three Surveyors of High
ways were chosen in 1822. Liconveniences arose from the nature
of the office and the extent of its powers, which the citizens had
been accustomed to have exercised by the "whole Board of Select
men, and the arrangement by which they were transferred to
three individuals, dependent on the City CouncU, was unsatis
factory and unpopular. The Mayor and Aldermen were regarded
as the proper successors to the Selectmen, with respect to these
powers, but the right of the City Council to confer them on a
coordinate branch of the government was doubted. During the
first year of the city, the subject atttacted the attention of the
City Council, and they appointed a committee upon it in Octo
ber, 1822. But no effectual action resulted. In the mean time,
the usual difficulties arising from authorities, intimately affecting
the rights and properties of citizens, being exercised by so small
a body, began to be felt. The Surveyors of Highways regarded
themselves in the light of an independent board. Questions
immediately arose, concerning the degree of conttol the Mayor
and Aldermen had a right to exercise in relation to that Board,
and the powers inttusted by law to it under the city charter.
In other respects, the state of the several authorities, relative
to the highways and stteets, were found embarrassing. The
great objects of municipal attention, — the street and house dirt
and the night soU, and the modes and rules for their removal,
had, under the town government, been frequent subjects of ques
tion, and even contt-oversy, and early began to appear such under
that of the city.
The Surveyors of Highways claimed one species of jmisdic-

64 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tion over the stteets; the Mayor and Aldermen another; the
Board of Health a thnd. In consequence of the obscmity of the
Hmits of the divisions of their powers, there was some difficulty,
and occasionally something arbitrary in the claims and proceed
ings touching their respective jurisdictions. Thus, the carrying
away of the stteet dut was admitted to be within the power of
the Selectmen, and now, of consequence, of the Mayor and Alder
men. But of the house dirt, the Board of Health claimed the
exclusive jmisdiction, and denied to the Selectmen, and also to
the Mayor and Aldermen, the right of intermeddling on that sub
ject. What was house dirt, and what was stteet dn-t, and
whether yard dirt belonged to either, and to which, began to be
questions of solemn and dividing import. The first year of the
city government had -witnessed a curious instance of the supe
riority claimed by the Board of Health over that of the Mayor
and Aldermen, and of the conciliatory temper -with which the
latter Board had received and responded to that claim.
An order was issued by the Board of Health, and duly served
upon the Mayor and Aldermen in the foUowing words : —
" To the Honorable Mayor and Aldermen of the City : —
" Gentlemen, — Complaint has been made at this office that there is col
lected in the corner, on the westerly side of the T i and next to the Long Wharf,
a quantity of filthy, putrid, and nauseous substances on the premises belon^g
to you, or under your direction, and is a nuisance. You wiU, therefore, appear
before this Board on Monday, the seventeenth instant, and show cause, if any
exist, why the City of Boston should not remove the same and cut through said
T an opening next to the Long Wharf, twenty-four feet -wide in the clear, and
eight feet deep on a level -with the lowest part of the flats, on the easterly side of
said T, for the free passage of the tide waters.
" By order of the Board of Commissioners of Health.
" John Winslo-w, Secretary.
"4 June, 1822."
This order was read in the Board of Aldermen, and on the
twenty -fourth of June a report was made "that they do not
think the city ought to pay any part of the expense, excepting
that for removing nuisances." This report was accepted, and no
notice taken either of the nature of the claim of jm-isdiction or
of the manner of enforcing it.
Similar clashing of authority or of opinion occm'red between
the Surveyors of Highways and the Board of Aldermen, although
i A wharf so called.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 65
not enforced by any like tone and official process. The state of
uncertainty, in respect of the body, in which both the care of the
highways and that of cleansing the stteets was left by the char
ter of the city, led the Mayor, at the commencement of this city
year, to regard a settlement of those questions as the most im
portant and urgent in then nature. With respect to the Sur
veyors of Highways, the change proposed could not be effected
without an appeal to the great body of citizens. A general
meeting of aU the inhabitants, therefore, was called on the
fifteenth of May, 1823, on the subject of appointing the Board
of Aldermen surveyors of highways. The change proposed
readily received their sanction ; and the Legislatm-e of the State,
on the eleventh of June ensuing, passed an act in conformity
¦with the vote of the citizens, and on the eighteenth of the same
month, the City CouncU elected the Mayor and Aldermen Sur
veyors of Highways.
In pursuance of this authority, this Board immediately divided
the city into four districts, each including three wards, and
appointed two aldermen superintendents of each district, by
whom the powers thus invested were subsequently exercised
¦without question, and to the general satisfaction of the citi
zens. No subject had been pressed upon the Mayor with more ear
nestness, by private citizens, than the state of the streets and the
importance of adopting systematic plans for effectually removing
tl»e various accumulations and nuisances in them, which are inci
dent to a populous city. Anticipating, however, that the scale
which it would be necessary to adopt, in order thoroughly to
effect this object, would lead to a pecuniary expenditure, so far
exceeding any thing the citizens had experienced under the town
government, the Mayor had, in his inaugural address, endeavored .
to concUiate their minds, by thus stating the general views he
entertained on the powers intrusted to the executive authority on
this subject : — "If the powers vested seem too great, let it be
remembered that they are necessary to attain the great objects of
a city, — health, comfort, and safety. To those whose fortunes
are restticted, these powers ought to be peculiarly precious. The
rich can fly from the generated pestilence. In the season of dan
ger the sons of fortune can seek refuge in purer atmospheres. But
necessity condemtis the poor to remain and inhale the noxious efflu-
6*

66 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
via. To all classes who reside permanently in a city, these powers
are a privilege and a blessing. In relation to the city police, it
is not sufficient that the law, in its due process, ivill ultimately
remedy every injury and remove every nuisance. Wliile the law
delays, the injury is done. While judges are doubting, and law
yers debating, the nuisance is exhaling, and the atmosphere cor
rupting. In these cases, prevention should be the object of soli
citude, not remedy. It is not enough that the obstacle which im
pedes the citizerCs way, or the nuisance which offends his sense,
should be removed on complaint, or by complaint. The true crite
rion of an efficient government is, that it should be removed before
complaint, and without complaint."
On examining the powers of the city, relative to these subjects,
the Mayor found that the most important were claimed and exer
cised by Commissioners, called the Board of Health. They had
graduaUy extended then jurisdiction to all subjects, which could,
by any fair consttuction, be brought within the terms of the
legislative acts instituting their authority. In respect of these
powers, they had acknowledged no subordination to the Select
men of the town. CoUisions had occasionaUy arisen bettveen
them, relative to the removal of nuisances, which had generally
terminated in favor of the Board of Health ; and they conse
quently claimed and exercised, at the time the city government
was formed, jurisdiction over all subjects which could be compre
hended imder the terms "causes of sickness, nuisances, and
sources of fUth, injurious to the health of the inhabitants." TJie
dirt collecting on the surface of the stteets, being considered a
nuisance, rather in respect of sight, smeU, or convenience, than of
health, was admitted by those commissioners to be within the
jurisdiction of the Selectmen.
By the city charter, the powers and authorities vested by law
in the Board of Health were ttansfeiTed to the City CouncU, " to
be carried into execution by the appointment of health commis
sioners, or in such other manner as the health, cleanliness, com
fort, and order of the said city may in their judgment require."
These commissioners, therefore, now held their places, not as
formerly, immediately from the people, but by then election by
the City CouncU, and the continued existence of that board
depended on its wUl. Notwithstanding this change in theil
public relations, these commissioners claimed and exercised as

CITY GOVERNMENT. 67
broad and independent a jurisdiction dming the first year of the
city government, as they had done under that of the town. An
instance of their pretensions has just been noticed.^
Soon after the commencement of the second administtation
of the city government, (in 1823,) the Mayor perceived that, so
long as this state of things continued, he could not exercise that
general superintendence of this important subject which the
city charter had made his duty, -without ttoublesome and unpro
fitable coUisions. His powers of inspection were restticted to
" subordinate officers ; " a relation which the members of that
board were not prepared to admit, as appUcable to them, so long
as they acted under the forms and principles .which had been
estabhshed by -virtue of the several acts forming the ancient
constitution of that board. In his opinion, there was no de
partment of poUce for which the chief executive officer of a city
ought to be made more strictly responsible, than for that on
which the comfort and health of the inhabitants of the city de
pended. The existence of an ancient board, accustomed to
exercise exclusive jurisdiction, and yet claiming a qualified, if
not an absolute authority over the subject, would render it
easy for a weak, an indolent, or a cunning executive to evade
that responsibUity, and yet neglect his most imperative official
duties. To prepare the pubUc mind for a new arrangement of these
powers, the Mayor, on the day of his inauguration, formaUy
recommended the subject to the notice of the City CouncU, as
already stated ; and a joint committee having been appointed,
they reported, that " the care of cleaning the surface of the city
was, by force of the terms of the city charter, vested in the Mayor
and Aldermen ; but that the docks, night soU, and house dirt was
considered as belonging to the Board of Health, untU the farther
order of the City CouncU." In this consttuction the City Council
found that the members of that board would acquiesce; and,
being desirous to avoid, or, at least to postpone, aU questions
which might create coUisions, they confined their attention, in the
first instance, to the surface of the city, including its streets,
courts, and yards.
From inquiries into the antecedent practice of the town and
1 See page 64.

68 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
city, it was ascertained that no general, regular system for cleans
ing the stteets had ever been adopted or executed. AU opera
tions had been occasional and local, the result of some particular,
urgent necessity. Nor was it found that expenses for such an
object had ever, in one year, exceeded one thousand doUars.
The Board of Aldermen and Common CouncU entnely con-
cun-ing with the views entertained by the Mayor on this subject,
it was determined at once to incur the expense of a general
and thorough cleansing of the city. The result, it was antici
pated, would so convince the citizens of the benefit, and so habitu'
ate them to the comfort of the cleanUness of the city, that it would
be impossible for any executive to be negUgent in this respect,
and long retain his influence and office. To the end that the
advantage of the proposed operations might be felt by aU the
citizens, it was determined to carry them into effect, in every
street, aUey, court, and household yard, however distant, and
however obscure.
For this purpose, the city was divided into four districts, each
composed of three wards; and the Board of Aldermen into
committees, each composed of two members ; the superintend
ence of the cleansing of one distt-ict being assigned to each com
mittee. For the first time, on any general scale destined for
universal application, the broom was used upon the stteets. On
seeing this novel spectacle, of fUes of sweepers, an old and
common adage was often applied to the new administtation of
city affairs; in good humor by some, in a sarcastic spirit by
others. In the course of a month, the proposed operation was com
pleted, to the very general, if not the universal approbation of the
citizens. More than three thousand tons of dirt were removed
from the surface of the city, at a cost of about fourteen hun
dred doUars ; and in the first month of this administtation, nearly
double the sum was asserted to have been thus expended than
had ever before been voted, in any one year, to a simUar object,
since the settlement of Boston. The comfort and pride of city
cleanliness was thus brought home to the door and the feeUngs
of every inhabitant, and, for the time, no language was pubhcly
heard but that of approbation ; yet, subsequently, this expense
constituted one element of clamor, which party spirit did not fail
to remember, when the charge of extravagance and the terrors of

CITY GOVERNMENT. 69
a city debt were brought to bear upon the popularity of the
administtation. The next important question on this subject was, the manner
in which the stteets should be hereafter cleansed. The old prac
tice was to depend upon the interests of the farmers in the -vici
nity, who came when they pleased, took what they pleased,
in the manner they pleased. The comparative advantage and
economy of effecting this object by conttact, or by teams and
laborers, pro-vided and employed by the city, became a subject
of serious debate and deUberation. There were no data on
which the principles of a contract could be based and safely
adjusted. Neither the value of the sweepings, as manure, nor
the quantity which could annually be taken from the surface of
the city, could be ascertained. To attain the information the
case required, the Mayor and Aldermen advertised for conttacts
for the work. Among the proposals consequently made, only one
embraced aU the operations of scraping, sweeping, and carrying
away, and including an offer to do the whole work for seven thou
sand dollars. AU the other proposals expressly decUned having
any thing to do -with scraping and sweeping the stt-eets, and con
fined their offer exclusively to carrying the dirt away. The
lowest of these proposals was eighteen hundred dollars for the
year. AU of them were rejected ; and it was decided that the
city should perform aU the operations by its own teams and
laborers, and on its o-wn account. This determination being
known, the same persons feU in their demands, from eighteen to
eight hundred doUars. This being rejected, they offered to do it
for nothing. Even these proposals were rejected ; the Mayor
and Aldermen being of opinion that the interest of the city
required that this work should be done thoroughly, and that the
cheapest was not the best, or even the most economical mode
of conducting such operations ; it being, in their judgment, im
possible to do it satisfactorUy for any length of time by contract.
AU the conttactors were farmers in the vicinity, whose object it
was to obtain manure for their lands, and whose performance
would be limited by that interest. Whatever was worthless as
a manure would be left. During the months of July and August,
when the health and comfort of the citizens required that the
work should be most thoroughly performed, it being the busiest
season of the year to the farmer, the work in the city would be
neglected.

70 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
There were also other occasional wants of the city, which
rendered the possession of teams and laborers of its own highly
expedient and economical. The Mayor and Aldermen, there
fore, resolved to take the care of the streets into their own hands;
and, having obtained authority from the City CouncU, proceeded
to purchase carts and horses and to hire men, at the cost and on
the account of the city.
The expediency of this measure was tested by keeping accu
rate accounts, during the two ffi-st years, of the work done, the
expenses incurred, and the incomes obtained ; and the experi
ment resulted in a perfect conviction, that this was not only the
most economical, but the only effectual mode, to reUeve the
citizens from the nuisances incident to streets. The responsi
biUty was thus devolved upon the Mayor and Aldermen. If any
cause of complaint occurred, they could not throw the blame off
upon conttactors. As had been anticipated, great convenience
and economy resulted from having horses and teams always at
command, and ready to be appUed to any sudden exigency which
might occur. Exclusive of the first general sweeping, the ex
penses of cleaning the stt-eets, aUeys, and com-ts of the city
amounted, the first year of the experiment, to three thousand
and eight hundred dollars. After deducting, at the end of the
year, the value of the teams owned by the city, and also the value
of the city work done by them, not connected with the stteets,
it was found that twenty -eight hundred tons of manure had been
coUected, and used on the city lands, and at the city farm at the
House of Industry, the value of which was deemed a fuU equi
valent for the whole cost of the operation.
On the succeeding year, the cost of this process was about
six thousand dollars; from the sales of the manm-e coUected
two thousand dollars were received. Fifteen hundred tons of
manure, valued at a thousand dollars, had been sent to the city
farm at the House of Industry ; and the work done for the city
by the teams and laborers, exclusive of that on the stteets, was
estimated to be worth two thousand dollars ; and the teams on
hand at the end of the year were estimated at the value of six
hundred dollars. From these general estimates, it was evident
that no g-eneral mode of removing street dirt, an operation so
essential to the health and comfort of the citizens, could possibly
combine an equal degi-ee of convenience and economy; and,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 71
during the subsequent years of this administi'ation, its expediency
was never authoritatively questioned.^
In aU these arrangements, the Mayor and Aldermen had the
benefit of the practical skill and business talents of Enoch Pat
terson and Caleb Eddy, members of the Board of Aldermen, to
whose inteUigence, activity, and judgment the city of Boston is
greatly indebted for the degree of success which, in the course
of this and the ensuing year, was attained in this and other
branches of the police services of the city.
The experience of this year of the city government had satis
fied the Mayor and City Council that the whole subject, relative
to fUth and nuisances affecting the comfort and health of the
citizens, ought to be taken under their direct conttol, and could
be better managed by a single health commissioner than by an
independent board. The satisfactory result of the measures
adopted in relation to cleaning the surface of the city, led to the
determination that the remaining objects, such as the docks,
night soU, and house dirt, should be placed under like conttol.
[To prepare the way for this change, a Committee of the City
Council, of which the Mayor was chairman, made a report early
in February, 1824, — that the Board of Health, in executing the
arrangements relative to the internal health regulations, had
effected the same by conttact, and paid that year nearly three
thousand doUars for these objects; that in respect of house dirt
the conttactors were often remiss ; that recun-ence to the penalty,
although it might punish them, did not effect the chief object in
this concern, — the certain convenience of the citizens. Living
in the countty, they came in heavy ox wagons ; were a long

1 1st. The work is done thoroughly and satisfactorily to every inhabitant, in
every lane, alley, and court. 2d. It is done responsibly. If it is not so done, the
blame falls where it ought to faU, on the Mayor and Aldermen ; they cannot
throw it off on contractors. 3d. There is great convenience, and often great
economy, in having teams and horses at command. The amount of this con
venience is great, but difficult to estimate. To the Executive Board, practically
speaking, the trouble is nothing in comparison with the gratification they derive,
from seeing the streets cleansed of all offensive substances, and a population satis
fied with its condition in this respect.
On the 10th of April, 1826, an ordinance was passed by the City CouncU,
prohibiting the removal through the streets, &c. of Boston any house dirt, house
offal, or refuse substance, animal or vegetable, unless Ucensed by the Mayor and
Aldermen, on such conditions as they should prescribe. This_ was unaccount
ably omitted to be published among the ordinances in the edition of 1827, but
was inserted in subsequent editions of those ordinances.

72 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
time in loading ; and the coUections being dragged slowly along
the stteets, became in the summer season a great nuisance ; that
the conttactors, being farmers, wer6 negUgent dming the summer
months. Besides, being only interested in carrying away the
substances which, by their usefulness, would compensate them
for the ttansportation, they often left articles cumbersome, and
often noxious to the citizens. The substances carried away
were acknowledged by the conttactors to be worth, as a food for
s-wine, two thousand doUars, and probably, in fact, were of far
greater value.
The Committee recommended that the city should undertaie
the removal of it on its own account, as they had done in the
case of stteet dirt.
Because, being removed in wagons -with horses, they would
pass the streets more expeditiously, and being weU covered, and
the men employed being directly and constantly responsible to
the Commissioner of Health, the inconvenience to the citizens
would be less, and exactness would be more easUy effected ; and,
if carried to the House of Lidustty at South Boston, would
reUeve the city from a great part of the expense ; the superin
tendent of the House of Industi-y being of opinion that, if ap
pUed to the keeping of hogs, the profit on the pork would pay
for the ttansportation, and leave the manure a clear gain to the
city. The Committee then entered into calculations, showing the
feasibiUty, the economy, and the far greater convenience and
comfort to the citizens, than the old mode of effecting the same
object, by means of conttacts with farmers.
SimUar views were expressed in relation to the night soU and
its removal. This could not weU be effected by teams employed
by the city. It was unavoidable that the work should be done
through the agency of farmers in the -vicinity. But the rules
adopted, concerning the mode of conducting these operations,
the time when the teams should enter and leave the city, the
neatness, the sUence, and the care with which the work should
be performed, — were aU circumstances deeply affecting the health
and comfort of the citizens, and, perhaps more than any other,
ought to be made to rest upon the responsibiUty of the Mayor
and Executive Board.
In consequence of these views and recommendations, the old

CITY GOVERNMENT. 73
mode of managing the concerns of the health department, by
the means of a board of commissioners, was abandoned. That
board was discontinued. An ordinance was past by the City
Council, on the thirty-first of May, 1824, placing the internal
police of the city under the superintendence of the City Marshal;
the external poUce, under that of a Commissioner of Health ; and
that relative to the interment of the dead, under an officer, de
nominated the Superintendent of the Biuial Grounds.
The advantages resulting from these changes became soon
apparent, and were acknowledged by the citizens. New con
tracts on the subject of night soil were made ; greater exact
ness and more regularity in their fuffilment were required, and
ill case of failure or neglect, rigorously enforced ; in some, even
to the forfeiture of the conttactors' obligations, after very con
siderable expenditures already incurred by them, for performance
of the work during a term of long continuance.
The measures for removing house and stteet dirt, by means of
city teams, were not less satisfactory. In the hottest seasons of
the year, the convenience of the citizens was no longer sub
jected to the interest or caprice of the farmers. Every subject
of complaint became the object of the immediate attention of
the responsible officer. And when the heat, or any particular
urgency, called for additional teams, they were without delay
appUed to the objects. In reply to a letter making inquiries con
cerning the result, by one of the city authorities of Philadelphia,
the Mayor of Boston thus -wrote, on the twentieth of July, 1825 :
" So weU regulated are our city teams and operations, that, not
withstanding the excessive heat of the last week, the whole
number of complaints of neglect in carrying away the house
hold dirt, in the whole city, for that week, was but four. I do
not beUeve it is possible for any city of equal population to carry
into effect this species of cleaning at a less expense, or more
thoroughly, or to more general satisfaction."

CHAPTER VI.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Inconvenient State of FaneuU HaU Market — Difficulties attending its Exten
sion — Measures taken for surmounting them ¦ — Invitation to the Proprietors
of the Land in the Vicinity to become Associates in the Improvement—
Not accepted by them — The Project approved by the Citizens in a General
Meeting — Authority obtained from the Legislature — Purchase of the Estates
commenced. ,
The enlargement of the market under and in the vicinity of
Faneuil Hall was one of the first objects to which the attention
of the second administration of the city government was di
rected. The labors and responsibUities the Mayor, Aldermen, and
Common Council incmred in accomplishing this great improve
ment, the extent of their operations, and the exttaordinary
financial results, are probably -without a paraUel in the history
of any other city. A granite market house, two stories high,
five hundred and thirty-five feet long, fifty feet -wide, covering
twenty-seven thousand feet of land, including every essential
accommodation, was erected, at the cost of one hundred and
fifty thousand doUars. Six new streets were opened, and a
seventh greatly enlarged, including one hundred and sixty-seven
thousand square feet of land; and flats, docks, and wharf
rights obtained, of the extent of one hundred and forty-two
thousand square feet. All this was accomplished in the centte
of a populous city, not only -without any tax, debt, or burden
upon its pecuniary resources, — notwithstanding, in the course of
the operations, funds to the amount of upwards of eleven hun
dred thousand dollars had been employed, — but with large per
manent additions to its real and productive property. The pro
prietors of land in the north section of the city were also enabled
by this improvement to open Fulton and Commercial Streets,
thus greatly enlarging mercantile accommodations, facilitating
intercourse with the great southern wharves, and creating oppor^

\i

CITY GOVERNMENT. 75
tunities for the foundation of those noble blocks of granite stores,
which have since been erected to the eastward of those stteets.
It is due to the men who constituted the city councils at that
day, whose inteUigence devised, and whose energy effected these
great results, and also to the spirit of the citizens, whose votes
sustained and encouraged them, through good report and evil
report, that the difficulties with which they had to sttuggle, and
the course of measures by which they were surmounted and
success ultimately obtained, should be permanently recorded, as
an honor to the past and an example to the future.
At the commencement of the second city year, the whole
space occupied by stalls in Faneuil Hall market did not exceed
fourteen thousand square feet. Even the best of these were
inconvenient, and the passages to them obstructed. The dealers
in fish and vegetables occupied a wooden shed, without glass
-windows, and without doors. Their consequent exposure to the
inclemency of the winter storms caused premature sickness and
death. It was calculated that twenty years changed the whole
number of the individuals there employed. The space around
FaneuU Hall, devoted to the market, was broken, in its centt-e,
by Odin's BuUdings, as they were then caUed, and was bounded
to the eastward by the Roebuck Passage and the Town Dock.
The centtal common sewer of the city opened into the head of
this dock, which was also a station for oyster boats, and became
consequently a receptacle for every species of ffith, and a public
nuisance. All the buUdings on the north side of the Town
Dock were old, and for the most part inhabited by a very fa-ou-
blesome and irregular population. It was impossible to intro
duce order and systematic arrangement into a market so ex
tremely deficient in local accommodation. The avenues leading
to it were in general iian-ow and crooked, especiaUy the Roebuck
Passage, the shortest and most frequented thoroughfare, between
the northern section of the city and this central market and the
wharves in the middle and southern sections. In a distance of one
hundred feet it had three bends, and its width varied from thirteen
to twenty feet. Serious accidents had occurred within this incon
venient passage. One chUd had recently been lulled, another h^d
been mutilated, and almost every year petitions had been pre
sented to the town authorities for its enlargement, but without
effect. On high market days, Union, Elm, Brattle, Washington,

76 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
and Exchange Sti-eets were often completely obsti'ucted. Farmers
coming from a great distance in the country, were compeUed to
take their stand along Union Sti-eet, as far as MarshaU's Lane,
and in Washington Street, as far as Court Stt.eet. They were
thus excluded from the space around Faneuil HaU, where their
customers chiefly resorted, and were often obliged to seU their
goods to forestaUers, greatly to their loss and discontent. Fore-
staUing became, consequently, not only a lucrative but an
acknowledged employment. Individuals engaged in it, when
prosecuted, were seldom convicted by. juries, since, from the
many obstt'uctions, arising from the local inadequacy of the
market, to aU fair competition, forestaUing seemed to be indis
pensable for the interests both of the farmer and the citizens.
Such were the general relations and accommodations of the
centi-al market of the city, at the commencement of the second
administtation; and the Mayor, in the first month after his
inauguration, having consulted with the Board of Aldermen,
decided that the exertions of the city government would be most
usefuUy directed to ameliorate its condition. The general and
financial prosperity of the city were favorable to the undertaking.
The support of the proprietors of the Long Wharf, and of the
inhabitants of the northern parts of the city, were confidently
anticipated, since the value of their estates would be enhanced
should the project succeed, by the formation of new streets and
more commodious water rights, and by the opening of the Roe
buck Passage.
These powerful interests and propitious circumstances induced
the Mayor immediately to refer the subject of the improvement
of the centtal market to a committee of both branches of the
City CouncU, of v/hich he was chairman. But, so little was the
public mind prepared for the extensive plan contemplated, that
this Committee could only be induced to assent to a report for
the erection of a large vegetable market, thirty-six feet -wide,
one hundred and eighty feet long, on the north side of Faneuil
HaU, which, on the twenty -fifth of June, was accepted in both
branches, and fifteen thousand doUars were appropriated for its
completion. Those who concurred in the original project were
not discouraged by the opposition thus evinced, and, whUe the'
report was in discussion, the Mayor took measures, personally,
to ascertain the prices at which the estates comprehended -witMn

CITY GOVERNMENT. 77
the plan first conceived could be obtained. Some of the princi
pal proprietors refused to sell their estates at any price, and the
demands of others were extravagant. But it was evidently for
the interest of them aU that the plan contemplated should suc
ceed, and not be defeated, or postponed, by the erection of the
vegetable market. No obsttuction was therefore made to the
acceptance of that report ; but it was used as an argument, to
influence those proprietors to be more moderate in their demands.
The poUcy had the effect anticipated. The appropriation was
therefore left untouched and uncalled for ; and, on the thirty-first
of July, 1823, the Mayor communicated to the City CouncU his
views concerning the improvement contemplated, by a special
message, stating the inconveniences of the existing market; the
reUef which enlarged accommodation and consequent competi
tion would confer, by reduced prices of provisions, on the poorer
classes ; the circumstances favorable to advantageous purchases ;
and the necessity of obtaining a power to borrow the sums
requisite for the object. The appointment of a committee to
take the subject into consideration was recommended, and the
Mayor, Aldermen Benjamin and Patterson, and Messrs. E. WU
Uams, Stoddard, SUsby, and Winslow, of the Common CouncU,
were appointed.
It was now thought advisable to postpone further proceedings,
untU the final terms of the proprietors of the land embraced
within the proposed sphere of improvement should be ascer
tained, and such conditional contt-acts from them be obtained,
as should prevent any one of them faUing back from his engage
ments, after the city should determine to proceed with the pro
ject. The Mayor charged himself with this undertaking; and,
during the months of August, September, October, and Novem
ber, he was occupied, during his leisure from other duties, in
obtaining plans, forming an acquaintance with the interests, and,
negotiating with the proprietors. The original scheme embraced
aU the land between Ann Stteet and the MiU Creek on the one
side, and Butler's Row on the other, limited on the west by the
estates on the eastern side of the Roebuck Passage and of
Merchants' Row, and extending as far to the east as the flats
might reach, which the city, by purchasing the proposed estates
in the progress of the improvement, might be able to attain.
It was found that, as valued by the proprietors, eight hundred
7 *

78 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
thousand doUars was the lowest sum for which the whole of
that property could be obtained. As the advantages of so ex
tensive an improvement were difficult to be made apparent to
the citizens in general, among whom there was an instinctive
and prevaUing dread of a city debt, the Committee postponed
the attempt to carry into effect their original project, and for the
present, apparently restricted their operations to the space be
tween Ann Stteet and the stteet leading to Bray's Wharf, which
included about thirty estates, owned by about an equal num
ber of proprietors, and comprising, according to the estimates
then made, about one hundred and twenty-seven thousand square
feet of ground, inclusive of the docks and passage-ways, and
exclusive of the flats in front of the wharves. With two or
three exceptions, all the proprietors demanded prices at that time
generally deemed extravagant, but which, in the opinion of the
Committee, the city might well afford to give, provided it could
be made certain of ultimately attaining a title to the whole
space. To prevent the scheme being defeated, after the purchase
of some estates, by the selfishness and caprice of the owners of
the residue, a plan was taken, comprising a general outline of
the streets and stores in the contemplated improvement, which
at that time it was thought expedient to propose. Estimates hav
ing been made, and confidential persons of great practical know
ledge having been consulted, the Committee were con-vinced that
an important enlargement of the market might be effected with
out injuriously increasing the debt or affecting the credit of the
city. The Mayor, therefore, proceeded to obtain conditional con
ttacts from the several proprietors, by force of which each bound
himself, on the payment of a specified sum by the city of Boston,
on or before the first of May then ensuing, to convey his land to
the city, with full title and warranty. These negotiations were
unavoidably attended with great and peculiar difficulties. Each
conttact was made separately, often under mutual pledges of
secrecy ; the proprietors often considering the price they de
manded as exttavagant, and fearing their estimates might be
assumed as a basis of taxation by the assessors. After reducing
the price of each estate to its minimum, the Mayor took the
contract, deeming- it essential to success that, after the plan was
made public, no proprietor should be able to avail himself of the
advantage of a knowledge of the effect of the improvement on

CITY GOVERNMENT. 79
his particular estate, or of its special importance to the general
design. By the middle of December, a conditional purchase was
effected of almost aU the land required. The contracts signed
included five sixths of the estates, and amounted to nearly four
hundred thousand doUars. The remaining land, it was estimated,
might be obtained for less than one hundred thousand dollars.
It chiefly belonged to minors, whose ttustees or guardians pro
mised to cooperate with the city government, in obtaining author
ity to sell and invest their title in the city at a fan price.
The m6st extensive plan the Committee of the City Council
dared, at that time, to propose, embraced only the space between
the stteet leading to Bray's Wharf and Ann Stteet, bounding
westerly on a line running in the direction of the eastern side of
Mercharfits' Row, four hundred and twenty feet. The distance
to which the parallelogram, of which this line was the base,
should extend, easterly, was Umited to the east end of Codman's
Wharf". Feet.
The space between these Unes it -was proposed to divide
into two ranges of store-lots, each 55 feet wide, . . 110
One range for a market house, 50 feet wide, the centre of
which was to coincide with the centre of Faneuil Hall, . 50
And two streets, 80 feet wide, on each side of the proposed
market house,  160
And two streets on the outside of each range of stores,
each being 50 feet,  100
420
The subsequent gi-eat extension to the eastward, and also that
included in the space southward to Butler's Row, and the inter
mediate estates, according to the original project, were not then
by any one deemed possible. Even this plan, so limited in com
parison with the one ultimately effected, was condemned, in
pubUc and private, as far beyond the resources of the city.
The titles to all the estates in the above space were now in
vested in, or secured for, the city, with the exception of three four
teenth parts of the estate belonging to the heirs of Nathan Spear,
which the proprietors refused to dispose of on any terms. This
estate lay, as the annexed plan will show, in the centre of the
space required for the proposed improvement ; and it was not pos-

80 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
sible to place the centt-e of the market house in coincidence with
the centt-e of FaneuU Hall, without crossing that estate, almost in
its -whole length ; and there being some legal questions, appUca
ble to taking lands for a market, which did not apply to taking
lands for stteets, it was deemed advisable by the City CouncU to
place the market house as far as possible beyond the sphere of the
Spear estate. The plan of placing its centte opposite the centre
of FaneuU HaU was therefore abandoned, and it was resolved
that the northern fine of the two edffices should be made coinci
dent ; a circumstance often mentioned with regret, as a mistake,
by those who are ignorant of the obstacles which rendered the
present relative position of the market house expedient. After
having entered into conttacts, or other satisfactory engage
ments with aU the adult proprietors, whose lands were essential
to success, with the above exceptions, and obtained eWations,
ground plans, and estimates of a market house and the proposed
adjacent stores, on the eighth of December, 1823, the Mayor
called together the Committee. Great diversity of opinion was
evinced at this meeting ; and, after long deUberation, the fear of
involving the city in debt prevaUed, and it was unanimously
agreed, in the ffist place, to attempt to associate the proprietors
of the land in the project, to be effected at common risk and
profit. Should this offer be declined, it would be apparent that
the improvement must be executed, if at aU, by the energy and
resources, exclusively, of the city ; a circumstance which, it was
hoped, would unavoidably produce unanimity among the citi
zens. With these views, the Mayor, as Chairman of the Com
mittee, made a report of the above date, in which the importance
and necessity of the undertaking are stated ; the plan and eleva
tions communicated ; the impracticability of imiting the opinions
of the citizens in favor of purchases to so great an amount, with
out a previous exposition, asserted ; the impossibUity of making
those purchases on its account, after such development, intimat
ed ; and, after declaring the opinion that a fuU exposition of their
plan should be made to the public, proposed to invite the proprie
tors to become interested in the project, in the proportion of their
existing rights ; to state what the city would give, in addition to
its right in the dock and stteets, for the land reserved for stteets
and a market. Their report concludes -with recommending an
order, to be passed by the City Council, authorizing a joint

CITY GOVERNMENT. 81
committee of that body to enter into a negotiation with the
proprietors of the land adjoining the market, and with other
citizens, to unite with the City CouncU in one general plan of
improvement m that vicinity, on terms specffied in the order.
That order was passed by the City CouncU on the eighth of
December, 1823; and a committee, consisting of the Mayor,
and Messrs. ChUd, Benjamin, and Patterson, of the Board of
Aldermen, and Messrs. Dexter, Silsby, E. WUUams, Brooks,
RusseU, Winslow, and Tappan, of the Common Council, were
accordingly appointed.
On the tenth of that month the Committee prepared and tt-ans-
mitted to the several proprietors of land three propositions, con
formable to the authority given by the City CouncU. By the
first, they were invited to combine and thi-ow their estates into a
common stock with the estates belonging to the city, the whole
to be appraised at their real value by commissioners mutuaUy to
be chosen, who were to be authorized to lay out the estates on a
plan specified, and to divide the whole interest into shares, in
proportions conformed to the appraisement, and to make sales
for the best interests of the concern, the city to be considered as
a proprietor for the amount of its estates, but stteets and lanes,
given or taken, not to be considered in any estimate. The same
Commissioners to be authorized to appraise the land reserved for
a market, and to decide what the city should pay to the general
concern for that interest, considering aU circumstances. This
sum was to be divided between the proprietors, Uke the proceeds
of the sales, according to their respective shares. The second
proposition requested the proprietor, who dissented from the pre
ceding, to state his wiUingness to seU his land at an appraisement
to be made by five or seven disinterested persons, mutually chosen ;
the city declaring its willingness to consent to such appraise
ment, upon the single condition that the result should only be
obUgatory in case of the ultimate success of the general project.
The third proposition invited any proprietor, who declined con
curring in either of the preceding propositions, to transmit to the
Mayor the terms on which he would be wiUing to seU his land
to the city, with the assm-ance on the part of the city, that either
they wUl be accepted, or a counter-proposition made on its part,
Umited only by the single condition expressed in the second" pro
position. The proprietors were requested to give an answer

82 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
within ten days, and the opinion and earnest wish of the city
authorities were expressed, that the whole arrangement might
result in umting the accommodation of the city with the advance
ment of the interests of the proprietors.
These various propositions were submitted to the proprietors
with a view to test their dispositions and to foreclose any future
complaints against those measures, to which it might become
necessary for the city finaUy to resort. The prejudices and inte
rest hostile to the prosecution of the improvement by the funds
of the city, rendered it expedient to evidence a disposition to
admit private citizens into a share in the concern, and particu
larly the proprietors of the land, should such a disposition be met
by a corresponding disposition in any of those individuals, they
might be considered and accepted, or rejected, according to their
nature. Should no such corresponding disposition appear, then
the city authorities would be justified in proceeding on the basis
of the city funds and powers, as being obviously the only remain
ing mode of effecting the improvement.
No proposition was received from any one, on the basis of
thro-wing the estates into a common stock ; nor any upon that
of seffing estates to the city by appraisement. Several of the
proprietors, however, expressed their wiUingness to sell, but the
prices demanded by some were deemed exorbitant, and two
or three of them refused absolutely to seU at any rate, declaring
that they had interests in other parts of the city, which they
apprehended would be injm-iously affected by the proposed alter
ations in the vicinity of FaneuU HaU, and that they would enter
into no negotiation, nor make any offer upon the subject.
The Committee, therefore, reported on the twenty-ninth of
December, 1823, that the prices demanded by the owners of
estates in the vicinity of FaneuU HaU Market were generally
such as to render it inexpedient to proceed further in an attempt
to negotiate, and recommended resolutions, which were adopted
by the City CouncU, appointing a committee to apply to the
State Legislature for " such an extension of the powers of Sur
veyors of Highways, as may enable the city to become possessed
of such estates in the vicinity of Faneuil HaU Market as the said
Surveyors may deem it expedient for the city to possess for the
pubUc use, under such Umitations, restrictions, and provisions, as
the constitution enjoins, and as regard for the interests of the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 83
pubUc, and respect for the rights of individuals shaU dictate.
Resolutions to this effect were passed in both branches of the
City CouncU, and the same Committee were authorized to apply
to the Legislature for such powers.
On the twelfth of the ensuing January, the Committee so
appointed made a report, and submitted to the City CouncU the
draft of a memorial to the Legislature, recommending, however,
that previously to thus applying to the Legislature, the whole
subject should be laid before the inhabitants of the city for their
sanction. This recommendation was made in consideration of the great
ness of the effect of this contemplated project on the relations of
real property in aU that circle of territory, from the Town Dock by
the head of Ann Stteet, and the MiU Creek to Exchange Wharf;
the whole of which would be, it was apparent, advantageously
affected by the improvement. As the powers about to be asked
of the Legislature, though the same in nature with the ordinary
powers of surveyors of highways, were yet much more extensive
in degree, and would have a dnect action upon private rights,
and as loans to a considerable amount would be requisite, in
case the improvement was authorized, it seemed expedient, con
sidering the great range of these relations, that the real senti
ments of the citizens should be formaUy and satisfactorily ascer
tained. The project had thus far appeared to be received with very
general approbation ; but it was thought that if the result of the
proposed appeal to the citizens, in general meeting, should show
that they reaUy entertained such views of their own interest,
great encouragement and support would be given to the City
Council in their future measures. Should, however, the result
indicate that the general opinion was opposed to the contem
plated improvement, it was desirable that the fact should be
known before proceeding farther on the subject.
These views of the Committee were approved by the City
Council, and at a general and very full meeting of the inhabit
ants, on the sixteenth of January, 1824, the foUo-wing questions
were submitted to them. 1st. Is it expedient that Faneuil Hall
Market should be extended towards the Harbor, between Ann
Stteet and the street leading to Bray's Wharf, in such dnection
as the City CouncU, upon a view of all the circumstances of that

84 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
vicinity, shall deem most for the public interest ; and that the
City Council be requested to cause the same to be effected
accordingly ? 2d. Is it expedient for the City CouncU to apply
to the Legislature for such an extension of the powers of the
Surveyors of Highways, as the circumstances of the contempla
ted project above-mentioned may make necessary, under such
limitations and restrictions as the constitution requires, and as
respect for private rights may dictate ?
At this meeting the subject was debated with warmth, and
opposed by several citizens of wealth, talent, and eloquence. In
its support, the Mayor stated the views entertained by the City
Council, produced a plan of the general improvement contem
plated, embracing a ground view and an elevation of the pro
posed stores and market house ; — the former extending no further
than to the easterly end of Codman's Wharf, being only four
hundred and fifty feet in length, and not passing in an easterly
direction beyond the ancient southwesterly fine of the dock, and
was limited to the space between the lane leading to Bray's
Wharf and Ann Street, having the market house fifty feet wide,
with a sixty-five feet stteet on its north side and a sixty feet
street on its south side. The market house was proposed to be
only one story in height, of wood, open on all sides, supported
by a double row of piUars, like the market houses in PhUadelphia,
and bearing no comparison with the plan wffich was subsequently
executed. It was, however, opposed as being impracticable,
from its extent and expense, and was opprobriously denominated
" the mammoth project of the Mayor." It was denounced as
laying the foundation of a city debt, " which neither the present
inhabitants of Boston, nor their posterity, would be able to pay."
It was said that schemes of this kind had better be left to the
enterprise of individuals, who do them better and cheaper than
corporations. It was denied that a gi-eat market was wanted.
To these and other arguments adduced in opposition to the
project, a very few plain statements were opposed, explaining its
necessity, feasibility, and expediency, and showing that it would
probably create the means for indemnifying the city for the
expenses which its prosecution would occasion. These general"
considerations, aided by the sttong conviction which the embar
rassed and inconvenient state of the existing market had im
pressed on the minds of the citizens in general, seconded by the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 85
sttong desire prevalent throughout the whole northern section of
the city for the widening of the Roebuck Passage, and above aU,
the certainty that this improvement, from its locaUty, would, if
carried into effect, result in producing important changes, favor
able to the value of real estate in that division of the city, caused
the arguments in favor of the project to have a weight and influ
ence which neither the talents, nor the respectability of those
who resisted the proposition, could successfully counteract. Both
questions were carried in the affirmative by great majorities, and
as was asserted at the time, by at least three to one.^
In conformity with this expression of the public opinion, a full
memorial, stating the advantages resulting to the countty and the
city from the proposed project, was presented to the Legislature, '
and on the twenty-first of February, 1824, an act was passed
" authorizing the extension of FaneuU Hall Market in Boston."
The principles of that act were contested, both before the Legis
lative Committee and in the Legislature itself. At one period
the chance of success seemed so dubious, that the Mayor pre
pared, on his own responsibUity, a short pamphlet, and caused it
to be disttibuted to the members of the Legislature, elucidating,
very briefly, the questions in conttoversy. It however finally
passed in both branches, with no inconsiderable majorities.
On the ffist of March, the Committee on the extension of
FaneuU HaU Market reported to the City Council the act they
had obtained from the Legislature, and suggested the course of
proceedings which they now deemed it proper for the City Coun
cU to adopt, in the form of distinct resolutions, which were
accordingly passed by the City CouncU on that day. By the
first of these resolutions, the conditions of the act of the Legisla
ture, on which the powers granted depended, were complied -with
by the formal declaration of the City Council, " that the public
exigencies required that the Umits of FaneuU HaU Market should
be extended " between Ann Stteet on the north, a line drawn
from the east end of Faneuil HaU on the west, the south side of
FaneuU HaU and the lane leading to Bray's Wharf on the south,
and the harbor on the east. By the second, the direction in
which the market should be extended, was referred for future
consideration. By the third, a joint committee was appointed
1 Columbian Centinel, 17th January, 1824.

86 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
to consider whether the land requisite for the improvement should
be acquired by purchase or by virtue of the powers granted by the
Legislature ; and, in the latter case, to report the particular direc
tion in which the extension should be effected. Should the mode
of purchase be selected by the Committee, they were then author
ized to proceed to make the purchases, three fourths of the Com
mittee concurring in such purchase, and signing a vote to that
effect ; their powers of purchasing being limited to the sum of
five hundred thousand doUars. This sum was inserted in the
Common Council, by a majority of only one, (yeas 19, nays 18.)
By the fourth, the Committee were authorized to borrow, at five
per cent., for the payment for the estates purchased, a like pro
portion of the Committee being required to sanction in -writing
the terms of any loan. By the fifth, the Mayor and Treasurer
were empowered to sign and countersign certificates of such
loans ; the joint Committee who reported the resolutions being
authorized to carry them into effect.
This Committee, consisting of the Mkyor and Messrs. Child,
Patterson, and Benjamin of the Board of Aldermen, and Messrs.
Dexter, SUsby, E. WUUams, Brooks, RusseU, Winslow, and
Tappan of the Common Council, had its first meeting on the
sixteenth of March, 1824, and gave a general authority to the
Mayor to purchase three of the principal estates (Codman's,
Wheaton's, and MUler's) at rates below what those proprietors
had pre-viously demanded.
On the twenty-sixth, the Mayor reported the rejection by those
proprietors of the offer made by the Committee. The proceed
ings were then postponed, and the Mayor was authorized to pro
ceed in the negotiation at Ms discretion, subject to the approval
of the Committee.
At this period, great difficulties appeared in the way of the
project. Two of the Committee declared themselves decidedly
opposed to proceeding on the scale contemplated, and presented
calculations to show that the project would result in a debt of
at least five hundred thousand doUars. These were met by
counter calculations, which were satisfactory to the other mem
bers of the Committee ; and as on the first of May, the conditional
conttacts obtained by the Mayor of the several proprietors would
terminate, a decisive course of measmes now became necessary.
On the ninth of AprU, therefore, the Committee authorized the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 87
Mayor to purchase the estates at the prices at which any of the
proprietors were under conttact to seU. This authority that ^
officer immediately proceeded to execute, and from this time the
operations, with reference to this improvement, were efficiently
commenced ; a debt of more than forty-eight thousand dollars
was now conttacted, nearly twenty thousand feet of land, besides
wharf rights secured, and a general authority further to negotiate
having been vested in the Faneuil HaU Committee, the City
CouncU closed its labors on this subject for the second year of
the city.

CHAPTER VII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.
Proceedings relative to the House of Industry — Opposition of the Overseers of
the Poor to the Removal of the Inmates of the Almshouse — A House of Cor
rection erected at South Boston — Attempts to Conciliate the Overseers of
the Poor — Its Effects — Liberty to use the Cellars of a Church for Burial
denied — Department of PoUce.
At the commencement of the second administtation of the
city in May, 1823, it had become apparent that the House of
Industry was destined to sustain an unqualified opposition from
the Overseers of the Poor, and a decided support from a major
ity of the City CouncU.
When the Committee for erecting the House of Industry,
under the town government, ffist visited the Almshouse in
Leverett Stteet, in AprU, 1821, they were convinced that the
edffice and the land round it were wholly inadequate to the pre
sent and future exigencies of the community. These facts were
admitted by the Overseers of the Poor themselves, and also by
the Superintendent of the Almshouse. AU the particulars of its
wafit of adaptation to moral effect and discipUne cannot here
be stated. The Committee, therefore, after obtaining authority
and appropriations, purchased, as already stated,^ sixty-three
acres of land at South Boston, and erected the House of Indus
tty, with accommodations to effect a complete separation of the
sexes, with every arrangement for the comfort, heedth, and em
ployment of the respectable classes of the poor, and with distinct
apartments for the insane. And they anticipated that the sale
of the house and land in Leverett Stteet would probably indem
nify the town for this expenditure at South Boston.
These arrangements of the Committee of the House of Indus-
1 See ch. ui. p. 38.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 89
try received the sanction of the inhabitants at the last town
meeting ever held in Boston. And their opinions and views
were confirmed by the Report of the Committee of the first City
Council, of which the Mayor, John Phiffips, was Chairman.^
But to the Overseers of the Poor this whole plan was obnoxious.
They did not estimate the estate in Leverett Sti-eet at so high a
value as the Committee, and although they acknowledged the
inadequacy of the Almshouse, its location near the centre of
business faciUtated the performance of their duties, and they did
not regard inconveniences to which they had been long inured
with the same feeUngs of disapprobation as did those to whom
they were new. They sympathized in the prejudices of the
more respectable inmates in favor of the present location, and
were unwiUing to deprive them of the humble comforts and
pleasures obtained, by permission, once a week to sttoU about
the stteets and visit the famUies and receive the charities of their
former friends.
These, and perhaps other motives of a less distinct character,
led to a course of opposition, which, during the ffist year of the
city government, prevented the House of Industry from going
into operation, and occasioned also a long series of embarrass
ments to the second administtation. On the first of May, 1823,
when the Chairman of the Committee of the House of Industry
was inaugmated Mayor of the city, he recommended to the City
Council to take early measures to carry that institution into
effect, and a joint committee ^ was raised on the subject, of
which he was appointed Chairman. On the twelfth of May, the
Committee reported that it was expedient to put the House of
Industry into operation as soon as possible ; and eight thousand
dollars were immediately appropriated towards its completion.
This report was based upon a statement annexed to it, repre
senting the advantages of supporting the poor on an extent of
land sufficient to enable them to raise at least their own provi
sions, and on the total inadequacy "of the Almshouse in Leverett
Stteet to the objects of such an institution, since its restricted
limits gave its inmates a pretext to obtain leave to wander
about the city every week, where some of them found means to
gratify their propensity to intoxication, to beg, or to steal, of
1 See ch. iv. p. 51. 2 See ch. v. p. 62.

90 MUNICIP,AL HISTORY.
which the records of the Municipal Court contained melancholy
evidence. On the nineteenth of May, in conformity with the act of the
Legislature, authorizing the City CouncU to appoint the Direct
ors of the House of Industry, the fost Board ^ was chosen, who
proceeded forthwith to complete the arrangements for that insti
tution. And on the twenty-eighth of July, the Directors gave
notice that the House of Industry was prepared to receive .the
inmates of the Leverett Stteet Almshouse. For the adoption
of measures to remove a part of them to South Boston, a joint
committee of the City Council,^ was appointed to meet the
Board of Overseers of the Poor. After several interviews it
became evident that if the City CouncU were not to receive a
decided opposition to the proposed ttansfer, they were to have
no assistance from the Overseers. It was also found that the
inmates of the Almshouse had generally imbibed gross and un
founded prejudices against the House of Industry, in addition to
the dislike which paupers, accustomed to be supported in com
parative idleness, naturaUy felt towards an institution in which
work was to be requned of them.
On the first interview, the Overseers of the Poor declared they
had no authority to ttansfer the poor in the Almshouse to the
care of the Directors of the House of Industty, and that they
should not cooperate in such removal. On the urgent remon
strance of the Committee, they at length assented to allow to be
ttansferred such of the able-bodied poor as the Master of the
Almshouse should declare might be spared from that estabUsh
ment; and the whole number of the able-bodied poor in the
Almshouse being one hundred and fifty-five, the Overseers con
sented to discharge forty-one. As the Overseers had set up a
claim of exclusive authority on the subject, their decision con
cerning the number to be ttansfen-ed to the House of Industry
was acquiesced in by the Committee.
But the Overseers, persisting in their determination to give no
sanction to the transfer, instead of delivering the paupers over to
1 The members elected were, — John Bellows, George W. Otis, Henry J.
Oliver, Isaac McLeUan, Cyrus Alger, Edward Cruft, Samuel Dorr, George Hal-
let, Benjamin Shurtleff.
2 This Committee were the Mayor, Daniel Baxter, Joseph H. Dorr, and
Caleb Eddy, of the Board of Aldermen ; Eliphalet WUliams, James Savage,
.lohn P. Boyd, Noah Brooks, and Joel Prouty, of the Common CouncU.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 91
the Committee, caUed them severally into their room, and, in
presence of the Committee, gave to each of the paupers a -writ
ten discharge from the Almshouse, simply informing them they
were now free from that establishment. By this course of pro
ceeding, the paupers were made to understand that the Over
seers gave no countenance to their removal to the House of
Industty, and that they were at Uberty to go or not at their
pleasure. The subsequent proceedings of the Committee towards
the paupers were, consequently, not authoritative, but persuasive,
and they urged upon the forty-one able-bodied poor, which the
Overseers had consented to spare from the Almshouse, the
advantage of taking the bread of the city in the place which the
city had provided. The result was, that only twenty-one could
be prevaUed upon to embark for the House of Industty in a boat
prepared for their ttansfer. The rest took the Overseers' dis
charge ; some of them saying, " they did not go into an alms
house for work ; that if they wanted to work they could get it
out of doors." Thus the ffist attempts of the City CouncU
resulted in obtaining twenty-one out of one hundred and fifty-five
able-bodied poor then in the Almshouse for the establishment at
South Boston.
The City Council were convinced by this result that tempo
rary and compromising measures must be laid aside, and their
determination to carry into full effect the original design of the
House of Industty at South Boston should at once be made
apparent to the Overseers of the Poor and the inhabitants of the
city. And on the twenty-fifth of August, 1823, the Committee
made a fall report, stating the -views of the Overseers of the Poor,
regarding their authority and that of the Directors of the House
of Industry, and the consequent difficulties they had encountered
in their attempts to remove the paupers from the Almshouse to
that institution ; and then considered the question, whether both
these estabUshments ought to be continued. They argued, that
from motives of economy alone, the Almshouse ought to be dis
continued, as the sale of the house in Leverett Stteet would pro
bably be sufficient to defray the expense of aU the buildings
requisite at South Boston. They then urged that the health and
happiness of the paupers required a pure atmosphere, space for
exercise, a separation between the sexes and between the vicious
and virtuous poor, and opportunity for useful employment ; aU

92 MUNICIPAL inSTORY.
of which could be obtained in the highest degree at South Bos
ton. They, therefore, recommended that aU the inmates of the
Almshouse in Leverett Street, which afforded none of these
advantages, should be ttansferred to the House of Industty, and
that the estate in Leverett Stteet should be sold.
The Committee then developed a plan, which the Committee
first appointed by the town for the erection of the House of
Industry had formed, which was to erect in the vicinity of that
institution a house of correction for the reception of rogues and
vagabonds, and other proper subjects of restoaint and pmiish-
ment. They urged that the protection and comfort of the poor,
who from age, misfortunes, or infirmity, took refuge in the House
of Industty, required such a separation, and recommended author
ity and an appropriation for carrying the same into immediate
effect. In conformity with these views they proposed, —
1. That the House of Industry at South Boston should here
after be the Almshouse of the city, and that the Overseers of the
Poor should be directed to cause aU the poor to be forth-with
ttansferred to it with certain specified exceptions.
2. That aU the furniture, provisions, &c., should be ttansferred
in Uke manner to the House of Industty also, -with certain spe
cified exceptions.
3. That the Overseers of the Poor should be authorized to
make temporary provision for the sick and maniacs in the house
in Leverett Street.
4. That a committee of the City CouncU should be appointed-
to superintend and aid the Overseers in these arrangements.
5. That the Directors of the House of Industty should be
authorized to erect a house suitable for a house of correction,
and an appropriation of twenty thousand doUars be made for
that object.
6. That a joint committee of the City CouncU should be
appointed for the sale of the Almshouse in Leverett Stteet.
7. That the future admission of paupers into the house in
Leverett Stteet should be prohibited, except in case of necessity,
and until they could be removed to South Boston.
8. That the Overseers of the Poor should be authoiized to give
permits for admission into the House of Industry.
9. That the Mayor and Aldermen, on appUcation of the Over
seers of the Poor, should be authoiized to provide for the ttansfer
of such poor to South Boston.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 93
This report was accepted, and the votes recommended passed
by both branches of the City Council, and the several commit
tees appointed, of each of which the Mayor was constituted
Chairman. By the direction of the Committee, the Mayor communicated
these votes to the Overseers of the Poor on the ninth of Septem
ber ; but they refused to comply -with the directions relative to
the ttansfer of the poor to South Boston, denying the authority
of the City Council and the responsibffity of the Overseers to
that body.
The Mayor, however, being anxious to prevent, if possible, aU
coffisions between the different city authorities, addressed a letter
to the Chairman of the Overseers of the Poor, stating that
" twenty or thirty laborers were now wanting at the House of
Industry ; " that " he had been informed by one of the Overseers
of the Poor that such a number, at least, of able-bodied poor
were now in the Almshouse with little or no work ; " that " if
they could not be obtained, it would be necessary for the city to
hire ; " and expressing the vidsh of the city authorities to avoid
aU pubUc discussions of questions of jurisdiction between coex
isting boards, inquired whether, considering the actual relations
of things, and also the great respectabiUty in point of charac
ter and talent of the Directors of the House of Industty, the
Overseers of the Poor, under the expressed wish of the City
CouncU, may not enable that body to avoid the necessity of any
discussion, concerning relative powers, by simply declaring that
under these circumstances and relations, they consent that such of
the poor as, after consultation by the Committee of the City Coun
cil with the Overseers, it shall be deemed expedient to transfer,
shall be temporarily placed under the direction and superintend
ence of the Directors of the House of Industry, until the whole
poor shall be transferred, reserving to the Overseers of the Poor
the right of visitatorial power, in relation to that establishment, at
their pleasure, and of making all inquiries concerning the manage
ment there, as they deem expedient, and, in case of amy dissatisfac
tion, of taking such measures as the exigency may require."
None of these suggestions were acceded to by the Overseers
of the Poor ; and on the twenty-third of September, 1823, they
made a communication to the City CouncU, signed by Redford
Webster, their Chairman, developing their views of their duties

94 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
and rights. In this they stated, that as they derived then author
ity from the people, "it did not appear that they were, in any
respect, the agents of the City Council, or properly subordinate to
them ; " that " they derived their powers from the statute passed in
1735, ratified and confirmed in January, 1789." They then
undertook, by a course of reasoning, to show that the city char
ter effected no change in those powers, and that notwithstanding
the acts of the legislature, estabUshing the Directors of the House
of Industry, the Overseers had the right to the care of the Alms
house and the superintendence of its government and the
management of the poor.
The Committee of the City CouncU, thus finding that all
attempts to induce the Overseers of the Poor to acquiesce in the
measures proposed, were fruitless, submitted a report, marking
out a course of measures, which were adopted by the City
Council. In this they showed that the claims set up by the
Overseers of being " neither agents or subordinates of the
City Council," necessarily impUed they were either equals or
superiors; either of wffich excluded the idea of responsibUity;
that if not responsible to the City Council, they were responsible
to no one, as the City CouncU was the only body now invested
with the fiscal, prudential, and municipal concerns of the city.
The consequences of such a claim by a Board expending annu
ally thirty or forty thousand dollars of the public money was too
serious to be passed over -without examination ; they recom
mended, therefore, a special committee for that purpose.
In order, however, to avoid all discussions concerning the rela
tions of authority of the City Council and the Board of Over
seers, they recommended a course of measures coincident -with
the views entertained by the Overseers of their own powers, and
predicated upon the statute of 1735, which that Board considered
as the basis of those powers.
As the statute of 1735 required that " the house for the recep
tion and employment of the idle and poor should be under the
regulation of the Overseers of the Poor, and be erected, provided
for, continued, or discontinued, as the town of Boston shall
find or judge their circumstances require;" and, as the town
had no longer a corporate existence, and all the rights of the
ancient town were, by the terms of the city charter, vested in
the city of Boston ; and, as all the administtation of the pru-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 95
dential and municipal concerns of said city are, by the same
charter, vested in the City Council, the Committee considered
that it would not be questioned by the Overseers, or by any
one, that it now belonged to the City Council, exclusively, to
"judge what the circumstances of the city required, in relation
to any such house thus erected."
Upon this ground, foUo-wing the precise words of the statute
of 1735, in aU material points, they recommended that votes
should be passed of the following import : —
1. That for the present, and untU the further order of the City
Council, the house in Leverett Street should be the house for the
reception and employment of the idle and poor of the city, under
the regulation of the Overseers, and be continued, or discon
tinued, as the City CouncU shaU find or judge the cncumstances
of the city require."
2. That the Committee of the City Council should proceed to
Leverett Street, and, after notice given to the Overseers, "judge
what the circumstances of the city reqmre, in relation to said
house and the inmates thereof;" and if they judge, in relation to
any of said inmates, that " the said house shaU be discontinued,"
it was declared as to them discontinued, and not lawful for the
Overseers to apply to such inmates any portion of the public
provision ; and if they afterwards did so apply it, the amount
was ordered to be deducted from their accounts.
3. That, in case the Committee of the City CouncU should
"judge that the circumstances of the city required that the per
sons, in relation to whom the house in Leverett Stteet was thus
discontinued, should be admitted into that at South Boston,
they were authorized to give a certificate to that effect, and the
Directors of the House of Industty thereupon should admit
them into that institution.
Other votes were also recommended, for appointing a com
mittee to inquire into the powers and authorities of the Over
seers of the Poor, under the city charter, particularly with refer
ence to the limitations of expenditure of public moneys, and
their responsibffity for their disposition of them ; also, for the
ttansfer of five thousand doUars of the unexpended appropri
ation from the Overseers of the Poor to the Directors of the
House of Industty ; and, finaUy, giving to the Overseers of the
Poor, in conformity -with the act of February, 1794, a general

96 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
visitatorial power, in relation to the treatment of the poor, in the
House of Industty. These votes passed the Board of Aldermen
on the twenty-ninth of September ; and on the first of October,
notice having been given of these votes to the Overseers, the
Committee attended, on the second of October, at the Alms
house Wharf -with a boat, and received from them thirty-five of
the inmates, who were forthwith ttansferred to the House of
Industry. After this time, the comse of measmes which the City
Council had originally resolved upon were steadily pmsued, — to
make the house erected at South Boston the refuge of the respect
able poor, and the House of Correction, then in progress, the recep
tacle of the vagrant and vicious.
During the remainder of this city year, the house in Leverett
Stteet was chiefly used for the accommodation of the sick, and
for the temporary reception of those who were to be subse
quently transfei-red to South Boston, no further obsttuctions
being offered by the Overseers. An account of their opposition
to future measures of the City Council -wUl be given in a subse
quent chapter.
The foundation for a building for a house of correction was
laid this year, under the superintendence of the Directors of
the House of Industty. About five acres of land were also
purchased, in its immediate vicinity, for the enlargement of
its boundaries.
In this state of progress the relations of that institution stood
at the end of the second year of the city government.
In June, 1823, a petition of the proprietors of the church in
Bromfield Street, praying for the liberty to erect tombs in the
cellars of that edifice, drew the attention of the City CouncU to
a consideration of the expediency of granting such a right. The
subject was referred to a Committee of the City CouncU.^ The
petition was pressed with great urgency, as a common right, and
the grant of a ffiie privUege, by the preceding City CouncU to the
churches of St. Paul and Park Street, was reUed upon as conclu
sive. The question presented great difficulties. To grant it, would
be to aUow aU the churches in the city a similar privilege, which,
considering the pecuniary advantage resulting, would be Ukely to
be generaUy used. To deny it, would be to withhold from a nume-
1 This Committee were, — the Mayor, Aldermen Dorr and Hooper, and
Messrs. Page, S. Perkins, Wales, and BuUard, of the Common CouncU.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 97
rous congregation rights which had, during the last year, been
granted to two churches in their immediate vicinity.
On examining into the circumstances under which those privi
leges had been granted to the St. Paul and Park Street churches,
it was found that they had been acquired under a weight of pri
vate interests and influences, which rendered it doubtful whether
the permanent welfare of the city had been sufficiently con
sidered. The important question, concerning the propriety of
aUo-wing cemeteries under churches in the heart of a metropoUs,
had been brought before the first administi-ation in December,
1822, by a petition of the proprietors of St. Paul's, praying for
leave to use the ceUar under that building as a place of inter
ment ; " and stating that, having erected a chinch at a great
expense, they had incurred a debt, from which they could not be
relieved unless their prayer was granted. Among the proprietors
of St. Paul's were men of wealth and influence, who were
earnestly desirous of securing, not only for their church, but for
themselves, the benefit of possessing tombs under it. The pro
prietors of Park Street possessed similar influences in the com
munity, and were actuated by a simUar desire to be reUeved from
a ttoublesome debt, by the sale of their ceUar for tombs. Mem
bers of each society were members of one or the other branch of
the city government. This combination of circumstances had
a tendency to counteract an unbiased inquiry into the public
interest. The Committee of the ffist City CouncU, to whom the peti
tion of the church of St. Paul's had been referred, in 1822,
reported, that " learned physicians had given a decided opinion
that no injurious effects were to be apprehended from granting
such a privUege on the health of the city ; " that " persons whose
business obliged them to be constantly exposed to the decompo
sition of animal matter, were as healthy as other classes of
citizens ; " and that " no danger had arisen from cemeteries under
Kmg's Chapel and Trinity Church;" and, "as to nauseous
effluvia, tombs might be so constructed as to prevent any incon
venience in that respect;" and after recommending that the
City CouncU should annex it as a condition, that the tombs
should be constructed under the direction of a committee of the
City CouncU, and forever subject to their conttol, they reported
the prayer of the petition ought to be granted. This report
9

98 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
was accepted in both branches on the thirtieth December, 1822.
The Committee who made this report, in answer to the objec
tion, that other societies would claim the same privUege, stated
" they had not taken that into consideration, leaving it to the
judgment of those who shaU have the care of the interests of
the city at the time such application may be made." No notice
was taken of this statement, or intimation given, so far as could
be ascertained, of any intention on the part of the proprietors
of Park Stteet Church, to take immediate advantage of the
precedent. Yet, on the twenty-thnd day of January ensuing, as
soon as the principle was settled, by the acceptance of that
report, those proprietors presented a petition for a similar right
of interment under their chm-ch, predicated on the grant to the
Chm-ch of St. Paul's ; and their petition was granted, -without
even the formaUty of commitment or any further inquiry.
Other circumstances greatly diminished the confidence of the
second administtation of the city in the soundness of these per
missions, and led them to submit the petition of the proprietors
of the church in Bromfield Stteet to a rigorous scrutiny. On
the fourth of August, (1823,) the Chairman of this Committee
reported, that the claim of the Bromfield Street Church had no
foundation on the ground of common right, each City Council
being independent, and not bound to exercise its discretion by
precedents set by its predecessors; that if the claim of this
church be granted, there would be no resisting simUar claims,
and that the ceUar of every chm-ch in the city might be con
verted into a cemetery ; that the temptation to exercise that
right, when it was recognized to be universal, would be abso
lutely irresistible, since Park Stteet Church had already realized
eight thousand dollars, and St. Paul's thirteen thousand, by sales
of tomb rights, under the Uberty granted by the ffist Citj'
CouncU. Touching the opinions of those physicians, who had declared
to the Committee of the first City Council, on the appUcation
of St. Paul's Church, " that if tombs under churches were of
brick and stone, and arched, there could be no danger to health
therefrom;" and that "fevers arise from the decomposition of
vegetable, and not of animal, matter ; " the Committee of the
second City CouncU remark, that "they have ascertained that
other physicians, not less known, of at least equal standing,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 99
and as well deserving of confidence, held directly conttary opi
nions, in which they are supported by facts, and the concurrence
of Em-opean physicians of eminence;" from which the Com
mittee deemed it at least doubtful, whether any measure so
natm-aUy alarming, and, once adopted, if erroneous, so irre-
ttievable, should be predicated on opinions thus equivocaUy set
tled among professional men. " But if," they add, " decomposi
tion of animal matter be not obnoxious, why require tombs to
be constructed -with so much care ? The physicians most favor
able to such grants declare, there wiU be no danger if the tombs
were properly built, thereby sttongly implying there would be
danger if they are improperly built. By the very words of these
physicians, safety, therefore, depends, not upon the harmlessness
of the efflu-via, but upon the precautions used. The declaration
of one physician, that ' he had never known the sUghtest offen-
siveness from tombs under churches,' was distinctly repelled by
the deposition of the sexton of Bang's Chapel, and by the certi
ficate of the Rev. Dr. Freeman, rector of that church; as also
by a letter from the oldest physician of the city. Dr. Samuel
Danforth, who, for extensive practice, weight of professional
character, and intellectual talent, was second to no physician in
it ; and other certificates, to like effect, might have been obtained
from other physicians. In conclusion, the Committee stated,
that the evidence of the noxiousness and danger from the effluvia
under churches was, in their opinion, established beyond ques
tion, and conffimed even by the advocates of that practice ; that
safety depends upon the tightness of the vaults ; and that the im-
possibffity of enforcing requisite precautions by statutory provi
sions was evidenced by the fact, that the right of erecting tombs
under Park Street and St. Paul's Churches was granted on the
express condition, ' that they should be built under the direction
of the City Council;'' yet, strange as is the fact, the tombs are
built, and no directions of the City Council were either asked or
given, so far, at least, as appears by their records."
The Committee add, that " a subject of this importance should
be decided -without regard to private interests. The right of
being buried under churches must necessarily be confined to a
very few. It is not just, that a smaU minority of the population
should have the privilege of poisoning the air for the great ma
jority. If the right of ancient tombs is to be respected, those

100 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
rights ought not to be multipUed and extended by the erection
of new tombs. It is the duty of the dfficial guardians of states
and cities to avoid adopting any policy materiaUy affecting the
general health or welfare on the assumption of wavering theories,
especiaUy when they conti-adict the most direct intimations of
sense and reason. Instead of advocating the burial of the dead
within the city, the great duty of a city government is to adopt
rigidly a prospective system, which should ultimately, in some dis
tant time, exclude burial within its limits altogether. The Com
mittee, therefore, recommend a rejection of the petition of the
Bromfield Street Church; the prohibition of the erection of
new tombs within the ancient peninsula of Boston ; the adop
tion of ' measures ultimately tending to exclude all burials here
after within the peninsula ; and devising measures for applying
the only perfect and satisfactory remedy, by adopting some com
mon place of burial for all the inhabitants, selected, if possible,
beyond the limits of the city, but certainly beyond that of the
peninsula, of an extent sufficient to meet the future exigencies
of the population. There let all classes meet together, and let
a common interest in the place be fortified and perpetuated by
the sympathies and affections common to aU, and thus become
honored, and protected, and consecrated."
These views were submitted by the Committee in a series of
resolutions, and adopted by the City CouncU.
The church and congregation in Bromfield Stteet, although
denied a liberty which had been granted by the ffist City Council
to the churches of St. Paul and Park Stt-eet, and who were thus
deprived of an important pecumary benefit, submitted without
a murmur, and in a manner highly honorable and exemplary, to
the decision of the City CouncU.
The tone and policy of this report, made in 1823, have been
since sanctioned by the estabUshment of the cemetery at Mount
Auburn by an effective organization of private citizens ; and if
similar plans are adopted by any future City CouncU, the main
design of the Committee may be in time carried into effect, and
burials altogether excluded from the precincts of the city.
The new organization of the city authorities ha-ving rendered
a more efficient police requisite than had existed under the to-wn
government, an ordinance was passed, in June, 1823, authorizing
the election and prescribing the duties of the city marshal, to

CITY GOVERNMENT. 101
which office Benjamin Pollard was immediately nominated by
the Mayor, and appointed by the Board of Aldermen. In con
stituting this department, a sti-ong feeling was manifested in the
Common CouncU to retain in their hands a concm-rent vote in
the appointment of the City Marshal, as being the head of the
poUce. But the opinion ultimately prevaUed, that this officer was
in fact the arm of the executive branch, for which it ought to be
exclusively made responsible ; that a voice in Ms appointment,
vested in the legislative branch, would essentiaUy and injuriously
affect that responsibffity. An officer, exercising powers and fuffiU-
mg djities Uke those required of the City Marshal, ought, as far as
possible, to be removed from all temptation of fear, on account of
his popularity. This office, when faithfully executed, must often
cross the interests, and sometimes the passions, of men influ
ential in local spheres. Perhaps no office exposes an individual
to greater risks of becoming unpopular. Both from its conspi-
cuousness and its salary, the office would be an object of ambi
tion and intrigue ; and that the difficulties of a faithful perform
ance of its duties, from their minuteness, and the general and
-wide sphere of action to which they were appUcable, rendered
such performance easUy susceptible of mistake and misrepresent
ation. These considerations were conclusive in the judgment of
the Common CouncU, who passed the bill constituting this de
partment, Umiting the responsibffity of tMs officer to the Board
of Aldermen, on whom rested the reciprocal responsibility of
keeping an unworthy officer in power. The importance of this
decision on the character and efficiency of this office cannot be
too highly estimated. The qualifications of Mr. Pollard for the
office of City Marshal were unquestionable. He was intelhgent,
weU-educated, gentlemanly in maimers, acquainted with the laws
and with mankind, and of a disposition to fulffi the duties of the
office faithfaUy. It would not have been easy to find an officer
combining more reqmsite qualities, or generally more acceptable.
He performed the duties of City Marshal twelve years, under
four successive admmisttations, untU his death, in November,
1835.

CHAPTER VIIL
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1823-1824.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.
Measures for the Suppression of Idleness, Vice, and Crime — A House of Co^
rection — Its Effects — BuUding provided for JuvenUe Offenders — Its Re
sults — Petition for General Meetings in Wards — Loans proposed for City
Improvements — Theatrical Licenses — Ropewalk Lands — Islands in the
Harbor — Common Sewers.
Peculiar and difficult duties, relative to idleness, -vice, and
crime, devolved upon the second administtation of the city,
which led to measures, during the six ensuing years, resulting
in a complete system of mstitutions adapted to their resttaint
and reformation.
That class of vicious population unavoidable in a city was,
at that time, in Boston, thickly concenttated in a ffistrict at
West Boston. Twelve or fourteen houses of infamous character
were openly kept, -without concealment and -without shame.
The chief officer of the former police said to the Mayor, soon
after his inauguration : " There are dances there almost every
night. The whole stteet is in a blaze of light from their -win
dows. To put them down, -without a mffitary force, seems im
possible. A man's Ufe would not be safe who should attempt
it. The company consists of highbmders, jaU-birds, known
thieves, and jniscreants, with women of the worst description.
Murders, it is weU known, have been committed there, and more
have been suspected." He was asked, " If vice and viUany
were too sttong for the police ? " He repUed, " I think so ; at
least, it has long been so in that quarter." He was answered,
" There shaU be at least a sttuggle for the supremacy of the
laws." These representations of the police officer were not exagge
rated ; but means of relief were difficult. A house of correction,
the legal insttument of conttol for such offences, had never ex-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 103
isted in the town of Boston. Within the inclosure surrounding
the Almshouse in Leverett Street, there had been, from its ffist
estabUshment, a smaU brick building, caUed " The BrideweU;"
but its accommodations were too Umited to resttain or punish
even the inmates of the house,i and were wholly inadequate as a
resource to come in aid of the judicial courts of the county. A
sentence to the House of Correction was, in effect, a sentence
of confinement to the common jail, where this class of offenders
received their punishment, without means of labor, and without
other special superintendence or moral influence than tenants of
prisons were at that time accustomed to receive, which was
comparatively none at aU. It accordingly appears, by the offi
cial returns of the Municipal Court, in the years 1822 and
1823, that, out of three hundred and fifty-eight sentences to con
finement, two hundred and forty-three were to the common jaU,
and not one to the House of Correction. It was obvious, there
fore, that aU attempts to give efficiency to the moral police of
the city, must be preceded by providing a house of correction.
On inspecting the common jaUs of the city, in Leverett Street,
it was found that, of the two stone prisons there situated, one
was amply sufficient for aU the usual exigencies of the courts of
justice. It was determined, therefore, to convert the other into
a house of correction, and employ the inmates in the adjoining
jaU-yard in hammering stone and Uke materials.
Accordingly, on the fourth of June, 1823, the Mayor and
Aldermen passed an order appropriating the North Prison to
that use, and appointed the jaUer of the prison its keeper.
Both the sheriff and the jailer opposed this measure. Their
objections, representing such a location of the House of Correc
tion, in the vicinity of the common jaU, to be incompatible with
the safety of the one institution and the discipUne of the other,
had so much weight, that the Mayor pledged himself, on behalf
of the City CouncU, that the arrangement should be temporary ;
and, on the recommendation of the Committee, in 1823, the City
CouncU, in December foUo-wing, authorized a buUding, destined
for a house of correction, to be erected at South Boston.
In October, 1823, the House of Correction was organized in
the North Jail, in Leverett Street, under the statutes of the
1 It was two stories high, forty-one feet long, thirty feet wide, and contained
twenty-four locked ceUs and two other ceUs.

104 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Commonwealth, by appointing three overseers,^ and estabUshing
rules and regulations for its government. A Committee of the
Board of Aldermen, consisting of the Mayor and Messrs. Odi
orne and ChUd, was also appointed for the general superintend
ence of the whole subject.
The immediate result of these measures on the moral condi
tion of the city were thus stated by the Mayor, m his maugural
address to the City Council, in May, 1824 : —
" There existed at the commencement of last year, in one section of the city,
(West Boston,) an audacious obtrusiveness of vice, notorious and lamentable,
setting at defiance not only the decencies of life, but the authority of the laws.
Repeated attempts to subdue this combination had failed. An opinion was
entertained by some, that it was invincible. There were those who recom
mended a tampering and palUative, rather than an eradicating, course of mea
sures. ¦ Those intrusted with the affairs of the city were of a different temper.
The evU was met in the face. In spite of clamor, of threat, of insult ; of the
certificates of those who were interested to maintain, or wiUing to countenance,
the locating vice in this quarter, a determined course was pursued. The ¦whole
section was put under the ban of authority. AU Ucenses in it were denied. A
vigorous police was organized, which, aided by the courts of justice and the
House of Correction, effected its purpose. For three months past, the daily
reports of our city officers have represented that section as peaceable as any
other. Those connected with courts of justice, both as ministers and officers,
assert that the effect has been plainly discernible in the registers of the jails
and of prosecutions.
" These measures did not originate in any theories or -visions of ideal purity,
attainable in the existing state of human society ; but in a single sense of duty,
and respect for the character of the city ; proceeding upon the principle that, if
in great cities the existence of vice is inevitable, that its course should be
secret, Uke other filth, in drains and in darkness ; not obtrusive ; not powerful ;
not prowUng pubUoly in the streets for the innocent and unwary.
" The expense by which this effect has been produced has been somewhat
less than one thousand doUars ; an amount already, perhaps, saved to the com
munity in the diminution of the costs of prosecutions, which an unobstructed
course of vice would have occasioned."
The records of the courts of justice soon proved that the
House of Correction diminished the inmates of the prison, and
its estabUshment was hailed by those interested in the moral
efficiency of the laws, as an era in om municipal Mstory. The
Grand Jury of the county, in September, 1824, in then official
report, expressed " their gratification to learn that, after a lapse of
1 Thomas KendaU, Jonathan Thaxter, and Edward Dyer.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 105
thirty-six years, measures have been adopted by the government of
the city, to erect a suitable house for the confinement and labor of
those numerous lewd, idle, and disorderly persons, who, by the
vigilance and faithfulness of the Mayor and Police Court, are
arrested in their unlawful career."
The beneficial results of the House of Correction were also
acknowledged by the citizens in general and the City Council ;
and in November ensuing, a committee of both branches m-ged
the erection of a stockade fence round the sixty acres attached to
the House of Industty, on the ground that the enclosure would
soon comprehend the House of Correction, which had already,
in its restricted location in the North Jail, by its terrors and dis
cipline, enabled the city authorities so to reduce the number of
crimes and offences, as to have their success pubUcly acknow
ledged by the justices of both the criminal courts and the keeper
of the jaU.
In this report, the Committee give the first intimation of the
intention of the City CouncU, which had, from the first esta
blishment of the House of Correction, been entertained by the
Mayor and mfluential members of that body, to make that insti
tution applicable to juvenile offenders, as Soon as it had been
brought into effective operation at South Boston ; by its aid to
clear the markets, stteets, and wharves of those vagabonds, boys,
beggars, and drunkards, who, under pretence of gaining a liveU-
hood, learned the habits of begging, stealing, or gambling, and
whose reformation could not be effected -without effectual re
sttaint. Although objections had been made by the sheriff and jailer
to the use of the North JaU as a house of correction, experience
had induced the latter to wish for its continuance in that loca
tion. The Overseers of the House of Correction concurred in
this wish, as its superintendence was more easy than at South
Boston. Considerable expenses, also, had been incurred for its
establishment in the North Prison, which would be lost by a
removal. The impenffing great debt of the city, consequent on
the extension of FaneuU HaU Market, was also brought forward
to obstruct further appropriations. An opposition was thus
raised, which neither influence nor argument could overcome;
and after the builffing for the House of Correction at South
Boston had been finished, it was permitted to lay unoccupied

106 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
for more than a year, so satisfactory had the resffit of the experi
ment of its establishment in the North JaU proved.
AU attempts for a removal of the House of Correction to
South Boston thus being for a time ineffectual, a design was
formed to place in the edffice erected for it an establishment for
the reformation of juvenile offenders. Accordingly, on the nine
teenth of January, 1826, a Committee of the City CouncU, com
posed of the Mayor, Aldermen OUver and Loring, and Messrs.
Stevenson, Boies, and Grosvenor, of the Common Council, -was
appointed to consider the whole subject ; and, on the ninth of
February, the Committee made a report, stating the importance
of the design ; the inadequacy of a voluntary association, should
it be formed for that purpose ; that, although such a house, from
its nature, ought to be supported from the resources of the whole
community, there was no reasonable cause of expectation that
it would be established by the State. The evU being chiefly felt
in great cities, the remedy, it was deemed, devolved on the
municipal authorities ; and that, if a house for the reformation
of juvenile offenders was thought necessary, it could only be
effected by the power or means of the city.
The Committee then stated the causes and various considera
tions which had unavoidably postponed, for a time, the removal
of the House of Correction to the edifice erected at South
Boston, although the growth of the city would render its future
transfer inevitable. In this building, the experiment of a house
for the reformation of juvenUe offenders might therefore be made,
-with Uttle comparative expense.
The City Council immediately concurred m these views, and
authorized an application to the legislature of the State for the
requisite powers, which were granted to the City CouncU, by an
act passed in March, 1826. Under this act of the legislature,
the east -wing of the buUding at South Boston, originally in
tended for a house of correction, was authorized to be used for
the reception of juvenile offenders, and the Directors of the
House of Industry appointed Directors of the new institution.
The arrangements for carrying it into effect were made under
the disadvantages incident to the circumstances under which it
was commenced. There was far from being a universal concur
rence in the design, either in the City CouncU or among the
citizens. The expenditures were immediate and considerable;

CITY GOVERNMENT. 107
the advantage ffistant and problematical. Many were of opi
nion that it ought to be supported by the resources of the State,
and not of the city. It was an experiment, and its success
necessarUy depended upon the qualffications of the superintend
ent, among which zeal and entire devotion to the service are
indispensable. Difficulties also occurred from tender-hearted
phUantffi-opists, who regarded the length and natme of the re
sttaint as severe, notwithstanding the boys were committed by
a court of justice for serious offences. Parents, also, who had
been deprived of the services of their sons, made complaints
and attempts for their discharge. Dming the first eighteen
months, the institution had about seventy inmates, from nine to
eighteen years of age ; but its friends, not being entirely satisfied
-with its success, determined to prove the efficacy of the institu
tion by unquestionable results, or recommend its abandonment
altogether. Happily, in November, 1827, the Rev. E. M. P.
WeUs was appointed the chaplain and superintendent; and
entered on the duties of his station -with the spirit and energy
characteristic of a vigorous mind, a resolved purpose, and a
heart zealous and devoted to the objects of the institution. By
constant supervision, kind treatment, friendly advice, and strict
requirement of obedience, he dispensed with the use of the
whip and soUtary confinement for punishments, except in highly
aggravated offences. He encouraged each individual, as he
rose in the moral scale, by privUeges, and subjected him to pri
vations, if he feU in it. Sttictness without severity, love with
out indulgence, were the elements of his system of manage
ment ; regarding the juvenile delinquents rather as " sinned
against than sinning," both by parents and society. To secure
perfect purity and order, he submitted to the inconvenience of
sleeping in a large haU, -with the key under his piUow, in the
midst of sixty, and, at times, a hundred boys, each in a single
bed ; several of them possessing physical sttength little, if any,
inferior to his own. He held the office five years, and produced
results sufficient to prove the value and receive the reward, in
consciousness of fulfilled duty, of such efficiency and self-devo
tion. During this period, the annual admission averaged sixty-
two; the number in the house usuaUy was one hundred and
twenty ; at one time it amounted to one hundred and twenty-nine.

108 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
The annual average discharge was fifty-six ; and the whole num
ber over which his care was extended was four hundred and fom-
teen. Four tenths of these juvenile offenders were sent to the
institution under the vagrant act ; three tenths for larceny, for
gery, and other crimes ; three tenths for stubbornness and ffisobe-
dience. They came, almost without exception, ignorant, lazy,
vicious, repulsive and disgusting in external appearance. The
work of improvement was general and thorough. After from two
to five years' subjection to the ffiscipUne of the institution, expe
rience showed that five sixths of those discharged by Mr. WeUs
might be considered reformed. They were readUy received as ap
prentices by respectable farmers, mechanics, masters of vessels,
and gave evidence, by their general conduct, of becoming use
ful, prosperous, and virtuous members of the community. The
excellence of the institution, and the high merits of the super
intendent, were universaUy acknowledged ; and a just and well-
deserved tribute to both was paid by Messrs. Beaumont and De
TocquevUle, CounseUors of the Royal Court of Paris, who came
in 1832 to this country, as French commissioners, to inquire into
the pemtentiary systems of the United States. In their report
they state, that the Institution for the Reformation of Juvenile
Offenders at South Boston is "admirably conducted; but its
success seems to us less the effect of the system itself, than
of the distinguished man who puts it in practice," who " exhi
bits a zeal and a vigilance altogether exttaordmary, which it
would be a mistake to expect in general from persons most
devoted to their duties."
The system of Mr. WeUs, comprising, as it does, all the essen
tial and practical elements requisite for a sound moral, physical,
and inteUectual education, deserves the attentive consideration
of the superintendents of aU institutions for the reformation of
the ignorant and vicious ; but, Uke all systems of government,
-will be proportionably successful as the individual who conducts
it is quaUfied, by talents and devotedness, for the task he under
takes. In respect of the general effect produced by the House of
Industty, the House of Correction, and that for the Reformation
of JuvenUe Offenders, on the relations of poverty, vice, and crime,
in the city of Boston, the Mayor, m his address on taking a final

CITY GOVERNMENT. 109
leave of the office of Mayor, which he had held for nearly six
years, made the foUo-wing statement, in January, 1829 : —
" In respect of what has been done in support of public morals, when this
administration first came into power, the police had no comparative effect ; the
city possessed no house of correction, and the natural inmates of that estabUsh
ment were on our ' hiUs,' or on our commons, disgusting the delicate, offending
the good, and intimidating the fearful. There were parts of the city over which
no honest man dared to pass in the night time, so proud and uncontrolled was
there the dominion of crime. The executive of the city was seriously advised
not to meddle with those haunts, their reformation being a task altogether
impracticable. " It was attempted. The success is known. Who, at this day, sees begging
in our streets ? I speak generally ; a transient case may occur, but there is
none systematic. At this day, I speak it confidently, there is no part of the
city through which the most timid may not walk, by day or by night, without
fear of personal violence. What streets present more stillness in the night time ?
Where, in a city of equal population, are there fewer instances of those crimes,
to which aU populous places are subject ?
" Doubtless much of this condition of things is owing to the orderly habits of
our citizens ; but much, also, is attributable to the vigilance which has made -vice
tremble in its haunts, and fly to cities where the air is more congenial to it ;
which, by pursuing the lawless vendor of spirituous Uquors, denying licenses to
the worst of that class, or revoking them, as soon as found in improper hands,
has checked crime in its first stages, and introduced into these estabUshments a
salutarj' fear. By the effect of this system, notwithstanding, in these six years,
the population of the city has been increased at least fifteen thousand, the num
ber of Ucensed houses have been diminished from six hundred and seventy-nine
to five hundred and fifty-four.
" Let it be remembered, that this state of things has been effected without
the addition of one man to the ancient arm of the poUce. The name of the
poUce officer has, indeed, been changed to city marshal. The venerable old
charter number, of twenty-four constables, stiU continues the entire array of the
city poUce. And eighty watchmen, of whom never more than eighteen are out
at a time, constitute the whole nocturnal host of police miUtant, to maintain the
peace and vindicate the wrongs of upwards of sixty thousand citizens.
" The good which has been attained, and no man can deny it is great, has-
been effected by directing unremittingly the force of the executive power to-
the haunts of vice, in its first stages, and to the favorite resorts of crime, ih'
its last.
" To diminish the number of licensed dram-shops and tippUng-houses ; to
keep a vigUant eye over those which are Ucensed ; to revoke, without fear or
favor, the licenses of those who were found violating the law; to break up
pubUc dances in the brothels : to keep the light and terrors of the law directed
upon the resorts of the lawless, thereby preventing any place becoming danger
ous by their congregation, or they and their associates becoming insolent, through
sense of strength and numbers. These have been the means ; and these means,
faithfuUy applied, are better than armies of constables and watchmen."
10

110 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
On the thnd of January, 1825, a petition by fifty quaUfied
voters was presented to the Board of Aldermen for the caffing a
meeting of the citizens in wards, to consider the expediency of
having twelve aldermen chosen in each ward instead of eight.
The doubts entertamed concerning the authority to caU meetings
of citizens in wards on subjects of this nature, were freely stated
to the leaffing petitioners. It was found, however, that they dis
regarded those doubts, and placed their claim for such a meeting
on the basis of right, and denied the authority of the Mayor and
Aldermen to refuse, under the language of the city charter, to call
any meetmg of citizens petitioned for \>Y fifty inffividuals. As the
proceedmgs on tMs appUcation might form a precedent for future
times, the subject was deemed important enough to be refened
to a special committee, the Mayor being chairman, who, after
deUberate consideration, made a report, of which the following
were the leading features, — that the question on this petition did
not turn on the general authority of the Board to caU meetings
of citizens, either in wards or in any other way which they may
deem most expedient for the general mterest or local convenience ;
such, for instance, as caffing a meeting in wards to choose a
vaccinatmg committee ; but the petition was for a very differ
ent object, namely, — '¦'¦the taking the sense of the citizens on an
application to the Legislature for an amendment of the city charter,
on the requisition of more than fifty qualified voters, and it prays
that the meeting for this purpose shall be holden imvards; " that
the city charter in its twenty-fifth section, specificaUy provides
for three cases, in which, on the requisition of fifty qualified
voters, it is imperative on the Board of Aldermen to caU a gene
ral meeting of citizens, and these are, — 1st. Consultation on the
common good. 2d. Giving instructions to representatives. 3d.
Talring measures for reffi-ess of grievances. That the petition in
this case was unquestionable, on subjects specifically included in
the above enumeration, for which it was the duty of the Mayor
and Aldermen to caU a general meeting of the citizens, if that
would be satisfactory to the petitioners. But the claim being
that the meeting should be in wards, the Board decided, that
they had " no right, on the requisition of any number of qualified
voters, by any authority derived from the charter, to call any
meeting other than a general meeting for any of the objects spe
cffied in the twenty-fifth section of that charter ; " that this sec-

CITY GOVERNMENT. Ill
tion had express reference to the right secured to the people by
the constitution of this Commonwealth to assemble, which it was
intended to secure according to ancient usage ; and which had
always been exercised in a " general meeting," and not in ward
or sectional meetings. The nature of the subjects provided for
by this section, is conclusive against the right of the Board of
Aldermen. The questions to which their authority in this
respect extends, are of the most grave and weighty character,
such as affect the common good. Instructions to representatives, or
redress of grievances, are subjects which ought to be discussed
in general meetings, that every citizen may have the advan
tage of the counsel and inteUigence of every other citizen on a
subject of general and common interest. The report, therefore,
concluded that the Mayor and Aldermen had no right to caU a
general meeting of the citizens in wards for any of the purposes
specified in the petition. This report was accepted, and ordered
to be pubUshed in three of the pubUc newspapers, for the inform
ation of the citizens.
In November, 1 823, the Mayor, by message, recommended ,a
consideration of the expediency of providing, by some general
system, of loans, payable by instalments, incurred for objects of
permanent improvements, in which posterity were generally and
chiefly interested. The motives for this suggestion were stated
to be the rapidly increasing population of the city, the propor
tionate increase of building, involving, as a consequence, a rapid
increase in the value of lands ; that it was impossible for the
Survej'^ors of Highways to avaU themselves of the opportunities
daily occurring for widening and extending streets, without
exceeding existing appropriations, and without throwing upon
the current year burdens greater than was just and reasonable,
at the same time that it would be the worst species of economy
to suffer opportunities to pass unimproved, wffich may not
occur again for many years, and, possibly, never ; or should
they occur, could not be availed of but at an expense many
times exceeding that at which they now could be made, arising
from the certain great increase of the value of land resulting
from increasing population. As it respected posterity, there
fore, the question was between a light, pecuniary burden of
accruing interest and a heavy tax for improvements, which time
would show to be unavoidable, together with narrow streets and

112 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
other inconvenient locaUties, which the value of the land may
hereafter render impossible to change, but which now might be
obtained -with little comparative expense ; aU that seemed requi
site was, that Umitations should be adopted to guard agauist
excess and abuse of this power.
The message was referred to the Mayor and Aldermen Baxter,
Odiorne, and Hooper, and in the Common CouncU to Messrs.
Amory, E. WUUams, Savage, Shaw, and Lamson. After deUbe
ration, the Committee came to the conclusion, that the appre
hension of a city debt, and the difficulty of preventing such a
system in after time from abuse, were considerations sufficient
to counterbalance the certain expediency of the measure, in its
pecuniary effects on the cost of improvements in the city.
The terms and conffitions on which theatiical and other Ucenses
should be granted, had been absolutely vested in the Mayor and
Aldermen by the city charter. It was important that the first
steps taken should be ffi-m and just and weU considered, that
correct precedents should be established.
A committee, of which the Mayor was chairman, was early
raised, and, after great deliberation, reported that Ucenses were
divisible into classes ; the principles applicable to each were ffiffer-
ent, according to their respective natures ; that the Ucenses of
theatres were of aU the most important, and to be viewed, m
respect of morals and finance. The tendency of theatrical exhi
bitions to draw money from the community, and their effect on
morals rendered them proper subjects, not only of revenue, but
also of regulation, in respect of morals. The tax upon them
ought to have reference to the advantage gained by such license.
Where the effect upon morals is unquestionably bad, they should
be denied altogether. Where, as in the case of theatiical exhibi
tions, the good is, to say the least, dubious, it is a reason for
raising the tax for the Ucense, to such a degree as, if possible, to
reduce the disposition to multiply them, by diminishing the
resulting benefit, thereby securing as great a respectabiUty as the
case permits, both in the character of such exhibitions, and also
of those who engage in such employments. Two principles
applicable to the subject result : — 1st. That the tax shoffid be
considerable ; and 2d. That it shoffid be uniform ; that the
amount of the tax should not depend on the expenffitures
incurred to set forth the exhibition, and stiU less on the smaUness

CITY GOVERNMENT. 113
of the sum demanded for visiting them. The injury to morals
is often great, in a ffirect ratio to the smaUness of such expendi-
tme and of such demand. It is the duty of a municipal author
ity, in the exercise of such power, to encourage a respectable and
responsible theatiical estabUshment. Such an one cannot long
be upheld in any community, if every light, vagrant, and irre
sponsible company be encouraged to compete with it, on the
suggestion that its pretensions were less, and its facUities for
public atttaction greater. With the same views, bonds of secu
rity proportioned to the object, with responsible freeholders as
bondmen, should be required to conduct the exhibition with deco
rum. It should not be permitted, in connection with any licensed
tavern, or house for the sale of spirituous liquors. At that
period, however, a license to seU them within the walls of the
theatre during performance was deemed indispensable ; an opi
nion that increasing moral influences of later times has happily
and effectuaUy changed.
TMs report was accepted, and the votes it recommended
passed, — making the Ucenses annual, the tax seven hundred dol
lars, and the bonds required to be five thousand dollars.
In January, 1826, a vote passed the City Council, that what
ever number of constables or poUce officers the Mayor and Alder
men shall see fit to appoint for the preservation of order and deco
rum in any house where theatrical or any other exhibition or
public show shaU be Ucensed or had, or in the vicinity thereof,
the managers, proprietors, or owners of such exhibition or show
shall be Uable to pay such expense, and the making such pay
ment shaU be inserted as one of the conffitions of any bond for
such Ucense.
Between Charles Street and the Basin of the Boston and
Roxbury MUldam, there lay a large and valuable ttact of land,
known by the name of " the Ropewalk Lands," which, from its
local position, its extent, its capacity of improvement, either for
ornament or revenue, was one of the most important interests of
the city. This tract had been granted by the town of Boston, m
the year 1794, to certain proprietors of ropewalks, situated between
¦Pearl and Atkinson Streets, which had been that year desttoyed
by &e. The grant was conditional, and had a double motive ;
sympathy for the sufferers, and the removal of the ropewalks to a
distance from the then settled parts of the town ; to whose safety
10"

114 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
such an accumulated mass of combustible materials was deemed
dangerous. TMs land was marsh, or flats, overflowed at high
tides by the sea, -with the exception of an inconsiderable eleva
tion, caUed " Fox Hffi," which was chiefly valued as a resource
for gravel for town pmposes. The town, in its grant to the suffer
ers, by the ffie in September, 1794, denominated it " a piece of
marsh land and flats, at the bottom of the Common, including
such parts of ' Fox Hffi ' as shall faU withm the prescribed bound
aries ; " the street now caUed " Charles Street," not being at that
time laid out, and these flats being regarded as the boundary of
the Common. The grant was made under circumstances of great
general feeUng and excitement, and without sufficient considera
tion of its actual mttinsic value and of probable prospective con
sequences. The rights granted were indeed Umited and qualified,
but they were in their nature perpetual, and coffid only be devested
by compromise. The ropewalks buUt upon this tt'act had been
again destroyed by fire, and the proprietors themselves began to
realize both the danger of rebuUding five or six long walks of
wood in the vicinity of each other, and in the vicinity of buUd
ings, which the increasing popffiation of the city were erecting in
their neighborhood. Realizing also the great value of the pro
perty, they had, in the year 1822, proposed to the ffist City
CouncU to negotiate for either the purchase or the sale of the
lands which the ropewalks had occupied ; offering thirty thou
sand dollars for a quitclaim from the city, or to release their
right to the whole tract, on the payment of eighty-six thousand
doUars. In May, 1823, these proprietors petitioned to" the second admi
nistration of the city for deeds or a settlement of those lands, and
a Committee, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Offiorne, Dorr,
and Eddy, was appointed, and reported that the interests of
those proprietors ought to be pm-chased by the city, and that no
delay ought to occur in making a settlement of that concern.
Those interests were now in few hands, but would, probably, by
death, transfer, or legal process, soon become subffivided, and
shoffid they faU into the hands of minors, great difficulties might
arise to the reinvesting the title, free of aU incumbrance, in the
^city. The Committee recommended a reference of the respect
ive claims to ffiscreet and confidential persons, who should de
cide the amount the city should pay to the proprietors of the

CITY GOVERNMENT.^ 115
ropewalks for their interest in the ttact, and that both the city
and the proprietors should be bound by their decision. After
great deUberation and considerable difficulty, the report was
accepted by both the City Council and the proprietors. The
reference resulted in an award, that the title of the proprietors
should be invested in the city, on the payment of fifty-five thou
sand doUars. The referees mutuaUy chosen were, — Pattick
T. Jackson, Ebenezer Francis, Edward Cruft, Peter C. Brooks,
and John P. Thorn dike, citizens greatly ffistingmshed for their in-
telUgence, probity, judgment, and acquaintance with real estate ;
and although some opposition was made to the acceptance of
the award by one of the proprietors, all the others accepted it, and
the resffit finaUy reinvested in the city, free of all incumbrance,
that great and valuable tract of land reUeved of aU the embarrass
ments which the compUcated state of the title had occasioned.
The situation of that ttact, and its connection with the health,
ornament, and other interests of the city, rendered the future ffis-
position of it a subject of immediate excitement among the citi
zens. Some contended that these lands were too important to
be left unproductive, and that they should at once be put in a
state to be sold. Others asserted that those lands were appurte
nant to " the Common." And although being flats, and usually
covered with water, they had never been embraced within the
general idea of " the Common," yet they in fact made part of it,
and, by the terms of the city charter, the City Council was
expressly excluded from the power of either lease or sale of the
Common ; and that neither could be done without the sanction
of aU the citizens. The City Council deemed it most prudent to
act in conformity with this last opinion ; and to 'put an end to
controversy, which was increasing in the city on the subject, they
caUed a general meeting of the citizens on the twenty-sixth of
July, 1824, and required their opinion to be expressed upon the
two following questions. First, shall the City Council have
authority to make sale of all the lands west of Charles Street, in
such way and on such terms as they shall deem expedient?
Second, shaU they have authority to annex it, as a condition to
such sales, that all the lands generaUy known by the name of
"the Common," and lying between Park, Common, Boylston,
Charles, and Beacon Streets, shall be kept forever open and free
from buUffing for the use of the citizens ?

116 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
At this meetmg, a large committee was appointed by the citi
zens, of which John T. Apthorp was chosen chairman. This
Committee, after many meetings and long, deliberation, made, in
October foUowing, a report, setting forth the mexpediency of
seUing the land west of Charles Stteet, denymg the power of
selling it under the city charter, and declaring the duty of keeping
the space open for a free circulation of air from the west, for the
gake of the health of the citizens. This report, which concludes
with submitting three other questions for the decision of the citi
zens, in addition to those submitted by the City Council, was
published and disttibuted, and on the twenty-seventh of Decem
ber, 1824, the five questions ^ were aU negatived by great major
ities, except the second, which passed m the afffimative, by a
majority of one thousand one hundred and eleven, to seven hun
dred and thirty-seven in the negative. The resffit of the meeting
was to deny the expediency and withhold the right from the
City CouncU of making sale of the land west of Charles Street
In November, 1823, the Mayor caUed the attention of the
City CouncU to the importance of securing Deer and Ramsford
1 The five questions submitted by the Committee were the following : —
First Question. Shall the City Council have authority to make sale of aU the
upland and flats owned by the city, lying west of Charles Street, on such terms
and at such times as they may deem expedient ?
Second Question. ShaU they have authority to annex it, as a condition to
such sales, that the land known by the name of the Common, and lying between
Charles, Beacon, Park, Common, and Boylston Streets, shaU be forever after
kept open and free of buildings of any kind, for the use of the citizens ?
Third Question. Shall the City CouncU be authorized to bring the question
of boundaries between the city and the Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation
to a settiement, and for that purpose be authorized to renew or confirm the former
grants and acts of the town, with respect to said corporation, on such tei-ms and
conditions as the City Council may deem expedient : Provided that no confirm
ation or conveyance be made in virtue of their vote, to authorize tiie erection of
dwelling houses or other buildings on any part of the premises ?
Fourth Question. Shall the City Council be authorized to prepare for sale,
and to convey on such terms and conditions as they may deem fit, so much of the
upland and flats as lay southerly of a line beginning at a point on Charles Street,
thirteen hundred and fifty feet southerly from the dam belonging to the Boston
and Roxbury MUl Corporation, and opposite to the southwesterly corner of the
Common, and running westerly at an angle of eighty-five degrees with Charles
Street to the bounds of the city flats : Provided there be annexed to aU such
conveyances a condition that the Common and all the upland and flats lying
westerly therefrom shall forever after be kept free from, and unincumbered with
aU buildings ?
. Fifth Question. Shall the City CouncU, whenever, in their opinion, flie con
venience of the inhabitants require, be authorized to lay out any part of the
lands and flats, lying westerly from the Common, for a cemetery, and erect and
seU tombs therein, on such terms and conditions as they may deem proper ?

CITY GOVERNMENT. 117
Islands from the inroads of the sea. The Mayor, Aldermen
ChUd and Benjamin, and Messrs. Coolidge, Wilkinson, and OUver,
of the Common Council, were in consequence appointed a Com
mittee on that subject, who reported on the nineteenth of Novem
ber that an examination of those islands, in company with Com
modore Bainbridge and General Dearborn, and with other gentle
men skUled in maritime concerns, and particularly acquainted with
the influence of tempests and currents on the harbor of Boston,
had resulted in a conviction of the importance of taMng imme-
ffiate measures to secure them from the inroads of the sea. Its
action had, dming late years, done great injury, by graduaUy
washing them away, and thus fiUing up and shifting the present
channels, and ffimmishing the protection derived from the bluffs
and heaffiands to the great roadsteads of the outer and inner
harbor. The operation of these causes, if not attended to in sea
son, tffieatened to change one of the safest, most commodious,
and beautifffi harbors in the world, into a sightless, insecure suc
cession of sand banks ; the Committee, therefore, recommended
an efficient and immeffiate appUcation to the National Legisla-
tiire for an appropriation for the preservation of aU the important
pomts, on which the safety and convenience of the harbor, and
the consequent commercial prosperity depended. They suggested
the erecting of a breakwater, and the obtaining from the Legis
lature a law, prohibiting the taMng away baUast from any of the
islands. TMs report was accepted, and the Mayor, Aldermen
ChUd and Benjamm, the President (WeUs) and Messrs. Savage,
Oliver, and Dexter, of the Common CouncU, were appointed a
Committee to carry it into effect.
On the eighth of December, 1823, the Mayor brought also
before the City CouncU the importance of the immediate pur
chase of George's and LoveU's Islands, the former being, in the
opinion of men of great nautical skffi, the bffiwark of Boston
Harbor, both as being the best site for a fortress, and as affording
the only secure anchorage in the lower harbor for ships of war
and vessels of every size and description, dming easterly gales,
when without a pUot. He had ascertained that "those islands, of
such inestimable importance to the city, were the property of one
individual, who now derives from them an income, by the sale
of stone and gravel, and thus assisted the inroads of the sea." By
these combmed operations, one half of George's Island had been

118 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
desttoyed, and both might be purchased for seven thousand dol-
lars. The City Council were not, however, prepared to adopt
the suggestions of the Mayor, and referred the subject for con
sideration to their successors.
In November, 1824, the Mayor again brought this subject
before the City CouncU, stating that these islands ought to be
owned by the city ; that although the duty of fortifying the har
bor belonged to the United States, the favorable opportunity for
vesting the title to them in the city ought not to be lost. The
measure woffid strongly express the opinion of the city govern
ment of their importance, and must have a propitious influence
on an application to Congress for an appropriation for their pro
tection. This persevering urgency effected its object. The sanc
tion of the City CouncU was obtained. The Mayor and Alder
man Eddy, and Messrs. E. WUUams, Wales, and CooUdge, of the
Common Council, were appointed a Committee, -with fffil author
ity ; and in March, 1825, they reported that George's and Lovefl's
Islands had been purchased for six thousand doUars, on terms
and conditions to which the City Council immediately acceded..
In the preceding and subsequent negotiation with the Gene
ral Government, the aid of James Lloyd and Daniel Webster, the
Senators of Massachusetts in Congress, was earnestly and suc
cessfully given to the views of the City CouncU. A coiTespond-
ence was also opened, by the Mayor, with James Barbour, the
Secretary of War of the United States, which resffited in a
transfer to them of the soil and jurisdiction of George's and
LoveU's Islands, and also so much of Deer Island as should be
covered by then works, and in an appropriation by Congress of
forty thousand doUars for the protection of George's and Deer
Islands by a sea waU. This appropriation was, however, exclu
sively applied to, and exhausted in protecting George's Island.
In November, 1827, the Mayor, therefore, again called the
attention of the City Council to the state of the several islands
and beaches in the vicinity of the different harbors of the city,
stating that the former appropriation made by Congress had
been expended, and that additional appropriations were requisite
for the protection of om- harbor from the inroads of the sea. At
the same time he caUed the attention of the City CouncU to a
petition pending before the Legislature of the State from the
town of Chelsea, relative to the jurisdiction over Chelsea Beach,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 119
and to the importance of maintaining that Beach in its present
state. He adverted also to the practice of taking ballast and
sand from Bird Island and from the Bar, extending from the
Great Brewster to the Stone Monument, at the entrance of the
NaiTows. An application to the Legislature was accordingly
authorized, and an act obtained, proviffing against the several
mjuries which were specified or apprehended.
In February, 1828, the importance of protection to Deer Island,
as stated in a memorial from the Boston Marine Society, was
laid before the City Council by the Mayor, and a memorial to
Congi-ess for an appropriation for that object was authorized,
and, in June foUo-wing, a letter from Mr. Gorham, the member
of Congress from Boston, was received, stating that eighty-seven
thousand doUars had been appropriated, according to the tenor
and request of that memorial, and in the course of the same
month, another letter from Samuel L. Southard, Secretary at
War, was received by the Mayor, stating that the appropriation
had been made, and an engineer directed to proceed in the pro
posed system of protection. This was accordingly commenced
in the autumn of 1828, the city having caused the cession to be
made to the United States of the jurisffiction of that part of the
island on which the sea waU was erected, as required m Uke
cases by the United States.
The subject of common sewers came early under the conside
ration of the City CouncU. Under the town government, the
drains were objects of private property, subject to the rules esta
bhshed by law. No person was aUowed to open a stteet for the
purpose of laymg a new or using an old drain or common sewer,
without the consent of the Selectmen. If any inhabitant, with
their permission, laid a sewer, every person entering his drain
into it, or remotely benefited by it, was held to pay its owner a
proportionate part of the charge for its consttuction and repair,
to be ascertained by the selectmen, with an appeal from their
decision to the Court of Sessions. In case of subsequent repairs,
aU persons benefited were held to pay their proportion of the
expense. The person opening such ffiain, being bound to give
seven days notice, by advertisement, to aU persons interested,
to appear and object to it on the day appomted by the Select
men, whose duty it was to decide whether the ffiain shoffid be
opened, and the person who should bear the expense.

120 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
No system coffid be more inconvenient to the pubUc, or
embarrassing to private persons. The stteets were opened with
Uttle care, the drains buUt according to the opinion of private
interest and economy ; and constant and interminable vexatious
occasions of dispute occurred between the owners of the drain
and those who entered it, as to the degree of benefit and pro
portion of conttibution.
The ffirection of the drain, and the place in the stteet selected
for laying it, was often guided by the interest of him who first
opened it, with Uttle regard to pubUc or general accommodation.
An orffinance of the City CouncU was passed on the seventh of
Jffiy, 1823, adapted to remedy these inconveniences. It provided
that all common sewers should be laid and kept in repair at the
expense of the city, under the direction of the Mayor and Alder
men ; that persons entering or benefited by them, should be
held to pay what they should deem just and reasonable. Their
dimensions, size, position, and materials, with which consttucted,
and all incidental particulars, were subjected to their authority,
and they were invested with power to compel any o-w;ner of land
adjoining to make a sufficient ffiain into them, and if neglected, to
cause the same to be done, and recover the amount of expenses,
with ten per cent, damages. Penalties were annexed for entering
a ffi-ain without a permit, and provisions made for repaning or
rebuilding a common sewer, and assessing the cost on those
benefited. A plan of each common sewer, embracing its size,
its direction, and aU particffiars to show its local position, was
dnected to be kept in a book for that purpose.
To carry the system into effect, a superintendent of common
sewers was appointed to grant permits, and, under the direction
of the Committee of the disttiet, to oversee the opeiung and
repair of common sewers.
Many difficffities at first occurred in carrying this system into
effect, from its novelty and from the embarrassments arising
from the interference of the city common sewers with the acquired
rights of persons. They were, however, surmounted, and resulted
finaUy in the efficient and satisfactory system now in practice.

CHAPTER IX.
CITY GOVERilMENT. 1824-1825.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.^
Proceedings of the City Council of the past Year recapitulated — Importance
of the ResponsibiUty of the Mayor — Estates purchased for the Enlargement
of Faneuil Hall Market — Plan of the New Market — North Block of Stores
buUt and sold — First Plan enlarged — Southern Block of Stores buUt and
sold — Corner Stone of Market House laid.
The general interest of the citizens of Boston, especially of
those who resided in the northern section of the city, that the
improvements in progress in Faneuil HaU Market should be car
ried into efiect on the scale in which they had been commenced,
conduced to the popularity of the Mayor and Aldermen, who
were all reelected in 1824, almost without opposition.
The Mayor, in his inaugural address, expressed his acknow
ledgments to the citizens for their continued confidence, and to
the Aldermen for their aid in the measures which had been pur
sued the preceding year. By these, the obti-usiveness of vice had
been checked, through the application of a -vigorous police ; the
cleansing of the streets had been taken out of the hands of con
ttactors into the control of the city ; thirteen stteets had been ma
terially -widened, at the expense of nearly twelve thousand doUars ;
the drains of the city had been transferred from private to public
custody; the maUs on Charles Street and Fort Hill had been
enlarged and improved ; the House of Industry had been put
into operation ; measures adopted to vest in the city the title to
the lands west of Charles Street, and to complete the projected
improvements about FaneuU Hall.
The Mayor, in this address,^ justified and explained the neces
sity of creating a city debt, and the principles by which the exer-
1 The whole number of votes were 3950, of which the Mayor had 3867. The
members of the Board of Aldermen were generaUy elected by similar majorities.
2 See Appendix, C. 11

122 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
cise of that power ought to be regulated. He then gave his
views of the duties and responsibUities of the Mayor, the qualities
the citizens should regard in the selection of a candidate for that
office, and the official energy and efficiency they ought to exact
from him; and proceeded to show the incompatibility of the
powers assumed and exercised by the independent boards, which
had originated under the town government, with the responsibi
Uty of the Mayor, and the essential authority of the City Coun
cil, and the necessity of then removal.
On this principle of responsibiUty the Mayor, from his first
induction in 1823, had taken the place of chairman of every
Committee of the Board of Aldermen, appointed on any imports
ant interest of the city. As this practice had been openly cen
sured as selfish and assuming, the Mayor afterwards vinfficated
publicly his course, as essential to a knowledge of the objects of
his official duties, which included inspection, superintendence,
and recommendation of measures on his responsibffity. To an
inteUigent performance of these duties, the actual investigation
of every question, as it occurs, in the course of daUy business, is
important, as scarcely one can arise among the compUcated and
often discordant interests of a great city, which is absolutely local
and individual. It touches some other, perhaps some rival inte
rest, affects some principle, or creates some precedent, which can
be alone detected or rightly understood by being examined in the
vicinity, or among the inffividuals it ffirectly affects. The know
ledge thus acquired, must often be all-important to the chief ma-
gisttate, who means to place himself in the conffition to under
stand and maintain aU the real interests of the city. One of the
greatest securities for public virtue and for the exact perform
ance of official duty is a sense of responsibility. Whoever means
to be faithful to himself or his trusts will enlarge and mffitiply
occasions for keeping alive this sense in himself and in those
whose interests he is caUed upon to protect.
This course, also, is not merely expedient, but in a degi-ee
obligatory. The Mayor is fairly, if not highly, compensated for
his services. The members of the Board of Aldermen are
uncompensated. On him who receives the salary justly faUs the
labor and the responsibffity. This course, also, has a tendency
to give the Mayor a personal acquaintance with the citizens,
then interests, prejuffices, passions, and characters. The more

CITY GOVERNMENT. 123
of such knowledge he acquires, the better is he qualified to shape
the measures of his administration so as to promote the satisfac
tion of individuals and the prosperity of the city.
During the first two years of his administration, the Mayor
placed himself, as has been stated, at the head of every commit
tee of a general character, and also of a great majority of those
merely personal and local. If, during the subsequent years, he
changed, in a sUght degree, that course, it was out of respect to
the opinion of others, rather than from any perception of diffi
culty or impracticability. F'rom the recent organization of the
city government, and the consequent new arrangement of its
powers, and from many new and exten,sive projects of improve
ment, there was, during these years, an uncommon influx of ques
tions of great interest and importance ; yet the business of the
office was efficiently and promptly executed. The practice of
this rule of conduct, dming nearly six years, did not involve the
Mayor in any unreasonable or impracticable accumulation of
business ; and there is no ground for the opinion that such a rule,
and a practice in conformity \\ith it, exceeds the ability of any
individual quaUfied for such a station, who brings into it, as every
one ought, a heart exclusively devoted to duty, and a spirit
resolved on its faithful performance.
The practice of devolving aU, or a principal part, of the duties
of the office of Mayor upon committees of the Board of Alder
men ought, therefore, to be received by the citizens with great
jealousy. As the city increases in popffiation and extent, some relaxation
of this principle may be required, in relation to merely personal
or local questions ; but none ought ever to be permitted in respect
of those which affect the health, the character, or the general
interests of the city. A disposition to evade labor and responsi
bffity is the best criterion of a want of quaUfication for any
office. It is important that this point shoffid be distinctly stated
and realized, for a contrary practice is very fficely to find advo
cates in a course of time. Men of talents and high acquire
ments, who take office only as a stepping-stone to some higher
station, wiU be apt to regard some of its duties as menial ; and,
consequently, to strive to throw the personal superintendence
and examination of the resulting questions upon others, and cast
on them the burden and responsibility of inspection and decision.

124 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
They wiU thus be relieved from attention to subjects, often nk-
some, never, in themselves, interesting, at times disgusting, and,
in cases of maUgnant contagion, dangerous. Above all, an exe
cutive officer is thus enabled to escape the odium and unpopu
larity consequent upon ffiscoveiing his opinions on questions
often intensely interesting to inffividuals or sections of the city;
especially when it happens, as it often must, that the Mayor
or his friends are interested in the advancement or prevention of
projects or improvements of the city. The practice of devolving
responsibUity on committees, enables men to do that by influ
ence, which they might be unwUUng to do directly. It is so
much easier to effect private and personal views by committees,
than by direct voice and superintendence, that there is a constant
temptation to evade the principle of that official responsibUity
of the Mayor which tends to place his conduct in frequent and
fffil relief before the citizens.
This principle of executive responsibUity, which the Mayor, at
his entt-ance into the office, thus inculcated on the citizens, and
which, during the nearly six years of his official tenure, he never
ceased both to assume and avow, was unquestionably among
the chief causes of whatever success attended that admffiisfi-a-
tion. It is, however, unfortunately a fact, that there is in
republics a reciprocal tendency, both in executives and among
citizens, to keep this principle out of sight. Men are naturally
jealous of any disposition to exert powers, even when they exist
and are used for their benefit. But if a people require talents in
official station, they must exact responsibility in their exercise ;
for the best, if not the only evidence of talents and qualffica-
tion for pubUc usefffiness is to be found in what is recommended
and eflected.
The unanimity with which the Mayor and Aldermen were
reelected, in 1824, was, as has been intimated, chiefly owing to
the general interest in the improvements then in progress in the
great central market of the city.
In constituting the Committee, early in May, to carry into
effect the resolutions of the preceding year, relative to Faneuil
HaU Market, with the same powers and under the same Umit
ations, the same members of the Board of Aldermen were reap
pointed; and, as some change had been effected m the other
branch, Francis J. OUver, its President, Messrs. RusseU, Cmtis,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 125
T. Page, E. WUliams, Hastings, and Coolidge, were associated
with them, by the Common CouncU.
The first step taken by this Committee was of a decisive
character. A sub-committee ^ was appointed to purchase all the
estates within the then avowed sphere of contemplated improve
ment, provided that the price, including the estates aheady pur
chased, shoffid not exceed five hundred thousand dollars. AU the
negotiations, as heretofore, were conducted by the Mayor, the
judgment and advice of the other members being occasionaUy
caUed in aid. By the twelfth of June, 1824, in addition to the
estates already purchased, those of Samuel Parkman, of Gore's
heirs, of Edward MUler, John Codman, H. G. Otis, and John T. Ap
thorp were secured, at a price somewhat exceedmg two hundred
and eighty-six thousand doUars. On that day, the sub-commit
tee made a report of their proceeffings, with estimates of what
sums woffid probably be necessary to complete the purchase of
the remaiffing estates, and sho-wing that there coffid be no ques
tion that the whole might be purchased -within the sum author-^
ized by the City CouncU (five hunffied thousand doUars.) This
report was accepted ; votes were passed unanimously, and au
thority given to carry the several contracts into effect, to examine
into the respective titles, and to issue the requisite city stock.
On the twenty-ninth of June, 1824, a sub-committee was
raised, consisting of Messrs. ChUd, Benjamin, and Wiffiams, to
consider what measures were reqffisite previously to a sale of the
land purchased. Their report, made on the second of July ensu
ing, led to votes for notifying the tenants on both sides of the
Town Dock, to remove within thirty days; to authorize the
extension of the common sewer to the flats ; and to locate the
sea waU for inclosing the Town Dock. In all these arrange
ments they were the principal agents. In the mean time, the
interest of the city to extend the first project contemplated be
came evident ; and the Mayor informally ascertained the ffispo-
sitions of Governor Eustis, John D. Howard, and Benjamin
Bussey, relative to a sale of then estates. It had become appa- •
rent that, by turning the course of the Mill Creek, and extending
the project further eastward into the harbor, the space around the
proposed market would be greatly enlarged, and a new stteet
1 Consisting of the Mayor, Mr. ChUd, Mr. Benjamin, IWr. OUver, and Mr. E.
WUliams. 11*

126 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
might be laid out at right angles with the eastern end of the
proposed new market house, which would be brought in a Une
with the westerly end of the stores on Central Wharf, and by
removing a few stores on Long Wharf, a sttaight and most con
venient commuffication would be made with the northern section
of the city.
Under these general -views, the Comnrittee, having satisfied
themselves of the practicabffity of the plan, immeffiately author
ized the Mayor to purchase Mr. Bussey's estate, and proceed
in his negotiation with Mi". Howard and Governor Eustis, and
to report the proceedings of the Committee to the City Council,
which he accordingly did, on the fifteenth of July, stating to
them the estates which had been purchased, and the price paid
for them, amounting to four hundred and twenty thousand dol
lars ; communicating, on behalf of the Committee, their great
gratification that " they have been able to effect so nearly the
purchase of the whole circle of territory necessary for the city to
possess, without resort to the exercise of the powers granted
by the Legislature;" that "they have deemed it expeffient in
aU cases to yield to the reasonable, and in some, to the ex-
tteme, demands of proprietors, rather than to resort to a compul
sory process." He then proceeded to detail the particular situ
ation of those estates which had not yet been purchased, by
wffich it appeared that three of the proprietors of the thi-ee
fourteenth parts of the estate belonging to Spear's heirs were
the only owners of estates who had "uniformly declmed all
negotiation concerning then interest in the contemplated sphere
of improvement, and to make any proposal of sale of it to the
city; and that the purpose of these proprietors was fixed and
unalterable." The Committee, accordingly, recommended a
course of proceeding conformable to the act of the Legislature,
declaring the public exigencies required that Faneuil HaU Mar-
iket should be extended in the direction following, namely,—
" In an easterly direction, from Faneuil Hall to the harbor, be
tween two Unes paraUel to the walls of FaneuU HaU, and ex
tending easterly towards the harbor, of which the north line
shaU be foui-teeU feet distant from the north side of said hall,
and the south Une shall be one hunffi-ed and eighty feet to the
south of said north Une." Various other resolves were passed,
giving the sanction of the City Council to the several measures

CITY GOVERNMENT. 127
proposed by the Committee. This recommendation was adopted
by the City CouncU; and, on the twenty-second of July, the
Mayor and Aldermen extended and widened Faneiffi Hall Mar
ket, in the direction and within the Umits prescribed by the City
Council ; and ordered the proprietors, whose estates had not yet
been purchased, to be notffied, of a meeting to be holden at a
time and place specified in said resolve, and in-viting them to
submit aU questions relative to damages to five disinterested
freeholders, as specified in the act of the Legislature.
On the day appointed, the three proprietors declined referring
the value of their estates or seUing them.
It had always been the anxious wish of the Committee and
of the City CouncU, as has been before stated, to complete this
great improvement -without resort to the compffisory authority
granted by the act of the Legislature. For this purpose, they had
given, or offered, in every instance, prices, either satisfactory to
the proprietors, or such as, under other cncumstances, would have
been deemed exttavagant. The fixed determination of the three
proprietors of the three fom-teenth parts of the Spear estate, to
stand upon their rights and make no sale of their interests, ren
dered, however, the resort inevitable. In selecting the Unes for
the extension of the market, under the authority of the Legisla
ture, the Committee had special reference to the lines of the
Spear estate, so that the future interests of the city might be
placed in a position not to be embarrassed by any tenacity of
purpose of these three proprietors.
The City Council now took the first step towards makmg '
preparations for building a market house, by granting an appro
priation of twenty thousand doUars for sea waUs and drains.
The Mayor, Mr. ChUd, Mr. Benjamin, and Mr. Wffiiams were
appointed a BuUding Committee, with authority to appoint an
agent, and the Mayor was authorized to proceed in his negotia
tion with Governor Eustis for his estate beyond the MiU Creek.
This terminated favorably, and, on the twenty-ninth of July,
the Mayor reported that he had closed a contract for that estate
for the sum of fifteen thousand doUars. This being accepted,
the Committee ordered the Builffing Committee to cause a new
passage for the creek to be cut through Eustis's Wharf, and to
fill up the Mffi Creek to the southward of the Une of the pass
age-way so cut. At this meeting, the ground plan of the new

128 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
market was settied, and the walls ordered to be laid in conform
ity with it, by unanimous vote, Mr. Wright having been pre
viously added to the Committee, in the place of Mr. Hastings,
who was absent. Mr. Benjamin was appointed a Committee,
to cause a plan to be prepared of the elevation and interior of
the new market house.
In the course of the month of August, the estates of John D.
Howard and Daniel Vose, and the interest of the minor heirs in
David Spear's estate, were obtained, and also the principles, on
which that part of the estate owned by the Long Wharf, in and
adjoining Bray's Wharf, should be vested in the city, were set
tled. Arbittators were also agreed upon, on the subject of the
estates taken under the special authority given by the act of the
Legislature. The three proprietors of the three fourteenth parts
of the Spear estate stUl continuing fixed in their purpose, not to
seU, and alone, of aU the proprietors, refusing to refer, according
to the election given by said act, —
Messrs. Curtis and Nichols were now employed by the Com
mittee to examine into the whole title of the city and of the
proprietors on "the Cove and to the MUl Creek;" and the Mayor
was directed to prepare a report on the recent purchases and
proceedings of the Committee. This, on the sixth of Septem
ber, received the approbation of the Committee, and was laid
before the City CouncU on the ninth.
In this report, the City CouncU are mformed by the Commit
tee, that "the interests of the city having further developed
themselves, in consequence of a more intimate and accurate
acquaintance with, and investigation of, the relations of the
estates in that quarter, it was unanimously then opinion, that
the extension of FaneuU HaU Market shoffid not be limited
by the MiU Creek, as at first contemplated. By the purchase
of Eustis's and Howard's wharves, not only a great improve
ment would result, in the accommodation of the city, but also a
great adffition to the means of indemnffication for its expendi
tures, from the additional store lots and wharf rights which these
new purchases and this new extension would afford. The estate
of Mr. Bussey stood in such a relation, both to the MiU Creek
and to the passage from Ann Street, as to make its possession
by the city extremely important ; that the purchases of these
estates were necessarUy made without any pre-vious pubUc de-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 129
velopment of theu- intentions ; but, in making them, that the
Committee had acted under a distinct pledge from persons of
responsibUity, that if the City CouncU chose to disaffnm those
purchases, they stood ready to take the estate, and reUeve the
city from them. The Committee then proceed to state their
confidence, that the opinion of the City Council wffi be in favor
of accepting them ; their satisfaction that aU the purchases wiU
be made within the original estimates ; but that the three estates
above mentioned, not having been included within the original
estimates, an additional appropriation and corrrespondent au
thority to make loans, would be essential.
This report the City CouncU accepted, and made an additional
appropriation, equal in amount to the costs of those three estates,
and the power soUcited was granted ; making the whole amount
of appropriations to this period $547,500.
Between the sixth and thirteenth of September, 1824, the
Committee had determined upon the plan and elevation of the
new market house, that it shoffid be of stone, and proposed to
the City CouncU the expediency of giving authority for the sale
of the store lots on the north side of the new market house.
On the fourteenth, resolves were passed by the City Council,
sanctioning the plan and elevation and the sale proposed, and
appropriating seventy-five thousand dollars for the erecting of the
market house. The sale was directed to be at auction to the
highest bidder, and the terms and conditions were to be prescribed
by the Committee, three fourths thereof concurring ; it being a
conffition annexed to such sales that a market house shoffid be
erected upon the general plan then specified and agreed upon
by the City Council.
Accorffingly, on the twenty -first of September, 1824, the Com
mittee agreed that the sale should take place on the twenty-ninth
of September ensffing ; and that the conditions should be, among
others, of temporary import, — that no bid less than seven dollars
per square foot shoffid be taken ; the terms ten per cent, in cash ;
and for the residue, a bond coUateraUy secured by mortgage on
the premises, payable at any period not exceeding thirty years, at
five and a half per cent, interest per annum ; the purchaser to
bffild on or before the first of July, 1825, a substantial brick store
of four stories, conformably to a plan and specification of parti
cffiars. A sub-committee was now appointed to settle with the

130 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tenants who had been removed, and the Mayor was authorized
to negotiate with Samuel Hammond, Esq., relative to the land
in the rear of his building, which had its front on Ann Street,
and between it and the front line of the proposed new stores.
An authority to raise fifty thousand dollars, by way of loan, at
five per cent., was given by the Committee to the Mayor, -with
the formality requned, namely, — ten members signmg the
record. On the twenty-seventh of September, the long-continued and
difficult negotiation with Samuel Hammond was terminated, by
his agreeing to pay thirty thousand doUars for the land and rights
conveyed to him by the city. It being a piece of land fifty feet
long and fifty-five feet wide, together with the city's right to a
passage way ; Mr. Hammond to conform to the plan of buUding
required of other purchasers.
On the twenty-ninth of September, conformably to notice, the
land for the north block of stores (seventeen in number) was sold ;
the highest lot producing twenty dollars and eighty-three cents ;
the lowest seven doUars the square foot ; and the gross proceeds
of thirty thousand and thirty-seven and a half square feet of land,
which, the seventeen store lots included, amounted to the sum of
$303,495.42, averaging ten dollars the square foot.
The Sub- Committee on builffing (Messrs. Child, Benjamin,
and Page,) were now directed to proceed in their conttacts ; and
on the fourth of October the City Council authorized the Com
mittee to purchase the estates belonging to the heirs of Henry
Bass, and also Jesse Kingsbury's estate, for the purpose of open
ing a stteet into Ann Stteet, and widening the passage back of
the store lots. On the fifth of October, Hemy Bass's estate was
purchased for fom- thousand seven hunffied and fifty doUars, and
the plan of the market, as finaUy built, was signed by the Mayor.
From the commencement of this undertaking, the original
design of extending the improvement to Butler's Row had never
been lost sight of by the city authorities. The practicabffity of
it was not believed by a majority of the FaneuU HaU Market
Committee. Some doubted its expediency. Others coffid not
believe that the estates could be purchased at a sum which would
justify the undertaking. The Mayor, however, during the inter
vening period had negotiated with aU the proprietors of land
between Parkman's Block and Butler's Row, and had obtained

CITY GOVERNMENT. 131
conditional contt-acts for the purchase within a limited time of
all the estates essential to the plan.
The sales of the store lots for the north block had greatly *
increased the popularity of the plan and sanctioned its success.
The practicabffity of enlarging the accommodations round this
great central market, without any important implication of the
resources of the city, began to be more generally realized, and the
feasibility of the plan to be recognized. The only obstruction to
this enlargement was the refusal of the three proprietors to make
sale of their three fourteenth interests in the Spear estate. On
the thirtieth of September, however, the day after the resffit of
the sale of the north block of stores was known, those proprietors
addressed a letter to the Mayor, ffisclaiming all design " to stand
in the way of city improvements," and declaring their " willing
ness that their land should be embraced in the plans adopted,
and sold with the city lands, they receiving for then- portion the
average of the sales so made." The views of the city's interest,
and their duty to it, which the city authorities had long enter
tained, rendered it impossible to accede to this proposition. The
late sales had rendered the propriety of these -views more obvious
to the Faneffil HaU Committee and to the citizens in general.
By the negotiations the Mayor had now conditionally effected,
it was in the power of the City CouncU to enlarge the plan of
improvement to the greatest extent, which the relations of the
land between Ann Stteet and Butler's Row made possible ; and
on the twenty-sixth of October foUowing, he laid before the
FaneuU HaU Committee the practicability of an enlargement of
the present improvement, provided the Long Wharf proprietors
could be induced to seU to the city an additional extent of Bray's
Wharf; upon which he was authorized to enter into a negotia
tion with those proprietors on that subject, and Messrs. Benjamin,
OUver, and WUUams, were united with him to meet any Com
mittee appointed by them on this subject.
On the eighteenth of December, the Mayor laid before the
FaneuU Hall Committee plans of an enlargement of South Mar
ket Street, and of extending the plan of improvement so as to
include aU the estates as far as Butler's Row, and also a street,
forty feet wide. This representation was referred to a sub-com
mittee, consisting of the Mayor, Mr. Child, Mr. Curtis, Mr. WU
liams, and Mr. Wright, to examine all the plans and calcffiations.

132 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
and improve upon them, if practicable, and to report what further
measures may be expedient.
Hitherto all the moneys of the Committee had been subject to
the draft of the Mayor, and they stood to his credit in the books
of the City Bank. The Mayor stated to the Committee that he
thought " the power he had over those moneys was not suffi
ciently restticted and checked, considered as a precedent; he,
therefore, proposed a vote, which was adopted, that all payments
should be vouched by the Sub- Committees making the expend
iture and countersigned by the auditor ; " and that all moneys
received on account of the Committee shoffid be deposited in
bank to the credit of the Mayor, subject to his draft, under the
preceffing restt-ictions.
On the twenty-second of December, the Sub- Committee on the
proposed extension of the plan of improvement to Butler's Row
reported, and the Committee unanimously voted that the propo
sition for such extension of the improvement ought to be em
braced; and the Mayor was requested to call a meeting of the
City Council, and state to them that " by the power to apply a
sum not exceeding two hundred and twenty thousand dollars,
improvements of gi-eat importance might be effected, by the pur
chase of land, -without any ffitimate cost, and with a certain
ffitimate gain to the city."
On the twenty -fom-th of December following, the City Council
were specially convened on this subject, and a message ttansmit-
ted by the Mayor, which developed all the views entertained by
the Committee, and the motives which induced them to recom
mend the extension of the plan first adopted. As this measure
was the occasion of much obloquy at the time, it seems proper
that these views should be preserved in the form they were at
that time presented to the City Council. That message is there
fore subjoined, 1 by which it wiU be apparent that the motives
which actuated the City CouncU were of the most pubUc and
pattiotic character ; their object being to avaU themselves of a
propitious moment to effect in the heart of the city an enlarge
ment of the accommodations of its great central market, from a
width of sixty to that of one hundred and two feet. The popu
lation of the city at that time did not make the necessity and
1 See Appendix H.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 133
importance of this enlargement as apparent to the citizens in
general, as it was to the City CouncU, and as every day's increas
ing experience has since made it. No one can pass through '
South Market Street at the present day (1851) on high market
days, without realizing both the importance, and even necessity,
of that measure, and perceiving how greatly the advantages of
that improvement would have been diminished, had this enlarge
ment not taken place, and this street had been left of the width
of sixty feet, as originaUy proposed.
In consequence of this message, on the twenty-ninth of Decem
ber, an authority was obtained from the City CouncU to pur
chase any land to the southward of the street leading to Bray's
Wharf, which they may judge expedient, provided the purchases
ffid not exceed two hundred and twenty thousand dollars, three
fourths of the Committee concurring in such purchases and sign
mg such concurrence. On the same day, the vote of the City
Council was communicated to the Committee, who unanimously
executed an authority to the Mayor and a sub-committee to pro
ceed forth-with to make the respective purchases under the above
limitation. Between the fifth and the eighteenth of January, 1825, pur
chases were accordingly made of land belonging to Benjamin
Adams, Josiah SaUsbury, James T. Austin, Thomas Barnes, and
the Fifty Associates, for  $ 113.347
And, after great difficffities and long negotiation,
a final arrangement was made with the Long
Wharf proprietors for the purchase of their
interest, at  105.000

f 218.347
The Committee then proceeded to ffirect, that South Market
Street should be laid out not less than one hundred and two feet
wide, and the new stteet, running from Merchants' Row, thirty-
five feet wide ; that the Mayor and Aldermen be requested to
close the stteet leaffing to Bray's Wharf, and to open the new
street ; a select committee was appointed to prepare plans of the
new store lots to be sold, determine the conffitions of sale, and
report ; and aU the tenants in Parkman's BuUffings were ordered
to remove in thnty days.
Thus the design of the leaffing members of the ffist Commit-
12

134 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tee ¦ on FaneuU HaU Market was extended toward the east far
beyond their firsf published plan. The western side conformed,
in all material respects, to that plan, except that the market
house, instead of being situated between two stteets, each eighty
feet in width, had a street sixty-five feet in width on the north,
and one of one hundred and two feet on the south side. The
cause of this unequal ffivision of the space devoted to these
stteets has already been intimated.
When, in consequence of the ultimate purchases of the chief
estates lying between the street leaffing to Bray's Wharf and
Ann Street, the whole of the estate of Nathan Spear's hens
was taken into South Market Street, great complaints were
made and inffignation expressed, as though unexampled injustice
had been done to the proprietors of the three' fourteenths of Na
than Spear's estate, by taking in the whole of their mterest for
a street. It is not, however, apprehended that there was any
just cause for such complaint and feeling. Those proprietors
had maintained their rights with exemplq.ry firmness, and had
-vindicated for themselves all the advantages of the increased
value of their estates, derived from this city improvement. Their
estate, however, was, like those of other citizens, subject to be
taken, on indemnification, by the surveyors of highways for pub
Uc exigencies.
In the process for such indemnification, established by law in
such cases, they had the fuU right of receiving damages, accord
ing to the increased value of their estates, as raised by the city;
and this principle was acceded to those proprietors, as a matter
of law, by the Chief Justice of the Commonwealth, in his charge
to the jury ^ who had the duty of assessing damages, and who
awarded to those proprietors their proportion of the Spear estate,
valued at seventy thousand dollars, which, previously to the
commencement of this project of improvement, had never been
valued at more than twenty-five thousand. The assertion, that
the land was taken by the city as a specffiation, was whoUy with
out reasonable ground.
After the extension of the Centte Market, accorffing to the
original plan, was thus effected, minor projects were started in
connection with it. Some proposed that the new market house
1 See the Boston Daily Advertiser of the twenty-eighth November, 1826,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 135
should be widened from fifty to eighty feet. Others, that the
cellar of the market house, which was now, through its whole
length, finished and walled, should be taken up and removed, so
as to coincide with the centre of Faneuil HaU. The proprietors
of the north block of stores on North Market Stteet also memo
riaUzed against the widening of South Market Street, as being
injurious to them, and conttary to the faith of the city, pledged
to them. Between the eleventh and eighteenth of .lanuary,
these propositions were considered and rejected by the Commit
tee ; the ffist, unanimously ; the second, by a majority of five out
of nine. As the decision of these questions involved great
responsibUity, the Committee, after declaring their opinion, that
there was nothing in the proposed widening of South Market
Street conttary to the faith of the city, requested the Mayor to
state to the City Council the above votes, and communicate their
determination to proceed with the market house according to
the present location and dimensions, unless the City CouncU
should expressly direct otherwise ; and declaring their deliberate
judgment, that no other change shoffid be permitted, except that
of removing the cellar waUs, and erecting it of the present
dimensions, with the centi-e coinciding with' the centte of FaneuU
HaU, and this only on the condition that the proprietors of the
north block of stores consent to pay aU expenses consequent on
such removal.
The Mayor accordingly communicated to the City Council a
very long and elaborate report, showing that the widening of
South Market Stteet was no direct or vuiual violation of the
faith of the city to the proprietors of the north block of stores ;
and stating the grounds on which the Committee had seen fit to
reject the several projects for an alteration in the existing location
and dimensions of the new market.
The City Council concurred in all the views of the Commit
tee, and directed them to proceed in the manner they had before
.ordered. At this period, arrangements were commenced for taking down
aU the buildings purchased to the northward of Bray's Wharf, and
for clearing the entire space, preparatory to the sale of the south
block of store lots. And, in the course of the month of Febru
ary, 1825, deeds were received from the proprietors of Long
Wharf, and the pmchase money for them paid; the claims of

136 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tenants who had been removed were settled, and the south lots
prepared for sale. The Committee also avowed their intention
to recommend to the City CouncU to make no more pm'chases of
estates in the vicinity of Butler's Row ; declaring, at the same time,
their opmion, that it woffid be for the interest of the city if the
Mayor coffid induce private individuals to purchase lands in that
vicinity, for further extending the improvement m that direction.
This declaration was made -with reference to, and in aid of, a
plan of David Greenough, which had for its object the entire
closing of Butler's Row.
On the seventh of this month, the Committee were deprived
of one of its most active and talented members, by the resigna
tion of Mr. Alderman Benjamin, whose practical sMU, scientific
acquirements, experience, and great judgment, as an architect,
had largely contributed to the success and extensiveness of this
important improvement, as he had been, in every stage of the
building of the new market house, joined in councU with Alex
ander Parris, the employed architect, in devising and improving
its original plan.
Mr. Alderman Eddy was elected successor to Mr. Benjamin
on the Special Committee.
In the month of March, the Committee purchased the estate
of D. Tucker, on the Long Wharf, for the purpose of opening
what is now caUed Commercial Street to the Long Wharf; and,
after obtaining the sanction of the City CouncU, they also pur
chased, at the cost of thirty-six thousand doUars, the estates of
WiUiam Welsh, Henry Lienow, and of the heirs of Mrs. Hoff
man ; the object being to open a thirty-five feet sti'eet in the
dnection of, and incluffing, the Roebuck Passage.
On the thirty-first of this month, the twenty-two store lots,
constituting the south block, including thirty-tffiee thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five square feet of land, were sold for
four hundred and three thousand eight hundred and fifty-three
dollars, it being eleven dollars and thirty-two cents the square
foot. On the twenty-fifth of April, the Faneffil Hall Committee
made a report to the Common Council, stating the amount paid
for land purchased, and for the streets laid out, for the accommo
dation of the new market house, with the amount received for
store lots; and, on the twenty-seventh of AprU, 1825, in con-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 137
formity with previous arrangements, the corner stone of the new
market house was laid ^ in the presence of the City Council and
a large concourse of citizens, there havmg been deposited under
it, inclosed m a leaden case, a specimen of aU the coins of the
United States, a map of the city, aU the newspapers of the city
published on that day, and a sUver plate, containing the names
of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common CouncU, of the Presi
dent of the United States, and of the Executive of the Com
monwealth. 1 See Appendix I.

12*

CHAPTER X.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1824-1825.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
Proceedings relative to the House of Industry — Opposition of the Overseers
of the Poor to the Measures of the City Council — Sale of the Almshouse in
Leverett Street — The Paupers transferred to the House of Industry — The
question of applying to the Legislature for a Modification of the Powers
claimed by the Overseers of the Poor, submitted to a General Meeting of
the Citizens — Its Result — Death of Alderman Hooper — Claims of PoUtical
Parties for the use of Eaneuil HaU — Difficulties relative to the Board of
Health — Change in that Department — Visit and Reception of General
Lafayette. Immediately after the organization of the city government, in
May, 1824, a committee, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen
ChUd, Benjamin, and Eddy, with Messrs. E. Wiffiams, Shaw,
Frothingham, Otis, Barry, Upham, and Davis, of the Common
Council, were appointed to consider the best mode of ffisposing
of the Almshouse, with authority to sell it, at a sum not less
than one hundred thousand dollars.
On the nineteenth of July, the Directors of the House of In
dustty reported to the City CouncU their receipts and expendi
tures on account of that institution, its prosperous state, and the
necessity of a stockade fence around it ; and a committee, con
sisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Patterson and Eddy, with Messrs.
Wales, RusseU, William Wright, and Goddard, were appomted,
with full authority to ttansfer to the House of Industty aU the
inmates of the Almshouse, with the concurrence of the Overseers
of the Poor. This Committee, in repeated interviews with those
Overseers, stated the completion and success of the House of
Industry ; its special adaptation to the class of poor then in the
Almshouse, its chief design being to supply them with a varied
succession of healthfffi employment, on the land and in the
House, according to the season of the year, their age, sex, and
capacity, thus enabUng them to do something for their own sup-

CITY GOVERNMENT, 139
port, and adding to the comfort of the respectable poor, by a
pure atmosphere, a wider space for exercise, and scenes more
congenial to the human mind, than an almshouse in the midst
of a popffious city coffid afford ; that those who had been trans
ferred to the House of Industry the last year with reluctance,
were not only satisfied, but grateful and happy in the change.
The Committee requested the Overseers to examine for them
selves the correctness of these assertions ; and, after stating that
the experiment already made had convinced the City CouncU of
the economy, humanity, and acceptableness to the poor of the
House of Industty, pressed the expediency of immediately ttansr
ferring the inmates of the Almshouse to the new, ffi-y, and clean
effifice at South Boston, where they might enjoy the comfort and
advantage of a residence in the countty during the ensffing
summer. The Committee stated that the interest of the city required
that the tt-ansfer should not be delayed ; as a negotiation then
proceeding for the sale of the house in Leverett Sti-eet would be
embarrassed by an opposition to the views of the City CouncU.
They, therefore, proposed an immeffiate removal of all the poor
to the House of Industry, except the sick and the maniacs ; for
whom suitable attendants would be provided by the city, in the
Almshouse in Leverett Street, under the superintendence of the
Overseers of the Poor, untU that institution coffid be entirely
closed. They stated that it was not the object of the City Council to
deprive the Overseers of their guarffianship of the poor, but to
render their labors more easy and efficient, by adopting a system
of measures sffited to the increasing population of the city.
From that cause, the office of overseer had become so burden
some, that in one ward three citizens had been recently succes
sively chosen and successively declined. These objections would
be lessened when those officers were released from responsibili
ties relative to the place appointed for the residence of the poor;
except those included in their visitatorial power.
The Committee stated that, after the ttansfer of the poor to
South Boston, it was the intention of the City Council that aU
the poor "in the House of Industry and Hoijse of Correction
shoffid be under the superintendence of the Directors of the
House of Industty ; that all other poor within the limit of the

140 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
city, in the hospital and in famiUes, to be under the care of the
Overseers of the Poor, who were to have the exclusive manage
ment and disttibution of aU eleemosynary funds, and of aU such
as the City CouncU may provide for the poor out of the house;"
considering these services of the Overseers to include an appli
cation of time and labor sufficient for any city to claim gratui
tously of any individual.
These views were not only repeated by the Committee at
several interviews, but were set forth at large by them in a letter
to the Overseers, dated the twenty-fifth of June, 1824, and signed
by the Mayor, David W. ChUd, James Savage, and EUphalet
WiUiams, without any other effect than that which -wiU here
after be stated.
WhUe the preceding controversy was penffing, the Overseers
of the Poor raised another difficulty, relative to their accounta-
biUty to the City Council for the expenditure of public moneys.
By the ordinance " establishing a system of accountabiUty in the
expenditures of the city," passed on the twenty-second of August,
1824, no moneys could be paid out of the city tteasmy, unless
vouched by the Chairman of the Committee of the Board, under
whose authority the expenditure had been made, and unless
passed by the joint Committee of accounts of the City Council.
The Overseers having ffi-awn an order on the City Treasurer,
without regarding the provisions of the city ordmance, which,
not being accepted, the Overseers of the Poor on the twenty-fifth
of September, 1824, adffiessed a remonstrance to the City Coun
cil, stating that, " under the town, the subscription of the Over
seers to the grants and allowances, contained in their draft book,
was deemed a sufficient voucher for the Treasurer ; " that the
delivery of the original biUs and insttuments, authenticating the
claims of the Overseers, " would be a hinderance in the discharge
of then- official duties, and endanger a loss by the city ; " that
many of them related to adjustments and ttansactions between
them and the Overseers of the Poor or Selectmen of other to-wns,
and ought to be retained in their hands ; that in cases of disburse
ments made by the Overseers, in their respective wards, to poor
persons at then dweUings occasionaUy, according to their imme
diate exigencies, many inconveniences were suggested ; and mea
sm-es of the City Council were requested, relieving them from the
operation of the ordinance relative to accountabUity.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 141
This memorial was referred to a committee of the City Coun
cU, consisting of the Mayor and Alderman Odiorne, and Messrs.
Coolidge, Prouty, and Morse, of the Common CouncU, who, on
the eighteenth of October, 1824, reported that they had an inter
view with the Overseers of the Poor, and heard and considered
aU their suggestions, and that they cannot perceive why the par
ticular provisions of that orffinance are not as equaUy applicable
to the expenffitures of the Overseers of the Poor as to those of other
boards and individuals inttusted with the disbursement of public
moneys, and that they see no practical ffifficulty or inconvenience
that will resffit from the applicability of the ordinance in question
to their expenffiture ; but, on the conttary, in their judgment, it
would be productive of great satisfaction. The Committee then
proceeded to state the expenditures of the Overseers, during the
last current year, to have been upwards of thirty thousand dol
lars, arranged under four general heads : — 1. Salaries and sums
paid for professional services. 2. Payments made to insane
hospitals and other towns. 3. Payments of out of door grants
and pensions. 4. Payments for articles and provisions purchased
for the house. As to the fost, amounting to near four thousand
doUars, the Overseers coffid not be subjected to greater inconve
nience than that to which other salaried officers were, who are
paid by bills certffied by the chairman of the committee of the
board making the conttact. It was obviously expedient that a
similar principle should be appUed to all accounts for salaries.
Indeed the chief objection of the Overseers to the requisition
seemed to be the ttouble it would occasion them. As to
the second head, amounting to upwards of twenty-five hun
dred doUars, the Committee apprehended no great inconve
nience coffid arise after an account was Uquidated and the
balance sttuck, for the account to be certified by the chair
man of the board that passed it. The objection made was,
that the Overseers would be subjected to unnecessary trouble to
go to the office of the auffitor, in case of any necessity of recur
rence to those accounts. This inconvenience, the Committee
apprehended, woffid be counterbalanced by the great public con
venience and security, from having aU the public accounts of all
the expending indi-viduals and boards deposited in one office, in
one systematic arrangement, under the ffirect superintendence of
a committee of the City Council. As to the third head of pay-

142 MUNICn-AL HISTORY.
ments, amounting to upwards of eight thousand dollars, all that
would be reqffired was, that a list of the names of aU the pen
sioners, or those to whom grants were made, shoffid be tt-ansmit-
ted, certified by the Chairman of the Overseers, that they have
been aUowed by vote of the Board. And as to weekly distribu
tions of the Overseers in the wards, all that would be required
was, a statement of an account by the expending overseer, speci
fying the names of the person relieved, and a certificate of the
Chairman of the Overseers, that the account had been passed by
the Board. It was objected by the Overseers, that giving publi
city to the name of the person relieved, might sometimes occa
sion pain to such person. The Committee, however, were of
opinion, that it was the right of society to know how the public
moneys are in such cases applied. Poverty, when it is not the
consequence of vice or crime, is no disgrace ; when it is the con
sequence of either, it is not entitled to the consideration which
the objection implies. As to the fourth head, amounting to
nearly fifteen thousand dollars, the payments made under it are,
in every respect, precisely similar to those of other city expendi
tures, and there can be no reason why they should not be subject
to the same system of accountabUity. The Directors of the
House of Industry, whose relations to the city and responsibili
ties are altogether similar to those of the Overseers (except only
that they have no discretionary power to disburse money out
of the house) find no embarrassment from the provisions of the
ordinance, and the Committee declared their opinion that the
experiment in its effects woffid result in being a great satisfac
tion to the Overseers of the Poor, instead of an annoyance.
The reluctance thus exhibited "by the Overseers of the Poor to be
subjected to the same principles of accountabUity which the City
Council had established, with regard to all boards and inffividu
als who had the expenditures of public moneys, made a deep
impression upon the minds of the Committee. This was strength
ened by their unyielding opposition to the removal of the poor
to the institution at South Boston, after the urgent soUcitation
of the Committee for such removal, expressed in their letter of
the twenty-fifth of June preceding; although there were only
eighty in the class of sick and maniacs out of more than three
hundred inmates then in the Almshouse. The great majority
of these they aUeged were not capable of labor and not suited to

CITY GOVERNMENT. 143
the mode of relief provided for them in the House of Industry, and
accordingly refused to assent to the transfer of more than forty.
These they discharged in the mode they before adopted, and of
this number only thirty-two could be persuaded to go to South
Boston. It was also soon ascertained that several of these pau
pers, who, after having been discharged by the Overseers, had
refused to go to the House of Industry, and others who had run
away from that establishment, wholesome resttaint being unsuited
to their iffie and vicious habits, had been again received into the
Almshouse in Leverett Sti-eet, without any notice being given to
the Directors of the House of Industi-y and the City CouncU.
These proceedings were so desttuctive of the discipline of this
institution, that the Committee resolved, on th^ fourth of Sep
tember, to make a final attempt to effect, if possible, a transfer
of those inmates ; and accordingly on that day, had, for that pur
pose, an interview with the Overseers of the Poor, and received
from them a statement that there were one hundred and forty-
four adults and ninety-nine chilffien in the Almshouse, who were
neither sick nor maniacs. And .when the Committee deemed it
then duty to require the concurrence of the Overseers in the ttans
fer of those paupers to the House of Industry, to their surprise
that Board, on the tenth of November, passed a vote refusing to
concur in the ttansfer of any of this great number, for the reason
that " they were not, in the opinion of the Overseers, in a condi
tion to be discharged from their care and oversight."
The Committee which had been appointed on this subject, on
the seventeenth of June, 1824, therefore communicated these
facts to the City Council on the fifteenth of November, and,
without making any comment on this refusal, declared their
opinion that " the whole course of proceedings of the Overseers
of the Poor, in relation to the House of Industry and the Alms
house, as well as the great amount of the cash expenditures of
that Board, and the obstacles they had thrown in the way of
their accountability to the City Council, stt-ongly indicated the
necessity and duty of the City CouncU to obtain, if possible,
that the subject of the poor should be placed on a different foot
ing than that which at present exists under the laws of the Com
monwealth ; that the experience of two years had evinced that
a constant succession of embarrassments had obstructed the
attempts of the City Council to produce that ameUoration in the

144 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
condition of the poor, and that limitation of the expenditures of
that department which was originally intended by the wisdom
of the citizens of Boston, when they laid the foundations of the
House of Industty ; " and they " suggested to the City Council
the duty of inquiring whether these embarrassments are .not
inseparable from the incompatibUity of the powers existing in,
or claimed by the Overseers, when brought into connection -with
the powers and authorities now unquestionably vested by the
charter of the city in the City CouncU ; " that " by the theory
of this charter, the branches which combine its legislative and
executive powers, are competent for the management of all the
concerns of the city, and among these the care of the poor, one
of tiie most important in point of expense, and one of the most
critical in point of interest. By the theoi-y of the Board of Over
seers this great concern is thrown into the hands of twelve men,
chosen in wards, without much reference to the greatness of the
pecuniary trust, and stiU less to the extent of their claimed pow
ers. Thus, for instance, this Board has, according to their claims,
a right to expend what they please, on whom they please, and
how they please ; sometimes supporting paupers in the house,
and sometimes out of the house ; sometimes paying them by
monthly and quarterly drafts on the tteasury ; sometimes paying
them by cash out of their own pockets, and charging the amount
in a weekly or monthly settlement ; and in these ways there
actually passes through their hands annuaUy from thirty to forty
thousand dollars." The Committee in this statement did not
include the great annu^al expenditure of the incomes of eleemo
synary funds, amounting, as is asserted, to a capital of more than
one hundred thousand doUars, over which the Overseers claimed
entire control, and were reluctant authoritatively to give pubUcity
to the exact amount. The Committee, after fm-ther commenting
on the extteme inconvenience and inexpediency of this state of
things, recommended that a Committee of both branches should
be appointed, and instructed to consider and report at large on
the subject. This report was accepted, and the Mayor, Alder
men Odiorne, Child, and Eddy, and the President, (Oliver) and
Messrs. Sa-vage, E. WUUams, Prouty, and Curtis, of the Com
mon Council, were accordingly appointed to consider the general
relations of the Overseers of the Poor and the city, and report-
the measures which ought to be adopted on the subject.

CITY GOVERmiENT. 145
This Committee, on the twenty-ninth of November, made a
report exhibiting the incompatibUity of the existing relations
between the Overseers of the Poor and the City Council with the
interests of the city, and recommending that the whole subject
shoffid be submitted to a general meeting of the citizens, and
proposing measures which, if sanctioned by them, woffid termi
nate these collisions of authority.^ To the end, also, that if a
board assuming a qualified independence of the City CouncU
should afterwards be permitted to exist, it should be the resffit
of the voluntary act of the citizens, and should not be attributa
ble to any shrinking from, or dereUction of duty on the part of
the City CouncU.
The report was accepted unanimously in both branches of the
City Council, and six thousand copies were printed and imme
diately disti-ibuted throughout the city. A meeting of the in
habitants was then caUed for the sixteenth of December ensu
ing. At this meeting very warm and exciting debates occmi-ed,
occupying the whole morning, and resffiting, after several poU-
ings, in a rejection of the measures proposed by the City Coun
cU, by a majority of only thirty-one, in an assembly casting eight
hundred votes. The proceeffings were then so far reconsidered,
as to refer the whole subject to a committee of twelve persons,
who were instructed to caU, at their ffiscretion, another general
meeting of the inhabitants, at which the votes on the report they
might submit shoffid be taken by ballot.
This Committee reported at length ; and, after ffilating on the
necessity and importance of the office of overseers of the poor
from " the fact, that overseers of the poor are by law trustees of
various legacies and donations to certam descriptions of poor,
then amounting to ninety thousand dollars, the income of which,
the donors, confiffing in the humanity, prudence, and integrity
of the acting overseers of their day, and justly inferring that the
good sense of the people would lead them to elect similar cha
racters as successors in after times, have at various periods placed
at the ffisposal of the overseers so chosen, to be applied in most
cases to such as had seen better days, and were not resident in
the Almshouse nor partakers of the pubUc bounty in other
ways," proceeded to declare then opinion, that " the election of
1 See Appendix K.
13

146 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the overseers by the people is not only conformable to the wishes
of the citizens, but an ancient practice, which circumstances do
not require them to reUnquish." In conformity with tMs opi
nion, the Committee recommended to the citizens for their adop
tion, resolutions declaring the inexpediency of complying with
the propositions submitted to them by the City CouncU. The
Committee then appointed the nineteenth of May ensuing for a
general meeting of the citizens, to take into consideration their
report. On the eighteenth of November, the Directors of the House
of Industty again reported to the City CouncU the state of the
institution, congratffiated the public on its success, and expressed
their sttong hopes that great and lasting good woffid resffit from
it to the morals and interests of the city, and repeated thek
urgency for an appropriation of five thousand doUars for the
erection of a stockade fence, as being advantageous to the present
institution, and essential to a house of correction. The appro
priation required was immediately granted by the City CouncU.
The sale of the Almshouse in Leverett Stteet, in March, 1825,
at length put an end to the conttoversy relative to the ttansfer
of the poor.
The Committee which had effected the sale declared that no
delay ought to occur, in compliance with their stipulations rela
tive to clearing the house in Leverett Street of aU its inmates ;
and on their recommendation, two resolves were passed by the
City Council, ffirecting all the paupers to be removed to South
Boston, on or before the fifteenth of AprU ensffing, and the mem
bers of the former Committee on the subject of the ttansfer of
the poor to the House of Lidustty were appointed to have an
interview -with the Overseers, with authority to make such
ttansfer. Accordingly, before that day, the house in Leverett
Stteet was cleared of its inmates, in conformity with the re
solve of the City Council; and, on a petition of the Over
seers of the Poor, they assigned the southeast chamber of the
second story in FaneuU HaU to that board, as a place for their
meeting and a deposit of their records. On the eighteenth of
April, the Committee charged with the ttansfer of the poor
to South Boston reported to the City CouncU that it had
been effected, and two hundred and nine individuals had been
removed, making the number now in the House of Industry

CITY GOVERNMENT. 147
two hundred and eighty-one ; and that aU the inmates, particu
larly the aged and respectable females, whose comfort and ac
commodation deserved particffiarly to be considered, expressed
to the Committee then content and gratitude for the change,
and their regret that it had been so long delayed. The City
Council, therefore, after aU the difficulties with which they had
long contended, had the great pleasure and satisfaction of be
holding their labors, with regard to the House of Industry,
crowned with complete success.
On the sixteenth of September, 1824, the Mayor announced
to the City Council the death of Alderman Hooper, a lawyer of
great promise, who, by his talents and virtues, had obtained an
extensive local influence, which, dming the short period he was
suffered to remain in public life, he had successfully appUed to
the advancement of the best interests of the city. A resolve was
immeffiately passed, expressing deep sympathy with his famUy,
and a committee appointed to make arrangements for the City
CouncU to attend the funeral, and to recommend such marks of
respect as were justly due to his virtues, talents, and public ser
vices. In November, the vacancy in the Board of Aldermen, which
this event occasioned, was suppUed by the election of Cyrus
Alger. In March, 1824, the representatives of two political parties, came
before the Mayor and Aldermen, each claiming the use of FaneuU
HaU on the evening preceding an election, under circumstances
which deeply excited the feelings of both. After much deliberation
that Board determined that the right should no longer depend upon
the priority of application, but hereafter by alternation ; and that
the claims of the two parties for the ensuing election, being
nearly equal, should be decided by ballots, prepared by the City
Clerk in their presence ; it being declared, that the unsuccessfffi
party shoffid have a right to the Hall on the evening of the next
succeeding election. In this decision the j-epresentatives of the
contending parties acquiesced.
On the nineteenth AprU, 1824, the joint Committee on quaran
tine regulations, of which the Mayor was chanman, reported,
that, by the city charter, the whole subject relative to quarantine
was invested in the City Council ; that, in 1822, they had trans
ferred those powers to the Board of Health, who had executed

148 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
them m the character and with the attributes of an independent
board ; that doubts had arisen concerning the constitutionaUty
of that transfer ; and that this arrangement was not consonant
to the spirit of the city charter, nor justffied by its provisions ;
that those powers were a personal and untransferable trast to
the City Council ; that, although they must be exercised by the
agency of others, the body by which they are exercised ought to
be so organized that its dependence, in every act of its power,
should be felt and acknowledged, otherwise, the City CouncU
have a responsibility without power of control, and the trust of
the charter is violated or abandoned ; that it was a question of
great deUcacy and seriousness, worthy of the most anxious con
sideration of the City Council, whether the exercise of those
powers by a board like that of the Commissioners of Health,
regarding itself as independent, was a fuffilment of the obUga-
tions, however -wise and respectable might be the members of
that board ; and that, deeming it their duty to propose a different
organization for the exercise of that trust, the Committee re
commended the resolutions of the foUowing general tenor : —
1. That there should be appointed, in May, annuaUy, health
commissioners, by concurrent vote of the City Council.
2. That they shoiUd have power to caiTy into effect aU the
powers relative to the quarantine of vessels, the health, cleanli
ness, and comfort of the city, and the interment of the dead.
3. That there should be, in like manner, appointed a physician
for Hospital Island ; and also, in case of mfectious ffiseases, three
consffiting physicians.
4. That there should be a joint committee annually appointed,
to prepare rules and regulations and superintend the proceeffings
of the Commissioners ; and, in case of any doubt or question, to
submit the subject for the decision of the City Council.
These resolves were adopted in both branches, and the subject
left for the action of the ensuing City CouncU.
Accordingly, on the third of JMay, in the ensffing city year,
the Mayor, Aldermen Child, Eddy, and Hooper, with Messrs.
Russell, Morse, Adan, Upham, and WilUam Wright, of the
Common Council, were appointed a committee on that subject;
and, in pursuance of the policy recommended by these resolves,
the agency of the Board of Health was superseded by an ordi
nance of the City CouncU, passed on the thirty-fost of May,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 149
1824, relative to the police of the city, by which the whole sub
ject was placed under the control of a single commissioner, as
has already been stated in this work.^ On the same day, a vote
passed both branches of the city, unanimously expressing their
thanks to the members of the late Board of Health, for their
fffithful and laborious services.
The visit of General Lafayette rendered the years 1824 and
1825 a period of universal jubilee in the United States. Although
the testimony of delight at his presence, which cities and states
vied -with each other in repeating, belong to the history of the
nation, yet the proceedings of the municipaUty of Boston, as the
triumphal procession swept through its precincts, requires here a
brief notice and distinct reminiscence.
In March, 1824, the Mayor, in compUance -with a vote of the
City CouncU, adffiessed the foUo-wing letter to Lafayette.
Boston, U. S. A., 20 March, 1824.
Sir, — Your intention to visit the United States has been made known to its
citizens by the proceedings of their National Legislature. The city of Boston
shares in the universal pleasure which the expectation of so interesting an event
has diffused ; but it has causes of gratification pecuUarly its o-wn. Many of its
inhabitants recoUect, and aU have heard of your former residence in this metro
polis ; of the deUght with which you were here greeted on your second visit to
this country ; and of the acclamation of a grateful multitude which attended you
when saUing from this harbor, on your last departure from the United States ;
and also of that act of munificence, by wliioh in later times you extended the
hand of reUef in their distress. These circumstances have impressed upon the
inhabitants of this city a -vivid recoUection of your person, and a peculiar inte
rest in your character, endearing you to their remembrance by sentiments of
personal gratitude, as weU as by that sense of national obUgation -mth which the
citizens of the United States are universaUy penetrated.
With feeUngs of this kind, the City Council of Boston, in accordance -with the
general -wish of their constituents, have directed me to address this letter to you,
and to express the hope that, should it comport with your convenience, you
would do them the honor to disembark iu this city, and to communicate the
assurance that no event could possibly be more grateful to its inhabitants ; that
nowhere could you meet with a more cordial welcome ; that you could find
nowhere hearts more capable of appreciating your early zeal and sacrifices in the
cause of American freedom, or more ready to acknowledge and honor that cha
racteristic uniformity of virtue, -with which through a long Ufe, and in scenes of
unexampled difficulty and danger, you have steadfastly maintained the cause of
an enUghtened ci-vil liberty in both heuuspheres.
Very respectfully, I am your obedient servant,
Josiah Quincy, Mayor of the City of Boston.
1 See ch. V. p. 73.
13*

150 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

answer of LAFAYETTE.
To the Mayor of the City of Boston : Paris, May 26, 1824.
Sir, — Amidst the new and high marks of benevolence the people of the Uni
ted States and their representatives have lately deigned to confer upon me, I am
proud and happy to recognize those particular sentiments of the citizens of Bos
ton which have blessed and delighted the first years of my pubUc career, and
the grateful sense of which has ever since been to me a most valued reward and
support. I joyfuUy anticipate the day, not very remote, thank God, when I
may revisit the glorious cradle of American, and, in future, I hope, of universal
liberty. Your so honorable and gratifying in-vitation would have been directiy
complied with in the case to which you aUude. But whUe I profoundly felt the
honor intended by the ofier of a national ship, I hope I shaU incur no blame by
the determination I have taken to embark, as soon as it is in my power, in a pri
vate vessel. Whatever port I first attain, I shall, with the same eagerness,
hasten to Boston, and present to its beloved and revered inhabitants, as I have
the honor to offer to the City CouncU and to you, sir, the homage of my affee-
tionate gratitude and devoted respect. Lafayette.
General Lafayette landed at New York on the sixteenth of
August, 1824, amidst those demonstt-ations of interest and grati
tude, which every heart and hand in the United States was pre
pared to reiterate; and on the twentieth he left that city for
Boston, under a military escort. During the whole course of his
journey, he received continued evidences of general deUght.
From the lines of Massachusetts he was attended by the Aids of
Governor Eustis, and was received by him at his seat in Rox
bury, on the evenmg of the twenty-thnd. On the succeeding
morning, seated in a barouche the city had provided, he was
escorted by a cavalcade of more than a thousand citizens to the
lines of Boston, where he was met by the city authorities m car
riages, with a large military escort, and was thus addressed by
the Mayor, stanffing in the barouche, in which were seated the
Committee of the City Council.
General Lafayette, — The citizens of Boston welcome you on your
return to the United States ; mindful of your early zeal in the cause of Ameri
can independence, grateful for your distinguished share in the perils and glories
of its achievement. When, urged by a generous sympathy, you first landed on
these shores, you found a people engaged in an arduous and eventful struggle
for liberty, with apparently inadequate means and amidst dubious omens. After
the lapse of nearly half a century, you find the same people prosperous beyond
all hope and all precedent ; their Uberty secure, sitting in their strength, -without
fear and without reproach.
In your youth you joined the standard of three millions of people, raised in an

CITY GOVERNMENT. 151
tocertain and unequal combat. In your advanced -age you return, and are met
by ten millions of people, their descendants, who greet your approach and
rejoice in it. This is not the movement of a turbulent populace, excited by
the first laurels of some recent conqueror. It is a grave, moral, inteUectual
impulse. A whole people in the enjoyment of freedom as perfect as the condition of our
nature permits, recur with gratitude, increasing with the daily increasing sense
of their blessings, to the memory of those, who by their labors and in their blood
laid the foundation of our liberties.
Your name, sir, the name of Lafayette, is associated with the most perUous
and most glorious periods of our Revolution — -with the imperishable names of
Washington and of that numerous host of heroes who adorn the proudest
archives of American historj"-, and are engraven in indelible traces on the hearts
of the whole American people. Accept then, in the sincere spirit in which it is
oflfered, this simple tribute to your virtues.
Again, sir, the citizens of Boston bid you welcome to the cradle of American
independence and to scenes consecrated with the blood shed by the earUest mar
tyrs in the cause. REPLY OF GENERAL LAFAYETTE.
To the Mayor and People of Boston :
The emotions of love and gratitude which I have been accustomed to feel on
my entering this city, have ever mingled -with a sense of reUgious reverence for
the cradle of American, and let us hope it -wUl be hereafter said, of universal
liberty. What must be my feelings, sir, at the blessed moment, when, after so long an
absence, I find myself again surrounded by the good citizens of Boston. When
I am so afiectionately, so honorably welcomed, not only by old friends, but by
several successive generations ; when I can witness the prosperity, the immense
improvements that have been the just reward of a noble struggle, virtuous morals,
and truly republican institutions.
I beg of you, Mr. Mayor, Gentlemen of the City CouncU, and aU of you,
beloved citizens of Boston, to accept the respectful and warm thanks of a heart
which has, for nearly half a century, been particularly devoted to your illustrious
city. The Mayor then took a seat with Lafayette.
The entrance of Lafayette into the city was announced by
raising the American flag on the cupola of the State House and
on Dorchester Heights, from whence a salute of one hunffied and
one guns was fired. The stteets were profusely decorated ;
arches with appropriate mottoes were raised in Washington
Stteet ; and during his progress, for more than three mUes, aU
the bells of the city were rung, and he was welcomed by more
than seventy thousand inhabitants of the city and its vicinity.
Every roof, -window, balcony, and steeple, was put in reqffisition
by the excited multitude, which, by its throng, often impeded

152 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the progress of the barouche. The 'day was clouffiess, cool, and
serene, and every circumstance propitious to general enjoyment
On the Common, Lafayette passed through two lines formed by
several thousand chUdren, pupUs of the pubUc schools, attired in
uniform, and each wearing his portrait stamped upon a ribbon.
From the State House, where his reception by the Governor was
announced by a national salute from the Common, he was
escorted to the mansion at the corner of Beacon and Park
Stteets, which had been obtained and furnished for his resi
dence, dming his visit, by the city authorities; and he after
wards attended a public ffinner given by them in his honor.
During the week of his continuance in the city, he was escorted
by the Mayor and a Committee of the City CouncU, to visit
every object of interest within and around the city, and no testi
mony of respect and gratitude was omitted.
On the thirty-fost of August, the Mayor accompanied Lafay
ette, on his departure for New Hampshire, to the Unes of Boston
on Charles River Bridge, where he was received by the aids of
the Governor of the Commonwealth and an escort of cavalry.
At parting, he requested the Mayor to assure the citizens of
Boston that " it was impossible for words to do justice to the
emotions excited in his heart by the ffistingffished Mndness and
honor with which he had been welcomed by them ; that they
woffid ever be associated with his most precious recoUections ;
and that he warmly reciprocated their expressions of respect and
regard." On the second of September, when Lafayette returned from
New Hampshire, an elegant entertainment was given Mm at his
residence in Park Street by the City ComicU. Lafayette pre
sided at the table, and they dined with him apparently as his
guests ; and this gratifying arrangement formed an appropriate
conclusion to the attention and ttibutes he received from the city
government of Boston.

CHAPTER XI.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1824-1825.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.
State of the 'Fire Department — Claims of the Engine Companies — The
Result — They surrender their Engines and resign — ¦ Other Engine Compa
nies formed — A new Organization of the Fire Department recommended —
Measures taken to carry it into eifect — Office of Auditor of Accounts esta
bhshed. During the first year of the second administtation of the city
government, the City CouncU were resttain ed by obstacles, appa
rently insurmountable, from any attempt to improve the then
existing system of protection against fire, although great changes
in it were evidently reqffisite. Fnewards, engine, and hook and
ladder men, with associated friendly foe companies, constituted
the foe police. Their efficiency chiefly depended upon the aid
of the inhabitants, applied under the authority of the firewards.
They formed lanes of bystanders, who, by then direction, passed
buckets of water, from pumps or wells in the vicinity, to the
engines playing on the fire, and retm-ned them for further
supply. This system of protection had its origin in the relations of
the colonial state, when the inhabitants were few, habituated to
labor, and respect for the rights of property was general. Dwell
ing-houses being then separated by gardens or vacant fields,
extensive conflagrations were infrequent ; yet, being of wood,
and the means of insurance unattainable, their occasional loss
kept alive the feeling of sympathy in the community. The duty
of joining some fire company and assisting at every fo-e was,
therefore, regarded as imperious. f, ^ . j
At the time of the adoption of the city government, Boston
was in a ttansition state, and fast advancing to that period,
when, by the increase of popffiation, ties of inffividual interest
were diminished. The estabUshment of insurance offices had,
in most cases, ttansferred the loss upon capitalists ; and poverty
and crime, multiplying with numbers, began to regard fires as

154 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
harvests, from the gleaning of which they had not principle
enough to abstain.
Although this state of things was obvious, and its effects
began to be felt, yet it was long before the duty of aiffing the
sufferers caused the necessity of imposing resttaint on the general
interference of the citizens at fires to be recognized. This reluct
ance to acknowledge the effect of circumstances on the then
existing system of protection, was pecuUarly strong among the
engine companies, in whom the esprit de corps wae active and
general. From the earliest period of the settlement, the mem
bers of these companies had been accustomed to regard them
selves as the guarffians of the city against this element, and took
a pride in the consciousness of their power. They were a body
of men energetic and fearless. So far from regarding their labors
as onerous and looMng for their reward in pecuniary compensa
tion, a premium was often paid for admission into the compa
nies, and they deemed themselves recompensed by a small aUo-w-
ance from the town, sufficient for an annual social supper, by
exemption from militia duties, and the consciousness of useful
and acceptable services to their fellow .townsmen. Then engines,
found and supported by the town, were* without ornament, and
valued only for their power. To be first, nearest, and most con
spicuous at fires, was the ambition of the engine men ; and the
use of hose, as it had a tendency to deprive them of tMs gratifi
cation, was opposed. The hostility to any change which should
induce its use, was apparently general. The opinion of the effi
ciency of the then existing system was riveted in the beUef, and
fortified by the pride of the engine companies. To doubt it,
involved with them an inevitable loss of popffiarity ; and the
introduction of a hose system was ridiculed and regarded as use
less. Although the citizens in general did not coincide in the
opinion of the engine companies, and perceived the ffifficffities of
the subject, tjiey were far from being unanimous relative to the
improvement the state of the department required. The City
CouncU, therefore, determined to defer untU a more favorable
moment the desired alterations ; and the Mayor prepared for
changes which he deemed inevitable, by entering into correspond
ence with leaffing members of the fire departments of New York
and Philadelphia, whose systems of protection were reported to
him as highly efficient.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 155
The foe department was brought under the consideration of
the City CouncU in June, 1823, by a petition of several engine
companies for an additional compensation for their services.
The Committee to whom it was referred, reported that the remu
neration already aUowed was sufficient, and gave them leave to
-withdraw it. The acceptance of this report gave the petitioners
great dissatisfaction ; and the Mayor soon received notice from
the captains of some of the companies that they would never be
content with their present aUowance, but that at a proper season
they woffid renew their application. The Mayor understood,
from the terms of this notice, that this renewal would be made
in the winter, when then- services were most important and
arduous, and when, therefore, it would be most difficult to
supply substitutes. The City Council consequently, immediately
turned their attention to the present organization, efficiency, and
eqffipments of the engme companies, the inducements given to
join them, and the power of the firewards. These investigations
mcreased their dissatisfaction, and presented new difficulties.
The citizens complained that the firewards did not exercise their
authority, despotic for the emergency, with the same energy as
their predecessors. The foewards asserted that the citizens no
longer aided them in their duties, by becoming members of the
fire companies ; and that while the classes of population dis
posed to be inactive or to. depredate at fires increased, those who
were wiffing to assist were much lessened. It was, therefore,
more difficffit to form lanes to supply the engines, and impossi
ble to support them for any length of time. The multiplication
of insurance offices, also, by diminishing the losses of the suffer
ers, weakened the sense of obligation to risk life and health for
their relief. The engine companies were also equaUy loud in
their complaints. The increase of popffiation and extent of the
city had rendered alarms more numerous and made ffistances
greater. They were often obUged, from a deficiency of water,
to ffiag their engines some hunffied feet from the ffi-e to the
pump, and then back again, with the loss of half of the water
obtained. In this labor and in that of worMng engines, the
citizens were not as wUling to ffid as formerly. Admission
into the engine companies was, indeed, yet regarded as a pri
vUege, for which from five to eight doUars was paid by each
candidate. The companies were accustomed to have four sup-

156 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
pers in a year, which exhausted their fees, fines, premiums,
and aUowance from the city. The fines for faUme in the mili-
tia service had been so reduced, that exemption from it was
no longer a powerfffi inducement to enter the engine compa
nies. Four hundred and sixty men were their fffil complement,
but only three hundred and twenty were emoUed, and conse
quently not one company had its fuU complement, and one had
but twelve members. The city owned sixteen foe engines, but
offiy fourteen were in service. A few of them were of great
power, but in general they were ordinary in appearance and
workmansMp. Only eight hundred feet of hose belonged to all
the companies coUectively. Of these each engme had its pro
portion for its sole use ; and as the screws were not adapted to
each other, to act in a conjoined Une was impracticable.
Although these facts were well known, no general dissatisfac
tion existed ; and it was dangerous for any man's reputation for
sense or pattiotism to question the axiom that there was no
place whose inhabitants were more ffistmgffished for alacrity and
success in extingffishing foes than m Boston. The members of
the engine companies, who held most firmly this opinion, were
skUfffi, alert, and vigorous men, experienced in the service and
attached to it, and so confident of their ability and popffiarity,
that several of them said to the Committee that if the companies
resigned, no inffividuals coffid be found in the city -wUUng and
able to take charge of the engines. AU acknowledged that fires
were more destt'uctive than formerly ; but this was atttibuted
not to any defect in the system, but to the want of cooperation
among the citizens. The remeffies proposed and urged were,
to revive the ancient volunteer fire companies, to enlarge the sup
ply of buckets, and vest gi-eater authority in foewards. The pro
posal of a fire department which shoffid exclude, instead of com
pelling the assistance of citizens, was received with indignation.
" Do you think, sn," said one of the captains of the engines,
" that the citizens of Boston -wffi ever submit to be prohibited
from assisting a fellow townsman in disti-ess. Such sort of laws
may be obeyed in despotic countties, or in cities where the inha
bitants do not feel for one another ; but this is not the case, nor
ever will be in Boston. No such system can ever be introduced
into this city." When the advantages of the hose system were
suggested, it was answered, that it was practicable in Philadel-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 157
phia, from the abundance and easy command of water; but
Boston possessed no such facUities. When it was stated in
reply, that in New York the want of a sufficient head of water
was supplied by stationing engines at intervals between the
water and the fire, which, by playing into each other successively,
enabled the nearest to throw a continuous stream upon the fire.
The answer of one of the captains was characteristic of the state
of the existing prejudices on the subject. " Set enginemen at a
distance from the fire ! It wiU never be submitted to. Their
desire is always to be in the hottest of the battle. The nearer
the foe the higher the post of honor. Their sttuggle is, who
shaU get to it the fost, and who keep the nearest. It would be
more difficffit to keep a Boston engine back, in order to play into
its neighbor, than it woffid be to put out the fire." Many thought-
fffi and inteUigent citizens had also doubts concerning the effi
ciency of the hose system ; and the City Council concluded,
after much deliberation, that it was most prudent to postpone
for a time attempts to intt'oduce improvements obnoxious to so
many prejudices.
During the year 1823, the whole damage received by the city
fi:om foes did not amount to five thousand dollars. And this
uncommon exemption from calamity, by diminishing the appre
hension of danger, delayed expenffitures for protection.
On the seventeenth of September, 1823, the engine compa
nies renewed their petition, demanded the usual premiums for the
fo'st and second engines which arrived at the fire, and an annual
compensation of fifty dollars for each company, to be disposed
of at their discretion. The Committee to whom this petition
was referred, were the Mayor, Aldermen Odiorne and Eddy,
-with Messrs. E. WUliams, OUver, Adan, and Wales, of the
Common Council. They had frequent interviews with the cap
tains and leaffing members of the several companies ; but the
circumstances of the department, and the temper and language
m wMch their claims were urged, made the course to be pursued
very difficult. The season of the year and that which was
approaching, were those in which any known general derange
ment of the engine companies would occasion great alarm
among the citizens. The members of those companies had
been long in the service of the city. Great confidence was
attached to their experience. By many, the safety of the city
14

158 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
was deemed to be essentiaUy dependent on their continuance.
In their opinion the engine companies were composed of a class
of citizens whose claims it was unsafe to deny, and m whatever
spirit demanded they ought to be granted.
The claims of these companies were, in fact, pressed in terms
infficating their beUef that the city coffid not dispense with
their services. The Committee of the City CouncU were told
plainly, that unless their petition was granted, they would una
nimously resign their engines. On being asked, whether the
companies will not be satisfied with less than fifty doUars each,
the reply of one of the captains was, " No. We are fixed on
that point. Forty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents wUl not do!"
After this evidence of feeling and opinion, a majority of the
Committee came to the conclusion that any grant made under
such circumstances would be considered as an " acknowledg
ment of the dependence of the city upon the inffividuals who
then composed those companies, be attributed to fear, and be
only a temporary expedient and a source of future embarrass
ment ; that the permanent safety of a city shoffid never be
allowed to be regarded as dependent on the capricious estimate
of their own importance by any set of men ; but that general
confidence shoffid be permitted to rest on no other basis than the
conviction that there exists always among the mass of its citi
zens talents and -wUl adequate to self-protection.
The Committee, therefore, on the twenty-fourth of November
made a report, which was accepted by the City CouncU, that it
was not expeffient to grant the prayer of the petitioners, the pre
sent exemptions and compensations being a sufficient remunera
tion. In anticipation of possible ffifficulty, however, the Aldermen
immediately instituted inquuies in their several wards, and ascer
tained that the citizens generaUy Coincided in the views of the
city authorities on these claims, and that if the present compa
nies surrendered their engines, others might be formed without
ffifficffity. The City Council, however, being un-wUling whoUy to reject
the petition of the engine companies, on the sixth of November,
appointed another committee, consisting of the Mayor, Alder
men Patterson, Eddy, and Hooper, -with Messrs. Swett, Wins
low, Wright, Tappan, and Adan, of the Common CouncU, who,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 159
on the twenty-fourth of that month, made an elaborate report,
embracing aU the topics of controversy, and after doing full just
ice to the efficiency of the engine companies, proceeded to show
that their present compensation and privileges were greater than
those granted to the engine companies of New York, who found
no difficffity in keeping their numbers full. To show, however,
the appreciation of the City Council of the services of the Bos
ton engmemen, the Committee proposed to increase the pre
miums of the first and second companies which should arrive
earliest at a fire, and an annual allowance of twenty-five doUars
to each company, to be used at their discretion, which shoffid
have on the first of January in each year a complement of twenty
members. This report was accepted in both branches.
When this resffit was announced to the companies, their cap
tains came before the Mayor, and gave notice that they shoffid
deliver up their engines and resign their offices at their respective
engine houses on the first day of the ensuing December.
Accordingly, at the hour assigned on that day, the captain of
each company, at his engine house, deUvered its keys, his engine
and apparatus, aU in good order, to members of the Board of
Aldermen, who attended to receive them, and who immediately
delivered them into the custody of able and active bodies of citi
zens, who had volunteered their services on the emergency. On
the eveffing of the same day the Mayor announced to the City
CouncU, that the foe department of the city was in its usual
state of efficiency, and, in the course of the month of December,
engine companies were organized in connection with every
engine. Such was the system of protection against fires at the end of
the second year of the city. These arrangements were the best
the state of public feeling and private interest would admit. The
Mayor regarded them as temporary ; and, being convinced that
a radical change must be effected in the whole system, he con
tinued the correspondence he had opened with the chief mem
bers of the fire departments of Philadelphia and New York, to
satisfy his own mind on the ttue principles on which an efficient
organization of a system of protection on this subject shoffid be
estabhshed. The same general views concerning the inefficiency of the ex
isting system were also entertained by the members of the City

160 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
CouncU, and had been confirmed and made evident to the citi
zens by a conflagration in Beacon Street, on the seventh of July
preceding, which continued through the whole day, and con
sumed fifteen valuable dwelUng-houses, the loss being estimated
at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, exclusive of furniture.
The inefficiency of the fire department seemed now to be gene
raUy felt and acknowledged ; but no evidence was given of such
dissatisfaction with the existing system as to justify an attempt
to change it altogether. The old complaints, against the fire
wards, of the want of fire companies and of buckets, and of the
indifference of citizens,^ were reiterated, and the old remeffies
proposed. The diversity of opinion on this subject, and the
force of prejudice was so great, that an attempt to introduce any
efficient measures for a change of system was stffi deemed hope
less, until the seventh of April, 1825, when a conflagration occur
red in Doane Stteet, and extended from State Street to Centtal
Stteet on the one side, and from Broad Stteet to KUby and
Liberty Streets on the other, desttoying in the course of a few
hours fifty-three houses and stores, at a loss of half a miUion of
doUars. The scene, on this occasion, was one of extteme em
barrassment and confusion. The lanes, formed by the foewards
-with great difficffity, were soon broken or deserted, and great
depredations were committed on property, brought forth inffiscri-
minately and left unprotected in the streets. Fropi the want of
water, the engines were dragged one thousand feet to the dock,
and half the water obtained was lost before they could be ffiag-
ged back again and put into operation.
This calamity made a deep impression upon the citizens. The
want of water, and of the means to bring a continuous stteam
of it on the flames, were apparent ; and it became evident, that
the change in the habits and sympathies of the popffiation, and
the recent and increasing infusion of foreigners, rendered a change
in the organization of a system of defence against foe and a
more efficient police essential.
The Mayor deemed this a favorable opportunity to exert offi
cial influence for the introduction of an independent fire depart
ment; and, under the sanction of a Committee of the City
CouncU, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Baxter, Offiorne,
' See p. 155.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 161
and Patterson, with Messrs. Goddard, S. K. Wffiiams, Frothing
ham, HaskeU, and Wiffiam Wright, of the Common CouncU,
made, in April, 1825, a report, stating the causes of the existing
deficiencies in the system of defence, and the ffiversity of opinion
concerning the remeffies, each of which were analyzed and ex
plained. Among these, reUance upon associated foe companies
and the aid of the citizens, although, at the time, of aU others
the most popffiar and generaUy acceptable, the report represented
as altogether mistaken ; and that it would be encouraging false
hopes and a false system, if the Committee ffid not declare their
opinion concerning its inadequacy to protection, and ffid not
express themselves decidedly in favor of inttoducing a supply of
water to the engines tMough the means of hose, instead of by
lanes formed of bystanders. The report then submitted eight
resolutions for the adoption of the City Council ; the four first
of which had for their object to satisfy their fellow-citizens, by
actual experiment, of the impracticabUity of reviving the ancient
system of fire companies. To test the possibiUty of this resort,
the resolutions proposed an in-vitation to householders and other
citizens, to form themselves into societies for their mutual pro
tection against fire ; and a system of organizing such societies,
under the sanction of the Mayor and Aldermen, and prescribed
the number of buckets, foe bags, and other insttuments usual and
proper for the service, which each company should provide ; and
the authority which the members of such companies should
exercise at fires ; with an assurance that the City CouncU woffid
apply to the State Legislature to invest them with aU reqffisite
powers. This scheme, although carefuUy devised, when pro
posed to the citizens, proved an absolute failm-e. For, although
some associations were formed, the attempt evidenced the utter
hopelessness of any such reliance. Three of the remaining reso
lutions proposed the constructing of three reservoirs in sffitable
places, each containing twenty-five thousand gaUons of water;
the purchase of two engines, in New York and PhUadelphia, of
approved power and construction ; and also a hyffi-aulion,i with
the usual quantity of hose attached to each form of engine, as
practised in those cities. The last and eighth resolution declared
the expeffiency of adopting a new organization of the fire de-
i A smaU engine, with one chamber, used for forcing water through hose, as
a supply to the engines. 14'

162 MUNICIPAL HISTORY-
partment, on the principle of ffistinct and inffividual responsi
bility ; and that a Committee of the City CouncU shoffid be
appointed, for the purpose of arranging and reporting the details
of such an organization.
The City Council adopted all the suggestions of the report,
and passed the several resolutions it recommended, and appointed
the Mayor, Aldermen Blake and Welsh, and Messrs. S. K. Wil
liams, Barry, Boies, and Wales, a Committee on the eighth reso
lution, to arrange and report the details of a new organization
of the fire department. This Committee reported on the twelfth
of May two resolutions, which were adopted at once by the
City Council.
The first declared the expediency of estabUshing a fire de
partment, consisting of one chief engineer, and as many engi
neers, firewardens, engine men, hose men, and hook and ladder
men, as may be chosen and appointed by the City Council.
The second requested the Mayor and Aldermen to apply to
the Legislature for such powers and authorities, to be vested in
the fire department, and also such privUeges and exemptions
granted to its members, as may be requisite, and in their -wisdom
deemed expedient.
The Mayor and Aldermen immediately took measures to have
two engines, of approved capacity and power, to be built, one in
Philadelphia, and the other in New York. Gentlemen of skill
and inteUigence, in each city, kinffiy undertook the superintend
ence of their construction ; and the mechanics employed in each
city, being apprized that their work would be brought into direct
comparison, under the stimulus of emulation, produced two
engines, each of which was pronounced by competent judges to
be equal in power, capacity, and workmanship to any engine in
either city. Their style of consttuction, differing from those
used in Boston, gave an opportunity to the mechanics of this
city to compare, and possibly to improve, the construction of
their own engines.
These measures did not pass without animadversion. It was
inquired, through the press, " whether the mechanics of Boston
were inferior in skiU to those in PhUadelphia and New York?
and why the money of the city was expended in the pattoii-
age of the mechanics of other cities, rather than of its. own?"
But when direct inquiries were made of the Mayor by Boston

CITY GOVERNMENT. 163
mechanics themselves, concerning the principles and effects of
this poUcy, the explanation given convinced them of its advan
tages ; and also, that an entire change in the system of our pro
tection against foes would cause expenditmes ffitimately tending
to their benefit.
Such were the first steps taken towards the estabUshment of
a fire department, to act independently of the general aid of the
citizens of Boston. At this day, (1851,) after the experience of
the advantages of the system, it is impossible for any one to
reaUze the extteme antipathy, and even predetermined hostUity,
to the measures, evinced by men in other respects of great judg
ment and sagacity.
Having thus authorized the purchase of two engines and a
hyffiauUon, and the constructing of three reservoirs, each to con
tain twenty-five thousand gaUons of water, the City CouncU refer
red the subject of " the organization of a fire department, on the
principle of distinct and individual responsibility," to the next
City CouncU, the period of a reorganization of the city govern
ment being now approaching.
The inconvenience of leaving city expenditm-es subject to the
control of several boards, some of whom claimed an independ
ence of the City Council, a practice which had been borrowed
from that of the town government, began to be seriously felt,
and a change was demanded by the plainest dictates of expedi
ency. The Mayor, therefore, in January, 1824, by a special mes
sage, recommended to the City Council the consideration of " a
more systematic accountabUity for public moneys, and a more
efficient check upon the expenditures of the city." A joint Com
mittee of the City Council was accordingly appointed on the
subject, who, in the April foUo-wing, made a report, stating the
system of accountability then practised, representing its un
satisfactory nature, and the reasons for the change it recom
mended. Four boards were then intrusted with the expenditure
of public moneys, namely, — the Mayor and Aldermen, the
Overseers of the Poor, the Commissioners of Health, and the
Directors of the House of Industty. To each of these various
sums were advanced, in the form of appropriations, and ex
pended by votes of the respective boards, under the agency of
committees. The members of these committees made the ex-
penffitme or the contract, and vouched the biU for the article

164 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
delivered or the services rendered, incluffing the rate of compen
sation or the price. A committee from the board, once m each
month, examined the account of expenffitures of that month, re
ceived the vouchers, and, where they agreed, passed the accounts.
The course of proceeding was very similar in aU the boards.
However weU sffited such a course might have been in the early
stage of municipal institutions, when the numbers affected by
their authorities were small, and the amounts expended incon
siderable, the Committee deemed that a more systematic and
uniform accountability ought to be established to satisfy the
increasing demands and expenditures of a city rapidly augment
ing in wealth and population.
It seemed to them sufficiently loose and unsatisfactory in
point of efficient accountabUity, that the whole city expenditures
should be made by forty or fifty members of four ffistmct boards,
chosen annuaUy for general purposes, with no particular refer
ence to their adaptation to the particffiar class of expenffitures
which they were caUed upon to superintend. That these mdi-
viduals, acting gratuitously, without compensation, coffid not be
expected to give more than a certain general and occasional
oversight to the objects on which expenffitures were made ; and
that, of course, they must act chiefly by minor agents, which, as
they multiplied, necessarUy increased the chance of mistake and
imposition. The great defect in this organization, -with reference to an effi
cient accountabUity for public moneys was, in the opiffion of
the Committee, the fact, that the accountabffity for the expendi
ture of each board was to committees of its own; m other
words, the power to expend and the power of caUing to account
was efficiently the same ; an arrangement, which, however in
consequential in boards destined for the mere care of property
and pecuniary investment, must have important consequences
in boards charged with the oversight of great expenffitmes, rela
tive to objects comprising numerous detaUs, and requuing the
employment of many subordinate agents.
The labors of the committee of accounts were lessened by
ffividing the members of the board into monthly committees, of
a number deemed expedient, — usuaUy two.
AU the members of the board undertook by turns this labor
and responsibffity.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 165
The consequence was, that there was no such general super
intendence as is implied and effected by accountability to one
practical mind, habituated to the rules and routine of a single
department. As there was no distinct, uniform rules for pro
ceeding, committees were guided by such principles as on the
instant were deemed applicable. Admissions or rejections thus
unavoidably often depended upon the particular state or temper
of mind of the members of the committees. The cncumstances
of the individual were often considered instead of the case ; and
the results were often very ffifferent from what they would have
been had the same accounts been subjected to the analysis of
other members of the same board. No sti-onger evidence coffid
be given of the incorrectness of these financial arrangements,
than the fact that persons having accounts to settle with the city,
have been known to inquire who the monthly committee of
accounts were, and to postpone presenting their accounts untU
those they deemed most likely not to sift severely came to exer
cise the power.
The defects of the system then in practice having been thus
set forth, the Committee proceeded to state the remedy they
proposed, which consisted m the establishment of an office of
" auditor of accounts^' and in ttacing an outline of the duties
and rules to which that office should be subjected.
This change was deemed too important to be passed with
out its being virtually submitted to the decision of the citizens.
The Committee, therefore, only proposed that it should be
taken into consideration by the then existing City Council, the
report to be printed and disttibuted, recommenffing the whole
subject to the attention of its successors ; by whom it was, in
August, 1824, revived, the office of auditor established, and a
new system of accountability connected -with it. In the same
month, WiUiam Haydeii was elected Auditor, and by his great
abUity and efficiency corrected the uTegularity ' incident to the
former system, and introduced principles for checking the facility
with which additional appropriations were made, after the annual
appropriation bills had been passed by the City CouncU.
In pursuance of the same general poUcy, in February, 1828,
the City Council adopted a system oi ' self-restriction, having
for its object to confine the orffinary expenffitmes of the year
-within the limits of the orffinary annual incomes, by passing an

166 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
order of the foUowing tenor : — " That, in the present and every
future financial year, after the annual order of appropriations
shall have been passed, no subsequent expenditure shaU be au
thorized for any object, unless provision for the same shall be
made, by expressly creating therefor a city debt ; in the latter of
which cases, the order shaU not be passed, unless two thirds of
the whole members of each branch of the City CouncU shall
vote in the affirmative, by vote taken by yeas and nays."

CHAPTER XII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1825.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.^
The Citizens accept the Report of their General Committee on the inexpediency
of modifying the powers of the Overseers of the Poor — Overseers decUne
taking Care of the Poor at the House of Industry — Their Rights and Duties
submitted to Legal Counsel — Their Report, and consequent Proceedings
of the City Council — Measures to introduce a Supply of Fresh Water 
Proceedings relative to FaneuU HaU Market — Census of the City -^ Time
of Organizing the City Government changed.
The organization of the city government was this year tt-ans
ferred from Faneuil HaU to that of the Chamber of the Com
mon Council, and conducted with customary ceremonies. The
Board of Aldermen consisted entnely of new members ; aU those
of the preceding year having declined a reelection.
The Mayor, in his inaugm-al address, after expressing his gra
titude to his fellow-citizens for the unanimity of theu suffrages,
and paid a weU-deserved ttibute to the members of the Board of
Aldermen of the two preceffing years, for their faithfffi and labo
rious services,^ directed the attention of the City CouncU and
his feUow-citizens to the critical question then penffing between
the Overseers of the Poor and the City Government. After stat
ing, in unequivocal terms, the incompatibffity with the public inte
rest of the existence, under a city orgaffization, of an independent
Board claiming the right of expending pubUc money without re
sponsibffity to the city authorities, he explained the effect upon
the character and confidence in the memberfe of that Board, una
voidably resulting from the difference m selecting them, as now
practised under the city charter, and as was formerly under the
1 The whole number of votes cast was 1891, of which the Mayor had 1836.
The members of this Board of Aldermen were George Blake, John Bellows,
John Bryant, Daniel Carney, John D. Dyer, Josiah MarshaU, Henry J. OUver,
and Thomas Welsh, Jr.
2 See Appendix, D.

168 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
town government. This development he regarded it his duty to
make, notwithstanding that the report of the Committee,^ ap
pointed by a general meeting of the citizens, m opposition to
those views, was about to be taken into consideration by another
general meeting of the citizens, to be held on the nineteenth of
May, then instant ; and no doubt coffid be entertained that the
recommendations of that report would be adopted, so conforma
ble were they to popffiar habits and prejuffices. The City Coun
cU, however, took no measures strenuously to oppose the accept
ance of that report. They had effected the removal of the poor
to the House of Industi-y, and of consequence felt less interest
in the immediate result. They had conscientiously fulfffied their
duty to the city, by faithfuUy explaming to their feUow-citizens
the nature and consequences of the relations and claims of that
Board in respect of the interest of the city. Whatever Uls or
difficffities might hereafter result, coffid not be atttibuted to any
want of fo-mness or foresight in them. The citizens were left,
therefore, to the unbiased exercise of their own feelings and judg
ment, and the report of their General Committee was adopted
without important opposition.
In May, 1825, immediately after the organization of the city
government, the Overseers of the Poor adffi-essed a communica
tion to the City Council, asldng for a sffitable house for the
accommodation of the poor, and expressing then readiness to
take upon themselves the oversight, care, and government of it.
A Committee of the City CouncU, consisting of the Mayor, and
Messrs. Wffiiams, Thaxter, and EUiot, of the Common Coun
cU, was immeffiately appointed, to whom this appUcation was
referred, and who reported on the tweUth of May, that a house,
such as the Overseers appUed for, had already been provided by
the city ; that it was placed under the care of the Directors of
the House of Industty, who were invested by law, in respect of
the inmates of that house, with aU the powers exercised by the
Overseers of the Poor; that they were -wisely and efficienUy
active in their oversight of it, to the content of the poor ; and
that then superintendence of the moral and physical condition
of the inmates was highly satisfactory. The report expressed
the gratification the Committee derived from the hope of being
1 See ch. x. p. 146.

CITY GOVERNISIENT. 169
able to avail themselves of the general aid of the Overseers ; and
the readiness of the City Council to gi-ant all those practical and
usefffi facilities relative to providing for the poor, which, from the
tenor of their application, the Overseers appeared to desire ; and,
in order that the poor of the city might enjoy the benefit and
experience of both those Boards, the Committee presented their
views in the form of three resolutions, whUch the City CouncU
unanimously adopted.
By the first, the Overseers of the Poor were authorized and
requested to grant permits for admission into the House of In
dustry of any person, in then judgment, entitled to the support
of the city in that house, for which purpose its Directors were
enjoined to provide relief and support.
By the second, the Overseers of the Poor were authorized and
requested, at their discretion, -with or without notice, to visit the
House of Industty, to inquire into its condition and the tteat-
ment and employment of the poor, and make such represent
ations on those subjects as their -wisdom and experience might
suggest. By the third, the Mayor and Aldermen were authorized to
provide a sffitable vehicle, for conveyance to the House of In
dustry of such decrepid persons as were incapacitated from going
of themselves, and place the same at the disposal of both the
superintending Boards.
As soon as these resolutions were received by the Overseers
of the Poor, they addressed, on the twenty-third of May, 1825,
a memorial in writing to the City CouncU, stating that " they did
not feel justified in relinqffishing to tl^e Directors of the House
of Industry any of the tasks assigned them by law;" and that
" they would not consent to grant the permits contemplated by
the above resolves ; " and gave notice to the City Council that,
" unless a house is provided, to which the Overseers can remove
paupers, the city wffi be exposed to great expense."
This memorial was referred to a Committee of the City
CouncU, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Carney, Welsh,
and Oliver, with Messrs. Savage, Williams, Thaxter, Elliot,
Adan, Tracy, and Ware, of the Common CouncU ; who, on the
twenty-seventh of June, reported, that the tenor of the above
memorial indicated so great a misapprehension in the Board of
Overseers, concerning then rights and duties, as, if acquiesced
15

170 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
in, would result in consequences at once serious and embarrass
ing ; and to put those rights and duties, as far as possible, be
yond all doubt and question, they had requested the Mayor to
lay the whole subject before counsel learned in the law, and for
this purpose had selected WUUam Prescott, Charles Jackson,
and Daniel Webster, gentlemen possessing the greatest profes
sional reputation, and whose opinion would, it was hoped, be
conclusive with the Board of Overseers, and certamly with the
pubUc. The Mayor, accorffingly, on the fourth of June, 1825, ad
dressed a letter to those three jurists, and, after stating that an
unhappy conttoversy had arisen, between the Overseers of the
Poor and the City CouncU, in relation to their respective powers
and duties, that a Committee of this body, to whom was
referred the memorial of the Overseers, dated the twenty-third
of the preceding May, had directed him to submit, for their
inspection and consideration, certain laws and documents, and
subjoin certain inquiries, for their official answer, as counsel
learned in the law. The acts submitted were : —
1st. The act for employing and providing for the poor of the
town of Boston, passed in the year 1735, and ratified and con-
fomed in January, 1789.
2d. An act relative to the relief, support, employment, and
removal of the poor, passed the twenty-sixth February, 1796.
3d. An act concerning the House of Industt-y, passed the thnd
February, 1823.
4th. An act concerning the regffiations of the House of Cor
rection in the city of Boston, and passed twelfth June, 1826.
5th. An act establishing the City of Boston, passed the
twenty -third February, 1822, caUed the City Charter.
The documents submitted were, —
1. The Vote of the City Council, passed twenty-ninth Sep
tember, 1823.1
2. The Memorial of the Overseers of the Poor to the City
Council, without date, but which was committed in this body
on the fifth of May last.
3. The Report of the Committee of the City Council on the
preceding Memorial and the three Resolves subjoined, adopted
and passed on the twelfth of May ^ last.
1 See oh. vii. pp. 95, 96. 2 See p. 168.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 171
4. The Memorial of the Overseers of the Poor to the City
CouncU, dated the twenty-third of May last.^
The inquiries submitted for their oflicial answer were, —
1. Is not the erecting, providing, and endowing the house for
the reception and employment of the idle and poor of the city,
caUed the House of Industry, and the appointment of directors
thereof, according to the act entitled, "An act concerning the
House of Industty," a sufficient and legal exercise of the author
ity invested in the City Council, under the acts of 1735, of
1794, and of 1822?
2. Does not the authority given to the Directors of the House
of Industry to use, regulate, and govern said house, supersede,
-with respect to all persons sent to it, any authority in relation
to them, given by the acts of 1735 and 1794 to the Overseers
of the Poor, except so far as the City CouncU may authorize ?
3. Have the Overseers of the Poor any right to appoint a
master of said house, or to have the government thereof, or to
ordain any rules or regulations concerffing it ?
4. Does the saving of the act of tenth January, 1789, in the
act, of 1794, and the continuance in force thereby of the act of
1735, preclude the city of Boston from any of the general privi
leges of the act of 1794, which are granted by it to the other
towns of the Commonwealth ; or deprive the City Council,
under the ttansfer of powers made by the city charter, from
"directing the way and manner" in which poor and indigent
persons shall be supported and relieved, accorffing to the right
secured to other towns in the Commonwealth by the act of
1794? 5. Is not the "dnection" given by the City Council, as to
" the way and manner " in which the poor and indigent shaU
be relieved and supported, conclusive and obUgatory upon the
Overseers of the Poor, under and by virtue of the act of 1794 ?
6. Is not the " ffirection" given in the vote of the City Coun
cil, dated the twenty-ninth September, 1823,2 f^n and sufficient
in that respect; and have the Overseers of the Poor a right to
refuse to exercise that general visitatorial power which that vote
provides for and authorizes ?
7. After notice given of the passmg of the fost resolve, on the
1 See p. 169. ® See ch. vu. pp. 95, 96.

172 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
twelfth of May last,i have the Overseers of the Poor a right to
refuse to grant permits for admission of the poor and indigent,
stanffing in need of relief, to the House of Industty, who are in
other towns of this Commonwealth, but belong to Boston, and
to support such persons in other places in said city, or in such
other towns ?
8. Have the Overseers of the Poor in said city a right to refuse
to give permits for admission to the House of Industry of the
poor and indigent of said city, standing in need of reUef, and to
support them in other places in said city ?
9. Is there any power and authority in and over the House of
Industry which the City CouncU can vest in the Overseers of
the Poor, consistent with the powers and authorities vested by
the act of third February, 1823, in the Directors of the House of
Industi-y, other and greater than those invested and specffied in
the vote of the City Council, passed September 29, 1823,2 a,nd
the second resolve of that body, passed the tweffth of May
last? 3
On these laws, submitted documents, and mquiries, those
jurists made the following statement of then opinions : —
" In making up our opinion on the question now pending between the City
CouncU and the Overseers of the Poor, respecting the powers and duties of the
latter, we have considered first, the general provisions of the law on this sub
ject ; and secondly, the statutes which apply exclusively to the city of Boston.
"By the statute 1793, c. 59, towns may choose any number, not exceeding
twelve. Overseers of the Poor, who shall have the care and oversight of the
poor, and see that they are suitably relieved, supported, and employed, either in
the work-house or other tenements belonging to the town, or in such other way
and manner as they (the town) shaU direct, or other-wise at the discretion of the
Overseers. "By the city charter (sta,t. 1821, c. 110,) the City CouncU now has all tlie
power, in this respect, that was formerly vested in the to-wn. If there were no
other statute on this subject, it is evident that the City Council would be
authorized to provide a house for their poor, and prescribe the manner in which
they should be supported and employed in it ; or to cause them to be reUeved
at their own houses, or iu other private houses, or, in short, in any manner
which, in the discretion of the City CouncU, should appear best ; and it would
be the duty of the Overseers to comply with such directions.
"By the provincial statute, 8 and 9 Geo. H., c. 3, (passed in May, 1735,) the
town of Boston was authorized to erect a house for the reception and employ-
1 See p. 168. 2 gee ch. vii. pp. 95, 96.
3 See p. 168.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 173
ment of the idle and poor, and to discontinue the same if they should think
proper ; the house to be under the regulation of the Overseers of the Poor,
who had power to make orders and by-laws for its government, subject to the
control of the town, and to appoint the master and other officers of the house.
If there were no other laws but those above mentioned, the City Council might,
in their discretion, discontinue their almshouse, and require that their poor should
be reUeved and supported in some other place or other manner ; but as long as
the city had a house for the poor, in pursuance of that statute of 1735, the
Overseers would have had the regulation and government of it. This last-
mentioned statute furnishes the only foundation for the claims of the Overseers ;
and, although there might possibly be a question whether it has not been virtu-
aUy repealed, (at least, so far as it relates to the government of the Alms
house,) yet we have thought it more safe and expedient to proceed on the sup
position that it remains in force, excepting so far as it has been clearly altered
by subsequent statutes. In the year 1823, the city had erected what they called
a House of Industry. If this is to be considered as the "house for the reception
and employment of the idle and poor," pursuant to the statute of 1735, the
Overseers would have had the government of it, if no other provision had been
made. But by the statute of the third February, 1822, 1823, c. 56, the Legis
lature gave the government of this House of Industry to nine directors, to be
chosen by the City Council. If, therefore, this is the Almshouse, the govern
ment of it is taken from the Overseers and vested in the nine Directors, and
the statute of 1735 is so far repealed. The City CouncU could not, as we con
ceive, give to the Overseers any control. over this house, inconsistent with the
authority vested by law in the Directors. On the other hand, if this House of
Industry is a distinct establishment, and not such a poor-house, as is contem
plated in the statute of 1735, it is clear that the Overseers have nothing to do
with it. It is equally clear that, whether the house is of one or the other de
scription, the City CouncU has authority, according to the statute 1793, c. 59, to
require that the poqr should be relieved, supported, and employed in that house.
It may be proper here to remark that, although the law appears to give an un
limited power to towns, to cause their poor to be relieved in any manner what
ever, yet there seems to be some Umitation, arising necessarily out of peculiar cir
cumstances and from other parts of the law. If, for example, a poor person should
break a limb, or be so ill that he could not be moved without endangering his
life, the Overseers would be bound to relieve him immediately, without carry
ing him to the*poor-house, or before he could be sent there, notwithstanding the
town should have prescribed that as the place for maintaining the poor. There
is another kind of exception which, though not required by law, seems to be
caUed for by humanity and benevolence, as weU as by a regard to economy,
and that is, of those householders and others, who require only partial reUef,
and who may be rendered more comfortable by a small supply of necessaries at
their own homes, than by being wholly supported in a poor-house. And the
undersigned would suggest to the City Council, the expediency of passing an
order for the reUef and employment of the poor in the House of Industry, and
of excepting from its operation the two classes of persons above-mentioned. '
"As to aU those persons who may be lawfully relieved without being sent to the
House of Industry, the care of them remains entirely with the Overseers ; but as
15*

174 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
to aU who ought by law and the orders of the City CouncU to be relieved and
supported in that place, the Directors have the same powers that the Overseers
have to send them there, and have the sole power of governing them after they
are admitted.
" If the City CouncU has a right to require that all the poor, excepting the
two classes above-mentioned, shaU be supported in the House of Industry, it
necessarUy foUows that the Overseers are bound to send aU such poor there for
rehef; and if they should decline to do so, the remedy would be substantially
the same as in any other town in the Commonwealth where the Overseers should
refuse to provide for the poor according to law and to the directions of the town.
" These general views of the subject exliibit the opinions that we have formed
on most of the points in controversy ; but we proceed briefly to give a specific
answer to each of the questions contained in the annexed papers.
" To the first, we answer, that, in our opinion, the erecting and providing for
the House of Industry, is a vaUd and legal exercise of authority by the City
CouncU ; and we also think that it may be considered such a poor-house as is
contemplated by the statute of 1735 ; though, for the reasons above-mentioned,
we have not thought it material to settle the last question. We have no doubt
that it is a house in which the City CouncU may lawfully order the poor to be
reUeved and employed ; and that the poor when there, must be reUeved and
employed by the Directors, and under their authority.
" To the second, we answer in the affirmative. It is impossible that two dis
tinct and independent bodies should each have the whole of the authority in
question, and the statute 1822, c. 56, has given the authority to the Directors.
" To the third ; in our opinion, the Overseers have no such right or authority.
" To the fourth ; we see nothing in any of the statutes referred to, which could
prevent the town, before the charter, or the City CouncU now, from " directing
the way and manner " in which the poor should be reUeved, supported, and
employed, as any other town in the Commonwealth might do, excepting only
that before the statute of 1822, c. 56, if the city had seen fit to buUd and main
tain a poor-house in pursuance of the provisions of the statute of 1 735, the Over
seers would have had the direction of the house.
" To the fifth ; the City Council has, in our opinion, the same authority in this
respect that the town foi-merly possessed, and their votes pursuant to that author
ity are conclusive and obligatory on the Overseers.
" To the sixth ; we see no necessity for the Overseers to exercise any authority
over the poor in the House of Industry ; and the City CouncU cannot, as we
apprehend, give to the Overseers any authority inconsistent with that which is
vested in the Directors by the statute of 1822, c. 56. Of course, we are of opi
nion that the Overseers cannot exercise any greater authority than that speci
fied in the vote of September 29, 1823. This vote, however, does not appear to
be a fuU exercise Of the authority of the City Council, and we would suggest the
expediency of their passing a formal order (if there is not such a one in force)
requiring that all the poor, with the exception of the two classes above-mentioned,
shaU be reUeved, supported, and employed in the House of Industry.
" To the seventh ; if the City CouncU have passed, or should see fit to pass, an
order of the kind suggested in our preceding answer, the Overseers could not
lawfuUy maintain the poor, who come within the terms of the order, at the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 175
expense of the city, at any other place than the House of Industry. The
Directors of that House have the same power as the Overseers to send there any
of the poor persons referred to iu this question.
" The eighth is answered in the preceding answer.
" To the ninth ; we are not aware of any further measures that can or ought to
be taken by the City CouncU in this respect. (Signed) William Prescott,
Charles Jackson,
Daniel Webster."
"Boston, June 21, 1825.
The opinions of these jurists on the several laws, documents,
and questions submitted to them, were received and communi
cated to the City Council on the twenty-seventh of June, 1825,
and, in conformity therewith, the Committee reported the three
foUowing resolves, which were immediately passed by the City
Council ; and, by their order, an attested copy of the report and
resolves was transmitted to each member of the Board of Over
seers of the Poor.
1. Resolved, That the Overseers of the Poor be, and hereby
are directed to cause all persons, who, from the nature of the iU-
ness under which they labor, or of the accident which has
befallen them, are incapable without endangering Ufe to be
removed from the place where they are, to be relieved and sup
ported in such place until they are capable of being removed,
and as soon as they are capable of being removed, the said
Overseers are directed to cause them forthwith to be removed
for further relief and support to the House of Industty.
2. Resolved, That the Overseers of the Poor be, and they
hereby are directed, as it respects those householders and others,
who, in their opinion, require partial relief, and who may be ren
dered more comfortable by a smaU supply at their own houses
than by being wholly supported in a poor-house, to grant such
partial reUef and smaU supply of necessaries at their own
houses. 3. Resolved, That the Overseers of the Poor be, and they
hereby are directed to see that aU poor and indigent persons,
having lawfffi settlement in the city of Boston, and standing in
need of relief, other than those belonging to the classes specified
m the two preceffing resolves, be suitably reUeved, supported, and
employed in the House of Industty, according to the regulations
and under the superintendence of the Directors of said House.

176 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
I
On the nmeteenth of May, 1825, a committee was appointed
in both branches of the City CouncU, to inqffire into " the practi-
cabiUty, expense, and expeffiency of supplying the city \vith
good, wholesome, and soft water." On the thirteenth of June the
Committee reported that there was no doubt of its practicabffity
or expediency, and that the only questions were, concerning the
expense and the mode by which it coffid be effected ; but that
a great diversity of opinion existed, whether it ought to be left
to private associations of capitalists, or be done whoUy at the
expense of the city ; they recommended a survey of the most
suitable places in the vicinity from wffiich a sufficient supply
might be obtained. This was authoiized, and an appropriation
made of one thousand dollars for the object.
So little were the future wants of the city anticipated, that the
Mayor j-eceived from a> citizen of Boston, perhaps second to none
of his time for talents, judgment, and affection for the city, a let
ter dated June 25, 1825, recommending Stony Brook, in Roxbury,
" as the source of supply, and stating, from his own observation,
that, during forty years, it had never faUed to supply water suffi
cient for the purposes of the city." Indeed, there was no general
deficiency of a supply of water felt at that time, except at fii-es.
On the fourteenth of November, Daniel TreadweU, an experi
enced engineer, was, however, employed by the city to make
a survey of places best adapted to afford such a supply; and,
on the twenty-thnd of the same month, the Mayor received a
letter from John C. Warren, then, as now, one of the most emi
nent physicians in the city, which, after statmg "that the in-
ttoduction of an ample supply of pure water would contiibute
much to the health of the city, and prove one of the greatest
blessings which could be bestowed upon it," concluded with a
caution against " any project involving much expense, as being
objectionable, and might tend to delay the execution of a more
perfect plan, and proti-act the existence of an evil most important
to be removed." Spot Pond, in Stoneham, and Charles River,
were the two sources of supply to which Mr. TreadweU's survey
related ; and the expense to the city from either source was cal-
cffiated not to exceed six or seven hundred thousand dollars.
The public mind was not, however, prepared to incur even this
expense for the object ; and Mi-. TreadweU's report was imme
diately referred to the next City Comicil. And in December, a

CITY GOVERNMENT. 177
joint committee of both branches were appointed to ascertain on
what terms the som-ces of supply, suggested by Mr. TreadweU,
could be obtained.
While these measui-es were in progress, the Mayor entered into
a con-espondence with Wiffiam T. Lewis of PhUadelphia, whose
superintendence of the waterworks of that city, and instrument
ality in constructing them, had highly qualified him to give
information on the subject. With great readiness, Mr. Lewis
gave his opinion upon aU the topics on which the Mayor had
inqffired, and particularly on that which he regarded as the most
important of all others, as to the expediency of effecting the
object wholly at the expense of the city, or by the aid of asso
ciated capitalists. " On this subject," he replied, " cost is not
to be regarded; in London, scarcely a fire of any magnitude
happens, without complaints of the deficiency of water ; and
I have now a paper in my possession, stating a meeting of
the Common Council of the city, inquning into its cause. This
it does not require much consideration to answer. It is from
the fatal error of suffering interested mdividuals to have the
supply of an article of the most indispensable nature, and, with
out which, health and comfort cannot be enjoyed. Expense
is comparatively no object. If a company supply your city,
they wiU expect to profit by it, and this profit may as well be
saved to your corporation. If it be a losing business, indivi
duals shoffid not suffer by forwarding a great pubUc object ; and
if they do, the citizens wiU be sure to feel it by a pinched and
partial supply. In Philadelphia, we have expended vast sums
of money, yet I fomly believe that were the question submitted
to the citizens, to sell to a company the whole cost, with inte
rest, that not one tenth part of the population woffid agree to it.
The increased secmity from fire, the abundant supply for wash
ing the streets, the copious sti-eams aff'orded for baths for cleanli
ness, and, in short, many other advantages, are such, and so well
appreciated, that no money woffid tempt them to make sale of
the works." These views were deemed by the Mayor conclu
sive on this point; and a very powerful association being, at
that time, forming, to introduce water into the city, he came to
the resolution to throw his whole official influence against it.
During this year the buUding of FaneuU Hall Market was
pursued with great vigor. On the second of May, a committee,

178 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
of both branches 1 was raised on the subject, who appointed a
sub-committee 2 for its superintendence, and David W. ChUd,
the active superintendent of the work. None but orffinary super
visory attentions were required ; and the year closed with reports
to the City CouncU, concerning the expenditures of the year,
and the outstanding claims of proprietors of the land.
In October, 1825, a resolve passed the City CouncU, vesting
the Mayor with authority to take a census of all the inhabit
ants of the city. In order to give perfect satisfaction to the
citizens, the Mayor, after consulting the Board of Aldermen,
selected two individuals for each ward of the city, and for that
part of ward No. 12, caUed South Boston, two additional per
sons, aU weU qualified for the task ; and after a thorough
research, it resulted that the popffiation of the city in the year
1825, was fifty-eight thousand two hundred and eighty-one ; mak
ing an increase in the five years succeeding the last census in
1820, o{ fourteen thousand three hundred and eighty-one.
In January, 1825, a request, signed by sixty citizens, was made
in writing to the Mayor and Aldermen, for a caU of a meeting
of the citizens in wards, to apply to the Legislature for such an
alteration in the city charter, that the Board of Aldermen shall
consist of twelve members, one of whom shoffid be chosen in
each of the wards, the vote on the question to be taken by baUot.
This appUcation was soon followed by a remonsttance of other
citizens, denying the authority of the Mayor and Aldermen to
call ward meetings for such a purpose. The subject was refened
to a committee, of wffich the Mayor was chairman ; and a
report,^ stating their views of the authority vested in the Mayor
1 The Committee were, — the Mayor, Aldermen Blake, MarshaU, and Bry
ant ; and of the Common CouncU, OUver, (its President) CooUdge, Curtis, WU
liams, Hastings, Adan, and Boies.
2 The Sub-Comnuttee were, — the Mayor, Marshall, Bryant, WUUams, and
Boies. 3 The following is a condensed statement of this report : —
That antecedent to the amendments of the constitution of the Commonwealth
in 1820, the power to callpubUc meetings of the inhabitants in wards was never
exercised or attempted to be, other than for the choice of officers ; and that the
power of constituting a city and organizing its government by ward elections
was first obtained under the second article of the amendments to that consfltu-
tion ; and that by the terms of that amendment that power is vested in the Gene
ral Court, with the power of prescribing the manner of caUing and holding pub
lic meetings of the inhabitants in wards or otherwise ; so that the powers of the
city authorities to caU meetings of the intiabitants in wards, depends solely on the
grant of the legislature, and do not extend beyond the terms of that grant.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 179
and Aldermen, was made, accepted, and a resolve passed in both
branches of the City CouncU, that, in their opinion, "the Mayor
and Aldermen are not authorized by the city charter to caU
meetmgs of the citizens in waris, on the application of any
meeting of citizens whatsoever, for any purpose, except those
expressly provided for in said charter."
In May, 1825, a petition, signed by more than sixty persons,
was presented to the Mayor and Aldermen, requesting that a
general meeting of the citizens should be caUed, to give their
bffilots by yea and nay, on the foUowing proposition, namely, —
" ShaU ten hours faithfffi labor be considered hereafter as a day's
work for jom-neymen mechanics in this city." Which, being
read and considered, it was resolved to be inexpedient to pass
the same, " the. Board deeming the subject not within the provi
sions of the city charter."
The city charter had made no provision for tiffing any vacancy
which might occur by death or resignation in the Board of Alder
men. This defect was remeffied in June, 1824, by a special act
of the Legislature of Massachusetts.
The inconvenience of organizing the city government so late
in the season as the month of May, had been generally felt by
the members of the City Council. And in November, 1824, a
committee, of which the Mayor was chairman, made a report on
the expediency of applying to the Legislature for an alteration
in the city charter, so as to enable the citizens to organize the
city government at an earUer period of the year, stating that the
two first months of the year were those of the greatest leisure,
and would give the new government enlarged opportunities to
review the proceeffings of their predecessors, and to ffigest their
own ; more ample time to make the necessary contracts for the
service of the year, before the business season commenced, and
greatly facffitate the operations of the city ; concluffing with a
recommendation that a meeting of the inhabitants of the city
shoffid be caUed, for the purpose of obtaining their authority to
apply to the Legislatme for such a change in the city charter,
that the mufficipal elections should take place annuaUy, in the
Now there is no clause in the charter of the city giving any color to the exer
cise of a power to caU any public meeting of citizens in wards, except in cases
specificaUy enumerated, in which it is not pretended that the meeting for which
that now requested to be caUed is included.

180 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
month of December, and the municipal year commence on the
first Monday in January. The sanction of the inhabitants hav
ing been obtained, the Legislature, by an act passed on the
twenty-seventh of June, 1825,. authorized the proposed alteration
of the charter ; and this city year included, of consequence, but
eight months.

CHAPTER XIII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1825.
Josiah Quinct, Mayor.
An Act authorizing a New Organization of the Fire Department applied for
and obtained from the State Legislature — Sanction of the Act by the Citi
zens — Measures pursued to carry it into effect — Sites for Engine Houses
selected — Reservoirs constructed — Lafayette revisits the City — Measures
adopted on the Occasion by the City CouncU.
Soon after the organization of the city government, in May,
1825, a joint committee of the City CouncU, consisting of the
Mayor, Aldermen Blake, MarshaU, and Bryant, and of Messrs.
OUver, Parker, Rice, Dyer, Fisher, WeUs, and Effiot, of the Com
mon CouncU, was raised on the foe department, according to the
recommendation of the preceffing City CouncU. On their report
a vote was passed, that a new organization of it 'was expedient,
and another, authorizing the Mayor and Aldermen to apply to
the Legislature of the State to invest the officers of the proposed
foe department, when elected, with such powers and authorities
as might be requisite.
The Mayor, in reply to Ms inquiries, received a letter from
Thomas FrankUn, who had been for twenty years Chief Engi
neer of the Fire Department of the city of New York, of the
foUo-wing tenor : " Relative to our system of extinguishing fires,
I believe, from long experience, it is the best that can be
DEVISED ; and I respectfffily recommend, that a suitable person
be appointed to visit and examine our foe department, and see
the operation thereof. I am persuaded it wffi be more effectual
than any written communication."
In consequence of this suggestion, the Committee of the City
CouncU commissioned George Darracott, a citizen of Boston, —
who had been one of its firewards, and who was highly quaUfied
by experience, energy, and practical skiU, — to visit New York
and PhUadelphia, and mqffii-e mto the organization of then fire
16

182 MUraCIPAL HISTORY.
department, and to examine into the consttuction, size, and
power of their engines.
Mr. Darracott immediately visited those cities, and received in
both every facility for becoming acquainted with their whole
system of fire poUce. On the fost of June ensuing, he addressed
a letter to the Mayor, minutely replying to all the particffiars
included in his commission, with precision and with practical
statements and reflections, resulting in an unequivocal expres
sion of opinion, that " such is the advantage of the system in use
in those cities, that it could not be too early pressed upon the
attention of the city authorities of Boston ; " adding, that
" although the firemen of Boston possessed as much intrepiffity
as any men, and risked readUy both then property and per
sons, yet they have not been accustomed to regard favorably
the hose system, and seldom make use of hose, except when
they cannot play from the pipe. The reverse of this is the case
in New York. It there frequently happens, when a foe originates
in narrow passage-ways, where engines cannot operate to advan
tage, that they are placed in the centre of one of their large
squares, entirely out of view of the foe, and the hose is led
through stores and houses in the vicinity. This, with the effi
cient organization of the various component parts of the depart
ment, and the playing of the whole under the supreme command
of one, is what, in my opinion, after a minute and careful inspec
tion of the whole system, gives the fo-emen of New York, such a
decided superiority over those of any other place. To this con
clusion my mind has been in-esistibly led. I have always felt a
degree of pride in the character of our Boston firemen, and never
woffid concede the point, that fires were not better managed
here than elsewhere. But recent events have caused doubts in
my mind. Those doubts are now confirmed. The faffit Ues not
in the men, but in the system." This letter was immediately
published for the information of the citizens, and a petition at
once presented to the State Legislature, conformably to the
authority given by the City CouncU, for powers to organize a
fire department in Boston, on the principles which have beer
stated. There was, however, reason to fear, that such was the invete
rate animosity of certain individuals to the system proposed,
some of whom were members of the Legislature and of the Bos-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 183
ton seat, that their influence would be thrown in favor of reject
ing the application ffitogether, without giving the citizens oppor
tunity to express their opinion upon it. The Mayor, therefore,
to cast upon the opponents of the system the responsibility of
such total rejection, caused the foUo-wing address to be imme
diately printed and ttansmitted to each member of the Legisla
ture. TO THE MEMBERS OP THE BOSTON SEAT, IN THE LEGISLATURE OF
MASSACHUSETTS. Boston, 12th June, 1825.
Gentlemen : — Understanding that doubts are entertained, concerning the
principle of the biU, relative to a fire department, and that too by members of
the Boston seat, I deem it my duty not to permit that bill to faU, without dis
tinctly explaining the views of the City Council upon the subject. If the city is
again made subject to destruction by the inapplicability of our present system to
the existing state of population, I am desirous that the City CouncU shall escape
the responsibiUty of such misfortune.
The principal object of the bill, is to vest in the City Coimcil the power of
constituting an efficient fire department, and, fox this purpose, that they should
have the appointment of the officers of that department and the distribution of
their duties. The power to appoint and to prescribe the duties is the simple object.
If it fail, there can be no organization of an efficient fire department, and the
consequences I need not portray.
The present system is, from the nature of things, inappUoable to the existing
state of population, and it cannot be made appUcable.
At present, thirty-six members compose a board of firewards, and as many
more as the City Council may determine. They are chosen in wards. Their .
power consists, —
1st. In requiring, during fire, assistance in extinguishing it, or in removing
goods or guarding them, and in suppressing tumults or disorders.
2d. In directing and appointing the stations and operations of engines and
enginemen, and of all persons in extinguishing fires.
This power is supported by the sanction of a penalty of ten dollars, on refusal
or neglect to obey their orders.
This system had its origin in, and from the nature of things is solely applica
ble to comparatively small towns.
The authority of firewards, though caUed power, is in fact infiuence. Of
what possible use toward an efficient extinguishment of a fire is the recovery of
ten dollars the next day on a delinquent ? Of the thousand neglects and refu
sals which occur at every fire, how many are prosecuted? Comparatively
speaking, not one !
The efficient authority of firewards, under our present system is mere influx
ence. And, as such, the highest and the most influential citizens, who could be
persuaded to take the office, it was the practice to make firewards ; to the end
that the individuals whom they required to assist, might be unwUling to refuse,
either through shame or respect.

184 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
This was the real efficient power of the present system. But it is obvious
that the whole of this power is annihilated, when a city is grown to such a size,
as that not one in ten of the firewards, let him be ever so respectable, can be
known to the attendant multitude, when that multitude are, for the most part,
assembled not from sympathy for the sufferers, but from idle curiosity, and many
from worse motives ; when, from the practice of insuring, and the belief preva
lent that the loss -wiU be borne by the capital of insurance offices, indifference to
them becomes more prevalent, and disinclination to incur the labor and hazard
of assisting in extinguishing them more general ; and that too in those very
classes of the community whose weight of character and property used formerly
to constitute the strength of the ' influence ' of firewards, by cooperating in their
exertions. Is it wonderful, in such a state of population and of feeling, that the scenes
which every man has witnessed of late at fires should occur ? The surrounding
multitude have neither shame nor fear, in refusing the fireward, and running
away in masses as soon as he is seen with his badge of office advancing towards
them ; or if a few yield a reluctant assent temporarUy, yet quitting the lanes,
or leaving the work assigned them, as soon as the fireward's back is turned.
The result of this state of things is as undeniable as it is inevitable, and the
consequences and duties resulting from it are equally plain and unquestionable.
The system of depending upon the aid of the surrounding multitude must be
abandoned, and with it the system dependent upon mere influence or soUcitation
of sympathies.
A system must be adopted, suited to a large population, which every day is
growing more mixed and less sympathizing with each other; in other words,
discipline, subordination, and a well-marshalled arrangement, in which success is
made to depend upon the organization of the department and its own efficiency,
and not upon the reluctant aid of those who happen to be present.
In other words, Boston, Uke New York and other great cities, must have a
fire department based upon the principle of being adequate to self-protection, in
which the assistance of the mass of the citizens, so far from being solicited, is in
fact prohibited ; a system not of influence, but of self-dependent power.
If it be denied to the present earnest application of the City Council, there
needs no spirit of prophecy to foretell that it wiU, at no great distance of time
be burnt into us.
This system, as it exists in New York, is founded upon the use of suction and
distributing hose, in filling their engines, instead of buckets ; by which it is
proved that every hundred feet of hose is as effectual as the presence oi sixty men
with buckets ; whereby the presence of the multitude is not rendered necessary.
The discipline of the department applies only to those who belong to it. Great
efficiency and energy is the result. And a system of influence is abandoned,
and one of efficiency substituted.
To the introducing of this system, the City CouncU have already authorized
a great expense for engines and hose, and must incur more.
In order to make it effectual, discipline must be introduced, subordination
estabhshed, practice in the use of the hose apparatus encouraged. For this pur
pose it is absolutely essential that the power proposed by this bUl should be
invested in the City CouncU.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 185
Thirty-six men, coequal in power, excludes the idea of organization or subor
dination. How absurd is it to any efficient responsibUity, that the body of men
which are intrusted with the power of supplying the means and instruments
should be denied the power of selecting the agents and organizing the depart
ment which is to make use of them ! How fruitful in disputes and controversies
must be such an attempt.
This system is not theory. It is now in existence, practised and satisfactory.
I subjoin extracts ' from a letter from the late Chief Engineer of New York, con
cerning the exceUeuce of their system. Above all, I subjoin an extract from a
letter of George Darracott, Esq., formerly a fireward of this city, who has been
sent on by the city authorities to examine the actual state of things in this
respect in New York.
I entreat the gentlemen of the Boston delegation so far to obtain the bill, if
possible, as to be subject to the acceptance or refusal, by ballot of the citizens
of Boston, at a general meeting.
Considering this measure to be of the most vital importance to the prosperity
and safety of this city, I have taken the liberty to address this letter to you, geu-
tiemen, and to give it publicity, to the end that the views of the City CouncU
might not be misapprehended, and that if this measure faU, it shall not be attri
butable to any neglect, indifference, or shrinking from official responsibUity in
them. Very respectfuUy, yours, Josiah Quincy.
The course thus adopted proved successful. The purpose of
at once absolutely rejecting the system was not pm-sued ; and
on the eighteenth of June, 1825, an act was passed by the Legis
lature " estabUshing a foe department in the city of Boston,"
dependent for its final adoption on the votes of the citizens. A
general meeting of the inhabitants was thereupon caUed, to vote
on the subject on the seventh of the then ensuing July.
Notwithstanding these statements and exertions, the hostffity
to the proposed system was not allayed.
The private interests it opposed, and the attachment to old
customs which it thwarted, rendered final success dubious. The
ward rooms rang -with patriotic harangues on the infringement
of the ancient liberties of the people, by depriving them of the
power of electing foewards ; and the press, -with warning voices
on the usurpation of powers, which, it was asserted, could best
be exercised by the body of the citizens. The attempt to deny
citizens the right of assisting each other in distress, was inffig-
nantly reprobated ; and it was pubUcly declared, that " it woffid
not be submitted to by the foe-proof brethren of the North End."
1 For these extracts, see pp. 182, 183.
16*

186 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
The idea of efficiency in a hose system, and of engines putting
out fires, by playing into one another, was tteated as ridicffious.
Language of this Mnd began to be used, not only by the vio
lent and prejufficed, but even by men from whom a higher know
ledge and better feelings might have been anticipated. In this
state of the conttoversy, the Mayor -virrote and disttibuted, on his
individual responsibffity, on the day previous to the general
meeting, the following address, explanatory of the views of the
City Council, and urging the citizens to attend the meeting
and give in their baUots, by aU the considerations he thought
calcffiated to awaken and to influence.
TO THE- CITIZENS OF BOSTON.
Perceiving that the acceptance or rejection of the 'act establishing a fire
department ' is a subject of some discussion in the public prints, and being desi
rous, whenever that question is taken, that, whatever may be the event, its real
nature and consequences may not be misapprehended by my fellow-citizens, I
deem it my duty, in the relation I stand to the city, to make a distinct develop
ment of the subject. Considering also its nature and the circumstances con
nected with it, I cannot deem this duty fulfilled as it ought to be, unless I annex
my name to this elucidation.
It will not be necessary to use any words to prove that our present system
of protection against fire is, for some reason or other, not satisfactory to the citi
zens of this metropoUs.
It will only be necessary to recaU, on this point, the recollection of our fel
low-citizens to the deep discontent manifested at the conduct and result of both
the last great fires, — that in Beacon and that in Central Street.
On both these occasions^ the inadequacy of our means of protection, or the
insufficiency of their appUcation was palpable, and the discontent expressed htfle
short of universal.
Great difference of opinion, however, was manifested as to the causes of the
confusion, disorder, and inefficiency exhibited on these occasions. Some
lamented the want of water. Some the want of buckets. One set of men com
plained of the want of power in the firewards to command. Another of the
want of wiUingness in the multitude present to obey. And all, of the general
want of fire clubs, and of those ancient associations for mutual protection on
occasion of fire.
In this state of sentiment and feeling, which notoriously existed, it was the
duty of the City CouneU to ascertain the real causes of the evils of which all
complained, and apply remedies suited and adequate to the nature of the ease.
Now, it was impossible to reflect upon this acknowledged state of things, -ffith
the seriousness which a sense of duty and of responsibility imposed on the City
CouncU, -without coming to the conclusion that aU these wants or defioiencies
were, more or less, founded in fact, and the resulting want of protection was not
so much, if at all, attributable to the men, who had the control of the present sys
tem, as to that system itself; in other words, that the e-vils of which aU com-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 187
plained, were attributable chiefly, if not solely, to the inapplicability of our pre
sent system of protection against fire, to the present state and relations of the popii^
lation of our city. And as this population was every day increasing with great
rapidity, our present system was every day with like rapidity growing more
inadequate to effect that protection the citizens had a right to demand.
A very transient reflection on the acknowledged state of things wUl, I think,
satisfy my feUow-citizens of the justice of this conclusion.
And first, of the complaint of the want of water. A deficiency in this respect
is unquestionable, and means are in train for remedymg it, under the auspices
of the City CouncU. Yet the truth is, that we have as much water now as we
ever had in the city, and as we had in those times when the conduct of fires
gave great and just content in our city. Assuredly also, the deficiency of water
in the vicinity of Beacon Street or of Central Street, could not be considered as
the cause of the confusion, disorder, and inefficiency which aU complained of
on both those occasions.
On the contrary, if our present system be sufficient, a manifest deficiency in
the article of water would be a reason for order and regularity, rather than a
cause of disorder and confusion.
Our present system presupposes either a will in the surrounding multitude
at fires, to aid in forming lanes to pass water to the engines, or a power in the
firewards to compel them to form such lanes.
Now, just in proportion as water in the vicinity of any fire is deficient, is the
necessity apparent that it should be brought from a distance ; and, of course,
that the efficiency of the wUl, or the power to make lanes, should be manifested.
If our present system be, therefore, in this respect, sufficient, the alacrity to form
lanes and to preserve order in the multitude present, and the facUity with which
the firewards are enabled to form the one and preserve the other, wUl be
increased rather than diminished, by the existence of so great an exigency.
How it was on both occasions, can best be answered by the firewards and the
citizens present.
Again, — are the evils of which we complain to be attributed to the want of
buckets, of fire clubs, or of any of the ancient associations for mutual protec
tion ? What is the reason of this ? Why are we deficient in buckets ? Why
are the members of fire clubs greatly diminished ? Why those ancient as
sociations abandoned or grown into disuse ? There can be but one answer.
The state of things is changed in this respect. With the greatness of popula
tion, a different state of feeUng and of modes of protection have grown up.
Formerly, one could not open the front door of the highest or the richest
citizen, without having his eye greeted with at least two buckets, containing
fire bags and a bed key, all duly labelled, indicating to what fire society he be
longed. The same was true in relation to the house of almost every citizen,
except those of the poorest class.
At this day, how many doors can you open and behold the same sight ? I
answer, within bound, not one in fifty. Why is this ? If you ask the owner,
¦and he answers truly, nine times in ten it wiU be, — 'I am insured ; why should
I keep fire buckets ? Why subject myself to the rules and customs of fire
clubs ? Or why turn out to fires at aU ? I go to the expense of protecting
myself. I ask no protection from others, and I mean to incur no voluntary

188 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
expense ; and, much more, wiU not incur the risk of health and life in protect
ing them.'
However cold, selfish, or calculating this language may seem, it is the prac
tical language of men in aU great cities. In such cities, the influential classes of
citizens, the householders, and men of property of every description, grow more
in the habit of protecting themselves, more unwiUing to incur the risk and the
labor which aiding at fires makes necessary ; and the number of those who are
indifferent on such occasions, or who are wilUng to make profit by the misfor
tunes of others, is increased. The consequence is, that in all cities, after they
have attained a certain point of greatness, the system of depending upon the
aid of all the citizens has been abandoned, and a system, self-dependent, and
which, so far from requiring the aid of aU the citizens, excludes that aid, has
been adopted.
The substantial question, therefore, presented to the citizens of Boston is
this, — having become a city, with a great population, wUl you adopt a system con
formable to the state of things in which you exist ? or, with a great population, will
you adhere to a system adapted only, and which can be efficient only, in a city
with comparatively a very small population ? Whatever prejudices may exist
upon the subject, and whatever interests or feeUngs may be affected by the
avowal, it is my duty to state, as the result of all the researches made under the
authority of the City CouncU, on the subject, that tlie present system of firewards
is not, and cannot be made, an efficient system of protection against fire, with a
population such as at present exists in this city. The fault is not in the men,
but the system.
Thirty-six men are annually chosen, in wards, aU equal in power; and in
cases of fire, any three have precisely the same power with every other three. I
lay aside all questions concerning the effect of choosing in wards, rather than by
general ticket. I take it for granted, that the men, thus chosen, are the best
thirty-six men that exist in the city for this purpose, and that they always wiU be
the best.
I ask, then, what are the efficient powers of such firewards, in relation to
commanding aid on these occasions, considered in the tight of substantial protec
tion ? The answer, and only answer that can be given, is, that ' they can reqmre
the assistance of all persons present to aid in extinguishing fires.' But, suppose
the persons required refuse or neglect to obey ? What then ? They are liable
to be prosecuted the next day for ten dollars !
The penalty, indeed is heavy ; but what is it as it respects efficient protec
tion? Of the thousands, which, at every great fire, either refuse or neglect to obey
the fireward, and shrink from him, or go away as soon as he approaches, how
many have ever been prosecuted, and paid their ten dollars. Comparatively
speaking, not one.
This great authority of the fireward, on which so much reliance is placed,
when looked to for efficient protection, turns out to be nothing more than the
good will of the persons present. The fireward orders, and if the person ordered
wills, he obeys ; if he does not so will, he lets it alone. And this is the whole mat
ter. For, unless in the case of some flagrant insult or outrage, he never hears
¦any more of the business. Nor can there be any blame east on the fireward.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 189
Amidst darkness and confusion and hurry, how can he identify the individual,
much more arrest and keep him in custody ?
The efficient authority of firewards turns out then to be, after all, mere influ
ence ; and the whole system is predicated upon its being influence, and nothing else.
It is a sufficient system iu an early stage of society, and in a Umited extent of
population. But when society advances, when a population becomes numerous,
the weight of personal character and influence is little felt ; comparatively not
at all. And the consequence is, that a system of influence must be abandoned,
and one of efficiency adopted.
Now a system, to be efficient, must be self-dependent; not relying upon
whim, caprice, or the accidental presence of well-disposed individuals ; but pos
sessing within itself, and by the inherent force of its own organization, the capa
city of affording the protection required. By the aid of hose, of suction, and
supply engines, such a system supersedes the necessity of lanes, and, by the
power of machines, renders only a very smaU number of persons sufficient for
protection. This is the system of New York. The surrounding multitude, in
stead of being solicited to aid, are prohibited from interfering. The engineers,
the firemen, and hosemen, and hook and ladder men, are competent to manage
aU the machines. The efficiency of this system is not a matter of speculation.
The foUowing extracts of letters, although already published, deserve to be here
inserted, for the sake of those who have not seen them.l
The question, then, now presented to the citizens of Boston, is a question
between two systems. And, on this point, in order that there may be no mistake
in this matter, and no deception, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that the
existence and present relations and powers of firewards is luholly incompatible
with the system recommended, and in practice in New York ; and that, so long as
these relations and powers subsist, this system cannot he introduced.
For, although firewards make a component part of the system in New York,
yet their relations and their powers are very different from those of firewards in
this city. One great business, for instance, of firewardens under our system, is
to make citizens assist at fires. Whereas, one great business of firewards in New
York, is to ' keep persons at a distance from them.'
I know that it is urged with great warmth and vehemence in the public
prints, that the object of the City Council is, ' to wrest from the citizens the
election of firewards.'
The truth, however, is, that the object of the City Council is of a much
higher and more consequential character than the poor acquisition of any such
elective power. It is an endeavor to place the safety and protection of the city
against fire upon the basis of a self-dependent, efficient system ; one that does
not claim from age, or manhood, or boyhood, as a duty, to turn out and give pro
tection against fires, at the exposure of health, and often of life. On the con
trary, it takes the protection of the city on itself It asks of the citizens, not
inmiediately interested, only to keep away. It depends on its own discipUne,
practice, force of machinery, and engines ; and reUes not at aU on the reluctant
aid of casual bystanders.
This system is inevitable in a fuU-grown state of society. If our citizens do
1 For these extracts see pp. 181, 182.

190 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
not realize, or -ndU not admit the necessity of it now, the adoption is only post
poned. Come it will. The great teacher, calamity, which has already spoken
once and twice, will speak again and again, until its voice is heard.
If, then, the effect of the biU is to vest in the City Council the choice of the
firewards, it is because that the powers and relations of firewards, in a system
destined to give protection without calUng in the aid of the multitude present,
are different from their powers and relations in a system like our present one,
based upon depending on the aid of that multitude altogether.
Thirty-six men, coequal in power, every three of whom have a right to
command, are wholly incompatible with a system, which is of the nature of an
organized force, having a head and members subordinate to each other; and in
which responsibility is precise, direct, and individual.
It will, therefore, be seen by my fellow-citizens, that the real question to be
decided by them, on the acceptance and rejection of the bill, relates to the two
systems, — that which now exists, and that which is recommended.
So far as the question affects the elective franchise, it depends upon another
question ; and that is, whether the City Council, the constitutional and respon
sible representative of aU the citizens, be, or be not, the proper body to be in
trusted with the organization of the fire department of the city ?
Upon the general expediency of retaining the present system, which is
founded on the practicability of commanding the aid of the whole multitude pre
sent at fires, I ask my feUow-citizens to consult not only recent experience, but
also to reflect on the actual relations of our population. Is it not becoming every
day less and less homogeneous ? By emigration and the constant infusion of
foreigners, are not the sympathies among citizens, considered merely as such,
diminishing ? Has not an increased disposition to take advantage of fires, as
occasions for plunder, been manifested of late years ? Must it not be inevitable
in every city with an increasing population ? What right has this city to expect
an exemption from the common lot of humanity in great cities ?
In making this elucidation, I am sensible that I have exposed myself to the
charge of unsuitable obtrusiveness. But I am wiUing to submit to this, or to
any other Uke censure, rather than to have the conviction, which I should other-
vpise have felt, that I had faUed in my duty to a people to whom I owe so ma'.'
obligations for the confidence they have reposed in me.
My great purpose wiU be answered, if I can draw the attention of my fel
low-citizens to the real nature of the question ; and that, when decided, an un
equivocal expression of their opinion should be given by the number of their
suffrages ; and that it should not be left, as some questions have been of late, to
the decision of a few individuals in the vicinity of the HaU, or who had a parti
cular interest in the subject.
The question deeply interests the fate of the whole city. Only let then the
voice of the whole city be heard. Your feUow-citizen,
ith July, 1825. JosiAH QuiNCY.
The responsibUity thus assumed by the Mayor was received
-with those opposite demonsttations, of censure and praise, which,
in a repubUc, every pubUc officer may expect who throws openly

CITY GOVERNMENT. 191
his personal or official influepce into the scale, on questions
deeply agitating contenffing parties. By one set of men, it was
characterized as " obtrusive," " busy," " meddlesome," " using his
short-lived authority to augment the power and perpetuate the
influence of his office." By another, it was denominated "a
noble spirit of independence in a chief magisttate, who, holding
his office by the popular voice, inttepidly takes the hazard of
lending publicly all his influence to a measure which he beUeves
will be attended with important and salutary consequences, re
gardless of the manner in which it may affect Ms personal popu
larity." The result proved the propriety and necessity of these
measures. The meeting, on the seventh of July, as was antici
pated, proved one of great struggle and excitement. Upwards
of twenty-five hundred votes ivere cast; and, so powerful and
general was the opposition, that the question in favor of adopt
ing the system was decided by a majority of only one hundred
and eighty-three votes ! On so critical an issue did a question,
thus vital to the safety and prosperity of the city, tm-n!
Thus, after an open and active struggle, the organization of an
independent fire department received the support of the citizens
of Boston ; and, from that time, a systematic course of measures
was steadily pursued for carrying the projected organization into
effect, with the general cooperation of the citizens, without any
obstruction, except by attempts to injure the apparatus of the de
partment, by cutting th^ hose, by a few unknown and unprinci
pled individuals. A committee of both branches of the City
CouncU, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Blake and Welsh,
and Messrs. WUliams, Barry, Boies, and WUey, of the Common
Council, was appointed to prepare an ordinance in conformity
¦with the act of the Legislature. But difficulties yet Ungering
among some classes of citizens, rendered delay expedient ; and
the details of this orffinance were not conclusively settled and
sanctioned by the City CouncU untU the end of December.
Time was also required to obtain the engines and apparatus
ordered from New York and PhUadelphia, which postponed the
final organization of the fire department untU the ensuing muni
cipal year, now, for the fost time, about to commence in Janu
ary. During the conttoversy on the new system, the Comnutiee of
the City CouncU selected sites for engine houses; not on the

192 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
principle of economical and temporary expediency hitherto chiefly
regarded, but such as were best adapted to facffitate easy com
munication with the most exposed or populous parts of the city.
With these -views, they selected a site on Pemberton HUl, now
No. 9, Tremont Row, a location in the vicinity of the elevated
streets on Beacon Hffi, nearly opposite the entt'ance of Hanover
Street and other avenues descenffing to the north, by which aid
coffid be easUy extended to sections of the city the most popffious
and exposed to conflagration. They also desired to widen and im
prove the great thoroughfare over Pemberton HUl, then steep and
mconvenient, and in the winter season often dangerous. These
objects were regarded so important, that the City CouncU au
thorized an offer of twenty-five hundred doUars for about five
hundred feet of land, which the proprietor rejected. The price of
the land was therefore deemed an insurmountable obstacle to the
project. An unanticipated ttansaction, however,^ enabled the
city authorities to obtain the space the improvement required
for nothing. The proprietor of the remaining land, therefore,
was now induced to accept an offer of three thousand doUars
for an adjoining lot, on which an engine house was erected of
granite, on the model of the Choragic monument at Athens, and
the engine and hydraffiion purchased at PhUadelphia were placed
in it. The cost of this edifice was justffied, in the opinion of the
city government, by the circumstances under which the improve
ment and purchase had been effected ; by the satisfaction a
bffilding so ornamental to the street gave to the proprietors of
estates in the vicinity, who had objected to the erection of an
engine house in their neighborhood ; and, above aU, by the con
sideration that, such were the peculiar facilities of that location
for the protection of the city, that its future aUenation^ was
deemed improbable, and its appropriation to that object would,
therefore, be permanent.
In October, 1825, the City CouncU appropriated fifteen hun
dred doUars for the construction of two reservoirs. Notwith
standing their utter insufficiency for the requisite supply of
water, they were aU that could be obtamed. Pumps, buckets,
1 The facts relative to this transaction were officially stated in the Boston
Courier, of the 9th of November, 1825.
2 This lot and the buUding has been recentiy (1851) sold, in cash, for eleven
thousand four hundred and fifty doUars

CITY GOVERNMENT. 193
and lanes of citizens continued to be considered, by many, as
more efficient for the supply of the engines than hose. They re
garded the new foe department as an experiment, and of very
dubious result. In this opinion, some even of the City CouncU
coincided. A desttuctive fire which, on the tenth of November,
1825, occurred in Court Street, awakened the citizens again to
the existing deficiency of water, and of the inadequacy of the
ancient means of applying it with efficient force to the flames ;
and a committee of the City CouncU, of which John Bellows
was chairman, reported a resolve, which was accepted in both
branches, by which an adequate appropriation was made for
the building of thirteen reservoirs, in addition to the tivo already
authorized, each to be of a capacity to contain two hundred and
fifty hogsheads ; which was immediately carried into effect.
In January, 1825, information was received, that General La
fayette had accepted an invitation to be present and aid in lay
ing the corner stone of the Bunker HUl Monument ; that he
would, in consequence, revisit Boston, and probably be in the
city on the anniversary of national independence. By a com
mittee of the City Council, appointed to take suitable measures
on the occasion, the Mayor was requested to address a letter to
General Lafayette, expressing the gratffication of the City Coun
cU at receiving this information, and the universal satisfaction
of the citizens of Boston at the anticipation of his presence at that
interesting ceremony. Lafayette, in reply, announced his inten
tion to be present at Bunker's HiU on the seventeenth of June ;
but that a recent famUy bereavement placed it out of his power
to be present on the fom-th of July at the city celebration. In
formation was also received from another source, that Lafayette
had accepted the invitation of the Hon. James Lloyd, a senator
from Massachusetts in the Congress of the United States, to
reside in his family during his visit to the city.
Notwithstanding this information, on his arrival in Boston, in
the month of June, a vote passed the City Council, authorizing
the Mayor and Aldermen " to make such arrangements for his
honorable reception and entertainment, dming his residence in
the city, as they may deem expedient and proper." Under an
other vote of the City CouncU, both branches of the city govern
ment waited on Lafayette, on the sixteenth of June, at the man
sion of Mr. Lloyd, to offer their respects and congratulations on
17

194 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
his return to Boston, after his auspicious and successful progress
through the United States.
In March preceding, the Mayor had been authorized, \>j a vote
of the City CouncU, to procure a portrait of General Lafayette,
" to be taken at such time as wffi suit his convenience, and to
draw his warrant for the amount."
To this appUcation of the Mayor, Lafayette repUed, that it
would not be in his power to comply, during the short period he
expected then to remain in the United States ; but that, after
his retmn to France, should it be desired, he woffid -with great
pleasure obey the wishes of the city. At the same time, he ob
served to the Mayor, that it was hardly possible for a better Uke-
ness to be obtained than that which had been recently taken of
him by P. Schseffer, one of the first artists in France, just before
he commenced his visit to the United States, fine engra-vuigs
from which were then of common and easy attainment.
In July, 1824, a Committee of both branches, consisting of the
Mayor, and Alderman Benjamin, with Messrs. Prouty, Russell,
and Hartshorne, of the Common CouncU, was raised to consider
the expediency of authorizing the Surveyors of Highways to
cause a prospective plan and elevation of aU the stteets in the
city, to be made, to comprehend, as far as possible, all future
improvements, as opportunities may occur.
This Committee reported, in September foUo-wing, expressing
their opinion, that it would be greatly for the pubUc mterest if
such a system of surveys should be adopted ; that the present
course of proceeffing originates in, and is limited by, the im
mediate exigency of the particular estate on which any owner
proposes to buUd ; that the Mayor and Aldermen, after surveying
the estate, only decide how far the stteet shall be widened by
taking from that estate. In doing this, they have no authority
to lay out a prospective plan of any street, and to guide thek
proceedings by an enlarged view of the greatest improvement
which the general relations of the stteet would permit, so as to
become obligatory on their successors ; they are therefore reduced
to the prudential course of widening each stteet to such a rea
sonable line, as no future Board of Aldermen would hesitate to
adopt, in relation to other estates, when an opportunity of fur
ther widening should occur. The consequence of which is, that
the widening of stteets, not being governed by any estabhshed

CITY GOVERNMENT. 195
prospective plan, amounts, for the most part, only to the cutting
off angles and removing occasional projections, and results in
leaving, after all is done, a sightless, in-egular outline ; and
that, often in cases where, if a bolder line could be taken with
the assurance of its being completed, improvements of an im
portant character might be made, with the acquiescence of the
landholder, and with ultimate gain, in point of expense, to the
city. The tendency of the present system is as little calculated to
give satisfaction to the owners of estates, as to promote the im
provement of the public stteets. For, in general, owners of
estates would readily acquiesce (on feeing compensated) in very
considerable reduction of their lands, for the sake of widening
stteets, provided they could have the assurance that, in future
time, the particular specified line to which their estates were cut
down, shoffid be from time to time extended, and become the
permanent line of the stteets.
An established prospective plan, such as is suggested, would
also be greatly beneficial in reducing the claims for compensa
tion, on the taking of such lands by the public. For, the par
ticular line of the street, being established by the city author
ities, recorded, and published, every subsequent pm-chaser of an
estate bounding on such sti-eet, woffid acquire it with full notice
of the fact, and could have no claim or pretence of damages on
account of calculations made, or prices given, in ignorance of
the intention of the city authorities.
In conformity with these views, the Committee reported
three resolutions, which were, in March, 1825, adopted by the
City Council, in the following terms : —
Resolved. That the Mayor and Aldermen cause surveys of
the stteets of the city to be made on a prospective plan, embracing,
in relation to each street, as far as possible, the greatest ultimate
practical improvement of such stteet, both as it respects widen-
mg and elevation ; and that they cause such plan of each street,
as it shall be completed, together with a plan of the particular
estate tiffected by such proposed improvement, and the estimated
expense for carrying the same into effect, to be laid before the
City Council ; and that they continue such surveys until a com
plete prospective plan of the streets of the city shall be made
and estabUshed.

196 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Resolved. That, when such surveys shall be approved by the
City Council, the same shall be entered in a book, to be kept for
that purpose, to be entitled, " The Book of the Prospective Plans
for the Improvement of the Streets of the City of Boston."
Resolved. That, whenever such prospective plan of improve
ment in any street shall be approved and recorded, it shall be the
duty of the Mayor, for the time being, to give public notice
thereof in two at least of the newspapers published in this city,
that all persons may know the same and govern themselves
accordingly. Surveys of the stteets, on the principles of this report, were
immediately commenced, and early steps taken to carry its pro
visions into effect.

CHAPTER XIV.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1826.
Josiah Quincy,' Mayor.
Prosperity of the City — Measures for introducing Water — Views of the Mayor
on the Subject — Proceedings of the City CouncU — Powers of the Mayor in
the Suppression of Riots — Petitions for a general Contribution for ReUef by
Sufferers from Fire — The Result — Progress of Faneuil Hall Market — Final
Settiement of the whole Improvement — Organization of the new Fire De
partment — Celebration of the Fourth of July, 1826 — Death of John Adams
and Thomas Jefferson — ¦ Tribute to their Memories.
The Mayor, in his inaugural adffiess,^ noticed the difficulty of
satisfying the confficting passions and interests always existing
in a great community, and the happy effects of the wisdom, har
mony, and pubUc spirit of former city councils on the prosperity
of the city. It appeared from the recent city census that, dm-ing
the past five years, the comparative increase of its population
equalled that of any of our maritime cities, on the basis of its
previous numbers. While the aggregates of property valuation
had increased, the ratio of taxes had diminished. Although ad
vancing wealth and population had unavoidably augmented the
amount of taxes, yet there had been, in every successive year
since the existence of our city government, a decrease in the
amount of uncollected taxes. The expenditures, in respect of
their objects, had been apparently satisfactory to a majority of
the citizens; and the estabUshment of the office of auditor of
accounts had introduced an order, simplicity, and con-ectness in
that department highly creditable and advantageous. The atten
tion of the City Council was now ffirected to the importance of
obtaining for the city " a never-faUing supply of pm-e river or
1 The whole number of votes cast were 1395, of which Josiah Quincy had
1202. The Aldermen were Daniel Carney, John Bellows, Josiah MarshaU,
Thomas Welsh, Jun., Henry J. OUver, John T. Loring, Francis Jackson, and
Edward II. Bobbins, Jun.
2 See Appendix, E. 17"

198 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
pond water," which had been enforced by the urgency of physi
cians ; and the Mayor, having received information that an asso
ciation, formed for that purpose, contemplated an appUcation to
the Legislature for the requisite powers, expressed a hope that
the project woffid be met by the City CouncU " -with the most
decided and sttenuous opposition, and -with a corresponffing
spirit and determination to effect the great object solely on the
account and with the resources of the city;" at the same time,
" declaring it explicitly to be his opinion that, on that subject,
the city ought to consent to no copartnership."
Four days after these views had been thus pubUcly expressed
by the Mayor, Pattick T. Jackson, a citizen commanffing, by his
talents, character, and enterprise, the entire confidence of the
community, associated with other inffividuals of wealth and in
fluence, petitioned the City Council to assist them in obtaining
from the Legislature an act of incorporation, giving them author
ity "to construct an aqueduct, for the purpose of conveying
into the city a sufficient quantity of fresh water for the use of
the inhabitants, and for the extinguishing of fires." This peti
tion was refen-ed to a committee, consisting of the Mayor, Al
derman Welsh, and Messrs. Bassett, HaUett, and Brooks, of the
Common CouncU. The Committee and City CouncU, coincid
ing in the views of the Mayor, the appUcation received a decided
negative. Nothing effectual was done in consequence of this
movement. The Committee charged with the subject held vari
ous meetings, in which ffiscussions were had concerning Neponset
and Charles Rivers, as sources of supply ; and the Mayor, on his
own authority, obtained contracts securing conditional rights of
purchase, for the city, of a majority of the lower water rights on
both those rivers, at stipulated prices, dependent upon the sanc
tion of the City Council within a Umited time. The impression
concerning the importance of the subject, though generaUy ac
knowledged, was far from being universal ; and no wiUingness
to increase the city debt, for the attainment of the object, was
manifested. The claims of the proprietors of the sources of
water were regarded as too exttavagant to be presented for con
sideration to the City CouncU. The Mayor, therefore, havuig,
as he thought, sufficiently impressed the City CouncU and the
citizens with the importance of retaining the right of introducing
water from the resom-ces of the city alone, without the instru-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 199
mentality of private associations; and deeming it best for its
interests to wait for times when the urgent wants of the inhabit
ants should counteract the prevailing apprehension of a city
debt, forbore any further to urge the subject upon the attention
of the City CouncU.
Dming the year 1825, the Mayor was caUed upon to suppress
riots on two occasions. On the first, the object of the exertion
of his official authority had no precedent. After consulting the
Board of Aldermen, in order to be able, in case of any simUar
emergency, to justify before a legal ttibunal such exercise of
authority as circumstances might require, he submitted to coun
sel learned in the law the nature of the powers vested in the
office of Mayor by the city charter, applicable to such occasions.
The result of their opinion being, that riots, routs, and unlaw
ful assemblies were only cognizable under the laws of the Com
monwealth ; and that the course of proceeffing, and the persons
intrusted with their execution, were expressly pointed out in
those laws, among whom the Mayor of the city was not in
cluded ; and that, although it was his duty, in the language of
the charter, " to cause all laws for the government of the city
to be duly executed and put in force ; " yet, that it was a question
of some doubt how far his authority extended in respect of the
general laws of the Commonwealth, the execution of which was
inttusted to other authorities. It was therefore deemed most
safe and prudent for the Mayor to act as " justice of the peace
throughout the Commonwealth," concerning whose powers in
such cases there could be no possible question. Accorffingly,
the Mayor, in that capacity, with a strong police, assisted by
well-ffisposed citizens, who volunteered their services, proceeded
to the scene of riot, and dispersed the assembly in the course
prescribed by the statutes of the Commonwealth, arresting some
of the offenders and sending others to prison.
On a subsequent occasion, in the case of a disturbance at
a theatre, the Mayor, on finding that a justice of the peace was
in actual fulfilment of the duties of that office, with aU the
powers vested in him by law, refused personally to interfere,
deeming it for the interest of the city that the views he enter
tained of the powers of his office should be distinctly and prac-
ticaUy manifested to the citizens and the public, to the end that,
if the Mayor was to be held responsible to act in all such cases.

200 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
his powers might be accurately defined and his duties prescribed
by law ; deeming himself as much bound to abstain, as Mayor,
from assuming to exercise powers not vested in him by his
office, as it was to exercise those with which he was inttusted.
These views he accorffingly spread before the City CouncU in
this inaugural address.
In January, 1826, petitions from several towns in the State of
Maine, whose inhabitants had suffered from fires, praying that a
general contribution might be authorized by the City Council
for their relief, were referred to the Mayor and Alderman Rob'
bins, with Messrs. Morey, Torrey, and Howe, of the Common
CouncU. After examining into the circumstances of the conflagration
and of the sufferers, the Committee decided that the City Coun
cU were not justified in resorting to the mode of reUef sought
by the petitioners. Their report stated, that the distingffished
Uberality of the citizens of Boston, being unquestionably the
cause of frequent applications for relief, the city government
should consider it their duty not to permit the charity of theif
fellow-citizens to be unduly or unseasonably called upon, particu
larly in the form of authority, and under the sanction of an offi
cial act; and that then public recommendations of a general
contribution should be restiicted to cases of great and extensive
calamity, which caU for the interposition of a great commu-"
nity. This report was read and accepted in both branches of
the City CouncU.
After the organization of the city government, in January,
1826, a committee 1 on the extension of Faneuil Hall Market was
appointed to carry into effect the resolutions of the three last
City CouncUs, with the same powers and authorities, and sub
ject to the same limitations, as the former committees. On thek
recommendation, the City Council authoiized the purchase of the
land of William Welsh, the price not to exceed twenty thou
sand dollars, but without any appropriation, the cost of the land
being reimbursed, as was anticipated, by the sale of the city
lots. A street lying at the north of the north block of stores,
(now caUed Clinton,) and extending to Exchange Wharf, was,
1 The Committee were the Mayor, Aldermen Bellows, MarshaU, and Kob-
bins, and ISIessrs. Adan, (President of the Common CouncU,) Curtis, Hastings,
Boies, Lodge, Grosvenor, and Barnard.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 201
by the effects of this purchase, obtained without cost to the
city. In July, this Committee discussed the arrangement of the
stalls in the new market house; settled the terms on which
they shoffid be leased, and then voted that the leases should
be sold at pubUc auction, unless the tenants of the old mar
ket house chose to take them at the appraisement. This they
readily did ; and, on the twenty-sixth August, 1826, the new
market house was opened, for the fost time, to the public.
An order was then passed by the Common Council, that the
further use of Faneuil Hall, as a market house, should be ffiscon-
tinued. This Was nonconcurred by the board of Aldermen,
who requested the Mayor to lay before the City CouncU a state
ment of the obligations of the city, resulting from the gift of Peter
FaneuU, and from the votes passed by the town of Boston in
reference to that donation. The Mayor, accordingly, made a
fffil report, in conformity with that request, in which, after recapi
tulating aU the chief facts already detaUed in this history ,i and
stating that, after the edffice had been erected on the town's
land, by Mr. Faneffil, in 1742, and accepted as a market house
by the inhabitants, they repeateffiy shut it up, and ffid not use it
for the purpose for which it was given ; and that, it having been
desttoyed by foe in 1761, it was rebuUt at the expense of the
town, and the inhabitants voted "that the lower part of the
building shoffid not be improved, as a market, until the further
order and determination of the town." The Mayor, therefore,
declared that, in his judgment, no obUgation rested upon the
city, which could affect any use of the land covered by the
buUding caUed FaneuU Hall the City CouncU should deem ex
pedient ; and votes in conformity with this opinion were passed
in concurrence with the order of the Common Council.
On the ninth of November, the superintendent for buUffing the
new market reported, that all the bills and accounts for erecting
it, — for labor, materials, and services, were paid, and the whole
concern in a state to be closed. The Committee then re
quested the Mayor to prepare a final report on their proceed
ings; wMch, on the thirteenth of November, he accorffingly
submitted to them, detailing in it the origin of tlie project, the
difficulties which had attended its execution, the various changes
1 See p. 12.

202 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
of plans and views which had occurred in its progress, the
amount of the moneys which had been under their conttol, theif
expenditures, the debt created, and the property vested in the
city by their operations ; concluding with this gratifying result,
that " this noble improvement had been completed, not only without
any addition to the present taxes or burdens of the citizens, but
also without the possibility of any addition in future time, on this
account, to their taxes or burdens ; and, on the contrary, that it has
augmented, in no inconsiderable degree, the real and productive
property of the city."
This report was accepted by the Committee and by both
branches of the City Council unanimously .^
1 The opinion having been at the time assiduously spread, that this Committee
had created a debt, which it had left no adequate funds to discharge ; and even
at this day (1851) the belief being still entertained by some, that its proceed
ings laid the foundation of the present city debt, it is due to the memories of
the members of that Committee, that the actual result of their operations should
be stated from unquestionable documents.
By the official reports of William Hayden, Jun.,
the City Auditor in 1826, it appears that the
Committee which erected the market had un
der their control, derived from every source . $1,141,272.33
That of this amount they paid, from sources ob
tained exclusively from their own operations, 1 532,797.33

Leaving an apparent debt on the city of . . $608,475.00
The same Auditor's report shows
that the Committee delivered
over to the City Treasurer un
questionable demands, amount
ing to  $4,560.92
And also good notes on interest, of
a lUie unquestionable nature,
amounting to ... . 219,709.82

Constituting an aggregate fund, of which the city
has since avaUed itself in full, of . . . 224,270.74

So that the real debt left on the city was only . $384,204.26
The annual interest on 608,475 doUars, paid by
the city on the apparent debt, was . . . $31,622.95
And the annual interest on $219,709.82, the
available notes delivered the city, was . . 11,109.23
It results that the annual interest the city has
ever had to pay was only .... $20,513.72
As an offset for this debt, and to pay this interest, the Committee vested in the
city the new market house, -with the land it covered (27,000 feet) ; also, certain
tracts of land, lying to the north of the north block of stores on North Market

CITY GOVERNMENT. 203
AU the preparatory steps being taken, and the principles settled
for the estabUshment of a Fire Department, in the preceding year,
the present City Council, immediately after its organization,
took measures to carry it into effect. And, in January, 1826,
they appointed Samuel Devens Harris chief engineer, and aU
the other engineers and firemen required by the city ordinance.
Street, containing upwards of 26,000 feet of land, valued by them at $100,000 ;
also, 142,000 feet of flats and lands, lying at the eastward of the New Market
House, estimated at the value of another $100,000 by the Committee, in their
report. Concerning the product to the city of these three
species of property, it appears, by an official
statement of Elisha Copeland, the present
(1851) City Auditor, that, during the last
twenty-five years, (1826-27 to 1850-51, in
clusive,) the incomes of the city market, after
deducting every payment made on its account,
including salaries and all expenses for carry
ing it on, amounted to the net sum of . . $562,460.66
And that, during the same period, the incomes
of the City Wharf, which had been built in
1831, at an expense of $18,856.75, on the
flats, vested in the city by the Committee,
after deducting the cost of its erection, above-
mentioned, and adding the incomes from the
tracts of land lying to the north of the North
Market Street block, amounted to the net
sum of  162,002.86

So that the net incomes of the property, during
twenty-five years, therefore, (without including
the value of the last-mentioned tracts of land,
¦which was received in full by the city, by sales
and application of it to city uses,) amounted to $724,463.52
Equivalent to an annual income of . . . $28,970.00
To discharge the annual income of the debt cre
ated, amounting, as above stated, to . . 20,513.72
Leaving to the city an annual surplus of interest,
amounting to  $8,456.28

And, by way of equivalent or offset for the debt
of $384,204.26, created for the city by the
Committee, they vested in the city the new
market, which never has been estimated at
less than  $500,000.00
And the City Wharf and flats, which, although
usuaUy estimated much higher, can, at this
day (1851), without fear of contradiction, be
valued at  400,000.00
This being the fund provided, by way of offset,
for a debt of about $384,000 .... $900,000.00

204 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
There were circumstances which rendered th acceptance of the
office of chief engineer by Mr. Harris of great importance, at
the fost organization of the department. He was a man of
known judgment and prudence ; of tried ess ; a soldier in
spirit; and, as far as the events of his Ufe had perrffitted, by
education. He distingffished himself as a cavalry officer, in
almost every battle on the Canadian frontier, in 1814 ; and was,
generally regarded as singularly quaUfied to inttoduce order and
subordination into the department. The state of his health
rendered him, at first, unwilling to accept the office, as it would
subject him to great exertion and exposure ; but he at length
yielded to the soUcitations of the Mayor and City CouncO.
Soon after entering upon the duties of the office of cMef en
gineer, Mr. Harris requested the Mayor not to bring the subject
of his salary before the City CouncU ; assignmg as a reason for
this reqpest that, having the command of a department consist-
mg wholly of uncompensated volunteers, he thought his useful
ness woffid be ffisadvantageously affected by Ms acceptance of
a salary. Mr. Harris held his office nearly three years ; and aU the anti
cipations which occasioned his appointment were realized. A
spirit, in every respect noble, fearless, and ffismterested, charac
terized his whole conduct at the head of the department ; and,
as he never asked, he never received any compensation for a long
series of invaluable services.
In the course of arrangements attending the new organization
of the fire department, troubles of various kinds occurred, and
In addition to which, the Committee vested in the city, free of expense, six
streets, as foUows, namely : —
1. South Market Street, of the) ,„ '
width of . . . . I ^"^ ^"^^ contaimng 53,843
2. North Market Street . . 65 " 34 080
3. The street leading from Long )
Wharf, now constituting part >^ 65 " 30,100
of Commercial Street . )
4. Clinton Street ... 40 " 20490
5. The Roebuck Passage, now)
part of Merchants' Row, . | ^^ " ^,120
6. Chatham Street ... 40 « 20 560
64,193

CITY GOVERNMENT. 205
several evidences of hostility were manifested. One engine
company refused to communicate water at fires with another
engine company, because it was composed of minors, though
they were full grown and of sufficient strength. Another, whose
captain had been dismissed by the Mayor and Aldermen, voted
that, notwithstanffing his dismissal, they should consider him
their captain, and, as such, obey his orders. In both cases, the
companies were dissolved, the engines taken from them and
committed to new companies, which were immediately formed.
Two of the city engines were ffisabled, in the night time, and
their hose cut. This occurred several times at fires ; and, al
though a reward of five hundred dollars was offered for detection
of the offenders, it was without effect. Other dispositions to
embarrass the operations of the new department were mani
fested. All the arrangements for carrying it into full efficacy
were not completed untU the twenty-fourth of AprU ensffing;
when the Mayor issued his proclamation, declaring the fire de
partment of the city duly organized, and that it woffid go into
effect on the twenty-ninth of that month, which it ffid accord-
mgly. Votes of thanks were passed by the City CouncU to those
citizens who had volunteered their services to take the engines
when they were thrown up by the old companies ; and " to the
members of the late Board of Firewards, for their faithful, active,
and disinterested services in support of the measm-es for organ
izing the fire department." This last acknowledgment was
highly deserved by the old firewards. Notwithstanding its ne
cessary effect was to put an end to the existence of their own
board, the support they gave to the new department was uni
formly open and decided, and their influence largely conttibuted
to its ffitimate success.
Owing to the defective state of the old engines, the great de
ficiency of hose, the necessity of fitting up aU the engines and
engine houses, in a style of greater neatness and convenience
than had been before customary, as also, the constructing of reser
voirs, the amount of expenditure exceeded twenty thousand dol
lars. But the efficiency manifested by the department was so
universally felt and acknowledged, that the call for adequate
appropriations was met by the City CouncU with readiness, and
by the citizens without complaint. To check, as far as possible,
18

206 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
an excess of expenffitures, to which a department involving so
many and such a ffiversity of claims was peculiarly Uable, the
Mayor recommended, and the City CouncU ordained, that they
should be placed under the special supermtendence of a joint
committee of the City Council, without whose authority no ex
penditure exceeding fifty dollars should be incurred. By the
course of measures above specified, a spirit of zeal and activity
was infused into the foe department, chiefly resulting fi-om the
exertions, judgment, and fideUty of the chief and assistant en
gineers, which graduaUy inti-oduced into it harmony and subor
dination, highly honorable to them and satisfactory to the citi
zens. In AprU, 1826, the Rev. Henry Ware, Jun., was appomted
the city orator for the then ensffing fourth of July, which he
accepted ; but the state of his health compeUed him, on the
nineteenth of June, to decline fulfiUing his engagement. The
Committee of the City Council appointed on this commuffication
reported, that " an invitation should be given to the Hon. Josiah
Quincy to pronounce the address on that anniversary ; that the
brief period now aUowed for preparation seemed to preclude the
probabUity of any of the younger gentlemen from accepting the
delivery of the address, which, with the singular interest attached
to the fiftieth anniversary, rendered it pecuUarly proper that the
appointment should be made of a citizen who, from Ms age,
may be presumed to have witnessed some of the events, and to
have imbibed the spirit which led to our Revolution. Your
Committee believe that the zeal and interest the Mayor is known
to feel and manifest in every thing relating to the city "wiU in
duce him, notwithstanding his multipUed official avocations, to
accept this appointment, if such shoffid be the wish of the City
CouncU." A resolution, in conformity with this report, was passed unani
mously by both branches.
The Mayor, having delivered an oration on the same occasion
in 1798, was anxious to avoid a repetition of the effort; but
finding that the short time for preparation, — the remainmgdays
allowed, — was an insuperable obstacle to every citizen solicited
to take the appointment, he deemed it his official duty, and ac
ceded to the request of the City Council.^
1 See Appendix L.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 207
This anniversary was rendered memorable by the death of
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom had been
signers, on that day fifty years before, of the Declaration of In
dependence, and both having filled the office of President of the
United States.
On the fifth of July, at a special meeting of the Mayor and
Aldermen, the record states : " This Board, having received
notice of the afflictive dispensation of Divine Providence, in the
death of the Hon. John Adams, formerly President of the United
States, on the fourth of July instant, thereupon.
Resolved, That Aldermen Bellows, Marshall, Welsh, OUver,
and Loring, -with such as the Common Council may join, be a
committee to consider and adopt such measures as they may
deem expedient, to express the sense of the eminent worth and
pubUc services of the deceased entertained by the citizens of
Boston, in common with their feUow-citizens of the United
States; and also, their sorrow at this bereavement, which has
deprived this State of one of its most honored and cherished
sons, and the American nation of a most eminent patriot and
ffistinguished statesman."
The Common Council, in concurrence, joined, on its part,
Messrs. Curtis, Grosvenor, Gray, Waters, Lodge, HaUet, and
Rice. This Committee reported : " That it would be proper for the
Mayor and Aldermen and Common Council, accompanied by
their Clerks and City Marshal, to attend the funeral of their
ffistingffished feUow-citizen at Quincy; that the bells of the
city shoffid be toUed on that day from four to five o'clock ; that
it be recommended to the masters and owners of the vessels in
the harbor, to cause their colors to be hoisted at half mast ; and
the citizens to close their places of business on the afternoon of
said day, as a mark of respect for the deceased."
On the tenth of Jffiy, when news first reached the city of the
death of Thomas Jefferson, a joint committee, of which Alder
man Bellows was Chairman, was raised to consider what mea
sures were proper to be adopted on the occasion. This Com
mittee reported as foUows : —
" The Joint Committee, who were charged to consider and report what mea
sures it would be proper for the City Council to adopt, expressive of the respect
entertained by the city for the eminent services of the late John Adams and

208 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Thomas Jefferson, have the honor to report, that they view the almost simulta
neous decease of these distinguished statesmen as a dispensation of Divine Pro
vidence, which will be deeply felt by the whole American nation.
" Thai these venerable champions of liberty should have commenced their
political career at the same time ; should have sustained the same important
trusts and high offices ; should have each contributed so essentiaUy to the achiev
ing of our independence ; should have lived to see their children's chUdren realize
the blessings of that independence which, fifty years before, they jointly risked
their Uves to secure to them ; and should at last be summoned, on the same
day, and almost at the same hour, to receive the reward of their virtue and
patriotism, constitute a coincidence without paraUel in the history of the
world. " That either of these ancient men should have been spared to witness his
nation's jubilee, was not to be expected in the usual course of human events;
but that both should attain to that feUcitous moment, enjoying such a degree of
health, as not only to be conscious of their privilege, but to participate in the
general exultation of that day, is an event which seems to mark the hand and
special presence of that Being by whose unerring wisdom we are governed, and
by whose beneficence we are protected and sustained. The lives of these great
men have been no less distinguished than their deaths are remarkable; and
your Committee are of opinion, that they ought to be commemorated by a dis
course delivered on this solemn and impressive occasion ; and they have reason to
believe that, if it was kno-svn to be the wish of his feUow-citizens, an individual,
eminent for his talents and public services, in whom the confidence and pride of
this city are justly centred, would be induced to undertake the performance of
this honorable but delicate trust.
" The Committee, therefore, recommend the adoption of the foUowing reso
lutions : —
" 1. Resolved, That it is due to the eminent patriotism and distinguished
public services of the late John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, that their Uves
and characters should be commemorated in a public discourse.
" 2. Resolved, That it is the wish of the City Council, that this discourse should
be delivered by the Hon. Daniel Webster ; and the Mayor is hereby author
ized and requested to invite that gentleman, in the name and on behalf of the
authorities of this city, to pronounce the same, as early as his convenience wiU
permit. " 3. Resolved, That the Mayor and Aldermen and Common Council wiU unite
with their fellow-citizens in the solemn exercises of the day (to be appointed) ;
and that the citizens be requested to close their several places of business, and
masters of vessels to display their colors at half mast, during the movement of
the procession and the performance of the exercises.''
This report was accepted, and the resolutions adopted unani
mously, in both branches ; and an order was passed, appointing
the Committee who reported these resolutions to make the neces
sary preparations for the reception of the audience in Faneuil
HaU, to arrange the order of procession, and with authority

CITY GOVERNMENT. 209
to make such arrangements as they shaU deem suitable and pro
per for the occasion.
Daniel Webster having accepted the invitation of the city
authorities, they, -with distinguished pubUc functionaries in
vited on the occasion, among whom were the President of the
United States and the Governor of the Commonwealth, the
officers of various public institutions, and the citizens in gene
ral, formed a procession, on the second of August, 1826, from
the State House to Faneuil Hall, which was hung and carpeted
with black and appropriately decorated, where, in presence of
a numerous auffience, after prayers by the Rev. Dr. LoweU, Mr.
Webster delivered an eloquent discourse on the character and
services of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
The bells of the city were tolled; minute guns fired; the
shipping lowered their flags to half-mast ; the stores were closed ;
business suspended ; and no demonsttation of respect was omit
ted.

18'

CHAPTER XV.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1827.
Josiah Quincy, May or. ^
General Relations of the City — Views concerning the City Debt — The Loca
tion of a City HaU — The Responsibility for the Correctness of the Voting
Lists — General State of the Schools — Proceedings of the City CouncU in
Relation to them — School Committee object to their Interference, and claim
Independence — Opening of the Hancock School — High School for Girls
estabUshed as an Experiment — Its Result — The School discontinued, and
the Privileges of Pemales in the Common Schools extended — The Relation
of the Mayor to the School Committee.
The Mayor, in his inaugural address,^ stated the general rela
tions of the city ; its increasing popffiation ; the advance of its
improvements ; and the inffications given of the satisfaction of
the citizens with the general conduct of their affairs. Since the
government had been changed from a town to a city, its debt had
been increased, in round numbers, from one hundred thousand
to one mUUon of dollars. The wisdom and fideUty of the pubhc
agents who incurred this debt must be tested by the permanent
and important character of the objects attained by its creation.
These were the acquisition of the lands west of Charles Street,
and the property vested in the city by the Committee for the
extension of FaneuU Hall Market. The value of the property
thus acquired was equivalent to the discharge of the whole of
the then existing city debt, besides adding a large sm-plus to
its revenues. Nearly half a miffion of doUars had been expended
during the same period in improvements of a permanent and
prospective usefffiness, having a direct influence on the future
convenience and prosperity of the city. No public debt could be
1 The whole number of votes were 2629 ; of which the Mayor had 2189.
The Aldermen were James Savage, Thomas KendaU, Phineas Upham, John
T. Loring, Robert FeuneUy, John Pickering, James HaU, Samuel T. Arm
strong. 2 See Appendix, P.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 211
justffied on sttonger grounds than that which the city govern
ment, with a fearless and independent spnit, and in a just con
fidence in the judgment and inteUigence of then feUow-citizens,
had incmred. Their arrangements had already lessened to a
comparatively narrow sphere the necessity of future expenffi
tures ; and the remaining duty was to finish the improvements,
to correct existing establishments, and to apply the means in
their possession to the gradual extinction of the city debt. To
this object, the Mayor recommended the specific appropriation
of the whole property and its incomes, transferred to the city
by the Committee for the extension of Faneuil Hall Market ; it
being, in his judgment, not proper to consider property, thus
obtained, as a subject of complete ownership, untU the debt for
which it was incurred is paid. For this pm-pose, he recom
mended that those funds shoiUd be placed under the supervision
of commissioners, composed of pubUc officers, ex officio, ap
pointed by the City CouncU.
The erection of a new court house and a city haU were, at this
time, subjects of discussion and conttoversy. The Mayor, deem
ing it greatly for the interest of the city, that the intercourse
between the departments shoffid be convenient and easy, recom
mended FaneuU HaU as the most suitable location for their
accommodation. His views, were, however, at variance with
interests, opinions, and views of citizens, in different parts of the
city, and resulted in a still further postponement of the concen-
toation of the city offices in one buUding.
At this period, great complaints existed on the subject of
the voting lists ; and the question was agitated with some
warmth, — whether the responsibffity for their correctness rested,
as it did under the town government, on the Assessors ; or whe
ther it was not devolved upon the Mayor and Aldermen, by the
terms of the city charter. The ffiscussion ultimately resulted in
the opinion, that the labor of making out the voting lists, of
comparing them -with their books, and certifying their correctness,
were the duties of the Assessors ; but that the Mayor and Alder
men were responsible for the time, form, and manner in which it
should be done. In conformity with this resffit, the Mayor and
Aldermen constituted the Mayor a sub-committee, to superintend
the making out the voting lists ; to resort, in cases of difficulty
for advisement to the whole Board ; it appearing to them, that

212 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the duty of general superintendence and direction, and the exer
cise of a sound judgment, concerning aU the great municipal
relations of the city, particffiarly those which immediately af
fected the elective franchise, was devolved on the Mayor and
Aldermen, by the express terms of the city charter.
For three years after the organi2;ation of the city government,
no important addition was made to the number or expenses of
the public schools, except the erection of the Hancock School,
under the administration of Mr. PhUlips, and its completion
under his successor. By a report of the School Committee,
made in October, 1822, it appears that " the general state of the
schools was satisfactory ; " but regret was expressed, that " many
parents were indifferent as to sending their chUdren to school;"
" and that, with regard to regularity of attendance," the negli
gence of both parents and children was excessive.
In the last year of the town government, (Jffiy, 1821,) a
school for mutual insttuction had been established by the votes
of the inhabitants. In August, 1822, on the petition of several
citizens, stating that "the experiment had succeeded admirably;''
and that, in their opinion, more intellectual activity, a greater
degree of interest in studies, of readiness in learning, and of
punctuality, may be produced under that than under the prevail
ing system ; that the expense would be less ; the present cost for
the insttuction of each scholar being twelve dollars and fifty cents
per annum, whUe that proposed would be less than four dol
lars, — the School Committee voted that the Hancock School
should, until otherwise ordered, be appropriated to give the sys
tem a fair trial.
These proceedings were not acceptable to the City Council,
who, on the twenty-first of October, 1822, voted, that " it was
not expedient to make the alterations in the Hancock School
contemplated by the School Committee." This vote, and also
an order, passed by the City Council, in May preceding, " author
izing the School Committee to elect instructors for the public
schools, to remove them, and fix their salaries," were regarded
by the School Committee as " an interference with powers dele
gated to them by the citizens ;" and, on the twenty-first of No
vember, 1822, a sub-committee of that body, in a labored report,
maintained that, by force of the nineteenth section of the city
charter, the care and superintendence of the pubUc schools -were

CITY GOVERNMENT. 213
vested in the School Committee; that the power thus granted
ought to have a reasonable construction, implying incidental
powers, to make such superintendence effectual, — such as ap
pointment and removal of masters, fixing their salaries, selection
of books, and regulating the studies of the schools ; that the
exclusive right to make appropriations of public moneys, pos
sessed by the City Council, was the proper and only check held
by that body over the proceedings of the School Committee, and
was applicable only to extreme cases, and not involving the
power of maMng their proceedings nugatory; they not being
the agents of the City Council, but a distinct and independent
body, deriving their powers, delegated to them by the citizens,
under the provisions of the city charter.
These proceedings were the chief measures of a general cha
racter adopted on this subject by the city government. During
these two years, no material alteration took place in the condi
tion or system of the schools. Some complaints were, indeed,
at that time made, by parents against masters, for undue seve
rity to their chUffien ; and by masters against parents, for indffig-
ing their chUdren in want of punctuaUty, or for keeping them
from school in their private service. There were other practices,
and some disposition thought to be evidenced to keep men, who
were deemed unquaUfied, in office. And, in June, 1823, on the
fost opening to the pubUc of the Hancock School, the Mayor,
at the request of the School Committee, deUvered, and subse
quently, also, at their request, pubUshed an address, from which
extracts, relative to topics of permanent interest and frequent
recurrence, and deeply affecting the success of the schools, are
here mserted, as foUows : —
There are two mistakes into which parents are chiefly apt to fall in this con
nection. First, — they are too ready to imagine, that school education and
discipUne can supply the want of discipline and instruction at home ; and they
often throw blame upon the masters which, in justice, belongs to themselves.
If, therefore, the child of any parent returns from school shamed or corrected ;
if he make Uttie or no improvement ; or if the tendency of his temper be way
ward or vicious ; before blaming the master, or flnding fault with the discipUne
of the school, let such discontented parent set himself seriously to inquire into the
manner in which he himself has, m past life, performed, or how he is, at the pre
sent time, performing his duties to his chUd ; what principles he has inculcated ;
what habits he has permitted ; what example he has set. School education can
do but Uttie without domestic discipUne and example. The father, and mother,

214 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
form and influence, more than any masters, the characters of children.
Let no parent, then, listen hastily to complaints, unless he is himself conscious
of being guiltless of having given any countenance or encouragement to that
conduct which he condemns, and which masters, in their fidelity, must punish.
A second mistake of parents, affecting these institutions, is, — that they are
apt to imagine, because schools are provided by the public, it is the right of indi
viduals, and of themselves as well as of others, to use or neglect them at plear
sure, according as any whim, caprice, temporary interest, or convenience may
dictate. The consequence is, that they send children to school only occasionally, when
they please, or at what time they please, without any regard to the order and
regulations of the school, or the interest of their child.
Now, the usefulness of aU schools, in- a great degree, depends upon strict
habits of punctuality and order ; and on regularity in the master's performance
of his estabhshed routine of duties. Now, no master can thus perform his duties,
if children are permitted by parents to loiter on their way, or delay, or neglect
going to school ; or if they are kept after school hours engaged in work, or on
errands, and thus, by coming late, break in upon the regularity of the school.
The rights of parents are, in this respect, precisely like and parallel with all
the other rights of civil life. So use your own rights, as not to injure the
rights of others ; above all, so use them as not to injure the general interest. It
is the duty of masters to exact punctuality of attendance fi-om their scholars ;
and for this purpose, as a chief means, to be most minute and critical in their
own punctuality. And as to those parents, who will not submit to a principle
so essential to the success of this great interest of the republic, they must not
complain, should those who have the care of that interest exclude altogether
from the enjoyment of these privUeges those deUnquents who, by such injurious
neglect, show they are unworthy to possess them.
The relation of master and usher is stlU more important and critical to these
institutions. Their duties are, aU of them, of a nature so simple and obvious,
that to allude to them would imply a possibiUty of ignorance, or deficiency,
which ought not to be admitted, even by way of supposition.
There are duties, however, resulting from their relation to one another and to
this Board, on which it may be useful to touch ; and the rather, because diffi
culties have heretofore arisen from misapprehensions on those subjects.
The relation, then, of the master and usher, of the same school, ought to be
understood to be, in the nature of things, a relation of subordination, and not of
equaUty. It is one of the chief duties of him who is second, to support and
strengthen the hands of him who is first ; and, for this purpose, to study on all
occasions to elevate his character, to extend his influence, to facilitate his labors,
and promote his respectabiUty, both in school and in the world. There is no
surer mark of unworthiness for a higher station, than an unwilUngness to submit
to the requisitions, or to yield the deference, which is due from a lower. All
espionage, all disputes of authority, all petty cavils, of the inferior in relation to
the superior, are to be avoided ; being assured that such conduct can receive no
coiintenance from this Board ; with the certainty that, though its effect may be
to injure him whom it affects, that it cannot faU to disgrace him who condescends
to the practice.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 215
This principle, however, must not be understood to extend to the concealment
of any notorious vice or fault in the masters, or to any open or habitual violation
in him of the rules estabUshed for the government of the school by the School
Committee. FaUure openly to represent this to the proper authority, is a faUure
in duty, for which the usher is, and will be, considered responsible.
On the other hand, the duty of the master towards the usher is not less plain
and imperious. In the order of things, he is, indeed, superior ; but then, he
should always remember that it is only superiority of station, which does not
necessarily imply individual superiority. The relation in which masters and
ushers stand to each other is that of gentlemen ; of men under joint obligations
to promote the interests of the school, and the improvement of the scholars ; and
the great study of both should be, so to cooperate in their labors, as mutually to
aid each other in effecting this joint object.
From both instructors, the pubhc have a right to expect, and it wiU be the
endeavor of the present School Committee to enforce, punctuaUty, exclusive
devotion to the interests of the school, and strict obedience to the rules established
for its government.
The habit of punctuality, instructors should consider as a primary and essen
tial duty. They should be, by system, as true to the fixed time of opening and
closing their school as the shadow of the style is true to the sun dial.
So, also, with respect to an exclusive devotedness to the interests of the
school. It may be questioned whether either, — and certainly, whether the
principal instructor, — ought to be permitted to engage iu any other business or
employment, the object of which is pecuniary emolument. But it cannot be
questioned, that neither of them ought to be permitted to carry any engagement
or other pursuit into school hours. The whole of the prescribed time belongs
to the public. During its continuance, instructors have no right to do any thing
else, or think of any thing else. Whatever part of the time is not occupied in
instruction, is sufiicientiy weU employed in superintendence of order and de
corum. Lastiy, gentiemen of the School Committee, in this reference to the duties
of others, which I have thus made, at your suggestion, you will permit me, also,
to notice some which belong to ourselves. In the organization of this Commit
tee, distinguished men, drawn for the most part from the learned professions, are
added to the higher branches of the city authorities. It must generally be ex
pected, that the Mayor and Aldermen wiU be men of business, rather than of
science, and better acquainted with the rules and measures of active Ufe, than with
those of schools and seminaries of learning. This part of the Committee have,
therefore, a natural right to look to the superadded members for advice, direc
tion, and for a vigilant and active superintendence, in this particular department.
And while the Mayor and Aldermen will extend to this great concern aU the
protection which the extensive nature of their other duties will permit, it is to
the members of the Committtee, who do not belong to this Board, that the city
authorities have a right to look for a severe and scrutinizing investigation of the
state of the schools, and of the manner in which masters and ushers, as weU as
parents and cluldren, fulfil their respective obUgations.
The great difliculty with which we have to contend is that disposition which
is innate in aU, to avoid painful responsibUities, when the exercise of authority

216 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
affects particularly and directly the hopes and prospects of an individual, and
only generally and remotely the interests of the community. But, gentiemen,
in assuming this office, we have undertaken a duty for which we are responsible,
not only to our country, but to Heaven. If men obviously weak, or inefficient,
or inadequate, are maintained in ofiice, merely through reluctance to exercise
power which our station devolves upon us, and which, by accepting the trust,
we have solemnly engaged to fulfil, I need not explain to wise, honorable, and
thoughtful men the nature and consequences of such failure, to fulfil an important
and voluntarily incurred obligation. This city has a right to have efficient and
capable men in all its departments ; especially in its schools. The worst of all
charities is that which supports imbeoiUty in official station, merely from reluct
ance at depriving it of oflicial emoluments. And, however this may be pardon
able in relation to offices affecting only personal or local interests, it is, in relai
tion to such as are of the nature of pubUc instructors, Uttle less than criminal.
I repeat it, this city has a right to have, in every department of this great
concern, none but adequate men. The liberality for which the inhabitants of
Boston have been distinguished towards pubhc instructors, in all times, has
afforded this Committee the means and the power of selecting the best, and of
excluding the bad or the indifferent from those offices. If, through our weak
ness, carelessness, or fear, the rising generation in any school district be dealt
by unfairly, and do not reap its equal share of the advantages which this city,
by the liberality of its public provisions, endeavors to secure to all its citizens,
the fault and the shame will lie upon those who, being intrusted with the power,
and having accepted of it, shrink from their duty, under the influence of a false
and mischievous sympathy.
Early in the year 1825, the School Committee accepted a
report of one of their sub-committees, recommending an esta
blishment of a high school for girls, and an appUcation to the
City Council for an appropriation for that object. The plan pro
posed was, that girls who were qualified shoffid be admitted
when eleven, and not more than fifteen years of age ; and that
the course of studies should occupy three years, and embrace all
the branches of education usually taught in colleges, except Greek
and Latin. There being at that time a very general desire in
the School Committee to test the usefulness of monitorial or
mutual instruction, it was proposed that the school should be
conducted upon that system ; and, in respect of expense, the
report supposed that one large room would be sufficient, at least
for the first year.
The adoption of the report was pressed with great earnestness
by several members of the School Committee, and the success
of the High School for Boys, was urged as conclusive in favor of
a simUar school for girls. The High School for Boys had been

CITY GOVERNMENT. 217
in operation five years, and no additional school for them was
required or anticipated. The applicants for admission to it had
never exceeded ninety ; the greatest number ever admitted to it
in one year was eighty-four; and, at that time, the number ivas
only ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX. The uumbcr, also, in the
High School for Boys regularly diminished every successive year,
as parents found places for their sons, as apprentices and in count
ing-houses ; so that the greatest number of those who continued
through their whole course was seventeen; and they belonged
to a class consisting originally of seventy members. Those
members of the Committee, however, who considered the differ
ence between the occupation and preparation for active life, of
girls and boys, between the ages of eleven and fifteen years,
doubted if the result of the High School for Boys was a criterion
to be relied upon for a high school for gUls. It was certain that
the inevitable eff'ect of this school woffid be to attract from the
common schools all the most ambitious and intellectual scholars,
and of consequence deprive those schools of the girls best quaU
fied by attainment and example to excite the spirit of emulation,
to raise their standard, and to take, in them, the place of moni
tors. Apprehensions of this kind added force to the doubts con
cerning the expediency of estabUshing it.
There existed, at this time, a general opinion in favor of ex
tending and enlarging the advantages enjoyed by females in the
public schools. The project was therefore in unison with this
prevailing desire, and popular with parents whose daughters
were of an age to take advantage of it, and the appropriation
of two thousand doUars, recommended by the School Commit
tee, was granted by the City Council with great unanimity.
The anticipations of ffifficulty were, however, so sti-ong and
plausible, that it was adopted expressly "as an experiment;"
" if favorable, to be continued, if adverse, to be ffiopped of course."
With this understanffing, the project being sanctioned by the
City Council, the twenty-second of February, 1826, was ap
pointed by the School Committee for the examination of candi
dates for admission into the High School for Girls ; the largest
and most commodious room owned by the city having been
assigned for it, and fitted up, at a considerable expense, to the
satisfaction of the Committee.
But before this examination occurred, it became apparent that
19

218 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the result of a High School for Girls would be very different
from that of the High School for Boys ; and that, if continued
upon the scale of time and studies the original project embraced,
the expense would be insupportable, and the eff'ect upon the
Grammar or Common Schools positively injurious.
Instead of ninety candidates, — the highest number that had
ever offered in one year for the school for boys, — it was ascer
tained that nearly three hundred would be presented for the High
School for Girls. The spacious room provided for the school
would not accommodate more than one hundred and twenty;
and it was evident that, either two high schools for girls must
be established the first year, or that more than one half of the
candidates must be rejected, to the great disappointment of
their parents and instructors.
In this dilemma, a special meeting of the School Committee
was called, on the twenty-first of February, the day previous to
that appointed for the examination ; and, after much deliberation
on the course to be pursued, they resolved to keep the number
to be admitted under their own control ; and for this purpose
passed a vote, that the Sub- Committee, appointed as examiners,
should report to the School Committee " the names, ages, and
standing of all the candidates they should find qualified for admis
sion, that THIS COMMITTEE MAY DETERMINE WHAT CLASSES OF
THEM SHALL BE ADMITTED."
Under the influence of this vote, the examination was accord
ingly conducted. Two hundred and eighty-six candidates pre
sented themselves for examination. And, on the twenty-eighth
of February, the Sub- Committee of Examiners, from motives
of prudence, did not report to the School Committee the names of
those they found duly qualified, but only the ages of each candidate.,
with a table of the marks, from one to twenty, put opposite each,
under each head of examination, and the general result ; and, to
bring the admission of applicants witMn the extent of the ac
commodations which had been provided, they recommended that
the School Committee " should strike from the list of applicants all
bettveen eleven and twelve years of age; and that, of the remainder,
all who had received the numbers of thirteen and a half and up
wards, should be admitted as members of the school."
The School Committee adopted the com-se suggested by the
Sub- Committee of Examiners, and regulated then admission

CITY GOVERNMENT. 219
of candidates by the principles they recommended. The conse
quence was that, of the two hundred aud eighty-six candidates,
about one hundred and thirty were admitted, and one hundred and
fifty rejected. Parents, friends, and instructors of these unsuc
cessful candidates regarded these proceedings as unjust, and the
rffie of selection as arbitrary. Complaints of favoritism were
not uncommon, — the natural consequence of extteme disap
pointment. The course, however, pursued by the School Com
mittee was unquestionably the best the circumstances in which
they found themselves placed permitted. This feeling of dis
content was not, however, generally allayed, although, from par-
¦ticffiar considerations, the vote for striking out all between eleven
and twelve years of age from the list of applicants was subse
quently rescinded, and seven candidates between those years
were admitted.
Notwithstanding the number of candidates offered far exceeded
aU anticipation, the High School for Girls was put into opera
tion under very favorable auspices. The master was talented,
earnest, and assiduous; and. members of the Committee, some
of whom had daughters enjoying its advantages, superintended
its course with marked and critical interest. The girls who were
admitted were the elite of the Grammar Schools, and -were
among the most ambitious and highly educated of them and of
private schools, from which a majority of those admitted were
derived. It was impossible that a school thus conducted, super
intended, and composed, should not be highly advantageous to
the few individuals who enjoyed its benefits ; and its success
was a subject of congratulation among their parents.
In August, 1826, a report was made to the School Commit
tee, setting forth the necessity of a further provision for its sup
port, enlargement, and accommodation ; and stating, by way of
information, the foUowing facts : — " That the present number of
the school was one hundred and thirty ; that few, if any, could be
excluded the present year; that, according to the best calculations
that could be made, the number of the candidates for admission at
the then next ensuing examination, ivould be four hundred and
twenty-seven, who, if they were all admitted, and those now in the
school retained, it would be necessary that five hundred and fifty-
seven members of it should be provided for." The Sub- Commit
tee, however, suggested that, probably, not more than two hun-

220 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
dree? would be found qualified ; a suggestion unsupported by any
data. This report unavoidably brought under the consideration pro
bably of every member of the School Committee, and of the
city government, the practicabUity of a system of schools, in
cluding such an extent of time and course of studies as the plan
of this school originally embraced. It was obvious that the
result of the High School for Boys was no criterion by which to
estimate that for girls, who were not compelled to prepare for
active life between the ages of eleven and sixteen, and to whom
a high classical education was extremely attractive ; and, being
confined to the best scholars in aU the schools, private as weU as
public, by its select and necessarily exclusive character, obviated
the objections of many parents to pubUc schools. The effect of
this circumstance was apparent in this " experiment." Of the
number admitted into it, sixty-two were from private schools,
and only fifty-nine from the public. And it was ascertained,
that if the school should be maintained upon the extensive plan
of time and studies embraced in the original project, that there
woffid be a far greater influx into it from the private schools.
Those, therefore, whose property enabled them to educate their
children at private schools, -woffid occupy the greatest proportion
and receive the chief benefit from the High School for GMs.
No circumstance could show more eff"ectuaUy that the school
was chiefly for the advantage of the feiv, and not of the many ;
and those, also, the prosperous few. Again, this ffi-st experiment
showed, in another respect, the entire difference in result of the
school for girls and of that for boys. In the latter school, as has
been already stated,^ the number of scholars regularly diminished
every year, so that the far greater proportion of those who entered
it quitted before the expiration of the three yeai-s; whereas,
of all those who entered this High School for GUIs, not one,
during the eighteen months it was in operation, voluntarily quit
ted it ; and there was no reason for beUeving that any one ad
mitted to the school would voluntarUy quit it for the whole tliree
years, except in case of marriage. It was ascertained that the
whole number of girls, between eleven and fifteen years of age,
then in the Grammar and High Schools was about seven hun-
1 See page 217.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 221
dred ; and that in the private schools the number was greater.
Of consequence, there woffid be a great total, of at least, four
teen hundred gu-ls every year ; the number, also, increasing with
the population, to whom the benefit of this collegiate course was
annuaUy to be proff"ered ; and, considering the uncommon and
desirable privileges thus offered, it was probable that at least one
third would qualify themselves for the benefit, and that not one
of those, once admitted, would quit the school for three years.
• It was evident, therefore, that at least two High Schools for
Girls must at once be established ; and that, if the whole num
ber of anticipated applicants should be admitted, that three such
schools would be reqffired, with a prospective certainty of the
increase of this number every year. It was apparent to all who
contemplated the subject ffisinterestedly, that the continuance of
this school would involve an amount of expenses unprecedented
and unnecessary ; since the same course of insttuction could be
introduced into the Grammar Schools, to the far greater benefit
of the greater number of females, and those, too, of a class for
whom it was the chief duty and interest of the city to provide a
high education. The opinion, therefore, became general, if not
universal, that, if the school was continued, some change in its
principles must be adopted. Two schemes only were suggested,
by those who wished to continue the course three years : —
1. That the High School should be confined to girls educated in
the Grammar Schools. This could not be sustained for one mo
ment. For, in addition to the common right, which would be
inherent in aU parents, to send their chilffien to schools sup
ported at the public expense, the tendency woffid be to bring
back to the Grammar Schools a class of children, from the edu
cation of whom the city was now relieved, by the predUection
or pecuniary ability of parents. 2. That the qualifications for
.. admission should be raised, and the course of three years be con
tinued. This last was the favorite scheme of those most desi
rous of continuing the school for the term of three years, accord-
. ing to the original project. A single objection seemed, however,
. conclusive against this scheme. In proportion as the quaUfica-
tions for admission are raised, the school becomes exclusive.
Although nominaUy open to aU, it will be open only to the few,
and shut to the many.
Actuated by these general views, a sub-committee was ap-
19*

222 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
pointed by the School Committee, to whom the report made in
the August preceding 1 was referred, to consider the expeffiency
of making further provision for the High Schools for Girls, on
the same basis of extent, of time, and of studies as the original
project embraced. This Committee, after long deliberation, and
inquiring of the several masters of the Grammar Schools, as to
the effect upon the character and prospects in those schools pro
duced by the High School for Girls, found there was a ffiver
sity of opinion. Some of the masters regarded the effects as
beneficial ; others thought them prejudicial. Removing the best
and most exemplary scholars damped the ardor of the girls
who remained, and took away the materials from which moni
tors were selected, and reduced the standard of the Common
Schools from the highest to a secondary grade. The Commit
tee, therefore, on the seventeenth of November ensuing, made
a report, stating those facts, and that new principles ought to
be adopted in relation to the qualification for admission and
time of remaining in the High School for Girls ; and unani
mously recommended the following modifications of the system
of that school. These were immediately adopted by the School
Committee, namely, — that the age of admission should be four
teen, instead of eleven ; that continuance in the school- should
be only for one year, instead of three ; and that the requisitions
for admission should be raised, so as to include aU branches
taught in the pubUc Grammar and Writing Schools ; and that
no female should be admitted after the age of sixteen.
These modifications, in which the School Committee and
City Council generaUy concurred, so gi-eatly ffiminished the ad
vantages the original plan of the school proposed, that much of
the interest which its creation excited was- also diminished. It
became apparent, that a school thus limited, of wffich the advan
tages could be enjoyed only for one year, would not be, as the
original scheme professed, for the benefit of the many; but, in
fact, for the exclusive advantage of the few, and, for the most
part, of those whose private resources were fully adequate for
the education of their own daughters. The higher the quaUfica-
tions required, the more exclusive the school. The daughters of
educated men, of lawyers, clergymen, and physicians, who had
' See page 219.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 223
leisure themselves, or those who had fortunes sufficient to give
their daughters the high preparatory education, woffid, unavoid
ably, be preferred on examination. To them, the advantages of
the school woffid principaUy resffit, and not to the dEfughters of
the mass of the citizens.
The school, however, was permitted to continue, subject to
this modification, untU November, 1827, when a committee was
raised to consider the expediency of continuing it ; which, on the
eleventh of December following, reported that, in their opinion,
" it was expedient to continue it." This report was the occasion
of much debate ; and several modifications were proposed, on
which the Committee was equaUy divided, when a motion was
made for the postponement of the question to the next School
Committee, which, in the course of that month, was to be elected.
On this question, the votes being equal, — "six and six," — the
Mayor, after declaring, that his opinion was so decidedly adverse
to the continuance of the school, that he coffid not vote in its
favor ; yet, regarffing the question of great importance, and that
the continuance of it was a subject of much public and popular
animadversion, and that the School Committee then about to be
elected, coming immeffiately from the citizens, would be better
quaUfied, from their acquaintance with the general feeling and
sentiments of the people, to decide the question most satisfac
torily, postponed the subject to the next city year by his casting
vote. This decision having been made the subject of much popular
animadversion, the Mayor ffid not deem his official duty fffifiUed
without presenting his views distinctly to his feUow-citizens ;
and, accorffingly, in his inaugural address to the city govern
ment, m January, 1828,^ expressed, in a direct and unequivocal
manner, Ms opinion, that the standard of public education ought
to be raised to the greatest practicable height in our Common
Schools ; that the effect of the High School for Girls was, in his
judgment, far different from that which popular opinion enter
tained ; that, instead of being for the benefit of the children of
the whole community, it was, in fact, comparatively for the
benefit of those of a very few, and that, too, a class who were
best qualified, by intelligence, education, and wealth, to provide
for the high insttuction of their own children.
1 See Appendix, E.

224 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Leading members of the City Council coincided in these
general views ; and at a meeting, early in January, 1828, at the
suggestion of the Mayor, the succeeding School Committee took
into consideration the subject referred to them by the preceding
Board; and when under ffiscussion, say the records, "James
Savage remarked that, though he had, as a member of the Com
mon CouncU, voted an appropriation to the High School for
Girls, it was mauily with a view to make a pubUc experiment
of the system of mutual insttuction ; that he was opposed to
the High School for Girls, and to the whole system of instiuc-
tion, as regards females ; he therefore moved, that a sub-commit
tee be raised to consider, —
" Whether the High School for Girls shaU be contmued, and
the basis on which it shall be estabUshed ; —
" Whether the girls may not well be allowed to remain at the
Grammar Schools throughout the year ; —
"And, whether the time of their continuance at these schools
may not be advantageously extended."
This motion being adopted, the following Sub- Committee
was appointed for its consideration, namely, — the Mayor, John
Pickering, Samuel T. Armsttong, Wiffiam B. Fowle, Samuel
Barrett, Zabdiel B. Adams, and Amos Farnsworth.
This Committee made, on the twelfth of February, an elabo
rate report unanimously, in which was set forth, in detaU, aU
the chief views and arguments connected with the subject; and
declared their opinion, that the High School for Girls " ought
not to be reestablished upon the basis of embracing the extent
of time and the multipUed objects of education which the ori
ginal plan of that school contemplated ; " and that it ought not
to be continued " on the restricted basis, as to time and objects,
to which it was reduced by the vote of the seventeenth of No
vember, 1826;"! but that "it was far preferable to arrange all
om Grammar and Writing Schools so that the standard of edu
cation in them may be elevated and enlarged, thereby making
them all, as it respects females, in fact, high schools, in which
each child may advance, according to its attainments, to the
same branches recently taught in the High School for Ghls.
The Sub- Committee then entered tipon a wide survey of the
whole school system ; and closed their report by recommending
1 See page 222.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 225
a series of resolutions, which, after undergoing some modifica
tions, were adopted by the School Committee unanimously, in
which the opinion of the School Committee was declared, that
it was for the interest of the city, that the mutual or monitorial
system of instruction shoffid be inttoduced into the Boylston and
Bowdoin Schools ; that an appropriation be requested of the
City Council, for preparing the school houses for this purpose ;
and the Sub- Committee, who made the report, were reappointed
to carry the resolutions adopted into effect. On the third of
June ensffing, " Mr. Savage moved that the girls be permitted to
remain in the English Grammar Schools throughout the year."
This motion being adopted, and measures taken for carrying
into effect the views thus sanctioned, the project of the High
School for Girls was abandoned, and the scale of instruction in
the Common Schools in the city was graduaUy elevated and
enlarged. This resffit, and the distinctness with which the Mayor had
made known his opinion, concerning the inexpediency of esta
bUshing such a High School for Girls at the expense of the city,
in opposition to the views and interests of a body of citizens of
great activity, and of no inconsiderable influence, gave origin to
party assaffits upon the motives and conduct of that officer,
which he noticed in his final address to the Board of Aldermen,
on taldng leave of the office, in January, 1829.^ The soundness
of these views, and their coincidence with the permanent inte
rests of the city, seem to be sanctioned by the fact, that twenty-
tMee years (1851) have elapsed, and no effectual attempt, during
that period, has been made for its revival, in the School Com
mittee, or in either branch of the City Council.
A question growing out of the relation of the Mayor of the city
to the School Committee, of which, by the city charter, he was
officially a component part,, ought not, perhaps, to be omitted in
this history, although of no other general importance than as
preserving a remembrance of the different consttuction made of
that charter, and of its having temporarUy been the occasion of
party animadversions. When, under the town government, the
School Committee was established, there was no individual
elected by the vote of all the inhabitants as chief officer or head
of the town. The Selectmen, as the Executive Board, was
1 See page 269.

226 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
accustomed to elect annuaUy a chairman ; but his authority and
official character Avere derived solely from their election. The
School Committee, therefore, considering, justly, that the power
of electing a chairman of the Selectmen did not include the
power of electing a chairman of tfie School Committee, not
withstanding the Selectmen were component parts of that
Board, provided, in their first organization, "that, at the first
meeting in each year, the Board shoffid organize itself by
choosing a chanman." And this was the uniform practice, until
the adoption of the city charter. It was manifest that the rela
tion of things was materially changed by this charter. Like the
Selectmen, the Mayor and Aldermen were made a component
part of the School Committee ; but the Mayor was not chosen
by the Board of Aldermen, but elected head of the city by the
body of its citizens; and, by the force of that relation, it was
the opinion of many, and, at the commencement of the new
government, apparently of all, that, ex officio, he had the right,
and that it was his duty to claim the station of chanman of all
the boards of which, ex officio, he was a component part. This
opinion was so stt-ong and so general, that it does not appear
that, during the first seven years after the organization of the
city government, that any question was raised, or any doubt
expressed on the subject. John PhilUps, the first Mayor, with
the Aldermen met, on the sixth of May, 1822, the other mem
bers of the School Committee, and took the chair, as Mayor of
the city, and the School Committee proceeded immediately to
organize themselves by the choice of a secretary. Neither the
record nor any document indicates that the proposition to choo.'' \
him or any one chairman was either made or thought of by aii_,
member of the School Committee. The same was the case
with his successor, during the nearly six years to which his ad
ministration extended. The first intimation of any ffiscontent
existing in the Committee, for theu- omission to elect a chair
man, occurred on the twelfth of February, 1828, more than a
month after the School Committee had been that yeai- organ
ized in the usual course.
On that day, the record states, that " it was suggested by Mr.
Bowdoin," (the Secretary of the Committee,) " that, in examin
ing the rules of the Board now in force, with a view to his duties
as secretary, he had found a provision requning, as a part of the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 227
organization of the Board, the annual choice of a chairman, at
its ffist meeting in January; that the organization, by such
choice, was not completed at the late meeting ; and, advert
ing to the words of the preamble to the rules, that the School
Committee is a constituent branch of the city government, by the
charter, added that, as it was a part of the duty required of
those elected by the several branches, he doubted whether they
coffid dispense with the responsibiUty of that part of the organ
ization. "After some debate on the subject, in which it was said by
the Mayor, who disclaimed all personal motives, that ' he con
sidered the person holding the office of Mayor as being chair
man by force of the city charter,' it was voted that a committee
of five be appointed to take into consideration a revision of the
rffies; and the Mayor, accordingly, appointed Messrs. James
Bowdoin, John Pickering, Samuel T. Armstrong, Joseph Head,
the Rev. C. P. Grosvenor, for the purpose."
The course and conduct of the Mayor, on this subject, having
been animadverted upon in pamphlet and newspaper, as " as
suming " and " selfish," in order that no obscurity might rest on
his opinions and motives, he immediately adffiessed a letter to
the Board, in the following terms : —
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OP THE CITY OP BOSTON.
Gentlemen, — At your last meeting, Mr. Bowdoin called the attention of.
the Committee to its organization, by the choice of a chairman, and stating " the
doubts he entertained if, when meeting as a Board, they could dispense with the
responsibility of that part of the organization."
As this suggestion and these doubts have reference to the relations of the
office which the subscriber has now the honor to hold, and are in repugnance to
the uniform practice and course of proceedings ever since the organization of
the city government, the subscriber deems it his duty to that office, and to aU
who may be his successors in it, to state openly his views, resulting, as they do,
from the terms of the city charter, now, for the first time, authoritatively ques
tioned, to the end, that no obscurity may rest upon their nature and foundation.
The School Committee is constituted by the last clause in the nineteenth
section of the city charter, which is in these words: — "And the said citizens
shaU, at the same time, and in like manner, elect one person in each ward to be
a member of the School Committee for the said city ; and the persons so chosen
shall JOINTLT, -WITH THE Mator AND AXDERMBN, Constitute the School
Committee for the said city, and have the care and superintendence of the public
schools." From the terms of this section it is' apparent, —

228 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
1. That the Mayor and Aldermen are part of the School Committee, ex
officio. 2. That the term, " Mayor and Aldermen," is not a designation of the indivi
duals, but of their office and relation.
Had that term been intended to designate the individuals, to whom the persons
so elected were to be joined, the expression would have been different, namely, —
" and the persons so chosen shall, jointly, with the persons who shall be chosen
Mayor and Aldermen," &c. As the expression of the charter now is, the per
sons so chosen are joined to the office and relation, and not to the persons as
such. In corroboration of which reasoning, it is apprehended that it wiU not be
questioned, that an Alderman resigning his seat at that Board, or the Mayor
resigning his office, would, by that act, vacate his seat in the School Committee.
From the above reasoning, it follows, necessarUy, that the Mayor and Alder
men compose a part of the School Committee, when it meets, ex officiis ; that is,
as " Mayor and Aldermen," and in no other capacity, right, or relation.
By the tenth section of the city charter, it is declared, " that the Mayor and
Aldermen, thus chosen and quaUfied, shall compose one board, and
SHALL SIT and ACT TOGETHER AS ONE BODY, AT ALL MEETINGS 01
"WHICH THE MAYOR, IP PRESENT, SHALL PRESIDE.
From both these sections the conclusion is, in the opinion of the subscriber,
unavoidable, that the Mayor and Aldermen cannot meet, ex officiis, but as one
hoard ; at all meetings of which the Mayor, if present, must preside.
If to the Mayor and Aldermen, for a particular purpose, as in this case of
schools, other citizens are joined, they are, by force of the terms of the charter,
so joined, as all citizens are joined, when they are connected with the Chief
Executive Board of the Corporation ; that is, modified by the organization of
that Supreme Executive Board, as established in the charter.
The subscriber requests, that this claim of official right may be put on file and
on record, to the end that the nature and foundation of it may be understood,
and that those who may hold this office hereafter, may have none of their just
official claims compromitted, by any neglect or want of vigilance on his part.
Very respectfully, Gentiemen,
I am your obedient servant,
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.
Boston, 21 February, 1828.
No report appears by the records to have been made by the
Committee thus appointed ; but the records of the next succeed
ing year state, " that the Board proceeded to elect a chairman by
ballot, and the Mayor was unanimously chosen ; a practice which
has continued to the present day ; notwithstanding, in the year
1835, by act of the Legislature, the Board of Aldermen were
excluded, and the Mayor of the city constituted a component
part of the School Committee. The course thus adopted being
probably deemed important to maintain the independence of
that board of the city government.

CHAPTER XVI.
CITY GOVERNMOLNT. 1828.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.^
General Relations of the City in respect of Debt — Health — Protection against
Fire — Its Duty iu respect of Education — Effect on its Prosperity by the
Principle of Arbitrary Valuation without Relief — Principles of Proceeding
relative to the Voting Lists — Indemnity of City Officers for Acts of Official
Duty — Sale of Spirituous Liquors prohibited on the Common — Inexpe
diency of Selling the Flats to the Eastward of the New Market House, and the
Result of the Measures taken on that Subject.
The mufficipal prosperity of the city, and the decisive evi
dences of the content of the citizens with the conduct of their
affairs, were noticed in the inaugural address of the Mayor,^ and
the cMef causes of these results were recapitulated. The appre
hensions of a city debt had been allayed by the rigid economy
enforced, and by the fact, that none of the appropriations made
at the beginning of the year had been exceeded. Success had
attended the measures adopted for the reduction of the city-
debt, and at the close of the current financial year one hundred
thousand doUars of it would be discharged. The general order
of the city had been well maintained, and the number of com
plaints in every branch of the police diminished. The advan
tageous eff'ect of the new arrangements in the Health Depart
ment were apparent. The general vaccination adopted under
the authority of former city councUs, and the vigilance of the
Health Physician and police officers had been so effectual, that
only one case of the smallpox, within the city, had been known
or suspected, although it had spread Avith activity in towns in
the immediate vicinity. Tables, founded on the biUs of mortal
ity, showed that, from 1824 to 1827 inclusive, the annual ave-
1 The whole number of votes cast, were 2629, of which Josiah Quincy had
2189. The Aldermen elected were, — ¦ John T. Loring, Robert Fennelly, James
Savage, Thomas KendaU, James HaU, John Pickering, Phineas Upham, Samuel
T. Armstrong.
2 See Appendix G. 20

230 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
rage proportion of deaths to population had not only been less
than that in any antecedent year, but it was beUeved to be less
than that of any other city of equal popffiation on record.
These facts and calculations were stated, to show the Avisdom
of persevering in that systematic cleansing of the city from
noxious animal and vegetable substances, which was com
menced in 1823, and had been since regffiarly pursued. The
occasion was taken to press upon the minds of the citizens the
duty of holding the executive officers of the city directiy respon
sible for the right conduct of this branch of police, more than for
any other, and the certainty that it can never, for any great
length of time, be executed well, except by agents, whose labors
it can command at aU times and apply to all exigencies, and to
the ever-varying reqffisitions of a city.
The estabUshment of a &-e department had created a sense
of security, and reduced the rates of insurance against fire on
the real property Avithin the city twenty per cent. This reduction,
the Presidents of several insurance offices had authorized it to be
stated, was solely the effect of the efficiency of that department
The duty and interest of society, with regard to public educa
tion, was stated to be best fulfiUed by establisMng such public
schools as woffid elevate as highly as possible the inteUectual
and moral condition of the mass of the community. To this
end, every necessary branch of elementary insttuction should be
put within the reach of every citizen. If other and higher
branches of insttuction are to be added to these, it shoffid be to
our common schools, and enjoyed on the same equal principles
of common right, and as common property. Every school, the
admission to Avhich is based upon the principle of requuing
higher attainments, at a specified age, than the mass of chUdren
in the ordinary course of school insttuction, at that age, can
attain, is, in ttuth, a school for the benefit of the few, and not
of the many. In form, it may be general ; but in fact, it wUl be
exclusive. The Mayor closed this address, by presenting views
concerning the effect upon the prosperity of the city, of " assess
ing taxes on the principle of an arbitt-aiy valuation without
reUef." To these views, the attention of the city government was early
caUed, by a petition of Jesse Putnam and a number of other
citizens of wealth and respectabUity, stating that the inequality

CITY GOVERNMENT. 231
produced by the present system of taxation, was apparently unwise
and unjust and disadvantageous to the prosperity of Boston, in
comparison with the effects of the system pursued in other cities.
The Mayor, having been previously informed of an intention
to bring this subject under the consideration of the City Coun
cil, had, in the December preceding, addressed letters to the
Mayors of New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, where modes
of assessment were practised more generaUy satisfactory than
those adopted in Massachusetts ; from each of whom a reply was
received. The Mayor of New York^ stated that " the mode of assessing
taxes in that city was considered the best that can be adopted."
Lists from every individual of the amount of his estate are not
required. To many persons engaged in mercantile business, a
fair exhibit is impossible, and might be injurious. Two assess
ors are chosen by the people in each ward at the annual elec
tion in November. They are under oath to make a fair and
equitable assessment of aU estates, real and personal, in their
respective wards, excepting such lands and buUdings as are
exempted by law from taxation. The Assessors commence busi
ness early in May, and complete it by the ffi-st of July. They
then advertise to hear appeals. For ten days, any one may
apply and view the assessment. If they consider the amount
too Mgh, they may make oath to the Assessors of the value of
their property, Avhich is conclusive. The books are afterwards
returned to the Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen, who examine
whether the wards are assessed in a just proportion to each other,
and they have power to lessen one ward and augment another,
so as to produce an equitable apportionment.
The Mayor of Baltimore ^ stated that " although their system
of taxation was not free from objection, he was perfectly free to
say that it gives general satisfaction." The Assessors, who are
under oath to make a just valuation of all assessable property,
apply together to the residence of each taxable person, and obtain
a statement of their property, and assess or value the same to
the best of their judgment; where they have reason to sus
pect deception or imposition in rendering an account of then-
property, they have the power of requirmg an oath. A biU
1 WUUam Paulding. ^ Jacob SmaU.

232 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
of particulars is required to be made out by the CoUector, and
delivered to each person assessed, on or before the first of July
in each year, which, if not paid within three months, the Col
lector is authorized to enforce.
The Mayor of the city of Philadelphia ^ stated that "the
assessments were made by fifteen assessors, annuaUy elected,
one for each ward. Triennially, two assessors are elected in
each ward to make a new assessment ; but every year the
assessment is examined and corrected by each assessor in his
own ward ; and the new assessments are compared and equal
ized by a general meeting of the Assessors. These returns are
made subsequently to county commissioners, who, under the
law, are bound to fix certain days of appeal, before whom any
citizen, who is aggrieved or injured in the valuation of his real
estate, may appear, and have the valuation altered. No Usts of
valuation of property or estate are demanded of owners or occu
pants. The Assessors affix the value of the premises and own
er's name, as they pass from door to door, and if they err in
obtaining the proper owner's names, the CoUector gets it right
on a duplicate. There never has been, to my knowledge, Avith
a view to taxation, any estimate of the personal property of an
individual or corporation. I am not aware of any dissatisfac
tion as to the manner of assessment, or of inequaUty in the
affixed valuation."
The petition of Jesse Putnam, with the accompanying docu
ments, was referred to the Mayor, Aldermen Pickering, Up
ham, and Armstrong, and to Messrs. E. Wffiiams, Simonds,
Appleton, Gibbons, Dyer, Gray, and Ward, of the Common
Council, who referred the subject to a sub-committee, of wMch
John C. Gray Avas chanman, with insti-uctions, in conformity
Avith the petition of Jesse Putnam, to " investigate the system of
apportioning the taxes as now pursued in the city, and to con
sider of a modification of them." This Sub- Committee reported
in March following, that " by the laws estabUshing this system,
every individual is compelled to exhibit an exact statement of
his property, personal as weU as real, or in default thereof, to be
doomed by assessors, according to the best of then knowledge
and judgment. In a community so active and wealthy as ours,
1 Joseph Watson.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 233
there must be obviously serious embarrassments in carrying such
a system into complete execution. In such a community there
must be great and manifest objections on the part of numerous
individuals to the first branch of the alternative offered by our
laws, namely, — a complete disclosure of their property. In the
first place, such a disclosure is often impracticable. The capital
of an individual may be employed, for instance, in foreign trade,
and may be materially affected by events which are unknown to
the possessor at the time of his making his statement. Seconffiy,
there are very many who cannot expose the state of their affairs
Avithout embarrassment or ruin. These circumstances, and
others of equal importance, which have frequently been stated to
the public, have produced a general unwiUingness among the
inhabitants of this city, and it is believed of other toAvns in the
Commonwealth, to exhibit accurate lists of theu- possessions.
Nor, perhaps, is this fact to be greatly regretted. By demanding
such Usts, we invite each individual to become a witness in a
case in lohich he has the most immediate and direct pecuniary con
cern. Can it be questioned, that if the practice of exhibiting
lists should become general, that the minds of individuals must,
in many cases, be biased by their interest ; that statements of
very ffifferent degrees of exactness and fairness might be ren
dered by persons possessing an equal amount of property ; that
a strong temptation would be offered, if not to falsehood and
perjury, at least to dangerous prevarication ; and that the
Assessors might, in the end, be far from arriving at the exact
truth, which it was the object of this provision to secure ? This
general omission of our fellow-citizens, to give accurate state
ments of their property, however Uttle to be regretted in a moral,
or even an economical point of view, renders it the duty of the
Assessors to doom aU property to the best of their knowledge ;
and this is a task which is attended Avith much difficulty and
embarrassment, so far as respects personal property. Their
means of knowledge must be, in many cases, exceedingly limited,
and their opinions founded merely on report or conjecture.
Their power, therefore, no matter how wisely or conscientiously
exercised, is, to a great degree, an arbitrary power ; and such it
must always be under our actual system of taxation. Hence
we find that a tax on personal property in general, is considered
by the best Avriters on poUtical economy, as one which can never
20*

234 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
be imposed without serious disadvantage, except in commuffities
of very smaU size and very limited capital These circumstan
ces have led many of om fellow-citizens to inquire, whether some
radical change coffid not be made in our present system of taxa
tion." Having stated these vicAvs on this subject, the Sub-Com
mittee forbore to pursue further the questions arising at that
time, as whatever change was effected must be made by the
Legislature of the Commonwealth, and confined their attention
to a change in the number and to varying the compensation of
the Assessors, which they recommended in the form of an ordi
nance, which was, on the fourteenth of AprU, passed by the City
Council ; Avho, in accepting this report of the Sub-Committee,
in vicAV of the extent and importance of the resulting questions,
postponed them for future deliberation, and, finaUy, in December
foUoAving, referred them, with aU the documents, to the next
City CouncU, in which they were not revived.
The state of the voting lists and the repeated applications of
citizens to have their names inserted in them on the day of elec
tion, and after they had been deUvered to the Inspectors, having
been frequent topics of discussion during the course of the second
administtation of the city government, and the subject being of
annual occurrence and permanent interest, it has been deemed
usefffi, in addition to the statements aUeady made in this
history, that the chief principles and measures, successively
adopted in relation to it, should be recapitffiated and brought
into one vicAV.
In March, 1824, a question arose, concerning the mode of
admitting the name of voters to be placed upon the votuig Usts,
the inspectors, in some of the wards, having taken upon them
selves to place names on those lists after they had been deUvered
to them by the Mayor and Aldermen. It was deemed import
ant to put an early stop to practices so irregffiar and conti-ary to
the charter. And a committee was appointed, consisting of the
Mayor, Aldermen ChUd and Hooper, and Messrs. E. WUUams,
WUkinson, Wright, and Davis, to inquire into "the propriety
and expediency of adopting some uniform mode of admitting
the names of voters to be placed on the voting Usts." This
Committee reported that the duty of makmg out the lists of the
citizens quaUfied to vote in each ward, was, by the twenty-fourth
section of the city charter, expressly devolved upon the Mayor

CITY GOVERNMENT. 235
and Aldermen; that the Ust they had prepared, it was their
duty to deliver to the City Clerk, to be used by the Warden and
Inspectors ; and the charter was express, that " no person shaU
be entitled to vote at such election, whose name is not borne on
such list ;" and that it was the special duty of the inspectors " to
take care that no person should vote whose name is not borne on
such list ; " and a resolve was accordingly passed, declaring that
the inspectors had no right to admit any person to vote who was
not on the list deUvered to the City Clerk by the Mayor and
Aldermen, and also a resolve, that ten days previous to any elec
tion, three copies of the lists made out by the Mayor and Alder
men should be deposited in three public places in each ward, so
as to give full opportunity for every citizen, if he saw fit, to
ascertain if Ms name was borne thereon, and have the mistake
rectffied. In April of the same year (1824) a person who had not been
taxed the preceding year, and Avhose name was, of consequence,
not upon the voting lists, voluntarily procured himself to be
assessed, and brought a certificate of the fact to the Mayor and
Aldermen, demanding that Ms name should then be inserted in
the voting lists. They refused to insert his name, and passed a
vote, declaring that they had no authority so to do, under those
circumstances. In April, 1826, the errors which had occurred in the voting
Usts, as deUvered to the Mayor and Aldermen by the Assessors,
had been so numerous, that the Mayor made a special recom
mendation to the City Council for a more specific provision
against such occurrences in future. The Committee raised on
this recommendation, reported that, owing to the great press of
business and the sickness of one of the Assessors, a greater num
ber of errors had occurred in the voting lists than was usual ;
that this temporary cause of inaccuracy might, and would be
prevented, by increasing the number of assessors ; but that there
were causes of a permanent nature, for which the remedy lies
whoUy with the citizens themselves, and consists in their own
vigilance. Mistakes in the voting lists, being for the most part
detected in the heat, and under the excitement of an election,
give rise to suspicions of intentional omissions utterly unfounded.
The citizens should remember that, from the complexity and
inttinsic ffifficffities, perfect accm-acy is unattainable. Citizens

236 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
who change their residence from one ward to another, and Avho
have recently come of age, are pecuUarly subjects of such errors.
E-ven fixed inhabitants may sometimes be omitted, either in
copying or printing the voting Usts, including eight or ten thou
sand voters. It is true, such errors seldom occur ; but the safe
principle for every citizen to adopt is, that there is no absolute
certainty that his name is on the lists, except it be ascertained by
previous personal inspection. The Assessors' Usts, wMch they
are obliged by law annually to make out and deUver to the
Mayor and Aldermen, are, substantiaUy, the evidence of the right
of the citizen to vote at any election. Their correctness depends
upon their coincidence with the books of the Assessors. Of this
coincidence, the Assessors are the legal certifying officers. The
revision and correction of those lists by the Mayor and Aldermen
must depend upon the evidence adduced by the inffividual citi
zens Avhose names have been omitted. Without such evidence,
the Mayor and Aldermen have no authority to correct them.
Between the lists and books of the Assessors, there is no reason
to anticipate important variance ; nor yet between the written
and printed Usts of the Assessors. In both respects, comparison
is the duty of the Assessors, who are responsible for their accu
racy. The chief sources of error are in the books of the Assessors,
and are attributable to various circumstances incident to the
subject, and not AvhoUy to be prevented by any vigUance. Of
these the following are the most common : —
1. In the manner in Avhich the inquiries, on which the books
of the Assessors are founded, are unavoidably made in famihes,
where, when the head is absent, the information given by
domestics is often incorrect, the Christian name mistaken, or
surnames misspelt, particffiarly in the case of temporary resi
dents in boarffing-houses, or boarders or domestics.
2. Changes of residence after the Assessors have finished their
perambulation. 3. Persons moving into the city, or, who coming of age, after
such perambffiation is finished. Such persons, if their names are
not on the lists, have none to blame but themselves.
4. A very common source of error is the Avithholffing at
boarding-houses, through ignorance or wUfffiness, the Christian
names of the boarders ; so that only their surnames are mserted

CITY GOVERNMENT. 237
in the books of the Assessors; and although, when the tax is
collected, the Collectors ascertain the Christian names, it is often
too late for entry on the voting lists.
The remedy proposed for correcting these errors, and which
received the sanction of both branches of the City CouncU
were, — 1st. The increase of the number of the Assessors. 2d.
A systematic preparation and printing of the voting Usts, as
early as the first of March, so that the intermediate time before
election should be employed in their rcAision and correction.
3d. A more general and impressive sense, on the part of the citi
zens, of the duty of inspectmg each for himself the voting lists
previous to elections, particularly previous to that in April, when
the lists being new, inaccuracies are more Ukely to occur.
In December, 1826, the duty of superintending the voting
Usts was devolved by the City CouncU on the Mayor, with the
aid of the Assessors, subject to the revision of the Board of
Aldermen ; to whom, on the nineteenth of March, 1827, he reported
the revised lists, and recommended that public notice should be
given to the following persons, concerning whom errors in the
lists were most ffiiely to occur ; — those doing business in other
wards than those in which they Uve ; those taxed without then-
Christian names ; those taxed Avithin two years, who had
become inhabitants since the first of May ; those who have
come of age, or changed their place of residence since the same
period. Notice Avas at this time given, that aU who had not
paid taxes within two years woffid have their names stricken
from the voting lists.
In April, 1828, complaints were made by the Warden and
Inspectors of one of the wards, of the imperfection in the voting
lists, and suggesting the expediency of investing the Warden
and Inspectors with power to insert names in those lists. The
City CouncU, desirous that the nature and causes of the obsta
cles to obtaining correct voting lists should be well understood,
postponed any report until the new lists, taken under the know
ledge of the previously existing complaints, should be tested by '
some sttongly conttoverted election. This occurred on that
of mayor on the eighth and fifteenth of December of this year ;
and the Mayor, on the twenty-second of the same month, as
Chairman of a Committee of the City Council, made a report,
which was accepted in the Board of Aldermen, and printed by

238 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the Common CouncU, but ultimately referred in that branch to
the next City Council. In this report, the Committee stated,
that " at no previous election had the satisfaction with the voting
lists been more general ; that few errors had occurred, although
the names on the lists amounted to twelve thousand. The Com
mittee then proceeded to state " minutely the errors for which
the officers making out the voting lists were responsible : — 1st.
Such as neglecting to place the name of an inhabitant on the tax
books, so that it does not appear on the voting lists. These
errors, when they occur, are often the effect of accident, the inha
bitant not being at home, or his house shut up, or Avrong name
given, when the Assessors called. These accidents most fre
quently occur to boarders, or men not heads of famUies, con
cerning whom Avrong names are often given at the boarffing-
houses ; for these errors the Assessors are without blame. 2d.
Neglect to transfer members' of firms from the ward where they do
business to the wards ivhere they reside. This, when it occurs,
often results from misinformation. 3d. Erasing the name ly
accident from the tax-books, so that it is not inserted in the
voting Usts. This is so rare as scarcely to deserve notice. 4th.
Eirors in printing the voting lists. These are more likely to
happen in printing the voting lists than in printing any other
Avork, from mistakes in chirography, as it respects names, and
there being no connection of sense, whereby the intention of the
Avriter can be ascertained. The above are generaUy aU the errors
for which the Assessors are responsible.
Those errors, for which the Assessors are not, and cannot be
responsible, are the most numerous. Such are, — 1. Ignorance
of the voter himself of the ward in which he resides. 2. Remo
val after the ffist of May, without taking care to have his
name inserted on the lists of the Avard to which he has removed.
3. Absences in May from the city, of consequence not taxed, and
thus the name not entered on the lists. 4. Having one's name
ttansferred to a Avrong ward, or by a Avrong name, by officious
friends. 5. Not having paid a tax, neither for the preceding nor
for the current year, the narne of such person having no right to
be borne on the voting list. 6. Impracticability to obtain the
Christian name of the person taxed, and the name, in such case,
being not usuaUy inserted in the voting Usts. 7. Aliens taxed,
but not natmaUzed, and so not entitled to vote. 8. Aliens natu-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 239
raUzed, and their naturalization not made known to the Assess
ors. 9. Persons coming of age subsequently to the first of May,
or to the perambulation of the Assessors. 10. Persons Uving m
boarding-houses, or young persons not heads of famUies, whose
names are not given to the Assessors by the families in which
they reside. 11. Names of tenants or taxable inmates, whose
names are given wrongly by domestics.
From experience, it appears that four out of five of the errors
which occur, are of the nature of those last enumerated, for
which the Assessors are not responsible, and for which there is
no practicable remedy, except by personal inspection of the voting
lists previous to the day of election.
In order to throw light on a subject of some complexity, and
to guard voters against mistakes, they were reminded " that new
voting lists are made out every year from the tax books of the
Assessors ; that these tax books have reference to the state of resi
dence on the first of May ; and that a voter, not found in any
ivard in May by the Assessors, will not be taxed, and will not be
upon the voting list of that year."
An ignorance of this fact is one of the principal causes of
discontent. Men shun taxes and seek the poUs ; but he who
has received no tax bffi has no right to expect that his name is
on the voting Usts. Old inhabitants are apt to imagine that,
because their names are on the list of the preceding year, they
must be on the new lists ; but it should be remembered that the
only foundation of the voting lists in any year is the tax books of
that year. The unavoidable ffifference between the Usts of any
former and any present year, from changes of residence, death,
coming of age, and the Uke general causes, probably amounts
every year to a difference of more than one half of all the names
on the voting lists.
No facts can more impressively urge upon every voter the duty
of ascertaining for himself, whether his name is inserted on the
voting lists. As to the suggestion of the expediency of investing
the Warden and Inspectors with power to insert names on the
voting Usts, the Committee stated that it was not consistent
Avith the laws of the Commonwealth ; that if attempted, it
woffid be calcffiated to introduce errors into the voting lists, con
fusion at the poUs, and charges of favoritism and corruption
against the Inspectors. These officers have now but one single

240 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
and simple duty ; that is, to the admitting all to vote whose
names are borne on the lists and to the EXCLUDING OF ALL
others. Should the Warden and Inspectors be allowed the right to
insert names on the voting lists, every mducement, and even
necessity, of making the lists accurate, previously to election
day, Avould be taken away. It had been urged, that inspectors
might be authorized to insert names of those who produced
their tax biUs ; but nothing would prevent the same tax bUl
from being presented in more than one ward at the same elec
tion ; the ligh-t to vote being often in a ward different from that
specified in the tax bUl. The questions arising, relative to tMs
right, are often very complex, depending on various circumstan
ces ; when made before the Mayor and Aldermen, Avith great
clamor and sense of right, they are often ascertained to be of a
dubious character, and sometimes wholly unfounded. If made
in' the heat of an election, and in the midst of impassioned elect
ors, it would give rise to much excitement and charges of favor
itism. The possession of such a power by the Wardens and
Inspectors would also cause the selection of these officers to be
made Avith reference to party spirit, rather than to general cha
racter. In some wards the Inspectors are changed every year ;
and the mistakes made by them, amidst the occasional confusion
of the election, notwithstanding the exceeding singleness and
simplicity of their present duties, sufficiently infficate that no
greater poAA^er ought to be inttusted to them.
Thus, names have been checked off by mistake ; men, uncon
sciously by the Assessors, have been admitted to vote by an
assumed name ; and often voters have been turned from the
poUs, and denied the right to vote, whose names were actually
borne on the voting lists, being overlooked by the Inspectors in
the haste and hurry of a contested election. From this cause
alone, there loere, at one election, more cases of rejection, than
from all the other causes taken together ; there having occurred
more than thirty instances of rejection, from this cause alone,
of persons Avhose names Avere borne on the lists. Notwithstand
ing the general good intentions and fidelity of the Warden and
Inspectors, the above errors to Avhich they are iiOAV exposed are
sufficient to shoAV that their duties should not be augmented.
So long as no person's name can be placed on the votmg

CITY GOVERNMENT. 241
list, except by the Mayor and Aldermen, no one can lose his
vote, unless he has been so indifferent as to neglect the inspec
tion of the voting lists once in each year. It is surely better,
that the citizen who will not take so small a trouble for so great
a privilege, should lose his vote, than that a system should be
adopted, which, by establishing twelve distinct tribunals, shoffid
introduce controversies and party spuit, leading to confusion and
to all the difficffities above stated at the poUs. The Committee
concluded, by stating the course adopted, previous to the last
election, had produced such an approximation to coiTCctness,
that, during it, not more than four errors in the lists had
occurred which it was possible for the Assessors to have cor
rected. Considering the great interest and importance of the
subject, the above absttact of this report, being the resffit of
several years experience and careful observation of facts by the
Mayor, has been deemed imiDortant enough to be here distinctly
preserved ; and the more so, because early under the succeeffing
city administtation, a similar attempt was made to enlarge the
power of the Inspectors, and Mr. Otis, as Mayor and Chairman
of a Committee on this subject, in a report made to the City
Council, expressly referred to the report, of which the above is
an abstract, as an " elaborate exposition of facts and principles
on the subject." ^
On the fourteenth of AprU, 1828, Charles P. Curtis, the City
SoUcitor, stated to the Board of Aldermen that an application
had been made to him to defend a watchman for an aUeged
assault and battery, who, justified under color of his office. The
Solicitor requested that he might receive insttuctions in this and
similar cases ; and that a general rffie might be estabUshed also
in regard to advancing fees and expenses of witnesses. The
communication was referred to Aldermen James Savage and
John Pickering, to consider and report, who accorffingly reported
that it Avas expedient to instruct the SoUcitor to defend the
watchmen at the expense of the city, and to make aU necessary
advances during the progress of the action. With respect to
other simUar cases, it was difficult to lay down any invariable
rffie for the government of the Solicitor, in respect of actions
brought against any officer of the city. From the gi-eat number
1 Seep. 290.
21

242 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
of those officers, of various degrees of inteUigence and ffiscretion,
of various dispositions and temperaments, and selected from dif
ferent classes of citizens, it is obvious that occasions for ground
less suits will be as likely to occur among them as among indi
viduals of a simUar character, who are not city officers ; and if a
spirit of litigation shoffid be encouraged, as it woffid be by
indemnifying the officers in all cases, the consequence woffid be
extremely injurious to the peace and welfare of the city. But,
on the other hand, it is the duty of the city to protect faithful
officers in the proper execution of their duty, and to indemnify
them when they are compeUed to defend themselves in the dis
charge of their official duties. The Committee, therefore, re
ported the foUowing order for the government of the City SoU
citor, namely, — " That in all the actions and sffits described in
the ordinance passed on the eighteenth of June, 1827, against
any officer of the city, such officer shaU, in the ffist instance, pro
secute and defend, at his own expense, and, if it shall be fomid,
either by verdict or otherwise, in the opinion of the Solicitor,
that such officer did so prosecute or defend for good cause, and
that he ought to be indemnified for his expenses in such suit,
then the City Solicitor shall certify accordingly, and such officer
shaU be so indemnified ; otherwise, such expenses shaU be borne
by the officer himself.
This report was read and accepted accordingly.
In May, 1828, a few weeks before the general election day of
the State, which, at that period, occui-red annuaUy on the last
Wednesday of this month, a petition signed by Isaac Parker,
Chief Justice of the Commonwealth, and about fourteen hun
ffied citizens, was presented to the City CouncU, praying that
the seUing of spirituous Uquors on the Common, on pubhc holi
days, shoffid be prevented. An order accordingly was issued,
directing the Constables to prosecute any person, who, in the
Common, or in the maUs and stteets in its vicinity, should
seU any spirituous or mixed Uquors, of which part was spirit
uous, or who should in any of those places play cards, dice, or
with any implements of gaming, on the days of general election,
artiUery election, and the fourth of July. Notice of this order
was published immediately in the city newspapers, and the Con
stables directed to make it known to all who should have per
mission to erect booth, tent, or table on those days.'

CITY GOVERNMENT. 243
The expediency of seUing by auction or otherwise the right
which the FaneuU HaU Market Committee had secured for the
city to the eastAvard of that HaU, Avas, in the autumn of this
year (1828) brought before the City CouncU. This right em
braced an extent of flats equal to three hundred and fifteen feet
in length, and on the west line one hundred and ninety-eight feet,
and on the east one hundred and sixty-eight feet, and included
fifty-seven thousand six hundred and forty-five feet square of
wharf, besides the right of dockage on three sides of the said
proposed wharf. The subject was referred to a Committee of
the City Council, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Loring and
Upham, and Messrs. Moody, E. Williams, Means, Pickman, and
Pratt, of the Common Council, who, on the sixth of October,
reported at large, stating the importance of this space to the city
as a possession, its prospective, increasing value, and that its
local relations were such, that there seemed to be no possible
state of things in which it could be wise for the city to abandon
the control of it, which it now possesses by its right of property.
Lying at the head or junction of five of the most thronged and
busy stteets of the city, now called Commercial, Clinton, North
and South Market, and Chatham Streets, the efficient and per
manent control of that space was deemed peculiarly important
to be retained in the city government, from its very location,
with reference to the general business of that part of the city ;
but when, in addition to this, the fact is considered that it con
tains the whole space lying between the New City Market and
the Channel, and that this is the only space within which the
market itself can be extended, or the accommodations of those
doing business in it enlarged, should the increasing greatness of
the city render it necessary, it seemed to the Committee, that
on this account alone, the city could not, in any state of things,
be justified in divesting itself of the fee it had acquired in this
property. The idea of seUing these wharf rights coffid not,
therefore, be entertained. The expediency of leasing them to
others, rather than to undertake fiUing them up on the account
of the city, having been urged upon the Committee, they declared
that, in their opinion, the relation of this property Avas such,
that its value and importance, either as a property or a posses
sion, coffid not be well understood previously to its being filled
up and actually occupied ; and the control of it, in their judg-

244 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
ment, ought not, even temporarily, to be put out of the power of
the city, untU its value and importance should be tested by act
ual experience. They, therefore, recommended that measures
should be adopted without delay by the city, for fiUing up the
space on its OAvn account, before entering upon any considera
tion of the subject of leasing it ; and they entered into state
ments and reasonings, shoAving that the post of fiUing up the
proposed space of wharf in the most substantial manner, could
not exceed twenty thousand dollars, and that when fiUed up, the
annual receipt would probably be at least eight thousand dollars,
and could not be less than six thousand. The Committee there
fore recommended two resolutions, — the first authorizing the
fiUing up the wharf rights, with authority to borrow, not exceed
ing twenty thousand doUars, for that purpose ; and the second,
ffirecting that the income hereafter derived from these wharf
rights should be placed in the hands of the Committee for the
reduction of the city debt, untU the said income should equal
the amount of debt created under the first resolution. This
report was accepted, and the resolutions passed unanimously in
both branches of the City CouncU ; and the Committee who
reported the resolutions were authorized to carry them into
effect. There were at this time active influences without doors at
work to induce the City CouncU to make sale of these wharf
and dockage rights. CapitaUsts see early and clearly the value
of choice locations for business and investment. And, in rela
tion to city property, if the City Council can be prevaUed upon
by temptations of a higher price than, at the time the average
rate of land in the vicinity commands, by the desire to diminish
the amount of taxation for the passing year, or to reduce the
city debt, the more important consideration of the permanent
value of precious localities to the general interests of the city is
apt to be disregarded, when weighed in the scale against tem
porary advantage or popularity. In this case, the sale of these
flats was pressed upon the Mayor and other members of the
Committee Avith urgency. The idea of ever obtaining an
income from them of eight thousand dollars was rifficuled. The
popularity to be obtained by an immediate large reduction of
the debt incurred by erecting the New Market was set forth in
sttong lights. The actual result will be the best comment on the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 245
Avisdom and firmness of the City Council. The flats Avere filled
up at an expense of less than nineteen thousand dollars ; and in
September, 1832, the then City Council leased the Avharf and
dock rights for twenty years on an annual rent of ten thousand
dollars, on condition that ten substantial brick stores, to the
acceptance of the City Council, should be built thereon, and
kept insured and in good order, and shoffid revert to the city in
fee simple at the end of the lease. In September, 1852, this
wharf, dock rights, and stores will consequently revert to the
city, and thus a property, which, in 1826, the City Council did not
venture to estimate higher than one hundred thousand dollars, has,
by the wisdom and foresight of successive City CouncUs, risen,
at this day, to the value of at least four hundred thousand
dollars.'^ 1 See page 203.

21'

CHAPTER XVII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1828.
Josiah Quimcy, Mayor.
Tlie Annexation of South Boston to the Ancient City, and the Difficulties
attending it — Project of Semi- Annual Sales of Domestic Manufactures in
the City — The Hall over the New Market appropriated for the Object —
Question concerning the EUgibiUty of Members of the City CouncU to City
Offices — State and Progress of the Fire Department — Resignation of the
Chief Engineer — His Gratuitous Services — Vote of Thanks to him by the
City Council — Prosperous State of City Affairs — The Mayor decUnes being
a Candidate for Reelection — Harrison Gray Otis chosen Mayor.
At the commencement of the present century, the tract of
land, now called South Boston, was a part of the toAvn of
Dorchester, and inhabited by a fcAV famiUes, chiefly engaged in
agricffiture. At that period, it was purchased by a number of
enterprising citizens, most of whom were capitalists, who ob
tained from the inhabitants of Boston a vote authorizing an
application to the Legislature of the State for its annexation
to that town. As the original project contemplated the erection
of a bridge from South Sti-eet, or Sea Stteet, to South Boston,,
a violent opposition to the plan arose among the proprietors
of wharves lying above the proposed site. After warm discus
sions in the public newspapers and town meetings, the propo
sition resulted in a compromise, fixing the locality of the bridge
above most of the Avharves, whose proprietors were thus reUeved
from the apprehended obstruction of the channel; but, at the
same time, the expectations of immediate profit formed by the
original associates in the project were materiaUy diminished. To
carry into effect the compromise, tM-ee acts were passed by the
Legislature of the State on the same day (sixth of March, 1804.)
By the first, the part of Dorchester now called South Boston
was annexed to Boston. By the second, the proprietors of the
purchased lands Avere constituted a corporation, with authority
to erect a bridge from the southwesterly part of Boston to Dor-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 247
Chester Neck. By the third, the proprietors of certain lands at
the south part of Boston were authoiized to open a street from
Ramsford Lane to the proposed site of the new bridge.
The several powers granted by these acts were executed, in
conformity Avith the compromise. The population of South
Boston gradually increased untU the year 1822, when the pro
ject of buUding a bridge from South or Sea Street revived, and
constituted one of the most important and exciting topics of
discussion during the two first administrations of the city go
vernment. AU the bitter animosities and apprehensions were
renewed, which the compromise of 1804 had allayed. No effi
cient support was, however, obtained for the measure untU
March, 1824. A petition from the inhabitants of South Boston
was then presented to a general meeting of the inhabitants of
the city, and a vote was passed, after several days debate, by
a gi-eat majority — 2,487 in the affirmative, 779 in the negative
— requesting the City Government to petition the Legislature for
liberty to erect the proposed bridge. The City CouncU pre
pared and presented a petition, in conformity with the vote of
the citizens ; but the conflicting passions and interests the sub
ject excited succeeded in postponing any conclusive measure
until the twenty-fifth of February, 1825. A biU then passed the
Legislature, authorizing the city to build a bridge, to be free of
toll from or near Sea or South Street to South Boston. TMs act
was referred in the City Council to the Mayor, Aldermen Bax
ter, Odiorne, and ChUd, and to S. K. WUUams, Russell, BaUard,
Lodge, and Lincoln of the Common CouncU. They reported,
that the City ought not to erect the bridge, but recommended
that a committee should be appointed to advertise for proposals
to buUd it, indemnify the City from all expenses, and compen
sation for damages, and to comply Avith all the requisitions of
the act of the Legislature. The Committee who made this
report were authorized by the City CouncU to issue such pro
posals. On the sixteenth of May, they stated to that body, that
they had issued and advertised for proposals, but no application
of any kind had been received in reference to the object ; and,
therefore, recommended to the City Council to take no farther
measmes on the subject. This report was accepted in both
branches. Other attempts to harmonize these conflicting interests, such as

248 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
appointing commissioners, and endeavoring to pmchase South
Boston Bridge by means of subscriptions, were whoUy unsuc
cessfffi. The friends of the original project, therefore, appUed to
the Legislature, and, by an act passed in March, 1826, obtained
a repeal of the act of February, 1825, and an authority for the
petitioners, with others, to build the proposed bridge, provided it
should be done in such manner as the city of Boston should
approve ; — the corporation, thus constituted, to be subject to all
damages resulting from its erection, light it, keep it in repah, and
provide facilities for raising the ffiaw, until the city of Boston
should assume the care of it, when the corporation was to be
relieved from all these obligations. The act contamed also a
provision granting to the city of Boston the right to build the
bridge, if they availed themselves of the privilege within three
months. As the corporation coffid not proceed until the decision
of the city was known, they immeffiately submitted the act to
the City CouncU, and asked a conference on the subject. This
application was referred to the Mayor, Aldermen BelloAvs, Mar
shall, and Loring, who, after deUberation and conference with the
applicants, reported, that it was inexpedient for the City Coun
cil to take any order in relation to the right and Uberty to build
the bridge conferred on the city by the act.
The subject remained in this state untU January, 1827, when
the corporation communicated to the city government their
intention to build the bridge ; and, after stating the material of
which they proposed to construct it, submitted the mode and
the manner of consttucting it to the decision of the City Coun
cU, and inquired whether the city would assume the care of the
bridge and the obligation to keep it in repair, light it, and pro
vide facUities for raising the draw, after it should be constructed.
This application was referred to the Mayor, Aldermen Bel
lows, Welsh, and Boies, and to Messrs. James, Morey, Russell,
Phillips, HaUett, Howe, and Dyer, of the Common Council. In
this committee Avere discussed aU the questions growing out of
the inquiries of the corporation ; also, whether it shoffid proceed
from South Stt-eet or Sea Street, and how the expense attending
the enlargement of it, AAffiich was contemplated, shoffid be dis
bursed ; and whether it should be accepted by the city even after
it shoffid be built in the manner prescribed by the City Council.
AU these questions were debated with great zeal by the respect-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 249
ive parties. Several meetings were held, — times and places
were appointed, at which all persons interested might appear
before the Committee ; and upon most of them the Committee
were nearly equally divided. A sub-committee had made a
report at large, and concluded in favor of the bridge's proceeding
from South Street, by a majority of three out oi five. This
report the ' Committee rejected, and substituted Sea Street for
South Stteet, by a majority of seven out of twelve. And on the
twenty-second of February they reported, by a like majority,
that the bridge should be built from Sea Street ; and that, if
made and finished in such manner as the City Council should
direct, it would be expedient to accept the bridge, light, keep it
in repair, and provide facilities for the draw, so long as South
Boston shoffid remain a part of the city of Boston. This report
was accepted in both branches of the City Council, and a series
of resolutions passed, in conformity with the recommendation of
the Committee, specifying the mode in which the bridge should
be built, and the terms on which it would be accepted, and a
committee of the City CouncU and a competent engineer to
superintend building the bridge, and to see that the terms were
complied with, were appointed.
Notwithstanffing these precautions, when, in June, 1828, the
bridge was offered to the City Council for their acceptance,
opposition to the measure revived, and remonstrances against its
acceptance were presented. The City CouncU, however, early
in July, discharged the Superintendent, and the Common Coun
cU voted to accept the bridge. In this, however, the Mayor and
Aldermen did not concur, and appointed a committee, who
made a report, accepted by the Board of Aldermen, and non-
concurred in the Common Council. The ffisagreement between
the two branches was finaUy brought to a close by the appoint
ment of a joint-committee, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen
Loring, FenneUy, Pickering, Upham and Armstrong, and of
Messrs. Betton, Seaver, Paine, Howe and Pickman of the Com
mon Council, with fuU powers, to accept the free bridge, and to
submit aU differences to the arbitration of three persons mutu
ally to be chosen, with powers also m the Committee to carry
their award into effect, and report the result to the City CouncU.
Loammi Baldwin, Samuel Hubbard, and WiUard PhilUps
were appointed referees, in conformity with this authority ; and

250 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
on the seventh of October, 1 828, the Committee reported to the
City Council the aAvard of these referees, which was, in effect,
that " the public convenience required that the city should forth-
Avith accept the said bridge, and, in consequence of its unfinished
state, that the corporation should pay to the city sixteen hun
dred and seven dollars, and deliver to it certain enumerated
deeds." The Committee recommended, that a vote shoffid be
passed by both branches of the City Council, authoyzing a ful
filment of the conditions of the aAvard. A vote Avas passed in
conformity Avith this recommendation ; and this long, perplexing,
and exciting contt-oversy was thus brought to a final conclusion.
The apparent intimate connection between the prosperity of
the city and of that of the manufacturing interests of the State
and vicinity, led to the expression of a general desne, that an
attempt shoffid be made to foster those interests, by an exhibi
tion and sale of domestic manufactures annually within the city.
The Mayor, coinciding Avith these vIcaa^s, in October, 1825,
recommended, by special message, the subject to the attention
of the City Council, and suggested the adaptation of the hall
over the New Market to this project, and the poUcy of appro
priating it in whole or in part to carry it into effect. This com
munication was referred to the Mayor, Aldermen BeUoAVS, Mar
shaU, and Bryant, and to Messrs. WiUiams, HaUett, Parker,
Ban-y, and Boies, of the Common CounciL
In consequence of this movement, various plans and propo
sitions were made and discussed between the Committee or its
members, and persons interested in manufactm-es ; and in Jan
uary, 1826, on the petition of Patrick T. Jackson, in behalf of an
association, for the public exhibition or sale of domestic manu
factures, the Committee reported that the petitioners should
have, for the purposes of such exhibition and sale, the use of so
much of the upper story of the New Market House as they
might require for the present year, not exceeding twenty days in
the spring and twenty days in the autumn. Their report -was
accepted in both branches.
And in the ensuing July, on the petition of the Society for the
promotion of Manufactures and the Mechanic Arts, the entire
haU over the New Market, or as much as might be necessary or
convenient for them, was devoted to then use, during the months
of September and October, for the purposes of exhibition and

CITY GOVERNMENT. 251
sales of domestic goods and mechanic inventions, free of all
charges ; and, on the twelfth of September, the first auction
sale under this grant Avas holden. In January and July, 1827,
the New England Society for the promotion of Manufactures
and Mechanic Arts petitioned for the same privilege, and the
City Council granted the use of the hall for the exhibition and
sale of domestic manufactures and wool, for twenty days in
March and twenty days in August.
The success of these exhibitions and sales led to a petition, in
the ensuing November, having for its object to place the accom
modation they had received from the use of the haU on a more
permanent footing, which, being referred to the Mayor, Alder
men Loring and Savage, and Messrs. Dorr, Russell, Parker, and
Ward, a report was made by them, stating that the sole ob
ject of this Society was to effect, through the means of semi
annual auction sales of domestic manufactures a change in the
course of business, by bringing foreign pm-chasers to the domes
tic market, and thus relieving our manufacturers from the neces
sity of seeking a market in other States and countries ; that
the Society had few funds, and derived no emolument what
ever from its labors ; that the efiect of such semi-annual sales
could not but be highly advantageous to the progressive pros
perity of the city, and the advantage, in the opinion of the
Committee, was a sufficient justification and inducement to
the City Council for such an appropriation of the haU over
the Market as the petitioners solicit. Thus far, the experiment
of these auction sales had been as successful as could reasonably
have been expected ; the gross proceeds of all the three semi
annual sales had amounted to upwards of $956,000. The
tendency of them to bring foreign purchasers, at the season of
these sales, to this mettopolis, and the eftect on its prosperity,
direct and incidental, were so obvious and unquestionable, that
the Committee could not hesitate to recommend such an acqffi-
escence in the prayer of the petition as will place the subject,
at aU times, under the control of the City CouncU, and yet give
the petitioners the' assurance of the permanent patronage of the
institution by the City Government, untU a future City CouncU
should take a different view of the interests of the city. The
Committee recommended that the New England Society for
the promotion of Manufactures and Mechanic Arts should have

252 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the hall for the purpose of their annual sales from the fifteenth
of March to the fifteenth of AprU, and from the fifteenth of
August untU the fifteenth of September, until the further order
of the City Council, and that six months notice shoffid be
given to the Society of the rescinding of this privilege.
This report was accepted in both branches of the City Council.
These semi-annual sales not only produced those advantages
to the city, which had been anticipated, but proved highly bene
ficial to the manufacturing interests ; aU the various classes of
which were weU represented m them. They were numerously
attended by traders from aU parts of the United States. Some
of the best purchasers from the South and West were attracted
by them to the city, some of whom became subsequently regular
customers. The prices obtained were generally quite satisfac
tory to the owners of the goods, and advantageous to all parties.
Between September, 1826, and March, 1832, there were twelve
of such sales. The total amount of the proceeds cannot be at
this .day (1851) exactly ascertained; but they cannot be esti
mated at less than from five to six mUlions of dollars ; since two
only of the auctioneers ^ employed in those sales, disposed of
more than $4,645,000 in value. Notwithstanding this success,
these semi-annual sales were discontinued in 1832 ; for reasons
never, it is believed, officiaUy stated, but generally attributed to
the influence of certain large commission merchants and jobbers,
AA'ho imagined that these sales interfered AAith their particular
interests. This discontinuance was, however, in dnect oppo
sition to the opinion of many of our most intelligent merchants
and manufactm-ers, AAiio regarded these sales as among the most
effective means of advancing and prospectively giving a great
impulse to the prosperity of the city, as AveU as promoting the
manufacturing interests of the State. In these views the late
Patrick T. Jackson zealously concurred ; and no citizen, at that
period, watched over the interest of both with a more practical,
philosophic, and patiiotic spirit.
In June, 1827, a question was raised in the Common Coun
cil, whether a member of the City CouncU could be legally
appointed by them a surveyor of boards and lumber. The sub
ject was refei-red to the Mayor and Alderman Savage, and to
1 WhitweU, Bond & Co. ; CooUdge, Poor & Head.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 253
Messrs. Gray, James, and Morey, of the Common Council, who
reported, —
That there are two clauses of the city charter, which restrict
the eUgibUity to office of members of the City Council ; the one
contained in the twenty-first, and the other in the twenty-second
section of that instrument. The former is in these words:
" Provided, however, that no person shaU be eligible to any
office, the salary of which is payable out of the city treasmy,
who, at the time of his appointment, shall be a member either
of the Board of Aldermen or Common Council." As the salary,
or compensation of a sm-veyor of boards and lumber, is not pay
able out of the city treasury, the eligibility to this office of a
member of either branch of the City Council is not affected by
the proviso. The remaining clause is in these words : — " And
neither the Mayor, nor any Alderman, or member of the Com
mon Council, shall, at the same time, hold any office under
the City Government." The Committee Avere of opinion, that
the office of surveyor of boards and lumber, not being created by
the City Government, nor the officer responsible to it, is not such
an office as a member of the City Council is prohibited from
holffing under the above recited clause of the twenty-second
article of the City Charter.
The Report was accepted by both branches of the City
Council. During the years 1827 and 1828, the spirit in which the Fire
Department had been in the preceffing year instituted was sus
tained and invigorated. Mr. Harris had been in each year suc
cessively reelected to the office of chief engineer, unanimously,
in both branches of the City CouncU. The ffiscipUne of the de
partment had been maintained by him and the other officers and
members. In 1826, one company of enginemen had been ffis-
missed for insubordination ; and in 1827, another discharged for
remissness in their duty as enginemen. In both instances, new
companies were readily formed. Engine-houses were enlarged;
the accommodation of the engine companies increased. The
great deficiencies of the old engines, in respect of active service,
were supplied. These improvements, and the almost entire
change of apparatus, in order to adapt it to effective operations
under the new system, led unavoidably, as has already been
stated, to great expenditures, whoUy without precedent in the
22

254 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
previous system of protection against fire.^ In a report, made by
a committee of the City Council, the nature and causes of these
expenffitures were detailed and explained. Under other circum
stances, the amount would have probably given rise to severe
popular animadversions ; but the efficiency of the new system,
and the general satisfaction with its success, sUenced complaint
The requisite appropriations were always passed, in both branches
of the City Council, without difficulty, and almost Avithout cavU,
At this period, the number of active members of the department,
officers of all ranks included, amounted to twelve hunffied strong,
chiefly young men, under the command of one chief, and twelve
assistant engineers ; aU selected, with great care, from men of
suitable age and characteristic activity.
The whole Fire Department being in this state of Mgh ffisci
pUne and preparation, on the eighth of October, 1828, the CMef
Engineer addressed a letter to the Mayor resignmg his office, on
account of the inadequacy of Ms health to its duties ; and, after
expressing " his obUgations to the officers and members of it, for
their prompt and wUUng cooperation in bringing the new system
into efficiency," added, " that the department was adequate to
all the purposes of its establishment, and possessed a body of
men, whose alacrity, zeal, and devotedness. coffid not be sur
passed." The Mayor postponed communicating this resigna
tion to the City CouncU, and made various endeavors to mduce
Mr. Harris to Avithdraw it, aU of which proved fruitless. On the
eighth of December, therefore, having communicated the resigna
tion of the Chief Engineer to the Board of Aldermen, and it
having been accepted by them, the Mayor ttansmitted to the
City Council a message stating that " it was now nearly three
years since Colonel Hams had been appointed to that office,
and that during this period an entire renovation had been effected
in that department, the number of its members greatly increased,
and a spirit of harmony, subordination, and efficiency inttoduced
into it highly honorable to those Avho compose it, as weU as to
the city, and, it was believed, universaUy satisfactory to our
fellow-citizens. " In aU the arrangements connected with these improvements,
the zeal, inteffigence, and ffi-mness of Samuel Devens Hanis, in
1 See page 205.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 255
the office of Chief Engineer, had been conspicuous, and emi
nently contributed to their adoption and success. At the time
of his appointment, the expectation was generaUy entertained,
that a salary would be annexed to that office, and the prin
ciple on which the new organization of that department was
advocated and adopted, in both- branches of the City CouncU,
amounted to an assurance that an adequate compensation would
be fixed for his services. He had, however, held the office but
a short time,i before he particularly requested the Mayor not to
bring the subject of his compensation before the City CouncU,
assigning as a reason, that, having the command of a depart
ment consisting wholly of volunteers, he was of opinion that his
influence and usefffiness woffid be ffisadvantageously affected by
his acceptance of a salary. The conduct of this officer, in every
thing relative to the discipUne, orderly arrangement, and efficiency
of the department, had been so exemplary and ffisinterested, that
the Mayor deemed it his duty to recommend the subject to the
consideration of the City Council, that such an expression of
their sense of his services may be made, as they should deem
just and sffitable."
This message was referred to a joint committee, consisting of
Aldermen Loring and Hall, and Messrs. OUver, Everett, Means,
and AspinwaU, of the Common CouncU. On the twenty-second
of December, this Committee reported the foUowing order for
the adoption of the City CouncU : —
" Whereas, the City CouncU hold in high estimation the services rendered
this city by Samuel Devens Harris, late Chief Engineer of the Fire Department,
and are convinced that the general spirit of harmony, of subordination, and
efficiency, which characterize that department, and render it highly honorable
to those who compose it, and useful to the city, is to be attributed, in a great
degree, to the intelligence, the zeal, and active exertions of its late chief, — • .
It is therefore Ordered, That the thanks of the City CouncU be, and they
hereby are, presented to Samuel Devens Harris, for the faithful, arduous, and
highly useful services, gratuitously rendered by him for nearly three years, in
the office of Chief Engineer of the Fire Department."
This Report, being read and accepted, the Order was passed,
by a unanimous vote, in both branches of the City CouncU.
The seventh year of the city government (1828) had passed
1 See page 209.

256 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
with great apparent unanimity and general satisfaction. The
measures, Avhich had been devised and commenced by the
several succeeding City Councils, during the preceding years,
were either completed or in successful progress. The New
Market had been finished, and all the accounts connected with
that improvement were settled ; provision for the gradual pay
ment, by instalments, of the debt it had created, had been made;
and also for the final discharge of that debt and its accruing
interest out of the proceeds of the real estate, consisting of land
and wharf rights, and other funds, which the Avisdom of those
City Councils had acquired. During these years, besides the
expenditures connected with the purchases and improvements
about the New Market, many stteets, which were great thorough
fares in various parts of the city, had been Avidened. The Fke
Department had been put into efficient operation, to the appa
rent satisfaction of aU. A House of Correction, and a House
of Reformation of Juvenile Offenders had been estabUshed;
the House of Industty had been completed and the poor ttans
fen-ed to it, to the acknowledged improvement of their condition,
and the manifest benefit of the city. The title to the lands
lying west of Charles Street, caUed the Ropewalk Lands, had
also been obtained and secured. Deer Island had been effectu
aUy protected by a sea-waU from the action of the elements;
appropriations for that object having been soUcited by the city
and granted by Congress. George's and LoveU's Islands had
been purchased, and the title to them ttansferred by the city to
the United States ; for whom also the jurisdiction of those
islands had been obtained from the Commonwealth. These
prospective measures led, in subsequent years, to the erection
of those efficient fortifications which now command and protect
the outer harbor of Boston.
And in relation to the incomes and expenditures of the City
for the preceding financial year, WUUam Hayden, the City
Auffitor, in his official report, dated the fifteenth of May, 1838,
stated that " the aggregate amount of the incomes of the city
had exceeded the aggregate amount of its expenditmes; and
that the results afforded a practical Ulusttation of the Avisdom
and spirit of economy, which characterized the proceedings of
the last City Council, and led to the adoption of a system of self-
restriction in regard to appropriations, and of confining the ordi-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 257
nary expenditures of the year within the limits of its ordinary
annual income." And the City Auditor closed this report by
the following remarks : — "It is beUeved, that the resffits of the
financial operations of the last year, while they must be highly
satisfactory to those, in whose hands the citizens have placed
the control of their public funds, wffil have a tendency to sustam
that confidence, which the people of this city have reposed in its
government ; for they show conclusively, that whUe those great
improvements which the public interest seemed most obviously
to demand, have been originated and matured, the city govern
ment had not lost sight of that point, at which a system of eco
nomical restriction shoffid commence."
In this state of general prosperity and satisfaction with the
affairs of the city, the municipal year drew towards its close.
No other than those general objects of attention, which Eire
incident to every condition of municipal relation, appeared, at
the moment, to be subjects of general anticipation or desire.
No special cause of public discontent had occurred within the
year. To apply wisely and faithfuUy the resources of the city
to those exigencies which time must produce, and a rapidly
increasing population rendered unavoidable, embraced appa
rently the whole sphere of duty for the ensuing City Coun
cUs. The office of Mayor had now been sustained almost six years,
by the same individual. The novelty of the office, the diversity
of opinions relative to its powers, extensive public improvements,
and many new institutions, had rendered his administtation one
of pecuUar trial and difficulty. It had been, however, power-
fuUy supported, and to general satisfaction, as the results of six
successive elections evidenced.
At the usual period of municipal election, in 1828, after two
ttials, on the eighth ^ and fifteenth ^ of December, it appeared
that the Mayor had not received the majority of votes, which
the law required for his reelection, although in both the number
• The whole number of votes cast on this trial was . . 4,082
Requisite to a choice, . . . 2,042
Of which Josiah Quincy had .... 1,959
3 The whole number of votes cast on this trial was . 5,253
Requisite to a choice, . . • 2,627
Of which Josiah Quincy had . • . 2,561
22*

258 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
closely approximated to it. As soon, therefore, as the last result
was known, he sent to the press the following note : —

TO THE CITIZENS OP BOSTON.

After the result of the recent elections, I deem myself at Uberty
to decUne, — as I now do, — being any longer a canffidate for
the office of Mayor.
To the end, that no future canffidate may be deprived of
votes, cast in my favor, I deem it proper to state, that no consi
deration wiU induce me again to accept that office.
Very respectfully, I am your feUow citizen,
Josiah Quincy.
Boston, 16th December, 1828.
On the ensuing twenty-second of December, Harrison Gray
Otis was chosen Mayor Avithout opposition.

CHAPTER XVIII.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1828.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.
Address of the Mayor on taking final Leave of the Office — His Acknowledg
ments to the Members of the Board of Aldernien, Common CouncU, and
his Fellow-Citizens — Measures and Results of the Past Administration :
for Protection of the City against Fire ; and of the Islands against Storms ;
for the Health of the Inhabitants ; for Public Education ; in Favor of Public
Morals ; for increasing the Financial Resources of the City and reducing its
Debt — Principles on which his Conduct in Office had been guided. Tribute
to his Successor.
The circumstances which caused the Mayor to decUne being
again a candidate, led him to consider it due to his associates
and himself to state pubUcly the views and principles which,
during nearly six years, had guided the administtation of the
city government.
Having given intimation of this intention to the Board of
Aldermen, they passed an order to the City Clerk " to give
notice to the President of the Common Council, that the Board
of Aldermen stood adjom-ned to Saturday, the third of Janu
ary, 1829, at one o'clock, at which time and place it is expected
t.hat the Mayor will adffi-ess the Board, previous to his leaving
the Chair, in order that any gentlemen of the Common Council
may attend if they see fit."
Accorffingly, on that day, tin the chamber of the Common
CouncU, in the presence of its members and of other citizens,
the Mayor delivered the foUowing address to the Board of
Aldermen, who, after retiring to their room. Voted, " To request
a copy of it for the press, and that the whole Board Avait upon
him for that purpose."

260 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

GENTLEMEN OP THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN : 
Having been called, nearly six years since, by my fellow-citi
zens, to the office of their chief magisttate, and having, during
that period, been six times honored by their suffrages for that
station, I have endeavored, uniformly, to perform its duties to
the best of my abffity, with unremitting zeffi and fideUty. At
the late election it was twice indicated, by a majority of those
who thought the subject important enough to attend the polls,
that they were wiffing to dispense Avith my. services. According
to the sound principles of a republican constitution, by which
the will of a majority, distinctly expressed, concerning the con
tinuance in office of pubUc servants, is, to them the rule of duty,
I withdrew from being any longer a cause of ffivision to my fel
low-citizens ; declaring that "no consideration woffid mduce
me again to accept that office." These were not words of pas
sion, or of wounded pride, or temporary disgust ; but of deep
conviction, concerning future duty, in attaining which, my obU
gations to my felloAv-citizens were weighed as carefuUy as those
which I owe to my own happiness and self-respect.
I stand, then, to this office, in a relation final and forever
closed. There are rights and duties which resffit from this con
dition. It is an occasion on which acknowledgments ought to
be made, feelings to be expressed, justice to be done, obUgations
to be performed. To fulfil these duties, I have thought proper
to seek and avaU myself of this opportunity.
And first, gentlemen, permit me to express to you that deep
and lasting sense of gratitude Avhich is felt for all the kindness,
support, and encouragement with which you have lightened and
strengthened official labors. In bearing testimony to the intelli
gence, activity, and fidelity with which you have fffifffied the
duties of your station, I but join the common voice of yom feUow-
citizens. With me, your intercourse has been uniformly charac
terized by a wiUing and affectionate zeal ; leaving, in this respect,
nothing to be desired ; and resffiting, on my part, in an esteem
which will make the recoUection of our association in these duties
among the most grateful of my Ufe. Accept my thanks for the
interest and assiduity with which you have ffided and sustained
endeavors to advance the prosperity of this city.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 261
I owe also to the gentlemen of the Common Council a pubUc
expression of my obligations for the candor and urbanity Avith
which they have received and canvassed all my communications.
It is a happy omen for our city, that, for so many successive
years, the intercourse between the branches and members of its
government has been distinguished for gentlemanly character,
not less than for official respect. The coUisions which are natu
rally to be expected in a community where rival interests and
passions exist, have never disturbed the harmony of either coun
cU. When diversity of opinion has arisen, a spirit of mutual
concession has presided over the controversy. Happy ! if in this
respect, past years shaU be prototypes of those which are to
come. To my fellow-citizens who, for so many years have supported
or endured an administration conducted on none of the princi
ples by which popffiarity is ordinarily sought and acqffired, I
have no language to express my respect or my gratitude. I
know weU that recent events have given rise, in some minds, to
reflections on the fickleness of the popular wUl, and on the ingra
titude of republics. As if the right to change was not as inhe
rent as the right to continue ; for the just exercise of this right,
the people being responsible, and to bear the consequences.
As if permission to serve a people at all, and the opportunity
thus afforded to be useful to the community to which we belong
and owe so many obligations, were not ample recompense for
any labors or any sacrffices made or endured in its behalf. Is it
wonderful, or a subject of reproach, that, in a populous city,
where infinitely varying passions and prejudices and interests
and motives must necessarily exist, an individual who had
enjoyed the favor of its citizens for six years should be deprived
of it on the seventh ? Is it not more a matter of surprise, that it
has been enjoyed so long, than that it is lost at last ?
At no one moment have I concealed from myself or my feUow-
citizens, that the experiment of a new government was one very
dubious in its effects on continuance in office. Who that knows
the nature of man, and the combinations which, for particular
ends, at times take place in society, could hesitate to beUeve that
an administration which should neither court the few, nor stand
in awe of the many, which shoffid identify itself exclusively with
the rights of the city, maintaining them not merely with the

262 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
zeal of official station, but with the pertinacious spirit of private
interest ; which, in executing the laAVS, should hunt vice in its
recesses, turn light upon the darkness of its haunts, and Avrest
the poisonous cup from the hand of the unlicensed pander;
Avhich should dare to resist private cupiffity, seeking to corrupt;
personal influence, sttiving to sway ; party rancor, slandering
to intimidate ; — would, in time, become obnoxious to aU whom
it prosecuted or punished ; aU whose passions it thwarted ;
whose projects it detected; whose interests it crossed? "Who
could doubt that, from these causes, there woffid in time come
an accumulation of discontent ; that, sooner or later, the ground
swell would rise above the landmarks with a tide which would
sweep it from its foundations ?
In the first address which, nearly six years ago, I had the
honor to make to the City CouncU, the operation of these causes
was distinctly stated, almost in the terms just used ; and the
event which has now occurred was anticipated. Nothing Avas
then promised except " a laborious fffifflment of every known
duty ; a prudent exercise of every invested power ; a disposition
shrinMng from no official responsibffity ; and an absolute self-
devotion to the interest of the city."
I stand this day in the midst of the multitude of my brethren,
and ask, without pride, yet Avithout fear. Have I faded in fulfill
ing this promise ? Let your hearts ansAver.
Other obligations remain. A connection which has subsisted
long and happUy is about to be dissolved, and forever. To look
back on the past, and consider the present, is natural and pro
per on the occasion. I stand indebted to my feUow-citizens for
a length and uniformity of support seldom exempUfied in cities
where the executive office depends upon popular election. They
have stood by me nobly, and Avith effect, in 'six trials ; in the
seventh, though successless, I Avas not forsaken.
To such men I OAve more than silent gratitude. Their friend
ship, their favor, the honors they have so liberaUy bestowed,
demand return, not in words, but in acts. I owe it to such
goodness to show that their confidence has not been misplaced;
their favor not been abused ; and that their friendship and sup
port, so often given in advance, have been justified by the
event. What then has the departing city administtation done ? what

CITY GOVERNMENT. 263
good has it effected ? what evil averted ? Avhat monuments exist
of its faithfulness and efficiency ?
If, in the recapitulation I am about to make, I shall speak in
general terms, and sometimes in language of apparent personal
reference, let it be understood, once for all, that this will be
owing to the particular relation in which I stand at this moment
to the subject and to my feUow-citizens ; and by no means to
any disposition to claim more than a common share of what
ever credit belongs to that administration. This, I delight to
acknoAvledge, is chiefly due to those excellent and faithful men,
who, during successive years have, in both branches of the City
Council, been the Ught and support of the government ; by
whose intelligence and practical skffi I have conducted its affairs
fuU as often as by my own. The obUgations I owe to these
men I mean neither to deny nor to conceal. SpeedUy, and as
soon as other duties permit, it is my purpose, in another way and
in a more permanent form, to do justice to their gratuitous
labors and unobttusive fidelity.
Touching the measures and resffits of the administtation
which wffi soon be past, I necessarily corffine myself to a few
particular topics ; and those, either the most vital to our safety
and prosperity, or, in my apprehension, the most necessary to be
understood. Time will not permit, nor, on this occasion, would
it be proper to speak of all the various objects of a prudential,
economical, restrictive, or ornamental character, which, in adapt
ing a new organization of government to the actual state of
things, have been attempted or executed.
I ghaU chiefly refer to what has been done by way of protec
tion against the elements ; in favor of the general health ; in
support of pubUc education ; and in advancement of public
morals. The element which chiefly endangers cities is that of Fire.
It caijnot at this day be forgotten by my fellow-citizens with
what labor and hazard of popularity the old department was
aboUshed, and the new established. From the visible and active
energy which members of a &e department take in the protec
tion of the city against that element, they always have been,
and always must be, objects of general regard. Great as is the
just popularity at present enjoyed by that department, the same
pubUc favor was largely enjoyed by their predecessors. Those

264 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
who at that time composed it were a hardy, industrious, effect
ive body of men, who had been long inured to the service, and
Avho, having the merit of veterans, naturaUy inabibed the errors
into which old soldiers in a regffiar service are accustomed to
fall. They were prejufficed in favor of old modes and old wea
pons. They had little or no confidence in a hose system ; and
above all they were beset Avith the opinion that the continuance
of their corps AA^as essential to the safety of the city. More than
once it was said distinctly to the executive of the city, that " if
they threw down the engines, none else could be found capable
of taldng them up." Under the influence of such opinions, they
demanded of the city a specified annual sum for each company.
It was refused. And in one day aU the engines in the city were
Surrendered by their respective companies ; and on the same
day every engine was suppUed with a new company by the
voluntary association of public-spirited individuals.
From that time, a regular, systematic organization of the
Fire Department was begun and graduaUy effected. The best
models of engines were sought. The best experience consffited
which our own or other cities possessed. New engines were
obtained ; old ones repaired. Proper sites for engine houses
sought; when sffitable locations Avere found, purchased; and
those built upon ; Avhen such were not found, they were hired.
No requisite preparation for efficiency was omitted ; and every
reasonable inducement to enter and remam in the service was
extended. The efficient force and state of preparation of this department
now consists of twelve hunffied men and officers ; twSnty
engines ; one hook and ladder company ; eight hundred buck
ets ; seven thousand feet of hose ; twenty -five hose carriages ;
and every species of apparatus necessary for strength of the
department, or for the accommodation of its members.
In this estimate, also, ought to be included fifteen reservoirs,
containing three hundred and fifty thousand gallons of water,
located in different parts of the city, besides those sunk in the
Mill Creek, and the command of water obtained by those con
nected with the pipes belonging to the aqueduct.
Of all the expenditures of the city government, none perhaps
have been so often denominated exttavagant as those connected.
Avith this department. But when the voluntary natm-e of the.

CITY GOVERNMENT.. 265
service, its importance, and the security and confidence actuaUy
attained are considered, it is believed they can be justified.
In four years, all the objects enumerated, including the reser-
vons, have cost a sum not exceeding sixty thousand dollars,
which is about forty-eight thousand dollars more than the old
department, in a like series of years, AA'as accustomed to cost.
The value of the fixed and permanent property noAV existing in
engine houses and their sites, engines and apparatus, and reser-
vons, cannot be estimated at less than twenty thousand dollars.
So that the actual expenditure of the new department beyond
the old, for these four years, cannot be stated at more than five
thousand dollars a year, or twenty thousand doUars. Now it
wffi be found that, in consequence solely of the efficiency of this
department, there has been a reduction of twenty per cent, on the
rate of insurance within the period above specified. By this
reduction of premiums alone, there is an annual gain to the city
on its insurable real estate of ten thousand doUars ; the whole
cost remunerated in two years. In this connection, let it be
remembered how great is the security, in this .respect, noAV
enjoyed by the city ; and that, previously to its establishment,
two fires, — that in Central, KUby, and Broad Streets ; and that
in Beacon Stteet, — occasioned a loss to it, at the least estimate,
of eight hundred thousand dollars I
Unquestionably, greater economy may be intt-oduced hereafter
into this department, in modes which were impracticable at its
commencement and in its earUer progress. Measures having
that tendency have been suggested. These, doubtless, future
city councUs wffi adopt, or substitute in their stead such as are
wiser and better.
AU the chief great expenses, necessary to perfect efficiency,
have been incuiTed ; and little more remains to be done than to
maintain the present state of completeness in its appointments.
Under this head of protection against the elements, may be
justly included the preservation of our harbor from the effects of
waves and tempests. By the vigilance and successive applica
tion of the city government, the protection of the two great
islands, on Avhich depend the safety of our internal and external
roadsteads, has been undertaken by the General Government;
and works are finished, or in progress, of a magnitude and
sttength exceeding aU antecedent hope or expectation.
23

266 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
In relation to what has been done in favor of general health,
when this administtation came into power, of the two great
branches on which depend the health of a city, the removal of
street dirt, and of that which accumffiates in and about the
houses of private families, the former was almost entirely neg
lected, and the latter was conducted in a manner exceed
ingly offensive to the citizens. So great was the clamor and
urgency of the citizens, and so imperious was deemed the duty,
that the records of the Mayor and Aldermen Avill show that the
present executive, on the ffist day of his office, indeed before he
had been inducted into it an hour, made a recommendation to
the City CouncU on the subject. From that time to the present,
the arrangement of those subjects has been an object of inces
sant attention and labor. It Avas, until early in the present year,
a subject of perpetual sttuggle and conttoversy, — ffist, Avith the
old Board of Health, who claimed the jurisdiction of it ; then
with contractors, whose interests the new arrangements thwart
ed ; then Avith the citizens, with whose habits, or prejudices, or
interest thej^ sometimes interfered. The inhabitants of the
country AA'ere indignant that they could not enjoy their ancient
priAilege of carrying away the street dirt when they pleased,
and the offal of famffies as they pleased. The inhabitants of
the city, forgetting the nature of the material, and the necessity
of its being subjected to general regffiations, were also inffignant,
because they "coffid not, as they did formerly, do what they
would with their own." For three years the right of ihe city to
conttol this subject was contested in courts of law ; and it was
not untU last AprU, that the city authority overcame all opposi
tion, and acquired, by a jufficial decision, complete jurisffiction
in the case.
Since that time, the satisfaction of the citizens with the con
duct of this ttoublesome concern, indicated not only by direct
acknowledgment, but also by evidence stffi more uneqffivocal,
has equaUed every reasonable wish, and exceeded aU previous
anticipation. I state as a fact, that in a city containing probably
sixty-five thousand inhabitants, and under an administtation
inviting and soUciting complaints against its agents, — during
seven months, from May to November, both inclusive, amidst a
hot season, in which a local alarm of infectious fever naturally
excited great anxiety, concerning the causes tenffing to produce

CITY GOVERNMENT. 267
it, — the whole number of complaints from citizens, whose fami
Ues were neglected by the agents of the city, made, or known to
the Mayor or to any officers of the city, amounted only to the
number of eight in a month, or two in a week, for the whole city !
and four fifths of these, it is asserted by the inteUigent and faith
ful superintendent of the streets, were owing to the faults of
domestics rather than to his agents, — a degree of efficient action
on a most difficult subject, which it is the interest of the citizens
never to forget, as it shows what may be done, and, therefore,
what they have a right to require.
I refer to this topic with the more distinctness, because it is
one of vital interest, not only to this, but to aU populous cities.
I know not that the practicability of establishing an efficient
system for the removal from populous cities of these common
and unavoidable nuisances has anywhere been more satisfacto
rUy put to the test. Nor has the evidence of the direct effects
of such efficiency, upon the general health of the population,
been anywhere more distinctly exhibited by facts. I speak
before citizens who have enjoyed the benefits of these arrange
ments ; who noAV enjoy them ; Avho see what can be effected ;
and what is reasonable, therefore, for them in this respect to
claim at the hands of their public agents.
I cannot close this head without referring to the tables con
nected with, and the facts stated in, the address I had the
honor to make to the City CouncU at the commencement of
the present year.
It is there stated that the city authorities commenced a system
atic cleansing of the city, and removal of noxious animffi and
vegetable substances, Avith reference to the improvement of the
general health and comfort, in the year 1823.
" That the biUs of mortaUty of this city, and calculations
made on them for the eleven years, from 1813 to 1823 inclusive,
show that the annual average proportion of deaths to the popu
lation was about one in forty-two."
" SimUar estimates on the bUls of mortality of this city, since
1823, show that this annual average proportion was, for the fom
years, from 1824 to 1827 inclusive, less than one in fifty ; for the
two years, from 1826 to 1827 inclusive, less than one in fifty-
five." It now appears, that, on the principles stated in these tables,

268 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
for the three years just terminated, 1826, 1827, 1828, the annual
average proportion of deaths to population was less than one in
fifty-seven. Upon the usual estimates of this nature, a city of equal popu
lation, in which this annual average should not exceed one in
forty-seven, would be considered as enjoying an extraorffinary
degree of health.
From the facts thus stated, it is maintained that this city
does enjoy an uncommon and graduaUy increasing state of
general health ; and that for the four last years it has been
unexampled. And although the AAffiole of this important im
provement in the general health of the city is not attributed to
the measures of the police, yet since, in the year 1823, a system
was adopted expressly for the purpose of preventing disease, by
an efficient and timely removal of nuisances, it is just and rea
sonable to claim for that system a portion of the creffit for that
freedom from disease, which, subsequently to their adoption,
has resulted in a degree so extraordinary.
The residue of what AAms then said upon tMs topic, I repeat,
as being important enough to be reiterated.
" I am thus distinct in alluding to this subject, because the
removal of the nuisances of a city is a laborious, difficult, and
repulsive service, requiring much previous arrangement and con
stant vigilance, and is attended Avith frequent disappointment
of endeavors, whence it happens there is a perpetual natural
tendency in those inti-usted Avith municipal affairs, to throw the
ttouble and responsibility of it upon subordinate agents and
contractors ; and very plausible arguments of economy may be
adduced in favor of such a system. But if experience and reflec
tion have given certainty to my mind upon any subject, it is
upon this ; that upon the right conduct of this branch of the
police, the executive powers of a city should be made dnectly
responsible, more than for any other ; and that it can never, for
any great length of time, be executed well, except by agents
under its immediate control ; and whose labors it may command
at all times, in any way Avhich the necessities, continuaUy vary-
mg, and often impossible to be anticipated, of a city, in this
respect require."
" In the whole sphere of municipal duties, there are none
more important than those which relate to the removal of those

CITY GOVERNMENT. 269
substances Avhose exhalations injmiously affect the air. A pure
atmosphere is to a city what a good conscience is to an indivi
dual, — a perpetual source of comfort, tranquiUity, and self-
respect." In relation to what has been done for the support of pubhc
education, considering the multiplied and pressing objects of
attention, necessarily occurring in the first years of a new organ
ization of government, I know not that a greater degree of sup
port of this branch of public service coffid have been justly given
or reasonably expected than has occurred. Under our ancient
institutions, the scale of appropriations for this object was, of aU
others, the most liberal and complete. It Avas found, in 1823,
with an annual expenditure of forty-four thousand five hundred
dollars. It is left, at this day, Avith one of fifty-six thousand
dollars. In the interval, tAvo schoolhouses have been built and
sites purchased at an additional direct expenditure of upwards
of fifty-five thousand dollars. In addition to which the House
of Reformation of JuvenUe Offenders, which is, in fact, a school
of most important character, has been estabUshed and supported
at an expense already incurred of upwards of sixteen thousand
doUars. But the High School for Girls has been suspended. As, on
tMs topic, I have reason to think very gross misrepresentations
and falsehoods have been circulated in every form of the tongue
and the press, I shall speak plainly. It being in fact a subject
on which my opinion has at no time been concealed.
This school was adopted declaredly as " an experiment." It
was placed under the immediate care of its known authors. It
may be ttuly said that its impracticability was proved before it
went into operation. The pressme for admission at the first
examination of candidates, the discontent of the parents of those
rejected, the certainty of far greater pressure and discontent
which must occur in futme years, satisfied every reflecting
mind that, however desirable the scheme of giving a high classi
cal education, equal about to a coUege education, to all the gnls
of a city, Avhose parents would wish them to be thus educated
at the expense of the city, was just as impracticable as to give
such an one to all the boys of it at the city's expense. Indeed,
more so, because giris not being drawn away from the coUege
by preparation for a profession or ttade, would have nothing
23*

270 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
except their maniage to prevent their parents from avaUing of it
No funds of any city could endure the expense.
The next project was so to model the school as that, although
professedly established for the benefit of all, it might be kept
and maintained at the expense of the city for the benefit of the
few. The School Committee were divided equally on the
resulting questions. The subject Avas finally postponed by the
casting vote of the Chairman. As all agreed, that if the school
was to be maintained according to its original conception, new
and great appropriations were necessary, the Chairman was
directed to make a report on the whole subject to the City
CouncU. The report indicated that, in such case, appropriations
were indispensably necessary, but did not recommend them,
because a majority of the Committee Avere not favorable to the
project. That report was printed and circulated throughout the
city. A year has elapsed, and not an individual in either branch
of the City Council has brought forAvard the question of its revi
val by moving the necessary appropriations.
No shield has ever before been protruded by the individual
principaUy assailed as a defence against the calumnies Avhich
have been circulated on this subject. It has now been aUuded
to, more for the sake of other honorable men, who have, for a
like cause, been assaUed by evil tongues and evU pens, than for
his own.
In all this there is nothing uncommon or unprecedented.
The public officer who, from a sense of public duty, dares to
cross strong interests in their way to gi-atifi.cation at the pubUc
expense, always has had, and ever AAill have, meted to him the
same measure. The beaten course is, first, to slander, in order
to intimidate ; and if that fail, then to slander, in order to sacri
fice. He who loves his office better than his duty wiU yield and
be flattered as long as he is looI. He Avho loves his duty bet
ter than his office Avill stand erect and take his fate.
All schools requiring high qualifications as the condition of
admission, are essentially schools for the benefit, comparatively,
of a very fcAV. The higher the qualification, the greater the
exclusion. Those whose fortunes permit them to avail them
selves of private instruction for their children, during their eariy
years, — men highly educated themselves, who have leisure and
abUity to attend to the education of their own chUdren, and thus

CITY GOVERNMENT. 271
rffise them at the prescribed age to the required quaUfication, —
wiU chiefly enjoy the privUege. To the rest of the community,
consisting of parents not possessing these advantages, admission
to them is a lottery, in which there is a hundred blanks to a
prize. The scheme to reduce the school to an attendance of one
year, seems to be a needless multiplication of schools and of
expense ; as it is plainly far better that a year should be added
to the continuance in the common schools, and then comse of
instruction proportionably elevated.
The great interest of society is identffied with her common
schools. These belong to the mass of the people. Let the peo
ple take care, lest the funds which ought to be devoted exclu
sively to the improvement and elevation of these common
schools, thus essentiaUy theirs, be diverted to schools of high
qualffication. Under whatever pretence established, their neces
sary tendency is to draw away, not only funds, but also interest
and attention from the common schools. The sound principle
upon this subject seems to be, that the standard of public education
should be raised to the greatest desirable and practicable height;
but that it should be effected by raising the standard of the com
mon schools.
In respect of what has been done, in support of public morals,
when this administration first came into power, the police had
no comparative effect. The city possessed no house of con-ec-
tion, and the natural inmates of that establishment were in our
streets, on our " hills " or on our commons, disgusting the deli
cate, offending the good, and intimidating the fearful. There
were parts of the city over which no honest man dared to pass
in the night time ; so proud there and uncontroUed Avas the
dominion of crime. The executive of the city Avas seriously
advised not to meddle with those haunts, their reformation being
a task altogether impracticable.
It was attempted. The success is known. Who at this day
sees begging in our streets ? I speak generaUy ; a transient case
may occm. But there is none systematic. At this day, I speak
it confidently, there is no part of the city through which the
most timid may not walk, by day or by night, without cause of
fear of personal violence. What streets present more stiUness in
the night time ? Where, in a city of equal popffiation, are there
fewer instances of those crimes to which aU popffious places are
subject ?

272 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Doubtless much of this condition of things is owing to the
orderly habits of our citizens, but much also is attributable to
the vigilance which has made vice ttemble in its haunts and fly
to cities Avhere the air is more congenial to it ; which, by pursu
ing the lawless vender of spirituous liquor, denying licenses to
the Avorst of that class, or revoking them as soon as found in
improper hands, has checked crime in its ffist stages, and intto
duced into these establishments a salutary fear. By the effect
of this system, notwithstanding in these six years the popffiation
of the city has been increased at least fifteen thousand, the num
ber of licensed houses has been ffiminished from six hunffied
and seventy-nine to five hundred and fifty-four.
Let it be remembered that this state of things has been
effected Avithout the adffition of one man to the ancient arm of
the police. The name of poUce officer has indeed been changed
to city marshal. The venerable old charter number of twenty-
four constables stffi continue the entire array of city poUce ; and
eighty Avatchmen, of whom never more than eighteen are out at
a time, constitute the whole nocturnal host of poUce mffitant, to
maintain the peace and vindicate the Avrongs of upwards of sixty
thousand citizens.
If it be asked Avhy more haA'^e not been provided, I answer, it
has frequently been under consideration. But, on a view of all
circumstances, and experience having hitherto proved the pre
sent number enough, there seemed no occasion to increase it,
from any general theory of its Av^ant of proportion to the popula
tion, seeing that practically there seemed to be as many as were
necessary. The good Avhich has been attained, and no man can deny it
is great, has been effected by directing unremittingly the force of
the executive power to the haunts of vice in its first stages, and
to the favorite resorts of crime in its last.
To diminish the number of licensed ffiam-shops and tippUng-
houses ; to keep a vigUant eye over those which are licensed ; to
revoke without fear or favor the licenses of those who were
found violating the law ; to break up public dances in the
brothels ; to keep the Ught and terrors of the law directed upon
the resorts of the lawless, thereby preventing any place becoming
dangerous by their congi-egation ; or they and their associates
becoming insolent through sense of stt-ength and numbers ; —

CITY GOVERNMENT. 273
these have been the means ; and these means, faithfuUy applied,
are better than armies of constables and watchmen. They have
been applied with as much fearlessness as though the executive
office was not elective ; without regarding the fact, that the
numerous class thus offended, then landlords, dependants, and
coadjutors, had votes and voices in city elections. So far as
these classes had any influence on a recent event, and it must
have been smaU, the cause is not a matter of regret, but of
pride. Without pressing these topics further into detail, and without
stating how the condition of things was found at the coming in
of this administration, — because the faithful men who executed
the ancient town government did as much as the form of organ
ization under which they acted permitted, — I shall simply state,
m one view, how the city affairs, in respects not yet alluded to,
have been left.
Every interest of the city, so far as has come to the know
ledge of the city government, has been considered, maintained,
and, as far as practicable, arranged. AU the real estate of the
city surveyed and estimated ; plans of it prepared ; the whole
analyzed and presented in one view for the benefit of those Avho
come after. The difficulties of the voting lists laboriously inves
tigated, and the sources of error ascertained, and in a great degree
remedied. The streets widened, the crooked sti-aightened, the
great avenues paved and enlarged. They and other public
places ornamented. Heights levelled. Declivities smoothed or
diminished. The common sewers regulated and made more
capacious. New streets of great Avidth and utiUty, in the cen
tte of population, obtained Avithout cost to the city. Its mar
kets made commoffious. New public edifices, in the old city
and at South Boston, erected ; the old repaned and orna
mented. These things have been done, not indeed to the extent AAffiich
might be desired, but to a degree as great, considering the time,
as could reasonably be anticipated.
But then, — " the city debt," « the taxes," — " we are on the
eve of bankruptcy." " The citizens are oppressed by the weight
of assessments produced by these burdens." Such are the hol
low sounds which come up from the halls of caucusing discon
tent!

274 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
The state of the city debt has recently been ffisplayed by offi-
cial authority ; by which it appears, that, after deducting funds
in the hands of the Committee for the reduction of the city debt,
and also the amount of bonds, weU secured by mortgages, paya
ble to the city, the exact city debt amounts to $637,256.66;
concerning which subject, I undertake to maintain two posi
tions : —
1st. It has not been, and never can be, a burden ; that is, it
has not been, and never wiU be, felt in the taxes.
2d. So far from city bankruptcy, the state of its resom-ces is
one of enviable prosperity.
It may be stated, with sufficient accuracy, that the present
city debt is entirely the result of operations which obtamed for
the city the New FaneuU HaU Market, the City Wharf, and
land north of the block of stores on North Market Street ; and
of those which gave it, free of incumbrance, the lands west of
Charles and Pleasant Streets.
Now, this property thus newly acquired by these operations,
for which the city debt was incurred, may be exchanged, no
intelligent man can doubt, at any hour, in the market, for an
amount equal to the entire city debt.
The property thus acquired, now in actual, uffincumbered,
undisputed possession of the city, consists, —
1. Of the New Market and its site, estimated by its annual
incomes, ($26,000,) which are in their nature permanent, and
must increase rather than diminish, at . . $500,000
2. City Wharf, estimated by some at |100,000 ; on
this occasion it is put down at ... 75,000
3. Eight thousand five hunffi-ed and twenty-eight
feet of land on both sides of the MiU Creek, and
the new stteets now completing in that vicinity;
on this occasion estimated at, as an unquestion
able price, although its real value probably gi-eatly
exceeds  12,000
4. Twenty-eight acres and a half of land west of
Charles and Pleasant Streets, exceeding 1,200,000
square feet, estimated only at ten cents ; which,
how far it is exceeded by the fact, my fellow-citi
zens understand, is set down at . . . 120,000
$707,000

CITY GOVERNMENT. 275
Thus it appears the city is possessed of a real estate, of an
unquestionable value, exceeding seven hundred thousand dollars, as
an offset for a debt of six hundred and thirty-seven thousand dollars.
It may confidently be said, that no capitaUst of inteUigence
and resomces, equal to the purchase, would hesitate an hour to
contract, on condition of a transfer of that property, to assume
the whole city debt. Should I say, he would give a hundred
thousand doUars as a bonus for the bargain, I should probably
come nearer the truth. Am I not justified, then, in my position,
that the marketable value of the real estate acquired and left to
the city by that administtation, greatly exceeds the amount of
debt it has left ? The scales are not simply even ; they greatly
preponderate in favor of the value of the property above the
debt. It is no ansAver to this, to say, that the property thus
newly acquired is of a nature or value so important to the city,
that it ought never to be disposed of. This is probably ti-ue ;
at least of a very great part of it. But what of this ? Does not
the fact show, that greatly as the marketable value of the pro
perty exceeds the debt, the value of it, in its interest or import
ance to the city, greatly exceeds even that marketable value?
After this, have I not a right to assert, according to the usual
and justifiable forms of expression, under cUcumstances of this
kind, that, so far as respects the operations of the administration,
now passing away, they have left the city incumbered ivith no
DEBT ; because they have left it possessed of a ncAvly acquired
real property, far greater in marketable value than the whole
debt it has incmTcd ?
Again, it has not only done this ; but when this subject is
considered with reference to annual income received, and annual
interest to be paid, it wiU be found that tMs administration
leaves the city with a property, in real estate and bonds and
mortgages, the income and interest of which amounts to fifty-
two thousand dollars, whUe the annual interest of the debt wffich
it leaves is only forty-seven thousand dollars.
If, then, the annual income of the property left be now, and
ever must be, far greater than the annual interest of the debt
mcurred ; if the newly acquired real estate is, and always must
be, far greater in marketable value than the whole amount of
that debt, has not this administration a right to say, that, so far
as respects its financial operations, it has left the city incumbered
with no BURDEN AND NO DEBT.

276 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
If there is no debt, then there is no bankruptcy. Whatever
estate the city noAV has, over and above that which is above
specified, is so much clear and unincumbered property, to be
used or improved for its advancement or relief in all future times
and emergencies, according to the wisdom and fidelity of suc
ceeding administrations. Unless, indeed, that wisdom direct, as
it probably wUl, that the property above specified, obtained for
the city by this administration, shall be kept as the best possible
investment of city capital, and the proceeds of the other lands
applied to the discharge of the debt incurred for the pmchase of
the property thus acquired.
Now, what is that clear, unincumbered city property which
remains, after deducting that thus newly acquired ? It consists
of nothing less, as appears by the official report of the Commit
tee on Public Lands, than upwards of five million three hundred
thousand feet of land on the Neck and in different parts of the
city, — capable of being sold, Avithout any possible objection; —
lands belonging to the House of Industty, amounting to sixty
acres; and a township of land in the state of Maine, being
neither of them included in this estimate.
Without taking into consideration, then, the encouragement
given to our mechanic interests ; to the influx of capital and
population, Avhich have been necessarUy the effect of the activity
of capital induced by the measures of the city government ; and
confining myself to the single consideration of the amount and
unincumbered state of the real property of the city, am I not
justffied in the assertion, that it is, in respect op its financial
RESOURCES, ONE OF ENVIABLE PROSPERITY ?
But " the taxes," " the taxes " are heavy beyond all prece
dent! In answer to which, I state, that the taxes have not
increased in a ratio equal to the actual increase of property and
population. The Assessors' books wUl show, that the ratio of
taxation has been less in every year of the seven years in which
the city government has had existence, than was the ratio of any
year in the next preceding seven years of the town government,
one year only excepted ; and even in this it was less than in one
of those next preceding seven years above-mentioned. Compar
ing the average of the ratios of these two periods of seven years
together, it wUl be found, that whUe the average of the ratios of
these seven years of the town government was eight dollars and

CITY GOVERNMENT. 277
fifteen cents, the average of the ratios of the seven years of the
city government has been only seven dollars and twenty-seven
cents. I might here close. But there have been objections made
pubUcly to this executive, which, although apparently of a per
sonal nature, are, in fact, objections to the principles on which
he has conducted his office. Noav, in the particffiar relation in
which that executive stood to his office, it Avas his duty weU to
consider those principles, since they might become precedents,
and give a character and tone to succeeding administrations.
He has uniformly acted under a sense of this relation, and of the
obUgations resulting from it ; and intentionally has done nothing,
or omitted nothing, without contemplating it. On this account,
it may be useful to state those objections, and answer them.
And ffist, it has been said, " The Mayor assumes too much upon
himself. He places himself at the head of aU committees. He
prepares all reports. He permits nothing to be done but by his
agency. He does not sit solemn and dignffied in his chair, and
leave general superintendence to others ; but he is everyAvhere,
and about every thing, — in the street ; at the docks ; among
the common sewers ; — no place but Avhat is vexed by his pre
sence." In reply to this objection, I lay my hand first on the city char
ter, which is in these words : — "It shall be the duty of the
Mayor to be vigilant and active at aU times, in causing the laws
for the government of said city to be duly executed and put in
force ; to inspect the conduct of all subordinate officers, in the
government thereof, and, as far as in his power, to cause aU
negligence, carelessness, and positive violations of duty to be
duly prosecuted and punished. It shaU be his duty, from time
to time, to communicate to both branches of the City Cou.ncU
aU such information, and recommend aU such measures as may
tend to the improvement of the finances, the police, health,
cleanUness, comfort, and ornament of the city."
Now let it be remembered, that to the performance of these
duties he was sworn ; and that he is wUUng to admit that he
, considers an oath taken before God as a serious affair ; and that
"having taken an oath to do such services, he is not of a spirit
which can go to sleep or to rest after shifting the performance
of them upon others. •24

278 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
As to his " seeing to every thing," who has a better right than
he, Avho, at least by popular opinion, if not by the city charter,
is made responsible for every thing ?
Besides, why is it not as ti-ue, in affairs of poUce as of agri
cffiture, that " the eye of the master does more work than both
his hands."
If those who made these objections intended "by doing every
thing," that he has been obstinate, wUful, or overbearmg in
respect of those with whom he has been associated, I cheerfully
appeal to you, gentlemen, how wiUingly, on all occasions, he
has yielded his opinion to yours ; and how readily he has sub
mitted whatever he has Avritten to your corrections. If he took
upon himself generally the character of ffiaughtsman of reports,
it Avas because your labors were grattiitous, and for his a salary
was received. It Avas because he deemed it but just, that the
"hireling" should bear the heat and burden, both of the day
and the labor.
Great assiduity and labor ffid appear to him essential reqm-
sites to the well performance of duty in that office. He could
not persuade himself that the intelligent and industtious com
munity Avhich possess this mett-opolis could ever be satisfied in
that station with an indolent, seffish, or timid temper, or Avith
any one possessed of a vffigar and criminal ambition.
I cannot refrain, on the present occasion, from expressing the
happiness Avith which I now yield this place to a gentleman^
possessing so many eminent qualifications ; whose talents wUl
enable him to appreciate so readily the actual state of things ;
who Avill be so capable of correcting Avhat has been amiss;
changing Avhat has been Avi-ong ; and of maintainmg what has
been right. May he be happy ! and long enjoy the honors and
the confidence his fellow-citizens have bestowed !
And now, gentlemen, standing as I do in this relation for the
last time, in your presence and that of my fellow-citizens, —
about to surrender forever a station fuU of difficulty, of labor,
and temptation, in Avhich I have been caUed to very arduous
duties, affecting the rights, property, and at times, the Uberty of
others, concerning Avhich, the perfect Une of rectitude, though
desned, Avas not always to be clearly ffiscerned, — in which great
1 Harrison Gray Otis.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 279
interests have been placed within my conttol, under circumstan
ces in which it Avould have been easy to advance private ends
and sinister projects ; under these circumstances, I inquire, as I
have a right to inquire, — for, in the course of the recent contest,
insinuations have been cast against my integrity, in this long
management of your affairs, whatever errors have been commit
ted, and, doubtless, there have been many, — have you found in
me any thing seffish, any tMng personal, any thmg mercenary ?
In the simple language of an ancient seer, I say, " Behold,
here I am. Witness against me. Whom have I defrauded?
Whom have I oppressed ? At whose hands have I received any
bribe ? "
Six years ago, when I had the honor first to adffiess the City
CouncU, in anticipation of the event which has now occurred,
the foUowing expressions Avere used : — "In administering the
poUce, in executing the laws, in protecting, the rights and pro
moting the prosperity of the city, its ffist officer AvUl be necessa
rUy beset and assaUed by individual interests ; by rival projects ;
by personal influences ; by party passions. The more ffim and
inflexible he is in maintaining the rights and in pursuing the
interests of the city, the greater is the probabiUty of his becom
ing obnoxious to the censure of aU whom he causes to be prose
cuted or punished; of aU whose passions he thwarts; of aU
whose interests he opposes."
The day and the event have come. I retire, — as in that first
address I told my feUow-citizens, "if, in conformity with the
experience of other republics, faithfffi exertions should be fol
lowed by loss of favor and confidence," I should retne, — "rejoic
ing, not indeed with a pubUc and patriotic, but with a private
and individual joy ; for I shaU retire with a consciousness,
weighed against which aU human suffrages are but as the Ught
dust of the balance."

CHAPTER XIX.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1829.
Hakrison Gray Otis, Mayors
Circumstances recalUng the Mayor from Private Life — Tribute to his Prede
cessors — Views concerning the City Debt — On the Supply of Pure Water —
The Importance of Railroads — Political Relations of the State and Union —
Flats to the Eastward of the New Market — Attempts to authorize Inspectors
to place Names on the Voting Lists — Tribute to the Directors of the House
of Industry — Chief Engineer of the Fire Department appointed — Resigna
tion of all the Assistant Engineers — Petitions to extend Wharves to the
Channel — Relief to Sufferers by Fire in Georgia — Petitions for a General
Meeting of Citizens on RaUroads, and for a Grant of Land for their Accom
modation. On the fifth of January, 1829, the organization of the city
government was this year transferred from the chamber of the
Common CouncU to Faneuil Hall ; it being the era of a new
administration of its affairs. After the usual solemnities, the
Mayor delivered, in the presence of a large assembly of citizens
coUected on the occasion, the foUowing inaugural adffiess : —
GENTLEMEN OF THE CITY COUNCIL : 
Nothing coffid be more unexpected by me than the circum
stances by the result of which I find myself in this place. After
nearly thirty years of occupation in public affairs, Avith but short
intermissions, I resigned my seat in the National Legislature
with an intense desire, and, as I thought, unalterable purpose of
passing the few years that might remain for me, in a private sta
tion. The objects for which I became a humble actor in the
political scene were attained. The tempest wMch uprooted the
1 The whole number of votes cast were 4,546, of which Mr. Otis received
2,977. The Aldermen were, — Henry J. Oliver, John T. Loring, Samuel T. Arm
strong, Benjamin RusseU, Thomas Kendall, James Hall, Winslow Lewis, and
Charles WeUs. EUphalet Williams was President of the Common CouncU.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 281
institutions of the Old Worid had subsided. The broils which
had agitated and endangered our own counti-y, and kept the
minds of all who took part in them in a state of discomfort were
extinguished. The constitution was preserved, the government
wise, and the people happy. Opportunity had been afforded of
supporting, by my feeble aid, an administration which, under a
ffifierent aspect of affairs, I had opposed. The public favor and
confidence, both in measure and duration, had exceeded my esti
mate of ray own pretensions ; and though it was not to be dis
sembled that this favor was in the wane, learned into retnement
the consolation that if my services had not been valuable, neither
had they been expensive to my country ; as I had never sought nor
fingered long in any office of emolument. And I indulged the
hope that, having done nothing to forfeit the approbation of my
friends, the rigorous judgment formed of my conduct by those from
whose poUtical system I. had formerly the misfortune to dissent,
would not follow me beyond the tomb, and that tfie candid and
charitable, portion of them would not finally withhold from my
motives and intentions the justice A\ffiich I have never been con
sciously backAvard to render to theirs. From this retirement I
have been caUed by my fellow-citizens for a short season, under
circumstances which make it a duty to obey their will. Their
invitation was the more grateful as it Avas spontaneous. And
great indeed will be my gratification, if, by cooperating with
you, I shaU be considered as having, in any reasonable measure,
requited a demonstration of good-wffi from my feUow-citizens so
flattering and honorable to me.
• It is now my province, and it wiU soon become my duty to
communicate to you such information as may be requisite, and
to recommend such measures as may seem to be conducive to
the best interest of our city. But I stand merely upon the thresh
old , of an office, with the interior of which most of you are
morefamiUar than myself. I can touch only upon general
topics, assuring you, however, that I wiU apply my entire time
and. attention to master the business of this department, and to
apprise you of such detaUs as you have a right to expect. And
the utmost exertion of my faculties shaU not be wanting in con
stant and united eflbrt to cherish and extend the prosperity of
the interesting concerns committed to our charge. It is indeed
fortunate for us all, that the administtation of this department
24*

282 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
has hitherto been conducted under the auspices of those, whose
different quaUfications were eminently adapted to the varying
exigencies of the station which they successively occupied. The
novel experiment of city government was commenced by your
first lamented Mayor with the circumspection and delicacy which
belonged to his character, and which were entirely judicious and
opportune. He felt and respected the force of ancient and
honest prejudices. His aim was to allure, not to compel ; to
reconcUe by gentle reform, not to revolt by startling innovation ;
so that whUe he led us into a new and fairer creation, we felt
ourselves surrounded by the scenes and comforts of home. His
successor entered upon office with the characteristic energy of
his distinguished talents. He felt that the hour had arrived for
more radical reformation, and that the minds of the citizens were
ripe for greater change and more permanent improvements, and
he devoted an assiduity that can never be surpassed, to a deve
lopment and application of the resources of the city, which have
materiaUy contributed to its ornament, comfort, health, accom
modation, and in aU respects lasting advantage. We are sur
rounded on all sides with the monuments of this enterprising,
disinterested zeal. But they could not be consummated without
expense. This affords to some a serious subject of speculation
on the future, and to others of complaint. But, after such cur
sory examination of the state of om- finances, as time and oppor
tunity have enabled me to make, since I found it to be a duty, I
perceive indeed the necessity of strict economy, but no just
cause for uneasiness or complaint. Documents just made pub
lic, show the outstanding, funded debt (after deducting the
amount of good and convertible securities) is about six hundi-ed
and thirty-seven thousand doUars. For the gradual extinguish
ment of this debt, provision is made by standing regulations,
appropriating fifteen thousand dollars annuaUy from the- city
tax ; the balances in the treasury at the end of the year, moneys
arising from the sales of real estate, and payments made on
account of the principal of bonds and notes. This process may
be accelerated at yom pleasure, by providing for a more rapid
sale of the city lands. A subject on Avhich I wiU be better pre
pared than I am at this moment to give an opinion. The appro
priation for the expense of the current financial year, which
begins in May, was three hundred and twenty-eight thousands

CITY GOVERNMENT. 283
six hundred and twenty-five doUars, of which the assessed taxes
constitute an amount of two hundred and thirty-five thousand
doUars. It is not perceived, at present, that this sum can be
diminished. But whUe unceasing attention is due to the devis
ing of ways and means for aUeviating taxes, there is encourage
ment to presume, that if this cannot be effected by lessening the
nominal amount, an increasing popffiation and resources, by
bringing to the support of the burden a greater contribution of
sttength, wUl ffiminish its pressme on the individual.
In relation to the debt itself, it should be remembered that we
retain, in a great measure at least, the value received. Our
money has not evaporated in airy speculations, or been lavished
ki corrupt expenditmes. Works of permanent utUity have been
estabUshed. The Market House, House of Industry, Prison,
Schools, and other substantial monuments have been erected.
Om crooked paths have been made strait, and widened, and
new avenues have been opened. The benefit of these and of
some other improvements wffi extend to many generations yet
to come, and those which immediately succeed should be con
tent to share a fair apportionment of the eqffivalent paid, should
it be necessary or convenient to procrastinate a total redemption
of the debt. It is possible that the scale on which some of these
improvements were projected is somewhat in anticipation of
future exigencies. But it is doubtful whether great plans, with
out this ingredient, would deserve to be regarded as improve
ments, supposing the city destined to advance in prosperity. On
the other supposition, no great plan would, in fact, be an
improvement, for none such should be undertaken. If a market
would barely accommodate those who resort to it this year,
inconvenience would arise the next year. The same remark is
appUcable to school houses, streets, and, in a degree, to aU pub
Uc buildings. We must proceed (certainly Avith discretion) on
the presumption that popffiation and wealth have not come to
a stand ; and if none of us would now be ready to surrender
these appendages in retmn for the price of the pmchase, that
consideration should go far towards reconcUing us to the conffi
tions on which we have obtained them.
From the great improvements which were requned by the
necessities of the city, two inconveniences have arisen which
were unavoidable, and wiU, it is beUeved, be temporai-y. First,

284 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
a sudden ttansfer of value from some parts of the city to others,
by which the proprietors of old estates have been injured, whUe,
by the increase of accommodation beyond the demand, the pur
chasers of the new have failed to realize the fair profits of their
investments. Secondly, the city became a purchaser of lands to
sell again, and thus far a competitor with individuals in private
enterprise. Probably, therefore, the time has come when pru-;
dence may recommend a pause from great and expensive
attempts, and it may be incumbent on us Avho are intrusted
with this year's administtation, to look rather to the preserva
tion and completion of what has been finished or commenced,
than to new undertaMngs. There is, however, .wantmg to .the
city a convenience of which, it is ventured to assert, it should
never lose sight, — an abundant supply of wholesome water.
The object has been placed before the City Councilon a former
occasion by my predecessor in stt-iking relief; and I am free to
avow my conviction of the correctness of the views by him
exhibited in relation to it.
Another object, however, is lately brought into view by the
spirit of the age we live in, the importance of which, if Avithin
the reach of the city, it would not be easy to. exaggerate, — a
communication with the countt-y by railway. This city," from its
earliest foundation, has been advancing in a regular progression
of populousness and wealth; And though, in both these respects,
it has not kept pace with other cities, yet the population has
increased in a ratio sufficiently. indicative of its prosperous tend
encies, and wealth continues to bear a greater proportion to
population than is perhaps elsewhere to be. seen. So, long as
these advantages shall continue, the growth of our sister cities
will furnish no cause of envy or regret... The time which has
elapsed since the ti-eaty of Ghent,' enables us to form a suffi
ciently correct estimate of the. probable operation of cncum
stances on the interests of this city in any .other period of peace
of the same duration. We have experienced aU the vicissitudes
of business which arise from a transition from war to peace, and
the efforts made by commerce, . both , external and internal, to
adjust themselves to new positions, and to surmount the embar
rassments and consequences . inseparable from such change.
Among these, may be reckoned the fluctuation of ti-ade with
foreign countries, the perplexities groAving out of their commer-

CITY GOVERNMENT. 285
cial regulations, and, on the Avhole, its sensible diminution.
The effects of excessive exports and imports ; the occasional
drains and refluxes of specie ; the corresponding increase of the
coasting ttade; the alternation of scarcity and surplus in the
money market, by the operation of the banking system ; the rise
and progress of the manufacturing interests, and the variations
in the employment afforded to the middUng and laboring classes
of our feUow-citizens. The result of these mutations proves the
condition of our city to be sound and vigorous. Great fortunes
are no longer accumulated ; but judicious enterprise and honest
industry are generally rewarded by competent gain. The me
chanic is employed, and the laborer receives his hire. This state
of things demands our highest gratitude to the Giver of aU good,
and justifies the inference, that if Ave can maintain our natural
resom-ces and connections, we shaU find no cause for despond
ence. But it is not to be ffisguised, that these connections are
menaced Avith interruptions and diversions, requiring exertion
and vigilance to obviate their effects. AU parts of the Union
but New England are aUve to the importance of establishing
and perfecting the means of communication by land and Avater.
The magic of raising states and cities in our country to sudden
greatness, seems mainly to consist in the instituting of canals
and railroads. The choice, therefore, is not left to us of reaping
the frffits of our natural resources, and from abstaining from all
part in these enterprises. The state and city must be up and
doing, or the streams of our prosperity wiU seek new channels.
We must preserve our intercommunication Avith each other
and with our sister States by the methods which they adopt, or
we shaU be left insffiated. Our planet cannot stand stUl, but
may go backward without a miracle. The question wUl arise,
and we must prepare to meet it, not whether raUroads are sub
jects of lucrative speculation, but whether they be not indispen
sable to save this State and city from insignfficance and decay.
It would be quite premature to enlarge in a dissertation on par
ticulars connected Avith this subject. Unless the smveys and
calcffiation of skUful persons employed in this business are faUa-
cious, there is no doubt that a raiUoad from this city to the
Hudson may be made with no greater elevation in any part
than is found between the head of Long Wharf and the Old
State House ; and that the income woffid pay the interest of

&

286 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the capital employed. Reports and documents from commis
sioners appointed by the Legislature, may, it is beUeved, be
expected at an early day. Should they be as favorable as is
anticipated, to the practicability of the undertaking, they will
present to our citizens and to us materials for more grave consi
deration than can arise from any other subject. I wUl not tmst
myself to express the joy I should feel in ascertaining that the
undertaking is not only feasible, but within the compass of the
resources of the State or city, or of enterprising individuals, or
of all united, and that they would be so applied. These feel
ings, however, will never, I trust, stimffiate me to recommend
measm-es that shaU not have undergone and been found equal to
sustain the closest scrutiny. It is now intended, merely by
general allusion, to invite you to turn your thoughts to the sub
ject, and to famUiarize yourselves to reflect upon the probable (I
may say) certain effects of a communication which, by connect
ing this city Avith the Hudson, would open a market to the
regions beyond it, and be reaUzed in their immeffiate influence
in every house, wharf, store, and workshop. Nor woffid the con
sequences be less propitious to the country through Avhich it
Avould pass ; converting its wastes into villages, its forests into
fields, its fields into gardens, and the timber and granite of its
mountains into gold. WhUe, on the one side, pubUc attention
wiU be attracted towards facilitating intercourse by land, gi-eat
advantages would result on the other, from an extended plan of
steam navigation to Maine and to the British Provinces and to
the Island of Nantucket. The apathy hitherto prevaiUng, in
relation to this scheme, is unaccountable. But as the success of
it can be expected only from inffividual enterprise, it is men
tioned merely for the sake of respectfully commending it to the
pattonage of your separate opinions and influence out of doors.
Gentlemen, I wUl now bespeak your indulgence for a fe-W
moments upon a matter which, though not ffirectly appertaining
to the municipal sphere, may not, Avhen canffidly weighed, be
regarded as misplaced and unseasonable on this occasion. It is
quite apparent to aU our feUow-citizens, that the honor of the
chair which I now occupy, is not the frffit of any party struggle.
With the friends of former days, whose constancy can never be
forgotten, others have been pleased to unite (and to honor me
with then suffrages) who hold in high disapprobation the part I

CITY GOVERNMENT. 287
formeriy took in poUtical affans. Their support of me on this
occasion is no symptom of a change of their sentiments in that
particffiar. I presume not to infer from it even a mitigation
of the rigor with which my pubUc conduct has been judged.
But it is not presumptuous to take it for gi-anted, that those
who have favored me with their countenance on this occasion,
confide in my sense of the obUgation of veracity, and of the
aggravated profligacy that Avoffid attend a violation of it, stand
ing here in the presence of God and my country. On this faith,
I feel myself justffied by circumstances to avaU myself of this
occasion, the first, and probably the last, so appropriate, that wffi
be in my poAver, distinctly and solemnly to assert, that, at no
time in the course of my life, have I been present at any meet
ing of individuals, public or private, of the many or the few, or
privy to correspondence, of Avhatever description, in which any
proposition, having for its object the dissolution of the Union, or
its dismemberment in any shape, or a separate confederacy, or a
forcible resistance to the government or laws, was ever made or
debated ; that I have no reason to believe, that any such scheme
was ever meffitated by ffistinguished individuals of the old fede
ral party.
But, on the other hand, every reason which habits of intimacy
and communion of sentiments AAith most of them afforded, for
the persuasion that they looked to the remote possibiUty of such
events as the most to be deprecated of aU calamities, and that
they woffid have received any serious proposal, calculated for
those ends, as a paroxysm of political delirium. This statement
wffi bear internal evidence of ttuth to aU who reflect that among
those men were some by the firesides of whose ancestors the
principles of the Union and independence of these States were
first asserted and digested ; from which was taken the coal that
kinffied the hallowed flame of the Revolution ; from whose ashes
the American eagle rose into life. Others who had conducted
the measures and the armies of that Revolution, — Solomons in
councU, and Samsons in combat. Others who assisted at the
bnth of the federal constitution, and watched over its infancy
.with paternal anxiety. And I may add, to the best of my
knowledge and beUef, that aU of them regarded its safety and
success as the best hope of this people, and the last hope of the
friends of Uberty throughout the worid. Are treasonable, or dis-

MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
loyal plots or purposes, consistent with these relations ? It
woffid seem to be hardly conceivable ; yet it is possible. The
lost archangels cabaUed and revolted against the government of
heaven ; favorites, rioting in the sunshine of royal favor, have
turned traitors to their king ; and republicans, sickeffing with the
Mgher glory of the love and confidence of the people, have enslaved
them to factions and sold them to tyrants. Such foul conspira
cies may have been in our time. But should they be credited
without evidence proportioned to their probable enormity ? with
out doings as well as sayings ? without any evidence whatever?
Secret cabals and plots are the constant theme of suspicion and
accusation in times of political excitement ; and they can be dis
affirmed only by the simple negation of the parties accused, until
the proofs are adduced. Are unguarded sUps of the tongue, or
passionate invectives, proofs Avhich ought to satisfy impaffial
minds ? Surely, it is not for the honor or prosperity of this city
or of any party, that it should be stigmatized as the head-quar
ters, not of good principles, but of treasonable machinations.
The ffiscredit of the malaria once fixed would affect the reputa
tion of all. The ffistinction between leaders and led, so insult
ing to freemen who are supposed to come under the latter deno
mination, will not be recognized ; and if you are known to come
from the infected disttiet, those who hold their nosttils and
avoid you will not stop to inquire, whether the plague were in
your own family.
I again express my hope, that these remarks wUl not be con
sidered iU-timed. They are a testimony offered in defence of the
memory of the honored dead, and of patiiotic survivors who
have not the same opportunity of speaking for themselves.
Their object is not personal favor, though I am free to admit,
that I am not indifferent to the desire of removing doubts and
giving satisfaction to the minds of any who, by a magnanimous
pledge of Mnd feeUngs towards me, have a claim upon me for
every canffid explanation and assurance in my power to afford.
Moreover, the harmony of our fellow-citizens may be promot
ed by a right understanffing of these matters. The history of
republican states and cities is soon told. Parties grow up from
honest ffifference of opinion on the policy of measures. In pro
cess of time, the subject of controversy dies a natural death ; and
if personal animosities coffid be bmied in the same grave all
woffid be weU.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 289
In that event, the people would have a respite from party
struggle, and when new contests and dissensions should arise,
they woffid again choose sides from principle, and take a ucav
departure from each other, free from the fetters and irritation of
former affiances. The virulent humors of the body poUtic woffid
not coUect in the old wounds, but be again ffispersed and cured
by the comse of natme. But this happy termination of poUtical
sttife, with its original causes, seems not to accord with experi
ence. The names and badges and attitude of parties are pre
served ; antipathies become habits. Men resolve to ffiffer eter-
naUy, without cause, for the mere reason of haAing once differed
for good cause. One portion of the people is excluded by the
other from the public service. Parties become factions. The
torch of ffiscord blazes while the ffi-e of pattiotism expires, and
the fierce and unholy passions which have rent the Republic sur
vive its ruin. May our beloved city prove an exception to these
sad examples.
Gentlemen, the duties on which we are about to enter are
not classed with those of high political dignity ; but if they are
less fascinating to the ambitious, they are not without attrac
tion to the benevolent.
We are intrusted with the care of institutions which have a
daUy bearing upon the morals, education, health, and comfort
of our feUow-citizens. Om- population exceeds that of more
than one State at the time of admission into the Union. Its
interests are not the less precious, because they are condensed in
one spot. While the political government are occupied with
counsels Avhich look to the wealth and safety and glory of the
nation, what better cau we do than to consult together for the
happiness of those among AAiiom many of us were born and all
of us live, and which is indissolubly Unked to our own.
On you, gentlemen, I shall rely for concurrence, in whatever
may tend to this object, and I will refer by messages to your
inteUigence and consideration aU matters that, by the charter,
require that direction.
On the twelfth of January, the subject of the flats lying to the
eastward of Faneuil HaU Market came under the consideration
of the City CouncU, and a committee was raised and invested
with fffil authority to fill them up; and to borrow money for
25

290 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
that object, on the terms and on the conditions and resttictions
contained in the vote on that subject of the preceffing City
Council. In October, the superintendent of these operations
reported them to be finished, and the cost of fffiing the flats up
as having been seventeen thousand three hundred dollars.
On the nineteenth of the same month, a petition from a
number of citizens was presented, praying for such an alteration
in the city charter, that the warden and inspectors in the respect
ive wards may have the right to receive the vote of any person
duly qualified, though his name be not borne on the votmg Ust.
The subject was referred to a committee of both branches of the
City Council, of wMch the Mayor Avas chairman, who, on the
second of February, reported that " it woffid not be expedient to
grant the right prayed for, to the warden and inspectors, as it
would be giving them the power of deciding upon the quaUfica
tions of voters amid the urgent business of an election ; that
such a power would be Uable to great interruption in its exer
cise, under such unfavorable circumstances ; would produce dis
putes and delay, and give rise to different decisions in different
wards under similar circumstances and evidence, tending also
to render the Usts of the voters imperfect, and in the end useless,
as the citizens would be remiss in procuring then names to be
entered, knowing that the remedy could be done at the poUs.
On the whole subject, the Committee refer to a report made
December twenty-second, 1828,^ to the last City CouncU, (Avhich
was then printed and distributed,) " for an elaborate exposition
of facts and principles relative to this subject." It is on the
whole beUeved, that whatever improvement can be made in the
means of enabUng the citizen to ascertain whether his name be
inserted on the Ust of voters, and to enable him to have it thus
placed, prior to the election, ought to be adopted ; but that no
government is bound to protect its citizens against wUfffi negli
gence and inattention to their own privileges. By this report
two resolutions were submitted, the first requesting and direct
ing the Assessors to take proper measures for making out the
voting lists, in each ward, by noting the names of the quaUfied
voters at the time of making out the tax lists, so that the voting
Usts may be completed in each ward as near as may be at the
1 See page 237.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 291
same time A\ith the tax lists of such ward ; and that they prepare
and transmit to the Mayor and Aldermen, corrected voting Usts
of all the wards, on or before the first day of October, in each
year. The second, declaring it to be the duty of the Mayor and
Aldermen, as soon as they shaU have received a certffied tran
script of the voting lists, pm-suant to the preceding resolution, to
cause a copy thereof to be posted in some pubUc place in each
Avard, and to give public notice, in one or more newspapers of
the several places in AvMch such lists shall be posted. The
above report was accepted, and the resolutions passed, in the
City CouncU.
On the second of February, 1829, a committee of the City
CouncU was appointed on the memorial of the Directors of the
House of Juvenile Offenders, of Avhich the Mayor was Chair
man, who reported, that " they had repaired to the site of the
institution for the purpose of inspection, and examining into the
state of its ffiscipUne, government, and general condition, and
had a fffil conference and comparison of views with the Direct
ors and Superintendents of said House and of the House of
Industry, with which the same is in some measure connected ;
and after due examination into the premises, the Committee are
gratified in expressing their approbation of the fidelity, industry,
and ability, which are manifested in the administtation of the
affairs of the institution, by the Directors and other officers, and
their persuasion of the real advantages resulting and promised
to the City and Commonwealth from the system established and
enforced by those who have the management of it, in aU the
departments ; and that the thanks of the community are spe
ciaUy due to those individuals who have devoted, and persevere
m devoting, their time and attention to the advancement of
its interests, with no other reward but that of conscious benevo
lence, and a regard to the cause of humanity." The Report
concluded Avith a recommendation to the City Council to carry
into view the measmes suggested by those Directors, which
were presented in the form of a biU, defining more precisely the
powers and duties of those Directors, and of the other officers of
the institution.
On the ninth of February, the Mayor nominated Thomas C.
Amory, Chief Engineer of the Fne Department, which was

292 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
concurred in by the City CouncU ; and on the same day all the
Assistant Engineers of the last year were nominated, and
appointed by unanimous vote of that body. And on the
twenty-ninth of the same month the Assistant Engineers all
presented a memorial to the City Council, " requesting that
measures may be taken, as soon as consistent with the con
venience of the city authorities, to elect others to supply their
places ; and that in the mean time they AviU act as heretofore,
and give all the aid and assistance in their power in subduing
the common enemy." On the twenty-fifth of March ensuing,
a vote passed the Board of Aldermen, giving their thanks to the
late Assistant Engineers of the Fire Department, for the fideUty
and alacrity uniformly manifested by them in the discharge of
their arduous duties, with an assurance of the sense entertained
by the Board of the value of their services and example, in pro
moting the efficient organization of that department. On the
same day, the vacancies thus created were fiUed by electing
twelve other citizens to constitute a ncAV board of Assistant
Engineers. And on the first of April ensuing, the salary of one
thousand doUars for the Chief Engineer was estabUshed by the
city authorities, to be computed from the sixteenth of the pre
ceding February, and paid quarterly. Until this time the ser
vices of the Chief Engineer had been gratuitously rendered.
In February, 1828, petitions having been presented to the
Legislature of the State by the proprietors of Avharves at the
northerly part of the city, for permission to extend them into
the channel of the harbor, the Mayor, apprehensive that such
a permission might injuriously affect the free navigation of the
channel, requested the Legislature to suspend its proceedings,
and by special message brought the subject before the City
Council, as being obviously of great importance ; stating that,
although it is quite conceivable, that, in certain situations,
wharves may be extended to some reasonable length into the
channel without dettiment to the harbor, yet it may be expected,
that privUeges granted to one set of proprietors, wiU be claimed
with great importunity by others ; and that embarrassment may
arise to the city government from precedents, established with
out due consideration ; that it by no means foUows of course,
that, because a license may be granted to extend a wharf in
a place where the channel is wide, and Avhere the current would

CITY GOVERNMENT. 293
not be injuriously affected, a similar permission should be given
in other cases, to which the dimensions of the channel and the
effect on the current would present serious objections. Caution
and deliberate examination by impartial judges, seemed to him
requisite to make proper discrimination, to preserve limits and
terms to every such Ucense, as well as to the mode of carrying it
into effect. In some positions, wharves erected on pUes might
be tolerated, which, if of solid consttuction, woffid be formidable
nuisances. The Mayor, therefore, suggested the expediency of
appointing commissioners, composed of merchants and others
acquainted Avith the circumstances of the harbor, to examine
and report upon every such application, such facts and opinions
as may gffide the city government in deciding on its merits;
and that every permission granted by the Legislature shoffid be
on condition, that the Avork be executed in a mode satisfactory
to the agents of the city government. This recommendation
resffited at first in the passing, by the Board of Aldermen, of two
resolutions, requesting the Mayor to present a remonstrance on
the subject, in behalf of the City Council, and suggesting the
expediency of having the entire power over the whole subject
delegated to the city authorities. These resolutions Avere, how
ever, non-concun-ed in the Common Council, and an order passed
proposing a joint committee of the City Council, to take such
measures as they may deem proper to protect the rights and
interests of the city, in the extension of wharves into the chan
nel of the harbor, Avith power to appear before the Committee
of the Legislature that had the subject in hearmg ; and, if neces
sary, to employ the City Solicitor to maintain the rights of the
city in the premises. In this resolution the Mayor and Alder
men concurred.
In AprU, 1829, the Mayor communicated a letter from a com
mittee appointed by the citizens of Augusta, in the State of
Georgia, stating "that that city had recentiy suffered greatiy in
consequence of a ttemendous conflagration," which had con
sumed about two hunffied houses, and deprived more than fifteen
hundred persons of a house, and praying reUef. The City Coun
cU accordingly ordered, that a copy of the letter shoffid be sent
to each of the pastors of the several churches in Boston, and
authorized the Mayor to recommend, in behalf of the Board,
a contribution thereon for the relief of those sufferers. On the
25*

294 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
twenty-fifth of May, Alderman Armsttong, as Treasurer of the
contributions of the several churches in the city for the reUef of
the sufferers of Augusta, stated, that the amount coUected was
two thousand tAVO hundred and forty-seven dollars and fifty-
eight cents, which the City Council authorized the Mayor to
transmit to the Committee appointed by the sufferers to receive
conttibutions, which was immediately done, and in June foUow
ing, the receipt of that amount was acknowledged by the
Committee, in a letter to the Mayor, " expressing the grateful
feelings with which so acceptable a benefaction had been re
ceived, heightened by the reflection, that neither .ffistance nor the
absence of intimate relations could repress an exercise of libe
rality so honorable to his fellow-citizens." This letter was
ordered by the City Council to be entered at large on their
records, and be published.
In May, 1829, it having been represented to the Mayor, that
causes were slowly but certainly operating unfavorable effects
upon the navigable waters of the inner harbor, and that the part
of the channel extending from the Long Wharf, or thereabouts,
southerly to the new bridge at South Boston, is gradually
becoming more shallow from various causes ; that vessels lying
at the Avharves in that space are endangered by easterly and
northeasterly storms ; and that there is no position, in that
quarter, which can safely be occupied by steamboats, owing to
the pecuUarity of their construction, he presented the subject by
special message to the attention and care of the city govern
ment, stating that if the flats, lying in the channel, (beyond the
reach of individual claims,) were the property of the city, im
provements might be made upon them by means of breakwaters
or island AAffiarves, that would afford effectual protection to the
Avharves and harbor in that quarter, and obviate the increasing
shallowness of the channel ; that such improvements might be
made without expense to the city, and possibly on contracts
that AAJ-ould afford some ffitimate revenue; that the flats are
manifestly not, and can never become, of value to the Common
wealth, except indnectly, as they may be subservient to the
safeguard and navigation of the harbor ; and that it could not
be doubted, that upon suitable application on behalf of the city
to the Legislature, a cession might be obtffined of the flats
above-mentioned, and which, being in possession of the city,

CITY GOVERNMENT. 295
might, under their direction and authority, be converted to the
public benefit ; that it would seem more proper and necessary,
.that these flats should become the property of the city, inas
much as memorials are frequently presented to the Legislatme
for private grants and immunities, by the proprietors of wharves
and estates lying in that neighborhood, (and others may be
anticipated,) of the reasonableness or injurious tendency of
which, as well as of the limitations and regulations to which,
if gi-anted, they ought to be subjected, the city government
would possess the most competent means of deciding, the
premises being constantly under their observation. The Mayor,
therefore, suggested the appointment of a committee, with fuU
powers to apply to and endeavor to obtain from the Legisla
tm-e a grant of the premises, or of a portion thereof, sufficient
for the purposes above expressed. These views of the Mayor
were immeffiately carried into effect in the City Council, by
appointment of a committee for the purposes expressed in the
message. In June foUowing, the Committee reported, that the views
presented by the Mayor were correct, and confirmed by the
opinion of the Boston Marine Society, who had investigated the
subject at their request ; and resolutions were reported and
passed by the City Council, authorizing the Mayor to apply to
the Legislature for a grant of the flats specified, and the Sena
tors and Representatives of the city were requested to aid in
obtaining the grant.
In February, 1829, on a petition signed by the requisite
number of quaUfied voters, a warrant was issued by the City
CouncU for a general meeting of citizens, on a day appointed
for that purpose, to give in their baUots, by yea and nay, on the
following resolutions : —
1. Resolved, That in our opinion it is expedient for the Com-
moiiAvealth to construct a railroad, on the most eligible route
from Boston to the western line of the county of Berkshire, so
that, in conjunction with the authorities of the State of New
York, it may be extended to the most desirable point on the
Hudson River, near Albany or Troy ; and also from Boston to
the Pawtucket River, at or near Providence, in the State of
Rhode Island.
2. Resolved, That in case the Legislature should deem it

296 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
expedient to consttuct said raffi-oads, whoUy at the expense of
the State, that the city government be authorized and requested
to apply to the Legislature for an act to enable any cities, towns,
or bodies corporate, or individuals, to subscribe for such portion
of said stock as may not be taken by the State, on such terms
and conffitions as may be deemed expeffient.
On the day appointed, a general meeting of the citizens of
Boston was holden in Fanueil HaU, and both resolutions were
passed by upwards of three thousand votes in the affirmative to
less than sixty in the negative.
An application to that effect was immeffiately made by the
City CouncU to the Legislature, in conformity with those reso
lutions. In November, a number of citizens petitioned the City Coun
cil, praying them to appropriate a suitable piece of land on the
flats betAv^en the Western Avenue and Boylston Stteet, in aid
of, and as a convenient terminus for warehouses, and a depot
for a raffioad, then proposed from the city to Brattleborough, in
Vermont. This petition was referred to the Mayor and Alder
man Loring, and to Messrs. Everett, Effis, and Rayner, of the
Common Council.
This Committee, in December foUowing, reported, "that the
establishment of raUroads connecting the city with the interior
country, is of such vital importance to the prosperity of the former,
as to leave no room to doubt, that the city government wUl ever
be actuated by a disposition to promote the success of these ope
rations, (when plans for them shaU be matured,) by Ml reason
able aid and means within the Umits of their constitutional
authority. The location of land for the termination of such
raiUoads in the city, appears to the Committee to involve many
important considerations, which, in the present incipient stage
of the business, the City CouncU are not competent to examine
and weigh. It is a measure, also, upon which any company
obtaining a charter would reserve the right of deciding for itself;
and a premature assignment of lands for the proposed object
might not only be rejected by such company, but prevent sub
scriptions to the stock by individuals, who woffid be dissatisfied
in perceiving the adoption of views, which might preclude them
from an entire freedom of voting and deciding upon what might
be deemed a very essential feature in any enterprise of this

CITY GOVERNMENT. 297
kind." The Committee, therefore, recommended the passage
of a resolve : — " That it is not expedient for the City Council to
make any grant or assignment of land for the accommodation
of railroads, until one or more charters of incorporation shall be
obtained for the consti-uction of such railroads, and the City
Council shaU thus be enabled to act upon distinct information
of all circumstances, in reference as well to the provisions of
such charters, and as to their authority to make such grants
under the charter of the city and the laws of the Common
wealth." This resolve was passed in concurrence by both
branches of the City CouncU.

CHAPTER XX.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harrison Geat Otis, Mayor^
Prosperous State of the City — Embarrassment of the Manufacturing Interests,
and its Causes — Completion of the City Wharf — State of the City Debt —
Sale of Public Lands — Condition of the Flats to the West of the Neck —
State of the Court-Houses — Protection of our Outer Haj-bor — Centennial
Celebration resolved upon — Grant of the City Hall for Sales of Domestic
Manufactures Rescinded — Sale of Spirituous Liquors , on the Common Pro
hibited. — Old State House to be called "The City HaU" — Centennial Cele
bration of the Settiement of Boston.
The records of the Mayor and Aldermen on the fourth of Jan
uary, 1830, state, that " a message was received from the Mayor,
expressing his regrets that indisposition prevented his having the
honor of meeting the gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen and
Common CouncU in their own chambers ; and, therefore, he
respectfully requested then presence at his house, at such hour
as might be agreeable to them, to qualify for their respective
functions. The members of both branches of the City Council
then proceeded to the mansion-house of the Mayor, where the
. government was organized Avith the usual solemnities ; after
which, the Mayor delivered the foUowing inaugural adffiess : —
GENTLEMEN OP THE CITY COUNCIL: 
The season has returned, in which we Avho are chosen by our
feUow-citizens to administer their municipal concerns for the
current year, are expected to enter upon the ffischarge of our
respective functions.
Our acknowledgments are due to the Great Disposer of all
events for having preserved to our constituents, tffioughout the
1 The whole number of votes were 1,966 ; of which the Mayor received 1,844.
The Aldermen Avere Henry J. OUver, John F. Loring, Samuel T. Ai-mstrong,
Benjamin Russell, Winslow Lewis, Charles WeUs, Moses WiUiams, John B.
M'Cleary.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 299
past year, the possession of the principal blessings, on Avhich
depend the welfare and comfort of populous cities. The health-
mess of the city, always umivaUed, has been preserved at least to
its usual standard. With the advantages of health have been
united those of plenty. Our markets and magazines are fiUed
to exuberance Avith aU that is needful for sustenance, or condu
cive to comfort and luxury, at reasonable and reduced prices.
We live also in a state of peace, Avhich seems not to be threat
ened with approaching interruption. The public concerns of
¦the State and nation are thus far Avell-administered, and no
indication is manifested, in the communications of the executive
government of the United States, of plans or schemes of poUcy
calculated to inspire apprehensions of measures unfavorable to
the interests of this community. These circumstances seem to
embrace aU that is requisite for the prosperity of an industtious
and enterprising people. They have, however, for the last two
years, been counteracted by others, which have opposed se
rious impediments to om advancement. The capitalists and
merchants of this city, influenced by the strong demonstrations
manifested in other parts of the Union in favor of the manufac
turing poUcy and by the patronage of government, and allured
by faUacious estimates of great profits made by others, in vio
lence of their natural predUections and habits, have invested
an undue portion of capital in manufacturing establishments.
Their example was followed by those Avhose capital consisted
whoUy in their spirit of enterprise. Hence ensued a disasttous
competition. The establishments bottomed on substantial funds
were stimulated to launch forth beyond the natural and reason
able limits of those funds. They coffid not renounce the market
without ruin, and their rivals could not maintain themselves in
it without sacrifices, that must end in, ruin. This crisis Avas
eagerly seized by the British manufacturers as furnishing an
occasion to extinguish, perhaps forever, the manufacturing spirit
in this countty ; and they inundated our market with the redun
dancy of their own. Hence resiUted an excessive plethora, and
consequent depreciation of value, loss, and sacrifice by forced
sales. Owing to these incidents, combined with the unwise
and improvident system of our legislation as respects manufac-
tming corporations, and AAith the uncertainty of the future poUcy
of the government, disturbed by the vehemence of opposition to

300 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
the protecting system originating here, hence extending to other
States, and brought back by violent reaction — add to these the
panic which always aggravates calamitous events — it h-as hap
pened, as might be foreseen, that property vested in manufac
tures has for a time become valueless as a medium of exchange,
or a foundation for credit or accommodation in any form. By
these means, many of our Avorthy citizens are rffined, others
cramped and embaiTassed, and our whole community become
less able to embark in other enterprises, which would augment
the wealth and resources of the city. There is, however, a
cheering prospect that the fierceness of this storm has over
blown ; that our affairs, in common with those of other parts of
the world, Avill graduaUy find their level, with less of injmy to the
city than our fears would seem to justify ; and that, after the
stt-uggle of half a century, in peace and in war, our nation wiU
have secured the privUege and the faculty of manufacturing for
itself Neither the state of public sentiment, nor the condition
of our treasury at the close of the year, authorized the expectation
that appropriations Avould be made for expensive public build
ings, or improvements of any description. Accorffingly, nothing
in this line has been attempted. The City Wharf has been
completed, and promises a revenue, which, after a few years,
AvUl reimburse its cost, and be then appUcable to other objects.
Two new engine-houses, tAvo school-houses, and a cottage for
the resident Physician on Hospital Island, are the only new
bffildings erected the past year. Five new reservoirs have also
been completed.
The amount of the city debt, on the fost of May last, was
$9] 1,850. Of which the sum paid by the Committee on the
reduction of the public debt, beyond the amount of moneys
borrowed to be applied to that object, is $54,100. There
was also borrowed for the payment of debt to the MercantUe
Wharf Corporation, and for the completion of Faneuil Hall
Market, the sum of $25,880.75. So that the true deduction
from the amount of the debt as it stood in May last, up to this
day, is $28,219.25. Thus leaving the aggregate amount of the
city debt at this time, $883,630. The only personal assets on
which reliance can be placed, as a partial offset against this
debt, are bonds and securities due to the city, of $257,341.42.
Apart from these, the only fund available for the reduction or

CITY GOVERNMENT. 301
extinguishment of this debt, must be found in the city's lands ;
and it follows, of course, that in the judicious management and
disposal of these lands can be found the only resources for pubUc
credit, and for the ultimate improvement of the city, Avithout
resort to direct taxation, and that no object can be more worthy
of om- constant vigilance.
I have great faith in the intrinsic value of these lands, which,
owing to the vestm-e in which they are permitted to remain, is
not sufficiently appreciated. They certainly wUl not take care
of themselves. It is essential to any project for the lucrative
sale of them, that a prospective plan shoffid be adopted and
estabUshed, so that purchasers may calculate Avith reasonable
certainty upon future, as AveU as present advantages. It is also
inffispensable to the success of such project, that moderate
appropriations should be made, from time to time, to enable the
commissioner, under instructions from the Mayor and Aldermen,
at the sole expense of the city, or by cooperating Avith other
proprietors, (as the case may be,) to make such ffiains, dikes,
and canals, as may put certain parts of the land in a marketable
conffition. I am far from recommenffing the expenditure of
large amounts upon uncertain speculation ; but am also satisfied,
that, without some disbursement, nothing valuable can be
effected. For this purpose, the needful sums might be bor
rowed as wanted, reimbursable from the first sales ; thus mak
ing a nominal temporary adffition to the debt, for the sake of
its sure, effective, and ultimate payment. There could be little
danger of serious aberration in this procedure. These lands are
in some places contiguous to those of individual proprietors,
whose AvfeU-directed sagacity and enterprise have converted pre
mises possessing no supereminent advantages into populous
stteets and squares, and at rates, Avhich, realized by the city,
would not only extingffish its debt, but contribute an ample
fund for future improvements, and relief from our annual burden.
Nothing is perceived to inhibit those intrusted with the sale of
your lands from looking over the shoulders of these wise stew
ards and profitmg by then experience, but funds necessary for
occasional advances. In this connection it is my duty to state,
that the conffition of the flats west of the neck is regarded by
eminent physicians as becoming pregnant with danger to the
health of the city. It is an umvelcome truth, that the inter-
26

302 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
mittent fever is no longer confined to those regions, to which it
Avas until lately regarded as endemial, but occasionaUy appears
in more northerly latitudes, Avhich Avere thought to be happily
exempted from that scourge. Our own State, (so far as I am
informed,) and certainly our own city, are, under Providence,
strangers to tMs afflicting and enervating ffisease, wMch is
rarely dislodged from positions which it once occupies. But, if
such be the predisposition of the atmosphere of the country
around us, we are admonished by it not to set danger at defi
ance, by fostering upon our borders an immense morass, circum
vented Avith soUd dikes, and from its position a receptacle of
the seeds of disease.
The state of our principal court-houses and of the land con
nected Avith them, and of other county property, demands seri
ous investigation, and is not free from embarrassing circum
stances. This land, lying in the centte of the city, is of great
value in itself; but, cut off from streets by the public buildings,
it could not be sold for a fair equivalent. These buUdings
are not only altogether ill adapted to the exigencies of the city,
but the principal court-house is of a construction so defective
as to have been condemned upon a regffiar survey as unsafe.
It is noAV shored up in some parts by butttesses. It is believed,
that no alternative will remain to the city but to seU aU the
land and buildings, and to apply the proceeds, as far as they
will go, to the purchase of another site, suitable for the accom
modation of all our courts, and city government, and officers.
It is not my intention to recommend this measme defini
tively at this time. But, under a deep conviction that it will
bear examination, and be found at no distant period consistent
AAith true economy, and essential to the public accommodation,
I shall crave your permission, in due time, to submit to your
inspection the details of a plan for this piu-pose, not yet quite
matured. To some share in these lands and buUdings, the
town of Chelsea, as a portion of the county, is understood to
have a claim. The best interest of the city requires that this
claim should, on some equitable principles, be adjusted and
extinguished ; and that with it should terminate the existing
connection betAveen Chelsea and this city. It seems, at first
blush, preposterous, that this city should be compeUed to main-.
tain the organization and formalities of a county jurisdiction, in

CITY GOVERNIMENT. 303
consequence merely of this connection. It is attended with great
additional embarrassment, and the expense of it is not subject to
the ordinary revision and control of the city government. Its
dissolution must be preliminary to any substantial and salutary
reform in the organization of our comts, and the administration
of justice. The affans of the Houses of Industty, Reformation, Correc
tion, and the JaU, have been conducted in the most merito
rious manner by their respective Overseers, and Superintend
ents, accorffing to their means. But so much is wanted to
place them on a footing commensurate with the claims of
humanity and the feelings of the age — so much beyond om
present resomces — that I refrain from enlargmg on the subject;
expressing merely the hope, that some cheap provision may be
made, by temporary buUffings for the more effectual separa
tion of the insane from the chilffien of vice, and the least atro
cious of those from hardened offenders ; and that the time is
approaching, when the unfortunate debtor wiU not be domicffi-
ated or confounded Avith either of these classes.
From undoubted information it is ascertained, that the danger
of om harbor, from the aUuvion of some of the islands, and the
breach of the sea over the beaches, is constantly increasing. A
confidence is felt, that the national government Avffi contmue its
aid, to secure us against the more formidable inroads of the sea in
our lower harbor. But adffitional protection is wanted for the
interior positions, and for the existing whsurves. A large surface
of flats in the southeasterly quarter of the city, beyond the Umits
of those appendant to the upland, and entirely useless for any
but the proposed object, would serve as a foundation for break
waters ; and, if owned by the city, might be ceded for that
purpose to compames who woffid erect them. AppUcation has
been made to the Commonwealth for a release of any claim
they may have to the premises, and no objection is foreseen to
then granting what is of no value in its present circumstances,
but in the benefit of which the State would participate, when
made useful to its metropolis.
A copious supply of fresh water is a convenience, the want
of which becomes constantly more imperative. If, upon due
consideration, it should not be determined expedient for the-
city to erect hyffiants on its own account, the propriety of

304 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
granting that immunity to a company wffi naturaUy engage
and command the attention of the city government. ;
The transcendent success of the raUroad system in England,
as well as the encouraging resffit, so far as it has been attempted
in this country, support the hope, that Massachusetts AviU not
linger in the rear of that enterprise, from the issue of which
no other State has more to expect than herself.
Gentlemen of the Common Council, — It is pecuUarly your
province to devise all practicable means for aUeviating the weight
of taxation, and rettenching the expenses of the city government.
I have anxiously reviewed the ordinary heads of expenffiture, Avith
a desire to suggest to you any savings that may be made, conr
sistently with the accustomed wants, habits, and expectations
of our feUow-citizens. I regret to say, that I can discern none
of much importance. The population of the city is increasing.
The support of the School and Fire estabUshment is expected to
be maintained in fuU energy. The city is at present defectively
lighted, though additions are constantly making to the number
of lamps and quantity of oU. Many stteets are unpaved, the
claims of whose inhabitants to equal accommodations with thek
neighbors, are exttemely importunate. Occasions constantly
present themselves for the Avidening of stteets, which, if not
improved, wiU not recur for many years. It is my own. opinion,
that the cleaning and the sweeping of the stteets are practised
to a needless and pernicious extreme ; but such Mtherto seems
to be the pleasm-e of our feUow-citizens, to which I have conse
quently instructed the Superintendent of Stteets to conform.
Of the sums appropriated for the cm-rent expenses of this year,
more than nineteen thousand dollars have been pffid to meet
the arrearages of the last financial year, arising from outstand
ing conttacts and demands. It is confidently believed, that no
such items will appear to trench upon the appropriations for the
cmrent service ; stiU, it is apprehended that no very important
reduction can be made in our annual expenffiture.
On the subject of salaries, I have but a single remark, that
can be made with decorum. Shoffid a general reduction of the
salaries of your city officers be decided on, I shall not avail
myself of the protection provided by charter for the Mayor's
salai-y during the period for which he is elected ; but shaU con
form to what I may discern to be thepublicsentiment.

CITY GOVERNMENT.- 305
Nothing remains for me but to renew to you all my sincere
expression of the good wishes inspued by the associations of the
season, and to assure you of the gi-eat pleasure I shaU derive in
my humble attempts to give effect to your ordinances.
H. G. Otis.
January 4, 1830.
On the eighth of February, 1830, the Mayor communicated a
letter from the Hon. John Davis, Thomas L. Winthrop, James
Savage, and the Rev. Dr. Thaddeus M. Hams, a Committee of
the Massachusetts Historical Society, "respecting the expe
diency of celebrating the second century of the foundation of
Boston, which happens the present year," which, being read, was
referred to a committee, consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen Rus
seU and Lewis, and Messrs. Bigelow, Minns, James, Eveleth,
and Gregg, of the Common Council, to consider and report.
On the fost of March ensuing, this Committee reported, that
the seventeenth of September next wffi be the commencement
of the third century, since the name of Boston was fost con
ferred upon this city by the Court of Assistants then held at
Charlestown, and that there would be a propriety in the public
celebration of that day by the citizens of Boston and their
government ; that a pubUc adffiess commemorative of that event
and its aU-important consequences be, on that day, deUvered at
some suitable place in tMs city ; that a committee of arrange
ments be authorized to engage an orator for that day, and to
make such other dispositions for the honorable notice of it as
they may deem proper.
The report being accepted in both branches, the Mayor and
Benjamin T. Pickman, President of the Common CouncU, and
the other members who constituted the Committee that made
the above report, were appointed a Committee of Arrangements
to carry the same into effect.
This Committee invited Josiah Quincy, then President of
Harvard University, to deUver the oration, and Charies Sprague,
Esq., a distinguished citizen of Boston, to deliver a poem on that
occasion, both of whom accepted the appointment.
On the eighth of March, 1830, an order was passed by the
Board of Aldermen, " that notice be given to the New England
Society for the promotion of Manufactures and the Mechanic
26*

306 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Arts, that, after the expiration of six months, the vote which
passed the City CouncU on the nineteenth of November, 1827,1
granting the exclusive use of the hall over the Market for the
purpose of their semi-annual sales, from the fifteenth day of
March to the fifteenth day of April, and from the fifteenth day
of August to the fifteenth day of September, free of rent, until
the further order of the City CouncU, and that six months' notice
should be given to the said Society of the rescinffing of this
privilege, be and the same is hereby rescinded." This being
passed by the Board of Aldermen, was, on the twenty-second
of March, non-concurred by the Common CouncU ; and on the
twenty-ninth, a committee of conference was appointed, con
sisting of the Mayor, and Alderman Armsttong, and Messrs.
Waters and Winslow Wright, of the Common CouncU, on
the subject of the difference between the two Boards. On the
tMrd day of May, this Committee reported, that the privUege
granted to the New England Society was experimental and
a temporary accommodation ; that a diversity of opinion ex
isted among those mterested in manufactures, as to the advan
tage of persevering in these semi-annual sales ; that whatever
course the manufacturers might adopt on the subject, the " ttue
inquiry of the city government was, whether the advantage
indirectly accruing to the city itself, from their continuance, was
equivalent to the emolument which may reasonably be antici
pated directly to result from another mode of disposing of the
premises. Your Committee are unable 'to discern that that is
the case. The manufactures of this part of the country have
now attained so good a standard, and to such celebrity, that
whenever the supply tMoughout the United States does not
exceed the demand, they avUI be sought for by customers, whe
ther to be .had at private or public sales. The use of the buUd
ing is of little or no value to those who fabricate the goods.
The amount of the storage thus saved (if in fact it be saved)
averaged on the whole quantity of goods sold, cannot be felt in
the price of the goods, either by the inffividual seUer or the pur
chaser ; nor can the accommodation be very important to the
auctioneers, aU of whom have capacious warehouses. On the
other hand, the state of the city and its finances impose upon its
1 See p. 251.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 307
government the duty to avail themselves of every fan source of
revenue in its occupation of its property." The Committee
declared their beUef that a fair rent might be obtained for the use
of the haU ; and that if the New England Society should be
incUned to persevere in then: public sales, there might be a dis
position to aUow them the use of FaneuU HaU in Ueu of that in
then present occupation. The Committee, therefore, recom
mended that the Common CouncU recede from their vote of the
twenty-second of March, non-concurring with the order of the
Board of Aldermen, passed on the eighth of March, and that
they concm in passing the same ; and that' the Mayor and
Aldermen be authorized to lease the haU over the Market, here
tofore used by the New England Society, upon the best terms
they can obtain.
. This report was accepted, and the order passed in both
branches of the City CouncU.
In May of this year, a Committee of the Society for the Sup
pression of Intemperance petitioned the Mayor and Aldermen
to cause a band of music to be stationed on the Common on the
afternoons and evenings of the General Election and Fourth of
July, such a practice having, in their judgment, a tendency to
promote order and suppress an inclination to riot and intempe
rance, which, on the report of a committee, was ordered, and an
adequate appropriation was voted.
Orders at the same meeting were passed simUar to those
issued in 1828, directing the constables of the city to prosecute
any person who should seU on the Common, in the maUs, or in
any of the stteets contiguous thereto, spirituous Uquors or any
mixed liquors ; or avUo should, upon any of said places, play at
cards, or ffice, or with any implements used in gaming, on the
day of General Election, ArtiUery Election, and the Anniversary
of the Declaration of Independence ; and before granting per
mission to any person to erect booths, notice to the above effect
should be given, and also by publishing copies of this order in
the newspapers and in suitable pubUc places.
On the twenty-fifth of June, the Mayor, by special message,
after referring to the relations and interests of the city, in respect
of the public buUdings at its command, for public purppses,
recommended the giving to the Committee charged with the
alteration and repairs of the Old State House, fuU power to pre-

308 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
pare in that builffing chambers for the accommodation of the
Mayor and Aldermen and Common CouncU and such of the
city officers as could be conveniently provided for in those pre
mises. This recommendation was immeffiately sanctioned by
the City CouncU, and the arrangements having been made as
suggested in that message, the City CouncU first met in the
chambers prepared for their accommodation on the seventeenth
of September, 1830, the day assigned for the centennial celebra
tion of the foundation of the city, and the two branches being
assembled m Convention, the Mayor announced to them the
name " by which the effifice " (caUed the Old State House) " shaU
hereafter be caUed, namely, — City Hall," — and then made to
the Convention an adffiess ; " after which," the records state,
" the two branches went in procession to the Old South Church,
escorted by the Ancient and Honorable ArtUlery Company,
where an adffiess was deUvered by the Honorable Josiah Quincy,
President of Harvard University, and a poem by Charles Sprague,
Esq., and other serAices were performed in commemoration of
the close of the second century from the first settlement of
Boston." On the tAventieth of September, votes were passed by both
branches of the City CouncU, with customary expressions of
interest and respect to Mr. Otis and Mr. Qffincy for their
respective addresses, and to Mr. Sprague for his poem ; and
copies of each Avere requested for the press. They Avere pubUshed
accordingly, and constitute the remaining and final chapters of
this history.

CHAPTER XXI.
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harrison Grat Otis, Mayor.
.Address of the Mayor to the Members of the City CouneU, on the Removal of
, the Municipal Government to the Old State House, on the Morning of the
17th of September, r830.
Gentlemen of the Common Council : —
I have the honor to announce to you, that the Mayor and
Aldermen have concurred with your request to change the name
of this buUding, and to order that it be henceforth caUed and
known by the name of the City Hall.
Gentlemen of the City Council: — The mtimations which
I have received from many mdividuals of your body, have left
me no room to doubt of your general expectation, that this fost
occasion of om- meeting in this chamber should not be permitted
to pass away Avithout something more than a brief record of the
event upon your journals. The spot on which we are convened
is patriot ground. It was consecrated by our pious ancestors to
the duties of providmg- for the welfare of their infant settlementj
and for a long series of years was occupied in succession by the
great and good men, whom Providence raised up to establish
the institutions and liberties of their country.
There are none, who have paid even a superficial attention to
the process of their perceptions, who are not conscious that a
proUfic somce of intellectual pleasures and pains is found in our
faculty of associating the remembrance of characters and events,
which have most interested our affections and passions, with the
spot whereon the first have lived and the latter have occurred.
It is to the magic of this local influence that we are indebted for
the charm which recaUs the sports and pastimes of om chUd-
hood, the joyous days of youth, when buoyant spnits invested
aU surrounffing objects with the color of the rose. It is this
which brings before us, as we look back tMough the vista of

310 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
riper years, past enjoyments and afflictions, aspiring hopes and
bitter disappointments, the temptations we have encountered,
the snares which have entangled us, the dangers we have escaped,
the fidelity or tt-eachery of friends. It is this which enables us
to surround ourselves with the images of those who weire asso
ciates in the scenes we contemplate, and to hold sweet converse
with the spirits, of the departed, whom we have loved or hon
ored in the places which shaU know them no more.
But the potency of these local associations is not Umited to
the sphere of our personal experience. We are quaUfied by it to
derive gratification from what we have heard and read of other
times, to bring forth forgotten treasures from the recesses of
memory, and recreate fancy in the fields of imagmation. The
regions which have been famed in sacred or fabulous history;
the mountains, plains, isles, rivers, celebrated in the classic page ;
the seas ttaversed by the ffiscoverers of new worlds ; the fields
in which empires have been lost and won, are scenes of enchant
ment for the visitor who indulges the ttains of perception, wMch
either rush unbidden on his mind, or are courted by its volun
tary efforts. This faculty it is, which, united with a disposition to
use it to advantage, alone gives dignity to the passion for visit
ing foreign countries, and distingffishes the phUosopher, who
moralizes on the turf that covers the mouldering dust of ambi
tion, valor, or patriotism, from the fashionable vagabond, who
flutters among the flowers which bloom over their graves.
Among all the objects of mental association, ancient buUdings
and ruins affect us Avith the deepest and most vivid emotions*
They were the works of beings like ourselves. WhUe a mist
impervious to mortal view hangs over the future, aU our fond
imaginings of the things which " eye hath not seen nor ear
heard," in the eterffity to come, are inevitably associated with
the men, the events and things, wffich have gone to join the
eternity that is past. When imagination has in vain essayed to
rise beyond the stars which " proclaim the story of their birth,"
inquisitive to know the occupations and condition of the sages
and heroes whom we hope to join in a higher empyrean, she
drops her weary wing, and is compelled to alight among the
fragments of " gorgeous palaces and cloud-capp'd towers," which
cover then human ruins ; and, by aid of these localities, to rumi
nate upon their virtues and their faffits, on their deeds m the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 311
cabinet and in the field, and upon the revolutions of the suc
cessive ages in which they Uved. To this propensity may be
ttaced the sublimated feeUngs of the man, who, familiar with
the stories of Sesostris, the Pharaohs, and the Ptolemies, sm--
veys the pyramids, not merely as stupendous fabrics of mecha
nical skiU, but as monuments of the pride and ambitious foUy
of kings, and of the debasement and oppression of the wretched
ijfiyriads, by whose labors they were raised to the skies. To
this must be referred the awe and contrition Avhich solemnize
and melt the heart of the Christian who looks into the Holy
Sepulchre, and beUeves he sees the place where the Lord was
laid. From this originate the musings of the scholar, who,
amid the ruins of the Parthenon and the AcropoUs, ttansports
his imagination to the age of Pericles and Phiffias ; — the reflec
tions of aU not dead to sentiment,' who descend to the subterra
nean habitation of PompeU, — handle the utensils that once
ministered to the wants, and the ornaments subservient to the
luxm-y of a poUshed city, — behold the rut of wheels upon the
pavement hidden for ages from human sight, — and realize the
aAvfffi hour when the hum of industty and the song of joy, the
waffing of the infant and the garruUty of age, were suddenly
and forever sUenced by the fiery deluge which bm-ied the city,
UntU accident and industry, after the lapse of nearly eighteen
centuries, revealed its ruins to the curiosity and cupiffity of the
passing age.
These remarks, in which you may think there is more of ttuth
than of novelty, have been suggested by the experiment, which,
a few days since, I attempted, to condense in the compass of a
short address a few ideas appropriate to this occasion. Begin
ning to think upon matters connected with the old Town House,
I found my mind confused, and overwhelmed Avith the multi
tudinous associations of our early history which it naturally
induced. To indulge them to a great extent, woffid ttehch
upon the province and the hour assigned to another, whose
eloquence wUl furnish the principal gratification of the day. It
is, therefore, indispensable, to confine myself to a few observa
tions, and consequently to' do but imperfect justice to my feel
ings and the subject.
The history of the Town House, considered merely as a com-
pages of brick and wood, is short and simple. It was erected

312 MUNICIPAL mSTORY.
between the years 1657 and 1659, and was principaUy of wood,
as far as can be ascertffined. The conttactor received six hun
dred and eighty pounds, on a final settlement in fuU of aU con
tracts. This was probably the whole amount of the cost, being
double that of the estimate — a ratio pretty regffiarly kept up in
om- times. The popffiation of the town, sixty years afterwards,
was about ten thousand ; and it is allowing an increase beyond
the criterion of its actual numbers at subsequent periods, to pre
sume that at the time of the fo-st erection of the Town House,
it numbered three thousand souls. In 1711, the buUding was
burnt to the ground, and soon afterwards built Avith brick. Irl
1747, the interior was again consumed by fire, and soon repaired
in the form wMch it retained until the present improvement,
Avith the exception of some alterations in the apartments made
upon the removal of the Legislature to the new State House.
The eastern chamber was originaUy occupied by the CouncU,
afterwards by the Senate. The Representatives constantly held
their sittings in the western chamber. The floor of these was
supported by pUlars, and terminated at each end by doors, and
at one end by a flight of steps leading into State Sti-eet. In the
day time, the doors were kept open, and the floor served as a
walk for the inhabitants, always much frequented, and during
the sessions of the courts, thronged. On the north side, were
offices for the clerks of the supreme and inferior comts. In
these the judges robed themselves, and walked in procession,
followed by the bar, at the opening of the courts. Committee-
rooms were provided in the upper story. Since the removal of
the Legislature, it has been internaUy divided into apartments
and leased for various uses in a mode familiar to you all, and it
has now undergone great repairs. TMs floor being adapted to
the accommodation of the city government, and principal officers,
while the fost floor is aUotted to the post-office, newsroom, and
private warehouses.
In this brief account of the natm-al body of the building,
which it is beUeved comprehends whatever is material, there is
nothing certainly dazzling or extraordinary. It exhibits no
pomp of architectural grandeur or refined taste, and has no
pretensions to vie Avith the magnificent structures of other coun
tties or even of our OAvn. Yet it is a goodly and venerable pile ;
and, with its recent improvements, is an ornament of the place.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 3I3
of whose Uberty it was once the citadel. And it has an interest
for Bostonians who enter it this day, lUie that wMch is felt by
grown children for an ancient matt-on by whom they were
reared, and whom, visiting after years of absence, they find her
^n her neat, chaste, old-fashioned attne, spruced up to receive
them, with her comforts about her, and the same Mnd, hospi
table, and exceUent creature, whom they left in less flourishing
circumstances. But to this edffice there is not only a natmal
but « a spnitual body," which is the immortal soul of Independ
ence. Nor is there, on the face of the earth, another building,
however venerable for its antiqffity or stately in its magnifi
cence, however decorated by columns and porticos, and car
toons, and statues, and altars, and outshining " the wealth of
Ormus or of Ind," entitled in history to more honorable men
tion, or whose spires and tmrets are sun-ounded with a more
glorious halo, than this unpretending building.
This assertion nught be justified by a review of the parts per
formed by those who have made laws for a centmy after the first
settlement of Boston ; of their early contention for their chartered
rights ; of their perils and difficffities with the natives ; of their
costly and heroic exertions in favor of the mother country in the
common cause. But I pass over them aU, replete as they are
with interest, Avith wonder, and with moral. Events posterior to
those gro-wing out of them indeed, and taking from them their
complexion, are considered by reflecting men as having pro
duced more raffical changes in the character, relations, prospects,
and (so far as it becomes us to prophesy) in the destinies of the
human famUy, than all other events and revolutions that have
transpired since the Christian era. I do not say that the princi
ples which have led to these events originated here. But I veur
ture to assert that" here, within these waUs, they were first prac-
ticaUy appUed to a well-regulated machinery of human passions,
conscious rights, and steady movements, which, forcing these
Uffited States to the summit of prosperity, has been adopted as
a model by which other nations have been, and wiU yet be pro-
peUed on the raihoad which leads to universal freedom. The
power of these engines is self-moving, and the motion is perpe-
tiial. Sages and philosophers had discovered that the world Avas
made for the people who inhabit it ; and that kings were less
entitled in then own right to its government than Uons, whose
27

314 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
claims to be lords of the forest are supported by physical prow
ess. But the books and tteatises which maintained these doc-
ttines were read by the admirers of the Lockes and Sidneys and
Miltons and Harringtons, and replaced on their shelves as brU-
Uant theories. Or, if they impeUed to occasional action, it
ended in bringing new tyrants to the throne and sincere pattiots
to the scaffold. But your progenitors who occupied these seats
fost taught a whole people systematicaUy to combine the united
force of their moral and physical energies ; to learn the rights of
insurrection, not as Avritten in the language of the passions, but
in codes and digests of its justifiable cases ; to enforce them
under the resttaints of ffiscipUne ; to define and Umit its objects ;
to be content with success, and to make sure of its advantages.
All this they ffid ; and when the propitious hour had arrived,
they caUed on their counttymen as the angel caUed upon the
apostles, — " Come, rise up quickly, and the chains feU from
their hands." The inspiring voice echoed through the welkin in
Europe and America, and awakened nations. He who would
learn the effects of it, must read the history of the world for the
last half century. He who would anticipate the consequences
must ponder well the probabiUties with which time is pregnant
for the next. The memoi-y of these men is entitled to a full
share of aU the honor arising from the advantage derived to
mankind from this change of condition, but yet is not charge
able Avith the crimes and misfortunes, more than is the memory
of Fulton with the occasional bursting of a boUer.
Shall I then glance rapidly at some of the scenes and the
actors who figm-ed in them withm these waUs ? ShaU I carry
you back to the conttoversies between Governor Barnard and
the House of Representatives, commencing nearly seventy years
ago, respecting the claims of the mother countt-y to tax the Colo-
ffies without their consent ? To the stand made agamst writs
of assistance in the chamber now intended for your Mayor and
Aldermen, where and when, according to John Adams, " Inde
pendence was born ? " and whose star was then seen in the
East by Avise men. To the memorable vinffication of the House
of Representatives by one of its members ? To the " Rights of
the Colonies," adopted by the Legislatm-e as a text book, and
transmitted by their order to the British Ministty ? To the
series of pattiotic resolutions, protests, and State papers, teeming

CITY GOVERNMENT. 315
with mdignant eloquence and irresistible argument in opposi-.
tion to the stamp and other tax acts? To the landmg and quar
tering of ttoops in the town ? To the rescinffing of resolutions
in obeffience to royal mandates ? To the removal of the seat
of government, and the untiring struggle in which the Legisla
tme was engaged for fourteen or fifteen years, supported by the
Adamses, the Thachers, the Hawleys, the Hancocks, the Bow-
doins, the Qffincys, and then- ffiusttious coUeagues ? In fact, the
most important measures which led to the emancipation of the
Colonies, accorffing to Hutchinson, a competent judge, origin
ated in tMs house, in this apartment, with those men, who, put
ting Ufe and fortune on the issue, adopted for their motto, —
" Let such, such only tread this sacred floor
Who dare to love their country and be poor."
Events of a ffifferent complexion are also associated Avith the
Boston Town House. At one time it was desecrated by the
King's tt'oops, quartered in the Representatives' chamber, and on
the lower floor. At another time, cannon were stationed and
pointed toward its doors. Below the balcony m King Street, on
the dolefffi night of the fifth of March, the blood of the fost vic
tims to the mffitary executioners was shed. On the appearance
of the Governor in the stteet, he was surrounded by an immense
throng, who, to prevent mischief to his person, though he had
lost their confidence, forced him into this buUding, with the cry
" to the Town House ! to the Town House ! " He then went
forth into the bafcony, and promising to use his endeavors to
bring the offenders to justice, and advising the people to retire,
they dispersed, vociferating " home ! home ! " The Governor
and Council remained aU night deliberating in dismal conclave,
while the friends of their country bedewed their pffiows Avith
tears, — " such tears as patriots shed for dying laws." But I
woffid not wish, under any circumstances, to dweU upon inci
dents Uke these, thankfffi as I am that time, which has secured
our freedom, has extinguished our resentments. I therefore tmn
from these painfffi reminiscences, and refer you to the day when
Independence, matme in age and lovehness, advanced Avith
angelic grace from the chamber in which she was born into the
same balcony, and holding in her hand the immortal scroU on
which her name and character and claims to her inheritance

316 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
were inscribed, received from the street, fiUed with an impene-
trable phalanx, and windows glittering with a blaze of beauty,
the heartfelt homage and electtifying peals of the men, wonieri,
and chUdren of the whole city. The splendor of that glorious
vision of my chUdhood seems to be now present to my view, and
the harmony of that universal concert to vibrate in my ear.
Such, gentlemen, is the cursory and meagre chronicle of the
men and the occurrences which have given celebrity to this
bffilffing. And if it be true, that we are now before the altar,
whence the coals were taken which have kinffied the flame of
Uberty in two hemispheres, you AviU reaUze with me the senti
ment already expressed, that the most interesting associations
of the eventfffi history of the age might rise in natmal ttains,
and be indffiged and presented on this occasion without violence
to propriety.
We, gentlemen, have now become, for a short period, occu
pants of this temple of Liberty. Henceforth, for many years,
the city government will probably be here administered. The
duties of its members are less arduous, painful, and dignified
than those of the eminent persons who once graced these seats,
and procured for us the privilege of admission to them. Yet,
let not these duties be undervalued. They are of sufficient
weight and importance to excite a conscientious desire in good
minds, to cffitivate a public spirit, and imitate Avith reverence
great examples. There is ample scope for ffispositions to serve
our fellow-citizens in the department of the city government.
It is charged with concerns affecting the daUy comfort and
prosperity of sixty thousand persons, a number exceeding that
of several of these United States at the time of then admission
into the Union. The resffits of their deliberations have an
immediate bearing upon the morals, health, education, and
purse of this community, and are generally of more interest to
their feelings and welfare than the ordinary acts of State legis
lation. It is a community, which any man may regard as a
subject of just pride to represent, rivalled by none in orderly and
moral habits, general inteUigence, commercial and mechaiuc
skUl, a spirit of national enterprise, and above aU a vigUance
for the interest of posterity manifested in the provision made for
pubUc education. No state of society can be found more happy
and attractive than yours. Many of those who are in its first

CITY GOVERNMENT. 317
ranks rose from humble beginnings, and hold out encourage
ment to others to foUow their steps. There is, so far as I can
judge, more real equality, and a more general acquaintance and
intercourse among the different vocations, than is elsewhere to
be found in a populous city. Those of the middling class as
respects wealth, the mechanics and the workingmen, are not
only eUgible, but constantly elected to all offices in state and
city, in such proportion as they (constituting the great majority)
see fit to assign. We enjoy the blessings of a healthy cUmate,
delightfffi position, and ample resources for prosperity in com
merce, manufactures, and the mechanic arts, all of which, I am
persuaded, are at this moment gradually reviving, after some
vicissitude from time and chance, which happen to aU things.
May we, and those who will succeed us, appreciate the respon-
sibleness attached to our places by the merit of our predeces
sors ; and, though we cannot serve our country to the same
advantage, may we love it Avith equal fidelity. And may the
Guardian Genius of our beloved city forever delight to dweU in
these renovated waUs !

27'

CHAPTER XXIL
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harrison Gray Otis, Mayor.
Address to the Citizens of Boston, on the 17th of September, 1830, the Close-of
the Second Century from the First Settlement of the City. By Josiah
Quincy, President of Harvard University.
Of all the affections of man, those which connect him with
ancestry are among the most natural and generous. They
enlarge the sphere of his interests ; multiply his motives to
virtue ; and give intensity to his sense of duty to generations to
come, by the perception of obligation to those which are pasi
In Avhatever mode of existence man finds himself, be it savage
or civilized, he perceives that he is indebted for the far greater
part of his possessions and enjoyments, to events over which he
had no conttol ; to individuals, whose names, perhaps, never
reached his ear; to sacrifices, in which he never shared; and
to sufferings, awakening in Ms bosom few and very ti-ansient
sympathies. Cities and empires, not less than individuals, are chiefly
indebted for their fortunes to circumstances and influences inde
pendent of the labors and wisdom of the passing generation.
Is om- lot cast in a happy soil, beneath a favored sky, and
under the shelter of free institutions? How few of aU these
blessings do we owe to oar own power, or our own prudence!
How few, on which Ave cannot discern the impress of long past
generations !
It is natmal, that reflections of this kind should awaken curi
osity concerning the men of past ages. It is suitable', and
characteristic of noble natures, to love to trace in venerated
institutions the evidences of ancestral worth and Avisdom ; and
to cherish that mmgled sentiment of awe and admiration, which
takes possession of the soffi, in the presence of ancient, deep-
laid, and massy monuments of intellectual and moral power.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 319
Under impulses thus natmal and generous, at the invitation
of your municipal authorities, you have assembled. Citizens of
Boston, on this day, in commemoration of the era of the found
ation of your city, bearing in fond recollection the virtues of
your fathers, to pass in review the circumstances which formed
their character, and the institutions which bear its stamp ; to
take a rapid survey of that broad horizon, which is resplendent
with their glories ; to compress, within the narrow circle of an
hour, the resffits of memory, perception, and hope ; combining
honor to the past, gratitude for the present, and fidelity to the
future. Stanffing, after the lapse of two centuries, on the very spot
selected for us by our fathers, and surrounded by social, moral,
and reUgious blessings greater than paternal love, in its fondest
visions, ever dared to fancy, we naturaUy turn our eyes back
ward, on the descending current of years ; seeking the causes of
that prosperity, which has given this city so distingffished a
name and rank among simUar associations of men.
Happily its foundations were not laid in dark ages, nor is its
origin to be sought among loose and obscure traditions. The
age of our early ancestors was, in many respects, eminent for
learning and civUization. Our ancestors themselves were deeply
versed in the knowledge and attainments of their period. Not
only their motives and acts appear in the general histories of
their time, but they are unfolded in then own Avritings, with a
simpUcity and boldness, at once commanding admiration and
not permitting mistake. If this condition of things resttict the
imagination in its natural tendency to exaggerate, it assists the
judgment rightly to analyze, and justiy to appreciate. If it
deny the power, enjoyed by ancient cities and states, to elevate
om ancestors above the condition of humanity, it confers a much
more precious privilege, that of estimating by unequivocal stand
ards the inteUectual and moral greatness of the eariy, interven
ing, and passing periods ; and thus of judging concerning com
parative attainment and progress in those qualities which con
stitute the dignity of our species. Instead of looking back, as
antiquity was accustomed to do, on fabling legends of giants
and heroes, — of men exceeding in size, in sttength, and in
labor, aU experience and history, and consequentiy, being obliged
to contemplate the races of men, dAvindUng with time, and

320 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
growing less amid increasing stimulants and advantages ; we
are thus enabled to view things in Ughts more conformed to the
natural suggestions of reason, and the actual results of observa
tion ; — to witness improvement in its slow but sure progress ;
in a general advance, constant and unquestionable ; — to pay
due honors to the greatness and virtues of our early ancestors,
and be, at the same time, just to the not inferior greatness and
virtues of succeeding generations of men, their descendants and
our progenitors. Thus we substantiate the cheering conviction,
that the virtues of ancient times have not been lost, or debased,
in the course of their descent, but, in many respects, have been
refined and elevated ; and so, standing faithful to the generations
which are past, and fearless in the presence of the generations to
come, we accumulate on our own times the responsibility, that
an inheritance, which has descended to us enlarged and im^*
proved, shall not be ttansmitted by us diminished or deteriorated.
As our thoughts course along the events of past times, from
the hour of the first settlement of Boston to that in which we
are now assembled, they ttace the sttong features of its charac
ter, indelibly impressed upon its acts and in its history, — clear
conceptions of duty ; bold vindications of right ; reaffiness to
incur dangers and meet sacrffices, in the maintenance of Uberty,
civU and religious. Early selected as the place of the chief
settiement of New England, it has, through every subsequent
period, maintained its relative ascendency. In the arts of peace
and in the energies of war, in the virtues of prosperity and
adversity, in wisdom to plan and vigor to execute, in extensiw-
ness of enterprise, success in accumulating wealth, and Uberahty
in its distribution, its inhabitants, if not unrivalled, have not
been surpassed, by any similar society of men. Through good
report and evil report, its influence has at all times been so dis
tinctly seen and acknowledged in events, and been so decisive
on the destinies of the region of which it was the head, that the
inhabitants of the adjoining colonies of a foreign nation early
gave the name of this place to the whole country ; and at this
day, among their descendants, the people of the whole United
States! a^yg distingffished by the name of " Bostonians."
1 Bostonais. The name is thus appUed, at this day, by the Canadian French.
During our Revolutionary War, Americans from the United States were thus
designated in France. Nor was the custom wholly discontinued even as late as

CITY GOVERNMENT. 321
Amidst perils and obstructions, on the bleak side of the
mountain on which it was fost cast, the seedling oak, self-
rooted, shot upward with a determined vigor. Now slighted
and now assailed ; amidst alternating sunshine and storm ; with
the axe of a native foe at its root, and the lightning of a foreign
power, at times, scathing its top, or withering its branches, it
grew, it flourished, it stands — may it forever stand! — the
honor of the field.
On this occasion, it is proper to speak of the founders of our
city, and of their glory. Now in its true acceptation, the term
glory expresses the splendor, which emanates from virtue in the
act of producing general and permanent good. Right concep
tions, then, of the glory of our ancestors, are alone to be attained
by analyzing their virtues. These virtues, indeed, are not seen
Charactered in breathing bronze, or in Uving marble. Our ances
tors have left no Corinthian temples on our hills, no Gothic
iathedrals on our plains, no proud pyramid, no storied obelisk,
in our cities. But mind is there. Sagacious enterprise is there.
An active, vigorous, inteUigent, moral popffiation throng our
cities, and predominate in our fields ; men, patient of labor,
submissive to law, respecttffi to authority, regardfffi of right,
faithfffi to liberty. These are the monuments of our ancestors.
They stand immutable and immortal, in the social, moral, and
inteUectual condition of their descendants. They exist in the
spirit which their precepts instiUed, and their example implanted.
Let no man think, that, to analyze and place in a just light the
virtues of the first settlers of New England, is a departure from
the purpose of this celebration ; or deem so meanly of our
duties, as to conceive that merely local relations, the circum
stances which have given celebrity and character to this single
city, are the only, or the most appropriate topics for the occa
sion. It was to this spot, during twelve successive years, that
the great body of those fost settlers emigrated. In this place,
they either fixed permanently their abode, or took then depart
ure from it for the coast, or the interior. Whatever honor
devolves on this metropoUs from the events connected Avith its
the year 1795. "We may remark," says a writer in the Collections of the
Massachusetts Historical Society, (Vol. vi., First Series, p. 69,) "that Boston
was not only the capital of Massachusetts, but the town most celebrated of any
in North America. Its trade was extensive ; and the name often stands for the
country in old authors."

322 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
first settlement, is not solitary or exclusive ; it is shared with
Massachusetts ; with New England ; in some sense, A\ith the
whole United States. For what part of this wide empire, be it
sea or shore, lake or river, mountain or valley, have the descend
ants of the first settlers of New England not ttaversed ? what
depth of forest, not penetrated ? what danger of nature or man,
not defied ? Where is the cffitivated field, in redeeming which
from the wilderness, their vigor has not been displayed ? Where,
amid unsubdued nature, by the side of the fost log hut of the
settler, does the school-house stand and the church spire rise,
unless the sons of New England are there ? Where does im
provement advance, under the active energy of wffiing hearts
and ready hands, prostrating the moss-covered monarchs of the
wood, and from their ashes, amid their charred roots, bidding the
greensward and the waving harvest to upspring, and the spirit
of the fathers of New England is not seen, hovering, and shed-
ffing around the benign influences of sound, social, moral, and reU
gious institutions, stronger and more enduring than knotted oak,
or tempered steel ? The sweUing tide of their descendants has
spread upon our coasts ; ascended our rivers ; taken possession
of our plains. Already it encircles our lakes. At this hour the
rusMng noise of the advancing wave startles the wUd beast in
his lair among the prairies of the West. Soon it shaU be seen
climbing the Rocky Mountains ; and, as it dashes over their
cliffs, shall be haUed by the dwellers on the Pacific, as the har
binger of the coming blessings of safety, liberty, and truth.
The glory, which belongs to the vntues of our ancestors, is
seen radiating from the nature of their design ; from the spirit
in which it was executed ; and from the character of their insti
tutions. That emigration of Englishmen, which, two centuries ago,
resulted in the settlement, on this day, of this metropolis, was
distinguished by the comparative greatness of the means em
ployed, and the number, rank, fortune, and intellectual endow
ments of those engaged in it, as leaders, or associates. Twelve
ships, transporting somewhat less than nine hundred souls,
constituted the physical strength of the first enterprise. In the
course of the twelve succeeding years, tAventy-two thousand
souls emigrated in one hundred and ninety-two ships, at a cost,
incluffing the private expenses of the adventurers, which cannot

CITY GOVERNMENT. 323
be estimated in our currency, at less than one mUlion of dollars.
At that time the tide of emigration was stayed. Intelligent
writers of the last century assert, that more persons had subse
quently gone from New England to Europe, than had come to
it during the same period from that quarter of the globe. A
cotemporary historian ^ represents the leaders of the first emigra
tion, as " gentlemen of good estate and reputation, descended
from, or connected by marriage with, noble famffies; having
large means, and great yearly revenue sufficient in all reason to
content ; their tables abundant in food, their coffers in coin ;
possessing beautiful houses, fffied Avith rich furniture ; gainfffi m
their business, and growing rich daily ; weU provided for them
selves, and having a sure competence for their chUffien ; want
ing nothing of a worlffiy nature to complete the prospects of ease
and enjoyment, or which could contribute to the pleasures, the
prospects, or the splendors of life."
The question forces itself on the mind. Why did such men
emigrate ? Why ffid men of their condition exchange a plea
sant and prosperous home for a repffisive and cheerless wUder-
ness; a civUized for a barbarous vicinity? Why, qffitting
peaceful and happy dweffings, dare the dangers of tempestuous
and unexplored seas, the rigors of untried and severe cUmates,
the ffifficffities of a hard soU, and the inhuman warfare of a
savage foe ? An answer must be sought in the character of the
times; and in the spirit, which the condition of their native
country and age had a direct tendency to excite and cherish.
The general civU and reUgious aspect of the EngUsh nation,
m the age of om ancestors, and in that immeffiately preceffing
their emigration, was singularly hatefffi and repulsive. A foreign
hierarchy, contending with a domestic despotism for infaffibiUty
and supremacy, in matters of faith. Confiscation, imprison
ment, the axe and the stake, approved and customary means
of making proselytes and promoting uniformity. The fires of
Smithfield, now Ughted by the corrupt and seffish zeal of Roman
pontiffs ; and now rekindled, by the no less corrupt and seffish
zeal of EngUsh sovereigns. AU men clamorous for the rights
of conscience, when in subjection; aU actively persecuting,
when in authority. Everywhere religion considered as a state
1 Johnson's " Wonder-Working Providence of Sion's Saviour in New Eng
land," eh. 12.

324 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
entity, and having apparently no real existence, except in asso?
ciations in support of established power, or in opposition to it.
The moral aspect of the age was not less odious than its
civil. Every benign and characteristic virtue of Christianity
was pubUcly conjoined, in close aUiance Avith its most offensive
opposite. HumiUty wearing the tiara, and branffisMng the
keys, in the excess of the pride of temporal and spiritual power,
The Roman pontiff, under the title of " the servant of servants,''
Avith his foot on the neck of every monarch in Christendom :
and under the seal of the fisherman of GalUee, detMoning kings
and giving away Mngdoms. Purity, content, and self-denial
preached by men, who held the wealth of Europe tributary to
their luxury, sensuality, and spiritual pride. Brotherly love in
the mouth, whUe the hand applied the instrument of torture,
Charity, mutual forbearance, and forgiveness chanted in umson
Avith clanMng chains and crackling fagots.
Nor was the inteUectual aspect of the age less repulsive than
its civil and moral. The native charm of the religious feeling
lost, or disfigured amidst forms, and ceremonies, and discipUnes,
By one class, piety was identified with copes, and crosiers, and
tippets, and genuflexions. By another class, aU these were
abhorred as the tticks and conjuring garments of popery, or at
best, in the language of Calvin, as " tolerable fooleries ; " while
they, on their part, identified piety Avith looks, and language,
and gestures, extracted or typified from Scripture, and fashioned
according to the newest " pattern of the mount." By none
were the rights of private judgment acknoAvledged. By all,
creeds, and dogmas, and confessions, and catechisms, collected
from Scripture with metaphysical skill, arranged with reference
to temporal power and influence, and erected into standards of
faith, were made the flags and raUying points of the spiritual
swordsmen of the church miUtant.
The fost emotion, which this vieAV of that period excites, at
the present day, is contempt or ffisgust. But the men of that
age are no more responsible for the mistakes into which they
fell, under the circumstances in which the inteUectual eye
was then placed, than we, at this day, for those optical ffiusions
to which the natural eye is subject, before time and experience
have corrected the judgment, and insttucted it in the true laws
of nature and vision. It was their fate to Uve in the crepuscular

CITY GOVERNMENT. 325
state of the intellectual day, and by the law of their nature they
were compelled to see things darkly, through false and shifting
mediums, and in lights at once dubious and deceptive. For
centuries, a night of Egyptian darkness had overspread Europe,
in the " palpable obscure " of which, priests and monarchs and
nobles had not only found means to inthral the minds of the
multitude, but absolutely to lose and bewilder their own. When
the Ught of learning began to dawn, the first rays of the rising
splendor dazzled and confused, rather than dnected -the mind.
As the coming light penetrated the thick darkness, the ancient
cumulative cloud severed into new forms. Its broken masses
became tinged with an uncertain and shifting raffiance. Sha
dows assumed the aspect of substances ; the evanescent sugges
tions of fancy, the look of fixed reaUties. TUe wise were at a
loss what to beUeve, or what to ffiscreffit; how to quit, and
where to hold. On aU sides sprang up sects and parties, infiffite
in number, incomprehensible in doctrine ; often imperceptible in
difference ; yet each claiming for itself infalUbUity, and, in the
sphere it affected to influence, supremacy; each violent and
hosffie to the others, haughty and hating its non-adhering
brother, in a spirit whoUy repugnant to the humiUty and love
incfficated by that religion, by which each pretended to be actu
ated ; and ready to resort, when it had power, to corporal penal
ties, even to death itself, as aUowed modes of self-defence and
proselytism. It was the fate of the ancestors of New England to have their
lot cast m a state of society thus unprecedented. They were-
of that class of the EngUsh nation, m whom the systematic per
secutions of a concenttated, civU, and ecclesiastical despotismi
had enkindled an intense interest concerning man's social and
reUgious rights. Their sufferings had created in their minds a
vivid and inextinguishable love of civU and religious liberty ; a
fixed resolve, at every perU, to assert and maintain their natural
rights. Among the boldest and most intelligent of this class of
men, chiefly known by the name of Puritans, were the founders
of this mettopolis. To a superficial view, their zeal seems
directed to forms and ceremonies and discipUnes which have
become at this day obsolete or moffified, and so seems mistaken
or misplaced. But the wisdom of zeal for any object is not to
be measmed by the particffiar natme of that object, but by the
28

326 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
natm-e of the principle, which the circumstances of the times or
of society have identified with such object. Liberty, whether
civil or reUgious, is among the noblest objects of human regard.
Yet, to a being constituted like man, abstract liberty has no
existence, and over him no practical influence. To be for him
an efficient principle of action, it must be embodied in some
sensible object. Thus, the form of a cap, the color of a surpUce,
ship-money, a tax on tea or on stamped paper, objects in them
selves indifferent, have been so inseparably identffied with the
principle temporarUy connected with them, that martyrs have
ffied at the stake, and patriots have faUen in the field, and tMs
Avisely and nobly for the sake of the principle, made by the cir
cumstances of the time to inhere in them.
Now, in the age of our fathers, the principle of civU and reU
gious Uberty became identified Avith forms, ffisciplines, and
modes of worship. The zeal of our fathers was graduated by
the importance of the inhering principle. This gave elevation
to that zeal. This creates interest in their sufferings. This
entitles them to rank among pattiots and martyrs who have
voluntarily sacrfficed themselves to the cause of conscience and
their countty. Inffignant at being denied the enjoyment of the
rights of conscience, Avhich Avere in that age identified with those
sensible objects, and resolute to vindicate them, they quitted
counti-y and home, crossed the Atlantic, and, Avithout other
auspices than their own strength and their confidence in heaven,
they proceeded to lay the foundation of a commonwealth, under
the principles, and by the stamina of which, their posterity have
established an actual and unconttoverted independence, not less
happy than glorious. To their enthusiastic vision aU the com
forts of life and aU the pleasures of society were light and worth
less in comparison Avith the liberty they sought. The tempest
uous sea was less ffieadful than the tt-oubled waves of civil dis
cord ; the quicksands, the ufficnown shoals, and unexplored
shores of a savage coast, less fearfffi than the metaphysical
abysses and perpetuaUy shifting whirlpools of despotic ambi
tion and ecclesiastical policy and inttigue; the bow and the
tomahawk of the toansatlantic barbarian, less terrible than the
flame and fagot of the civilized European. In the calm of our
present peace and prosperity, it is difficffit for us to reaUze or
appreciate their sorrows and sacrifices. They sought a new

CITY GOVERNMENT. 327
world, lying far off in space, destitute of aU the atti-actions which
make home and native land dear and venerable. Instead of
cultivated fields and a civilized neighborhood, the prospect before
them presented nothing but dreary wastes, cheerless cUmates,
•and repulsive wildernesses possessed by A\ild beasts and sava
ges ; the intervening ocean unexplored and intersected by the
fleets of a hostUe nation ; its usual dangers multiplied to the
fancy, and, in fact, by ignorance of real hazards and natural
fears of such as the event proved to be imaginary.
" Pass on," exclaims one of these adventurers,^ " and attend,
while these soldiers of faith ship for this western world ; whUe
they and their Avives and their little ones take an eternal leave
of their countty and kindred. With Avhat heart-breaking affec
tion did they press loved friends to their bosoms whom they
were never to see again ! their voices broken by grief, till tears
stteaming eased their hearts to recovered speech again ; natural
affections clamorous, as they take a perpetual banishment from
their native soil ; their enterprise scorned; their motives derided;
and they counted but madmen and fools. But time shall dis
cover the wisdom Avith which they were endued, and the sequel
shall show how their policy overtopped aU the human poUcy of
this world."
Winthrop, their leader and historian, in his simple narrative
of the voyage, exhibits them, when in severe sufferings, resigned ;
in instant expectation of battle, fearless ; amid storm, sickness,
and death, calm, confident, and undismayed. " Our trust," says
he, " was in the Lord of hosts." For years, Winthrop, the
leader of the fost great enterprise, was the Chief Magistrate of
the infant mettopolis. His prudence guided its councUs. His
. valor directed its stt-ength. His life and fortune were spent in
fixing its character, or in improving its destinies. A bolder
spnit never dwelt, a truer heart never beat in any bosom. Had
Boston, Uke Rome, a consecrated calendar, there is no name
better entitied than that of Winthrop to be registered as its
"patron saint."
From Salem and Chariestown, the places of their first land
mg, they ranged the Bay of Massachusetts to fix the head of the
settiement. After much deliberation, and not Avithout opposi-
1 Johnson, in his Wonder-Workiiig Providences of Sion's Saviour in New
England, ch. xU.

328 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tion, they selected this spot, known to the natives by the name
of Shawmut, and to the adjoining settlers by that of Trimoimt-
ain ; the former indicating the abundance and sweetness of its
waters ; the latter, the pecuUar character of its MUs.
Accustomed as we are to the beauties of the place and its
vicinity, and in the daily perception of the charms of its almost
umivaUed scenery, — in the centte of a natural amphitheatte,
whose sloping descents the riches of a laborious and inteUectuial
cultivation adorn, — where hffi and vale, river and ocean, island
and continent, simple nature and unobtrusive art, with con
trasted and interchanging harmonies, form a rich and gorgeous
landscape, we are Uttle able to realize the almost repffisive
aspect of its original state. We wonder at the bUndness of
those who, at one time, constituted the majority, and had well-
nigh fixed elsewhere the chief seat of the settlement. Nor are
we easUy just to Winthrop, Johnson, and their associates, whose
skill and judgment selected this spot, and whose firmness settled
the wavering minds of the mffititude upon it, as the place for
their metropolis ; a decision which the experience of two centu
ries has irrevocably justified, and which there is no reason to
apprehend that the events or opiffions of any centmy to come
wiU reverse.
To the eyes of the fo-st emigrants, however, where now exists
a dense and aggregated mass of living beings and material'
things, amid aU the accommodations of life, the splendors of
wealth, the deUghts of taste, and whatever can gratify the culti
vated intellect, there were then only a few hUls, which, when the
ocean receded, were intersected by Avide marshes, and when its
tide returned, appeared a group of lofty islands, abruptly rising
from the surrounffing waters. Thick forests concealed the
neighboring hiUs, and the deep silence of nature was broken
only by the voice of the wild beast or bird and the warwhoop of
the savage.
The advantages of the place were, however, clearly marked'
by the hand of nature ; combining at once present convenience,
future security, and an ample basis for permanent groAvth and
prosperity. Towards the continent it possessed but a single
avenue, and that easUy fortified. Its hiUs then commanded, not
only its own waters, but the hUls of the vicinity. At the bottom
of a deep bay, its harbor was capable of containing the proudest.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 329
navy of Emope ; yet, locked by islands, and guarded by wind
ing channels, it presented great ffifficffity of access to sttangers,
and to the mhabitants great faciUty of protection against mari
time invasion ; while to those acquainted with its waters, it was
both easy and accessible. To these advantages were added
goodness and plenteousness of water, and the security afforded
by that once commanding height, now, alas! obUterated and
almost forgotten, since art and industty have levelled the predo
minating mountain of the place ; from whose lofty and impos-
ffig top the beacon fire was accustomed to raUy the neighboring
popffiation on any tMeatened danger to the metropoUs. A sin
gle cottage, from which ascended the smoke of the hospitable
hearth of Blackstone, who had occupied the peffinsffia several
years, was the sole civffized mansion in the soUtude ; the kind
master of Avhich, at fost, AA'^elcomed the coming emigrants ; but
soon, disliking the sternness of their manners and the severity of
their ffiscipUne, abandoned the settlement. His rights, as first
occupant, were recognized by our ancestors ; and, in November,
1634, Edmund Qffincy, Samuel WUdbore, and others, were
authorized to assess a rate of thirty pounds for Mr. Blackstone,^
on the payment of which all local rights m'the peninsula became
vested in its inhabitants.
The same bold spirit wMch thus led our ancestors across the
Atlantic, and made them prefer a Avilderness where Uberty might
be enjoyed, to civilized Europe Avhere it was denied, wUl be
found characterizing aU their institutions. Of these, the limits
of the time permit me to speak only in general terms. The
scope of their poUcy has been usuaUy regarded as though it Avere
restricted to the acquisition of religious Uberty in the relation of
colonial dependence. No man, however, can truly understand
their institutions and the poUcy on which they were founded,
Avithout taMng as the basis of aU reasonings concerning them,
that civil independence was as truly their object as religious
liberty;^ m other words, that the possession of the former was,
1 Winthrop, vol. i. p. 45 ; note by J. Savage. _
2 The testimony of Chalmers, in his Political Annals of the United Colonies,
to the early and undeviating spirit of independence which actuated the first
emigrants to Massachusetts, is constant, unequivocal, and conclusive. Those
annals were written during the American Revolution, and pubhshed in the year
1780, in the heat of that controversy, and under the auspices of the British
government. A few extracts from that work, tending to show the pertinacious
28*

in en

33a MUNICIPAL .HISTORY.
their opinion, the essential means, indispensable to the secure
ijoyment of the latter, which was their great end.
The master-passion of our early ancestors was dread of the
spirit of independence which characterized our ancestors, and corroborative of
the position maintained in the text, cannot fail to be interesting.
"The charter of Charles I., obtained in March, 1628-9, was the only one
which Massachusetts possessed prior to the Revolution of 1688, and contained its
most ancient privUeges. On this was most dexterously engrafted, not only the ori
ginal government of that colony, hut even independence itself." Book I. c. vi.
p. 136.
"The nature of their government was now (1634) changed by a variety of
regulations, the legality of which cannot easily be supported by any other than
those principles of independence which sprang up among them, and have at aU
times governed their actions." Book I. p. 158.
Concerning the confederation entered into by the United Colonies of New
England in 1643, Chalmers thus expresses himself.
" The most inattentive must perceive the exact resemblance that confedera
tion bears to a similar junction of the Colonies, more recent, [that of 1775]
extensive, and powerful. Both originated from Massachusetts, always fruitful in
projects of independence. Wise men at the era of both remarked, that those
¦memorable associations established a complete system of absolute sovereignty,
because the principles upon which it was erected necessarily led to what
IT WAS NOT THE POLICY OF THE PRINCIPAL AGENTS AT EITHER PERIOD TO
AVOAV! " The principles upon which this famous association [that of 1643] was formed,
were altogether those of independency, and it cannot easUy be supported on
any other. The consent of the governing powers in England was never applied
for, and was never given." Book I. c. viU. pp. 177, 178.
" Principles of aggrandisement seem constantly to have been had in view by
Massachusetts, as the only rule of its conduct." Book I. p. 180.
" Massachusetts, in conformity to its accustomed principles, acted, during the
civU wars, almost altogether as an independent state. It formed leagues, not
only with the neighboring colonies, but with foreign nations, -without the con
sent or knowledge of the government of England. It permitted no appeals
from its courts to the judicatories of the sovereign State, without which a depend
ence cannot be preserved or enforced ; and it refused to exercise its jurisdic
tion in the name of the Commonwealth of England. It assumed the government
of that part of New England which is now called New Hampshire, and even
.extended its power farther eastward over the Province of Maine ; and, by force
•of arms, it compelled those who had fled from its persecutions beyond its bound-
.aries into the wilderness to submit to its authority. It erected a mint at Boston,
impressing the year 1652 on the coin, as the era of independence. Though, as
we are assured, the coining of money is the prerogative of the sovereign, and not
¦the privUege of a colony.
-" The practice was continued till the dissolutien of its government ; thiis
evincing to all what had been foreseen by the wise, that a people of such principles,
religious and political, settling at so great a distance from control, would necessarUy
form an independent State." Book I. c. viu. p. 181.
" The Committee of State of the Long Parliament having resolved to oblige
Massachusetts to acknowledge their authority, by taking a new patent from them,
and by keeping its courts in their name, that Colony, according to its wonted
poUcy, by petition and remonstrance, declaring the love they bore the Parliar
ment, the sufferings they had endured in their cause, and tiieir readiness to
stand or fall with them, and by flattering Cromwell, prevaUed so far as that the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 331
English hierarchy. To place themselves locally beyond the
reach of its power, they resolved to emigrate. To secure them
selves, after their emigration, from the arm of this their ancient
requisitions above-mentioned were never complied with, and the General Court
consequently gained the point in the controversy." Book I. c. viii. pp. 184, 185.
" But Massachusetts did not only thus artfully foil the ParUament, but it out-
fawned and outwitted Cromwell. They decUned his invitation to assist his fleet
and army, destined to attack the Dutch at Manhattan, in 1653, and acknowledg
ing the continued series of his favors to the Colonies, told him, that, " having
been exercised with serious thoughts of its duty at that juncture, which were, that it
was most agreeable to the gospel of peace, and safest for the plantations to forbear
the use of the sword, if it had been misled, it humbly craved his pardon." Book I.
c. vUi. p. 185.
" The address of Massachusetts above-mentioned, it should seem, gave perfect
satisfaction to Cromwell. Its winning courtship seems to have captivated his
rugged heart, and, notwithstanding a variety of complaints were made to him
against that Colony, so strong were his attachments, that all attempts, either to
obtain redress, or to prejudice it in his esteem, were to no purpose. Thus did
Massachusetts, by the prudence or vigor of its councUs, triumph over its oppo
nents abroad." Book I. c. viu. p. 188.
"After the death of CromweU, Massachusetts acted -with a cautious neutrality.
She refused to acknowledge the authority of Richard anymore than that of the Par
liament or Protector, because all submission would have been incon
sistent WITH HEB independence."
" She heard the tidings of the restoration with that scrupulous incredulity, with
which men Usten to news which they wish not to be true." Book I. c. x. p. 249.
" Prince Charles TL. had received so many proofs of the attachment of the
Colonies, during the season of trial, New England only excepted, that he judged
rightly, when he presumed they would listen to the news of his restoration with
pleasure, and submit to his just authority with alacrity. Nor was he in the least
deceived. They proclaimed his accession with a joy in proportion to their recol
lection of their late sufferings, and to their hope of future blessings. Of the
recent conduct of Massachusetts, he was well instructed ; he foresaw what really
happened, that it would receive the tidings of his good fortune with extreme
coMness ; he was informed of the proceedings of a society which assembled at
Coqper's HaU in order to promote its interests, and with them, the good old cause
of enmity to regal power. And in May, 1661, he appointed the great officers of
state a committee, ' touching the aflfairs of New England.' That Prince and
Colony mutually hated and contemned and feared each other, during his reign,
because the one suspected its principles of attachment, and the other dreaded an
invasion of its privUeges." Book I. p. 243.
" The same vessel which brought King Charles's proclamation to Boston, m
1G60, brought also WhaUey and Goffe, two of the regicides. Far from conceal
ing themselves, they were received very courteously by Governor Endicott,
and with universal regard by the people of New England. Of this conduct,
Charles H. was perfectly informed, and with it he afterwards reproached Massar
chusetts." Book I. c. x. pp. 249, 250.
"The General Court soon turned its attention to a subject of higher concern
ment,— the present condition of affairs. In order rightly to understand that
duty which the people owed to themselves, and that obedience which was due
to the authority of England, a committee at length reported a declaration of
rights and duties, which at once shows the extent of their claims, and their dex
terity at involving what they wished to conceal. The General Court resolved,
' That the patent (under God) was the first and main foundation of the cml
poUty of that Colony ; that the Governor and Company are, by the patent, a

332 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
oppressor, they devised a plan, which, as they thought, would
enable them to establish, under a nominal subjection, an actual
independence. The bold and original conception wffich they
had the spirit to form and successfully to execute, was the
attainment and perpetuation of religious Uberty, under the
auspices of a free commonwealth.^ This is the master key
to aU their policy ; this the glorious spirit which breathes in all
then institutions. Whatever in them is stern, exclusive, or at
this day seems questionable, may be accounted for, if not justi
fied, by its connection with this great purpose.
body politic, which is vested with power to make freemen ; that they have
authority to choose a governor, deputy-governor, assistants, and select represent
atives ; that this govei-nment hath ability to set up aU kinds of offices ; that the
governor, deputy-governor, assistants, and select deputies, have fuU juris
diction, both legislative and executive, for the government of the people
here, without appeals, ' excepting law or laws repugnant to the laws of Ens-
land ; ' that this Company is privileged to defend itself against all who shjJl
attempt its annoyance ; that any imposition, prejudicial to the country, contrary
to any of its just ordinances (not repugnant to the laws of England) is an
infringement of its rights.' Having thus, with a genuine air of sovereignty, by
its own act, established its own privUeges, it decided ' concerning its duties and
aUegiance ; ' and these were declared to consist in upholding that Colony as of
right belonging to his Majesty, and not subject to any foreign potentate ; in pre
serving his person and dominions ; iu settling the peace and prosperity of the
king and nation, by punishing crimes and by propagating the gospel It was at
the same time determined, that the royal warrant for apprehending WhaUey and
Goffe ought to be faithfully executed ; that if any legally obnoxious, and fleeing
from the eivU justice of the state of England, shall come over to these parts, they
may not expect shelter.' What a picture do these resolutions display of the
embarrassments of the General Court, between its principles of independence on
the one hand, and its apprehension of giving offence to the state of England on
the other." Book 1 p. 252.
" During the whole reign of Charles H. ^Massachusetts continued to act at she
always had done, as an independent state.
" Disregarding equally her charter and the laws of England, Massachusetts
established for herself an independent government, similar to tJiose of the Grecian
republics." Book I. c. xvi. p. 400 ; also o. xxii. p. 682.
It is not easy to perceive on wbat ground Chalmers supports the charge
against our ancestors of " concealment " of their real intentions by the General
Court, in their declaration of rights above quoted, from page 252 of his Annals,
On the contrary, it seems to have been conceived iu a spirit of boldness, which,
considering the weakness of the Colony, might be much better denominated
imprudently explicit than evasive. It is difficult to conceive what the General
Court could have added to that declaration of their right to independent self-
government, unless they had been prepared to draw the sword against the King,
and throw away the scabbard.
1 This is apparent from the fact, that they did form and maintain such a com-
monv/ealth, and from the further fact, that in no other way could they, in that
age, have had any hope successfuUy to maintain and transmit to their posterity
religious liberty, according to their conception of that blessing. Those who rea
son practically concerning the motives of mankind, must take their data from
their master-passions and the necessities of their situation. Acts best develop

CITY GOVERNMENT. 333
The question has often been raised, when and by whom the
idea of independence of the parent state was first conceived, and
by whose act a settled purpose to effect it was first indicated.
History does not permit the people of Massachusetts to make
a question of tMs kind. The honor of that thought, and of as
efficient a declaration of it as in their circumstances was pos
sible, belongs to Winthrop, and Dudley, and SaltonstaU, and
their associates, and was included in the declaration, that " the
only condition on which they with their families would remove to
this country, was, that the patent and charter should remove with
them." ^
intentions. Official language takes its modification from circumstances, and is
often necessarily a very equivocal indication of motives.
To escape from the dominion of the English hierarchy, was our ancestors lead
ing design and firm purpose. They took refuge in the forms and principles of a
commonwealth ; trusting to their own inteUectual skiU and physical power for its
support. They were well apprised of the fixed determination of the EngUsh
hierarchy, from the earliest times of their emigration, to subject them to its
supremacy, if possible ; and this design is distinctly avowed by Chalmers.
" The enjoyment of Uberty of conscience, the free worship of the Supreme
Being in the manner most agreeable to themselves, were the great objects of the
colomsts, which they often declared was the principal end of their emigration.
Nevertheless, though their historians assert the contrary, the charter did not
grant spontaneously to them a freedom, which had been denied to the soUcitations
of the Brownists ; and it is extremely probable that so essential an omission
arose, not from accident, hut design.
" In conformity to his intentions of estabUshing the Church of England in the
plantations, James had refused to grant to that sect the privUege of exercising
its own peculiar modes, though soUcited by the powerful interest of the Virginia
Company. His successor adopted and pursued tlie same policy, under the direction
of Laud, ' who, we are assured, kept a jealous eye over New England.' And this
reasoning is confirmed by the present patent, which required, with peculiar caution,
that ' THE OATH OP SUPREMACY sholl he administered to every one, who shall
pass to the Colony and inhabit there.' " Book I. c. -vi. p. 141.
1 The consentaneousness of the views entertained by Chalmers, with those
presented in the text, respecting the motives of our ancestors in making the
removal of the charter the condition of their emigration, is remarkable.
" Several persons, of considerable consequence in the nation, who had adopted
the principles of the Puritans, and who wished to enjoy their own mode of wor
ship, formed the resolution of emigrating to Massachusetts. But they felt them
selves inferior, neither to the governor nor assistants of the company. They saw
and dreaded the inconvenience of being governed by laws made for them without
their consent ; and it appeared more rational to them, that the colony should he
ruled by those who made it the place of their residence, than hy men dwelling at
the distance of three thousand miles, over whom they had no control. At the
same time, therefore, that they proposed to transport themselves, their famiUes,
and their estates, to that country, they insisted that the charter should be trans
mitted with them, and that the corporate powers, which were conferred by it,
should be executed, in future, in New England."
" A transaction, simUar to this, in all its circumstances, la not to be easily met
with in storv." — Book I. c. vi. pp. 150, 151.
It is very' plain, from the above extract, that Chahners understood the transfer

334 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
This simple declaration and resolve included, as they had the
sagacity to perceive, aU the consequences of an effectual inde
pendence, under a nominal subjection. For protection against
foreign powers, a charter from the parent state was necessary.
Its transfer to New England vested, effectuaUy, independence,
Those wise leaders foresaw,^ that, among the troubles in Europe,
of the charter to this country in the Ught in which it is represented in the text;
— that the object was self-government; an intention "not to be governed by
laws made for them, without their consent;" — a determination that those
" should rule in New England, who made it the place of their residence ; " and
" not those who dwelt at the distance of three thousand miles, over whom they had
no control."
Two causes have concurred to keep the motives of our ancestors in that mea
sure, from the direct development which its nature deserves. The first was,
that their motives could not be avowed consistently with that nominal depend
ence, which, in the weakness of the early emigrants, was unavoidable. The
other was, that almost all the impressions left concerning our early history, have
been derived through the medium of the clergy, who naturally gave an exclu
sive attention to the predominating motive, which was, unquestionably, religious
liberty, and paid less regard to what the colonial statesmen of that day as
unquestionably considered to be the essential means to that end. The men who
said " they would not go to New England unless the patent went with them,"
were not clergymen, but high-minded statesmen, who knew what was included
in that transfer. Their conduct and that of their immediate descendants, speak
a language of determined civil independence, not, at this day, to be gainsaid.
Winthrop gives, incidentally, a remarkable evidence of his o-wn sensibility, on
the subject of the right of self-government, in the very earUest period after their
emigration. "Mr. Winslow, the late Governor of Plymouth," Winthrop relates, " being
this year (1635) in England, petitioned the councU for a commission to with
stand the intrusions of the Dutch and French. Now this," Winthrop remarks,
"was undertaken ivith ill advice ; for such precedents endanger our liberty, that
WE SHOULD DO NOTHING HEREAFTER BUT BY COMMISSION OUT OF ENG
LAND." — Winthrop, voL i. p. 172.
1 That the early emigrants foresaw that the b-ansfer of the charter would
effectually vest independence, may be deduced, not only from the whole tenor
of their conduct after their emigration, which was an effectual exercise of inde
pendence, but from the fact of the secrecy, with tchich this intention to transfer
the charter was maintained, until it was actually on this side of the Atlantic.
Our ancestors readUy anticipated with what jealousy this transfer would be
viewed by the EngUsh government ; and were accordingly soUcitous to keep it
from being known until they and the original charter were beyond their power.
The original records of the General Court, in which the topic of this transfer
of the charter was first agitated, speak a language on this subject, not to be
mistaken. The terms of this record are as foUows : —
" At a General Court holden at London, for the Company of the Massa
chusetts Bay in New England, in Mr. Deputy's house, on Tuesday, the 28th of
July, 1629. Present, Mr. Mathbw Cradock, Governor,
Mr. Goff, Deputy Governor."
Here follow the names of the " assistants " and " generaUty," who were
present. " Mr. Governor read certain propositions conceived by himself, namely, that

CITY GOVERNMENT. 335
incident to the age, and then obviously impending over their
parent state, their settlement, from its distance and eariy insig
nfficance, woffid probably escape notice. They trusted to events,
and doubtiess anticipated, that, with its increasing strength,
even nominal subjection would be abrogated. They knew that
weakness was the law of nature, in the relation between parent
states and their distant and detached coloffies. Nothing else
can be inferred, not only from their maMng the tiansfer of the
charter the essential conffition of their emigration, thereby sever
ing themselves from all responsibffity to persons abroad, but also
fi-om their mstant and undeviating comse of poUcy after their
emigration ; in boldly assuming whatever powers were neces
sary to their condition, or suitable to theu ends, whether attri
butes of sovereignty or not, without regard to the natme of the
consequences resulting from the exercise of those powers. Nor
was this assumption Umited to powers which might be deduced
from the charter, but was extended to such as no act of incorpo
ration, lUce that which they possessed, could, by any possibility
of legal construction, be deemed to include. By the magic of
for the advancement of the plantation, the inducing and encouraging persons of
worth and quaUty to transplant themselves and famUies thither, aud for other
weighty reasons therein contained, to transfer the government of the plantation to
those that shall inhabit there, and not to continue the same in subordination to
the company here, as now it is. This business occasioned some debate ; but hy
reason of the many great and considerable consequences thereupon depending, it
was not now resolved upon, but those present are privately and seriqusly to con
sider hereof, and to set down their particular reasons in writing, pro and contra,
and to produce the same at the next General Court, where they being reduced
to heads and maturely considered of, the company may then proceed to a final
resolution therein, and in the mean time they are desired to carry this
BUSINESS secretly, THAT THE SAME BE NOT DIVULGED." — See Original
Records of Massachusetts, p. 19.
What our ancestors thought they had gained, or what practical consequences
they intended to deduce from this transfer of the patent, and from their posses
sion of. it in this country, is apparent from the reasons, given by Winthrop, for
not obeying the court mandate, to send the patent to England.
Winthrop's account is as foUows : —
"The General Court was assembled, [1638,] in which it was agreed, that
whereas a very strict order was sent from the Lords Commissioners for Planta
tions, for sending home our patent, upon pretence that judgment had passed
against it upon a quo warranto, a letter should be -Hritten by the Governor in
the name of the Court, to excuse our not sending it ; for it was resolved to be
best, not to send it, because then such of our friends and others in England
would conceive it to he. surrendered, and that thereupon, we should be bound to
receive such a Governor and such orders, as should be sent to us, and many bad
minds, yea, and some weak ones, among ourselves, would think it lawful, if
NOT necessary, TO ACCEPT A GENERAL GOVERNOR."— Winthrop, vol. i.
p. 269.

336 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
their daring, a private act of incorporation was transmuted into
a civU constitution of state ; under the authority of which they
made peace and declared war ; erected judicatures ; coined
money ; raised armies ; buUt fleets ; laid taxes and imposts ;
inflicted fines, penalties, and death ; and, in imitation of the
British constitution, by the consent of aU its own branches,
without asMng leave of any other, their legislature moffified its
own powers and relations, prescribed the quaUfications of those
who should conduct its authority, and enjoy, or be excluded from
its privileges. The administiation of the civU affairs of Massa
chusetts, for the sixty years next succeeding the settlement of
tMs metropoUs, was a phenomenon in the Mstory of civU govern
ment. Under a theoretic colonial relation, an efficient and
independent Commonwealth was erected, claiming and exer
cising attributes of sovereignty, higher and far more extensive
than, at the present day, in consequence of its connection with
the general government, Massachusetts pretends either to exer
cise or possess. WeU might Chalmers assert, as in his PoUtical
Annals of the Coloffies he does, that " Massachusetts, with a
peculiar dexterity, aboUshed her charter ; " ^ that she was always
" fruitful in projects of independence, the principles of which, at
aU times, governed her actions." ^ In this point of view, it is
glory enough for our early ancestors, that, under manifold dis
advantages, in the midst of internal ffiscontent and external
violence and intrigue, of wars with the savages and Avith the
neighboring colonies of France, they effected their pmpose, and
for two generations of men, from 1630 to 1692, enjoyed Uberty
of conscience, accordmg to their view of that subject, under the
auspices of a free commonwealth.
The three objects, which our ancestors proposed to attain
and perpetuate by aU their institutions, were the noblest within
the grasp of the human mind, and those on which, more than
on any other, depend human happiness and hope ; — religious
liberty, — civil liberty, — and, as essential to the attainment and
maintenance of both, — intellectual power.
On the subject of religious liberty, their mtolerance of other
sects has been reprobated as an inconsistency, and as violating
the very rights of conscience for which they emigrated. The
1 Vol. i. p. 200. S Vol. i. pp. 158, 177.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 337
inconsistency, if it exist, is altogether constructive, and the
charge proceeds on a false assumption. The necessity of the
policy,! considered in connection with their great design of
independence, is apparent. They had abandoned house and
home, had sacrificed the comforts of kindred and cultivated life,
had dared the dangers of the sea, and were then braving the still
more appalUng terrors of the wilderness; for what? — to acquire
Uberty for all sorts of consciences ? Not so ; but to vindicate
and maintain the liberty of their own consciences. They did
not cross the Atlantic, on a crusade, in behalf of the rights of
1 The object of this poUcy was perceived by Chalmers. Thus he reprobates
the law, that " none should be admitted to the freedom of the company but such
as were church members, and that none but freemen should vote at elections or
act as magistrates and jurymen," because it excluded /rom all participation in the
government, those who could not comply with the necessary requisites. He
understood weU, that it was a means of^ defence against the EngUsh hierarchy,
and intended to exclude from influence aU who were of the English church ;
and complains of it as being " made in the true spirit of retaliation," (Book I.
p. 153,) and adds, that " this severe law, notwithstanding the vigorous exertions
of Charles H., continued in force tiU the quo warranto laid in ruins the structure
of the government that had estabUshed it."
To prove the necessity of this exclusive poUcy of our ancestors, and that it was
strictly a measure of " self-defence," it is proper to remark, that as early as AprU,
1635, a commission was issued for the government of the Plantations, granting
absolute power to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to otliers, " TO make^laws
AND CONSTITUTIONS, CONCBKNING EITHER THEIR STATE PUBLIC OR THE
UTILITY OP INDIVIDUALS, AND FOR THE RELIEF OF THE CLERGY TO CONSIGN
CONVENIENT MAINTENANCE UNTO THEM BY TITHES AND OBLATIONS AND
OTHER PROFITS ACCORDING TO THEIR DISCRETION," AND THEY WERE EM
POWERED TO INFLICT PUNISHMENTS, EITHER BY IMPRISONMENT OR BY LOSS
OF LIFE AND MEMBERS.
A broader charter of hierarchical despotism was never conceived. The only
means of protection against it, to which our ancestors could resort, was that
which they adopted. By the principle of making church-membership a qualifi
cation for the enjoyment of the rights of a freeman, they excluded from all poU
tical influence the friends of the hierarchy. To the same motive may be referred:
that other principle, that "no churches should be gathered but such as were
approved by the magistrate." Notwithstanding that the direct tendency of these
principles was to destroy the influence of the crown and the hierarchy in the
colony, the obviousness of the motive is unnoticed by Chalmers, for the sake of
repeating the gross charge of bigotry ; and this too at the very time when he is
urging their design of independence against our ancestors as their great crune.
Our ancestors could not avow their ruUng motive ; and they seem at aU times to
be actuated by the noble principle of being content to submit in their own cha
racters to the obloquy of bigotry, as a less evU than that their chUdren should
become subject to the hierarchy of the Stuarts.
It is difficult to perceive how the principles of this commission could have
been otherwise resisted by our ancestors, than by putting at once out of influ
ence aU those disposed to yield submission to it. Nor was it possible for them to
apply their disquaUfication directiy to the adherents of the English hierarchy.
They were compeUed, if it were adopted at all, to make it general, and to
acquiesce iu the charge of bigotry in order to give efficacy to theu- policy.
29

338 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
•manMnd in general, but in support of their own rights and fiber-
ties. Tolerate ! Tolerate Avhom ? The legate of the Roman
Pontiff, or the emissary of Charles I. and Archbishop Laud?
How consummate would have been their folly and madness,
to have fled into the wUderness to escape the horrible persecu
tions of those hierarchies, and at once have admitted into the
bosom of then society, men brandishing, and ready to apply, the
very flames and fetters from which they had fled ! Those who
are disposed to condemn them on this account, neither realize
the necessities of their condition, nor the prevailing character
of the times. Under the stern discipUne of Elizabeth and James,
the stupid bigoti-y of the First Charles, and the spiritual pride
of Archbishop Laud, the spirit of the English hierarchy was
very different from that which it assumed, when, after having
been tamed and humanized under the Avholesome discipUne of
Cromwell and his Commonwealth, it yielded itself to the mild
influence of the principles of 1688, and to the Uberal spmt of
TiUotson. But it is said, if they did not tolerate their ancient persecutors,
they might, at least, have tolerated rival sects. That is, they
ought to have tolerated sects, imbued with the same principles
of intolerance as the transatlantic hierarchies ; sects, whose first
use of power would have been to endeavor to uproot the Uberty
of our fathers, and persecute them, according to the known
principles of sectarian action, with a virffience in the inverse
ratio of their reciprocal ffiteness and proximity. Those, who
thus reason and thus condemn, have considered but very super-
ficiaUy the nature of the human mmd and its actual conffition
in the time of our ancestors.
The great doctrine, now so universally recognized, that liberty
of conscience is the right of the individual, — a concern between
every man and his Maker, with which the civU magistrate is not
authorized to mterfere, — was scarcely, m their day, known,
except in private theory and solitary specffiation; as a practical
truth, to be acted upon by the civU power, it was absolutely and
universaUy rejected by all men, all parties, and aU sects, as
totally subversive, not only of the peace of the chmch, but of
the peace of society. ^ That great tenth, now deemed so simple
1 Hume's History of England, vol. y\. p. 168.

CITY GOVERmiENT. 339
and plain, was so far from being an easy discovery of the human
intellect, that it may be doubted whether it would ever have
been discovered by human reason at all, had it not been for the
miseries in which man was involved in consequence of his igno
rance of it. That truth Avas not evolved by the calm exertion
of the human faculties, but was stricken out by the colUsion of
the human passions. It was not the result of phUosophic re
search, but was a hard lesson, taught under the lash of a severe
discipUne, provided for the gradual instruction of a being Iffie
man, not easUy brought into subjection to virtue, and with
natural propensities to pride, ambition, avarice, and selfishness.
Previously to that time, in aU modifications of society, ancient
or modern, reUgion had been seen only in close connection with
the state. It was the universal instrument by which worldly
ambition shaped and moulded the multitude to its ends. To
have attempted the establishment of a state on the basis of a
perfect freedom of religious opinion, and the perfect right of
every man to express his opinion, Avould then have been consi
dered as much a solecism, and an experiment quite as Avild and
visionary, as it would be, at this day, to attempt the establish
ment of a state on the principle of a perfect liberty of individual
action, and the perfect right of every man to conduct himself
according to his private will. Had our early ancestors adopted
the course we, at this day, are apt to deem so easy and obvious,
and placed their government on the basis of Uberty for aU sorts
of consciences, it would have been, in that age, a certain intro
duction of anarchy. It cannot be questioned, that all the fond
hopes they had cherished from emigration would have been lost.
The agents of Charles and James would have planted here the
standard of the tiansatlantie monarchy and hierarchy. Divided
and broken, without practical energy, subject to court influences
and court favorites. New England at this day woffid have been
a colony of the parent state,^ her character yet to be formed and
her independence yet to be vindicated.
1 Lest the consequences of an opposite poUcy, had it been adopted by our
ancestors, may seem to be exaggerated, as here represented, it is proper to state,
that upon the strength and united spirit of New England mainly depended
(under Heaven) the success of our revolutionary struggle. Had New England
been divided, or even less unanunous, independence would have scarcely been
attempted, or, if attempted, acquired. It wUl give additional strength to this

340 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
The non-toleration, which characterized our early ancestors,
from whatever source it may have originated, had undoubtedly
the effect they intended and wished. It excluded from influence
in their infant settlement all the friends and adherents of the
ancient monarchy and hierarchy ; all who, from any motive,
ecclesiastical or civil, were disposed to disturb their peace or
then churches. They considered it a measure of " self-defence!''
And it is unquestionable, that it was chiefly insteumental in
forming the homogeneous and exclusively republican character
for Avhich the people of Ncav England have, iu all times, been
distinguished; and, above all, that it fixed irrevocably in the
country that noble security for religious liberty, the independent
system of church government.
The principle of the independence of the churches, including
the right of every individual to unite Avith what church he
pleases, under whatever sectarian auspices it may have been
fostered, has, through the influence of time and experience, lost
altogether its exclusive character. It has become the universal
guaranty of religious liberty to all sects Avithout discrimination,
and is as much the protector of the Roman Catholic, the Epis
copalian, and the Presbyterian, as of the Independent form of
worship. The security, Avhich results from this principle, does
not depend upon charters and constitutions, but on what is
stronger than either, the nature of the principle in connection
with the nature of man. So long as this intellectual, moral,
and religious being, man, is constituted as he is, the unrestricted
liberty of associating for public Avorship, and the independence
of those associations of external conti-ol, wiU necessarily lead to
a most happy number and variety of them. In the principle of
the independence of each, the liberty of individual conscience
is safe under the panoply of the common interest of aU. No
other perfect security for liberty of conscience was ever devised
by man, except this independence of the churches. This pos
sessed, liberty of conscience has no danger. This denied, it has

argument to observe, that the number of troops, regular and miUtia, furnished by
all the States during the war of the Revolution, was . . . 288,134
Of these. New England furnished more than half, namely, . 147,674
And Massachusetts alone furnished nearly one third, namely, . 83,162
See the Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society, vol. i. p. 236.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 34I
no safety. There can be no greater human secmity than com
mon right, placed under the protection of common interest.
It is the exceUence and beauty of this simple principle, that,
Avhile it secures aU, it restricts none. They, Avho delight in lofty
and splendid monuments of ecclesiastical architecture, may raise
the pyramid of church power, with its aspiring steps and grada
tions, untU it terminate in the despotism of one, or a few ; the
humble dweUers at the base of the proud edifice may wonder,
and admire the ingenuity of the contrivance and the splendor of
its massive dimensions, bu.t it is without envy and without fear.
Safe in the principle of independence, they worship, be it in
tent, or tabernacle, or in the open air, as securely as though
standing on the topmost pinnacle of the loftiest fabric ambition
ever devised.
The glory of discovering and putting this principle to the test,
on a scale capable of teying its efficacy, belongs to the fathers
of Massachusetts,^ who are entitled to a fffil share of that acknow
ledgment made by Hume, when he asserts, "that for all the
liberty of the EngUsh constitution that nation is indebted to the
Puritans." The glory of our ancestors radiates from no point more
strongly than from their institutions of learning. The people
of New England are the first known to history, who provided,
in the original constitution of their society, for the education of
the whole population out of the general fund. In other coun
tries, provisions have been made of this character in favor of
certain particular classes, or for the poor by way of charity. But
here first were the children of the whole community invested
Avith the right of being educated at the expense of the whole
society ; and not only this, the obligation to take advantage
of that right Avas enforced by severe supervision and penalties.
By simple laws they founded their commonwealth on the only
basis on which a repubUc has any hope of happiness or continu
ance, the general information of the people. They denominated
it " barbarism " not to be able " perfectly to read the English
tongue and to know the general laws." ^ In soliciting a gene
ral conttibution for the support of the neighboring University,
they declare that " skiU in the tongues and liberal arts, is not
1 Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. i- p. 438 and 490.
8 Old Colony Laws, p. 26.
29*

342 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
only laudable, but necessary for the well-being of the common
wealth." ^ And in requiring every town, having one hunffied
householders, to set up a grammar school, provided Avith a
master able to fit youth for the University, the object avowed is,
" to enable men to obtain a knoAvledge of the Scriptmes, and by
acquaintance with the ancient tongues to quaUfy them to dis
cern the true sense and meaning of the original, however cor
rupted by false glosses." Thus Uberal and thus elevated, in
respect of learning, were the views of our ancestors."
To the same master-passion, dread of the English hierarchy,
and the same main purpose, civil independence, may be attri
buted, in a great degree, the nature of the government which
the principal ciAil and spiritual influences of the time estabUshed,
and, notwithstanding its many objectionable features, the wilUng
submission to it of the people.
It cannot be questioned, that the constitution of the state, as
sketched in the first laws of our ancestors, was a skUful combi
nation of both civil and ecclesiastical powers. Chmch and
state were very curiously and efficiently interwoven with each
other. It is usual to atteibute to reUgious bigotry the submis
sion of the mass of the people to a system thus stern and exclu
sive. It may, however, with qffite as much justice, be resolved
into love of independence and poUtical sagacity.
The great body of the first emigrants doubtless coincided in
general religious views with those whose influence predominated
in their church and state. They had, consequently, no personal
objection to the stern discipline their poUtical system estabUshed.
They had also the sagacity to foresee that a system, which by
its rigor shoffid exclude from power all Avho did not concur with
their religious views, would have a ffirect tendency to deter
those in other countties from emigrating to their settlement,
who did not agree with the general plan of policy they had
adopted, and of consequence to increase the probabiUty of thek
escape from the interference of their ancient oppressors, and the
chance of success in laying the foundation of the free common
wealth they contemplated. They also doubtless perceived, that,
with the unquaUfied possession of the elective franchise, they
had Uttle reason to apprehend that they could not easUy control
1 Records of (lie Colony, p. 117 ; 19th Oct. 1652.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 343
¦»
or annihUate any UI effect upon then political system, arising
from the union of church and state, should it become insup
portable. There is abundant evidence, that the submission of the people
to this new form of church and state combination was not owing
to ignorance, or to indifference to the true principles of civU and
reUgious liberty. Notwithstanding the strong attachment of the
early emigrants to their civU, and their almost bUnd devotion to
their ecclesiastical leaders, Avhen, presuming on their influence,
either attempted any thing inconsistent Avith general liberty, a
corrective is seen almost immediately appUed by the spirit and
inteffigence of the people.
In this respect, the character of the people of Boston has been
at aU times ffistinguished. In every period of our history, they
have been second to none in quickness to discern or in readiness
to meet every exigency, fearlessly hazarding life and fortune in
support of the Uberties of the commonwealth. It would be easy
to maintain these positions by a recurrence to the annals of each
successive age, and particularly to facts connected with our revo
lutionary struggle. A few instances only wffi be noticed, and
those selected from the earliest times.
A natural jealousy soon sprung up in the mettopolis as to the
intentions of their civU and ecclesiastical leaders.^ In 1634 the
people began to fear, lest, by reelecting Winthrop, they " should
make way for a Governor for Ufe." They accordingly gave
some inffications of a design to elect another person. Upon
which John Cotton, their great ecclesiastical head, then at the
height of his popffiarity, preached a ffiscourse to the General
Court, and deUvered this docttine, — " that a magistrate ought
not to be tmned out, without just cause, no more than a magis
trate might turn out a private man from his freehold, without
ttial." 2 To show then dislike of the doctrine by the most prac
tical of evidences, our ancestors gave the poUtical divine and his
adherents a succession of lessons, for Avhich they Avere probably
the wiser all the rest of their Uves. They turned out Winthrop
at the very same election, and put in Dudley. The year after,
they turned out Duffiey and put in Haynes. The year after,
they turned out Haynes, and put in Vane. So much for the
I Winthrop, vol. i. p. 299. ^ IKd. vol. i. p. 132.

344 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
•
first broaching, in Boston, of the doctrine, that pubUc office is
of the natme of freehold.
In 1635, an attempt was made by the General Court, to elect
a certain number of magisttates as counseUors for life?- Al
though Cotton was the author also of tMs project, and notwith
standing his influence, yet such was the spirit ffisplayed by our
ancestors on the occasion, that within tMee years the General
Court 2 Avas compeUed to pass a vote, denying any such intent,
and declaring that the persons so chosen should not be accounted
magistrates, or have any authority in consequence of such elec
tion. In 1636, the great Antinomian conttoversy ffivided the country.
Boston was for the covenant of grace; the General Court, for
the covenant of works. Under pretence of the apprehension of
a riot, the General Court adjourned to Newtown, and expelled
the Boston deputies for daring to remonsttate. Boston, mdig-
nai^ at this infringement of its Uberties, Avas about electing the
same deputies a second time. At the earnest soUcitation of
Cotton, however, they chose others. One of these was also
expeUed by the Court; and a writ having been issued to the
town ordering a new election, they refused making any return
to the warrant, — a contempt which the General Court did not
think it wise to resent.
In 1639, there being vacancies in the Board of Assistants, the
Governor and magistrates met and nommated three persons,
" not with intent," as they sffid, " to lead the people's choice of
these, nor to divert them from any other, but only to propound
for consideration (which any freeman may do) and so leave the
people to use their Uberties accordmg to their consciences."
The result Avas, that the people did use their liberties accorffing
to their consciences. They chose not a man of them.^ So
much for the ffi-st legislative caucus in our history. It probably
would have been happy for their posterity, if the people had
always treated like nominations Avith as Uttle ceremony.
About this time, also, the General Court took exception at
the length of the " lectures" then the great delight of the people,
and at the UI effects resulting from their frequency ; whereby
poor people were led greatly to neglect their affairs, to the great
1 Ibid. p. 186. 2 Ibid. p. 302. 3 lUd. vol. ii. p. 343.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 345
hazard also of their health, owing to their long continuance in
the night. Boston expressed strong disUke 1 at this interference,
•'fearing that the precedent might inthral them to'the civil
power, and, besides, be a blemish upon them Avith their posterity,
as though they needed to be regulated by the civil magisfi-ate,
and raise an Ul-savor of their coldness, as if it were possible for
the people of Boston to complain of too, much preaching."
The magisttates, fearful lest the people shoffid break then-
bonds, were content to apologize, to abandon the scheme of
shortening lectmes or ffiminishing their number, and to rest satis
fied with a general understanding, that assembUes shoffid break
up in such season, as that people, dA\relling a mUe or two off,
might get home by daylight. Winthrop, on this occasion,
passes the following effiogium on the people of Boston, which
every period of then history amply confcms : " They were gene
rally of that understanding and moderation, as that they Avould
be easily guided in their way by any rffie from Scripture or
sound reason."
It is curious and insttuctive to ttace the principles of our con
stitution as they were successively suggested by circumstances,
and graduaUy gained by the inteffigence and daring spirit of the
people. For the first four years after their emigi-ation, the free
men, Uke other corporations, met and transacted business in a
body. At this time the people attained a representation under
the name of deputies, who sat in the same room with the magis
trates, to whose negative aU their proceedings were subjected.
Next arose the struggle about the negative, which lasted for ten
years, and eventuated in the separation of the General Court
into two branches, with each a negative on the other.^ Then
came the jealousy of the deputies concerning the magistrates,^
as proceeding too much by their discretion for want of positive
laws, and the demand by the deputies, that persons should be
appointed to frame a body of fundamental laws in resemblance
of the EngUsh Magna Charta.
After this occurred the conttoversy * relative to the powers of
the magisttates, during the recess of the General Court; con
cerning which, when the deputies found that no compromise
could be made, and the magistrates declared that, " if occasion
1 Winthrop, vol. i. p. 325. 3 Ibid. p. 322.
2 Ibid. vol. i. p. 160. * ibid. vol. u. p. 169.

346 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
required, they should act according to the power and trust com
mitted to them," the Speaker of the House in his place repUed, —
" Then, c^intlemen, you will not be obeyed."
In every period of our early history, the friends of the ancient
hierarchy and monarchy were assiduous in their endeavors to
inttoduce a form of government on the principle of an efficient
colonial relation. Our ancestors were no less vigUant to avaU
themselves of their local situation and of the difficffities of the
parent state to defeat those attempts ; or, in their language, " to
avoid and prott-act." They Uved, however, under a perpetual
apprehension, that a royal governor would be imposed upon
them by the law of force. Their resolution never faltered on the
point of resistance to the extent of their power. Notwithstand
ing Boston would have been the scene of the struggle and the
ffist victim to it, yet its inhabitants never shrunk from their
duty through fear of danger, and were always among the fore
most to prepare for every exigency. Castle Island was fortified
chiefly, and the battery at the north end of the town, and that
caUed the " Sconce," whoUy by the volunteiry contributions of its
inhabitants. After the restoration of Charles IL, their instruc
tions to their representatives in the General Court breathe one
uniform spirit, — " not to recede fi-om their just rights and privi
leges as secured by the patent." When, in 1662, the King's
Commissioners came to Boston, the inhabitants, to show their
spirit in support of their own laws, took measures to have them
aU arrested for a breach of the Saturday evening law, and actu
aUy brought them before the magistrate for riotous and abusive
carriage. When Randolph, in 1684, came with his quo warranto
against their charter, on the question being taken in town meet
ing, " whether the freemen were minded that the General Court
should make full submission and entne resignation of then
charter, and of the privUeges therein granted, to his Majesty's
pleasure," Boston resolved in the negative, without a dissentient.
In 1689, the tyranny of Anffios, the Governor appointed by
James IL, having become insupportable to the Avhole country,
Boston rose, like one man ; took the battery on Fort Hill by
assault in open day ; made prisoners of the King's Governor and
the Captain of the King's frigate, then 'lying in the harbor ; and
restored, with the concmrence of the country, the authority of
the old charter leaders.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 347
By accepting the charter of WiUiam and Mary, in 1692, the
people of Massachusetts first yielded theu claims of independ
ence to the Crown. It is only reqffisite to read the official
account of the agents of the colony, to perceive both the resist
ance they made to that charter, and the necessity which com
peUed then acceptance of it.i Those agents Avere told by the
Kmg's ministers, that they " must take that or none ; " that
"their consent to it was not asked;" that if " they woffid not
submit to the King's pleasure they must take what would fol
low." " The opinion of our lawyers," say the agents, " was,
that a passive submission to the new was not a surrender of the
old charter ; and that then taking up with this ffid not make the
people of Massachusetts, in law, uncapable of obtaining all their
old privileges, whenever a favorable opportunity should present
itself." In the year 1776, neariy a century afterwards, that
"favorable opportunity ffid present itself," and the people of
Massachusetts, in conformity with the opinion of their learned
counsel and faithful agents, did vinfficate and obtain aU their
" old privUeges " of self-government.
Under, the new colonial government, thus authoritatively
imposed upon them, arose new parties and new sttuggles, —
prerogative men, earnest for a permanent salary for the King's
Governor ; pattiots resisting such an estabUshment, and inffig
nant at the negative exercised by that officer.
At the end of the ffist centmy after the settlement, three gene
rations of men had passed away. For Augor, boldness, enter
prise, and a self-sacrificing spirit, Massachusetts stood unri-
vaUed.2 She had added wealth and extensive dominion to the
English Crown. She had turned a barren wUderness into a cffi
tivated field, and instead of barbarous ttibes had planted civU
ized communities. She had prevented France from taMng pos
session of the whole of North America ; conquered Port Royal
and Acadia ; and attempted the conquest of Canada with a fleet
of thirty-two sail and tAVO thousand men. At one time, a fifth
of her whole effective male population was in arms. When
Nevis was plundered by Iberville, she voluntarUy ttansmitted
1 See A Brief Account concerning the Agents of New England and their
Negotiation with the Cmrt of England. By Increase Mather. London, 1691.
3 See A Defence of the Neio England Charters, by Jeremiah Hummer, printed
in 1721.

348 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
tAVO thousand pounds sterUng for the relief of the inhabitants of
that island. By these exertions her resources were exhausted,
her tteasury was impoverished, and she stood bereft and " alone
with her glory."
Boston shared in the embarrassments of the Commonwealth.
Her commerce was crippled by severe revenue laws and by a
depreciated currency. Her population ffid not exceed fifteen
thousand. In September, 1730, she was prevented from all
notice of this anniversary by the desolations of the smallpox.
Notwithstanding the darkness of these clouds which overhung
Massachusetts and its mettopoUs at the close of the ffist century,
in other aspects the dawn of a brighter day may be ffiscerned.
The exclusive policy in matters of reUgion, to which the State
had been subjected, began graduaUy to give place to a more per
fect liberty. Literature Avas exchanging subtle metaphysics,
quaint conceits, and unwieldy lore for inartfficial reasoning, sim
ple taste, and natural thought. Dummer defended the colony in
language polished in the society of Pope and of Bolingbroke.
Coleman, Cooper, Chauncy, Bowdoin, and others of that con
stellation, AA^ere on the horizon. By their side shone the star of
Franklin ; its early brightness giving promise of its meridian
splendors. Even now began to appear signs of revolution.
Voices of complaint and murmur were heard in the air. " Spi
rits finely touched and to fine issues," — wffiing and fearless, —
breathing unutterable things, flashed along the darkness. In the
sky were seen streaming lights, indicating the approach of lumi
naries yet beloAV the horizon, — Adams, Hancock, Otis, War
ren, — leaders of a glorious host, precursors of eventtffi times,
" Avith fear of change perplexing monarchs."
It would be appropriate, did time permit, to speak of these
luminaries, in connection with our Revolution ; to trace the prin
ciples, which dictated the ffist emigration of the founders of this
metropolis, through the several stages of their development ; and
to shoAV that the declaration of independence, in 1776, itself, and
all the struggles which preceded it, and aU the voluntary sacri
fices, the self-devotion, and the sufferings, to which the people
of that day submitted, for the attainment of independence, Avere,
so far as respects Massachusetts, but the natural and inevitable
consequences of the terms of that noble engagement, made by
our ancestors, in August, 1629, the year before their emigration;

CITY GOVERNMENT. 349
which may weU be denominated, , from its eariy and later
results, the first and original declaration of independence by
Massachusetts. ^'¦By God's assistance, we will be ready in our persons, and
with such of our families as are to go with us, to embark for the
said plantation by the first of March next, to pass the seas {under
God's protection) to inhabit and continue in New England. Pro
vided always, that before the last of September next, the whole
GOVERNMENT, TOGETHER WITH THE PATENT, BE FIRST LEGALLY
TRANSFERRED AND ESTABLISHED, TO REMAIN AVITH US AND OTHERS,
WHICH SHALL INHABIT THE SAID PLANTATION." ^ GeueiOUS rCSO-
lution ! Noble foresight ! Sublime self-devotion ; chastened and
directed by a wisdom, faithfffi and prospective of distant conse
quences ! WeU may Ave exclaim, — " This poUcy overtopped aU
the poUcy of this world."
For the advancement of the three great objects which were
the scope of the policy of our ancestors, — intellectual power,
religious Uberty, and civU liberty, — Boston has in no period
been surpassed, either in readiness to incur, or in energy to
make useful, personal or pecuniary sacrffices. She provided for
the education of her citizens out of the general fund, antece
dently to the law of the Commonwealth making such provision
imperative. Nor can it be questioned, that her example and
mfluence had a decisive effect in producing that law. An intel-
Ugent generosity has been conspicuous among her inhabitants
on this subject, from the day when, in 1635, they " entreated
our brother PhUemon Pormont to become schoolmaster, for the
teaching and nurturing chUdren with us," to this hour, when
what is equivalent to a capital of two hundred and fifty thou
sand doUars is invested in school-houses, eighty schools are
maintained, and seven thousand and five hundred children edu
cated at an expense exceeding annuaUy sixty-five thousand
doUai-s. No city in the world, in proportion to its means and
population, ever gave more uniform and unequivocal evidences
' See "A true coppie of the agreement at Cambridge, 1629," in Hutchinson's
Collection of Original Papers relative to the History of the Colony of Massachu
setts Bay, p. 25, signed by
Richard SaltonstaU, John Winthrop, Thomas Sharp,
Thomas Dudley, KeUam Browne, Increase Nowell,
WiUiam Vassal, Isaac Johnson, William Pynchon,,
Nicko : West, John Humfrey, WUUam Colbron.
30

350 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
of its desne to ffiffuse mteUectual power and moral cffiture
through the whole mass of the community. The resffit is every
day witnessed, at home and abroad, in private intercomse and
in the public assembly ; in a quiet and orderly demeanor, in the
self-respect and mutual harmony prevalent among its citizens;
in the general comfort which characterizes their conffition; in
their submission to the laws ; and in that wonderfffi capacity for
self-government, which postponed for almost two centuries a
city orgaffization ; — and this, even then, was adopted more with
reference to anticipated, than from experience of existing evils.
During the whole of that period, and even after its popffiation
exceeded fifty thousand, its financial, economical, and municipal
interests were managed, either by general vote, or by men
appointed by the whole multitude ; and with a regularity, Avis
dom, and success, which it wUl be happy if future adminis-
ttations shaU equal, and which certainly they wffi find it diffi
cult to exceed.
The influence of the institutions of our fathers is also appa
rent in that munificence towards objects of public interest or
charity, for which, in every period of its history, the citizens of
Boston have been distingffished, and Avhich, by universal con
sent, is recognized to be a prominent feature in their character.
To no city has Boston ever been second in its spirit of UberaUty.
From the ffist settlement of the countty to tMs day, it has been
a point to which have tended applications for assistance or
reUef, on account of suffering or misfortune ; for the patronage
of coUeges, the endowment of schools, the erection of chmches,
and the spreading of learning and reUgion, from almost every
section of the United States. Seldom have the hopes of any
worthy appUcant been ffisappointed. The benevolent and pub
Uc spirit of its inhabitants is also evidenced by its hospitals, its
asylums, pubUc Ubraries, almshouses, charitable associations —
in its patronage of the neighboring University, and in its sub
scriptions for general charities.
It is obviously impracticable to give any just idea of the
amount of these charities. They flow from virtues which seek
the shade and shun record. They are sUent and secret out-
weffings of grateful hearts, desirous unostentatiously to acknow
ledge the bounty of Heaven in their prosperity and abundance.
The resffit of inquuies, necessarily imperfect, however, authorize

CITY GOVERNMENT. 35^
the statement, that, in the records of societies havin<^ for their
objects either learning or some public charity, or in documents
in the hands of individuals relative to contributions for the
relief of suffering, or the patronage of distinguished merit or
talent, there exists evidence of the liberality of the citizens of
tMs metropoUs, and that chiefly within the last thirty years, of
an amount, by voluntary donation or bequest, exceeding one
milUon and eight hunffied thousand dollars. Far short as this
sum faUs of the real amount obtained within that period from
the liberality of om citizens, it is yet enough to make evident,
that the best spirit of the institutions of our ancestors survives
in the hearts, and is exhibited in the Uves, of the citizens of
Boston ; inspiring love of countty and duty ; stimulating to the
active virtues of benevolence and charity ; exciting wealth and
power to their best exercises ; counteracting what is seffish in
our natme ; and elevating the moral and social vntues to wise
sacrffices and noble energies.
With respect to religious liberty, where does it exist in a more
perfect state, than in this metropolis ? Or where has it ever been
enjoyed in a pm-er spirit, or with happier consequences? In
what city of equal population are all classes of society more
distingffished for obedience to the institutions of reUgion, for
regffiar attendance on its worship, for more happy intercourse
with its ministers, or more uniformly honorable support of them ?
In aU sttuggles connected with religious liberty, and these are
inseparable from its possession, it may be said of the inhabitants
of this city, as ttffiy as of any simUar association of men, that
they have ever maintained the freedom of the Gospel in the
spirit of Christianity. Divided into various sects, their mutual
intercourse has, almost without exception, been harmonious and
respectfffi. The labors of intemperate zealots, with which, occa
sionaUy, every age has been troubled, have seldom, in this metro
poUs, been attended with their natural and usual consequences.
Its sects have never been made to fear or hate one another.
The genius of its inhabitants, through the influence of the intel
lectual power which pervades their mass, has ever been quick to
detect " close ambition varnished o'er with zeal." The modes,
the forms, the discipline, the opinions, which our ancestors held
to be essential, have, in many respects, been changed or oblite
rated Avith the progress of time, or been countervaUed or super-

352 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
seded by rival forms and opinions. But veneration for the
Sacred Scriptures and attachment to the right of free inquiry,
which were the substantial motives of their emigration and of
aU their institutions, remain, and are maintained in a Christian
spirit, (judging by life and language,) certainly not exceeded in
the times of any of our ancestors. The right to read those
Scriptures is universaUy recognized. The means to acquire the
possession and to attain the knowledge of them are multipUed
by the inteffigence and liberality of the age, and extended to
every class of society. AU men are invited to search for them
selves concerning the grounds of their hopes of future happiness
and acceptance. All are permitted to hear from the lips of our
Saviour himself, that " the meek," " the merciful," " the pure in
heart," " the persecuted for righteousness' sake," are those who
shall receive the blessing, and be admitted to the presence, of
the Eternal Father ; and to be assured from those sacred records,
that, " in every nation, he who feareth God and worketh right
eousness, is accepted of him." Elevated by the power of these
sublime assurances, as conformable to reason as to Revelation,
man's inteUectual principle rises " above the smoke and stir of
this dim spot," and, like an eagle soaring above the Andes, looks
down on the cloudy cliffs, the narrow, separating points, and
flaming craters, wffich ffivide and terrify men below.
It is scarcely necessary, on this occasion, to speak of civU
liberty, or to teU of our constitutions of government ; of the
freedom they maintain and are cfficulated to preserve ; of the
equality they estabUsh; the self-respect they encourage; the
private and domestic virtues they cherish ; the love of country
they inspire; the self-devotion and self-sacrifice they enjoin; —
all these are but the filUng up of the great outline sketched by
our fathers, the parts in which, through the darkness and per
versity of their times, they were defective, being corrected ; all
are but endeavors, conformed to their great, original conception,
to group together the strength of society and the reUgious and
civil rights of the individual, in a living and breathing spirit of
efficient power, by forms of civU government, adapted to our
conffition, and adjusted to social relations of unexampled great
ness and extent, unparaUeled in their resffits, and connected by
principles elevated as the nature of man, and immortal as his
destinies.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 353
It is not, however, from local position, nor from general cn
cumstances of Ufe and fortune, that the pecuUar felicity of this
mettopolis is to be deduced. Her enviable distinction is, that
she is among the chiefest of that happy New England family,
which claims descent from the eariy emigrants. If Ave take a
survey of that famUy, and, excluding from our view the unnum
bered multitudes of its members who have occupied the vacant
wUdernesses of other States, we restrict our thoughts to the local
sphere of New England, what scenes open upon our sight!
How AvUd and visionary would seem our prospects, did we
indulge only natural anticipations of the future ! Aheady, on
an area of seventy thousand square mUes, a population of two
mUUons ; aU, but comparatively a few, descendants of the early
emigrants! Six independent Commonwealths, with constitu
tions varying in the relations and proportions of power, yet
uniform in all their general principles ; diverse in theu political
an-angements, yet each sufficient for its own necessities ; aU
harmonious with those without, and peaceful within ; embrac
ing, under the denomination of toivns, upwards of twelve hun
dred effective repubUcs, with qualffied powers, indeed, but pos
sessing potent influences; — subject themselves to the respective
State sovereignties, yet directing aU then operations, and shaping
then poUcy by constitutional agencies; swayed, no less than
the greater repubUcs, by passions, interests, and affections ; like
them, exciting competitions which rouse into action the latent
energies of mind, and infuse into the mass of each society a
knowledge of the nature of its interests, and a capacity to under
stand and share in the defence of those of the Commonwealth.
The effect of these minor republics is daUy seen in the existence
of practical talents, and in the readiness Avith which those
talents can be caUed into the public service of the State.
If,' after this general survey of the surface of New England,
we cast our eyes on its cities and great towns, with what won
der should we behold, did not famiUarity render the phenomenon
almost unnoticed, men, combined in great mffititudes, possessing
freedom and the consciousness of sttength, — the comparative
physical power of the ruler less than that of a cobweb across a
Uon's path, — yet orderly, obedient, and respectfffi to authority;
a people, but no populace ; every class in reaUty existing, which
the general law of society acknowledges, except one, — and this
30"

354 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
exception characterizing the whole countty. The soil of New
England is trodden by no slave. In our streets, in om assem
blies, in the halls of election and legislation, men of every rank
and condition meet, and unite or divide on other principles, and
are actuated by other motives, than those growing out of such
distinctions. The fears and jealousies, which in other countries
separate classes of men and make them hostile to each other,
have here no influence, or a very Umited one. Each individual,
of whatever condition, has the consciousness of Uving under
known laws, which secure equal rights, and guarantee to each
whatever portion of the goods of life, be it great or smaU, chance,
or talent, or industty may have bestowed. AU perceive, that
the honors and rewards of society are open equally to the fair
competition of aU ; that the distinctions of Avealth, or of power,
are not fixed in famffies ; that whatever of this natme exists
to-day, may be changed to-morrow, or, in a coming generation,
be absolutely reversed. Common principles, interests, hopes,
and affections, are the result of universal education. Such are
the consequences of the equality of rights, and of the provisions
for the general diffusion of knowledge and the ffisttibution of
intestate estates, established by the laws framed by the earUest
emigrants to New England.
If from our cities we turn to survey the Avide expanse of the
interior, how do the effects of the institutions and example of
our early ancestors appear, in aU the local comfort and accom
modation which mark the general condition of the whole coun
tty ; — unobtrusive indeed, but substantial ; in nothing splenffid,
but in every thing sufficient and satisfactory. Indications of
active talent and practical energy exist everywhere. With a
soil comparatively little luxuriant, and in great proportion either
rock, or hUl, or sand, the skill and industty of man are seen
triumphing over the obstacles of nature ; making the rock the
guardian of the field ; moulding the granite, as though it were
clay ; leading cultivation to the hffi-top, and spreading over the
arid plain, hitherto unknown and unanticipated harvests. The
lofty mansion of the prosperous adjoins the lowly dwelling of
the husbandman ; their respective inmates are in the daUy inter
change of civffity, sympathy, and respect. Enterprise and skiU,
which once held chief affinity with the ocean or the sea-board,
noAv begin to deUght the mterior, haunting our rivers, where the

CITY GOVERNMENT. 355
music of the waterfaU, with powers more atttactive than those
of the fabled hai-p of Orpheus, coUects around it inteUectual man
and material nature. Towns and cities, civUized and happy
communities, rise, like exhalations, on rocks and in forests, tiU
the deep and far-resounding voice of the neighboring torrent is
itself lost and unheard, amid the predominating noise of success-
fffi and rejoicing labor.
What lessons has New England, in every period of her his
tory, given to the worid ! What lessons do her condition and
example stiU give! How unprecedented; yet how practicffi!
How simple ; yet how powerfffi ! She has proved, that all the
variety of Christian sects may Uve together in harmony, under
a government, which aUows equal privUeges to all, — exclusive
preeminence to none. She has proved, that ignorance among
ffie mffititude is not necessary to order, but that the surest basis
of perfect order is the information of the people. She has proved
the old maxim, that " no government, except a despotism Avith
a standing army, can subsist where the people have arms," is
false. Ever smce the first settlement of the country, arms have
been reqffired to be in the hands of the whole multitude of New
England ; yet the use of them in a private quarrel, if it have ever
happened, is so rare, that a late writer, of great inteffigence, who
had passed his whole Ufe in New England, and possessed exten
sive means of information, declares, " I know not a single
instance of it." ^ She has proved, that a people, of a character
essentiaUy military, may subsist Avithout duelUng. New Eng
land has, at all times, been distingffished, both on the land and
on the ocean, for a daring, fearless, and enterprising spirit ; yet
the same Avriter^ asserts, that during the whole period of her
existence, her soU has beefl disgraced but ^J five duels, and that
only two of these were fought by her native inhabitants ! Per
haps this assertion is not minutely correct. There can, however,
be no question, that it is sufficientiy near the truth to justify the
position for which it is here adduced, and which the history of
New England, as weU as the experience of her inhabitants,
abundantiy confirms ; that, in the present and in every past age,
the spirit of om institutions has, to every important practical
pmpose, annihUated the spnit of dueUing.
1 See Travels in New England and New York, by Timothy Dwight, S. T. D.,
LL. D., late President of Yale College, vol. iv. p. 334.
2 Ihid. p. 336.

356 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Such are the ttue glories of the institutions of om fathers!
Such the natural frffits of that patience in toU, that frugaUty of
disposition, that temperance of habit, that general ffiffusion of
knowledge, and that sense of reUgious responsibffity, incfficated
by the precepts, and exhibited in the example of every genera
tion of our ancestors !
And noAv, stanffing at this hour on the dividing Une which
separates the ages that are past from those which are to come,
how solemn is the thought, that not one of this vast assembly,
not one of that great mffititude who now tMong om streets,
rejoice in our fields, and make our hUls echo Avith their gratula-
tions, shaU Uve to witness the next return of the era we this day
celebrate ! The dark veU of futurity conceals from human sight
the fate of cities and nations as weU as of individuals. Man
passes away ; generations are but shadows ; there is nothing
stable but ttuth ; principles only are immortal.
What then, in conclusion of this great topic, are the elements
of the Uberty, prosperity, and safety wMch the inhabitants of
New England at this day enjoy ? In what language, and con
cerning what comprehensive ttuths does the Avisdom of former
times adffiess the inexperience of the future ?
Those elements are simple, obvious, and famffiar.
Every civil and religious blessing of New England, aU that
here gives happiness to human life or security to human virtue
is alone to be perpetuated in the forms and under the auspices
of a free commonwealth.
The Commonwealth itself has no other sti-ength or hope than
the inteUigence and virtue of the inffividuals that compose it.
For the intelligence and vu-tue of individuals, there is no other
human assurance than laAvs, providing for the education of the
whole people.
These laws themselves have no sttength or efficient sanction,
except in the moral and accountable nature of man, disclosed in
the records of the Christian's faith ; the right to read, to constrae,
and to judge concerning which, belongs to no class or caste of
men, but exclusively to the individual, who must stand or fall
by his own acts and his OAvn faith, and not by those of another.
The great comprehensive ttuths, written in letters of living
Ught on every page of our history, the language addressed by
every past age of New England to aU futme ages is this, —

CITY GOVERNMENT. 357
Humam happiness has no perfect security but freedom ; freedom
none but virtue ; virtue none but knowledge ; and neither free
dom, nor virtue, nor knowledge has any vigor or inwiortal hope,
except in the principles of the Christian faith and in the sanctions
of the Christian religion.
Men of Massachusetts ! Citizens of Boston ! Descendants of
the early emigrants ! consider your blessings ; consider your
duties. You have an inheritance acquired by the labors and
sufferings of six successive generations of ancestors. They
founded the fabric of your prosperity in a severe and masculine
moraUty ; having inteUigence for its cement and reUgion for its
groundwork. Continue to build on the same foundation and
by the same principles ; let the extending temple of your coun-
tty's freedom rise in the spirit of ancient times, in proportions of
inteUectual and moral arcMtecture, — just, simple, and subUme.
As from the first to tMs day, let New England continue to be an
example to the world of the blessings of a free government, and
of the means and capacity of man to maintain it. And, in aU
times to come as in aU times past, may Boston be among the
foremost and the boldest to exempUfy and uphold whatever con
stitutes the prosperity, the happiness, and the glory of Ncav
England.

CHAPTER XXIIL
CITY GOVERNMENT. 1830.
Harrison Gray Otis, Mayor.
An Ode, pronounced before the Inhabitants of Boston, on the 17th of Septem
ber, 1830, at the Centennial Celebration of the Settlement of the City. By
Cheirles Sprague. Not to the Pagan's mount I turn.
For inspiration now ;
Olympus and its gods I spurn —
Pure One, be with me. Thou!
Thou, in whose awfffi name.
From, suffering and from shame.
Our Fathers fled, and braved a pathless sea ;
Thou, in whose holy fear.
They fixed an empire here.
And gave it to their ChUffien and to Thee.
H.
And You ! ye bright ascended Dead,
Who scorned the bigot's yoke.
Come, round this place your influence shed ;
Your spirits I invoke.
Come, as ye came of yore.
When on an unknown shore.
Your daring hands the flag of faith unfmled.
To float sublime.
Through future time.
The beacon-banner of another world.
m.
Behold ! they come — those sainted forms,
Unshaken through the strife of storms ;
Heaven's winter cloud hangs coldly down,
And earth puts on its rudest frown ;

CITY GOVERNMENT. 359
But colder, ruder was the hand.
That drove them from then own fair land ;
Then own fan land — refinement's chosen seat.
Art's ttophied dwelUng, learning's green retteat ;
By valor guarded, and by victory crowned,
For aU, but gentle charity, renowned. •
With streaming eye, yet steadfast heart.
Even from that land they dared to part.
And burst each tender tie ;
Haunts, where their sunny youth was passed,
Homes, where they fondly hoped at last
In peacefffi age to die ;
Friends, kmdred, comfort, aU they spurned —
Their fathers' haUowed graves ;
And to a world of darkness turned,
Beyond a world of waves.
IV.
When Israel's race from bondage fled,
Signs from on high the wanderers led ;
But here — Heaven hung no symbol here,
Their steps to g^de, their souls to cheer ;
They saw, tMo' sorrow's lengthening night,
Nought but the fagot's guUty Ught ;
The cloud they gazed at was the smoke.
That round their murdered bretMen broke.
Nor power above, nor power below.
Sustained them in their hom of woe ;
A fearful path they teod.
And dared a fearfffi doom ;
To bffild an altar to their God,
And find a qffiet tomb. V.
But not alone, not all unblessed.
The exUe sought a place of rest ;
One dared with him to burst the knot.
That bound her to her native spot ;
Her low sweet voice in comfort spoke,
As round their bark the bUlows broke ;

360 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
She through the midnight watch was there.
With him to bend her knees in prayer ;
She tt-od the shore with girded heart.
Through good and UI to claim her part ;
In Ufe, in death, with him to seal
Hfer Mnffied love, her kinffied zeal.
VL
They come — that coming who shaU teU ?
The eye may weep, the heart may sweU,
But the poor tongue in vain essays
A fitting note for tliem to raise.
We hear the after-shout that rings
For them who smote the power of kmgs ;
The swelling ttiumph aU woffid share.
But who the dark defeat woffid dare,
And boldly meet the Avrath and woe.
That wait the unsuccessfffi blow ?
It were an envied fate, we deem.
To Uve a land's recorded theme.
When we are in the tomb ;
We, too, might yield the joys of home.
And waves of Avmter darkness roam.
And tread a shore of gloom —
Knew we those waves, through coming time,
Shoffid roU our names to every cUme ;
Felt we that mUUons on that shore
Shoffid stand, om memory to adore —
But no glad vision burst in Ught,
Upon the PUgrims' aching sight
Their hearts no proud hereafter swelled ;
Deep shadows veUed the way they held ;
The yell of vengeance was their ttump of fame.
Their monument, a gi-ave without a name.
VH.
Yet, sttong in weakness, there they stand.
On yonder ice-bound rock.
Stern and resolved, that faithfffi band,
To meet fate's rudest shock.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 361
Though angffish rends the father's breast.
For them, his dearest and his best,
With him the waste who trod —
Though tears that freeze, the mother sheds
Upon her chUdren's houseless heads —
The Christian tmns to God !
vm.
In gratefffi adoration noAV,
Upon the barren sands they bow.
What tongue of joy e'er woke such prayer.
As bursts in desolation there ?
What arm of strength e'er Avrought such power.
As waits to crown that feeble hour ?
There mto life an infant empire springs !
There faUs the non from the soffi ;
There Uberty's young accents roU,
Up to the King of kings !
To fair creations farthest bound.
That thrffiing summons yet shall sound ;
The ffieaming nations shaU awake.
And to their centte earth's old Mngdoms shake.
Pontiff and prince, your sway
Must crumble from that day ;
Before the loftier throne of Heaven,
The hand is raised, the pledge is given —
One monarch to obey, one creed to own.
That monarch, God, that creed. His word alone.
IX.
Spread out earth's hoUest records here.
Of days and deeds to reverence dear ;
A zeal Uke this what pious legends teU ?
On kingdoms buUt
In blood and guilt.
The worshippers of vulgar triumph dweU —
But what exploit Avith thens shall page.
Who rose to bless their Mnd ;
Who left then nation and then age,
Man's spirit to unbind ?
31

362 MLTnCIPAL HISTORY.
Who boundless seas passed o'er.
And boldly met, in every path.
Famine and frost and heathen Avrath,
To defficate a shore.
Where piety's meek ttain might breathe their vow.
And seek their Maker Avith an unshamed brow ;
Where liberty's glad race might proudly come.
And set up there an everlasting home ?

0 many a time it hath been told,
The story of those men of old :
For this fair poetty hath Avreathed
Her sweetest, purest flower ;
For this proud eloquence hath breathed
His strain of loftiest power ;
Devotion, too, hath fingered round
Each spot of consecrated ground,
And hiU and valley blessed ;
There, where our banished Fathers strayed,
There, where they loved and wept and prayed,
There, where then ashes rest.
XI.
And never may they rest unsung,
WhUe Uberty can find a tongue.
TAvine, Gratitude, a Avreath for thpm,
More deathless than the ffiadem.
Who to fife's noblest end.
Gave up life's noblest powers,
And bade the legacy descend,
Down, down to us and ours.
XH.
By centuries now the glorious hour we mark.
When to these shores they steered then shattered bark ;
And stUl, as other centuries melt away,
ShaU other ages come to keep the day.
When we are dust, who gather round this spot,
Our joys, our griefs, our very names forgot.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 353
Here shaU the dweUers of the land be seen.
To keep the memory of the Pilgrims gi-een.
Nor here alone their praises shaU go round.
Nor here alone theu virtues shaU abound —
Broad as the empire of the free shaU spread.
Far as the foot of man shall dare to tt-ead.
Where oar hath never dipped, where human tongue
Hath never through the woods of ages rung.
There, where the eagle's scream and wUd wolf's cry
Keep ceaseless day and night through earth and sky.
Even there, in after time, as toil and taste
Go forth in gladness to redeem the waste.
Even there shall rise, as gratefffi myriads throng.
Faith's holy prayer and freedom's joyfffi song ;
There shall the flame that flashed from yonder Rock,
Light up the land tffi nature's final shock.
xm.
Yet whUe by life's endearments crowned,
To mark this day we gather round.
And to our nation's founders raise
The voice of gratitude and praise.
Shall not one line lament that lion race.
For us sttuck out from sweet creation's face ?
Alas ! alas ! for them — those fated bands.
Whose monarch tread Avas on these broad, green lands ;
Om' fathers galled them savage — them, whose bread.
In the dark hour, those famished fathers fed :
We caU them savage, we.
Who hail the sttuggling free,
Of every cUme and hue ;
We, who would save
The branded slave.
And give him Uberty he never knew :
We, who but now have caught the tale.
That turns each Ustening tyrant pale.
And blessed the winds and waves that bore
The tidings to our kindred shore ;
The triumph-tidings pealing from that land.
Where up in arms insffited legions stand ;

364 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
There, gathering round his bold compeers.
Where He, om own, our welcomed One,
Riper m glory than in years,
Down from his forfeit throne,
A craven monarch hurled.
And spurned him forth, a proverb to the world !
XIV.
We caU them savage — O be just !
Their outtaged feeUngs scan ;
A voice comes forth, 'tis from the du^t —
The savage was a man !
Think ye he loved not ? who stood by.
And in his toUs took part ?
Woman was there to bless his eye —
The savage had a heart !
TMiik ye he prayed not ? when on Mgh
He heard the thunders roU,
What bade him look beyond the sky ?
The savage had a soul !

XV.
I venerate the PUgrim's cause.
Yet for the red man dare to plead —
We bow to Heaven's recorded laws,.
He turned to nature for a creed ;
Beneath the pffiared dome.
We seek our God in prayer ;
Through bounffiess woods he loved to roam,
And the Great Spnit worshipped there :
But one, one feUow-throb with us he felt ;
To one divinity with us he knelt ;
Freedom, the self-same freedom we adore.
Bade him defend his violated shore ;
He saw the cloud, ordained to grow.
And bm-st upon his hiUs in woe ;
He saw his people withering by.
Beneath the invader's evU eye ;

CITY GOVERNMENT. 365
Sttange feet were ttampling on his fathers' bones ;
At midnight hour he woke to gaze
Upon his happy cabin's blaze.
And Usten to his children's dying groans :
He saw — and maddening at the sight.
Gave his bold bosom to the fight ;
To tiger rage his soul was ffiiven,
Mercy was not — nor sought nor given ;
The pale man from his lands must fly ;
He would be free — or he would die.
XVI.
And was this savage ? say.
Ye ancient fcAV,
Who sttuggled through
Young freedom's ttial-day —
What first your sleeping wrath awoke ?
On your own shores Avar's larum broke :
What turned to gaU even Mndred blood ?
Round your own homes the oppressor stood :
This every warm affection chffied.
This every heart Avith vengeance thrilled.
And sttengthened every hand ;
From mound to mound.
The word went round —
" Death for our native land ! "
XVH.
Ye mothers, too, breathe ye no sigh.
For them who thus could dare to ffie ?
Are aU your own dark hours forgot.
Of soul-sick suffering here ?
Your pangs, as from yon mountain spot.
Death spoke in every booming shot,
That knelled upon your ear ?
How oft that gloomy, glorious tale ye teU,
As round your knees your chUffien's children hang.
Of them, the gaUant Ones, ye loved so well.
Who to the conflict for then countty sprang.
31*

366 MUNICHfAL HISTORY.
In pride, in aU the pride of woe.
Ye tell of them, the brave laid low.
Who for their birthplace bled ;
In pride, the pride of triumph then.
Ye teU of them, the matchless men,
From whom the invaders fled !

xvm.
And ye, this holy place Avho throng.
The annual theme to hear.
And bid the exffiting song
Sound their great names from year to year ;
Ye, who invoke the chisel's breathing grace,
In marble majesty their forms to ttace ;
Ye, who the sleeping rocks would raise.
To guard then dust and speak then praise ;
Ye, who, should some other band
With hostile foot deffie the land.
Feel that ye like them woffid wake.
Like them the yoke of bondage break.
Nor leave a battle-blade undrawn.
Though every MU a sepffichre shoffid yawn —
Say, have not ye one Une for those.
One brother-line to spare.
Who rose but as your Fathers rose,
And dared as ye Avould dare ?
XIX.
Alas ! for them — their day is o'er,
Their fires are out from hill and shore ;
No more for them the wild deer bounds,
The plough is on their hunting grounds ;
The pale man's axe rings through their AA^oods,
The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods.
Their pleasant springs are ffiy ;
Their chilffien — look, by power oppressed.
Beyond the mountains of the west,
Then children go — to die.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 367

XX.

O doubly lost ! oblivion's shadoAVs close
Around their triumphs and their woes.
On other realms, whose suns have set.
Reflected raffiance lingers yet ;
There sage and bard have shed a Ught
That never shall go down in night ;
There time-crowned columns stand on high.
To teU of them who cannot die ;
Even we, who then were nothmg, kneel
In homage there, and join earth's general peal.
But the doomed Indian leaves behmd no trace.
To save his own, or serve another race ;
With his fraU breath his power has passed away.
His deeds, his thoughts are bmied AAith his clay ;
Nor lofty pile, nor gloAving page
ShaU ffiik him to a future age.
Or give him with the past a rank :
His heraldry is but a broken bow.
His history but a tale of Avrong and woe.
His very name must be a blank.
XXI.
Cold, Avith the beast he slew, he sleeps ;
O'er Mm no fiUal spirit weeps ;
No crowds throng round, no anthem-notes ascend.
To bless his coming and embalm his end ;
Even that he lived, is for his conqueror's tongue,
By foes alone his death-song must be sung ;
No chronicles but theirs shaU teU
His mournful doom to future times ;
May these upon his virtues dweU,
And in his fate forget his crimes.
xxn.
Peace to the mingUng dead !
Beneath the turf we tread.

368 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Chief, Pilgrim, Patriot sleep —
AU gone ! how changed ! and yet the same,
As when faith's herald bark ffist came
In sorrow o'er the deep.
Stffi from his noonday height.
The sun looks doAvn in Ught ;
Along the trackless realms of space.
The stars stffi run their midnight race ;
The same green vaUeys smUe, the same rough shore
Stffi echoes to the same wUd ocean's roar : —
But where the bristUng night-wolf sprang
Upon his startled prey.
Where the fierce Indian's war-cry rang
Through many a bloody fray ;
And where the stern old Pilgrim prayed
In solitude and gloom.
Where the bold Patriot ffiew his blade.
And dared a pattiot's doom —
Behold ! in Uberty's unclouded blaze.
We Uft our heads, a race of other days.
XXIH.
All gone ! the wild beast's lair is ttodden out ;
Proud temples stand in beauty there ;
Our children raise their merry shout.
Where once the death-whoop vexed the an :
The Pilgrim — seek yon ancient place of gi-aves.
Beneath that chapel's holy shade ;
Ask, where the breeze the long grass Avaves,
Who, Avho AAithin that spot are laid :
The Patriot — go, to fame's proud mount repan.
The tardy pUe, slow rising there.
With tongueless eloquence shall tell
Of them Avho for their counti-y feU.
XXIV.
AU gone ! 't is ours, the gooffiy land —
Look round — the heritage behold ;
Go forth — upon the mountains stand.
Then, if ye can, be cold.

CITY GOVERNMENT. 369
See Uving vales by Uving waters blessed.
Their wealth see earth's dark caverns yield.
See ocean roU, in ,glory dressed.
For aU a tteasure, and round aU a shield :
Hark to the shouts of praise
Rejoicing millions raise ;
Gaze on the spires that rise.
To point them to the skies,
Unfearing and unfeared ;
Then, if ye can, O then forget
To whom ye owe the sacred debt —
The PUgrim race revered !
The men who set faith's bmning lights
Upon these everlasting heights.
To gffide their chUdren through the years of time
The men that glorious law who taught.
Unshrinking Uberty of thought.
And roused the nations Asith the ttuth subUme.
XXV.
Forget ? no, never — ne'er shaU ffie.
Those names to memory dear ;
I read the promise in each eye
That beams upon me here.
Descendants of a tAvice-recorded race.
Long may ye here your lofty lineage grace ;
'Tis not for you home's tender tie
To rend, and brave the waste of waves ;
'Tis not for you to rouse and die.
Or yield and live a line of slaves ;
The deeds of danger and of death are done :
Upheld by inward power alone,
Unhonored by the world's loud tongue,
'Tis yours to do unknown.
And then to die unsung.
To other days, to other men belong
The penman's plaudit and the poet's song ;
Enough for glory has been Avrought,
By you be humbler praises sought ;
In peace and truth life's jomney run.
And keep unsuUied what your Fathers won.

370 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

XXVI.
Take then my prayer. Ye dweUers of this spot -
Be yours a noiseless and a guiltless lot.
I plead not that ye bask
In the rank beams of vulgar fame ;
To Ught your steps I ask
A purer and a holier flame.
No bloated growth I supplicate for you.
No pining multitude, no pampered few ;
'Tis not alone to coffer gold.
Nor spreaffing borders to behold ;
'Tis not fast-swelling crowds to win.
The refuse-ranks of Avant and sin —
This be the kind decree :
Be ye by goodness crowned.
Revered, though not renowned ;
Poor, if Heaven Avffi, but Free !
Free from the tyrants of the hour.
The clans of wealth, the clans of power.
The coarse, cold scorners of their God ;
Free from the taint of sin,
The leprosy that feeds withm.
And free, in mercy, from the bigot's rod.
XX VH.
The sceptic's might, the crosier's pride.
Ye do not fear ;
No conquest blade, in Ufe-blood dyed.
Drops terror here —
Let there not lurk a subtler snare,
For wisdom's footsteps to beware ;
The shacMe and the stake,
Om Fathers fled ;
Ne'er may their children Avake
A foffier Avrath, a deeper ffi-ead ;
Ne'er may the craft that fears the flesh to bind.
Lock its hard fetters on the mind ;
Quenched be the fiercer flame
That kindles with a name :

CITY GOVERNMENT. 37I
The pilgrim's faith, the pilgrim's zeal.
Let more than pUgrim kindness seal ;
Be purity of Ufe the test.
Leave to the heart, to Heaven, the rest.
XXVHI.
So, when our chUdren turn the page.
To ask what triumphs marked our age.
What we achieved to chaUenge praise.
Through the long Une of future days.
This let them read, and hence instruction draw :
" Here Avere the Many blessed,
" Here found the virtues rest,
" Faith Unked Avith love and Uberty with law;
" Here industty to comfort led,
" Her book of light here learning spread ;
" Here the warm heart of youth
" Was wooed to temperance and to truth ;
" Here hoary age was found,
" By Avisdom and by reverence crowned.
" No great, but guUty fame
" Here kindled pride, that should have kinffied shame ;
" These chose the better, happier part,
" That poured its sunlight o'er the heart ;
" That crowned their homes Avith peace and health,
" And weighed Heaven's smUe beyond earth's wealth ;
" Far from the thorny paths of sttife
" They stood, a living lesson to their race,
" Rich in the charities of life,
" Man in his sttength, and Woman in her grace ;
In purity and love their pilgrim road they trod.
And when they served their neighbor felt they served their
God." XXIX
This may not wake the poet's verse.
This souls of fire may ne'er rehearse
In crowd deUghting voice ;
Yet o'er the record shaU the patriot bend.
His quiet praise the moraUst shall lend.
And aU the good rejoice.

372 MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

XXX.
This be om story then, in that far day.
When others come their kinffied debt to pay :
In that far day ? — O what shaU be,
In this dominion of the free.
When we and ours have rendered up our ttust.
And men unborn shaU ttead above our dust ?
O what shaU be ? — He, He alone,
The dread response can make.
Who sitteth on the only throne.
That time shall never shake ;
Before whose aU-beholding eyes
Ages sweep on, and empires sink and rise.
Then let the song to Him begun.
To Him in reverence end :
Look down in love. Eternal One,
And Thy good cause defend ;
Here, late and long, put forth thy hand,
To guard and guide the PUgrim's land.

APPENDIX.

(A. Page 43.)
THE mayor's INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MAT, 1822.
Gentlemen of the City Council : —
The experience of nearly two centuries has borne ample testimony to the
¦wisdom of those institutions which our ancestors established for the manage
ment of their municipal concerns. Most of the towns in this Commonwealth
may, probably, continue to enjoy the benefit of those salutary regulations
for an unUmited series of years. But the great increase of population in the
town of Boston has made it necessary for the Legislature frequently to enact
statutes of local appUcation, to enable the inhabitants successfully to conduct
their aifairs; and at the last session, with a promptness which claims our
gratitude, on the application of the town, they granted the charter which invests
it -mth the powers and inununities of a city. Those who have attended to the
inconveniences under which we have labored, wiU not attribute this innovation
to an eager thirst for novelty, or restless desire of innovation. The most intel
hgent and experienced of our citizens have for a long period meditated a change,
and exerted their influence to effect it. Difference of opinion must be expected,
and mutual concessions made, in all cases where the interests of a large commu
nity is to be accommodated. The precise form in which the charter is to be
presented, may not be acceptable to all ; but its provisions have met with the
approbation of a large majority, and it wiU receive the support of every good
citizen.
Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Board of Selectmen : —
The members of the City CouncU acknowledge their obUgations to you, for the
attention and care which you have bestowed in all the arrangements for their
accommodation. They tender their thanks for the friendly and respectful senti
ments expressed in the address which accompanied the delivery of the ancient
act of incorporation of the town, and the recent charter of the city.
During the short period which has elapsed since I was elected to the office,
the duties of which I have now solemnly undertaken to discharge to the best of
my abUity, I have devoted such portion of my time as I could command to exar
mine the records of your proceedings, with the able assistance which your Chair-
32

374 APPENDIX.
man most readily afforded me ; and they furnish full evidence of the abihty,
diligence, and integrity of those who have been justiy denominated the Fathers
of the town.
Gentlemen, you will now be relieved from labors, the weight of which can
only be diUy estimated by those exceUent citizens who have preceded you in
office. You retire with the consciousness of important duties faithfuUy and
honorably discharged. Our best wishes attend you, whether engaged in public
employments or in private pursuits. May you be useful and prosperous, and
long continue your exertions to advance the interest and honor of our city.
Those who encourage hopes that can never be reaUzed, and those who indulge
unreasonable apprehensions because this instrument is not framed agreeably to
their wishes, -ffiU be benefited by reflecting, how much more our social happiness
depends upon other causes than the provisions of a charter. Purity of manners,
general diffusion of knowledge, and strict attention to the education of the young,
above aU a firm, practical belief of that Divine revelation which has affixed the
penalty of unceasing anguish to rice, and promised to virtue rewards of inter
minable duration, wiU counteract the evils of any form of government. While the
love of order, benevolent affections, and Christian piety distinguish, as they have
done, the inhabitants of this city, they may enjoy the highest blessings under
a charter with so few imperfections as that which the wisdom of our Legislatm-e
has sanctioned.
To enter upon the administration of this government by the inritation of our
feUow-citizens, we are this day assembled. When I look around and observe
gentlemen of the highest standing and most active employments, devoting their
talents and experience to assist in the commencement of this arduous business,
in common with my feUow-citizens, I appreciate most highly their elevated and
patriotic motives. I weU know, Gentiemen, the great sacrifice of time, of care,
and of emolument, which you make in assuming this burden. It shall be my
constant study to tighten it by every means in my power. In my official inteiv
course, I shaU not encumber you with unnecessary forms, or encroach on your
time with prolix dissertations. In all the communications which the charter
requires me to make, conciseness and brevity wiU be carefuUy studied. I will
detain you no longer from the discbarge of the important duties which now
devolve upon you, than to invite you to unite in beseeching the Father of Light,
without whose blessing aU exertion is fruitless, and whose grace alone can give
efficacy to the councUs of human wisdom, to enlighten and guide our delibera
tions with the influence of his Holy Spirit, and then we cannot fciil to promote
the best interests of our feUow-citizens.

APPENDIX. 375
(B. Page 59.)
THE mayor's INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MAT, 1823.
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen, and Gentlemen of the Common Council: — •
Itf accepting the office, to which the suffrages of my fellow-citizens have
called me, I have not concealed from myself the labors and responsibUities of the
station. Comparing my own powers with the nature and exigencies of the pre
sent relations of the city, I should have shrunk instinctively from the task, did
I not derive, from the inteUigence and rirtues of my feUow-oitizens, a confidence
which no qualifications of my own are capable of inspiring.
In entering upon the duties of this office, and after examining and considering
the records of the proceedings of the city authorities the past year, it is impos
sible for me to refrain from expressing the sense I entertain of the services of
that high and honorable indiridual who fiUed the Chair of this city, as weU as
of the wise, prudent, and faithful citizens, who composed, during that period, the
City CouncU. Their labors have been, indeed, in a measure, unobtrusive ; but
they have been various, useful, and well considered. They have laid the found
ations of the prosperity of our city deep, and on right principles ; and, whatever
success may attend those who come after them, they wUl be largely indebted for
it to the wisdom and fideUty of their predecessors. A task was committed to the
first administration to perform, in no common degree arduous and deUcate. The
change from a town to a city had not been effected -without a considerable oppo
sition. On that subject many fears existed, which it was difficult to aUay ; many
jealousies, hard to overcome. In the outset of a new form of government,
among variously affected passions and interests, and among indistinct expecta
tions impossible to reaUze, it was apparently wise to shape the course of the first
administration, rather by the spirit of the long-experienced constitution of the
town, than by that of the unsettled charter of the city. It was natural for pru
dent men, first intrusted with city authorities, to apprehend that measures par
taking of the mild, domestic character of our ancient institutions, might be as
useful, and would be likely to be more acceptable, than those which should
develop the entire powers of the new government. It is yet to be proved,
whether, in these measures, our predecessors were not right. In aU times the
inhabitants of this metropolis have been distinguished, preeminentiy, for a free,
elastic repubUcan spirit. Heaven grant, that they forever may be thus distin
guished ! It is yet to be decided, whether such a spirit can, for the sake of the
peace, order, health, and convenience of a great and rapidly-increasing popula
tion, endure without distrust and discontent, the appUcation of necessary city
powers to all the exigencies which arise in such a community.
In executing the trust which my fellow-citizens have confided to me, I shaU
yield entirely to the influences, and be guided exclusively by the principles of
the city charter ; striving to give prudent efficiency to aU its powers ; endeavor
ing to perform aU its duties, in forms and modes at once the most useful and
most acceptable to my fellow-citizens. If at any time, however, through any
intrinsic incompatibiUty, it is impracticable to unite both these objects, I shaU, in

376 APPENDIX
such case, foUow duty ; aud leave the event to the decision of a just, and wise,
and generous people. In every exigency, it -wUl be my endeavor to imbibe and
to exhibit, in purpose and act, the spirit of the city charter.
What that spirit is, so far as relates to the office of Mayor ; what duties it
enjoins ; and by what principles those duties -sviU, in the eoui-se of the ensuing
administration, be attempted to be performed, it is suitable to the occasion, and
I shall now, very briefly, explain.
The spirit of the city charter, so far as relates to the office of Mayor, is charac
terized by the powers and duties it devolves upon that officer.
By him, " the laws of the city are to be executed ; the conduct of aU subordi
nate officers inspected; aU negligence, carelessness, and positive violations of
duty prosecuted and punished." In addition to this, he is enjoined to " coUect
and communicate aU information, and recommend aU such measures as may tend
to improve the city finances, poUce, health, security, cleanliness, comfort, and
ornament." The spirit of the city charter in this relation may also be coUected, by consi
dering these powers and duties in connection with the preceding form of govern
ment. One great defect in the ancient organization of to-fvn government was,
the dirision of the executive power among many ; the consequent Uttie respon
sibUity, and the faciUty with which that Uttle was shifted from one department,
board, or indiridual, to another ; so as to leave the inhabitants, in a great mea
sure, at a loss whom to blame for the deficiency in the nature or execution of the
provisions for their safety and poUee. The duty, also, of general superintend
ence over aU the boards and pubUc institutions, being specificaUy vested no
where, no indiridual member of either of them could take upon himself that
office, without being obnoxious to the charge of a busy, meddlesome disposition.
The consequence was, that the great duty of considering aU the pubhc institu
tions, in their relations to one another and to the pubUc serrice, was either
necessarUy neglected, or, if performed at aU, could only be executed occasion
aUy, and in a very general manner.
The remedy attempted by the city charter is, to proride for the fulfilment of
aU these duties, by specificaUy investing the chief officer of the city with the
necessary powers ; and thus to render him responsible, both in character and
by station, for their efficient exercise. By placing this officer under the constant
control of both branches of the City CouncU, aU errors, in judgment and pur
pose, were intended to be checked or corrected ; and, by his annual election,
security is attained against insufficiency or abuse, in the exercise of his authority.
The duties, enjoined by the charter on the executive authority, are concurrent
with its powers and coincident -with its spirit. If, in making a sketch of them,
I shall be thought to present an outUne, difficult for any man completely to fill,
and absolutely impracticable for the individual who now occupies the station, let
it be remembered, that it is always wise in man to work after models more per
fect than his capacity can execute. Perfect duty, it is not in the power of man
to perform. But it is the right of the people, that every man in public ' office
should know and attempt it. Let it also be considered, that it wUl be advanta
geous, both for the individual who may hold, and for the people who judge and
select, that both should form elevated conceptions of the nature of the station.
The one wUl be thus more likely to aim at something higher than mediocrity, in

APPENDIX. 377
execution ; and the other, forming just notions of its difficulty, deUcacy, and
importance, wUl select with discrimination, and receive more readily faithful and
laborious endeavor in lieu of perfect performance.
The great duty of the Mayor of such a city as this, is to identify himself, abso
lutely and exclusively, with its character and interests. All its unportant rela
tions he should diUgently study, and strive thoroughly to understand. AU its
rights, whether aflfecting property, or Uberty, or power, it is his duty, as occa
sions occur, to analyze and maintain. If possible, he should leave no founda
tions of either unsettled or dubious. Towards them, he should teach hunself to
feel, not merely the zeal of official station, but the pertinacious spirit of private
interest. Of local, sectional, party, or personal divisions, he should know nothing,
except for the purpose of heaUng the wounds they inffict ; softening the animo
sities they engender ; and exciting, by his example and influence, bands, hostUe
to one another in every other respect, to march one way, when the interests of
the city are iu danger. Its honor, happiness, dignity, safety, and prosperity, the
development of its resources, its expenditures and poUce, should be the perpetual
object of his purpose and labor of his thought. AU its public institutions, its
edifices, hospitals, almshouses, jails, should be made the subject of his frequent in
spection, to the end that wants may be suppUed, errors corrected, abuses exposed.
Above aU, its schools, those choice depositaries of the hope of a free people,
should engage his utmost soUcitude and unremitting superintendence. Justly
are these institutions the pride and the boast of the inhabitants of this city. For
these, Boston has, at all times, stood preeminent. Let there exist, elsewhere,
a greater population, a richer commerce, wider streets, more splendid ave
nues, statelier palaces. Be it the endeavor of this metropolis to educate better
men, happier citizens, more enUghtened statesmen ; to elevate a people, tho
roughly instructed in their social rights, deeply imbued with a sense of their
moral duties ; mild, flexible to every breath of legitimate authority ; unyielding
as fate to unconstitutional impositions.
In administering the police, in executing the laws, in protecting the rights,
and promoting the prosperity of the city, its first officer wiU be necessarily beset
and assaUed by individual interests, by rival projects, by personal influences,
by party passions. The more firm and inflexible he is, in maintaining the
rights, and in pursuing the interests of the city, the greater is the probabiUty
of his becoming obnoxious to all, whom he causes to be prosecuted, or punished ;
to aU, whose passions he thwarts ; to aU, whose interests he opposes. It wUl
remain for the citizens to decide, whether he who shaU attempt to fulfil these
duties, and thus to uphold their interests, in a firm, honest, and unpartial spirit,
shaU find countenance and support, in the intelUgence and virtue of the com
munity. Touching the principles, by which the ensuing administration wiU endeavor to
regulate and conduct the aff'airs of the city, nothing is promised, except a labo
rious fulfihnent of every known duty ; a prudent exercise of every invested
power ; and a disposition, shrinking from no official responsibility. The outUne
of the duties, just sketched, wUl be placed before the executive officer, -without
any expectation of approximating towards its extent, much less of fflling it up,
according to that enlarged conception. By making, in the constitution of our
32*

378 APPENDIX.
nature, the power to pm-pose greater than the power to perform, Proridence hsa
indicated to man, that true duty and wisdom consists in combining high efforts
with humble expectations.
If the powers vested seem too great for any indiridual, let it be remembered,
that they are necessary to attain the great objects of health, comfort, and safety
to the city. To those whose fortunes are restricted, these powei-s, in their just
exercise, ought to be peculiarly precious. The rich can fly from the generated
pestilence. In the season of danger, the sons of fortune can seek refuge in
purer atmospheres. But necessity condemns the poor to remain and inhale the
noxious effluvia. To aU classes who reside permanentiy in a city, these powers
are a privilege and a blessing. In relation to city poUce, it is not sufficient
that the law, in its due process, wUl ultimately remedy every injury, and remove
every nuisance. WhUe the law delays, the injury is done. While judges are
doubting, and la-wyers debating, the nuisance ia exhaling and the atmosphere
corrupting. In these cases, prevention should be the object of soUcitude, not
remedy. It is not enough, that the obstacle which impedes the citizen's way, or
the nuisance which oflfends his sense should be removed on complaint, or by
complaint. The true criterion of an efficient city government is, that it should
be removed before complaint and without complaint.
The true glory of a city consists, not in palaces, temples, columns, the vain
boast of art, or the proud magnificence of luxury, but in a happy, secure, and
contented people ; feeling the advantage of a rigorous and faithful administra
tion, not merely in the wide street and splendid avenue, but in every lane, in
every court, and in every aUey. The poorest and humblest citizen should be
made instinctively to bless that paternal government, which he daUy perceives
Avatching over his comfort and convenience, and securing for him that surest
pledge of health, a pure atmosphere.
The indiridual, now intrusted with the executive power by his feUow-citizens,
repeats, that he promises nothing, except an absolute self-devotion to theh
interests. To understand, maintain, and improve them, he dedicates whatever
humble intellectual or physical power he may possess.
Gentlemen of the City Council: —
In all the relations which the constitution has established between the depart
ments, it AviU be bis endeavor, by punctuaUty and despatch in public business,
by executing every duty and taking every responsibiUty which belongs to his
office, to shorten and lighten your disinterested and patriotic labors. Should
his and your faithful, though necessarUy imperfect exertions, give satisfaction to
our feUow-citizens, we shaU have reason to rejoice, — not -with a private and
personal, but with a public and patriotic joy ; for next to the consciousness of
fulfiUed duty, is the grateful conviction, that our lot is cast in a community,
ready justiy to appreciate, and wiUing actively to support, faithful ajid laborious
efforts in their service.
Should, however, the contrary happen, and, in conformity with the experience
of other republics, faithful exertions be followed by loss of favor and confidence,
stlUhe will have reason to rejoice, — not, indeed, -with a pubhc and patriotic,
but with a private and individual joy, — for he will retire -with a consciousness,
weighed against which, aU human suffrages are but as the light dust of the balance.

APPENDIX. 379

(C. Page 121.)
THE mayor's INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MAY, 1824.
Gentlemen of the City Council : —
The first impulse of my heart, on thus entering a second time upon the duties
of chief magistrate of this city, is to express my deep sense of gra-titude for the
distinguished support I have received from the suffrages of my feUow-citizens.
It has been, I am conscious, as much beyond my deserts, as beyond my hopes.
May these marks of pubUc confidence produce their genuine fruits, truer zeal,
greater activity, and more entire self-devotion to the interests of the city ! ¦
To you, gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen, who have received such gratify
ing proofs of the approbation of your feUow-citizens, permit me thus publicly to
express the greatness of my own obUgations. You have shunned no labor. You
have evaded no responsibUity. You have sought, with a single eye, and a firm,
undeviating purpose, the best interests of the city. It is my honor and happi
ness to have been associated with such men. Whatsoever success has attended
the administration of the past year, may justly be attributed to the spirit and
inteUigence which characterized your labors and councUs.
The gentlemen of the last Common CouncU are also entitied to a pubUo
expression of my gratitude, for their undeviating personal support, as weU as the
zeal and fideUty which distinguished their pubhc serrioes.
It is proper, on the present occasion, to speak of the administration of the past
year, -with reference to the principles by which it was actuated. If, in doing
this, I enter more into detail than may seem suitable in a general discourse, it is
because I deem such an elucidation conformable to the nature of the city govern
ment, and connected with its success. Whatever there is peculiar in the charac
ter of the inhabitants of Boston, is chiefly owing to the freedom of its ancient
form of government, which had planted and fostered among its people a keen,
active, inquisitive spirit ; taking an interest in aU pubUc affairs, and exacting a
strict and frequent account from all who have the charge of their concerns.
This is a healthy condition of a community, be it a city, state, or nation. It indi
cates the existence of the only true foundation of public prosperity, the inteUi
gence and virtue of the people, and their consequent capacity to govern them
selves. Such a people have a right to expect a particular elucidation of conduct
from public functionaries ; whose incumbent duty it is to foster, on aU occasions,
among their feUow-citizens, a faithful and inquisitive spirit touching pubUc con
cerns. The acts of the administration of the past year had reference to morals, to
comfort, and convenience and ornament. A very brief statement of the chief of
these, which had any thmg novel in their character, -vriU be made with reference
to principle and to expense. If more prominence be given to this last than may
be thought necessary, it is because in relation to this, discontent is most Ukely to
appear. In the organizing of new systems, and in the early stages of beneficial
and even economical arrangements outlays must occur. These expenditures are
inseparable from the first years. The resulting benefit must be expected and

380 APPENDIX.
averaged among many future years. No obscurity ought to be permitted, con
cerning conduct and riews in this respect. In a repubUc, the strength of every
administration, in public opinion, ought to be in proportion to the wUUngness
¦vrith which it submits to a rigorous accountabUity. With respect to morals, there
existed at the commencement of last year, in one section of the city, an auda
cious obtrusiveness of rice, notorious and lamentable ; setting at defiance, not
only the decencies of Ufe, but the authority of the laws. Repeated attempts to
subdue this combination had faUed. An opinion was entertained by some that it
was invincible. There were those who recommended a tampering and palliative,
rather than eradicating course of measures. Those intrusted ¦with the affairs of
the city were of a different temper. The evU was met in the face. In spite of
clamor, of threat, of insult, of the certificates of those who were interested to
maintain, or -wilUng to countenance vice, in this quarter, a determined course
was pursued. The whole section was put under the ban of authority. AU
Ucenses in it were denied ; a rigorous police was organized, which, aided by the
courts of justice and the House of Correction, effected its purpose. For three
months past, the daUy reports of our city officers have represented that section
as peaceable as any other. Those connected -with courts of justice, both as
ministers and officers, assert that the effect has been plainly discernible in the
registers of the jaU and of prosecution.
These measures did not originate in any theories or risions of ideal purity,
attainable in the existing state of human society, but in a single sense of duty
and respect for the character of the city ; proceeding upon the principle, that if
in great cities the existence of rice is ineritable, that its course should be in
secret, Uke other filth, in drains and in darkness ; not obtrusive, not powerful,
not prowUng publicly in the streets for the innocent and unwary.
The expense by which this effect has been produced, has been somewhat less
than one thousand doUai-s. An amount already perhaps saved to the community
in the diminution of those prosecutions and of their costs, which the continuance
of the former unobstructed course of predominating vice in that section would
have occasioned.
The next object of attention of the city government was cleansing the streets.
In cities, £is well as among individuals, cleanUness has reference to morals as well
as to comfort. Sense of dignity and self-respect are essentially connected -with
purity, physical and moral. And a city is as much elevated as an individual by
self-respect. To remove from our sti-eets whatever might offend the sense or endanger the
health, was the first duty. To do it as economicaUy as was consistent with doing
it weU, was the second.
How it has been done, whether satisfactorily as could be expected in the first
year, and by incipient operations, our feUow-citizens are the judges. As far as
the knowledge of the Mayor and Aldermen has extended, the com-se pui-sued
has met with unquaUfied approbation, and given entire content.
In respect to economy, there were but two modes, — by contract, or by teams
and laborers provided and employed by the city. The latter course was
adopted ; and for several reasons. The value of what was annuaUy taken from
the surface of the streets of the city, as weU as the quantity, was wholly unkno-wn.
There were no data on which to estimate either, and of course no measure by

APPENDIX. 381
which the amount of contract could be regulated. The streets of the city had
been almost from time immemorial the revenue of the farmers in the vicinity, who
came at will, took what siuted their purposes, and left the rest to accumulate.
It was thought important that the city should undertake the operation neces
sary to cleansing the streets itself, not because this mode was certainly the most
economical, but because it would be certainly the most effectual ; and because,
by this means, the city government would acquaint themselves with the subject
in detaU, and be the better enabled to meet the farmers hereafter on the ground
of contract, should this mode be found expedient.
In order, however, to leave no means of information unsought, contracts were
pubhcly inrited by the city government. Of the proposals made, one only
included aU the operations of scraping, sweeping, and carrying away. This per
son offered to do the whole for one year for seven thousand dollars. AU the other
proposals expressly decUned having any thing to do ¦with scraping and sweep
ing, and confined their offer to the mere carrying away. The lowest of these
was eighteen hundred dollars. When it was found that the city was about to per
form the operation on its own account, the same persons fell in their offers from
eighteen to eight hundred doUars ; and when this was rejected, they offered to do
it for nothing. And since the city operations have commenced, the inquiry now
is, at what price they can enjoy the privilege. These facts are stated, because they
strikingly Ulustrate how important it is to the city that its administration should
take subjects of this kind into their own hands, until by experience they shaU
have so become acquainted ¦with them as to render their ultimate measures the
result of knowledge, and not of general surmise or opinion.
The general result of the operations may be thus stated. At an expense of
about four thousand doUars, between six and seven thousand tons weight of filth
and dirt have been removed from the surface of the streets. AU of which have
been advantageously used in improving the city property, under circumstances
and in situations in which these coUections were much wanted, ¦ — on the Com
mon, on the Neck lands, and at South Boston. There can be no question, that,
in these improvements, the city "wiU receive the fuU value of the whole expense;
to say nothing of what is reaUy the chief object of the system, that the streets
have been kept in a general state of cleanUness satisfactory to the inhabitants.
By sale of the coUections the next year, it is expected that we shaU be able to
compare directly the cash receipt with the cash expenditure.
The ¦widening of our streets, as occasions offered, was the next object to which
the attention of the city administration was directed, and the one involving the
greatest expense. The circumstances of the times, and the enterprise of private
mdividuals, opened opportunities, in this respect, unexampled in point of number
and importance. If lost, they might never occur again, at least not within the
Ufetime of the youngest of our chUdren. The administration availed themselves
of those opportunities, as a matter of duty, in the actual condition of a city so
extremely irregular and inconvenient as is Boston in the original plan and pro
jection of its streets. Important knprovements have been made in Lynn, Ship,
Thacher, and MiU Pond Streets ; in Hanover, Elm, Brattie, Court, and Union
Streets; in Temple, Lynde, Sumner, and Milk Streets; in Federal, Orange,
Eliot, and Warren Streets. The expense has been somewhat less than twelve
thousand doUars. A considerable cost in comparison with the extent of the land,

382 APPENDIX.
taken ; but reasonable, and not more than might be expected, when considered
with reference to the nature of the improvements, for the most part in thick-set-
tied parts of the city, where the land taken was very valuable, and the unprove-
ment proportionably important.
Another object of attention during the past year has been the drains. The
ancient system, by which these were placed on the footing of private right, was
expensive and troublesome to individuals, involring proprietors in perpetual dis
putes with those making new entries, and was particularly objectionable, as it
respects the city, as that in a degree it made our streets the subjects of private
right, and as such placed them out of the control of the city authorities.
The principle adopted was, to take aU new drains into the hands of the city;
to divide the expense as equally as possible among those, estates immediately
benefited, upon principles appUcable to the particular nature of this subject, and
retain in the city the whole property, both as it respects control and assessment
In its first stages, such a system must necessarUy be expensive ; but the result
cannot faU to be beneficial, and, in a course of years, profitable. During the
past year, the city has buUt about five thousand feet of di-ain, one thousand feet
of which is twenty inch barrel drain ; of this the city is now sole proprietor. It
has already received more than one half the whole cost from persons whose
estates were particularly benefited ; and the balance, amounting to about four
thousand five hundred doUars, is in a course of gradual, and, as it respects the
far greater part, certain, ultimate collection. Considering the effect which well-
constructed drains must have upon the city expenditure, in respect of the single
article of paring, there can be but one opinion upon the wisdom and economy
of this system.
A new mall has been nearly completed on Charles Street, and aU the missing
and dead trees of the old malls, the Common, and Fort HiU, have been replaced
¦with a care and protection which almost insure success to these ornaments of the
city. The proceedings of the Directors of the House of Industry, aud the flattering
hopes connected ¦with that estabUshment, would require a minuteness of detaU,
not compatible ¦with the present occasion. They wUl doubtless be made the
subject of an early and distinct examination and report of the City CouncU.
Two objects of very great interest, to which the proceedings of last year have
reference, remain to be elucidated. The purchase of the interest of the proprie
tors of the ropewalks west of the Common, aud the projected improvements about
FaneuU HaU Market.
The citizens of Boston, in a moment of sympathy and feeling for the sufferings
of particular individuals, and without sufficient prospective regard for the future
exigencies of the city, had voluntarUy given the right of using the land occupied
by the ropewalks to certain grantees for that use. In consequence of the exclu
sion of the water by the MUl-dam, a tract of land has been opened either for sale,
as an object of profit, or for use, as an object of ornament, -with which the rights
of these proprietors absolutely interfered. It was thought that no moment could
be more favorable than the present to secure a reUnquishment of those rights.
An agreement of reference has been entered into with those proprietors, and the
amount to be paid by the city for such reUnquishment, has been left to the deci
sion of five of our most inteUigent, independent, and confidential citizens, -with

APPENDIX. 383
¦whose decision it cannot be questioned that both parties ¦will have reason to be
satisfied, notwithstanding it may happen that their award on the one side may be
less, or, on the other, more than their respective previous anticipations.
Touching the projected improvements in the vicinity of FaneuU HaU Market,
not only the extreme necessities of the city, in relation to space for a market,
have led to this project, but also the particular relations of that vicinity have
indicated the wisdom and policy, even at some risk and sacrifice, of bringing
together in one compact, efficient, and commodious connection, the northern and
central sections of our city, so as to facUitate the intercourse of business and
enterprise between them, and bring into market, and into use, and into improve
ment parts of the city, at present old, sightless, inconvenient, and in comparison
•with that competency which must result from a judicious arrangement, at present
absolutely useless.
Both these measures of the city government, relative to the Ropewalks and to
Faneuil HaU Market, -wiU necessarily lead to what, to many of our citizens, is an
object of great dread, — a city debt.
As this is a subject of considerable importance, and touches a nerve of great
sensibUity, it ought to be weU considered and rightiy understood by our fellow-
citizens. I shall, therefore, not apologize for making, on this occasion, some
observations upon it.
The right to create a debt, is a power vested by our charter in the City Coun
cU. Now this, like every other power, is to be characterized by its use. This
may be ¦wise and prudent, or the opposite, according to the objects to which it is
appUed, and the manner and degree of that appUcation. Abstractedly, a debt is
no more an object of terror than a sword. Both are vei-y dangerous in the
hands of fools or madmen. Both are very safe, innocent, and useful in the hands
of the ¦wise and prudent.
A debt created for a purpose, Uke that which probably ¦wiU be necessai-y in the
case of the ropewalks, that of reUeving a great property from an accidental
embarrassment, is no more a just object of dread to a 'city than a debt created
for seed wheat is to a farmer ; or than a debt for any object of certain return is
to a merchant.
So in the case of Faneuil HaU Market; what possible object of rational
apprehension can there be in a debt created for the purpose of purchasing a
¦tract of territory, whose value must be increased by the purchase, which, if sold,
cannot faU to excite a great competition, and if retained, the incomes of which,
so far as respects the market, are whoUy within the control of the city author
ities? It is possible, indeed, that more may be paid for some estates than
abstractedly they may be worth. It is possible that great changes may take
place in the value of real estate between the tune of the commencement and the
time of completing such a project. But the reverse is also quite as^ possible.
Proridence does not permit man to act upon certainties. The constitution of
our nature obUges hun, in every condition and connection, to shape his course
of conduct by probabiUties. His duty is to weigh maturely, prerious to decision,
to consider anxiously both the wisdom of his ends and the proportion of his
means. Once decided, in execution he should be as firm and rapid as in coun
cU he has been slow and deUberate ; cultivating in his own breast and in the
breasts of others just confidence in the continuance of the usual analogies and
relations of things.

384 APPENDIX.
The destinies of the city of Boston are of a nature too plain fo be denied or
misconceived. The prognostics of its future greatness are ¦written on the face
of nature too legibly and too indeUbly to be mistaken. These indications are
apparent from the location of our city, from its harbor, and its relative position
among rival towns and cities ; above all, from the character of its inhabitants,
and the singular degree of enterprise and inteUigence which are diffused through
every class of its citizens. Already capital and population is determined towards
it from other places, by a certain and irresistible power of attraction. It remains
then for the citizens of Boston to be true to their own destinies ; to be wiUing to
meet wise expenditures and temporary sacrifices, and thus to cooperate with
nature and Providence in their apparent tendencies to promote their greatness
and prosperity ; thereby not only improving the general condition of the city,
elevating its character, multiplying its accommodations, and strengthening the
predilections which exist already in its favor, but also patronizing and finding
employment for its laborers and mechanics.
It is true the power of credit, like every other power, is subject to abuse. But
to improve the general convenience of the city, to augment its facUities for busi
ness, to add to the comfort of its inhabitants, and in this way to augment its
resources, are among the most obvious and legitimate uses of that power, which,
doubtless, for these purposes, was intrusted to the City Council.
Having thus explained some of the principal proceedings and sources of extra
ordinary expense occurring during the past year, I feel myself bound to make
some general remarks on the nature of the office I have had the honor to hold,
and to which the suffrages of my feUow-citizens have recalled me. It is import-
ant_that a right apprehension should be formed concerning its duties, its respon
sibUities, the powers it ought to possess, and what the people have a right to
expect, and what they ought to exact from the possessor of it. And I do this the
rather, because I am sensible that very different opinions exist upon this subject.
There are those who consider the office very much in the light of a pageant;,
destined merely to superintend and direct the general course of administration,
to maintain the dignity, and to " dispense the hospitaUties " of the city, and who
deem the office in some measure degraded, by having any thing of a laborious or
working condition connected with it ; aud I am well aware that the practice in
other cities justifies such an opinion. I have not thought, however, gentiemen,
that a young and healthy republic, for such the city of Boston is, should seek its
precedents, or encourage its officers in looking for models among the corrupt and
superannuated forms of ancient despotisms. ^On the contrary, it seemed to me
incumbent on the early possessor of this office, in a state of society Uke that
which exists in Massachusetts, and for which this city is preeminent, to look at
the real character of that office, as it is indicated by the expressions of the char
ter, and exists in the nature of things, with little or no regard to the practice of
other places, or to opinions founded on those practices.
In this view, therefore, my attempt has been to attain a deep and thorough
acquaintance with the interests of the inhabitants and of the city ; and this not
by general surveys, but by a minute, particular, and active inspection of their
public concerns, in all their details.
Although this course has been the occasion of much trouble, and perhaps
made me obnoxious to some censure, as being busy, and perhaps meddling, ¦with

APPENDIX. 385
matters out of my sphere, yet I have thought it better to expose myself to those
imputations, than to forego the opportunities such a course of conduct afforded
of obtaining a deep and thorough acquaintance with the business and interests
of the city, which the charter plainly presupposed, and indeed was ncec-sary to
fulfil the duties in a very huhible degree which it made incumbent. And the
more experience I have had in the duties of this office, the more I feel obliged,
both by precept and example, to press upon my feUow-citizens tiie necossity of
considering this as a business office, combining as indispensable requisites, —
great zeal, great activity, great self-devotion, and, as far as possible, a thorough
acquaintance with the relations of the people.
Nor is it only necessary that tiicse qualities should at aU times be exacted of
the chief magistrate, and that he should be held to a rigid exhibition of them, in
his official conduct ; but, on the other hand, it is also necessary that aU the
departments should' be so arranged as to throw upon him the fuU weight of all
the responsibility which the charter attaches to his office. Whatever has a tend
ency to weaken that sense of responsibiUtj-, above aU, whatever enabl^ the exe
cutive officer to cast the blame of weak plans or inefficient execution upon others.
has a direct tendency to corrupt the executive, and to deprive the citizens of a
chief benefit, contemplated in the charter.
If there be any advantage in the form of a city over that of a town govern
ment, it lies in one single word, — efficiency. In this point of view, all the
powers of the City Council may be considered as comprehending also the execu
tive power, of which the Mayor is but a branch. For they enact the laws which
enable his department to possess that efficiency the charter contemplates. Now,
efficiency means nothing more than capacity to carry into effect. Whatever form
of organization of any department tends to deprive the executive of the city of
the power to carry into effect the laws, or transfers that power to others, dis
connected from his responsibility, has a direct tendency to encourage the execu
tive in ignorance, inactivity, or imbecility, which will inevitably, sooner or later,
result just in proportion as the organization enables him to throw the blame of
mismanagement upon others, or not to hold himself accountable for it.
Within the narrow limits and in relation to the humble objects to which the
executive power extends, its responsibUity should be clear, undivided, and inca
pable of being evaded. On the executive should ultimately devolve the account
ability for tiie efficiency of aU tiie departments ; and every organization is defect
ive which enables him to escape from it. Every citizen, in making complaints
to this officer, should be certain of finding redress, or of being pointed to the
path to obtain it. And as to those general nuisances which off'cnd sense, endan
ger health, or interfere with comfort, his power should enable liiin to apply a
remedy upon the instant, or at least as readily as the nature of the particular
subject-matter permits ; and to effect this, not by reference, not by writing sup
plicatory letters to independent boards, but personally, by appUcation of means
in his own hands, or by agents under his control, and for whom he is responsible.
The true theory of the form of government which our feUow-citizens have
chosen, results in a severe responsibility of the executive power, and with it are
identified the true interests of the citizens and the real advantages of a city
organization. But responsibUity implies a coextensive power as its basis. The
one cannot, and ought not to exist without the other. The charter makes it the
33

386 APPENDIX.
duty of the Mayor " to be vigilant and active at aU times, in causing the laws for
the government of the city to be duly executed and put in force." Now, how
can vigilance and activity be expected in an officer, in relation to a great mass
of laws, and those of the most critical and important character, the execution of
which is formaUy and expressly transferred to othArs, -with whose execution, if
he directly interferes, he takes the risk of giving offence to the nice sense of
honor and right of an independent board ? The charter makes it his duty " to
inspect the conduct of aU subordinate officers in the government thereof, and as
far as in his power to cause all negUgence, carelessness, and positive violations
of duty to be prosecuted and punished." Now, how can he do this, when those
who execute your laws do not consider themselves as subordinate, and are justi
fied in that opinion by the form and circumstances of their organization ?
Again, the charter plainly implies that the Mayor of this city should make him
self acquainted thoroughly and intimately with all its great interests, " with its
finances, its poUce, its health, security, cleanUness, comfort, and ornament."
Now, whjt encouragement is there to endeavor to fulfil these duties, when any
of its great interests are so constituted or vested, that he has no control over
them, nor any power of making any inquisition into their state or conduct,
except by personal solicitation and request ; not denied, indeed, out of politeness
and respect, but perhaps granted, not because he has a right from his official
relation to claim, but because, on the present occasion, there exists a wiUingness
to give the desired information ?
The organization of the executive power, by division among independent
boards, has a direct tendency to corrupt a weak executive officer, and to
embarrass one of opposite character.
The study of the former will naturally be to get along easUy ; for this purpose
he wUl yield whatever power another department is disposed to take, for thus his
responsibility is diminished ; and instead of a single definite, decided, official
action, on every occasion giving security to the citizen, regardless of personal
consequences, his course will be timid, shuffling, and compromising, begmning
with the vain design of pleasing everybody, and ending with the stiU vainer, of
expecting in this way long to maintain either influence or character.
An executive, on the contrary, who is firm and faithful to the constitution of
the city, wiU exercise the powers it confers. He wiU claim the right to inspect
all subordinate officers ; he will consider every branch of executive power, ema
nating from the City Council, as subordinate by the charter to the city executive.
He wiU claim of aU such an accountabiUty that wiU enable him to understand
every interest of the city in detail. Such a course would, probably, sooner or
later, lead to controversies concerning the rights and dignities of independent
boards ; to heart-burnings and jealousies ; perhaps to pamphlets and newspaper
attacks, which, if he does not answer, it will be said, that it is because he cannot;
and which, if he does answer, will lead to a reply, and that to a rejoinder ; and
thus the executive of the city, instead of a simple aud plain exercise of power,
hiunble and limited in its sphere, yet important to be both efficient and unem
barrassed, may be harassed with disputes about the pretensions, authorities, and
dignities of rival powers, vexatious and unprofitable, terminating in nothing but
divisions in the city, and inefficiency iu the execution of the laws.
1 have deemed it my duty to express myself thus distinctly, and in a most

APPENDIX. 387
unqualified manner, upon this point ; and the rather, thus publicly, because opi
nions in this respect are liable to be misrepresented or misunderstood. On such
occasions, therefore, I choose to throw myself on the intelligence and virtues of
the mass of my fellow-citizens, whose interests, as I understand them, it is my
single desire steadUy to pursue, and who, whether they coincide or differ with
me, in relation to the particular mode of pursuing those interests, wUl, I have a
perfect confidence, justly appreciate my motives.
The result of my experience, during the past year, on this subject, is this, —
that the interests of the city are most deeply connected with such an organiza
tion of every branch of executive power, as that the ultimate responsibility for
the execution should rest upon the Mayor ; and which he should, therefore, be
incapable of denying or evading ; — that, at all times, the blame should rest upon
him, without the power of throwing it off upon others, in case of any defect of
plan, or any inefficiency in execution.
In making these remarks, I trust I shall not be understood as not appreciating
as I ought, in common with my fellow-citizens, the exertions and the sacrifices
of those excellent, intelligent, and faithful men, who, in present and in past times,
with so much honor to themselves and advantage to the community, have admi
nistered the concerns of independent departments. I yield to none of my fellow-
citizens, in my sense of gratitude and respect to them, both as officers and indi
viduals. But the organization of a city is, in the nature of things, essentially
different from that of a town. The relation to the city, in which I have been
placed, has compelled me to contemplate, and prospectively to reaUze, the cer
tain embarrassments which must result from an organization of the executive
department, varying from that simplicity which the charter establishes, as Ukely
deeply to affect the efficiency of the system now upon trial, and to encourage,
and sooner or later to introduce both imbecility and inactivity into an office
which can alone be beneficial to the city when it is possessed by directly oppo
site qualities.
I have no apprehension that my fellow-citizens wiU attribute these suggestions
to a vulgar and vain wish to extend the powers of an office holden but for a year
on the most precarious of all tenures. The efficiency of this new form of govern
ment is mainly dependent on its simplicity, and on the fact that its responsibUity
is undivided, and cannot be evaded if the departments be organized on charter
principles. Much of the benefit of the new system wUl depend on the spirit
which characterizes its conunencement. On this account, the individual now
possessing the executive power is anxious, on the one hand, that none of its
essential advantages should be lost through any timidity on his part, in expressing
opinions, the result of his experience, or through any unwiUingness to incur any
labor, or meet any just responsibility. On the other, he has no higher ambition
than by a diUgent, faithful, and laborious fulfilment of every known duty, and
exercise of every charter right, to set such an example, and establish such pre
cedents as wUl give to this new government a fair impulse, aud a permanent and
happy influence upon the destinies of the inhabitants of this city.
Gentlemen of the City Council: —
It is the feUcity of aU who are caUed to tiie government of this city, that they
serve a people capable of appreciating, and wUUng actively to support faithful

388 APPENDIX.
and laborious efforts in their service; — a people in all times distinguished for
uniting love of freedom with respect for authority. May it be your happiness,
as it will be your endeavor, to maintain those institutions, under which such a
people have been elevated to so high a degree of prosperity ! Under your
auspices, may the foundations of the fabric of their greatness be strengthened,
its proportions enlarged, its Internal accommodations improved ! May the spirit
of liberty and the spirit of good government continue to walk hand in hand
within these venerable walls, consecrated by so many precious recoUections.
And when we shall have passed away, and the places which now know us shaU
know us no more, may those who come after us be compelled to say, that the
men of this age were as true to the past and the future as to tiieir own times;
that while they had preserved and enjoyed the noble inheritance which had
descended t(i them from their ancestors, they had transmitted it not only unim
paired, but improved to their posterit}-.

(D. Page 1G7.)
the mayor's inaugural ADDRESS, MAT, 1825.
Gentlemen of the City Council: —
I HATE again to acknowledge my grateful sense of the confidence of my
fellow-citizens, expressed by their suffrages ; and to renew assurances of my
endeavors to evince my gratitude, by increased zeal, activity, and devotion to
their Interests.
Whatever success has attended the administration of city affairs, is chiefly to
be attributed to those excellent and faithful men, who for the two yeai-s past
have composed the Board of Aldermen. It is Impossible for me to speak too
highly of their disinterested and laborious services ; or to separate from them, in
official relations, "without expressing my personal obligations for the uniform
respect, confidence, and urbanity, "with which all their proceeding's have been
characterized, both as it respects myself and each other. Their persevering and
firm pursuit of the interests of the cit}-, often under circumstances of great deli
cacy and difficulty, entitle them to be ranked among Its distinguished benefactors.
Nor ought I to permit the occasion to pass, without paring a similar tribute to
the labors and fideUty of the last Common Council.
It wIU be expected, perhaps, that, on this occasion, I should speak of the
measures of the last year, and of the success which has attended them ; such as
the cstal)lishment of an auditor's department; the new organization of that of
health ; the connecting the system of scavengers with that of the House of Indus
try ; the farther extension of Faneuil Hall Market, and others of a less obtru
sive character. All these have been conducted, as far as I have been informed,
generally to the sat'isfaction of our fellow-citizens ; and I know that the detail
of results would stiU farther justify that satisfaction.
I prefer, however, to occupy the present moment with inquiries concerning

APPENDIX. 389
future duty, rather than with illustrations of past success. The charter of the
city has made it incumbent on its executive officer to inform himself on aU sub
jects connected with its prosperity and happiness, and to recommend measures
for the advancement of both to the City Council. This injunction it has sanc
tioned with the solemnity of an oath. In obedience to these obligations, thus
sacredly enforced, I hasten to a topic, deeply Interesting to the prosperity, safety,
and character of this city, which events and experience press upon the mind
with an intense and absorbing interest. I do this the rather because the subject
is of high responsibility ; touches some interests and more prejudices ; and is also
of a nature easily to be mistaken and misrepresented. This subject, therefore,
is one on which it is the incumbent duty of him, who Is intrusted with the chief
office in this city, to form and to express a decided opinion, and to leave no
doubt concerning his own path, in relation to it ; and none concerning Ins
opinion of the duty of others.
What though the development of this opinion may affect that evanescent
splendor, which is caUed popularity ? Of what value Is any popularity, which
wUl not bear the hazard of fulfilled duty ? Precious as Is the possession of the
confidence of feUow-citizens, yet even this is more worthless than " the light dust
of the balance," in comparison with the infinite consequence of possessing the
consciousness of deserving it.
The topic to which I aUude, relates to the effect, under a city organization,
of the existence of independent executive boards, and the consequences of the
particular form of constituting those which exist in this city.
The existence of such boards is an anomaly under a city organization; is
inconsistent with the theory of, or any known practice under, such a form of
government ; and seems also incompatible with the attainment of the objects
which the people propose to themselves in establishing It.
In every other city the representative body, chosen by the people, as their
city councU, has the control of every relation of a municipal character, whether
it affect economy, protection, or general superintendence. If, In any case, it
act through the instrumentality of boards, the members of such boards are
selected by it, and responsible to It, in Uke manner as the members of the City
CouncU are, in tiieir turn, responsible for such selection, as weU as for aU their
other acts, to the people.
In aU this there is a manifest simplicity, calculated to produce harmony and
energy. The people, who look only to their City CouncU, know who to blame,
if there be fault The City Council, on the other hand, when any good Is to be
effected, is not embarrassed by fears of trenching upon rival authorities, of
awakening jealousies, or of being troubled with contests about jurisdictions.
The objects a people propose to themselves in forming a city government are,
efficiency and responsibllltv. Now, can any have a more obvious tendency to
obstruct, or defeat both, than an organization which severs from each other
naturaUy aUied portions of municipal power, and divides them out by very indis
tinct Umits among independent boards ? Can any thing be better calculated to
create discord, jealousies, and controversies In a community ?
The form of constituting • these boards, under our city charter, is stiU more
exceptionable ; and, what is very extraordinary, is just as inconsistent with the
33 '

390 APPENDIX.
practice of the ancient town government, as it is with the theory of city organ
ization. Under the town government aU the boards, of Firewards, Overseers of the
Poor, and School Committee, were chosen by the votes of all the inhabitants, in
a general ticket The theory and practice of the town government was, that
those officers, in whose character and adaptation to their office, all the citizens had
an interest, should be chosen by the major voice of all the citizens.
Two consequences obviously flowed from this mode of election. 1st A con
currence of a majority of all the citizens being requisite for a choice, the candi
dates were, for the most part, selected from men of high, general character, and
from no local or sectional considerations ; whereby a very fair proportion of the
general talent and respectabiUty of the town was necessarily infused into those
boards. 2d. The form of election being by general ticket, previous consultation
was had, not only in relation to the adaptation of the candidate for the office,
but also of the adaptation of candidates to one another ; so that the board might
be composed of men agreeable to each other, and thus capable by consentane
ousness of views and feelings, to produce a simUar consentaneousness of system
and action.
The necessary effect of this form of election was to enlarge the sphere out of
which candidates could be obtained. Men being always more wilKng to under
take an office of a laborious and responsible character, when they know, pre
viously to their election, with whom they are Ukelj' to be associated.
These consequences are obvious, and were among the causes of the long and
happy organization of those boards, under the town government.
These advantages are in a great measure, and some of them wholly, lost under
the provisions of our city charter.
Instead of being chosen by all the citizens, by a general ticket, the members
are divided among the wards, each choosing its proportion. The fundamental
principle of the ancient town government, — that officers, in whose character
and adaptation all the citizens had an interest, should be chosen by the major
voice of all, — has thus been abandoned. All the Inhabitants of the city have
consented to barter the common right they formerly enjoyed, of having a voice
in choosing the whole, for the sake of an exclusive right, in wards, of choosing
a twelfth part. And the power the whole people of the city once possessed of
attaining a certain result, conformably to the general will, has thus been exchanged
for the chance of attaining an uncertain result of twelve particular wills, coexisting
in that number of wards.
I speak of these consequences with the more freedom, because I know they
are felt and acknowledged by very many of our most intelligent and patriotic
citizens ; and because I have been made officiaUy acquainted with the fact, that
the effect produced by the present mode of electing these officers has been, in
many instances, the openly avowed reason of decUning to become candidates by
some, and of the resignation of these offices by others.
The nature and extent of this evU is not to be appreciated by any estimate,
since every form of organization, which tends to render wise, faithful, and
business men unwilUng to serve a community, is productive of mischiefs alto
gether incalculable.

APPENDIX. 391
Touching the remedy for these evils, the obligations of the city charter compel
me to speak distinctly and unequivocally.
Under a city organization there is no mode of selecting such boards, consistent
with harmony, efficiency, and responsibility, except, their election hy the City
Council. Every other mode establishes, or gives to such board a color to assume the
character of independence. And wherever this quality exists, or is assumed,
jealousies, rivalries, claims of jurisdiction, and contests for authority between it
and the City Council, are inevitable.
The station I have had the honor for the last two years to hold, has compeUed
me to witness past embarrassments, and to reaUze those which are to come,
in consequence of this unprecedented organization of city power. Between the
City Council, the Overseers of the Poor, and the School C^ommlttee, very serious
and difficult questions have already arisen, and are yet unsettied. Nor Is It
possible. In the nature of things, that such controversies should not arise and be
productive of bitterness and discord, so long as In the great Interests of protec
tion against fire, of education, and of support of the poor, the right to manage and
expend money is claimed by one board, and the right to regulate, appropriate,
and call to account is vested In another.
As I have no question concerning the remedy, so also I have none concerning
the mode In which it ought to be sought. 1st. By an arrangement of the details
by the City Council relative to each board, conformably to the subject-matter
of Its power, predicated on the principle of election by that body. 2d. By an
appUcation to the legislature for its sanction of those detaUs and of that prin
ciple. 3d. By an ultimate reference of the whole, for the approbation, by
general ballot, of our feUow-citizens.
Let it not be objected to such an attempt, that it wUl be construed into " a
grasp after more power," by the City Council, and be opposed from jealousy, or
prejudice. Those who thus object, do but little justice to the thoughtful and
prescient character of the citizens of this metropoUs ; at all times as distin
guished for justly appreciating the necessities of legitimate power, and for a wil
lingness to yield whatever Is plainly requisite for a vigorous and responsible
action of constituted authorities, as for a keen perception and quick resistance to
tyrannical control.
Grant, however, the attempt should faU, what then ? The City Council
stand before the pubUc and before heaven, with the proud consciousness of ful
filled duty; discharged from all accountabiUty for the inconveniences and
embarrassments, which cannot faU to flow from the present organization so long
as it exists.
For myself whatever may be the event, I shall have the satisfaction of that
internal assurance, which is better than all human approbation, that none of the
evUs which may occur, can be attributed either to the want of anxious precau
tion, or to the shrinking from just responsibility, in the executive officer. Nor
have I any apprehension that these remarks will be construed into any reflec
tion upon the gentiemen who now hold, or who recently have held seats in either
of those boards. Many of them are among the most intelligent and patriotic of
our feUow-cItizens. Some of them, I know, concur in the general opinions above
expressed. The subject has reference to the necessary aud obvious effects of a

392 APPENDIX.
particular organization of our city government, of which I am bound to speak,
according to the state of my convictions, with a plainness authorized by the
charter and required by the oath it has imposed. These obligations fulfilled,
I leave every thing else to the candor, the intelligence, and -virtue of my feUow-
citizens, In which I repose an entire confidence.
Gentlemen of the City Council : —
The events of the past years of our city organization are full of satisfaction
and encouragement. Between the branches and between the members of the
City CouncU there has uniformly existed a harmonious, urbane, and conciliatory
intercourse. The interests of the city have been studied and pursued with an
exclusive eye, and a firm, unhesitating step.
Neither the spirit of selfishness, nor the spirit of party, has ever dared to
mingle its unhallowed voice in the debates of either branch of the City CounciL
These are proud recoUections, as it respects the past ; and happy auguries, as it
respects the future.
May they continue and be multiplied ! May the members of the present, like
those of former City Councils, close their labors with the approb^ion aud
applause of the multitude of their brethren ; as those, who have sought with
singleness, sincerity, and success, the interest and honor of the city ; the im
provement of its accommodations, the enlargement of its resources, and the
advancement of aU the means which constitute a prosperous, happy, and virtuous
community.

(E. Page 197.)
THE mayor's inaugural ADDRESS, .TANUARY, 1826.
Gentlemen of the City Council :-
To express gratitude for this renewed Instance of the confidence of my feUow-
citlzens, and to repeat assurances of a zeal and fideUty in their service, in some
degree proportionate to that confidence, are natural and suitable on the present
occasion. It cannot be expected that he, who sustains the complicated relation
of chief magistrate of this city, let his endeavors be what they may, should at aU
times satisfy the often-conflicting passions and Interests always necessarily exist
ing in so great a community. Much less can it be expected from the individual,
who, through the indulgence of his fellow-citizens, is now permitted to enjoy
that distinction. In all cases, however, of doubt and difficulty, that individual
wUl rest oonfidentiy for support, even with those who differ with him in opinion,
on the consciousness, which he trusts his general course of conduct wUl impress,
that every act of his official conduct, whether acceptable or otherwise, proceeds
from a single regard to the honor of the city, and to the happiness and best
interests of its inhabitants.
It is with great delight. Gentlemen, that I must here pay a tribute, justiy due to
the wisdom and pubhc spirit of aU our former City CouncUs. Their harmony. In

APPENDIX. 393
relation to objects of public improvement, tiieir vigUance in maintaining the
checks of our city charter, and the reciprocal cooperation of the branches and
members in advancing the general interests of the city, without local, party, or
selfish considerations, are facts at once exemplary and encouraging ; the results
of which are apparent in our streets, in our public bvuldliigs, *n the augmented
value of our city lands, and in the increasing satisfaction of our feUow-citizcn^,
with their new form of government.
The unquestionable evidence derived from our recent census, has fulfiUed the
expectations of the most sanguine ; and has put beyond question, that the Increase
of this city, during the five years past, has been, to say the least, not inferior to
that of any of our maritime cities, on the prerious actual basis of its population.
This fact may be considered as conclusive on its future prospects. For if, at a
time when universal peace among European nations has changed and Umited
the field of commercial enterprise, on which the greatness of this city was once
supposed, in a manner, altogether to depend, it appears that, notwithstanding
this change and limitation, its growth, instead of being diminished, is Increasing
with a rapidity equal to that of the most favored of our commercial cities, it
follows conclusively, that our greatness Is not altogether dependent upon foreign
commerce ; and also, that the enterprise, capital, and intelligence of our citizens,
determined inwards, and active upon agriculture, manufactures, and in our
coasting trade, are producing results even more auspicious than our foreign
commerce, in its most prosperous state, ever effected; — than whicli, to the
patriot's heart and hope, no facts of a mere physical character, can be more
encouraging or delightful.
SimUar grounds for satisfaction will be found in comparing the increasing
results of the aggregates of our valuation, and the decreasing results of the ratio
of our taxes. During the five years from 1821 to 1825, inclusive, it appears by
the Assessors' records, that the whole aggregate of real and personal property in
this city increased from twenty mUUons three hundred thousand dollars, to
twenty-six miUions two hundred thousand; making a regular annual Increase
of about one miUIon two hundred thousand dollars. Of which Increased capital,
it wUl appear, by comparing the aggregate of 1821 with that of 1825, that four
mUUons five hundred thousand have been invested in real, and one million fivi-,
hundred thousand in personal estate.
During this period, it is true, as is inevitable in a progressive state of society,
increasing daUy, not only in numbers, but In municipal exigencies and requisi
tions for expenditures, on account of Improvements, the amount of -our taxes
have increased in the aggregate. Yet, at the same time, owing to the Increased
aggregates of our valuation, the ratio of assessment has diminished.- Thus, If the
ratios of assessment of the five years immediately preceding 1820, be compared
with the five years from 1820, inclusive, it will be found that the average of the
annual ratios of the former was eight dollars and twenty-five cents on the thousand
doUars, and that the average of the annual ratios of the latter was only seven
dollars and eighty cents. The ratio of the present year will be seven dollars.
A farther illustration of our general prosperity Is deduclble from the fact, that,
notwithstanding the amount of our taxes has increased, with the increasing wealth
and population^of the city ; yet the ratio of uncollected taxes has, in every suc
cessive year, since the existence of our city government, been dinuuishlng.

394 APPENDIX.
I have been thus precise and distinct upon this point, because discontent at
any existing state of things is most likely to appear in the form of complaints
relative to taxes. Now, it is obviously impossible, in the nature of things, that
the assessment of taxes, in any great community, should exactly proportion the
burden to the ability of each individual to bear it Some wUl unavoidably be
taxed more and others less than their precise proportion. It cannot, therefore,
but happen, even under the best form and ratio of taxation, that there must be
some, who can complain with reason, as there will always be many, who -will
complain without reason. With respect to the community itseff, however, as the
best criterion It can possibly have of Its progressive prosperity is a regular
increase of its population, accompanied by a regular increase of its wealth, so
when the aggregate of its wealth increases, and at the same time the ratio of its
assessments actually diminishes, it has the best evidence, the nature of things
admits, that its general expenditures are not greater than the actual state of its
condition and progre'ss requires. But in such case, however, as particular ex
penditures may be unwise or extravagant, it is stIU its duty even under such
circumstances, to exact from its agents a rigid accountability.
Touching the expenditures of the past year, it is not known that any of them
require a particular explanation on the present occasion. In general, I appre
hend, they have been satisfactory to our fellow-citizens, so far as respects their
objects. And they well understand that it is, probably. In the nature of things,
impossible to conduct all the details of public expenditure with that precise
economy which an individual applies to bis private concerns. I am not, how
ever, aware, that there have been any such, during the past year, which cannot,
under the circumstances of each case, be satisfactorily explained by the parti
cular agents.
In connection with this subject, it is impossible for me not to notice the happy
effects produced by the establishment of the office of Auditor of Accounts, which,
carried into operation by the exemplary industry and abUity of that officer, and
by the Indefatigable fidelity of the Committee of Accounts, has introduced an
order, simplicity, and correctness into that department, not only highly credit
able to the city, but also facilitating, in the highest possible degree, particular
inquiries and general knowledge relative to the state of our financial concerns.
Among the objects to which the attention of the City Council will be drawn
the ensuing year, is that of a sufficient and never-faiUng supply for our city of
pure river or pond water, which shall be adequate for aU purposes of protection
against fire, and for all culinary and other domestic purposes, and capable of
being introduced into every house in the city. I deem it my duty to state un
equivocally, -that this object ought never to be lost sight of by the City Council,
until effected upon a scale proportionate to its convenience and our urgent neces
sities. Physicians of the first respectability have urged this topic upon me, in
my official capacit}', on the ground of health, in addition to aU the other obrious
comforts and advantages to be anticipated from an adequate supply of such water.
" The spring water of Boston, they assert to be generally harsh, owing to its
being impregnated with various saline substances.; and that this impregnation
impairs its excellence as an article of drink, and essentiaUy diminishes its salu
brity. In the course of their practice, they say they have noticed many diseases
to be relieved and cured by an exchange of the common spring water for soft

APPENDIX. 395
water of the aqueduct, or dIstiUed water. Honre, they have been led to the
opinion, that many complaints of obscure origin, owe their existence to the
qualities of the common spring water of Boston." . . " The introduction of an
ample supply of pure water, would, therefore, they apprehend, contribute much
to the health of the place, and prove one of the greatest blessings, which could
be bestowed on this city.'"
I am induced to bring this subject before the City CouncU on the present
occasion, thus distinctly, from having been informed that citizens among us of the
highest respectabUity, both in point of talents and property, seriously contem
plate an association for the purpose of supplying this city with water, and of
making application to the Legislature for an act of incorporation for that object
An attempt, which, if made, I trust wiU be met by the City Council with the
most decided and strenuous opposition ; and with a corresponding spirit and
determination to effect this great object, solely on the account and with the
resources of the city. On tills topic, I deem it my duty to declare expllcltiy my
opinion, that.in such a project the city ought to consent to no copartnership.
If there be any privilege, which a city ought to reserve, exclusively, in its
own hands and under its own control, it is that of supplying Itself with water.
No private capitaUsts will engage In such an enterprise, without at least a
rational expectation of profit To this, either an exclusive right, or a privilege
of the nature of, or equivalent to, an exclusive right is essential. There are so
many ways, in which water may be desirable, and In such a variety of quan
tities, for use, comfort, and pleasure, that it is impossible to provide, by any
prospective provisions, in any charter granted to individuals for all the cases,
uses, and quantities, which flie ever-increasing wants of the population of a great
city in the course of years may require. Besides, it being an article of the first
necessity, and on its free use so much of health, as well of comfort, depends,
every city should reserve in Its own power the means, unrestrained, of encourag
ing its use, by reducing as fast as possible the cost of obtaining it, not only to the
poor, but to all classes of the community. This can never be the case, when the
right is in the hands of indlriduals, with any thing like the facility and speed, as
when it is under the entire control of the city.
In addition to these considerations, the right to break up the streets which that
of supplying the city with water Implies, ought never to be intrusted to private
hands, who through cupidity, or regard to a false economy, may ha-ve an Interest
not to execute the works upon a sufficientiy extensive scale, with permanent
materials, thereby Increasing the Inconvenience and expense which the exercise
of the power of breaking up the streets, necessarUy induces.
A letter to me from the Superintendent of the Philadelphia Water Works,
(Joseph S. Lewis, Esq.,) a gentieman among those chiefly employed In their
original construction, dated tiie 21st of December last, is so fuU upon this point,
that I cannot refrain from quoting a considerable portion of it.
" Your object should be to have enough and to spare, and the calculation
should be formed on one hundred and fifty gaUons for each famUy, which wiU
afford a supply for washing the streets, waste by leakage, &c. ; and the expe
rience of this city (PhUadelphia) fully justifies in saying, that it is not too much,
although in London, a less quantity is made to answer; and owing to rivalships
amongst the several companies, the inhabitants have enough for drink, and for

396 APPENDIX.
culinary and other famUy purposes. Yet none is to be seen in use in cleaning
the gutters, washing the pavements, and various methods of consumption, abso
lutely essential to existence and comfort, in our cUmate, in three or four hot
months of the year. Scarcely a fire happens of any magnitude in London, with
out complaints of a deficiency of water, and I have In my possession a paper,
containing an account of a meeting of the Common Council of London, convened
for the express purpose of inquiring into the cause, which it does not require
much consideration to discover.
"It is from the fatal error of suffering interested individuals to have the supply
of an article of the most indispensable nature, and without which health and com
fort cannot be enjoyed. Expense is not to be regarded. If a company can
supply your city, they will expect to profit by it ; and this profit might as weU
be saved by your corporation. On the other hand, if it be a losing business,
individuals should not suffer by forwarding a great public object; and If they do,
the citizens will feel it by a pinched and partial supply.
" This city (Philadelphia) has expended vast sums of money out of Its own
resources ; and if more were required, more would be cheerfuUy accorded.
There Is no one thing, in which all are so much united ; and I firmly believe,
that, if a question was submitted to the citizens, to sell to a company who would
pay back the whole cost, with Interest, that not a tenth of the population would
agree to it. The increased security from fire, the abundant supply for washing
the streets, the copious streams afforded for baths, for cleanliness, and, in short,
many other advantages are such, and so weU appreciated, that no money could
purchase the surrender of the works.
" The whole cost of the water-works, including the pipes for distribution,
previous to the erection of the new water-works, was $1,138,857, without adding
interest Yet, such was the eagerness for a more abundant supply, that a unani
mous sanction was given to the new plan, which has happily succeeded, of
raising the water by water power ; the cost of which may be put down, including
the river rights, at  . $450,000
And in addition to this, iron pipes are substituted for those of wood,
the cost of which, thus far, may be called  150,000

Amounting, in the whole, to  $600,000
" This sum, added to that before mentioned, with the interest paid, -wiU amount
to more than two mUlions of dollars.
" I have said thus much to hold out an Inducement to your city to persevere in
obtaining a supply, and have held out our example to show, that cost is not to
be regarded by us in so essential a matter. We have been pioneers for our
sister cities, who may now practically obtain a supply of water, without paying
for the cost of our experiments."
Other facts and documents connected with this subject wUl be hereafter com
municated, should the City Council deem it expedient to take it seriously into
consideration. Two occasions have occurred, during the past year, which made it necessary
for the Mayor to examine, with great attention, the powers conferred on him by
the city charter, in relation to the suppression of riots, and sImUar unlawful
assembUes ; so as to be enabled to justify, before a legal tribunal, the extreme

APPENDIX. 397
resort, which, in such cases, he might possibly think requisite. After consultation
with the best legal advisers, it was deemed most safe for the Mayor to act in the
capacity of justice of the peace throughout the Commonwealth, which he hap
pened to hold ; inasmuch as the powers of the lMayor,'as expressed in the city
charter, are of the most general character, and no legislative or judicial construc
tion has ever occurred in relation to them. The duty of the Mayor, as expressed
in the city charter, is, to take care that all laws for the government of the city are
executed. Riots, routs, and unlaivful assemblies, are cognizable only under the
laws of the Commonwealth. By these laws, the course of proceedings, and the
persons intrusted with their execution, are expressly pointed out ; and among
them the Mayor of the city is not included.
In general, it may be observed, that an undefined and exaggerated notion of
- the powers of the Mayor has led our feUow-oitizens to expect a much greater
exercise of authority, in many cases, than the terms of the city charter justifies.
It is, however, certain, that in respect of riots, the Mayor, by the mere virtue of
his office, does not possess even the power of a justice of the peace.
It was solely, therefore, and avowedly, in virtue of a commission of the peace,
and not in virtue of his office of Mayor, that the first riotous assembly was met
and dispersed by that officer.
. Such being the relations of his power, it is obriously, in every occurring case,
his duty to decide upon his responsibUity, whether the particular disturbance is
of a nature to justify him in compromitting the unquestionable rights and duties
of his office, in a case of a doubtful character, by his personal presence ; or
whether, in the free exercise of his discretion, he should leave their remedy to
the prescribed executive agents of the Commonwealth, who can act without any
censure from an apprehended illegal assumption of power.
If a case has occurred, or should hereafter occur, in which any persons
should, in defiance of the moral sense and general feeling of the pubhc, adopt
any measures, which would naturaUy and almost unavoidably lead to disorder
and disturbances, they could not reasonably invoke the aid of the authorities of
the city, so long. as the invited evU was confined to themselves only; but it is a
question of very serious moment ¦with the inhabitants of a city so distinguished
for its religious and moral character, whether further cheeks ought not to be
prorided to prevent that, which has been merely tolerated, from becoming the
source of disturbances, of danger and of disgrace to the citizens, and their
government. It is my duty, only, to caU your attention to the subject, and I shaU cheerfuUy
acquiesce in your decision.
If the Mayor is to be made responsible to act, in aU such cases, his powers-
ought to be accurately defined and his duties prescribed by law. The powers
of the Mayor are sufficient for aU municipal purposes ; and it is as much his duty
to abstain from assuming to exercise powers not vested in hun by his office, as it
is to exercise those powers ¦with which he is intrusted.
Gentlemen of the City Council : —
The harmony which hitherto has, without interruption, been maintained
between the departments, members, and branches of our city government, is
among the auspicious auguries of the future greatness and happiness of this
34

398 APPEIJDIX.
community. It wiU be your, and my, endeavor to maintain and Increase this
happy mutual understanding and respect. But difficult questions concerninri
duties, made complex and uncertain by the Interfering passions, interests, and
prejudices existiug in aU great combinations of men, must necessarily occur. On
occasions of this character, those ¦will be most sure to find the correct rule of
truth and duty, who seek it with a sense of strict subordination to those moral
and religious sanctions, under which the wisdom of our fathers laid the found
ations of the prosperity of this people.

(F. Page 210.)
THE mayor's inaugural ADDRESS, JANUARY, 1827.
Gendemen of the City Council : —
It is proper, on occasions of this kind, to survey the general relations of our
city, and, from the measures of preceding City CouncUs and their results, to gain
Ught and strength for future duties.
The condition of every city must be estimated from general circumstances,
and particular facts. Among the former are the state of its population, whether
increasing, or diminishing ; the state of its improvements, whether progressive,
or stationary ; above all, the state of public opinion concerning the conduct of its
affairs. Among the latter, are the condition of its finances, -with reference to
debt and resources ; and the condition of its poUce, ¦with reference to order, har
mony, and morals. The advance of our city, in population and improvements,
requires no illustration. In respect of both, it has been as rapid as there was
any just reason to expect ; perhaps, to desire. The satisfaction of our feUow-
citizens with the general conduct of their affairs, has been indicated by recent
events ; the language of which cannot be mistaken, and which is at once conso
latory and encouraging.
The state of the finances of our city is not less a subject of congi-atulation.
Their condition has been, of late, very fuUy developed by reports of Committees
of both branches of the City CouncU. Nothing more -wUl be necessary, therefore,
on this occasion, than to present some general views on the subject.
The character of every financial condition depends upon comparison of debt
with resources. The mere fact of the existence or non-existence of a city debt,
is in itself neither a matter of praise or blame. The right to create such debt is
a power granted by the city charter to the City Council. Powers, granted to
public bodies, are like talents, bestowed on individuals. Both are respectively
responsible for the neglect, or exercise, of them. To neglect to use the power
to create a debt, or any other power, on proper occasions, and for the purposes
for which it was granted, is as truly an abuse, as it is to use either on improper
occasions, and for purposes for which it was not granted.
Has a debt been created, by public agents, having authority to that effect ?
Their merit, or demerit, in this respect, depends upon the fact of its being created

APPENDIX. 399 _
for proper objects, or on a just necessity. If the objects be of a nature, for
which it is proper to create a debt, then merit, or demerit, depends upon the
unportance of the objects attained, compared with the amount of the debt
created. If, by creating a debt for such objects, resources adequate to its ulti
mate discharge be also created, there is no case, in which the power to create
a debt can he more unexceptionably exercised ; nor can there be any, more
indicative of the wisdom and financial skill of public agents ; except it be, when
the resources, thus created, shaU be adequate, not only to the ultimate discharge
of such debt, but also to add a considerable surplus to the pubUc treasury.
The present city debt may be stated to be, in round numbers, one milUou of
doUars. Of which, one hundred thousand was incurred under the town govern
ment, and nine hundred thousand under the city. Of this last amount, there
was incurred, for objects of general improvement, . . . $234,000
For the purchase of land west of Charles Street, . . . 58,000
For the extension of FaneuU HaU Market, .... 608,000
Constituting the debt stated above as incurred by the city govern
ment, of  $900,000
With respect to the above portion of the increased debt, which has been
appUed to purposes of general improvement, it would, perhaps, be sufficient to
remark, that the circumstances of the time, and the nature of the objects, ren
dered the expenditures of this class peculiarly expedient ; that the concurrence
of our feUow-citlzens in the measures adopted on this subject by the City Coun
cU, has been indicated by unequivocal tokens ; and those measures have, subse
quently, been sanctioned by distinct marks of general approbation. It cannot,
however, but be satisfactory to know the amount of the expenditures for these
objects, which has been already paid out of the funds accruing within the years
in which they were authorized, and the comparative proportion which has been
cast, in the form of debt, on future years.
During the four last years, from 1823 to 1826, inclusive, there has been
expended For schoolhouses and land,  $80,000
" engines, engine-houses, land, and aU expenses of the Fire
Department,  34,000
" common sewers, beyond what they have as yet produced, . 15,000
" ward-rooms and buUdings at Deer Island, .... 5,000
" -widening streets, (exclusive of the operations of the Committee
for the extension of FaneuU HaU Market,) . . . 106,698
" paving and repair of streets,  119,900
" buildings, and improvements connected with the House of In
dustry, and Correction,  90,451
" reservoirs,  9,000
Making a gross aggregate of  $460,049
In the above enumeration, no notice has been taken of expenditures, on
account of general instruction of schools, health, cleanUness of streets, general
police, or support of the poor, either by the Overseers, or the Directors of the
House of Industry. The objects selected are those of a permanent character

400 APPENDIX.
and prospective usefulness, and which, from their nature, have a direct influence
on the convenience and hopes of future times. When, for such objects, four
hundred and sixty thousand dollars have been expended in a course of four years,
of which two hundred and thirty thousand have been paid out of funds accruing
within those four years, it seems altogether unexceptionable, that a like amount
of two hundred and thirty thousand dollars should be distributed, for reimburse
ment, on the years which are to come.
The remaining objects, for which this increased debt has been incurred, are
the lands at the bottom of the Common, west of Charles Street, and the exten
sion of Faneuil HaU Market. In the report of the Committee on the last men
tioned subject, which was printed and distributed through the city by order of
the last City Council, it is, I apprehend, satisfactorily shown, that the fair esti
mated value of the property transferred to or vested In the city by that Commit
tee is. In point of amount, not far short of the whole debt of the city. If to this
be added the fair estimated value of the lands west of Charles Street, no man
can reasonably question that both descriptions of property are, of themselves,
alone sufficient to discharge the whole debt of the city, and also to add no incon
siderable, probably a large, surplus to the City Treasury. Both, as avaUable
resources, have been attained by the operations of former City CouncUs. Both
have been chief causes of the greatness of the increase of the city debt
To this it is no answer to say, that the property, both in the Market and in
the land west of Charles Street, has very intimate relations to the ornament,
comfort, and health of the city, and ought never to be sold. Grant such to be
the fact ; it only shows, that, whUe the marketable value of this property is
demonstrably more than the whole city debt, its value to the city is still greater
than its marketable value. Whereby the wisdom and fidelity of former Git)'
Councils is still more apparent ; being evidenced, not only by the excess of the
marketable value of this property beyond the city debt, but also by the great
excess of its value to the city, considered as a property to be retained, over its
value, considered as a property to be sold. It seems scarcely possible, that any
public debt can be justified on stronger grounds, than can the whole which the
city government has incurred. It has been for proper objects. It has been
faithfully appUed. It has created resources sufficient, if the City Council choose
so to use them, to discharge forthwith not only the whole debt of which they have
been the cause, but also the whole antecedently existing debt of the city. If the
City CouncU do not choose so to use them, it is because, in their sound discre
tion, they believe them to be more valuable as a possession than as a resource.
No better evidence can be given of financial skiU and representative fidelity.
In relation to our police, it is not to be expected, that a city vrith a population
equal to ours can exist, with fewer interruptions of its peace, or riolations of its
municipal rules. Complaints, under every branch of poUce, have diminished in
a very extraordinary degree during the past year. Those parts of the city most
characterized by tendency to vice and disorder, have, by the rigilance of the
public officers, been kept in a state of comparative order, satisfactory to the good
citizens in their ricinity.
Looking forward to the duties of the coming year, it is a subject of congratil-
latlon, that the foresight and enterprise of past years have Umited to compara
tively a narrow sphere the necessity of future expenditures. Those great.

APPENDIX. 401
obvious, and expensive knprovements, paving the Neck, reducing Pemberton's
HiU, -widening Court Street, the Roebuck Passage, and Merchants' Row; above
aU those, reUeving the embarrassments resulting from the narrowness of the
great central Market of the city, are finished. The City CouncUs of former
years have taken the responsibUity of exercising the powers intrusted to them,
¦with a fearless and independent spirit ; exhibiting a confidence in the virtue and
intelUgence of their feUow-citizens, which events have shown not to have been
misplaced. I do not perceive that the City CouncU of the present year wUl be caUed, by
the pubUc interest, to take the lead in any new and expensive project Parti
cular local improvements wiU be suggested, from time to time, by those interested
in their success, and ¦wUl receive from the City CouncU that attention they may
respectively merit Circumstances indicate, that our chief duty wiU be to finish
what we have begun ; to make productive the property we have acquired ; to
improve and correct existing establishments, rather than to devise new ones ;
above aU, to arrange our resources on the principle of a distinct and permanent
pro-vision for the gradual extinction of the existing city debt Circumstances
seem favorable to such a system. At present, the proceeds of the city lands,
when sold, ¦with the addition of fifteen thousand doUars to be applied annually to
the redemption of the capital, and another sum of fifteen thousand dollars to be
appUed annuaUy to the payment of the interest of the city debt, constitute the
general appropriations for those objects. The specific appropriation for the same
objects, of the whole property and Incomes transferred to the city by the Com
mittee for the extension of FaneuU Hall Market is, in my judgment, a measure
of great propriety and expediency ; and I recommend it Upon general prin
ciples, it is proper, not to consider property obtained by debt as property ; that
is, as a subject of complete ownership, and applicable to general objects of
expenditure, until the debt for which it was incurred is paid. It is expedient,
because such a measure would, I know, give great satisfaction to many of our
very judicious fellow-citizens.
Should a measure such as I suggest be adopted, it would be right, perhaps, fo
¦withdraw one of the sums of fifteen thousand dollars at present appropriated for
the debt, by way of offset for the old market revenues. The remaining fifteen
thousand doUars, with the present FaneuU HaU Market and wharf revenues,
•wUl constitute an annual amount of fifty-eight thousand dollars, applicable to the
discharge of the principal and interest of the debt ; and, ¦with the proceeds of
the Neck lands and of the lands now to be sold, transferred to the city by the
FaneuU HaU Market Committee, ¦wiU make a sufficient provision for the city
debt, and reUeve the annual resources of the city from fiiture burden on that
account. Should these funds be placed under the supervision of commissioners, com
posed of public officers, ex officio, appointed by the City CouncU, it would give
a more permanent and efficient character to the system, ¦without creating any
new office or expense. Where funds are vested in a board, exclusively charged
with these duties, it Is found, by experience, to introduce order and distinctness
into financial relations. Their general state is more easily comprehended by the
community, and the productive efficiency of the funds is less Ukely to be dis
turbed or diverted, by general and extraneous financial exigencies.
34*

402 APPENDIX.
Among the objects to which I aUude, under the heads of finishing what we
have begun, and of making productive the property we have acquired, are the
making sale of the lands above-mentioned, invested in the city by the Committee
for the extension of Faneuil HaU Market, and which, to whatever objects the
proceeds are appropriated, ought not long to be delayed ; and the putting to use
parts of Faneuil HaU, formerly occupied as a market.
In this connection, I am irresistibly impeUed to express opinions, which I would
wUIingly avoid, inasmuch as I have reason to fear they may be at variance with
those of men, whose judgments I respect, and cross interests or riews, with
which I have certainly no wish to interfere. But the city charter, by making it
the duty of the Mayor, from time to time, to recommend " aU such measures as
may tend to improve the finances, the police, health, security, cleanUness, com
fort, and ornament of the city," intended that, in fulfiUing this duty, he should
foUow the deliberate conrictions of his own judgment. To him who holds this
office, and who acts in relation to it upon right principles, it ought to be of no
consequence whatever, so far as respects himseff, whether any particular measure
he recommends be or be not adopted. But, it wUl always be of infinite moment
to his sense of well-performed duty, that his deUberate views of the interests of
the city should be known ; and, fearlessly of all personal consequences, made
manifest Under these sanctions, I recommend that the subject of the uses, to which the
vacated portions of FaneuU HaU and of the space on its western end shaU be
applied, should be considered in connection with the sale and uses, proposed to
be made of the land, lying in the rear of this (the county) court-house, and
between it and Court Street.
This last-mentioned tract of land is a most valuable property. It cannot,
however, be made to produce its market worth, -without preriously providing
for the accommodation of the courts, which occupy the buUding at present in
front of that land.
This subject has hitherto been considered as a distinct concern ; and, as such,
it has been proposed to erect another court-house on that part of the land which
lies most distant from Court Street, at an estimated expense of certainly not less
than thirty thousand doUars, exclusive of the value of the land to be occupied by
the building, which, at the least fair estimate, cannot also be worth less than ten
thousand dollars.
The vacated parts of FaneuU HaU have also been considered as a distinct
subject ; and as such it has been proposed, that they should be fitted up for shops
and stores also, at a very considerable expense.
Should these plans be carried into effect, the consequence -wiU be, that the
city wiU possess two expensive court-houses, in the ricinity of each other ; and
the city authorities wIU be left as occupants of an inconvenient and insufficient
portion of one of them, under circumstances, with which it is impossible they can
be for many years content If the present opportunity be lost, of making a
simple and economical arrangement, both of the pubhc offices and of the courts,
such as the nature and relations of this property seem unequivocaUy to indicate,
I cannot question, that, before a very few years elapse, the City Council wiU
find themselves compelled to erect, at a great expense, a City HaU; which
expense, by taking advantage of the present occasion, may be saved.

APPENDIX. 403
Nothing can be more inconvenient, for facUitating business, than the location
of our pubUc offices. The Mayor and Aldermen, CUy Clerk, Auditor, and
Officer of PoUce, are iu one buUding. The Assistant City Clerk in another.
The Treasurer, in a third. The Assessors, Overseers of the Poor, and Directors
of the House of Industry, in a fourth. Neither buUding convenient as it respects
the other. Now the interest of the city plainly dictates, that the intercourse
between these different departments of public service should be made easy by
every possible local accommodation. By concentrating them under one roof,
they would always be in a position mutuaUy to derive and communicate inform
ation ; and occasionaUy to aid each other, in case of pressure of public business
in either department ; thereby greatly increasing power, knowledge, and faciUty
in conducting it
Besides, not one of our pubUc city offices is possessed of a fire-proof place of
deposit. AU the records of the city are exposed without any except the most
common security, against the most destructive of aU elements.
These circumstances strongly impress my mind with the duty of recommend
ing that aU these unportant subjects should be considered in one general, con
nected view.
With respect to the location of the City CouncU and city offices, I conceive
there can be no place more suitable than Faneuil Hall. Since the removal of
tiie Market and the -widening of Merchants' Row and the Roebuck Passage, the
objection on account of noise in the ricinity of that building is greatly obviated ;
and will be more, if not whoUy, as soon as by cariying into effect the proposed
Marginal Street, the hea-vy city and country travel from Long Wharf and State
Street to the northern parts of the city, shall be determined through that avenue.
Besides, the meetings of the Board of Aldermen being chiefly, and those of the
Common CouncU, with few exceptions, whoUy in the evening, they would be but
Uttie exposed to interruption from that cause.
I say nothing, concerning the natural and proud associations inseparable from
that ancient and far-famed temple of American liberty, because, should other
considerations justify, it is impossible there can be, on this subject, more than one
sentiment and feeling among citizens of Boston, and that deeply favorable to the
connecting, by an intimate and perpetual union, aU future municipal labors and
character, with a place, consecrated by the patriotic serrices of our chiefest
statesmen, and endeared by recollections of talents and virtues, which have
identified the name of this city with the earliest, the purest, and the most impe
rishable honors of our revolution.
In reo-ard to economy, this consideration wUl favor the course I suggest. A
building, capable of accommodating aU the city offices, with suitable and separate
rooms and fire-proofs, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common CouncU, with their
respective halls and committee-rooms, may, I have reason to beUeve, be erected,
on the western end of FaneuU HaU, at probably a less expense, but certainly for
a sum not materially greater, than the proposed new Court House ; and, at a com
paratively smaU expense, probably not more than the value of the land necessary
to be occupied % the proposed new Court House, a room, as extensive in point
of size as that at present occupied by the Supreme Judicial Court, might be
prepared in this buUding, (the county Court House,) for the courts of the United
States ; and the present room, occupied by the Common Council, might be

404 APPENDIX.
reserved for the Common Pleas. At any rate, when it is considered, that this
is the only mode in which the public offices can be concentrated under one roof,
except at the expense of a new City Hall, the evidence in favor of its economy is
decisive. By a plan of this kind, the higher courts of the State, and those of the
United States, wiU be located in one buUding; the city authorities, with the
public offices, in another ; and the whole land in the rear of this (the county)
Court House, and between it and Court Street wUl be left, without incumbrance
or diminution, at the disposal of the City CouncU.
I have been thus particular in detaUing my views on this subject, because I
deem the result of the deliberations of the City CouncU upon it, to be very
important, in its character and consequences. Ha ring conscientiously discharged
my own duty, I cheerfully leave the subject to the City CouncU, ¦with a certainty
that they will do theirs ; and give as much weight to these suggestions as their
nature deserves, and no more. Whether they coincide or differ ¦with me in
opinion, I shall equally respect and support their decision.
It is known to the City CouncU, that great complaints have lately existed,
concerning the state of the voting hsts. In relation to the duty of preparing
those lists, and of responsibiUty for their correctness, the general opinion was
understood to be, that the provisions of the city charter had made no change, but
that, as under the town government, that duty and responsibUity rested on the
Assessors. The Mayor and Aldermen have, accordingly, heretofore acted under
that impression; and considered their duty to be only that of rerising and
amending errors which might occur in the voting lists furnished by the Assessors.
Antecedent to the last election, in consequence of a communication from the
Assessors, the tenor and precise bearing of the terms of the city charter on this
subject, were brought under the distinct consideration of the Mayor and Alder
men. By that communication it appeared that, in the opinion of the Assessors,
" the duty of making out the voting Usts," was devolved by the city charter on the
Mayor and Aldermen ; and that the duty of the " Assessors, Assistant Assessors,
and other officers of the city,'' was to aid the Mayor and Aldermen in the per
formance of their duty, as they might direct.
Although this construction did not coincide ¦with former practice, or pre
conceptions, the Board of Aldermen immediately adjourned to the Assessors'
room, and proceeded, by a committee, to execute the duty, according to the
literal construction given to the charter by the Assessors ; and, calling in aid
some of the Assistant Assessors and other officers of the city, in addition to the
aid given by the Assessors themselves, they caused Usts, additional to the printed
lists, to be made out and transmitted to the wards; a course of proceeding which
has, as far as has come to my knowledge, given general satisfaction, and obviated
every difficulty which had been the source of complaint at former elections.
The view taken by the Assessors, of the city charter, is, as I understand, as
follows. The responsibUity, that correct lists are made out, rests upon the Mayor
and Aldermen. As incident to this responsibiUty, it is incumbent on them to
direct the time, manner, and form of making out the voting lists. By the pro
visions of the city charter, they have a right to require the aidwf the Assessors,
which aid it Is their duty to give. By this construction, it is not understood that
the Assessors claim to be exempted from the actual labor of making out the
voting Usts, nor yet from the duty of comparing them with their books, and

APPENDIX. 405
certifying their correctness ; but only that, so far as respects their fellow-citizens,
the Mayor and Aldermen are responsible that it shall be done, and in proper
time, form, and manner ; and that the Assessors are responsible to them and to
the City Council, that whatever aid they shaU, on this subject, be required to
give, shall be faithfully yielded.
Although I know, that there is not an universal assent to this construction of
the city charter, yet, as above expressed and explained, I deem it my duty not
to conceal my own concurrence -with it It seems to me not only just, as a matter
of construction, but that such ought to be the provisions of the city charter, is
wise and expedient, as a matter of principle. It is vital to the rights of election,
that the voting lists should be correct. The duty of seeing, that so essential an
interest is secured, should be intrusted only with the highest executive author
ities of the city ; and those who are responsible cUreotly to their feUow-citizens,
through the process of election.
In conformity to the obligation resulting from this opinion, the Board of
Aldermen have constituted the Mayor a committee to superintend the making
out the voting Usts, antecedent to the ensuing spring elections. Under that
authority, voting lists are now making out, by the Assessors, in a new, and, it is
hoped, a more convenient form.
By this construction of the city charter it is not apprehended, that the labors
of the Board of Aldermen wUl be, in any material degree. Increased. The
gratuitous labors of that important body of men, who have hitherto fulfiUed their
duties in a manner so exemplary, ought by every possible precautionary mea
sure to be diminished, in order to remove objections to the acceptance of that
laborious and responsible office. But the duty of general superintendence and
direction, the exercise of a sound judgment concerning aU the great municipal
relations of the city, and particularly concerning those which most immediately
affect the elective franchise, naturally belongs to that board ; and, in this case,
seems to result from the ex!press terms of the city charter.
Considering the importance of the subject, and knowing that misapprehen
sions existed in relation to it in the community, I have deemed the preceding
development due to aU concerned ; to the Assessors, as well as to our feUow-
citizens. I cannot close this address, without expressing my gratitude for the support
yielded to me, by the recent suffrages of my fellow-citizens, under circum
stances, which put to a severe trial their justice and their confidence. The
right to canvass the character and conduct of aU tenants of public office and
candidates for it, is essential to the existence of a republic, and inseparable from
its nature. So long as such animadversions are conducted In a spirit of can
dor and decorum, so long as care is taken to assert nothing but what is true, and
to insinuate nothing which circumstances do not justify ; in a word, so long as
they proceed in subordination to that sublime rule of Christian charity of doing
to others, as, in exchange of circumstances, we would wish and think right, that
others should do faj us, they are not only to be justified, but to be encouraged
and applauded.
If, in any respect, this just measure of animadversion has been exceeded in
times past, or shall bo in times future, so far as the present incumbent of this
office is concerned, it wiU be, as it has been, left to the free decision of the

406 APPENDIX.
virtue, inteUigence, and high sense of justice of the inhabitants of this city,
without interposition, by him, directly or indirectly, of reply or defence.
He, who rightiy appreciates the nature of this office, wiU consider it neither as
a place for pageantry and display, nor yet as a vantage-ground for the vaulting
of unsatisfied ambition, stiU less as a station for seeking private ends, for advanc
ing personal or local interests, or for the distributing party favors ; but as a con
dition of laborious service, including the performance of very difficult, and often
very dubious duties, chiefly to be valued for the opportunity it affords of useful
ness, and no longer to be desired than he shall be able to deserve and attain the
confidence of his fellow-citizens, by a diligent and faithful upholding of the true
interests of the city, and by a fearless maintaining of every essential principle
of pubUo virtue and honor in the conduct of its affairs.

(G. Page 229.) '
THE mayor's inaugural ADDRESS, JANUARY, 1828.
Gentlemen of the City Council : —
"We assemble under circumstances of great municipal prosperity, and with
very decisive evidences of the content of our fellow-citizens with the general
conduct of their affairs. A brief recurrence to a few of the principal relations
of our city, will, however, be useful, and tend to strengthen pubhc satisfaction
and confidence.
During the first years of the city government, its attention was naturally
directed to Important local improvements, and to the enlarging of our means of
protection against the dangers to which all great cities are subject, and which
the form of the ancient government was not weU calculated to effect The
number and gxeatness of these improvements and preparations, together ¦with
the short period in which they were executed, led necessarUy to the creation of
debt, on a scale which excited, in some minds, apprehensions ; cautious men
began to fear lest an increase of debt would become the habit of the city govern
ment. The experience of the past year has shown, that it is no less ¦wUlrng to
adopt and enforce a rigid system of economy, than the practice of preceding
years had shown it to be capable of using, on proper occasions, the public credit
The appropriations made at the commencement of the last year have been
respected, with an exemplary strictness. None have as yet been exceeded. To
one or two, additions will be required ; but in every instance, it is believed, it
¦wUl be found that they have been occasioned by circumstances, accidental in
their nature, and not within the control of the expending authority ; and that
they can be supplied by the transfer of the surplus, existing in other appropriar
tions. There can scarcely be expected, in any future year, a greater exactness
in this respect than the past has exhibited.
The measures adopted by the last City Council to give a permanent and
efficient character to the reduction of the city debt, have been attended with aU

APPENDIX.

407

the success which was anticipated. Before the current financial year closes,
more than one hundred thousand doUars of the preexisting city debt will be
discharged. It requires only a steady perseverance in the same system, to place
the resources of the city on an enviable and satisfactory foundation.
The diminution of the number of complaints in every branch of poUce, indi
cates a very general content with its administration. In no preceding year has
the general order been better maintained. Nor, in a population so great, and
rapidly increasing, can it be expected that vice and crime should be less obtru
sive, or more restrained.
It is a subject of congratulation, that the new arrangements in our health
department, whereby responsibUity and efficiency have been endeavored to be
obtained by the concentration of its powers iu the Board of Aldermen, the health
physician and poUce officer, should have resulted in such apparent advantage.
Notwithstanding a constant and increasing intercourse with Halifax, a city
suffering under the most maUgn form of the smaUpox, — notwithstanding the
same disorder has been brought to this city in repeated instances, from that and
from other cities, — and notwithstanding it has appeared -with some activity in
to^wns in our immediate ricinity, yet by the vigilance of the health department
every occurring case has been detected, insulated, or removed. Until the last
week, no instance of its having been communicated within this city, is known or
suspected. The circumstances of that week have been the subject of a pubUo
official statement Since that pubUcation, only one case has occurred, and that
has been promptly removed to the island. Nor is any case now known, or
beUeved to exist within the city.
Although great credit is due to the health physician and police officer, for
their vigUance and activity, yet it cannot be questioned that their labors have
been diminished and their success faciUtated by the general vaccination, which
took place under the authority of former City Councils.
The state of the hospital at Rainsford's Island, and its general police, so far as
depends on the health physician and island keeper, is very satisfactory. AppU-
cations from the local authority of several towns in this vicinity, to transfer their
infected citizens to that establishment, have been promptly granted. The wU
Ungness -with which those citizens have permitted themselves to be thus trans
ferred, and even the desire, exhibited by some of them, who were individuals
of great respectabUity in their respective to-wns, to avaU of this privilege, in
preference to remaining insulated in their own vicinity, strongly indicates the
satisfaction of the pubUc ¦with that estabUshment, and their confidence in the
professional abiUty ¦with which it is conducted.
The general state of the health of the city is not only a subject of devout
thankfulness, but is also a circumstance not to be omitted, in estimating the
effects of the general arrangements of its poUce. Tables, founded on the bills
of mortality of this city, and constructed on the usual principles, show that for
the four years past, from 1824 to 1827 inclusive, the annual average proportion
of deaths to population has not only been less than that in any antecedent year,
but it is beUeved less than that of any other city of equal population on record.
The bUls of mortaUty of this place, and calculations made on them for the
eleven years, from 1813 to 1823, inclusive, show, that the annual average pro
portion of deaths to population was about one m forty-two.

408 APPENDIX.
Similar estimates on the biUs of mortality of this city since 1823, show, that
this annual average proportion was for the four years, from 1824 to 1827 inclu
sive, less than one in forty-eight ; for the three years from 1825 to 1827 inclusive,
less than one in fifty ; for the two years from 1826 to 1827 inclusive, less than
one iu fifty-five; and for the last year, 1827, scarcely one in sixty-three.
Upon the usual estimates of this nature, a city of equal population, in which
this annual average should not exceed one in forty-seven would be considered as
enjoying an extraordinary degree of health.
Calculations of this kind are necessarily general, and exactness in precise
results, owing to the uncertainty in the annual increase of population, cannot be
expected. Enough appears, however, from unquestionable data, to justify the
position, that, since the year 1823, this city has enjoyed an uncommon and
gradually increasing state of general health, and that for the last two years it has
been unexampled.
It wUl be recoUeeted by the City CouncU, that, in the year 1823, a systematic
cleansing of the city, and removal of noxious animal and vegetable substances
was adopted under their auspices, and have been persevered in to this period,
with no inconsiderable trouble and expense. Now, although it would be too
much to attribute the whole of this important improvement in the general health
of this city to these measures, yet when a new system was at that period adopted,
having for Its express object this very effect, — the prevention of disease, by an
efficient and timely removal of nuisances, it is just and reasonable to claim for
those preventive measures, and credit to them, a portion of that freedom from
disease, which has, subsequently to their adoption, resulted, in a degree, so veij
extraordinary. It is proper to adduce this state of things, by way of encourage
ment to persevere iu a system, which has its foundation in the plainest principles
of nature and reason, and which is so apparently justified by effects.
I am thus distinct in aUuding to this subject, because the removal of the
nuisances of a city is a laborious, difficult, and repulsive service, requiring much
previous arrangement, and constant rigilance, and is attended -with frequent
disappointment of endeavors ; whence it happens, that there is a pei-petual
natural tendency, in those intrusted with municipal affairs, to throw the trouble
and responsibUity of it upon subordinate agents and contractors, and very plau
sible arguments of economy may be adduced in favor of such a system. But, if
experience and reflection have given certainty to my mind upon any subject, it is
upon this : that upon the right conduct of this branch of police, the executive powers
of a city should be made directly responsible, more than for any other ; and that
it can never, for any great length of time, be executed weU, except by agents
under Its Immediate control, and whose labors it may command, at aU times, in
any way, which the necessities continuaUy varring, and often impossible to be
anticipated, of a city, in this respect, require.
In the whole sphere of municipal duties, there are none more important than
those which relate to the removal of those substances, whose exhalations inju
riously affect the air. A pure atmosphere is to a city, what a good conscience
is to an individual ; a perpetual source of comfort, tranquiUity, and self-respect
The general confidence resulting from our Fire Department is an ample justi
fication of the great expenditures which have been made, in bringing it to that
state of preparation and efficiency, in which it now exists. Besides the sense

APPENDIX. 409
of security it has induced, the direct pecuniary gain to the community is capable
of being very satisfactorily estimated. Since the renovation of that department,
and its establishment on its present footing, the rates of Insurance on real pro
perty within this city have been reduced twenty per cent. I am authorized by
several presidents of our principal Insurance offices to state, that this reduction
has been solely owing to confidence In the present efficiency of that department.
The saving in this reduction of premium alone is stated by them not to be less
on the insurable real estate of this city than ten thousand dollars annuaUy ; in
other words, it is equal to a remuneration, in three years, for the whole cost of
the department. It is now distinguished not only for the efficiency of its
engines and apparatus, but by its exemplary spirit of discipline. The utmost
harmony also exists among its members, officers, and companies.
The expediency and mode of stUl farther extending our present system of
pubhc schools, so as to embrace higher branches than those at present taught in
them -will, probably. In some form, be brought before the City Council.
In a city, which already expends sixty thousand dollars annuaUy on its pubUc
schools, which has a capital of certainly not less than two hundred thousand
doUars invested in schoolhouses alone, and whose expenses under this head must,
from the increasing nature of its population, unavoidably increase every year,
attempts to extend the existing system of instruction must necessarily give oocar
sion to much solicitude and reflection. The great interest and duty of society,
and its great object in establishing public schools, is, to elevate as highly as
possible the inteUectual and moral condition of the mass of the community. To
this end, our institutions are so constituted as to put every necessary branch of
elementary instruction within the reach of every citizen, and to infuse, by the
books read and branches taught in them, similar general views of duty and
morals ; and similar general principles, relative to social order, happiness, and
obligation, throughout the whole society. Such is the present general character
of our common schools ; so called, because they are the common right and com
mon property of every citizen. If other and higher branches of instruction are
to be added to those embraced by our present system of pubUe education, it
deserves serious consideration, whether the duty and interest of society does not
require, that they should be added to our common schools, and enjoyed on the
same equal principles of common right and common property. In other words,
whether the new branches shaU not be for the benefit of the chUdren of the
whole community, and not for the benefit of the chUdren of comparatively
a few. Every school, the admission to which is predicated upon the principles of
requiring higher attainments, at a specified age or period of Ufe, than the mass
of chUdren in the ordinary course of school instruction at that age or period can
attain, is in fact a school for the benefit of the few, and not for the benefit of the
many. Parents, who, having been highly educated themselves are, therefore,
capable of forcing the education of their own chUdren ; parents, whose pecuniary
ability enables them to educate their children at private schools, or who by
domestic instruction are able to aid their advancement in the public schools,,
wUl for the most part enjoy the whole privUege. In form it may be general, but
it wUl be in fact exclusive. The sound principle upon this subject seems to be,
that the standard of public education should be raised to the greatest desirable
35

410 APPENDIX.
and practicable height ; but that it should be effected by raising the standard of
our common schools.
Among the general principles of public policy, by which the prosperity of cities
is effected, there is one, which, by many of our citizens, and those of great
wealth and respeotablllty, is considered to be onerous and oppressive, and which,
it is thought, has a material and injurious influence on the advancement of a city
like ours, engaged in an active mercantile competition with inteUigent and enter
prising rival cities, in which no such principle of public policy exists. Although
the subject properly belongs to the sphere of State legislation, yet as the mis
chief is thought chiefly to affect this city, it seems desirable, and would give
satisfaction to a very great class of our fellow-citizens, to have the practicabiUty
of a change in this principle submitted to the test of a public examination.
I allude to the system of assessing taxes on the principle of an arbitrary
valuation, without relief.
Although the formal provisions of the law are so framed as to conceal the
character of the principle, yet it is practically that which I have stated. It is a
valuation arbitrary in its nature, and, in point of fact, without relief.
The character of the principle is concealed by the opportunity which is form
aUy given to every individual, if he pleases, to exhibit previous to assessment,
perfect lists of his estate. On his neglect of this opportunity the right to doom,
that is, arbitrarily to value and assess, is assumed and justified.
Now, it is notorious, that, in every great mercantile city, such an exhibit
would, if made truly, as it respects many, be -ruinous ; that, as it respects very
many, it is absolutely impracticable, and that a pubUc annual development of
the exact relation of his resources, would disastrously affect almost every man
of property in society, either by embarrassing his operations, or by needlessly
exposing his condition to the curious, the enrious, or the inimical. When,
therefore, the law offers an opportunity to exhibit true Usts of their property, as
a privilege of which multitudes cannot avail themselves, and which it is the inte
rest of every man in society to reject, it offers a shadow and not a substance ; it is
only a formal and not a real privUege. And, when it founds the right arbitrarily
to assess, on the neglect of an opportunity of such a character, it exercises in effect
a despotic power, not the less objectionable on account of its being veiled under
the pretence of being justified by faUure to perform an impracticable or ruinous
condition. To show that such is the practical character of this principle, it -wiU
be sufficient simply to state, that the last year an uncommon number of per
sons and a greater amount of property was exhibited in previous Usts than in
any antecedent year in this city, yet that out of more than twelve thousand tax
able persons only twenty-six gave in such Usts, and in a city the valuation of
which exceeded sixty-five thousand of doUars, the amount exhibited in these
Usts was only /our hundred and three thousand. A more direct proof, how nomi
nal and faUacious this privilege to exhibit is universally deemed, could not be
adduced. It is, in effect, an arbitrary valuation, and it is -without reUef For
if this fallacious privUege be neglected, the Courts are by statute provision
prohibited from making a-batements ; and in our convention of Assessors, in all
cases above sixteen dollars, it is practieally a settied principle, that such neglect
precludes the appUcant from the privilege of abatement.
Did the effect of these principles terminate -with the indiridual, it would be of

APPENDIX. . 411
less importance ; but it reacts upon society, and especially on a mercantile com
munity, whose prosperity must necessarUy be affected by it, in a greater or less
degree. It should be the settled poUey of mercantile cities to allure and detain capital
ists. Of aU classes of men, these are the quickest to discern, and are in a situa
tion the most favorable to take advantage of, the relative principles which the
laws aud policy of different cities apply to their condition. Their activity, enter
prise, and capital, give life and support to the industry of the laboring and
mechanic classes. Whatever drives capitaUsts from a city, or makes them
discontented vrith it, has a direct tendency to deprive those classes of their best
hopes. Now, what can have a more direct and natural tendency to such an
effect than the certainty that there is no escape from an arbitrary valuation and
assessment, except compUance with a condition which is ruinous to some, imprac
ticable to others, and repulsive to all ? Unless indeed it be a further certainty,
which in this case also exists, that from sueh an assessment, once made, there is
absolutely no hope of reUef !
That this city has lost important and valuable citizens and great capitaUsts, in
consequence of the operation of this principle, is a known fact. How many more
have been deterred from uniting their destinies with ours, and have been led by
it to place their capital in employ in other cities, It Is not possible to estimate ;
but that there have been such is also positively known.
Other great cities, our neighbors and honorable rivals, have no such arbitrary
principle connected with their system of assessment Haring opened a corre
spondence -with the respective Mayors of New York, PhUadelplua, and Balti
more on the subject, they have each of them, with great promptitude and pohte-
ness, transmitted a transcript of the principles and course of proceedings of their
respective cities in relation to assessments.
In all of these cities there seems to exist a general content -with the principle
on which assessment Is made, whatever discontent may individuaUy exist in the
appUcation of it In neither of them is any exhibit of personal property required
antecedent to assessment In aU of them, previously to finaUy closing the assess
ment, an opportunity is given to those who deem themselves aggrieved, to be
heard, and to have the assessment modified, according to the truth of their case.
The subject has great relations. I refer to it out of respect to an opinion,
very general in this city, that our principles of taxation are injurious to its pros-
¦perity. It is a subject worthy of deliberate consideration, and an examination
into it would give to many good citizens great satisfaction, even should the result
be, that a change was impracticable or inexpedient
For the renewed evidences I have recently received of the confidence of my
feUow-citizens, I can only renew the assurance of a Ufe and thoughts exclusively
devoted to understand and pursue then- best interests.

412 APPENDIX.

(H. Page 132.)
MESSAGE OF THE MAYOR TO THE CITY COUNCIL, RECOMMENDING THE
EXTENSION OF THE PLAN OP IMPROVEMENT TO SUTLER'S ROW, AND
EXPLAINING THE MOTIVES OP THE COMMITTEE FOR THIS RECOMMEND
ATION.
Gentlemen of the City Council: —
At a meeting of the Joint Committee on the subject of the extension of FanemI
Hall Market, on the 22d instant, the foUowing vote was passed ; and the Mayor
was requested to caU a special meeting of the City CouncU, for the purpose of
communicating to them the subject and proposition contained in that vote. In
obedience to that request, the present meeting has been caUed.
The vote above aUuded to is expressed in the foUo^wing terms : — " 'Whereas
counter propositions have been made to this Committee, relative to the purchase
of lands adjoining the present improvements, now progressing in the vicinity of
FaneuU HaU Market ; and whereas this Committee are unanimously of opinion,
that it wiU be for the Interest of the city that this Committee should be enabled to
meet and close on behalf of the city with one or other of those propositions,
thereupon voted, unanimously, —
" That the Chairman communicate the above fact to the City Council,
and state to them, that by the power to make further purchases of land to an
amount not exceeding two hundred and twenty thousand dollars, great and
permanently useful improvements and additions may be made to the proposed
market accommodations, without any ultimate cost, and with certain ultimate gain
to the city."
In communicating this vote to the City CouneU, I deem it my duty to make
such a development of the objects of that vote as the nature of the subject per
mits, and as the nature also of the power suggested requires.
A suspension of the sales of the sites for the south block of store lots now
remaining to be sold by the city, according to the former plan exhibited to the
City Council, has taken place, partly by reason of the unsettled state of that part
of the city property which is contracted for vrith the Long Wharf proprietary,
and partiy on account of the opportunity which the general state of the property
lying immediately south of the site of the proposed block of stores presented for
most advantageous improvements in the plan, and increase of the accommoda
tions of the New Market-House and streets, as well as for a most convenient and
useful general arrangement of the land, included between Butler's Row, and the
land leading to Bray's Wharf.
In contemplating the plan of the New Market and streets adjacent, as formerly
presented, and on considering it in connection -with its other relations, your
Committee were of opinion, that, although the improvements effected by that
plan were of a great and very satisfactory character, yet, that when considered
in connection vrith the concentration of business which must result to this part
of the city in consequence of the location of the New Market there, and of the
creation of a new wharf on the city flats to the eastward, which at no distant
period could not faU to take place, as well as from the opening of that great

APPENDIX.

413

sixty-five feet avenue from Long Wharf- eastward to the New Market, about to
form the principal route of the business between the north part of the city and
State, India, and Broad Streets. They were also of opinion, that the street to
tiie southward of the New Market, called on the plan " South Market Street,"
was much b)o narrow for that great influx of city trucks and carts, and of country
teams and wagons, which the union of commerce and the market would occasion
in that street and ricinity.
Upon the plan above-mentioned, " South Market Street " was only " sixty feet "
wide. It was obrious to your Committee, that if this street could be widened to
tiie extent of at least one hundred feet, the contemplated accommodation of our
country brethren in their attendance on the market, as weU as of our citizens,
would be greatiy increased ; and that whenever the new wharf at the eastward
on the city flats should be built, the space thus obtained in streets would be
highly desirable, if not absolutely necessary, for the great concentration of busi
ness above stated, which would be effected in that street and ricinity. In addi
tion to these considerations, others of a prospective and more general character
presented themselves.
It was found by calculation, made on the present demand of meat and vege
table stalls, that those contained in the New Market House were no more than
sufficient for the actual existing state of the city, with its present population ;
and that, if any extension of the market accommodation should by the progress
of society become necessary, the city authorities would have no other means to
effect it than by trenching in upon the ¦width of a " sixty feet street," which, it.
was agreed on all sides, was sufficientiy narrow for the business for which it was
about to be the scene, and to form the sphere. By effecting an augmentation
of that street to at least one hundred feet, this inconvenience would be obviated.
Those, who should come after us, might at any time add to the Market House
now buUding,! should the gro-wth of the city require, a width of thirty or forty
feet through its whole length, and a street sixty or seventy feet wide would
remain entire for the accommodation of the pubUc.
Other considerations of a more general character presented themselves to the
Committee. It was obvious to their reflection and observation, that there were
reasons and opportunities in the progress of societies, and cities, as weU as of
indlriduals, by which, according as they were seized and improved, or suffered
to escape and be neglected, their character and destinies were shaped and esta
bUshed. It also could not but be perceived by them, that among the circum
stances which had a tendency to incommode and restrict the apparent tendencies
to the growth of the city of Boston, was the narrowness and crookedness of its
streets, and its want of great squares and wide pubUo spaces for the accommoda
tion of the business of citizens. It was plain to your Committee, that no oppor
tunity should be suffered to pass, without being avaUed of, for the purpose of
reUering the city from this discredit and these disadvantages. And they could
not but be struck with the singular coincidence of season, places, and opportunity,
which the new improvements and the general state of the real property about
FaneuU HaU Market offered for these purposes.
1 This street, having been subsequently laid out by the Surveyors of Highways,
the use of it here suggested is probably precluded.
35*

414 APPENDIX.
At the moment when a new organization of the government has given to the
authorities of Boston a greater efficiency, the state of the capital and enterprise,
as weU as the prevaiUng harmony and union in relation to pubUe improvements
among the citizens, has given a wUUngness to cooperate in them, altogether
unexampled. The present, therefore, it is very apparent, is one of those seasons
and opportunities in the progress of this city, on the neglect or improvement
of which materiaUy depends its character and destiny.
The place, also, on which the proposed improvements were carrying on, was,
in the opinion of the Committee, peculiarly favorable to excite interest and union
of sentiment among the citizens, as weU as to stimulate to a further extension of
similar improvements, on a scale highly honorable to the character of the city,
and beneficial as it respects its future prospects.
Faneuil HaU Market is so located with respect to the general interests of
Boston, that it may well be considered, as it were, the heart of the city. The
new improvements have been planned, and are executing on a scale, calculated
to connect the northern and southern sections -vrith this great centre by a noble
avenue, and to bring into a sphere of profitable use, lands or flats hitherto com
paratively of Uttie use or value. It must be apparent to every one who considers
the subject, that, if the present opportunity be suffered to pass unimproved, that
it -wiU for that vicinity be lost forever. After the final location of the southern
block of stores now about to be sold, aU hope of a more extensive and accommo
dating plan must be abandoned. Posterity cannot without great sacrifices, if at
aU, effect an arrangement of streets and spaces for the business of the city, which
now can be obtained with Uttle sacrifice ; and in fact ¦with none, when compared
with the greatness of the increased improvements and resulting advantages. )
With these general views, the Chairman, by direction of the Committee,
opened a negotiation with the different proprietors of the land and stores in the
ricinity of Butler's Row, and Bray's Wharf and dock. It Is very apparent, that
this negotiation must be carried on under many disadvantages, not only on
account of the number of proprietors, whose good--wiU was to be conciUated, but
also from the high price at which the city sales in that ricinity had countenanced
those proprietors in claiming for their lands. A conditional arrangement has,
however, at length been made with aU the proprietors, whose lands are necessary
to be included in this plan, dependent on the -wUl of the Faneuil HaU Market
Committee. They are, therefore, now enabled to state with precision the parti
cular plan which they deem it most for the interest of the city to adopt, consider
ing all the relations of the property in that ricinity, and also to state the extreme
possible cost and pecuniary results of that plan, should it be deemed advisable
to adopt it.i
Upon the whole, the interest of the city is, in my opinion, so great, so obrious,
and so certain, that I deem it my duty earnestly to recommend it to the City
CouncU. The result of this improvement, when carried into effect, according to all the
greatness and utiUty which the relations of the property in that ricinity permits,
1 As the plan here detailed was adopted and carried into effect by the City
Council, and its advantages are at this day (1851) understood and acknow
ledged, the statements here made relative to the cost and anticipated result are
¦omitted.

APPENDIX. 425
cannot fa,U to reflect great honor on the citizens of this metropoUs, nofonly
with foreigners, but with om- posterity, inasmuch as it wiU eridence the exist
ence of a spmt m tiie citizens of the present thne, capable of derismg and
wilhng to meet the expenditures necessary to effect improvements on a scale
calculated not merely to provide for the exigencies of a passing day, but to
extend to aU future generations of the inhabitants of this city by present wise
prospective arrangements, the blessings of that exceeding great prosperity,
which Providence in its bounty permits us to enjoy.

(L Page 137.)
PROCEEDINGS ON LAYING THE CORNER STONE OF FANEUIL HALL MARKET.
On Wednesday, the twenty-seventh of AprU, 1825, the Corner Stone of the
New FaneuU HaU Market was laid by the Mayor of the city, in the presence
of the members of the City CouncU, the Superintendent and workmen of the
buUding, and a large number of citizens. The City Government assembled in
Faneuil HaU at eleven o'clock, and moved to the site of the new edifice, in
the foUowing order, preceded and flanked by peace officers: —
The Mayor.
The City Marshal, bearing the chest containing the deposits.
The other Members of the BuUding Committee.
Aldermen.
Members of the Common Council.
Clerks of the two Boards.
Principal Architect, &c.
The Comer Stone, (a large block of Chehnsford granite,) was suspended by
a puUey over the foundation stone, in a cavity of which a leaden box, or chest,
was deposited, and which contained, —
1. A colored Map of the City, recently executed.
2. Plan of the Lands, Stores, Dock, &c., on which the new Improvement is
located, as they existed before the Improvement was contemplated. The sites
of the New Market, Streets, Ranges of Stores, &c., being designated by dotted
Unes. ' 3. A Book, containing the Charter of the City, with the Amendments there
to ; the Constitutions of the United States and of Massachusetts ; and sundry
Laws, p8issed in relation to the City.
4. Copies of the Rules and Regulations of the City CouncU, with a list of the
Officers of the City, and the Wards, for 1824 -'25.

416 APPENDIX.
5. Twenty-two Newspapers pubUshed during the preceding -week, including
aU the weekly, semi-weekly, and daUy papers, the Price Current, and Masonic
Magazine. 6. Eight numbers of Bowen's " History of Boston," in course of pubUcation,
containing a number of riews of edifices, &c. in the city.
7. A case, containing the foUowing Coins, &c. : — An Eagle, Half Eagle, and
Quarter Eagle, of gold ; a DoUar, Haff DoUar, Quarter DoUar, Dime, and Half
Dime, of silver ; and a Cent and Half Cent of the most recent coinage of the
United States; a Silver (Pine-Tree) ShiUing, of Massachusetts, coined in 1652,
presented by Nathaniel G. SneUing, Esq. ; and a Cent and Half Cent of the
coinage of Massachusetts, of 1787. The latter presented by Mr. Jeremiah
Kehler. Together with the foUowing Old Continental BUls (of paper money)
issued during the Revolution, to -wit, — One of Eight DoUars, issued in 1776,
and one of Forty DoUars, issued in 1779, presented by Mr. John Fuller; one
of Four Dollars, and two of Sis DoUars, (one guaranteed by Rhode Island,)
presented by Isaac Winslow, Esq. ; one of Two DoUars, issued iu 1776 ; one of
Five, one of Twenty, and one of Thirty Dollars, issued in 1778 ; one of Five
Dollars, (guaranteed by New Hampshire,) and one New Hampshire Colony Bill,
for Ten Pounds, issued in 1775, presented by Ebenezer Farley, Esq.; and a
Rhode Island New Emission BiU, issued in 1780, for Three Dollars, presented
by Stephen Codman, Esq.
It has been a subject of regret,! that the emblems, mottoes, and derices of the
old continental paper money, have not, in our recollection, been permanentiy
recorded. We remember to have read a glo-wing description of them given
by a celebrated Whig Peer of England, in the British ParUament, during the
Revolution, in answer to a remark of a MinisteriaUst, that the Americans were
destitute of sound learning and science ; and which was adduced by him in proof
of the existence in America of classical learning, taste, and genius, not exceUed
by any thing of the kind of which the Uterati of England could boast. He then
attributed the mottoes and designs to Franklin, Adams, Rittenhousb,
Livingston, and others, which, he said, bore equal eridence of scholarship and
patriotism. The bills were extremely well engraved, and printed by Hall and
Sellers, the then Baskervilles and Didots of America. Every denomina
tion of bills bore distinct derices, ¦with significant and appropriate Latin mottoes.
We shall only notice those on the denominations deposited.
The Two Dollar Bills bore the emblem of a hand making a circle vrith com
passes. Motto, Trihulatio Ditat. Translation, " Trouble enriches," or, " The
sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared ¦with the glory
which shaU be." — Rom. viii. 18.
The derice of the Three DoUar Bills was " an eagle pouncing on a crane,
whose beak annoyed the eagle's throat" Motto, Exitus in dubio est. Translar
tion, " The issue is doubtful," or, " The race is not to the s^wift, nor the battie to
the strong." — Eccl. ix. 11.
On the Five DoUar BiUs was a hand grasping at a thorn-bush. Motto, Sustine
vel abstine. Translation, " Hold fast or touch not," or, "Be not overcome of evU,
but overcome evil with good." — Rom. xu. 21.
The Six DoUar BiUs represented a beaver feUing a tree. Motto, Perseverando.
Translation, " By perseverance we prosper," or, " Let us run with patience the
race set before us." — Heb. xu. 1. Another emission bore an anchor. Motto,
1 The whole of this note is taken from the Columbian Centinel of the thirtieth
of AprU, 1825, edited by Benjamin RusseU, an active and efficient member of
the Faneuil Hall Committee.

APPENDIX. 417
In te Domine speramus. Translation, " In God have I put my trust" —
Psahn bcvi. 11. r j
¦ The Eight DoUar BiUs bore the Irish harp. Motto, Majora Minoribus conso
nant. Translation, " United we stand," or, " Let there be no divisions amon^
you ; but be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same iuds-
ment" — 1 Cor. i. 10. •' ^
The Thirty Dollar BUls bore a wi-eath on an altar. Motto, Si recte fades.
Translation, " If you do right you wiU succeed," or, " Do that which is good, and
thou shalt have praise of the same." — Heb. xUi. 3.
8. A Plate of sUver, weighing fifteen ounces, eleven inches by seven, -with
the foUowing INSCRIPTION.
Faneuil Hall Market,
EstabUshed by the City of Boston. This Stone was laid April 27, Anno Do
mini MDCCCXX"V., in the forty-ninth year of American Independence, and
in the third of the Incorporation of the city.
Josiah Quincy, Mayor.
Aldermen. — Daniel Baxter, George Odiorne, David W. Child, Joseph
Hawley Dorr, Asher Benjamin, Enoch Patterson, Caleb Eddy, Stephen Hooper.
MEMBERS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL.
Francis J. Oliver, President.
Ward No. 1. — WUliam Barre, John Elliot, Michael Tombs, Joseph "Wheel
er.— 2. WUUam Little, Jr., Thaddeus Page, OUver Reed, Joseph Stone. —
3. John R. Adan, John D. Dyer, Edward Page, WiUiam Sprague. — 4. Joseph
Coolidge, Jerenuah Fitch, Robert G. Shaw, WilUam R. P. Washburn. — 5. EU
phalet P. Hartshorn, EUas HaskeU, George W. Otis, Winslow Wright —
6. Joseph S. Hastings, Joel Prouty, Thomas WUey, WilUam Wright — 7. Charles
P. Curtis, WilUam Goddard, Elijah Morse, Isaac Parker. — 8. John BaUard,
Jonathan Daris, John C. Gray, Hawkes Lincoln. — 9. Benjamin RusseU, Eli
phalet WiUiams, Samuel K. WiUiams, Benjamin WUUs. ¦ — 10. Francis J. OUver,
James Savage, Phineas Upham, Thomas B. Wales. — 11. Samuel Frothingham,
GUes Lodge, Charles Sprague, Josiah Stedman. — 12. Charles Bemis, Samuel
Bradlee, Francis Jackson, Isaac Thom.
BUILDING COMMITTEE.
Josiah Quincy, Chairman.
David W. ChUd, Asher Benjanun, Enoch Patterson, Francis J. OUver, Ben
jamin RusseU, Charles P. Curtis, Thaddeus Page, EUphalet WUUams, Joseph
CooUdge, WilUam Wright.
Alexander Parris, Principal Architect.
John Quincy Adams, President of the United States.
Marcus Morton, Lieutenant-Governor, and Commander-in-Chief of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Memoranda. — The population of the City, estimated at fifty thousand. That
of the United States, eleven miUions.
[Engraved ly Hazen Morse.]

418 APPENDIX.
The Stone haring been placed in its proper position and cemented, the Mayor
announced that the Corner Stone was now erected of an edifice, which would
be a proud memorial of the pubUc spirit and unanimity of the City CouncU, and
of the liberality of their feUow-citizens ; an edifice which, he anticipated, would
be an ornament to the city, a convenience for its inhabitants, a blessing to the
poor, an accommodation to the rich, and an object of pleasure to the whole
community. Three cheers foUowed the annunciation, and the ceremony closed.
The execution of the Inscription on the Plate deposited has been admired by
aU who have viewed it, as an excellent sample of the progress made in the
graphic art, and the ornamental and scrip chirography of the day.

(K. Page 145.)
statements relative to the irresponsibility claimed by the OVER
SEERS OF THE poor for PUBLIC MONEYS.
The Report here referred to, embodied aU the facts relative to the irrespon
sibUity of the Board of Overseers of the Poor for the great sums they annuaUy
receive from the City Treasury, and also for the great amount of eleemosynary
funds in their hands. It was signed by every member of the Committee, (see
p. 144,) men most faithful to the interests of the city, and soUcitous to promote
those of the poor. It was accepted unanimously by both branches of the City
Council, and its recommendations were, in a general meeting of more than eight
hundred inhabitants, rejected by a majority of only thirty-one ; a result showing,
that the views presented in that report were approved by nearly half of those
present, and those among the most inteUigent, and possessing as great a stake as
any in the city.
After the result of the struggle made in 1824 to effect a change in this claim
of the Overseeis for irresponsibUity, a perfect sUence was maintained on the
nature and consequences of these pretensions, untU March, 1837, when Samuel
A. EUot, Mayor of the city, in a communication to the City Council relative to
the eleemosynary fund, " exclusively under the control of the Overseers of the
Poor," and the expenditures, concerning which they disavowed aU accountabiUty,
took occasion to make the foUo^wing remarks : —
" Whether this is a state of things which should exist, or whether it would be
better that all the modes of charity should be under one general supervision, and
under the usual responsibiUty to the City CouncU, is for the CouncU and the
citizens to determine. I cannot perceive, that any advantage, arising from the
present system, is a counterbalance to the evU which ensues from the compUca-
tion of the business in so many hands, the danger of coUIsion between independ
ent boards, and the tendency natural to aU irresponsible bodies, to conceal their
transactions. PubUcity is generaUy and justiy regarded as the best security
against abuse, and the convenience of having a system of charity adopted by the
city, and pursued under the direction of one board, is too manifest to require
urging. In what manner this can be effected, I must leave to the deUberations
of the City CouncU, -with the conriction, that their proceedings wiU be marked
by regard to the pubUc good, and a just deference to enUghtened pubKo
opinion."

APPENDIX. 419
Notwithstanding the directness and -wisdom of these suggestions, no attempt-
was then made, or has been subsequently, to effect a change in a state of things
so undeniably incorrect in point of principle, and so unquestionably Uable to
secret abuse. A board of twelve men, chosen not by the citizens at large, but
indiriduaUy, in wards, continue to be permitted to expend from twenty-eight to
thirty thousand dollars annuaUy of money received out of the City Treasury, and
to manage a capital of upwards of one hundred thousand dollars of eleemosynary
funds, distributing its incomes at their discretion, without accountability to any
one, except to one another, which, in effect, is no accountabiUty at aU.
The cause of this apparent apathy is obvious. There is no body now existing
in the city, authorized to eaU the Overseers of the Poor to account for their
expenditures ; and, should the City Council make any movement to exercise or
obtain that power, a clamor would be raised, as it was In 1824, in the different
wards, by those interested in maintaining the present system, and they would be
denounced as attempting to interfere -with an independent board, and with a
desire to get under their control funds placed in other hands by the donors them
selves, — a reproach aud odium which few administrations are ¦wUUng to meet,
and perhaps fewer would be able to sustain. In the mean time, by the increase
of our population and the Infusion of foreigners, the necessity of public expend
itures for the poor continuaUy augments, and with it, unavoidably, the temptation
and danger of secret abuse of great funds, when intrusted to irresponsible agents.
It seems important, therefore, that some historical facts should be stated and
preserved, especiaUy such as relate to the eleemosynary funds, now holden and
distributed by the present Board of Overseers, claiming to be successors of the
former Board of Overseers, which existed under the to^wn.
First, then, the Board of Overseers of the Poor of the to^wn of Boston were
very differentiy constituted than are the Board of Overseers of the Poor of the
city of Boston, and consequently possessed far more elements of general con
fidence. Had the Board of Overseers of the Poor been then constituted as
It is now, it would never have been selected as the trustees of those eleemosy
nary funds.
Under the town government the members of the Board of Overseers of the
Poor were elected by the votes of the whole body of the inhabitants. They
were consequently always men of a high general character, kno-wn to a majority
of the inhabitants, and chosen by them for their integrity, capacity, and adapt
ation to the serrice. Among them were always men distinguished for their
wealth, their business talents, and charities. The uniformity of this result for
many years, created that general confidence, which caused them to be chosen as
trustees of these eleemosynary funds. Now the Board of Overseers of the Poor,
under the city government, are chosen in wards, and consequently are seldom
known to the inhabitants generally, and are also often not selected for any
special quaUfication for this great trust, but because they are popular and avaU
able candidates, or wUUng to accept an office which is deemed irksome, and to
which no emolument is thought to be attached. A board thus constituted could
never have acquired that general confidence, which the donations of those elee
mosynary funds indicate. What capitaUst, at this day, would select that board as
trustees of such donations ?
There was another element of confidence in the Board of Overseers, under

420 APPENDIX.
the town, winch is wholly wanting in that board under the City, — every vacancy
in the hoard was always in fact filled by the nomination of the members of the
board themselves. Hence, the new members were always well quaUfied for the
office, and acceptable to the old members remaining as associates. "When a
vacancy was about to occur, it was the practice of the board to consult together,
and to select the indiridual whose name was to be inserted in the general ticket
with those of the members of the board about to remain. This course was
known, and acceptable to the inhabitants. The individual thus selected, beino'
alwaj's one whose quaUties and adaptation were by them weU known and
approved, he was accordingly uniformly chosen, it is believed, without objection
or opposition, during the whole period of the to^wn government. This course of
proceeding gave that board, under the town, a fixed and staid character, inriting
confidence and sustaining it.
Concerning these eleemosynary funds, the Board of Overseers wrap them
selves up in the dignity of irresponsible trustees, and deny to every one, even to
the Ma}"or of the city, the right of raising any question concerning the manage
ment and distribution of them. Yet, they have no other ground of claim to the
control of those funds than a general declaration in the city charter, that they
shaU have " aU the powers and be subject to all the duties which appertain to
the Board of Overseers of the Poor of the to-wn of Boston." "Whether such
general expressions as these, which contain no words pui-porting a transfer of
property, or implying a grant of any succession to trusts, are sufficient in law t»
pass funds of a great amount preriously vested in a corporation " by the name
of the Overseers of the Poor of the town of Boston, and their successors," is a
question of law, which, if the heirs or representatives of the original donors of
those funds should seriously raise in a court of justice, the result, perhaps, might
be dubious. Fortunately, however, the Legislature has reserved to itself, in the
very charter of the city, the right " to alter and quaUfy " the powers of that
board. And it is believed, that the time cannot be far distant, when the Legis'
lature, either self-moved, or on the appUcation either of indiridual citizens or
of the City Council, -wiU recognize it as their duty to do justice to the charitable
donors of those eleemosynary funds, and bring the Board of Overseers of the
Poor under the city to as near an approximation to the character of that under
the town as is now possible, by enacting a law, by which the members of that
board shall be chosen by that body, which now in every thing else acts for the
whole body of the citizens, that is, by the City CouneU ; and thereby restore
that board more nearly to the same elements of general confidence it possessed
under the to-wn.
An act of this kind would also reUeve the city of Boston from the effect of that
monstrous financial anomaly, whereby twelve men, chosen individuaUy in wards,
with little consideration by the voters of the great amounts of money placed at
their disposal, and of their adaptation to distribute it, are invested annuaUy
with power to expend from twenty-eight to thirty thousand doUars out of the
Jiubllc treasury, at their discretion, -with no other accountabiUty than to one
another. The annual publication of their receipts and expenditures, which they
call accounting to their feUow-oitizens, has, in fact, no one element of effective
accountabiUty. ' '
Under the town government, it was otherwise. There every inhabitant had

APPENDIX. 421
the right and the power, iu pubhc town-meeting, to demand explanations and
specifications, concerning the modes and principles of expenditure. Under the
city, no human being has such right or power, it being denied even to the City
CouncU ; and, although it naturaUy belongs to them, they have hitherto been
deterred from attempting to obtain it, from causes weU known and already
intimated.

(L. Page 206.)
AN address 1 DELIVERED AT THE UNANIMOUS REQUEST OF BOTH BRANCHES
OF THE CITY COUNCIL ON THE FOURTH OP JULY, 1826, IT BEtNG THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, BY JOSIAH QUINCY,
MAYOR OF THE CITY.
On the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of our country, — on the
great day of our fathers' glory, — we assemble to speak concerning their virtues,
and to tell of labors and sacrifices by which they gave existence to our nation.
More than half the term allotted in the ordinary course of Proridence to the
longest human Ufe has elapsed since that event. Those whose age or experience
guide the aff'airs of the present time were then chUdren or youths ; -witnesses,
without being partakers of that struggle. How natural and suitable Is it, on such
an anniversary, for the fathers of the present day to speak concerning the fathers
of former days to one another and to their children, who are destined to be the
fathers of the age which is to come !
We are, then, feUow-citizens, assembled, not to take part in a Ught and vain
show, but to perform a solemn and somewhat a religious duty. Parents and
chUdren, we have come to the altar of our common faith, not like the Carthagi
nian, to swear enmity to another nation, but, in the spirit of obedience and under
a sense of moral and reUgious obUgation, to inquire what it is to fulfil weU our
duty to ourselves and our posterity. And while we pass before our eyes in long
array the outspread images of our fathers' rirtues, let us strive to excite in our
own bosoms and enkindle in each other's that intense and sacred zeal by which
their patriotism was animated and refined. Fifty years after the occurrence of'
the greatest of our national events, we gather -with our chUdren around the
tombs of our fathers, as we trust, — and may Heaven so grant! — fifty years-
henee, those chUdren wUl gather around ours, in the spirit of gratitude and-
honor, to contemplate their glory ; to seek the lessons suggested by their exam
ple ; and to examine the principles on which they laid the foundations of their -
country's prosperity and greatness.
1 This work haring been substituted, under circumstances the text explains,
for one of the orations annuaUy deUvered by the appointment of the Mayor and
Aldermen on the fourth of July, has been naturally pubUshed with that name,
and usuaUy regarded in that light „. „ ., j . , , .
It was, however, solicited as an address to the City CouncU and inhabitants
of the city, accepted as an official duty, and executed in a style adapted to
the relation in which the writer stijod, and in confornUty -with the vote of the
City CouncU. 36

422 APPENDIX.
But if, as Americans, it be natural and suitable to consecrate this day in our
affections, how much more as citizens of Boston, — inhabitants of that city
known tnrough the world as the cradle of American liberty, — standing as we
do under the canopy of that sacred temple,' which was honored, in the most try
ing times of our Revolution, by the boldest breathings of our chiefest patriots ;
which was poUuted iu the most disastrous times by the war horse, which neighed
and stabled in this sanctuary ; surrounded as we are by the direct descendants
of those who were first and most fearless in the day of severest trial !
Where shaU the memory of the great men of our Revolution be honored, if it
be not in this city, in this temple, and in this assembly ?
What future age, what distant region, hearing of the American Revolution,
shall not also hear of " Faneuil HaU " and of the " Old South," where the early
spirit of American Uberty stood in dignity, fidelity, and fearlessness, while sen
tries, with fixed bayonets, were at our State House doors ; whUe Boston was but
a garrison — its islands and harbors possessed by a vindictive and indignant foe ;
its trade suspended by British cruisers ; famine threatened by British edicts ;
and the blood of its slaughtered citizens fiowed in its streets !
In what land, where the American name is kno-wn, are not, and shall not for
ever be, known, the names of those citizens of Boston, who were the strength
and lights of their o-wn time, and the eternal glory of their country, — Adams
and Hancock, and Otis, and Warren, and others of scarcely less celebrity ?
EspeciaUy shaU he not be forgotten, now or ever, that ancient citizen of Bos
ton, that patriarch of American independence, of all New England's worthies,
on this great day the sole survivor.2 He, indeed, oppressed by years, sinking
under the burdens of decaring nature, hears not our pubhc song or voice of
praise or ascending prayer. But the sounds of a nation's joy, rushing from our
cities, ringing from our vaUeys, echoing from our hUls, shall break the sUence of
his aged ear ; the rising blessings of grateful mUUons shaU visit, with a glad Ught,
his fading rision, and flush the last shades of his evening sky -with the reflected
splendors of his meridian brightness.
How pecuUarly and imperiously incumbent, then, is it on us on this day, in
this place and in this assembly, to speak together concerning the glory of our
ancestors ; to analyze that glory ; and to inquire what it is to deserve, and what
it is to disgrace those ancestors I
When we speak of the glory of our fathers, we mean not that -vulgar renown
to be attained by physical strength, nor yet that higher fame to be acquired by
intellectual power. Both often exist without lofty thought or pure intent or
1 The Old South Church.
2 John Adams, the patriot here aUuded to, expired at about five o'clock
on this day ; and Thomas Jefferson, another patriot of the same period, also
expired at about one o'clock on the same afternoon.
Thus two of the most distinguished statesmen of the United States, both mem
bers of the Committee of Congress who drafted the Declaration of American
Independence, and who both signed that instrument ; both of whom had been
for many years Ministers of the United States at several European courts ; both
of whom had held successively the offices of "7ioe-President and President of
the United States, finished their mortal career on the fourth of July, 1826; it
being the fiftieth anniversary of that most glorious and happy event for them
selves and their country, — the Declaration of American Independence.

APPENDIX. 423
generous purpose. The glory which we celebrate was strictiy of a moral and
reUgious character, — righteous as to its ends, just as to its means. The Ameri
can revolution had its origin, neither in ambition, nor avarice, nor envy, nor in
any gross passion ; but in the nature and relation of things, and in the thence
resulting necessity of separation from the parent State. Its progress was limited
by that necessity. During the struggle, our fathers displayed great strength and
great moderation of purpose. In difficult times they conducted -with wisdom.
In doubtful times, -with firmness. In perilous, -with courage. Under oppressive
trials, erect Amidst great temptations, unseduced. In the dark hour of dan
ger,' fearless. In the bright hour of prosperity, faithful. It was not the instant
feeling and pressure of the arm of despotism that roused them to resist, but the
principle on which that ai-m was extended. They could have paid the stamp-taix
and the tea-tax, and the other impositions of the British government, had they
been increased a thousand-fold. But payment acknowledged the right; and
they spurned the consequences of that acknowledgment. In spite of those acts
they could have Uved and happUy, and bought and sold, and got gain, and been
at ease. But they would have held those blessings on the tenure of dependence
on a foreign and distant power, at the mercy of a king or his minions, or of coun
cils in which they had no voice, and where their interests could not be repre
sented, and were Uttle likely to be heard. They saw that their prosperity in
such case would be precarious ; their possessions uncertain ; their ease inglorious.
But above aU they reaUzed that those burdens, though Ught to them, would, to
the coming age, — to us, their posterity, — be heavy, aud, probably, insupport
able. Reasoning on the ineritable increase of interested Imposition upon those
who are -without power and have none to help, they foresaw that, sooner or
later, desperate struggles must come. They preferred to meet the trial In their
o-wn times, and to make the sacrifices in their o-wn persons. They were -willing
themselves to endure the toU and to incur the hazard, that we and our descend
ants, — their posterity, — might reap the harvest, and enjoy the increase.
Generous men ! exalted patriots ! immortal statesmen ! For this deep, moral,
and social affection, for this elevated seff-devotion, this noble purpose, this bold
daring, the multiplying myriads of your posterity, as they thicken along the
Atkntic coast, from the St. Croix to the Mississippi, as they spread backwards
to the lakes, and from the hikes to the mountains, and from the moimtains to the
western waters, shaU, on this day, annuaUy, in aU future tune, as we at this hour,
come up to the temple of the Most High, with song and anthem and thanksgiv
ing and choral symphony and hallelujah, to repeat your names, to look stead
fastly on the brightness of your glory ; to trace its spreading rays to the points
fi-om which they emanate ; and to seek. In your character and conduct, a prac
tical Ulustration of public duty, in every occurring, social exigence.
In the rapid view I am compelled to take of the genius and character of our
revolution, I shaU chiefly fix my eye on this State, town, and ricinity. Let other
States and cities celebrate mth due honors the great men whose Ughts cluster in
their peculiar sky. Massachusetts has a consteUation of her own, exceeded by
none in brightness, yielding to none in power, surpassed by none m influence,
dm-in^ the first stages of the Revolutionary struggle. In this State and in this
metropoUs were exhibited, among the earUest, those generous virtues and that
noble daring which electrified the Continent

424 APPENDIX.
If it be asked in what the peculiar glory of our fathers iu that day consisted,
this is my answer. It consisted in perfectiy-performed duty, according to the
measure of that perfection which is attributable to things human. Now, real
glory, when strictiy analyzed and reduced to its constituent principle, -with aU its
tinsel and dross separated, wiU be found to consist, and to consist only in truth.
The glory of contemplation is truth to nature. The glory of action is truth to
the relations in which man is placed, — perfect fulfilment of aU the obligations
which result from the condition of things aUotted to him by Proridence.
In this point of view, the glory of our fathers at the revolution may be stated
in detail to consist in being true to their ancestors, true to themselves, true to
their posterity, and, above all, iu being true to virtue and liberty.
Our fathers, at the Revolution, were true to their ancestors ; maintaining then-
principles, obeying their precepts, coppng their example.
The Revolution of 1776 is caUed, and justly, a mighty struggle for independ
ence. But it was neither greater, bolder, nor more arduous, than the emigrar
tion of the first settlers to New England ; nor was there incurred iu it more
hazard, nor displayed in any of its events, a more determined spirit of independ
ence, than were incurred and displayed by the immediate descendants of those
settlers, — the direct progenitors of the authors of our revolution.
Time would faU me, were I to attempt to maintain this position by historical
references. One or two striking evidences of fact and opinion must suffice.
The emigration itseff of our ancestors was, in truth, only a mighty struggle for
independence. According to the genius of the age, and the particular bias of
our ancestors' minds, their motive took the aspect of a strong desire for a higher
religious freedom and a purer form of religious worship. It is impossible, how
ever, not to perceive that even this desire was only a mode, under which existed
an intense and aU-absorbiiig spirit of civU freedom. In the nature of things, it
could not possibly have been otherwise. They fled from the persecutions of the
British hierarchy. Now the strength of the hierarchy was In the nerve of the
secular arm. It was that odious centaur, not fabulous, church and state, which
drove them for refuge into the -wilderness. This monster, -with a poUtical head
and an ecclesiastical body, they hated and feared ; representing their emigration
and sufferings under the famlUar type of the woman of the Apocalypse, who fled
" into the -wilderness, to a place prepared of God, from the face of the beast."
We are apt to view our ancestors of the first and second generations in the
light of enthusiasts. Now, if by this term is meant, according to its usual import,
" men, who through a vain confidence in heaven, neglect the use of human
means," there never existed a class of men less entitied to that appellation than
our fathers. Of all men, they were the most practical. Their whole history, the
coUeges, schools, churches, aU the institutions they founded, constitute one
unbroken series of examples of the wise and happy use of human means. -As to
their opinions, take, instead of a multitude which might be adduced, a single
example. In that famous work entitied " Faithful Advice to the Churches of
New England,'.' sent out into the world under the auspices of our fathers, haring
the signatures of both the Mathers, Davenport, Colman, and others, there is the
following remarkable rindication of the use of human learning in reUgion, urged
-with their characteristic acuteness.
" No man ever decried learning -without being an enemv to reUgion, whether

APPENDIX. 425
he knew it or no. "When our Lord chose fishermen to be ministers, he would
not send them forth until they had been several years under his tuition ; (a bet
ter than the best in any coUege under heaven) and then, also, he miraculously
furnished them with more learning than any of us, by seven years hard study,
can attain unto."
It would be easy also to adduce abundant evidence of the free opinions enter
tained by the first settiers, relative to the right of resistance to kings and to per
sonal and colonial freedom, by quotations from approved authors of that period.
A single extract from the writings of Nathaniel Ward, the first clergyman of the
town of Ips-wich, in this ricinit)-, -wiU sufficiently manifest the temper and spirit
of our ancestors in that age on those points. This writer was so highly esteemed
by our ancestors, that he was employed in 1639 by the General Court of Massa
chusetts to draft that code, consisting of one hundred laws, caUed " the body of
liberties " of the Colony. In an eccentric, but highly popular work in that day,
pubUshed by him in 1647, entitied "The Simple Cobbler of Agawam in Ame
rica," the contest, then carrying on between the King and ParUament, is repre
sented under the simiUtude of a controversy between royal prerogative (majestas
imperii) and popular Uberty (salus populi) and is thus stated in the quaint lan
guage of that day : —
We hear that Majestas Imperii hath chaUenged Salus Populi into the field ;
the one fighting for prerogatives, the other defending liberties. If Salus Populi
began, surely it was not that Salus Populi I left in England. That Salus Populi
was as mannerly a Salus Populi as need be. If I be not much deceived, that
Salus Populi suft'ered its nose to be held to the grindstone till it was ground to
the gristie ; and yet grew never the sharper, for aught I could discern. I think
that since the world began, it was never storied that Salus Populi began ¦with
Majestas Imperii, unless Majestas Imperii first unharbored it and hunted it to a
stand, and then it must turn head and Uve, or turn taU and die. Common
wealths cost as much in the makmg as crowns ; and if they be weU made, woifld
yet outsel an Ul-fashioned crown in any market overt, if they be weU-vouehed.^
« But preces and lachrymm are the people's weapons ; so are swords and pis
tols, when God and ParUament bid them arm. Prayers and tears are good
weapons for them that have nothing but knees and eyes ; but most men have
teeth and naUs. If subjects must fight for their kings against other kingdoms
when their kings -wUl, I know no reason but they may fight against their kings
for their own kingdoms when ParUament say they may and must But ParUar
ment must not say they must until God says they may." „„., ^
The bold spirit of liberty which characterized the first settiers of New Eng
land cannot be too highly appreciated by their posterity. Neither are then:
wisdom and prudence in maintaining their liberties, less subjects of admiration
and applause. What state paper exists more solemn or comprehensive than that
memorable order, by which the General Court of Massachusetts, in 1660, caused
a committee to be raised to consider the consequences to then- liberties to be
anticipated from the restoration of Charies H. ? , ,t, i,- ,, ,
"Forasmuch as the present condition of our affairs, m matters of tiie highest
concernment, caUs for dUigent and speedy use of the best means, seriously to
discuss and ri<.htly to understand our liberty and duty ; thereby to beget unity
^mol ourseWes i the due observance of obedience to the authority of England
36*

426 APPENDIX.
and our o-wn just privUeges, for the effecting whereof it is ordered that Simon
Bradstreet, &c. be a comroittee to consider and debate such matter or thing of
pubUc concernment, touching our patent, laws, privUeges, and duty to his
Majesty, as they may judge expedient, that so {if the -wUl of God be) we may
speak and act the same thing, becoming prudent, honest, conscientious, and
faithful men'."
Now what their notion of these "just pririleges" was, may be gathered from
" their refusing to make the oath of aUegiance necessary ; " " refusing to cause
proceedings at law to be in the name of the King." " Maintaining that Uberty
of conscience justified their removal to this quarter of the world; that -with
removal their subjection to England ceased ; and that the sovereignty of the
soU was in them, because purchased by them of the native princes." l
That these were doctrines holden and avowed by "persons of influence,"
among the early emigrants to New England we know from history. Their
patent, or old charter itself, was in fact only an incorporation for trade, turned
by the dexterity of the first settiers into a ciril sovereignty. And the real cause
of their extreme attachment to it was, that, under color of that instrument, they
chose their o-wn rulers and judges, made laws, and in effect were an independ
ent state.
How this theory of the ancient leaders of Massachusetts was seconded by the
spirit of the people, wUl be apparent from a single transaction of a somewhat
later period. During the reign of King James H., our fathers had been insulted
by the dissolution of their charter, and oppressed by the proceedings of the
King's Commissioners. The leaders of the Colony were indignant The people
were stung to madness.
On the eighteenth of April, 1689, — the eighteenth and nineteenth of Api-il
are red-letter days in the calendar of American Uberty, — on the eighteenth of
AprU, 1689, say our historians, there came up from North Boston, — that north
ern hive has been famous In all times for a hardy, industrious, aud intrepid race
of men, — : there came up from North Boston a multitude of men and boys run
ning. The drums beat The people ran to their arms. They rushed to Fort
HUl, where was then a formidable fortification, " standing so thick that one gun
from the fort would have kiUed a hundred of them; but God prevented I "2
They scaled the sconce, and, seizing the lower battery, they turned the guns
" on the red coats in the fort," who surrendering at discretion, they took the
King's CouncU prisoners, and put the King's Governor under guard ; they sent
the captain of the King's frigate to jaU ; and turned the batteries on the King's
frigate herself; and the country people coming in, the elders and fathers took
possession of the liing's government ; and thus was effected a glorious revolution
here in Massachusetts thirty days before it was kno-wn that King WiUiam of
glorious memory had just effected a similar glorious revolution on the other side
of the Atlantic.
It is very obrious that the fate of New England was suspended on the fate of
the Prince of Orange. Had he failed, our ancestors of that day would have had
to expiate the guUt of treason in exile, or confiscation, or on the scaffold. How
! Hutchinson's Hist, of Mass. vol. i. ch. 2.
2 Hutehinson's Hist. v. I. ch. 3.

APPENDIX 427
truly then may it be said that the spirit of our ancestors of the first age was emu
lated by the immediate authors of our independence, and that these descendants
were true to the example and glory of their predecessors !
If we descend from the era of the English Revolution to the middle of the last
century, we find the same daring spirit of liberty promulgated, not by irresponsi
ble scribblers, in anonymous pamphlets, but by the highest colonial lawyers on
the floor of state, and by the most learned colonial clergy from their pulpits.
Take, for example, an extract from a sei-mon, entitled " A Discourse concerning
Unlimited Submission to the Higher Powers, with some Reflections on the Resist
ance to King Charles 1., and on the Anniversary of his Death, in which the Myste
rious Doctrine of that Prince's Saintship and Martyrdom is unriddled. Preached
by Jonathan Mayhew, Pastor of the West Church in Boston. Among other
doctrines, not less bold and decisive, he lays down the foUowing : —
" A people really oppressed to a great degree by their sovereign, cannot weU
be insensible when they are so oppressed. And such a people, if I may aUude
to an ancient fable, have, Uke the Hesperian fruit, a dragon for their protector
and guardian. Nor would they have any reason to mourn, if some Hercules
should appear to despatch him. For a nation thus abused, to arise unanimously
aud to resist their prince, even to the dethroning him, is not criminal ; but a rea
sonable way of rindioating their Uberties and just rights.''
Now it must be remembered that this discourse was preached six-and-twenty
years before the era of our Revolution, by the most learned and popular preacher
of his day ; that it was pubUshed " at the request of his hearers ; " that the thing
was not done in a corner, nor circiUated in a whisper, but as the titie-page has
it,, Anno, 1750. Boston: New England. "Printed and sold by D. Fowle, in
Queen Street, and by D. Gookin, over against the Old South Meeting House."
There is no need of further proof that the fathers of our Revolution were true
to their ancestors, both distant and immediate ; obering their precepts, copring
their examples, and acting up to their characters.
It remains for us to observe, that the fathers of our Revolution were also true
to themselves and true to posterity ; and in this, above aU, that they were true
to rirtue and Uberty.
There were three great principles, which, in the opinion of our ancestors, in
every age, constituted the essence of colonial Uberty ; and with which, in their
minds, it was identified.
1. That their rulers and judges should be chosen by, and responsible to them
selves. 2. That the right of laying taxes on the inhabitants of the Colonies should
belong exclusively to their own representatives.
3. That their religious rights should depend whoUy on their colonial laws and
constitutions. The first of these principles was the object of the struggles of the first settiers
of New England and their immediate descendants. They exercised this Uberty
between fifty and sixty years. They lost it by the dissolution of their old char
ter. That of WiUiam and Mary did not restore it. Among otiier obnoxious
prorisions in this last charter, the appointment of the Governor, Lieutenant-
Governor, and Secretary, witii a quaUfied, appeUate, judicial jurisdiction, was
reserved to the Crown.

428 APPENDIX
The loss of this branch of Uberty was submitted to -with reluctance, and
endured vrith great impatience. The deep yearning of our fathers' hearts after
their ancient Uberty is to be seen in every subsequent page of their poUtical his
tory, and was one of the active, though hidden causes of our Revolution.
On the second great principle of colonial Uberty, that taxation and represent
ation are inseparable, the American Revolution turned.
Now, the just estimate made by our fathers of the importance of that princi
ple, — the self-devotion with which they maintained it, the boldness with which
they put in jeopardy life, liberty, property, reputation, whatever man holds dear
in hope or in possession to rindicate it, — are the great central points from
which radiates their glory at the Revolution.
At a superficial riew, we are inclined to wonder at the inflexible firmness of
our fathers, in opposition to the stamp and tea taxes, and the other British impor
sitions at that period. The amount smaU ; comparatively Uttie burdensome ; for
the most part affecting articles of luxury or of occasional use. We are tempted
to exclaim, what grievous oppression in all this ? A single year of war would
exceed in expense the loss in fifty years from such taxes. And when we look at
the subject in point of principle, their condition would not have been a whit
worse than immense classes of British subjects who pay taxes without haring
any voice in the choice of their rulers. Arguments and facts of this kind were
urged on our fathers in every form of reason and eloquence ; enforced by
appeals to their hopes from the smUes of royal favor ; by appeals to their fears
from the terrors of royal power. But they stood as the mountain rock, which
alike mocks the melting heat of the summer's sun, and the uprooting blasts of the
winter's storm. By such considerations, the flame of their enkindled zeal was
neither quenched nor aUayed. Their unyielding fixedness of principle in this
respect does infinite credit to their sagacitj' and virtue.
For when we consider more carefully this principle, so earnestiy asserted by
Great Britain, and so resolutely resisted by our fathers, we shaU find that, to
human view, it contained the whole hope of American independence for the
then present and aU future times. The possibUity of American independence
at any time depended upon the union of the Colonies in some common principle
of opposition to the pretensions of Great Britain. Now, this right being con
ceded, it was scarce possible that any such common principle should exist ; much
less become a bond of union among the Colonies. This right admitted, everjf
thing else was but mode and measure, — an affair of discretion. What hope
that they, who could not unite in resistance to the whole right, could be eve:?
brought to combine in resistance to a particularly oppressive degree in the exer
cise of it ? Besides, how easy would it have been for Great Britain, by settling
any obnoxious degree, in mode or measure, differently in different colonies, to
take from some aU motive to cooperate in the resistance of others ! This princi
ple, therefore, being yielded, there was to human view no subsequent hope of
independence for the Colonies. That principle was worthy, therefore, of aU the
importance attached to it by our fathers ; worthy of aU the sacrifices they made
in its defence. Their foresight, their energy and inflexible spirit on this point;
are among the brightest beams in the glory of that day.
Of a simUar type is the self-denial to which they submitted, and the hazards
which they voluntarUy incurred for the sake of that principle. By submission,

APPENDIX. 429
they would, in their own time, have enjoyed peace, secured plenty, attained
external protection under the shield of Great Britain, and in the gradual
advance of society, they had reason to expect to arrive, even in the colonial
state, at a very elevated and enriable condition of prosperity. On the other
hand, what were the hazards of resistance ? — The untried, and not to be esti
mated perils of civU war ; — "a people in the gristle, and not yet hardened into
the bone of manhood," to rush on the thick bosses of the buckler of the most
powerful State in Europe, the one most capable of annoying them, — without arms
or resources, to enter the Usts -with the best appointed nation on the globe ; — desti
tute of a sloop' of war, to wage hostiUties ¦with a country whose navies com
manded every sea and even their own harbors. In case of success, — the chance
of anarchy and the unknown casualties attending a new organization of society.
In case of faUure, — ¦ exile, confiscation, the scaffold, the fate of some ; to bear the
opprobrious names of rebel and traitor, and to transmit them to a disgraced
posterity, the fate of aU.
What appeals to selfishness ! what to cupidity ! what to love of ease, to fear,
and to pusiUanimity ! But our fathers took counsel of a different spirit, — of the
pure ethereal spirit which glowed and burned in their own bosoms. In spite of
the greatness of the temptation and the certainty of the hazard, they resisted ;
and the front ranks of opposition were fiUed, not by a needy, promiscuous,
unknown, and irresponsible crowd, but by the heart and mind and strength
of the Colony ; by the calm and calculating merchant ; by the cautious capi
talist ; by the sedate and pious divine ; by the far-looking, deep-read lawyer ;
by the laborious and inteUigent mechanic. We have no need to repeat names.
The entire soul and sense and sinew of society were In action.
The spirit of our Revolution is not to be sought in this or that individual, nor
in this or that order of men. It was the mighty energy of the whole mass. It
was the momentous heaving of the troubled ocean, roused indeed by the coining
tempest, but propeUed onward by the lashing of its o-wn waters, and by the
a-wful, irresistible impulse of deep-seated passion and power.
In this movement, those who were foremost were not always those of most
influence ; nor were the exciting causes always the most obtrusive to the eye.
All were pressed forward by the spirit inherent in the community ; by force of
pubUc opinion and sense of duty, which never feU behind, but was often in
advance of those who were caUed leaders.
The event has shown that our fathers judged rightly in this movement ; that
their conception was just concerning their means and their duties ; that they
were equal to the crisis in which Providence had placed them ; that, daring to
be free their power was equal to their daring. They rindicated Uberty for them
selves ; they transmitted it to us, their posterity. There is no truer glory, no
hio-her fame known or to be acquired among men.
How different would have been our lot at this day, both as men and citizens,
had the Revolution failed of success, or had the great principle of liberty on
which it 'turned been yielded. Instead of a people free, enUghtened, rejoicing in
their strength, possessing a- just consciousness of being the authors and arbiters
of their own and their country's destinies, we should have been a multitude with
out pride of independence, without sense of state or national sovereignty, looking
across the ocean for our rulers ; watehing the Atiantic sky, as the cloud of court

430 APPENDIX.
locusts, tempted by our greenness, came warping on the eastern breeze ; waiting
on the strand to catch the first glimpse of our descending master, — some trans-
atiantio chieftain, some royal favorite, some court sycophant, — sent to govern a
country, without knowing its interests, without sympathy in its prospects ; resting
in another hemisphere the hopes of his fame and fortune. Our judges coming
from afar ; our merchants denied all commerce except with the parent state ;
our clergy sent us, Uke our clothes, ready made, and cut in the newest court
fashion. None but conformists allowed to vote ; none but churchmen eligible.
Our ciril rights subject to crown officers ; our religious, to a foreign hierarchy,
cold, selfish, vindictive, distant, soUcitous about glebes and tith-es, but reckless
among us of the spread of the Ught of learning or the influence of the gospel.
How different also would have been the fate and aspect of the present age,
had the American Revolution never commenced, or had it failed ! Under Pro
ridence, this Revolution has been the chief, if not the sole cause of that impulse
to the human mind, which, during the last half century, has changed the face of
Europe, and elevated the hope of man. The Ught of truth and reason reflected
across the Atiantic from the mighty mirror of American liberty, penetrated the
cottages of peasants and the cabinets of kings. The multitude were propelled
upon thrones. Kings have consequently been induced to soften the rigors of
ancient serritude. In every part of Europe the chains of subjects are lightened.
Sovereigns daily reaUze, more and more, the necessity of admitting the people
to a voice in their councUs, and to a qualified weight in state affairs. Under the
influence of this condition of things, knowledge has been increased and diS'used ;
the rights of man vindicated ; a free intercourse of commerce, science, and arts
introduced on both sides of the Atlantic, unparalleled in human history, and
giving promise of an advancement in freedom, morals, and refinement, exceed
ing the hope or conception of former times. Under these auspices, the patriotic
theories and visions of MUton, Harrington, Algernon Sidney, and Locke, are
beginning to be reaUzed ; the capacity of man to govern himself to be demon
strated ; the great truth promulgated and carried home to the bosoms of all sove
reigns, even the most arbitrary, that they who would govern man long must
govern him justly, and treat him as a rational, accountable, and moral being;
that they must respect his essential rights, and even towards servitude itself,
recognize the principles of a substantial freedom.
Such was the genius and character, and such the proud results of the Ameri
can Revolution ; such the glory of our fathers ; such the glowing points from
which that glory radiates.
It is suitable, and it is our duty on this occasion to Inquire, what it is to main
tain that genius and character ? what it is to deserve, and what to disgrace those
ancestors ?
In listening to the preceding development, fellow-citizens, it is impossible that
each of you should not have reaUzed, individually, your interest in the character
and conduct of our fathers. It is a law of nature. The virtue and glory of
fathers is the most precious inheritance of their posterity. By this law, Ian India-
soluble, moral union, connects times past and future with times present. With
out that law, man would be a creature of the day, grovelling in selfishness, wal
lowing in the mire of sense, with eye and taste and thought all downward, with
no backward regard, with no forward hope, with no upward aim. But this eter-

APPENDIX. 431
nal, moral connection, which is established by Proridence in his nature, gives
him, as It were, existence in the days of old, and existence in the times which
are to come ; and instead of a being destined, as the term of his natural Ufe
seems to ind._cate,_ to exist only a few short years, bestows upon him, even in this
world, a glorious immortality.
_ By this law it is made the duty of man in every age, in gratitude for the inhe
ritance he receives, to transmit it faithfully to those who succeed; not dhni-
mshed, not corrupted, not soiled, but if possible enlarged, strengthened, purified,
increased both m splendor and usefulness.
The occurring circumstances of every age make indeed the duties of each suc
ceeding generation different But in consulting concerning those duties, it wUl
not be difficult for this or any future age to determine in what they consist, pro
vided, according to the example, and in the language of our fathers, we endea
vor "so to understand our liberty and duty as to beget unity among ourselves,
and to act and speak as becomes prudent, honest, conscientious, and faithful
men." ^ It is true, that we in this age are not called as our fathers were, to take our
Uves in our hands, and bare our breasts to the tempest and shock of war. But
such dangers and sacrifices are not essential to the existence of true glory. This,
as I have endeavored to illustrate, consists not in the particular part we are
eaUed to aet, but iu the manner in which we perform the part to which we are
caUed. The essence of true glory is principle. Our fathers endured the hard
ships and despised the dangers of the field of battie, not for the sake of the spe
cies of glory there to be acquired, but because battie was the mode appointed by
Proridence for them to rindicate their truth to the relations of things in which it
had placed them. They could, in no other mode, have fulfiUed their duty to
those relations.
Now this glory is just as appUcable to us as to them. The labors and sacrifices
of our fathers have indeed left us a noble inheritance. But our tenure of that
inheritance is not absolute, but conditional. If we would maintain it and trans
mit it unimpaired to our posterity, we must, like our fathers, be true to the rela
tion of things in which we stand ; and particularly to those in which we stand
to that very inheritance. Now, truth to those relations, as it respects us, con
sists in our fulfiUing the conditions on which the continuance of that inheritance
depends. These conditions are, — that we understand our Uberties; that we
value them as we ought ; that we are wUling to make the sacrffices of time, labor, -
and attention necessary for the preserving them, and are rigUant in defending
them, not against external foes, to which, in aU probabUity, we shall never be
caUed, but against a much more insidious foe, — the passion, corruption, and
weakness of our o-wn hearts.
The great principle for which our fathers contended, and the maintaining of
which constituted their glory was, in fact, the right of self-government, — the
right of choosing their own rulers ; in other words, the right of possessing them
selves, and of transmitting to posterity the elective franchise in its most pure and
perfect state. Now, this great privUege it belongs to us to maintain by a right
and wise use of it ; and to transmit it to posterity the purer by our example, the
safer by our use, and the more precious from the obvious blessings resulting from
this our fideUty. This is our duty. In this consists our gloiy.

432 APPENDIX.
Let every man, therefore, who inquires what it is to deserve, and what it is to
disgrace our ancestors, consider his conduct in this respect. Let him ask him
self, whether he truly appreciates the nature and greatness of that privUege;
whether he is faithful to liberty, to morals, and religion, in the exercise of it;
whether he is indifferent about It, or neglects it, or sports with it And so let
every man answer for himself; his own conscience being his judge. And let aU
remember that, in the ways of Providence to nations, as well as to individuals,
there is retribution as well as favor. No people ever did, or ever can, long enjoy
any privUege, and, least of all, the elective franchise, who systematically unde>
value It, or abuse it, or are even indUFerent about it.
Again, truth to liberty, to virtue, to our ancestors, and to the relation of things
in which we stand, has respect also to the manner in which we conduct towards
those on whom the elective lot has fallen, and iu whose favor it has been
declared. It is the nature of man, under a free constitution, to divide into parties,
according to that diversity of riews, interest, opinions, passions, and even fancies,
which are inseparable from his constitution. This condition of things is not to
be deprecated or condemned. It is to be understood and acted upon.
Now, the duty which each individual in a free republic owes to rulers is just
the same, whether they do or do not belong to the particular sect or party he
happens to prefer. Truth to the relations of things in which we stand, requires
that our rulers should be judged, not by any previous prejudice or theory, but
by their conduct while in power ; by the measures they recommend and counte
nance. These measures are to be received in a candid, generous spirit, and with
fair and manly construction. Those, therefore, wIU be false to the genius and
character of our Revolution, who, regardless of the measures of rulers, shaU
wage war upon them, merely because they do not belong to their own particular
sect or party, or who shall decry wise measures or misrepresent the motives of
just ones, with the sole view of pulling down one indiridual or of biulding up
another ; or who, making the liberty of debate or of the press a cloak for Ucen-
tiousness, shall pervert both or either to purposes of malevolence or slander.
Above all, those will be false to the genius and character of our Revolution
who shall associate themselves with political leaders without reference to princi
ples ; who shall deny rulers the chance to show their real projects by the course
of their administration, but shall wage war upon them from the very beginning,
on the principle of political extermination.
There can be no surer sign that the liberties of a people are hastening to a
dissolution than their countenancing those who form parties on men and not
upon principles. AATienever the only question is, whether Caesar or Pompey,
Lepldus or Mark Anthony shall rule, and the people are corrupt or debased
enough, from mere personal affection or preference to flock to either standard,
such a people are not far distant from a revolution which wiU not leave them
even the poor pririlege of choosing their own masters.
Thus you perceive, fellow-citizens, that the glory of our fathers which we this
day celebrate, was not of a temporary or individual character ; that there is
nothing exclusive in its nature ; that it may be shared and emulated by the truly
noble of our race in every age ; that it essentiaUy consists in possessing and exhi
biting in aU our pubUc relations a pure, just, elevated, and manly spirit

APPENDIX. 433
And now, feUow-citizens, consider your privUeges ; consider your duties. By
the rirtues of your fathers, you have been preserved from colonial bondage.
Beware lest you become subjected to a more grievous bondage of base, igno
ble passions. As they subdued their enenues in the field, do you subdue those
enemies which have their strongholds iu the human heart, and which have
laid low in the dust the proud hopes of aU former repubUcs, — " ambition, ava
rice, love of riches, and the corruptions of prosperity." 1 Be as just, as tempe
rate, as moderate in preserring your Uberty, as your fathers were bold and dar
ing in repelUng the chains of serritude. Be penetrated -with " a love of Uberty, of
reU^on, of justice and virtue, aud inflamed -with a sacred zeal and affection for
your country." l Thus it may be hoped, that through the combined and strenu
ous endeavors of true and faithful men in all times, there shaU be graduaUy
infused into the mass of mankind loftier thoughts, higher aims, more generous
motives, whereby tho. human character being elevated and refined, shaU become
more worthy, and thus more capable of perfect freedom. And so this temple of
Uberty, the foundations of which were laid on the fourth of July, 1776, in blood
and peril by our fathers, shall, by the labors, councUs, and rirtues of all the good
and great of present and future times, be enlarged and extended in true propor
tions of moral architecture, tiU its pUlars embrace the universe, and its dome
vault upwards -with a more than human skiU, — with glorious archings of celes
tial -wisdom, resplendent vrith purest faith, radiant -with immortal truth, cro-wned
with revealed hope, — to the joy and rest of man on the promise and in the pre
sence of the Eternal.
1 Milton's Defensio pro Populo Anglicano, contra Claudii Salmasii Defensionem
Regiam.

37

434

APPENDIX.

(M. Page 57.)
THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT, PROM 1822 TO 1830, INCLUSIVE.
1822. MATOB,
JOHN PHILLIPS.

ALDERMEN.

Samuel BiUings,
Ephraim EUot,
Jacob HaU,
Joseph Head,

Joseph Jenkins,
Joseph Lovering,
Nathaniel Pope RusseU,
Bi-yant Parrott TUden.

COMMON COUNCIL.
WILLIAM PRESCOTT, President.

Ward 1.
WiUiam Barry,
Thaddeus Page,
Charles WeUs,
Simon WUkinson. Ward 2.
Martin Bates,
Benjamin Lamson,
Henry Ome,
Joseph Stodder. Ward 3.
Theodore Dexter,
Joshua Emmons,
Samuel Jones.

Ward 4.
Joseph Cooledge,
Samuel Perkins,
Robert Gould Shaw,
Joel Thayer. Ward 5.
George Washington Coffin,
Thomas Kendall,
Horatio Gates Ware,
Isaac Winslow. Ward 6.
Samuel Appleton,
Thomas Motley,
Jesse Shaw,
WUliam SuUivan.

Ward 7.
Jonathan Amory,
Patrick Tracy Jackson,
Augustus Peabody,
Enoch SUsby. Ward 8.
Da-rid Watts Bradlee,
Peter Chardon Brooks,
James Perkins,
Benjamin Russell,
Ward 9.
Jonathan Davis,
Hawkes Lincoln,
WUliam Prescott,
John WeUes. Ward 10.
Andrew Drake,
Daniel Lewis Gibbens,
David CoUsou Moseley,
Isaac Stevens. Ward 11.
G«o. Watson Brimmer,
Asa BuUard,
BarziUai Holmes,
Winslow Le-wis.
Ward 12.
Cyrus Alger,
John !French,
John Howe,
Moses WiUiams.

APPENDIX.

435

1823. MAYOR,
JOSIAH QurisrcY.

Daniel Baxter,
George Odiorne,
David Weld ChUd,
Joseph Hawley Dorr,

ALDERMEN.

Ashm- Benjamin,
Enoch Patterson,
Caleb Eddy,
Stephen Hooper.

COMMON COUNCIL.

JOHN "WELLES, President.

Ward 1.
Thaddeus Page,
Simon Wilkinson,
John EUiot,
Joseph "WTieeler. Ward 2.
Martin Bates,
Benjamin Lamson,
Joseph Stodder,
John Parker Boyd.
Ward 3.
Theodore Dexter,
Samuel Jones,
John Eichardson Adan,
John Damarisque Dyer.
Ward 4.
Joseph Cooledge,
Samuel Perkins,
Eobert Gould Shaw,
Heni-y Pamam. Ward 5.
Thomas KendaU,
Isaac Winslow,
Elias Haskell,
John Sullivan Perkins.
Ward 6.
Joseph Stacy Hastings,
Joel Prouty,
John Stevens,
WUUam Wright.

Ward 7.
Jonathan Amory,
Enoch SUsby,
Samuel Swett,
Charles Pelham Curtis
Ward 8.
Benjamin Eussell,
James Savage,
EUphalet Williams,
Samuel King WiUiams.
Ward 9.
Jonathan Davis,
Hawkes Lincoln,
John WeUes,
Lewis Tappan. Ward 10.
Aaron Baldwin,
Darid Francis,
Francis Johonnot OUver,
Thomas Beale Wales.
Ward 11.
Asa BuUard,
Charles Howard,
Josiah Stedman,
Joseph Wfflett
Ward 12.
Samuel Bradlee,
Noah Brooks,
Francis Jackson,
Charles Sprague.

436

APPENDIX.

1824. MAYOR,
JOSIAH QUn^CY.

ALDERMEN,

Daniel Baxter,
George Odioi-ne,
David Weld Child,
Joseph Hawley Doit,
Ashur Benjamin,

Enoch Patterson,
Caleb Eddy,
Stephen Hooper, (died September,)
Cyrus Alger, (November.)

COMMON COUNCIL.
FRANCIS JOHONNOT OLI"\rER, President.

Ward 1.
WiUiam Barry,
John Elliot,
Joseph "WTieeler,
Michael Tombs. Ward 2.
William Little, Jr.,
Oliver Eeed,
Joseph Stone,
Thaddeus Page. Ward 3.
John Eichardson Adan,
John Damarisque Dyer,
Edward Page,
WilUam Sprague. Ward 4.
Joseph Cooledge,
Eobert Gould Shaw,
Jeremiah Fitch,
Wm. EouusviUe Pierce Washbm-n.
Ward 5.
Elias HaskeU,
Eliphalet Porter Hartshorn,
George Washington Otis,
Winslow Wright. Ward 6.
Joseph Stacy Hastings,
Joel Prouty,
WiUiam "Wright,
Thomas Wiley.

Ward 7.
Charles Pelham Curtis,
WiUiam Goddai-d,
Elijah Morse,
Isaac Parker. Ward 8.
Benjamin EusseU,
Eliphalet WiUiams,
Samuel King WilUams,
Benjamin Willis.
Ward 9.
Jonathan Da-ris,
Hawkes Lincoln,
John BaUard,
John Chipman Gray.
Ward 10.
Thomas Beale Wales,
James Savage,
Phineas IJpham,
Francis Johonnot Oliver,
Ward 11.
Josiah Stedman,
Samuel Frothingham,
Giles Lodge,
Charles Sprague.
Ward 12.
Samuel Bradlee,
Francis Jackson,
Isaac Thom,
Charles Bemis.

APPENDIX.

437

1825. MAYOR,
JOSIAH QUmCY.

ALDERMEN.

Daniel Carney,
John Bellows,
Josiah'MarshaU,John Damarisque Dyer,

Thomas Welsh, Jr.,
George Blake,
Henry Jackson OUver,
John Bryant,

COMMON COUNCIL.
FRANCIS JOHONNOT OLI"raE, President.

Ward 1.
WiUiam Barry,
John EUiot,
Robert FenneUy,
Le^wis Lerow. Ward 2.
Oliver Eeed,
Scammel Penniman,
Benjamin Clark,
John Fenno. Ward 3.
John Eichardson Adan,
Thomas WeUs,
Abraham WilUams Fuller,
Amos Farnsworth. Ward 4.
Joseph Cooledge,
Wm. EouusviUe Pierce Washburn,
George HaUett,
Theodore Dexter. Ward 5.
John SidUvan Perkins,
Ezra Dyer,
Charles Tracy,
WilUam Simonds. Ward 6.
Joseph Stacy Hastings,
Thomas Wiley,
Isaac Waters,
Samuel Thaxter. 37'

Ward 7.
Charles Pelham Curtis,
WilUam Goddard,
EUjah Morse,
Isaac Parker. Ward 8.
EUphalet WUliams,
Benjamin WUUs,
Jeifirey Eichardson,
Josiah Bradlee. Ward 9.
John Chipman Gray,
FrankUn Dexter,
Jeremiah Smith Boies,
Levi Meriam. Ward 10.
Francis Johonnot OUver,
James Savage,
Jonathan Simonds,
John Parker Eice.
Ward 11.
Samuel Frothingham,
GUes Lodge,
George Morey, Jr.,
Joshua "Vose.
Ward 12.
John Stevens,
Adam Bent,
OUver Fisher,
Ephraim Groves Ware.

438

APPENDIX. -

1826. MATOE,
JOSIAH QUINCY.

Da,niel Carney,
John BeUows,
Josiah Marshall,
Thomas Welsh, Jr.,

ALDERMEN.

Henry Jackson OUver,
John Foster Loring,
Francis Jackson,
Edw. Hutchinson Eobbins.

COMMON COUNCIL.

JOHN EICHARDSON ADAN, President.
Ward 1. Ward 7.

WilUam Barry,
Lewis Lerow,
Lemuel P. Grosvenor,
Samuel AspinwaU. Ward 2.
Scammel Penniman,
Benjamin Clark,
John Eenno,
Nathaniel Faxon.
Ward 3.
John Richardson Adan,
WiUiam Sprague,
Amos Farnsworth,
Asa Adams. Ward 4.
George HaUett,
WiUiam Howe,
John Warren James,
Joseph Eveleth. Ward 5.
Ezra Dyer,
Charles Tracy,
Jonathan Thaxter,
WiUiam Parker. Ward 6.
Joseph Stacy Hastings,
Thomas Wiley,
Isaac Waters,
Samuel Thaxter.

Augustus Peabody,
Charles Pelham Curtis.
Isaac Parker,
Edward Brooks.
Ward 8.
Francis Bassett,
Joseph Helger Thayer,
Joseph Hawley Dorr,
John Baker. Ward 9.
John Chipman Gray,
Jeremiah Smith Boies,
Levi Meriam,
Chailes Torrey.
Ward 10.
Aaron Baldwin,
John Parker Eice,
Solomon Piper,
Charles Barnard.
Ward 11.
GUes Lodge,
George Morey, Jr.,
Joshua Vose,
Thomas Brewer.
Ward 12.
John Stevens,
Adam Bent,
OUver Fisher,
Henry Hatch.

APPENDIX.

439

1827. MAYOR,
JOSIAH QUmCY.

Cyrus Alger,
John Bellows,
Thomas Welsh, Jr.,
John Foster Loring,

ALDERMEN.

Jeremiah Smith Boies,
Eobert Fennelly,
Thomas Beale "Wales,
James Savage.

COMMON COUNCIL.
JOHN EICHARDSON ADAN, President.
Ward 1. Ward 7.

WUUam Barry,
Simon WUkinson.
John ElUot,
Samuel AspinwaU. Ward 2.
Benjamin Clark,
Scammel Penniman,
John Warren James,
John Floyd Truman.
Ward 3.
John Eichardson Adan,
John Damarisque Dyer,
Asa Adams,
Thomas Gould. Ward 4.
Wm. EouusviUe Pierce Washburn,
George HaUett,
"William Howe,
Joseph Eveleth. Ward 5.
Jonathan Thaxter,
WUliam Parker,
Lewis Glover Pray,
George Lane. Ward 6.
Isaac Waters,
Samuel Thaxter,
Jonathan Loring,
Joseph Warren Lewis.

Samuel Dorr,
Samuel Dexter Ward,
John Amo Bacon,
Thomas WaUey PhiUips.
Ward 8.
Da-rid Watts Bradlee,
Benjamin EusseU,
Eliphalet WiUiams,
Joshua Sears. Ward 9.
John Chipman Gray,
Levi Meriam,
Gamaliel Bradford,
John Prescott Bigelow.
Ward 10.
Jonathan Simonds,
George Brinley,
WilUam Parker,
Charles Sprague. Ward 11.
Giles Lodge,
George Morey, Jr.,
Joshua "V"ose,
Josiah Vose. Ward 12.
Adam Bent,
William Wright,
"WUUam Little, Jr.,
George Gay.

440

APPENDIX.

1828. MAYOR,
JOSIAH QHINCT.

John Foster Loring,
Eobert Fennelly,
James Savage,
Thomas KendaU,

ALDERMEN.

James HaU,
Phineas Upham,
John Pickering,
Samuel TureU Armstrong.

COMMON COUNCIL.
JOHN EICHARDSON ADAN, President.

Ward 1.
Samuel AspinwaU,
Ninian Clark Betton,
Horace Fox,
Eleazer Pratt. Ward 2.
John Warren James,
Frederick Gould,
Henry Fowle, Jr.,
George Washington Johnson.
Ward 3.
John Eichardson Adan,
John D. Dyer, (res. AprU.)
Thomas Gould,
Le-vi Eoberts Lincoln,
James L. P. Orrok, (from May.)
Ward 4.
Joseph Eveleth.
Quincy Tufts,
Andrew Cunningham, Jr.,
James Means. Ward 5.
George Washington Otis,
WUUam Parker,
Le^wis Glover Pray,
George Lane. Ward 6.
Isaac Waters,
Francis Johonnot Oliver,
Ebenezer Appleton,
Darid Moody.

Ward 7.
John Amo Bacon,
John Belknap,
George W. Adams, (from May.)
Thomas Wren Ward, (res. July.)
Waldo Flint, (res. February.)
Benj. T. Pickman, (from Augnst.)
Ward 8.
Benjamin RusseU,
EUphalet WiUiams,
Samuel King WiUiams,
Thomas Lamb. Ward 9.
John Chipman Gray,
John Prescott Bigelow,
Noi-man Seaver,
Daniel Lewis Gibbens.
Ward 10.
Jonathan Simonds,
WUUam Parker,
Eobert Treat Paine, (from May.)
John LoweU, Jr.,
Geo. Bethtme, (res. AprU.)
Ward 11.
Otis Everett,
Otis Turner,
Perez GUI,
Payson Perrin. Ward 12.
Alpheus Cary,
Walter ComeU,
Joseph Neale Howe,
Benjamin Stevens.

APPENDIX.

441

1829. MATOR,
HAEEISON GRAY OTIS.

ALDERMEN.

Henry Jackson Oliver,
John Foster Loring,
Thomas Kendall,
James HaU,

Samuel TureU Armstrong,
Benjamin Russell,
Winslow Lewis,
Charles WeUs,

COMMON COUNCIL.

ELIPHALET WILLIAMS, President.

Ward 1.
Ninian Clark Betton,
Eleazer Pratt,
John WeUs,
Christopher Gore.
Ward 2.
John Warren James,
Henry SewaU Kent,
Samuel Ellis,
Thomas Reed, (died February.)
Daniel BaUard, (from March.)
Ward 3.
Thomas Gould,
Leri Eoberts Lincoln,
Joseph Bradley,
Amos Bradley Parker.
Ward 4.
Quincy Tufts,
Andrew Cunningham,
John Eayuer,
Samuel Davenport Torrey.
Ward 5.
Jonathan Thaxter,
William Parker,
George Lane,
Joseph Eveleth. Ward e.
Isaac Waters,
Samuel Austin, Jr.,
Jared Lincoln,
Samuel Goodhue.

Ward 7.
Geo. W. Adams, (died May.)
Benjamin Toppau Pickman,
Thomas Wetmore,
Walter Frost,
Isaac Danforth, (from May.)
Ward 8.
John Prescott Bigelow,
Jacob Amee,
Levi Brigham,
Daniel Lewis Gibbens.
Ward 9.
Eliphalet Williams,
Samuel King WiUiams,
Thomas Minns,
James Brackett Eichardson.
Ward 10.
Jonathan Simonds,
John LoweU, Jr.,
Samuel Leonard Abbott,
Charles Casey Starbuck.
Ward 11.
Otis Everett,
Otis Turner,
Perez GiU,
Payson Perrin. Ward 12.
Oliver Fisher,
Walter Cornell,
Aaron Willard, Jr.,
Isaac Parker Townsend.

442

APPENDIX.

1830. MAYOR,
HAEEISON GRAY OTIS.

ALDEKMBN,

Henry Jackson Oliver,
John Foster Loring,
Samuel TureU Ai-mstrong,
Benjamin EusseU,

Winslow Le-wis,
Charies WeUs,
John Burbeck McCleary,
Moses WiUiams.

COMMON COUNCIL.
BENJAMIN TOPPAN PICKMAN, President.
Ward 1. Ward 7.

Ninian Clark Betton,
Eleazer Pratt,
Christopher Gore,
Simon Wiggin Eobinson.
Ward 2.
John Warren James,
Samuel Ellis,
Daniel BaUard,
John B. Wells. Ward 3.
Thomas Gould,
Levi Eoberts Lincoln,
Larra Crane,
Michael LoveU. Ward 4.
Quincy Tufts,
John Eayner,
Samuel Davenport Torrey,
Washington Parker Gregg.
Ward
Winslow Wright,
Joseph Eveleth,
Leri Boynton Haskell,
Charles Leighton. Ward 6.
Isaac Waters,
Samuel Austin, Jr.,
Jared Lincoln,
Joshua Seaver,
Benj. Parker, (seat vacated in Feb.)

Benjamin Toppan Pickman,
Thomas Wetmore,
Isaac Danforth,
EUas Hasket Derby.
Ward 8.
Thomas Minns,
James Brackett Eichardson,
Joseph Eeynolds Newell,
Leach Harris. Ward 9.
John Prescott Bigelow,
Jacob Amee,
Levi Brigham,
Edw. Goldsborough Prescott.
Ward 10.
John Parker Eice,
John LoweU, Jr.,
Samuel Leonard Abbott,
Leri BUss. Ward 11.
Otis Everett,
Perez GiU,
Jabez EUis,
Joseph Hay. Ward 12.
Henry Hatch,
Aaron Willard, Jr.,
Thomas Melville "Vinson,
James Wright.

INDEX.

Adams, John, his death, 207. Eulogy, 208,
Aldermen, elected, 42, 58, 121, 167, 197,
210, 229, 280, 298.
 , proposal to increase the num
ber of, 110, 178.
Almshouse, 8, 18, 19, 34, 50, 88. Sale of,
138, 146.
Anniversai-y, Fiftieth, of the Declaration
of Independence, 200.
Assessors, 28, 211, 231, 236, 276, 290.
Auditor, City, 165, 256, 394.
Boston, City of, municipal government
estabUshed, 30, 40.
 ,  , first organization of, 42.
 ,  , finances of, 44, 46, 48.
Ill, 163, 202, 229, 265, 394, 398, 401.
 ,  , population of, 109, 178,
-, average of deaths in, 407,

Boston, South, annexation of, 246.
 ,  , bridge to, 247.
Boston, To-wn of, proceedings of the, 2, 13,
15, 17, 22, 33, 40.
, finances of, 17, 29, 40, 46

274, 282.

, population of, 17, 40.

BrideweU, 9, 37, 103.
BuUinch, Charles, 26, 34.
Burial grounds, 73, 100.
Centennial celebration, 305, 308, 309, 318
Churches, independence of, 340.
City Charter, 40, 41, 42, 58, 62, 179, 253,
277 290 376
 Debt' 46, 112, 121, 166, 202, 210, 229,
243, 274, 300, 383, 406.
 Expenditures, 163, 256, 265, 274.
 Government, first organization of, 42.
 , time of, changed, 179.
 Officers, election of, 41, 44, 253.
Common Council, President of, elected,
44, 58, 280, 305.
Common, The questions concerning, 114,
116.
Constables, 4, 109, 272, 307.
Cotton, John, 343.
Court Houses, 40, 211, 302, 402.
Court of Sessions, aboUshed, 33.

Drains, laws respecting, 119, 120, 121, 127,
382.
Engineer, Chief, 162, 203, 253, 291.
Engine Companies, proceedings respeet-
mg, 154, 205, 264.
Engine Houses, 191, 192, 253, 264, 306.
FaneuU HaU, 11, 13, 15, 28, 42, 75, 80.
Question concerning, 147.
FaneuU, Peter, 11, 201.
Fu-e Department, proceedings relative to,
155, 159, 181, 193, 203, 230, 253, 263,
292, 408.
Fire Engines, 44, 154, 161, 163, 192, 205,
253, 264.
Fire, petitions of sufferers by, 200, 293.
Fii-e, protection against, under the town
government, 5, 6, 153.
Firewards, 28, 44, 60, 153, 155, 205, 390.
Finances. See Boston.
Flats, east of the Market, 243, 245, 289.
 , west of the Common, 115.
General Court, proceedings of, 1, 2. See
Legislature of Massachusetts.
HaU, City, 211, 308, 309.
Harbor, protection of, 265, 292, 294, 303.
Health, Board of, 29, 60, 64, 66, 71, 147,
266. department of, 54,72, 148, 229,407.

High School for boys, 216.
 for ghls, proceedings con
cerning, 216, 269.
Highways, Surveyors of, 44, 60, 63, 111,
194.
Hospitals, 350, 407.
House of Correction, 9, 37, 52, 102, 256,
303.
House of Industry, 35, 37, 46, 62, 70,
72, 80, 88, 105, 108, 121, 138, 256,
303.
House of Juvenile Offenders, 53, 106, 256,
269, 291, 303.
Islands in the harbor, protection of, 116,
256. 265.

444

APPENDIX.

Independence, Declaration of, Fiftieth An
niversary, 200.
Institutions, charitable, 350.
 , religious, 350, 351.
Intemperance, efforts to suppress, 109, 242,
272, 307.
JaU, 40, 103, 105, 283, 303.
Jefferson, Thomas, his death, 207. Eu
logy, 208. ,
Johnson, Isaac, 328.
Lafayette, General, 19, 149, 192.
Lands, city, 54, 113, 274, 301.
Legislature of Massachusetts, 4, 13, 29, 31,
33,35,40, 85, 180,292,343.
Licenses, terms of, 112, 272. Theatrical,
112.
Liquors, spirituous, sale of, on the Com
mon, prevented, 242.
MaUs, improved, 121, 382.
Manufactm-es, Domestic, Exhibition of,
250, 305.
Market, public, 10.
 , under FaneuU Hall, 11, 12, 40, 54,
74, 85, 121, 124. Discontinued, 201.
Market-House, erected, 1826. Proceed
ings relative to, 74, 124, 137, 201, 243,
245, 256, 289, 383, 412. Comer Stone
laid, 415.
Marshal, City, 73, 101, 272.
Mayor, official responsibiUty of, 8, 122,
277, 376, 384, 389.
 , power to suppress riots, 199, 396.
Municipal Court, 103.
Nuisances, removal of, 64, 70, 266, 408.
Otis, Harrison Gray, 41. Mayor, 258.
Inaugural Addresses, 280, 298. Address
on the seventeenth September, 1830, 309.
Overseers of the Poor, 19, 28, 31, 40. Pro
ceedings of, relative to the House of
Industry, 47, 88, 138, 140, 167. How
elected, 390. IrresponsibiUty of, 418.
Pauperism, proceedings relative to, 34, 88,
139, 142.
PhUlips, John, Mayor, 41, 58, 89. Inau
gm-al Addi-ess, 373.
PoUce, 25, 73, 104, 109, 229, 271.
Police Court estabUshed, 33.
Puritans, the character and influence of,
325, 341.
Quarantine Eegulations, 147.
Quincy, Josiah, 35, 38, 41. Mayor, 58.

Address, July 4, 1826, 206, 421. Final
Address as Mayor, 260. Centennial
Address, 305, 308. Inaugural Address
es, 375, 379, 388, 392, 398, 405.
Railroads, 284, 295, 305.
Eeservoirs, constructed, 192, 264.
Eiots, suppression of, 199.
Eopewalk lauds, 54, 113, 256, 382, 400.
School Committee, 21, 28, 60, 212, 225,
270, 390.
School Houses, 212, 269.
Schools, public, 4, 9, 10, 20, 212, 230, 249,
269, 341, 349, 409.
Seal, City, 44.
Selectmen, 2, 3, 6, 16, 28, 40, 42.
Sewers. See Drains.
Sha-wmut, 2, 328.
Sprag-ue, Charles, 305, 308. Centennial
Ode by, 358.
SoUcitor, City, 241.
State House, Old, 307
Sti-eets, arrangements for cleansing, 65,
380. Improvements in, 133, 194. Pro
spective plan of, 196, 200, 204, 230, 256,
266, 273, 304.
Surveyor of Boards and Lumber, 252.
Taxes, 197, 231, 276, 393, 410.
Theatrical disturbances, suppression of,
199.
Tombs imder churches, 54, 96.
To-wn House, 311.
Town Government estabUshed, 1, 2. Pro--
posal to change it, 16, 23, 27. Defects
of, 58, 60.
To^wn lands, 40.
Town meetings, 6, 7, 23, 28, 40
Town Eecords, 3, 5, 10, 13, 17.
Trimountain, 2, 328.
Vane, Henry, 4, 343.
Vice and Crime, measm-es to suppress, 39,
102, 109, 271, 380.
Votuig Lists, questions concerning, 211,
234, 290.
Wards, meetings in, 110, 178.
Watch, to-wn, instructions to, 7. ;
Watchmen, 109, 272.
Water, measures for supplying the city
¦with, 176, 303, 394.
Winthrop, John, 1, 3, 4, 327, 328, 333,
343, 345.
Williams, EUphalet, 42.
"Wliarf, City, 243, 300.
Wharves, petition to extend, 292.

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