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Arts of
the Book
Collection

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

EARL PERCY'S DINNER-TABLE

EARL

P E R C Y'S
Binner^tE^aWe

By Harold Murdoch

BOSTON
Houghton Mifflin & Company
1907

COPYRIGHT 1907 BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES PRINTED AT
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS
CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS U.S.A.

NUMBER a 9 fe

TO

EARL PERCT'S
Dinner-Table
ON the afternoon of July 5, 1774, a crowd
was gathering in King Street in the town of
Boston in New England. In the open space
before the Town House, whqj"e a few years before
Captain Preston's men had fired their historic fusillade,
knots of people stood about, gazing down towards the
Long Wharf, beyond which gleamed the untroubled
waters of the harbor. Another act in the enforcement
of the Port Bill was about to be played, and the an
nouncement had gone forth that His Majesty's 5th
Regiment of Foot was to land that day and join the
troops encamped upon the Common. It was a part of
the humane policy of General Gage that no effort
should be spared to impress with the pomp and show
of force the wrong-headed people of the provincial
capital, and within a fortnight the 4th, the 38th, and
the 43d regiments had marched from their transports
to the Common, in all the pride of " insolent parade,"
with colors flying and to the inspiring music of their
bands.

Earl Percy's

bands. The 5th Regiment had long been expected,
and something more than common interest was felt in
this fine corps because it was commanded by Hugh,
Earl Percy,' an officer of exalted birth, of continental
experience, and who had served a volunteer in Lord
Granby's cavalry on the never-to-be-forgotten day of
Minden. The Tories in the town were ready to wel
come with open arms the heir to the great Northum
berland dukedom, and a few, who, like the celebrated
Mr. Byles, affected literary tastes, were eager to pay
their addresses to the nobleman whose parents were
renowned as patrons of the arts.
The rebellious element in Boston held the North-
umbrian duke as not unfriendly to their cause, and
were inclined to regard the noble Colonel of the 5th
as perhaps a friend in military disguise. So people of
all shades of faith and opinion were in the street to
witness the British march ; but as the afternoon wore
away and the shadow of Beacon Hill stole across the
town, there was a thinning of the crowd, and the
word was passed about that the landing was delayed
and that the troops would spend the night aboard the
transports. But the Colonel of the 5th Foot, after the experi
ence of nine long weeks at sea, was in no mood either
for lingering aboard his foul and dingy ships or for
attempting any jaunty evolutions to inspire the onlook
ers of the street with a sense of the strong arm of King
George's

Dinner-Table

George's Ministry. The day was over, the gloom of
night had settled on the narrow, crooked ways, lights
twinkled in the taverns and coffee-houses all along the
ill-paved length of King Street, when, timed to the tap
of drum, the heavy tramp of the 5th Regiment was heard
approaching. The tavern doors and windows filled in
a moment with surprised onlookers ; a group of officers
poured out of the British Coffee-House to shout a rough
welcome to comrades on the march, and the dusky
column swept on, by the Town House, up the hill of
Queen Street into Tremont Street, by Dr. Caner's stone
chapel, and so out upon the gray expanse of the Com
mon, where a canvas city had arisen,.and where the dull
glow of camp-fires flickered here and there upon rows
of tented streets. It was clear that Earl Percy was no
play actor, and in that shadowy mass of marching men
expectant Toryism had no chance to mark its idol.
As General Gage was residing in Salem, which in the
operation of the Port Bill had become the seat of the
provincial governor, he appointed Percy as acting brig
adier, and then conferred upon him the command of all
the troops in Boston. On August 7 there arrived in Bos
ton from New York " His Majesty's Royal Regiment
of Welch Fuzileers," under command of Colonel Bar
nard, and headed by their famous band they marched
to Fort Hill and pitched their camp. They were hailed
in the Massachusetts Gazette as " one of the six re
nowned British Corps, to whose valor and intrepidity the

Earl Percy's

the ever memorable victory at Minden was gloriously
acquired, the ist of August, 1759." It is "a clever little
army" that he commands, so the Earl writes to Dr.
Percy in London.
As we glance over the letters written by his Lord
ship from Boston in 1 774,'' and as we turn the stained
and faded files of the Boston newspapers of that day,
we can gain some faint idea of what the town was like,
and of what went on within it. Percy has little to say
of the town itself. Mr. John Adams, coming to Boston
from the seclusion of Braintree, was driven half mad by
the bustle and distractions of the New England metro
polis. He was bewildered by " the crowd of men, wo
men, beasts and carriages," and his attention solicited
every moment by some new sight or some new sound.
But Percy would hardly have been oppressed by feel
ings like these, and the town that drove Mr. Adams
wild with its uproar was doubtless dull enough to him.
There was nothing in Boston to suggest the whirl of
life that surged along Fleet Street and under Temple
Bar ; the gayety of the Mall hinted only dimly at what
one found in St. James's Park on a sunny afternoon, or
at Vauxhall or Ranelagh on a gala night. Moreover,
Percy was used to looking out from the windows of
Northumberland House upon the rush and roar of
traffic that seethed about Charing Cross, where, accord
ing to Samuel Johnson, " the full tide of human exist
ence " ebbed and flowed. One

Dinner-Table

One of Percy's first transactions in the town was to
buy a three-year-old horse for which he paid ;^45o,
but he was obliged to send to New York for a pair of
chaise horses that were to his mind. Equipped in this
fashion he finds time to ride or drive into the suburbs,
and then his enthusiasm is mightily moved. The view
of the Thames from Sion House had never stirred him
as the vistas of the Charles from the road that led to
the Colleges in Cambridge. The varied landscape, with
its gently sloping hillsides, interspersed everywhere
with trees and bright waters, filled him with delight,
and he assured his father that Nature in this favored
land had achieved effects that put to the blush the care
fully nurtured acres of the great park at Alnwick. "This
is the most beautiful country I ever saw in my life," he
writes, "and if the people were only like it, we sh"* do
very well." He had come out well inclined toward the
Province and its inhabitants. He had almost yielded to
the advice of the Duke his father and declined to serve
in America, but his sense of soldierly obedience pre
vailed and he had brought out his regiment with small
admiration for its mission. His good will toward the
people did not long outlive his arrival upon the Com
mon. They " are a set of sly, artful, hypocritical ras-
calls, cruel, & cowards." Such was his comment in
August. " I must own I cannot but despise them com-
pleately. . , . To hear them talk, you would imagine
that they would attack us & demolish us every night." His

Earl Percy's

His Lordship, like the majority of the English officers,
could not understand how the civil disorders, and the
treasonable sentiments that animated press and pulpit,
could flourish in a community where prosperity and
personal liberty were so universally enjoyed as in His
Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay. What
were the evils of which these people complained ? As
for tea, Boston might drink it more cheaply than Lon
don if it would. It was the loyal element in the com
munity that suffered and was threatened with the loss
of free speech and all protection of the law. The crimes
of these people consisted in their protesting treason and
in their approval of Hutchinson's government, and the
indignities and violence inflicted upon them were the
work of men who had recourse to solemn fasts and who
cited the Almighty as their unswerving ally. The be
wildered gentlemen of the army were not experts at
law, and they could not comprehend the local readings
of the Massachusetts Charter. It must be admitted that
they were in much the position of Mr. James Boswell
when he declared that he had " read little and thought
little on the subject of America."
Having delivered his opinion of the country and of
the people. Earl Percy took up in his correspondence
a third phase of his environment. " Our climate is hor
ribly inconstant," this was the burden of his comment.
" It is ten times more inconstant than in England, for
I have been in the Torrid & Frigid Zone frequently in
the

Dinner-Table 7
the space of 24 hours. At some times, so hot as scarce
to bear my shirt, at others so cold that an additional
blanket was scarcely sufficient." Here is matter to con
vince us that, however conditions may have changed in
Boston since the Year of Grace 1 774, the climate of
Earl Percy's time still reigns supreme upon the shores
of Massachusetts Bay.
Despite his disgust for the townspeople, Percy dealt
fairly by them and won the confidence and good will
of the selectmen.3 He informed these gentry that any
disorder on the part of the soldiery would be promptly
punished and that all law-abiding citizens should look
upon the army as a safeguard and not as a menace.
When a midnight fire broke out in Mr. Morton's house
in Fish Street, and threatened the destruction of the
North End, we are told that "Earl Percy politely
offered the Service of the Soldiery " to fight the flames
and was thanked "for his Kindness" by the authorities.
But when the artisans laboring on barracks for the
winter accommodation of the troops left their work
through fear of the displeasure of their friends without
the town, the Earl abandoned all hope of the local pop
ulation, as a community who were bent on mischief
and of their own will had gone over to the Devil.'^
Before the close of the autumn the garrison of five
regiments had been increased to nine, with an efficient
train of the Royal Artillery. We find mention at this
time of activity and turmoil among the Boston militia. Mr.

8 Earl Percy's
Mr. John Hancock, as a foe to Government, was re
moved by Gage from the command of the Independent
Company of Cadets, whereupon the members disbanded
and the resignations of the officers and the colors of the
corps were handed to the Governor at Danvers. We
read too of an early October day when the Ancient and
Honorable Artillery Company concluded their training
for the year by a march from the Town House to Copp's
Hill. One wonders if Earl Percy saw them pass, and
how their drill and discipline compared with that of
the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. 5 There was hard and con
stant work on the Common for the British troops, and
the fair Dorothy Quincy has left us memories of the
time when her morning slumbers were disturbed by
Earl Percy drilling his regiment in the fields before the
Hancock mansion.
Here on the Common all Boston gathers to witness
with varying sentiments the evolutions of the troops.
Mr. John Hancock in purple and fine linen looks out
from his coach upon the scene. Dr. Joseph Warren,
quietly but fashionably dressed, stands chatting with
Major Small, whom the town esteems despite the uni
form he wears. The Major hopes that his elegant young
friend in gazing upon the martial spectacle will realize
the futility of the provincial contention and will urge
his people to bow in submission to the might of Britain.
But the feelings stirred in Warren are of a different sort,
and he is to put them into words for a memorable occa sion.

Dinner-Table

sion.^ Near by, a group is gathered about a burly red-
faced man in the garb of a farmer who is warmly greeted
by more than one English officer who marks him in the
throng. Israel Putnam "> of Connecticut is the hero of
many an exploit and hairbreadth escape in the French
war, and he is fighting his battles over again with Colo
nel Abercrombie of the 2 2d Regiment. Those within
sound of Putnam's boisterous voice will discover that
however great his courage he has a boastful tongue.
Major Small taunts him in passing upon being an old
rebel, and he noisily admits the impeachment. And here
is Mather Byles punning for the delight of the bystand
ers, and pointing to the scarlet ranks, thanking God that
at last he sees the grievances of the colony "red-dressed."
Conspicuous among the laughers at Dr. Byles is a young
officer with a face of almost feminine beauty. This is
Lieutenant John Andre, who is journeying overland
from Philadelphia to join his regiment in Canada. He
is detained in town by General Gage, who, much im
pressed by his keen powers of observation, is said to find
the narrative of his travels not only entertaining but
of real value to the King's cause. Charles Lee, lank
and ungainly, described in the Boston press as one of
"the greatest military characters of the present age,"
blusters about, hungry for admiration, disregarded and
snubbed by his old companions in arms.^ And then
the eye falls on the honest face and sturdy form of
Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island. His face burns with

lo Earl Percy's
with admiration as the serried lines of the 5 th Foot
sweep by him, and he thinks it would be joy to fight
with or against such men as these. When the troops
return to their camps and the crowd has melted away,
you will find this military enthusiast at the shop of
Mr. Knox on Cornhill, or poring over the volumes
of some other bookseller for works that have to do with
the Art of War.
We have noted the comments in Earl Percy's corre
spondence in regard to the country, the people, and the
climate of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay. On
August 15 he writes to his father concerning another
important matter. "What I feel myself the most com
fortable in acquiring, is a good house to dine in (for we
are all obliged to remain at other times & sleep in the
camp). By this convenience I am enabled to ask the
officers of the Line, & occasionally the Gentlemen of
the country, to dine with me; & as I have the com
mand of the Troops here, I have always a table of 1 2
covers every day."
The house occupied by Percy stood within its garden
at the head of Winter Street.^ It had been built early in
the century, and its windows looked out upon the open
pasturage of the Common. Through the thin foliage
of those youthful elms which Mr. Paddock planted,
loomed the crest of Beacon Hill, with its gaunt signal ¦
drawn like a gibbet against the sky, while more to the
west and down the slope there was a glimpse of the
bright

Dinner-Table 1 1
bright waters of the Charles, with the wooded heights
of Brookline and Newton beyond. The location was
most convenient for the Earl, who was always within
a stone's throw of the camps.
It is pleasant to see him crossing the Common each
afternoon to do the honors of his mansion, and day by
day and week by week it is interesting to watch his
guests passing in and out the great door. It opens to offi
cers in scarlet and gold, and to officers in the blue of the
Royal Navy, to gentlemen in silk and brocade, and to
gentlemen in velvet and lace. Old Dr. Caner goes up
the path leaning upon his stick, the great coach of Colo
nel Royall lumbers up to the garden gate, the chaise
of Judge Lee waits in Winter Street to carry His Honor
back to Cambridge.'" All those who love the King
within this stern old New England town rejoice in the
polite summons that brings them to Earl Percy's din
ner-table. And now, as the darkness of an early spring day
comes on, let us in imagination look into Earl Percy's
dining-room and see what passes there. The newly
lighted candles are burning brightly on the broad table
around which the Earl's eleven guests are sitting at their
ease, all but three in the uniform of the royal army.
The dinner is cleared away and the port and madeira
are going the rounds. The Earl is chatting with a
strapping officer on his left whose handsome face is a
fair legacy from the race of which he comes. This is
Lieutenant-

12 Earl Percy's
Lieutenant-Colonel John Gunning of the 43d Foot,
who has the honor to be the brother of the famous
Gunning sisters, and through them a brother-in-law to
the Duke of Argyll and to the Earl of Coventry. "My
sister the Duchess," and " My sister the late Countess
of Coventry," are well-worn phrases with Colonel
Gunning, and within a year his pride has been stirred
again by the marriage of his niece with Lord Stanley,
the heir to the affluent Earl of Derby. The handsome
Colonel speaks with something of a brogue, betraying
his Irish origin, and if his memory is good he can recall
dark days of childhood when the family fortunes were
low, dishonor imminent, and when the situation was
saved by warm-hearted George Anne Bellamy, of the
Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. But those days are
long past, and Colonel Gunning glories not only in his
connection with great families in England, and in his
rapid rise in the army, but also in an honest and com
placent conviction that he is thirty-second in descent
from Charlemagne.
On the right of Lord Percy is a lad of twelve or thir
teen years, who is the hero of the occasion. This is
Roger Sheaffe, son to the faithful customs collector
whose memory is abhorred by rebellious Boston. He
has won his way into the affection of the Earl, who has
promised to" see to it that he gains a commission in his
regiment. The plans are laid and the youth is about to
set sail for England to gain such training as shall fit him for

Dinner-Table 13

for his profession. The Earl has presented him to-night
to his future comrades of the army, and the radiant face
of the boy must be a pleasant sight in his lordship's
eyes. Standing by the chair of the future soldier and call
ing the blushes to his face with their banter are two
young officers who wear the insignia of the rank of
lieutenant. One is Francis, Lord Rawdon, of the Gren
adier Company of Percy's regiment, the son of the Earl
of Moira, a tall elegant young fellow with a future be
fore him, the Earl thinks; the other is Edward Thoro-
ton Gould of the 4th or King's Own Regiment, short
and slight, with restless dark eyes and lines of dissipa
tion on his pale face. His friends declare that he is a
good soldier if something of a rake withal.
The rather stout officer who sits beyond Sheaffe,
playing with his wineglass and occasionally exchanging
a word with Lord Rawdon, is the Hon. Henry Edward
Fox, the youngest son of the late Lord Holland, and a
captain in the 38th Regiment. Any one familiar with
the prominent faces at Westminster, at Brooks's Club,
or on the track at Newmarket, would recognize in the
Captain a near kinsman to the celebrated Charles James
Fox, who has just come to what may mean the end of
his public career in his removal by the King's command
from the commissionership of the Treasury. Harry Fox
is said to have little of his brother's brilliancy and none
of his vices, and when the 38 th sailed for America Mr.
Horace

14 Earl Percy's
Horace Walpole of Strawberry Hill informed Sir Hor
ace Mann that they took with them Lord Holland's
" only good son." He sits quiet and good-humored at
Earl Percy's table, with little but his increasing flesh to
worry him, and bears himself with a certain well-bred
air that Gunning, with all his handsome face and kins
men by marriage, would give much to attain.
At the side of Fox is George Harris, Lord Rawdon's
captain, a well-built young officer with clear, honest
eyes and the glow of health in his cheeks. He regards
himself as an untried and inexperienced soldier, but
Percy will affirm that he is a model officer with a genius
for commanding men. His reputation for courage is
secure. Half the army knows of that gallant rescue of
a brother officer from the swift and cruel current of the
Ouse, and of that duel in Ireland where his coolness and
pluck were matched by his generosity and forbearance.
Harris is talking across the table with Captain William
Glanville Evelyn of the King's Own, a man of quiet,
serious countenance, marked with the scars of small
pox. Captain Evelyn is not a youngster, and fifteen
years have passed since he first donned the King's uni
form. He is one of those faithful, hard-working soldiers
who progress slowly because of lack of influence. His
letters home contain frequent appeals for an introduc
tion to " the great people " on duty in Boston, or for
a good word to the great ones at home. He is flattered
and happy to sit at Earl Percy's table to-night. Scandal has

Dinner-Table 15
has not left the Captain's name unsullied, and the curi
ous among his acquaintance would know more of pretty
Peggie Wright, who has come out to him from Eng
land. It is whispered that she was a servant in his father's
household. Major Pitcairn, sitting at the foot of the
board, has heard the gossip ; but if you ask for his opinion
of what Evelyn means and what the future holds for Peg
gie Wright, he, as an honest husband who has brought
up nine children on his modest pay, will merely say,
" God knows." Captain Evelyn has more than his own
fortunes and those of Peggie Wright to think of now,
for he has in his care that rather prim young soldier who
is with him at the table, his kinsman George Evelyn
Boscawen of the King's Own. Ensign Boscawen is the
sole surviving son of the late Admiral Boscawen. He is
the nephew and heir of the childless Viscount Falmouth,
and he is here on active service in the army despite
the prayers and tears of the fondest of mothers." Young
Boscawen is brother-in-law to Admiral John Leveson
Gower and to the Duke of Beaufort, and it is to Lady
Gower that Evelyn writes by* very ship concerning the
most trivial happenings in the Ensign's career. Bos
cawen has the enthusiasm of youth and has already
discovered some shocking flaws in the English army
system. So he has been laughed down by his mess and
is known in the regiment by the nickname of " the
General." He bears this promotion meekly and hence
forward inclines to speak only a fragment of what he
thinks.

1 6 Earl Percy's
thinks. He is an object of interest to the youth in
the blue of the Royal Navy who sits between Captain
Harris and the Reverend Mather Byles. This is Cuth-
bert Collingwood, of the Somerset man-of-war, which
lies at anchor in the stream off Charlestown ferry. Col
lingwood knows his profession, and knowing too some
thing of the naval history of Great Britain, he wonders
whether it will ever be his luck to do as good work as
Boscawen's father wrought against the French at Louis-
burg and in Lagos Bay.
At the foot of the table the Reverend Mather Byles
is discoursing with Major John Pitcairn of the Royal
Marines, and keeping that staid old officer in a state of
uproarious laughter. Poor Dr. Byles labors under the
disadvantage of being considered not only a preacher
but a poet and wit as well." Within the year a doggerel
rhyme describing the local clergy has gone the rounds
in Boston, and in the two stanzas devoted to Byles even
his friends admit that a lively portrait has been drawn.
There 's punning Byles provokes our smiles,
A man of stately parts ;
Who visits folks to crack his jokes,
That never mend their hearts.
With strutting gait and wig so great,
He walks along the streets,
And throws out wit, or what 's like it,
To every one he meets.
Though

Dinner-Table 17
Though not of the Church of England, Dr. Byles is
in the eyes of the army the most sensible as well as the
most delightful clergyman in Boston. He has corre
spondents among the brightest literary lights in Eng
land, and will show with pride volumes from his library
with the loving inscription of his dear friend the late
Mr. Pope of immortal memory. At heart an arrant
Tory, he has kept his congregation in order by asserting
that his functions are spiritual and that it is not for him
to profane his pulpit by discussing the political prob
lems of the day. The local clergy is a hearty rebel body
and they have small opinion of a man who prays for the
King in meeting, and refuses to choose his texts for
the elucidation of public questions. It is no aid to the
Doctor's standing with his flock that he consorts with
the gentlemen of the army, and allows his daughters, to
promenade the Mall with these enemies of American
Liberty. The band of the 5 th Regiment has played
sweet serenades beneath the windows of the Misses
Byles, and now here is the Doctor himself sipping his
wine and throwing old Pitcairn into convulsions of
laughter at Earl Percy's dinner-table.
There is that in the Major which attracts the Re
verend Byles as it must all men who admire honest
simplicity and courage. Here in rebellious Boston,
hot-headed townspeople affronted by quarrelsome or
drunken soldiers are glad to leave their grievances in
Pitcairn's hands for reparation. Blunt and outspoken, he

1 8 Earl Percy's
he is yet a modest man, and in the long years that have
passed since he left his Fifeshire home he feels that he
has made little of his life. He has been knocking about
on land and sea, fighting the King's battles, until he
wonders whether all his children would remember his
lined and weather-beaten face. He thinks with pride
of that good brother '^ who has risen to the presidency of
the College of Physicians in London and thanks God
that distinction has come to his family, though he must
remain in obscurity as a mere major of marines. Were
he gifted with second sight he would see that his time
on earth is short, but he could also see his brilliant son '"*
rising in another generation to be the pride and envy
of the medical profession in London. If the time shall
come, which God forbid, that the sword is really drawn
in this distracted province, he will do his full duty to
the King, and do it humanely by firing low with shotted
muskets. In the mean time he is accomplishing as much
for peace as any man in Boston who wears King George's
livery. Had Captain Evelyn been possessed of the peculiar
talents of Mr. Boswell of Auchinleck, he might have
left us some such narrative as this : —
This evening I dined with Earl Percy at his house
at the head of Winter Street. George and I were glad
of this opportunity to sit at his Lordship's table, and
we met there besides young Roger Sheaffe, a Boston lad

Dinner-Table 19
lad who is much in Percy's favor. Colonel Gunning,
Major Pitcairn of the Marines, young Collingwood of
the Navy, Lord Rawdon and Captain Harris of the
5th, Fox of the 38th, the Reverend Doctor Byles who
preaches at the meeting-house in Hollis Street, and little
Gould of Ours. Earl Percy presided at his table with the
elegance of a man of fashion, and was most civil to me.
He displayed at once the good breeding of a gentleman
of birth with the frank comradeship of the soldier.
After dinner he called upon us to drink the health of
" Captain Sheaffe, who loved a red coat," '5 and lavished
upon the boy many remarks of approbation. His Lord
ship- told us that he was under great obligation to the
family of Master Sheaffe for many courtesies received
in Boston, and that a few days since the lad had ex
pressed the hope that some day he might wear the red
coat, and be hailed as "Captain Sheaffe." "And so,"
the Earl continued, " it is to be my pleasure to see this
boy properly schooled and trained for His Majesty's
service, and he is here to-night to meet the gentlemen
of the army who are to be his future comrades and
friends." Then turning to Collingwood he made some
pleasant remark to the effect that though his young
charge preferred the red coat to the blue, yet he would
be trained in all admiration for the service which Col
lingwood had chosen, and which Mr. Boscawen's noble
father had so conspicuously adorned. This remark, which
his Lordship made most graciously, put at least two
young

20 Earl Percy's
young men in that room in excellent humour. Sheaffe
discovered many signs of his happiness and confusion.
He was greeted by all the gentlemen present, and old
Pitcairn, who they say has a legion of sons of his own,
put his hands on his shoulders, told him he was a fine
lad, and hoped that we should all live to see him a gen
eral. When we had become quiet again, the Earl went
on to say that Roger was not the first of his mother's
family to embrace the red coat. A few years before, his
sister had married Ponsonby Molesworth, then a cap
tain of the 29th and stationed in Boston. It was love
at first sight. The regiment had just landed and was
halting in Queen Street on the way to the Common.
Molesworth saw Susannah Sheaffe leaning from the bal
cony of her father's house and declared to an officer near
him, "That girl seals my fate!" So there was a brief
courtship and a marriage, and tempted by domestic
bliss Molesworth sold out his commission and settled
down in Devonshire. "So," the Earl continued, "the
Sheaffes having drawn one good soldier from the King's
colours are to give another in his place." The lad, as
though feeling that his sister's loyalty had been ques
tioned, then said in very pretty fashion that if Mr.
Molesworth was not now of the army, yet his sister still
loved the red coat. He had seen only the other day
a letter she had written her mother from Devonshire
regretting that she was obliged to stay " in that riotous
Boston where misguided rebels were giving such trouble to

Dinner-Table 21
to our good King George." There was an honest ring
to this, and we cheered the boy with a will. Had we
been at Colonel Nesbitt's or at General Pigot's, I think
Gould would have started a stanza of " Hot Stuff," '^ but
even he did not dare risk it at Earl Percy's table.
The Earl spoke of the beauty of the wooded country
about Jamaica Plain, which led Harris to say that he
thought the entrance to the harbour and the view of
the town from it to be the most charming thing he ever
saw, surpassing indeed the far-famed Bay of Dublin.
For himself he would prefer some less favoured country
where an active campaign was afoot. I was stirred to
say some very harsh things of this generation of vipers
that is troubling Massachusetts and to express the belief
that Harris would not have long to wait nor far to travel
to find use for his powder and ball. I think they were
of my mind on our side the table, but on the other Dr.
Byles had something to say for Boston. Mr. Fox said
nothing. He has a way of saying little when there is
much talk — a trait, I am told, in Lord Holland's
family. Harris declared that while he should like to try
what stuff he was made of, yet he would rather the trial
should be with others than these poor fellows of kin
dred blood. Gould prayed to be delivered from all such
kinsmen and alluded to the decoration of Tory door
ways with "Hillsborough paint.'"'' Some one called
attention to the mean attack on Colonel Ruggle's house
and the maiming of his animals. Pitcairn declared the
worst

22 Earl Percy's
worst cowards to be those who in fear of the rebels were
publishing in the papers their regrets for having signed
the farewell address to Governor Hutchinson.'^ His
Lordship was inclined to think that these gentlemen
were in a bad situation if located in the country where
the protection of the troops did not reach. He spoke of
the insults heaped upon the court officers at Worcester
and at other places, and thought that the General might
soon dispatch a brigade up into the country to support
the authorities who were endeavouring to maintain the
law in riotous communities. Pitcairn believed he could
march a battalion of marines straight through Massa
chusetts, and bring the people to terms without the
radical use of force. Mr. Fox roused himself at this, and
quoted old Putnam, the Connecticut ranger, as saying
that the King's troops could march over the continent
provided " they behaved themselves civilly and paid
well for everything they wanted." Dr. Byles saw wit
in this and ventured a mild defence of the holy hypo
crites who are ruining this province. He believed the
disorderly element was not numerous, and that with
a little patience on the part of the authorities and the
military the present troubles would subside and all be
come again loyal and law-abiding subjects of the King.
" I recall," he said, " when patience has served me well
in dealing with our selectmen. A foul quagmire had
long stood in the street before my door, and my com
plaints at the Town House brought me no relief. One day

Dinner-Table 23
day from my window I saw a chaise containing two of
our selectmen wallowing in the bog and quite unable
to flounder out. I could not refrain from shouting * I
am glad at last, gentlemen, to see you stirring in that
matter.' " A roar of laughter greeted this speech of the
reverend gentleman, who has a great local reputation as
a wit. I did not think that Pitcairn relished the implied
criticism of the troops in Captain Fox's last remark, and
I own I was offended by it. No sooner had Dr. Byles
subsided than Mr. Fox spoke again to say that a wise
Parliament at Westminster and a wise Ministry at St.
James's were quite as essential to peace in the Province
as patient soldiers in Boston. His Lordship smiled at
this, and said that soldiers were fortunate in not having
to assume the burdens of Parliament or of Ministers,
having only to execute loyally the King's commands.
Mr. Fox, quite unabashed, replied that he believed the
army had not been above reproach in its sphere and that
too many of the officers had earned the reproaches and
enmity of the townspeople. Pitcairn, who had flushed
red at the first remark of Mr. Fox, to my surprise loudly
assented to this, and thanked God that the marines had
never been concerned in the disorders charged to the
military. He deplored the destruction of King Han
cock's fence, the scandalous doings at Miss Erskine's,
and the attack by drunken soldiers on the Providence
coach. '5 Officers should keep sober and should keep
their

24 Earl Percy's
their men in order if they had to flog them by com
panies. The Major's allusion to the affair of the coach
was an unhappy one, for Captain Gore of Percy's regi
ment is believed to have been the chief offender. His
Lordship passed over the matter gracefully and informed
the Major that he believed that the incident had been
much exaggerated. A remark of mine called forth satir
ical comment from Captain Fox, though I must own
that his bearing was both quiet and polite. When I re
ferred to Mr. Samuel Adams of this town as a man of
" desperate fortune whose political existence depended
upon the continuance of the present dispute," Fox re
marked that it became all of us to speak respectfully of
the man for whom two regiments in His Majesty's serv
ice had been named.'" This caused a general laugh in
which Earl Percy joined, while Mr. Byles called out
from the foot of the table that he hoped Roger Sheaffe
would not quote this sally of Captain Fox to Mr.
Molesworth, late of the 29th Regiment.
Gould alluded to the gossip in regard to Captain
Scawen of the Guards and the wife of Captain Hor-
neck of the same regiment. The Earl, perhaps out of
consideration for the youth of Roger Sheaffe, or be
cause his own matrimonial affairs are not in a good
state, diverted the talk from the line in which Gould
would have pressed it. He turned the subject by asking
Dr. Byles across the table if he admired the verse of
Dr. Goldsmith, whose death has occurred within the
year.

Dinner-Table 25
year. Dr. Byles replied that he regardbd Goldsmith as
an ingenious man of excellent promise, though not to be
compared with his old friend and correspondent Mr.
Pope, whose work he believed would endure till the
end of time. The Earl had heard it said that "the Cap
tain in Lace" mentioned in Dr. Goldsmith's poem of
" Retaliation' ' was none other than the Captain Horneck
to whom Mr. Gould had referred. " I have often heard,"
said the Earl, "my friend Dr. Percy mention Dr. Gold
smith with respect, and it was through him that the
poet was first presented to my father at Northumber
land House. A number of years since, Dr. Goldsmith
wrote a poem which he sent in manuscript to my mother
and which she had printed for distribution among her
friends. I have heard that these verses were afterwards
incorporated in Dr. Goldsmith's novel of 'The Vicar of
Wakefield.' "'' The Earl continued that he had heard
much from Dr. Percy of Goldsmith's odd manners and
improvident habits, and how on one occasion he strayed
into the Duke of Northumberland's lodgings in Bath,
mistaking them, he believed, for the house of his friend
Lord Clare. His Grace, who held Dr. Goldsmith in high
esteem, and would have helped him had he known his
necessities, prevailed upon him on this occasion to atone
for his error by remaining to dinner.
Captain Fox said that he believed Goldsmith was
well known to his brother Charles, as they were mem
bers together of a literary club in London. He had
heard

26 Earl Percy's
heard his brother speak in warmest praise of Mr. Gold
smith's merits, and knew that he regarded the "Travel
ler" as "one of the finest poems in the English lan
guage." He feared that the poet's death had been
hastened by the burden of heavy debts. Here Gould
muttered in my ear to wonder whether, if Lord Hol
land had not come to the financial relief of Charles
Fox, that portly gambler would have been crushed as
easily as the Duke's scribbling friend from Grub Street.
Some allusion being made to the Battle of Minden, the
conversation became for a time professional in character.
George, with his head full of theories, asked whether
it was not a mistake to detach the flank companies of
regiments of foot for separate service. But the poor lad
had not gone far in his argument before Gould was
patting his back and hailing him as "the General,"
till confused and abashed he took refuge in blushes.
Pitcairn hoped that no more regiments on the Irish
establishment would be sent out. He had never known
such a record of desertions on foreign service, and the
rascals recruited in Ireland showed a clear willingness
to fight on the rebel side.''' The Earl explained that
there had been much exaggeration in these matters. The
other day there had been a statement published in Bos
ton that one hundred men of the Royal Irish had de
serted and gone into the country. As there were only
three companies of the regiment stationed in Boston,
this would be a substantial loss, yet the Earl could assure the

Dinner-Table 27
the Major that the battalion was in good condition with
fairly full ranks. Pitcairn was glad to have his Lord
ship's assurance on this point, but thought it a matter
for regret that no Scotch regiments had been sent to
Boston. The Scots were an orderly people, and he be
lieved Eraser's made a fine record with Wolfe. Mr.
Byles here remarked that the House of Brunswick had
not always regarded the Scotch as an orderly people,
and said gayly that he was not sure that the Major him
self had not been out in the Forty -five ^¦^ Pitcairn had a
retort ready, but Gunning interrupted to say that he
was glad to hear the Highlanders mentioned as having
been at Quebec. He had always understood that the 43d
had seen some fighting on the Plains of Abraham, but
since the landing of the 47th in Boston the impression
seemed to be that Montcalm was beaten by a few com
panies of " Wolfe's Own." The Earl laughed at this
outbreak, and bowing very politely to Gunning said
that the glorious record of the 43d was better known
than the Colonel would admit, and then added that the
Major would be glad to know that as Ireland had been
drawn on so heavily for troops the new regiments were
almost certain to be sent from England. Then, turning
again to Colonel Gunning, the Earl remarked that it
had been decided that General Burgoyne was coming
out in a few weeks. It seems that Burgoyne and Gun
ning are both uncles to Lord Stanley, whose y?^^ cham-
petre of last year in honor of his marriage with Lady
Betty

28 Earl Percy's
Betty Hamilton was for months the talk of the town.
Upon mention of this gorgeous affair, the Earl stated
that George Selwyn had said that it had every appear
ance of having been planned by Burgoyne and paid for
by Lord Stanley, at which Gunning broke into a roar
of laughter that brought over Dr. Byles to find out
what wit there was not of his making.
Mr. Fox had become engaged in a discussion with
Lord Rawdon upon the value of the American breed
of horses as compared with the English stock, and was
showing vast animation for him. Dr. Byles, interrupt
ing, suggested Pitcairn as a competent man to judge the
dispute. The Major affirmed that while he knew little
of the complicated workmanship of the beast, he could
handle any quadruped that neighed. Every Fife man
could ride, and he would race the Doctor on a wager
from the North Battery to the Neck. The Earl said that
he had supposed the Major would declare for the Scot
tish animal as his standard, and asked Harris whether
he had forgotten the good horses they saw on the track
at Kelso when they went from Alnwick to the races
in 1772. Harris remembered the bonny lasses he saw
that day far better than the horses, whereupon the
Major, forgetting his challenge, burst forth into a fine
encomium upon the ladies of his native land.
We rose as the bell on the South Meeting-House
was striking nine. The evening was the pleasantest I
have passed in Boston. I believe I am regarded favour ably

Dinner-Table 29
ably by his Lordship, and shall study to win his interest.
We went out pretty much together; Master Sheaffe
walked down Tremont Street with Collingwood and
Pitcairn ; the Reverend Byles was sent home in his
Lordship's coach. As we crossed the street to the Com
mon, the Earl was already coming out of his garden
with his cloak about him to make his evening rounds.

30 Earl Percy's

L n 3

THE coming of General Gage to reside in Bos
ton relieved Earl Percy of many responsibil
ities, but there is no reason to believe that the
hospitality of the Province House dimmed the attrac
tions of the mansion at the head of Winter Street.
Throughout the season we meet the Earl here and there
about his duties. The season is not a harsh one, but the
townspeople are amazed that he walks and rides with
bosom open and wears no greatcoat. The mild winter
melts into an early spring and mid- April finds the grass
green upon the Common, while the trees along the
Mall are already bursting into foliage.
Doubtless Boston slept well on the night of the 1 8th
of April, 1775, but we have it on good authority that
it was otherwise with Earl Percy. We can place him
on the Common not far from midnight, where he over
hears the remark of a townsman that the British have
marched upon a vain errand. From here we can follow
him to the Province House, where behind closed doors
it is believed that he consumed the early morning hours
in consulting with his commander and in upbraiding
him with having confided an important secret to an
unworthy

Dinner-Table 3 1
unworthy confidant.'''^ A few hours later and he is
mounted upon a white charger, and with pistols in
holster is riding along the line of soldiery that extends
all the way from Queen Street along Tremont Street
almost to the bottom of the Mall.
When early risers on this historic morning attempt
to cross the thoroughfare that skirts the Common, they
are amazed at the imposing display of force that blocks
the way. All sorts of wild stories are afloat as to what
this commotion means. The townsmen hear that the
Grenadiers and Light Infantry of the garrison went into
the country last night, leaving the town by water from
the bottom of the Common. It is whispered that their
aim is the cannon at Concord and perhaps the arrest
of John Hancock and Samuel Adams. It is said that
secret measures were taken early to warn these men,
and that signal lanterns burned last evening in the steeple
of the North Church. It is believed that they have bad
news at the Province House and that the troops now
forming are going out under Earl Percy to reinforce
last night's expedition.
The army hears that the Grenadiers and Light In
fantry have gone out on a secret mission, that Smith of
the I oth is in command, and that the General has had
the good sense to send Pitcairn along to keep an eye on
things ; that an express arrived from Smith before dawn,
saying that the country was aroused, and asking for re
inforcements ; that there is a stupid blunder somewhere in

32 Earl Percy's
in the orders, and so the brigade is not all mustered
yet. Now everything is awaiting the arrival of the
marines, and it is clear that Percy is disgusted and in
bad humor.
Eight o'clock has sounded from the Old South tower,
and at last the belated marines are arriving. The serge
ants bustle about among their men, the lines are dressed,
and as the hands of the town clocks are nearing nine
the command to march passes along the street. Harri
son Gray Otis, on his way to the Latin School, is turned
back on Queen Street by a brusque officer and makes
his way up School Street in time to see the soldiers and
hear those famous words of dismissal from Master Lov-
ell.'5 As the boys pour out of the building that is closing
for many a long month, the troops are moving, the
drums are rolling, and the fifes are screaming the shrill
strains of "Yankee Doodle." The head of the column is
below West Street, and to all those in the throng who love
the British flag it is an inspiring sight. The marines go
by with solid files, the best men Pitcairn thinks who
ever fixed bayonet on musket ; then follows a fine regi
ment which from the King's cipher and the royal lion
on their colors we recognize as the "King's Own." But
the flank companies are missing, which means that
Evelyn, Boscawen, and Gould went out with Smith
last night. And here is the 47th, "Wolfe's Own," the
famous corps that fought on the Plains of Abraham
and saw its commander die victorious under the walls of

Dinner-Table 33
of Quebec; and then comes glittering rank on rank of
the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the custodians of a proud
record, with Minden emblazoned on their standards.
We catch glimpses of Earl Percy riding slowly up and
down the line, and the expression on his Lordship's
face is not the one we find in Mr. Stuart's painting, nor
that familiar to guests at his dinner-table. Two field-
pieces rumble on after the column, and the wagons
with supplies and ammunition bring up the rear. The
music dies away, the crowd disperses, and Earl Percy
and his brigade have passed on to a hard day's work.
The 19th was an anxious day in Boston. It was
known in the forenoon at the Province House that the
troops and the Minute Men had been in collision at
Lexington, but Gage, lacking definite details, caused it
to be given out that no lives had been lost. Later all
sorts of wild rumors passed from mouth to mouth. It
was repeatedly asserted in the afternoon that Earl Percy
had been killed, and all through the day Beacon Hill
was crowded by citizens and soldiers gazing westward for
some sign of what was taking place. But from this airy
height Boston looked down that day upon a land where
all seemed peace, the fields and hills of Middlesex smil
ing in the sun, from the rippling current of the Charles
to the hazy heights of Waltham. But toward sundown
the situation became more clear, fires were burning
in Menotomy, and to the eastward of the Colleges in
Cambridge were drifting puffs of dust and smoke to tell the

34 £^/-/ Percy's
the story of hard marching and of carnage. Then as
darkness fell the flickering of musketry was visible all
along the base of Prospect Hill until it became clear
that the troops were following the road into Charles-
town. Late in the evening it was known in Boston that
Percy was in the town across the ferry, and those
stationed along the north water front could see the
Somerset lowering her boats for service. All through
the night the sailors rowed to and fro, bringing to town
the wounded men who had fallen in that long heart
rending march from Concord Bridge. Earl Percy was
doubtless at the Province House before morning, to
report upon his day's work. We can fancy the agitation
of the gentle-hearted governor when his elegant brig
adier confronted him, dirt-covered and powder-black
ened, his voice gone, and with that rent in his dusty
coat where the peasant's bullet had almost robbed a
dukedom of its heir.
The events of the 1 9 th of April wrought a change
in the whole current of life in Boston. War had begun,
and all New England in armed revolt was encamped
about the town. Sympathizers with the popular cause
passed out into the rebel camps, while the Loyalists,
helpless in the face of the popular uprising, fled to Bos
ton to dwell within the protection of the troops. These
movements of the people were fostered by the British
and by the Provincial authorities, so that before the
close of the month well-known faces were missed and
strange

Dinner-Table 35
strange faces had appeared in Boston. The presence
of the wounded had a marked effect upon the temper of
the people. The care of nearly two hundred stricken
men kept the army surgeons well employed, while the
prevalence of crutches and bandages upon the streets
brought home to all the realities of grim-visaged war.
It had fallen to Captain Harris to cover the retreat
with his company of Percy's regiment, and the Earl told
how he met him under fire, bareheaded on the dusty
road, carrying his grenadier hat full of water for the
comfort of the wounded. Harris had seen Lieutenant
Baker and more than half of his tall fellows shot down
by invisible marksmen, and he had lost all sense of kin
ship with the stealthy, straight-shooting people of the
province. " I trust the Americans may be brought to
a sense of their duty," he stormed. "One good drub
bing, which I long to give them by way of retaliation,
might have a good effect toward it."
There was gloom at Captain Evelyn's lodgings, for
Joe Knight, the only officer killed, was a lieutenant in
the King's Own, while "little Gould," shot through
the leg, had been taken prisoner in Menotomy as he
was hobbling home ahead of the column. " He was the
most amiable and worthy man in the world," sobbed
Evelyn over the loss of poor Knight, while Boscawen's
grief was pathetic to witness. But Joe Knight, though
cut off on the threshold of his career, was honored in
his friendships and in dying as a good soldier should. Hedid

36 Earl Percy's
did not live to attain distinction in his profession, but
his gentle character was to be enshrined in that series
of loving letters which the Honorable Mrs. Boscawen
addressed to Mrs. Delaney. The fate of Knight im
pressed Evelyn with the risks to which his young charge
was exposed. "I wish," he wrote to his father, " they
would purchase a lieutenancy for him at home, for I am
very uneasy lest anything befall him while he is with
me." But there was no depression in the army over the
affair of April 19. The officers declared that this was
far different from campaigning in Germany, and that
discipline and high training were useless in a contest
where not above ten of the enemy could be seen in a
body, and where all gave their fire from behind trees
and walls "and then reloaded. on their bellies." Percy
became at once the darling of the army. All through
the march from Lexington to Charlestown Common
he had his men in good control, and whenever oppor
tunity offered to strike a blow he was quick to see and
improve it. He left the marks of his heavy hand all
along the roads of Menotomy and Cambridge, and it
was cool design and not uncontrolled savagery that filled
the evening air with the smoke of flaming dwellings.
When Percy first saw Smith's demoralized infantry in
Lexington, exhausted, powderless, and cumbered with
their wounded, he realized that this was war and deter
mined to play a strong part in it. For long years after, his

Dinner-Table 37
his name was abhorred by the Provincials, who had
hovered on his flanks and who had suffered at his hands
that April afternoon. The officers of the line, the com
mander in chief in Boston, the King in London, all
combined in praising " the masterly officership " that
had brought off the troops "with so little loss through
a severe and incessant fire for twenty miles," and the
Duke of Northumberland received, from Ministers
who lov.ed him not, congratulations upon the conduct
of his son.
And Percy himself, who had despised his foes, de
scribed the day in these words : " During the whole
affair the Rebels attacked us in a very scattered, irregu
lar manner, but with perseverance and resolution, nor
did they ever dare to form into any regular body. In
deed, they knew too well what was proper, to do so.
Whoever looks upon them as an irregular mob will find
himself much mistaken. They have men amongst them
who know very well what they are about, having been
employed as Rangers against the Indians and Cana
dians, and this country, being much cov''' with wood
and hilly, is very advantageous for their method of fight
ing. Nor are several of their men void of a spirit of en-
thusias m , as we experienced yesterday, for many of them
concealed themselves in houses and advanced within i o
yards to fire at me and other officers tho' they were mor
ally certain of being put to death themselves in an in
stant. . . . For my part, I never believed, I confess, that
they

38

Earl Percy's

they w'^ have attacked the King's troops, or have had the
perseverance I found in them yesterday." In this frank
fashion did Earl Percy acknowledge his error and pay
his tribute to the courage of the men of Massachusetts.
Though Colonel Smith of the i oth and Barnard of
the Fusiliers were both wounded in the April fighting,
it was Major Pitcairn who retained the most disagree
able memories of the day. His story of that morning
was always told with simple, straightforward frankness.
He saw the militia drawn up under arms on the village
green, and riding up, ordered them to disperse, and
damned them as they deserved for a set of disloyal vil
lains. They did not obey on the moment, and he turned
about to order his troops to surround and disarm them.
Then came two or three scattered shots, which he did
not see, but believed to have been fired by the militia,^^
followed by a sudden and promiscuous fusillade from
a part of his own men. Though he struck his sword
downwards with all earnestness as the signal to forbear
or cease firing, the damage was done in an instant. This
in effect was Pitcairn's story, and though he rested un
der no criticism from the General, he did not regard it
as a creditable tale. He could laugh over the loss of his
horse and his pistols ; the slaying of a few peasants did
not disturb him, for the rascals had tempted fate by fac
ing the King's troops in arms. But the old warrior was
pained that a detachment serving under him should get
out of hand and fire without orders. He had only one
comfort

Dinner-Table 39
comfort in his trial, — the offenders were merely light
infantry and not the marines.
It is likely that the damage inflicted upon the regi
ments, the shifting of the population, and the work of
fortifying the town checked for a time all social life in
the garrison. But the incoming of the Loyalist families
was an agreeable event to the officers, and we are told
that Lady Frankland was an object of especial interest
when she came down from Hopkinton to open her great
mansion at the North End. On May 25 there arrived
the Cerberus frigate with the three major-generals
aboard, — Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, — and at
the same time that she cast anchor in the harbor, the
transports came in with three regiments of foot and
Preston's Light Dragoons. With these reinforcements
the military population of the town exceeded the civil
element, and as the most ardent rebels had crossed the
Charles, Boston became in effect a loyal community.
By the last of May the morale of the garrison was
higher than at any time since Percy's arrival, and con
fidence was widespread both among the soldiery and
the Tory refugees that a decisive movement was immin
ent that would crush out rebellion in the Province and
bring all loyal souls in Boston to their own again.
With the arrival of the Cerberus the receptions and
dinners at the Province House took on more imposing
state, and the great rooms of the Governor's mansion
were thronged with the bravest and the fairest that the

40 Earl Percy's
the town could boast. We can fancy, too, that, though
Percy's army rank seemed less imposing since the land
ing of the major-generals, his house was not neglected,
and that day by day he did the honors of his table. One is
tempted to glance again into the old dining-room and
mark the new faces that gather there, to hear Colonel
Saltonstall and Mr. VassalP'' lament the inconveniences
of the time, to hear Clinton tell his memories of the
fighting Prince of Brunswick, and listen to Burgoyne's
graceful and racy recital of the gossip that is amusing
high life in London. But it is not necessary to call at
Earl Percy's to find Burgoyne. You may see him on the
Mall, where he saunters with handsome Tory ladies ;
at the bookshops on Cornhill, where he handles the
volumes with loving hands and chats charmingly of
their contents ; or you may meet him coming down the
steps of the Province House, after a conference with His
Excellency, a queer smile on his face as he thinks how
absurd it is that His Majesty's army in Boston should
be commanded by a timid "old woman." '^
The night of the 1 6th of June was quiet, so quiet
that officers on duty remarked it, and the " All 's well "
from the men-of-war at anchor in the harbor was
plainly audible in the town. With the first flush of
dawn came the boom of a cannon, then another, fol
lowed by the roll and roar of great guns bombarding.
The town was alarmed by this harsh awakening, and
there was a rush of soldiers and citizens to Copp's and
Beacon

Dinner-Table 41
Beacon hills, from which the royal vessels in the Charles
were descried enshrouded in the smoke of their own
guns. At first it was not clear what caused the commotion
in the fleet, but soon practiced eyes discovered beyond
the river a low redoubt on the crest of Breed's Hill,
whose grassy slopes formed a pleasant background for
the clustering roofs of Charlestown. Officers rubbed
their eyes in amazement. There was no room for doubt
that during the few short hours of darkness the daring
Provincials had done a work that was meant as a chal
lenge to the troops in Boston.
There was a hurried conference of the generals at the
Province House, as a result of which a force of two
thousand men was assigned to Howe with orders to
clear the hill, while Earl Percy was sent to Roxbury
Neck to maintain a bombardment, and prevent any
hostile move from that quarter. Clinton had urged a
landing in the rear of the redoubt, with a view of cutting
offthe retreat of the Provincials and capturing the whole
body, but others clamored for an attack in front. On
the 19th of April the troops had complained that they
could not see their foes ; now they had them in plain
sight and would beat them handsomely in the face of
the whole country. The rascals would not stand to re
ceive the bayonet, and losses would be trifling. Even
Gage was carried away by the enthusiasm of his advis
ers. The excitement in Boston was intense. Groups
gathered

42 Earl Percy's
gathered at corners discussed in whispers the intentions
of the rebels, and as the roar of the bombardment went
echoing through the streets their faces blanched with
terror. The Province House was early thronged with
officers who sought a place in the attacking column.
Orderlies galloped through the streets on important
errands, and from all parts of the town came the rolling
of drums and the alarms of the bugle. Before noon the
regiments were on the march and the music of the bands
and the screaming of the fifes was heard on every hand.
The 43d is passing down Hanover Street on its way
to the North Battery, and Colonel Gunning makes a
handsome figure at its head. But the bands are playing
in King Street, and as we hurry in that direction we can
see through narrow lanes the glitter of moving steel.
The scarlet ranks sweep down the famous street in an
unceasing stream, — grenadiers, light infantry, the 3 8th,
and Earl Percy's 5th. We see Abercrombie leading the
grenadiers, and not far behind is Captain Harris, whose
chance to thrash the rebels is close at hand. Lord Raw
don's face is turned away as he scans the alignment of
his men, and then comes Evelyn, erect and stern, his
mind filled with misgivings for the lad who is marching
gayly at his heels. Now the colors of the 38th are toss
ing above the glare of bayonets, and in a moment we
see Harry Fox go by, with the easy swing of a man of
lighter build, cursing inwardly the duty upon which he
is bound, but with the same imperturbable expression on

Dinner-Table 43
on his face that he wore at Earl Percy's dinner-table.
As the column pours on to the Long Wharf, the boats
and barges are ready and the work of embarkation is
beautifully carried out. The naval officer in charge will
win promotion for this day's work, and as he moves
about the wharf we recognize the face of Collingwood.
Burgoyne was not to have a share in the day's fight
ing. His literary and not his military qualities were to
be asserted on this occasion, and his famous letter to
Lord Stanley will remain for all time the most vivid
pen-picture of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
We shall find him with Clinton on Copp's Hill
where the Royal Artillerymen are busy with their guns.
High above them, in the tower of Christ Church, Gage
is looking down upon the battlefield and watching Pres-
cott of Pepperell as he saunters along the distant ram
part. The day is beautiful but intensely warm; the roofs
and spires of Boston are black with excited humanity.
Across the river the highlands of Middlesex are sprink
led with onlookers, while in strange contrast to all this
eager life the village of Charlestown lies sleeping in the
sun, silent and deserted.
The advance is about to commence. The ships of war
are concentrating their fire upon the redoubt, and the
gunners on Copp's Hill toil with renewed energy at
their heated pieces. The brilliant lines of the soldiery
move up the slope with a precision and proud bearing
that awes the spectators and draws forth the remark from

44 £W Percy's
from the critical Burgoyne that " Howe's disposition
is exceedingly soldierlike." Not a sign of life is visible
in Charlestown or about the redoubt. The troops ad
vance steadily, though impeded, it is clear, by the bad
ground and by the stout fences that cross the slope. As
the leading platoons deliver their fire with parade ac
curacy the batteries on sea and land cease their roaring,
and like the rolling back of a curtain the billowy clouds
of powder-smoke drifting seaward open up the whole
battlefield to the view of those in Boston. The troops
seem to have almost reached the redoubt ; Burgoyne
fears that the peasants have already withdrawn, when
there is a sudden glancing of flame, a crash, and the Pro
vincial works are ablaze from end to end with musketry.
Dense smoke envelops the crest of the hill and com
pletely screens the combatants from view. For ten min
utes the awful roll and rattle continues, scarlet groups
appear wavering here and there along the lower edge
of the seething cloud, and then the thinned and broken
lines of the soldiery come fully into view, swaying back
ward down the slope in orderly but unmistakable re
treat. The officers on Copp's Hill are stung with chagrin
and shame. The whole country has witnessed the re
pulse of the troops. But it is clear that Howe is going
up again, and all along the lines the swords of the offi
cers can be seen flashing in the sunlight as they rally
and re-form the broken battalions. It is now that Howe gives

Dinner-Table 45
gives the order for the burning of Charlestown. As the
battery on Copp's Hill sends its bombs into the doomed
town a boat-load of sailors is seen pulling out from the
Somerset, to make sure of the work. In a few moments
Charlestown begins to burn. The fire leaps up in a dozen
places and spreads rapidly ; the church spire sends a thin
column of yellow smoke skyward and then puffs out into
blinding flames. In the shadow of the smoke which now
drifts in dense volumes over the field of death, and sup
ported by the renewed cannonading from the ships, the
royal troops again move forward to the assault. Again
there is the steady advance, though now the way is
sadly cumbered with the fallen, and again the troops
deliver their beautiful but useless volleys. As the din of
the bombardment dies away there comes a hush so deep
that the roar of the flames and the crash of falling roofs
in Charlestown are distinctly heard in Boston. Then
again the redoubt breaks into awful life and the scarlet
columns seem to shrink and wither before the fiery
blast. In a short half-hour from Howe's second order
to advance, the wreck of his detachment has been
thrown back down the hill almost to the beach.
There were few among the spectators on either side
the river who after this awful slaughter did not re
gard the battle as over, for the day at least. The scene
upon the beach beggared description. Fully one third
of the attacking force had fallen. Regiments were re
duced to battalions, and companies had been literally
annihilated.

46 Earl Percy's
annihilated. Major Small with a detachment of marines
now put off from Boston, and Clinton, unable longer to
behold the discomfiture of the soldiery, threw himself
into the boat as a volunteer. There was no appeal from
Howe for fresh regiments, there was no move on the
part of Gage to relieve the broken battalions that had
twice scaled those fatal heights.
There were scores among the officers who had crossed
the river with Howe who had called the Provincials
cowards. The survivors of those two attacks were never
to repeat the charge. And these gentlemen who so de
spised their foe had been loud in proclaiming the invin
cibility of the British arms. They at least were no vain
braggarts; they had indulged in no empty boasting.
Ardent patriots, thrilling with the brave work of their
countrymen behind that low redoubt, could scarcely
believe their senses, they could scarce withhold their
admiration, when it became clear that the indomitable
infantry which Howe commanded was still unbeaten.
As the artillery was pushed forward through the swampy
ground to rake the redoubt in flank, the soldiers, throw
ing aside knapsacks, coats, and all useless weight, were
again re-forming their now pitifully thin lines. All the
world knows the rest of that day's work. How Howe,
abandoning all parade formations, used the strength that
was left him as it should have been used against a pow
erful and determined foe ; how the Provincial powder
ran low, and how at last that fierce torrent of British steel

Dinner-Table 47
steel burst into the redoubt and wrought awful venge
ance upon brave and almost defenseless men who would
not beg for quarter. "The day ended with glory," said
Burgoyne, " and the success was most important, con
sidering the ascendency it gave the regular troops ; but
the loss was uncommon in officers for the numbers en
gaged." But in addressing the noble lord in England, Bur
goyne hardly did justice to the awful carnage which the
army had sustained. "We were exulting in seeing the
flight of our enemies,' ' writes an ardent Tory of the town,
"but in an hour or two we had occasion to mourn and
lament. Dear was the purchase of our safety. In the
evening the streets were filled with the wounded and
the dying; the sight of which, with the lamentations
of the women and children over their husbands and
fathers, pierced one to the soul. We were now every
moment hearing of some officer, or other of our friends
and acquaintance, who had fallen in our defense, and in
supporting the honor of our country." In another ac
count we read, " The Saturday night and Sabbath were
taken up in carrying over the dead and wounded ; and
all the wood-carts in town, it is said, were employed,
chaises and coaches for the officers."
Percy coming down from Roxbury Neck in the early
evening may well have been shocked at these evidences
of the desperate fighting of the day. He hears that Pit
cairn has been killed and that Abercrombie, rhortally
w^ounded,

48 Earl Percy's
wounded, had made a last appeal to his men to treat old
Putnam kindly if they took him. Major Small declares
that he owes his own life to Putnam, who " rushed
forward and struck up the muzzles of guns that were
aimed at him." Percy is doubtless proud to learn that
"his regiment suffered the most and behaved the best,"
and is pleased to hear from Burgoyne that Lord Raw
don has " behaved to a charm," and has established his
name for life.^' g^t when they tell him that Harris is
dangerously wounded, and that there were only eight
men of his company left to follow Lord Rawdoninto the
redoubt, the Earl's pride and pleasure are tempered by
grief. Down at the marine barracks in the North End
strong men are weeping like children for Pitcairn.
They tell how he was bleeding from two wounds, when
he placed himself in front of the battalion for the third
attack, and how as he pointed to the enemy he called
out for the last time, " Now for the glory of the ma
rines ! " He was struck by four bullets as he entered the
redoubt, and they believe at the barracks that he died
as he had always wished to die, and that his closing eyes
must have beheld his marines victorious. "We have
lost a father." 3° That is the wail of Pitcairn's bereaved
command. No one could complain of Colonel Gunning's con
duct at Bunker Hill, and he came out unscathed, to be
warmly commended by the General. That night, back
in the Boston camp, Evelyn bethought himself of the
dangers

Dinner-Table 49
dangers that beset us in this troubled life ; he thought
too of Peggie Wright, and then and there drew up his
modest will. Harry Fox bore himself in every emerg
ency as became an officer of the 38th, and as he pored
over the gaps in his company roll, he must have thought
of what a shameful waste it was to send His Majesty's
troops against men of British blood. 3'
Percy was fortunate in having none of his regimental
officers slain. There were wounds in plenty, and the life
of Harris was saved by trepanning. Years after he left
the Boston hospital, he w«uld laughingly tell how the
doctors had allowed him to behold his own brains in
a mirror. For weeks the town was a hospital, and scores of
soldiers who succumbed to their wounds were buried
intrenches on the Common. "Many of the wounded
are daily dying," writes an army surgeon at this time,
" and many must have bqth legs amputated. The Pro
vincials either exhausted their ball, or they were deter
mined that every wound should prove mortal. Their
muskets were charged with old nails and angular pieces
of iron." We read of how Lady Frankland gave up
her mansion for a hospital and how Clinton abandoned
the Hancock House that it might be put to the same
use. In the messrooms of the garrison, Minden lost its
standing as a bloody battle. Minden was dull work to
Bunker Hill, so the talk ran, and the far-famed French
grenadier a really harmless animal when compared to
the

50 Earl Percy's
the American peasant with a wall in front of him and
powder and ball in his pouch.
We have only meagre records of what went on in
Boston between July, 1775, when Washington arrived
in Cambridge, and March, 1776, when he placed his
heavy guns in position on Dorchester Heights. We
know that the winter was not a mild one, and that low
temperatures were rendered more fearful by the lack of
fuel and by the rough gales that howled across the Com
mon and through the narrow streets. Food was scarce,
and the occasional skirmishes between outposts not
being frequent nor warm enough to keep the troops in
heart, it was a hard task to restrain them from vandal
ism and excess. All lived in the hope of that long de
ferred campaign which was to put everything to rights.
Burgoyne was a conspicuous figure in the town until
the day of his departure. When the Old South Meet
ing House was converted into a riding-school for the
17th Light Dragoons he was frequently an object of
interest to the officers and ladies who thronged the gal
lery .^^ Almost any day he might be seen strolling about
the ring watching with critical eye the riding of the
men and nodding approvingly as his nephew the Honor
able Tom Stanley leaped his horse over the barriers.
It was Burgoyne's fate in Boston to be more active with
his pen than with his sword. He was an ardent soldier,
a strict disciplinarian, but he found time to waste ink
in a fruitless controversy with Charles Lee, and these
letters.

Dinner-Table 5 1
letters, with the pompous proclamations he wrote for
Gage, have proved the enduring part of his literary
labors. His wit as a playwright and his efficiency as
a stage-manager were his best offerings to the royal
cause in Boston. He wrote the prologue for a perform
ance of "Zarah" at Faneuil Hall, and Lord Rawdon
spoke the lines. We can fancy that the young man per
formed this task with far less confidence than he played
his part at Bunker Hill. "The theatre flourishes sur
prisingly and has brought out some capital performers,"
writes George Evelyn, who, having succeeded in get
ting Boscawen sent home on recruiting duty, breathed
free again. Burgoyne's piece of "The Blockade of Bos
ton " was not acted until after the sailing of the accom
plished author, and the first performance in Faneuil
Hall was broken up by the alarm of a Yankee attack.
Officers were ordered to their posts, and we read of
the dilemma of certain fair Tories who made their way
home without escort, to the great delight of their rebel
sisters. We see little of Earl Percy during these days, but we
can imagine that because of the lack of tempting viands
dinner-giving was going out of fashion in Boston. Sir
William Howe managed to maintain a dignified and
charming hospitality at the Province House, and
within its walls anxious Tories were wont to find new
courage, and dance dull care away to the bewitching
music of the Fusihers' band. But when the raw March air

52 Earl Percy's
air began to throb to the roar of the Continental can
non, a spirit of gloom crept over the town, and made its
way at last into the innermost recesses of the Governor's
mansion and chilled the heart in the Governor's breast.
On the morning of March 5, 1776, the British offi
cers were gazing in wonder upon Dorchester Heights
as nine months before they had looked across the Charles
upon Breed's Hill. Washington had thrown up redoubts
on the high land during the night, and the Admiral at
once notified Howe that his anchorage was no longer
tenable. Then Percy comes into prominence for the
last time in Boston. He is ordered to rendezvous at the
Castle with a force of three thousand men, and to cross
to the mainland in the morning to attack the Contin
ental works. The expedition bivouacked at the Castle
that night, but the day of the 6th was ushered in by a
driving storm, and the sea ran so high that it was found
impossible to get the troops off. All through the stormy
day Howe was pondering the lessons of Bunker Hill,
and his memory was so haunted by the carnage wrought
by the American farmers, that before the storm had
subsided, he countermanded Percy's orders and began
to prepare for evacuating the town. After sundown on
March 1 6, the British troops went aboard the trans
ports, and all night long the streets echoed to their
departing tramp. On the 1 7th the fleet dropped down
to Nantasket Roads, and there lay for ten days before
weighing anchor for Halifax. As Percy paced the deck
within

Dinner-Table 53
within sight of the hills of Boston, the windows of his
house on Winter Street were looking out upon glad
scenes, upon the street thronging with happy country
people and townsfolk returning, upon the Common
where detachments of the liberating army, ill drilled and
in motley garb, were going on duty. Putnam and Greene
come down the street, so does Mr. Knox, the book
seller, in his artillery regimentals, and John Stark also,
with Prescott of Pepperell. But the old house echoes
to the cheering of hundreds when a greater than these
approaches, a far nobler man indeed than any of the
distinguished company who have sat down with Earl
Percy at his table here in Boston. His Excellency, the
Commander-in-Chief, rides a great charger, he wears
the blue and buff, and he bows gravely to right and left
upon the joyous crowds that line his way.

54 £W Percy's

c III :\

LET us glance in closing at what the future had
in store for those gallant servants of King
George whom we have met at Earl Percy's
table. As we look into the scattering family correspond
ence that has been preserved, it is pleasant to see how
fully Roger Sheaffe repaid the benevolence of his noble
patron. In 1778 an ensign in the 5th Foot, in 1813 he
was a major-general commanding against the United
States in Canada. This service was sorely against his
will, and he was ever devoted to his mother and to his
friends and kindred in Boston. He revisited the town in
1788 and again in 1792, when he was clearly the idol
of the family circle. He married Margaret Coffin, a
cousin to the admiral of that name, and it was a note
from the Duke of Northumberland's addressed to
"Lady Sheaffe," that first informed this excellent
woman that her husband had been created a baronet of
England. The career of Roger Sheaffe was marked at
times by hardship and disappointment, but through it
all the Duke appears and reappears in his role of a fairy
godfather. We catch frequent glimpses of Sir Roger
during

Dinner-Table 55
during the early half of the nineteenth century, and in
the days of the third Duke of Northumberland we find
him always a welcome guest at Alnwick, He was ap
parently beloved and favored by the sons of the noble
friend whom he first knew at his mother's house in
Boston as Hugh, Earl Percy.
With the departure of the British from Boston, the
light went out of the life of Dr. Byles. Rejected by
his parish in 1 776, he at length stood trial in the courts
on the grave charge of honoring the King. He was
found guilty and sentenced to banishment, but the pen
alty was never enforced. The old man lived on in Bos
ton, detested by many, until in 1788 he died at the ripe
age of eighty-two years. His Tory principles lived on
in his daughters, and in the old house, surrounded by
the furniture and mementos of the old days, they en
tertained in the old-fashioned way, and prayed for the
restoration of royal authority. Early in the nineteenth
century a portion of their house was removed to make
way for public improvements, and the shock brought
one of these sisters to her grave. The survivor lived to
congratulate William IV upon his accession to the throne
and to subscribe herself his loyal and obedient subject.
To the end she thought and babbled of the days of good
King George, of the wrongs suffered by her father, of
walks on the Mall with Sir William Howe, of courtesies
extended by Earl Percy, and of the serenades by his
regimental band. Lord

56

Earl Percy's

Lord Rawdon sailed away to a brilliant career on
southern battlefields. He was to justify the promise of
Bunker Hill, and to live in history as one of the few
capable officers who fought with Cornwallis against
Gates and Greene. In later years as Lord Moira, and
later still as Marquis of Hastings, he governed England's
far Indian Empire, and won laurels as one of the great
administrators of his day.
In 1793, Captain Harris of the 5th Foot has become
Lord Harris of Seringapatam, having in conjunction
with Colonel Arthur Wellesley overthrown the redoubt
able Tippoo Sahib. Which proved that the brains the
Provincial bullet so narrowly missed at Bunker Hill
were well worth preserving.
Ensign Boscawen in 1777 was riding as captain in the
Royal Irish Dragoons, and ten years later he showed
tact and courage in pacifying the riotous miners at
Truro. He never attained great distinction, but he ful
filled the hopes of his doting mother, and became the
discreet and amiable Viscount Falmouth.
As for Glanville Evelyn, there was but a short span
of life left for him when he sailed from Boston with
Clinton. The longed-for promotion never came, and
before the close of the year 1776 he died at the head
of his company in an obscure skirmish outside New
York. General Howe informed the Ministry that the
King had lost a " gallant officer "in Captain Evelyn, and
Peggie Wright received by virtue of his last will and
testament

Dinner-Table 57
testament the few trinkets and odds and ends which
were all his long years of faithful service had brought
him. Lieutenant Gould, cured of the hurt received at Lex
ington, was exchanged and sent home in the summer
of 1775, His convalescence was so rapid and so com
plete that within a few weeks after his arrival in Eng
land he was able to elope with the daughter of a peer.
Mrs. Boscawen in horror reminded Mrs. Delaney that
this young desperado had been a friend and comrade
of her dear boy in the King's Own.'* In i j'jj Gould
comes again into notice as a witness at the trial of the
Reverend John Home in London, and we are told that
Earl Percy was an interested spectator in the court-
room.35 To the chagrin of the King and his Ministers,
Gould testified as an eye-witness that the royal troops
were the aggressors on Lexington Common. In 1792
we are surprised to find him in possession of the office
once held by the most implacable enemy of Robin
Hood. We must assume that as " Sheriff of Notting
ham," Gould turned his back upon the follies of his
early life and became not only a sober citizen, but a
terror to all evil-doers within his jurisdiction.
On the morning of October 21,1 805, Lord Nelson
is bringing his fleet into action against the French, As
the mighty mass of the Royal Sovereign drives grandly
into the opposing line. Nelson, moved with enthusiasm
at the sight, exclaims to an officer at his side, " See how that

S8

Earl Percy's

that noble fellow Collingwood takes his ship into ac
tion. How I envy him ! " And so the modest lieutenant
of the Somerset in 1775 lived to have the honor of
being second in command to Nelson on the glorious
day of Trafalgar,
In the spring of 1779 we find " dear Harry Fox," as
Lady Sarah Lennox calls him, back at the Duke of
Richmond's seat in Sussex, He reappears among his
kinsfolk as Lieutenant-Colonel Fox of the 38th. His
campaigning has not undone him, for " he is a good
portly figure," and while "he breathes short like poor
Ste, which vexes one for fear of its being from the same
cause of inward fat," he is active and stirring, and a
strong walker. To Lady Sarah, "his looks, his man
ner, are all delightfull ; he has the more true good mili
tary air, the most noble ways." He talks of his service
with a modesty and propriety that are charming. He
still laughs at the folly of supposing that America can
be conquered. " He says the Americans never plunder
without leave, he dorit say so of the English." He longs
to pursue all sorts of campaigning save that against the
Americans, which he has no heart for. And there is
a general's commission and a fond wife awaiting Colonel
Fox in the not distant future, and Lord Holland's " only
good son " is destined to round out an honorable and
useful life.
As for Gunning, that handsome soldier, with his dis
tinguished connections and his hallucinations regarding
Charlemagne,

Dinner-Table 59
Charlemagne, there is a sad downfall awaiting him. As
a general resting from war's alarms he is to be undone
by a vulgar wife and an ill-bred daughter who crave an
alliance with the great house of Marlborough. It is a
strange story, and the wild campaign of those awful
women cheered Selwyn's closing days and enlivened
for weeks the letters of Horace Walpole. Poor Gun
ning, who, cool and collected, had withstood the iron
hail of Bunker Hill, succumbed to this blow at his van
ity.'* He cast his family from him, and plunged into
dissipation and debt. Then, heedless of his high social
connections, unmindful even of Charlemagne, he ran
away with the wife of an army tailor. He figured dis
reputably in a divorce suit, wrote for publication an
"Apology" for his life, and died at last on the shores
of the Bay of Naples. Years after his death a book was
published by his erring daughter, and in inscribing it
to the Princess Charlotte she described herself as " the
daughter of the late Lieutenant-General Gunning and
the niece of the late Duchess of Argyll and the Count
ess of Coventry." So by the hand of the daughter who
had shamed him, his name was linked on a printed
page with that of his famous sisters, without whom he
would hardly have risen in the fashionable world and
contributed to one of the rarest of its scandals.
As for the noble Percy, he was to serve valiantly in
America for some months before returning to London
to lay before his sovereign his opinion of Sir William Howe,

6o Earl Percy's Dinner-Table
Howe.'' With his arrival home his days of active sol
diering were finished, but his interest in military mat
ters remained always keen. The 5th Regiment of Foot
became the Northumberland Fusiliers in compliment to
him, and the efficiency of the county militia long bore
witness to his fostering care. In 1778 the Earl obtained
a divorce from that wanton daughter of Lord Bute.'*
He had said to Bishop Percy that matrimony should
never tempt him again until he should find another Lady
Algernon." And he kept his word, for though he mar
ried within a few months of his divorce, it was to Lady
Algernon's younger sister, who was to grace her high
station both as Countess Percy and as Duchess of North
umberland. The "soldier duke" grew old in a fine
aristocratic way, and he became gouty and choleric of
temper, as befitted an English peer. He was courted by
the Whig leaders at Westminster and was somewhat
spoiled by these attentions. He gave his counsel with a
grand air and was quick to take offense. He quarreled at
last with Charles James Fox, and he is credited with
administering a rebuff to no less a person than the Prince
of Wales,'^" In his declining years he must have often
dwelt upon those fateful hours when he brought the
army from Lexington to Charlestown Common, and
he may well have given a wistful thought to those far
away days when his table was laid with twelve covers
in the house at the head of Winter Street.

NOTES

i^tts

HUGH, Earl Percy, was born August 14, 1742, the son of Sir
Hugh and Lady Elizabeth Smithson. Lady Betty was the
daughter of Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset, whose
mother was Lady Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Joscelyne
Percy, nth Earl of Northumberland. In honor of his maternal de
scent, Algernon Seymour was created, in 1749, Baron Warkworth of
Warkworth and Earl of Northumberland. In 1750, upon the death of
his father-in-law, Sir Hugh became Earl of Northumberland and took
the name of Percy. In 1766 he was created Duke of Northumberland.
James Smithson, founder of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington,
was a natural son of Sir Hugh, and so a half-brother of Earl Percy.
c: 2 ]
See Letters of Hugh Earl Percy^ edited by Charles Knowles Bolton,
Boston, 1902.
C 3 n
Earl Percy and the Selectmen. "The Selectmen took cognizance
of the affair, (the riot at Miss Erskines) and chose a committee of
four from their number to wait upon Earl Piercy, (who commands
in ye Governor's absence) and acquaint him with it, who treated them
very politely (and made many apologies that his marque would not afford
better accommodations for them) and express'd himself much displeas'd
with their (ye officers) conduct, and told 'em he would take effectual
means to prevent the like behaviour in future, and further assur'd them, that

64

Notes

that if they chose to enter a prosecution in civil law, he would see that
ev'ry of the culprits were deliver'd up." — Letters ofjohn Andrews^
Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc, 1864-5, p. 334.
c 4 :\
" We expected to have been in barracks by this time, but the sons of
liberty have done every thing in their power to prevent our accommo
dation. . . . For some regiments timber was provided, and the frames
pretty well advanced, when they (the sons of liberty) thought proper to
issue their orders to the carpenters to desist from working for the troops,
upon pain of their displeasure. And one man who paid no attention to
their order, was waylaid, seized by a mob, and carried ofF, and narrowly
escaped hanging. . . . They have also forbid all merchants from furnish
ing their enemies with blankets, tools or materials of any kind, and have
endeavoured to hinder our getting bricks to build chimneys in our bar
racks, and threatened to prohibit all provisions being brought to market ;
but the force of English gold no Yankey can withstand, were it offered
to purchase his salvation." — Capt. W. G. Evelyn {King's Own Regiment)
to Rev. Doctor Evelyn, Oct. 31, 1774.
" The Governor sent his compliments to the Selectmen and beg'd
their attendance at six o'clock this evening, when he requested of them
that they would not take any measures to prevent the workmen from
going on with the barracks. They reply'd it was not in their power to
influence the country, and it lay principally with them whether the work
men should proceed or not. . . . The Governor seem'd a great deal wor
ried about ye affair, and am told that in the course of the conversation
he express'd himself thus — 'Good G — d! for G — d's sake. Gen
tlemen ! they have got two months work to do, and the Soldiers ought
to be in barracks in one. Do consider, Gentlemen ! ' Thus the tables
are in some measure turn'd." — Letters ofjohn Andrews, p. 368.
" The Carpenters employed in building Barracks, left Work last
Week by the Advice of the Selectmen and Committee of Correspond
ence." — Mass. Gazette, October 'i, 1774.
The

Notes 65

c 5 :\
The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. Mr. John Andrews
had his opinion upon the efficiency of this corps. He witnessed the
parade and says, " At about five o'clock they remarched into King
street, where they perform'd their evolutions with the greatest propri
ety and exactness ; much more so, in my opinion, than any perform
ances of the troops since they 've been here."
C 6 J
Warren's address in the Old South Meeting-House in 1775, on the
anniversary of the Boston Massacre, contained the following words :
" Even the sending of troops to put these acts in execution is not with
out advantages to us. The exactness and beauty of their discipline in
spire our youth with ardor in the pursuit of military knowledge. Charles
the Invincible taught Peter the Great the art of war; the battle of Pul-
towa convinced Charles of tlie proficiency Peter had made."

c 7 :\
" Last Monday arrived in Town from Brooklyn Parish (Connecti
cut) Col. Israel Putnam with 125 Sheep as a Present to the industrious
Poor here." — Mass. Gazette, Aug. 22/74.
c 8 ;]
" You ask me what I say to my cousin Lee ? Why, I say it is the ele
ment for boiling water, and, as I dare say he persuades himself he is
acting right, I don't pity him for falling in a cause he thinks glorious,
as I fear he will e'er long. I shall be very sorry for him, for he has many
good and great qualities to make up for his turbulent spirit and vanity."
— Lady Sarah Bunbury to Lady Susan 0'Brien,Aug. 21, 1775. Life and
Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox, vol. i, p. 244.
Earl

66 Notes
c 9 ;]
Earl Percy's House on Winter Street. " His Excellency pro
ceeded to Earl Piercy's, who occupies a house at the head of Winter
Street belonging to Inspector Williams." — Letters of fohn Andrews,
P- 350- Interesting information in regard to Earl Percy's residence in Boston
is given in the following extract from a letter of C. W. Tuttle to Jona
than Mason which appeared in theBostony/iafe^r/wr of May i,i88o: —
"Concerning my statement that Lord Percy, second duke of North
umberland, resided in a house owned by John Williams, standing on
the northerly corner of Winter and Tremont streets in Boston, I have
received several private communications within ten days. When I be
gan, about six years since, to collect historical facts relating to Lord
Percy, there were several traditions current pointing to different houses
as his official residence while in Boston. I took no heed of them, but
went back to our local records of that period. There I found an authen
tic statement that on the last day of August, two months after his arrival
in Boston, he was living in a house at the head of Winter Street owned
by John Williams. During the interval between his arrival and this date
I know not where he lodged, unless at Mrs. Sheafe's, as you remember
to have heard from those who might well know the fact, for it was then
only twenty-five years after the event. It is reasonable that his lordship
should find temporary lodgings at her house while the one in Winter
Street was being made ready for his occupation. I have seen no evi
dence originating in that period of his having lived in any other house
while in Boston. Lord Percy was well received here, and it is likely that
he was often a guest in many of the houses which have been claimed as
his official residence.
" This house, corner of Winter and Tremont streets, was not only
beautiful for situation, but one of the best in that part of Boston. It had
been owned and occupied for three quarters of a century by some of the
most opulent merchants, and also by distinguished official persons. Captain

Notes 6"]

Captain Edward WyUis was the proprietor from 1672 to his death, in
1698. He, apparently, built the fine house that stood there at the time
Lord Percy was an occupant. The successive owners were, — viz:
Colonel Samuel Vetch, Captain Thomas Steel, Judge Adam Winthrop,
Thomas Oxnard, John Williams from 1768 to 1780, Samuel Breck,
and John Andrews."
t 10 ;]
Dr. Caner. Henry Caner, D.D., graduated at Yale in 1724 and in 1727
went to England for ordination. His ministry at King's Chapel began
in 1747 and continued until the Revolution drove him from his pulpit
in 1776. In Sargent's Z)Wz«^j wz//) ?Zi^ Z)^fl^, the ghost of Martin Smith,
once sexton of King's Chapel, is authority for the statement that in
1776 Dr. Caner, "then an old man, carried off the church plate, 2800
ounces of silver, the gift of three kings ; of which not a particle has
ever been recovered ; and in lieu thereof, he left behind his fervent pray
ers, that God would ' change the hearts of the rebels' "
Brief accounts of Judge Joseph Lee of Cambridge and Isaac Royall
of Medford will be found in Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolu
tion. Judge Lee's Toryism was not of the aggressive type, and after the
war he continued to dwell peaceably among his old neighbors in Cam
bridge. Royall went to England in 1776, and was proscribed and ban
ished in 1778. He died in England in 1781, his heart yearning for his
fine old mansion in Medford. "No house in the Colony was more open
to friends," says Sabine ; " no gentleman gave better dinners, or drank
costlier wines. As a master, he was kind to his slaves ; charitable to the
poor, and friendly to everybody."
Ensign Boscawen. " My son George is clear in his choice of arms,
and I have, at his desire, paid ;^400 for an ensigncy in the 4th or Kings
Own Regiment of Foot, lately sailed for America, where my young
soldier purposes to join them in the course of this summer — full as
well

68 Notes
well stor'd with Greek and Latin as My Lord Chesterfield. O ! dear
boy, I did not intend him for this business, but I submit, and hope time
and his good behaviour will reconcile me to it better than now I am, or
can be as yet." — Mrs. Boscawen to Mrs. Delaney, May 13, 1774.
" By the ship w'^'' is just arriv'd with Mrs. Gage I have the satisfac
tion to hear that my soldier and his captain (Evelyn) were well on the
20'h of last month." — Mrs. B. to Mrs. D., Sept. 20, 1 775.

c 12 :\
Dr. Byles. For a record of the witticisms of Dr. Byles, see Sargent's
Dealings with the Dead, p. 367 et seq.

n 13 :\
Dr. William Pitcairn. A delightful account of this eminent physi
cian is to be found in the Gold Headed Cane, London, 1828. " His bro
ther, a Major in the army, had been killed at the battle of Bunker's Hill.
. . . He adopted his orphan children, and always acted towards them
with the affection and solicitude of a parent."

C 14 1
Dr. David Pitcairn, who was adopted and educated by Dr. William
Pitcairn. See the Gold Headed Cane.

I 15 J
There is a pretty version of the story in the Rev. E. G. Porter's Ram
bles in Old Boston. Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolution contains
an account of both Roger and Susannah Sheaffe.
Hot

Notes 69
C 16 ]
Hot Stuff. This song was the work of Edward Botwood, a sergeant
of Grenadiers in the 47th Foot (Lascelles), who fell in Wolfe's attack
upon the French intrenchments near Beaufort, July 31, 1759. It was
a favorite with the British army throughout the Revolution, and was
sung to the air " Lilies of France."
Come each death-doing dog who dares venture his neck.
Come, follow the hero that goes to Quebec;
Jump aboard of the transports, and loose every sail.
Pay your debts at the tavern by giving leg-bail;
And ye that love fighting shall soon have enough :
Wolfe commands us, my boys; we shall give them Hot Stuff.
Up the River St. Lawrence our troops shall advance.
To the Grenadier's March we will teach them to dance.
Cape Breton we have taken, and next we will try
At their capital to give them another black eye.
Vaudreuil, 't is in vain you pretend to look gruff, —
Those are coming who know how to give you Hot Stuff.
With powder in his periwig, and snuff in his nose.
Monsieur will run down our descent to oppose;
And the Indians will come; but the light infantry
Will soon oblige them to betake to a tree.
From such rascals as these may we fear a rebuff?
Advance, grenadiers, and let fly your Hot Stuff!
When the forty-seventh regiment is dashing ashore,
While bullets are whistling and cannons do roar.
Says Montcalm: "Those are Shirley's, — I know the lapels."
"You lie," says Ned Botwood, "we belong to Lascelles' !
Tho' our cloathing is changed, yet we scorn a powder puff;
So at you, ye b — s, here 's give you Hot Stuff." Hillsborough

70 Notes

c 17 :]
Hillsborough Paint. " Sometime last night they gave Scott a Hils-
horough treat, and not content with disfiguring the outside of his shop,
they by help of a ladder open'd his, chamber window and emptied sev
eral buckets full into it. Should be glad for the honor of the town, that
they would leave off such beastly practices — as there are many much
better ways of showing their resentment." — Letters ofjohn Andrews,
P-370.
C 18 ;]
The Addressers to Governor Hutchinson. The following serve
to show the character of the communications which appeared in the
Boston and Salem papers in 1 774 : —
Whereas I did suddenly and unadvisably sign an address to the late
Governor Hutfhinson, with some others (Justices of the Peace) of
Middlesex, being in great Haste and not so well considering every Part
thereof,nor the dangerous Consequences of said Address, am very sorry
for it ; And as it hath offended my Christian Brethren and Neighbours,
I do hereby desire their Forgiveness and a Restoration of their Friend
ship. Thomas Kidder.
Billerica, July 13, 1774.
To my worthy Town and Countrymen.
Gentlemen :
As I have given you great Offence by signing an Address to Gov
ernor Hutchinson (upon his leaving the Province) and as it always gives
me Pain to affront or disoblige even a single Neighbour ; this has been
much increased as the Public are so much concerned in it ; And had I
conceived that the Generality of the People so much disliked an Ad
dress to Mr. Hutchinson, it should not have had my Name to it, as I
always place the Friendship and Good-will of my Fellow Men in the
first

Notes 71

first Class of the World's Enjoyments. I am very sorry I ever signed
it, and hope the Public will freely forgive. Gentlemen, Your humble Servant,
John White.
Charlestown, Sept. 3, 1774.
I 19 3
The doings at Miss Erskine's are mentioned in the Andrews Letters,
page 333. The episodes of Hancock's fence and the Providence
coach are described in Moore's Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i,
page 54.
"The Sam Adams Regiments." When the news reached London of
the Boston Massacre, and of the removal of the troops from the town
as a result of the agitation headed by Samuel Adams, the 14th and 29th
were derisively alluded to in Parliament as " the Sam Adams regi
ments."
c 21 :]
The ballad of Edwin and Angelina first saw the light with a title-page
that read, " Edwin and Angelina, a ballad ; by Mr. Goldsmith. Printed
for the amusement of the Countess of Northumberland." It afterwards
appeared in the Vicar of Wakefield with the title of The Hermit. —
Forster's Life of Goldsmith, vol. i, p. 403.
c 22 :\
Desertions. "The desertion among the troops at Boston daily encreases.
By private letters from America, to the full as authentic as any with
which the Ministry are furnished, we are informed, that more than
three hundred of the soldiers have quitted their respective regiments.
The sagacity of General Gage has been exerted to prevent this alarm ing

72 Notes

ing evil, but hitherto the General's stratagems have all proved ineffect
ual ; the men who are placed as centinels to hinder others from desert
ing, are themselves the very men who take the most sudden flight." —
London advices in the Essex Gazette, Nov. 8, I774'
"The desertions have been so great of late that the troops had orders
last evening to call the roll every half hour till further orders." — Let
ters of John Andrews, p. 388.
" No more troops will be sent from Ireland to America, but from
Great Britain. This regulation has been occasioned by the great deser
tion of the Irish regiments under General Gage." — London advices in
Massachusetts Gazette, Nov. 21, 1774.
C 23 ]
Referring to the uprising in Scotland in 1745 for the Chevalier
Charles Edward.
C 24 ^
General Gage had married the daughter of a Colonist and was sus
pected in the army of being so much under her influence as to share
with her important state secrets.
C 25 ]
" Boys, war 's begun and school 's done ; deponite lihros.'"
C 26 3
Major Pitcairn at Lexington. "Major Pitcairn, who was a good
Man in a bad Cause, insisted upon it to the day of his Death, that the
Colonists fired first. . . . He does not say that he saw the Colonists fire first.
Had he said it, I would have believed him, being a Man of Integrity
& Honor." — Diary of Ezra Stiles, D.D., President of Tale College,
vol. i, p. 604. CoL.

Notes 73

C 27 ;]
Col. Saltonstall and Mr. Vassall. Colonel Richard Saltonstall,
who was much admired for his military knowledge and attainments,
was born in 1732, and graduated at Harvard in 1751. An ardent loyal
ist he declined to draw his sword against the King, but he could not
bring himself to bear arms against his countrymen. He went to Eng
land in 1775, and died there ten years later. Sabine declares that "his
integrity, frankness, and benevolence, his politeness, superior under
standing, and knowledge of the world, won general praise and admira
tion." John Vassall was born in Cambridge in 1738, and graduated at Har
vard in 1757- He was driven from Cambridge by mobs in 1775, and
his house became the headquarters of Washington during the siege of
Boston. Mr. Vassall went to England in 1776, and died there in 1797.
c 28 :\
"It seems the officers and soldiers are a good deal disaffected to
wards the Governor, thinking, I suppose, that he is partial to the in
habitants, many of the latter have made no scruple to call him an Old
Woman'' — Letters ofjohn Andrews, page 401.
C 29 ^
Lord Rawdon at Bunker Hill. Lord Rawdon was clearly the hero
of Bunker Hill on the British side. In a letter now in the possession of
the author and dated Boston, June 23d, General Clinton writes as fol
lows :
" I heard from everybody my friend Lord Rawdon commended for
his coolness and manly intrepidity during the action. I saw myself one
instance of it. The Enemy occupied some houses from which they
annoy'd us a good deal, [and] his Lordship hearing I intended to advice Gen'l

74 Notes

Gen'l Howe to occupy a post exposed but too much to their fire, in
sisted on being detached for that purpose, assembled his Grenadiers and
seemed in that sort of impatience to go which did him great honour.
His request however your Lordship may easily conceive could not be
Comply'd with ; but that spirited offer, after as sharp an action as had
been fought in a great while, and in which he had received a shot
through his hat, made a great impression on me."
I 30 ]
The Death of Pitcairn. " Lieutenant Pitcairn, son to the Major, was
standing by his father when that noble officer fell and expired without
uttering a word. He looked very wistfully at the lieutenant, who kneeled
down and cried out, 'My father is killed, I have lost my father.' This
slackened the firing of the regulars for some minutes, many of the men
echoing the words, 'We have all lost a father.'" — Upcott, iv, p. 313.
Moore's Diary of the American Revolution.
" Major Pitcairn was a brave and good man. His son, an officer in
the same corps, and near him when he fell, carried his expiring father
upon his back to the boats, about a quarter of a mile, kissed him, and
instantly returned to his duty. This circumstance, in the hands of a good
painter or historian, would equal most that can be found in antiquity."
— Burgoyne to Lord Palmerston.
" Lieutenant Pitcairn of the Marines (who brought his father. Major
Pitcairn, when mortally wounded at Boston, off the field of action) is
appointed a captain-lieutenant and captain in the said corps, though not
in his turn, as an acknowledgment of the services of his gallant father."
— English Paper of August 15, 1775, quoted in Frothingham' s Siege of
Boston. Pitcairn breathed his last in a house in the North End of Boston
which tradition still points out. His remains were sent to England and
interred in the Church of St. Bartholomew the Less in London where his

Notes 75

his brother Doctor William and his son Doctor David also lie. There
is a gruesome legend to the effect that the remains of Lieutenant Shea
were sent by mistake to London instead of those of Pitcairn and that
the ashes of the Major repose beneath Christ Church in Boston.
c 31 ;]
Captain Fox at Bunker Hill. "Since I began this I 've heard the
news of the action near Boston. Oh Lord ! how it makes one's blood
run cold to think of any action, much more such a bloody one as that,
& among one's own people almost. Thank God our friends are safe;
General Howe was so good in the midst of his hurry to name dear
Harry Fox to his wife, & says, though in the midst of the hottest part
of the action, he remained unhurt & is quite safe; poor little Mrs.
Howe fainted away with only the shock of the word action, and could
not for a long time believe her husband was alive till luckily his letter
came." — Lady Sarah Bunbury to Lady Susan O' Brien, ]uly 29, 1775.
Life and Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox, vol. i, p. 242.
C 32 3
Burgoyne and the Old South. Deacon Timothy Newell made the
entry in his diary under date of October 25, 1775, that the desecration
of the Old South Meeting-House " was effected by the solicitation of
General Burgoyne." This, with other contemporaneous assertions to
the same effect, has betrayed modern historians into the mis-statement
that it was the Queen's 1 6th Light Dragoons (of which regiment Bur
goyne was Colonel) that misused the old church. The fact is that Bur
goyne's regiment was not in Boston, and did not embark for America
until the summer of 1776. It was the 17th Light Dragoons (Preston's)
under Lieutenant-Colonel Birch, which came to Boston in 1775, and
occupied the Old South. Burgoyne was doubtless interested in this regi
ment as an old cavalry officer, and because of his interest in Captain
Stanley, but it is not clear that he was in any way responsible for the
location or establishment of the riding-school.
Percy

!(>

Notes

C 33 H
Percy succeeded his father as Duke of Northumberland in June, 1786.
c 34 :]
Gould's Elopement. Gould eloped with the only daughter of Henry,
third Earl of Sussex. Mrs. Delaney alludes to the affair in writing to
the Honorable Mrs. Boscawen under date of November i, 1775. In
after years Gould's son Henry proved himself worthy of his sire by
running away with the daughter of a Warwickshire farmer.
C 35 ^
The Reverend John Horne. Mr. Horne, better known as Horne
Tooke, had in 1775 signed an advertisement issued by the Constitu
tional Society requesting a subscription for "the relief of the widows,
orphans, and aged parents of our beloved American subjects, who faith
ful to the character of Englishmen, preferring death to slavery, were,
for that reason only, inhumanly murdered by the King's troops, at or
near Lexington and Concord, in the province of Massachusetts, on the
19* of April last." He was found guilty of uttering "a gross libel,"
and sentenced to a fine of ;£'200 and a year in prison.
c: 36 ;]
" You will now pity the poor General who has been a dupe from the
beginning,and sheds floods of tears; nay, has actually turned his daugh
ter out of doors." — Horace Walpole to Miss Berry, February 13J 1791.
L 37 3
"The Howes are not in fashion. Lord Percy has come home disgusted
by the younger." — Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann,}\xnc 18,1777. Earl

Notes 'J']
C 38 n
Earl Percy's Divorce. The Earl had married in 1764 Lady Anne
Stewart, third daughter of John, Earl of Bute, and had separated from
her in 1769, or nine years before his divorce. This lady was a grand
daughter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and there is a glimpse of
her in the Journals and Correspondence of Miss Berry, London, 1865.

c 39 ^
Lord Algernon Percy married in June, 1775, Isabella Susannah,
second daughter of Peter Burrell, of Beckenham, Kent, sister of the
first Lord Gwydyr.
C 40 -}
The Duke of Northumberland and the Prince of Wales.
"On June 10, 1803, the Prince wrote from Brighton asking that his
'young friendTom Sheridan' should be nominated by the Duke for one
of his vacant boroughs. Northumberland replied that he could not grant
the request as Lord Percy would soon be of age, and the vacant boroughs
should be kept open for his selection." — Gerald Brennans " House of
Percy."

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