Dealings With The Dead Volume I Part 12

Lord Clarendon then proceeds to speak of the impossibility of finding the body ten years after, when it was the wish of Charles II. to place it, with all honor, in the chapel of Henry VII., in Westminster Abbey. For this he accounts, by stating, that most of those present, at the _interment_, were dead or dispersed, at the restoration; and the memories of the remaining few had become so confused, that they could not designate the spot; and, after opening the ground, in several places, without success, they gave the matter up. Now there can be no doubt, that the body was placed in the vault, where it was found, in 1813, and that no _interment_ took place, in the proper sense of that word. Had Richmond, Hertford, Southampton, or Lindsey been alive, or at hand, the _vault itself_, and not a spot _near the vault_, would, doubtless, have been indicated, as the resting place of King Charles. Wood, in the Athenae Oxonienses, states, that the royal corpse was "well coffined, and all afterwards wrapped up in lead and covered with a new velvet pall." All this perfectly agrees with the account, given by Sir Henry Halford, and certified by the Prince Regent, in 1813.

Sir Henry Halford states, that George the Fourth had built a mausoleum, at Windsor; and, while constructing a pa.s.sage, under the choir of St.

George's Chapel, an opening was unintentionally made into the vault of Henry VIII., through which, the workmen saw, not only those two coffins, which were supposed to contain the bodies of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour, but a third, covered with a black pall. Mr. Herbert's account, quoted in my last number, from the Athenae, left little doubt, that this was the coffin of Charles I.; notwithstanding the statements of Lord Clarendon, that the body was interred _near_ the vault. An examination was made, April 1, 1813, in the presence of George IV., then Prince Regent, the Duke of c.u.mberland, Count Munster, the Dean of Windsor, Benjamin Charles Stevenson, Esq., and Sir Henry Halford; of which the latter published an account. London, 1831. This account is exceedingly interesting. "On removing the pall, a plain leaden coffin, with no appearance of ever having been enclosed in wood, and bearing an inscription, KING CHARLES, 1648, in large legible characters, on a scroll of lead encircling it, immediately presented itself to view.

"A square opening was then made, in the upper part of the lid, of such dimensions, as to admit a clear insight into its contents. These were an internal wooden coffin, very much decayed, and the body carefully wrapped up in cere-cloth, into the folds of which a quant.i.ty of unctuous or greasy matter, mixed with resin, as it seemed, had been melted, so as to exclude, as effectually as possible, the external air. The coffin was completely full; and from the tenacity of the cere-cloth, great difficulty was experienced, in detaching it successfully from the parts, which it enveloped. Wherever the unctuous matter had insinuated itself, the separation of the cere-cloth was easy; and when it came off, a correct impression of the features, to which it had been applied, was observed in the unctuous substance. At length the whole face was disengaged from its covering. The complexion of the skin of it was dark and discolored. The forehead and temples had lost little or nothing of their muscular substance; the cartilage of the nose was gone; but the left eye, in the first moment of exposure, was open and full, though it vanished, almost immediately; and the pointed beard, so characteristic of the period of the reign of King Charles, was perfect. The shape of the face was a long oval; many of the teeth remained; and the left ear, in consequence of the interposition of the unctuous matter, between it and the cere-cloth, was found entire.

"It was difficult, at this moment, to withhold a declaration, that, notwithstanding its disfigurement, the countenance did bear a strong resemblance to the coins, the busts, and especially to the pictures of King Charles I., by Vand.y.k.e, by which it had been made familiar to us. It is true, that the minds of the spectators of this interesting sight were well prepared to receive this impression; but it is also certain, that such a facility of belief had been occasioned, by the simplicity and truth of Mr. Herbert's narrative, every part of which had been confirmed by the investigation, so far as it had advanced; and it will not be denied, that the shape of the face, the forehead, an eye, and the beard, are the most important features, by which resemblance is determined.

"When the head had been entirely disengaged from the attachments, which confined it, it was found to be loose, and without any difficulty was taken up and held to view. It was quite wet, and gave a greenish and red tinge to paper and to linen, which touched it. The back part of the scalp was entirely perfect, and had a remarkably fresh appearance; the pores of the skin being more distinct, as they usually are, when soaked in moisture; and the tendons and ligaments of the neck were of considerable substance and firmness. The hair was thick, at the back part of the head, and in appearance, nearly black. A portion of it, which has since been cleansed and dried, is of a beautiful dark brown color. That of the beard was of a redder brown. On the back part of the head it was not more than an inch in length, and had probably been cut so short, for the convenience of the executioner, or perhaps, by the piety of friends, soon after death, in order to furnish memorials of the unhappy king."

"On holding up the head to examine the place of separation from the body, the muscles of the neck had evidently retracted themselves considerably; and the fourth cervical vertebra was found to be cut through its substance transversely, leaving the surfaces of the divided portions perfectly smooth and even, an appearance, which could have been produced only by a heavy blow, inflicted with a very sharp instrument, and which furnished the last proof wanting to identify King Charles, the First. After this examination of the head, which served every purpose in view, and without examining the body below the neck, it was immediately restored to its situation, the coffin was soldered up again, and the vault closed."

"Neither of the other coffins had any inscription upon them. The larger one, supposed, on good grounds, to contain the remains of Henry VIII., measured six feet ten inches in length, and had been enclosed in an elm one, of two inches in thickness; but this was decayed, and lay in small fragments. The leaden coffin appeared to have been beaten in by violence about the middle, and a considerable opening in that part of it, exposed a mere skeleton of the king. Some beard remained upon the chin, but there was nothing to discriminate the personage contained in it."

This is, certainly, a very interesting account. Some beard still remained upon the chin of Henry VIII., says Sir Henry Halford. Henry VIII. died Jan. 28, 1547. He had been dead, therefore, April 1, 1813, the day of the examination, two hundred and sixty-six years. The larger coffin measured six feet ten inches. Sir Henry means top measure. We always allow seven feet lid, or thereabouts, for a six feet corpse. Henry, in his History, vol. xi. p. 369, Lond. 1814, says that King Henry VIII. was tall. Strype, in Appendix A., vol. vi. p. 267, Ecc. Mem., London, 1816, devotes twenty-four octavo pages to an account of the funeral of Henry VIII., with all its singular details; and, at the last, he says--"Then was the vault uncovered, under the said corpse; and the corpse let down therein by the vice, with help of sixteen tal yeomen of the guard, appointed to the same." "Then, when the mold was brought in, at the word, pulverem pulveri et cinerem cineri, first the Lord Great Master, and after the Lord Chamberlain and al others in order, with heavy and dolorous lamentation brake their staves in shivers upon their heads and cast them after the corps into the pit. And then the gentlemen ushers, in like manner brake their rods, and threw them into the vault with exceeding sorrow and heaviness, not without grievous sighs and tears, not only of them, but of many others, as well of the meaner sort, as of the n.o.bility, very piteous and sorrowful to behold."

No. XLI.

My attention was arrested, a day or two since, by a memorial, referred to, in the Atlas, from the owner of the land, famous, in revolutionary history, as the birth-place of LIBERTY TREE; and, especially, by a suggestion, which quadrates entirely with my notions of the fitness of things. If I were a demi-millionaire, I should delight to raise a monument, upon that consecrated spot--it should be a simple colossal shaft, of Ma.s.sachusetts granite, surmounted with the cap of liberty. I would not inscribe one syllable upon it--but, if any grey-headed _Boston boy_--born here, within the limits of the old peninsula--should be moved, by the spirit, to write below--

Haec olim meminisse juvabit--

I should not deem that act any interference with my original purpose.

What days and nights those were! 1765! then, the man, who has now pa.s.sed on to ninety-four, was the boy of ten! How perfectly the tablet of memory retains those impressions, made, by the pressure of great events, when the wax was soft and warm!

It is quite common, with the present generation, at least, to connect the origin of LIBERTY TREE with 1775-6. This is an error. It became celebrated, ten years earlier, during the disturbances in Boston, on account of the Stamp Act, which pa.s.sed March 22, 1765, and was to be in force, on the first of November following. Intelligence arrived, that Andrew Oliver, Secretary of the Province, was to be distributor of stamps.

There was a cl.u.s.ter or grove of beautiful elms, in HANOVER SQUARE--such was the name, then given to the corner of Orange, now part of Washington Street, and Auchmuty's Lane, now Ess.e.x Street. Opposite the southwesterly corner of Frog Lane, now Boylston Street, where the market-house now stands, there was an old house, with manifold gables, and two ma.s.sive chimneys, and, in the yard, in front of it, there stood a large, spreading elm. This was LIBERTY TREE. Its first designation was on this wise. During the night of August 13, 1765, some of the SONS OF LIBERTY, as they styled themselves, a.s.suming the appellation bestowed on them in the House of Commons, by Col. Barre, in a moment of splendid but unpremeditated eloquence, hung, upon that tree, an effigy of Mr. Oliver, and a boot, with a figure of the devil peeping out, and holding the stamp act in his hand; this boot was intended as a practical pun--wretched enough--upon the name of Lord Bute. In the morning of the 14th, a great crowd collected to the spot. Some of the neighbors attempted to take the effigy down. The _Sons of Liberty_ gave them a forcible hint, and they desisted. The Lieutenant Governor, as Chief Justice, directed the sheriff to take it down: he reconnoitred the ground, and reported that it could not be done, without peril of life.

Business was suspended, about town. After dark, the effigy was borne, by the mob, to a building, which was supposed to have been erected, as a stamp-office. This they destroyed, and, bearing the fragments to Fort Hill, where Mr. Oliver lived, they made a bonfire, and burnt the effigy before his door. They next drove him and his family from his house, broke the windows and fences, and stoned the Lieutenant Governor and Sheriff, when they came to parley--all this, upon the night of August 14, 1765. On the 26th, they destroyed the house of Mr. Story, register-deputy of the Admiralty, and burnt the books and records of the court. They then served the house of Mr. Hollowell, Contractor of the Customs, in a similar manner, plundering and carrying away money and chattels. They next proceeded to the residence of the Lieutenant Governor, and destroyed every article not easily transported, doing irreparable mischief, by the destruction of many valuable ma.n.u.scripts. The next day, a town meeting was held, and the citizens expressed their _detestation of the riots_--and, afterwards manifested their silent sympathy with the mob, by punishing n.o.body.

Nov. 1, 1765, the day, when the stamp act came into force, the bells were m.u.f.fled and tolled; the shipping displayed their colors, at half mast; the stamp act was printed, with a death's head, in the place of the stamp, and cried about the streets, under the name of the FOLLY OF ENGLAND, AND THE RUIN OF AMERICA. A new political journal appeared, having for its emblem, or political phylactery, a serpent, cut into pieces, each piece bearing the initials of a colony, with the ominous motto--JOIN OR DIE. More effigies were hung, upon "_the large old elm_," as Gordon terms it--LIBERTY TREE. They were then cut down, and escorted over town. They were brought back, and hung up again; taken down again; escorted to the Neck, by an immense concourse; hanged upon the gallows tree; taken down once more; and torn into innumerable fragments. Three cheers were then given, and, upon a request to that effect, every man went quietly home; and a night of unusual stillness ensued.

Hearing that Mr. Oliver intended to resume his office, he was required, through the newspaper, by an anonymous writer, to acknowledge, or deny, the truth of that report. His answer proving unsatisfactory, he received a requisition, Nov. 16th, to appear "_tomorrow, under_ LIBERTY TREE, _to make a public resignation_." Two thousand persons gathered then, beneath that TREE--not the rabble, but the selectmen, the merchants, and chief inhabitants. Mr. Oliver requested, that the meeting might be held, in the town house; but the SONS OF LIBERTY seemed resolved, that he should be _treed_--no place, under the canopy of Heaven, would answer, but LIBERTY TREE. Mr. Oliver came; subscribed an ample declaration; and made oath to it, before Richard Dana, J. P. This exact.i.tude and circ.u.mspection, on the part of the people, was not a work of supererogation: Andrew Oliver was a most amiable man, in private, but a most lubricious hypocrite, in public life; as appears by his famous letters, sent home by Dr. Franklin, in 1772. After his declaration under the TREE, he made a short speech, expressive of his "_utter detestation of the stamp act_." What a spectacle was there and then! The best and the boldest were there. Samuel Adams and John--Jerry Gridley, Samuel Sewall, and John Hanc.o.c.k, _et id genus omne_ were in Boston then, and the busiest men alive: their absence would have been marked--they must have been there. What an act of daring, thus to defy the monarch and his vicegerents! I paused, this very day, and gazed upon the spot, and put the steam upon my imagination, to conjure, into life and action, that little band of sterling patriots, gathered around; and that n.o.ble elm in their midst:--

"In medio ramos annosaque brachia pandit Ulmus opaca, ingens."

Thenceforward, the SONS OF LIBERTY seem to have taken the TREE, under their special protection. On Valentine's day, 1776, they a.s.sembled, and pa.s.sed a vote, that _it should be pruned after the best manner_. It is well, certainly, now and then, to lop off some rank, disorderly shoots of licentiousness, that will sometimes appear, upon LIBERTY TREE. It was pruned, accordingly, by a party of volunteer carpenters, under the direction of a gentleman of skill and judgment, in such matters.

News of the repeal of the stamp act arrived in Boston, May 16, 1766. The bells rang merrily--and the cannon were unlimbered, around LIBERTY TREE, and bellowed for joy. The TREE, so skilfully pruned, in February, must have presented a beautiful appearance, bourgeoning forth, in the middle of May! The nineteenth of May was appointed, for a merrymaking. At one, in the morning, the bell of the Hollis Street Church, says a zealous writer of that day, "_began to ring_"--_sua sponte_, no doubt. The slumbers of the pastor, Dr. Byles, were disturbed, of course, for he was a tory, though a very pleasant tory, after all. Christ Church replied, with its royal peal, from the North, and _G.o.d save the king_, rang pleasantly again, in colonial ears. The universal joy was expressed, in all those unphilosophical ways, enumerated by Pope,

With gun, drum, trumpet, blunderbuss and thunder.

LIBERTY TREE was hung with various colors. Fireworks and illuminations succeeded. Gov. Hanc.o.c.k treated the people with "_a pipe of Madeira_;" and the SONS OF LIBERTY raised a pyramid, upon the Common, with two hundred and eighty lamps. At twelve o'clock--midnight--a drum, upon the Common, beat the _tattoo_; and men, women, and children retired to their homes, in the most perfect order: verily, a soberness had come over the spirit of their dreams, and method into their madness. On the evening of the twentieth of May, it was resolved to have a festival of lanterns.

The inhabitants vied with each other; and, about dusk, they were seen streaming, from all quarters, to HANOVER SQUARE, every man and boy with his lamp or lantern. In a brief s.p.a.ce, LIBERTY TREE was converted into a brilliant constellation. Like the sparkling waters, during the burning of Ucalegon's palace, described by Homer, the boughs, the branches, the veriest twigs of this popular idol

--------"were bright, With splendors not their own, and shone with sparkling light."

It appears, by the journals of that day, from which most of these particulars are gathered, that our fathers--what inimitable, top-gallant fellows they were!--took a pleasant fancy into their heads, that these lamps would shed a brighter l.u.s.tre, if the poor debtors, in jail, could join in the general joy, under LIBERTY TREE. Accordingly they made up a purse and paid the debts of them all! There was a general jail delivery of the poor debtors, for very joy. Well: a Boston boy, of the old school, was a n.o.ble animal--how easily held by the heart-strings!--with how much difficulty, by the head or the tail!

An antiquarian friend, to whom I am already under sundry obligations, has obligingly loaned me an interesting doc.u.ment, in connection with the subject of LIBERTY TREE; under whose shade I propose to linger a little longer.

No. XLII.

March 22, 1765. George III. and his ministers took it into their heads to sow the wind; and, in an almost inconceivably short time, they reaped the whirlwind. They scattered dragons' teeth, and there came up armed men.

They planted the stamp act, in the Colonial soil, and there sprang into life, mature and full of vigor, the LIBERTY TREE, like Minerva, fully developed, and in perfect armor, from the brain of Jupiter. Whoever would find a clear, succinct, and impartial account of the effect of the stamp act, upon the people of New England, may resort to Dodsley's Annual Register, page 49, of that memorable year. "The sun of liberty has set,"

wrote Franklin home, "but you must light up the candles of industry and economy."

The life of that act of oppression was short and stormy. March 18, 1766, its miserable requiem was sung in Parliament--"an event," says the Annual Register, of that year, page 46, "that caused more universal joy, throughout the British dominions, than, perhaps, any other, that can be remembered." How such a viper ever found its way into the cradle of liberty is quite a marvel--certain it is, the genius of freedom, with the power of Hercules, speedily strangled it there.

In America, and, especially, in Boston, the joy, as I have already stated, was very great; and some there were, beyond all doubt, who were delighted, to find an apology, for going back to monarchical usages. Even liberty may be, sometimes, irksome, at first, to him, who has long lived a slave; and it is no small grievance, I dare say, to such, to be deprived of the luxury of calling some one, Lord and Master, after the flesh. However monstrous, and even ridiculous, the idea of a king may seem to us, republicans, born in this wonderfully bracing atmosphere--there are some, who have a strong taste for _booing_ and genuflection, and the doffing of beavers, and throwing up of "greasy caps," and rending their throats, for very ecstacy, when the royal coach is coming along, bearing the heir apparent, in diapers. This taste, I suppose, like that for olives, must be acquired; it cannot be natural.

May 19, and 20, 1766, the face of the town of Boston was dressed in smiles--a broad grin rather, from ear to ear, from Winnisimmet to Roxbury.

Nothing was talked of but "_a grateful people_," and "_the darling monarch_"--which amounts to this--the "_darling monarch_" had graciously desisted, from grinding their faces any longer, simply because he was convinced, that the "_grateful people_" would kick the grindstone over, and peradventure the grinder, should the "_darling_" attempt to give it another turn.

Under LIBERTY TREE, there was erected, during the rejoicings, an obelisk with four sides. An engraving of those four sides was made at the time, and is now, doubtless, very rare. A copy, loaned me by the friend, to whom I referred, in my last number, is lying before me. I present it, _verbatim, literatim, et punctuatim_.

It is thirteen and an half inches long, and nine and an half wide. On top are these words--"A VIEW of the OBELISK erected under LIBERTY TREE in BOSTON on the Rejoicings for the Repeal of the ---- Stamp Act 1766." At the bottom--"To every Lover of LIBERTY this Plate is humbly dedicated by her true born SONS in BOSTON, New England." The plate presents, apparently, four obelisks, which are, in reality, the four sides of one.

Every side, above the base, is divided horizontally, and nearly equally, into three parts. The superior division of each contains four heads, many of which may be readily recognized, and all of which have indicating letters. The middle division of each contains ten decasyllabic lines. The inferior division of each contains a sketch, of rude execution, and rather more patriotic, than tasteful, in the design. The princ.i.p.al portraits are of George III.; Queen Charlotte; Marquis of Rockingham; Duke of York; Gen.

Conway; Lord Townshend; Colonel Barre; W. Pitt; Lord Dartmouth; Charles Townshend; Lord George Sackville; John Wilkes; Alderman Beckford; Lord Camden; &c. The first side is subscribed thus: "_America in distress, apprehending the total loss of_ LIBERTY;" and is inscribed thus:

Oh thou, whom next to Heaven we most revere Fair LIBERTY! thou lovely G.o.ddess hear!

Have we not woo'd thee, won thee, held thee long, Lain in thy Lap and melted on thy tongue.

Thro' Deaths and Dangers rugged paths pursu'd And led thee smiling to this SOLITUDE, Hid thee within our hearts' most golden cell And brav'd the Powers of Earth and Powers of h.e.l.l, G.o.dDESS! we cannot part, thou must not fly, Be SLAVES! we dare to scorn it, dare to die.

Beneath is the sketch--America rec.u.mbent and dejected, in the form of an Indian chief, under a pine tree, the angel of Liberty hovering over; the Prime minister advancing with a chain, followed by one of the bishops, and others, Bute clearly designated by his Scotch plaid, and gaiters; over head, flying towards the Indian, with the stamp act in his right claw, is the Devil; of whom it is manifest our patriotic sires had a very clever conception.

The second side is subscribed thus: "_She implores the aid of her patrons_;" and is inscribed thus:

While clanking chains and curses shall salute Thine Ears remorseless G----le, and thine O B----e, To you blest PATRIOTS, we our cause submit, Ill.u.s.trious CAMPDEN, Britain's Guardian, PITT.

Recede not, frown not, rather let us be Deprived of being than of LIBERTY, Let fraud or malice blacken all our crimes, No disaffection stains these peaceful climes.

Oh save us, shield us from impending woes, The foes of Britain only are our foes.

Beneath is the sketch--America, on one knee, pointing over her shoulder towards a retreating group, composed, as the chain and the plaid inform us, of the Prime Minister Bute, and company, upon whose heads a thunder cloud is bursting. At the same time America--the Indian, as before--supplicates the aid of others, whose leader is being crowned, by Fame, with a laurel wreath. The enormous nose--a great help to identification--marks the Earl of Chatham; Camden may be known by his wig; and Barre by his military air.

The third side is subscribed thus: "_She endures the Conflict, for a short Season_" and is inscribed thus:

Boast foul Oppression, boast thy transient Reign, While honest FREEDOM struggles with her Chain, But know the Sons of Virtue, hardy, brave, Disclaim to lose thro' mean Dispair to save; Arrowed in Thunder awfull they appear, With proud Deliverance stalking in their Rear, While Tyrant Foes their pallid Fears betray, Shrink from their Arms, and give their Vengeance way.

See in the unequal War OPPRESSORS fall, The hate, contempt, and endless Curse of all.