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mer Esqr Lt. Govt of Massa

day of

Whereas by his Majesty's Commission under the great Seal of Great Brittain bearing date yo last past, he hath William Dum- constituted and appointed Samuel Shute Esqre his Captain General and Governour in Chief in and over the chusets Bay in Province of Massachusett's bay in New England and the N. England | Territories depending thereon in America, We doe in his Majestys Name by these presents constitute and appoint you the said WILL: DUMMER to be his Majesty's Lieutenant Governor of the Said Province and Territories of Massachusetts bay in new England, to have hold and enjoy the said Place & Office, for & during His Majesty's Pleasure, with all Rights privileges Profits Perquisites and Advantages to the same belonging & appertaining and further in Case of the Death or Absence of the Said Samuel Shute, We do in His Majesty's Name authorize & impower You to execute and perform all and singular the Powers and Directions contained in the said Comission to the Said Samuel Shute and Such Instructions as are already or hereafter shall from time to time be sent to him, and You are to observe and follow such Ordrs & Directions as you shall receive from His Majesty, the said Samuel Shute, or any other Chief Governor of the Said Province and Territories of Massachusetts bay in New England for the time being And all and Singular his Maty's Officers, Ministers, and loving Subjects of the Said Province and Territories & all others whom it may concern are hereby commanded to take due Notice hereof, and to give their ready obedience Accordingly Given at the Court at Hampton Court yo 28th July 1716 in the Second Year of his Majesty's Reign.

By his Royal Highness's Comand
P: METHUEN.1

On behalf of Mr. APPLETON P. C. GRIFFIN, a Corresponding Member, a photostat was exhibited of a letter dated Boston, 2 May, 1775, written by Lieutenant-Colonel James Abercrombie of the British Army to Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden of New York.2

Mr. HENRY H. EDES read a paper on John Tileston, master of the North Writing School in Boston, and exhibited his portrait, painted by Greenwood, some pieces of his family

1 Public Record Office, Colonial Office, Class 5, Vol. 190, pp. 356–357. The letter is printed in 2 Proceedings Massachusetts Historical Society, xi. 304-306.

silver, and an original letter written to him by Samuel Adams in January, 1783.

The Rev. HENRY A. PARKER exhibited a photograph of a portrait of Brampton Gurdon, whose daughter Muriel married Richard Saltonstall. The original belongs to the

Rev. Dr. William J. Seabury of New York City.

On behalf of Mr. DENISON R. SLADE, a Corresponding Member, a letter was read dated Boston, 18 May, 1817, written by his grandfather Jacob Tilton Slade 2 to the latter's sisters. The letter is incomplete, but some extracts follow:

The time hass passed that I ought to have improved in writing you an account of my winters dissipation. Perhaps tho' late it may not be the less amusing. I have as usual entered into all the fashionable amusements of the season. Society is the only happiness of a social being and without which we cannot live enjoying the comforts offered us in the world. Without a friend or intimate acquaintance to participate in our pleaures as well as our pains our lives would be but one continued scene of mournful solitude. Time would travel but a weary pace - all would seem gloomy, dull and clogged. No one to cheer up the drooping spirits, to heal the wounded heart or pour ye balm of consolation into the weary bosom. We should return to the savage state a state not to be desired by those who have tasted the pleasures of enlightened society. In proportion as society is polished and refined so is friendship. The opinion which prevails among the good but unfashionable class, is, that not only the mind but the heart is corrupted by constant intercourse with people of high life. My idea is just the reverse. There is a much greater proportion of what is styled fashionable people in this country and nobility in Europe, virtuous & morally good than among any other class of society. There is and always has existed a disposition amongst the middling and lower order of people of every country to make it appear that all those above them are vicious. In the common walks of life we see this every day. Let us appeal to ourselves are we not satisfied by experience that the better educated, the more elevated and enlightened is the mind and who are the best educated they are not found among the indigent surely nor are they

1 See Publications of this Society, viii. 202, x. 356.

2 For Jacob T. Slade (1778-1854), the father of our late associate Dr. Daniel D. Slade, see Publications of this Society, vi 216.

to be met with generally in the middling walks of life. No you find them more numerous among the hereditary rich, and the oldest and and most respectable families those whom circumstances from time immemorial have enabled them to educate their children in the best manner. It is idle to believe that because the nobility of a country assemble together oftener at Balls and court parties they have less instruction fewer virtues & less wisdom than others. We are apt to measure the virtues & vices of mankind by a standard of our own and as the majority is wicked, those who are really good are never properly estimated. As we are naturally jealous and in proportion more so as we are low born & bred is it at all to be wondered at that those who are at the bottom of the ladder should be anxious to reach the top or pull down him who has gained the summit.

Having prepared my account of the dissipations of Boston I now think it quite time to come to the point by giving you some details. Early in the winter we had not as many Balls and tea parties as usual but in consequence of two or three recent marriages many dinners and evening parties have taken place. I dined out yesterday and was engaged to two tea parties & a musical society. In consequence of a late dinner I was not able to go to but two of them. One of the late marriages has caused quite a sensation not on account of its being very extraordinary or unexpected, on the contrary because it has been expected for a long time - Mr. H. G. Otis, son of the great Mr. Otis the most celebrated orator of fashionable men in New England, to Miss Eliza Boardman much distinguished for her beauty and acquirements. She speaks the french and Spanish languages with much fluency and is remarkably well instructed in her own. She is enchanting in conversation & of pleasing manners tho' by some thought rather affected. Her form is very fine and just that height most usually admired. In dancing she sometimes attempts more execution than grace (altho' naturally graceful) in doing which she has often excited observation. Not ill natured as you frequently hear for she is so perfectly amiable and so much beloved by all her friends & acquaintances that any remark that might be made would be regretting not answering such a mistake. I think she must be about twenty years of age. Mr. O. her husband is a young and respectable lawyer- his talents are above mediocrity, but I do not believe he will ever aim at that seat of eminence his father holds.1 . . .

...

1 Harrison Gray Otis (1765-1848), whose Life and Letters have recently been published by our associate Mr. Samuel E. Morison, graduated from Harvard College in 1783; Harrison Gray Otis, Jr. (1792-1827) graduated in 1811. The latter's marriage to Miss Eliza Henderson Boardman took place in Boston on May 6, 1817 (Columbian Centinel, May, 10, p. 2/3).

We have a great deal of gossiping here among the ladies consequently many idle stories. I of course have been brought upon the list. Within two or three months I have been engaged to as many ladies but they have no more foundation than the story you said was in circulation about me and Mrs. E. of Ports. The fact is, my engagements abroad of a commercial nature put it entirely out of the question, at present — I must make another voyage to Europe before I can think of matrimony.1

...

The musical party that I attended last evening was delightful. The daughter of the Russian Consul 2 for whom it was made is about nine years old and a prodigy. Her execution on the Piano is wonderful and her taste for music surpasses every thing you can imagine. She plays the most difficult pieces that can be written. Her father who is a great Musician, says, no Compositor of Music in Europe can write [anything] which his daughter Eliza cannot play in five days. He has been frequently asked why he should sacrifice so much of this child's time to an accomplishment so unnecessary. She used to practice seven hours a day. His reply has always been "my daughter has a taste for music and I have made her mistress of it before she was old enough to become much of any thing else. Besides her knowledge of music, she knows as much of every thing as most children of her age." All this is the fruit of industry and a better distribution of time than is common amongst children. The mind of children is very flexible capable of much more than it is usually set about to perform, it is naturally indolent and requires not only a proper direction but something to stimulate it. Happy is that child who has a parent of an elevated mind — Whose virtues are an example and whose nobleness of soul is stampt on every thought and action of this image of himself. How few of the great mass of people are there of cultivated minds and much fewer of virtues worthy imitation. Many who now linger out an existence of infamy might have been ornaments in society some of them had birth education and all but example - by that alone, have they fallen. You must have knowledge of this fact in your own small town.

I am delighted and proud of every relation of ours however distant, if they are respectable. One thing I am very proud of, which is my ancestors. I feel and believe they were honorable and high minded people and that I have flowing in my veins their pure blood changed by nothing but climate. I lament nothing but having received so poor an education when young. Had Heaven blessed my parents with

1 On May 13, 1819, he married Miss Elizabeth Rogers, daughter of Daniel Denison and Elizabeth (Bromfield) Rogers.

2 Alexis Eustaphieve.

better means I have no doubt more would have been spent upon it or towards accomplishing that which would have made me a different member in society. Alas I will complain no more.

Mr. WILLIAM C. LANE read extracts from a small volume recently acquired by the Harvard College Library, the "Journal & Expense Account, 1784-85" of John Jenks,1 a dry goods merchant of Salem, in which were noted events. during three trips taken in the business interests of William Gray, an eminent merchant of his day.

1 John Jenks was born in Medford December 6, 1751, and died in Salem October 11, 1817.

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