The Olden Time Series: Vol. 2: The Days of the Spinning-Wheel in New England | Page 9

royal birthday:--
BOSTON, August 15.
On Friday being the Birth-Day of the Prince of Wales, and the Anniversary of the Accession of the House of Hanover, and also of the Surrender of the Havanna, which was the immediate Means of bringing about the Peace; at One o'Clock the Guns at the Castle and Town Batteries were Fired; and in the Evening his Excellency the Governor gave a Ball at Concert Hall. There were present about 240 Gentlemen and Ladies; the Ball was opened by General Shirley and the Governor's Lady about 8 o'Clock; the Country Dances began about nine, and about ten a Supper Room was opened, where was a very handsome Collation. The Ladies made a brilliant Appearance, and the Company expressed the highest Pleasure and Satisfaction on the Occasion, and broke up about two in the Morning. The whole was conducted with the greatest Order, Elegance and Decorum.
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The great military "occasion" of those days was the annual parade of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. In June, 1763, that Company celebrated its one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary. In the "Boston Post-Boy" of June 13 we have this account:--
Monday last, agreeable to ancient Custom, the Artillery Company of the Province, appeared under Arms, being the Anniversary of the Election of Officers for the Company: A Sermon was preached by the Rev'd Mr. Balch of Dedham, at the Old Brick Meeting-House, where his Excellency the Governor, the Members of his Majesty's Council and House of Representatives, with a Number of other Gentlemen, attended; after which they proceeded to Faneuil-Hall, where an elegant Dinner was provided; and in the Afternoon the following Gentlemen were chosen for the ensuing Year, viz.
Thomas Marshall, Esq; Captain, Mr. Josiah Waters, Lieutenant, Mr. Jeremiah Belknap, Ensign.
In the Evening a plentiful Repast was given by the Officers newly elected, at Faneuil-Hall; where many loyal Healths were drank.
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After the great fire in Boston in March, 1760, this item appeared in the "Gazette" of May 19:--
We hear that Charles Ward Apthorp, Esq; of N.-York, Merchant, upon hearing of the Calamity which had befallen this Town by the late dreadful Fire, generously ordered his Agent here to pay to the Gentlemen appointed to receive the Donations of charitable dispos'd Persons the Sum of One Hundred Pounds, L.M. for the Relief of the Sufferers.
Mr. Apthorp, of New York, made this generous donation--a large sum for that time--for the relief of the sufferers of his native place.
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On the 30th of March, 1761, the "Boston Gazette" prints the following among its items of news:--
The following Proverbs we hope will not be disregarded, tho' taken from a Book in the Hands of almost every Freeholder in this Province; for they are true English Proverbs----
LOOK before you leap--Wise Men think twice before they act once--Avoidance is better than late Repentance--Put your Hand in the Lion's Mouth, then get it out if you can--Haste makes Waste--Fast bind fast find--A Wedge once enter'd, the Log flies--You may add, when you cannot take away--Cut your Coat according to your Cloth--A rash Beginning makes a foolish Ending--Better late than never--He that acts for others, should act with Caution--Once well done is twice done--A wise Man foreseeth the Storm and secureth himself----Of all Murderers, Self-Murderers are the most stupid--A Snake in the Grass may bite before it is seen.
A Word to the Wise is sufficient. AMEN.
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BOSTON IN OLDEN TIMES.--The "Boston Transcript," in a notice of the newspapers published in Boston in 1767, of which there were ten, says: The printer in those days was a man of "all work." If a negro or horse was up for sale, the printer was the seller. The advertisements in these old papers are curiosities in their line. The following notices appeared in the advertising columns of the "Boston Evening Gazette," in 1741:--
"To be sold by the Printer of this Paper, the very best negro woman in this town, who has had the small pox and the measles; is as hearty as a horse, as brisk as a bird, and will work like a beaver."
"To be sold by the Printer of this Paper, a negro man about thirty years old, who can do both town and country business very well, but will suit the country best, where they have not so many dram-shops as we have in Boston. He has worked at the printing business fifteen or sixteen years; can handle axe, saw, spade, hoe, or other instrument of husbandry, as well as most men, and values himself, and is valued by others, for his skill in cookery."
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This item, from a paper of 1767, seems to show that the Government was not then obliged to have a "bill" to uphold silver, for it was evidently in