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_Boston, October 9th, 1796._
DEAR FRIEND,
Boston is situate in latitude 42 deg. 23 min. north, on a small peninsula,
at the bottom of Massachusetts Bay. It was built in the manner cities were
in England, at the time this settlement was formed; that is to say, with,
the gable end of the houses in front, the streets are narrow, ill paved,
and worse lighted. But recollect, I do not include the New Town, or West
Boston, in this description; which, as well as those houses that have
lately been erected in the Old Town, are in the modern style.
The harbour is one of the best in the States; and, as a sea port, Boston
possesses advantages superiour to any I have seen in America: being too
far to the north to have any thing to fear from the worms (see a former
letter from Annapolis); and so near the ocean, that the navigation is
open, when the ports of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and others, three or four
degrees more to the south, are entirely frozen.
Several of the public buildings are well worthy the attention of a
Traveller.
The New State House will, when finished, add considerably to the beauty of
the town. It is building on Beacon Hill, and commands a very extensive
view of the bay of Massachusetts, and adjacent islands.
The long wharf is a bold design; it runs 1743 feet in a right line into
the bay, where there is, at the lowest ebb, 17 feet of water. On this
wharf are upwards of eighty large stores, containing merchandize to a
great amount. I could never view these buildings without astonishment at
the infatuation of the proprietors: they are, without a single exception,
of _wood_, and the roofs covered with cedar shingles; were a fire to
commence at either extremity with a brisk wind in the same direction, the
whole must infallibly be consumed.
The new[Footnote: The _old_ theatre has not been erected five years. Our
opposition rages with great violence. Much ink has already been shed. One
third of the public papers are crammed with what is called _Theatrical
Critique_; but is in fact either the barefaced puff direct in favour of
_one_ theatre, or a string of abusive epithets against the _other_,
equally void of truth and decency.
The dispute has lately taken _political_ turn. It seems ours is the
_aristocratic_ theatre. The _democrats_ at the New Theatre are commanded
by the _Moral Lecture_ manager. _Mr. Powell informs his fellow-citizens,
that on Monday evening will be performed the tragedy of the Battle of
Bunker's Hill_. - The English in this town affect to laugh at the eagerness
with which the Bostonians swallow certain passages of this play. I laugh
too, but _justice_ obliges me to confess, that _John Bull_ can swallow a
fulsome clap trap as voraciously at any _Yankee_ of them all.] theatre is
a stupendous wooden building, that will contain one tenth of the
inhabitants of the whole town.
The favourite promenade of the Bostonians, is the Mall, which has trees on
each side, as in St. James's Park, London. This walk commands some
beautiful prospects of the adjacent continent.
Immediately opposite is the village and university of Cambridge.
To open an immediate communication between Boston and the university, the
New Bridge was built on the plan of Mr. Cox during his absence in Ireland;
a great undertaking, including the causeways, which are covered in
the same manner as the water. This bridge is within a few feet of a
_mile_ in length, by means of which, the bridge at Charleston, and
the neck of the peninsula, our communication with the continent is so
complete, that we feel but few inconveniences from our insular situation.
- We have a plentiful supply of provision. Our fish-market is an excellent
one: the following species are larger than I remember seeing them in
Europe; viz. hallibut, cod, mackarel, smelts, and lobsters. The first is
often brought to market weighing two hundred pounds. Dr. Belknap, in his
History of New Hampshire, says, that when full grown, they often exceed
five hundred pounds weight. The cod are from seventy to eighty pounds.
Mackarel _often_ exceed four, and lobsters _sometimes_ thirty-five
pounds weight. I have preserved a claw of one of the latter, which
weighed thirty pounds: this I shall bring home with me, lest my friends
should think that, in this particular, I take too liberal an advantage of
the _traveller's privilege_, which I assure you I do not, when I
subscribe myself
Your sincere friend.
* * * * *
_Boston, December 27th, 1796._
DEAR FRIEND,
There is no calamity the bostonians so much, and justly dread, as
fire. Almost every part of the town exhibits melancholy proofs of the
devastation of that destructive element. This you will not wonder at, when
I inform you that three fourths of the houses are built with _wood_,
and covered with _shingles_, thin pieces of cedar, nearly in the
shape, and answering the end of tiles. We have no regular fire-men, or
rather mercenaries, as every master of a family belongs to a fire-company:
there are several in town, composed of every class of citizens, who have
entered into a contract to turn out with two buckets at the first fire
alarm, and assist to the utmost of their power in extinguishing the
flames, without fee or reward.
I awoke this morning about two o'clock by the cry of fire, and the
jingling of all the church bells, which, with the rattling of the engines,
call for water, and other _et caetera_ of a bostonian fire-alarm,
form a concert truly horrible.
As sleep was impossible under such circumstances, I immediately rose, and
found the town illuminated. When the alarm is given at night, the female
part of the family immediately place candles in the windows. This is of
great service in a town where there are few lamps.
