Glass Book A COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT DOROTHY QUINCY HANCOCK. (From an oil painting by Copley.) DOROTHY QUINCY WIFE OF JOHN HANCOCK WITH EVENTS OF HER TIME BY ELLEN C. D. Q. WOODBURY Her Great-Great Niece WASHINGTON THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 431 ELEVENTH STREET MCMI THE.LI*RA«Y OF 0ONGRESS, Two Cuiie* Heoeived JAN. 23 1902 COfHIOMT ENTRY &Lt-.t 1 -fit! CLAS8 a XXc. No, copy a. to* COPYK16HT, 1901, BY BLLBH C. D. Q. WOODBURY S3 TO THE WOMEN OF PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES IN AMERICA. Who, with ardor, assiduity and perseverance, are giving their time and their money towards per- petuating a commemorative history of the past, this book is cordially dedicated by one of their members. PREFACE. The records from which to acquire information of Dorothy Quincy have been limited, but those associated with this prominent lady of " ye olden time " give but one estimate of her person and character. Had she permitted her pen to pulsate with the emotional outpourings of love, like a l'Espinasse, there would have been no difficulty in portraying Dorothy Quincy, for she would have portrayed herself ; or, had she wielded her pen with the facility of a Sevigne, there would have been graphic pictures of her life and her surroundings. Rut we have not been admitted behind the scenes during that period of danger and daring — from Madame Hancock's point of view. This work, therefore, is chiefly compiled from the letters of her family and the records of the period in which she lived. The collection was made a few years ago, but the publication has been unavoidably delayed. My especial thanks are given to Mrs. William Wales, of Dorchester, Mass.. and Mrs. Sarah H. Swan, of Cambridge. Mass., who most cour- teously permitted me access to the letters in their possession. CONTENTS. Dorothy Quincy's American Lineage 9 Home Life of the Quincys — Esther Quincy — John Adams — J. Seweli 15 Dorothy Quincy 24 John Hancock's Parentage — Thomas Hancock — J. Hancock in London — His Return Home — En- ters Public Life 26 The Endeavors to Win Hancock — Samuel Adams Upholds Him — Adams and Hancock at Vari- ance — Their Reconciliation — Dorothy Quincy Loses Her Mother — John Hancock's and Dor- othy Quincy's Attraction to Each Other 33 The Patriots — Hancock, Colonel of the Cadets — His Benevolence — The " Tea Party " — Lafay- ette on the Tories 37 Adams' Entry in His Diary — Dorothy Quincy's Characteristics — Hancock's " Massacre Ora- tion " — Rejoicings of the Quincys — The Port Bill — Troops Landed — Enmity of Governor Gage — John Hancock's Rise — Praise of the Prominent Patriots — John Adams, Hancock's 4 2 Lawyer — Provisional Congress Dorothy Quincy's Lover — Royalist Hand-bill — British Soldiers Tar and Feather — Voltaire on the English — Attack on Hancock's Prem- ises — Women's Tea Petition 5 1 Congress at Concord Adjourns — Dorothy Quincy Leaves for Lexington — Letter of Helene Bay- ard — John Hancock and Samuel Adams in Danger 58 Paul Revere's Midnight Ride — The Lexington Fight — Letter of an English Soldier — Dor- othy Quincy Tells of the Wounded — Hancock and Adams Withdraw to Safety — The Lovers Quarrel 63 Minute Men — Boston a Camp— Gage's Proclama- tion — How It Was Received — Delegates en Route to Philadelphia— Hancock and Adams Meet the Governor and Council of Connecti- cut — The Quincys Scattered 7 U Dorothy Quincy at Fairfield— Hancock's Letter to Dorothy — Enthusiasm for John Hancock — Elected President of the Continental Con- gress — Contemporaries' Opinion of Him 75 Life at Fairfield — Letter from Hancock — Dis- tress in Boston — Hancock Wishes to Serve Under Washington — George Washington's Re- ply — John Hancock's Letters to Dorothy- Judge Quincy's Views — Samuel Paine on Bos- ton — Arrival of Howe — Washington Appoint- ed Commander-in-Chief 8u Hancock's Namesakes — Aaron Burr — Wedding of Dorothy Quincy — John Sewell's Opinion — No- tices of the Event — They Leave for Philadel- phia — Dorothy Meets With Relatives — Dor- othy in Her New Position — John Adams Writes of Her — New Duties for Dorothy Quincy — Mrs. Hancock at Marshalls 89 Proposed Ball to Lady Washington — Her Tact- Proposition to Bombard Boston — Hancock's '• Memorable Letter " — His Unselfish Stand — Mrs. Hancock's Admiration for John Hancock. 99 England's Appeal to Europe — Howe Leaves Bos- ton — Duke of Manchester in Parliament — Judge Quincy's Letter — Aunt Lydia's Death — Dorothy Dudley Praises the Quincys — Birth of a Daughter 106 Repeal of the Stamp Act — Letters of Judge Quincy — Hancock's Hospitality — Invites Gen- eral and Mrs. Washington to Visit Him — John Adams' Opinion of Hancock as General of the Forces 113 Declaration of Independence — Winthrop De- scribes Hancock — Reception of the News— The Hancocks' Happiness Impresses Adams — Boston and New York Jubilant — Hancock's Name Given to Ships and Children — Extracts from Judge Quincy's Letters — Hancock Writes to Washington. 118 Debates in Parliament — Privateers— Congress in Baltimore — Dinners — John Hancock's Return to Philadelphia — Letters to Wife — Life Without " Dolly " — Her Arrival — Reply to an Acrostic on Hancock's Name. 124 S swell's Letter to a Former Friend — Washing- ton's Annoyances — Death of Daughter — Mrs. Hancock Leaves Philadelphia — John Hancock Writes Her — Their Cheerful Fireside — Han- cock's Letter to Washington — Hancock's Ad- dress to Congress — Regrets at His Departure. His Warm Reception 134 The Hancock Establishment — Portraits of Madam Hancock — John Hancock, His Tastes — Consid- eration of Others — His Generosity. 143 Bostonians Described — A Son Born — Letters to " Dolly " from Yorktown — John Hancock Re- turns to Boston — Marches to Rhode Island — Judge Quincy's Letter — French Fleet Off Sandy Hook — The Fleet Disabled — Lafayette Stands by D'Estaing 1 50 The Hancocks Give a Breakfast to the French Officers — The Frenchmen Invite the Han- cocks — Indians Visit the Ship — The Constitu- tion of Massachusetts Formed — Ball to the French Officers — Hancock Gives Washing- ton's Portrait to Admiral D'Estaign — Pre- sents One to Lafayette 1 57 Letter to George Washington, Esq. — The Two Patriots Alienated — Voltaire — Proposals of Peace Through Franklin — Franklin's Reply — Criticisms of John Hancock — His Entertain ing Under Difficulties. 163 F.unice Quincy — Her Marriage — Reception in France — Marie Antoinette, Godmother — De Valnais' Exile — Returns to Boston — Lafay- ette Arrives in America — Extracts from His Letters. 171 John Hancock Elected Governor — His Popular- ity — Hancock Entertainments — Foreigners' Impressions of Boston — Judge Quincy Hears from Esther and Her Son — His Replies. 176 Boston in 1781 — Madam Hancock Visits Ports- mouth — Hancock's Efforts for the People — Surrender of Cornwallis — Madam Hancock's Kindness to the Sick — Reception to Rocham- beau — Hancock's Mode of Living — Madam Hancock on Commencement Day — Hancock as Peace-Maker 182 Treaty at Paris — Hancock, the Friend of the Sol- dier — Endangers His Fortune — His Money Trunk — Persistence in Work — His Son Inocu- lated 1S9 Lafayette Feted in Boston — Hancock's Failing Health — Illustrious Guests — The Governor Resigns — His Irritability from Gout 19* Death of the Hancocks' Son — Judge Quincy's Death — Mrs. Sewell Writes to Dorothy — Hancock Again Governor — His Philanthropy. Lafayette's Generosity — Constitution Adopt- ed — Boston Celebrates It — Filling the Of- fices — The Vote for Governor — Dinner at the Hancocks'. 195 The Hancocks Visit Portsmouth, N. H. — Their Departure from There, and Escort — The French Their Guests — The Officers Return the Civilities — The Hancocks' Ball — The Hancocks, Dine on Board 'the Achilles — A President and Vice-President Chosen — Wash- ington's Reply to Hancock's Congratulations. Adams at the Hancocks' 202 The Hancocks Receive the French — Ball on Board l'Illustre — Epergne Broken — Washing- ton Goes to Boston — Disagreeable Episode — Takes Tea at the Hancocks' — The Ladies Honor Him — He Leaves for Portsmouth, N. H. 207 An Ode to Hancock — The American Artillery — Re-elected Governor — Prejudice Against Plays — Hancock's Dinners — Davis' Death — Hancock's Last Term of Office — Takes Leave of the Legislature — Faithful to Duty 215 Hancock's Death — Madam Hancock Alone — Opin- ions of Hancock — His Funeral — Portland's Respect for Him — Madam Hancock Defrays the Funeral Expenses — Madam Deeds Her Share of the Garden 220 Madam Hancock's Hospitality— Her Tastes— The Trusted Adviser— The Marriage of Madam Hancock — Esther's Letters — Captain Scott's Death, 228 The Mortgage — Th^ Mall — Lafayette Returns to America — Salutation to Madam Scott — Her Death — The Will — Mementos of the Han- cocks — Propositions to Retain the House. 235 The Lexington House — Efforts to Save It — Han- cock's Grave — The Monument — Where Doro- thy Quincy Rests 244 CHAPTER I. Dorothy Quincy's American Lineage. Dorothy Quincy was a direct descendant of 1 Edmund Quincy, the pioneer of that name to America in 1628. He then returned to England for his family, and when he again landed in Bos- ton, September 4, 1633, brought the necessary equipments and six servants, prepared to estab- lish himself permanently. A few months later he and his wife were ad- mitted to the " First Church of Boston." Edmund was the first Puritan Quincy, which so evidently incensed and alienated his relatives that, on his mother's death, in her will there was no mention of him save a legacy of " twelve pence ;" and he was ignored by the brothers, who also omitted his name from their wills. It had required force of character and iron courage to part from family, friends and home — breaking forever from those genial ties of kin- dred to face hardship and danger in that great, unknown world, where no cordial words of greet- ing nor friendly hand extended from the bleak shore — to contend with a strange and hostile io DOROTHY QUINCY race, and start upon a life of isolation. But Ed- mund Quincy had to sustain him that which had buoyed up the early settlers — a love of their God and a sublime faith that He would uphold them through all their trials and discourage- ments. Edmund Quincy, high-spirited, undaunted and talented, soon became prominent in the councils of his new country. In 1634, eight months after his arrival, he was sent a deputy to the General Court, the first ever held in Massachusetts Bay. He was appointed with others " to make and assess a tax of thirty pounds to Mr. Blackstone to purchase his right and title to the peninsular of Shawmut, now Boston." In 1635 the town of Boston granted him land, of which he took possession, at Mt. Wollasten, which in 1640 was incorporated as Braintree ; and later Quincy was partitioned off from this town. He died February 23, 1738. His son, 2 Edmund Quincy, was born March 15th, 1627-28. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Major-General Gookin. z Edmund Quincy, energetic and eminent in the military service of the colonies, filled the office of representative for four years. He was the first Mayor of Braintree. His name is enrolled as member of the "Council of Safety," which formed the provisional government of the colony until the arrival of the new charter from William and DOROTHY QUINCY n Mary; and he was active with the popular party in the capture of Governor Andros. 2 Edmund Quincy died January 8th, 1697-98. His son, 3 Edmund Quincy, was born October 21st, 1681. He married Dorothy Flynt, daugh- ter of Rev. J. Flynt. 3 Edmund Quincy was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University for twenty years, and one of the Royal Councillors, 171 5 to 1729, and 1734 to 1737; appointed colonel of the Suffolk Regiment, at that time an important com- mand; and in 1718 was commissioned Judge of the Supreme Court, which office he held for nine- teen years. He has been described as a man of " great popularity, profound learning, and a most accomplished gentleman." December, 1737, Judge Quincy was sent to the Court of the Sovereign in the cause of the prov- ince, and died on the 23d of February, 1738, of small-pox, at London. The province erected a monument to him in Burnhill Fields, London, which, according to custom, after a certain lapse of time was removed. On the original tomb was placed in Latin: "Here are deposited the remains of Edmund Quincy. Esq., native of Massachusetts Bay, in New Eng- land. A gentleman of distinguished piety, pru- dence and learning, who early merited praise for discharging with the greatest ability and ap- proved integrity the various employments, both 12 DOROTHY QUINCY in civil and military affairs, that his country en- trusted him with; these especially, as one of his Majesty's council, a justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and a colonel of a regiment of foot." The General Assembly, in further recognition of his services, granted to his heirs one thousand acres of land in Lennox, Massachusetts Bay. A sermon on the death of Edmund Ouincy was delivered in Boston, 1738, pointing to the " in- stability of human greatness," by Rev. John Han- cock, Jr., from which I select a few extracts. The text was Isaiah 3: 1, 2, 3 — "For, behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah . . . the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and prudent, and the ancient . . . the honorable man, and the counselor . . . and the eloquent orator." " I have scarcely known any of our worthy patriots to whom the several excellent characters of my text could with more justice be applied than the honorable person whom we are now commemorating. They all seem to have united and centered in him in an uncommon degree. But I could wish that a much more skillful hand were employed to draw at length the masterly strokes of this great character . . . You do not mourn the loss alone, for this assembly, this JUDGE EDMUND QUINCY m. Grandfather of Dorothy Quincy. (Original ill the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.) DOROTHY QUINCY t& town — nay, this whole province, are in affliction for it." Two portraits of Judge Quincy are still extant, painted by John Symbert, the first guide to paint- ing in this country, who arrived here in 1728. 4 Edmund Quincy, son of Judge Quincy, was born in 1703, and graduated at Harvard in 1722. He served as magistrate and later filled the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was looked up to for his high probity and judgment. 4 Edmund Quincy married Elizabeth Wendell, and these were the parents of Dorothy Quincy. Elizabeth Wendell was the daughter of Abraham Wendell and Katherine De Kay, of New York. in the history of Braintree we read: "The Ouincys from the earliest time have lent their in- fluence to support and their virtues to adorn the institutions of religion here, as well as the insti- tutions of government and learning on a wider theatre." Mrs. Abigail Adams, who was a Miss Quincy, in one of her letters from England in 1787, has a revival of interest in her family tree after a visit to Winchester, as a former Earl of Winchester bore the name of Saer de Quincy, and his coat- of-arms was similar to that of the family in Amer- ica. In the early days of New England the coat-of- arms was cut on the tombstone, thus designating the family connection with the " mother country." 14 DOROTHY QUINCY Mrs. Adams distinctly recalled an old parch- ment that she had studied when a young girl at her grandmother's, wherein the genealogical table gave the descent of the Qui'ncys from the advent of William the Conqueror into England. This record had been lent to a member of the family, and Mrs. Adams wrote that her grand- mother often deplored, with some anger, that she could never regain it. Mrs. Adams wished that inquiries be made then to see " whether there is any probability of its ever being recovered?" Families had been forced to leave Boston sud- denly at the time of the siege, which endangered many valuable papers, and must have entailed losses difficult to replace. This may account for (he total disappearance of the Quincy family pedi- gree. Mrs. Adams added : " I do not expect either titles or estate from the recovery of the genealog- ical table were there any probability of obtaining it. Yet, if I was in possession of it, money should not purchase it from me." CHAPTER II. Home Life of the Quincys — Esther Quincy — John Adams — J. Sewell. The life of Dorothy Quincy touches on the colonial period, but was chiefly passed during the lime of the Revolution and the following days of peace. To write of her is to enter extensively into the scenes of the turbulent age in which she lived, and in which her husband, John Hancock, took a leading part. Looking back through the great lapse of time to those stirring, revolutionary days, noticeable is the contrast between the present and that period. The lives, customs, ideas and education enveloped each household with a mantle of piety that skeptical hands had not swept aside, nor dropped because of its irksome restraint. A calm that one might call blessed reigned, and the spirit of unrest had not entered nor broken up these peaceful homes. The Bible was daily read and prayers were of- fered up morning and evening, all the members of the family assembling for that purpose. This was their anchorage, and it seemed a safe one. 16 DOROTHY QUINCY On Sunday came the regular attendance at church ; and the quiet of the streets was broken only by the pealing bells calling the worshipers together. These services were not considered onerous, for their hearts were filled with devotion and a belief that a Divine Providence was watch- ing over them, which inspired their adoration. I te was in their daily thoughts; His words were on their lips and pervaded their writings. They revered Him, yet feared Him if they did wrong. " Happy is he," says Lamartine, " who by God's will is born of a good and holy family. It is t lie first of all the blessings of destiny." This was the atmosphere in which Dorothy Ouincy was raised. It was the home of the Christian, and Judge Ouincy's was not an aus- tere but a cheerful one. He rarely frowned on the buoyant spirits of his children, his great care being to instill what was right, and to guide the daughters, as well as the sons, in the observance of it. He enjoyed his cultivated fields, and wrote some works on agriculture. At one time he was desirous of raising the grape for wine, and ap- prised his friend Franklin of this project. Frank- lin, who was in Philadelphia at the time, entered heartily into assisting him to procure the vines, and sent " seventy miles from the city for them into the country." He despatched one bundle by sea and one by land — the better to ensure DOROTHY QUINCY 17 their reaching Judge Quincy — and concluded his letter with : " I heartily wish you success in your attempt to make wine from American grapes !" Dorothy, the youngest of ten children, was born May 10, 1747. She early gave promise of her meritorious characteristics. In a letter of Edmund Quincy to his wife from Boston, July 26, 1756, he writes that the "daugh- ter Dolly " looked very comfortable and had gone to school, " where she seems to be very high in her mistress' graces." When back in the old colonial mansion that had been occupied by her forefathers, Dorothy reveled in the freedom from school restraint, and was again a child of nature with a love of all her beautiful surroundings. Here this little girl skipped over the broad acres — her dark tresses floating in the breeze, her large eyes dancing with delight — as she gath- ered the dainty wild flowers, or culled the meadow strawberries, studied the speckled frog in the old stream, or chased the variegated butterfly — her- self as picturesque and unfettered. Her old home stands in Quincy, with the re- mains of a walled stream, and the large bushes of box marking the garden. It was formerly a con- spicuous feature of this ancient town, but now the vast grounds have from time to time been sold and encroached upon with buildings. 18 DOROTHY QUINCY The interior is still curious, the many addi- tions marking the varied taste of its owners. The hall is intact, with the winding staircase and carved baluster. When I visited it some years ago one room arrested especial attention, pan- eled with flowers and cupids, said to have been papered for the wedding of Dorothy Quincy. The ceremony took place elsewhere in conse- quence of the troubled state of the country and fears for the safety of her intended husband. Judge Edmund Quincy, the father of Dorothy, was regarded with the greatest respect. A de- vout Christian, he was also an earnest patriot, and what time he could spare from his God he gave with warm interest to his country. He was an ardent promoter of the Revolution, and his letters to Hancock, Franklin and others are pre- served, breathing predictions of what later proved the consummation of the struggle. There assembled under his roof men of brains, of resolution, and of public spirit, watchful of Britain and of their own rights ; and Dorothy Quincy, after she entered her teens, must have heard much of patriotism mingled with the soft whisperings of love. Judge Quincy was a fine linguist, which gave him a breadth of reading beyond his own coun- try. He drew younger men to his house, as well as those of his own age, who listened attentively to his intelligent conversation, though his cap- DOROTHY QUINCY 19 tivating- daughters may have also been attrahent to the youths of that day. Before Dorothy Ouincy's debut into the great world there came as a visitor John Adams, a young lawyer, and evidently one of the intimates of the house. We read in his diary frequent mention that he had gone over to " Justice Ouincy's " and had a talk with him ; but there was also a supplementary sauce piquant in the sprightly tilts with the daughter Esther. In a letter from Portsmouth, N. H., 3 August 6th, 1757, Esther writes to one of her sisters : " Give my duty to my father, and tell him I was extremely glad for the receipt of his kind epistle ; but how much more agreeable was I entertained in reading the contents of it ! His advice I'll en- deavor to follow." She continues, that she will try to " steer clear of the flatteries of life," and says, " I think it is an honest resolution, for our eternal felicity depends upon our good behavior. Kiss Dolly." A kiss for the dear little pet who held all hearts. Adams wrote freely of this elder sister, her disposition, also of the cousin Hannah Quincy, whom he designates by the letter " O." Thev were handsome, brilliant sfirls, and Mr. John Adams, with his lively badinage, met in them his match. 1 1 e writes of Esther in 1759 : " I talk to Esther about the folly of love, about despising, about 2o DOROTHY QUINCY being above it — pretend to be insensible of ten- der passions, which makes them laugh." This vein of talk was instigated no doubt by Esther's having a devoted lover, Jonathan Sew- ell, whom she married in 1763. He was the last attorney-general of the province, and later be- came a royalist refugee. Referring to Esther Adams says : " E. looks pert, sprightly, gay, but thinks and reads much less than O." . . . " O. makes observations on actions, characters, events in Pope's, Homer, Milton, Pope's poems, and plays, romances, etc., that she reads, and asks questions about them in company — ' What do you think of Helen? What do you think of Hector, etc.? What character do you like best?' . . . These are questions that prove a thinking mind. E. asks none such." Where was little Dorothy at this time? Nest- ling in her trundle-bed or sitting on a cricket by the fireside, stroking her kitten, a quiet observer absorbing and wondering what they meant as talk rattled from grave to gay. Adams soothes himself after he has drawn off into the stillness of his room with : " I am very thankful for these checks — good treatment makes me think I am admired and beloved — a check, a frown, a sneer, a sarcasm rouses my spirits, makes me more careful and considerate. It may, in short, be made a question whether good treatment or bad is best for me." DOROTHY QUINCY 21 Backgammon and cards were the diversions among the men, with the never-failing punch. Adams condemns it, remarking, " While a hun- dred of the best books lie on the shelves, desks and chairs in the same room." And, as to a game of cards, he continues, " It gratifies none of the senses, neither sight, hearing, taste, smell- ing, nor feeling ; it can entertain the mind only by hushing its clamors. That cards, backgam- mon, etc., are the greatest antidotes to reflection, to thinking — that cruel tyrant within us." 3 Sewell, whose courtship brought him to Brain- tree, commonly on Saturdays, where he remained until Monday, was frequently seen by Adams, who describes him as possessed of " lively wit, a pleasing humor, a brilliant imagination, a great subtlety of reasoning and an insinuating elo- quence." 6 In another work is a notice of the engagement. " Sewell soon fell in love with Miss Esther Ouincy, fourth daughter of Edmund Quincy. This young lady was celebrated for her beauty, vivacity and spirit. Their courtship extended several years." John Adams met him every Sunday at the Quincy's, and a great intimacy followed, but he could not " coincide in his views about Great Britain and her power." 7 Adams says of Sewell : " Political principles were to me, in that state of the country, sacred. 2a DOROTHY QUINCY I could not follow him and he could not follow me." This shows how early the seeds of thought were developing on the vital problem of the country among the men of Massachusetts. In Tudor's *' Life of James Otis " he says of Judge Sewell : " Though he was always opposed to every measure of injustice against his country, he adhered to the side of the ministry from be- lieving, as did many others, that the power of England could at any time crush the colonies." Judge Sewell was married to Miss Quincy in 1763. They had two sons, John, born in Cam- bridge in 1766 ; and Stephen, born in Boston in 1770. The year 1775 found them seeking refuge in England, but in 1788 they returned to Nova Scotia. Here Judge Sewell died Septem- ber 16, 1796, aged sixty-eight. John, the son, was appointed Chief Justice of Lower Canada, and Stephen became Attorney-General of Can- ada. 8 Mrs. Sewell, who was born November 26, 1738, died January 25, 1810. There were still other believers with St. Chry- sostom, that " woman is a desirable calamity, a dreadful fascination ;" as all the daughters of Judge Quincy married with the exception of Katherine. Elizabeth, the eldest, born October 15, 1729, married Samuel Sewell May 18, 1749. She died February 15, 1770. DOROTHY QUINCY 23 Sarah, born October 2, 1736, married General Wm. Greenleaf, of Lancaster, Mass., December 20. 1763. Died March 12, 1790. Edmund Ouincy's son Henry, born January 20, 1726-7, married Mary Salter. His second wife was Eunice Newell. Edmund Quincy, born February 5, 1725-6, married Ann Husk. Jacob, born October 2, 1734. graduated at Harvard Colleg'c in 1753. He served at Crown Point in 1756 with Colonel Joseph Dwight's Reg- iment. 9 Was physician and surgeon on the gov- ernment vessel called " The Country's Ship," which sailed for the West Indies. Dr. Quincy invested extensively while there, the opportunity being favorable. In 1760 he married Elizabeth Williams, daugh- ter of Captain John Williams, of Boston. His death took place at St. Eustatius, W. I., June 15, 1773. The family neglected to secure his prop- erty, but years after Daniel Webster was con- sulted by one of the descendants as to the recov- ery of the estate. He was willing to take the ^casc, and go to Demerara himself, if allowed half of the property for his fee. CHAPTER III. Dorothy Quincv. Dorothy Quincy, the youngest and naturally the caressed darling - of this large family, had seen her attractive elder sisters pass from their home to establishments of their own — drop out from the kindred circle into the matrimonial fold with men of their choice. These sisters had been the confidants of her little plans and pranks, the directors of her games and frolics ; had smiled approvingly or laughed at their absurdity as the heart unfolded in its artless freshness. This was prior to education from contact with the world, which trains the heart to conceal its emotions — to check its en- thusiasms. Dorothy was too young to have had much companionship with her sisters. Carefully reared under a gentle mother's watchfulness through the early part of her life, when old enough she was launched into the social world under more favorable auspices than usually fall to the lot of a young girl. Cultured and agreeable she drew friends and attracted admir- ers ; she won all hearts, and a place in society DOROTHY QUINCY 35 from which nothing could dethrone her. Ad- mired and sought after Dorothy Quincy steered through the dangerous shoals of high-seasoned compliments to remain a bright, unspoiled beauty that no flattery could harm. None of her suitors met with especial favor, and she remained heart-whole until one man was pictured to her mind endowed with qualities nearer to her standard than any she had known. She had sat demurely listening to her father's visitors as they dilated on the merits of this rising- young citizen — this resolute advocate of justice who unflinchingly braved the mother country — until it riveted her attention, touched a respon- sive chord, roused her enthusiasm modestly held in check, and an intense admiration gradually moulded John Hancock into the beau-ideal of her day-dreams as he also filled the reveries of other fair ones. A French writer tells us that " the heart of a woman is never unoccupied," and Dorothy Quincy had reached that stage. She watched and saw Hancock spring into popular favor, gradually onward and upward, winning positions that even older men would have been gratified to fill. CHAPTER IV. John Hancock's Parentage — Thomas Hancock — J. Hancock in London — His Return Home — En- ters Public Life. John Hancock was born in 1737 at Braintree, Mass., of which it has been said : " There is no spot in New England consecrated by more mem- orable associations and less worthy to be noticed with a passing, negligent or superficial observa- tion. Here also lived the ancestors of Samuel Adams, the patriot ; and John Adams, the Presi- dent of the United States." 1 " The father of John Hancock was the Rev. John Hancock, who graduated from Harvard, and was ordained a minister at Braintree." " His grandfather, Rev. John Hancock, re- sided at Lexington, Mass., where his home be- came in time an historic monument." He has been described as a " man of stern Puritanic stuff, but a lover of a good story and a cheerful word nevertheless. His word was law as well as gos- pel among his Lexington parishioners. Bishop Hancock he was sometimes called, and in the town records Sir Hancock, a title occasionally ariven the old New England ministers." DOROTHY QUINCY 27 John Hancock's juvenile days were passed un- der a religious influence, the precepts of which he retained through life. He lost his father when seven years old, and was then adopted by his uncle, Thomas Hancock, who resided in Boston. He was one of the richest and most respected merchants of that city. Mr. Thomas Hancock had built in 1737 a handsome house on Beacon street. The grounds extended from Mt. Vernon to Joy street. The garden was laid out with extreme care, filled with rare trees and shrubs, for which Mr. Hancock showed a great predilection, sending abroad to obtain the choicest varieties. The interior of the mansion was adorned with all that wealth could procure from England to add to the comfort and elegance of a home. The numerous orders of Mr. Thomas Hancock com- prised wall paper, the designs to be animals, birds and flowers ; the best sterling Madeira wines for his own use. And he wrote, " I don't stand for any price, provided the quality of the wine answers to it." Everything must be of the first quality, from the " best new rose May butter " to the " eiderdown bed cover ;" and " the best quart bottles of champagne " to " the best of paper." 2 Negroes were the servants at that time, being most kindly cared for by this family. Thomas Hancock willed several to his widow ; and one, 28 DOROTHY QUINCY from attachment for his faithful services, was buried in the Hancock plot. Thomas Hancock's generous heart, overflow- ing with love for his nephew, liberally indulged him, which did not result in the wreck of a fine man, as might have been expected, because of the solid foundation of his character. In 1754 John Hancock graduated from Har- vard, and in 1763 he started on a foreign tour under the auspices of Governor Pownal, who was his uncle's friend. They visited England and witnessed the funeral ceremonies over King George II. In a letter of John Hancock's from London, October 29, 1760, he writes : "Sunday last the Prince of Wales was proclaimed King thro' ye city with pomp and joy. His coronation, I am told, will not be till April ; that I can't yet de- termine whether I shall stay to see it, but rather think I shall, as it is the grandest thing I shall ever meet with." 3 John Hancock was in London and witnessed this brilliant ceremony. Later he was presented at court. As this tall, comely youth bent low be- fore him no thought entered King George's mind that he would become a powerful factor against his sovereign power ; nor that fifteen years later he would set a price on his head — this man who was to be President of the American Congress DOROTHY QUINCY 29 that should declare for the independence of the King's colonies. John Hancock was treated with consideration, and had given to him a snuff-box on which was the King's likeness. March of that year, in a vein of strong com- mon-sense, he wrote from London : " I shall with satisfaction bid adieu to this grand place, with all its pleasurable enjoyments and tempting scenes, for more substantial pleasures, which I promise myself in the enjoyment of my friends in America." 1 Hancock landed in Boston from his foreign travel with no pretension nor affectation, but with broadened ideas and instructed in the govern- ment of European countries, from which he re- turned a lover of his own land and of republican- ism. The seed had been sown, and when ripened it developed him into one of the most indefatig- able of patriots, for he applied himself to the study of his country and of its needs. Public attention was fixed on the Stamp Act. Pitt rose in the House of Commons to discuss it and uttered these words : "In a good cause, on a sound bottom, the force of this country can crush America to atoms. I know the valor of your troops ; I know the skill of your officers. "^ Whereas Franklin, when summoned before Par- liament, said : "They will not find a rebellion ; they may indeed make one with their Stamp 30 DOROTHY QUINCY Act." 6 In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed, and John Hancock openly denounced it and declared he would not use the stamps. " I will not be made a slave of without my consent." . . . " Not a man in England, in proportion to estate, pays the tax that I do !" This inaugurated one of those critical periods that tries a man's ability, and John Hancock stood the test. Honors followed him, and in 1766 and '67 he was sent a representative to the General Court. " He was appointed chairman upon deliberations which involved the highest in- terest of the community." John Adams said of him : " The two men whom I have known to enter the stage of life with the most luminous, unclouded prospects and the best founded hopes were James Otis and John Hancock." 7 Thus Dorothy Quincy's favorable impressions of John Hancock were constantly replenished by fresh and striking incidents of his spirit and fear- lessness. September, 1768, when it was rumored that troops had been ordered from Halifax, Sam- uel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams and James Otis waited upon the Governor to ask if the report was true, and requested him to call a special meeting of the Assembly. He declined, but his " tone was more conciliator)' when he saw the popularity of the. leaders." DOROTHY QUINCY 31 They held a meeting, in defiance of Governor Bernard's refusal, in Faneuil Hall, and ninety- six towns were represented. They resolved they would peril their lives and fortunes to defend their rights, etc. ;" " that money cannot be granted, nor a standing army kept up in the province, but by their own free consent." These were the men who would not, at the call of the British ministry, rescind their resolutions denying the power of Parliament to tax the col- onies ; nor would they recall the circular ad- dressed to other colonies asking their co-opera- tion and support in defence of their just rights. s Soon after seven armed vessels from Halifax brought troops to Boston and pointed their guns at the shore. The crowd on the wharf looked on in sullen silence while they landed and " tramped by with colors flying — the drums beating — as if entering a conquered city." 9 They had great difficulty in securing quarters, the inhabitants giving them no aid ; so some en- camped on the Common. John Adams writes, as days rolled on, how serious and indignant it made him to have the soldiers drilled constantly in front of his house ; and it was not dispelled, though, as he says, some- what soothed " by the sweet songs, violins and flutes of the serenading Sons of Liberty under my windows in the evening." 10 32 DOROTHY QUINCY Large dinners were given to keep the men in closer touch ; and Adams relates of one, in 1769, where two tables were laid in an open field, near a barn, with an awning overhead ; that three hundred and fifty Sons of Liberty sat down to the feast. He writes : " To the honor of the Sons I did not see one person intoxicated, or near it." " Between four and five o'clock the carriages were all got ready, and the company rode off in procession — Mr. Hancock first, in his chariot, and another chariot bringing up the rear." CHAPTER V. TitE Endeavors to Win Hancock — Samuel Adams Upholds Him — Adams and Hancock at Vari- ance — Their Reconciliation — Dorothy Quincy Loses Her Mother — John Hancock's and Dor- othy Quincy's Attraction to Each Other. On March 5, 1770, Boston received its first shock of hostilities. British soldiers had fired and blood had been shed. This stung- into ani- mosity both young and old, and the event was ever after known as the " Boston Massacre." The following day there gathered a meeting of the inhabitants, and Samuel Adams, with John Hancock at the head of a committee, requested Governor Hutchinson to remove the troops. 1 From this time each fresh exaction of the Home Government lighted on a smouldering spark which finally, with volcanic force, broke forth into an eruption that convulsed the country. Lord Hillsborough wrote to the Governor that he had it in command from highest authority to enjoin him to promote Mr. Hancock on every occasion. - In 1771 the royal Governor notified a friend in England that Hancock " was one of those of any 34 DOROTHY QUINCY consideration who still held out against him," but he thought he could end his influence. 3 He endeavored by conciliation to win him, and offered to Hancock a commission, honoring him with a seat in the council, but " the patriot tore the parchment into shreds in the presence of the people."* " He offered to John Adams an office, which he hurled back with disdain." Governor Hutchinson, though desirous to se- cure Hancock on the side of the Government, had to contend against Samuel Adams, equally solic- itous to retain him with the patriots ; and every influence was brought to bear by these opposing parties to enroll him in their ranks. It was at this juncture that Samuel Adams and Hancock had a break in their friendship, which lasted a year. 5 This greatly encouraged Gov- ernor Hutchinson, who now believed the way open to gain his point. Notices were circulated and sent to England that Hancock had been won over ; but Hutchinson and his agents failed to accomplish it with all their schemes. Samuel Adams, in a letter to Arthur Lee, April 9, 1773, magnanimously wrote of Hancock : " It was maliciously reported that he had deserted the faction and become a friend of the Government. With spirit Hancock refused a seat at the Board, and continued a member of the House, where he in every instance joined with friends of the Con- DOROTHY QUINCY 35 stitution in opposition to the measures of a cor- rupt administration ; and, in particular, no one discoursed with more firmness against the inde- pendence of the Governor and the judges than he." 6 Historians tell us there had been "many knaves ready to widen the breach between Adams and Hancock, but they were soon detected, and mu- tual friends made up the difference." 7 After their reconciliation John Hancock had the full length portrait of Samuel Adams painted by John Singleton Copley ; also one of himself. These hung in his drawing-room for fifty years, and were then placed in Faneuil Hall. 8 In 1769 Dorothy Quincy had the misfortune to lose her mother, who was followed to the old Granary Burying Ground by a very large con- course of relatives and friends. There was one among them, a highly accom- plished lady, Mrs. Lydia Hancock, widow of Thomas Hancock, who had a particular predilec- tion for this motherless girl, to whom she later acted as chaperon, and lavished on her much affection. Under these circumstances there had also been received at the house of Judge Quincy John Han- cock, the nephew and adopted son of this same lady. Thus Dorothy Quincy came into closer amity with her hero. 36 DOROTHY QUINCY The silent, mutual predilection for each other did not escape the watchful eye of " Aunt Lydia," who improved her opportunities to extol the nephew's numerous virtues ; and many civilities were extended to Miss Quincy whenever she called at the Hancock mansion. Mention of this captivating favorite is in the memoirs of J. Singleton Copley. Her name is included " among the distinguished women of the time — and all noted in their time for unusual attractions." Xot to have been attracted to Dorothy Quincy would have argued a man of steel, of which there are but few. Men cold, calculating and hard — so incased in self that all woman's lovable charms fail to penetrate or leave the faintest impress. John Hancock, with a heart full of patriotism, found also place to install there the fair Dorothy ; and. when in time this ardent pleader for the rights of the colonies pleaded as warmly for the hand of this gentle girl, he gained a favorable answer to his suit. There is a tradition in the family that Hancock was first captivated by the daintily slippered feet of his lady-love as she stepped out of church one Sabbath day, which looks as if other thoughts had taken foothold in Mr. John Hancock's mind than of the good sermon just delivered. CHAPTER VI. The Patriots — Hancock. Colonel of tile Cadets — His Benevolence — The " Tea Party " — Lafay- ette on the Tories. Private meetings were beginning" to be held for public action in 1772, and John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Josiah Quincy, Dr. Church and Dr. Warren were the leaders. Jo- siah Quincy was the son of Josiah Quincy, brother of Edmund Quincy, an ardent believer in and supporter of American liberty. " These men were exceedingly vigilant and no- ticed every infringement of natural or chartered rights on the part of the Government and its agents. In the House of Representatives they originated almost every measure for the public good, and the people esteemed them as the zeal- ous guardians of their rights and privileges." 1 Nor could they have been enrolled in Sidney Smith's category of " Sheep Walkers,'' who never deviate from the beaten track, and " start from a new idea as they would from guilt." How the men of brains rallied at the cry of wrong and injustice ! With what firmness they 38 DOROTHY QUINCY kept up the chorus of " No taxation !" toiling day and night with their arraignment. How their names stand out from the background of British oppression, holding the distinction of the fore- most advocates of liberty ! They were not vio- lent, but went moderately and guardedly, well weighing their decisions, which were afterward weighed by the people, who balanced each propo- sition promulgated by the patriots for their bet- terment. By a unanimous vote Hancock was now elected colonel to command the Independent Cadets of the Governor's Company, the oldest military or- ganization next to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. As the officers were chosen by the company, the Governor gave the commis- sion, not liking to offend a hundred gentlemen. - His time fully occupied with public duties, yet John Hancock was ever ready to lend an ear to a tale of suffering, and was most liberal out of his great abundance. Hundreds and hundreds of families received their daily bread from his pri- vate benevolence. 3 He subscribed one thousand pounds toward the erection of the Brattle-Street Church, and re- served for himself the right of erecting a mahog- any pulpit and furniture, a mahogany deacon's seat and communion table, and seats for poor widows and others unable to provide for them- selves.* DOROTHY QUINCY 39 He gave the bell, and it was rung the first time on October 28, 1774. On it was this inscription : " I to the Church the living call, And to the grave I summon all." 5 This church, not long after, was used by the British as a barracks. Dorothy Quincy noted, with deep-felt satisfac- tion, that every measure for the good of the coun- try was stamped with John Hancock's name. When duties had been levied upon the import- ation of foreign merchandise by the British Gov- ernment Hancock, with other citizens, formed an association to prohibit the importation of British goods ; an example followed by the other colo- nies. And he was placed at the head of it. " Hancock offered one of his vessels free of charge to re-ship what tea was stored in Boston." 6 Then came that memorable November day of 1773 when appeared the ships tea-laden, and the excited Bostonians declared, " if it came in free of duty, or if not, that tea should not be landed." A verse from the rallying song of the tea party at the Green Dragon reads : " Rally, Mohawks ! bring out your axes, And tell King George we'll pay no taxes On his foreign tea ; His threats are vain, and vain to think To force our girls and wives to drink His vile Bohea ! Then rally, boys, and hasten on To meet our chiefs at the Green Dragon." 7 40 DOROTHY QUINCY My grandmother has related the story of a tap on the door and an order given that no one must leave the house before nine o'clock. A solemn and mysterious warning to the relatives of Dor- othy Quincy ! Months later an ode came out in the New Hampshire Gazette, beginning with this verse : " What discontents, what dire events, From trifling things proceed ! A little Tea, thrown in the sea, Has thousands caused to bleed." Major Thomas Maxwell tells his experience thus : "In 1773 I went with my team to Boston. I loaded at John Hancock's warehouse, and was about to leave town when Mr. Hancock requested me to drive my team up into his yard, and ordered his servants to take care of it, and requested me to be on Long Wharf at 2 o'clock P. M., and in- formed me what was to be done. I went accord- ingly, joined the band under one Captain Hewes ; we mounted the ships and made tea in a trice. This done I took my team and went home, as an honest man should.'"" Major Maxwell's war spirit carried him into the Concord fight, and to Bunker Hill, but this was probably his first and last appearance as a " Mohawk." The shades of night were gathering when these masqueraders began their task, and it was near three hours before it was completed. Three hun- DOROTHY QUINCY 41 dred and forty-two chests they broke open and the contents scattered into the water. None was allowed to be purloined, but a small quantity of it, which had been shaken out of a shoe, may be seen in a vial at Memorial Hall. The public mind was perturbed over the course of the King and the ministry, and there were hours of the greatest solicitude as to the next move in England. Men's passions were all aflame, while the course of the rising patriots con- tinued to excite the ire of the Tories. A writer thus gave vent to the feeling concerning the com- mittee of 1774, John Hancock being one of its members : " This is the foulest, subtlest, and most venom- ous serpent ever issued from the egg of sedition. It is the source of the rebellion." 9 Allow to everyone his individual opinion, and spare particularly from too severe criticism and villification those who work to redress a wrong. The Tories were upholding their Government, the patriots their rights ; and a man can endure scorn and contumely when his conscience sus- tains him. Lafayette wrote of the Tories from Camp, De- cember 30, 1777, to George Washington : "When I was in Europe I thought that here every man was a lover of liberty, and would rather die free than live a slave. You can conceive my aston- ishment when I saw that Toryism was as openly professed as Whiggism itself." CHAPTER VII. Adams' Entry in His Diary — Dorothy Quincy's Characteristics — Hancock's " Massacre Ora- tion " — Rejoicings of the Quincys — The Port Bill — Troops Landed — Enmity of Governor Gage — John Hancock's Rise — Praise of the Prominent Patriots — John Adams, Hancock's Lawyer — Provisional Congress. John Adams wrote in his diary, 1772 : " Spent last Sunday eve at Dr. Cooper's with Justice Quincy and Mr. W. C. We were very social, and we chatted at large upon Caesar, Cromwell, etc." Was this conversation at all significant of future projects for America? John Hancock, who allowed no time for idle- ness, made leisure also to drop in at Justice Quincy's, responding to the powerful magnet that attracted him, and to the influence he volun- tarily bowed. Unfortunately he has left no diary record of the topics of conversation, but is it not safe to assert that a certain Don Cupid dominated the tone? Dorothy Quincy seems to have had the " pearl chain of all virtues," and John Hancock had come under the spell of a high-toned woman, refined, intellifent, who made no effort to swerve him DOROTHY QUINCY 43 from duty or expose him to censure ; but was an incentive and spur to higher aims and action. A woman's influence, if for good, is the most potent ruler a man can have ; but, if used to warp his better judgment, she stands as the falsest of friends and most dangerous of enemies. The bold doctrines of Massachusetts, which at this period had the largest population, were looked upon favorably, and extended to other colonies. General Gage, who was undergoing his trials, bursts out in a despairing strain : ' This province, which is the most openly de- fiant, is supported and abetted by others beyond the conception of most people and foreseen by mine. The disease was believed to have been confined to the town of Boston, from whence it might have been eradicated no doubt without a great deal of trouble, and it might have been the case some time ago ; but now it is universal — there is no knowing where to apply a remedy." 1 Dorothy Quincy's lover had launched into the unknown sea of rebellion with hardihood and fearlessness. He knew not how the future would develop, but his inmost soul bore the stamp that lie was on the side of right. The month of March, 1774, Hancock delivered the anniversary oration on the " Massacre," which had taken place at Boston in 1770. It was the custom on these occasions to exhibit the portraits of the murderers and the slaughtered citizens t>> 44 DOROTHY QUINCY public view ;~ a. most successful method of tem- pering the blood to a proper heat against Britain. Samuel Adams describes him as " a graceful, easy speaker, self-possessed and dignified in ac- tion, and thoroughly understood by an audience of his native townsmen." 3 John Hancock, without shrinking or demur, on this occasion calmly faced the assemblage be- fore him. History tells us, " Though the streets were full of British soldiers, and some collected to hear him, he denounced the conduct of the administration in its various oppressive acts, and especially in sending an armed force to be sta- tioned in the capital in time of peace." He was bold and eloquent, exciting the astonishment alike of his friends and foes." 4 John Adams, who was present, spoke of it as " an elegant, a pathetic, a spirited performance." " A vast crowd raining eyes, etc." " Many of the sentiments came with great propriety from him, his invectives particularly against a preference of riches to virtue came with singular dignity and grace." 5 These few extracts are from the speech :" I conjure you by all that is dear, by all that is hon- orable, by all that is sacred, not only that you pray, but that you act ; that, if necessary, you fight and even die for the prosperity of our Jeru- salem. Break in sunder with noble disdain the bonds with which the Philistines have bound DOROTHY QUINCY 45 you." . . . "Some boast of being friends of government. I also am a friend to government, to a righteous government, founded upon the principles of reason and justice ; but I glory in avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny." He suggested a " Congress of Deputies from the sev- eral Houses of Assembly on the continent as the most effectual method of establishing a union for the security of the rights and liberties " of the country. An account of this address speaks of its " giv- ing great offence to the Executive, and more es- pecially to the officers of the standing army. In- deed, it was a striking act of intrepidity." 6 John Adams on that day dined with neighbor Quincy, and says, that " the happiness of the fam- ily where I dined, upon account of the colonel's justly-applauded oration, was complete. The Justice and his daughters were all joyous." It was stated that Hancock and Samuel Adams had consulted together over the character of the matter suitable for this occasion, which gave his maligners an opportunity to assert that Adams had composed the speech, while others gave out that it was Dr. Cooper. It was the same spirit of detraction that assailed George Washington. John Andrews, in a letter April 14, 1774, writes of the oration, " It's generally allowed to be a good composition (and asserted to be his own production), both spirited and nervous." 8 4b DOROTHY QUINCY Hancock had, however, much encouragement and commendation extended to him. Samuel Adams wrote, "Can you think that, while you are a good man, that all will speak well of you?"'' A song, with a prediction of the " Triumphs of the American Ensign," closes with this allusion to Hancock: " Strong knit is the band which unites the best land, No demon the union can sever ; Here's a glass to fair Freedom ! come give us your hand ; May the ORATOR nourish forever !" 10 The Port bill, which took effect June ist, 1774, was the seal of disaster to Boston. " The city went into mourning ; the colors of the vessels were put at half-mast, the ring of bells at Christ's Church was muffled and rung a solemn peal at intervals from morning till night." 11 " It cut off not only the foreign trade, but the whole of its domestic by water. . . . This closed many of the stores on Long Wharf." 12 Laborers stood idle, the harbor was deserted, property injured and decaying until compassionate towns north and south sent food to their relief. All took up the cause of the suffering Bostonians. 13 The aspect of affairs was still more belligerent when troops arrived from Halifax to enforce the Port bill. Additional ones were ordered from Quebec, New York and New Jersey. This mili- tary display caused continuous chafing and ran- DOROTHY QUINCY 47 cor. The stride from irritation to wrath is rapid if the provocation is not removed ; and when the Bostonians felt the insolent redcoats brush against them with a laugh, or epithet, their deep murmurings rose into harsh, wordy warfare. Samuel Adams, John Hancock and James Otis waited on the Governor and requested him to call a special meeting of the General Assembly, which he refused. In the face of this, on the 17th of June, 1774, they met, sitting with closed doors, and declined to open them to the Governor's sec- retary, who had been sent to dissolve the court, giving in reply that the House was occupied with very important business, and when that was fin- ished he would be admitted. The secretary was thus forced to read his proclamation from the steps. 14 John Hancock was now to experience person- ally the enmity of Governor Gage. In August he removed him from command of the Cadets without assigning a reason. The Cadet Corps, officers and members, immediately convened, voted no longer to meet and act as a military as- sociation, then sent their standard to the com- mander-in-chief. On the 1 8th of the month an address was for- warded to Colonel Hancock, signed by fifty-two members, which had this paragraph : " At a period when the post of honor is a private station it cannot be thought strange that a gentleman of 48 DOROTHY QUINCY your distinguished character should meet with every discouragement from those in power." 15 Hancock's rise on the wave of popularity, we have seen, kindled unpopularity with " the ad- herents of the crown, whom his boldness exas- perated, and every artifice was put in requisition to injure him." 16 But no obstacle had checked John Hancock's career ; none could check it. His rise was higher and higher. Assailed by enemies, tricked by seeming friends, persecuted by the British, mocking verses hurled at him, open criticism and covert plots — did any of it, or did it all combined, arrest his progress to high office? The verse-makers continued their merry jin- gles, and there was published in the Massachu- setts Spy of September, 1774 : " Your Colonel H-n-k, by neglect Has been deficient in respect ; As he my Sovereign toe ne'er kissed, 'Twas proper he should be dismissed ; I never was, and never will By mortal man be treated ill !" John Hancock, unlike the eminent French wri- ter, who " envied beasts their ignorance of what was said of them," bore the strictures of those in and out of power unmoved, maintaining a digni- fied silence. The indefatigable Massachusetts patriots con- tinued their labors under impediment and dis- couragement. How we cherish their names ! DOROTHY QUINCY 49 What an intrepid, indomitable body composed the Assembly, united in one great common cause " against the oppressive laws of the Home Gov- ernment ! " In Tndor's " Life of James Otis,'' we find writ- ten of them, " that Samuel Adams and John Han- cock were chosen the colleagues of James Otis and Thomas Cushing, and these four gentlemen, who for several years composed the delegation of the capital, exercised a wide influence in the af- fairs of the province ; and are inseparably con- nected with all the events that led to the inde- pendence of the United States." 17 There is further mention of these men, collect- ively, in the " Life of General Warren." " There were James Otis, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and John Adams, and others of large mental cal- ibre, who were with him heart and soul. They formed a constellation of eloquence, research and bravery seldom seen, in such united lustre, in the revolutions of the world's history." 1 * John Adams wrote, " Samuel Adams, John Hancock and James Otis were the three most essential characters, and Great Britain knew it, though America does not. Great, and important, and excellent characters, aroused and excited by these, arose in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York and South Carolina, and in all the other states ; but these three were the first movers — the most constant, steady, persevering springs and agents, 50 DOROTHY QUINCY and most disinterested sufferers, and firmest pil- lars of the whole Revolution." 19 The months rolled along through a pathway of alarms ; men's tempers sharpened, nerves were strung to the highest tension, with excitement at the gravest stage ; and there were many sleepless nights and anxious days to those watchers over their country's security. Hancock's independence of the Government brought out several suits against him, and John Adams, who was his lawyer, wrote : " I was thor- oughly weary and disgusted with the court, the officers of the crown, the cause, and even with the tyrannical bell that dangled me out of my house every morning." 20 October 5, 1774, the members of the Assembly resolved themselves into a provincial congress and adjourned from Salem to Concord. " Han- cock was unanimously elected president from among the dignified representatives there assem- bled." CHAPTER VIII. Dorothy Quincy's Lover — Royalist Hand-bill — British Soldiers Tar and Feather — Voltaire on the English — Attack on Hancock's Prem- ises — Women's Tea Petition. John Hancock loved the refined, subtle influ- ence of Dorothy Quincy's charms — to listen to a voice the aeolian accompaniment of engaging- converse; to look into the great eyes full of ten- derness and approval : and when absent, amid eu- logium or carping, he carried enshrined in his breast a talisman — the image of the fair Dorothy. What in John Hancock had attracted Dorothy Ouincy — that he should have been installed as the arbiter of her destiny? To her eye he appealed with his distinguished presence, scrupulous toilets ; his inborn courtesy. To her heart with his sympathy for the suffering, his devotion to those he loved ; his generosity to friends and in- feriors. To her ambition with his indomitable patriotism, his assured popularity, his rapid ad- vancement. And, if crowds were swayed by his magnetism, what marvel that it touched and cap- tivated Dorothy Quincy ! 5 2 DOROTHY QUINCY This was the suitor for whom she resigned her belleship, and it seems as if the training of that judicious father had been to fit her for the exalted station she afterwards held as Mrs. Hancock. John Adams, writing on this subject, says : " His choice was very natural, a grand-daughter of the great patron and most reverend friend of his father. Beauty, politeness, and every domes- tic virtue, justified his predilection." 1 There was much to alarm Dorothy Quincy in the stand that her lover had taken ; but she ap- preciated that a man is entitled to credit for his patriotic services — the bold front he shows under trying circumstances ; his perseverance in over- coming obstacles, and she would not have had him recede one step even in the face of the British sword suspended over his life. For the soldiers of the crown had lost no time in distributing a royalist hand-bill with this heading, " To the Sol- diers of His Majesty's Troop in Boston." It con- tained a list of the authors of the rebellion, Sam- uel Adams, John Hancock, Josiah Quincy being among those enumerated, and announcing that it was probable the King's standard would soon be erected. It continued : " The friends of our King and country and of America hope, and expect it from you soldiers the instant rebellion happens, that you will put the above persons immediately to the sword, destroy their houses and plunder their ef- DOROTHY QU1NCY 53 fects. It is just they should be the first victims to the mischiefs they have brought upon us." 2 In January, 1775, it looked as if the patriots were still good subjects, sending a " Petition of the Continental Congress to the King, Most Ex- cellent Majesty," wherein they asked " but for peace, liberty and safety," and that " your royal authority over us, and our connection with Great Britain, we shall always carefully and zealously endeavor to support and maintain." 3 This brought no terms to calm the disquieted mind and temper of colonial subjects. On the contrary the oppressions redoubled, and the per- sistent roughness of the troops continued un- checked. March 20th an inhabitant of Billerica, Mass., was tarred and feathered by a party of His Majes- ty's Forty-seventh Regiment. The selectmen sent a remonstrance to His Excellency, Gage, in which they said : " Lieutenant-Colonel Nesbitt is an officer under Your Excellency's command. Of yon, therefore, we demand satisfaction for the insult committed by him. We beg, Your Excel- lency, that the breach now too wide between Great Britain and this province may not, by such brutality of the troops, still be increased. . . . If it continues we shall hereafter use a different style from that of petition and complaint." This threat lay treasured in the storehouse of memory. 54 DOROTHY QUINCY Watchful friends wrote anxiously from Lon- don, February 10, 1775 : " There is gone down to Sherness seventy-eight thousand guns and bay- onets to be sent to America to put into the hands of the negroes, the Roman Catholics and the Canadians, and all the wicked means on earth used to subdue the colonies. I don't write this to alarm you, but you must not any longer be de- ceived. Orders have now gone out to take up Messrs. Hancock, Adams, Williams, Otis and six of the head men in Boston. 1 have now a copy of the proceedings before me. My heart aches for Mr. Hancock. Send off expresses imme- diately that they intend to seize his estate and have his fine house for General " 4 How another heart, sensitive and gentle, must have ached at this announcement, for it sounded like a blast of war ; and the Bostonians were to be credited with provoking it. Voltaire, who had compared the English to their own beer — " froth at top, dregs at bottom and the middle excellent" — was a firm believer in great America's future. The following is an extract from a letter of his on taxes to the late Earl of Chesterfield, said to have been written about this time : " In the midst of your nation's folly and blindness I can see a new world opening that will prove an asylum for all your honest, industrious people ; and I think a few years will discover the island of Britain to DOROTHY OUINCY 55 have for its inhabitants only two sorts of animals — tyrants and slaves." 5 The British soldiery became so incensed against Hancock that they resorted to violence, and March 15th their officers attacked his house in Boston, broke the windows and were very abu- sive. The following notice in the Pennsylvania Evening Post gives the details : "They hacked the fence also of Colonel Han- cock's elegant seat, and on the 19th the inferior officers and privates entered his inclosures and refused to retire after his requesting them, telling him his house, stables, etc., would soon be theirs ; that they would do as they pleased. On his ap- plication to the General he immediately sent one of his aides-de-camp to the officer of the guard at the bottom of the Common to seize any officer or private W T ho should molest Colonel Hancock." And General Gage ordered the fences repaired. Now came an edict, issued by the legislators, which the women of the country sharply resented. In March Congress recommended the disuse of all East India teas. " The committee request that their constituents, in their several families, will adhere to this resolution, and however diffi- cult the disuse of any article which custom has rendered familiar, to many almost necessary, yet they are induced to hope the ladies will cheerfully acquiesce in their self-denial, and thereby evince S 6 DOROTHY QUINCY to the world a love to their friends, posterity and country." This drew forth the following appeal : " Petition of divers Old Women of the city of Philadelphia, Humbly sheweth That your petition- ers, as well spinsters as married, having been long accustomed to the drinking of Tea, fear it will be utterly impossible for them to exhibit so much Patriotism as wholly to disuse it. Your Petition- ers beg leave to observe that, having already dm p.* all possible injury to their nerves and health with this delectable herb, they shall think it extremely hard not to enjoy it for the remainder of their lives. Your Petitioners would further represent that coffee and chocolate, or any other substitute hitherto proposed, they humbly apprehend, from their heaviness, must destroy that brilliancy of fancy and fluency of expression usually found at Tea-tables when we are handling the conduct or character of our absent acquaintances. Your Pe- titioners are also informed there are several old women of the oilier sex laboring under the like difficulties, who apprehend the above restriction will be wholly insupportable, and that it is a sacri- fice infinitely too great to be made to save the Lives, Liberties and Privileges of any country whatever, etc. A petition to be presented to the Assembly now sitting, or next Congress or Com- mittee." 6 DOROTHY QUINCY S7 These women felt that they could not give up their Bohea to aid the cause : but a woman of Rhode Island, when the hour came, sent her ten sons out to fight for their country, her bleeding heart concealed under words of encouragement. The '* great Whig ladies " continued their tea- drinking, exultant at concealing it by substitut- ing a " coffee-pot on their tables — and water- pot." CHAPTER IX. Congress at Concord Adjourns — Dorothy Quincy Leaves for Lexington — Letter of Helene Bay- ard — John Hancock and Samuel Adams in Danger. In April, 1775, the Provincial Congress, at Concord, Mass., adjourned after it had assumed and exercised all legislative power. Gage pro- nounced, by proclamation, " that it was an unlaw- ful assembly, tending utterly to subvert govern- ment and to lead directly to sedition, treason and rebellion." 1 The outlook was ominous and threatening. John Hancock, his heart-strings torn by two strong, conflicting sensations — love for his coun- try and love for his fiancee, whose situation he thought perilous — was finally inspired to seek the interposition of his Aunt Hancock, that the sepa- ration enforced by duty should be terminated. Boston was in that disturbed, unsettled condi- tion that Judge Quincy, who had been exercising constant surveillance over his affairs, was pre- pared to leave for Lancaster on the shortest no- tice. Apprehension and disorganization reigned in most households, and manv families had moved DOROTHY QUINCY 59 their effects out of the city. There was no more " stepping over the way to take a pipe " with Justice Quincy for Mr. John Adams. Those so- cial talks had ended. Mrs. Lydia Hancock acted at once, and, like a guardian angel, proposed to Judge Quincy to take charge of his daughter Dorothy. Persuaded by her argument he gave his consent, and soon after there rolled up to the door the Hancock stately coach. Dorothy, with a girl's light-heartedness, bade a fond good-bye to her father with no thought of what an eventful separation this would prove. Regardless of toilet she gathered but a few things necessary for the short, hurried trip, leav- ing the fine clothes, which were collected after her departure and forwarded to her — a strange, un- feminine oversight. Aunt Lydia and Dorothy arrived in safety at the old Hancock homestead, Lexington, Mass., the residence of the Rev. Jonas Clark, who was a relative as well as successor in the church of the Rev. John Hancock. Here they received a warm welcome, and felt in comparative security, though rumors had been rife that Gage intended to seize Adams and Hancock. Gage had written in January to Lord Dartmouth of the necessity to secure these leaders, and it was said the orders came in February. 00 DOROTHY QUINCY Dorothy Quincy's cousin, Helena Bayard, who had remained in Boston, sent lively records of what was passing to the absent one. In a letter dated April 14, 1775, she writes : " Your sudden departure gave me great uneasiness, and, when I saw the furniture carried from the house and family leaving it, it appeared to me as though you were all dead. It is an old saying, but a very true one— we don't know the love we have for our friends till we are deprived of them. Believe me. the tears fall while I am writing you. I cannot allow myself to think the family is broken up — gone, yet we must know it is for the best. I have taken my leave of Queen street, as what I hold dear to me is gone." Mrs. Bayard had made a visit to Dorothy's " Sister Quincy," on her return to the house where she boarded finds the parlor full, so seats herself in the only vacant chair, and is asked if she had heard the news. She writes: " I replied I had not. I was then told Linsee was coming and ten thousand troops, which was glorious news for the Congress. Mr. Hancock was next brought upon the carpet, and. as the company did not suspect 1 had the least acquaintance with Mr. Hancock, I can't think they meant to affront me. However, as Mr. Hancock has an elegant house, and well situated, and this always will be a garrison town, it will do exceedingly well for a fort.' . . . ' I wonder how Miss will stand affected. I think he de- fers marrying till he returns from England.' At this speech I saw a wink given, and all was hush — myself as hush as the grave for reasons. ' Mr. Hancock has a number of horses. Perhaps he would be glad to dis- pose of them, as the officers are buying up the best horses in the town.' ' Mrs. Bayard, don't look so dull ! You will be taken the greatest care of.' Thought I — if you knew my heart you would have the most reason to look dull. However, a little time will decide that. DOROTHY QUINCY 61 " I am, you will say, wicked ; but I wish the small- pox wouid spread. " Dolly, I could swell my letter into a balloon ; but, least I should tire you, I will beg my sincere regards to Mr. Hancock, and beg the favor of a line from dear Dolly. Your affectionate Coz., "Helena Bayard. "- This conveys an idea of the state of feeling in Boston, and the unbounded confidence of the English in their ultimate success. Colonel Grant had declared in the House of Commons, February 2, 1775, " that he had served in America, and knew the Americans well ; was certain they would never fight— they would never dare to face an English army !" Samuel Adams, Hancock's friend and fellow- worker, was also domiciled at the Rev. Joan Clark's. It was circulated that the British in- tended to destroy large quantities of stores at Concord, Mass., but it was universally believed that Gage also intended to arrest both Adams and Hancock. John Adams, writing on this subject, says : " Blunder-heads as were the British ministry, they had sagacity enough to discriminate from all others, for inexorable vengeance, the two men most to be dreaded by them — Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Had not James Otis been dead, or worse than dead,* his name would have been at the head of the triumvirate." 3 ♦Otis' mind was affected. 62 DOROTHY QUINCY If the military could secure the stores at Con- cord, and capture the two leaders, what a victory for them to thus stop the rebellion in its incip- iency ! Adams, with his record, and Hancock, the un- tiring champion and worker, would have been important captures for King George's troops. Hancock, who had attacked the Stamp Act, the port blockade, the tea tax and the massacre ! What a cry it would have roused from his large following ! And how had he won them? By no promises of office, nor of power, nor of emolu- ments — but by his honesty of purpose and con- tinued efforts to lighten their hardships. The man who is conscientious, and sincerely believes and feels what he advocates, usually carries con- viction to his hearers. CHAPTER X. Paul Revere's Midnight Ride — The Lexington Fight — Letter of an English Soldier — Dor- othy Quincy Tells of the Wounded — Hancock and Adams Withdraw to Safety — The Lovers Quarrel. The little village of Lexington, resting peace- fully far from all city turmoil, was soon to re- sound with the first tocsin of war, the roll of the drum and the rattle of musketry. It was to be the inauguration of the Revolution. No illusions — but the stern realities of combat were to be faced. Elbridge Gerry had early sent off an express to John Hancock to warn him of his danger. Gerry writes : " Mr. Hancock's answer bears mark of the haste with which it was written, while it discovers that habitual politeness on the part of the writer which neither haste nor danger could impair." 1 This first alarm subsided. But on the 18th of April General Gage ordered a force to march on Concord. Dr. Warren despatched Paul Revere to awaken the country. In hot haste dashed the unwearied steed, stirred to frenzy by spur and whip, stimulated by a con- 64 DOROTHY QUINCY tinuous shout from its intrepid rider — rousing every hamlet, thrilling- with terror the hearts of timid women and children, but firing the war spirit of the men with his cry — " The regulars are coming !" * >n clattered horse and rider, scattering stones and dirt as the hoofs tore into the ground, cover- ing the flanks of his steed with foam, until they brought up, near midnight, at the Rev. Mr. Clark's, and " found the house guarded by eight men, under Sergeant Munro, who cautioned him not to make a noise." " Noise !" said Revere. " You'll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out !" Hancock hearing Revere's voice and, recog- nizing it, opened a window and said, " Courier Revere, we are not afraid of you !" Revere replied with his startling news. " Ring the bell !" exclaimed Hancock. The bell began its peal, and rang all night. Before daylight one hundred and fifty men had mustered for defense. Confident in the fitness of resistance, it lent mettle to their nerve and strength to their arms. Hancock cleaned his gun and sword, put his accoutrements in order, determined to go out and fight with the men assembling, who were in most miserable order, but with hearts full of reso- lution and eager for the fray. DOROTHY QUINCY 65 Adams clapped Hancock on the shoulder and said to him, '* That is not our business ; we be- long to the cabinet." But it was only by the most convincing pleas that he was persuaded to abandon his design ; for the security of both Adams and Hancock was of essential importance to the interests of the col- ony and to the great cause of freedom. An English officer, forerunner of the army, had been inquiring for Clark's, which confirmed the rumor that they were seeking the patriots. 2 After Revere had left Clark's he and two others were captured by some British officers. He replied evasively to their questions as to where Adams and Hancock were located, and at last said firmly, " Gentlemen, you have missed your aim ;" and, hearing a distant bell, continued, " The bell's ringing — the town's alarmed. You are all dead men !" This roused the fears of the officers, who retained their prisoners until about one hundred rods of the meeting-house, when they took possession of Revere's horse, and, cut- ting the girths of the saddles and bridles of the others, rode off at full speed toward Boston to meet their advancing comrades. Revere returned to Clark's and reported his adventure. Hancock and Adams, at daylight, moved by the earnest remonstrance of their friends, were induced to withdraw to a thickly- wooded hill, in order to be near the earliest intel- 66 DOROTHY QU1NCY ligence. Finally it was deemed more expedient that they should retire to the distant house of the Rev. Mr. Marrett, in Burlington, now Woburn. Mrs. Hancock and Dorothy were allowed to re- main, as it was considered perfectly safe. Thus it happened that they were in the opening combat of the Revolution. Seven hundred British soldiers arrived at Lex- ington, and the officers summarily commanded the motley group opposing them to lay down their arms and to disperse. " Not a man obeyed," says the historian. " Nor did they at the final order, "Damn you, disperse!" Then was poured into the minute-men a fatal volley from valiant British regulars. In an intercepted letter of one of these English soldiers, dated April 28, 1775, he writes : " We were fired on by country people, who are not brought up in our military way. . . . The people are very numerous, and full as bad as the Indians for scalping and cutting the dead men's cars and noses off."' 1 Mrs. Lydia Hancock, who had descended to the door, was gazing around to learn news of the hostilities when a British bullet whizzed by her head and struck the barn. " What is that?" she exclaimed. They told her, giving a warning to take care of herself. DOROTHY QUINCY 67 Dorothy, who, with a woman's curiosity, had stretched her pretty head out of the window, was startled at the first results of the conflict, and, in her narration of it, said : " Two men were being brought into the house. One, whose head had been grazed by a ball, in- sisted that he was dead ; but the other, who was shot in the arm, behaved better." After the troops had passed on toward Con- cord Mrs. Hancock and Dorothy received a let- ter from Hancock stating where he and Adams were domiciled, advising them to leave in the car- riage and bring the fine salmon that was to have been served at dinner. Without delay they followed these directions, and congratulated themselves when again united in safety. The salmon was cooked, but there was only time to feast the eye and not the palate, when a man rushed wildly in, having left his wife and family at home, exclaiming : " The British are coming ! The British are coming ! My wife's in etarnity now." As soon as the alarm from this electrifying an- nouncement had subsided Mr. Marrett piloted Hancock and Adams, by a cartway, to Amos Wyman's house, in Billerica, where they ate with a relish their dinner of cold salt pork and pota- toes from a wooden tray. 4 Dorothy Quincy and her lover, before their separation, had a lively skirmish of words. It is 08 HOROTHY QUINCY a natural conclusion that the nerves of this young' lady had received a severe shock, and were much unstrung- by the unforeseen and bewildering events participated in, for she declared emphatic- ally that, having left her father in Boston, she in- tended to return to him the next day. Imagine Mr. John Hancock's state of mind at this decision — with the roads still prowled by British "red-coats?" " No, madam," said Hancock, " you shall not return as long as there is a British bayonet left in Boston !""' .It was the fair Dorothy's turn to be astounded at this premature display of authority on the part of her lover, though actuated by the tenderest and best of motives. With the spirit of a true woman she replied : " Recollect, Mr. Hancock, I am not under your authority yet. I shall go to my father's tomor- row !" When relating it, years later, she frankly ac- knowledged that this mandate from Hancock momentarily produced a revulsion of feeling. But Aunt Lvdia intervened, and, with gentle conciliation, smoothed the temporary friction and ruffled feelings, restoring the harmony of peace. Yet it was many, many months before Dorothy Ouincy returned to Boston. A woman's mind and a woman's heart, with their mobile vibrations, have at all times been DOROTHY QUINCY 69 enigmas to solve. But the strong under-current of Dorothy Quincy's character is betrayed when, led by affection and patriotism, she followed her lover to Mr. Marrett's and was willing to stake her fate with the man whom Great Britain was seeking to hang. The rancor entertained toward the two patriots is summed up in the Tory ballad : " As for their King, that John Hancock, And Adams, if they're taken; Their heads for signs shall hang up high Upon the hill called Beacon !" CHAPTER XI. Minute Men — Boston a Camp — Gage's Proclama- tion — How It Was Received — Delegates en Route to Philadelphia — Hancock and Adams Meet the Governor and Council of Connecti- cut — The Quincys Scattered. After the " Lexington-Concord " attack the " minute-men " were regularly organized in every town, 1 and stood ready at the first summons to defend their country. Freedom planted on their banner and implanted in their hearts — freedom from wrong and injustice— the valiant " minute- men !" There were then no paid substitutes nor regu- lar soldiers supported by government, and enjoy- ing hours of ease and leisure ; but in the ranks stood, as during the Civil War of 1861 and the Spanish War of 1898, some of the best blood of the country. These men left the land untilled and their various avocations in order to defend their fire- sides and the rights they claimed. They parted from wife, mother and children ; for did it not mean the safety of those dear ones? They rushed, with old guns, undaunted, undisciplined, into danger to meet soldiers brought up in the tactics DOROTHY QUINCY 71 of war, well drilled, well armed, with experienced officers. Has enough credit been given to the unselfish, heroic "minute-men?" What to them was the want of artillery — the want of a treasury ! Their souls were in the cause to resist all encroachments and, with stout courage, to endure whatever might befall them. This indomitable spirit of the colonists was predicted, as is seen from an anecdote in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 1775: " In London, last Tuesday, some unlucky but genteel youths went to one of the temporary cook-shops in Covent Garden, and one of them said to his companion, " I'll show you how the Americans intend to serve BOSTON. You must suppose that pan over the charcoal fire to be the town, and the Sausages in it to be Gen- eral Gage and the King's Troops ; and then (says he) they will be served thus : When he threw a paper, with some gunpowder in it, under the pan, which immediately blew the sausages, etc., into the air. There (cries he) now you may see where Boston is, and also how the Americans will learn General Gage and his soldiers to fly without wings.' He then gave the woman a guinea for the loss of her goods, who was very well satisfied about the matter." 2 But before this transpired Boston experienced some of the cruelty of war, and was the first city to be ground under the heel of the British. 7 2 DOROTHY QUINCY What a transition for this cleanly town, with its church-going community, to be revolutionized into a dirty, diseased, military camp ! General Gage allowed those who desired to leave for the country, but they were not permitted to retain firearms or ammunition : these they were obliged to deliver to the selectmen. This was generally complied with. He also forbade merchandise being taken out of the city ; then all provisions and medicine. And after May 2ISt the guards even took from the poorer people a single loaf of bread and half a pound of choco- late. Finally " all communication between Bos- ton and the country was cut oh. and no one was permitted to go in or out without a pass." In June General Gage promulgated his famous proclamation. " offering a pardon to all who would proselyte themselves to the royal author- ity, excepting- 1 [ancock and Adams."' They were proscribed by King George, whose first order was that they he sen: over to England for trial : the second directed that they he hanged in Boston." The proscription was ridiculed in Massachu- setts and put into verse. The Gazette of June 24. 775, has this stanza from one of their odes : " But I must out of this plan lock Both Samuel Adams and John Hancock : For those vile traitors ijike bedentures) Must be tucked up at all adventures. As any proffer of a pardon Would only tend these rogues to harden." DOROTHY QUINCY 73 The proscription of George III, says an author writing of Hancock, is a " mausoleum to thy memory which will survive a ponderous monu- ment of marble." And a gentleman of Philadel- phia wrote to a member of the British Parlia- ment : " There cannot be a greater error than to sup- pose that the present commotions in America are owing to the acts of demagogues. Every man thinks and acts for himself. . . . It is to no purpose to attempt to destroy the opposition to the omnipotence of Parliament by taking off our Hancock, Adamses, Dickinsons. Ten thousand patriots of the same stamp stand ready to fill their places." 4 We left John Hancock and Samuel Adams making their way resolutely, but with caution, toward Worcester, there to join, April 24, other delegates enroute to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. Adams and Hancock met the Governor and Council of Connecticut, when they planned the taking of Ticonderoga :' and a party of volunteers, commanded by Ethan Allen, started with that purpose and succeeded in cap- turing it May 10, 1775." From Worcester, April 24th, Hancock wrote privately to the Committee of Safety in Boston — " Are our men in spirits? For God's sake do not suffer the spirit to subside until they have per- fected the reduction of our enemies. Boston 74 DOROTHY QUINCY must be entered ; the troops must be sent away. Our friends are valuable, but our country must be saved !" 6 Saturday, April 29, Judge Edmund Quincy had left Boston for Lancaster, about seventy miles distant. Traveling was most uncomfortable and cheerless. He was until Friday evening reach- ing the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. Greenleaf, having sent the two negroes in advance. " Carriages were scarce," he writes to his son Henry, and " it cost me near twenty pounds, be- sides quartering on some of my good friends, who were very kind and generous. Your sister Dolly, with Mr. Hancock, came from Shirley to your brother Greenleaf s and dined, and pro- ceeded to Worcester, where Colonel Hancock and Mr. Adams were on their way. This was ten days before I got hither, so that I missed seeing them. As I hear she proceeded with .Mrs. Han- cock to Fairfield, f don't expect to see her till peaceable times are restored." 7 He wrote to his son Edmund, May 19, 1775. in an incensed and disgusted state of mind be- cause the colonists were represented " as a lazy, ignorant, poltroon, low kind of people : there- fore, incapable of defending themselves or their country." CHAPTER XII. Dorothy Quincy at Fairfield — Hancock's Letter to Dorothy — Enthusiasm for John Hancock — Elected President of the Continental Con- gress — Contemporaries' Opinion of Him. Airs. Hancock and Dorothy were installed at Fairfield, *' a beautiful town, cultivated and pros- perous," for an indefinite period at the house of a very intimate friend, Thaddeus Burr, who was a leading- citizen of the place. " I [is fine colonial mansion was a prominent object in the centre of the village. Here he dis- pensed sumptuous hospitality. In i"//(-) the Brit- ish burnt this house, with its valuable contents, as well as nearly all the principal buildings, pub- lic and private. When Burr rebuilt, after the war. Governor Hancock presented him with the n< cessary lumber and glass."' By the first of May the delegates readied New York, and there are lengthy accounts in the jour- nals of their reception ; the people's approving demonstrations on Hancock's course, and disap- proval oi Gage's proclamation. Hancock wrote from New York to his fiancee. giving the details of their reception in that city, 76 DOROTHY QUINCY where his carriage was given precedence of all others. The procession formed at King's Bridge, and when within three miles of the town they were met by the Grenadier Company and regiment of the City Militia under arms ; gentlemen in car- riages, on horseback, and many thousand persons on foot; the roads filled with people. To quote from the letter, " When within a mile of the city my carriage was stopped and, persons appearing with proper harness, insisted upon tak- ing out my horses and dragging me into and through the city — a circumstance I would not have had taken place upon any consideration. I begged and entreated that they would suspend the design, and asked it as a favor. The matter subsided, but when I got to the entrance of the city, and the number of spectators increased to perhaps seven thousand or more, they declared they would have the horses out and drag me themselves through the city." Hancock had finally to apply to the leading gentlemen in the procession before he could suc- ceed in arresting these demonstrations. He closes his letter : " I beg you will write me. Do acquaint me with every circumstance relative to the dear aunt of mine. Write lengthy and often. . . . Pray let me hear from you by every post. God bless you, my dear girl, and believe me, most sincerely, " Yours most affectionately, " John Hancock." 2 DOROTHY QUINCY 77 The fair Dorothy, though evidently endowed with depth of feeling - , did not permit it to flow into love effusions, or she may have been one of those fluent conversationalists who are not equally ready as writers. Her letters occur rarely, and Hancock utters frequent plaints at this si- lence. The heart, however, must have throbbed with pleasure as she read the ovation to her hero lover. An account in the Pennsylvania Evening Post gives the progress of the delegates : " The roads were lined with greater numbers of people than were ever known on any occasion before. Their arrival was announced by the ringing of bells and other demonstrations of joy. They had double sentries placed at the doors of their lodgings while in New York. Every precaution taken that the British should not carry out their threat on the two patriots." " They left New York with John Adams, Rob- ert Treat Paine, Thomas Cushing and other dele- gates for the City of Philadelphia, a large guard attending them across the water to protect them from an attack — two hundred and three sloops and a number of other vessels ; and, it is said, about five hundred gentlemen crossed the ferry with them, among whom were two hundred mil- itia under arms." Another letter details the attentions paid them, and says, "They will not reach your city (Phila- -8 DOROTHY QU1NCY delphia) until Wednesday morning, when you can be in readiness to pay them the same honors they have received here." 3 " Every town they passed through they were received by the military, and at Philadelphia a large concourse met them ; the bells were set ringing on their entrance, and every mark of re- spect that could be was expressed." 4 On the 9th of May they arrived, and the Conti- nental Congress met on the 10th. Peyton Randolph, who resigned the Presi- dency, had returned home and left the seat va- cant. On the lgih of May Benjamin Harrison, of Vir- ginia, with Southern warmth and fervency, threw his arms around John Hancock and placed him in the vacant Presidential chair, exclaiming, "We will show Mother Britain how little we care f oi- lier by making a Massachusetts man our Presi- dent, whom she has excluded from pardon and offered a reward for his head !" Winthrop says, " Was there ever a more signal distinction vouchsafed to mortal man? Not yet forty years of age. with a princely fortune at stake, and with a price upon his head, sitting there in all the calm composure and dignity which so pecu- liarly characterized him, and which nothing seemed able to relax or ruffle." It has been said, " He felt deeply embarrassed when the unanimous election was declared, but DOROTHY QUINCY 79 recovered his wonted self-possession after being" seated in the chair. "' Tudor says of him in his Life of James (. His. '* John Hancock was thoroughly conversant with the forms of business in a public body. As Presi- dent, Moderator, or Speaker of an Assembly, whether town meeting or a house of representa- tives, he was not surpassed by any person of his time. He was attentive, impartial, dignified and in these situations inspired respect and confidence wherever he presided — his feelings and principles those of a patriot, his morality and benevolence those of a sincere professor of Christianity." Another writer says that " Hancock's popular- it)' extended throughout the United colonies." And these are but a few of the many commenda- tory notices of him. A resume of John Hancock's career, from his start in life, was necessary ; and we have now followed Dorothy Quincy's future husband up to the highest office — President of the Congress. Nor does it appear that her heart or her judgment had erred in this choice. CHAPTER XIII. Life at Fairfield — Letter from Hancock — Dis- tress in Boston — Hancock Wishes to Serve Under Washington — George Washington's Re- ply — John Hancock's Letters to Dorothy — Judge Quincy's Views — Samuel Paine on Bos- ton — Arrival of Howe — Washington Appoint- ed Commander-in-Chief. Dorothy Quincy continued at Fairfield, charm- ing the townspeople by her beauty and gracious- ness, yet with a touch of stateliness that was in- herent in her; and she was the ornament of Mr. Burr's entertainments. Dorothy Quincy, who realized the mind was given to her for practice, at times indulged in stu- dious thought ; but she also used her winning smile to decorate playful or trivial talk, to which women lend such a charm with their lively imag- ination. It was not the age when time hung heavy be- cause of " nothing to do." Dorothy whiled away hours with those occupations that were the fash- ion of the day. Then came " letters which shorten absence." Every fortnight the coach brought her a packet of them from Hancock, who was indefatigable with his pen-worship ; and, though DOROTHY QUINCY 81 we bewail Dorothy Ouincy's discretion in re- pressing an inky effervescence over the blank pages, yet it has spared her missives from curious eyes, to peruse with praise or censure. In a letter of Hancock's, June 10, 1775, he writes : " I am almost prevailed on to think that my letters to my aunt and you are not read, for I cannot obtain a reply. I have asked a million questions and not an answer to one. ... I really take it extremely unkind. Pray, my dear, use not so much ceremony and reservedness. Why can't yon use freedom in writing? Be not afraid of me. 1 want long letters. ... I beg, my dear Dolly, you will write me often and long letters. I will forgive the past if you will mend in future. Do ask my aunt to make me up and send me a watch-string, and do you make up another? I want something of your doing." He sends her a box containing a variety of articles, and says, " which I do insist you wear. If you do not I shall think the donor is the ob- jection. ... I wish these may please you ; I shall be gratified if they do. Pray write me ; I will attend to all your commands." 1 Private letters from Boston, the home of Dor- othy Quincy, continued to report the greatest suf- fering among the inhabitants. This extract por- trays some of their distress : " No word can describe the dreadful scene of misery of that unhappy town. The shrieks of 82 DOROTHY QUINCY the women, the cries of the children, the dying- groans of the wounded and want of provisions would extort a tear from even the eye of a hero." 2 No one dared restrain the soldiers, who " rose in the meeting-houses and preached queer, mock- ing sermons against the rebellious Puritans." The tendency to doggerel at this time was so universal one is tempted to give an occasional verse : " Yankee Doodle came to town For to buy a firelock ; We will tar and feather him. And so we will John Hancock." 8 There was a strong feeling in favor of a deter- mined stand " in all the colonies, and men of wealth and influence joined in protesting against the usurpations of the mother country," " but they were also averse to a decided rupture." 4 As this is a life of Dorothy Quincy, and the part that her husband took in events, I regret that I cannot digress into the history of other colonies, where men stood forth in their patriotic work as prominent as those in New England. Another year passed, and in 1775 there was a reversal of opinion. John Hancock, who never wavered, had under the stimulus of continued en- thusiasm, and from regard for George Washing- ton, written to him, July 10 : " I must beg the favor that you will reserve some berth for me in such department as you DOROTHY QUINCY 83 may judge most proper, for I am determined to act under you if it be to take the firelock and join the ranks as volunteer." 5 This does not bear out the insinuation that he was jealous of Washington, as has been intimated by one of the delegates. In Washington's reply he says, " I am partic- ular to acknowledge that part of your favor of the 10th instant wherein you do me the honor of de- termining to join the army under my command. I need certainly make no professions of the pleas- ure I shall have in seeing you. At the same time have to regret that so little is in my power to offer equal to Colonel Hancock's merits and worthy of his acceptance." But the health of Colonel Hancock would have debarred him from serving long in the field. Men were aroused in all ranks of life, and Gen- eral Gage was astonished to witness the spread of the Union sentiment ; also the solicitude in behalf of Massachusetts. In one of his letters he writes, " They have warm friends in New York, Philadel- phia ; and, that the people of Charleston. S. C, are as mad as they are here." 6 Hancock's letters, full of affection, pour out to the absent one, his " dear Dolly," urging her to write, and he says, " Had I my aunt and yon with me I should be much happier, and wish much to be with you both ; the where is imma- terial. . . . Adieu, my dear girl ; you are 84 DOROTHY QU1NCY ever in my thoughts, and the contemplation of you gives me much pleasure. I am, affection- ately yours always, John Hancock." 7 The above letter was written "Sabbath even- ing, July 2d." On the nth he despatches an- other, "Sabbath morning early'' : " My Dear Dolly : — I am obliged to work all day. I have been busy all the morning writing and preparing for expresses. Having finished, I must write you one line, tho' my letters are so lit- tle noticed ; but T will do my duty. 1 wrote you yesterday by Doctor Church, when I sent you a few little things in a paper box, which I wish may suit you and be acceptable. T wish I could see them on the person, but hope they will not be quite worn-out before I do see her, tho' I can't say how long it will be before we rise. " I must insist you immediately wear all the articles ; if not, please to send them back. . . . I steal time to write. Pray write me often ; write a volume. I love your long letters. . . . God bless you, my dear Dolly, and believe me to be, with great truth, yours most affectionately, John Hancock." The British Administration's full weight of power was hurled against Massachusetts, and ex- pected, "by crushing the spirit of Boston, to crush the disobedience in the colonies." An alarming condition continued ; and, about a month after the Battle of Bunker Hill, John Han- DOROTHY QUINCY 85 cock, President, appointed "July 20, 1775. as a day of public humiliation, fasting and prayer, to all the English colonies on the continent.'" July 22d, 1775, Judge Quincy wrote from Lan- caster to his " dear daughter Dolly," expressing regrets at Hancock's gout. He says, " And es- pecially that he is in want of your spectacles, if I understand you right. I wish I had such as would suit him ; but, by one means or other, I'm reduced to a single pair of temple ' specs,' and one pair of bows, that I'm very sure can suit him in no respect, and here am void of all supply. I pray his health may be continued, as his present station calls for so great an exertion of every mental power, as well as bodily." He prophesies thus in regard to the country : " It seems to me not improbable that the pres- ent Grand Council of American Safety, convened in the City of Philadelphia, may have the lasting honor of being recorded in the present and future annals of the American and European world as the remarkable instrument, in the hands of the All-wise Governor of the Universe, not only of confirming and establishing the liberty of Amer- ica and Britain, but likewise of flashing such pal- pable light upon the subjects of other kingdoms and states of Europe as gradually, in conjunction with other means, may become irresistible, under the direction of Heaven, in breaking ye bonds and bursting ye cords asunder by which those 86 DOROTHY QU1NCY people have been so long held of their despotic and tyrannical masters. Their cries, I doubt not, have long since reached the throne of the King of kings and Lord of lords, to Whom we are told vengeance belongs, and He will not tarry." Judge Quincy was, as we see, a firm believer that an All-wise Father was directing the course of events through His children here on earth. His letters breathe a profound religious fervor, and are replete with the Christian faith and hope that guides the lives of all true believers. This it was that probably sustained him under the many trying, anxious months of danger pend- ing — a home broken up, his children scattered, his property at the mercy of reckless soldiery — while he was forced to remain absent from Bos- ton, not knowing if he could ever again enter tin- town. Samuel Paine, writing to his brother in Eng- land, October, 1775, succinctly utters this judg- ment on ill-fated Boston : " This town is almost deserted by its ancient inhabitants, and the peo- ple of Boston, like the Jews, are scattered over the face of the earth ! Just punishment of God." 7 At last General Gage, either from his reverses or other causes, was to be replaced by Howe, and in August his wife and family left for Eng- land, besides a number of others who had en- dured as long as they could the discomforts of a garrisoned city. And there were then few to be DOROTHY QUINCY 87 found agreeing with one of the delegates to the Congress, who declared that " war, like other evils, is often wholesome. The waters that stag- nate corrupt." 8 1 The change to Howe could not have been con- sidered by the inhabitants of that unfortunate town as an improvement to their condition, for a gentleman, who left there at that time, reported, " That, by order of General Howe, they have taken down the pulpit and all the pews in the Old South Meeting-House, and are using it for a riding school. Thus we see the house once set apart for the true worship and service of God turned into a den of thieves. They burned the pews and pulpit ; and loads of dirt and gravel were carted in and spread on the floor." 9 Hancock at this time made a passing visit to the family of Washington. In a letter to El- bridge Gerry, June 18, 1775, he says : " I cannot tell you of the doings of Congress in general, but I am thus far indulged to mention, but by no means to be put in the newspapers at present — Colonel Washington is appointed Com- mander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. I shall sign his commission tomorrow. He will depart in a few days ; you will judge of the pro- priety of the mode of his reception. He is a fine man." 10 A London letter, in one of the journals, July 20th, states that in Boston, June 16th, four days 88 DOROTHY QUINCY after Gage had issued his proclamation, the flight of Hancock and Adams had been advised " to some islands, and up the country." This conveys to us the slow pace of news in the olden days ; for, instead of flight into the solitude of retired islands to elude British soldiers, Hancock and Adams were in security, successfully devis- ing tactics to drive their foes out of the country. CHAPTER XIV. Hancock's Namesakes — Aaron Burr — Wedding of Dorothy Quincy — John Sewell's Opinion — No- tices of the Event — They Leave for Philadel- phia — Dorothy Meets With Relatives — Dor- othy in Her New Position — John Adams Writes of Her — New Duties for Dorothy Quincy — Mrs. Hancock at Marshalls. Dorothy Quincy was still domiciled at Fair- field, Mr. Burr nor Aunt Lydia being willing- to part from this radiance in their household. Judge Quincy, in his letter to his daughter, July 22d, 1775, writes the amusing item that Mrs. Rice had twins, and " they were named John Hancock and Dorothy Quincy." He went to see them, and gives his impression, *" I think them a couple of fine children, considered as twins." 1 The next month John Hancock was recipient of another of these honors. One of the journal- ists writes : " We hear from Cecil county, in the Province of Maryland, that Mr. Elihu Hall, Jr., a young gentleman of family, fortune and character in said county, last Sabbath had his first-born son baptized John Hancock, as well to express his 90 DOROTHY QUINCY esteem of the New England bravery in general as in particular honor of the great American PATRIOT of that name, who now, under God, presides in the honorable Continental Congress." 2 There was now introduced into the house of Thaddeus Burr that gallant individual — his young nephew. Aaron Burr, who is represented as a fascinating youth. What a change did this create in the daily round of amusements in Dor- othy Quincy's life ! Aunt Lydia, her mind full of oft-told dangers from propinquity, immediately took alarm. She apprehended delay, if not peril, to her cherished plans. Her solicitude was great, but she faced the sit- uation heroically, and had recourse to her woman's wit to debar the young people from a tete-a-tete. The homage of the newcomer was rather re- freshing to the young lady ; and they fell into animated conversation — not dangerous, but the experienced Aunt Lydia may have observed that a pair of bright eyes had awakened a growing- admiration in the host's nephew which escaped Miss Dorothy ; and it was probably through the aunt's influence that Mr. Aaron Burr's visit came to an abrupt termination. Dorothy, relating this to a friend, takes excep- tion to the surveillance that was exercised, having detected that Mrs. Hancock never allowed them DOROTHY QUINCY 9I a moment in each others society without a chap- eron. And concluded her account of him — " He was a handsome young- man. with a pretty prop- erty." Dorothy Quincy was to be exposed to no more diversions from the society of dashing nephews, as Aunt Lydia instituted final preparations for the great ceremony. John Hancock, who had not permitted the excit- ing times nor the new honors to supplant in his thoughts the graceful girl, who later developed into the elegant woman, eagerly cast aside the duties of state by the end of August and hastened to Connecticut to be married. Hope, which caressingly trolls many to the ful- fillment of their wishes, or the destruction of them, brought to John Hancock that good fortune which seems to have dominated his life. The New York Post gives a detailed account of the Burr mansion and the wedding in keeping with the host's liberality and the prominence of the parties. It is diffuse in particulars of the " blue blood " present and the great gathering of guests from the town and from afar, which added un- usual brilliancy to the scene. This wedding created, evidently, a social flurry : and unbounded interest was expressed throughout the northern colonies, the papers publishing no- tices of the event. 92 DOROTHY QUINCY There was one man who could not regard it with any serenity, and that was the Tory, Judge Sewell, who, writing to his Cousin Robie, August 12, 1775, advised him to send his wife back to Salem, or Marblehead, to be safe, and adds, " Be- sides, Mrs. Robie and Mrs. Higgenson would de- rive some advantage from certain connections which I cannot think of without indignation ! But, when it is to combat evil, ' 'Tis lawful to em- ploy the devil.' " John Hancock, evidently, is referred to under the head of his satanic majesty. The announcement from the Pennsylvania Ga- zette of September 6, 1775, is in quite another tone. Under date of August 29, Fairfield. " Last even- ing was married at the seat of Thaddeus Burr. Esq., by the Rev. Mr. Elliott, the Hon. John Hancock, Esq., President of the Continental Congress, to Miss Dorothy Quincy. daughter of Edmund Quincy, Esq., of Boston. Floras in- forms us that, ' in the second Punic war, when Hannibal besieged Rome, and was very near mak- ing himself Master of it, a field upon which part of his army lay was offered for sale, and was im- mediately purchased by a Roman, in a strong assurance that the Roman valour and courage would soon raise the siege.' Equal to the conduct of that illustrious citizen was the marriage of the Hon. John Hancock, Esq., who, with his amiable Lady, has paid as great a compliment to American DOROTHY QUINCY 93 valour, and discovered equal patriotism, by marry- ing now, while all the colonies are as much con- vulsed as Rome when Hannibal was at her gates." Dorothy wrote to her father of their marriage, and that they had concluded not to pass through New York, as the " Aria " there had caused much mischief by firing upon the city. The newly-married pair left at once for Phila- delphia. A New York paper of September j states : " Saturday last the Hon. John Hancock and his Lady arrived here from Connecticut and imme- diately set out for Philadelphia." A notice from Philadelphia, September 6, notes that, " Yesterday arrived here the Hon. John Hancock. Esq., and lady, from Connecticut, and the Hon. Peyton Randolph, Esq., and lady, from Virginia." This wedding was also chronicled in an Irish magazine, with a likeness of the " President of the Continental Congress " as frontispiece. After laudatory writing of Hancock, it continues, " that he hath lately married one of the most accom- plished ladies on the continent, who has brought him a great addition to his paternal fortune." 3 John Hancock, who now had the fair Dorothy under his authorized protection from British sol- diery and engaging idlers, must have felt all the satisfaction that the situation afforded. Such sat- isfaction is very different from that experienced by 94 DOROTHY QUINCY a man when his popular eloquence carries an au- dience by storm, or when he had done an act of kindly charity. This is to have won the woman he loves and made her part of his " goods and chattels," labeled with his name. Philadelphia, the colonial metropolis, as de- scribed at this time, had " graceful inequalities and a diversity of undulations that variegated the city," 4 with a population of eighteen thousand. The houses were well built, and an air of comfort pervaded them. The residents were aristocratic, and. as an historian writes, " money was no pass- port." 5 There were the Tories and those of the inhabit- ants engaged in commerce that were averse to being disturbed by trouble with the mother coun- try ; also the Quakers, with their tenets against war, who composed a large body and exercised some influence in the city. Notwithstanding this element there was much elegant dressing. The dames built their hair as toweringly high as in any other part of the country, and their fine bro- cades were not surpassed by those of Mrs. Han- cock. Their tables groaned under delicate and varied viands of the best quality, while rich- bodied Madeira aided their digestion, reserving to itself the privilege of making inroads on the con- stitution. This was the home into which Mrs. Hancock was introduced, but she was not to find herself DOROTHY QUINCY 95 an entire stranger in the quaint town. Among the Congressional delegates were connections and relatives of her own family — Livingstone, Mor- ris, Adams and Schuyler. She felt at ease with none of the constraint that comes from being new to a position ; she had met this class of men all her life, and was not awe-in- spired by them, it was somewhat trying to be placed, with her youth and beauty, in the midst of a hundred men likely to feed her vanity; but, fortunately, it developed only her careful training and ballast of good sense. In the town of Philadelphia, with its Quakers, who were not disposed to fetes or lavish, enter- tainments, and the Tories, who indulged in occa- sional balls, Mrs. Hancock saw presented a con- trast to the joyous circle at home. She must have missed the coterie of friends who had installed her as queen, and where she reigned with her gentle ascendancy ; missed the family reunions and relatives, who held her in fondest affection ; missed the society circle of acquaintances at the afternoon teas — for one cannot drop into a remote town, encircled by strangers, and feel the tender- ness of manner and gush of heart that old sur- roundings infuse. At first Mrs. Hancock was not much attracted to the " Friends," but, as their acquaintance pro- gressed, some warm friendships were formed, and fortunate were those who secured her friend- 96 DOROTHY QUINCY ship. It was not the ephemeral fraternizing of the schoolgirl nor the politic one of the woman of the world, but she was a friend in the hour of need as well as in days of prosperity. Realizing her new dignities she bore her honors with praiseworthy punctiliousness, and conscien- tiously filled one of the most prominent positions in the country through the trying period of war- fare for independence. A markedly favorable im- pression had been created by the young bride on the large number of distinguished men there as- sembled. .Mrs. Adams, October 21, 1775, writing to her husband, presents her best regards to Mrs. Han- ruck, and hopes that she is "happy." So the felicitations had not ceased. John Adams, in a letter to his wife, writes, November 4, 1775 : " Two pair of colors belong- ing to the Seventh Regiment were brought here last night from Chambly and hung up in Mrs. Hancock's chamber with splendor and elegance. The lady sends her compliments and good wishes. Among a hundred men. almost, at this house she lives and behaves with modesty and decency, dig- nity and discretion, I assure you. Her behavior is easy and genteel. She avoids talking upon poli- tics. In large and mixed company she is unus- ually silent, as a lady ought to be." This is high praise from a man of Adams' dis- crimination, and marks the refined education of the DOROTHY QUINCY 97 times, and Mrs. Hancock's possession of that nice perception which exercises appropriately the lauded " golden silence." John Hancock, in addition to the duties of Con- gress, which occupied many hours, was obliged to sign the commissions and war rents for the offi- cers, civil and military; to attend to an extensive political correspondence, and to promulgate all orders and regulations for supplying an army.''' Continuous labor, with the climate, affected his constitution ; but, as was said of him, " His mind rose superior to this misfortune in the discharge of his public duties." 7 Meanwhile his own affairs and those of others were left to drift in their course, which impolitic proceeding caused him much trouble in after years. This sensible young wife entered on the new life with zest and installed herself as assistant to her husband, finding pleasure in facilitating his drudgery as far as was possible. Her embroidery was laid aside in order to be- come a sedulous worker. She trimmed with her scissors the rough edges of the bills of credit is- sued by Congress and signed by the President : arranged them in saddle-bags, then despatched them to the various quarters for use of the Army. She also packed the commissions, which she for- warded. 8 making herself into a veritable help-mate. A writer tells us that " previously, all this business 98 DOROTHY QUINCY of Congress had been done by the President and was very arduous, but later a clerk was secured." 9 In their hours of relaxation Hancock and his wife visited together, and Mrs. Hancock is spoken of as the only lady present, one afternoon, at the house of " Ben Marshall." in a coterie of promi- nent men — " John Adams, Samuel Adams. Thomas dishing, Treat Paine, Dyer and John Langdon " — drinking coffee together. This at- tests Hancock's desire to have Mrs. Hancock always with him, and his appreciation of her bright mind, which was cultivated from observa- tion and tutored by the superior intellect of her father. Judge Quincy, knowing her desire to be in- formed on the important subjects of the day, in one of his letters refers her for " political news " to those he had written to — " Mr. Hancock and Dr. Y " CHAPTER XV. Proposed Ball to Lady Washington — Her Tact — Proposition to Bombard Boston — Hancock's " Memorable Letter " — His Unselfish Stand — Mrs. Hancock's Admiration for John Hancock. When a man starts upon a project to give pleas- ure he strenuously objects to being thwarted. Colonel Harrison, with a heart full of geniality and consideration for others, was desirous of en- tertaining the Philadelphians with an agreeable surprise, which, on the contrary, threw them into the wildest state of perturbation. He had matured elaborate preparations for a ball to be given November 24, 1775. to " Lady Washington," who was to pass through the city on her way to join her husband at Cambridge. And Hancock's wife was also expected to be present. As soon as it became rumored a committee con- vened at Philosophical Hall to consider the pro- priety of this entertainment. Such a " meeting " (so the ball was designated) " appeared to be con- trary to the Eighth Resolve of Congress, and there was strong sympathy with the royal cause in Philadelphia ; besides, a number were averse to balls while these excited times continued," assert- ioo DOROTHY QUINCY ing that they had " fears for the peace of the city and the destruction of the New Tavern," 7 where the ball was to take place. The committee finally decided that no ball " should be given then, nor in the future, while the troublesome times continued," 2 and orders were sent to warn the directors of this meeting " not to proceed any further." Christopher Marshall started immediately to no- tify Hancock, but he had not returned from Con- gress. He then walked to the State House to meet him. " as probably Hancock could present the del- icate points of the situation in the least offensive light to Lady Washington." Failing to see him. he sent for Samuel Adams and requested him to advise with Hancock. No time was to be lost, so Marshall returned to the hall, where a committee was appointed and despatched with the messages. Lady Washington was at this period nearly forty-eight years old. with an attractive, unaf- fected manner. These gentlemen, when ushered into her pres- ence, " expressed their esteem and affection," of- fering her " their grateful acknowledgment and respect." Then " desired her not to grace that company." Marshall writes : " She received them with great politeness, thanked the committee for their kind care and regard in giving such timely notice ; re- quested her best compliments to be returned for DOROTHY QUINCY 101 their care and regard, and to assure them that their sentiments on this occasion were perfectly agreeable unto her own ;" in which reply we see the tact of Lady Washington. Tact — so essential a requisite to women who share the high position of prominent husbands. Colonel Harrison, burning with indignation al this defeat of his cherished plans, sought at once Samuel Adams to rebuke him for having used his influence to discourage the ball, which, he declared, was " legal, just and laudable.'* After accomplishing nothing but to evoke a heated talk. Harrison took his leave, and we read that Lady Washington, November 2~ . " about to o'clock, attended by a troop of Horse, two compa- nies of Light Infantry, etc.. left this city on her journey to the camp at Cambridge." While the friends of Washington were excited over this episode, Boston was to experience a far different agitation. On December 20 '* No less than thirty-four cormnissioned officers resigned their commissions into the hands of the General, declaring, as a reason for this procedure, ' that they could not unite in this civil war the duty of officers with their inclinations as men. One writer observes, " that such a defection in the Army is without parallel since the days of James IT., and is likely to speak more feelingly than all the oratory of both Houses of Parlia- ment." 102 DOROTHY QU1NCY This information went to London in despatches by the ship which took home the wife of General Gage. George Washington wrote of a proposition to bombard Boston, and when it was read before Con- gress a solemn silence ensued. Then one member made the motion to resolve into a committee of the whole, in order that Mr. Hancock might give his opinion, " as he was deeply interested from having all his estate in Boston." After Hancock left the chair he addressed the chairman of the committee of the whole in the following words : " It is true, sir. nearly all of the propert} 1 have in the world is in houses and other real estate in the town of Boston ; but, if the expul- sion of the British Army from it — and the liberties of our country require their being burnt to ashes — issue the order for that purpose immediately?"* On December 22d Congress passed the resolu- tion giving power to George Washington and his Council of War, if it met their views, to make an attack on that city, " in any manner they thought expedient, notwithstanding the town and propert) in it may be destroyed." It was then that Hancock wrote his " memorable letter to Washington," in which he said: " May God crown your attempt with success. I most heartily wish it, though individually I may be the greatest sufferer." 4 DOROTHY QUINCY 103 A man's sincerity can be judged by the sacri- fices he is willing to make, and it is in this respect that John Hancock stands forth pre-eminent. It is not unprecedented for men to give readily and liberally from their surplus, and some bestow a regular stipend ; but how many are willing to give, or sacrifice all that they have? It was now Hancock's task to break to his young- wife that he, who was one of the largest property- holders in Boston, had given his full consent that all he owned should be. burned if the good of the people required it. This announcement fell like a thunderbolt on Mrs. Hancock and greatly depressed her, for not only the husband's property was in danger, but that of every relative in Boston, including her father and brothers. With all her charms, persuasions, arguments — and, it may be, with tears — for a woman's power at times lies in these dewdrops — she tried to move her husband from his purpose. He remained in- flexible and declared that he was willing to devote the whole of his property in Boston if for the best interests of his country. Mrs. Hancock, for diversion from this sudden weight of oppression, attended a Quaker meet- ing for the first time, hoping to dispel her dejec- tion. She found herself immured in profound silence, and sat for three hours in an over-heated room under most harrowing emotions. 5 104 DOROTHY QUINCY Dorothy Ouincy Hancock, who until this time had been simply a " looker-on," was in reality an ardent patriot. Her father and husband were harmoniously sympathetic in regard to their coun- try, and all that she had heard from them was ingrafted and treasured deep in her mind. Mrs. i [ancock was racked with harrowing emo- tions. She struggled to counteract a rebellious mood : the glamor of the dazzling future paled and van- ished. But, braced by strength within, she con- quered by degrees, and, with commendable forti- tude, resigned herself to the situation. Mrs. Hancock, who was " a great admirer of her husband — never a reproach to a wife " — we arc told, centered herself in all that concerned her liege lord. With a high appreciation of his prin- ciples, as well as a fond attachment to him, she had been gratified that his courageous declara- tions and active participation in all the struggles o\ the Massachusetts colony had been requited by the distinguished position of President of tin- Congress. But how much more the readiness to make this sweeping sacrifice redounded to his honor ! Dorothy's pride was not in ancestry, but in the man who had made a name for himself as a pro- tector of the people. She knew that his love for her was deep and unchangeable ; but the progres- sive crises filled his mind and absorbed much of DOROTHY QUINCY 105 his time; time that was not given to increase nor save his wealth, but to save what was far dearer to him — his country and the claims of his com- patriots. She had seen him, with satisfaction, under every emergency rise resolutely to meet the issue ; and, as has been said of John Hancock, " He was one of Massachusetts' noblest children, and af- forded an exalted example of devotedness to the cause of independence." Washington's Council finally decided that "' the present force was inadequate to an attack/' as the term of enlistment of many had expired. Those that remained were enduring every species of hardship, and there was a great dearth of powder. Still the cry for " action " rang through the coun- try from those comfortably located at home. Franklin had written, October 3d, 1775, to Dr. Priestly, in England, giving succinctly this state of affairs : " Britain, at an expense of £3,000,000, has killed one hundred and fifty Yankees this cam- paign. During the same time sixteen thousand children have been born in America." 6 CHAPTER XVI. England's Appeal to Europe — Howe Leaves Bos- ton — Duke of Manchester in Parliament — Judge Quincy's Letter — Aunt Lydia's Death — Dorothy Dudley Praises the Quincys — Birth of a Daughter. The colonists had been most subservient ; had with great humility laid before their Sovereign the wrongs inflicted on them. These pleas remained unnoticed. A few friends in Parliament came to their support, but England, confident of ultimate success, continued dull to all warnings and per- severed in her efforts to humble and subdue her far-away subjects. Then the spirit of rebellion was tired, and the colonists devised such measures as would show they were in earnest. " The newspapers," as was said by Lafayette, " became powerful instruments to aid the Revolution." They wrote freely and men acted openly. Britain also resorted to other methods, as is shown by this extract from a Philadelphia letter, January 31, 1776: " The whining King of Great Britain has sup- plicated all the powers of Europe to forbid their subjects supplying the cowardly Americans with DOROTHY QUINCY 107 powder or arms. Among the rest, we find by one late paper that the King of Denmark has gratified him by issuing a proclamation or order for that purpose!" 1 Massachusetts at last saw a gleam of hope when the Essex Gazette published, March 21. 1776, that " The British Army under General Howe, con- sisting of upward of seven thousand men, after suffering an ignominious blockade for many months past, disgracefully quitted all their strong- holds in Boston and Charlestown, fled from before the Army of the United Colonies and took refuge on board their ships. " The greater number of the evacuated houses had been pillaged, the furniture broken and many buildings destroyed. It is worthy of notice, how- ever, that the buildings belonging to the Hon. Mr. Hancock, particularly his elegant mansion house, were left in good order. But the lining of his chariot was torn out and carried away. All the linen, woolen goods, except some that might be secreted, were carried off by the enemy. All the salt and molasses which they could find were destroyed. ' They also destroyed great quantities of effects belonging to themselves which they could not carry away. The joy of our friends in Boston, on seeing the victorious and gallant troops of their countrv enter the town almost at the heels of io8 DOROTHY QU1NCY their barbarous oppressors, was inexpressibly great." Boston was left in a filthy condition, with small-pox raging. During the eleven months the troops had been quartered there the result was unsatisfactory to England. The Duke of Manchester spoke, in a warm debate at the session of Parliament, May 10 : " To come now, my Lords, to that which has cast the deepest stain on the glory of the British arms ; to that which must rouse the indignation of all who feel for her disgrace, etc., the army of Britain, equipped with every essential of war, a chosen army, with officers, backed by the power of a mighty fleet, sent to correct revolted subjects; sent to chastise a resisting city; sent to assert Britain's authority, has for many tedious months been imprisoned within that town by the Provin- cial Army, who, by their watchful guards, per- mitted them no inlet to the country; who braved all their efforts and defied all that their skill and abilities in war could ever attempt. * * Brit- ish generals, whose names never met with a blot of dishonor, are forced to quit that town, which was the first object of the war; the immediate cause of hostilities ; the place of arms which has cost this nation more than a million to defend." 2 Mrs. Hancock received from her father, March 25, a long letter wherein he informed her of the DOROTHY QUINCY 109 sister — Mrs. Sewell's — safe arrival at London. He continues : " I rejoice to find Mr. Hancock's strength holds out, so as to permit his very close attention to business of greatest moment ; that the colonies or either of them have had any concern with, of no less importance than whether they or their posterity shall be freemen or slaves. . . . Pray God to afford all needed wisdom to ye council in their debates and resolves upon ye important subject. It is my real opinion ye set tirne^ is come wherein Providence has appointed the flourishing states to withdraw themselves from ye control of all others for wise reasons, which will be manifest in due time to those who may survive ye expected political changes in this Western Hemisphere of ye globe. . . . The preservation of Boston, so far as it is preserved. is a signal favor of Heaven, tho' many are egregious sufferers. Your brother and his son, Stedman, in whose dwelling were left officers — men of singular honor! " By the same rank of miscreants have many had their houses ransacked. . . . May we deserve a continuance of the protection of Heaven, and may there be soon an accommodation or separation of ye younger from ye older states. The last I expect will be the necessary effect of ye unnatural treatment we have re- ceived. " You see my paper is full, and, I suppose, you tired ; and, therefore, close with love and best wishes of every real good from, dear child, " Your affectionately concerned parent, " Edmund Quincy The wanton and universal devastation to prop- erty by the British soldiers obliged many who had lived in affluence — gentlemen reared in luxury — to seek any avocation that would bring relief for the time being to their families. The exultation of the citizens was universal at the departure of British troops from Boston, which enabled them no DOROTHY QU1NCY to endure with greater equanimity their other mis- fortunes. A Thanksgiving proclamation was issued, in April, and one of the journalists wrote : " May America remember the memorable 17th of March, 1776, when the proud British troops, at Boston, precipitately embarked on board the fleet and quickly left the harbor — memorable for its being the first place attacked and devoted to destruction by the enemies of American freedom." 4 Howe was next heard of before New York. The latter part of April a great sorrow befell the Hancocks. They lost their much-loved aunt. John Adams writes, " to whom Hancock was most affectionate, dutiful and respectful," and, added to his grief, was the inability to reach her in time to " take his farewell of one who had been almost a mother." A New England paper published the following notice : " Fairfield. April 26, 1776. " Yesterday died here, after a short illness, Mrs. Lydia Hancock, relict of the Hon. Thomas Hancock, Esq.. of Boston. A few days before the memorable 19th of April she retired from her pleasant seat in that town and not long after came to the house of Thaddeus Burr, Esq.. of this place, a family with which she had long been peculiarly intimate, and amidst whose tenderest offices of friendship she expired. " She was the delight of all who saw her, and, being placed by Providence in an elevated situation, the more she was seen and known the more was she loved and admired. DOROTHY QUINCY m " The quick approach of death would not allow her to be attended in her last moments by her nephew, the Hon. John Hancock, Esq., President of the American Congress, who was happy in being educated by her from his early childhood, and the object of her fondest affec- tion on this side of heaven." The Hancocks' keen suffering at the death of Aunt Lydia, and Mrs. Hancock's delicate condi- tion, led them to ask for a visit from her sister. Judge Quincy wrote to his daughter Kate, May 27, 1776: " As you are called, in the Providence of God, to take so long a journey from hence to Philadelphia, at ye request of Mr. Hancock and ye sister," that he wished to have the earliest notice of her safe arrival and of her sister's state of health. It was a formidable trip to make ; the roads were rough, and it was " varied by the occasional episode of an upset." Their friend, Mr. Brant, attended as escort. Dorothy Dudley's diary includes this letter of hers to Miss Livingstone : "I am glad you have so warm a friendship with Mrs. Hancock. Her elder sister. Miss Kate Quincy, is to go to Phila- delphia in a few weeks, and I hope you will make her acquaintance. * * Mrs. Judge Sewell, you know, is another sister. They are a charming family ; and Mr. Quincy is a devoted father, warmly beloved by them all." 6 Tn a former letter she had also written of Mrs. Hancock: "Is she not charming? One cannot H2 DOROTHY QUINCY 'wonder at Madame Lydia Hancock's fondness for her, and her resolve to secure the treasure for her nephew." Esther Livingstone and Kate Quincy became more than acquaintances, and the daughter's ad- miration for the father was shared by her friend, Miss Livingstone, to whom she often loaned the letters of Judge Quincy to read. Miss Kate, who had been one of the bright stars of the Boston Assemblies in 1751, was now to be absorbed in a serious, silent study of calculations, instituted for amusement ; she was to be installed as a whist partner, listening to no more frothy talk sparkling with champagne bubbles. A gleam of sunshine brightened the home of the Hancocks. It was the birth of a daughter, whom they named "Lydia." LYDIA HENCHMAN HANCOCK, i Daughter of Governor and Mrs. Hancock. ) CHAPTER XVII. Repeal of the. Stamp Act — Letters of Judge Quincy — Hancock's Hospitality — Invites Gen- eral and Mrs. Washington to Visit Him — John Adams' Opinion of Hancock as General of the Forces. Great preparations were made in Boston for pro- tection should the British return ; and " almost every able-bodied inhabitant had voluntarily en- gaged to work two days in a week for six weeks on the fortifications for the general defense." 1 On the 19th of May, however, all work was sus- pended to celebrate the repeal of the Stamp Act ; and such reveling and rejoicing had never before been observed ! " Hancock's house was brilliant with lights, and in front a stage was built from which fireworks were exhibited." One of the chronicler's relates, '' Under this hospitable roof was entertained the genteel part of the town, while the crowd outside were treated with a pipe of Madeira wine of his own importa- tion." Judge Quincy, who had many causes for solici- tude, seems to have sought relief in letter-writing, and became an active correspondent. ii 4 DOROTHY QUINCY From Lancaster, May 27, 1776, he says: * * " Still may our confidence be placed on Him who is ye confidence of all the ends of the earth; His arm alone can and will save us, as He has often done our fathers in this land when little better than a howling desert." 2 The 18th of June, in a letter to ,Rev. Jacob Bige- low, he writes of the late feeble and unprepared colonies of America, " which I think, by the will of Heaven, are fast rising into states, which. under ye protection of ye God of Armies, may become objects of ye closest European attention and commercial attraction ; and these things seem not to be distant." 3 To his dear daughter Hancock he tells that her brother was fired with the war spirit, and would like to have gone had his wife's health permitted. He wanted to sell the negro girl, Polly, who gave them much trouble ; and thought she would be a better servant with a master not so lenient. He was anxiously watching for the return of his daughter Kate, who in Philadelphia rose from a bed of sickness with her face marked and marred by small-pox. In other letters he is most laudatory of his son- in-law Hancock, whose fine qualities he heartily appreciated ; and to the loved Dorothy he gives the counsel " to keep a level head." And to Mr. Brant he writes that more men like John Hancock are wanted to inspire the whole by their example. DOROTHY QUINCY 115 Old letters ! touch them gently, yellow with age, and brown; spotted, stained and faded; torn and ragged with time's creases — letters of sorrow, let- ters of joy, tear-dimmed or pressed with warm kisses — bearers of hope or despair, revealing emo- tions of good-will and of ill, betraying tortures of pain or billows of pleasure. The hands that wrote them were once glowing with life ; the eyes chat perused them bright with light. The old letters ! Touch them reverently as they sweep aside the mists of the past ! President Hancock's office entailed on him con- tinuous and general hospitality, which, with the aid of his wife, he graciously and unsparingly dispensed. This was from his own purse, for not until later did Congress allow the President an income to support his position and maintain his " household expenses." 4 Congress, on the 19th of May, summoned Wash- ington to Philadelphia. Hancock wrote to him urging a speedy attendance on Congress, and said, " I request the favor that you will please to honor me with your and your lady's company at my home," and that every endeavor on his part and Mrs. Hancock's would be exerted to make their stay agreeable. In a later letter he writes that ct Mrs. Washing- ton may be as retired as she pleases while under inoculation. * * * The house is large and n6 DOROTHY QUINCY roomy ; it will be entirely in your power to live in that manner you should wish." Mrs. Lamb states this cordial invitation was ac- cepted, and General, with Mrs. Washington en- joyed the hospitality of President Hancock fifteen days. 5 In February Hancock had been appointed Major-General of the Massachusetts Militia. Some surprise was evinced that Adams had not advo- cated him for command of the Army. This is accounted for in his writings, where he says : "John Hancock's exertions, sacrifices and general merits in the cause of his country had been incom- parably greater than those of Colonel Washing- ton; but he was in delicate health, and his entire want of experience in active service, though an excellent military officer, were decided objections to his being appointed General of the forces." 6 The hour advanced that was to usher in one of the most momentous revolutions of modern times. Undivided attention was riveted on that band of staunch patriots in Philadelphia, awaiting the de- cision which was to form an epoch of success or failure in American history. One historian writes: "The people of the North had been trained to investigate constitu- tional principles. They were sensitive to every encroachment upon their rights. " At the South and Middle States a different spirit prevailed. The idea of independence was DOROTHY QUiNCY 117 for a long time as unpalatable as the Stamp Act itself." 7 But, though some of the states were slow to accept the change, ultimately a unity of sentiment prevailed, and they strove together for the same end, with resistance for their cry. CHAPTER XVIII. Declaration of Independence — Winthkop De- scribes Hancock — Reception of the News — The Hancocks' Happiness Impresses Adams — Boston and New York Jubilant — Hancock's Name Given to Ships and Children — Extracts from Judge Quincy's Letters — Hancock Writes to Washington. In Philadelphia there had congregated the arbi- ters of the colonies' fate ; and Thomas Jefferson's paper declaring independence was unanimously adopted the 4th of July. 1776. after some debate and a few changes. Hancock had exclaimed, " We must be unani- mous ; there must be no pulling different ways!" " Yes," answered Franklin, " we must all hang together or, most assuredly, we must all hang separately!" 1 John Hancock was the first to place his bold signature to the Declaration of Independence ; and alone that signature went forth to the public. 2 " He had signed his name upon a document which, at the time, in the estimation of thousands, was as likely to prove his death warrant as his pass- port to fame." 3 Then " Congress ordered it to be entered at length upon the journals; and it was DOROTHY QUINCY 119 also ordered to be engrossed upon parchment for the delegates to sign." 4 Winthrop describes Hancock on this occasion : " Forty years of age, with a princely fortune at stake, and a price upon his head, sitting there in all the calm composure and dignity which so pecu- liarly characterized him, and which nothing seemed able to relax or ruffle. Behold him ! He has risen for a moment. He has put the ques- tion — Declaration is adopted !" A throng of eager souls packed the streets around the old hall, anxious and expectant, wait- ing for news — filled with forebodings or with con- fidence, attentively alert to every sound, every move from where were assembled the men whose fiat was to make multitudes tremble at its bold- ness. The announcement was made — " Independ- ence !" What a cry was that to ring from one end of the colonies to the other! How it made the blood tingle ; how the brain reeled at the thought. " Independence !" rose on the air, resounding and resounding wherever there was a voice to carry it. Quivering with joy, frantic shouts greeted that welcome word — a word that broke the chain of thraldom and winged the thoughts on to the bor- der of beatitude. They rushed and swayed through the crowd to the King's arms, which was seized and committed to a bon-fire before the Courthouse ; and the sad 120 DOROTHY QUINCY hearts were to be found only among the English sympathizers. Abbe Reynal wrote in his " Essay on the Revo- lution in America,'' T781 : " With what grandeur, with what enthusiasm shall I speak of those gen- erous men who erected this grand edifice by their patience, their wisdom and their courage. * * * Hancock, Franklin, and the two Adamses were the greatest actors in this affecting scene ; but they were not the only ones. Posterity shall know them all. * * Brass and marble shall show them to remotest ages." 5 No one shared more in the general joy at this final severance from Great Britain than Mrs. Hancock, for there was marked unanimity of sen- timent between herself and her husband. Their continued devotion to each other impelled John Adams to write to his wife that he would never come to Philadelphia again without her, " and we will be as happy as Mr. Hancock and his lady." The people of Boston were thrown into trans- ports of wild delight when they heard "proclaimed from the balcony of the State House the Declara- tion of the American Congress absolving the united colonies from their allegiance to the British crown, and declaring them free and independ- ent STATES." In the evening, moved by the same impulse as in Philadelphia, down toppled every insignia of royalty or any resemblance to it, whether " Lion JOHN HANCOCK. i From an oil painting by Copley.) DOROTHY QU1NCY 121 and Crown, Pestle and Mortar and Crown, Heart and Crown, etc., together with every sign that be- longed to a Tory; and King's street was ablaze with its general conflagration." 6 The work of de- struction was carried out on everything pertaining to a British emblem and rule. In New York they pulled down the equestrian statute of George III. and broke it into pieces, making bullets of it later. A play was written and performed, entitled "The Fall of British Tyranny; or, American Lib- erty Triumphant." " The First Campaign, a tragic comedy of five acts, containing twenty-six Scenets. * * * A much admired performance, truly dramatic." To the many, the name of Hancock possessed magic. A letter from Albany, July 15th, an- nounces : " Lately was launched at Newburyport, the second continental frigate of thirtv-six o-uns. named the Hancock." Then a Philadelphia pri- vateer was named Hancock, "a large ship of twenty guns." The following unique article is from the New York Gazette and Mercury, June 24th. T776: " On the 2d inst. was baptized at Ripton, in Startford. in Connecticut, a son of Benjamin De Forest, merchant, by name of John Hancock, out of respect to that honor- able and truly noble patriot, now President of that august assembly, the Congress, who is an illustrious pattern of patriotism; a bold asserter of his country's rights; the envy of despotic rulers; who, by his merit, has risen to his exalted station, and who has obtained the 122 DOROTHY QUINCY unassembled affection of all true lovers of American liberty. This name will make a pleasing sound in the ears of unborn posterity." And, so from all over the country his fond wife had the glad tidings of Hancock's popularity. Judge Quincy, in a letter the 21st of July, writes : '' The Declaration was well timed to meet Howe on his first arrival, as he left Great Britain under expecta- tion of doing much toward reconciliation, with full power of pardoning rebels. So much strength, union and resolution in ye colonies must have given him a shock when he would not have expected from any of ye worthy Dr. Franklin's experiments. * * * Surprising is ye spirit of freedom in these thirteen independent states, which in a few years may eclipse ye fame of ye late proudest state in Europe. I thank ye for ye Con- gress Declaration of Independence. Never have I read a public paper with more satisfaction. I trust ye happy consequences of ye measure may afford the clearest evi- dence of its maturity and wisdom." 8 From Judge Quincy's quiet retreat his thoughts took a prescient vein. July 22, 1776, he wrote to his son : " Singular has been Mr. Hancock's cour- age, resolution and activity to ye important Fourth Currt, when he, at ye head of thirteen American states, after ye most solemn debate and delibera- tion, resolved that these states were then free and independent and absolved from all allegiance to ye British crown." 9 Again, November 14, 1776, we find him writing to his son Edmund : " If ye people of these favored states will but realize the blessings they DOROTHY QUINCY 123 enjoy, and resolve to improve them by economy, industry and virtue, I have no doubt but this Western Hemisphere will be equally renowned in less than one hundred years with any part of ye Eastern: perhaps much more." Here is one of Hancock's letters to Washington on the times, September 24. 1776: Let us convince our enemies that, as we entered into the present contest for the defense of our liberties, so we are resolved, with the firmest reliance on Heaven, for the justice of our cause, never to relinquish it; but rather to perish in the ruins of it. If we do but remain firm, — if we are not dismayed at the little shocks of fortune, and are determined at all hazards, that we will be free — I am persuaded, under the gracious smiles of Providence, assisted by our most strenuous endeavors, we shall finally succeed agreeably to our wishes, and thereby establish the independence, the happiness and the glory of the United States of \tnerica." 10 Mrs. Hancock and her sister were delayed in Philadelphia, as the roads were unsafe ; and Octo- ber 6, 1776, Judge Quincy wrote to Hancock that lie heard his two daughters were to take the jour- ney north, and advises them to cross thirty or forty miles above New York in consequence of the danger. The anxious father had alrcadv. for fourteen days, been expecting " Daughter Han- C ick," and was looking forward to her early ar- rival, lie had made a trip to Boston, where were very ivw of his old friends or acquaintances, and i\ wer relatives. CHAPTER XIX. Debates in Parliament — Privateeks — Congress in Baltimore — Dinners — John Hancock's Return to Philadelphia — Letters to Wife — Lifk Without " Dolly " — Her Arrival — Reply to >: Acrostic on Hancock's Name. The year 1777 opened under the new regime replete with disquietude and restlessness, but not discouragement. Lord and General Howe, in their letters to their Government, forcibly report- ed that " it was in vain to contest with the Amer- icans. Their enthusiasm was such that, if they were subdued for the moment in one corner, they will break out in another. It is Cadmean work." fn Parliament there were spirited debates on both sides. Some were in favor of the relinquish- ment of the colonies. " What is the means of conciliation held out by Howe?" said one member. " Nothing but absolute, unconditional submission on the part of the states." " It meant nothing but the privilege of being absolutely governed and taxed by the British Parliament." The debates are curious reading at this day. May 26th, in the House of Commons, a noble- man, Lord Ongley, declared as his belief, " that the granting independence to America would be the DOROTHY QUINCY 125 only means of securing peace with her." And Sir William Meredith condemned this course: "If it meant to give sanction to His Majesty to agree to the independence of America, no Englishman nor sensible American could agree to it. Inde- pendency would be fatal to both countries; in its nature it would be productive of ruin to both." February of this year an addition was made of eighteen privateers to the service, which were fitted out from Marblehead, Mass. ; and ninety- six from New England. John Hancock was pre- sented with an elegant coach from the owners of the privateer Civil Usage, of Newburyport, which had been taken in one of their prizes; and was given " as a token of their respect for that gentle- man, who has so nobly distinguished himself in the present contest with Great Britain as the friend of his country." 1 In consequence of fears excited from the prox- imity of the Hessians, who had taken possession of Burlington, N. J., Congress adjourned to Balti- more, and the Philadelphians, in great alarm and confusion, with the exception of the Quakers, moved their families out of the city. The Hancocks had their effects transported to Baltimore. Here they were cordially welcomed with dinners and many entertainments from the hospitable residents. John Adams, writing to his wife, February 21, 126 DOROTHY QUINCY 1777, thus speaks of a banquet given by Mr. Pur- viance : "We had a brilliant company; the two Purviances, the two Lees, the ladies of the two Colonels R. H. and R, Mrs. Hancock, Miss Katy, a young lady that belongs to the family. If this letter, like some other wise ones, should be intercepted, I suppose I shall be called to account for not adjusting the rank of these ladies a little better. Mr. Hancock, the two Colonel Lees, Colonel Whipple, Colonel Page, Colonel Ewing and the two Purviances, and a young gentleman." 2 This conveys an impression of strictly enforced etiquette which George Washington had contend- ed with at his headquarters, where any deviation from its rules also caused " bad feeling and jeal- ousy. 3 The latter part of the month Congress again met in Philadelphia, where Hancock returned without his wife and became absorbed in work. It has been said of him that " he was unremitting in his application to business, and his correspond- ence while President of Congress is rich in patri- otic fervor." 4 Hancock, whose allegiance to his wife was as strong as to his country, hastened in advance, alone, to his house, which was then totally devoid of comfort and conveniences. He portrays this bachelor life in letters to " Dear Dolly," from which I take a few extracts. In a long epistle " March 10, 1777, ten o'clock, evening," which he numbers (4) and begins, " My Dear, Dear Dolly," he relates his detention DOROTHY QUINCY 127 at the ferry, and that Mrs. Smith had sent him two blankets, a table cloth, tea, sugar, loaf of bread and cream; and says, " Indeed, Mrs. Smith obliged me much. I however, lead a doleful, lone- some life, though on Saturday I dined at Dr. Ship- pen's ; he desires his regards. He is as lonesome as I am. On Sunday I sat down to dinner at the little table with Folger, on a piece of roast beef, with potatoes. We drank your health with all our Baltimore friends." John Hancock spends his evenings at home. Has to snuff the candle with a pair of scissors, as the household equipments had not started from Baltimore ! A compassionate friend comes to his relief and leaves him a pair of snuffers. He continues : " Seeing me dip the gravy out of the dish with my pewter teaspoon, she sent me a large silver spoon and two teaspoons, so that I am quite rich. * * * I shall make out as well as I can, but I assure you, my dear soul, I long to have you here; and I know you will be as expeditious as you can. When I part from you again it must be a very extraordinary occasion." He encloses a sash for the baby and two little papers of pins. He writes : " However unsettled things may be, I could not help sending for you, as I cannot live in this way. * * * This you may depend on — that you will be ever the object of my utmost care and attention. I hope you will be able to pack up all your things quickly and that you will soon follow. 128 DOROTHY QUINCY " 1 want you to get somebody clever to accompany you. Take good care of Lydia. I hope no accident will happen." He suggests all the arrangements for her relief and ease while traveling, closing with : " May every blessing of an indulgent Providence at- tend you. I most sincerely wish you a good journey, and hope I shall soon, very soon, have the happiness of seeing you. With the utmost affection and love, my dear Dolly, I am yours forever, John Hancock/"' " Mrs. Washington got here on Saturday. I went to see her. She told me she drank tea with you." The next clay another letter is despatched : March n — "No Congress today, and I have been as busily employed as you can conceive." He dilates on his solitude, which should be bright- ened as speedily as possible, and that depended on his " dearest Dolly," and the greater despatch she made the sooner would be his relief. " I have sent off Harry, McClosky and Dennis this morning with horses and wagons as winged messengers to bring you. God grant you a speedy and safe jour- ney to me." His careful thought and provision for others is shown when he writes, " Should any gentlemen and ladies accompany you out of town do send McClosky forward to order a handsome dinner, and I beg you will pay every expense. Order McClosky to direct the landlord not to receive a single farthing from anyone but by your direc- tion and order a genteel dinner; plenty." DOROTHY QUINCY 129 Hancock wishes her to give some present to Mr. Samuel Purviance, with " our compliments ;" and requests that she take part of the guard, with an officer, to attend her ; and part to come with the wagons. His dear Dolly was still the dilatory correspond- ent. " Am 1 not to have another letter from you? Surely I must," he exclaims. Then writes : " I am so harassed with applications, and have been sending oft expresses to call all the members here that I have as much as I can turn my hands to : I don't get to dinner ; catch a bite. I write, and then, at it again. If it promotes the cause I am happy." In another part of the letter he describes how he takes " a plate in one hand, without a cloth or any comfort, and eats a little and then to writing, for I have not room on the table to put a plate. I am up to the eyes in papers." Later on he writes : " Supper is over; no relish, nor shall I till I have you here, and I wish Mr. and Mrs. Hilliges to join us at sup- per on Tuesday evening, when I shall expect you. I shall have fires made and everything ready for your reception. I don't mean to hurry you beyond measure. Do as you like; don't fatigue vourself in traveling too fast." Speaking of the troops and where they were bound, he concludes: 130 DOROTHY QU1NCY " Time will discover. Never fear: we shall get the day finally, with the smiles of Heaven. Do take precious care of our dear little Lydia. Adieu! I long to sec you. Take care of vourseif. I am, my dear girl, yours, most affectionate. " John Hancock." 8 And so his chivalrous heart vibrated between his two loves, — wife and country. There was another yearning to see the dear Dolly. Judge Quincy. with his long-expectant waiting for the arrival of his two daughters and the baby, whom Hancock detained because of the danger of travel. Judge Quincy is worried, but rejoices that they are not in Boston, " for thro' ye wickedness of intestine enemies, and other vo- racious animals, ye natural and political advan- tages of that once happy town are surprisingly eclipsed, as I observed when there last fall, and the change has been since much more visible." This was in May. He had heard of the inocula- tion of his little grand-daughter, and hoped that she " may by the will of God be long since car- ried through the distemper." 7 It has been said, " there is no third place in matrimony — no purgatory ; it is either heaven or hell." The "dear Dolly" arrived at Philadel- phia and brought into that desolate domicile of discomfort the glowing, cheerful light of her pres- ence, with that of the little Lydia, transforming it again into an ideal home. What wonder that Dorothy's absence had caused an aching void ! She entered into the sentiments of pathos and af- DOROTHY QUINCY 131 fection that touched John Hancock; his indigna- tion against Britain was her indignation ; his love and care for the people was warmly espoused by her; his wish for an independent country met a ready response in her flashing eye and public spirit; and much that was good may have been due to her influence, exerted quietly, discreetly and wisely. Hancock had been no favorite with the oppon- ents of independence, yet he continued to hold the devotion of the masses, who treasured no social- istic feeling against him because of his riches or style of living. They were not hunting for flaws in one who had dealt so generously towards them, and his record is free from any oppression of the people. That his sedulous efforts toward pushing the Federal Constitution ; his protection of country ; his never-failing advocacy of republican institu- tions, failed to arouse gratitude in all of his coun- trymen was but human nature That John Han- cock was without faults I do not assert, but where is the perfect man? It has been said, " Trivial imperfections of men fade before their great and predominating virtues, when they have them.' Many that esteemed him were proud to give his name to their children. This quaint announce- ment is from the Independent Chronicle, May 2, 1777: "Alexander Gordon of Salem, State of New Hampshire, had a son baptized by the name 132 DOROTHY QUINCY of John Hancock, it being his tenth son and six- teenth child, and in the sixty-second year of his age." In a unique style one of his defenders replies to an acrostic that had appeared : " Please give the following remarks a place in your paper, and you will oblige your friend Philander. In the acrostic upon the Hon. John Hancock, Esq., in ihe Worcester paper of March 20, I cannot but re- mark in honor to that worthy gentleman upon this stroke in it, ' That he sprang out of obscurity,' which is not only a reflection upon his family, but far from truth. His grandfather was one of the most sensible and witty clergymen of his day, and was held in the highest repute by his* ministry, which may be . And Governor Belcher had always die greatest veneration for him, whose tutor he was in his minority, and he always ex- pressed the greatest pleasure in hearing him from the desk; and a church minister at Marblehead, having heard of his fame, attended upon his preaching at a lecture in that place. He was called the Bishop by the clergy and laity of his day (and though he did not -wear lawn sleeves, would Bos- ton find his equal among all their prelates they must go to Wales, to the pious, learned and ever to be esteemed Bishop of St. Asaph, whose niem- *Print faded. DOROTHY QUINCY 133 ory will be ever dear to a Columbian so long as time shall endure." His father was an excellent parish minister of a most amiable temper, and nearly resembled the disciple whom Jesus loved. And I cannot but take notice here of what the great and learned Mr. Gay of Hingham said, and which will ever do the greatest honor to his memory : " First, no man was better to his friend, and, if he was not good to his enemy, it was not for want of inclination, but an object. It is true the worthy patriot was not born to an estate, for the clergy are commonly poor in this world, like their Master; but he was early adopted by his uncle, who had one of the best estates in Columbia, and a seat for some years at the Council Board, and was one of the greatest benefactors to our college that was ever born amongst us. Thus honorably was our patriot de- scended. It is true, he had not the blood of all the princes of Europe running through his veins, as Dr. South said of Charles I. ; but has blood that is much better ; blood that was never stained with popery nor arbitrary principles. Long live the hero ! And may the amiable temper of his pious father be more and more conspicuous in him and his country." (All the printers in Columbia are desired to insert these remarks in their papers.) CHAPTER XX. Sewell's Letter to a Former Friend — Washing- ton's Annoyances — Death of Daughter — Mrs. Hancock Leaves Philadelphia — John Hancock Writes Her — Their Cheerful Fireside — Han- cock's Letter to Washington — Hancock's Ad- dress to Congress — Regrets at His Departure. His Warm Reception. The atmosphere of England had no softening effect on Jonathan Sewell, who, seeing that a for- mer friend of his had been appointed to the office of Attorney-General, wrote to him from London, April 24, 1777: •' John Lowell, Esquire. " Sir — That I once had a real friendship for you I believe you cannot doubt, but that it now glows with its former warmth — to pretend it would be an instance of flattery to which my heart is a stranger. The principles of the side in which you have become a partisan I know will render it difficult for you to conceive it possible any trace of it should now remain; however, as I once wished and endeavored to keep you steady in paths of honor and loyalty, so I now wish to save you from per- dition." He urges him to repent and bring his " deluded countrymen back to loyalty," and says, " You have not well considered what an indelible stain of infamy the having been engaged in rebellion will DOROTHY QUINCY 135 leave upon your character and entail upon your innocent children." 1 He had written the month previous, " I hope to God I shall not live to see the day when America shall become independent of Great Britain;"- but he lived for many years after. I do not know that the letters to his family were equally bitter ; but we have seen how friend- ships were severed by this war. The discussion of the new Constitution contin- ued with acrimony ; and in Philadelphia feeling- waxed strong-; party rancor entered into every event. " Mrs. Washington said that, when once in Philadelphia, none or but few of the ladies of that city called upon her, so prevalent was the dis- affection." 3 Washington did not escape annoyance and dis- content. New regiments were increasing tardily ; he was enduring much with his exhausted and ragged troops, besides being " tormented by plots of jealous generals." Hancock, who felt for him, in a friendly, sympathetic spirit wrote to the Gen- eral words of encouragement. August 23d Washington notified Hancock that he intended to march his troops through Phila- delphia without halting, that it may " have some influence on the minds of the disaffected there," and " those who are dupes to their artifices and opinions." A cloud, heavier than war's alarms, had settled over one home. Silence reigned. Laughter was i 3 6 DOROTHY QUINCY hushed in the Hancock house. Merry voices were sobbing, and bright eyes were weeping; the foot- falls were light, but the hearts were heavy, for in a curtained room lay the small, inanimate form of Lydia, their only child, the cherished daughter of the household. There was but One to Whom the heartbroken parents could turn in their grief, for words of sympathy afforded cold comfort. Yet many kindly natures lavished them, hoping to alleviate their distress, and they were grateful for the remembrance. A letter came September 8, 1777, to John Han- cock from Judge Quincy to condole with him on the decease of his child ; and on the 14th the fond grand-parent wrote announcing to Mrs. Sewell that her sister had lost " a promising daughter." Then the sorrowing mother was urged to make a change, and she departed for the North. Philadelphia had been wrought up by all those exciting alarms that war entails. Again it was considered unsafe, as on the 19th a rumor that General Howe's army was crossing the Schuylkill started Congress and others to leave before day- light. It proved then a false alarm, and a reac- tion followed ; but the 23d found many terrified citizens moving out of town — a wise precaution, as on the 26th the English entered the city. Under date of October 18, 1777. Hancock writes from Yorktown : DOROTHY QUINCY i 37 " My Dear Dolly : " I am now at this date and not a line from you, nor a single word have I heard from you since your letter by Dodd, immediately upon your arrival at Worcester, which you may judge affects me not a little ; but I must submit, and will only say that I expected oftener to have been the object of your attention. This is my sixth letter to you. * * * I have come to a fixed deter- mination to return to Boston for a short time, and I have notified Congress in form of my intentions. " Please immediately on receipt of this tell Mr. Sprigs to prepare the light carriage and four horses and himself to proceed on to Hartford or Fairfield. I shall hope and must desire that you will take a seat in the carriage and meet me on the road, which will much advance your health, and you may be assured will be highly satisfac- tory to me ; and I have desired Mr. Brant to accompany you in the carriage, and when we meet he can take the sulkey and I return with you in the carriage to town. * * * My dear, I hope your health will admit of your coming with Mr. Brant. I long to see you." He writes, further on, that he should travel with great speed : " Nothing will prevent my seeing you soon, with the leave of Providence, but a prevention of passing the North river. I shall push hard to get over even if I go so far as Albany. I need not tell you there will be no occasion of your writing me after the receipt of this. * * * My best wishes attend you for every good. I have much to say, which I leave to a cheerful evening with you in person. " God bless you, my dear Dolly. I am, " Yours most affectionately, "John Hancock." 4 We have read and realized how John Hancock felt, waiting, watching and expecting a letter long delayed from the discreet Miss Quincy or the silent Mrs. Hancock. This appears prudent, for i 3 8 DOROTHY QUINCY the post was slow and the risk of capture great; with the chance that tender effusions would ulti- mately afford diversion to British soldiery around camp-fires. But what a fascinating Dorothy she must have been to smooth out all the inequalities of mood that silence engendered. The first impulse would be towards resentment, yet we find John Hancock succumbing to the charm, potent though absent, and writing that he sighed to be with her ; that he will never be parted so long again, and that he yearns for their talks by the fireside. That fireside is before us. We can picture it with the huge, blazing, crackling logs, resting on large, glittering brass fire-dogs ; the bright, fluted fender ; the shining shovel and tongs ; the subdued, soft light from tall spermaceti candles standing erect in their chiseled silver holders and resting on the high carved mantel ; the mirror, with three divisions, mounted in black and gilt. Here they are to sit and talk as has been their wont, on his return after the day's anxieties and perplexities ; here, where John Hancock found a tender-hearted consoler and a companion to whom he listened with pleasure, while their more serious discourse was varied by the playful badinage that pervades his letters. When a man like Hancock, with position and money, courted by men for his influence and by women for his personal attractions, prefers his DOROTHY QU1NCY 139 own home and his own wife, there must assuredly be something in that woman of high tone and win- ning attractions to produce this result. John Hancock, in October, wrote to Washing- ton that the decline of health occasioned by " long and unremitted application to the duties of office, both in Congress and out of Congress," obliged him to think of retiring for a rest of two or three months ; and he concludes with, " The politeness and attention I have ever experienced from you, in the course of our correspondence, will always be a source of the most pleasing satisfaction to me." Washington replied from " Headquarters, Octo- ber 22, 1777:" '" Dear Sir : " It gives me real pain to learn that the declining state of your health, owing to your unwearied attention to public business and the situation of your private affairs, oblige you to relinquish a station, though for a time, which you have filled with acknowledged propriety. Motives, as well of a personal as of a general concern, make me regret the necessity that compels you to retire, and to wish your absence from office may be of as short duration as possible. In the progress of that inter- course, which has necessarily subsisted between us, the manner in which you have conducted it on your part, accompanied with every expression of politeness and regard to me, gives you a claim to my warmest ac- knowledgments." 5 Washington suggests that it would be safer for him to defer his journey until affairs had taken a more settled shape. He offers him an escort to i 4 o DOROTHY QUINCY General Putnam's camp, where another would be furnished, and concludes : " I am extremely obliged to you for your polite ten- der of services during my intended residence at Boston, and shall always be happy, when leisure and opportunity permit, if you will give me the pleasure of hearing from you. I have the honor to be, etc." Not intimidated by the danger Hancock contin- ued his preparations for departure. On Novem- ber 2, 1777, Washington again wrote to him: " You have my warmest wishes for your recovery, and 1 shall be happy if your recess should be attended with benefits superior to your most sanguine expectations. Your exertions to promote the general interest, I am well convinced, will be unceasing and that every meas- ure which the situation of your health will permit you to pursue will be employed to that end, whether you are in Congress, or obliged to remain in the State of Massa- chusetts." Closing with : " I have nothing further to add than to wish you an agreeable journey and a happy meeting with your lady and friends, and to assure you that I am, dear sir, etc." 6 John Hancock, on taking leave of Congress, said : "As I could never flatter myself your choice proceeded from any idea of my abilities, but rather from a partial opinion of my attachment to the liberties of America, * * * I think I shall be forgiven if I say I have spared no pains, ex- pense or labor to gratify your wishes and to ac- complish the views of Congress." After writing of his health, he says : DOROTHY QUINCY 141 " I cannot take my departure, gentlemen, without expressing my thanks for the civility and politeness I have experienced from you. It is impossible to men- tion this without a heartfelt pleasure. If, in the course of so long a period as I have had the honor to fill this chair, any expressions may have dropped from me that may have given the least offence to any member, as it was not intentional, so I hope his candor will pass it over. May every happiness, gentlemen, attend yon. both as members of this house and as individuals, etc." Congress ordered the Secretary, to wait on the President and request him to furnish a copy of his speech. 7 One of the members wrote on Hancock's ab- sence from Congress, saying, " I am much con- cerned, though his great fatigue and long attend- ance entitle him to some relaxation. How we shall do without him I know not, for we have never yet put in a chairman, on a committee of the whole House, that could in any measure fill his place. He has not only dignity and impartial- ity, which are the great requisites of a president of such a body; but has an alertness, attention, readiness to conceive any motion and its tendency, and of every alteration proposed, in the course of a debate which greatly tends to facilitate and ex- pedite business." Hancock makes time to indite another epistle to his " Dear Dolly " from Dover, sixty miles from Hartford : " My Dear : — I am thus far on my journey to meet you. Thank God for it. I have been through many difficulties on the road, but that I shall not mind. The i 4 2 DOROTHY QUINCY remembrance of those difficulties will vanish when I have the happiness of seeing you. I am still obliged to have my foot wrapped up in baize, but I brave all these things. * * * I have much to say, but refer all to the happy time when I shall be with you." 8 Does it not look as if John Hancock never at- tained to Dickens' state of mind, when he once ex- claimed, " I loathe domestic hearths!" Along the route he was received with contin- uous indications of the high esteem in which he was held an approval of his efficient work. Mrs. Hancock hastened to meet her sick hus- band to cheer him over the rough roads and weari- ness that, as an invalid, he had to endure. A notice from Hartford, November r8, says: " On Friday passed through this town, escorted by a party of Light Dragoons, the Hon. John Hancock, Esq., President of the American Con- gress, with his lady, on his way to Boston after an absence on public business of more than two years and a half." " On his arrival in Boston the bells were rung, cannon fired by artillery at Fort Hill and from the shipping in the harbor. He received the compli- ments of gentlemen of all orders, and every indi- cation was given of the sense the public has of his important services to the American cause." Mr. Otis, in a letter to Elbridge Gerry, says, " Honorable Mr. Hancock arrived, not looking in the full power of health." CHAPTER XXI. The Hancock Establishment — Portraits of Madam Hancock — John Hancock, His Tastes — Consid- eration of Others — His Generosity. The Hancock home had been occupied during the siege by General Clinton, also by Lord Percy, and was left in a damaged condition. After the battle of Bunker Hill the house and stables had been used for the wounded. The renovation was rapidly pushed forward, while the Hancocks resided at Jamaica Plain. A thorough refurnishing was required, and orders were sent to London for Wilton carpets for the bedrooms ; and " furniture that was most fashion- able, and a handsome silver tea urn, whether wrought or unwrought." 1 Dorothy Dudley's diary gives this description of the future residence of Madam Hancock, as she was generally designated : " The magnificent house, standing as it does on the brow of the hill, commanding an extensive view of the country around, is typical of the prominence and exalted station of its owner, who has incurred the deadly displeasure of the royal Government, by reason of his determined patriotism. Massive stone walls, 144 DOROTHY QUINCY supporting a tiled roof, from which several dormer windows look forth upon the town and its sur- roundings ; projecting balcony over the front door, and broad stone steps and paved walk leading from the street. A grand drawing-room on the right, where hang the portraits of the Hancock family back to the days of the early Puritans ; an immense dining-hall out of this designed for large compa- nies ; the family drawing-room to the left, and a smaller dining-room out of that; spacious halls and chambers elegantly furnished and hung with pictures of various kinds." 2 " The bedroom furniture and hangings were of gold-colored damask." Adams writes that the best houses, in 1766, had " Turkey carpets, painted hangings, marble tables and rich damask curtains and counterpanes to the bed," etc. 3 There was a garden, elaborately laid out, which ascended gradually behind the building to a charm- ing hill in the rear; a large nursery and orchard full of many kinds of delicious fruit, and orna- mental flower-beds bordered with box, some being of great size. From the summer house opens a capital prospect. An old chronicler describes it — " Smiling hills, and laughing vales, gently undu- lating." " The mall bordering the Common, ornamented with a treble range of trees," in front of the house, " and here the ladies and gentlemen resort DOROTHY QUINCY 145 in summer." " The grounds on election and pub- lic days teem with multitudes of every descrip- tion and rank, who occupy themselves in various amusements." " On this commodious lawn, dif- ferent military corps perform their stated exer- cises." " In a word, if purity of air, extensive prospects, elegance and convenience united are al- lowed to have charms, this seat is scarcely sur- passed by any in the Union." 4 Madam Hancock had filled the position of first lady during the rebel government. She was now to have a prominence in the Massachusetts com- monwealth that had never been accorded to any lady ; she was to be the head of one of the most elaborate and extensive establishments. In her father's house she had met men of talent and stability, but at her husband's there was to be an infinitely greater variety. Madam Hancock's personal attractions were enhanced by her beau- tiful toilettes. Her husband, who liked to see her elegantly attired, once ordered from Paris a heavy crimson Lyons velvet, which, on its reception, was decided to be entirely unsuited to her slender fig- ure, and it finally decorated that of Mr. John Han- cock. Though the lapse of years has somewhat im- paired Copley's flesh tints, yet we can more appro- priately picture Madam Hancock as he has por- trayed her, arrayed in a rose-colored gown, with transparent, figured muslin overskirt — a charm- i 4 6 DOROTHY QUINCY ing contrast to the dark hair, rolled high, sur- mounted by a fancy head-dress ! 5 With elbow resting on the tabic, the delicate fingers touch her cheek, a favorite attitude; per- haps a pardonable vanity to display a pretty hand and arm, with which, alas! time has played havoc and punished her by deepening the shadows, and leaving attenuated its once rounded contour ; which is, however, preserved in an unfinished like- ness of her, by Copley, formerly owned by her great-niece, Mrs. Woodbury, wife of the late Judge L. Woodbury, of the United States Su- preme Court. The latter is a full-length portrait of Madam Hancock, who is represented seated in an arm- chair, easily and naturally ; gowned in one of those dainty, filmy, white cobwebs of India, so choice and costly at that day; a muslin of soft and cling- ing texture, with no ornament save a figured black lace fichu simply crossed over the bust. The face is marred by a powdered, frizzed wig, low on the brow, a fashion not as becoming as her own dark tresses. The pose of the hand and arm are the same as in the smaller portrait. John Hancock, in a suit of brown velvet, stands at her side. There is still another oil color extant of Madam Hancock, taken when eighty years old, with stiff French puff's of hair around the brow, the mode then, and a cap of muslin with large crown and GOVERNOR AND MRS HANCOCK. DOROTHY QUINCY 147 frill, bordered with ribbons. Her dress of plain black has a huge Elizabethian ruff that fills up the throat ; but the eyes that look out from that intelli- gent face are large and expressive, retaining some semblance to those that once captivated and looked admiringly on John Hancock. In Massachusetts, as in Philadelphia, Hancock's position laid on him large obligations of hospital- ity, which Madam Hancock dispensed with a deli- cate grace. Madam Hancock met in society many cultivated and agreeable men who visited this country, as well as diplomatic officials and travelers full of in- terest and curiosity in all that related to America. She listened unmoved to their courtly phrases and filled her role with a distinction that placed her without a rival. John Hancock was nearly six feet in height, with graceful and prepossessing manner. His apparel was of the richest kind, embroidered in silver, with lace, according to the dress of a gen- tleman of that date. He liked what was handsome, but not showy, and an order to London for his traveling carriage expressly stipulates " a very neat and light post- chaise or chariot, elegantly neat, not made expen- sive by external tawdry ornaments."" Many direc- tions are given for convenience, the seat to unship so that the coachman could sit on the box or ride postilion. Lamps on the carriage; a traveling M 8 DOROTHY QUINCY trunk, with strong lock and key ; a box inside the carriage to draw out, with good lock and key. " The ground paint of the carriage to be stone yel- low, that being the color all his carriages bear." This equipage in daily use, a writer says, was " noted for its brilliant plate-glass windows and handsome ornaments." 7 It was drawn by four bay horses, and on state occasions by six. He was not a man to offend with arrogance, or superciliousness; his marked traits were urbanity and kindliness, which the following incident ex- emplifies, among many others, related by Madam Hancock to her great-niece, Miss M. Quincy : Returning to town one day, in his phaeton, he noticed a woman toiling along overburdened by a huge bundle. The horses were reined in, for Han- cock to inquire where she was going. This poor washwoman, who was on her way to the town, he had helped into the open carriage and driven to her stopping place. It was these impulses of the heart that won the regard of his townsmen. Another instance will show that he also relieved those in his own walk of life. Once while driving with Madam Hancock he was startled at seeing Samuel Adams, his old friend, one of the patriots of the Revolution, walking with a sheriff beside him. " What is the meaning of this?" he inquired of Adams ; who replied : DOROTHY QU1NCY 149 " I am going to jail, as I cannot satisfy the sheriff's demand." Mr. Hancock said he would see to that, and set- tle the account himself; so bade the sheriff leave his prisoner. When taking these drives with his wife nothing- escaped John Hancock for the betterment of his fellow-beings. Was there an unfinished church he inquired the cause, and at once assisted if funds were needed ; and it has been said, n His munifi- cence in the bosom of the Church was as proverb- ial as it was in forwarding the glory of the Re- public." On one occasion he gave to the poor of the town one hundred and fifty cords of wood, but, though his public gifts were known to the world, his and his wife's many private donations were known only to the few, and held sacred by the benefi- ciaries. CHAPTER XXII. Bostonians Described— A Son Born— Letters to " Dolly " from Yorktown — John Hancock Re- turns to Boston — Marches to Rhode Island — Judge Quincy's Letter — French Fleet Off Sandy Hook — The Fleet Disabled— Lafayette Stands by D'Estaing. Brissot de Warville describes the Bostonians in 1778 : " They unite simplicity of morals with that French politeness and delicacy of manners which render virtue more amiable. The young men here enjoy the liberty they do in England ; that they did in Geneva when morals were there, and the Repub- lic existed; and they do not abuse it." * * * "I have seen women of fifty with such an air of fresh- ness that they would not have been taken by an European for more than forty. Women of sixty and seventy are sparkling with health." 1 On the 15th of May, Hancock and lady, with Mrs. Jefrry, arrived in town from a trip to New York; which was followed soon after by a glad- dening event to the Hancocks. One of the journals announced that in " Bos- ton, May 21, 1778, Lord's Day morning, the lady of the Hon. John Hancock. Esq., was safely deliv- ered of a son." DOROTHY QUINCY 151 This boy was later baptized George Washing- ton, from Hancock's regard for the soldier and friendship for the man. Judge Quincy wrote to his daughter from Med- field and said : " Pray kiss my little Washington for me. I hope he may enjoy the fruits of his parents' patriotism." 2 This little stranger was doubly welcome to take the place of the daughter that died. Hancock and Samuel Holton. Esq., who were two of the delegates from Massachusetts, in June departed for Yorktown, to join the Grand Con- gress, escorted by a detachment of American Light Dragoons. " They were attended by a num- ber of respectable gentlemen from this town to Watertown. where an elegant entertainment was provided." En route John Hancock's thoughts turn to the dear ones at home, and he writes from a tavern called Log Goal, in New Jersey, 270 miles from Boston, June 14, 1778, Sunday, 12 o'clock : " My Dear Dolly : " I wrote you this morning from Sussex Courthouse; have just got here, and, stopping an express hound to Boston for a moment, gives me the opportunity to let you know I am safe thus far. * * * I beg you to take care of your health beyond every other consider- ation." Which epistle ends with the usual warm ef- fusiveness : I5 a DOROTHY QUINCY "The express waits— can only add my most ardent wishes for your health, and every good ; and am, with the utmost love and affection, " Yours forever. " John Hancock." 3 " Pray write me often and long letters." This sounds not like a cool lover, as he has been erroneously called, nor do any of his letters. He arrived at Yorktown. and, though they have been parted but a few days, is much disturbed at not hearing from his wife. Madam Hancock's time and thoughts were now absorbed by the newcomer in the family, and Hancock, inveighing over the neglect to himself, fails to comprehend that a baby calls for more attention than a hus- band ; nor could he realize that it was possible for anyone to come between his dear Dolly and him- self, and that the culprit was an innocent infant. He forwards another letter by Mr. Taylor, who was to sail for Paris with dispatches to the com- missioners, and says: " I embrace the opportunity of writing you, although I wrote you two letters the day before yesterday, and this is my seventh letter, and not one word have I heard from you since your departure from Boston. I am as well as the peculiar situation of this place will admit, but I can by no means, in justice to myself, con- tinue long under such disagreeable circumstances ; I mean in point of living. The mode is so very differ- ent from what I have been always accustomed to that to continue it long would prejudice my health exceed- ingly. " This moment the post arrived, and, to my very great surprise and disappointment, not a single line from Boston. I am not much disposed to resent, but it feels DOROTHY QUINCY 153 exceedingly hard to be slighted and neglected by those from whom I have a degree of right to expect different conduct. I would have hired anyone to have sent a few lines just to let me know the state of your health ; but I must endeavor not to be so anxious, and be as easy as some others seem to be. I will expect no letters nor write any, and then there will be no disappointment. So much for that. " To be serious, I shall write no more till I hear from you ; this is agreeable to my former promise. It really is not kind, when you must be sensible that I must have been very anxious about you and the little one. Devote a little time to write me ; it will please me much to hear of you. I am sure you are disposed to oblige me, and I pray I may not be disappointed in my opinion of your disposition. " I hope this will meet you tolerably recovered from your late confinement. I wish to hear of your being below stairs and able to take care of our dear little one. * * * Do let me have frequent letters ; you will oblige me much. " My best wishes attend you for the highest felicity. and I am, with the utmost affection and love, " Yours forever, " John Hancock." 4 Hancock returned to Boston July 27th, and the following month it was announced " that General Hancock's Independent Company, headed by the General in person, marches hence (Boston) to- morrow to join in the intended expedition against Rhode Island." Judge Quincy wrote from Medfield August 18. 1778: " Mr. Hancock's patriotism has at length urged him into the field. * * * As I have had from ye begin- ning (tho' somewhat gloomy) full expectation of a glo- rious termination of ye seemingty unhappy contest in favor of these United States; as at this hour ye prospect advances, that all those who trouble our Israel will 154 DOROTHY QUINCY in a little time be swept off our shores with ye Besom of destruction, unless they should timely prevent it by a suitable capitulation ; which God grant may be ye case, and thereby ye lives of our fellow creatures be spared. * * * I pray God to support you in his ab- sence and preserve ye health of both mother and son, whom I want to see. " With my most devout and best wishes, I remain, dear child. " Your most affectionate father, " Edmund Quincy." 5 He writes again from Medfield, August 24th : " Since I wrote you last I have had ye pleasure of hearing divers times by returning men from Rhode Isl- and, etc., that General Hancock was there at the head of one of ye grand divisions of ye Americans, and that he was better in health than he could have expected to be; but, as you receive almost daily advices from him, I don't expect to be able to inform you of any circum- stances from ye vague accounts I receive, and have, therefore, only to say that, as it pleases God yet to excite Mr. Hancock's patriotic concern for his country, as well in the military as in ye civil department, I trust His gracious protection will be afforded him in and thro' every hour of difficulty and danger." In a letter October 12th he closes with, " Pray give my most tender regards to my daughter and her dear little general." 6 Great importance was attached to the arrival of the French fleet, commanded by Count D'Estaing, which was expected to take part in the Rhode Isl- and campaign. Lafayette also had joined our troops. Before sailing for Rhode Island, whilst the squadron lay near Sandy Hook, August 10th, a rather startling incident occurred. " A marine officer, belonging to one of the ships, a Scotch- DOROTHY QUINCY 155 man by birth, went on shore at Shewsbury. The inhabitants, finding that he spoke good English. crowded to converse with him. and told him how happy they were made by the arrival of the French Hcet. as they did not doubt their independence would be established by their co-operation. Where- at the Scotch officer, with a significant shake of the head, answered them that he believed they mistaken ; that he looked upon their inde- pendence only as a dream, for that France or Britain must have this country." 1 The effect of such a speech can be better con- ceived than described. When the squadron appeared off the coast of Rhode [sland a violent storm arose, which raged into a tempest and ruinously shattered the fleet, so thai they were obliged to sail for Boston to " repair the lost masts " and other damages, and to replenish their provisions. i lure was loud-spoken indignation at the de- parture, hut D'Estaing asserted " that he had pos itive orders of the King, in case of any disaster, the squadron should rendezvous in the harbor of Bos- ton."" and his officers were unwilling to remain there disabled. Lafayette, who naturally did not join in the general outer} against his countrymen, hastened to Boston, where a strong and bitter feeling against the French had been arou - General Hancock expressed his indignation, as well as the other officers, " hut he consented to I5 6 DOROTHY QUINCY return to Boston, to endeavor to calm the public mind, and obtain supplies for the squadron." 9 That city had taken alarm at supplying a fleet from their stores, but, fortunately, the " New England cruisers had seized a number of provision vessels, so the wants of the French were well sup- plied, besides a surplus for their own market." 10 The masts and lumber for the ships had to be transported from Portsmouth, which occasioned a long delay. Admiral D'Estaing clearly demonstrated the unfortunate state of his naval forces and equip- ments ; he offered to march himself with his troops. Lafayette, who was chagrined and much trou- bled, wrote to Washington explaining how desir- ous D'Estaing was to forward the public good, and help " your success, and to serve the cause of America." In his letter to Washington September ist he writes : " Lafayette and D'Estaing waited on the Council, General Heath and General Hancock, and were very well satisfied with them. The last one distinguished himself very much by his zeal." 12 Hancock was ready to correct his first hasty judgment on the course of the French officer. Lafayette, in one of his letters to a friend in Paris, had written : " I hear nothing- here about kings nor ministers. They cherish and idolize only two mistresses, viz., Liberty and Fame." 13 CHAPTER XXIII. The Hancocks Give a Breakfast to the French Officers — The Frenchmen Invite the Han- cocks — Indians Visit the Ship — The Constitu- tion of Massachusetts Formed — Ball to the French Officers — Hancock Gives Washing- ton's Portrait to Admiral D'Estaign — Pre- sents One to Lafayette. While the wheels of war were revolving those of pleasure were not stationary. Viscount de Beau- mont gave an entertainment on board the Patriote to the officials. Hancock was too sick to be pres- ent. The Frenchmen, waiting for the slow process of repairs, whiled away some hours accepting and reciprocating the invitations extended to them. They were frequent visitors at the Hancock- mansion, " some of the officers dining there every week." One day General Hancock, who had in- vited thirty of the officers of the fleet to breakfast, when the time approached, had to notify his wife to prepare for one hundred and twenty more. In those days there were no facilities of caterers and confectioners ; but it was summer, so carts and wagons were despatched into the surrounding country for the various fruits of the season; and orders were given to milk all the cows on the i 5 8 DOROTHY QUINCY Common.. Madam Hancock notifying the servants that, if objections were raised, they should send any complainant to her and she would explain. But no complaints were made against this very popular couple. Madam Hancock was at her parlor window, and beheld all the officers of the fleet, including midshipmen, entering the opposite end of the mall. She said that, in the brilliant sun, the whole Common looked " dedizzened with gold lace ;" and the glitter from the dazzling uniforms made one of the finest sights she had ever seen. 1 When they reached the house Madam Hancock stood ready to receive them, with a manner that was distinctive of their court at home. They were most appreciative of the delicacies of the table. and " ate voraciously. One of them drank seven- teen cups of tea." The midshipmen were thought- lessly reckless in celebrating their freedom from shipboard ; they made prize of the cake in the hall, as the servants passed through, who went to Ma- dam Hancock in dismay. She ordered it put into buckets and covered with napkins ; thus it escaped capture by these ravenous boys. They next strayed into the garden, and made sad havoc with the fruit trees, for which Count D'Estaing after- wards apologized. The guard on the Common were also liberally provided with luncheon. Madam Hancock describes Count D'Estaing as a very polished gentleman ; and, like a courtly DOROTHY QUINCY 159 Frenchman, on his return to Paris he sent a beau- tiful fan to Madam 1 [ancock. The officers reciprocated the hospitality by an entertainment on board ship, and Madam Han- given [hr prn i! ge of naming the guests. She had the seat of honor at table, where her curiosity was excited by a large ribbon rosette to the right hand. This mystery remained unsolved until the moment when toasts were given. The Admiral then requested her to raise the ribbons, which had been fastened to a rope under the table. When Madam Hancock complied she fired a signal gun, which started a general salute from all the guns of the fleet. " She was Startled alike out of her official dignity and per- gonal propriety 1>\ the deafening peal of artillery that immediately and unexpectedly ensued." \u<\ aid, " the) were stunned by the noise and en- ped in smoke." The salute had been a distinguished honor paid to her. Those not near the field of battle, not brought into contact with " grim-visaged war.'* realize iittle and it may be wisely condoned if. ing in gloom, soul-stirring gaiety is encouraged while cannon boom. General Washington, in 1778. at camp in New • gaged in dances, dinners and amuse- ments, which also took place at other headquar- i6o DOROTHY QUINCY November 12th a number of Indian chiefs and delegates from the Penobscot and Nova Scotia tribes visited the French fleet. Admiral D'Estaing received them on board the Lauguedoc, and they were treated with marked civility. " He bestowed handsome presents, and gratified them with a par- ticular view of the ships, at which they expressed great admiration, and departed highly satisfied. "- The Indians were as curious objects of study, probably to D'Estaing and his officers as his ships had been to the red men. It must not be supposed that the time of the Frenchmen was given over entirely to pleasure. A Boston letter in a New York paper of Septem- ber 3d relates that, besides repairing damages. D'Estaing had erected very formidable works on George's Island, " in which we hear he has mount- ed near a hundred cannon of heavy metal, which he took from his fleet for protection from the enemy." The British in New York circulated their detri- mental stories of the Admiral. They reported that he had seized one of the churches and converted it into a " popish chapel," where mass was cele- brated, and that this caused " unspeakable mur- murings among all the conscientious people of the place." 3 Washington they outrageously villified ; ridicu- lously asserting : " Those who have served under DOROTHY QUINCY 161 him declare that he keeps at more than a safe dis- tance in the rear." 4 One can form an idea from this what confidence is to be placed in their reports. General Hancock was elected a member of the convention to form a constitution for the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts. Madam Hancock continued to sustain her high position without a word of criticism to mar the unison of their home. It has been said that " Madam Hancock gratified the ambition of her husband, in presiding with so much graceful ease at his hospitable board, and in the social circle that her presence ever infused an enlivening charm." 5 Throngs of handsome women and brilliant men gathered at the Hancock mansion on all state fes- tivals ; and it is chronicled that General Hancock gave a superb ball, before the departure of the fleet, at Concord Hall, " at which were present His Excellency Count D'Estaing and a number of officers belonging to the French fleet. There were upwards of a hundred of the principal ladies of the town present, who, being richly and elegantly dressed, added a most enchanting brilliancy to the evening, and in the eyes of their countrymen, at least, gave no bad specimen of American female grace and beauty." 6 Such cordiality towards the French must have softened the feeling engendered by the censures first launched against them. This was the occa- i6n DOROTHY QUINCY sion, I think, when the invitations were printed on playing cards, none other being then imported. General Hancock, to cement still further the bonds and the amicable feelings, gave to the Ad- miral a full length portrait of George Washing- ton. He had it placed in the centre of the upper side of the room, and the frame covered with laurels, at a dinner given " on board the Laugue- doc to a company of gentlemen and ladies." 7 These fair dames were giving warm welcome to our allies and receiving courtesies from them in return. Those of Philadelphia were extending a friendly hand and feasting the British officers. Lafayette was also to be the recipient of a por- trait, and he wrote to Washington, *' Give me joy, my dear General. I intend to have your picture, and Mr. Hancock has promised me a copy of that he has in Boston. * * * He gave one to the Count D'Estaing, and I never saw a man so glad at possessing his sweetheart's picture as the Ad- miral was to receive yours." 8 Hancock certainly was endowed with the art of giving. Finally the adieux were made, and in Novem- ber the French fleet set sail from Boston for the West Indies, as it was reported that Lord Byron, with the English fleet and transports, had started for those islands. CHAPTER XXIV. Letter to George Washington, Esq. — The Two Patriots Alienated — Voltaire — Proposals of Peace Through Franklin — Franklin's Reply- Criticisms of John Hancock — His Entertain- ing Under Difficulties. • England continued her parliamentary wrangles, and continued forwarding troops to America. She had no respect for our generals. Had not Howe sent a letter to the Commander-in-Chief and ad- dressed it to " George Washington, Esq.," the bearer of which said to Colonel R that he had a letter for " Mr. Washington ;" to which the Colonel replied there was no such person in the Army, and returned it. England had summed up our troops as " renegade Britons and French sol- diers of fortune, with Germans intermixed.'' 1 Nor did she understand her late subjects, strong in their fealty until the iron hand of taxes and injus- tice shook their allegiance, and aroused the spirit of discontent and revolt. During the year 1778, while Samuel Adams was absent in Philadelphia, a break was made in his friendship with John Hancock. By skilful and continuous perversions their enemies succeeded in again embittering them against each other. Adams 164 DOROTHY QUINCY once threw off inquirers by saying, " A trifling tale " 2 was the cause of the breach. Why should there have been ill-feeling at any time between these men? Both endowed with forceful courage; both working for liberal prin- ciples ; both entitled to their meed of praise. These two men of granite, firm and immovable in their patriotism. We look at one, in his native strength, as we admire a huge boulder ; grand, without or- nament or accessory, superbly picturesque in its place. The other, a polished block of stone, equally solid and of equal service, but of another order of value. In 1779 Fox boldly launched forth thus, " Though Boston was to be starved; though Han- cock and Adams were proscribed, yet at the feet of these very men the Parliament of Great Britain were obliged to kneel, to flatter, to cringe; and, as they had the cruelty at one time to denounce vengeance against these men, so they had the meanness afterwards to prostrate themselves be- fore them and implore their forgiveness." 3 The Confederacy was still in a state of agita- tion; war had been carried into the South, and was waged on land and sea, where Paul Jones was making a name for himself. The press fired its shots at the mother country, and one paper had an article headed. " Old Eng- land's Last Will." It was signed. " Cruelty, Blindness, Obstinacy." 4 DOROTHY QUINCY 165 The new States were not without their admir- ers abroad. Dr. Franklin, who was traveling in Europe with his grandson, paid a visit to Vol- taire, and during the course of conversation asked what he thought of the American Confed- eracy. The poet replied he had so good an opinion that, had it taken place forty years ago, he would have established himself in such a free country. While still on the continent Franklin was the recipient of a letter from one Charles de Weissen- stein, evidently an assumed name, who was a secret agent from England, to secure Franklin's assist- ance in some kind of proposition for peace. He urged as an argument the impossibility that England should ever acknowledge the independ- ence of the colonies, and said : " Should Parlia- ment be induced to do it, the people of England would not approve it, and posterity would never submit to it," etc. He then proceeds at much length to state the " Plan of Reconciliation." * * * " That, as some American gentlemen have taken conspicu- ous public part, and as it is unreasonable that their services to their country should deprive them of those advantages, which their talents would other- wise have gained them, the following persons shall have offices, or pensions for life, at their option, namely, Franklin. Washington, Adams, Hancock, etc. In case His Majesty, or his successors, should ever create American peers, then those persons, or 166 DOROTHY QUINCY their descendants shall be among the first created if they chose it." There was not much encouragement in Frank- lin's plain-spoken reply, from which I take a few extracts. It is dated Passy, July 1st, 1778: " We have too much land to have the least temptation to extend our territory by conquest from peace- able neighbors, as well as too much justice to think of it. * * * Our militia, you find by experience, are sufficient to defend our lands from invasion ; and the commerce with us will be defended by all nations who find an advantage in it ; we, therefore, have not the occasion you imagine of fleets or standing armies, but may leave those expensive machines to be maintained for the pomp of princes and the wealth of ancient states. We propose, if possible to live in peace with all mankind. * * * We suspected before that you would not be actu- ally bound by your conciliatory acts longer than till they had served their purpose of inducing us to disband our forces. * * * We ought to have the least confidence in your offers, promises, or treaties, though confirmed by Parliament." 5 John Adams wrote to Gerry of a similar propo- sition that was made to him, and also to Lee, evidently emanating from the British ministry. They also offered that the Americans should be governed by a congress of American peers, created and appointed by the King." DOROTHY QUINCY 167 How little the}- appreciated or understood the integrity of these men, invulnerable to proffers of rank and title ; native peers in their own right, carved by their own patriotic deeds from high re- solves and aims. Hancock, too, when approached by the emis- saries of Lord North, the Prime Minister, had preferred country and principles to sinecures. 6 Madam Hancock was of a different organiza- tion from her husband and her heart beat with indignation at the unjust accusations, or false statements, promulgated by his opponents. She keenly felt the nettle-stings and petty abuse direct- ed against him, instigated by British satellites and sympathizers. John Adams has said that " Popularity, next to virtue and wisdom, ought to be aimed at; for it is the dictate of wisdom." Yet " it was brought against John Hancock that he loved popularity." 7 Where is to be found the man in public life who avoids it ? Political hostility carped at the wealth which he prodigally expended on others instead of selfishly hoarding. It was an offense that he trav- eled with a guard. Was it not a necessity, with a price set upon his head? President Lincoln was a target for censure dur- ing the Civil War because of the precaution taken to have mounted soldiers stationed at the gates of the White House. i68 DOROTHY QUINCY The times were stormy and engendered stormy expressions inimical to Hancock, and " his acts were perverted, his motives misjudged," while he was striving to aid his country and countrymen. This unfriendliness extended even to 1810, when Rev. John Eliot, in Boston, speaking of his " New England Biographical Dictionary," related that several gentlemen in Boston, Federalists, said " they would not have subscribed to the book had they seen what Mr. Eliot had said of Samuel Adams and John Hancock." 8 To evince their confidence and esteem, those who knew and believed in General Hancock, se- lected him as their first Governor with an over- whelming voice. What a roseate and golden sky was this in the horizon of Madam Hancock ! And whenever he consented to be a candidate her hus- band was chosen to that office by an undisputed majority. 9 Though into the life of Madam Hancock came occasional shadows, yet it was brilliant with many matchless, radiant days ; and it cannot be said that she led " a life with nothing to color or embellish it." The Hancocks were indefatigable in giving pleasure to others; Governor Hancock spared no trouble for his guests, sending even fifty miles for delicacies, despite the rough and slow transporta- tion of that time. In later years they laid in liberal supplies for emergencies, and once had one hun- DOROTHY QUINCY 169 dred and fifty live turkeys shut up, which by day were let out to feed in the pasture. He wrote to Henry Quincy, at Providence, August 30, 1779, that he was expecting " the am- bassadors " to dine with him on Wednesday, and said, " I have nothing to give them, from the pres- ent prospect of our market. I must beg the favor of you to recommend to my man Harry where he can get chickens, ducks, geese, ham, partridges and mutton, or anything that will save my repu- tation in a dinner, and by all means some butter." He also asks for " good melons or peaches." 10 The guests referred to were probably Chevalier de la Luzerne, Minister from France ; M. de Val- nais, the French Consul ; M. de Chavagnes, cap- tain in the Royal French Navy, and others of dis- tinction, who visited Harvard at this time, Sep- tember 2, 1779. He concludes his letter : " I am now preparing my house for the celebration of a wedding this night. I have four sets to marry, and propose that they should stand at the four corners of the room and take it all at once; they are willing, but not ready." Madam Hancock had a pretty refined niece, daughter of Henry Quincy, and in one of Gover- nor Hancock's letters to him he writes : " Miss Eunice was under promise to aid me in the gout, but she has failed me. I shall have another touch in a few days designedly to make her perform her i 7 o DOROTHY QUINCY promise; but, to be serious, when Mrs. Quincy can spare her, and Miss Eunice has an inclination to spend two or three weeks at my house, I will send for her. I have a design upon her not to her injury, but she is my favorite, and I intend to get her a good husband. I expect an answer from Miss Eunice, under her own hand ; she may write to a married man." Miss Eunice may have inherited some of the personal attractions of her father, who, when twenty-eight years old, was called " the handsom- est man in Boston." CHAPTER XXV. Eunice Quincy — Her Marriage — Reception in France — Marie Antoinette, Godmother — De Valnais' Exile — Returns to Boston — Lafay- ette Arrives in America — Extracts from His Letters. Miss Eunice Quincy made the visit to Boston, and there met Monsieur de Valnais, the French Consul, who, on his arrival in the country, had been spoken of in the highest terms. 1 He became deeply enamored with this captivat- ing young girl, and asked her hand in marriage. Her parents, and the Hancocks, would probably have preferred a selection from one of their own countrymen, in order to retain her near them ; but the decrees of fate ruled otherwise. The wedding took place after six months' court- ship, and two years later Monsieur de Valnais was recalled to France. In one of Madame de Valnais' letters to her mother she wrote, February 2, 1784, of their kind reception at court; and that they had many friends, who took much notice of them both in a public and private way. They had dined with Lafayette, who gave, every Monday, a dinner to Americans. She says: " I have spent five weeks with Monsieur de Valnais' friends, who treated i 72 DOROTHY QU1NCY me like a princess. * * * All the French who have ever been in America throng here." 2 In 1786, when a child was born, Marie Antoin- ette was the godmother and sent a baby outfit for the infant. In her letter from Paris, February 9, 1786, she tells how Lafayette was exerting all power and influence at court, which was not small ; and writes : " I dined with the Count D'Estaing the day before yesterday, who speaks incessantly of Mr. Hancock, and said he would write to him. * * * He is so fond of us that he comes and sees us without any ceremony." Monsieur de Valnais wrote to Governor Han- cock, September, 1786: " * * * Your condol- ing with me in the various disappointments I have experienced from the court of France, has in great measure alleviated the burthen of the incredible scenes I have passed through since my departure from North America. Patience and resignation is my lot. The King has granted a pension to Mme. de Valnais, and, though it is a small one, still it is looked on here as very honorable. Many powerful friends are wishing me well." Later Monsieur de Valnais " was pursued by the emissaries of Robespierre." " Fright and agony of mind fatally affected the health of his wife," and, after her loss, one misfortune followed another. DOROTHY QUINCY 173 Monsieur de Valnais wrote to Madam Hancock, in 1793, from Paris. Again he wrote in 1798, be- fore he went into exile with his daughter and son, residing in Italy and in England until the restora- tion. He spoke of his misfortune in losing Ma- dame de Valnais, and referred gracefully and af- fectionately to her family in Boston. 3 He said: " Be assured I never have nor ever will forget North America. My friends in that country will ever be the dearest objects to me in the world." Madame de Valnais had hoped to return to America some day to see her relatives. There was a tender spot in her heart for her early friends ; a strong current of feeling towards those who had held her girlhood confidences ; who had seen her step buoyantly out into that world of rainbow hues and promises — that bewildering world, sparkling like the diamond, which later she found had the diamond's hardness. The revolving wheel of fortune returned Mar- quis de Valnais to Boston as consul in 1816, and he brought with him his daughter. An entry in the diary of Miss Eunince Quincy has an account of the dinner her mother gave to the de Valnais' : " Miss de Valnais wore a plain India muslin, edged with thread-lace, a blue belt and ribbons ; a lady in dress and manner. She expressed great interest in looking at the old por- traits. She speaks English correctly, though not very fluentlv. I never saw anvone who had so i 74 DOROTHY QUINCY much simplicity in manner, though fashionable in appearance." 4 " A comfortable sinecure was given to Marquis - DOROTHY QUINCY 239 tory of the past. Her memory was retentive, as her interest had been great on all subjects of par- amount importance. Her fund of reminiscences seemed inexhaustible. A friend of Washington : with him she had actually conversed. Martha Washington and herself had chatted together over their respective husbands; and Mrs. Washington had descanted on the high position of Hancock, while her husband, then, was a General. She had known Lafayette and most of the heroes who were identified with that stormy period. She had been present at the Lexington fight — heard the first gun fired for independence. Had not the King put a price upon her lover's head? Here was romance indeed for the younger listeners. She had innumerable old letters for them to pore over with delight from Americans and titled foreigners, recognizing with thanks her hospi- tality. She had shared in the honors and ovations that Hancock unceasingly received ; yet, in all her nar- rations, there was the same quiet repose, with oc- casional glowing fervor, that had ever distin- guished her — the true type of a lady " to the manner born." In her will she remembered specially each niece and nephew. She gave to Jonathan Sewell. at Quebec, her large silver tankard ; and to his brother Stephen, of Montreal, she writes, " My large silver tankard, with a cover to it, as marks 340 DOROTHY QUINCY of my affection for them and my affectionate re- membrance of their father and mother." To Mrs. Salisbury she left a large silver cake- basket, requesting her to "have if used at .the weddings of my nephews and nieces, as it has been heretofore." The residue of the property was divided equally among her nieces and nephews by the court. The valuation put upon some of her effects reads strangely now. Miniatures of Thomas Han- cock and lady, by Copley, valued at five dollars; a painting of Washington, four dollars ; twenty- two old engravings, ten dollars. There were por- traits of Sir H. Frankland, Peyton Randolph, a Rubens, a Van Dyck, and a" Washington and Franklin, in wax, etc. One of her coaches, with yellow body and coat- of-arms on the door, was given to her niece, Mrs. Clapp, widow of Hon. A. 0. Clapp, who for some years used it occasionally. One day she directed her coachman to take it to be renovated. When it was again ordered for a drive her amaze- ment was unbounded at the startling transforma- tion. There stood the coach, but hardly to be rec- ognized under an entire coat of fresh brown paint. This coach is now owned by Miss M. J. E. Clapp, of Portland, Me., one of Mrs. Clapp's grand- daughters. Pieces of Madam Scott's handsome brocade dresses have been treasured and framed by her DOROTHY QUINCY. 24 1 nieces and great-nieces. Mrs. Montgomery Blair, of Washington, D. C, owned a high-back, antique carved chair covered with one of the rich brocade breadths. The chair was burnt, with Mr. Blair's country-seat, by the Confederates during the Civil War, as Mr. Blair was a member of President Lincoln's cabinet. There are many valuable mementos of the Han- cocks stowed in safety vaults or adorning houses of private individuals. Boston has some relics on exhibition in the Memorial Hall of the old State House. John Hancock's large Bible, and large Book of Common Prayer, a velvet coat and vest, a pair of shoe buckles, a copper tea kettle, made by Paul Revere ; a cup of old India china with flower decorations. There are a pair of white satin slip- pers belonging to Madam Hancock, from which minuets and contra-dances have brushed away the freshness ; also a pair of pale blue kid, the tops em- broidered in silver, 'with small crimson flowers. Hanging in an adjoining room is a large quaint sampler which rivets the attention. This style of embroidery, so much the fashion in those early days, is a reminder of wasted time and eyesight. This example is over a yard wide, and nearly the same in height, the work of Miss Hannah Otis, sister of the patriot. It represents the Hancock- house, the Common and Charles river — labeled, " Tt was considered a chef d'oeuvre at the time, and made much noise." 24* DOROTHY QUINCY. John Hancock, dressed in a red coat and mount- ed on a white charger, is depicted swiftly canter- ing over the mall followed by his negro on foot. Cows, roosters, dogs and rabbits are also in wild motion; stately deer adorn the landscape; large- birds are winging through the air or perched on trees, and scarlet flowers border the foreground. Standing by the river wall is Dorothy Quincy. with a companion. Miss Quincy is dressed in fawn color, with long black gloves, holding an open fan and gazing after her lover. It is a most elaborate piece of work, attesting the industry of the fair dame who embroidered it, and must be a cherished reminder of the past. There is an elaborate sampler, owned for long years in the Quincy family, which now hangs in the parlor of Mrs. Sarah H. Swan, of Cambridge, Mass. It is a most rare and beautiful specimen of work, equally fine on both sides. Three dames face you, in huge hooped skirts, a wealth of hair falling to their shoulders; below there are two other figures, a lion standing between them, the spaces filled in with flowers and other designs ; while the rest of the canvas, which is quite large, has rows of varied specimens of embroidery — a study for the lover of needlework. In 1859 Governor Banks proposed that the com- monwealth should purchase the Hancock mansion, and " a strong effort was made to save this old New England monument." It was reported upon DOROTHY QUINCY. 243 favorably by a joint committee of the Legislature, but encountered active opposition from the rural districts and was defeated. Suggestions were also made to retain it for the residence of the Gov- ernor or a museum of Revolutionary treasures. The house was in excellent preservation, and the interior woodwork perfectly sound. State action having failed, another effort was made, in 1863, to secure the relics in the build- ing. The heirs offered for sale " the mansion, with pictures and other objects of historical inter- est, with the design of preserving it as a memento of colonial and Revolutionary history." This proffer was rejected ; the solid granite walls were torn down to be replaced by a modern brown- stone house, and years after* the spot was marked by a bronze tablet, clamped to an iron fence, with an inscription marking the site as that of John Hancock's residence. While the work of demolition was in progress a gentleman passing through the mansion, who was a friend of Mrs. L. Woodbury, noticed a pane of glass on which she had cut her name when a little girl making a visit to her great-aunt. Believing il would be a revered souvenir he asked to have it taken from the window frame, intending to pre- sent it to the family. This was obligingly done, and the glass placed on a chair while he made the circuit of the house. On his return the glass lay shivered to atoms through a workman's careless- ness. CHAPTER XXXVII. The Lexington House — Efforts to Save It — Han- cock's Grave — The Monument — Where Doro- thy Quincy Rests. The old Hancock house at Lexington, which had been built about 1700, by Rev. John Han- cock, grandfather of the patriot, was preserved with the greatest care during the life of the Rev. Mr. Clark, and every object within it held in reverence. The rooms, which Samuel Adams and J ohn Hancock occupied ; the table, chairs and the hard-pine floor; even the dilapidated paper was retained until the house passed into the possession of a lady, who, finding no tenant, ordered it pulled down. One account states that the whole village pro- tested. " They argued with her, pleaded with her, and offered her money.'' She was obdurate, though in comfortable circumstances, until the " energy and tact " of a reverend clergyman pre- vailed, and she accepted a proffer for the house on condition that it was moved off of her ground. In December, 1840, it was suggested by George Mountford, Esq., of Boston, that a monument be raised to John Hancock in the Merchants' Ex- DOROTHY QUINCY. 245 change on Wall street, New York. The project failed, patriotic interest centering in memorials of more recent heroes. Governor Hancock's grave in the old Granary Burying Ground was marked by a small slab of granite such as was used at that period. There is nothing distinctive about it, the inscription being simply : " No. 16. TOMB OF HANCOCK. 1 Years and years passed and the spot, where re- posed one of the most generous, ardent, and un- tiring workers for independence, seemed almost forgotten until a colored man proposed in the Legislature that a monument to John Hancock be erected. His appeal passed the House and the sum of three thousand dollars was voted for a me- morial to one who probably did as much in his day for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as any of her sons. On the 10th of September, 1896, there was un- veiled in the Granary Burying Ground the mon- ument to John Hancock — a granite shaft, eighteen feet high by three and a half feet in width, with a bas-relief on one side, around which " is an oak leaf wreath, symbolic of the strength and stead- * 4 6 DOROTHY QUINCY. fastness of the patriot's character." Under it are the words, in Roman characters, " This memorial erected A. D. 1896, by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to mark the grave of John Han- cock." " The motto, Obsta Principles, which means, resist in the beginning, is on the scroll of the coat-of-arms. The whole is surrounded by a Greek anthemion or honeysuckle ornamentation." $ >;: ^t ^ ^: * # >l= The ancient, dark stone slab leans on the fence nearby, its jagged, chipped edges testifying to the ruthless hand of the untiring relic-hunter, it may be hoped, showing the warm hearts of appreciative admirers. Here rests Dorothy Quincy; the tall, old trees standing as sentinels, filling the air with sighs as they sway their huge branches in mournful dirges over those that sleep beneath. REFERENCES. Chapter i. 1. The Quincy Family, by Salisbury. 2. Letters of Abigail Adams, p. 327. Chapter ii. 1. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 2, p. 8. 2. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales, Dorchester, Mass. 3. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. 4. Works, Diary, etc., of John Adams (edition 1850), p. 56. 5. Works, Diary, etc., of John Adams, p. 62. 6. Works, Diary, etc., of John Adams, vol. 2, p. 78. 7. Massachusettensis, p. 5. 8. The Sewell Family, by Salisbury. 9. Massachusetts Records, vol. 97, p. 319, and vol. 95, pp. 13-14. Chapter iv. 1. American Biography of the Sign- ers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, vol. 1, by Sanderson (edition of 1823.) 2. Atlantic Monthly. 1853 ; Boston Herald. June, 1890; John Han- cock's book, p. 703. 3. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 13, p. 328. 4. Letter to Rev. Daniel Perkins. 5. History of Massachusetts, by Barry, vol. 2, p. 313. 6. History of Massachusetts. by Barry, vol. 2, p. 316. 7. Works, Diary, etc., of John Adams. vol. 10, p. 265. 8. History of Lexington, by Hudson, P. 117. 248 DOROTHY QUINCY. 9. History of New England, by Ell- iott, p. 272. 10. Works, Diary, etc., of John Adams, p. 213. Chapter v. i. Signers of Independence, by Jud- son. 2. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 1, p. 475. 3. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 1, p. 397. 4. History of Independence Hall, by Belisle, p. 134. 5. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 1, p. 397. 6. Life of Arthur Lee, vol. 2, p. 202. 7. History of Massachusetts, by Hutch- inson, vol. 3, p. 346. 8. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 1, p. 475. Chaptf.k vi. 1. Lossing's Field Book of the Amer- ican Revolution, vol. 1, p. 493. 2. Life of Arthur Lee, vol. 2, p. 203. 3. American Biography of the Sign ers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. 4. Works, Diary, etc., of John Adams. vol. 10, p. 109. 5. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 28, p. 182. 6. Barry's History of Massachusetts. vol. 2, p. 17. 7. Life of Paul Revere, by E. H. Goss. vol. 1, p. 128. 8. New England Historical Genealn- ical Register, vol. 22. p. 57. 9. Lossing's Field Book of the Amer- ican Revolution, vol. 1, p. 513. Chapter vii. 1. Siege of Boston, p. 40. 2. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 2, p. 140. 3. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 2. p. 138. 4. History of Massachusetts, by Brad- ford, from July, 1775. 5. Works, Diary, etc.. of John Adams, vol. 2, p. 332. 6. Loring's One Hundred Orators. pp. 78-79. 7. Loring's One Hundred Orators. pp. 78-79- DOROTHY QUINCY. 249 8. Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 8, p. 327. 9. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 1, p. 343. 10. The Massachusetts Spy, March 10. 1774- 11. Christopher Marshall's Diary, p. 6. 12. Patriots' Day, Concord and Lex- ington, by G. J. Varney. 13. History of New England, by Ell- iott; Barry's History of Massa- chusetts, vol. 2, p. 482. 14. Barry's History of Massachusetts. vol. 2, p. 484. 15. Loring's One Hundred Orators. p. 78. 16. Judson's Signers of the Declaration of Independence. 17. Life of James Otis, by Tudor, p. 261. 18. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 20, p. 188. 19. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 10, p. 163. 20. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc.. vol. 2, p. 216. Chapter viii. 1. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc.. vol. 10, p. 259. 2. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 21, p. 60. 3. Pennsylvania Evening Post, Janu- ary, 1775- 4. Pennsylvania Gazette, May 3, 1775. 5. Dunlap's Packet and General Ad- vertiser, February 27, 1775. 6. Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser. Chapter ix. 1. History of Lexington, by Hudson, archives, vol. 2. p. 211. 2. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. 3. John Adams' Works. Diary, etc., vol. 10, p. 263. Chapter w i. Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. 1. p. 67. 2. History of Lexington, by Hudson, pp. I7I-I73- 2 5 o DOROTHY QUINCY. 3. New Hampshire Gazette, May 5, 1/75. 4. Life of Paul Revere, p. 90. 5. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register. Chapter xi. 1. History of Lexington, by Hudson, p. 164. 2. Pennsylvania Gazette, 1775. 3. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 31, p. 380. 4. Samuel Adams' Life, vol. 2, p. 251. 5. Mrs. Lamb's History of New York, vol. 2, p. 28. 6. Barry's History of Massachusetts. vol. 3, p. 14. 7. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. Chapter xii. 1. Proctor's Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 2-6, p. 396. 2. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 19, p. 136. 3. Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, 1775. 4. Samuel Adams' Life, vol. 2, p. 299. 5. Loring's One Hundred Orators, . P- 93- 6. Life of James Otis, by Tudor, pp. 37, 268. Chapter xiii. 1. New England Magazine, 1892, ar- ticle by H. C. Walsh. 2. Independent Chronicle and Uni- versal Advertiser, July 8, 1775. 3. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, vol. 2, p. 334. 4. Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. 3, p. 46. 5. Writings of George Washington. by Sparks. 6. Frothingham's Siege of Boston, P. 40. 7. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. 8. Life of Elbridge Gerrv, vol. 1 p. 189. DOROTHY QUINCY. 251 9. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 2, p. 517. io. Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. I, p. 83. Chapter xiv. 1. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. II, p. 166, let- ter belonging to J. G. White. 2. Dunlap's Pennsylvania Packet and General Advertiser. 3. Letter in Belknap's Papers, vol. 4. p. 121, Massachusetts Historical Collection. 4. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, p. 214. 5. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. p. 285. 6 Independent Chronicle, October 17, 1793- 7. Tudor's Life of James Otis, p. 267. 8. Article, by Martha Quincy, in "Our Country," by Mrs. Phelps, p. 265. 9. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 8, p. 187. Chapter xv. i. Diary of Christopher Marshall. P- 53- 2. Independence Hall, by Belisle, p. 138. 3. American Anecdotes, p. in, "Dis- interested Patriotism of Han- cock." 4. Sparks' Life of Washington. 5. Martha Quincy's Article. 6. Franklin, by Sparks, vol. 4, p. 340. Chapter xvi. 1. Connecticut Gazette and Universal Intelligencer, February 16, 1776. 2. Sparks' Washington, vol. 3, p. 530. 3. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 13, p. 231. 4. New Hampshire Gazette and Week- ly Mercury, April 1, 1776. 5. New England Chronicle. May 9, 1776. 6. Cambridge of 1776, p. 67. Chapter xvii. 1. New England Gazette and Weekly- Mercury, May 20. 252 DOROTHY QUINCY. 2. Salisbury's Families, p. 340. 3. Letters owned by Mrs. S. H. Swan. 4. Homes of American Statesmen, ar- ticle by J. H. R. Hildreth. 5. Sparks' Life of Washington, vol. 3. 6. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 2, p. 416. 7. Barry's History of Massachusetts, vol. 3, pp. 92-3- Chapter xviii. 1. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register. 2. Signers of the Declaration of In- dependence, by Dwight, p. 25. 3. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 29, p. 451. Lamb's History of New York, vol. 2, p. 91. Lossing's Field Book of the Amer- ican Revolution, vol. 2, p. 288. Connecticut Gazette and Universal Intelligencer, 1776. New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, June 24, 1776. Salisbury's Families, p. 341. Salisbury, p. 342. Loring's One Hundred Orators, P. 99- Chapter xix. 1. New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, February 2, 1778. 2. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 1, p. 192. 3. S. J. Fisher's " Men, Women, etc., of Colonial Times." 4. Loring's One Hundred Orators. P- 95- 5. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. 6. H. C. Walsh's Article in New Eng- land Magazine, June, 1892. 7. Letter owned by Mrs. Sarah H. Swan. Chapter xx. i. Salisbury's Family Memorials, pp. 344-5- 2. Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. 1, p. 271. 4. 6. 8. 9- 10. DOROTHY QUINCY. 253 3. Life of James Reed, vol. 2, p. 24. 4. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 12, p. 106. 5. Sparks' Life and Letters of Wash- ington (edition 1834), vol. 5. p. 106. 6. Sparks' Life and Letters of Wash- ington (edition 1834), vol. 5, P- 133- 7. Gordon's History of Insurrection or Revolution, vol. 3, pp. 18, 21. 8. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. Chapter xxi. 1. John Hancock's Letter-Book, A. E. Brown's article.* 2. Cambridge of 1776, Diary of D. Dudley. 3. Memorial History of Boston, vol. 2, p. 452. 4. Massachusetts Magazine, July, 1789, p. 396. 5. This is from a photograph of Cop- ley's portrait, owned by Mrs. Cushing, of Portsmouth, N. H. 6. John Hancock's Letter - Book. Abram E. Brown's article in Boston Evening Transcript, Jan- uary 22, 1898. 7. Life and Letters of John Adams. Chapter xxii. 1. Memorial History of Boston, vol. 4, P- 4- 2. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 35, p. 41. t 3. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 12, p. 316. 4. New England Magazine, article by H. C Walsh, June, 1892. 5. Letters owned by Mrs. William Wales. 6. Letter owned by Mrs. S. H. Swan. 7. New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, 1778. *In Boston Evening Transcript, January 22, 1898. -(■Communication of H. W. Bryant, Esq. 254 DOROTHY QUINCY. 8. Sparks' Life of Washington, vol. 6. P- 44- g. Lafayette's Memoirs and Letters. vol. I, p. 82. 10. Gordon's History of Insurrection and Revolution. 11. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register. 12. Lafayette's Memoirs and Letters. pp. 193, 200. 13. Providence Gazette and Country Journal, 1778. Chapter xxiii. 1. Martha Quincy's article in " Our Country." 2. Connecticut Gazette and Univer- sal Intelligencer. 3. New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, September 19, 1778. 4. New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, April 13, 1778. 5. Loring's One Hundred Orators. p. 106. 6. Independent Chronicle. 7. Connecticut Gazette and Univer- sal Intelligencer, November 4, 8. Lafayette's Memoirs and Letters. by his Family, vol. 1, p. 202. Chapter xxiv. 1. New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, April 13, 1778. 2. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 3, p. 57. 3. Life of Jas. Otis, by Tudor, p. 264. 4. Connecticut Gazette and Univer- sal Intelligencer, August 11. 1779- 5. Life and Letters of Franklin, vol. 6, pp. 51, 187 (edition 1888), and vol. 8, pp. 278-9. 6. Lives of Signers of the Declaration of Independence, by Sanderson, p. 18. 7. Life of James Sullivan, p. 245. 8. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 26, p. 20. DOROTHY QUINCY. *55 Chapter xxv. Chapter xxvi. Chapter xwii. 9. Sermon by Dr. Thatcher on John Hancock's death. 0. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 4, p. 304. 1. Connecticut Gazette and Universal Intelligencer, March 1, 1779. 2. Two letters owned by Mrs. b. H. Swan. 3. Salisbury's Quincy Family, p. 322. 4. Mrs. S. H. Swan's letter. 5. Providence Gazette, May 13, 1780. 6. Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of Lafayette, p. 94. 7. Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of Lafayette, p. 98. 8. Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of Lafayette, p. 133. 1. Gordon's History of the American Revolution. 2. Life of James Sullivan, p. 280. 3. Allen's Biographical Dictionary, p. 328. 4. Bradford's History of Massachu- setts, p. 331. 5. Loring's One Hundred Orators. 6. Shurtleff's Description of Boston, 1782. 7. Marquis de Chastelleux's Travels in North America, 1780-81-82. vol. 2, p. 260. 8. Abbe Robin, vol. 3, p. 169, Memo- rial History of Boston. Magazine of American History, vol. 4, pp. 209, 213, 205. Letter owned by Mrs. S. H. Swan. Barry's History of Massachusetts, vol. 3, p. 198. " Our Country," by Mrs. Phelps. Massachusetts Historical Collec- tion, vol. 6, p. 85. Loring's One Hundred Orators. Drake's Landmarks of Boston. Miss Quincy. •)• 256 DOROTHY QUINCY. 7. Providence Gazette and Country Journal, November, 1781. 8. Life of James Otis, by Tudor, p. 264. 9. Life of John Trumbull, p. 57. 10. Burrage's Lecture. 11. Miss Martha Quincy. 12. Belisle's Independence Hall, p. 141. 13. Loring's One Hundred Orators. 14. Burrage's Lecture. 15. Life of Samuel Adams, vol. 3, p. 375. Chapter xxviii. 1. Miss Martha Quincy. 2. John Adams' Works. Diary, etc., vol. 10, p. 260. 3. John Hancock's Letter-Book, ar- ticle of A. E. Brown. Chapter xxix. 1. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 15, p. 61. 2. Memorial History of Boston, vol. 4, P. 173. 3. Old Landmarks of Boston. 4. Life of James Sullivan, vol. 1, p. 250. 5. Miss Martha Quincy. Chapter xxx. i. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. 2. Barry's History of Massachusetts vol. 3, pp. 237, 258. 3. Bradford's History of Massachu- setts (edition 1829), vol. 3, p. 37. 4. Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 4, p. 417. 5. Loring's One Hundred Orator.-,. P- 74- 6. Massachusetts Sentinel, February 6, 1788. 7. Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 6, p. 395. 8. Life of James Sullivan. 9. Judson's Signers of the Declaration of Independence, p. 29. 10. New Hampshire Gazette, February 20, 1788. 11. Life of James Sullivan, p. 242. 12. Massachusetts Sentinel, 1788. DOROTHY QUINCY. 257 Chapter xxxi. l'n WTEk xxxii. Chapter xxxiii. 1 1. Independent Chronicle and Uni- versal Advertiser, August 21, 1788. 2. New Hampshire Gazette, 1788. 3. Independent Chronicle and Univer- sal Advertiser, 1788. 4. Connecticut Courant, September 25. 5. Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 4, p. 419- 6. Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. 4, p. 152. 7. Letter owned by Miss Woodbury. 1. Independent Chronicle and Uni- versal Advertiser, June 4, 1789. 2. History of New England, by Ell- iott, p. 272. 3. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 9, p. 14. 4. Massachusetts Sentinel, October. 1787. 5. History of Independence Hall, by Belisle, p. 141. 6. Massachusetts Sentinel, 1789. 7. New Hampshire Gazette, October 29, 1789. 8. Independent Chronicle, 1789. 9. Independent Chronicle, January 29. 1790. 10. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 8, p. 190. 11. Loring's One Hundred Orators, p. 115. 12. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 8, p. 190. New England Magazine, 1893-4, P- 690, article by Irving Allen, ex- tract from Washington's diary. Connecticut Courant. October 24, 1789. Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 8, p. 173. Boston Gazette and Country Jour- nal, November 29, 1790. 13 14 >5 2 5 8 DOROTHY QUINCY. 2. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., New England Historical Gen- ealogical Register, vol. 6, p. 365. 3. Belknap's Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 4. 4. Bradford's History of Massachu- setts, 1 790- 1820, p. 27. 5. Independent Chronicle. 6. Providence Gazette and Country Journal, December 15, 1792. 7. Providence Gazette and Country Journal. 8. Loring's One Hundred Orators, p. 109. 9. Loring's One Hundred Orators, p. 109. 10. Independent Chronicle and Uni- versal Advertiser. 11. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 10, pp. 259-260. 12. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 8, p. 120. 13. Loring's One Hundred Orators, p. 119. Chapter xxxiv. 1. Independent Chronicle, 1793. 2. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 35, p. 137. 3. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 10, p. 279. 4. John Adams' Works, Diary, etc., vol. 1, p. 431. 5. Mrs. Warren's American Revolu- tion, p. 431. 6. Life of Samuel Adams. 7. Loring's One Hundred Orators, p. 120. 8. New Hampshire Gazette. October 22, 1793. 9. American Biography of Signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence (edition 1823), vol. 1. 10. Life of Jas. Sullivan, vol. 1, p. 267. 11. American Biography of Signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence, vol. 1. DOROTHY QUINCY. 259 12. " Our Country," article by Miss Martha Quincy. 13. King's Handbook of Boston, p. 17. Chapter xxxv. i. Loring's One Hundred Orators. 2. Letter owned by Miss Woodbury. 3. Loring's One Hundred Orators. 4. Letter owned by Mrs. William Wales. Chapter xxxvi. 1. City Documents, p. 126. 2. Independent Chronicle, March 8, 1792. 3. Municipal History of Boston, by Quincy, p. 151. 4. The year 1882. Chapter xxxvii. 1. New England Historical Genealog- ical Register, vol. 31, p. 381.