against several prisoners, were suspended. The mercy of government was finally extended to all who had been involved in the difficulties and disorders of the time, upon taking the oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth, after some temporary civil disqualifications.[1]
Notice of Daniel Shays.
[From the Same.]
"This individual acquired an unenviable notoriety, which imparts some degree of interest to the incidents of his life. He was born in Hopkinton, in 1747; the son of parents not in affluent circumstances, he worked with Mr. Brinley, a respectable farmer of Framingham. The activity and energy of his youth promised at maturity more desirable elevation than he attained. That his education was neglected, is apparent from his official letters, bidding defiance alike to government, grammar and good spelling. Just before the revolution, he removed to one of the towns beyond Connecticut river, and afterwards resided in Pelham. When the war commenced, he entered the army, at the age of
- ↑ The facts stated in the foregoing chapter have been derived from the Worcester Magazine, published by Isaiah Thomas, 1786, 1787, Independent Chronicle, Columbian Centinel, Minot's History of the Insurrection, Files in the office of the Secretary of State, Correspondence of Levi Lincoln, sen., American Antiquarian Society's MSS.
shire, one in Worcester, and one in Middlesex, all of whom received sentence of death, but were subsequently pardoned. The only public punishment actually inflicted, except limited disqualification from civil or military office, was on a member of the house of representatives, guilty of seditious words and practices, who was sentenced to sit on the gallows with a rope about his neck, pay a fine of £50, and to be bound to keep the peace and be of good behavior for five years.
