The Rebels; or, Boston before the Revolution/Preface
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT:
District Clerk's Office .
BE it remembered, that on the twelfth day of November, A. D. 1825, and
in the fiftieth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Cummings,
Hilliard, & Co. of the said district, have deposited in this office the title
of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following,
to wit:
"The Rebels, or Boston before the Revolution. By the author of Hobomok.
Here the free spirit of mankind at length
Throws its last fetters off; and who shall place
A limit to the giant's unchained strength,
Or curb his swiftness in the forward race.
Bryant
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An
act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts,
and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein
mentioned;" and also to an act entitled, "An act, supplementary to an act
entitled, `An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of
maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the
times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of
designing, engraving, and etching, historical and other prints."
JOHN W. DAVIS,
Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.
TO
GEORGE TICKNOR, ESQ.
THIS VOLUME IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
Nothing is more delightful to the human mind than to ascend
from important results to their primitive causes; and surely the
Reformation alone has produced as extensive and important
effects as the American Revolution: yet how few understand
the springs which set that tremendous machine in motion.
America is now vigorous and majestic; she dwells in her spacious,
sky-canopied home, where the Pacific kisses her feet in
homage, and the Atlantic touches her garments, and rolls on
more proudly than before. We now hear her youthful shout of
freedom loudly echoed by the far-off nations;---but while we
exultingly exclaim, "To-day our country may stand against the
world!" we forget that but yesterday, none were so poor to
do her reverence. Hercules decked with a lion's spoil, is before
us; but the infant, struggling with serpents, is indistinctly seen
in the distance.
True, we talk loudly of the battles we have fought, and the
blood we have shed, in our glorious contest; but there are very
few among us who duly appreciate the deep wisdom, the passive
courage, and the unyielding firmness of those men, who looked
on the mighty torrent of English power, jealously watched its
overflowing tide, and fearlessly exclaimed, "Hitherto shalt thou
come---but no further." Had I the power to give a faithful
picture of the vacillating, yet obstinate course of the British ministry,
constantly changing their position, in order to elude the dangerous
weapons which gleamed around them, and as constantly
involving themselves in new and unforeseen difficulties;---were I
able minutely to recount the sounds of opposition, which grew
louder and louder, as the spirits of men were stirred within
them, and their lips touched by a living coal from the altar of
freedom,---I fear the number to whom I should impart pleasure would be but small.
Surely, however, the domestic annals of
those times, when the whole community seemed heaving with
the pressure of expanding energies, yet unconscious of the desperate
effort, that was so soon to tax its utmost strength, cannot
fail to interest every American heart.
Thus much for the period I have chosen. How faithfully it
has been portrayed, must be left to critics less merciful than
myself.
Many will complain that I have dwelt too much on political
scenes, familiar to every one who reads our history; and others,
on the contrary, will say that the character of the book is quite
too tranquil for its title. I might mention many doubts and
fears still more important, but I prefer silently to trust this humble
volume to that futurity which no one can foresee, and every
one can dread.