Maryland passed a similar vote, and ordered a portrait of Lord Camden; and the authorities of Boston ordered full-length portraits of Barré and Conway for Fanueil Hall.
The Repeal Act reached Boston at about noon on Friday, the 13th of May. It was brought by the brig Harrison, a vessel belonging to John Hancock. Great was the general joy. The church-bells were immediately rung; the colors of all the ships were hoisted; cannons were discharged; the Sons of Liberty gathered under their favorite tree, drank toasts, and fired guns; and bonfires and illuminations enlivened the evening. A general celebration was arranged by the select-men for the following Monday. The dawn, bright and rosy, was ushered in by salvos of cannon, ringing of bells, and martial music. Through the liberality of some citizens, every debtor in the jail was ransomed and set at liberty, to unite in the general joy. "This charitable deed originated in a fair Boston nymph." The whole town was illuminated in the evening. On the Common the Sons of Liberty erected a magnificent pyramid, illuminated by two hundred and eighty lamps, the four upper stories of which were ornamented with figures of the king and queen, and "fourteen of the patriots who had distinguished themselves for their love of liberty.'' On the four sides of the lower apartment were appropriate poetic inscriptions. * "John Hancock, Esq.," says a newspaper of the day, from which I have drawn this account, "who gave a grand and elegant entertainment to the genteel part of the town, and treated the populace to a pipe of Madeira wine, erected at the front of his house, which was magnificently illuminated, a stage for the exhibition of his
* The following are the poetic inscriptions referred to. They allude to emblematic figures on the lower story:
"O thou whom next to Heaven we most revere,
Fair Liberty! thou lovely Goddess, hear!
Have we not wooed thee, won thee, held thee long,
Lain in thy Lap, and melted on thy Tongue—
Through Death and Dangers, rugged Paths pursued,
And led thee, smiling, to this SOLITUDE—
Hid thee within our Hearts' most golden cell,
And braved the Powers of Earth and Powers of Hell?
GODDESS! we can not part, thou must not fly,
Be SLAVES! we dare to scorn it—dare to die."
"While clanking Chains and Curses shall salute
Thine ears, remorseless G—-le, thine, GB—-te,
To you, bless'd PATRIOTS 1 we our cause submit,
Illustrious CAMBDEN, Britain's guardian, PITT!
Recede not, frown not, rather let us be
Deprived of being than of LIBERTY.
Let Fraud or Malice blacken all our crimes,
No disaffection stains these peaceful climes;
O save us, shield us from impending Woes,
The Foes of Britain only are our Foes."
"Boast, foul Oppression, boast thy transient Reien,
While honest FREEDOM struggles with her Chain,
But now the Sons of Virtue, hardy, brave,
Disdain to lose through mean Despair to save;
Aroused in Thunder, awful they appear,
With proud Deliverance stalking in their rear:
While Tyrant Foes their pallid Fears betray,
Shrink from their Arms, and give their Vengeance way;
Sec, in the unequal War, OPPRESSORS fall,
The Hate, Contempt, and endless Curse of all."
Our Faith approved, our LIBERTY restored,
Our Hearts bend grateful to our sovereign Lord:
Hail, darling monarch I by this act endear'd,
Our firm Affections are our best Reward;
Should Britain's self against herself divide,
And hostile Armies form on either side—
Should Hosts rebellious shake our Brunswick's Throne,
And as they dared thy Parent, dare the Son,
To this Asylum stretch thy happy Wing,
And we'll contend who best shall love our KING."
Liberality of Otis and others.—The Rejoicings clouded.—New Acts of Oppression.—Insolence of Public Officers
fire-works.".... "Mr. Otis, and some other gentlemen who lived near the Common, kept open house the whole evening, which was very pleasant." At eleven o'clock, on a signal being given, a horizontal fire-wheel on the top of the pyramid was set in motion, "which ended in the discharge of sixteen dozen serpents in the air, which concluded the show. To the honor of the Sons of Liberty, we can with pleasure inform the world that every thing was conducted with the utmost decency and good order."
His majesty's Council, by a previous invitation of the governor, met at the Province House in the afternoon, where many loyal toasts were drunk, and in the evening they went to the Common to see the fire-works. Past animosities were forgotten, and the night of the 16th of May was a happy one for Boston.