Suffolk County, Massachusetts - The whole text, 1894 (part 3 of 17)

The voyage of the Cohtiiibia round the globe had brought mpre renown to its flag than profit to its owners, and Mr. Derby and Mr. Pintard sold out their shares; but the others were sufficiently sanguine to send out the ship again on the same errand-as before, and she sailed on the -^Sth of September, 1790, with Captain Gray in command and Robert Haswell as first officer. They reached the Northwest Coast in the month of June next following, and established headquarters in Clayoquot Sound. They put up a log house, and, during the winter, built a sloop of forty-four tons which they called the Adventure. In the spring of ViWl Captain Gray sent the Adventure to the northward, under Captain Haswell, to collect skins, while he cruised in the Coluiidna to the southward, for the same purpose. When in latitude 46° 10', he saw a long stretch of breakers, and he was convinced that he was off the mouth of a great river. He approached the bar several times, but the outsetting current was so strong that he could not cross it, although he waited several days in the hope of doing so. On the '.JOth of April, near the Straits of Fuca, he fell in with the English commander, George Vancouver, who had just arrived on the coastfrom England with three naval vessels, on a voyage of exploration; he had served as a midshipman under Captain Cook, and was soon to discover the island which bears his name. Captain Gray told Captain Vancouver of his recent experience off the breakers in latitude 46°, to which the latter replied that he had seen an opening in that latitude two days before, but supposing it to be a small river, he had not thought it worthy of further attention. Captain Gray determined to follow the exploration still further, and headed again for the breakers. At daybreak on the 11th of May he made out the entrance to the river, and, the wind being favorable, he bore awav, and ran in, under full sail, through the breakers. He soon found himself in a magnificent stream of fresh water, four or five miles wide, up wliich he sailed ten miles and then anchored in ten fathoms. On the 14th the ship stood up the river fourteen miles further, and being convinced that it was navigable for an indefinite distance, the captain decided to return. On the 19th he landed with his crew near the mouth of the river, and formally named it, after his ship, the Columbia, raising the flag, and planting some coins under a pine-tree, near a bold headland which he called Cape Hancock, and opposite a low spit on the otJicr shore which he named Point

Adams. In due time Captain Gray proceeded to China; and, on the 9th of February, 179:-!, he sailed for home. He arrived in Boston on the eveninsr of the tjiith of July, bringing- the latest news from Captains Magee, Kendrick and Ingraham; he reported that Mr. John Howell, formerly editor of the Argus, who went out as "historian" with Captain Magee, had gone with Captain Kendrick to the Northwest Coast. "The Columbia, when passing the castle, saluted the flag of the United States, which salute was immediately returned, and on coming to anchor she gave the town a salute of thirteen guns, which was returned by a welcome huzza. " Her second voyage had been even more brilliant in achievement than the first; but the owners were again disappointed in the pecuniary results, and, a few days after her arrival, she was advertised by Lewis Hayt, of State street, to be sold at auction, with her inventory, at one of the wharves in Charlestown.

Having followed the fortunes of the good ship Columbia thus far, we must return in our narrative to 1790. Mr. Thomas H. Perkins, who accompanied Captain Magee to China in 1789, improved his time during his stay there in making himself acquainted with the habits of the Chinese, and collecting information about the trade of the empire in all its branches. In particular he ascertained the commercial value of the sea-otter skins and other furs carried thither from the Northwest Coast, and this knowledge "formed the basis of action for him afterward in planning numerous voyages and directing mercantile operations of great importance between America, Asia, and Europe." Immediately on his return to Boston, Mr. Perkins sent the brig Hope, under Capt. Joseph Ingraham, who had sailed as first officer in the Columbia on a voyage to the Northwest Coast and China. In April, 1791, Captain Ingraham discovered a cluster of islands in the Pacific, a few miles south of the equator, to two of which he gave the names of Washington and Adams. The islands are now known as part of the Marquesas group, but the names then given still appear on the maps. The main objects of the voyage of the Hope were defeated by untoward circumstances, but before this could have been known in Boston, Mr. Perkins and Captain Magee had built another vessel for the same trade. A paragraph in the Independent Chronicle, October 27, 1791, informs the public of the departure of this ship, and gives us a glimpse at the commercial activity then prevailing in the town : ' ' Upwards of seventy sail of vessels sailed from this port on Monday last for all parts of the world. Among them was the ship Margaret, James Magee, esq., commander, bound on a voyage of ob- ser\-ation and enterprise to the Northwest Coast of this continent. This vessel is copper-bottomed, and is said to "be the be-st provided of any one that ever sailed from this port." Captain Magee carried out the frame of a vessel with three or four carpenters, and set up the little craft of about thirty- tons under Captain Swift, then the chief carpenter. The schooner collected from twelve to -fifteen hundred sea-otters during the season, which added much to the profits of the voyage, as the skins were worth thirt\- or forty dollars a piece when Captain Magee reached China.

The duties collected at the ports of Ma.ssachusetts during the year ended September 3i», ITftl, amounted to $4-20,707, about one-seventh of the total collected at all the ports of the United States. The exports from Massachusetts in the fiscal year 17fl-2 were valued at $3, 389, 922. Among the exports from Boston in 1792 were fifty thousand barrels of pork and beef, of which twenty thousand barrels, at least, were packed here. The foreign entries at the port in 1793 were 376, the foreign clearances 292. The following is from a descriptive sketch written by Mr. Thomas Pemberton in 1 794 : ' ' There are eight}^ whar\-es and quays, chiefly on the east side of the town. Of these the most distinguished is Boston pier, or the Long Wharf, which extends from the bottom of State street one thousand seven hundred and fortj^-three feet into the harbor. Here the principal navigation of the town is carried on ; vessels of all burdens load and unload ; and the London ships generally discharge their cargoes. It is the general resort of all the inhabitants, and is more frequented, we think, than any other part of the town. " The same writer says further; "The harbour of Boston is at this date (November, 1794), crowded with vessels. Eighty-four sail have been counted h'ing at two of the whar\-es only. It is reckoned that not less than four hundred and fifty sail of ships, brigs, schooners, sloops, and small craft are now in this port."

At the ven," time when Mr. Pemberton was writing his - - Description of Boston," Edmund Hart was laying the keel, and preparing to set up the frame of the frigate Constitution at his wharf, the site of which is now covered by Constitution Wharf. To show the capabilities of the town for the construction and equipment of ships, it may be said that Paul Revere furnished the copper, bolts and spikes, drawn from malleable copper by a process then new ; and Ephraim Thayer, who had a shop at the South End, made the gun-carriages for t6e frigate. Her sails were made in the Granar\- building at the comer of Park and Tre- mont streets; no other building in Boston was large enough for the purpose. There were then fourteen rope-walks in Boston, so that there could be no difficulty in obtaining cordage ; and there was an incorporated company for the manufacture of sail-cloth, whose factor)^ was on the comer of Tremont and Boylston streets, and which was encour- "aged b}' a bounty on its product from the General Court; this product had increased to eighty or ninety- thousand yards per annum, and is said to have competed successfully with the duck brought from abroad. The anchors came from Hanover in Plymouth county, and a portion of the timber used in what was then looked upon as a mammoth vessel, was taken from the woods of AUentown, on the borders of the Merrimac, fifty miles away. The Constitution was launched October 21, 1797, and proceeded to sea on her first cruise August 13, 17!)8.

The foreign commerce of those days required not only large capital for its successful prosecution, but general ability of a high order. Comprehensive and authentic information, shrewd and sound judgment, and bold enterprise had to be brought together in combination, when voyages were planned which were to compass the globe, and which were to be prolonged for two or three years. All the requisite qiialities for such purposes the merchants of Boston possessed ; but as time went on and their operations multiplied and extended, serious complications arose, for which neither they nor their countn,' could be held responsible, and difficulties and dangers presented themselves, which no foresight could have anticipated, and no prudence averted. In the long wars between Great Britain and France, which kept the whole world in a turmoil, the commerce of neutrals suffered almost, if not quite, as se verely as that of the belligerents, and American merchants and shipowners found themselves almost hopelessl}' involved to their constant annoj-ance, and often to their verj' great loss. England claimed the right of seizing French goods from American vessels, and even of capturing neutral ships laden with breadstuffs for France. Later an order in council authorized British cruisers to seize all vessels carrying French goods and bound to a French colony.

On the 1st of Februar}', 1793, a few daj's after the execution of Louis X\'L the French government declared war against England and Holland.

The government at Washington, and the more conservative portion of the community, desired and honestly sought to maintain a strict neutrality, as between the combatants. A meeting of merchants and trad- ers was held in Faneuil Hall, Jul)- 22, at which the Hon. Thomas Russell was president, and Mr. Thomas H. Perkins was secretary. A committee, consisting of Thomas Russell, vStephen Higginson, John Coffin Jones, Nathaniel Fellows, Samuel Brown, Charles Jarvis, and Eben Parsons, reported a series of resoliations, which were adopted by an unanimous vote, sustaining a proclamation recently issued (April 22) by President Washington in favor of neutrality, and protesting against the fitting out of armed vessels or privateers by American citizens. The sentiment of the meeting was this: The preservation of neutrality is important to the interest and honor of the country.

Party feeling was intense, and it divided the coinmunity even in the presence of threatened danger from abroad. The Federalists had a bias, of which they were more or less unconscious, for Great Britain, and the Republicans, for France. Samuel Adams, in his first address as governor of Massachusetts, quotes from Montesquieu ; and his biographer says that there is scarcely a document of his, during his administration, which does not contain evidences of his decided sympathy with the French Revolution. The merchants as a class were Federalists, and it was charged that their meeting in Fanueil Hall was a political demonstration, and that it had been held for party purposes. It had been asserted at the meeting, as a fact generally known by the inhabitants, that, two or three days previously, privateers, fitted out and armed, had sailed from the port, and that others were now fittingout, some manned and to be manned partly by Frenchmen and partly by citizens of the United States. A town meeting was convened, therefore, July 26, at which the Hon. Thomas Dawes presided, and it was positively declared "that there was no just foundation for the assertion, but that the disposition of the citizens of Boston is entirely in favor of observing the rules of a strict neutrality respecting the powers at war in Europe;"

France, as a reputed friend and ally, was hardly less exacting and overbearing than Great Britain. George Cabot spoke the truth in 1707, when he said: "History will recall the fact that France has been willing to see us independent of Britain, but not independent of herself." There was a treaty between the United States and France, by which "free bottoms were declared to make free ships;" but this principle was not recognized by the French men-of-war on the coast in their interference with American commerce. The Colninbiaii Centinel of .September 11, 1T'.K3, says: "The prizes taken by the Marseilles privateer, now in this port, are seven in number, besides the ship President, of Baltimore;" and, in referenee to this vessel, it is added: "vShe is an American built and registered vessel, owned by Americans, sailing under American colors, had American property on board, and has been a constant trader between Maryland and Great Britain. The pretence for a capture was that she had English property on board, which, if every article had been, would not warrant the outrage. " On the other hand, the British vessels of war captured a large number of American ships with their cargoes, for alleged violation of the paper blockade of the French ports, and on the suspicion that French property was covered by the American flag ; and this suspicion extended to all vessels bound to or from a French port. The decisions of the prize courts were often arbitrary and flagrantly unjust ; and the demeanor of the naval officers was in many instances dictatorial and insulting. Much hardship and serious disaster ensued, and excitement and indignation prevailed in every shipping community along the coast. But, bad as it was here, the state of things in England was far worse. London dates in the Boston papers to May 24, 1793, reported: "The bankruptcies in England are numerous, beyond all belief."

At a meeting of the merchants of Boston held September 12, 1793, a committee was appointed, consisting of Thomas Russell, Stephen Higginson, John Coffin Jones, Caleb Davis, and David Sears, to receive and transmit to the president "authenticated evidence of injuries done to our commerce by the armed vessels of any belligerent power."

Barry, writing of this period, and of British interference with American commerce, says: "Instead, however, of i-esoriing to force for redress - though an embargo for thirty days and sequestrating resolutions were advocated by some - a special embassy was instituted by Washington; and John Jay, a man of the loftiest and most disinterested patrioti.sm, was dispatched to the Court of St. James, for the purpose of negotiation." There was a temporary embargo, although we do not find it mentioned in the histories; for the Ccutiiicl, the organ of the Federalists in Boston, reproduced the following paragraph from a Halifax newspaper of June 19, 1794: "Tuesday arrived several vessels from New York and Boston. These vessels have been for a long time detained in the American States by the embargo. But Congress, finding at length that the embargo effected no other purpose but to leave the produce of their farmers to perish on their hands, and to starve their mechanics in their seaports, have very prudently put an end to the measure, to the great regret of the merchants, farmers, and fishermen of Nova Scotia, whose exertions in supplying the West India Islands have been such as to show what this country is capable of doing in any like emergency. "

Mr. Madison, then in Congress, was not regarded as either intelligent or friendly in his views relating to American commerce. Comparing him with Mr. Ames and Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts, the Ccn- //«(-/ caustically asks, "Where did Mr. Madison acquire his knowledge of commerce ? " and it thus answers its own question : " Not surely in the interior of Virginia, where no other commerce is transacted than buying and selling of negroes. "

The burning of seven rope-walks and other property on the ;)()th of June, 17''.)4, was one of the memorable events in the history of the town of Boston. These walks occupied the whole west side of Pearl street, between Milk and High streets, and were owned respectively by Edward Howe, Jeffrey Richardson, Samuel Emmons, JohnCodman, William McNeill, Isaac Davis and Nathaniel Torrey. The weather had been warm and dry, and the hemp, cordage and tar on storage made a furious fire. A large number of stores and dwellings were burned, a hundred families were turned out of house and home, and a hundred or more mechanics were deprived of dail}^ employment. Among those who lost their stores were Thomas Russell, Thomas Dawes, Samuel Dillaway and Neheiuiah Somes; and Thomas Lamb, Nathaniel Appleton. Job Wheelwright and Daniel Sergeant were among those who lost their dwelling houses. To prevent future disaster of a similar nature, the townspeople granted the flats at the bottom of the Common, - " the Old Round Marsh " - for the erection of new rope factories in place of those destroyed, on condition that no more should be built upon the old site.

On the 17th of August the " copper-bottomed " ship Margaret, Captain Magee, arrived from Canton after a voyage of six months, "and we doubt not," said the announcement, " has returned with remittances which will reward the enterprising patriotism of the owners." vShe brought the news of the lamented death of Mr. Samuel Shaw, off the Cape of Good Hope, on the 3()th of May.

Mr. Jay arrived in England June lo, ITO-t, and, five months later, November lit, concluded a treaty with Lord Grenville. This negotiation, which meant so much for the people of the United States, was only an incident in the administration of public affairs in Great Britain, and it is not strange, perhaps, that there is no reference whatever to it in Lord Stanhope's Life of Pitt, when we remember all the difEculties with which the great minister was contending at the time. The campaign in Holland had been disastrous, and, during the next winter, that country was completely overrun by the French troops. Mr. Pitt wrote to a friend, October 14-, 1794: "Nearer home than Holland, everything looks ill." AVhile prosecuting the war, he had to deal with a powerful opposition at home, with an impracticable sovereign, with a populace on the verge of insurrection, and with the people of Ireland rent asimder by religious controversy. Mr. Jay's treaty was received by President Washington March 7, 1795, and its ratification was advised by him June 24. It was condemned by many in the community, even before its provisions had been made known, and, after its ratification by the Senate, the popular feeling was largely against it. vSamuel Adams, then governor of Massachusetts, was among the patriots who disapproved of it. In an address to the Legislature, he said: " I am constrained, with all due respect to our constituted authorities, to declare that the treaty appears to me to be pregnant with evil. It controls .some of the powers specially vested in Congress for the security of the people ; and I fear that it may restore to Great Britain such an influence over the government and people of this country as may not be consistent with the general welfare." One of his principal objections related to the clause which conceded to Great Britain the right to search American vessels on the high seas, an assumption of maritime power to which he thought it disgraceful for America to yield, and which a firm front on its part would have obliged England to relinquish. At a town meeting held in Boston July 13, 1795, resolutions were adopted by a large majority to the effect that the treaty was " injurious to the commercial interests of the United vStates, derogatory to their national honor and independence, and might be dangerous to the peace and happiness of their citizens." A few da3's later, at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, more conservative coimsels prevailed ; and a memorial, acquiescing in the terms of the treaty, was addressed by the Chamber to the president, in replying to which, he expressed " his satisfaction to learn that the commercial part of his fellow citizens, whose interests were thought to be mo.st deeply affected, so generally considered the treaty as calculated upon the whole to procure important advantages to the country." The action of the town meeting also had been sent to the president, who, in acknowledging its receipt, says one historian, "gave a gentle rebuke to the Bostonians on this occasion, which they indeed justl}- deserved, but which they would not have received from any other president, without a prompt expression of their feelings."

Early in ITilS the rulers of France issued a decree prohibiting the entrance into a French port of any vessel which at a previous part of her voyage had touched at an English possession, and declaring good prize all vessels having merchandise on board, the production or manufacture of England or her colonies, whoever the owners of the merchandise might be. This was regarded as being little short of a declaration of war, and authority was given to the American navy to seize vessels under the French flag, which had committed encroachments upon American commerce ; commercial intercourse between France and the United States was suspended ; treaties were declared to be no longer binding upon the latter; and letters of marque and reprisal were authorized. It was at this juncture, when French ships of war were capturing American vessels under the pretence that the}' were carrying contraband goods, and when British ships of war were claiming the right of search for British subjects beneath the American flag, that the outraged patriotism of the people manifested itself in a notable way. The ladies of Charleston, South Carolina, built the John At/aiiis, and tendered her to the government ; the inhabitants of Newburyport and its neighborhood built and presented the Mcrrimac; and the merchants of Salem built and presented the Fsscx, the first ship of war of the United States to double both the Capes of Good Hope and Horn. The merchants of Boston were not to be outdone in loyal devotion to the government, and in the Ccntiiicl of June 27, 1798, the following " Notice " appeared : "A subscription will be opened this day for the raising of a fund to purchase or build one or more ships of war, to be loaned to this government for the service (jf the United States. Those who would wish to join in this testimonial of public spirit are reepiestcd to meet in the chamber over Taylor's Insurance office [14 State street], at 1 o'clock precisely, to affix their signatures and make the necessary arrangements." Three days later it was stated that a number of citizens had met at Taylor's In.surance office, in response to the call, and that "last evening the amount subscribed amounted to $115,250 " ; and, further: " We will not omit mentitming that the Hon. William Phillips added $10,000 to this free-will offering. God bless him for it!" The subscription loan amounted to $13(3,500; other subscribers were David

Only a few weeks before, the merchants and tradesmen of England had offered their contributions for the support of their government in its great exigency. To receive the gifts, hustings, as though for an election, had been raised beneath one of the piazzas of the Royal Exchange in London, and the receipts on the first day were ;^4(),00(). Mr., afterward vSir Robert, Peel, father of the future prime-minister, and a manufacturer of calicoes at Bury, in Lanca.shire, paid in, from a loyal impulse, ^10,000. In relating the fact Mr. Macpherson, in his ' ' History of Commerce, " asks : " Ls there any other country on the globe that could produce a manufacturer who can spare such a sum? " Certainly, according to their ability, the loyal business men of the United States were as generous as their brethren beyond the sea.

On the 22d of August, 1798, the keel of the new frigate was laid in the yard of Mr. Hart, the builder of the Constitution, and on the 30th of the next May, receiving the name of Boston, she was launched, with much rejoicing, in the presence of the president of the United vStates, John Adams, the lieutenant-governor of the Commonwealth, Moses Gill, and an immense concourse of spectators. In the account given of the launch, it was said : "A more excellent piece of naval architecture cannot be produced in the United States. The dispatch used in her construction, the neatness of her workmanship, with the superior quality and durability of her material, do honor to Captain Hart, the master builder, Captain Little, her ctmimander, the superintending committee of subscribers, and to the mechanics of the town. She is about eight hundred tons, and has the figure of an aboriginal warrior for her head." The Boston was rigged and equipped "with patriotic celerity," and, on the 12th of June, she hauled off into the stream and began to enlist her crew. She sailed on her first cruise, under the command of Captain George Little, July 25, and during the next ten or twelve years did much effective work.

Notwithstanding the perplexities and ])erils to which we have referred as superadded to the ordinary risks of ocean commerce, the merchants of Boston, Salem, and other conimunities went forward in the prosecution of their plans with their accustomed energy and .spirit.

Captain Cleveland, in his journals, mentions four Boston ships met by him on the Northwest Coast in the spring of 17il'.), and says that ten others were to be dispatched thither from Boston durinLf that season ; and while at Calcutta, in the followiug winter, he records: "During; the three months of my residence in Calcutta no less than twelve ships were laden with the produce and manufactures of Hindostan for the United States, whose carg'oes would average about two hundred thousand dollars each."

In 1708 the Messrs. Perkins bought and sent to Canton direct the ship Tlioiuas Russell, and Mr. Ephraim Bumstead, then the oldest apprentice in their counting-house, went out as supercargo. In 1803 they made an arrangement with this young man to go to China and establish himself there for the' transaction of their own business, and of such other as might offer. Mr. Bumstead took passage in a ship from Providence, belonging partly to merchants there and partly to the Messrs. Perkins, and had as his clerk. John P. Cushing, who had also been in the employ of the firm in Boston. Soon after their arrival in China, Mr. Bumstead became very ill and embarked on a voyage for the benefit of his health, expecting to return before long ; but he died at sea, and Mr. Cushing, at the early age of sixteen, found himself in sole charge, with many consignments to care for and important concerns to manage. He had "a good head," and he conducted affairs with so much ability that he was soon after taken into the firm, remaining in it until its dissolution. He visited the United States in 1807, but soon returned to China, and did not leave it again for twenty years. " He was well repaid for his undertaking by the result."

Mr. Cushing was succeeded in the management of the Canton house by Mr. Thomas T. Forbes, a nephew of the Perkinses, who was lost soon after in the Canton River with his yacht Haidcc. Mr. Cushing was in Europe when the news of this calamity came to hand, and he returned immediately to China to protect the interests of his firm. He and Mr. Forbes had been on intimate terms with the firm of Russell & Co., of which Mr. Samuel Rus.sell was then at the head. It was now arranged to reorganize this hou.se, and to transfer the biusiness of Perkins & Co. to it. Mr. Augustine Heard was admitted as a partner, and Mr. Forbes's youngest brother, John, then sixteen years of age, as a clerk. Mr. John M. Forbes subsequently became a partner, and, later, his older brother. Captain Robert Bennet Forbes, who was at the head of the house for several years, and of whom we shall speak

Another youth, who was to become a very intelligent and successful merchant, graduated from the counting-house of the Messrs. Perkins in the early years of their business, and went to sea in one of their ships. This was William vSturgis, who had been with them for a few months only, when it became necessary for him, on the death of his father (1798), to push his fortunes for himself; and he shipped before the mast in the Eliza, one hundred and thirty-six tons, then fitting out for a voyage to the Northwest Coast, vSan Bias on the western coast of Mexico, and China. The vessel was under the command of Captain James Rowan, who had made several voyages in the same trade, and had been very successful in his intercourse with the Indians. On reaching the Coast Captain Rowan advanced young Sturgis to be his assistant in the trading department; and the latter displayed so much industry, ability, and tact in his new position, and had improved himself so much in the study of navigation, that he attracted the attention of other shipmasters, and was called from the forecastle of the Eliza to be the chief mate of the Ulysses, the officers and crew of which vessel were in revolt against their captain. He proceeded in her to China, where he met the Eliza, and, by consent of all parties, joined her again as third mate. Of this voyage the Messrs. Perkins wrote to one of their partners, then in London, November 9, 1799, as follows: " We wrote you that the Eliza had succeeded on the Northwest, and had proceeded to China ; that is, she was about leaving the Coast for China. We presume from the letters, which are dated off St. Bias, that she would dispose of her dry goods for about one hundred per cent. ad. vance. The collection of skins exceeded that of Magee in the Margaret, or Swift in the Hazard, although they were two years, and the Eliza ninety days."

Reference to another of these voyages will throw further light upon the way in which this distant trade was carried on, and indicate what were its perils and its profits. The ship Atahualpa, Captain Dixey Wildes, sailed from Boston, August 31 , 1800. She was owned by Messrs. Theodore Lyman, Kirk Boott and William Pratt. She was of 209 tons and mounted eight guns, and her cargo consisted of broadcloth, flannel, blankets, powder, muskets, watches, tools, beads, wire, looking-glasses and various other articles. She remained on the Coast about eighteen months, until the end of September, 1802, "cruising up and down thri)u>ih the danjicrous waters of the great northwestern archipelago from the forty-eighth to the fifty-ninth parallels of latitude, trading with the capricious and treacherous natives, repeatedly baffled by contrary winds, and encountering constant perils." At length, having collected about thirty-five hundred skins and twenty-four hundred tails of the sea. otter, with a few other furs, the Alahtialpa sailed for China, touching for supplies at the Sandwich Islands. The skins sold for twenty dollars each, and the tails for two dollars ; and the proceeds were invested in teas, .silks, porcelains, satins, sugars, etc., to the value of over fifty-seven thousand dollars. The good ship arrived in Boston harbor, June 17, ISOii, after an absence of ten hundred and twenty days. Her supercargo on this voyage was Mr. Ralph Haskins, who soon became a prominent merchant on his own account.

From June 11, ISOO, to January 9, ISOa, ;:)4,;557 sea otter skins were imported into China, worth on the average from eighteen to twenty dollars each. Of this cjuantity, says Pitkin, 30,407 were carried in Boston vessels. During the same period, 1,04^,750 seal skins were imported, worth on the average from eighty to ninety cents each. " Though the first adventures in the fur trade met with a good market at Canton, as the number increased the profits diminished, and it was always in the power of the Cohoang, to be regulated by its members at their pleasure. The Cohoang, or Co-Hong, was a trading company consisting of thirteen native merchants, which had a inonopoly of the foreign trade, and was held responsible for the collection of the revenue, being the only medium of communication between the government and foreigners. It paid a considerable sum for the exclusive privileges which it enjoyed. Houqua was at its head eai-ly in this century - a man of high character and of great influence.

To return to William Sturgis and his fortunes: On his arrival in Boston in the Eliza in the spring of 1800, he was engaged as first mate and assistant trader on board the Caroline, owned by James and Thomas Lamb and others, then fitting out for a three years voyage to the Pacific and China, under Captain Charles Derby, of Salem. The ship touched . at the vSandwich Islands on the way out, and Captain Derby died there ; whereupon, Mr. .Sturgis, then nineteen years of age, became commander of the vessel and scjle manager of her business. He came back to Boston in 1803, having made the voyage "to the great satisfaction and profit of his employers. "' He made another voyage, terminating in June 18(Hj. In the autumn of the same year he started on his fourth voy- age round the world in the AtaJuialpa, with supervision over two other vessels, belonging to the same owners, already on the Coast. He spoke the language of the Indians, studied their characteristics carefully, and was always successful in Iris dealings with them. He returned to Boston in June, ISOS, and, soon after, sailed in the same ship for Canton direct, with an outfit exceeding three hundred thousand Spanish milled dollars. He was accompanied on his vo^-age by Mr. John Bromfield, as supercargo, who was under engagement to remain in Canton for a year as Mr. Lyman's factor, and who, afterward, became an influential Boston merchant. It was on this voyage that the ship had a desperate encounter with pirates in the mouth of the Canton River. Captain Sturgis reached Boston again in 1810, and joined Mr. John Bryant in business under the firm name of Brj-ant & .Sturgis. Their business was principally with the Pacific Coast and with China, and "from the year 1810 to 1840 more than half of the trade carried on with those coimtries, from the United States, was under their direction. They occasionally, however, had commercial intercourse with nearly every quarter of the globe."

The Thomas Russell was dispatched in May, 1800, under command of Captain Henry Jackson, to Malaga and ports in the Mediterranean, loaded with teas and nankeens, " the idtimate object of the voyage being the purchase of a cargo in Calcutta, and the speedy conversion of the present lading into dollars to be the governing object in the operations." The trade to the Mediterranean had been seriou.sly interruptted by the Barbar}' corsairs.

Early in the year 1805 an association was formed, called the Boston Importing Compau}-, with the design of regulating the shipping trade with Liverpool and London with special reference to the interests of the Boston importers. Stockholders, as we suppose, were to have the preference in the shipment of goods, and when the rates were high, they would receive a rebate in the shape of a larger dividend on their shares. We judge also that the company was to import goods on its own account. An advertisement appeared in some of the newspapers May 8, as follows: "The associates of the Boston Importing Company are hereby notified that an assessment of ten dollars on each share is to be paid to the subscriber on or before the ITth inst. By order of the Board of Trustees. T. W. Storrow, Treasurer." A few days later Wood & Rollins announced that the ship Sally, Captain Seth Webber, "intended for a regular ship between this port and Liverpool," would have immediate dispatch ; she was ;52:5 tons, " coppered to the bends," and had eletjant accommodations for passengers. Whether this vessel, and the others run by the company, were purchased or chartered, we have no means of knowing positively. When the Legislature met, John Gore and others in behalf of the company applied for an act of incorporation; the committee to which the question was referred reported favorably, but its report was not accepted, and the petitioners had leave to withdraw. We have been unable to find Mr. Gore's petition on the files at the State House. The Sir//r returned in .September, making the passage in twenty-eight days, and bringing several passengers, among them Captain Winslow Lewis, Samuel Appleton, Daniel Parker, jr., and Henry Gassett, jr. She took her departure two months later, under the command of Captain Lewis. Ammidon & Boyle, who seem to have been the agents of the line, advertised the copper-bottomed ship l\u-ktt. Captain Scott, to sail October 15; and again in the following spring. They also advertised in the spring of ISOO, "the Boston Importing Company's ship Roiiico, John Le Bosquet, for Rotterdam and London, to sail about March 23, and return from London early in the fall." Other regular traders to London, not controlled by the company of which we have been speaking, were the President Ada vis, John Adams, New Paeket, and Pulsion, and to London, the New Galen. They were advertised by Haven, Williams & Co., Trott & Blake and Wood & Rollins.

Referring to the Boston Importing Ct>mpan5% Mr. vSabine says: "The War of 1812 put an end to our intercourse with England, and the company closed their affairs. One of the ships was detained by France, but was released to bring home Mr. Armstrong, the American minister." We have succeeded in fully verifying this statement. General Armstrong arrived at New London, November, 1810, in the ship Sally, Captain Scott, from Bordeaux. The Sally had been "sequestered" at St. Sebastian, June 1, and released by the emperor in September for General Armstrong's use.

The growth of the American mercantile marine from the adoption of the Federal constitution to 1807 was something amazing. During this period of eighteen years, the registered tonnage of the Oountry was multiplied seven fold; from 1707 to 1807 the increase was a quarter of a million of tons, or forty-two per cent. The figures for 1807 were 848,:iO(;. Of this amotmt, more than one-third, lilO, 309 tons, belonged to Massachusetts. While the great powers in Europe had been intent on the destruction of each other's commerce, the merchants of the United States had seen their tj^reat opportunity and had made the most of it. The old colonial and cc^mmcrcial systems, to which the European g-overnments had clung so pcrtinaciousl_v, had, under the necessities of the case, been either entirely abandoned, or greatly relaxed ; and the British Government had been obliged to open even the trade of the West India Islands to the American flag, from time to time, for a limited period. But, whether from a jealousy of the growing commercial power of this young nation, or from a haughty and fatuous indift'erence to the rights of others upon the ocean, British officials persisted in their interference with the American flag, and in grossly insulting it. American ships were seized, and were ruthlessly condemned by the British admiralty courts. Oppressive orders in council followed, of which we shall speak more particularly, and the people of the seaboard towns were thoroughl_v aroused and indignant. Even the Federalist leaders in the town of Boston, which was the last stronghold of conservatism, " were properly helpless before the righteous indignation which blazed up more fiercely than ever when the Engli.sh, not content with despoiling our merchant vessels, fired upon the national flag, flying from a national ship." "If Mr. Jefl^erson," says an able writer, Mr. Cabot Lodge, ''had at that supreme moment declared war and appealed to the country, he would have had the cordial support of the mass of the people not only in New England but in Boston itself." The president, however, relied upon his theory of non-intercourse, and pressed the Embargo Act through both houses of Congress; as the consequence of this, the support of New England in the trying times which were at hand was lost to the administration, and Federalism, in this part of the country, had a new lease of life.

"So bitter," says the same writer, "was the feeling against England, so strong the sense of wounded national pride, that even the embargo was received in Boston at first with silent submission ; but its operation told so severely upon both town and State that hostility to the administration rapidly deepened and strengthened." The agricultural interest suffered hardly less than the commercial ; shipbuilding was suspended, the ships lay idle at the wharves, and the fisheries were abandoned. The gloomy days of the Boston Port Bill seemed to have come back again. "The transfer of flour and grain from the Southern States to the northern and eastern ports was interdicted ; and when this was found to be very injurious, the president proposed to grant license to such individuals to transport flour for the necessary consumption of the people as Governor vSullivan should select or desisj'nate. Great comjjlaints were made against this measure as partial and unjust. A petition was preferred to Congress at this time for liberty to send fish to foreign markets as had formerly been done, and when there were large quantities on hand exposed to decay in a short time; but the request was not granted, nor was any sympathy expressed for the petitioners." Why the American people should have been thus punished, and, especially, why their domestic commerce should have been made to suffer, because foreigners had dishonored their flag on the ocean, it is very difficult at this day to conceive.

The Cohiiiibiaii Ciiiluul of March ;30, ISOS, gives a flagrant instance of the destruction of American property by French cruisers. The ship Pocaliontas had arrived from Liverpool two days before, and reported as follows: On the 1st of March she "was brought to and boarded from the French frigates La LLcnnionc and ILortcnsc, of forty guns each, which, having been to the West Indies with troops, were on the return, and were then cruizing off the mouth of the channel. Immediately on the French officers boarding. Captain Harris was ordered on board the French commodore, and directions were given that the stores should be removed from the Pocaliontas, and the ship burnt. These orders were afterwards countermanded, the stores returned, and Captain Harris was compelled to take on board forty-seven persons belonging to the following American ships which had been taken and burnt by these French national frigates, viz.: William, Rockwell, from Liverpool for Savannah, FJiza, Dunbar, from Liverpool for New York, Brutus, of Duxbury, .Smith, from Liverpool. The Pocahontas thus escaped conflagration from the necessity the French were under of getting rid of their American prisoners, being in want of provisions; but before they left her, they flung into the sea all the crates of ware they could come at, seized the letters, papers, &c. , and wantonly destroyed them, and Captain Harris was then compelled to steer to the westward." A statement of these facts was made in a protest before a notary pulilic, and it was said further, "that the Frenchmen wished to fall in with some vessel with bale goods [something more valuable than earthenware and salt], and intended to look out for the Sally, Captain Lewis, of this port, who was to sail soon after, the Ceres, Captain Webber, and other valuable American ships belonging to this port."

without any treaty to guide them; if we condemn the conduct of British officers on board our vessels; if we denounce the outrage of the degraded East India Company's Heutenant at Canton ; what language may we not use in relating the above outrages, committed by Bonaparte's imperial officers, acting under his orders, against the vessels and property of a nation between whom and France a most solemn treaty exists? and which has been inviolabl}- kept on our part. Such perfidy would disgrace Algiers ! While treaty stipulations are performed, even the tyrant of Algiers is a friend; and in war, his prizes are tried, before condemned. But Bonaparte's decrees are executed by fire, and not by admiralty decrees: His execution outstrips his threats! What he cannot keep, he will destroy; and yet at this moment, his conduct finds sup])liant apologists; and those apologists have the impudence to call upon the American people for their suffrages and support! "

The cargo of the Brutus, which sailed for Boston from Liverpool in company with the Pocahontas, consisted of 155 tons of salt, 12 tons of coal, 100 crates of crockery ware, 2 casks and 2 cases of merchandise. Her sails and stores, and about a thousand letters, were taken out of the ship; and she was then burned. The ships Sally, Packet, and President Adams, with cargoes of dry goods for the spring trade, arrived in safety a few days later.

In l.SOit there was a temporary relaxation of hostilities, the Embargo Act was modified in certain particulars, and a thousand vessels sailed from these shores for foreign ports. Even from 1807 to 1810, the registered tonnage of the United States increased by more than fifteen per cent. The figures for the latter year were !I81:,2()0, a total not reached again for a third of a century, not until 1813, #hen it was 1,003,932. The tonnage of all kinds in 1810 was 1,424,74:8. This total was reached and exceeded in 182(i, owing to the rapid growth of the coastwise trade at that period. The tonnage of all kinds owned in Massachusetts in IS In was 495,203, more than the combined tonnage, according to Pitkin, of the vStates of New York and Pennsylvania. It should be added, however, that the tonnage owned in the city of New York at that time was considerably in excess of that owned in Boston.

Writing of these times, Mr. Green, the impartial English historian, says: "By a violent stretch of her rights as a combatant, England declared the whole coast occupied by France and its allies, from Dantzig to Trieste, to be in a state of blockade. It was impossible to enforce such a 'paper blockade,' even by the immense force at her disposal ; and

/ Napoleon seized on the opportunity to retaliate by the entire exdusion of British commerce from the Continent, an exchision which he trusted would end the war by the ruin it would bring on the English manufacturers. Decrees issued from Berlin and Milan ordered the seizure of all British exports and of vessels which had touched at any British port. The result of these decrees would, he hoped, prove the ruin of the carrying trade of Britain, which would pass into the hands of neutrals and especially of the Americans; and it was to prevent this result that the Grenville ministry issued orders in council in January, 1S07, by which neutral vessels voyaging to coasts subject to the blockade already declared were compelled on pain of seizure to touch previously at some British port. " It was this action, so far as concerned Great Britain, that led to the Non-intercourse Act. Napoleon failed in his effort to exclude British goods from the Continent ; an enormous contraband trade sprang up, and it is said that the French army wore overcoats made in Leeds and shoes from Northampton; but, indirectly, this policy added to the already serious complications in which the relations, commercial and political, between Great Britain and the United »States were involved. The emperor adroitly met the Non-intercourse Act by an offer to withdraw the restrictions he had imposed on neutral trade, if America would compel England to show equal respect to her flag ; but no concession could be obtained from the cabinet of Mr. Spencer Perceval, who had succeeded Lord Grenville, and whom Mr. Green describes as "an industrious mediocrity of the narrowest type. " England's insistence on the "right of search" embittered the controversy even more than her arbitrary seizure of American vessels; there was too much British blood in tlie veins of the people of the United States to allow them to submit tamely to such pretensions. In 1811 Napoleon removed the obstacles which he had placed in the way of American trade, and the Non-intercourse Act was repealed so far as related to France. But, as we have said, no corresponding concession could be obtained from the English Government, "though the closing of the American ports inflicted a heavier blow on English commerce than any which the orders could have aimed at preventing. During 1811, indeed, English exports were reduced by one-third of their whole amount. In America, the irritation at last brought about a cry for war which, in spite of the resolute opposition of the New England vStates, forced Congress to raise an army of twenty-five thousand men, and to declare the impressment of seamen sailing under an American flag to be piracy.

England at last consented to withdraw her orders in council, but the concession was made too late to avert a declaration of war on the part of the United States in June, 181"2."

When Napoleon was on his way to Elba in the spring of 1814, in the charge of Admiral Sir Thomas Ussher, he talked freely of all these events. He spoke of what passed between himself and Lord Sidmouth, when, after the peace of Amiens (1802), an attempt was made to renew the former treaty of commerce between the two countries ; this attempt failed because the English minister was unable to accept the emperor's explanation of "perfect reciprocity," namely, "that if France took so many millions of English goods, England should take as many millions of French produce in return. " Napoleon claimed that, ultimatel}', the Americans admitted the justness of his principles of commerce. Formerly, he said, they bixmght over some millions of tobacco and cotton, took specie in return, and then went empty to England, where they furnished themselves with British manufactures. He refused to admit their tobacco and cotton, tmless they took from France an equivalent in French produce; and, he added, they finally yielded to this system as being just. As compared with England, however, the trade of the United .States with France was small. Mr. George Cabot said that, of all the surplus products of the United States, England bought annually one-half; and, of all our foreign purchases, she supplied two-thirds.

On the 4th of April, 181-2, Congress passed an act laying an embargo on all .ships and vessels in ports and places within the limits or jurisdiction of the United States, cleared or not cleared, bound to any foreign port or place; with a proviso permitting the departure of foreign vessels, either in ballast, or with the merchandise on board the same, when notified of the act. As the summer approached it became more and more plain that war was imminent, and the general anxiety increased proportionately. Early in June the Massachusetts House of Representatives, by nearly a two-thirds vote, resolved, "that an offensive war against Great Britain, under the present circumstances of this country, would be in the highest degree impolitic, unnecessary, and ominous; and that the great body of the people of this Commonwealth are decidedly opposed to this measure, which they do not believe to be demanded by the honor or interest of the nation." The Senate concurred, and the Legislature sent to Congress a memorial against the war. It was, however, without avail; and, on the lijth of June, the president of the United States signed the bill declaring war against

Great Britain. The declaration was officiaUy notified to the Legislature of Massachusetts on the 23d of the same month; and, a day or two later, a resolve was passed, asking the governor to appoint a fast, "on account of the great and distressing calamity which God in his holy Providence has permitted to be brought on the people of these United States."

" The general sentiment in Bo.ston seems to have settled down into a determination to do nothing in active support of offensive war, but resolutely to defend themselves against any foreign aggression. This they were called upon to do before the war closed." The suffering that followed was very great. A vast amoimt of capital, and a large number of vessels and seamen were thrown out of employ; the prices of imported articles rose enormously; the produce of the country was held at high rates; and it was difficult to supply family wants. Mr. Nathaniel vSilsbee, an influential merchant, who had been a successful .shipmaster, and was afterward a senator of the United States, saj^s, in his autobiography: "On the ISth of June, 1812, after an embargo of sixty da}-s, the government of the United States declared war against England, which had a most depressing effect upon the commercial interests of the country; the vessels that were at home were generally dismantled and hauled up, except such as were suitable for privateers; and although a much larger portion of vessels and property which happened to be abroad at the commencement of the war escaped capture than was expected, yet a number of these vessels and a considerable amount of property fell into the hands of the enemy, and caused large losses to the commercial part of the community."

Colonel Perkins, reviewing this period, writes in his journals: " Embargoes and non-intercourse, with political and other can.ses of embarrassment, crossed our path ; but we kept our trade with China, and during the war of the Peninsula embarked largely in the shipment of provisions to vSpain and Portugal. Our general plan was to freight vessels, load them with flour at the South for Europe, and have the funds remitted to London. To make some necessary arrangements respecting them, I took passage in the brig Reaper, belonging to my friend Henry Lee, for London, in August, 1811. The intention of Mr. Lee was to proceed to India in the brig, taking funds from England, and returning to Boston with Calcutta cloths, which then paid a great advance. I sent funds in her, and .she returned in the year 1812, during the war with Great Britain, and with great profit. Long-cloths of

India then brought twenty-five cents a yard, though an inferior article to what is now made at six cents, being less than one-fourth of the price the India cloths then sold at. I remained in London during the year, or until the summer, and returned after war had been declared. While in London I bought, with the elder Mr. Higginson, goods brought into England for France, which resulted in great gain."

In December, ISK!, Congress passed a further restrictive measure, which added to the suffering already existing, and increased the complaints of the people. It interdicted the coasting trade between ports of the same istate, as well as the fishing business in small craft near the coast. The fishermen of Boston and the adjacent ports, thus deprived of the means of obtaining their daily bread, w-ere obliged to petition the General Court for relief.

Shut in from the ordinary opportunities for enterprise and gain upon the ocean, the shipowners on the northern seaboard resorted to the adventurous and uncertain, but exciting and tempting, pursuit of privateering". During the war Baltimore sent out fifty-eight privateers ; New York, fifty-five; Salem, forty; and Boston, thirty-one. On the 13th of October, 181:2, the schooner Eaiin\ which had seen service as a privateer during the Revolutionary War, came into Boston after a cruise of fifteen days, having captured two schooners. Another Boston vessel, the Hydcr AH, Captain Thorndike, was captured in the East Indies by the British frigate Given G/cndozucr, after having taken nine prizes, all of which, however, were recaptured. The late Admiral Preble has left an account of the True Blooded Yniikec, one of the most famous privateei's of the war, which was commissioned from Boston imder the American flag, though fitted out and sailing from French ports, her owner, Mr. Henry Preble, being temporaril}- a resident of France. This vessel cruised in the English and Irish channels, making many rich prizes, which were generally sent into French ports, though a few were sent to the United States. One ship, .sent into Brest, was said to be worth half a million dollars; one laden with dry goods and Irish linens was ordered to the United States; and the ship Industry was sent to Bergen, in Norway, and there sold. In 1813 the True Blooded Yankee, during a cruise of thirty-seven days, captured twenty-seven vessels and made two hundred and seventy prisoners; she also took possession of an island on the coast of Ireland, and held it six days ; and she burned seven vessels lying in the harbor of a Scotch town. In 1814 she cruised in the English channel, in company with the privateer Bunker Hill, carrying fourteen guns and one hundred and forty men, with orders to divest her prizes of their valuable articles and then to sink and destroy them, Init not to send them into port. Such was the terror she inspired, that it is said a reward was offered for her capture and that of her captain, Thomas Oxnard, dead or alive.

The following extracts from the correspondence of the Messrs. Perkins will give us a glimpse at these times from the commercial point of view :

January 1, 1814: "You say a cargo laid in at Canton would bring three for one in South America, and your copper would give two prices back. Thus, l|:50,()()() laid out in China would give you $'J(),000 in South America, one-half of which laid out in copper would give one hundred percent., or $'j(),fl(K) - making $i:S5,()0() for $30,000; G0,000 lbs. of indigo, even at SO cents, $48,000; 1;J0 tons sugar at $(;0, $7,200; and cotton, or some other light freight, say skiss tea, $30,000 - in all $75,- 000 - would be worth here $400,000, and not employ the profits of the voyage to South America. Manilla sugar is worth $400 to $500 per ton, clear of duty. The ship should be flying light, her bottom in good order, the greatest vigilance used on the passage, and make any port north of New York."

January (1, 1S14: "Teas have risen to enormous prices, but arc now declining. . . . Teas will rise with you immediatel}' after a knowledge of peace takes place. Many voyages will be undertaken after the war, and the country will be again flooded with teas."

July 15, 1814: " A messenger has recently arrived in this country, offering in the name of the Prince Regent propositions for concluding a peace between this country and Great Britain. ... A final settlement, such as will enable us to navigate in safety, may be protracted by the diplomatic habits of our government, to the ensuing autumn. It may be concluded sooner. All will depend upon the complete prostration of Buonaparte. God grant that this obstacle may not long intervene! How far we shall, in time of peace, be permitted to pursue our former commerce, is a question difficult to decide. Great Britain has neither affection nor respect for us. Her interest will guide in relation to her future stipulations. When she can, consistently with her own rights, restrict us, she will naturally do so."

November 17, 1814: "We hear that th.e Jacob Jones went safely into Canton, and presume she may be despatched before the river is blockaded. In such case, she ought to be here at the time appointed, unless captured. Our coast is closely invested and the hazard of getting in very imminent. Some insurance has been done on her, owing to her being a war-built vessel and having the reputation of being a swift sailer, at fifty per cent., but very little can be had. We have only $8,000 written at present, and fear we shall not be able to effect more by safe men, even at that. Vessels built before the war cannot be insured at seventy-five per cent., which premium has been given on prizes taken near this coast and ordered in. Owing to the decline of public credit, consequent on a continuance of the war, and the many failures that have taken place, it is extremely difficult to effect sales of any sort except for immediate consumption, and those are made only for cash, no one being inclined to sell on credit at this critical juncture. Public funds here (six per cent. ) are down to sixty-five, and growing worse. Nothing but peace can prevent an utter downfall of governmental credit and means. We have no expectation that the duties will be reduced for several years, if at all. Keep the Levant safe in port till you hear of peace. Then she may do well with black teas for European markets."

The arrival of the schooner Russell at New Bedford, ninety-two days from Canton, is reported in the newspapers, April 5, 1815, and it is said: "Information has been received at Canton from Columbia River of the capture of ship Charon, Whittemore, of Boston, with her cargo of furs, and ship Isabella, Davis, of Boston, particulars not known. All the American vessels on the Northwest Coast were considered as lost or in danger of capture."

But in the mean time, this war, perhaps the most needless that was ever waged between two civilized, not to say Christian powers, had been brought to a close. There had been a wide divergence of opinion on the questions of declaring and continuing it, but there was no difference in the spirit with which the news of peace was welcomed by the people of both parties and of all classes. Colonel Perkins was in Washington with two other commissioners from Massachusetts, and he wrote from that city, February !(!, 1815, to his partner, Mr. Cushing: "The joyful event of peace has suspended the mi.ssion on which I came. You will hear with delight of this event. No sacrifice is made of territory or commercial rights. It is a treaty formed on the basis of that of 1783. ... I trust I shall never see another war."

Februarj' IS: "The lig-hts in the lig-ht-houses off this harbor and Cape Ann have recommenced by order of Government. The moderate weather, which we hope is now commencing, will raise the ice blockade of this and other harbors, and permit the numerous vessels now preparing for sea to spread their white cai:i#as to the gale."

"The first effects of peace have been seen in the rapid declension in the price of foreign goods, West India produce, etc. In New York sugars have fallen 100% {sic), teas from 75 to 100%. "

March 11: " Many gallant vessels have left port on voj'ages, and others are in stages of readiness. The beautiful ships Liverpool Packet and Milo will unloose their sails to-morrow, if the wind will permit. The elegant new ship Galen will sail for Lond(jn in all the month. Vessels which now sail for an}^ European ports cannot run into danger."

Among the passengers in the ]\Lilo was Abbott Lawrence, who had been admitted as a partner into the business of his brother, Amos, on the 1st of January preceding. A. & A. Lawrence were large importers for several years, and until they became identified with the rising manufacturing interests of New England. On his first visit to Europe, Mr. Lawrence was able to send his purchases back by the packet which had carried him over, so that they were disposed of in Boston within ninety days from the time of his departure. This was regarded as a very creditable achievement at the time. Possibly it was of this voyage that it was stated subsecpiently : "In 1S15 the J//A' happened to be the only ship about sailing for this port. The usual freight at the time was .seventy shillings sterling a ton. Taking advantage of the circumstance, the captain of that .ship declined taking freight under, it is believed, ten i^ounds a ton." The object of the statement was to illustrate to the importers of Boston the desirability of their establishing a line of regular packets under their own owjiership and control.

The business men of Boston had maintained their credit noblv during the war and the trying years which had preceded it, so that they were in a very favorable position for taking advantage of the improved conditi(.)n of affairs which came with the restoration of peace. In the summer of 181 o we find gold and silver and Boston bank-notes cpioted in the prices current of other cities at the same rates, while their own notes were at a heavy discount.

The new and superior ship Canton, B. P. Tilden supercargo, was advertised for Canton by Benjamin Rich, To Long AVharf, to have immediate dispatch. The ship Llope, Captain Bachelder, sailed for Cal- cutta April I. On the 4th of the same montli the ship I- lor dc Brarsil, Captain Silva, from Pernambuco, via Bermuda, arrived in the harbor of Boston with a cargo of molasses and susj;ar, consigned to Ropes, I'ickman &- Co., and a few days later the brig Ncio Hazard., Captain Kndicott, came in from Matanzas with thirty-eight thousand gallons of molasses to the same firm. The name of this brig is suggestive of the perils from which American ci)mmerce had just escaped: so is that of the schooner Catcli-inc-if-you-can, which arrived at the same time from Baltimore, with a cargo of flour consigned to Hall & Thacher. The first arrival from Liverpool after the peace was reported May ;>, - the British ship Kingston, Captain Smith, with "dry-goods, crates, hardware, pig-iron and lead, to David Hinckley, Giles Lodge, Daniel Hastings, and others." "This day," Monday, May 3, "arrived and fired salutes the fine letter-of-marque brig Rambler, and ship Jacob Jones, Captain Robarts [on which it had been difficult to effect insurance, covering the war risk, at fifty per cent, premium], both in one hundred and eight days from Canton, with rich cargoes of silks, teas and other articles,- to the Messrs. Perkins, Bryant & Sturgis, Mr. Benjamin Rich, etc. They escaped da.shingly the British blockading squadron, consisting of the Grauipus, 50, and Given Glcndoiver, who had long been watching for them." The cargo of the Rambler consisted of Canton crapes, sewing silk, black fringed handkerchiefs, dimities, sarcenets, ribbons, pongees, teas, cassia, and six thousand walking-sticks.

A few days later the letter-of-marque schooner Tamaahmaah, Captain Porter, arrived from the Northwest Coast, vSeptember, 1813, and one hundred and fifteen days from Canton, with a full cargo of teas, nankeens, cassia, alum, etc. She had sailed from Boston in the month of February, 1813, with supplies for various vessels on the Coast and to give them information about the war. These Canton cargoes were sold at auction immediately on arrival, in accordance with the custom of the trade.

On the ITth of May fifty-three vessels arrived " coastwise," with large quantities of flour, tobacco, hemp, molasses, whiskey, rice, oil, tar, coal, sugar, corn, gin, candles, grindstones, turpentine, plaster, oysters, etc. The Swedish ship Mcrenrius arrived May I'J, forty-eight days from Liverpool, with dry goods, hardware, tin plates, coals, crates, etc. ; also the Russian ship Alexander, fifty-one days from Lisbon, with salt, bar-iron, duck and corkwood. Eight days later the British brier Spccdv, fifty-six days from Liverpool, came in with a cargo of dry goods, hardware, shot, iron, and crockery-ware, for Andrew Eliot, C. R. Codman, Trott & Bumstead, O. Everett, Lewis Tappan c& Company' J. Sewall, S. G. Perkins, H. Higginson, John Tappan, F. Cabot, Kirk Boott & vSon, Rice & Read, Thomas Cordis, etc. The ship Milo, Captain Glover, arrived from Liverpool June 3, and the Liverpool Packet, Captain Nichols, and Roscoc, Captain Amory, on the 5th, with assorted cargoes to a large number of consignees. Among those who advertised dry goods received by these vessels were Tuckerman, Rogers & Gushing, Benjamin C. Ward & Company, John Grew, Lane & Lamson, Henry Gassett & Company, Isaac Osgood, Phineas Foster, James Read. Those who advertised hardware were Jonathan and Edward Phillips, vSamuel May, Charles vScudder, John Bradford, Fairbanks & Burbeck. " The fine new ship Union, of six hundred and nineteen tons, belonging to the Hon. Mr. Gray, sailed from the outer roads on Monday last [June 5] for Calcutta." William Gray, one of the largest shipowners of that day, moved from vSalcm to Boston in 180'.). He was lieutenant-governor of the Commonwealth from 181(1 to 1812.

Among the arrivals at Boston, June 7, were the schooner Union, of Beverly, forty-four days from Lisbon, with lemons, salt, duck, etc, consigned to Ray & Gray ; and the British schooner Ahitc/i/rss, fifty-four days from London, with a cargo of cordage, dnck, porter, iron, copperas, tin, steel, alum, crockery, paints, chalk, whiting, and thirty pianofortes. The ship Uannibal, Captain Burgess, fifty-five days from Liverpool, arrived July 13; she brought about two thousand letters. On the same day the ship Beverly, Captain Edes, was cleared for Canton. The brig Mary arrived from Gottenburg, July 30, with iron, steel, block-tin, hones, slates, pencils, brass and card wire, pins, camphor, copperas, flats for hats, and dry-goods, to Walley & Foster, T. Williams, E. & J. Breed, and Beckford & Bates. The junior member of this last firm was J(xshua Bates, who went to Europe in 1816 as Mr. William Gray's agent, and so continued for three years; in 1828 he became a partner in the house of Baring Brothers &- Company. The Jacob Jones cleared for Canton August 21, and the Sultan for the Northwest Coast and Canton on the 2:5d; the latter vessel belonged to Boardman & Pope. On the 25th the Joint Adams, Captain Downing, . arrived in forty-three days from Liverpool w;th an assorted cargo to Walley & Foster, owners, and others; and on the 7th of September the New Packet, Captain Bacon, came int" jiort from Canton with teas and cassia to Ropes, Pickman & Company.

Colonel Perkins wrote to liis Canton house under date of October 4, 1815 : " Three years of war, and twice that number of restrictions upon commerce, had made our people very rigidly economical ; and they bought only what was necessary, not what was luxurious. In place of a silk gown or pelisse, the}' purchased cotton for the first, and dispensed with the last altogether. .So with tea. Although they did not wholly forego it, they were careful in the use of it ; and now, to make up for lost time, they feel as if they may indulge in the fashions of the city, and gratify their palates with the beverage of the East. This being the case, it will take a longtime to overstock the market with silks; though from the quantity of teas on hand when the war began, the importations since, and the economy spoken of during the war, we think the spring ships will cause a great fall of it in the market."

The details into which we have gone, will show how vigorously the process of recuperation set in, by which Boston recovered itself from the effects of the war, and how comprehensive and far reaching was its commercial activity. An era of great prosperity now \&y before it. The population, which was 33,250 in 1810, rose to 43,298 in 1820. During the same decade the taxable valuation of the town more than doubled; in 1810 it was $18,500,000; in 1820 it was $38,000,000. In the period from 1800 to 1810 it had increased only from $15,000,000 to $18,500,000. Among the prominent business men of this period, in addition to those whose names have been mentioned, were: Samuel Parkman, Robert G. Shaw, John Parker & .Sons, Israel Thorndike, Thomas C. Amory & Company, Thomas Wigglesworth, Isaac Winslow, James Ingersoll, Josiah Bradlee, and Cornelius Coolidge & Company. The leading auctioneers were Plimpton & Marett, Whitwell & Bond, T. K. Jones & Company, and Coolidge, Deblois & Company.

.Soon after the war the export trade in ice was started and carried forward by Mr. Frederic Tudor. Several years previously Mr. Tudor had taken a cargo to Martinique, and although the venture had not been a pecuniary success, it had demonstrated that this article could be carried to a warm climate. The British government now offered him the monopoly, for a term of years, for Jamaica, upon certain conditions, which were readily acceded to ; and it further encoxiraged him by releasing all ships bringing ice from port charges. The first prominent and permanent establishment of ice-houses in the West Indies was at King,ston. Soon after the monopoly was secured for Havana, and liberal concessions were made for the introduction of ice into other ports in Cuba. The first car«-o for Charleston was shipped in 1817, and icehouses were established in Savannah in 1818, and in New Orleans in 1830. ( )f the ice trade to the East Indies we shall speak later on.

We have already mentioned the name of Capt. Robert Bennet Forbes. The story of his earlv life furnishes another illustration of the splendid but severe trainini;- which made so many of the successful shipmasters and merchants of from sixty to eighty years ago. His father, Ralph Bennet Forbes, having been unfortunate in business, and being much l)roken in health, Bennet, as the Ijoy was called, went at the age of twelve years into the employ of his cousins, the Messrs. Perkins, jr., whose store was at Foster's Wharf, His duties, he says in his ' ' Personal Reminiscences," were "to sweep out, make the fires, close and open the store, copy letters into a book in a very indifferent manner, collect wharfage bills, run errands extending from Winnisimmet Ferry to the wind-mill, which stood far to the south, probably near to the new bridge between South Boston and Boston proper." His employers had control of two vessels, the brig Pedlar, and the top-sail sloop Haymaker, which were generally engaged in tlie trade between Boston and Philadelphia, sometimes bringing oats and shorts, which it was his duty to measure out to the truckmen. Bennet was in the habit of visiting the ships owned by his uncles as they lay at Central Wharf, and one day, early in October, 1S17, he met Colonel Perkins on board one of them, the Canton Paeket, who asked him abruptly, which he intended to go in. The boy, who had received plain intimations previously that he had better take up a seafaring life, answered promptly, "I am ready to go in this one." He was taken at his word, and as soon as he had obtained the assent of his parents, he was told to provide himself with a quadrant, a copy of Bowditch's " Practical Navigator," a log-book, etc., also a seachest with a full outfit of sailor's clothes. A few days later, on the 19th of the same month, he sailed out of Boston, and although he had only just completed his thirteenth year, he took his place among the motley crew in the forecastle, stood his watch, and took his turn in reefing topsails.

A few months before, the Canton Packet, loaded with lumber for the Isle of France and having on board a large sum in specie, was blown up while at anchor off Long Wharf and set on fire. It is a tradition that the explosion was the work of a colored steward, who was angry because he had been denied the pleasures of artillery election day, or, in the words of an old song, " 'Cause he couldn't go to 'lection. An' shake paw-paw," this being a favorite game on the Common on public days, played with four sea-shells and for money. The ship was run into the mud near T Wharf and the fire was extinguished. The specie was landed and sent to the " long-room " on India Wharf, and the clerks of the firms interested in the voyage were detailed to go and live there, to unpack, wash, count, and repack the mone}'. This was no small matter, as it amounted to about $i(K), 000; it had been stowed in the run of the ship, where also was a quantity of cochineal, with which the dollars had become much stained. The vessel was repaired, went to Jamaica and back, bringing a large amount of quicksilver, and was then fitted out for the voyage to China, upon which we have seen her start.

During the stay of the Canton Packet in China young Forbes lived with his relative, Mr. Cashing, then at the head of the Canton house of Perkins & Company, and made himself useful as a clerk, weighing teas, packing silks, etc. He had the opportunity of remaining ashore in this position, but, as he says, he had chosen the life of a sailor, and had promised his uncles to stick by the .ship until he commanded her; he felt, also, that the place belonged to his older brother, Thomas, who went out soon after, and who was drowned in lS-29. When the ship was ready for her voj-age homeward, therefore, in June, ISIK, he resumed his place in her before the mast, although not in the close and stifling forecastle.

The Canton Packet registered only three hundred and twelve tons; ships of more than five hundred tons were considered too large to be quite safe, and it was not until IS42 that Captain Forbes owned a ves- -sel of this size, the Narragansctt , which he bought for the China trade. The homeward cargo from Canton consisted of teas, nankeens, cassia, crapes, sjilks, preserves, camphor, and certain pungent oils. Captain Forbes tells us how the ship was loaded: " A ship of the usual model was floored off with shingle ballast, carefully graded ; the tea boxes were stripped of the rattan bindings and stowed so closely by Chinese stevedores that a mouse could scarcely find lodging between them, and all spaces between beams and carlines were filled with small mats containing cassia. The silks and crapes were generally stowed under the main hatch in what was called ' the silk room,' a space between the tea-chests left vacant for the purpose. The cases of camphor and oils were stowed on deck, sometimes in or imder the long boat, but more generally around the after hatch, covered by a well-secured mat- house, under which, as I can vouch from an experience of two passages, lived the carpenter, the cook, and sometimes, two boys. The old ships must liave been s>-ood sea boats, for I do not call to mind beini)' disturbed by the shippinsj- of anything worse than sprays."

Captain Forbes has recorded the several steps of his advancement in these words: " At the age of sixteen I filled a man's place as third mate; at the age of twenty I was promoted to a command ; at the age of twentysix I commanded my own ship ; at twenty-eight I abandoned the sea as a profession ; at thirty-six I was at the head of the largest business house in China."

In giving an account of the China trade Captain Forbes said, that as the trade of the Northwest Coast fell off a demand sprang up in China for American goods - sheetings and drills. Specie became the exception, and bills on London became popular in making funds for the purchase of cargoes. For man}- years the duty on teas was very heavy, but the government helped the merchant by giving him twelve and eighteen months in which to make payments. This enabled him to send back to Canton and ]3urchase a second cargo with the proceeds of the first. On the other hand, he was obliged to sell his merchandise on long credit, say, six, eight and nine months, but usually the banks would discount the paper for him at six per cent, per annum.

Captain Sturgis, in a lecture to j-oung men in 1844, gave an account of the changes which had taken place in his day in the China trade. Nankeen, he said, was, once imported in large quantities. As late as 1S20 there was $1,000,1100 worth imported; now there was none. In 180() Canton crape was first used; in 1810 ten cases were imported; in 1825 the importations amounted to $1,500,(100, and in 1S44 the article was not imported at all. Silk was once imported in large tjuantities from China; one cargo worth nearly $1,000,000 was mentioned; now the whole yearly importation amounted to less than $100,000. In 1818 $7,000,000 were carried to China in specie. In 1844 settlements were made by bills of exchange.

A meeting of merchants and others, "interested in the prosperity of comiTicrce and agriculture," was held August 17, 1820, to take into consideration a communication from the Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia, relating to a tariff measure which had been considered by Congress at its last session, but had not been acted upon. This was four \'ears after the adoption of the tariff which Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Lowndes, and Mr. Clay had been mainly instrumental in passing. The president of the meeting was William Gray, and the secretary William Foster, jr. A committee of twenty-seven was appointed to adopt such measures as it should deem expedient, and a sub-committee was instructed to prepare a report with resolutions. There seems to have been but one opinion in Boston at this time among the men of the greatest influence in the town in reference to the tariff, and it was decidedly in favor of low rates of duty and in opposition to any policy that was likely to endanger the prosperity of the shipping interest. The sub-committee mentioned above consisted of James Perkins, Samuel P. Gardner, Daniel Webster, Samuel A. Welles, William Shimmin, William Sturgis and John Dorr; and at an adjourned meeting held in Faneuil Hall, October 2, a carefully prepared report was presented, written, as we suppose, by Mr. Webster, and recommending the adoption of eight resolutions, four of which we quote, and all of which were approved :

Resolved, That the supposition that until the proposed tariff or some similar measure be adopted, we are and shall be dependent on foreigners for the means of subsistence and defence is, in our opinion, altogether fallacious and fanciful, and derogatory to the character of the nation.

Resolved, That high bounties on such domestic manufactures as are principally benefited by that tariff, favor great capitalists rather than personal industry or the owners of small capital, and, therefore, that we do not perceive its tendency to promote national industry.

Resolved, That the imposition of duties, which are enormous and deemed by a large portion of the people to be unequal and unjust, is dangerous, as it encourages the practice of smuggling.

Resolved, That in our opinion, the proposed tariff and the principles on which it is avowedly founded, would, if adopted, have a tendency, however different may be the motives of those who recommend them, to diminish the industry, impede the prosperity and corrupt the morals of the people.

The last mention we can find of the Boston Importing Company, formed in 1805, is an advertised notice to the associates, signed by Philip Ammidon, secretary, of a meeting to be held at the Exchange Coffee House on the evening of July 8, 1811. The company's ship Packet had arrived two or three weeks before from Gluckstadt on the Elbe, a few miles below Hamburg. She had been "forbidden by the French government to take any letters or papers under pain of confiscation, not even dispatches from our minister. " On her arrival in Boston she was advertised for sale, and was described as having been built at Braintrec in 1SI)2, three hundred and twenty-seven tons, constantly employed in the Liverpool trade, and "known and acknowledged to exceed in sailing any ship ever built in the vState. " Evidently her voyage from the Elljc was the last made by any vessel belonging to the company, which, in consequence of the many hindrances to successful ocean navigation at that time, and in view of the strong probability of war with England, was winding up its affairs. In the winter of 1821 and 1S22 the Boston and Liverpool Packet Company was projected. In a pamphlet which lies before us it is announced as the purpose of the company to build four .ships to ply regularly between Boston and Liverpool. "Tlie object primarily intended to secure, by the regular and punctual departures from both ports of these packet ships," was "the more frecpient supplies of goods and the convenience of passengers." The capital stock of the company was fixed at $100,000, in one thousand shares, and it was expected that the importers of the town would subscribe and hold a major part of the stock, and maintain the control and direction of the business. It was estimated that the four ships would cost, exclusive of coppering, and with one chain cable each, a sum not exceeding !lJ!78,OOU, the copper, another chain cable for each vessel, and a few other articles, to be procured in Liverpool, would be $7,000 more, making a total of $8,5,000 for the four ships, or $21,250 for each. The tonnage of the ships was to be about three hundred and tw-enty-five tons; they were to be excellent models and to be "finished and furnished in excellent style." They were to have experienced and popular commanders, who were each to own some share of the stock; the agents were to liold a considerable amount of the stock, and the vessels were to be consigned each to a separate house in Liverpool, largely interested in shipi^ing goods to Boston.

The statistics of the trade between Liverpool and Boston for the preceding two years were as follows: During 1820 there were forty-seven arrivals at Boston from Liverpool - thirty-four ships and thirteen brigs. Of these, nine were arrivals of regular traders, namel)', the I'ntoii, two; the Falcon, two; the Mercury, two; the Herald, two; and the Meteor, one. In 1821 the arrivals were fewer than in 18-20, although the amount of the importations was larger ; there were thirty-seven - thirty-three ships and four brigs. There were seventeen arrivals of regular traders, namely, the Triton, three; the Falcon, two; the Kasselas, two; the Herald, two; the Mercury, one; the Glide, one; the

The new company applied to the Legislature for an act of incorporation, as its predecessor had done seventeen years before, and with the same negative result. A bill in favor of the petitioners was reported by the committee to which the matter had been referred, and passed its third reading-; its further consideration was then indefinitely postponed.

On the 15th of October, 1832, S. Austin, jr., and J. W. Lewis, "at the end of India Wharf," advertised the immediate departure for Liverpool, by way of Charleston, of " the Boston and Liverpool Packet Company's ship Emerald, a new vessel, Philip Fox, master;" also for Liverpool direct, of the Herald, Hector Coffin, master. It was added : " The above ships, with two others now building, will po.sitively leave on the days stated, if the weather permits." We suppose that the Topaz, built at Medford by Thatcher Magoun in 1822, was one of the two vessels referred to, and the Amethyst may have been the other.

The ships built on the coast of Massachusetts at the end of the last century, and during the first third of the present, inust have been remarkable both in model and construction, or they could not have accomplished so successfully their voyages across the Atlantic and round the stormy capes. Small as they were, they rode the waves well, and we have reason to believe that they usually delivered their cargoes in good order. Their outfit was often meagre, and their nautical instruments were of the simplest character. They knew nothing of chronometers or charts, and for this reason, certainly in part, the most formidable perils that confronted them were not tho.se of the wide ocean but of the coast. This was especially true of the vessels employed in the English trade, of which only too many met their fate between the Scilly Isles and the Downs, or between Fastnet and the mouth of the Mersey. Captain Silsbee, of whom we have already spoken, records in his autobiography that as late as 1827 he made a passage in a brig to Rotterdam, when they had no chronometer on board and knew nothing of lunar observations, but navigated by dead reckoning.

Only a few years ago one of the vessels mentioned above, the Emerald, registering three hundred and fifty-six tons, which was built in Boston for the Liverpool line, was reported as in good condition and employed in the trade of the Pacific. She was built of the best live oak, and was copper-fastened, and when in 1882, sixty years afterward, she underwent repairs in San Francisco, her timbers and bolts were found in a good state of preservation. She had just before encountered a severe typhoon to the south of the Island of Formosa, in which more than one vessel, younger and larger than herself, had perished. Previously to this she had done duty as a .whaler in the South Seas for more than twenty years. There is a tradition that the F-iiicrald^ when a new vessel, and under the command of Captain Jabez Howes, sailed from Boston to Liverpool and back again to Boston harbor in thirtytwo days.

How disastrous the incidence of taxation may prove to the business interests of a commimity, and so, in the long run, to the prosperity of a State, is illustrated by the action of the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1824, laying a tax of one per cent, on all sales of merchandise at auction. The rich cargoes from Canton, which were disposed of in this way, seemed to superficial observation to present a valuable and permanent basis for the collection of revenue; and, although the merchants remonstrated and predicted that the effect of the tax would inevitably be to drive the China trade to the port of New York, where no such tribute was exacted, their advice and warning were unheeded, and the non-commercial members of the General Court had their own way. Subsequent efforts to secure the repeal of the law were alike unavailing. One meeting to take measures to this end, of which we know, was held at the Exchange Coffee House, October 11, 1827; the tax was declared to be " impolitic, injurious and unjust," and a committee to memorialize the Legislature for its repeal was appointed, consisting of William Goddard, Isaac Winslow, Charles G. Loring, Enoch Silsby, David Henshaw, Abel Adams, John F. Priest, Parker H. Pierce, Thomas Thacher, Joseph Ballister, Andrew Cunningham and Nathaniel H. Emmons. Remedial legislation came later, and it came too late. In 184'.t the obnoxious tax was reduced to one-quarter of one per cent, on merchandise imported from beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1852 it was repealed altogether. In the mean time the diversicm of the China trade had been made, and the current could not be brought back to the old channel. The movement toward New York was gradual, but steady, until in 1857 there were forty-one arrivals from China at that port, twenty of these were ships owned in Boston, and only six arrived here. During the last twenty-five years the course of the China trade has been altogether changed hy the completion of the transconti- nental railways and the opening of the Suez Canal, and whatever interest American merchants may now have in the cargoes, they have none in the ships that carry them. Of the more than three thousand vessels that passed through the Suez Canal in 1887, three vessels, with a gross tonnage of two thousand one himdred tons, bore the American flag.

A similar tax to that levied by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1834 drove from Philadelphia the ships of that port, coming from beyond the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. Samuel Cunard told the writer in London in 1857, that before the steamship line, which bears his name, was started, ships of war and those carrying the mails were exempt from port charges at Halifax, but that after the establishment of the line and when the steamers began to call regularly at Halifax, the exemption so far as related to mail packets was removed. Mr. Cunard lived at Halifax at this time, and it was taken for granted that the ships of his company would continue to come there indefinitely. Soon, however, those which were going to and from New York ceased to make it a port of call, and it is many years since any of the Boston" line were seen there. Other considerations, no doubt, had much to do with the abandonment of Halifax by the company, but when the Legislature of Nova Scotia took advantage of the existing conditions to levy a tax upon it, it made the way all the more easy for the changes that followed.