Chapter 6

Cotton Mather, who had been a pupil of his, preached a funeral sermon in honor of his loved teacher. It was printed in Boston in 1708, and later in 1774. A copy of it in the Athenæum is well worth a perusal. Some of Mr. Cheever's Latin poems are attached to it. Cotton Mather precedes his sermon by An Historical Introduction, in which, after referring to his great privilege, he gives the main facts in the long life of the schoolmaster of nearly ninety-four years. In closing it, he says: "After he had been a Skilful, Painful, Faithful Schoolmaster for Seventy years; and had the Singular Favours of Heaven that tho' he had Usefully spent his Life among children, yet he was not become Twice a child but held his Abilities, with his usefulness, in an unusual Degree to the very last." Then follows the sermon, remarkable in its way as a eulogy. But the Essay in Rhyme in Memory of his "Venerable Master," which follows the sermon, is even more characteristic and remarkable. In it are some couplets which are unique and interesting.

"Do but name _Cheever_, and the _Echo_ straight Upon that name. _Good Latin_ will Repeat.

"And in our _School_, a Miracle is wrought: For the _Dead Languages_ to _Life_ are brought.

"Who serv'd the _School_, the _Church_, did not forget, But Thought and Prayed & often wept for it.

"How oft we saw him tread the _Milky Way_ Which to the Glorious _Throne of Mercy_ lay!

"Come from the _Mount_ he shone with ancient Grace, Awful the _Splendor_ of his Aged Face.

"He _Liv'd_ and to vast age no Illness knew, Till _Times_ Scythe waiting for him Rusty grew.

"He _Liv'd_ and _Wrought_; His Labours were Immense, But ne'r _Declined_ to _Præter-perfect Tense_."

He closes this eulogy with an epitaph in Latin.

Mr. Cheever's will, found in the Suffolk probate office, was offered by his son Thomas and his daughter Susanna, August 26, 1708, a few days after his death. He wrote it two years previous, when he was ninety-one years old, a short time before his "dear wife," whom he mentions, died. In it his estate is appraised at £837:19:6. One handles reverently this old piece of yellow paper, perhaps ten by twelve inches in size, with red lines, on which is written in a clear handwriting the last will of this dear old man. He characteristically begins it thus:--

"In nomine Domini Amen, I Ezekiel Cheever of the Towne of Boston in the County of Suffolk in New England, Schoolmaster, living through great mercy in good health and understanding wonderfull in my age, do make and ordain this as my last Will & Testament as Followeth: I give up my soule to God my Father in Jesus Christ, my body to the earth to be buried in a decent manner according to my desires in hope of a Blessed part in y'e first resurrection & glorious kingdom of Christ on earth a thousand years."

He then gives all his household goods "& of my plate y'e two-ear'd Cup, my least tankard porringer a spoon," to his wife; "all my books saving what Ezekiel may need & what godly books my wife may desire," to his son Thomas; £10 to Mary Phillips; £20 to his grandchild, Ezekiel Russel; and £5 to the poor. The remainder of the estate he leaves to his wife and six children, Samuel, Mary, Elizabeth, Ezekiel, Thomas, and Susanna.

One handles still more reverently a little brown, stiff-covered book, kept in the safe in the Athenæum, of about one hundred and twenty pages, yellow with age, on the first of which is the year "1631," and on the second, "Ezekiel Cheever, his booke," both in his own handwriting. Then come nearly fifty pages of finely-written Latin poems, composed and written by himself, probably in London; then, there are scattered over some of the remaining pages a few short-hand notes which have been deciphered as texts of Scripture. On the last page of this quaint little treasure--only three by four inches large--are written in English some verses, one of which can be clearly read as, "Oh, first seek the kingdom of God and his Righteousness, and all things else shall be added unto you."

Another MS. of Mr. Cheever's is in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. It is a book six by eight inches in size, of about four hundred pages, all well filled with Latin dissertations, with occasionally a mathematical figure drawn. One turns over the old leaves with affectionate interest, even if the matter written upon them is beyond his comprehension. It certainly is a pleasure to read on one of them the date May 18, 1664.

Verily, New England should treasure the memory of Ezekiel Cheever, the man who called himself "Schoolmaster," for she owes much to him.

* * * * *

THE POET OF THE BELLS.

By E.H. Goss.

Longfellow may well be called the Poet of the Bells; for who has so largely voiced their many uses as he, or interpreted the part they have taken in the world's history. That he was a great lover of bells and bell music is evinced by the many times he chose them as themes for his poems; nearly a dozen of which are about them, containing some of the sweetest of his thoughts; and allusions to them, like this from Evangeline,--

Anon from the belfry Softly the Angelus sounded,"--

are sprinkled all through his longer poems, as well as his prose. The Song of the Bell, beginning,--

"Bell! thou soundest merrily When the bridal party To the church doth hie!"

was among his earliest writings; and The Bells of San Blas was his last poem, having been written March 15, 1882, nine days only before he died:--

"What say the Bells of San Blas To the ships that southward pass From the harbor of Mazatlan?"

And this last stanza must contain the last words that came from his pen:--

"O Bells of San Blas, in vain Ye call back the Fast again! The Past is deaf to your prayer: Out of the shadows of night The world rolls into light; It is daybreak everywhere."

One of his latest sonnets is entitled Chimes.

"Sweet chimes! that in the loneliness of night Salute the passing hour, and in the dark And silent chambers of the household mark The movements of the myriad orbs of light!"

This was sung of the beautiful clock that

"Half-way up the stairs it stands"

in his mansion at Cambridge, by so many thought to be the one referred to in The Old Clock on the Stairs. But no; that one was in the "Gold House" at Pittsfield, and is now in disuse; while this one is a fine piece of mechanism, striking the coming hour on each half hour, and on the hour itself sweet carillons are played for several moments, so familiar to the poet that it is no wonder that to hear it he says,--

"Better than sleep it is to lie awake."

And who has not been entranced by the melody of his

"In the ancient town of Bruges In the quaint old Flemish city, As the evening shades descended, Low and loud and sweetly blended, Low at times and loud at times, And changing like a poet's rhymes, Rang the beautiful wild chimes From the belfry in the market Of the ancient town of Bruges."

In the prologue to The Golden Legend, we have the attempt of Lucifer and the Powers of the Air to tear down the cross from the spire of the Strasburg Cathedral, with the remonstrance of the bells interwoven:

"Laudo Deum verum! Funera plango! Plebem voco! Fulgura frango! Congrego clerum! Sabbata pango!

"Defunctus ploro! Excito lentos! Pestem fugo! Dissipo ventos! Festa decoro! Paco cruentos!"

"I praise the true God, call the people, convene the clergy; I mourn the dead, dispel the pestilence, and grace festivals; I mourn at the burial, abate the lightnings, announce the Sabbath; I arouse the indolent, dissipate the winds, and appease the avengeful."

Another rendering of the two last lines reads:--

"Men's death I tell, by doleful knell; Lightnings and thunder I break asunder; On Sabbath all to church I call; The sleepy head, I raise from bed; The winds so fierce I do disperse; Men's cruel rage, I do assuage."

And in the Legend itself, an historical account of mediæval bell-ringing is given by Friar Cuthbert, as he preaches to a crowd from a pulpit in the open air, in front of the cathedral:--

"But hark! the bells are beginning to chime;... For the bells themselves are the best of preachers; Their brazen lips are learned teachers, From their pulpits of stone, in the upper air, Sounding aloft, without crack or flaw, Shriller than trumpets under the Law, Now a sermon and now a prayer."...

In the Tales of the Wayside Inn occurs the pretty legend of The Bell of Atri, "famous for all time"; and from his summer home in Nahant, from across the waters he listens to

"O curfew of the setting sun! O bells of Lynn! O requiem of the dying day! O bells of Lynn!"

In the Curfew he quaintly and beautifully reminds us of the old _couvre-feu_ bell of the days of William the Conqueror, a custom still kept up in many of the towns and hamlets of England, and some of our own towns and cities; and until recently the nine-o'clock bell greeted the ears of Bostonians, year in and year out. And who does not remember the sweet carol of Christmas Bells?

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men!

* * * * *

"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The wrong shall fail, The right prevail With peace on earth, good will to men!'"

Indeed, many are the sweet and musical strains that he has sung about the bells, and he often wished that "somebody would bring together all the best things that have been written upon them, both in prose and verse."

Southey calls bells "the poetry of the steeples"; and the poets of all ages have had more or less to say upon this subject. Quaint old George Herbert told us to

"Think when the bells do chime 'Tis Angel's music!"

It was a curious theory of Frater Johannes Drabicius, that the principal employment of the blessed in heaven will be the continual ringing of bells; and he occupied four hundred and twenty-five pages of a work printed at Mentz, in 1618, to prove the same.

Truly has it been said: "From youth to age the sound of the bell is sent forth through crowded streets, or floats with sweetest melody above the quiet fields. It gives a tongue to time, which would otherwise pass over our heads as silently as the clouds, and lends a warning to its perpetual flight. It is the voice of rejoicing at festivals, at christenings, at marriages, and of mourning at the departure of the soul. From every church-tower it summons the faithful of distant valleys to the house of God; and when life is ended they sleep within the bell's deep sound. Its tone, therefore, comes to be fraught with memorial associations, and we know what a throng of mental images of the past can be aroused by the music of a peal of bells.

'O, what a preacher is the time-worn tower, Reading great sermons with its iron tongues.'"

* * * * *

CHELSEA.

By William E. McClintock, C.E.

[City Engineer of Chelsea.]

Sheltered from the winds of the Atlantic by the outlying towns of Revere and Winthrop, and that section of the metropolis known as East Boston, Chelsea occupies a peninsula, once called Winnisimmet, fronting on the Mystic River and its two tributaries, the Island End and Chelsea Rivers. Its area of fourteen hundred acres presents an undulating surface, rising from the level of the salt marshes to four considerable elevations, known as Hospital Hill, Mount Bellingham, Powderhom Hill, and Mount Washington.

Originally it was included within the township of Boston, and was settled as early as 1630; and a few years later was connected with Boston by the Winnisimmet Ferry, whose charter, granted in 1639, makes it the oldest chartered ferry company in the United States.

In those early days the Winnisimmet Ferry connected the foot of Hanover Street, in Boston, with the old road leading to Salem and the eastward, which followed the course of Washington Avenue.

Samuel Maverick, of Noddle's Island, an early settler, was the first claimant of the land. Richard Bellingham, "the unbending, faithful old man, skilled from his youth in English law, perhaps the draughtsman of the charter [of the Massachusetts Colony], certainly familiar with it from its beginning, was chosen to succeed Endicott," as governor. About 1634, he came into possession of most of Winnisimmet, but his title was rather obscure; it was confirmed to him, however, by the town of Boston, in 1640. He is not known to have lived upon his estate. He divided the land into four farms, which he let to tenants,--subdivisions which remained substantially the same for two centuries. The government reservation is said to have remained in the possession of Samuel Maverick.

Governor Bellingham died in 1672, at the age of eighty, and, although a lawyer and a good man, left behind him a will which gave rise to litigation that continued for over a century. As this instrument affects every title in Chelsea, it becomes of public interest. He bequeathed the estate of Winnisimmet to trustees, to be devoted to the support of his widow, his son, and his two nieces, during their lives, after which it was to be used to build a meeting-house, support a minister, and educate a limited number of young men for the ministry.

The son, Dr. Samuel Bellingham, after the death of his father, contested the will in court, and had it set aside.

After his death the trustees named in the will brought a suit to carry into effect the directions of the old governor. One by one they dropped out of the contest, silenced by death, until at length the town authorities undertook to maintain their supposed rights. It was not until 1788, after the close of the Revolution, that the case was finally decided, and the town was defeated.

After over a century of outlying dependence, and forced attendance in all weathers at the churches in Boston, the good people of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, having demonstrated their willingness and ability to support a minister, petitioned for and obtained the privileges of a new parish and township, named Chelsea.[3] Rumney Marsh is now known as Revere, and Pullen Point as Winthrop. The new township also included a strip of land half a mile wide and four miles long, extending north-westerly through what is now Maiden and Melrose, well into the town of Wakefield, and at present forming a part of Saugus.

The old Town House, or meeting-house, built in 1710, and still standing, was at Rumney Marsh.

The earliest census of the town, on record, was taken in 1776, and indicated a population of four hundred and thirty-nine.

The Reverend Dr. Tuckerman was settled over the parish, which included the whole township, in 1801, and for a quarter of a century ministered to the people of an almost stationary community. During that time, only three new buildings were erected; and they were built to replace as many torn down.

In 1802, the Chelsea Bridge was built, to form a part of the turnpike (Broadway) leading from Charlestown to Salem. Before that time, the only way to reach Boston from Chelsea, with a loaded team, was through Malden, Medford, Cambridge, and Roxbury, over the Neck, requiring a whole day to make the journey.

As late as 1830, Winnisimmet was of no importance except as a market-garden and thoroughfare. Of the seven hundred and seventy-one inhabitants of Chelsea, but thirty lived within the present limits of the city. The original Bellingham subdivisions were known as the Cary, Carter, Shurtleff, and Williams Farms, and were owned and occupied by those families. Three years previously, in 1827, the general government had secured possession of the hospital reservation, which it still occupies. About 1831, the value of Winnisimmet as the site for a future city became apparent, and a land company was formed, which secured the Shurtleff and Williams Farms, and laid out a very attractive city--on paper.

The ferry accommodations at this date consisted of two sailboats of about forty tons each. During the following summer the steam ferry-boats, Boston and Chelsea, were put on the line, and increased the value of property in Chelsea. These boats were the first of the kind to navigate the waters of Boston Harbor.

In 1832, John Low built the first store, at the corner of Broadway and Everett Avenue, and was the pioneer merchant of the city. The newcomers, known to the older inhabitants as "roosters," settled principally in the neighborhood of the landing. So many came, that in 1840 there were in the town twenty-three hundred and ninety inhabitants. In 1832, the omnibus, "North Ender," commenced running from Chelsea Ferry landing to Boylston Market; the fare was twelve and one-half cents. The "Governor Brooks," the first 'bus in Boston, had been running about a week before. It was twenty years later when an omnibus line was established for the convenience of the village.

To town meetings at Rumney Marsh the settlers at the landing had to tramp to vote on questions affecting the town. Right bravely would they attend to their duties as citizens, to find their efforts of no avail on account of the sharp practices of their neighbors of the Marsh and Point, who would reverse their action at an adjourned meeting. At length, in overwhelming numbers, they assembled once upon a time, and voted a new Town House, near the site of the present Catholic church. As a consequence, North Chelsea was set off in 1846, and Chelsea shrank to its present boundaries. In 1850, notwithstanding the loss of so large an extent of territory, Chelsea numbered sixty-seven hundred and one inhabitants. Seven years later, in 1857, the town was granted a city charter; it was divided into four wards, and Colonel Francis B. Fay was inaugurated the first mayor.

From that time the growth of the city has been rapid. In 1860, there were 13,395 inhabitants; in 1870, 18,547; in 1880, 21,785; to-day there are probably 24,000. The Honorable Hosea Ilsley was the second mayor; he was succeeded by the Honorable Frank B. Fay, in 1861; by the Honorable Eustace C. Fitz, in 1864; by the Honorable Rufus S. Frost, in 1867; by the Honorable James B. Forsyth, M.D., in 1869; by the Honorable John W. Fletcher, in 1871; by the Honorable Charles H. Ferson, in 1873; by the Honorable Thomas Green, in 1876; by the Honorable Isaac Stebbins, in 1877; by the Honorable Andrew J. Bacon, in 1879; by the Honorable Samuel P. Tenney, in 1881; by the Honorable Thomas Strahan, the present mayor, in 1883.

In 1849, the railway connected Chelsea with Boston, and in 1857 the horse-cars commenced running.

During the Rebellion, Chelsea responded loyally for troops. In the Union army there were sixteen hundred and fifty-one soldiers from Chelsea. Of that number, forty-two were killed in battle; sixteen died of wounds; seventy-five died in hospitals; nine died in Rebel prisons; besides one hundred and four who were more or less seriously wounded. The city also furnished one hundred and thirty-seven recruits for the navy during the war. The city has commemorated those heroes who died for their country, by a very appropriate monument in Union Park.

The conservative character of the political fathers of the city may be judged by the fact that Samuel Bassett, who was first elected town clerk in 1849, has served the town and city continuously in that capacity to the present time. For the half-century before his election there had been only three incumbents of the office.

The efforts of the land company, who fostered the early growth of the city, were directed to induce people doing business in Boston to select homesteads in Chelsea; but manufacturing was gradually introduced, until to-day many important industries have become established, which have given the place a world-wide reputation. Chief among these are the works of the Magee Furnace Company. Their buildings occupy a lot of several acres, fronting on Chelsea River. Here the celebrated Magee stove, in all its various forms and patterns, is manufactured from the crude iron. The establishment consumes two thousand tons of coal annually, and converts four thousand tons of pig-iron into graceful and useful articles. John Magee, the organizer and president of the company, is the patentee of all the improvements. The works were established in Chelsea in 1864; they employ five hundred operatives, and produce thirty thousand stoves and furnaces yearly. These are shipped by car-load all through the Northern and Western States, to the Pacific slope, reaching Oregon without breaking bulk. Their goods are sold in England, Sweden, Turkey, Cape Colony, Australia, China, and the islands of the Pacific, although the home demand almost forbids their seeking a foreign market. The popularity of their work may be known from the fact that one hundred and fifty thousand stoves of one pattern have been sold. The iron entering into the manufacture of stoves must be of a peculiar fineness of texture. The best of ore of three or four qualities is mixed, frequently tested, and constantly watched during the manufacturing process.

The beauty of their stove castings has led to a new industry,--the fine-art castings,--in which the most marvelous results are produced. Professional artists and art critics are constantly employed in the establishment, and many thousand dollars are judiciously expended yearly, for the purpose of forming and perfecting new designs to meet the popular demand.

Another celebrated industry of Chelsea is the manufacture of the Low tiles, for household decoration. John G. Low, son of the pioneer merchant, is the artist who has created this class of goods, and he has succeeded in producing a tile of special artistic value. His work surpasses anything of the kind made in the world, and finds a market wherever works of art and beauty are appreciated.

There are several establishments in the city, for the manufacture of rubber goods of every variety, and many hundred operatives find employment therein.

The famous "Globe Works" are soon to be occupied by the extensive establishment of the Forbes Lithograph Company.

The Keramic Art Works of J. Robertson and Sons are noted throughout the land for the beauty of their products.

The pioneer manufacturers of the city are the firm of Bisbee, Endicott, and Company, who established a machine-shop in 1836, and a foundry in 1846, and are still in business.

Aside from these, Chelsea manufactures anchors, pilot-bread, mattresses, bluing, boxes, bricks, britannia ware, brooms, cardigan jackets, carriages, chairs, cigars, confectionery, enameled cloth, fire-brick, furniture, hose, lamp-black, lumber, oils, wall-paper, planes, pottery, roofing, salt, soap, spices, type, tinware, varnish, vaccine matter, vessels, yeast, and window-shades,--giving employment to a very large number of skilled artisans.