Ride to Cambridge.

Early History of the Town.

Washington's Head-quarters.

not yet been busy with their foliage and blades. The road is Macadamized the whole distance; and so thickly is it lined with houses, that the village of East Lexington and Old Cambridge seem to embrace each other in close union.

Cambridge is an old town, the first settlement there having been planted in 1631, cotemporaneous with that of Boston. It was the original intention of the settlers to make it the metropolis of Massachusetts, and Governor Winthrop commenced the erection of his dwelling there. It was called New Town, and in 1632 was palisaded. The Reverend Mr. Hooker, one of the earliest settlers of Connecticut, was the first minister in Cambridge. In 1636, the General Court provided for the erection of a public school in New Town, and appropriated two thousand dollars for that purpose. In 1638, the Reverend John Harvard, of Charlestown, endowed the school with about four thousand dollars. This endowment enabled them to exalt the academy into a college, and it was called Harvard University in honor of its principal benefactor.

Cambridge has the distinction of being the place where the first printing-press in America was established. Its proprietor was named Day, and the capital that purchased the materials was furnished by the Reverend Mr. Glover. The first thing printed was the "Freeman's Oath," in 1636; the next was an almanac; and the next the Psalms, in meter.' Old Cambridge (West Cambridge, or Menotomy, of the Revolution), the seat of the University, is three miles from West Boston Bridge, which connects Cambridge with Boston. Cambridgeport is about half way between Old Cambridge and the bridge, and East Cambridge occupies Lechmere's Point, a promontory fortified during the siege of Boston in 1775.

Arrived at Old Cambridge, I parted company with the vehicle and driver that conveyed me from Concord to Lexington, and hither; and, as the day was fast declining, I hastened to sketch the head-quarters of Washington, an elegant and spacious edifice, standing in the midst of shrubbery and stately elms, a little distance from the street, once the highway from Harvard University to Waltham. At this mansion, and at Winter Hill, Washington passed most of his time, after taking

command of the Continental army, until the evacuation of Boston in the following spring. Its present owner is HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, professor of modern languages in Harvard University, and widely known in the world of literature as one of the most gifted men of the age. It is a spot worthy of the residence of an American bard so endowed, for the associations which hallow it are linked with the noblest themes that ever awakened the inspiration of a child of song.

"When the hours of Day are number'd,
And the voices of the Night

Wake the better soul that slumber'd

To a holy, calm delight;

Ere the evening lamps are lighted,

And, like phantoms grim and tall,

Shadows from the fitful fire-light

Dance upon the parlor wall,"-LONG FELLOW,

1 Records of Harvard College.

Phillis, the black Poet.

Description of Washington's Head-quarters at Cambridge.

Washington's Letter to Phillsthen to the thoughtful dweller must come the spirit of the place and hour to weave a gorgeous tapestry, rich with pictures, illustrative of the heroic age of our young republic. My tarry was brief and busy, for the sun was rapidly descending-it even touched the forest tops before I finished the drawing-but the cordial reception and polite attentions which I received from the proprietor, and his warm approval of, and expressed interest for the suc cess of my labors, occupy a space in memory like that of a long, bright summer day. This mansion stands upon the upper of two terraces, which are ascended each by five stone steps. At each front corner of the house is a lofty elm-mere saplings when Washington beheld them, but now stately and patriarchal in appearance. Other elms, with flowers and shrubbery, beautify the grounds around it; while within, iconoclastic innovation has not been allowed to enter with its mallet and trowel to mar the work of the ancient builder, and to cover with the vulgar stucco of modern art the carved cornices and paneled wainscots that first enriched it. I might give a long list of eminent persons whose former presence in those spacious rooms adds interest to retrospection, but they are elsewhere identified with scenes more personal and important. I can not refrain, however, from noticing the visit of one, who, though a dark child of Africa and a bond-woman, received the most polite attention from the commander-in-chief. This was PHILLIS, a slave of Mr. Wheatley, of Boston. She was brought from Africa when between seven and eight years old. She seemed to acquire knowledge intuitively; became a poet of considerable merit, and corresponded with such eminent persons as the Countess of Huntingdon, Earl of Dartmouth, Reverend George Whitefield, and others. Washington invited her to visit him at Cambridge, which she did a few days before the British evacuated Boston; her master, among others, having left the city by permission, and retired, with his family, to Chelsea. She passed half an hour with the commander-in-chief, from whom and his officers she received marked attention.'

Phillis wrote a letter to General Washington in October, 1775, in which she inclosed a poem eulogistic of his character. In February following the general answered it. I give a copy of his letter, in illustration of the excellence of the mind and heart of that great man, always so kind and courteous to the most humble, even when pressed with arduous public duties.

"Cambridge, February 28, 1776.

"MISS PHILLIS,-Your favor of the 26th of October did not reach my hands till the middle of December. Time enough, you will say, to have given an answer ere this. Granted. But a variety of important occurrences, continually interposing to distract the mind and withdraw the attention, I hope will apologize for the delay, and plead my excuse for the seeming, but not real neglect. I thank you most sincerely for your polite notice of me in the elegant lines you inclosed;* and however undeserving I may be of such encomium and panegyric, the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your poetical talents; in honer of which, and as a tribute justly due to you, I would have published the poem, had I not been apprehensive that, while I only meant to give the world this new instance of your genius, I might have incurred the imputation of vanity. This, and nothing else, determined me not to give it a place in the public prints. If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near head-quarters, I shall be happy to see a person so favored by the Muses, and to whom nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations. I am, with great respect, your obedient, humble servant, GEO. WASHINGTON."

* "I have not been able to find," says Mr. Sparks, "among Washington's papers, the letter and poem addressed to him." Her lines "On the Death of Whitfield," "Farewell to America," and kindred pieces, exhibit considerable poetic talent. The following is a specimen of her verse, written before she was twenty years of age. It is extracted from a poem on "Imagination.'

"Though winter frowns, to fancy's raptured eyes
The fields may flourish and gay scenes arise;
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands,
And bid their waters murmur o'er their sands;
Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign,
And with her flowery riches deck the plain;
Sylvanus may diffuse his honors round,

And all the forests may with leaves be crown'd;
Showers may descend, and dews their gems disclose,

And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose."

in 1773, when she was at the age of nineteen, a volume of her poems was published in London, dedicated to the Countess of Huntingdon. They give evidence of quite extensive reading and remarkable tenacity of memory, many of them abounding with fine allusions to freedom, her favorite theme. After the death of her master, in 1776, she married a man of her own color. but who was greatly her inferior. His name was Peters. She died in Boston, in extreme poverty, on the 5th of December, 1784, aged nearly thirty-one years.

The "Riedesel House." Description of the Place by the Baroness Riedesel. Attestation of the genuineness of Phillis's Poetry.

A few rods above the residence of Professor Longfellow is the house in which the Brunswick general, the Baron Riedesel, and

his family were quartered, during the stay of the captive army of Burgoyne in the vicinity of Boston. I was not aware, when I visited Cambridge, that the old mansion was still in existence; but, through the kindness of Mr. Longfellow, I am able to present the features of its southern front, with a description. In style it is very much like that of Washington's head-quarters, and the general appearance of the grounds around is similar. shaded by noble linden-trees, and adorned with shrubbery, presenting to the eye all the attractions noticed by the Baroness of Riedesel in her charming Letters. Upon a window-pane on the west side of the house

It is

This is from a pencil sketch by Mr. Longfellow. I am also indebted to him for the fac-simile of the autograph of the Baroness of Riedesel. It will be perceived that the i is placed before the e in spelling the name. I have heretofore given it with the e first, which is according to the orthography in Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, &c., wherein I supposed it was spelled correctly. This autograph shows it to be erroneous. Mr. Longfellow's beautiful poem, "The Open Window," refers to this mansion.

2 She thus writes respecting her removal from a peasant's house on Winter Hill to Cambridge, and her residence there :

"We passed three weeks in this place, and were then transferred to Cambridge, where we were lodged in one of the best houses of the place, which belonged to Royalists. Seven families, who were connected by relationship, or lived in great intimacy, had here farms, gardens, and splendid mansions, and not far off orchards, and the buildings were at a quarter of a mile distant from each other. The owners had been in the habit of assembling every afternoon in one or another of these houses, and of diverting themselves with music or dancing, and lived in affluence, in good humor, and without care, until this unfortunate war at once dispersed them, and transformed all their houses into solitary abodes, except two, the proprietors of which were also soon obliged to make their escape.

Our

"On the 3d of June, 1778, I gave a ball and supper, in celebration of my husband's birth-day. I had invited all our generals and officers, and Mr. and Mrs. Carter. General Burgoyne sent us an apology, after he had made us wait for him till eight o'clock. He had always some excuse for not visiting us, until he was about departing for England, when he came and made me many apologies, to which I made no other reply than that I should be extremely sorry if he had put himself to any inconvenience for our sake. The dance lasted long, and we had an excellent supper, to which more than eighty persons sat down. yard and garden were illuminated. The king's birth-day falling on the next day, it was resolved that the company should not separate before his majesty's health was drank; which was done, with feelings of the liveliest attachment to his person and interests. Never, I believe, was 'God Save the King' sung with more enthusiasm, or with feelings more sincere. Our two eldest girls were brought into the room to see The following curious attestation of the genuineness of the poems of Phillis is printed in the preface to the volume. Many of the names will be recognized as prominent in the Revolution.

"TO THE PUBLIC.-As it has been repeatedly suggested to the publisher, by persons who have seen the manuscript, that numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the writings of Phillis, he has procured the following attestation from the most respectable characters in Boston, that none might have the least ground for disputing their original: We, whose names are underwritten, do assure the world that the poems specified in the following page were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young negro girl, who was, but a few years since, brought an uncultivated barbarian from Africa, and has ever since been, and now is, under the disadvantage of serving as a slave in a family in this town. She has been examined by some of the best judges, and is thought qualified to write them.

"The Hon. Thomas Hubbard,

The Hon. John Erving,
The Hon. James Pitts,

The Hon. Harrison Gray,
The Hon. James Bowdoin,
John Hancock, Esq.,
Joseph Green, Esq.,
Richard Carey, Esq.,

"His Excellency THOMAS HUTCHINSON, Governor "The Hon. ANDREW OLIVER, Licut. Governor The Rev. Charles Chauncey, D.D.,

The Rev. Mather Byles, D.D.,

The Rev. Edward Pemberton, D.D.,

The Rev. Andrew Eliot, D.D.,

The Rev. Samuel Cooper, D.D.,

The Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather,

The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead,
Mr. John Wheatley (her master).'"

Autograph of Riedesel.

The "Washington Elm."

Bunker Hill Monument.

may be seen the undoubted autograph of the accomplished general, inscribed with a diamond point. It is an interesting memento, and is preserved with great care. The annexed is a fac simile of it.

During the first moments of the soft evening twilight I sketched the

'Washington elm," one of the ancient anakim of the primeval forest,

Desecration of the Spot

Riedosel

older, probably, by a half century or more, than the welcome of Samoset to the white settlers. It stands upon Washington Street, near the westerly corner of the Common. and is distinguished by the circumstance that, beneath its broad shadow, General Washington first drew his sword as commander-in-chief of the Continental army.a Thin lines of clouds, glowing in the light of the setting sun

like bars of gold, streaked the western sky, and so prolonged the 1775. twilight by reflection, that I had ample time to finish my drawing before the night shadows dimmed the paper.

Early on the following morning I procured a chaise to visit Charlestown and Dorchester Heights. I rode first to the former place, and climbed to the summit of the great obelisk that stands upon the site of the redoubt upon Breed's Hill. As I ascended the steps which lead from the street to the smooth gravel-walks upon the eminence whereon the "Bunker Hill Monument" stands, I experienced a feeling of disappointment and regret, not easily to be expressed. fore me was the great memento, huge and grand-all that patriotic reverence could wish-but the ditch scooped out by Prescott's toilers on that starry night in June, and the mounds that were upheaved to protect them from the shots of the astonished Britons, were effaced, and no more vestiges remain of the handiwork of those in whose honor and to whose memory this obelisk was raised, than of Roman conquests in the shad ow of Trajan's Column-of the naval battles of Nelson around his monument in Trafalgar Square, or of French victories in the Place Vendôme. The fosse and the breast-works were all quite prominent when the foundation

BUNKER HILL MONUMENT.

stone of the

monument

was laid,

the illumination. We were all deeply moved, and proud to have the courage to display such sentiments in the midst of our enemies. Even Mr. Carter* could not forbear participating in our enthusiasm."-Letters and Memoirs relating to the War of American Independence, and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga: By Madame De Riedesel.

1 This important event is recorded on page 564, where a picture of the tree is given.

* This monument stands in the center of the grounds included within the breast-works of the old redoubt on Breed's Hill. Its sides are precisely parallel with those of the redoubt. It is built of Quincy granite, and is two hundred and twenty-one feet in height. The foundation is composed of six courses of stones, and extends twelve feet below the surface of the ground and base of the shaft. The four sides of the foun

Mr. Carter was the son-in-law of General Schuyler. Remembering the kindness which she had received from that gentleman while in Albany, the baroness sought out Mr. and Mrs. Carter (who were living in Boston) on her arrival at Cambridge. "Mrs. Carter," she says, "resembled her parents in mildness and goodness of heart, but her husband was revengeful and false." The patriotic zeal of Mr. Carter had given rise to foolish stories respecting him. "They seemed to feel much friendship for us," says Madame De Riedesel; though, at the same time, this wicked Mr. Carter, in consequence of General Howe's having burned several villages and small towns, suggested to his countrymen to cut off our generals' heads, to pickle them, and to pu them in small barrels, and, as often as the English should again burn a village, to send them one of these barrels; but that cru clty was not adopted."

Description of Bunker Hill Monument. View from its Chamber. Its Construction and Dedication. "Hancock" and "Adams." and a little care, directed by good taste, might have preserved them in their interesting state of half ruin until the passage of the present century, or, at least, until the sublime centenary of the battle should be celebrated. Could the visitor look upon the works of the patriots themselves, associations a hundred-fold more interesting would crowd the mind, for wonderfully suggestive of thought are the slightest relics of the past when linked with noble deeds. A soft green-sward, as even as the rind of a fair apple, and cut by eight straight gravel-walks, diverging from the monument, is substituted by art for the venerated irregularities made by the old mattock and spade. The spot is beautiful to the eye untrained by appreciating affection for hallowed things; nevertheless, there is palpable desecration that may hardly be forgiven.

The view from the top of the monument, for extent, variety, and beauty, is certainly one of the finest in the world. A "York shilling" is charged for the privilege of ascending the monument. The view from its summit is "a shilling show" worth a thousand miles of travel to see. Boston, its harbor, and the beautiful country around, mottled with villages, are spread out like a vast painting, and on every side the eye may rest upon localities of great historical interest. Cambridge, Roxbury, Chelsea, Quincy, Medford, Marblehead, Dorchester, and other places, where

dation extend about fifty feet horizontally. There are in the whole pile ninety courses of stone, six of them below the surface of the ground, and eighty-four above. The foundation is laid in lime mortar; the other parts of the structure in lime mortar mixed with cinders, iron filings, and Springfield hydraulic cement. The base of the obelisk is thirty feet square; at the spring of the apex, fifteen feet. Inside of the shaft is a round, hollow cone, the outside diameter of which, at the bottom, is ten feet, and at the top, six feet. Around this inner shaft winds a spiral flight of stone steps, two hundred and ninety-five in number. In both the cone and shaft are numerous little apertures for the purposes of ventilation and light. The observatory or chamber at the top of the monument is seventeen feet in height and eleven feet in diameter. It has four windows, one on each side, which are provided with iron shutters. The cap-piece of the apex is a single stone, three feet six inches in thickness and four feet square at its base. It weighs two and a half tons. Almost fifty years had elapsed from the time of the battle before a movement was made to erect a commemorative monument on Breed's Hill. An association for the purpose was founded in 1824; and to give eclat to the transaction, and to excite enthusiasm in favor of the work, General La Fayette, then "the na tion's guest," was invited to lay the corner-stone. Accordingly, on the 17th of June, 1825, the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, that revered patriot performed the interesting ceremony, and the Honorable Daniel Webster pronounced an oration on the occasion, in the midst of an immense concourse of people. Forty survivors of the battle were present; and on no occasion did La Fayette meet so many of his fellow-soldiers in our Revolution as at that time. The plan of the monument was not then decided upon; but one by Solomon Willard, of Boston, having been approved, the present structure was commenced, in 1827, by James Savage, of the same city. In the course of a little more than a year, the work was suspended on account of a want of funds, about fifty-six thousand dollars having then been collected and expended. The work was resumed in 1834, and again suspended, within a year, for the same cause, about twenty thousand dollars more having been expended. In 1840, the ladies moved in the matter. A fair was announced to be held in Boston, and every female in the United States was invited to contribute some production of her own hands to the exhibition. The fair was held at Faneuil Hall in September, 1840. The proceeds amounted to sufficient, in connection with some private donations, to complete the structure, and within a few weeks subsequently, a contract was made with Mr. Savage to finish it for forty-three thousand dollars. The last stone of the apex was raised at about six o'clock on the morning of the 23d of July, 1842. Edward Carnes, Jr., of Charlestown, accompanied its ascent, waving the American flag as he went up, while the interesting event was announced to the surrounding country by the roar of cannon. On the 17th of June, 1843, the monument was dedicated, on which occasion the Honorable Daniel Webster was again the orator, and vast was the audience of citizens and military assembled there. The President of the United States (Mr. Tyler), and his whole cabinet, were present.

In the top of the monument are two cannons, named, respectively, "Hancock" and "Adams," which formerly belonged to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. The "Adams" was burst by them in firing a salute. The following is the inscription upon the two guns:

"SACRED TO LIBERTY.

"This is one of four cannons which constituted the whole train of field-artillery possessed by the British colonies of North America at the commencement of the war, on the 19th of April, 1775. This cannon and its fellow, belonging to a number of citizens of Boston, were used in many engagements during the war. The other two, the property of the government of Massachusetts, were taken by the enemy. By order of the United States in Congress assembled, May 19th, 1788."