EDITOR’S FOREWORD
Josiah Quincy Jr.’s Southern Journal (1773)
Daniel R. Coquillette
This new transcription and edition of Josiah Quincy Jr.’s extraordinary southern adventure has been an adventure in itself. My fellow travelers have been my exceptional research assistants: Michael H. Hayden, Boston College Law School Class of 2004, Nicole Scimone, Boston College Law School Class of 2005, Susannah B. Tobin, Harvard Law School Class of 2004, and Elizabeth Papp Kamali, Harvard Law School Class of 2007. Michael Hayden also provided the transcription, which is a true labor of love, and many of the annotations. Without all this great effort, the project would have been impossible. All in all, this was a team effort, and it has been a privilege to work with such outstanding young people.
The manuscript of the Southern Journal is at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston in the Quincy, Wendell, Holmes and Upham Family Papers (hereafter “Quincy Papers”) microfilm P-347, Reel 3, Ms. QP-61, JQII. It was first printed in Josiah Quincy, Memoir of the Life of Josiah Quincy Jun. (1st ed., Boston, 1825), pp. 73–141 (hereafter “Memoir”), a book actually prepared in most part by Quincy’s granddaughter, Eliza Susan Quincy (1798–1884), but published under her father’s name. Eliza prepared a second edition in 1874, in which the Southern Journal appears at pp. 56–111. Both of these versions are unreliable, Eliza having excised important material. As she noted: “Some of his particular observations, from the familiarity of our present intercourse, might appear trite and uninteresting, and will be omitted, as also will be, for the most part, all those particular strictures on the nature of the population of the southern colonies, which was most likely to make the deepest impression on an inhabitant of the northern, and by which a stranger, of his turn of mind, could not fail to be peculiarly affected.” See Memoir, supra, pp. 72–73. Needless to say, these omissions include particularly interesting material! Eliza also omitted important materials from Quincy’s letter to his wife of March 1, 1773, from Charleston. See Memoir, supra, pp. 71–73, 2d ed., pp. 73–96. For a full account of Eliza Quincy’s literary activity, see Neil L. York’s “Prologue” and “The Making of a Patriot: A Life Cut Short” at pp. 10–11, 15 in volume 1 of this series, Portrait of a Patriot: The Major Political and Legal Papers of Josiah Quincy Jr. (hereafter “Quincy Papers”).
The Southern Journal has only been published once before in an unexpurgated version, by the legendary Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. XLIX (October 1915–June 1916), pp. 426–481 (hereafter, “Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916”). Howe, who was related to the Quincy family by marriage, also transcribed Quincy’s London Journal, an account of his voyage to London in 1774–1775, which has been newly edited for these volumes by my co-editor, Neil Longley York, in Volume 1 of the Quincy Papers, supra. Professor York has included a compelling short biography of Howe at Volume 1, pp. 219–221, which I will not attempt to repeat here.
This new transcription and edition of the Southern Journal was done directly from the manuscript, and is more accurate than the earlier version. Where, however, Howe’s annotations proved valuable, they have been retained, with citations to the Proceedings.
Such a massive project would have been impossible without the extraordinary efforts of the transcriber, Michael H. Hayden, Esq., Boston College Law School Class of 2004 and Member of the Massachusetts bar. In so many ways, Mr. Hayden was the ideal student, research assistant, and colleague. Enthusiastic, original, and thorough, he has an exceptional historical sense and a taste for grinding hard work. The quality and care of the transcription, which, unlike Howe’s, reproduces each page of the manuscript, is a labor of love. Further, Mr. Hayden provided a large number of the annotations and illustrations, with this co-editor taking responsibility for the rest, together with any errors. Mr. Hayden’s Transcriber’s Foreword, which follows, gives only a brief glimpse of his scholarship and dedication.
I should also again acknowledge the loyal and intelligent assistance of Susannah Tobin, Harvard Law School Class of 2004, who provided the Latin translations, Elizabeth Kamali, Harvard Law School Class of 2007, who reviewed them, and Nicole Scimone, Boston College Law School Class of 2005, who labored long and hard to supplement the annotations and to locate the many wonderful illustrations. As always, it has been an exceptional pleasure to work with my co-editor, Neil Longley York, Karl G. Maeser Professor at Brigham Young University and Chair of the History Department, and John W. Tyler, Editor of Publications to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and Chair of the History Department at Groton. They are both gentlemen and scholars in every sense of the word. Finally, special thanks are due to that great institution and guardian of our nation’s history, the Massachusetts Historical Society, its exceptional Librarian, Peter Drummey, and to the Quincy family, who have taken a close interest in this project.
THE TEXT
The text has been reproduced as closely as possible to the manuscript itself, with each page printed as it appears in the manuscript. This is a major improvement on the expurgated, if not censored, version of Eliza Quincy and on Howe’s transcription. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Michael H. Hayden, we have Quincy’s original page numbering, and the important distinction between Quincy’s text and the margin notes. Each line corresponds exactly to the lines in the original. See Michael Hayden’s Transcriber’s Foreword, infra, for his sensitive treatment of spelling and abbreviations.
Where useful, some of Howe’s annotations have been retained, with a citation to “Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916,” but the notes have been greatly expanded and brought up-to-date. Howe actually annotated the Southern Journal very lightly compared to his edition of the London Journal, with 97 notes over 55 pages for the former, and 176 notes over 37 pages for the latter. This new edition has 327 notes and 24 illustrations, plus an index.
The Transcriber’s Foreword also discusses the mystery of the missing pages 125 and 126, which were cut out by a blade. Quincy also crossed out lines at pages 81 and 92, and left blanks on pages 138 (where he could not recall a name), on page 155 (where he did not wish to enter Benjamin Franklin’s name), on page 159 (where he could not recall the first name of a “Dr. Cox”), and on page 164, in the middle of a discussion of Pennsylvania’s politics. These blanks are all indicated where they occur in the original manuscript. There are also some most interesting later inserts, ably discussed by Michael Hayden in the Transcriber’s Foreword, infra.
* An abbreviated version of this introduction was published as Daniel R. Coquillette, “Sectionalism, Slavery, and the Threat of War in Josiah Quincy Jr.’s 1773 Southern Journal,” 79 New England Quarterly (2006), pp. 181–201.
1. See the discussion in Bruce Redford, Venice and the Grand Tour (New Haven, 1996), pp. 5–25. See also Jeremy Black, The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1999).
2. See biographical sketch in Law in Colonial Massachusetts (editors D. R. Coquillette, R. J. Brink, C. S. Menand, Boston, 1984), pp. 350–351. (Hereafter, “Law in Colonial Massachusetts!”)
3. See Gordon S. Wood’s excellent discussion in The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin (New York, 2004), pp. 105–151.
4. Compare the “rough travel” journals set out in Travels in the American Colonies (Newton D. Mereness, ed., 1st published 1916, reprinted, 1961, New York).
5. Southern Journal, p. 3. Sailing packets rivaled steam craft for speed well into the nineteenth century. See Seymour Dunbar, A History of Travel in America (Indianapolis, 1915), vol. 2, pp. 372–392.
6. John Harrison (1693–1776) finished his famous chronometer “H-4” in 1759, but he was not acknowledged as solving the longitude “problem” until 1773, the year of Quincy’s voyage. Although Captain James Cook tested chronometers successfully between 1772 and 1775, they were not generally deployed on commercial vessels until the nineteenth century. See Derek House, Greenwich Time and the Discovery of the Longitude (Oxford, 1980), pp. 71–72. The only usual methods to calculate longitude before the chronometer was the complex “lunar distance” method or “dead reckoning” using a ship’s log to calculate speed through the water, a highly inaccurate method. Id., pp. 16, 54, 194–197. Both would have been useless in a storm like the one experienced by Quincy. See also, Rupert T. Gould, The Marine Chronometer: Its History and Development (London, 1923), pp. 40–70; The Quest for Longitude (ed. William J.H. Andrews, Cambridge, 1996), pp. 235–254; and Dava Sobel, Longitude (New York, 1995), pp. 152–164.
7. In 1786, it still took four to six days just to go to New York, from Boston, by road, depending on the weather. Major road improvements took place between 1790 and 1840. See Jack Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life 1790–1840, pp. 205–211.
8. See York, Introduction, Quincy Papers, vol. 1 at pp. 35, 43.
9. See Alice Morse Earle, Home Life in Colonial Days (New York, 1898), pp. 325–363. Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution (New York, 1992), pp. 24–56. (Hereafter “Wood, Radicalism.”)
10. Southern Journal, p. 42. Note, all footnote citations to the manuscript are to Quincy’s original pagination, carefully retained in this edition.
11. See Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life 1790–1840, supra, pp. 211–213.
12. See Alice Morse Earle, Home Life in Colonial Days (New York, 1898), p. 346.
13. Id., p. 346.
14. Id., p. 348. “The traveler Weld, in 1795, gave testimony that the bridges were so poor that the driver had always to stop and arrange the loose planks ere he dared to cross.” Id., p. 348.
15. Id., p. 349.
16. See Southern Journal, pp. 87–88.
17. York, Introduction, vol. 1, supra, pp. 27–28.
18. See Clifford K. Shipton, Sibley’s Harvard Graduates, vol. XV: Biographical Sketches of Those Who Attended Harvard College in the Classes 1761–1763 (Boston, 1970), pp. 348–349 (hereafter, Sibley’s Harvard Graduates). Quincy’s age was listed as “13’14.” Id., p. 348. See Neil L. York’s excellent biographical introduction to volume 1 of this series, “A Life Cut Short,” Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. 15ff.
19. See Southern Journal, p. 132. In this, Quincy would recognize his future collaborator, Benjamin Franklin, as a “gentleman” despite his origins in trade. “In 1748, at the age of forty-two, Franklin believed he had acquired sufficient wealth and gentility to retire from active business. This retirement had far more significance in the mid-eighteenth century than it would today. It meant that Franklin could at last become a gentleman, a man of leisure who no longer would have to work for a living.” Gordon S. Wood, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin (New York, 2004), p. 55. (Hereafter, “Wood, Franklin”) See generally, Id., pp. 17–60, “Becoming a Gentleman.”
20. Southern Journal, p. 132.
21. Quincy was never formally made a barrister, although he argued cases before the Superior Court of Judicature. “I argued … to the Jury, though not admitted to the Gown: ___ The Legality and Propriety of which some have pretended to doubt; but as no Scruples of that kind disturbed me, I proceeded (manger any) at this Court to manage all my Business … though unsanctified and uninspired by the Pomp and Magic of—the Long Robe,” Reports, p. 317. His great-grandson Samuel noted that this was due to “[t]he political course of Mr. Quincy having rendered him obnoxious to the Supreme Court of the Province …” Id., p. 317 n. (1), quoting Quincy’s Life of Quincy, p. 27. The truth of that loyal remark is hard to judge. Certainly the like of John Adams and James Otis Jr. were admitted to the bar, but earlier. See Reports, p. 35, Memorandum of 1762 listing the members of the bar.
22. Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution (New York, 1992), p. 24. (Hereafter “Wood, Radicalism.”) See also Ronald Schultz, “A Class Society? The Nature of Inequality in Early America,” Inequality in Early America (Hanover, N.H., 1999), p. 203. Schultz believes that America only became “a true class society” in the 1880s. See Id., p. 216.
23. See Richard R. Beeman, The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America (Philadelphia, 2004), pp. 1–30. (Hereafter, “Beeman.”)
24. See Southern Journal, infra, p. 53.
25. Id., p. 57. Quincy was horrified by dinner conversation indicating that “to steal a negro was death, but to kill him was only fineable” (emphasis in original). His reaction at the table, however, was to say “Curious laws and policy!” Id., p. 57.
26. Id., p. 98.
27. Id., pp. 96, 98–99.
28. Id., p. 138. On Dulany’s fate as a loyalist, see Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 1943), V, p. 499.
29. Id., p. 89.
30. Wood, Radicalism, supra, p. 101.
31. Id., p. 99.
32. Id., p. 99.
33. Id., p. 99.
34. Southern Journal, p. 88.
35. The Estate Catalogue of Quincy’s library indicated a “Cicero Thoughts” as Item 256. Quincy Estate Catalogue, Quincy Papers, vol. 5 (Appendix 9). This book was probably the popular English translation Thoughts of Cicero. “First published in Latin and French by the Abbé d’Olivet.” The translator was Alexander Wishart. It was first published in London in 1751, then in Glasgow in 1754, and again in London in 1773. Thomas Jefferson had the Glasgow edition in his library [7.84]. See Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, vol. II (Charlottesville, 1983), p. 37. The book consisted of translated extracts from Cicero’s most famous letters, tracts, and speeches, including De Legibus (begun 52 b.c., not published until after Cicero’s death in 43 b.c.), the Tusculum Disputations (45–44 b.c.) and his letters to his brother, Ad Quintum Fratrem (59–54 b.c.). See The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (2d ed., M. C. Howatson, ed., 1989), pp. 131–134. In his Political Commonplace, item 97, Quincy quoted from Cicero’s “Oration for Sextius,” Pro Sextus Roscias (80–79 b.c.). “The Republic is always attacked with greater vigour than it is defended … whereas the honest … when they would be glad to compound at last for their quiet, at the expence of their honour, they commonly lose them both.” See Political Commonplace, Quincy Papers (Hereafter, “Political Commonplace”), volume 1, pp. 138–139, 204. See also The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (M. C. Howatson, ed., Oxford, 1989), pp. 128–134. (Hereafter, “Howatson.”)
36. Wood quotes Conyers Middleton’s popular Life of Cicero (1741). “[N]o man, how nobly soever born, could arrive at any dignity, who did not win it by his personal merit.” Wood, Radicalism, supra, p. 100.
37. On entail, see Dudley v. Dudley, Reports, p. 12; Elwell v. Pierson, Reports, p. 42; and Baker v. Mattocks, Reports, p. 69. On extent of liability for a husband’s debts, see the famous “naked wife” case, Hanlon v. Thayer, Reports, p. 99. On the harsh threat of execution to the mother of a stillborn child if she could not prove she was married, due to a statutory presumption of murder, see Dom. Rex v. Mangent, Reports, p. 162. There were also cases on the husband’s liability to support an abandoned wife and children. See Brown v. Culnan, Reports, p. 66. Interestingly enough, the only woman to feature in Quincy’s Reports in a business context was indicted for “keeping a bawdy house.” See Dom. Rex v. Doaks, Reports, p. 90.
38. See J. H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (4th ed., London, 2002), pp. 272–296 (hereafter, “Baker”); Marylynn Salmon, Women and the Law of Property in Early America (Chapel Hill, 1986), pp. 81–90. See generally, Susan Stevas, Married Women’s Separate Property in England 1660–1833 (Cambridge, Mass., 1990).
39. See the extensive discussion in the note to Baker v. Mattocks, Reports, p. 69.
40. See the extensive discussion in the notes to Dudley v. Dudley, Reports, p. 12. Virginia, on the other hand, made it particularly difficult to bar entails, even prohibiting the “Common Recovery” fiction for barring entails used in England. See Baker, supra, pp. 281–283. Quincy disapproved. “An Artistocratical spirit and principle is very prevalent in the Laws policy and manners of this Colony, and the Law ordaining that Estates—tail shall not be barred by Common Recoveries is not the only instance thereof.” Southern Journal, p. 128.
41. See also the discussion in the notes to Elwell v. Pierson, Reports, p. 42. See “Baron & Feme,” Law Commonplace, Quincy Papers, vol. 2, pp. 25–28 citing Quincy’s pagination. (Hereafter, “Law Commonplace.”) For a good account of the legal status of colonial women, see Mary Beth Norton, “Either Married or to Bee Married: Women’s Inequality in Early America,” in Inequality in Early America (eds. C. G. Pertand, S. V. Salinger, Hanover, N.H., 1999), pp. 25–45.
42. In this case, the mother’s life was saved when the court held that a marriage license by an out-of-state clergy was admissable “without any authentication from any Magistrate.” See the extensive notes to Dom. Rex v. Mangent, Reports, p. 162.
43. See Southern Journal, p. 1, n. 1.
44. See London Journal, Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. 267–269.
45. See Neil L. York, Introduction, vol. 1, pp. 44–45. Five years after her husband’s death, Abigail wrote, “I have been after told, that time would wear out the greatest sorrow, but mine I find is still increasing. When it will have reached its summit I know not.” Id., p. 44.
46. See Southern Journal, p. 45, n. 57.
47. Id., at p. 113.
48. Id., at p. 45.
49. Id., at p. 45. Quincy wrote to his brother Samuel on April 6, 1773: “I saw little of that exuberance, hilarity and roar which are so incident to a Northern festival and entertainment: Indeed in point of genuine vivacity and fire the Northern Bells and Sparks surpass those of the South whose spirit and blaze seem exhausted or extinguished by a warmer sun.” Dana Mgs. (Massachusetts Historical Society), Sibley’s Harvard Graduate, vol. XV, supra, p. 484.
50. Id., at pp. 90–95.
51. Id., at p. 89.
52. Id., at p. 67.
53. See Wood, Radicalism, supra, pp. 43–56. See also Ruth H. Bloch, Gender and Morality in Anglo-American Culture, 1650–1800 (Berkeley, 2003), pp. 1–17.
54. Cara Anzilotti, In the Affairs of the World: Women, Patriarchy and Power in Colonial South Carolina (Westport, Conn., 2002), p. 193.
55. See “Editor’s Introduction,” Beyond Image and Convention: Explorations in Southern Women’s History, J. L. Coryell, M. H. Swain, S. C. Treadway, E. H. Turner eds. (Columbia, S.C., 1998), pp. 1–9; Mary Beth Norton, Founding Mothers & Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society (New York, 1996); Patricia Cleary, “She Will Be in the Shop: Women’s Sphere of Trade in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia and New York,” 119 Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1995), 181–202; Elizabeth Anthony Dexter, Colonial Women of Affairs: A Study of Women in Business and the Profession in America Before 1776 (Cambridge, Mass., 1924), pp. 180–194; and Ruth H. Bloch, Gender and Morality in Anglo-American Culture 1650–1800, pp. 363–373.
56. Id., supra, p. 180.
57. Southern Journal, p. 149.
58. Id., p. 174.
59. Id., p. 178.
60. Id., p. 175.
61. Id., p. 176.
62. Id., pp. 49–50.
63. Id., p. 50.
64. Id., p. 47.
65. Id., p. 49. See also, id., p. 66. “Two ladies being called on for toasts, the one gave—‘Delicate pleasures to susceptible minds.’ The other, ‘When passions rise may reason be the guide.’” Id., p. 66.
66. Id., p. 170.
67. Id., p. 170.
68. See note 37, supra.
69. See Wood, Radicalism, supra, pp. 43–56. See also Laurel T. Ulrich, Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England 1650–1750 (New York, 1982), pp. 237–241 (hereafter, “Ulrich”); and Kathleen M. Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs (Chapel Hill, 1998), pp. 367–373.
70. See note 56, supra.
71. See Ulrich, supra, pp. 237–241.
72. See the annotations at Reports, p. 29.
73. See the annotations at Reports, p. 94.
74. See the annotations at Reports, p. 74.
75. See Oscar Reiss, Blacks in Colonial America (Jefferson, N.C., 1997), pp. 65–72. (Hereafter “Reiss.”)
76. See the discussion at Reports, p. 95. Quincy cited to Smith v. Brown and Cooper, 2 Salkeld’s Reports 666 (1706) and Smith v. Gould, 2 Salkeld’s Reports, pp. 666–667 (1706). See also 2 Lord Raymond’s Reports, pp. 1274–1275, for another report of Smith v. Gould with the head note “Trover does not lie for a negroe.” Id., p. 1274. [Trover was the general cause of action for recovering the value of goods against another.] In the former case, Chief Justice Holt held “that as soon as a negro comes into England, he becomes free one may be a villein in England, but not a slave.” Smith v. Brown and Cooper, 2 Salkeld’s Reports (1706) at p. 666. But he added this advice to the plaintiff, who sought to recover £20 “for a negro sold by the plaintiff to the defendant,” by the contractual action of indebitatus assumpsit
Holt, C.J. You should have averred in the declaration, that the sale was in Virginia, and, by the laws of that country, negroes are saleable: for the laws of England do not extend to Virginia, being a conquered country in their law is what the King pleases; and we cannot take notice of it but as set forth; therefore he directed the plaintiff should amend, and the declaration should be made, that the defendant was indebted to the plaintiff for a negro sold here at London, but that the said negro at the time of sale was in Virginia, and that negroes, by the laws and statutes of Virginia, are saleable as chattels. Id., pp. 666–667.
The report in Smith v. Gould, supra, was even more ambiguous. This also involved “trover,” an action for recovery of the value of goods.
Lastly, it was insisted, that the Court ought to take notice that they were merchandize, and cited 2 Cro. 262. The case of monkeys, 2 Lev. 201. 3 Keb. 785. 1 Inst. 112. If I imprison my negro, a habeas corpus will not lie to deliver him, for by Magna Charta he must be liber homo. 2 Inst. 45. Sed Curia contra, Men may be the owners, and therefore cannot be the subject of property. Villenage arose from captivity, and a man may have trespass quare captivum suum cepit, but cannot have trover de gallico suo. And the Court seemed to think that in trespass quare captivum suum cepit, the plaintiff might give in evidence that the party was his negro, and he bought him. Id., p. 667.
The head note reads “Trover lies not for a negro; but in trespass quare captivum suum cepit, plaintiff may give in evidence that he was his negro.” Id., p. 667.
Given Quincy’s personal opposition to slavery, so strongly reflected by the Southern Journal, the marginal note may reflect his view of what the law should be in Massachusetts, rather than what it was.
77. Reports, p. 98. As Samuel Quincy noted, the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature upheld a trover action for a negro in 1763. Id., p. 98. See Goodspeed v. Gay, Barnstable, Records 1763, Vol. 47. Slavery was finally abolished in Massachusetts by Quok Walker and Nathaniel Jennison case between 1781–1783. See Reiss, supra, pp. 71–72, William O’Brien, “Did the Jennison Case Outlaw Slavery in Massachusetts?” 17 (3d series) William and Mary Quarterly (April 1960), pp. 224–233; and Robert M. Spector, “The Quok Walker Case (1781–1783): The Abolition of Slavery and Negro Citizenship in Early Massachusetts,” 52 Journal of Negro History (1968), pp. 12–16.
78. Reiss reports that “[i]n Boston … a runaway named Josiah Quincy was saved when a mob beat a marshal trying to do his duty.” Reiss, supra, p. 194.
79. Southern Journal, p. 91.
80. Id., p. 95.
81. Wood, Radicalism, supra, p. 54.
82. See Law Commonplace, supra, “Of Apprentices & Servant,” pp. 19–21, and the annotations. Hutchinson vetoed a bill in 1771 barring the importation of slaves into Massachusetts, pointing out that “a slave was in no worse position than ‘a servant would be who had bound himself for a term of years exceeding the ordinary term of human life.’” See Bernard Bailyn, The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson (Cambridge, Mass., 1974), p. 378. (Hereafter, “Bailyn, Ordeal.”)
83. Wood, Radicalism, supra, p. 55.
84. Southern Journal, p. 84.
85. Id., p. 82. For a typical large plantation of the area, see Illustration 2.
86. Id., p. 89.
87. Id., p. 80.
88. Id., p. 89.
89. Id., pp. 56–57.
90. Id., pp. 113–114.
91. Id., pp. 92–93.
92. Id., p. 110.
93. Id., p. 114.
94. Id., p. 57. (Italics in original.)
95. Quincy thus anticipated the central issue of Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 Howard) 393 (1857). As Chief Justice Roger Taney put it, it was not an issue of property law, but whether any person “of that class of persons … whose ancestors were negros of the African race, and imported into this country, and sold and held as slaves” could ever be citizens “when they are emancipated, or who are born of parents who had become free before their birth.” Id., p. 403. “The question is simply this: Can a negro, whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitution of the United States.” Id., p. 403. Free black or not, the answer was “no.” The issue was race, not property rights.
96. Southern Journal, pp. 91–92.
97. Beeman, supra, p. 135. See also Reiss, supra, pp. 108–114. The ratio of whites to blacks in North Carolina was 4 to 1, Id., p. 115. The 1790 census, the first official census, gave the total white population of South Carolina as 140,178 with 107,094 slaves and only 1,801 free blacks. This, of course, included the back country, where slaves were less numerous than in the plantations on the rivers. By comparison, there were only 948 slaves in a population of 68,825 in Rhode Island. Slavery was already abolished in Massachusetts, although those who owned slaves were allowed to keep them even after 1780. Courtesy U.S. Census Bureau.
98. See infra, p. 34, fn. 105.
99. In this observation, too, Quincy was in the vanguard of shifting opinion. As Michael Greenberg has demonstrated, “[c]riticism of the morality of slaveholding increased as more and more people realized that slave labor was incompatible with the ethical and material basis of a market society.” Michael Greenberg, “Of Men and Markets: Slavery and the Development of the Virginia Planter Class,” in Essays on Eighteenth Century Race Relations in the Americas, J. S. Saeger, ed. (Bethlehem, Pa., 1987), p. 73.
100. Southern Journal, pp. 109–110.
101. Id., pp. 92–93.
102. See A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Barbara K. Kopytoff, “Racial Purity and Interracial Sex in the Law of Colonial and Antebellum Virginia,” 77 Geo. L.J. 1967 (1989) at pp. 1989–2007; Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs, pp. 194–211.
103. Southern Journal, p. 113.
104. Id., p. 91.
105. Id., p. 92.
106. Id., p. 110.
107. Id., pp. 91–93.
108. Id., p. 114.
109. Id., p. 93.
110. Id., p. 94.
111. Id., p. 113.
112. Id., p. 114.
113. Id., pp. 93–94, notes omitted. See annotations at text. Quincy frequently used Latin maxims to store and convey legal ideas. See the discussion at “Introduction to the Law Commonplace,” Quincy Papers, vol. 2. As to slavery, Quincy once again anticipated modern scholarship, which has described the vicious effect of slavery and racism on colonial jurisprudence. See A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Anne F. Jacobs, “The ‘Law Only as an Enemy’: The Legitimization of Racial Powerlessness through the Colonial and Antebellum Criminal Laws of Virginia,” 70 N.C.L. Rev. 969 (1992), 984–1016. (Hereafter, “Higginbotham, Jacobs.”) “Under this legalized system of ‘stripes and death,’ blacks had the worst of both worlds: they received almost no protection from cruelty and slaughter and were punished far more severely than whites. They were treated as less than human whenever it benefited the economic interests of the white master or the white power structure. Yet, when it came to punishing them, blacks were held to a more rigorous standard than whites. Not only were they punished more harshly for the same offenses whites committed, but they also risked execution and dismemberment for conduct that was legal for whites. Referred to as ignorant, immoral, and savage, they were expected to conform to a system of laws that legitimized cruelty and rendered them powerless.” Id., p. 1068, (notes deleted). See also Sally Hadden’s excellent Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas (Cambridge, Mass., 2001) and C.W.A. David, “The Fugitive Slave Law of 1739,” 9:1 Journal of Negro History (Jan. 1924), p. 18, at pp. 21–23; David Meaders, “South Carolina Fugitives,” 60:2 Journal of Negro History (April 1973), p. 291.
114. The classic statement of “The Absolute Rights of Individuals” at common law had just been published by William Blackstone in the first volume of his Commentaries on the Laws of England (Oxford, 1765), pp. 117–141. These include “a person’s legal and uninterrupted enjoyment of his life, his limbs, his body, his health, and his reputation,” Id., p. 125, as guaranteed by the Magna Carta, The 1628 Petition of Right, The 1689 Bill of Rights and other key English constitutional documents. Id., pp. 123–125. Blackstone proudly proclaimed that “[T]his spirit of liberty is so deeply implanted in our Constitution, and rooted even in our very soil, that a slave or a negro, the moment he lands in England, falls under the protection of the laws, and with regard to all natural rights becomes eo instanti a free man.” Id., 123. This doctrine was, of course, not applied in the colonies or even, as a practical matter, in England. Lord Mansfield, as late as 1772, “employed every technical device to evade a declaration upon the legality of slavery.” C.H.S. Fifoot, Lord Mansfield (Oxford, 1936), p. 41. As to Mansfield’s final and famous resolution of the issue in Sommersett’s Case, 20 St. Tr. 1 (1772), see Steven M. Wise’s fine book, Though the Heavens May Fall: The Landmark Trial that Led to the End of Human Slavery (Cambridge, Mass., 2005). For a full discussion of the English constitutional documents, see Daniel R. Coquillette, The Anglo-American Legal Heritage (2d ed., 2003, Durham, N.C.), pp. 59–63, 311–326, 366–368.
115. Southern Journey, pp. 56–57. For an excellent account of “plantation and extrajudicial justice” and how “the law actually sanctioned the master’s private law-enforcement authority over the slaves,” see Higginbotham, Jacobs, supra, pp. 1062–1067. For context, see George C. Rogers Jr., Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys (Columbia, S.C., 1980), pp. 26–88; Weir, Colonial South Carolina, pp. 173–203; Robert Bosen, A Short History of Charleston (2nd edition, Charleston, 1992), pp. 67–79.
116. See the Law Commonplace, “Apprentices & Servants,” pp. 19–21; and “Baron & Feme,” pp. 25–29.
117. Southern Journal, p. 93.
118. Id., pp. 94–95.
119. See “III. Gentility,” p. 18 supra. Wood, Radicalism, supra, pp. 95–109.
120. Id., pp. 100–101.
121. Id., p. 110.
122. See text at notes 72–77, supra.
123. Southern Journal, pp. 87–88.
124. Exploiting distrust of Massachusetts and its leaders has a long and continuing history, as Presidential candidates Governor Dukakis and Senator Kerry can attest.
125. Southern Journal, p. 54.
126. Id., p. 55.
127. Id., p. 55.
128. Id., p. 94.
129. Southern Journal, pp. 134–135. On religious practices in the colonies, see Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America (New York, 1986); Richard Pointer, Protestant Pluralism and the New York Experience: A Study of Eighteenth Century Religious Diversity (Bloomington, Ind., 1988). See also Sally Schwartz, “A Mixed Multitude”: The Struggle for Toleration in Colonial Pennsylvania (New York, 1987); Jon Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People (Cambridge, Mass., 1992); and Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, The Churching of America, 1776–1990 (New Brunswick, N.J., 1992). (Hereafter, “Finke and Stark.”)
130. See Section “A,” p. 42 infra.
131. Frank Lambert, The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America (Princeton, 2003), p. 206. (Hereafter “Lambert.”)
132. Southern Journal, p. 88.
133. Id., p. 86.
134. Id., pp. 87–88.
135. Id., pp. 165–166.
136. Id., p. 51.
137. Id., p. 51.
138. Id., p. 51.
139. Id., p. 52.
140. Id., p. 52.
141. Id., p. 52.
142. Id., p. 52.
143. Id., p. 52.
144. Id., p. 89.
145. See discussion at Sec. V, “Race and Slavery,” supra.
146. Southern Journal, p. 111.
147. Did Eliza S. Quincy, in shock, cut these out? Or was it her father, Josiah the Mayor? It is a mystery. See the discussion in the Editor’s Foreword and the Transcriber’s Foreword, supra.
148. Southern Journal, p. 124.
149. Id., pp. 134–135.
150. See Lambert, supra, pp. 73–99. Massachusetts only discontinued tax support for religion in 1833. Id., p. 223.
151. Southern Journal, pp. 135–136. Quincy noted that “[t]here are upwards of 5000 Roman Catholicks in this province,” id., p. 140, but the Calvert proprietors had renounced Catholicism in 1715 for Anglicanism. By 1773, Catholics were still tolerated, but were a distinct minority. They had never been a majority. As Roger Finke and Rodney Stark observed, “Founded by Lord Baltimore as a haven for Roman Catholics, Maryland was the most Catholic colony in 1776. But that wasn’t very Catholic—about three people in a hundred.” Finke and Stark, supra, p. 30. Anglicanism was the established religion. See Id., p. 140, note 222.
152. “I was however upon the whole much gratified, (and believe if I had stayed in town a month should go to the Theatre every acting night.) But as a citizen and friend to the morals and happiness of society I should strive hard against the admission and much more the Establishment of a Playhouse in any state of which I was a member.” Id., pp. 174–175.
153. Id., p. 150. Quincy attended a Moravian service, with mixed results. See p. 46 and note 160, supra.
154. See Id., p. 151, note 254. See also the New Catholic Encyclopedia (Palatine, Ill., 1981 reprint), vol. 9, pp. 972–973. Arguably, the Catholic chapels in Maryland were older. See Id., vol. 9, pp. 971–972, 1016.
155. See Southern Journal, p. 157.
156. Id., p. 151.
157. Id., p. 151.
158. See id., p. 158, n. 271.
159. Id., p. 158. Quincy, was, however, rude about the communion, referring to “nick nacks,” slang for appetizers. “We were not asked to come within the Communion, nor presented with a sight of the Nick nacks I had seen at a distance.” Id., p. 158.
160. Id., p. 152. See, on the Moravians, id., p. 150, n. 253. It was a “Christ-centered” worship, as Quincy noted.
161. See Wood, Franklin, supra, p. 69.
162. See Southern Journal, p. 166.
163. Id., p. 167.
164. See id., p. 167, n. 288.
165. Id., p. 165.
166. Id., p. 165.
167. Id., p. 145.
168. See Edmund S. Morgan, Benjamin Franklin (New Haven, 2002), pp. 15–22, 59. (Hereafter “Morgan, Franklin.”)
169. Id., p. 163.
170. Lambert, supra, p. 205. See also Finke and Stark, supra, pp. 22–53.
171. Lambert, supra, p. 206.
172. Beeman, supra, p. 94.
173. Id., p. 93.
174. Southern Journal, p. 111.
175. Id., pp. 134–135.
176. Id., p. 111.
177. Id., p. 163.
178. See Morgan, Franklin, supra, pp. 15–22, 59.
179. See Wood, Radicalism, p. 331.
180. Southern Journal, p. 151.
181. Wood, Radicalism, pp. 329–330.
182. See Southern Journal, pp. 86–87.
183. Adams observed, “Looking about me in the Country, I found the practice of Law was grasped into the hands of Deputy Sheriffs, Petty-foggers and even Constables … I mentioned these Things to some of the Gentlemen in Boston, who disapproved and even resented them very highly. I asked them whether some measurer might not be agreed upon at the Bar and sanctioned by the Court, which might remedy the Evil?” Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, L. H. Butterfield ed., Vol. III, p. 274. See, Daniel R. Coquillette, “Justinian in Brain-tree: John Adams, Civilian Learning, and Legal Elitism, 1758–1775,” Law in Colonial Massachusetts, pp. 359–418. (Hereafter, “Coquillette, Justinian in Braintree.”)
184. See Josiah Quincy, Memoir of the Life of Josiah Quincy (2d ed., Eliza L. Quincy, Boston, 1874), pp. 27–28. (Hereafter, “Memoir.”)
185. See John H. Langbein, “Blackstone, Litchfield, and Yale: The Founding of the Yale Law School,” in History of the Yale Law School (New Haven, 2004), pp. 23–32. (Hereafter, “Langbein.”)
186. Quincy’s legal training is discussed at length in the “The Legal Education of a Patriot: Josiah Quincy Jr.’s Law Commonplace,” Quincy Papers, vol. 2 (Hereafter “Introduction, Law Commonplace.”) His tutor, from 1763 to 1765, was Oxenbridge Thacher (1719–1765) “one of the most eminent lawyers of the period.” See Memoir, supra, pp. 6–7 and Appendix 6 to the Reports, Quincy Papers, vol. 5, for a brief biography. See also Langbein, supra, pp. 19–20; Charles R. McKindy, “The Lawyers as Apprentice: Legal Education in Eighteenth Century Massachusetts,” 28 J. Legal Educ. 124, 127–136 (1976) and Steve Sheppard, “Casebooks, Commentaries, and Curmudgeons,” 82 Iowa L. Rev. 547, 553–556 (1997).
187. See the “Introduction, Law Commonplace,” Quincy Papers, vol. 2. Thomas Jefferson had the benefit of legal training by George Wythe (1726–1806), but before Jefferson himself established a legal program at William and Mary in 1779, John Marshall was one of Wythe’s students there in 1780. Marshall only attended a brief course of lectures in that year. See generally Paul D. Carrington’s excellent “The Revolutionary Idea of University Legal Education,” 31 William and Mary L. Rev. 527 (1990).
188. See Reports, p. 317. “… I proceed (maugre any) at this court to manage all my own Business… though unsanitified and uninspired by the Pomp and Magic of the Long Robe.” Id.
189. See Reports, supra, Appendix 10, “Composition of the Superior Court of Judicature, 1745–1775.”
190. See Southern Journal, pp. 68–71, as to South Carolina, where the judges did not serve quam se bene gesserint (“as long as they shall behave themselves”).
191. See Reports, p. 215, pp. 265–272, p. 316. See Bernard Bailyn, The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson (Cambridge, Mass., 1974), pp. 117–118. (Hereafter, “Bailyn.”) Hutchinson was accused of “accumulating offices and functions totally incompatible with each other.” Id., p. 117.
192. See Quincy’s scathing comments on the lack of published statutes in South Carolina, Southern Journal, p. 61, and of “no laws in force” in North Carolina, id., p. 108 (emphasis in original).
193. Id., pp. 74, 77. These had been compiled by Edward Rutledge (1749–1800). Quincy’s copy remains in the Massachusetts Historical Society, Quincy Family Papers, No. 60 (Micro. Reel 4). See James Haw, John & Edward Rutledge of South Carolina (Athens, Georgia, 1997), pp. 19–21, 179.
194. Id., p. 119.
195. See Introduction, Law Commonplace, Quincy Papers, vol. 2. See also Reports, Quincy Papers, vol. 5, Appendix 9, “Catalogue of Books Belonging to the Estate of Josiah Quincy jun: Esq: Deceas’d.”
196. See Quincy’s emotional reaction, “I pray GOD give me better hearts,” to the looting of Chief Justice Hutchinson’s house. Reports, pp. 168–173.
197. See Southern Journal, pp. 56–61, 87–88.
198. Id., p. 57.
199. Id., p. 61, and accompanying notes.
200. Id., p. 61, and accompanying notes.
201. Id., p. 61, and accompanying notes.
202. William Simpson was “One of the assistant-judges of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, Assize, etc., of the said Province.” See Morris L. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law (Buffalo, 1998), vol. III, p. 25, Item 8001.
203. Southern Journal, p. 61. Quincy may have been a bit unkind to South Carolina’s legal culture. In 1736 Nicholas Trott, “Chief Justice of the Province of South Carolina,” had published The Laws of the Province of South Carolina (Charleston, 1736), in two parts, including the “Two Charters granted by Charles II to the Lord Proprietors of South Carolina” and the Act of Parliament in which these proprietors surrendered “their Title and Interest to His Majesty.” Earlier, in 1721, Trott had published The Laws of the British Plantations in America Relating to the Church and the Clergy, Religion and Learning (London, 1731). But there was no regular publication of the statutory law, as in Massachusetts. See Daniel R. Coquillette, “Radical Lawmakers in Colonial Massachusetts: The ‘Countenance of Authoritie’ and the Lawes and Libertyes” 67 New England Quarterly (1994), p. 179 at pp. 194–206. Special thanks to Mark Sullivan.
204. Id., p. 61.
205. See J. H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (4th ed., London, 2002), pp. 53–69. (Hereafter, “Baker.”) See also Daniel R. Coquillette, The Anglo-American Legal Heritage (2d ed., Durham, N.C., 2004), pp. 147–164. (Hereafter, “Coquillette.”)
206. See Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 2 “There shall be one form of action to be known as ‘civic action’.”
207. Southern Journal, p. 61.
208. Wood, Radicalism, supra, p. 72.
209. Id., p. 72.
210. See Daniel R. Coquillette, “First Flower—The Earliest American Law Reports and the Extraordinary Josiah Quincy, Jr. (1744–1775),” 30 Suffolk University Law Review (1996), pp. 1–34.
211. See Southern Journal, pp. 74, 77 and accompanying notes.
212. See Introduction, Law Commonplace.
213. See, for example, Dudley v. Dudley (1762), Reports, pp. 15–25; Banister v. Henderson (1765), Reports, pp. 130–155.
214. See the discussion in Bailyn, supra, pp. 49–51. Governor Bernard was correct in being able to “count on Hutchinson’s diligence in perfecting his knowledge of the law.” Id., p. 50. See Hanlon v. Thayer, Reports, p. 99, where Hutchinson admonished the lawyers for insufficient use of authority. Id., p. 102.
215. Southern Journal, p. 64. (Emphasis in the original.)
216. Id., p. 62.
217. Id., p. 65. A reference to John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, 1713–1799, see p. 182, n. 91, infra.
218. Id., p. 67.
219. Id., pp. 68–69. Quincy noted that two of the existing provincial judges had pushed the salary bill through the legislature, only to see their positions assigned to British placemen. “They are now knawing their tongues in rage.” Id., p. 73.
220. Id., pp. 68–69.
221. Id., p. 79.
222. See id., pp. 61, 71.
223. Id., p. 88. See also Wood, Radicalism, supra, pp. 57–77.
224. See Southern Journal, pp. 92–95.
225. Id., p. 94.
226. Id., p. 106.
227. Id., pp. 101–102.
228. Id., p. 116.
229. Id., p. 116, note 188.
230. Id., p. 108.
231. Id., pp. 111–112.
232. Id., p. 117.
233. Robert Stevens, Law School: Legal Education in America from the 1850s to the 1980s (Chapel Hill, 1983), p. 4. (Hereafter, “Stevens, Law School: Legal Education in America.”) See Paul D. Carrington’s excellent “The Revolutionary Idea of University Legal Education,” 31 William and Mary L. Rev. 527 (1990).
234. Id., p. 4.
235. Southern Journal, p. 118.
236. Id., p. 118.
237. Id., p. 119.
238. Id., p. 118.
239. Id., p. 119.
240. Id., p. 120.
241. See Coquillette, supra, pp. 183–188, 205–212, 311–325; Baker, supra, pp. 97–125.
242. For John Adams’s experience in the colonial vice-admiralty courts, see Coquillette, Justinian in Braintree, pp. 382–395.
243. Southern Journal, pp. 121–122.
244. See id., p. 121, and accompanying note.
245. Id., pp. 122–123.
246. Id., p. 123.
247. Id., pp. 123–124.
248. See Dudley v. Dudley (1762), Reports, p. 12 ff., and accompanying notes, and Baker v. Mattocks (1763), Reports, p. 69 ff., and accompanying notes. See also Earl Jowitt, The Dictionary of English Law (London, 1959), pp. 715–716.
249. See Baker, supra, p. 282; Coquillette, supra, pp. 113–114.
250. Southern Journal, p. 128.
251. Id., p. 138.
252. Id., p. 140.
253. Id., p. 147.
254. Id., p. 149.
255. Id., p. 162.
256. Id., p. 162.
257. Id., p. 162. Quincy did have a few rude words for another rival of Harvard, the “College” of Philadelphia. “To the South and North of this province we have much too exalted an idea of it.” Id., p. 149. This was to become the vestigial University of Pennsylvania, first chartered as an academy in 1751, and then as a college in 1765. In 1790, James Wilson would be appointed professor of law here, and would deliver his famous lectures from 1790–1791. See Stevens, Law School: Legal Education in America, pp. 11–12, n. 15, 15, n. 47.
258. Despite the distinction of Pennsylvania, we still know relatively little about its colonial legal system, at least compared to Massachusetts. As George L. Harkins observed in 1983, “[T]here have been few studies of the foundation of Pennsylvania’s legal system.” See George L. Harkins, “Influences of New England Law on the Middle Colonies,” 1 Law & Hist. Rev. 238 (1983), at 238, and sources cited. But there are exceptions. See, for example, Paul Lermack, “The Law of Recognizances in Colonial Pennsylvania,” 50 Temp. L. G. 475 (1977).
259. Southern Journal, p. 156. This was a blatant lie, as Quincy later recognized. Id., p. 156. See Morgan, Franklin, pp. 149–158.
260. Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (enlarged ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1992), p. 34. (Hereafter, “Bailyn, Ideological Origins.”) See also John C. Miller, Origins of the American Revolution (Stanford, 1959), pp. 144–145, 304 (“Whig gentry” as opposed to the radicals); Beeman, Radicalism, supra, pp. 95–109 (“Classical republican virtue”).
261. See York, “The Making of a Patriot,” Introduction, Quincy Papers, vol. 1.
262. Southern Journal, p. 155.
263. Id., p. 156.
264. Id., p. 155.
265. See Neil L. York, Turning the World Upside Down: The War of American Independence and the Problem of Empire (Westport, Conn., 2003), pp. 83–84, 87, 111–114. See also Neil L. York, “Federalism and the Failure of Imperial Reform, 1774–1775,” History, 86:282 (2001), 155, 160–164 (hereafter, “York, Federalism”); Bernhard Knollenberg, Growth of the American Revolution 1766–1775, pp. 81–211.
266. See Morgan, Franklin, pp. 145–188; Wood, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, pp. 105–151. The political realities of the American Revolution dawned slowly on the British officials. See the excellent account in Stanley Weintraub’s recent Iron Tears: America’s Battle for Freedom, Britain’s Quagmire: 1775–1783 (New York, 2005). This book has led Gordon Wood to comment “[I]f history teaches anything, it teaches humility.” See Gordon S. Wood, “The Makings of a Disaster,” a review of the Weintraub book in The New York Review of Books, vol. 52, no. 7 (April 28, 2005), pp. 32–34.
267. York, Federalism, p. 170.
268. Id., p. 168.
269. Id., p. 172.
270. Id., p. 178, n. 91. As Neil York has also demonstrated, even the opposition Rockingham Whigs, such as William Dowdeswell, had great difficulty identifying with the colonists’ concerns. See Neil York, “William Dowdeswell and the American Crisis, 1763–1775.” 90 History (2005). 507, “Dowdeswell was the quintessential English country gentleman who could not truly empathize with protesting Americans.” Id., p. 507.
271. Southern Journal, pp. 96, 107.
272. Id., p. 104.
273. Id., pp. 53–54.
274. Id., p. 184.
275. Id., p. 18.
276. “Where little villains must submit to fate, The great ones may enjoy the World in state,” Sir Samuel Garth, The Dispensary: A Poem in Six Cantos (London, 1699), first canto. Many thanks to extraordinary diligence of Michael Hayden and Mark Sullivan in identifying this citation.
277. Southern Journal, pp. 18–19 (emphasis in original).
278. Id., pp. 19–20. See, on “enlightenment,” Wood, Radicalism, supra, pp. 146–147, 189–196.
279. Id., pp. 20–21.
280. Id., p. 21.
281. Id., pp. 21–22 (emphasis in original).
282. Id., p. 22.
283. Id., p. 22.
284. Id., p. 23.
285. Id., p. 23.
286. The London Journal, 1774–1775, supra, p. [248].
287. Id., p. [248].
288. Wood, Radicalism, supra, pp. 51–55.
289. Beeman, supra, pp. 147–151.
290. They offended Quincy, too. “In company were two of the late appointed assistant Justices from G[reat] B[retain]. Their behavior by no means abated my zeal against the British.” Southern Journal, p. 65.
291. Id., pp. 70–71.
292. Id., p. 46.
293. Id., pp. 53–54.
294. Id., p. 54.
295. Id., pp. 54–55.
296. See id., pp. 87–88. “Political enquiries and philosophie disputations are too laborious for them: they have no great passion to shine and blaze in the forums or Senate.” Id., p. 88.
297. Id., p. 55.
298. Id., pp. 55–56.
299. Id., p. 56.
300. Id., p. 78.
301. Id., p. 79.
302. See Beeman, supra, pp. 126–156.
303. Southern Journal, p. 89.
304. Id., p. 84.
305. Id., p. 86.
306. Id., pp. 85–86. (Emphasis in the orginal.)
307. Id., p. 86.
308. Id., p. 86.
309. Id., p. 86.
310. Id., pp. 87–88.
311. Id., pp. 84–85.
312. See VII, supra, “Laws and Lawyers,” Part B “North Carolina,” pp. 57–58, supra.
313. Southern Journal, p. 110.
314. Id., p. 110.
315. Id., p. 110.
316. Id., p. 111.
317. Id., p. 74 and extensive description of the “Regulators” in note 114.
318. Id., p. 107. Quincy used “sensible” to mean “convinced, persuaded.” See Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “sensible.”
319. Southern Journal, p. 97.
320. Id., p. 96.
321. Id., pp. 96–97.
322. Id., p. 97.
323. See Beeman, supra, pp. 169–177.
324. “The profound alienation that typified these outbursts of violence in the Regulator movement had its payoff during the Revolution, when the eastern rulers of North and South Carolina society asked the back country settlers for their support during the Revolution.” Id., p. 176. The result was more violence, the “Uncivil War.” Id., pp. 176–177.
325. Id., p. 177.
326. Southern Journal, p. 116.
327. Id., p. 116. See Wood, Radicalism, pp. 68–69, on the reliance of gentry like Quincy on income from loans.
328. Southern Journal, p. 116.
329. Id., p. 116.
330. Southern Journal, p. 184.
331. Id., p. 184.
332. On the threat of slavery to the unity of the colonies, Quincy was a brilliant prophet. See the discussion at Section V, “Race and Slavery,” pp. 28–40, supra.
333. See Id., pp. 184–185 and accompanying notes.
334. Id., pp. 123–124.
335. These would be Southern Journal, pp. 125–126. See Editor’s Foreword, supra, and Transcriber’s Foreword, pp. 3–9, supra.
336. Southern Journal, pp. 121–122.
337. Id., p. 124.
338. Id., p. 127.
339. Id., pp. 121–122.
340. See Beeman, supra, p. 31.
341. Southern Journal, p. 130.
342. Id., p. 131.
343. Id., p. 141.
344. Id., pp. 134–135. See the discussion at Section VI, “Religion,” pp. 40–49, supra.
345. Southern Journal, p. 139.
346. Id., p. 140.
347. Id., pp. 138–139.
348. Id., p. 139. Derrick Lapp, Carroll’s biographer, described the struggle as follows:
“As the relationship between Great Britain and her North American colonies became more and more strained in the early 1770’s, events in Maryland would provide an opportunity for the Carrolls to re-enter the political stage. The lower house of the Maryland legislature began an investigation of the amount of revenue earned by proprietary officials by virtue of the office held. The high earnings revealed by this probe led the lower house to propose a reduction in fees, which, of course was rejected by the upper house. The ensuing ‘fee controversy’ pitted Daniel Dulany, the deputy secretary of Maryland (and one of the officials found garnering huge annual sums) against Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who took up the pen and the persona of ‘First Citizen’ to publish a series of essays in the Maryland Gazette. In their debate, ‘First Citizen’ and ‘Antilon’ (Daniel Dulany’s pseudonym) battled over the nature of government, the rights of Man, and the role of religious affiliation. In his first letter, which appeared on February 4, 1773, ‘First Citizen’ wrote: ‘Government was instituted for the general good, but Officers intrusted with its powers, have most commonly perverted them to the selfish views of avarice an ambition; hence the Country and court interests, which ought to be the same have been too often opposite, as must be acknowledged and lamented by every true friend of Liberty …’”
See Derrick Lapp, First Citizen Charles Carroll of Carrollton (Maryland State Archive Online Publication, 2004), (hereafter, “Lapp”). See also Charles Carroll, Daniel Dulany, Maryland and the Empire, 1773; The Antilon – First Citizen Letters (Johns Hopkins, 1974); Dictionary of American Biography, V, p. 499.
The origin of the pseudonyms is interesting. According to the Dictionary of American Biography, Dulany
“on January 7, 1773, published a letter in defense of the government signed ‘Antilon,’ a pseudonym which it was generally understood concealed the identity of Daniel Dulany [q.v.]. This letter, in the form of a dialogue in which the arguments of ‘First Citizen’ against the government’s position were overcome by Dulany speaking as ‘Second Citizen,’ gave Carroll his opportunity. Dramatically enough he stepped into the clothes of the straw man Dulany had knocked down and under the signature of ‘First Citizen’ reopened the argument. The controversy was carried on in the Maryland Gazette until July 1, 1773, and when it was over Carroll had become indeed something like the First Citizen of the province.” Id., vol. III, p. 532.
Thus Dulany actually invented “First Citizen” as a straw man for argument, and Carroll adopted it for his use in a counterattack! But what about “Antillon”? According to Edward C. Papenfuse, Dulany “chose ‘Antilon’ which combines ‘anti’ and an old English word for unfair taxes [“Lon”].” “Remarks by Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse on the occasion of the presentation of First Citizen Awards to Senator Charles Smelser & Dr. William Richardson (Feb. 17, 1995), p. 1. http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/stagser/s1259/121/7047/html/ecpremar.html (hereafter, “Papenfuse”). See Oxford English Dictionary (2d ed., J. A. Simpson, E. S. C. Weiner, Oxford, 1989), Vol. VIII, p. 1120. (“lon” obs. forms of “loan”). This could possibly derive from the notorious forced “loans” of Charles I that resulted in the Five Knights’ Case of 1627 and the Petition of Right (1628). See Coquillette, supra, pp. 322–325. In any event, Dr. Papenfuse believed that Dulany “wanted to remind his readers that he had once eloquently defended them against the hated Stamp Tax.” Papenfuse, supra, p. 1. My special thanks to Mark C. Sullivan for this research.
349. Southern Journal, p. 140.
350. Id., p. 140.
351. See Id., p. 138, note 217. When Carroll died at age 91, he was the last surviving signer. According to Lapp:
Carroll of Carrollton would demonstrate himself to be a “true friend of Liberty” for nearly three decades. He served on the first Committee of Safety in Annapolis, and while Maryland wavered on the subject of pursuing independence, Carroll joined Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase in the effort to recruit Canada as a “fourteenth colony” in rebellion against England. As a Maryland delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Carroll served on the Board of War. He also helped to frame the Maryland constitution and would serve in the new state government as well as the Federal Congress as a U.S. Senator for Maryland. Lapp, supra.
352. Southern Journal, p. 138.
353. Id., p. 139.
354. See the discussion at Section III, “Gentility,” pp. 18–21, supra.
355. Southern Journal, p. 142.
356. Id., p. 143.
357. Id., p. 148, and accompanying notes.
358. Id., pp. 149–150, and accompanying notes.
359. Id., p. 148, and accompanying notes.
360. Id., pp. 149–150, and accompanying notes.
361. Id., p. 149.
362. Id., pp. 155–156.
363. See Morgan, Franklin, pp. 49–70; Wood, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, pp. 17–60; Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (New York, 2004), pp. 146–174.
364. Id., p. 168.
365. Id., p. 161.
366. Id., p. 162.
367. See Morgan, supra, pp. 100–103, 114–115.
368. Southern Journal, p. 164.
369. Id., pp. 164–165.
370. Id., p. 165.
371. Id., p. 165.
372. Id., p. 165.
373. Id., p. 165.
374. According to Morgan, “what rankled most, at least to Franklin, was the interposition of the proprietary power between George II and his Pennsylvanian subjects … ‘the Proprietaries claiming that invidious and odious Distinction, of being exempted from the Common Burdens of their Fellow subjects.’” Morgan, Franklin, supra, pp. 100–101.
375. Southern Journal, supra, pp. 184–185.
376. Id., p. 166.
377. Id., p. 166.
378. Id., p. 168.
379. Id., p. 171.
380. See Editors’ Foreword to the Quincy Papers, Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. xvii–xxvii.
381. Southern Journal, p. 116.
382. Id., p. 134.
383. Id., p. 139.
384. Id., p. 91.
385. Id., p. 86.
386. Id., p. 88.
387. Id., p. 85.
388. For this insight into the latest academic controversies, I am grateful to my dear friend and colleague, Charles Donahue. See his masterful Washington and Lee Lecture of 2004, “Why and Whither Legal History?” pp. 2–9 [unpublished MS]. Quincy’s Southern Journal also fits neatly into two other current trends, “micro-history” and “prosopography,” both focusing on detail and the individual as tools for comprehending complex developments. “Prosopography” derives from the Greek “prosopan,” or “face” and refers to “a description of a person’s appearance, personality, social and family connections, career, etc.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary (8th ed., R. E. Allen, ed., Oxford, 1990), p. 959.
389. See Introduction, Law Commonplace, Quincy Papers, vol. 2.
390. Southern Voyage, p. 184.
391. See York, “The Making of a Patriot,” Part I, “A Life Cut Short,” Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. 32–35.
392. See The London Journal (1774–1775), vol. 1, pp. 267–269.
1. A reference to Quincy’s wife Abigail, the daughter of William Phillips of Boston. They married in 1769. She was referred to in Quincy’s journals as “E …” or “Eugenia,” as Howe observed “according to the affectations of the day.” Mark DeWolf Howe, Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 50 (October 1916 – June 1917), p. 434, n. 3. (Hereafter, “Howe, Proceedings, 1916‒1917.”) Howe was the editor of this journal in its first, and only, publication before this newly edited version, which is obviously indebted to his efforts. See Neil York’s tribute to Howe in the appendix to the Political Commonplace Book, Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. 219–221. Howe’s notes are integrated into this edition, as noted, with amendments.
2. Alexander Pope (1688‒1744), poet. Quotation from Pope’s An Essay on Man (London, 1733), Epistle 1, 1.13. Quincy owned all of the Pope’s works at his death. See Reports, Appendix 9, item 312 (“Catalogue of Books Belonging to the Estate of Josiah Quincy, Jun:Esq Decease’d). (Hereafter, “Quincy, Estate Catalogue.”)
3. Zoroaster: Prophet of ancient Iran in the latter half of the seventh century before the Christian era; the period of his activity falls between the closing years of Median rule and the rising wave of Persian power. Forerunner of Confucius, Zoroaster was a Magian, a.k.a. the famed Magi. The Persian wars brought Rome into contact with Zoroastrian. A.V. William Jackson, Zoroaster, The Prophet of Ancient Iran (London: MacMillan Co., 1899), pp. 140‒142.
4. “One of the last remaining uses for sailing ships was transoceanic mail delivery. Called packet boats after the British nickname for the mail dispatch, mail ships were built for speed. They carried mail to overseas locations, usually under the control of the home country.” Such ships usually offered the fastest and cheapest oceanic fares. Ships, Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft, Inc. 2002.
5. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 427-2]. Capt. Skimmer was killed in an engagement with a letter of marque brig in August 1778.
6. Virgil, Eclogue I: “We have left our country’s borders and sweet fields.”
7. Quincy’s father’s mansion stood in what was then Braintree, now Quincy. Completed in 1770, it would have been visible from the channel leaving Boston. See Illustration 1. Quincy’s father lived there until his death in 1784, at which point it was inherited by his grandson, Quincy’s son, Josiah “the Mayor.” See Neil L. York, “A Life Cut Short,” Introduction, Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. 15–46.
8. Virgil, Eclogue I: “You, Tityrus, calm in the shade.”
9. Virgil. “In his Eclogues he added a new level of meaning to the pastoral’s idealization of country life …” The Oxford Companion to English Literature (5th ed., M. Drabble ed.), 1031. (Hereafter, “Drabble.”) See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, p. 3, item 118, “Virgil.”
illustration 1. Map of Boston Harbor (London, c. 1775). Courtesy, Library of Congress, American Memory Collection. The Quincy homestead in Braintree is indicated in the lower, middle left (circled). The shipping channel would have been in sight above. See p. 89, Southern Journal, p. 3, “my father’s cottage.”
10. The Helicon was the largest mountain of Boeotia, a legendary mount of the muses. The fountain supplied by the mountain’s streams “were believed to inspire those who drank from them.” The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (2nd ed., M. C. Howatson, ed.), p. 264. (Hereafter, “Howatson.”) “A draught from Helicon could once inspire / The bard to wing in song his loftiest flight; But poets of these later times require / A draft from Wall Street, payable at sight.” By Anne C. Lynch: Poems, 1852. Epigram.
11. Translation: “To me as great Apollo.” From Virgil, Eclogue III.
12. Yorick: Pseudonym of Laurence Sterne (1713‒1768), whose nine volumes of Tristam Shandy, published between 1760‒1768, were the most popular literary productions of England during the 1760s. “The book was read enthusiastically at Sterne’s own university, Cambridge, [where] a group at the university signed a mock deposition, stating that it contained the ‘best & truest & most genuine original & new Humour, ridicule, satire, good sense, good nonsense’ ever published.” Alan B. Howes, Yorick and the Critics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958), pp. 2, n. 7; 5, n. 7. The pseudonym was probably inspired by the King’s jester whose skull was dug up in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (v. 1). See Drabble, supra, 7.
13. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 428-2]. Joseph Trapp (1679‒1747), poet and pamphleteer, Dictionary of National Biography, LVII, 155.
14. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 428-3]. By Abel Evans (1679‒1737). The epigram usually reads: “Keep the commandments, Trapp, and go no further, For it is written, that thou shalt not murther.”
15. Almost certainly the Boston Light on Little Brewster Island at the harbor’s entrance. The first light was built in 1716, and greatly improved after a fire in 1751. See Illustration 2, showing the Light as Quincy would have known it. It was damaged by both American and British troops during the Revolution and was replaced in 1783. See S. R. Snowman and J. G. Thomson, Boston Light: An Historical Perspective (Plymouth, Mass., 1999), pp. 7‒14.
16. A solution. Apparently a sea sickness remedy. See Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language (concise edition, London, 1756), n.p. “diluter.” (Hereafter, “Johnson, Dictionary.”) I have chosen this edition of Johnson’s dictionary as the one more likely to be available to American colonists than the massive unabridged version. “Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, as well as his theory of language … remains an invaluable guide to what our founders had in mind when they set the democratic experiment in motion.” Jack Lynch, “Dr. Johnson’s Revolution,” New York Times (July 3, 2005), p. A-27.
illustration 2. Boston Light was “the first modern-style lighthouse in the New World.” As Quincy saw it, it would have been rebuilt as of 1751. See Mapping Boston (eds. A. Krieger, D. Cobb, A. Turner, Cambridge, Mass., 1999), p. 104. This view was based on a rendition of William Burgis in 1729, pictured on the front of Massachusetts Magazine, February 1789, just after the light was rebuilt in 1783. (Courtesy, Library of Congress.) See S. R. Snowman, J. G. Thomson, Boston Light: A Historical Perspective (Plymouth, Mass., 1999), p. 9. Many thanks to my Editorial Assistant, Patricia Tarabelsi. See p. 95, Southern Journal, p. 6, “reached the Light house.”
17. From Euclid’s Elements (c. 300 b.c.). See Howatson, supra, 223–224.
18. John Gay (1685–1732), poet and dramatist. Gay’s first series of ‘Fables’ was issued in 1727; the second series, his principal posthumous work, was issued in 1736. It is in this posthumous edition that the fable of “The Cook-maid, the Turnspit and the Ox” first appears. See Gay, Fables, pp. 228–232. The gist of the fable is the cook-maid envys her masters, the dog kept to turn the roasting-spit by running on a treadmill, i.e. “the turnspit,” envys the cook-maid, but neither is as badly off as the ox on the spit. “Let envy then no man torment: think on the ox, and learn content.” Id. Gay was among the main representatives of burlesque comedy in the 18th century, “[w]ith his famous Beggar’s Opera (1728) he produced one of the funniest and most original stage works of the age.” Michel-Michot, Paulette, Marc Delrez, and Christine Pagnoulle, History of English Literature, 2d part, 1660–1840 (University of Liege, Belgium, unpublished). See Drabble, supra, pp. 384–385. Gay composed his own epitaph for his memorial in Westminster Abbey. “Life is a jest, and all things show it. I thought so once and now I know it.” Id., p. 383. Special thanks to Mark Sullivan.
19. [Binnacle]: a housing for a ship’s compass and a lamp. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition.
20. The Boston Light. See Illustrations 1 and 2, supra.
21. “Justice” is crossed out in the manuscript. Quincy is referring to his law practice before the Massachusetts Superior Court. Johnson defines “jar” as “[c]lash; discord; debate.” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “jar.”
22. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 430-1]. From William Shakespeare, The Tempest. “[P]robably written in 1611, when it was performed before the King in Whitehall.” Drabble, p. 968. The first line reads, “The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch.” Act 1, scene 2. See p. 179, infra.
23. [Hussar:] a member of any of various European units originally modeled on the Hungarian light cavalry of the 15th century. Also used to describe “jacket” or “waistcoat” as in “hussar jacket.” See The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford, 1971), vol. 1, p. 1353. (Hereafter, “Oxford English Dictionary.”) [Surtout:] a man’s long close-fitting overcoat. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition.
24. See note 12, supra.
25. For an account of John Alexander Hunter, see “Introduction,” Southern Journal, supra, at Section VIII, A., “Hunter, the Dishonest Purser,” pp. 64–66.
The quotation comes from a satirical poem by Sir Samuel Garth (1661–1719), a distinguished physician and friend of Alexander Pope, written to ridicule the opposition of the London apothecaries to a charitable dispensary established by the College of Physicians that gave free drugs to the poor. See Drabble, supra, pp. 381–382. The poem, in its final corrected version, was published by John Nutt as The Dispensary: A Poem in Six Cantos (2nd ed., London, 1699). The relevant verses read as follows:
Not far from that most celebrated place [the Old Bailey],
Where angry Justice shows her awful face;
Where little villains must submit to fate,
That great ones may enjoy the world in state;
There stands a dome [the Dispensary], majestic to the sight,
And sumptuous arches bear its oval height;
A golden globe, placed high with artful skill,
Seems, to the distant sight, a gilded pill:
This pile was, by the pious patron’s aim,
Raised for a use as noble as its frame.
Id., pp. 1–2. As always, my gratitude to Mark Sullivan, superb reference librarian.
26. [“Belles Lettres”] “Writings on studies of a literary nature …” The Concise Oxford Dictionary (Ed. R. E. Allen, 8th ed., Oxford, 1990), p. 101. (Hereafter, Concise Oxford Dictionary.) “Severer studies” are advanced studies, such as law.
27. Admiral John Montagu (1719–1795), commander-in-chief on the North American station, 1771–1774. See Dictionary of National Biography, XXXVIII, 258. See also Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 434-1].
28. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £45 Sterling = $45,000 (2004); £300 Sterling = $300,000 (2004); £400 = $400,000 (2004). In a freewheeling way, I have arrived at these values by comparing costs of contemporary commodities, including books and hogsheads of wine. See pages 77 and 119, infra. Other comparative costs are to be found at pp. 44, 53, 61, 67, 71, 76–78, 82, and 119, infra. For example, Longfellow House on Brattle Street in Cambridge sold in 1781 for $4,264. Modern houses of comparable size and desirability sell for about $4 to $5 million. The same ratio is true of most commodities mentioned by Quincy. While the ratios are higher than those usually employed, I believe they are more realistic. See John J. McCusker, “How Much is that in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for use as a Deflation of Money Value in the Economy of the United States,” Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, vol. 101, pl. 2 (Worcester, 1992), 297–373. See also John J. McCusker, Money and Exchange in Europe and America 1600–1775: A Handbook (Chapel Hill, 1978); Leslie V. Brock, “Colonial Currency, Prices and Exchange Rates,” 34 Essays in History (1992), 70–132, set out at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/users/brock. Most importantly, these values make intuitive sense in comparing our world with Quincy’s. Many thanks for the assistance of Patricia Tarabelsi with this note.
29. Bermuda is located at 32.20 N and 64.45 W. This was particularly significant to Quincy, whose brother Edmund (1733–1768) was lost by shipwreck in these latitudes. See note 35, infra.
30. [Bowsprit:] a large spar projecting forward from the stem of a ship. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition.
31. Shakespeare, Tempest (Act I, Scene 2, ll. 201–203). The line reads: “Not a soul but felt a fever of the mad and play’d some tricks of desperation.”
32. John Milton’s 1634 play, Comus (l. 343). “Cynosure,” “[t]he star near the north pole, by which sailors steer.” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “cynosure.”
33. Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, 1733 (ep. I, l. 157). Ammon was an Egyptian god with the head of a ram. Howatson, supra, pp. 31‒32.
34. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 436-1]. Edmund Quincy (1733‒1768). See note 29, supra.
35. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 436-2]. John Apthorp married, December 12, 1765, Hannah, daughter of Stephen Greenleaf.
36. Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, 1733, (ep. I, ll. 17‒28).
37. John Milton’s 1634 play, Comus (l. 362).
38. William Shakespeare’s 1602 play, Hamlet (Act III, sc. 1, line 87ff.) reads “But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover’d country from whose bourn, No traveler returns …”. John Milton’s 1634 play, Comus (l. 597), reads: “The pillar’d firmament is rottenness, And earth’s base built on stubble.” Quincy was a very literate young man!
39. Shakespeare, Macbeth (soliloquy) Act 5, Scene 5, ll. 19–28. The last line has been altered by Quincy from “The way to dusty death” to a more optimistic “The way to study wisdom”! He also omitted “from day to day” in the second line, but, if from memory, it was quite an accurate recollection.
40. With no opportunity to make lunar or solar observations, the longitude of the ship would be unknown. A chronometer would have been most unlikely on Quincy’s ship in 1773. Although invented by John Harrison (1693–1776) in 1759 and used by Captain Cook in his voyages between 1772 and 1776, chronometers were not widely deployed on commercial ships until much later. See Rupert T. Gould, The Marine Chronometer: Its History and Development (London, 1923), pp. 40–70. Thus, the ship could be as far west as the Carolina barrier beaches, or as far east as the Bahama shores. Latitude was an easier matter, if sightings of the polar star, or “cynosure,” were possible, and Quincy remarks that they were “in the latitude of Bermudas”; (32.20 N) and in the latitude where his elder brother died. See pp. 24, 29. Latitude could be determined by the height of the polar star above the horizon.
41. True hurricanes, being swirling winds circling about an “eye,” would appear to have a calm, and then winds from exactly the opposite direction. But such storms tend to occur in the late summer or fall in these latitudes.
42. An attached newspaper clipping reads: “From an English Print of the 3d of March, which we are favored with by one of the Passengers, we find that on the 26th and 27th of February they had in England a prodigious high Wind, or rather Hurricane, by which great Damage was done in London and other Places, by blowing down Houses, Chimnies, etc. and to the Shipping in the River, as almost every Vessell from Greenwich to London Bridge, were drove from their Moorings; and by running foul of each other several of the smaller ones were sunk, and many Lives lost; others dismasted, and some drove ashore; among the latter were the Ships Earl of Dunmore, and Dutchess of Gordon, in the New-York Trade: Great Damage was likewise done at Cowes, Portsmouth, Downs, and other Seaport Places, the ‘Elements (as the Paper says) seemed to be all over in a Ferment, and the Clouds appeared of a fiery Red for many Hours:’ Capt. Hall, of this Place, in a Ship just arrived in the Downs from Dartmouth, was drove ashore off Kingsdown, and lost her Rudder and received other Damage.” See Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 138-1].
43. “Necessity, who is the mother of invention.” Plato, The Republic, Book I, 344 (c), Jowitt translation.
44. “What sorrow was, thou bad’st her know, And from her own she learn’d to melt at others’ woe.” Thomas Gray (1716–1771), Hymn to Adversity (1742) stanza 2, lines 15–16.
45. Ode to Adversity (1753) by Thomas Gray (1716–1771), author of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751), is among the most celebrated, and most quoted, poems of the 18th century.
46. See Illustration 3. Charleston, situated on neck of land between Ashley and Cowper rivers; in 1787 contained about 800 houses. Lat. 42.10.N. Long. 72.15.W. The American Gazetteer, Containing a Distinct Account of all the Parts of the New World, printed for A. Millar and J. & R. Tonson, 1762. 1787—15,000 inhabitants, including 5400 slaves. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
47. See Illustration 4.
illustration 3. Charleston Harbor in 1742. From the collections of the South Carolina Historical Society. Courtesy, South Carolina Historical Society.
48. Levinus Clarkson (1740–1798). Born in Jamaica, Long Island. Married Mary Ann Van Horne and had 10 children. The Sawyer Family History, www.sawyer-family.org, 2000. Clarkson was an active patriot and apparently had business with the Secret Committee of the Continental Congress, as evidenced by the following record:
THURSDAY, JULY 10, 1777: A petition from Joseph Belton, and a petition from Captain James [Joseph] Lees, were read: 11 The petition of Joseph Belton is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, I, folio 137. Ordered, That the petition of J. Belton be referred to the Board of War, and the petition of Captain Lees to the Marine Committee. The Secret Committee laid before Congress a letter of the 8 June last, from John Dorsius, for self and Levinus Clarkson, and a bill of exchange, drawn by Alexander Ross on John Dorsius, in favour of Willing, Morris & Co. Ordered, That the same be referred to the Board of Treasury, in order to bring in a report for paying the before mentioned bill here, and directing Mr. Dersius to apply the amount of the said bill in discharge of the debts incurred in consequence of orders from the Secret Committee, and also to enable the agents of the Secret Committee 0170 543 in South Carolina, to receive all the money arising from the sale of the State lottery tickets in that State, towards discharging the debts aforesaid. Library of Congress: Journals of the Continental Congress 1774–1789. Edited from the original records in the Library of Congress by Worthington Chauncy Ford, Chief, Division of Manuscripts, Volume VIII. 1777: http://memory.loc.gov/ll/lljc/008/lljc008.sgm_old
illustration 4. The Exchange Building, Charleston. The core of the building, built in 1767–1771, would be identical to the one Quincy saw. Courtesy, Library of Congress. Date, circa 1865. See p. 138, Southern Journal, p. 41, “the New Exchange.”
49. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 441-1]. David Deas (d. 1775), treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce of Charleston, December 1773.
50. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 441-2]. Mention of this Society is found in the South Carolina Gazette, November 30, 1767. From 1766–1771, concerts were held in Charleston’s most prominent public-house, or tavern, located on the north-east corner of Broad and Church Streets; sometimes referred to as “the Corner.” Votaries of Apollo: The St. Cecelia Society and Concert Music in Charleston, South Carolina, 1766–1820 (Indiana University Dissertation [2003] by Nicholas Michael Butler, unpublished, pp. 186–190).
51. The room lacked a raised platform for musicians to perform, having only an elevated gallery or loft on one of the walls where musicians would stand during dancing assemblies. Ergo, Quincy’s observation, “no orchestra for the performers, tho’ a kind of loft for fiddlers at the Assembly.” Votaries of Apollo: The St. Cecelia Society and Concert Music in Charleston, South Carolina, 1766–1820, pp. 186–190.
52. John Joseph Abercrombie (c. 1745–1808), descendant of an old Scottish family, was raised by his mother in her native town of Arras, France, and was then educated at the Jesuit College of Douai, French Flanders. Votaries of Apollo: The St. Cecelia Society and Concert Music in Charleston, South Carolina, 1766–1820, pp. 186–190.
53. Boston musicians, later turned rivals. See Music in Colonial Massachusetts, 1630–1820: A Conference held by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, May 17 and 18, 1973 (Boston [1980], pp. 1094–95).
54. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: 500 Guineas = £525 (Guinea being an English coin issued from 1663 to 1813 worth 1 £ 1 shilling) = $525,000 (2004).
55. George Harland Hartley. Organist, arrived in Charleston in 1773, but returned to England four years later because of his loyalist views. Barnwell, Robert Woodward, Jr., ed., “George Harland Hartley’s Claim for Losses as a Loyalist.” South Carolina Historical Magazine 51 (1950), p. 50.
56. “E” for “Eugenia,” his nickname for his wife, Abigail.
57. “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
See Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.”
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Sc. 1, l. 7. Was Quincy referring to a black, mulatto, or quadroon mistress? Later, he remarked that “[t]he enjoyment of a negro or molatto woman is spoken of as quite a common thing: no reluctance, delicacy or shame is made about the matter.” Southern Journal, infra, page 113.
58. See Illustration 5. [“Macaroni”]: a “British dandy affecting Continental fashions.” Concise Oxford Dictionary, p. 710. The term came from an “overblown hairstyle” that resembled a popular Italian pasta, “as well as to the dandy wearing it,” and later achieved fame in the patriot anthem, “Yankee Doodle.” See Corby Kummer, “Pasta 101: Where it Came From and How It got Here,” Atlantic Monthly (July 1986). “Macaronis were constantly castigated as effeminate.” See Kate Haulman, “A Short History of the High Roll,” Common–Place, vol. 2 (October 2001), p. 3. Contemporary English explorers named the Macaroni Penguin for its resemblance to a “macaroni.” See Illustration 6. My thanks to my extraordinary former editorial assistant, Patricia Tarabelsi.
illustration 5. Welladay! Is this my Son Tom! from an original drawing by Grimm, printed for Carington Bowles, London, Pub. 1773 (litho), English School, (18th century) / Private Collection, The Stapleton Collection; Courtesy, the Bridgeman Art Library.
59. A reference to the “bag,” or body, and “cue,” or pigtail, of the wig? “Carlyle, Fredk, Gt. II, vi. vii., 213 ‘He cannot … change the graceful French bag into the strict Prussian queue in a moment.’” Oxford English Dictionary (compact vol., 1971), vol. 1, p. 621, defining “bag.” See note 58, supra, and Illustration 5, supra.
60. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 442-1]. Governor, 1765–1773. His successor, Lord William Campbell, was commissioned July 8, 1773.
61. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 442-2]. Thomas Knox Gordon.
illustration 6. A Macaroni Penguin, named by eighteenth-century English sailors for its resemblance to the popular hairstyle. Photo by Cliff Wasserman. Courtesy, photo-escapes.com. See pp. 147–149, Southern Journal, p. 45.
62. Bumper: “a cup filled.” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “bumper.”
63. N.B. Not to be confused with John Mathews (1744–1802), Governor of South Carolina, 1782–83; admitted to South Carolina bar on September 22, 1766. Dictionary of American Biography, XII, 404. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 443-1]. In the Hayne Records (S.C. Hist. and Gen. Mag., XI, 92) is found the entry: “John Mathews, Goosecreek, Sally Scott S[pinster], Boston, Jan. [1770].”
64. Despite much effort, not identified.
65. William Drayton (b. 1732). Born at Magnolia, served as Justice for Carolina, Chief Justice for the Province of Florida, Aide to General Lyttleman in the Cherokee War of 1759, and Member of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Appointed by President Washington as a First Judge of the United States District Court. Magnolia Plantation’s Historical Notes of Interest, Carolina Internet, Inc. 2000. The family home, Drayton Hall, built between 1738 and 1742, still stands outside of Charleston. See Illustration 7.
illustration 7. Drayton Hall, built 1738–1742. The hall survived the Civil War, and Gen. Sherman’s troops, because it was in use as a smallpox asylum. Today it remains the only complete plantation home on the west bank of the Ashley River. It still hints at the elegant lives of Quincy’s hosts, and the background of slavery. Courtesy, Library of Congress.
66. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 443-2]. Thomas Loughton Smith (1741–1773) married, 1763, Elizabeth, daughter of George Inglis, merchant. Died in April 1773, from injuries received after falling off his horse. S.C. Hist. and Gen. Mag., IV, 252.
67. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 444-1]. Howe described Balch as “a hatter, of 72 Corn-hill, Boston, opposite the head of Water Street, a wit of the day.” Sidney Willard described him as “a very worthy and respectable man … a frequent guest of Governor Hancock, and entertainer of his other guests, adding zest to the viands and the vina at the dinner-board by anecdotes and stories, mimectic art, humor, witticism, and song, drawn from his inexhaustible storehouse.” Sydney Willard, Memoirs of Youth and Manhood (Cambridge, Mass., 1855), vol. 1, pp. 209–210. Samuel Breck observed that Balch’s hat shop “was the principal lounge even of the first people in the town.” Recollections of Samuel Breck (ed. H. E. Scudder, Philadelphia, 1877), p. 108. Breck added, “Such, as late as 1788, was the unsophisticated state of society.” Id., pp. 108–109. Balch was a member of the Sons of Liberty. Id. p. 107. See also note 186 infra and accompanying text. Quincy never indicated what the “humorous” story was, nor did he identify his companion.
68. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 444-2]. Built in 1723 and destroyed in the fire of February 15, 1835. An account of it is in the Year Book of Charleston, 1880, 265; 1896, 319. The rector at this time, Rev. Robert Smith, was in England. His assistant was Robert Purcell. Both were born in England. The rebuilt St. Phillips Church survived the Civil War and is, today, one of Charleston’s principal churches.
69. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 444-3]. “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.” Job XXII. 21.
70. “Coxcomical:” “[from coxcomb.] Foppish, conceited,” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “coxcomical.”
71. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 444-5] (1732–1775). See S.C. Hist. and Gen. Mag., II, 142. He was lost at sea, with his family, in going to Philadelphia.
72. One of Charleston’s finest homes. The house still stands today. See Color Plate 1. See also George C. Rogers, Jr., Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys (2nd ed., Columbia, S.C., 1980), pp. 69–70. The house was built at 27 King Street in 1765. Brewton was “the leading slave merchant of his day.” Id., p. 69. See the illustrations in J. Thomas Savage, The Charleston Interior (Greensboro, N.C., 1995), pp. 15–18.
73. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £8000 = $8 million (2004).
74. Paste borders. See Oxford Dictionary, supra, vol. I, p. 1735.
75. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 445-1]. One of the name was president of the St. Cecilia Society.
color plate 1. The Hall at Miles Brewton House (1765) 27 King Street, Charleston. “The Grandest hall I ever beheld, Azure Bleu Satten-window Curtains, rich bleu paper with gilt …” See p. 163, Southern Journal, p. 53. Courtesy, J. Thomas Savage, The Charleston Interior (Greensboro, N.C., 1995) and Jane Iseley, the photographer, and the generous Manigault family. With special thanks for the assistance of Mrs. Grant Whipple. See note 72, supra.
76. [Encomium:] “Panegyrick; praise, elogy,” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “encomium.”
77. Likely Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825), born in Charleston, S.C.; later a prominent delegate to the Constitutional Convention, 1787. Dictionary of American Biography, XIV, 614. His second cousin, Charles Pinckney (1757–1824), also a lawyer of Charleston, S.C., would only have been 16 years old. His brother Thomas, who also read law in the Temple, returned from England to South Carolina in 1774. See notes 80 and 83, infra, and Illustration 9.
78. See Illustration 8. “[T]he two Honourable Societies of the ‘Inner’ and ‘Middle’ Temple” form part of the Inns of Court, “survivals of a great legal university which flourished in medieval times …” See J. H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (4th ed., London, 2002), pp. 159–162. (Hereafter, “J. H. Baker.”) Notwithstanding the old proverb, “the Inner Temple for the rich, the Middle for the poor,” the two societies produced such greats as Coke, Littleton, and Plowden. Bellot, H.H.L., The Inner and Middle Temple. Methuen and Co. (London, 1902). Despite the deterioration of standards of legal education in the Inns of Court by the eighteenth century, a significant number of Americans were members, mostly wealthy and mostly from the South. See E. Alfred Jones, American Members of the Inns of Court (London, 1914), ix–xxx. See also W. C. Richardson, A History of the Inns of Court (1978).
illustration 8. The “Temple,” London in 1671. “Middle Temple” is to the left, “Inner Temple” to the right. From ‘A Book of the Prospects of the Remarkable Places in and about the City of London,’ c. 1700 (engraving), Morden, Robert (fl. 1682–1703). O’Shea Gallery, London, UK. Courtesy, the Bridgeman Art Library. See p. 168, Southern Journal, p. 56.
79. “Instanter:” “Immediately; at once.” Earl Jowitt, The Dictionary of English Law (ed., C. Walsh, London, 1959), p. 981. (Hereafter, “Earl Jowitt.”)
80. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825). Studied at the Middle Temple and attended the lectures of Blackstone at Oxford. Was offered and declined the command of the army, a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, and the secretaryships of war and state. A lifelong Federalist, nominated for Vice President in 1800 and for President in 1804 and 1808. Dictionary of American Biography, XIV, 614. See note 77, supra, and note 87, infra. See also Illustration 9.
81. Likely Thomas Bee (1725–1812) of Charleston admitted to the South Carolina bar, 1761, and delegate to the First and Second Provincial Congresses, 1775–1776. See note 96, infra. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 448-2] (1729–?). Married his first wife, Susannah Holme, in 1761, and married Sarah McKenzie, March 16, 1773.
82. Most Americans of the period, like Quincy himself, learned law by apprenticeship. A few were sent to study at the Inns of Court in London. Middle Temple was particularly favored by those from South Carolina. See Illustration 8 “South Carolina is more strongly represented at this Inn in the eighteenth century than any other colony. This is not surprising in view of the double fact that few of the prosperous inhabitants of … Charleston had not crossed the Atlantic before the American Revolution and that sons of successful planters, merchants and professional men were sent to England for their education and general culture.” E. Alfred Jones, American Members of the Inns of Court (London, 1924), ix. Charles Pinckney matriculated at Christ Church College, Oxford, on January 19, 1764, was admitted to Middle Temple and called to the English bar on January 27, 1769. Id., 171–172.
83. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 446-2]. The Practical Justice of the Peace, and parish-officer of … South Carolina, 1761, by William Simpson. The full title was The Practical Justice of the Peace and Parish-Officer, of his Majesty’s Province of South Carolina (Charleston, Robert Welk publisher, 1761). See Morris L. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law (Buffalo, 1998), vol. III, p. 25, No. 8001. There were no up-to-date collections of statutes, but in 1736, Chief Justice Nicholas Trott had published The Laws of the Province of South Carolina (Charleston, 1736), an ambitious attempt to reproduce all of the colony’s statutes, plus the text of the two charters and the relevant Act of Parliament. Thus, Quincy may have been a bit unfair. The first South Carolina reports covered 1783–1804 (Bay’s Reports), and the Public Laws (1694–1790) were published by Grimke in 1790. See Catalogue of the Library of the Law School of Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass., 1905), vol. II, pp. 626, 628; Charles G. Soule, The Lawyer’s Reference Manuel of Law Books and Citations (Boston, 1884), pp. 53–54. Many thanks, as always, to Mark Sullivan. Quincy was right that the Practical Justice was “the only digest of the laws of the province,” Southern Journal, p. 61, but Peter Timothy had published the Chief Justice’s Charge to a Grand Jury (Charleston, 1741), well before, and there were several “extracts” for the proceedings of the High Court of Vice-Admiralty, published shortly afterwards. Id., vol. I, p. 151 (see No. 1521), vol. IV, p. 32 (No. 11215), p. 33 (Nos. 11218, 11219, 11220). In 1704, there was an anonymous Abridgment of Laws in Force and Use in her Majesty’s Plantations (London, 1704), including “Carolina,” and in 1721 Nicholas Trott published his Laws of the British Plantations in America, relating to the Church and Clergy, Religion and Learning (London, 1721). In 1736 he published The Laws of the Province of South Carolina, in 2 Parts. The first containing all the perpetual Acts in force and Use, with the Titles of all such Acts as are Repealed, Expired, or Obsolete, placed in their Order of Time. The second Part, containing all the temporary Acts in force and Use; to which is added, the Titles of all the Private Acts, and the two Charters granted by King Charles the II., to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, &c. (2 vols., folio. Charleston, 1736). See John G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography (Philadelphia, 1847), p. 697.
84. Egerton Leigh, son of Peter Leigh, who succeeded Charles Pinckney in the 1750s as chief justice, replaced John Rutledge as attorney general and subsequently held many royal offices. George Rogers, Jr., Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys (Norman, Okla., 1969). “The highest court in the province was soon called upon to decide on the council’s right to sit as an upper house. Printer Powell attempted to bring an action against Sir Egerton Leigh, president of the council, for false imprisonment. Mr. Edward Rutledge represented Powell’s interests, and Mr. Simpson, clerk of the council, appeared in behalf of Sir Egerton. After a full argument on both sides in the court of common pleas, Chief Justice Gordon and the four assistant judges quashed the suit, declaring in express terms that the council was an upper house of assembly and hence had the right to commit for contempt.” W. Roy Smith, Ph.D., South Carolina as a Royal Province, 1719‒1776 (New York, 1903), pp. 393, 413.
Attorneys General of South Carolina:
John Rutledge 1764–65; |
Sir Egerton Leigh 1765–1774; Surveyor-General of Lands 1772–75 |
James Simpson 1774–1775 |
85. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £2000–£3000 Sterling = $2 million to $3 million (2004). Quincy’s observations were not entirely fair. The Laws of the Province of South Carolina had been published in 2 volumes in Charleston in 1736. See note 83, supra. But they were now 37 years out of date! Massachusetts, on the other hand, had regularly published its statutes and digests of the laws, as early as The Lawes and Libertyes (Cambridge, Mass., 1648). See Morris L. Cohen, “Legal Literature in Colonial Massachusetts,” in Law in Colonial Massachusetts (Coquillette, Brink, Menand eds., Boston, 1984). See also Daniel R. Coquillette, “Radical Law-makers in Colonial Massachusetts: The ‘Countenance of Authorities’ and the Lawes and Liberteyes,” 67 New England Quarterly (1994), 179–211.
86. Does Quincy mean “Rules of Actions,” i.e., pleading by causes of actions? See “Introduction,” The Southern Journal, supra, Section VII A., “Law and Lawyers: South Carolina,” pp. 52–56.
illustration 9. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825). “Friend and confidant of George Washington, and one of the founders of the American Republic.” E. Alfred Jones, American Members of the Inns of Court (London, 1924), p. 172. From the collections of the South Carolina Historical Society. Courtesy, South Carolina Historical Society. See p. 173, Southern Journal, p. 61.
87. These were Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825) and Edward Rutledge (1749–1800). See Illustration 9 and discussion at notes 77 and 80, supra, and 113, infra. See also James Haw, John and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina (Athens, GA, 1990, pp. 18–21). For the Pinckney mansion (c. 1747), see Illustration 10.
illustration 10. The Pinckney mansion in Charleston (c. 1747) on Colleton Square. Pinckney designed it himself. Courtesy, National Archives, Brady Collection.
88. Sir Fletcher Norton (1716–1789), barrister; solicitor-general, 1762; knighted, 1762; attorney-general, 1763; elected speaker of the House of Commons, 1770. He was usually nicknamed ‘Sir Bull-face Double Fee’ in satires and caricatures; attacked by Junius in Letter 39. Dictionary of National Biography, XLI, 209. The “Pretender” was probably James Edward Stuart (1688–1766), the exiled heir to James II, or his son, “the young Pretender,” Charles Edward Stuart (1720–1788), “Bonnie Prince Charlie.”
89. William Murray (1705–1793), 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, 1756–1788. Mansfield “was one of the greatest judges that ever lived, and perhaps the most important Anglo-American jurist to date to convey his or her ideas primarily through decided cases.” Coquillette, Anglo-American Legal Heritage (Durham, N.C., 2nd edition, 2004), p. 444. These included several cases that transformed the law merchant. Id., pp. 444–453. But his most famous case was Sommersett’s Case (1772), 20 St. Tr. 1, in which Mansfield granted a writ of habeas corpus and freed a negro slave, James Sommersett, who had been brought to England. This case established that slavery was not part of the English law. See also C.H.S. Fifoot, Lord Mansfield (Oxford, 1936); Edmund Heward, Lord Mansfield (London, 1979). There is now an excellent new account of Sommersett’s Case, 20 St. Tr. 1 (1772). See Steven H. Wise, Though the Heavens May Fall: The Landmark Trial That Led to the End of Human Slavery (Cambridge, Mass., 2005).
90. “Before a jury and one presiding judge.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 1197 (Revised 4th ed. 1968). “Nisi prius” (“unless before”) refers to the fact the case would be tried in Westminster “unless before” the assize judge visited the county town. See Earl Jowitt, supra, 1227–1228.
91. According to my co-editor Neil York, the reference almost certainly refers to John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713–1799), who was notorious for legal manipulation. See Dictionary of National Biography (concise edition), supra, vol. 2, p. 2024. This was not a reference to the justices of the Superior Court of Judicature of Massachusetts! While some of the justices, particularly Chief Justice Hutchinson, could be sensitive and a bit pompous, Quincy rarely criticized them. See, for example, Hutchinson’s Charge to the Grand Jury, March term, 1768, Reports, Quincy Papers, vol. 4, pp. 258–270.
92. Residing on Broad Street. Charleston in the Age of the Pinckneys.
93. Roger Smith (1745‒1805), cousin of Thomas Loughton Smith. Supporter of Whigs and early advocate and committee member of Non-importation Association, 1769. Married to Mary Rutledge, daughter of John Rutledge. Walter Edgar and N. Louise Bailey, Biographical Directory of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Vol. II, 1692‒1775 (Columbia, S.C., 1977), p. 635.
94. From “knick-knack,” “trifle,” here a dessert consisting of different kinds of “light, dainty” sweets. See Oxford English Dictionary, supra, vol. 1, p. 1546.
95. Expletive deleted? An “ass”?
96. Thomas Bee (1725–1812) was an active Revolutionary from South Carolina. He served as Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 1779–1780, was a member of the Continental Congress from 1780–1782, and was appointed a Judge of the United States Court for the District of South Carolina in 1790. See Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, United States Government Printing Office (2005), p. 632. See note 81, supra. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: 8000–9000 Guineas = £8,400–9,450 = $8,400,000–9,450,000 (2004).
97. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 448-3]. April 1768.
98. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £300 Sterling = $300,000 (2004).
99. “As long as they shall behave themselves.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 1406 (Revised 4th ed. 1968).
100. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 448-4]. Acts of the Privy Council (Colonial), 1766–1783, 166.
101. Wills Hill, Second Viscount Hillsborough (1718–1793). Secretary of State for Colonies, 1768–1772. Dictionary of National Biography, XXVI, 427.
102. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 449-1]. From Ramsay (History of South Carolina, II. 154) it may be assumed that these appointments were made in 1771. The chief justice was Thomas Knox Gordon, and the three assistants, Edward Savage, John Murray and John Fewtrell. But Quincy’s characterization nevertheless assumes five appointments!
103. See fn 33, supra. Shakespeare, Macbeth (soliloquy) Act 5, Scene 5, Lines 19–28.
104. Latin: solamen, “a means of consolation, comfort.” Cassell’s Latin Dictionary (rev. ed. J.R.V. Marchant, J. F. Charles), London, 1949, 529. (Hereafter, “Cassell’s.”) See Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “solace.”
105. “[A] kind of birds which had the faces of women, and foul long claws, very filthy creatures.” Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “harpy.”
106. “And while I at length debate and beate the bush,
There shall steppe in other men and catch the burdes.” John Heywood (1497–1580) Proverbes, Part I, Chap. II. See also Plutarch (46–120) Of Garruity.
107. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: 300 Guineas = £315 = $315,000 (2004).
108. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: 700 Guineas = £375 = $375,000 (2004).
109. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £10,000 Sterling = $10 million (2004).
110. Thomas Lynch (1727–1776). South Carolina legislator; with Christopher Gadsden and John Rutledge, represented South Carolina in Stamp Act Congress, 1765. Served as a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses, 1774–76. Dictionary of American Biography, XI, 523. See Illustration 11.
illustration 11. Portrait of Thomas Lynch Jnr. (1749–1779). Thomas Lynch Snr. was Quincy’s dinner host on March 12th. He was known for his “plain, sensible” appearance. “He wears his hair strait, his clothes in the plainest order.” E. C. Burnett, Letters of Members of the Continental Congress (1921) vol. 1, p. 8. He was a wealthy planter, his grandfather having settled in South Carolina shortly after its settlement. He was a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774–1775). His son, Thomas Lynch Jnr., was sent to England; to Eton, Cambridge and then to Middle Temple (1764–1772), from whence he had just returned. He signed the Declaration of Independence, but had feeble health. He died in 1779 when he and his wife took passage to the West Indies and the South of France for his health and his ship was lost. See generally Dictionary of American Biography, XI, 523–524. From the collections of the South Carolina Historical Society. Courtesy, South Carolina Historical Society.
111. Was the plan to substitute militia, in rotation, for British regulars?
112. Virgil, Aeneid 3.56: “Oh cursed hunger for gold, to what do you not drive the hearts of men.”
113. Quincy’s copy of Rutledge’s Reports is still in the Massachusetts Historical Society, Quincy Family Papers, No. 60 (Micro. Reel 4). Edward Rutledge (1749–1800) was admitted to Middle Temple on January 12, 1767 and called to the English bar on July 3, 1772. He was one of five Middle Templers to sign the Declaration of Independence. Like Quincy, he initially sought a conciliation with Britain, supporting Joseph Galloway’s “Plan of a Proposed Union between Great Britain and the Colonies” in 1774. Following the Revolution in which he fought bravely, he was elected Governor of South Carolina. “He was stiffly conservative and rarely conceded anything to the democratic elements of the state.” Dictionary of American Biography, XVI, 258. John Adams strongly disliked him. See E. Alfred Jones, American Members of the Inns of Court (London, 1924), 189–190. See also note 87, supra. Quincy, of course, had begun his own Reports in 1762. See “Introduction,” Reports, Quincy Papers, vols. 4 and 5.
114. “The name ‘Regulator’ was adopted at a meeting held at Sandy Creek … on the 22d of March, 1767, at which a written agreement was drawn up and an association was formed ‘for regulating public grievances.’ This agreement contemplated no violence, and only bound the signers to pay no more taxes until satisfied they were agreeable to law and were properly applied … But their leader, Herman Husbands, though uneducated, was a mischievous and turbulent demagogue and a canting hypocrite … He set himself diligently to work to inflame the passions of the people, to exaggerate the evils of which they justly complained, and to incite them to violence.” Alfred Moore Waddell, A Colonial Officer and His Times, 1754–1773 (Raleigh, N.C., 1890), p. 134. “At Hillsboro, in September [1770], when the Court met, with Judge Henderson presiding, the greatest outrage or series of outrages yet perpetrated by the Regulators took place. [Threatened,] the Judge adjourned the Court and that night fled the town. They then held a mock court, and made scandalous entries on the docket. On the 12th of November they burned Judge Henderson’s barn, and on the 14th his house.” Id. at 138–39. On May 16, 1771, the conflict came to a boil with 1100 of Governor Tryon’s army facing 2000 Regulators at the Battle of Alamance, a river. Governor’s army: 9 killed, 60 wounded; Regulators: 20 killed, unknown wounded. Id. at 140–41. The rebellion was ended and “Tryon left North Carolina about a month after the battle of Alamance, to become Governor of New York.” Id. at 158.
115. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 450-2]. William Tryon (1725–1788), governor of New York (1771) and North Carolina (1765), Dictionary of National Biography, LVII, 276. Upon the death of Governor Dobbs, Tryon succeeded to the Governorship and qualified on the 3d April, 1765. He still retained his rank in the British army and his place in the regular line of promotion. Id. at 73.
116. Turtle, often from Chesapeake Bay, was a delicacy of the eighteenth century.
117. Rutledge was admitted to Middle Temple on January 12, 1767. See notes 87 and 113, supra.
118. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £2,000 Sterling = $2 million (2004).
119. [“Vendue”]: “a public auction.” Concise Oxford Dictionary, p. 1361.
120. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £300 Sterling = $300,000 (2004).
121. For Miles Brewton (1732–1775) see note 72, supra and Color Plate 1, supra. “Mr. Erving” was possibly James Irving, merchant; who dealt dry goods in 1740s–1750s. He was associated with Robert Pringle. South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. 86, pp. 200, 202.
122. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: 50 Guineas = £5, 6 shillings = $52,500 (2004).
123. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £31 Sterling = $31,000 (2004).
124. [“Pipe”]: “A liquid measure containing two hogsheads.” Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “pipe.” A hogshead contained sixty gallons. Id., “hogshead.” Quincy had ordered 480 quarts of Madeira, or over 738 bottles at 1.3 pints a bottle!
125. Thomas Lynch (1727–1776) was a wealthy patron of distinguished lineage. He was a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774, 1776). Illness prevented further public service. See Dictionary of American Biography, XI, 523. Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), with Thomas Lynch and John Rutledge, represented South Carolina in Stamp Act Congress, 1765. He served as a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses, 1774, 1776. Dictionary of American Biography, VII, 81.
126. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 452-2]. Jerathmeel Bowers.
127. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: 90 Guineas = £94, 10 shillings = $94,500 (2004).
128. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 452-3]. James Parsons (d. 1779), of the Council of Safety. For Pinckney, see notes 77, 80, 87 and Illustrations 9 and 10, supra. For Rutledge, see note 123.
129. For Thomas Lynch (1727–1776), see note 110, supra, and Illustration 11, with accompanying note, at p 191, supra. The “celebrated Northern Patriot” has not been identified. Possibly James Otis Jr. or Timothy Ruggles of the Massachusetts delegation.
130. Probably Phillip Livingston, delegate to both Continental Congresses. Robert R. Livingston entered only the second. The Stamp Act Congress met at New York. Delegates from nine colonies attended from October 7 to October 19, 1765. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 452-4]. Howe was incorrect, since Robert R. Livingston did indeed attend the Stamp Act Congress. While there he proposed a plan of intercolonial union to assign quotas to each colony for imperial taxes, a very controverted idea. Thus, it may well have been Robert Livingston to which Quincy referred.
131. Caesar Rodney (1728–1784), delegate to Continental Congress, 1775, 1778. Dictionary of American Biography, XVI, 81. Caeser Rodney did not sit for Pennsylvania, but for Delaware. Quincy was probably confused. My thanks to co-editor Neil York.
132. Winyaw Bay.
133. Self-made fortune as planter; began with five slaves and, by 1773, had expanded to 100 slaves and an income of £5000–£6000 Sterling [$5 million–$6 million (2004)] per year. Walter Edgar and N. Louise Bailey, Biographical Directory of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Vol. II, 1692–1775, p. 35.
134. Approximate Currency Equivalencies: £5000–£6000 Sterling = $5 million–$6 million (2004).
135. Brother-in-Law to Joseph Allston; married Esther Allston. Walter Edgar and N. Louise Bailey, Biographical Directory of the South Carolina House of Representatives, Vol. II, 1692–1775, pp. 371–372.
136. “Suitable,” “agreeable,” “answerable.” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “correspondent.”
137. A reference to John Locke (1632–1704), Two Treatises on Civil Government (London, 1690), Chap. XIX. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, item 43.
138. “Sour.” A reference to the fable of the fox and the grapes in Aesop. See Howatson, supra, p. 231.
139. Another indication of Quincy’s dedication to the Republican ideals of Cicero. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, Item 256, Quincy Papers, vol. 5, Reports, Appendix 9.
140. “Huzzlecap” was a game of pitching pennies. “Shove-half penny” or “Shove ha’penny” was “an English pub game that involves sliding an object (usually a coin) along a polished surface towards a marked scoring area.” See Adah Parker Strobell, “Like It Was”: Colonial Games ’n Fun Handbook (Acropolis Books, 1975). “While shuffle-board was a game enjoyed primarily by the wealthy, its miniaturized form, shove-halfpenny, has always been a tavern sport. As such, it was outlawed throughout much of history. During the reign of Henry VIII, a landlord who allowed the game in his pub could be fined the sum 40s. Shove-halfpenny goes by several names: slide-thrift, shove-groat, push penny, and an 18th-century variation known as Justice Jarvis.” Id. Special thanks to Mark Sullivan. The editor of this volume is still seeking a description of “pawpaw,” perhaps a reference to the fruit? (“Picking up pawspaws, put them in a basket.”) “Pawpaw” is another term for the Caribbean papaya fruit, “an elongated melon-shaped fruit with an edible orange flesh and small black seeds.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary (ed. R. E. Allen, 8th edition, Oxford, 1990), p. 874. Games were originally discouraged by the Puritans, and the freedom to play games had symbolic importance. “So notions of ‘liberty’ would seem to have grown beyond the purely political definition, and games were one little expression of Americans’ new freedom to enjoy life.” “Gaming in the Early 19th Century,” http://www.goreplace.org/newsletter/articleGaming.htm. How even more symbolic for African-Americans!
141. This was almost certainly an ironic comment. See page 215 [122], infra. Voltaire’s Letters were in Quincy’s library. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, infra, Items 213, 290.
142. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (1708–1778), “the Great Commoner,” was the most powerful Whig of his day. His consistent opposition to taxing the American colonies made him a natural hero there. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 456-1]. See Huger Smith, in S.C. Hist. and Gen. Mag., XV. 18; and C. H. Hart, in Proceedings, XLVIII, 291. Quincy also noted a statue of Pitt in New York. See note 321, supra.
143. John Milton’s 1634 play, Comus (l. 64) reads “And they, so perfect in their misery, Not once perceive their foul disfigurement.” Quincy had an excellent collection of Milton’s works at his death two years later. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, items 28, 178, 182, 323.
144. Recent scholarship agrees with Quincy. “[L]ow-country South Carolina planters [were] … surrounded and outnumbered by slaves—in some regions by as much as seven or eight to one …” Richard R. Beeman, The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America (Philadelphia, 2004), p. 135.
145. Quincy was one of the first to observe candidly that cultural influence went both ways between blacks and whites, with important linguistic, cultural, and artistic consequences. Yet he was not advanced enough to see this could be culturally enriching.
146. A scene of “uproar, utter confusion.” The “place of all demons in Milton’s Paradise Lost.” Concise Oxford Dictionary, 859.
147. The Scythians were the scourge of the Greeks and the Persians, sweeping out of Southern Russia. The Arals, natives of today’s Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, had an equally unsavory reputation. The Hottentots are the native peoples of Namibia and South West Africa. They were decimated by the Dutch settlers. To the ethnocentric Quincy, they would all be “barbarians,” i.e. “savages.” See Johnson’s Dictionary, n.p. “barbarian.”
148. “The laws of nature are unchangeable.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 989 (Revised 4th ed. 1968). The marginal notation for this quotation is Sir Henry Hobart’s Reports in the Reign of James I (London, 1641), covering the King’s Bench in the years 1603–1625. It was republished several times, including a 1724 5th edition, and eventually had an American edition in 1829. See Sweet and Maxwell, Legal Bibliography (2nd ed., W. H. Maxwell, L. F. Maxwell), vol. 1, p. 301. See also William Wallace, The Reporter (Boston, 1882), pp. 220–229. The quotation is from Day v. Savadge, Hobart’s Reports 85, at 87, where Hobart is reported to have said “even an Act of Parliament made against natural equity, as to make a man a judge in his own case, is void in itself, for jura naturae sunt immutabilia …” In this, Hobart is alluding to a similar passage in Edward Coke’s famous report of Dr. Bonham’s Case, 8 Coke’s Reports 1136 (1610). See also Herbert Broom, Legal Maxims (10th ed., 1939, London, R. H. Kensley ed.), p. 72. Quincy included this maxim on page 71 of his maxims collection, citing to 7 Coke’s Reports, Hobart’s Reports, and St. Germain’s Doctor and Student. See Appendix I, Quincy Papers, vol. 2, “The Latin Legal Maxims of Josiah Quincy, Jr.,” p. [171]. My thanks to Elizabeth Papp Kamali for her invaluable work with Quincy’s Latin Maxims.
149. Possibly William Hill (1741–1816), who came to South Carolina from Ireland in 1761. Hill, a politician, served with distinction as a soldier under General Sumter. See Dictionary of American Biography, IX, 48.
150. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 457-2]. Receiver of duties at Brunswick.
151. (1732–1786) Revolutionary major general, planter. Employed by General Washington until 1783. See Dictionary of American Biography, IX, 294.
152. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 457-4]. Associate justice, and captain of Fort Johnston. See Col. Rec. North Carolina, IX, 798.
153. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 458-1]. J. S. Bassett, in American Hist. Assn. Report, 1894, 141.
154. The “Regulator Movement” in North Carolina (1764–1771) was an insurgency ostensibly to establish order and fight corruption. It pitted the frontier counties of North Carolina against the colonial government in the east. The former called themselves “the regulators,” and doubtless had legitimate complaints against the corrupt official government. They also were seeking to avoid tax. The regulators were crushed by Governor William Tryon (1720–1788) at the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771. Quincy doubtless heard both sides of the story during his trip. See Illustration 12, infra, and note 114, supra. Later, many former regulators led the fighting against the British. See the excellent accounts in Richard R. Beeman, The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America (Philadelphia, 2004), pp. 168–177 (hereafter, “Beeman”), and James P. Wittenberg, “Planters, Merchants, and Lawyers: Social Change and the Origin of the North Carolina Regulation,” 34 William & Mary Quarterly (3rd series) (April 1977), pp. 215–238. Many thanks, again, to Patricia Tarabelsi.
155. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 458-2]. William Dry.
156. At Southport near the mouth of Cape Fear River. Guarded by 10 men. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
illustration 12. The “War of the Regulation.” Letter from Governor Tryon to Colonel Robert Harris ordering 200 of the militia to Hillsborough “which is openly threatened by Insurgents in Orange County.” Courtesy, North Carolina State Archives.
157. I.e., a sportsman. See Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “Buck.”
158. Josiah Martin (1737–1786) was a British army officer and commissioned royal governor of North Carolina in 1771. See Dictionary of American Biography, XII, 343. “Felix trembled” was a reference to New Testament, Book of Acts, Chapter 24:25, “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” (King James version). Felix, Roman Governor of Israel, was questioning Paul, who had been accused by the Jewish authorities. In the end, Felix, who had hoped for a bribe, left office with Paul still in prison. See Book of Acts, Chapter 24: 26–27. All of this clearly referred to Governor Martin.
159. Nine miles north of Fort Johnston, 17 miles S.W. of Wilmington. In 1780, it was burnt down by the British, and has left only 3 or 4 houses and an elegant church in ruins. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797. See Illustration 13.
160. Contained about 250 houses; 100 miles south of Newbern. Lat. 34.11.N. Long. 78.15.W. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
161. Dr. Thomas Cobham; maintained joint medical practice with Dr. Robert Tucker, until the partnership dissolved in 1773. “During the Regulator campaign of 1771, he participated as surgeon to the governor’s forces. Dr. Cobham married Catherine Musgrove, widow of John Paine. Cobham, who owned a residence known as The Lodge in Wilmington and a plantation with two sawmills, reflected strong Loyalist sympathies as the Revolutionary era approached. Although he contributed to the New Hanover Committee of Safety, he hesitated to sign the Association supporting the Revolutionary cause and he later declared that during the war ‘he was actively zealous in the Behalf of his Majesty’s government.’ Dr. Cobham left with the British army in 1781 and his property was confiscated.” Donald R. Lennon, and Ida Brooks Kellam, eds., The Wilmington Town Book, 1743–1778 (Raleigh, N.C., 1973).
illustration 13. North Carolina in 1775 (Mouzon). Quincy went up the coast from Brunswick, to Wilmington, and from there to Newbern and Edenton. Courtesy, Library of Congress, American Memory Collection. See page 110, infra.
162. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 459-2]. Printed in Col. Rec. South Carolina, IX, 235. The emphasis and capitals are Quincy’s.
163. “The will of the people stands in place of a reason.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 1578 (Revised 4th ed., 1968).
164. Thus a royal decree of George III (1738–1820). Quincy would have had a dim view of the direct interference with colonial legislation, but the legal principle of whether colonial laws could bind non-colonials other than by English common law was a very close question, and was debated in Quincy’s Reports. See Introduction, “First Flower—The Earliest American Law Reports and the Extraordinary Josiah Quincy Jr. (1744–1775),” Quincy Papers, vol. 4.
165. For “knick-knack” see Page 66, note 94, supra.
166. Cornelius Harnett (1723–1781), Revolutionary statesman, “the Samuel Adams of North Carolina.” Member of the Assembly, 1754–1775. Served three terms in the Continental Congress. See Dictionary of American Biography, VIII, 279.
167. William Hooper (1742–1790), lawyer. After 1764, practiced in North Carolina. Member of Continental Congress, 1775–77, and signer of Declaration of Independence. See Dictionary of American Biography, IX, 204.
168. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 460-3]. John Burgwin.
169. Dr. Robert Tucker, doctor of physics; “remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution and in 1782 was declared inimical to the state.” Shared joint medical practice with Dr. Thomas Cobham, n. 161, supra. Donald R. Lennon, and Ida Brooks Kellam, eds. The Wilmington Town Book, 1743–1778.
170. Samuel Adams (1722–1803), Boston patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence, later Governor of Massachusetts (1794–1797). Samuel Adams was not a wealthy man, at least compared to Harnett. See John K. Alexander, Samuel Adams: America’s Revolutionary Politican (Lanham, Md., 2004).
171. Libertine: “One not confined; one at liberty” or “One who lives without restraint or law.” See Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “libertine.” Quincy must mean here “lover of liberty.”
172. Literary characters of the English novelist, Samuel Richardson (1689–1761); the former from the novel bearing the same name, History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753–1754), the latter, Lovelace, from Richardson’s tragic masterpiece Clarissa (1747–1748).
173. Contains about 400 houses. Lat. 35.20.N. Long. 77.25.W. 99 miles SW of Edenton; 103 miles NE by N of Wilmington. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
174. This is certainly one of Quincy’s most mysterious observations. Reference is to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616) Don Quixote (1605, 1615), widely available in popular English translations by 1773. See, for example, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote (trans. T. S. Smollett, London, 1770, 4 vols.).
175. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 460-4]. John Abraham Collett … This gentleman, I am sorry to find my Lord, has … involved himself in debt so deeply that he will never be able to shew his face again in this Country. Governor Josiah Martin to Earl of Dartmouth, August 28, 1775. Col. Rec. No. Ca., X, 234.
176. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 461-1]. Martin Howard, Chief Justice.
177. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 461-2]. Robert Palmer, secretary and Council member.
178. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 461-3]. Edward Buncombe (d. 1778). Buncombe County, named in 1791, inspired the political term descriptive of speech or action lacking conviction.
illustration 14. “The Edenton Tea Party”: Satirical English mezzotint, March 1775. Courtesy, Library of Congress.
179. Posssibly named after Edward Maria Wingfield, President of the Assembly at Jamestown c. 1608 (until accused of slander).
180. Contained above 150 buildings; 97 miles north of Newbern; Lat. 36.6.N. Long. 77.11.W. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
Edenton is famous for having its own tea party, albeit less famous than its Boston counterpart. See Illustration 14. On October 25, 1774, 51 patriotic women gathered in the home of Mrs. Elizabeth King and famously vowed “We the Ladys of Edenton do hereby solemnly engage not to conform to that Pernicious Custom of Drinking Tea, or that we the aforesaid Ladys will not promote ye wear of any manufacturers from England, until such time that all Acts which tend to enslave this our Native Country shall be repealed.”
News of the women of Edenton reached all the way back to London, where Arthur Iredell, brother of the Edenton resident James Iredell, penned the following letter on January 31, 1775:
“Dear Brother: I see by the newspaper the Edenton ladies have signalized themselves by their protest against tea drinking. The name of Johnston I see among others; are any of my sister’s relations patriotic heroines? Is there a female congress at Edenton too? I hope not, for we Englishmen are afraid of the male congress, but if the ladies, who have ever since the Amazonian era been esteemed the most formidable enemies; if they, I say, should attack us, the most fatal consequence is to be dreaded. So dextrous in the handling of a dart, each wound they give is mortal; whilst we, so unhappily formed by nature, the more we strive to conquer them, the more we are conquered. The Edenton ladies, conscious, I suppose, of this superiority on their side, by a former experience, are willing I imagine, to crush us into atoms by their omnipotency; the only security on our side to prevent the impending ruin, that I can perceive, is the probability that there are but few places in America which possess so much female artillery as Edenton. Pray let me know all the particulars when you favor me with a letter.
Your most affectionate friend and brother, ARTHUR IREDELL”
See Richard Dillard, The Historic Tea-Party of Edenton. North Carolina Historical Commission.
181. “For many, many years a stately cypress tree stood in the midst of the Edenton harbor. No one is entirely sure just how long the tree was there, but legend suggests it was standing long before the first English colonists set foot in the Albemarle region. Somehow, a curious custom grew up around the tree. Whenever a ship of trade called at Edenton, it was almost obligatory for the master to place a bottle of the best Jamaican rum in a hollow place in the trunk. Whenever a ship left for foreign parts, the vessel would stop at the tree, and all hands would drink to a safe voyage. Thus it was that the old cypress became known as ‘the Dram Tree.’ Ships whose crews failed to drink of the Dram Tree or, even worse, failed to place a bottle there when entering port were doomed to disaster. Many are the tales of ill-fated vessels that met violent storms or were becalmed in the doldrums. The tree survived until the spring of 1918, when a tremendous ice floe vanquished the landmark to the sound’s waters.” Claiborne S. Young, Cruising Guide to Coastal North Carolina: Edenton (Elon College, N.C., 2000).
182. Followers of William Tryon (1729‒1788), English Governor of North Carolina (1765–1771), who suppressed the Regulator Movement. During the Revolution, Tryon was Governor of New York (1771‒1778). See notes 114 and 154, supra, on the “Regulators.”
183. Dr. Samuel Cooper (1725‒1783), clergyman, Revolutionary patriot, pastor of Boston’s Brattle Square Church, 1743‒1783. See Dictionary of American Biography, IV, 410.
184. Leonidas was King of Sparta, in command of the Greeks at Thermopylae (480 b.c.). The reference is to a revolutionary tract that uses this pseudonym. See Howatson, supra, p. 321. Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 [fn 461-4]. Col. Rec. No. Ca., X, 1021‒1023.
185. Another pseudonym. Name of several distinguished Romans, including the legendary Gaius Mucius Scaevola who, to show his indifference to death, thrust his hand into a fire, hence “left-handed.” See Howatson, p. 510.
186. A reference to Nathaniel Balch, “a wit of the day.” See note 67, supra, and Howe, Proceedings, 1915‒1916 (fn 444‒1). He “entertained in good humor” the Sons of Liberty at Robinson’s Tavern, Dorchester. See note 67, supra, and accompanying text, and http://www.oneapril.com/sons/page2.shtml (accessed 01/01/2006), and sources cited.
187. At several points, Quincy emphasized his primary interest in law and the legal profession.
188. [“Lean Kine”]; “Lean fleshed” cattle from the Pharoah’s dream, related to Joseph, predicting the years of famine. Genesis, 41:19.
189. This principle, that laws should be enforced or repealed, was repeated later by the great jurist, Lon L. Fuller. See Lon L. Fuller, The Morality of Law (New Haven, rev. ed. 1969), 39 (“failure of congruence between the rules as announced and their actual administration”).
190. Lisbon, “a white wine produced in the province of Estremadura in Portugal and imported from Lisbon.” Oxford English Dictionary, supra, vol. 1, p. 1636.
191. “Envious” is used here as a synonym for “invidious” or “malignant.” See Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “invidious.” Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 464-1]. “This is probably an echo of the ‘Six Confirmed Laws’ of 1715, which were really a codification of all statutes prior to that year.” See Col. Rec. No. Ca., XXIII. i.
192. Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Bettor (1718–1770), colonial governor of Virginia, 1768–1770. See Dictionary of American Biography, II, 468.
193. Translation: bodes ill. Originally, “augur” meant “one who pretends to predict by the flight of birds.” Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “augur.”
194. Port-town on east side of Nansemond River. Contains about 40 houses. 110 miles SE of Richmond. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
195. Small port-town on Pagan Creek; 85 miles SE of Richmond. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
196. Contained about 200 houses and has about 1400 inhabitants; 60 miles east of Richmond; Lat. 37.16.N. Long. 76.48.W. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797. See Illustration 15.
197. Towards endowing of which King William and Queen Mary gave £2000 and 20,000 acres of land. The American Gazetteer, Containing a Distinct Account of all the Parts of the New World, printed for A. Millar and J. & R. Tonson, 1762. [no page numbers, alphabetical by city]. The currency equivalent for the cash endowment would be more than $2 million [2004].
illustration 15. Buildings of Williamsburg, Virginia. Print from Copper Plate from Bodleian Libraray, c. 1740. Courtesy, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The top view shows what Quincy called “the college” (p. 118), now known as the Wren building, after Christopher Wren who “may possibly have influenced its original design.” Michael Olmert, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg, 1985), p. 94. It was completed in 1732. The building on the second tier, far right, was the “Govenor’s House,” mentioned by Quincy on p. 119. It was completed in 1722. Id., p. 73. The building on the second tier, far left, is the Capitol, mentioned by Quincy on p. 120. It was completed in 1753, Id., p. 54. the Attorney General’s house mentioned by Quincy on p. 119 is not shown.
198. As to the “Attorney General’s House,” Quincy may have been referring to the Peyton Randolph House, completed between 1715 and 1750. Both Peyton (1722–1775) and his brother John (1727–1787) served as Attorney General. Olmert, supra, pp. 26–28. See Illustration 15. Despite Quincy’s negative remarks, George Wythe (1726–1806) had begun a law program at the college by 1779, which included John Marshall as a student in 1780. See Paul D. Carrington, “The Revolutionary Idea of University Legal Education,” 31 William and Mary L. Rev. 527 (1990).
199. This book was in Quincy’s library at his death. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, supra, item 12. It was almost certainly The Acts of Assembly, Now in Force, In the Colony of Virginia (Rind, Purdie, Dixon, Williamsburg, 1769). See Catalogue of Books in the Massachusetts Historical Library (1796 Annotated edition) (Boston, 1996), p. 467.
A controversy over accusations that Joseph Royle, printer of the Maryland Gazette, refused to print attacks on the local government, prompted Thomas Jefferson and others to urge William Rind to move from Annapolis in 1766 to set up a rival Virginia Gazette. Jefferson recalled years later that “we had but one press, and that having the whole business of the government, and no competitor for public favor, nothing disagreeable to the governor could be got into it. We procured Rind to come from Maryland to publish a free paper.”
Royle died shortly before Rind came to Williamsburg, and it turned out to be a fortuitous death for the new fellow. Rind was elected public printer by the House of Burgesses, giving him an economic foothold in the form of printing documents and laws. As it turned out, the Assembly three years later spread the wealth to both Gazettes when it ordered them to print a large volume of the Acts of Assembly then in force.
Alexander Purdie succeeded Joseph Royle as publisher of the original Virginia Gazette. In 1767, Purdie took into the business John Dixon, who by marriage was related to Royle’s widow. Purdie, dissatisfied with the partnership, withdrew to set up his own Virginia Gazette. The first issue appeared Feb. 3, 1775. If the reader is confused, imagine how confused Williamsburg readers were 200 years ago. By early 1775 there were three separate Virginia Gazettes, all operating in town and all under the same name: There was Dixon’s Gazette (the original), Rind’s Gazette and Purdie’s Gazette (the newest). See W. C. O’Donovan, History of The Virginia Gazette (1986), updated 2002 and transcribed by Lew Leadbeater, http://www.vgprint.com/history.html
200. “Lmy” an abbreviation for “lawful money?” If Quincy is referring to shillings: Approximate Currency Equivalencies: 3 shillings, seven pence = $179 (2004).
201. This cider apple, also known as Hughes’ Crab and Virginia Crab, was the most common fruit variety grown in eighteenth-century Virginia. In property advertisements in Williamsburg’s Virginia Gazette (see n. 199, supra) from 1755–1777, the Hewes’ Crab appeared more times than all other described fruit varieties combined.
The Hewes’ is a maverick apple. Its vigorous growth habit suggests that it may be a cross between a native American crabapple, Malus angustifolia, and the domesticated apple of horticulture. Virginian Landon Carter’s “crabs” were the only apple unhurt by a late spring frost in 1772. The fruit is very small, one to two inches round, with a dull-red to bright, pinkish-red skin. When pressing the Hewes’ for cider, the juice “runs through the finest flannel like spring water,” or, according to another writer, “the liquor flows from the pumice as water from a sponge.” The juice, described as “ambrosia” by one colleague, is both sugary and pungently tart, cinnamon-flavored, and delicious. Hatch, Peter J. Director, Monticello Gardens and Grounds, January 1995. http://www.twinleaf.org/articles/hewes.html
202. “Mandamus” comes from the Latin “we command.” This would be a prerogative order from the Crown “to compel the performance of a duty” i.e., to hold the court. Earl Jowitt, supra, p. 1134. Quincy would have prefered a court authorized by charter, like the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature, to a court appointed by royal order.
“Bene placito” comes from the Latin “well pleasing” (a phrase originally used for Crown appointments at Westminster; judges held their seats on the bench so long as it “pleased” the Crown). See J. H. Baker, supra, pp. 167–168.
203. A court of equity should, in theory, only have jurisdiction where there is no adequate remedy at law. Conceivably, the Virginia practice was to deny relief as a matter of law, then grant relief as a court of equity. To common lawyers, however, equitable relief, which was inherently discretionary, could create uncertainty as to the operation of the law, and introduce the appearance of subjectivity, both vices. See J. H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (4th ed., London, 2002), pp. 105–115. (Hereafter, “J. H. Baker.”)
204. Pseudonym of François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), famed French writer and philosopher. Voltaire’s Letters were in Quincy’s library. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, supra, Items 213, 290. Voltaire’s “Huron or Pupil of Nature” first appeared in his L’Ingenu Historie Véritable, Tirée des Manuscripts du Père Quesnal (Utrecht, 1767), pp. 22–33, published in Geneva and in London in the same year. The book was quickly published in English translation, in London, Dublin and Glasgow, all in 1768. “The Huron” was a fictional American Indian who suddenly appeared on the coast of France, giving Voltaire full range for his usual political satire. As Donald Grinde and Bruce Johansen have observed: “North American Indians were a symbol of freedom to another French philosopher, Voltaire. Borrowing from Gabriel Sagard’s work, Voltaire wrote a critique of French autocracy and hypocrisy, ‘The Huron, or Pupil of Nature,’ which was told through the eyes of a Huron. On the eve of the American Revolution, Voltaire’s Huron proclaimed to his French companions that he ‘was born free as the air.’” Donald A. Grinde Jr., Bruce E. Johansen, Exemplar of Liberty: Native America and the Evolution of Democracy (Los Angeles, 1991), p. 71. “As a vehicle for dreams, the Noble Savage helped reawaken Europeans to a passionate desire for liberty and happiness, which so suffused Enlightenment thought that it ignited revolution on both sides of the Atlantic. Images can do such things to reality, even when there influence is denied. For instance, although William Brandon found that Voltaire laughed at any talk of Noble Savages, his fake Huron in L’Ingenu (1767) sometimes echoed, and not always ironically, both Lahontan and Delisle, in spite of all Voltaire’s efforts to keep him from doing so…. Voltaire mocked … himself for falling victim to such nonsense—‘My muse calls to you from America[, he complained] …. I needed a new world …. But I tremble that I’ll be taken for a savage.’ At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, Franklin, the ultimate pragmatist, often found himself called by the same muse.” Id., p. 13. Many thanks to Michael Hayden and Mark Sullivan.
205. “Solecism,” “unfitness of one word to another” Johnson’s Dictionary, supra, n.p. “solecism.” Here, used to describe the unfitness of combining legal and equitable jurisdictions and other legal inconsistencies.
206. John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore (1732–1809). Governor of New York and Virginia, 1770. Returned to England, 1776; governor of the Bahamas, 1787. See Dictionary of National Biography, XXXIX, 388.
207. “Wave” for “waive.”
208. Apparently, deliberately excised. By whom and for what reason are mysteries discussed by Michael H. Hayden in the Transcriber’s Foreword, pp. 7–8, supra. See also Introduction, Southern Journal, pp. 43, 72–73.
209. An “estate tail” locked land into a family by requiring that land descend through blood descendents, “heirs of the body.” If issue fails, the land reverts back to the original donor or his or her heirs (“possibility of reverter”). Both because of the interest of the heirs of a tenant in tail (“remainder men”) and because of the interest of the original donor’s heirs (“reversioners”), the tenant in tail can, in theory, never sell more than a life estate in the land, never the complete “fee simple” title. Thus land remains in the family. But in England, the courts evolved a fictitious law suit, the “common recovery,” which effectively permitted a tenant in tail in possession of the land to bar the entail, thus permitting free alienation of the fee simple. Thus a colony which did not permit such a “common recovery” would be favoring the tying up of land and ensuring that it descended in landed families, truly an “aristocratical spirit.” See J. H. Baker, supra, pp. 280–297. A similar result was achieved in England between 1646–1700, called the “strict settlement,” which was designed to limit the common recovery. See Id., pp. 293–296. Some of the cases Quincy reported in Massachusetts presented major issues of whether the entail should be favored or disfavored, a question with major gender and social significance, as any reader of Jane Austen can attest. See, for example, Dudley v. Dudley, Quincy Reports, 12 (Case No. 9); Elwell v. Pierson, Quincy Reports, 42 (Case No. 20) and Baker v. Mattocks, Quincy Reports, 69 (Case No. 29) Quincy Papers, vols. 4 and 5. See generally Marylynn Salmon, Women and the Law of Property in Early America (Chapel Hill, 1980). “They [Virginia lawmakers] believed that the best way of preserving valuable plantations in a slaveholding economy was to allow property owners to create entailed estates of both land and slaves.” Id., p. 152. See Richard B. Morris, “Primogeniture and Entailed Estates in America,” Columbia Law Review 24 (1927).
210. “Gaff,” “a harpoon or large hook,” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “gaff.” Commonly used in fishing, but also an implement in cock fighting, “a steel spur for a fighting cock.” Oxford English Dictionary, supra, vol. 2, p. 1103.
211. Quincy’s library contained at least some of the works of John Locke (1632–1704), whose Two Treatises of Government (1690) were cornerstones of American political thought. See Quincy Estate Catalogue, supra, item 43.
212. Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), the great English scientist.
213. “Sharper,” “a tricking fellow; a petty thief; a rascal,” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “sharper.” Quincy’s library contained the Works of Francis Bacon (1561–1626), including the famous Essays (1st ed. 1597). See Essay 23 (“Of Cunning”) and Essay 26 (“Of Seeming Wise”), The Essays (M. Kiernan ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1985). “Left-handed” was a “sinister” wisdom. Bacon begins his Essay 22 “We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdome.” Id., p. 69. In his famous A Dissertation Upon Parties, Henry St. John Bollingbroke (Lord Bollingbroke) writes, “But there is need of that left-handed wisdom, called cunning, and of those habits in business, called experience.” Bolingbroke, Political Writings (ed. David Armitage, Cambridge, 1997), p. 3. (First published, 1733). Lord Chesterfield, in his letters to his son, also referred to the “cunning which Lord Bacon calls left-handed wisdom.” (Letter 71, written in 1749, but not published until 1774). See Roger Coxon, Chesterfield and his Critics (London, 1925), p. 85. Many thanks again to Mark Sullivan, exceptional reference librarian, and to Kevin Cox, my research assistant.
214. Quincy’s library contained “The Beauties of Shakespear” (2 volumes). See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, item 203. See Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene 2, Line 20. “There are no tricks in plain and simple faith: but hollow men, like horses hot at hand, make gallant shew and promise of their mettle, but when they should endure the bloody spur, they fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, sink in the trial.” Id.
215. See note 204, supra. [Voltaire].
216. Ovid, Metamorphoses, I.86: “Countenances which look upward toward the heavens.” Quincy had copies of Ovid’s Art of Love, Fastorum Libes and Metamorphoses in his library, see Quincy, Estate Catalogue, Items 124, 257, 310. Ovid, Publus Ovidius Naso (43 b.c.–a.d. 17) was a favorite of young colonial gentlemen, including Quincy and John Adams. John Adams wrote in his Diary, “On a Sunday I will read the Inquiry into the Nature of the human soul, and for Amusement I will Sometimes read Ovids Art of Love to Mrs. Savel …” Diary of John Adams, 29 Sunday, Braintree, October 5, 1758 (ed. L. H. Butterfield, L. C. Faber, W. D. Garret, 1961), vol. 1, pp. 44–45.
217. See notes 204 and 215 and accompanying text, supra. “Jesuitical” is here used in a pejorative sense, “dissembling or equivocating.” Concise Oxford Dictionary, supra, p. 636. The situation was serious. “Church Affairs in this Part of the World continue, in a regular Progression, to deteriorate: and, if they go on, as they have for some Months Past, I think twelve months from this time is the longest Period it can be possible for our Church to exist. It is terrible I do assure you. I have not received one penny for the two years I have been Incumbent of this Parish [Prince George’s County]: and to a Man, whose daily Bread depends on his Yearly, if not daily Income, you will guess how convenient all this must be.” Jonathan Boucher to Rev. Mr. James, November 16, 1773. Maryland Hist. Mag., viii. 183. Id. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 468-1].
218. “During life.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 594 (Revised 4th ed. 1968).
219. Translation: “As long as they shall behave themselves well and with Christian loyalty.” For “quam diu se bene gesserint” as words of limitation in a patent granting office for life for judges, see J. H. Baker, supra, 167–168 and note 202 supra.
220. Daniel Dulany (1722–1797). Educated at Eton, Cambridge and the Middle Temple. Opposed American revolutionary action and was, resultantly, deprived of his property as a Loyalist. See Dictionary of American Biography, V, 499.
221. Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies (1765). Id. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 469-2]. It is reprinted in Maryland Hist. Mag., VI, 374; VII, 26.
222. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 469-3]. Proceedings upon the Conference, the Address to the Governor [Eden] upon the Subject of his Proclamation, the Resolves therewith sent, and the Governor’s Answer thereto, 1772.
223. Note added, not Quincy, [left margin, ll. 17, 18] Tilghman, Edward T—of [?] many year Speaker. Correction by his great-grandson. W.M.Q. of Philadelphia 1875! Possibly Edward Tilghman (1750/1–1815), lawyer, born in Wye, Maryland, practiced in Philadelphia after 1774. See Dictionary of American Biography, XVIII, 542.
224. Charles Carroll (1736–1832). Educated in colleges of the Society of Jesus at St. Omer, Flanders, Rheims and Paris. Studied law further in London. Revolutionary leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Member of Continental Congress, 1776–78; U.S. Senator from Maryland, 1789–92. See Dictionary of American Biography, III, 522.
According to the Dictionary of American Biography, Dulaney “on Jan. 7, 1773, published a letter in defense of the government signed ‘Antilon,’ a pseudonym which it was generally understood concealed the identity of Daniel Dulany [q.v.]. This letter, in the form of a dialogue in which the arguments of ‘First Citizen’ against the government’s position were overcome by Dulany speaking as ‘Second Citizen,’ gave Carroll his opportunity. Dramatically enough he stepped into the clothes of the straw man Dulany had knocked down and under the signature of ‘First Citizen’ reopened the argument. The controversy was carried on in the Maryland Gazette until July 1, 1773, and when it was over Carroll had become indeed something like the First Citizen of the province.” Id., vol. III, p. 532. Thus, Dulaney invented “First Citizen” as a straw man for argument, and Carroll adopted it for his use in a counterattack! As to “Antilon,” according to Edward C. Papenfuse, Dulaney “chose ‘Antilon’ which combines ‘anti’ and an old English word for unfair taxes [“Lon”].” Remarks by Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse on the occasion of the presentation of First Citizen Awards to Senator Charles Sprelser & Dr. William Richardson (Feb. 17, 1945), p. 1, http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/stagger/s.1259/121/7047/htmlecpremar.htm (hereafter, “Papenfuse”) access date, 2006. See Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., J. A. Simpson, E.S.C. Weiner, Oxford, 1989), vol. viii, p. 1120 (“lon” obs. Forms of “loan”). This could possibly derive from the notorious forced “loans” of Charles I that resulted in the Five Knights’ Case of 1627 and the Petition of Right (1628). See Coquillette, supra, pp. 322–325. In any event, Dr. Papenfuse believed that Dulany “wanted to remind his readers that he had once eloquently defended them against the hated Stamp Tax.” Papenfuse, supra, p. 1. My special thanks, again, to Mark Sullivan for these insights.
225. Maryland was originally founded as a haven for English Catholics by George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) in 1632, but Catholics were soon in a minority. After the Glorious Revolution and the coming to the British throne of the Protestant monarchs William and Mary (1689), Anglicanism became the established religion. In 1715, the Calvert family itself, the proprietors, renounced Catholicism, but toleration of Catholics continued.
226. Situated on north side of Patapsco River; 1791 population was 13,503, including 1255 slaves; Lat. 39.21.N. Long. 77.48.W. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
227. Formerly called Severn, changed by act of assembly in 1694; consists of about 40 houses; Lat. 39.25.N. Long. 78.10.W. The American Gazetteer, Containing a Distinct Account of all the Parts of the New World, printed for A. Millar and J. & R. Tonson, 1762. 30 miles south of Baltimore. Contains about 300 houses. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
228. See Illustration 16. Consists of about 2500 houses; Lat. 40.50.N. Long. 74.00.W. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer (Boston, 1797).
229. The pleasant spring weather of Quincy’s overland travel north was doubtless some consolation for the rough February sea passage south to Charleston.
230. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 470-1]. St. Peter’s, founded as a chapel of ease to Christ Church, is located on the southwest corner of Third St. and Pine St.
231. Thomas Coombe (1747–1822), Anglican clergyman, Loyalist, poet. Left America in 1779. See Dictionary of American Biography, IV, 395. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 470-1]. See Hildeburn, Inscriptions in St. Peter’s Churchyard, appendix. “John Adams described Coombe as a ‘copy’ of Duché.”
232. Quincy would have been familiar with churches like the King’s Chapel, Boston (first church dedicated 1689), with its commandments above the altar, presented by William and Mary.
233. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 474-1]. Samuel Blair (1741–1818), pastor of the Old South Church, Boston, 1764–1769.
234. Possibly David Jones (1736–1820), Baptist clergyman, chaplain during the Revolution and the War of 1812. Pastor in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. See Dictionary of American Biography, X, 165.
235. William Shippen (1736–1808), physician, medical educator. Studied medicine in London and at the University of Edinburgh, receiving his M.D. in 1754. Appointed professor of surgery and anatomy at the College of Philadelphia in 1765. See Dictionary of American Biography, XVII, 117.
236. Thomas Smith (1745–1809), born near Cruden, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Delegate to Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention, 1776; member of Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1776–1780; Delegate to Continental Congress from Pennsylvania, 1781–1782; Common Pleas Court Judge, 1791; Justice of Pennsylvania State Supreme Court, 1794–1809. Died in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pa., March 31, 1809. Interment at Christ Church Burial Ground. Joseph Illick, Colonial Pennsylvania: A History (New York, 1975), p. 306.
237. Arodi Thayer (1743–1831). Son of Gideon and Rachel Thayer. Born February 19, 1743. See http://www.usigs.org/library/books/ma/Braintree1793/787.html
238. Quincy’s “nickname” for John Dickinson (1732–1808), author of Letters from a Farmer in Philadelphia (1767–1768). See note 242, infra. See Illustration 17.
239. Joseph Galloway (1731–1803), colonial statesman, Loyalist. Rose early to eminence at Philadelphia bar. See Dictionary of American Biography, VII, 116.
240. Joseph Reed (1741–1785), lawyer, Revolutionary soldier and statesman. Studied law with Richard Stockton and at the Middle Temple, London. Served as president of the second Provincial Congress early in 1775. Delegate to Continental Congress, 1777–1778. See Dictionary of American Biography, XV, 451.
241. Thomas Cushing (1725–1788), merchant and politician. Speaker of Massachusetts General Court, 1766–1774. Member of First and Second Continental Congresses; Massachusetts lieutenant governor, 1780–1788. See Dictionary of American Biography, IV, 632.
illustration 17. John Dickinson (1732–1808). Engraving by James Smither before 1797. Courtesy, the Library Company of Philadelphia. See p. 295, Southern Journal, p. 148.
242. John Dickinson “The Farmer” (1732–1808). Educated at home and at the Middle Temple, London. Returned to Philadelphia in 1757 and entered practice. He had an extensive involvement in Revolutionary politics. Favored conciliation to separation and voted against the Declaration of Independence as a matter of principle. One of only two Congressmen to volunteer for armed service. Member of Stamp Act Congress and Continental Congresses. See Dictionary of American Biography, V, 299.
Dickinson was an accomplished essayist, his most famous writings being Letters from a Farmer in Philadelphia, hence Quincy’s appellation of Dickinson as “The Farmer.” These Letters were originally written between 1767–1768, and were an attack on the Townshend Acts of 1767. See E. Alfred Jones, American Members of the Inns of Court (London, 1924), pp. 6–63. As with Quincy, Dickinson was a moderate who wished to avoid bloodshed. Id., p. 62. See Illustration 17 and note 238, supra.
243. Mark, 6:4. Reads: “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Quincy was sensitive that he was “not admitted to the Gown” of a barrister in Massachusetts. See Quincy Papers, Reports, vol. 4, p. 317. His son believed this was because his “political course” rendered him “obnoxious to the Supreme Court of the province.” Josiah Quincy, Memoir of the Life of Josiah Quincy Jun. (1st ed., 1825), p. 27. “Mr. Stanton” could be Daniel Stanton of Philadelphia who took a major appeal to the Privy Council concerning Rhode Island land in the late 1750s. See Mary S. Bilder, The Transatlantic Constitution: Colonial Legal Culture in the Empire (Cambridge, Mass., 2004), p. 171.
244. Jonathan Bayard Smith (1742–1812), merchant, Revolutionary patriot and soldier. Served on Continental Congress. See Dictionary of American Biography, XVII, 308.
245. John Ewing (1732–1802), Presbyterian clergyman. Pastor, First Church, Philadelphia. Provost, professor of natural philosophy at University of Pennsylvania after 1779. See Dictionary of American Biography, VI, 236.
246. “Catholicism” in the sense of “catholic” as “universal” and “general.” See Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “catholick.”
247. First chartered as an Academy in 1751, and then, in part through Benjamin Franklin’s efforts, as a College in 1765, the University of Pennsylvania established the first medical school in the Colonies in 1765. It acquired the title “University” in 1779.
248. William Allen (1704–1780), merchant and jurist. Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 1750–1774. Founder of Allentown. See Dictionary of American Biography, I, 208.
249. Again, “the Farmer” refers to John Dickinson (1732–1808). See notes 238 and 242, supra. For Joseph Reed (1741–1783) noted patriot and personal aid to Washington, see note 251, infra. Supra, n.p. “facetious,” meaning “gay, cheerful, witty.” See Johnson’s Dictionary, n.p. “facetitious.”
250. Jared Ingersoll (1722–1781), lawyer and Loyalist. Judge of vice-admiralty after 1768. Officiated at Philadelphia, 1771–1775. His son, Jared (1749–1822), was counsel of many of the early leading cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. See Dictionary of American Biography, IX, 467.
251. Dennys De Berdt (1694–1770), merchant, colonial agent in London for Massachusetts and Delaware. See Dictionary of American Biography, V, 180. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 472-4]. His daughter, Esther De Berdt (1746–1780), married Joseph Reed (1741–1785), the distinguished patriot and personal aide to George Washington, in May of 1770. Esther was certainly Quincy’s “Mrs. Reed.” See William B. Reed, The Life of Esther De Berdt, afterward Esther Reed of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1853). Joseph Reed was “a member of the committee of correspondence for Philadelphia in November, 1774, and in January, 1775, was president of the 2d Provincial Congress.” Virtual American Biographies, http://www.virtualology.com/opjosephreed, access date October, 2006. Following his distinguished service in the Revolution, Reed became President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (1778–1781). He died in 1785 before being able to take a seat in Congress. Esther and Joseph had three distinguished judges among their descendents: son Joseph (1772–1846), who became Attorney General of Pennsylvania; grandson William (1806–1876), who also became Attorney General of Pennsylvania and was a distinguished diplomat; and grandson Henry (1808–1854), an academic and Vice-Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. Id. My thanks to my most distinguished colleague, Mary Sarah Bilder, for this information.
252. See notes 238, 242, and 249, supra.
253. Benjamin Chew (1722–1810), lawyer. Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1774–1776. See Dictionary of American Biography, IV, 64.
254. See note 239, supra.
255. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 472-6]. On Tammany and the Philadelphia Society, see Penn. Mag. of Hist. and Biog., XXV, 433; XXVI, 7, 207, 335, 443. An account of this particular meeting is in Id., XXV, 446.
256. 53 miles north of Philadelphia. The Renewed Church of the Brethren (“Moravian Church”) was founded in Bohemia in 1467. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was founded by the followers of the sect in about 1740, and remains the center of the faith today.
257. This was probably St. Mary’s Church, which was completed in 1763. See New Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1967), vol. 9, pp. 972–973. Across the street and down Willing’s Alley was the “Old Chapel,” St. Joseph’s, dating from 1733. The two churches were one Parish. Robert Molyneux (1738–1808), a Jesuit who Quincy met, would become pastor of both in 1772. Again, many thanks to Mark Sullivan, Reference Librarian extraordinaire. See also note 272, infra.
258. Quincy’s reaction, both suitably impressed and suitably skeptical by the standards of the Massachusetts establishment, is reminiscent of similar reactions to Rome on the “Grand Tour.” See Bruce Redford, Venice and the Grand Tour (New Haven, 1996), 30–31. Indeed, Quincy’s Voyage to the South was, in a sense, his equivalent of the “Grand Tour.”
259. In other words, the “Son,” Jesus Christ.
260. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 473-2]. Charles Startin, who married Sarah, daughter of Richard Clarke, of Boston. He presented a petition to the Continental Congress on September 24, 1776. See Journal of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789.
261. See notes 238, 242, and 249, supra, and Illustration 17. The name is correctly spelt “Dickinson.”
262. Translation: “leisure with dignity.”
263. George Whitefield (1714–1770), the famous Methodist preacher. He died in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on one of his several American trips. See The Compact Edition of the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 1975), vol. 2, p. 2253.
264. This would most likely be either Charters, and Acts of Province [of Pennsylvania] 1682–1759 (12 mo., Peter Miller, Philadelphia, 1762), known as “Little Peter Miller” or the same in folio, known as “Big Peter Miller.” See Catalogue of the Library of the Law School of Harvard University, vol. 11, p. 322 (1909); Pimsleur’s Checklist of Basic American Legal Publications (ed. M. S. Zubrow, 2001), “Pennsylvania, p. 1.” Again, my thanks to Mark Sullivan, Reference Librarian, Boston College Law School.
265. This would have been Acts of Assembly 1700–1775 (fol. Hall & Sellers, Philadelphia, 1775). See Catalogue of the Library of the Law School of Harvard University, supra, vol. II, 322.
266. This was true. As of Quincy’s death, there was no book of Pennsylvania laws in his library. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, supra.
267. “Trimmer,” one “who changes sides to balance parties, a turn coat.” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “trimmer.” “Courtier,” one “that courts or solicits the Favor of another.” Id., n.p. “courtier.” These are pejorative terms.
268. George Grenville (1712–1770), First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1763–65. See Dictionary of National Biography, XXIII, 113.
269. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 474-1]. Susanna Shippen (1743–1821) married Samuel Blair (1741-1818).
270. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 474-2]. Probably Joseph Howe, of the New South Church, 1773–1775.
271. Benjamin Rush (1745–1813), physician and Revolutionary patriot. Studied medicine with John Redman and attended first lectures of William Shippen and John Morgan at the College of Philadelphia, where he later taught chemistry. Elected to the Continental Congress, 1776, he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. See Dictionary of American Biography, XVI, 227.
272. Ferdinand Farmer (1720–1786), Jesuit priest. Came from Germany to America in 1752; worked as a missionary out of St. Joseph’s parish, Philadelphia. See Dictionary of American Biography, VI, 276. “Molineux” was Robert Molyneux (1738–1808), another Jesuit priest, who delivered the funeral sermon on Farmer’s death on August 17, 1786. See A funeral sermon on the death of the Rev. Ferdinand Farmer (C. Talbot, Philadelphia, 1786). This was one of the first Catholic publications in what was to become the United States. Many thanks to that most extraordinary of reference librarians, Mark Sullivan of Boston College Law School. Molyneux was a close friend of John Carroll, the future American archbishop, whom he had met at the famous Jesuit school in Bruges. See New Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1967), vol. 9, p. 1016.
273. The “Old Chapel,” St. Joseph’s, still stands in Philadelphia. It was supplemented by St. Mary’s Church, and Molyneux became pastor of both in 1772. Id., vol. d 9, p. 1016.
274. The Jesuit order was suppressed in 1773 by order of Pope Clement XIV, and finally reestablished by Pope Pius VII in 1814. This left both Farmer and Molyneux in an awkward position close to the time of Quincy’s visit. For political reasons, however, the Society was not suppressed in Russia. Father Molyneux was particularly active in keeping the Society viable, associating himself to the Jesuit Society in Russia and Father Gabriel Gruber, General of the Society of Jesus there. “Molyneux rejoiced in the preliminary restoration of the Society, of which he was named American superior on June 21, 1805.” Dictionary of American Biography, XIII, p. 82. He later became Rector of Georgetown.
It is not surprising that the sexton was “Dutch,” as Father Farmer was from a Swabian family by the name of Steinmeyer (he changed to “Farmer” on arrival). He ministered especially to the German-Catholic congregation in Philadelphia, centered in St. Joseph’s parish, and engaged in the dangerous work of a traveling missionary, sometimes in the disguise of a Quaker merchant. When the British captured Philadelphia in 1777, Father Farmer extended his ministry to the Hessian regiments, but he refused to assist the British in their efforts to raise a regiment of Catholic “volunteers.” In 1778, he founded the first Catholic congregation in New York City, and in 1779, he was elected a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania. See Dictionary of American Biography, VI, 276–277.
275. The communion wafers? “Nick nacks” was an archaic English term for small pastry desserts. See note 94, supra.
276. Was this the distinguished Philadelphia merchant and economist, Tench Coxe (1755–1824), or, more likely, his father, William Coxe? My thanks, again, to my most valued colleague, Mary Sarah Bilder, and that exceptional research librarian, Mark Sullivan. The Coxe papers are now available at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
277. The University of Pennsylvania established the first medical school in America in 1765. See note 247, supra.
278. “‘Whyckoff’ was a distinguished New York surname, although ‘Peter Whycoff’ has not yet been identified. Pieter Claesen, a very important citizen of the New Netherlands, chose the name ‘Wyckoff’ in 1664, when the British captured New York and required the Dutch there to adopt English surnames. Claesen created for himself the name ‘Wyckoff,’ a combination of words meaning ‘parish’ and ‘court,’ a reflection of his duties as local magistrate. Thus, every person today bearing the name Wyckoff (in any of its countless spellings) shares this common ancestor.” See http://www.nyhistory.org/nyhsqa.html. My thanks to my distinguished colleague, Mary Sarah Bilder.
279. Thomas Oliver (1734–1815), lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts, 1774. Graduated Harvard (1753); proscribed, 1778. See Dictionary of National Biography, XLII, 151. Oliver’s house in Cambridge, Mass., “Elmwood,” is now the official residence of the President of Harvard.
280. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 476-1]. Reformatory.
281. See Illustration 18.
illustration 18. View of Philadelphia and the State House in 1778, engraving by J. Trenchard after C.W. Pleale, Columbian Magazine, vol. 1, no. 11 (July 1787). Courtesy, Boston Athenaeum.
282. Translation: “To such (evils) could religion urge people.” This is a partial quote from Lucretius (98–c. 55 b.c.e.), De Rerum Natura, 1.101. See Howatson, supra, pp. 330–331 Quincy may have gotten this maxim from Francis Bacon’s essay “Of Unity in Religion,” where Bacon stated, “Lucretius the poet, when he beheld the act of Agamemnon, that could endure the sacrificing of his own daughter, exclaimed: Tantum Relligio potuit suadere malorum.” See Francis Bacon, The Essayes of Counsele Civill and Monall (ed. M. Kiernan, Cambridge, Mass., 1985), p. 14. Bacon was one of Quincy’s favorite authors. See note 295, infra.
283. “Influence,” i.e., the influence of special interests. “Ascendent power.” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “influence.”
284. Special influence? See “set” as in “to fix, to establish” Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p., “set.” Today we refer to “the fix being in.” Could also refer to a “packed house,” using “set” as “persons that belong together.” Concise Oxford Dictionary, supra, 1109.
285. John Stuart, third Earl of Bute (1713–1792). Ultimately unpopular political figure; voted against Stamp Act, 1766, and subsequently traveled abroad incognito. See Dictionary of National Biography, LV, 92.
286. Frederick North, second Earl of Guilford (1732–1792). Leader of the House of Commons, 1767; first Lord of the Treasury, 1770. See Dictionary of National Biography, XLI, 159.
287. See note 325, infra on the history of the Penn family.
288. Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745), statesman. Recognized leader of Whig party, 1703; favored religious toleration; leader of the House of Commons, 1711; long and active political career. See Dictionary of National Biography, LIX, 178.
289. See note 325, infra on the Penn family.
290. Quincy’s Reports and Law Commonplace Book frequently focused on jury power. See Angier v. Jackson, (1763), 84; Norwood v. Fairservice, Quincy Papers, vols. 4 and 5, (1765), 189; and Carpenter v. Fairservice (1767), 239. See also Daniel R. Coquillette, “First Flower—The Earliest American Law Reports and the Extraordinary Josiah Quincy, Jr. (1744–1775),” Quincy Papers, vol. 4.
291. In fact, there was substantial persecution of Quakers in Massachusetts during the 17th century. See George A. Selleck, Quakers in Boston: 1656–1964 (Cambridge, Mass., 1976), pp. 1–17. William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson were hanged in 1659, Mary Dyer in 1660, and William Leddra in 1661. Later events, including intervention by Charles II, led to toleration. Id., pp. 18–32.
292. See Illustration 16.
293. Asparagus. See Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p., “sparrow grass.” i.e., “corrupted from asparagus.”
294. Head, “place of honor,” i.e., act as hostess at the table’s head. See Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “head.”
295. A literary device of Francis Bacon. “And as veins of water acquire divers flavors … according to the nature of the soil through which they flow … just so in these legal systems natural equity is tinged and stained … according to the site of territories, the disposition of peoples, and the nature of Commonwealth.” Francis Bacon, The Aphorism (M. S. Neustadt ed.) Ph.D. Thesis, University Microfilms Service, 1990, p. 273. See also Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning (1st published, London, 1605), The Oxford Francis Bacon, IV (ed. M. Kiernan, Oxford, 2000), p. 102. Bacon was one of Quincy’s favorite authors, and Gilbert Stuart painted Quincy’s portrait with a volume of Bacon in the background. See note 323, infra. Quincy owned Bacon’s Works at his death. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, supra, item 42.
illustration 19. Nassau Hall, Princeton, copperplate engraving, James Parker, 1760. New American Magazine, No. 27 (March 1760). Courtesy, Princeton University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. See Nassau Hall: 1756–1956 (ed. H. L. Savage) (Princeton, 1956), p. 163.
296. Situated on an island in the middle of the Delaware River, opposite to Philadelphia; Lat. 40.40.N. Long. 74.10.W. The American Gazetteer, Containing a Distinct Account of all the Parts of the New World, printed for A. Millar and J. & R. Tonson, d 1762. 18 miles NE of Philadelphia; 160 houses, 1000 white, 140 black inhabitants. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
297. Lat. 41.29.N. Long. 72.22.W. Between 200–300 houses and 2000 inhabitants; 12 miles SW of Princeton, 30 miles NE of Philadelphia. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
298. About 80 dwelling houses. 53 miles SW of New York. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797.
299. Princeton was founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was moved to Princeton in 1756. See Illustration 19.
300. See Illustration 20.
301. In January 1773, Lord Stirling visited Mount Vernon and escorted George Washington, John Parke Custis, and a Major Robert Bayard on a trip northward. Tom J. Collins, A Brief Summary of Some of the Pre-War Days of George Washington, Revwar.org, 1998–2003. For Colonel William Bayard, see note 307, infra.
illustration 20. A view of New York from the North West, 1777. The Atlantic Neptune, 1763–1784. See Gloria G. Deák, Picturing America, 1497–1899 (Princeton), vol. 1, pp. 85–86. I. N. Phelps Stokes Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Courtesy, New York Public Library.
302. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 478-2]. By Edward Moore (1712–1757). See Drabble, supra, p. 665. The Gamester dates from 1753.
303. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 478-3]. By Isaac Bickerstaff (1733–?1808). See Drabble, supra, pp. 99–100. The Padlock was first performed in London in 1768.
304. Lewis Hallam (1740–1808), theatrical manager. See Dictionary of American Biography, VIII, 148. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 478-4]. In “The Padlock” he portrayed Mungo and in “The Gamester,” he portrayed Beverly.
305. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 479-1]. Stephen Woolls, acting in “The Padlock.”
306. Probably the young Elizabeth Morris (1753–1826), actress. Known on stage as Mrs. Owen Morris; regarded once as the greatest attraction on the American stage. See Dictionary of American Biography, XIII, 206.
307. William Bayard (1729–1804). Prominent and opulent merchant of New York City, where he was born; died at Southampton, England; resided at Castle Pointe, Hoboken, New where he was born; died at Southampton, England; resided at Castle Pointe, Hoboken, New Jersey, and, although he joined the Sons of Liberty, his estate was confiscated because his principles would not permit him to aid the movement for independence. USGenNet, American History and Genealogy Project, 2000–2002.
308. Charlotte Brent (d. 1802), singer. Toured with her husband, Thomas Pinto, in Scotland and Ireland, 1770–80. See Dictionary of National Biography, VI, 261.
309. Peter Middleton (d. 1781), physician. Practiced in New York City after 1752. A founder of the Medical School of King’s College (Columbia), 1767; also one of the incorporators of New York Hospital, 1771. See Dictionary of American Biography, XII, 602.
310. I.e., “civility.” See Johnson, Dictionary, supra, n.p. “complaisance.”
311. Possibly General David Van Horne (1746–1801).
312. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 479-2]. John Broome, merchant. “[M]arried Rebecca Lloyd of Long Island, a niece of Dr. James Lloyd of Boston. She was engaged to Edmund Quincy, brother of the writer, at the time of his death in 1768. Memoir of Josiah Quincy, Jr., 109 n.”
313. Rebecca Lloyd (b. January 2, 1746 or 1747); married John Broome in 1769.
314. Miss Sarah Hallam, cousin to Lewis Hallam, “queen of the American stage.” Returned to Williamsburg to conduct a dancing school which she opened in August of 1775; she lived until at least 1839. Williamsburg and Its Theatres, Department of Research and Education, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., 1937.
315. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 479-5]. Maria Storer. See George Overcash Seilhamer, History of the American Theatre before the Revolution (Philadelphia, 2005), 350.
316. William Shakespeare (1564–1616); The Tempest was first performed at court in November 1611. See Drabble, supra, 890. Quincy possessed The Beauties of Shakespear at his death. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, supra, item 203.
317. Amphitrite was the wife of Poseidon or Neptune, God of the Sea, with whom she had a son, Triton. See Howatson, supra, p. 458. A masque would have involved both dramatic and musical components. See Concise Oxford Dictionary, supra, 729. For example, William Davenant, John Dryden, and Thomas Shadwell added “a grand fifth-act masque of Neptune and Amphitrite,” to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which was produced in London at the Theatre Royal in 1712 by John Weldon. Perhaps what Quincy saw was an adaptation of Weldon’s production. See John Weldon, The Tempest, semi-Opera, to a text by William Davenant, John Dryden, and Thomas Shadwell after William Shakespeare, London, 1712. My thanks for this reference to Mark Sullivan, reference librarian beyond compare.
318. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 480-1]. A ballet-opera, by Henry Carey.
319. James Rivington (1724–1802), bookseller, printer, journalist. Put out first regular issue of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer on April 22, 1773. Howe, Proceedings, 1915–1916 [fn 480-2]. The paper became so offensive to the Sons of Liberty, because of its neutrality, that a party of patriots destroyed Rivington’s printing plant in November 1775. See Dictionary of American Biograpphy, XV, 637.
illustration 21. Newport, R.I., in 1730. On stone by J. P. Newall, tinted lithograph, K. H. Bufford’s Lith., 1864. Courtesy, Boston Athenaeum.
320. Contained about 1000 houses; 75 miles SW by S of Boston. Jedidiah Morse, D.D., The American Gazetteer. Printed in Boston, 1797. See Illustration 21.
321. William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708–1778). Chatham, known as the “Great Commoner,” was very popular in the colonies. He was a leader of the Whigs, and an advocate of conciliation. His son was William Pitt “the Younger” (1759–1806). Quincy greatly admired Chatham, whom he described as “like Marcellus—‘Viros Supereminet Omnes’.” See The London Journal, Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. 252–257. There was also a “Colossal statue” of Pitt in Charleston. See page 218 [90] supra.
322. Translation: With the pen running (i.e., in a hurried fashion).
323. “Sir Amice Pawlet, when he saw too much haste in any matter, was wont to say, ‘Stay a while, that we may make an end the sooner.’” Francis Bacon, Apothegms (1624), No. 54. Quincy owned Bacon’s Works at his death, and the posthumous portrait of Quincy by Gilbert Stuart shows a volume of Bacon’s Works behind Quincy. See Quincy, Estate Catalogue, supra, Item 42. See note 295, supra, and see also Quincy Papers, vol. 1, pp. xxxv.
324. Ironically, this passage indicates at least some expectation by Quincy that others would see the Southern Journal. How pleased and surprised he would be with the Journal ‘s current historical value.
325. Quincy’s “excentric conjecture” has, quite fortunately, not come to pass. But the influence of these three families was immense, and their names now are reflected in those of great states, cities, and counties. The following helpful notes have been prepared by my research assistant, Nicole Scimone.
Penn Family: See the Compact Edition of the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 1975), pp. 1630–1631. The Penn family is the founding family of Pennsylvania. The family can trace its American roots back to the 1682 arrival of William Penn, a Quaker, from England. King Charles II of England owed a debt to Penn as repayment of a loan from Penn’s father, an Admiral, and the King, in turn, gave Penn land in what is now Pennsylvania and Maryland. Penn’s first stay in America lasted only a year and ten months, but during this time, he was very productive in contributing to the development of the colony. He created a government for this territory which he entitled a “Holy Experiment” and which included an elective council and assembly, and guarantees of the fundamental liberties of the individual. Also, he superintended the laying out of Philadelphia an built his own house several miles up the De aware River. He then left and returned to England again in late 1701 to deal with a proposal in the English Parliament to annex all proprietary colonies of the crown. Penn died in 1718, and his wife died in 1727. After her death, the proprietorship of Pennsylvania passed to his surviving sons John, Thomas, and Richard Penn. The Penns, together with the Quaker establishment, opposed the American Revolution. John Penn was arrested in 1777 on charges of acting against the Patriots. Although the Penns received major compensation for losses during the Revolution in 1779, their influence in the state waned. Quincy comments at page 165 that the “family lost much of their Provincial influence by renouncing the Religion of their Ancestors and the Colony in general [Quakerism] for that of the Episcopacy.” Quincy also observed that the powerful influence of the Penns’ “proprietary” party in Pennsylvania’s politics was limited by “a lineal successive defeat of capacity, want of policy, glaring avarice, and oppressive measures in the Penn-family.” See p. 322 [165], supra.
Fairfax Family: See the Compact Edition of the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 1975), vol. 1, p. 657. The Fairfax family was the leading Virginian family at the time of Quincy’s visit. Thomas Fairfax, also known as sixth Lord Fairfax of Cameron, was the first Fairfax to exert influence in Virginia. Thomas traces his ties to Virginia to his mother, Catherine, who was heiress to the original colonizers of Virginia, the Culpeper family, who had been in Virginia for over four generations. The Culpepers’ property had originally been part of a grant from Charles II to a group of Cavaliers. Thomas’s great-grandfather was one of the grantees, and his son later purchased all the land from the other grantees. However, there was resentment within the colony to the Culpepers’ ownership, and in 1733, when his family’s Virginian property came under attack, a forty-year-old Thomas came over to America from England to help protect his inheritance. In 1747, Thomas decided to set up permanent residence in America, settling in the Shenandoah Valley. His life in America is marked as one of the utmost simplicity, lacking in the finer things that Quincy had admired in others during his tour of the South, such as fine wines, latest fashions, and a showy library. Thomas was a bachelor, who remained neutral during the Revolution. After his death in 1782, and ten years of lawsuits, the Commonwealth of Virginia acquired title to much of his land, and a real estate syndicate bought the rest from his heirs.
Baltimore Family: See the Compact Edition of the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 1975), vol. 1, p. 291. The Baltimore family to which Quincy refers is the Calvert family, which obtained a charter for what is now Maryland in 1632, in part to provide a haven for Catholics. The first Lord Baltimore was George Calvert, who was born in 1580 in England. Having won the confidence of King James while acting as principal secretary of state and controller of the King’s policy, he was later knighted in 1617. In 1625, George resigned from his appointment and the King created a new position for him—Baron of Baltimore in the Kingdom of Ireland. He had already developed an interest in America at that point, having been granted the entirety of Newfoundland in 1622, which was later restricted to cover only the peninsula of Avalon. After moving there with his second wife and all but one of his children in 1628, he complained to the king about the severe weather and asked for a land grant in a warmer climate. George Calvert died in 1632 shortly before receiving the Maryland charter, and, instead, it was issued to his eldest son, Cecil. Cecil’s half brother, Leonard, was named Governor, and set out, with “twenty other gentlemen” and two Jesuit priests, to settle the new colony in 1633. Throughout the rest of the seventeenth century, George Calvert’s heirs attempted to dominate control of the Maryland government, but their attempts were eventually quashed due to internal incompetence, and in 1692, a royal government was established in Maryland. Frederick Calvert (1731–1771), the sixth Lord Baltimore, died in Naples on Sept. 14, 1771, shortly after Quincy’s trip. He inherited the proprietorship of Maryland from his father. He was indicted at Kingston in 1768 for an assault on a female. Following his acquittal, he lived on the continent. Rather than fulfilling Quincy’s prophecy of an American aristocracy, Calvert’s greatest achievement was his account of a voyage “to the East,” with many classical references. It was just the sort of thing Quincy would have loved, but it was not in his library catalogue. See Frederick Calvert, Lord Baltimore, A Tour to the East in the Years 1763 and 1764 … (London, 1767). See Illustration 22.
illustration 22. Frederic Calvert, Lord Baltimore (1731–1771). Engraving, published in Horace Walpole, Catalog of the royal and noble authors of England, Scotland, and Ireland (London, 1806), vol. 5, p. 278. Courtesy, Boston Athenaeum. See p. 347, Southern Journal, p. 184.
326. Quincy was certainly prophetic here. The population increase of the United States from 1780 to 1869 was eleven-fold, 2,781,000 to 31,443,321. See James Willard Hurst, Law and the Conditions of Freedom in the Nineteenth Century United States (Madison, Wis., 1956), 71.
327. In retrospect, even Quincy, a demanding observer of himself and others, would credit these inhabitants with meeting their “duties” to “posterity” by creating a new nation!