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Page 68
"But, Grandfather, who had been governor since the British were driven
away?" inquired Laurence. "General Gage and Sir William Howe were the
last whom you have told us of."
"There had been no governor for the last four years," replied
Grandfather. "Massachusetts had been ruled by the legislature, to whom
the people paid obedience of their own accord. It is one of the most
remarkable circumstances in our history, that, when the charter
government was overthrown by the war, no anarchy, nor the slightest
confusion ensued. This was a great honor to the people. But now, Hancock
was proclaimed governor by sound of trumpet; and there was again a
settled government."
Grandfather again adverted to the progress of the war. In 1781, General
Greene drove the British from the Southern States. In October, of the
same year, General Washington compelled Lord Cornwallis to surrender his
army, at Yorktown, in Virginia. This was the last great event of the
revolutionary contest. King George and his ministers perceived, that all
the might of England could not compel America to renew her allegiance to
the crown. After a great deal of discussion, a treaty of peace was
signed, in September, 1783.
"Now, at last," said Grandfather, "after weary years of war, the
regiments of Massachusetts returned in peace to their families. Now, the
stately and dignified leaders, such as General Lincoln and General Knox,
with their pondered hair and their uniforms of blue and buff, were seen
moving about the streets."
"And little boys ran after them, I suppose," remarked Charley; "and the
grown people bowed respectfully."
"They deserved respect, for they were good men, as well as brave,"
answered Grandfather. "Now, too, the inferior officers and privates came
home, to seek some peaceful occupation. Their friends remembered them as
slender and smooth-cheeked young men; but they returned with the erect
and rigid mien of disciplined soldiers. Some hobbled on crutches and
wooden legs; others had received wounds, which were still rankling in
their breasts. Many, alas! had fallen in battle, and perhaps were left
unburied on the bloody field."
"The country must have been sick of war," observed Laurence.
"One would have thought so," said Grandfather. "Yet only two or three
years elapsed, before the folly of some misguided men caused another
mustering of soldiers. This affair was called Shays' War, because a
Captain Shays was the chief leader of the insurgents."
"O Grandfather, don't let there be another war!" cried little Alice,
piteously.
Grandfather comforted his dear little girl, by assuring her that there
was no great mischief done. Shays's War happened in the latter part of
1786, and the beginning of the following year. Its principal cause was
the badness of the times. The State of Massachusetts, in its public
capacity, was very much in debt. So, likewise, were many of the people.
An insurrection took place, the object of which seems to have been, to
interrupt the course of law, and get rid of debts and taxes.
James Bowdoin, a good and able man, was now governor of Massachusetts.
He sent General Lincoln, at the head of four thousand men, to put down
the insurrection. This general, who had fought through several hard
campaigns in the Revolution, managed matters like an old soldier, and
totally defeated the rebels, at the expense of very little blood.
"There is but one more public event to be recorded in the history of our
chair," proceeded Grandfather. "In the year 1794, Samuel Adams was
elected governor of Massachusetts. I have told you what a distinguished
patriot he was, and how much he resembled the stern old Puritans. Could
the ancient freemen of Massachusetts, who lived in the days of the first
charter, have arisen from their graves, they would probably have voted
for Samuel Adams to be governor."
"Well, Grandfather, I hope he sat in our chair!" said Clara.
"He did," replied Grandfather. "He had long been in the habit of
visiting the barber's shop, where our venerable chair, philosophically
forgetful of its former dignities, had now spent nearly eighteen not
uncomfortable years. Such a remarkable piece of furniture, so evidently
a relic of long-departed times, could not escape the notice of Samuel
Adams. He made minute researches into its history, and ascertained what
a succession of excellent and famous people had occupied it."
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