Page images
PDF
EPUB

of the Infantry companies left the field without orders (some of them under command of commissioned officers, and others under command - if it might be said they were under any command of their warrant officers, when the superior officers refused to accede to the movement), and paraded the streets with the American flag displayed in view of the company banner, and the drum and fife playing Yankee Doodle,' to the general disgust of the citizens, and their own and the city's dishonor.

[ocr errors]

"The cause of this disorganizing movement was nothing else than a prejudice against the Montgomery Guards, and a predetermination on the part of certain citizen soldiers ever obedient to the Laws, not to remain on the field if they appeared for inspection, let who would order them. They did as they promised to do; but if they imagine public sentiment sustains them, they will be woefully disappointed in finding themselves in a sorrowful minority. The companies which left the field were the City Guards, the Lafayette Guards, the Washington Light Infantry, the Mechanic Riflemen, and the Fusileers. There has not occurred a greater act of insubordination since Col. Loring in the war time refused to parade_his regiment on Muster Day, because he was opposed, in politics, to the Brigadier General.

"We understand, since the preceding was in type, that none of the companies which left the field, did so under the conduct of their commissioned officers-all of whom remained at their posts and that the movement was one for which the warrant officers and privates are alone responsible. We learn further, that some of the warrant officers and privates of the deserting companies remained with the superior officers."

A testy correspondént in a letter to the Transcript, captiously attempts to correct the article of Tuesday (the previous) evening's issue. He says in hair-splitting attempts to justify the action of some: "The conclusion to be drawn from the statement was, that the movement of these five companies was simultaneous, and that it was a preconcerted arrangement. Such," he continues, "is not the case," and he.then tells us, "The City Guards were the first to leave; they were followed by the Washington Infantry, the Mechanic Riflemen, the Fusileers, and the Lafayette Guards successively in the above order." Because their banners had not arrived on the field, none of the companies had "Standards in their possession when they deserted the field." But that was a matter easily anticipated and provided for in their subsequent parades throughout the city. He says also:

The

"The City Guards paraded the streets during the whole forenoon. Fusileers marched directly to the Winnissiment Ferry, proceeding to Chelsea; the remaining companies went immediately to their armories, deposited their arms, and exchanged the military for the citizen's dress. In regard to the merits or demerits of the conduct which the Transcript considered so culpable nothing need now be said. Before long, a candid and impartial statement of the motives which prompted to this conduct will be made, and the public set right in regard to it." M. S. J.

Yours,

To this in a foot note the Transcript editor replies: "We were not alone in our opinion, as our correspondent will see by consulting any or all of the morning papers."

His Excellency Gov. Edward Everett Speaks.

Four days after the military riot on the Common, and in the streets of Boston, Gov. Everett caused to be issued the following important general order:

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS HEADQUARTERS,
BOSTON, Sept. 16, 1837.

GENERAL ORDERS: The commander-in-chief has learned from officers on duty at the brigade inspection and review in Boston on the 12th instant that on the

formation of the line of the Light Infantry Regiment, the non-commissioned officers and privates of the City Guards, under the command of a sergeant, left the field in disobedience to the orders of their superior officers and in gross violation of military discipline, and that this disorderly example was followed by many of the noncommissioned officers and nearly all the privates of several corps of Light Infantry and one of the Riflemen. The commander-in-chief forbears to comment particularly on facts, however notorious, which are in train of official investigation by the proper officers; nor will he attempt to anticipate the consideration which may be had of the case, on due report which may be made of the same, at the approaching session of the Executive Council. But he deems it his duty to the militia, and to the public at large, to issue these general orders, expressing the deep and painful feelings produced in his mind by conduct so unbecoming the citizen and the soldier. He feels that this occurrence is calculated seriously to shake the public confidence in the militia, inasmuch as it has shown that a large portion of those on whom firm reliance was placed for the support of the laws and the preservation of the peace, in time of need have allowed themselves (it is feared by previous concert), to engage in a deliberate violation of the laws by a public desertion of their duty; and to set an example,too promptly followed,- of conduct tending to the subversion of order and to the grossest outrage on the feelings, rights, and persons of unoffending fellow-citizens actually engaged in the performance of a duty enjoined by law.

The commander-in-chief deems it equally his duty, and it is one which he takes great pleasure in performing, to express his high satisfaction at the conduct of that portion of the militia on duty at the time, as well officers as privates, who remained firm at their posts, and his warm approbation of the exemplary behavior of the Montgomery Guards, under the trying circumstances, in which they were placed in the course of the day.

The commander-in-chief desires to impress it upon the minds of the militia, as their first duty in time of peace, to contribute in every way prescribed or authorized by law, to the preservation of the public order and peace. Any act of a contrary tendency on their part will be doubly pernicious, and will be regarded as in the highest degree reprehensible, by all good citizens. He feels entire confidence that the duties imposed by law, in reference to an occurrence of such high and painful moment, will be faithfully discharged by all the field and company officers to whom they pertain; and that the feelings and conduct of all of every rank composing the brigade will be such as to restore the public confidence in the militia as a safe dependence for the protection of the peace of the community and of the authority of the laws.

By order of the

H. A. S. DEARBORN, Adjutant General.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

On the day of the parade, the troops which assembled on the Common were, as the newspaper roster gives, a Brigade commanded by Gen. J. L. C. Amee, embracing the National Lancers attached to the Second Regiment of Infantry, Major Hoppin's Battalion of Artillery, composed of three companies, viz., the Boston, Columbian and Washington Artillery, the Boston Light Infantry, Boston Independent Fusileers, Winslow Blues, Washington Light Infantry, New England Guards, Rifle Rangers, City Guards, Mechanic Riflemen, Lafayette Guards, and the Montgomerys, all composing Col. Smith's Regiment of Light Infantry, and the corps of Pulaski Guards, commanded by the late Hon. Josiah Dunham of South Boston, and then attached to the Third Regiment of Infantry. Of these organizations the Lafayette Guards and the Columbian Artillery subsequently became largely made up of Irish-Americans. The latter furnished a powerful nucleus of Company A, one of the stalwart companies of the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers during the war, and in its armory in 1861 was drilled many of the bravest soldiers whose blood drenched the soil of

Virginia and Maryland through the eventful period of patriotic effort for the perpetuity of the union.

So far all the efforts made by the writer among the military records does not develop what action was taken in the premises on the gross conduct of the military insubordinates. Reports so full and ample as are made now would give us many linked details; but of these we are, unfortunately, in this case deprived. It is to be presumed, however, that the rioters were in due form court-martialed and expelled from the ranks they disgraced, although the spirit then abroad, both among the firemen and the military, may well justify us in conceiving that, in many cases, the breaches of good order and discipline were winked at.

The civil authorities entered earnestly into the work of bringing the citizen rioters to justice. A strong feeling in the community prevailed against them.

Among the several arrested and held under bonds, some received the full penalty of the law. Capt. Baxter, of the Montgomerys, had several offers from gentlemen of the legal profession to conduct the prosecution; but he selected the late worthy Thomas Gill, Esq., for that purpose. The trial took place Oct. 16, in the then Municipal Court. Rioter Joseph Pierce received the punishment of three years in the House of Correction; Thomas J. Young, two years; and Thomas Tucker, three years in the same institution. In the case of one Benjamin Brown there was a disagreement of the jury. In his address, before passing sentence, Judge Thacher gave the rioters a wholesome talking to, in which he said that "from the personal injuries which the gentlemen of this corps [the Montgomerys] thus suffered they were happily restrained by the prudence of their officers from making any return but that of patience and forbearance." After characterizing their conduct as that of the "brutish mob," he continued by saying, "Your offence was rank, and, therefore, you are to be visited with the extreme penalty which the law imposes for such crime."

STUDENT.

THOSE Who spiritually digest Jesus Christ feel that Jesus Christ, who is their food, is diffused through every part of the soul and body. They have Jesus in their mind, in their heart, in their breast, in their eyes, in their hands, in their tongue, in their ears, in their feet. But what does this Saviour do in all these parts? He redresses, purifies, prunes, and vivifies all; the heart loves through Him, the mind understands through Him, the breast breathes through Him, the eyes see through Him, the tongue speaks through Him. Then we can say, "We live now, not we, but Christ Jesus liveth in us." I show you to what we must aspire, though we must be content to attain it by degrees. St. Francis De Sales.

PATIENCE is that which most assures us perfection.

Symptoms of Decay in Modern Society.

We cannot fail, if we direct our thoughts to the subject, to be struck with the analogy between our great Empire and that of ancient Rome, and, at the same time, without being pessimists, to feel that there is great cause for anxiety lest we should share the same fate, and crumble away to nothingness, and a mere name and page, though a large and important one, in history. It seems as if we are destined, as the Romans were, on reaching the zenith of our fame and prosperity, to relapse, and commit that most fatal error of living on the reputation we have gained, and the success we have achieved among the nations of the earth.

There can be no doubt that when most obstacles have been overcome, and when the struggle for existence and for greatness has been triumphantly concluded, nations are apt to give way to a longing for rest, accumulation of wealth, and the enjoyment of luxury. There are several great influences that rule the destiny of nations, such as politics and commerce, but there is another that has an influence, and a strong influence, and that is the social condition of a people; the fountain-head and main-spring of which in this country is London society, which rightly assumes to itself the responsible position of setting the example to the rest of this great Empire. It is composed of the wealthiest, richest, and the best born in the land, who gradually get drawn to, and congregate thither, just as a log of wood is whirled round and round to the vortex of the maelstrom, where, in many cases, as in London society, it is lost.

Many may cavil at the idea that society is so largely responsible for the welfare of a people; but the two great examples of the Roman Empire and the French monarchy should silence these, and induce them seriously to turn their attention to the subject.

Let us put commerce and politics aside for the time, and try to trace out the analogy between us and the people of ancient Rome in our social conditions, and there is but little doubt that the comparison will lead us to take warning, and to feel considerable disquietude lest we should be too surely following in their footsteps, and those of the French monarchy, in both of which cases the rottenness of society at the core was but the premonitory symptom of the downfall of a great Empire and an ancient monarchy. The deterioration of society is but a slow and gradual process, and there are many causes that tend towards. this, among which are its immense and rapid growth, and of the bowing down to, and the worship of mammon, while another is the great depression in agriculture, that drives many to London who would otherwise be spending much of their time in healthy country pursuits; but who, owing to the depressed state of agriculture, are unable to live at, and enjoy their country places, and being compelled to let them are obliged to take up their quarters in town. That "Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do," is never more verified than in the case of young men thrown into London life, either with enough to live comfortably on without work, or with the assistance of a certain amount of work to enjoy themselves. These young men naturally want to amuse them

selves, and the tendency of a life of amusement in town is generally downward, which is neither conducive to health nor to morality, and society of the present day is by no means prone to show its disapproval of such a course, should the actors in it be some of the fashionable favorites.

If the delinquent, even in the more public form of a hero of a cause célébré, be well endowed with this world's goods, his fiasco would not, indeed, in any way militate against him; he would be as much as ever sought after by the mother with marriageable daughters, and great triumph would be displayed if he were successfully captured, while his former character would be disposed of by the usual generalities as to "sowing wild oats.” Not a thought would be allowed to obtrude itself as to the risk of intrusting a daughter's happiness with one who had such an unenviable reputation, if he had a sufficiency of income. There is no doubt that now society is more tolerant of these youthful pecca. dilloes, and therefore, the same peccadilloes which have always been in vogue, are, at the present day more openly spoken of, and the same care is not taken to hide, or to disguise them, and relegate them to the darker corners of a man's life, as he feels that society is careless upon the subject, and is not likely to raise its voice against his manner of life.

IRISH MARTYRS.

London Saturday Review.

THE recent beatification of a number of English martyrs, who suffered under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, has naturally attracted attention to the still more numerous martyrs, who proved even to the shedding of blood the faith and constancy of the Irish people. It has been a matter of surprise to many that apparently no steps had been taken to procure their beatification. There will be no further surprise or regret on that score. Although public attention has not been invited to the subject, the Irish Church has not been unmindful of its martyred dead.

Several years ago Cardinal Moran was deputed to make the necessary investigations, and, after his elevation to the episcopate, and subsequent translation to Sydney, was succeeded by Bishop O'Callaghan, of Cork (then prior of St. Clement's), whose function, in turn, devolved upon the present postulator of the cause, the Rev. Denis Murphy, S. J., of University College, Stephen's Green, Dublin, duly nominated by an episcopal brief of the Most Rev. Dr. Walsh Archbishop of Dublin, dated October 13, 1886. Father Murphy has since been engaged in making diligent researches, with the result, that up to the present, a list of over two hundred martyrs, dating from 1540 to 1737, has been compiled and a large quantity of documentary evidence accumulated. This list will most likely be extended before the evidence is ready for the preliminary diocesan court about a year hence. Archbishop Walsh at an early stage of the proceedings wrote to Cardinal Manning on the subject and received a letter in reply expressive of his Eminence's deep interest in the cause, and of his great delight on learning that those who had so long lain under the altar would no longer be allowed to remain in oblivion, but would in all probability be raised to the honors of the altars.

« PreviousContinue »