Abigail Adams and Her Times

"You, madam, are so sincere a lover of your country, and so hearty a mourner in all her misfortunes, that it will greatly aggravate your anxiety to hear how much she is now oppressed and insulted. To you, who have so thoroughly looked through the deeds of men, and developed the dark designs of a rapacious soul, no action however base or sordid, no measure, however cruel and villanous, will be matter of any surprise.

"The tea, that baneful weed, is arrived. Great and, I hope, effectual opposition has been made to the landing of it. To the public papers I must refer you for particulars. You will there find that the proceedings of our citizens have been united, spirited and firm. The flame is kindled, and like lightning it catches from soul to soul. Great will be the devastation, if not timely quenched or allayed by some more lenient measures. Although the mind is shocked at the thought of shedding human blood, more especially the blood of our countrymen, and a civil war is of all wars the most dreadful, such is the present spirit that prevails, that if once they are made desperate, many, very many of our heroes will spend their lives in the cause, with the speech of Cato in their mouths.

"Such is the present situation of affairs, that I tremble when I think what may be the direful consequences, and in this town must the scene of action lie. My heart beats at every whistle I hear, and I dare not express half my fears. Eternal reproach and ignominy be the portion of all those who have been instrumental in bringing these fears upon me. There has prevailed a report that tomorrow there will be an attempt to land this weed of slavery. I will then write further. Till then, my worthy friend, adieu."

During ten days more, Abigail Adams' heart was to "beat at every whistle she heard." The patriots meant to make no mistakes in this important matter. They steadfastly refused to receive the tea; they used their utmost efforts to induce Governor Hutchinson to allow its return. It was not till all had been done that man could do, that the final step was taken and the tea disposed of. Trevelyan, in his history of the American Revolution, says: "Boston, under circumstances which have been too frequently described to admit of their ever again being related in detail, gratified the curiosity of an energetic patriot who expressed a wish to see whether tea could be made with salt water." It is the only passage in that admirable work with which I have a quarrel. Boston born and bred, I cannot be expected to pass over the Tea Party with a brief word. I must recall, if only for the sake of that beating heart of Abigail Adams', that scene on the night of December 16th: the painted figures stealing from street and alley and crooked lane to the rendezvous at the Old South Church; the war-whoop ringing out, the rush down Franklin Street to Griffin's Wharf; the shouts and laughter, under which lay such deadly earnestness; the scuffle on the decks, the splash! splash! as chest after chest of best Bohea and Hyson (to the value of eighteen thousand pounds) dropped into the icy water, and went "sailing so merrily out to sea." How should I not call up the scene at least thus briefly, when my own great-grandfather was one of the Mohawks? And how do we know that little Abigail and John Quincy Adams were not singing, in the days of turbulent excitement that followed the Tea Party, songs something like the following, though this is of a somewhat later date:

There was an old lady lived over the sea,And she was an Island Queen.Her daughter lived off in a new countrieWith an ocean of water between.The old lady's pockets were full of gold,But never contented was she,So she called on her daughter to pay her a taxOf three-pence a pound on her tea,Of three-pence a pound on her tea."Now, mother, dear mother," the daughter replied,"I shan't do the thing you ax.I'm willing to pay a fair price for the tea,But never the three-penny tax.""You shall," quoth the mother, and reddened with rage,"For you're my own daughter, you see.And sure 'tis quite proper the daughter should payHer mother a tax on her tea,Her mother a tax on her tea."And so the old lady her servant called upAnd packed off a budget of tea,And, eager for three-pence a pound, she put inEnough for a large familee.She ordered her servant to bring home the tax,Declaring her child should obey,Or old as she was, and almost woman grown,She'd half whip her life away,She'd half whip her life away.The tea was conveyed to the daughter's door,All down by the ocean side,And the bouncing girl poured out every poundIn the dark and boiling tide,And then she called out to the Island Queen,"Oh! Mother! Dear Mother!" quoth she,"Your tea you may have when 'tis steeped enough,

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1

"The Sabbath in Puritan New England." Alice Morse Earle.

2

"Customs and Fashions in Old New England." Alice Morse Earle.

3

Ibid.

4

"Customs and Fashions in Old New England." Alice Morse Earle.

5

"Customs and Fashions in Old New England." Alice Morse Earle.

6

"Three Episodes of Massachusetts History." C. F. Adams.

7

"History of Massachusetts." Minot.

8

"Customs and Fashions in Old New England." Alice Morse Earle.

9

"Two Centuries of Costume in America." Alice Morse Earle.

10

"Gordon's History."