Dulcibel: A Tale of Old Salem

by Henry Peterson

  CHAPTER XXXIV.

  Master Raymond Goes Again to Boston.

  Master Raymond had agreed to keep his friend Joseph Putnam informed byletter of his movements--for there had been a postal system establisheda number of years before through the Massachusetts colony--but of coursehe had to be very careful as to what he put upon paper; the Puritanofficial mind not being over-scrupulous as to the means it took ofattaining its ends.

  He had brought excellent letters to persons of the highest character inBoston, and had received invitations from many of them to make his homein their houses--for the Boston people of all classes, and especiallythe wealthy, obeyed the Scriptural injunction, and were "given tohospitality;" which I believe is true to the present day. But MasterRaymond, considering the errand he was on, thought it wisest to take uphis abode at an Inn--lest he might involve his entertainers in the perilattending his unlawful but righteous designs. So he took a cheery roomat the Red Lion, in the northern part of the town, which was quite areputable house, and convenient for many purposes not the least beingits proximity to the harbor, which made it a favorite resort for thebetter class of sea-captains.

  Calling around upon the families to which he had presented letters onhis first visit, immediately after his arrival in the colony, hespeedily established very pleasant social relations with a good manyvery different circles. And he soon was able to sum up the condition ofaffairs in the town as follows:

  First, there was by far the most numerous and the ruling sect, thePuritans. The previous Governor, shut out by King James, Sir EdmundAndros, had been an Episcopalian; but the present one sent out on theaccession of William and Mary, Sir William Phips, was himself a Puritan,sitting under the weekly teachings of the Reverend Master Cotton Matherat the North church.

  Then there was an Episcopal circle, composed of about four hundredpeople in all, meeting at King's Chapel, built about three years before,with the Reverend Master Robert Ratcliffe as Rector.

  Besides these, there was a small number of Quakers, now dwelling inpeace, so far as personal manifestations were concerned, being protectedby the King's mandate. These had even grown so bold of late, as to beseeking permission to erect a meeting-house; which almost moved thePuritan divines to prophesy famine, earthquakes and pestilence as theresults of such an ungodly toleration of heresy.

  Then there were a number of Baptists, who also now dwelt in peace, underthe King's protection.

  Adding to the foregoing the people without any religion to speak of, whoprincipally belonged to or were connected with the seafaring class, andMaster Raymond found that he had a pretty clear idea of the inhabitantsof Boston.

  In relation to the Witchcraft prosecutions, the young Englishmanascertained that the above classes seemed to favor the prosecutions justin proportion to the extent of their Puritan orthodoxy. The greatmajority of the Puritans believed devoutly in witches, and in the dutyof obeying the command, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Andgenerally in proportion to a Puritan church-member's orthodoxy, was theextent of his belief in witchcraft, and the fierceness of hisexterminating zeal.

  The Episcopalians and the Baptists were either very lukewarm, or elsein decided opposition to the prosecutions looking upon them as simplyadditional proofs of Puritan narrowness, intolerance and bigotry.

  The Quakers held to the latter opinion even more firmly than the liberalEpiscopalians and Baptists: adding to it the belief that it was ajudgment allowed to come upon the Puritans, to punish them for theircruelty to God's chosen messengers.

  As for the seafaring class, they looked upon the whole affair as a pieceof madness, which could only overtake people whose contracted notionswere a result of perpetually living in one place, and that on the land.And since the arrest of a man so well thought of, and of their own classas Captain Alden, the vocabulary allowed by the law in Boston wasentirely too limited to embrace adequately a seaman's emphatic sense ofthe iniquitous proceedings. As one of them forcibly expressed himself toMaster Raymond:--"He would be _condemned_, if he wouldn't like to seethe _condemned_ town of Boston, and all its _condemned_ preachers,buried like Port Royal, ten _condemned_ fathoms deep, under the_condemned_ soil upon which it was built!" He used another emphatic wordof course, in the place of the word _condemned_; but that doubtless wasbecause at that time they had not our "revised version" of the NewTestament.

  The sea-captain who expressed himself in this emphatic way to MasterRaymond, was the captain in whose vessel he had come over from England,and who had made another voyage back and forth since that time. Theyoung man was strolling around the wharves, gazing at the vessels whenhe had been accosted by the aforesaid captain. At that particular momenthowever, he had come to a stand, earnestly regarding, as he had severaltimes before, a vessel that was lying anchored out in the stream.

  After passing some additional words with the captain upon variousmatters, and especially upon the witches, a subject that everyconversation at that time was apt to be very full of, he turned towardsthe water and said:--

  "That seems to be a good craft out there."

  It was a vessel of two masts, slender and raking, and with a long, lowhull--something of the model which a good many years later, went by thename of the Baltimore clipper.

  "Yes, she is a beauty!" replied the captain.

  "She looks as if she might be a good sailer."

  "Good! I reckon she is. The Storm King can show her heels to any vesselthat goes out of this port--or out of London either, for that matter."

  "What is she engaged in?"

  Here the captain gave a low whistle, and followed it up with a wink.

  "Buccaneers occasionally, I suppose?"

  "Oh, Captain Tolley is not so very _condemned_ particular what hedoes--so that of course it is entirely lawful," and the captain winkedagain. "He owns his vessel, you see--carries her in his pocket--and hasno _condemned_ lot of land-lubber owners on shore who cannot get away ifthere is any trouble, from the _condemned_ magistrates and constables."

  "That is an advantage sometimes," said the young man. He was thinking ofhis own case probably.

  "Of course it is. Law is a very good thing--in its place. But if I buy abag of coffee in the East Indies or in South America, why should I haveto pay a lot of money on it, before I am allowed to sell it to thepeople that like coffee in some other country? _Condemn_ it! There's nojustice in it."

  Master Raymond was in no mood just then to argue great moral questions.So he answered by asking:--

  "Captain Tolley does not make too many inquiries then when a good offeris made him?"

  "Do not misunderstand me, young man," replied the captain gravely. "Myfriend, Captain Tolley, would be the last man to commit piracy, oranything of that kind. But just look at the case. Here Captain Tolleyis, off at sea, attending to his proper business. Well, he comes intosome _condemned_ port, just to get a little water perhaps, and somefresh provisions; and hears that while he has been away, these_condemned_ land-lubbers have been making some new rules andregulations, without even asking any of us seafaring men anything aboutit. Then, if we do not obey their foolish rules, they nab us when wecome into port again, and fine us--perhaps put us in the bilboes. Now,as a fair man, do you call that justice?"

  Master Raymond laughed good-humoredly. "I see it has its unfair side,"said he. "By the way, I should like to look over that vessel of his.Could you give me a line of introduction to him?"

  "Of course I can--nothing pleases Tolley more than to have people admirehis vessel--even though a landsman's admiration, you know, really cannotseem of much account to a sailor. But I cannot write here; let usadjourn to the Lion."