Radio Script #268
Little Talks On Common things
May 29, 1955
Winfield Martin of China has loaned me a curious old book, published in Newburyport, Mass. in 1795. Its long 18th century title is “The Art of Courting, displayed in eight different scenes, the principal of which are taken from actua I life and are pub I i shed for the Amusement of Ameri can Youth.”
The f-j rst chapter is headed: “Of the i nsti tuti on of marri age, with sundry practical maxims not unworthy to be treasured up in the minds of youth”. Here are a few of those maxims: No one should engage in the delightful business of courting whi Ie his circumstances afford him no rational prospect of supporting a fami Iy. Those who suffer their fancy to lead their judgment in choice of a mate wi II be in great danger of being deceived and destined to pass unhappy years in the conjugal state. Each party to a marriage should carefully investigate the other’s natural temper. Many a poor wretch, having never seen the intended mate except in hours of pleasantry, has been decoyed into a bad match.
The first story in the vol ume is about Strephon and Eli za. After his first formal cal I, STrephon suggested a second visit or as boys would saynow, another date — but Eliza refused unless he should first gain her parents’ approval. As the writer puts it: “Although Eliza’s father was a grave and reverend gentleman, whose presence never fai led to awe the spirits of the young and spri ghtly., yet love gai ned the ascendancy over Strephon’s natura I timi di tv, and he embraced the first opportunity to open the important and delicate subject to Eliza’s parents. He had the good fortune to gain their complete approbati on to pay his atTenti on to the i r daughter.
But the course of young love wasn’t all smooth. Lady G., a distinguished widow, wrote proposals of marriage to Strephon. He replied so courteously that she thought he meant to encourage her, but at last he bluntly told her that his affection was fixed upon another. Then he sent the whole correspondence to Eli za.
Now consider how this old book advises a young swain to write to his fiancee:
“Before we enter into the sacred bonds of wed lock, we ough t to be convinced of each other’s sincerity. With reciprocal and unfeigned love f the matrimonial relation must be a blessing; without it, such a conviction wi I I prove a vexati on too great for the parti es to endure. ft Goodness gracious, how times do change!
Now letts hear a bit more about that old sea dog~ Captain Samuel Foster.
The earl i est letter in Fred 0 I i verts collecti on of the Foster papers was wri tten in 1778 from st. Croix, Bermuda to Pitman Clements, Esq., near Hobbs Hole, Essex County, Massachusetts. Young Capta in Foster wrote: tf I n haste I inform you that I am ~oming master of the Sloop Harriet with the dry goods belonging to the owners of the Fame in her. I hope you wil I attest this to the Fame’s owners, that they may insure properly if they think it best. The Sloop Harriet is one of the fastest sai ling Bermuda sloops in the West Indies. I gave three hundred Johanneses for her on account of her fast sa iii ng. You will ob I i ge me much if you wi II send my trunk to Baltimore. I have all things in it I shall want immediately. Send it to the care of Mr. Wi Iliam Hammond and let him know it belongs to me. If you have no opportunity directly, hire a cart or any other way you think proper. If the expense does come to more, I don’t care so long as I have it as soon as I arrive.
Peggy has not yet come to this port. Whether she has been captured or what has become of her, I cannot tel I. sha II sai I in about ei ght days and hope to have the pleasure of seeing you soon after. Pray give my compliments to a II my fri ends down your way, and te I I them I sha II be with them soon, for I long to see all of those pretty angels in and about Hobbs Hole. In haste I must remain yours, Samuel Foster.
uP. S. Tobacco wi I I hard Iy fetch eight sh i II i ngs per cask, a II the is lands are so f u I I .”
A few weeks ago I told you about Captain Foster’s unpleasant experience in St. Petersburg in 1787, when he was censured by his ship’s owners for strictly obeying their orders to take cargo only for an.American port. In 1792 he was off for Russia again, but this time for a different firm of owners. Fortunately among his papers in Fred Oliver’s possession is preserved the original orders issued by the owners for that voyage. A hundred and sixty years later it is interesting to us to see just what instructions a ship owner gave his captain, who might be away from Boston for two or three years.
f~80ston, January 17, 1792.
“Captain Samuel Foster: You having command of the ship Charlestown, now loaded and ready for sea, owned by my son John Mi Iler Russe II and myse If j oi nt Iy, my desire and orders are that you embrace the first opportunity of wind and weather to sa i I for Lisbon i n Portuga I. On your arri va I, de live r my I etters to Messrs. John Bulkely & Son, merchants there. Follow their directions in the de I ivery of your cargo. You wi II be attentive to see that no embezzlement takes p I ace, wh i ch am informed without great care is often the case. You wi I I do everything in your power to procure a freight from Lisbon t~ St. Petersburg, Russia, and that without any. loss of time. Be sure to sai I early enough to be at St. Petersburg by the first open water in the spring. On your arrival there, hand my letter to Messrs. John Mathew Bulkely & Co., merchants there? to whom you go consigned for a cargo of Russian goods. You wi I I be careful to examine the qua I ity of every article and see that a II are of the best kind. On the last voyage the hemp fell short in weight considerable, say four tons. Youwill mention this to Mr. Bulkely and see that the weight is attended to.
“From Messrs. Bulkely of Lisbon take $300 to pay your sound dues at Elsi- nore. You wi II also take sufficient money to buy whatever may be absolutely necessary, making use of all possible economy in the whole of your voyage.
”You have on board your ship five boxes of the best Gulimel Indigo, one box and three casks of Carolina Indigo, consigned to Bulkely & Co., to whom I have written to lodge letters for Capt. Russell at Elsinore, whether to deliver the i nd i go to Ryberg & Co. of Copennagen or leave it at E Is inore, or carry it to St. PeTersburg. You wi II open the letTers di rected for Captain Russel I and fol low their directions accordingly.
“Buy in Russia and bring home with you 50 pieces of lOtI priced Russian toweling. Don’t forget to bring a certificate TO cancel the bond and recover the drawback on the indigo. Bring with you a very large and handsome pai r of glasses, the most elegant that can be procured.
“Your humb Ie friend and servant, Thomas Russe I I.
Every leTter or paper concerning Captain Foster’s voyages to that part of the world conTains reference to Elsinore, a place we seldom hear of today. ITs present name is Helsingor on the northeastern tip of Denmark, about fifty mi les north of Copenhagen. The natural route for al I ships from the Atlantic to St. Petersburg was and sti II is into the North Sea, Through the stretch of water known as the Skagerrak, around the northern Ti p of Denmark, down the Kattegat to Helsingor, through the narrow strait to Copenhagen, then around the tip of Sweden into The Baltic Sea, and up into the Gulf of Finland to St. Petersburg.
But there ;s more than a sai lor’s geography connected with Helsingor. Under its older name of Elsinore, the name it sti II went by in the ship’s orders to Capta i n Foster, it was renowned in litera ry hisTory. For E Is i nore is the scene made famous by Shakespeare’s immortal hero, the melancholy Dane, Prince Hamlet of Denmark.
In 1834 Artemus Boute lie of Watervi lie Took the long journey to New Or- leans. Shocked by the mora Is of the p I ace, Artemus wrote home: nyou will hardly credit it, bUT there are three bi Iliard tables all within a mi Ie of this place. To each of these rooms a grog shop is attached. There you dai Iy see young men and old gambling and drinking. The holy Sabbath is observed only as a day of amusement. I find the notion, even among the sTudent Catholics, that after attending church, the rest of the day may be spenT in amusement. How different from our Sunday in Watervi lie.
Now it is worth noting that this was the very time when the second son of Dr. Ambrose Howard of Sidney was starting to make his way in New Orleans and was wri ti ng long leTTers to his father about life in the 0 I d Creo Ie CI Ty. ‘y’OUIIY nuwdr’U ‘::>dy~ nOTnlng aoout corrupted morals of the place. It is all in the point of view. We know That Howard was a rei igious, high princip.f.et:i.. youth, but unlike Boute lie, he was not a stri ct, eas i Iy shocked Puri tan. Both saw th i ngs in New Orleans, but they drew different conclusions.
Artemus Boutelle had quite a career before tuberculosis claimed him the very year after his letter from New Orleans, for he died in 1835 before reaching his twentieth year. A son of Watervi I lets leading citizen, Timothy Boutelle, he entered WaTervi lie College at the age of fi fteen. In 1832 he planned to accompany one of The professors to Germany for further study, as such Americans as Longfellow and Lowe II were doing or soon to do. But somethi ng prevented the professor’s departure, so that plan was abandoned. With his father he made a long horseback journey .through Massachusetts and New Hampshire, writing on his return an interest i n9 -oescr i pt i on of the “Notch of the Wh i te Mounta ins”.
In the summer of 1833, already harassed by a persistent cough and losing weight, he made WiTh a friend a memorable journey to Canada. Taking Jim Jackman’s new Canada Road, in the first two days they traveled 25 mi les, to a place 16 miles above The Forks. For the last 15 miles they found the road very bad, and for the lasT ten mi les not a single house. Now let us turn to Artemus’ own account of the trip. ”We finally reached Mr. Jackson’s, a long hut where travelers usually put up. To our surprise, in the midst of this vast forest, W’e found a school supported by a fema Ie mi ss i onary soci ety. As the i nhab itants live from 10 to 15 miles apart, they take turns in boarding the whole schoo I, cons. i sti ng of 15 to 20 pup i Is, wh j ch thus moves from house to house.”
And with that school up near Jackman, movi ng from house to house to make it possible for chi Idren in the Maine wi Iderness to get at least a rudimentary education 120 years ago, we must say good night for old times’ sake.
Year: 1955