 section 11 of Ruth of Boston this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Ruth of Boston a story of the Massachusetts Bay colony by James Otis section 11 Philip Ratcliffe's crime the punishment of Thomas Morton saddened Susan and myself sorely but not so much as when one Philip Ratcliffe was punished he was such a wicked man that he went around the town saying he believed the devil was at the head of our church and in every way casting reproach upon religion despite the fact of his having been warned again and again that unless he put a bridle to his tongue punishment would speedily follow he did not heed to the warning however and after a time which was during the third summer of our being in this land he was brought before the court as one who had cast reproach upon God for this he was sentenced to be whipped to have his ears cut off to be fined 40 shillings and afterward to be banished to England because of this man's being so very very wicked Susan and I believed we should go to see him whipped and gathered with the people at the pillory where he stood with his neck and arms clutched by the heavy bars of wood but when Samuel Morgan made ready the heavy whip just as the man's back was there to receive the lashes we turned away in horror not daring to look father said when he came home in the evening that Ratcliffe for the whipping and the ear cutting without a cry but when it was over he threatened vengeance against us after he should be set free in England and later we came to know what he meant by such threats he went everywhere about in the old country telling that the new world was a hideous wilderness in which roam the wild savages thirsting for the blood of white people that the land was rocky and barren and not fit for farms for no farms could be raised upon it that the weather was cold and that the climate caused deathly sickness all this father said work to our harm among those godly people who were inclined to join us for they feared to come into such a place not understanding that these things were lies which had been told out of the spirit of revenge in the pillory another wicked person who had come to Boston was Henry Lynn who was no sooner living among us than he wrote letters to England by every vessel full of slander against the churches and of those who took part in the government he was forced to stand in the pillory from sunrise to sunset and was then sent back to England with the warning that if he ever returned worse punishment would follow it has come to my mind that possibly some who read these words may not have seen a pillory for I am told that there are places in this world where the people so fear God and love their neighbors that there is no need they be punished therefore while I sat down as best I may a description of that instrument of shame that stands near to where lives master Wilson first a platform of logs is made of such height that he who stands upon it can be seen of all the people and from the center of this rises a stout log to the height of four feet or more on the top of the upright timber and fastened immovable is a punching plank on the upper edge of which are cut three grooves the middle one large enough to contain a man's neck and the other two his wrists now a second plank is fashioned to fit down over the first one with other grooves in it to match who so ever must be punished is forced to stand upon this platform with his head and arms fastened securely in the holes of the planks exposed to the view of all the people during so long a time as the sentence demands in addition to being a most shameful punishment it must be exceeding painful for one may not stand very long in the same position without becoming cramped and he who is in the pillory cannot move hands or head stealing from the Indians I grieve to say that there were some among our people who seem to believe there was nothing of crime that could be committed against a savage and master Josiah Plastow whom we had ever looked upon as a godly man showed himself to be naïve ish where the brown people were concerned chikadabit the chief of the Massachusetts Indians of whom I have already spoken brought proof to Boston that master Plastow had stolen three and a half bushels of corn from some of his people living near Neppin set and on being charged with the offender by governor Winthrop master Plastow confessed that he had done so claiming that it was not stealing to take from the savages the governor and his assistants thought differently though for master Plastow was find five pounds in money and ordered to send six and a half bushels of corn to the Indians from whom he had stolen after which all people were forbidden to call him master anymore but must give him only the name of Josiah's captain stone believes this sentence to be wrong and openly called the justice unseemly names he was straightway summoned before the court and find one hundred pounds in money for speaking disrespectfully of one in authority nor was this the only case where fault was found with the punishment inflicted upon Josiah's Henry Lyon wrote a letter to a cousin of his in Plymouth another to a friend in Salem and sent four to London all of which were filled with harsh words against the governor of Boston and the manner in which justice was tell doubt he was given twelve lashes on the bare back and banished to England the passing of new laws when we had been in this village two years there was much vexation because of the greater portion of the gold and silver money which our people had brought with them having been sent back to England in order to purchase goods there and the result was that even those who were well off in the things of this world found themselves unable to pay their debts therefore it was that the court ordered corn to be taken in the stead of gold and silver unless money or beaver skins were set down in the writing as the method of payment agreed upon at the same time another law was passed part of which seemed to bear heavily upon those who were homesick to the point of going back to England and yet may have offended the officers of the law in some way it was declared that no person should be allowed to depart out of the town of Boston either by sea or by land or to buy goods out of any vessel or of the Indians without permission from the magistrates I know it is not seemly for a girl to question that which her elders have done and yet there were many times when it seemed to me as if such a law worked injury to us of Boston I might not have given so much he to matters which do not concern girls but for the fact that Susan's father had crossed the neck on his way in search of wild animals and having come some four miles into the forest he met an Indian who had on his back a half bushel of corn in a basket the savage took a fancy to the girdle he wore offered to give him the corn and bring as much more on the following day if the belt were given to him then Susan's father believing that the law against buying provisions of an Indian would not be carried so far as to prevent a bargain like the one which the savage had offered stripped off his belt and took the corn on coming back to the town Samuel Goodlove one of the tithing men met him and asked how it chanced he had set forth in search of wild foul and brought back corn thinking no harm Susan's father told all that had been done in the forest and straight way he was brought before Governor Winthrop who find him ten shillings and the corn he had brought on his back four miles for having offended the law in addition he was sentenced to give back to the Indians as much corn as he had taken but without demanding from him the girdle that had been given over end of section 11 section 12 of Ruth of Boston this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Ruth of Boston a story of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by James Otis section 12 master poor month's school five years after we were settled in this town of Boston a school was set up for young people and such children of the Indians as wish to attend were allowed to do so freely without payment although every white man was forced to pay each year a certain amount either in money or in goods for the hire of the teacher who was master filament poor month it must not be supposed that we children knew nothing whatsoever of reading writing or of doing small sums in arithmetic up to this time a certain portion of each day did my mother or father teach me my lessons and when master poor month opened his school I could write as fair a hand as I do now which seems fortunate for he was not skillful in teaching the art of writing as for myself I truly believe that had my first lesson in the use of a quill come from him I had never known how to form a letter because of his being exceeding harsh in his ways a child who failed in doing at the first attempt exactly as master poor month thought fit he was given a sharp blow over his knuckles of the hand which held the quill and Ezra Whitman was punished in this manner so severely on a certain day that it was nearly a week before he was able to use his fingers even then the teacher declared that if the blow had been sharper the boy would before the pain had ceased have known more about that which he was endeavoring to show him the school was first set up in the house that had been built by Josiah Plastow if you remember he was one who had been under the discipline of the court and it was forbidden any should call him saved by the name of Josiah's feeling that he had been harshly dealt with Josiah's left Boston and went into Plymouth to live therefore did his dwelling belong to the town according to the law it was made into a school room by having benches set up around the four sides in such a fashion that the scholars faced a ledge of punching planks which was built against the walls to be used when we needed a desk on which to write or to work out sums in arithmetic master Pormont sat upon a platform in the center of the room where he could keep us children well in view and woe betide the one who neglected his task for punishment was certain to follow school discipline there were times when it seemed to me as if master Pormont had eyes in the back of his head for once when I ventured to ask Susan Freeman for the loan of her quill while he was looking in the opposite direction I was speedily called to an account for misbehavior then it was he handed me a knife he carried in his pocket and further command was not needed I knew full well that I must go outside and cut a stout switch for use upon my own body and if per adventure I had been so foolish as to bring back a small one the first would have to be used to switch me with until it was broken after which it was my duty to go for another of more weight my hands smarted a full hour after the punishment had been dealt out and there were such swellings upon them when I got home that mother tied both up in linen after besmearing them plentifully with ointment it was not always that master Pormont used to switch upon a child who had been foolish enough to speak with his neighbor for he had what were called whispering sticks which were most disagreeable to wear and caused a great deal of pain so Susan said but as for myself I was never forced to bear such punishment these whispering sticks were stout bits of wood from the oak tree which could not readily be broken by the teeth and were put into a child's mouth as you thrust a bit into the mouth of a horse after which two ends were bound securely back of the neck thus the unfortunate ones jaws were stretched wide open oftentimes for a full hour other tools of torture it seemed to me then and does even now that master Pormont spent more time devising means of punishment than in teaching us our lessons for he had as many torture tools of various kinds as would have served to make a heavy load for either of us children that which the lads most feared was the flapper and truly it was well contrived to cause pain it was a piece of stout deer hide or thick leather four or five inches wide and twice as long with a hole in the center about as large as the end of my thumb one end of this was tied to a stout handle and when applying it master Pormont forced the child who had disobeyed the rules of school to lie over on one of the benches in such a manner that he could come at the lads bare skin when the flapper was laid on vigorously at each blow the flesh would puff up through this hole in the center of the leather in a way most painful to behold there is little need for me to say that master Pormont had a number of dunces caps made of bark from the birch tree on which were painted different inscriptions to suit the offense such as stupid boy for one could not readily answer the questions he asked concerning the day's lessons a silly dunce to fit one who was slow in learning a wicked liar for some lad who had not told the truth in fact i cannot set down all the names which master Pormont had written on these dunces caps and there was hardly an hour during the day when at least one of them was not in use that contrivance which he had for children who would not sit quietly on their benches was seemingly the most innocent and yet as i know to my sorrow caused a vast amount of pain it was a small square of punchin plank with a single stick in the center as a leg and on this the culprit was forced to sit balancing himself or herself as best might be by the feet without being allowed to touch the hands to anything as i thus set down the poor description it seems a harmless thing and a punishment too mild to meet a grave offense that yet if you were to try to balance yourself on this unipod as master Pormont called it for the space of an hour every joint in your body would cry aloud with pain as for myself i know that more than once i would rather have fallen head long from this unipod than have endured the torture a single moment even had i not known that more severe punishment would follow such a disregard of the rules of school difficult lessons the first lesson which master Pormont gave to those of us children who could read and write fairly well was from the Latin grammar and he required that we have at our tongue's end within the first day the different forms of no less than six verbs and this regardless of the fact that we had never so much as put our eyes on the language before do not let it be understood that i am in any way complaining of whatsoever master Pormont did for although i could not understand the reason for many of the lessons at that time there can be no question but that so wise a man as he knew what was best suited for us children but surely to Susan and me who knew no more of arithmetic than was to be found in the multiplying dividing and adding of small sums it was most grievous work to stumble over such terms as fret tear and net when we had no idea of their meaning nor would master Pormont give us such information claiming that we should seek it from our parents or from other people in the town to the end that if it was gained by much labor we would the longer remember it other schools to me it was quite a relief when dame schools were established and by this term i mean schools that were taught by women some of our more tenderhearted people believed master Pormont's methods were too harsh for the younger children therefore after he had kept school one year mistress sourby who was the widow of master sourby who had been assistant in the church at yarmouth in england was hired at the wage of six pounds a year to teach the girls and the smaller boys she did not appear to think it necessary that young ladies should know very much concerning latin grammar or arithmetic but spend her time showing us how to spend house strings or to knit hose or stockings because of the schools having been set up in her own home we could learn how to cook and to weave and to knit not only for our own use but to sell and any kind of knitting work done well was in great demand when i could do herringbone or fox and geese patterns working them more over into mittens or stockings i felt exceeding proud indeed we had among us one girl who knit into a single pair of mittens the alphabet and a verse of poetry in four lines mistress sourby was most careful in teaching us the use of the quill for she claimed that the young girl or young woman who could make easy flowing letters need not consider herself ignorant even though she failed in arithmetic or was unable to spell correctly the words she sat down end of section 12 section 13 of ruth of boston this is a libravox recording all libravox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org ruth of boston a story of the massachusetts bay colony by james odis section 13 raising flax it would be strange indeed if i failed to set down anything concerning the flax which we spend because say for it we would have had nothing of linen except what could be brought from england there is no question but that everyone who reads this will know exactly how flax is raised and spun into cloth but yet i am minded to explain because we girls of boston have more to do with raising flax than with any other crop it is sown early in the spring and when the plants are three or four inches high we girls are obliged to weed them and in so doing are forced to go barefoot because of the stalks being very tender and therefore easily broken down i do not believe there is a child in town who fails to go into the flax fields because of its being such work as can be done by young people better than by older ones who are heavier and more likely to injure the plants i have said that we are obliged to go barefooted but where there is a heavy growth of thistles as is often the case we girls wear two or three pairs of woolen stockings to protect our feet if there is any wind we must perforce work facing it so that such of the plants as made by accident have been trodden down may be blown back into place by the breeze wearying labor it is indeed this weeding of the flax and yet those who come into a new world as we have must not complain at whatsoever is set them to do for unless much time is expended crops cannot be raised and we children of boston need only to be reminded of the famine when we were inclined to laziness in order to set us in motion of course you know that flax is a pretty plant with a sweet drooping blue flower and it ripens about the first of july when it is pulled up by the roots and laid carefully out to dry much as if one were making hay this sort of work is always done by the men and boys and during two or three days they are forced to turn the flax again and again so that the sun may come upon every part of it preparing flax i despair of trying to tell anyone who has never seen flax prepared how much and how many different kinds of labor are necessary before it can be woven into the beautiful linen of which our mothers are so proud first it must be rippled the ripple comb is made of stout teeth either wood or iron set on a punch and the stalks of flax are pulled through it to break off the seeds which fall into a cloth that has been spread to catch them so they may be sewn for the next year's harvest of course this kind of work is always done in the field and the stalks are then tied in bundles which are called baits and stacked up something after the shape of a tent being high in the middle and broadened out at the bottom after the flax has been exposed to the weather long enough to be perfectly dry then water must be sprinkled over it to rot the leaves and such portions of the stalk as are not used then comes the part of the work which only strong men can perform called breaking the flax to get from the center of the stalks the hard wood like bun which is of no value this is done with a machine made of wood as if you were to set three or four broad knives on a bench at a certain distance apart with as many more on a lever to come from above fitting closely between the lower blades the upper part of the machine is pulled down with force upon the flax so that every portion of it is broken after this comes the scratching or swingling which is done by chopping with dull knives on a block of wood to take out the small pieces of bark which may still be sticking to the fiber now that which remains is made up into bundles and pounded again to clear it yet more thoroughly of what is of no value after which it is hackled and the finest of the flax depends upon the number of times it has been hackled which means pulling it through a quantity of iron teeth driven into a board spinning bleaching and weaving flax after all this preparation has been done then comes the spinning which is of course the work of the women and girls i am proud to say i could spin a skin of thread in one day before i was 13 years old and you must know that this is no mean work for a girl since it is reckoned that the best of spinners can do no more than two skeins of course the skeins must be bleached otherwise the cloth made from them would look as if woven of tau and this portion of the work mother is always very careful to look after herself the skeins must stay in warm water for at least four days and be rung out dry every hour or two when the water is to be changed then they are washed in a brook or river until there is no longer any dust or dirt remaining after which they are bricked which is the same as if i had said bleached with ashes and hot water over and over again and afterward left to remain in clear water a full week then comes more rinsing beating washing drying and winding on bobbins so that it may be handy for the loom the chief men in boston made a law that all boys and girls be taught to spin flax and a certain sum of money was set aside to be given those who made the best linen that had been raised spun and woven within the town i am told that in some of the villages near about the men who make the laws have ordered that every family shall spend so many pounds of flax each year or pay a very large amount of money as a fine for neglecting to do so it is not needed i should set down how flax is spun for there is but one way to spin that i know of whether the material be wool cotton or flax but i would i might be able to set it down that whosoever reads can understand how my mother wove this linen thread into cloth but it would require more of words than i have patience to write if there be any who have the desire to know how the linen for their tables or for their clothing is made i would advise that the matter be studied as one would a lesson in school for it is most interesting and father holds to it that every child should be able to make all of that which he wears what we girls do at home in this town of boston if we do not know how to make what is needed then must we preforce go without because one cannot well afford to spend the time nor the money required to send from boston to london for whatever may be desired and wait until it shall be brought across the sea i wonder if it would interest any of you to know what susan and i are obliged to do in our homes during each working day of the week i can remember a time when we were put to it to perform certain tasks within six days and have set down that which we did it was on a monday that susan and i hackled 50 pounds of flax and tired we were when the day was come to an end on tuesday we carded tau and on wednesday we spun a skin of linen thread on thursday we did the same stint and on friday made brooms of guinea wheat straw on saturday we spun twine out of the coarser part of the flax which is called tau and of which i will tell you later all of this we did in a single week in addition to helping our mothers about the house and had no idea that we were working overly hard and now about tau when flax has been prepared to the stage where it is to be hackled the fibers pulled out by the comb are yet further divided into cobweb like threads and laid carefully one above the other as straight as may be to these a certain yellow substance sticks which we call tau and this can be spun into coarse stuff for aprons and mats or into twine which by the way is not very strong it would surprise you when working flax to see to how small a bulk it may be reduced what seems like an enormous stack before being made ready for spinning is lessen to such an extent that you may readily take it in both hands and then comes the next surprise when you see how much cloth can be woven out of so small an amount of threads as for myself i am not any too fond of working amid the flax save when it comes to spinning but such labor is greatest pleasure as compared with soap making which is to my mind the most disagreeable and slovenly of all the housewife's duties making soap it seems strange that some industrious person who is not overly fine in feelings or in habits does not take it upon himself to make soap for sale fairly it would be better that a family like ours buy a quart of soap whenever it is needed then for the whole house to be turned topsy turvy because of the dirty work i wonder if there are in this country any girls so fortunate as not to have been obliged to learn how to make soap i know of none in boston although it may be possible that in salem where are some lately come over from england live those who still know the luxury of hard soap such as can be bought in london for those fortunate ones i will set down how my mother and i make a barrel of soap for once we are forced to get about the task we can try to make up as large a quantity as possible first as you well know we save all the grease which cannot be used in cooking and is not needed for candles until we have four and 20 pounds of such stuff as the fat of meat scraps of suet and drippings of wild turkey or wild geese which last is not pleasant to use in food and not fit for candles well when we have saved four and 20 pounds of this kind of grease and set aside six bushels of ashes from what is known as hard wood such as oak maple or birch we set the leech i suppose every family in boston has a leech barrel which is a stout cask perhaps one that has held pickled pork or pickled beef and has in it at the very bottom a hole where is set a wooden spigot this barrel is placed upon some sort of platform built to raise it sufficiently high from the ground so that a small tub or bucket may be put under the spigot then it is filled with ashes and water poured into the top which of course trickles down until it runs or as some say is leeched out through the spigot into the bucket or whatsoever you have put there to receive it while running slowly through the ashes it becomes what is called lye and upon the making of this lye depends the quality of the soap now of course as the water is poured upon the contents of the barrel the ashes settle down and as fast as this comes to pass yet more ashes are added and more water thrown in until one has leeched the entire six bushels when the lye should be strong enough as mother's receipt for soap making has it to bear up an egg or a potato so that you can see a portion of it on the surface as big as a nine pence if the lye is not of sufficient strength to stand this test it must be ladled out and poured over the ashes again until finally as will surely be the case it has become strong enough the next turn in the work is to build a fire out of doors somewhere because to make your soap in the house would be a most disagreeable undertaking one needs a great pot which should hold as much as one third of a barrel and into this is poured half of the grease and half of the lye to be kept boiling until it has become soap now just when that point has been reached i cannot say because of not having had sufficient experience but mother is a master hand at this dirty labor and always has greatest success with it of course when one kettle full has been boiled down the remainder of the lye and the remainder of the grease is put in and worked in the same manner as before soap from bayberries it is possible and we shall do so when time can be spent in making luxuries to get soap from the tallow of bayberry plums i have already said that we stew out a kind of vegetable tallow from bayberries with which to make candles and this same grease when boiled with lye as if you were making soft soap can be cooked so stiff that when poured into molds it will form little hard cakes that are particularly convenient for the cleansing of one's hands there can be no question but that bayberry soap will whiten and soften the skin better than a soft soap but the labor of making it is so disagreeable that as susan says i had rather my hands were tough and rough than purchase a delicate skin at such an expense goose picking there is another household duty which frets me much and yet it must be performed else would we be put to it for quills with which to write and for soft beds pillows and quilts it is goose picking that i abhor not only because of its seeming extremely cruel but on account of its being like the soap making dirty work i question if there be a family in boston who does not own a flock of geese and among them many who were once wild they wonder around the streets all summer paddling in the pools of water chasing insects and devouring whatsoever may have been thrown out of the house that is edible i doubt whether if it were within the power of our preacher so to do they would not kill all the geese in the town for more than once on a sabbath day have these noisy creatures made such a tumult outside the church that the sermon was actually interrupted besides that you cannot go anywhere without a lot of foolish geese running at your heels hissing as if you had done something for which you should be ashamed and they were calling attention to it twice each season in the planting and the harvesting time must the small feathers be stripped from the live birds and while this is being done the goose which has a strong neck and beak would inflict many a grievous wound if one did not pull an old stocking over its head some people are so particular as to have made goose baskets which in shape are not unlike small gourds and through the narrow neck of these the head of the goose is thrust while the body can be held firmly between the knees of whosoever is doing the plucking of course when one is pulling feathers from the bird the fine fluff or down flies everywhere about like snow and the result is that unless you take the precaution of tying up your hair and cloths and putting on an old linen dress from which dirt can readily be shaken you will be covered from head to foot with these fluffy particles which are not much larger than snow flakes and extremely difficult to remove i have been so busy setting down matters concerning the household as to forget that i should tell you how our town of boston has grown and who of the great men of england have come into it end of section 13 section 14 of ruth of boston this is a liber vox recording all liber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liber vox.org ruth of boston a story of the massachusetts bay colony by james otis section 14 a change of governors it was the third year after our coming that master john cotton the famous preacher settled among us taking upon himself because of the entreaties of our people the care of the first church it was also in the same year that a new governor was chosen much to the regret of both susan and me for while we girls could not be expected to know anything regarding the matter it surely seemed to us that master winthrop was the very best man in all this world to rule over us but those who had the privilege of voting must have believed otherwise for they elected master thomas dudley in his stead and made master winthrop one of the assistants in the council with the exception of that and the trouble which master roger williams the great preacher was making nothing disturbed us our town continued to grow fast until we began to believe that before many years had passed it would be even as great a city as could be found in england with of course the exception of london the flight of roger williams now as to the trouble which some of our people were having with master roger williams i should be able to set it down plainly and yet it is not reasonable to suppose girls know much about the affairs of state a very great preacher was master williams and one who took it upon himself to write for the public reading that the king had no right to sell or give land to us white people because of the whole country's belonging to the indians and it can be well understood how much of a stir this matter caused master williams had been chosen by the people of salem as teacher in their church and when he declared that we had no right to hold the land which the king had granted us which master blackstone had sold to us and which chikadapit had given to us in writing the chief men of our town declared that he was not the kind of preacher who should be allowed to remain in the new world therefore they wrote to the people of salem demanding that he be sent back to england of course our gentleman of boston must have been in the right for i have heard my father say they were and surely he would not lend his face to anything which was at all wrong however the people of salem refused to listen to us of boston and much to our surprise master john cotton took sides with master williams which seemed to me very strange i cannot say why it was that the people of the colony kept governor dudley in office only one year or why master hangs was elected master hangs was of course ruler over the entire colony and as father said not the kind of man to be trifled with by master williams even though he was a preacher therefore when captain under hill was about to sell for england our governor commanded him to take master williams back to london someone it seems told the preacher what was on foot and although it was in january with the snow piled deep everywhere around he fled from salem into the woods trusting himself to the mercy of the savages rather than be sent back in disgrace i have heard that it was a bitterly cold day with the snow blowing furiously when the poor man plunged into the woods in flight taking with him nothing whatsoever saved that which he wore upon his back father came to know afterward that master williams spent the winter with the pecanica indians some of whom he had met during the short time he lived at plymouth and in the spring went to the shore of narragansett bay where it was reported that he was trying to build up a village sir harry vang quite the most distinguished person who came among us was sir harry vang his father was a privy counselor to the king and one of the secretaries of state in england because of wanting to see the new world the young gentleman had been given permission to come to this country for a term of three years i wish you could have seen the stir that was made when he arrived the governor with his soldiers and trumpeters went down to the wharf to receive him with great ceremony and the cannon on board the ships were discharged with the wondrous noise when he stepped ashore he was the most pleasing man to look upon so young and so courtly while his costume was a marvel of elegance it seemed to me as i saw him taking the governor's hand with so much grace that we needed but few men of the same kind among us to lend great distinction to our town in america that same evening however my mother reproached me because of worldly thoughts saying that fine feathers do not make fine birds although they may make a bird look fine which i suppose is the same as if she had said that an evil man might by his costume be made to appear worthy whereas he would not be so at heart however i was not the only one in boston who favored sir harry vane for before the year was over when master hain's term of office had expired he was chosen as our governor and surely no person could have looked more kingly than he did when he stood in the door of the great house bowing to those people who had assembled in honor of his having been elected making sugar susan and i had a right delightful time when the first warm days of spring came for then it was the season in which to make sugar i do not mean to say that we girls took any part in the sweet work but on a certain day very early in the morning we were allowed to go out to master winthrop's plantation in new town there to see his people at the task and what was far better we remained until late at night it was the first time i had been away from home safe to go over to charlestown for a few hours since we came from england and i enjoyed it all the more because of its being something strange the snow was deep on the low lying lands therefore we wore our snowshoes and you must know that we girls can use those odd footings almost as well as do the indian children it was a long walk to new town but father went with us his gun loaded heavily in case we came across a hungry wolf and so great was the excitement of going abroad after having been kept in the house except on the days when we went to meeting or lecture ever since the winter began that we gave no heed to fatigue it seems queer that one can get sugar from trees and yet so we do in this new country otherwise there would have been many times when we would not have sweet cake for vessels seldom arrive from england with stores at the very moment when one is in need of this thing or that after we had arrived at master wenthrupp's plantation good mistress wenthrupp went with us girls to see the sap drawn from the maples and the three of us rode on a sled hauled by one of the serving men of whom master wenthrupp has many do you know how the sap is taken well first a hole is bored in the trunk of a tree about as high from the surface as we'll admit of placing a bucket beneath it and into this a small wooden spout or spicket is driven beneath the spout is placed a bucket or tub and into this the sap coaxed up from the roots by the warmth of the sun drops or runs very slowly master wenthrupp serving men made holes in many trees and then when the work had been done went about gathering the sap out of the buckets or tubs into casks which were hauled from place to place on a sled exactly as mistress wenthrupp susan and i had ridden as soon as a cask had been filled a huge fire is built near at hand and over it is hung a large kettle much as if one were counting on making soap in this the sap is boiled until it is thick like molasses in case one wishes to make syrup or get longer if sugar is wanted of course it is necessary to taste of the syrup very often to learn if it has been cooked enough and this portion of the work Susan and i did until we felt much as flies look after they have been feasting on molasses and have their wings and legs clogged with sweetness i do not mean to say that we besmeared ourselves with it but we ate so much while tasting to learn if the cooking was going on properly that i felt as if i had been turned into a big cake of sugar when the sap is thick enough to sugar as it is called it is poured into pounds of birch bark where it cools in cakes each weighing two or three pounds a sugaring dinner we enjoyed ourselves hugely until well afternoon we were so weary and sticky that it was a positive relief to hear mistress Winthrop propose that we go back to our dwelling and there what do you think we found no less than 20 people from Boston among whom were Susan's mother and mine had all come out for what is called the sugaring dinner master cotton the preacher was with the company and he made a most beautiful prayer while we were waiting for the meal to be served after which the spirit moved him to ask at great length and in a most touching manner that the food might be blessed to each and every one of us one could never have believed that we who were gathered around the table ever had known what it was to be painfully hungry during one entire winter for there was sufficient of food to have served us in the old days a full week there were two enormous wild turkeys roasted to a most delicious Christmas one placed at either end of the table while the handsome is standing salt I ever saw was exactly in the center so that no one could say whether he was seated above or below the salt there were also two huge venison pies with the pastry made holy of wheat flour and placed around the pies in a most tasteful manner were potted pigeons in small dishes there were apple and pear tarts marmalade and preserved plums grapes barberries and cherries together with poppy and cherry water cordial and mint water it was a most delicate feast and my greatest regret was that I had tasted so often of the maple sap I could not do full justice to it tears actually stood in Susan's eyes as she whispered to me after the dinner was come to an end and we were allowed to talk with each other I shall never live long enough to cease being sorry because I could not eat more it was the same as if she had confessed to the sin of gluttony and it was my duty to reprove her but I could not find it in my heart to do so because of much the same thoughts being in my own mind we all sang psalms until near to seven o'clock in the evening when good master Winthrop gave us a famous ride on his new sled drawn by two oxen and thus did we go home like really fashionable folk who must needs turn night into day as my mother declared end of section 14 section 15 of Ruth of Boston this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Ruth of Boston a story of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by James Otis section 15 training day I must tell you of our training day in the month of May after master Roger Williams had fled into the wilderness to escape the wrath of our people which he had aroused and I am setting down what happened on that particular day because of its being the largest and most exciting training ever held in Boston so everyone says Susan believes training day should come oftener than four times a year so that we young people may get some idea of what gay life is like in the old countries where they make festivals of Christmas and other saints days it does truly seem as if we might see our soldiers perform quite often for it is a most inspiring spectacle and especially was it on last training day when so father says there were upwards of seven hundred men marching back and forth across the common in a manner which at times was really terrifying because of their fierce appearance when fully armed imagine if you can a row of booths along the common in which are for sale ground nuts packages of noot kick sweet cakes pumpkin bread roasted brown and spread with syrup made from maple sap together with dainties of all kinds lately brought over from england between these booths and the water are many tents which have been set up that the people of quality may entertain their friends therein with toothsome food and sweet waters the middle of the common and a long space at either end is kept clear of vital ones that the soldiers may exercise at arms and these do not appear until the onlookers are in their places then we hear a flourish of trumpets the rolling of drums and from the direction of the neck comes our army a mighty array of seven hundred or more men all armed and equipped as the law directs when this fast body of warlike men have marched into the vacant space they are drawn up in line there is another flourish of trumpets together with the rolling of drums and master cotton comes out from the tent which has been set up for the use of the governor and his assistants to offer a prayer on this day moved by the sight of the great throng master cotton prayed long and fervently where at some of the younger soldiers having not the fear of god in their hearts pulled long faces one to another or shifted about uneasily on their feet as if weary with long standing and i trembled lest the governor sing such levity might rebuke them openly which would be a great disgrace at such a time when master cotton was done with praying the soldiers began to march here and there in many ways until one's eyes were confused with watching them and then came the volleys as the men shot straight over the heads of the people but father says no one need fear such warlike work for there were no bullets in the guns of course i understood that he must needs know whether this be true or not else he would have not spoken it and yet i could not but shutter when so many guns were fired at one time while the smoke of powder in the air was most painful to the eyes after the soldiers had marched back and forth in the most ferocious manner possible until noon they were allowed a time for rest and then it was that those who had set up tents entertain their friends at table with stores upon stores of dainties of every kind shooting for a price i have heard that sir harry vane declared our soldiers presented a very fine front whatever that might be and he is not backward about saying that even the king himself has no more warlike appearing men in his army all of which is surely true for sir harry being the son of a privy counselor must have seen his majesty's troops many a time after all the people had feasted each in his own fashion and the soldiers had been refreshed at the expense of the town the marching was begun again to be continued in a manner like to make one's head swim until the governor gave the signal that the shooting at a target might commence when it was that the guns were loaded with real bullets on this day it was sir harry who gave the prize to be shot for which was a doublet of velvet trimmed with lace the value of which so father declares is not less than five times as great as any prize that has ever been offered on training day in boston susan and i were eager to know who wanted but before the matter was settled mother insisted it was time for us to go home because of the behavior of some of the soldiers being none of the best after they have done with the training however we saw the doublet and marked well the pattern of the lace therefore if the winner wears it on the street there will be no question as to our knowing it again the training was the most enjoyable spectacle even though susan and i were frightened at times that it seemed as if our hearts were really in our mouths and when we followed mother home on that afternoon it was with the belief that our town of boston although not as old as jamestown plymouth or salem had grown both in numbers and fashion far beyond any other settlement in this new world lecture day my mother believes it would be better if training day were done away with entirely for she says we spend far too much time in the pursuit of frivolity when we have no less than one lecture day in each week it must be that she is in the right for father has much the same opinion and declares a stop must be put to so many lectures which but gives a convenient excuse for indolent people who should be at work on the plantations or in the houses to go gadding about in the town you must know that thursday is the day when we listen to lectures by some of the preachers or those among the magistrates who have the gift of speech and this has been the custom since the first year we came here in the early days the lecture hour was in the forenoon but at the end of three years after boston was become a town those in authority over us passed a law that the lecture should not begin until one of the clock in the afternoon and this was done in order that the people might not have an excuse to spend the entire day in idleness i cannot see however that any more work is done on thursday's now than before the new law was made for as soon as breakfast is finished and the houses have been set in order nearly everyone walks on the streets this pleasure being forbidden on sabbath days until it is time to gather at the church our magistrates also try to make the rule that no minister or other person should lecture more often than once in every two weeks in order that we might have less of such diversion but no heed is given to this law for i myself have heard master cotton speak to the people no less than twice on every thursday and this in addition to lectures by other preachers if father were one of the magistrates mother would do all she might to have the hour of the meeting set back to the morning for she believes it is wrong to make the forenoon a time for the punishing of evildoers as has come to be the custom punishment for evildoers now when we go about to mingle with the people it is impossible not to stop here or there when one of the constables is whipping an idle fellow through the streets laying the lashes on his bare back with such force that the blood follows nearly every blow then again it is not often that one can pass the post at the corner of prison laying without seeing some wrongdoer chained there as punishment for striking one of the people and the cage wherein are kept men and women who have offended against the laws is seldom empty on a thursday the prison itself is a dreary-looking place although it is not quite so very different from the church but somehow its barred windows make the shivers run up and down my back and i always hurry past it with as much speed as possible most likely there are as many bad people in the other towns of this new world as in boston but it surely seems to susan and me as if we had among us all those in america who delight in breaking the laws of all the punishments which are inflicted here i think the most cruel is that of sentencing a man to wear as long as he may live a halter around his neck so that everyone may see it for thus is the wrongdoer forced to shame himself during every hour of the day and especially on thursdays when he must not stand not less than two hours during the forenoon on the steps of the church it is on lecture day that one may see the latest notices put up on the church together with the announcements of those who intend to be married and susan and i have great pleasure in reading these for then are we aware of anything important about to take place of course there are times when we are not so well pleased at being forced to sit still five or six long hours listening to the preacher or that who feels a call to speak during the lecture time but if we fail to do so we should not be allowed to go on the street wheresoever we please therefore i hope that mother will not be able to have the lecture hour change to the morning end of section 15 section 16 of rooth of boston this is the liber vox recording all liber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org it was six years after we had come to live in boston that a most terrible crime was committed by the savages of the narygancet tribe for then they killed captain john oldham and three other men who were sailing on long island sound the vessel was taken by the indians after they had murdered all on board and we in boston were moved to great fear believing the brown men around us were making ready to murder the white people sir harry vane the governor sent five of our chief men to the head savage of the narygancet tribe to inquire into the matter and these messengers were told that none saved the indians living on block island had any hand in the matter then it was that governor vane commanded master indicate of salem to take a large number of fighting men in three vessels and punish the murderers as they deserved master indicate did according to the command but when he was come to block island the brown people had run away therefore all he could do was to burn the huts destroy the canoes and shoot the dogs that were prowling around the deserted village this master indicate did not believe was punishment enough for what had been done therefore he crossed over to the mainland where the indians who called themselves pequots lived and there he killed more than 20 of these people besides seizing their corn he also burned or destroyed in some other way all the goods belonging to the savages that he could find and then came back to boston where the people of the town turned out to give him a noble welcome we had a thanksgiving day because of what had been done and believed or at least susan and i did that we need fear nothing more from the savages for surely the brown people would not dare molest any white man after being so severely punished savages on the war path it was not many days however before word was brought to boston that the pequot indians were trying to coax the narrow gansett savages to join them in killing every englishman that could be found in the land father had said that this might be done if the brown people all over the country should come together and we who lived in boston and Salem were in great fear the soldiers were called together from every village the gates of the fort on the neck were kept closed with men stationed there night and day to see that no enemy came through and the preachers prayed most fervently that our lives might be spared because of our doing our utmost to serve god as he would have us then it was that the lord heard our prayers else had we all been killed and it was brought about in a way such as my mother said heaped coals of fire upon our heads the same master roger williams who had been driven out into the wilderness because of holding a belief contrary to ours and who had lived with the narrow gansett indians since then so pleaded with the savages of the tribe that they sent some of their chief people to boston with promises of friendliness sir harry vane received the visitors with great state all our soldiers were paraded through the streets and in front of the governor's house the drummers march to and fro making music and the people came out on the streets that the indians might believe we had not been afraid it was much like training day save that only the magistrates of the town were allowed to know what was being done in the governor's house after the savages had gone into the building decked out in a brave array of feathers and in clothing embroidered with fanciful colored quills of porcupines and with their face painted in a most hideous fashion we were told after the indians had marched out of the town near to sunset one behind the other in a manner as solemn as if they were coming from church that the tribe of narrow gansett savages had promised to aid us white people against the brown men of the pequot tribe in every way possible and greatly did we rejoice that night for it seemed as if all trouble had passed Pequot Indians the Englishmen who had settled in the colony known as Connecticut soon found that the Pequot savages could do much of wickedness even though the narrow gansets had said they would be friends with the white people for within a very short time after master Roger Williams had sent the indians to us in peace did a season of murder begin because of my being a girl who is not supposed to understand affairs of state and who could only cower in fear and trembling by the sight of her mother when word was brought of the dreadful deeds done by the Pequot savages I shall not set down anything whatsoever concerning that terrible winter when we heard nothing safe stories of blood and dire is suffering no one could say whether despite all master Roger Williams might be able to do the savages near about would not fall upon us at Boston as they had upon the white people of Connecticut and therefore as soon as the shadows of evening had begun to gather we girls sought the protection of our mothers seated before the roaring fires not daring to move about the house even after the doors and shutters were securely barred we started in alarm at every sound hearing in the roaring of the wind or the crackling of the fire some token that the brown people were skulking about striving to get inside that they might shed our blood it was far worse than the time of the famine for then we knew just what might come to us and if death entered the house we would meet it in the arms of those we loved but from all which had been told by those affrighted people who came to us from Connecticut we realized that horrors such as could not even be imagined would be upon us with the coming of those savages who had sworn to make an end of the white settlers in the new world it is not well even that I set down in words the distress of mind which was ours during that long dreadful winter but this I may say in all truth as the parting word that nowhere in the Massachusetts Bay colony could have been found a more distressed or unhappy girl than this same Ruth of Boston end of section 16 end of Ruth of Boston a story of the Massachusetts Bay colony by James Otis