THE MONUMENT AND HOMESTEAD OF REBECCA NURSE.

By Elizabeth Porter Gould.

Perhaps the greatest incentive to ideal living in a changing world is the firmly held conviction that truth will finally vindicate itself. When this vindication is made apparent, as in the case of Rebecca Nurse, one of the most striking martyrs of the Salem witchcraft days of 1692, the cause of human progress seems assured. For it is thus seen that truth has within itself a living seed which in its development is destined to become man's guide to further knowledge and growth. This idea was impressed upon me anew as I stood before the granite monument, some eight and a half feet high, erected this past summer in Danvers,—originally Salem,—to the memory of Mrs. Rebecca Nurse, by her descendants. A carpet of green grass surrounded it, and a circle of nearly twenty pine trees guarded it as sentinels. The pines were singing their summer requiem as I read on the front of the monument these words:—

I lingered a moment over these fitting lines of Whittier, whose charming home, "Oak Knoll," a short distance off, had just given me a restful pleasure. Then I walked around to the other side of the monument, where I read, with mingled feelings, the following words:—

These last lines reminded me of the fact that the paper with its forty signatures, testifying to the forty years' acquaintance of the good character of Rebecca Nurse, was still in existence. Alas! why couldn't such a testimony of neighbors and friends have saved her? But it was not so to be. The government of the colony, the influence of the magistracy, and public opinion elsewhere, overpowered all friendly and family help; and on the 19th July, 1692, at the advanced age of seventy-one years, Rebecca Nurse was hung on Gallows hill.

As I left the monument, which is in the old family burying-ground, and wandered up the time-honored lane towards the homestead where she was living when arrested, the March before, my thoughts would go back to those dreadful days. I thought of this venerable mother's surprise and wonder, as she learned of the several distinct indictments against her, four of which, for having practised "certain detestable acts called witchcraft" upon Ann Putnam, Mary Walcot, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Abigail Williams, were still to be found in the Salem records. I thought of the feelings of this old and feeble woman as she was borne to the Salem jail, then a month later sent off, with other prisoners, to the jail in Boston (then a whole day's journey), to be sent back to Salem for her final doom. I pictured her on trial, when, in the presence of her accusers, the "afflicted girls," and the assembled crowd, she constantly declared her innocence ("I am innocent, and God will clear my innocency"), and showed a remarkable power in refuting the questions of the magistrate. I thought of her Christian faith and courage, when, upon seeing all the assembly, and even the magistrate, putting faith in the "afflicted girls'" diabolical tantrums (what else can I call them?) as there enacted, and now preserved in the records of the trial, she calmiy said, "I have got nobody to look to but God." I again pictured her, as, just before the horrors of execution, she was taken from the prison to the meeting-house, by the sheriff and his men, to receive before a great crowd of spectators the added disgrace of excommunication from the Church.

But I could picture no more. My heart rebelled. And as I had now reached the old homestead on the hill I paused a moment, before entering, to rest under the shade of the trees and to enjoy the extensive views of the surrounding country. This comforted my troubled feelings, and suggested the thought that in the fourteen years that Rebecca Nurse had lived there she must have often come under the shade of the trees, perhaps after hours of hard work and care, to commune alone with her God. How could I help thinking so when there came up before me her answer to the magistrate's question, "Have you familiarity with these spirits?"—"No, I have none but with God alone." Surely, to one who knew Him as she did, who in calm strength could declare her innocence when many around her, as innocent as she, were frightened into doubt and denial, the quiet and rest of nature must have been a necessary means of courage and strength.

Then what did not the old house, with its sloping roof, tell me, as it still stood where Townsend Bishop had built it in 1636, upon receiving a grant of three hundred acres? Yes, this old "Bishop's mansion," as the deed calls it, had felt the joys and sorrows of our common human life for almost two hundred and fifty years. It had known the friends whom Townsend Bishop, as one of the accomplished men of Salem village, had gathered about him in the few years that he had lived there. It must have heard some of Hugh Peters' interesting experiences, since, as pastor of the First Church those very years (1636-1641), he was a frequent visitor. Why couldn't one think that Roger Williams had often come to compare notes on house-building, since he owned the "old witch house" (still standing on the corner of Essex and North streets) at the same time that Mr. Bishop was building his house? It certainly was a pleasure to remember that Governor Endicott once owned and lived on this farm. He bought it in 1648, for one hundred and sixty pounds, of Henry Checkering, to whom Mr. Bishop had sold it seven years before.

I recalled many other things, that summer day, concerning this ancient place. Shall I not tell them? While the Governor lived on it he continued his good work for the general opening of the country around about. Among other things he laid out the road that passes its entrance-gate to-day.

Here his son John brought his youthful Boston bride, and gave to her the place as a "marriage-gift." Then, some years later, she, the widow of John, having become the bride of a Mr. James Allen, gave it to him as a "marriage-gift;" and upon her death, in 1673, he became the possessor. Five years later he sold it to Francis Nurse, the husband of Rebecca, for four hundred pounds. Mr. Nurse was an early settler of Salem, a "tray-maker," whose articles were much used. He was a man of good judgment, and respected by his neighbors. He was then fifty-eight years of age, and his wife fifty-seven. They had four sons and four daughters. The peculiar terms of the purchase had always seemed interesting to me; for the purchase-money of four hundred pounds was not required to be paid until the expiration of twenty-one years. In the meantime a moderate rent of seven pounds a year for the first twelve years, and ten pounds for each of the remaining nine years, was determined upon. Suitable men were appointed to estimate the value of what Mr. Nurse should add to the estate while living upon it, by clearing meadows, erecting buildings, or making other improvements. This value over one hundred and fifty pounds was to be paid to him. These various sums, if paid over to Mr. Allen before the twenty-one years had expired, would make a proportionate part of the farm at Mr. Nurse's disposal.

The low rent and the industrious, frugal habits of Mr. Nurse and his family, added to the fact that not a dollar was required to be paid down at first, led to the making of such good improvements that before half the time had elapsed a value was created large enough to pay the whole four hundred pounds to Mr. Allen. When Mr. Nurse thus became owner of this estate he gave to his children, who had already good homes within its boundaries, the larger half of the farm, while he reserved for himself the homestead and the rest of the land. By the deeds he gave them, they were required to maintain a roadway to connect with the old homestead and with the homes of each other.

While the different members of the Nurse family were thus working hard for the money to buy the place there was hanging over its owner the shadow of litigation for its possession. But this was Mr. Allen's affair, not theirs, so they went on their way in peace. Indeed, it has been thought that their steady success in life was one cause of their future trouble. They became objects of envy to those restless ones less favored. And so, when the opportunity came to merely whisper a name for the "afflicted girls" to take up, Rebecca Nurse's fate was in the hands of an enemy. A striking example of the innocent suffering for the guilty. Does not vicarious suffering seem to be an important factor in the development of the race? Two years after, this faithful wife and mother had been led from her peaceful home to suffer the agonies of prisons, trials, and hanging. When the children had all married, the father gave up the homestead to his son Samuel, and divided his remaining property among his sons and daughters. He died soon after, in 1695. He was a kind, true father, whose requests after death were heeded. This homestead was in the Nurse name as late as 1784, when it was owned by a great-grandson of Rebecca. He sold it to Phineas Putnam, a descendant of old Nathaniel Putnam, who, in the hour of need, wrote the paper for the forty signatures above mentioned. The estate descended to the great-grandson of Phineas, Orin Putnam, who, in 1836, married the daughter of Allen Nurse. And thus a direct descendant of Rebecca Nurse was again placed to preside over the ancestral farm, and to their descendants it belongs to-day.

After thus thinking over this interesting history of the old place, as I reclined under the shade of its trees, I was better prepared to enjoy the kind hospitality which it then offered me. I felt a peculiar pleasure in stepping into the same little front porch which Townsend Bishop had built so many years ago. And upon ascending the stairs I found myself lingering a while by the old original balusters, the building of which Roger Williams had perhaps viewed with interest. Upon reaching the attic it was a pleasure, indeed, to see in this new world the frame-work of a house which for two hundred and fifty years had stood so well the test of nature in all her moods. No saw was used in shaping those oaken timbers. They knew only the broad-axe. From this attic I descended to the sitting-room, to spend a while under the same low beams which had greeted the first visitors of the house. Here I imagined the Nurse family living in quiet and peace. Here I pictured the son Samuel, as, later, he wondered over and over again how he could remove the reproach which was on his mother's name. And I thought that to him his descendants owed much, for it was mainly to his pleadings that the General Court exonerated her in 1710, and the Church in 1712.

While sitting there I learned of some alterations which had been made from time to time: how the front of the house, before which the old roadway used to be, had been widened by extending the western end beyond the porch.

As I came out of the house upon the green grass around it, I enjoyed again the grand outlook over the surrounding country,—the same which in the days of agony had strengthened human souls,—and then walked down the hill, by the family burying-ground, out through the entrance-gate into Collins street, the public thoroughfare.

I left the monument and its interesting associations that August day of 1885 (it was dedicated only the July 30 before) with the feeling that as the present descendants of Rebecca Nurse owe much to her son Samuel, so their future descendants will be indebted to them for the appropriate manner in which they have still further striven to vindicate before the world the innocence of a much-wronged ancestor.

THE PRESENT RESOURCES OF MASSACHUSETTS.

By H.K.M.

Massachusetts is a busy state. The old time factory bell has not entirely given way to the steam whistle, nor the simple village spire to the more pretentious ecclesiastical tower of to-day, yet the energizing force of material prosperity has quickened the blood in nearly every hamlet, modernized the old, or built up a new, so that throughout the state there is a substantial freshness indicative of progressive thrift.

The Tenth Census of the United States classifies the entire working population of the state in four divisions of labor as follows:—Agriculture, 64,973; Professional and Personal services, 170,160; Trade and Transportation, 115,376; Mechanical, 370,265; with a total population of 1,941,465.4 The aggregate steam and water power in 1880 was 309,759 horse power; the motive power of 14,352 manufacturing establishments having an invested capital of $303,806,185; paying $128,315,362 in wages to 370,265 persons who produced a product value of $631,135,284. These results, in proportion to area and population, place Massachusetts first in the Union as a manufacturing state. In mechanical science a complete cotton mill has been considered the cap stone of human ingenuity. In 1790 Mr. Samuel Slater established in Pawtucket, R.I., the first successful cotton mill in the United States, but the saw gin, a Massachusetts invention of Mr. Eli Whitney in 1793, laid the foundation of the cotton industry throughout the world.

There are 956 cotton mills in the United States with an invested capital of $208,280,346, with a wage account of $42,040,510. The relative importance of the four leading states in the manufacture of cotton goods is shown as follows:—

As in cotton, so also in the manufacture of woolen goods has Massachusetts maintained from the first the leading position. In 1794 in Byfield parish, Newbury, Mass., the first woolen mill went into successful operation. In 1804 a good quality of gray mixed broadcloth was made at Pittsfield, Mass., and it is said that in 1808 President Madison's inaugural suit of black broadcloth was made there.

The five leading states in the production of woolen goods are thus classified:—

In its kindred industry, dyeing and finishing textiles, Massachusetts is a controlling force; as seen in the classification of the three leading states in this department of labor:—

Nearly one half of the entire American production of felt goods comes from her, as indicated in the classification of the four leading states:—

Massachusetts is also an all-important factor in the total production of American carpets. The 59 mills in the United States made in 1880 a wholesale product valued at $31,792,802. Massachusetts made the most Brussels, 1,884,723 yards; Pennsylvania came next with 919,476 yards. She came next to New York in yards of Tapestry, and next to Connecticut in Wiltons, a good second in these important grades. The three leading carpet states are thus classified:—

In the manufacture of Boots and Shoes Massachusetts stands conspicuously at the front; her position in this great industry is clearly seen in the three states controlling this special product:—

One evidence that Massachusetts is not sitting down all the time is the fact that she stands up to manufacture so many chairs. From a small beginning of wood and flag seated chairs, Mr. James M. Comee in 1805, with his foot lathe, in one room of his dwelling in Gardner. Mass., laid the foundation of this important industry, which has given the town of Gardner, where over 1,000,000 of chairs are annually made, a world wide reputation.

The relative positions of the five leading chair states:—

In the currying of leather Massachusetts is a notable leader:—

Her position in the manufacturing of worsted goods is also an all important one:—

Again we find her at the head of another very important industry, the manufacture of paper.

The five leading states in production are given their relative positions.

In 1880 Massachusetts manufactured 27,638 tons of printing paper, 24,746 tons of writing paper, 10,255 tons of wrapping paper, 945 tons of wall paper, 3,706,010 pounds of colored paper, 255,000 pounds of bank note paper, 878,000 pounds of tissue paper, and 27,607,706 pounds of all other kinds of paper.

She manufactures more shovels than any other state, about 120,000 dozen annually. Rhode Island comes next with about one-half the quantity, and Ohio stands third, her product being about 7,000 dozen annually.

It also falls to her lot to manufacture more Hay and Straw cutters, about 6,000 annually. In the manufacture of hard soap Massachusetts falls a little behind some of her sister states, but she comes smilingly to the front with her 16,000,000 pounds of soft soap, about one half of the total production. New York brings her annual offering of about 5,000 pounds.

The 4,000 boats she annually builds constitute nearly one half of the number built in the United States.

There are 131,426 persons in the United States engaged in the fisheries.

The prominent share of Massachusetts in this industry is seen in the classification of the five leading states.

She has invested:—Over $1,000,000 in the manufacture of Baskets and Rattan goods; over $1,600,000 in the manufacture of Brick and Tile; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Wagons and Carriages; over $5,000,000 in the manufacture of Men's Clothing; over $1,500,000 in the manufacture of Cordage and Twine; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Cutlery; over $3,000,000 in the manufacture of Fire Arms; over $16,000,000 in the Foundries and Machine Shops; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Furniture; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Iron Nails and Spikes; over $6,000,000 in the manufacture of Iron and Steel; over $1,500,000 in the manufacture of Jewelry; over $3,000,000 in the manufacture of Liquors, Malt; over $3,000,000 in Slaughtering and Packing; over $2,000,000 in Straw goods; over $2,000,000 in Sugar and Molasses, refined; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Watches; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Wire, and over $11,000,000 in unclassified industries.

The limitations of this article will only allow brief reference to a few of the leading industries of Massachusetts. The facts presented give her a commanding position in the sisterhood of manufacturing States, while the condition of her operatives, their moral and intellectual character, has no parallel in any other manufacturing district in the world.

On her well known but dangerous coast special provisions are made to aid the mariner; so likewise upon her more dangerous coast of sin we find 2,397 ministerial light houses whose concentrated spiritual lens-power upon an area of 8,040 square miles, make the rocks of total depravity loom up far above the white capped waves of theological doubt. The lower law being less important than the higher, it takes but 1,984 lawyers to successfully mystify the juries of the Commonwealth. Of physicians and surgeons there are 2,845. It requires the constant services of 2,463 persons to entertain us with music, and just one less, 2,462 barbers, who are in daily tonsorial conflict with our hair, either rebuking it where it does grow, or teasing it to come forth where heretofore the dome has been hairless.

Of the 4,000,000 farms of 536,081,835 acres in the United States, 38,406 farms of 3,359,097 acres valued at $146,197,415 yielding an annual income of $24,160,881 lie within the borders of the state. Her 150,435 cows produce 29,662,953 gallons of milk, which is the foundation of her annual product of 9,655,587 pounds of butter, and 829,528 pounds of cheese. She would be unjust to her traditional sense of justice were she to send her beans out into the world single handed, with true paternal solicitude she provides them with the charmed society of 80,123 swine, thus hand in hand Massachusetts' pork and beans stride up and down the earth, supremely content in the joyous ecstasy of their Puritan conceit. While Massachusetts has well known agricultural tendencies, and her Agricultural college is one of the most important factors in her system of practical instruction, it cannot be claimed that she is a controlling element in the agricultural interests of the country. Of all her influences for good, perhaps her educational interests would command the greater prominence. She has ever regarded the instruction of her youth as one of her most sacred trusts, and in all the details of her public school system she ranks second to no state in the Union.

In the various departments of technical instruction, she has a national reputation. Her colleges and universities so richly endowed secure the highest attainable advantages. These privileges supplemented by the free public libraries of the state, place possibilities within the reach of every young man or young woman, the value of which cannot be approximated by human estimate.

Six of the leading states are thus classified:—

The following institutions for higher education have about $5,000,000 invested in grounds and buildings, about $9,000,000 in endowments, yielding an annual income of about $1,000,000, having about 4,000 students and about 400,000 volumes in libraries, Universities and Colleges.

While Massachusetts is a model state in all her educational interests, we do not forget that there are 75,635 persons in the state who cannot read, and 92,980 persons who cannot write, but of the 990,160 native white persons of ten years and upwards only 6,933 are unable to write, being seven-tenths of one per cent., the lowest ratio of any state. Arkansas, per cent, being 25.0; Alabama, 24.7; Georgia, 22.9; Kentucky, 22.0; No. Carolina, 31.0; So. Carolina, 21.9; Tenn., 27.3; West Virginia, 18.2; Connecticut, 5.5; Illinois, 5.9; New Hampshire 5; Pennsylvania, 6.7; New York, 5.3.

There are 15,416 colored persons in the state, of 10 years and upwards; of this number 2,322 are unable to write, but from 10 to 14 years of age, both inclusive, these being 1,504, but 31 persons are reported as unable to write, or 2.1 per cent. South Carolina out of a colored population of 75,981 between the same ages, reports 57,072 persons as unable to write or 74.1 per cent. There are 1,886 colored persons in the state between the ages of 15 and 20, and only 70 are reported as unable to write, or 3.7 per cent.; we find this also the lowest ratio of any state.

South Carolina's per cent. being 71.9; Alabama, 64.9; Georgia, 76.4; Texas, 69.2; and North Carolina, 68.5.

Her density of population makes it exceedingly convenient for her 52,799 domestic servants to compose notes over neighborly fences. Her 281,188 dwelling houses house 379,710 families, placing 6.34 persons to the credit of each dwelling, and 4.70 persons to each family. This density gives her 221.78 persons to a square mile, a far greater ratio than any state except Rhode Island. This neighborly proximity has its social tendencies, which may account in part for the hospitable amenities which are a rightful part of Massachusetts' well known loyalty to a higher regard for the purest type of home, a comparative statement of the density of population of a few states.

As inseparable as night is from day, so also are the ills of life from life itself. Massachusetts is no exception to the inexorable law which defines the conditions of human society; but through her public and private charities so wisely administered, she humanely softens the asperities which shadow the life of her unfortunates. To her lot fall 1,733 idiotic persons, 978 deaf mutes, 5,127 insane, 1,500 of whom are cared for at home, and 3,659 prisoners, 1,484 of whom are of foreign birth. Human life teaches that the boundary lines of a smile and tear are the same, for where happiness is, there sorrow dwells. In the general estimate of 391,960 annual deaths in the United States, about 33,000 occur in Massachusetts.

One evidence of her unswerving faith in the national credit is seen by her holdings in U.S. registered bonds. The four leading states are reported as follows:—

In the classification of the four leading states, of assessed valuation and taxation, it appears that the assessed valuation of her personal property exceeds that of any state.

The four leading states are thus classified:—

The grandest monument of human skill in modern railway science is unquestionably the St. Gothard Tunnel which connects the valley of the Reuss with the valley of the Ticino, which is from 5,000 to 6,500 feet below the Alpine peaks of St. Gothard, being a little over 9-¼ miles in length, costing over $47,000,000, one-half of which was paid by the governments of Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. Until its completion in 1880, there was but one railway tunnel, Mont Cenis, that outranked our own Hoosac Tunnel of nearly 5 miles in length and costing about $10,000,000.

The service, equipment, and management of Massachusetts' railway system is well nigh perfect. Out of 4,100 miles of track in the state, 2,453 are laid with the steel rail. Including the 1,150 engines, 1,554 passenger cars, 394 baggage cars, and 24,418 freight cars, the total cost of railroad equipment in the state has been $178,862,870; from this investment the total earnings in 1884 reached $33,020,816 from which $4,568,274 were paid in dividends. The number of passengers carried were 57,589,200 and 17,258,726 tons of freight moved. One of the most important elements in her system is the Boston and Albany. Its engine service the past year was 5,680,060 miles, the company carried 94,721 through passengers and 8,699,691 way, whose total earnings were $8,148,713.34 and total expenses were $5,785,876.98.

In this connection we would refer to the city and suburban tramway service, which has taken an important part in the development of the state. The total cost of the 336 miles of road and equipment, including 8,987 horses and 1,918 passenger cars is stated at $9,093,935. Number of passengers carried in 1884 was 94,894,259, gross earnings $4,788,096, operating expenses $3,985,617, total available income $924,440. When we consider that the street railway service carried more than 37,000,000 passengers in excess of the steam railways, we realize its importance.

While there are 66,205 more females than males in the state, in the wider distribution of the sexes their equality indicates that it could not happen by chance, and that marriage of one man to one woman was intended.

An authentic estimate of the numerical proportions of the sexes is as follows:—

United States, 983 women to 1,000 men; America, (at large) 980 women to 1,000 men; Scotland, 1,096 women to 1,000 men; Ireland, 1,050 women to 1,000 men; England and Wales, 1,054 women to 1,000 men; France, 1,007 women to 1,000 men; Prussia, 1,030 women to 1,000 men; Greece, 940 women to 1,000 men; Europe, (at large) 1,021 women to 1,000 men; Africa, (estimated) 975 women to 1,000 men; Asia, 940 women to 1,000 men; Australia, 985 women to 1,000 men. In an aggregate of 12,000 men there is a surplus of about 161 women.

Massachusetts has been making notable history ever since 1620, and in picking out here and there a few of the influences which have tended to develope her material resources, we would not be unmindful of those Christian influences which are also a part of her imperishable history.

To the lover of nature, perhaps no state in range of rugged coast and water views blended with mountainous background, can offer more pleasing bits of picturesque scenery. The historic hills of Berkshire and the beautiful Connecticut River, with its 50 miles of sweep through the state, ever hurrying on to the sea, have inspired the tireless shuttles of descriptive imagery to weave some of the finest threads in American thought.

Nowhere within the range of human vision can the eye find a more restful scene of quiet simplicity and softer blending of river, hill and foliage, than in the valley of the Deerfield on any sunny summer day. Let him who would have a sterner scene of majestic grandeur stand upon the storm-beaten cliffs of some rock-fringed coast, while the silver-crested sea and the dark, deep toned clouds, like mercy and righteousness, kiss each other.

To us who love Massachusetts, her principles, her institutions, her hills, valleys and rocks, her future is but the lengthening out of a perfect present; and at last, when the scroll of states is finally rolled up, may her eternal record stand for the highest type of Christian citizenship.