Pictures of Rhode Island in the Past, 1642-1833

REV. JOHN PIERCE.
125
Ce nombre donne vingt-cinq habitans par mille
quarre, & chaque habitant a vingt-cinq acres and
demi. . . .
L'Etat comprend plusieurs iles dans son etendue,
dont la principale est RhodeiBland. Le climat de cette
isle est serein et agreable ; Les femmes y sont si belles,
que lea voyageurs s'accordent A l'appeler l'Eden de
l'Amerique. Ce petit Archipel procure A I'Etat l'avantage de six ports, qui sont: Newport, Providence,
Wickford, Pataxet, Warren & Bmtol. . . .
Newport est renomme pour lea bourgies de Spermaceti: outre leur blancheur, qui les rend plus agreables
A la vue que la cire, elles ont l'avantage de ne donner
ni fumee, ni odeur desagr~able.
Providenoo est encore une grand ville, dans l'Etat de
Rhodeisland: elle contient environ quatre mille habitans; rosis ce qui Ie distingue sur-tout, ce sont les
manufactures de drap, dont elle a un prodigieux debit.
I
795.
Rev. Jaho Pierce.
John Pierce (1773-1859) was a p"nitarian clergyman, for fifty years pastor of the Brookline Church.
He was one of the institutions, not to say traditions, of
Harvard. He was present at sixty-three commencements and for fifty-four years led the singing oft-he tune
of" St. Martin's" at the commencement dinner. His
memoirs were left to the Massachusetts Historical Society. The quotation here given is taken from his
manuscript journal 8S published in the Society's Proceeding8, 2d Series, III. 41-43.
126
PICTUR»i OF RHODE ISLAND.
Wednesday, 2 September, notwithstanding the rain,
we proceeOOed to Providence, and stopped at Tyler's
Hotel, near the Baptist ~Ieetinghouse.
At X, we attended the Commencement Exercises in
this IIouse. President ~Iaxcy presided. Dr. Stillman, of Boston, offered the co,ncluding prayer.
In the morning the audience was small.
P. M. the assembly was larger. Twenty-six were
graduated. the compositions of the students were ex~edingly florid.
No figures ,vere too bold to be used.
The students were much dressed. The speaking was
very declamatory. 'Ve dined with the Gollege Officers
and invited guests in the Collegoe Hall. The President asked the blessing. Dr. Hopkins, of Newport,
Author of the Hopkinsian system, returned thanks.
He was then 74 years of age. He looked, 8S if he
were 100. President l\laxcy, at the close of the Exer-cises, made a solemn address "to the Graduates. I saw
Classmates Angier and Avery, & Professor, afterwards
President Webber.
I spent the evening at the room of Mr. 'Viswell, one
·of the graduates, in sacred music.
..
Thursday, 3 September visited various parts of the
'Town of Providence. An elegant Meeting house, with
two Towers, after the l\Iodel of the Church, in Hollis
'Street, Boston, was lately erected, in which Dr. Hiteh.cock preaches.
I viewed the improvements of Mr. Brown. He has
removed a Hill of about 83 feet in height into low
land, to make a whar~ &c. He has a large Distillery,
and fattens cattle from the remains of the grains, which
have undergone the process of fermentation. He owns
a large Wharf, at which lay an Indiaman of between
6 & 700 Tons.
P. M. we visited the Cemetery, two 01' three miles
from the centre of the Town. It contains handsome
WILLIAM WINTERBOTHAM.
127
Monuments, decent gravestones, and some elegant Epitaph~
At V, P. M., we passed through Johnston, ~nd
arrived at Fish's, Scituate, where we spent the night.
Providence stands at the junction of Providence &
TauntoJ.l rivers, and has the advantage over Newport
by the superiority of its market. The buildings in
general are indifferent, though some are elegant. The
Baptist Church is one of the most elegant and spacious
in the United States. It was built by blank Sumner,
father of Thomas W. Sumner, who has been an Architect. The College is a convenient brick edifice, commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country.
They have a Theatre" nearly finished.
1795.
William Winterbotham.
Winterbotham was a native of London, and assistant
minister I}f a Baptist congregation in Plymouth, England. On account of two sermons preached there, in
which he commended the French Revolution and advocated a reform of the British Parliament, he was tried for
sedition in 1 793, and sentenced to pay fines amounting
to £200, and to undergo four years' imprisonment.
His work upon the United States, in four volumes,
was written in Newgate Prison, "with the Assistance
of Persons who have resided in and who are in the
constant Habit of extensive Correspondence with the
different States."
The extract given is taken from An Irutorical, Geographical, Commercial, and Philosophical View of the
American United States, Vol. II., p. 226. London, 1 795.