{"product_id":"2940148356738","title":"Abigail Adams and Her Times (Illustrated)","description":"SEVENTEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR! George the Second on the throne of England, \"snuffy old drone from the German hive\"; Charles Edward Stuart (\"bonnie Prince Charlie\") making ready for his great coup which, the next year, was to cast down said George from the throne and set Charles Edward thereupon as \"rightful, lawful prince—for wha'll be king but Charlie?\", and which ended in Culloden and the final downfall and dispersion of the Scottish Stuarts.\u003cbr\u003eIn France, Louis XV., Lord of Misrule, shepherding his people toward the Abyss with what skill was in him; at war with England, at war with Hungary; Frederick of Prussia alone standing by him. In Europe, generally, a seething condition which is not our immediate concern. In America, seething[2] also: discontent, indignation, rising higher and higher under British imposition (not British either, being the work of Britain's German ruler, not of her people!), yet quelled for the moment by war with France.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am not writing a history; far from it. I am merely throwing on the screen, in the fashion of today, a few scenes to make a background for my little pen-picture-play. What is really our immediate concern is that on November eleventh of this same year, 1744, was born to the wife of the Reverend William Smith of Weymouth, Massachusetts, a daughter, baptized Abigail.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eParson Smith was a notable figure of the times; not a great man, but one of character, intelligence and cultivation. He married a daughter of Colonel John Quincy, so my heroine was a cousin—I cannot tell in what precise degree—to Dorothy Q. of poetic-pictorial fame; cousin, too, (her grandmother having been a Norton) to half Boston, the cultivated and scholarly half.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eParson Smith kept a diary, as dry a document as I have often read. He had no time to spare, and his brief entries are abbreviated down to the finest possible point. For example, we read that\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"By my Gd I am as'd and Ev. am as'd at my S[3] and do now ys D Sol prom By Thy God never to T. to s. ag.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is puzzling at first sight; but the practiced reader will, after some study, make out that the good Parson, writing for himself alone, was really saying,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"By my God I am assured and Even am assured at my Strength, and do now this Day Solemnly promise By Thy God never to Tempt to sin again.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven this is somewhat cryptic, but we are glad of the assurance, the more that we find the poor gentleman still troubled in spirit a week later.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lord g't me S to res the e. so prej'd to me. Lord I am ashamed of it and resolve to s. e. T. by thy S.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhich being interpreted is: \"Lord, grant me Strength to resist the evil so prejudicial to me. Lord, I am ashamed of it and resolve to shun evil Temptation by thy Strength.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat the temptation was, we may not know. Possibly he was inclined to extravagance in certain matters of personal dignity and adornment: we read of his paying fifteen pounds \"for my wig\"; and again, \"At Boston. Paid Mr. Oliver for a cut whigg £10.00.\" But this is nothing. Parson Smith came of \"kent folk,\" and may have had private[4] means beside the salary of eight hundred dollars. Do we not read that Samuel Adams' barber's bill \"for three months, shaving and dressing,\" was £175, paid by the Colony of Massachusetts?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNecessary expenses were also heavy. \"Dec. 4th, 1749. Paid Brother Smith for a Barrel of Flower £15.11.3.\" But on the other hand, he sold his horse to Mr. Jackson for £200.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1751 was an eventful year. On April 23d we read,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Weymouth Meeting House took fire about half an hour after 10 o'clock at night and burnt to the ground in abt 2 hours.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is all Parson Smith has to say about it, but the Boston Post-Boy of April 29th tells us that:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Last Tuesday Night the old Meeting-house in Weymouth was burnt to the Ground: and three Barrels of Gunpowder, the Town-Stock, being in the Loft, blew up with a great noise. 'Tis uncertain by what Means the Fire happen'd.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaul Torrey, the town poet, says of it:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOur powder stock, kept under lock,\u003cbr\u003eWith flints and bullets were\u003cbr\u003eBy dismal blast soon swiftly cast\u003cbr\u003eInto the open air.\u003cbr\u003eThe poem hints at incendiaries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[5]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'm satisfied they do reside\u003cbr\u003eSomewhere within the town:\u003cbr\u003eTherefore, no doubt, you'll find them out,\u003cbr\u003eBy searching up and down.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn trial them we will condemn,\u003cbr\u003eThe sentence we will give:\u003cbr\u003eThem execute without dispute,\u003cbr\u003eNot being fit to live.\u003cbr\u003eThis was a heavy blow to minister and congregation, in fact to the whole community; for the meeting-house was the centre and core of the village life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeeting-house: (Cotton Mather found \"no just ground in Scripture to apply such a trope as 'church' to a home for public assembly.\") Sabbath, or more often Lord's Day: these are the Puritan names,","brand":"Lost Leaf Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47166297997552,"sku":"2940148356738","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940148356738_p0.jpg?v=1763701320","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940148356738","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}