The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-04 00:00:00

BUNKER'S HILL.

To turn to something having very different asso-
ciations—Bunker's-hill, without some mention of
which no notice of Boston and no election speech
would be complete. On the peninsula of Charles-
town, and in the midst of that suburb, stands the
monument of the action, a remarkable, but not
beautiful object. It is a tall shaft or obelisk of
granite, of the severe 'simplicity of the milestone
type, as destitute of ornament, and even more barren
of information ; it tas neither date, name, nor in-
acription. It is within the space enclosed by the
celebrated redoubt, its four faces parallel to the lines
of the intrenchment, all traces of which have been
swept away. The hill itself has' been reduced in
height, and its sides scarped and terraced for the
streets and houses that close it in. A bank of green
turf is nearly all that remains of the nil!, with a few
stone steps leadincr to the level space around the
monument. Butt' the general rise of the ground
from the water-side can still be perceived, and by
suppressing mentally the houses and trim gardens
which have crept up the lower slope, and restoring
the swamps and limekilns which at the time of the
battle occupied their site, the character of the
ground can be pretty clearly recalled. The wharves
at which the English troops landed for the attack
are now the navy yard, ou which the crest of what
is left of the height looks down. If Primrose-hill,
somewhat flattened, were placed a little behind the
building sheds of Deptford-dockyard, it would look
much as the present Bunker's-hill appears from the
harbour. Across the river channel the trees of the
small burying-ground, in old Boston, where the
English had placed a battery, can just be perceived
over the tops of the houses. The slight earthwork)
thrown up in four hours, resisted the guns of this
battery and of five ships of war for a whole day, an
early instance of the value of the spade iu sear,
which has recently been more extensively demon-
strated. The history of the action is too well
known to be repeated. Two attacks by the troops
were repulsed by the Americans with terrible loss;
the third, made where the first should have been,
on the least complete side of the redoubt, succeeded,
and the colonists retreated along the neck of the
peninsula to the mainland, leaving to the English
commanders a victory that was nearly as disastrous
as a defeat. The account of the action, sold on the
spot, is more fairly written than most of such nar-
ratives aro, and quotes several of the official
despatches and letters of the period. These
documents are a sarcasm on what is grandly
called the "Muse of History," showing that
by neither party could any clear knowledge of
the incidents be ascertained. Who commanded
on the American side is still disputed. Tile
English accounts say it was " a farmer in a smock
frock"—it was Colonel Putnam ; but whether he
had the thief command, or General Prescott, or
General Warren, who was killed in the heal rush
of the troops into the work, is not decided. Who
conceived the plan of seizing the hill in the night
is not known, nor who authorised it. The "orders"
of the American head-quarters have been searched
in vain for any information.
Notwithstanding the strictness of its founders
there was always a tendency in the good people of
Boston towards the vanities, which some explain
by the fact that\from the first the place was wealthy.
Very early in its history godly Dr. Cotton had to
preach agaiustexcesses of apparel, gold lace, girdles,
wide sleeves, and veils. The last enormity was
happily suppressed. The pulpit was always a power
in the place, and at one period so much cultivated
that it became an abuse, and the General Court
denounced the inordinate length of the sermons as
hurtful to health and good morals, and attempted
to shorten them ; the people stoutly resisted the
attempt, and the magistrates were compelled to
abandon it, only stipulating that the discourses
should close at an hour that would allow the people
to get home before dark. All the early disputes
of the settlement were religious. Once a terrible
Arstinomian controversy broke out, the people ,id-
ing with the covenant of grace, while the General
Curt declared for the covenant of works, which
perhaps included punctual payment of dues and
taxes, and was therefore unpopular ; some secular
element may be found mingled with all these quar-
rels. 'Boston was then and long afterwards a great
religious centre, which drew illustrious pilgrims
from the Old World, such as George. Fox and
Whitfield. The great names that are drawn from
Europe
leers, class—popular now belong to a different class—pop
authors, who lecture without official limit, actors,
and singers
of theatrical entertai.
dai •
splendid in itsrfieiciii amße.nosttowna,3:vtiriejortelyevperroyasipbietJeides,
has four theatres, one
(m)fotth-eossep
oa spacious sroapned.
It has also aDi which it boasts exceeds
anything in Nell:3- y,
cen''t. Few cities, indeed, have
one of etieh mareoi
proportions. But it is not
devoted exclusively
to ; something of the
old taste for lecturee is left, and, like Exeter-hall,
it lends itself to theology and politics, or a mixture
of both. The morning after a concert finds a
large congregationaßeetlioven. t from
is the Re 0v
'
heath preacherthe
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tdarteus
es i neef
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pTihoenosdoofretPhearkAehre,
loitnieenoifsttsh.e eTandeeyr s
aore
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distinct political party, but their influence is doing
much to excite the present resistance to the further
extension of slavery. _Even that degree of resist-
' ance is denounced as treason by the south,
and the
language has no terms bitter enough to express its
detestation of the party generally and Theodore
Parker particularly. It might he supposed he was
a wild fanatic preaching fire and blood. In reality
ho is a calm and measured preacher, clear and
logical in his arguments, with nothing iu the least
exaggerated in manner or language. He may be
more impassioned on the political a p.a_sorm, but as a
preacher be is vary temperate, and not of the fervid
school of oratory at all. On the occasion I refer to
he indeed announced that as he was about to travel
for a week or two through $01313 of the States of the