tended
with a prodigious expence. Some of the performers are engaged at upwards
of 20_l_. english per week; and Mrs. Whitlocke (sister to Mrs. Siddons,
whom you may perhaps recollect at the Haymarket) is to have 180_l_.
sterling for six nights. This opposition will in all probability end in
the ruin of the managers, or rather of the _subscribers, who are bound for
the payments_.

* * * * *

_Boston, October 3d, 1796._

DEAR SIR,

The first leisure day after my arrival here, I went to Bunker's Hill,
attended by two persons, who were spectators of the engagement, and were
kind enough to point out and explain a number of particulars I wished to
be acquainted with, for the purpose of enabling me to form a tolerable
idea of this famous action. If general Howe meant only to give the
_Yankies_ a specimen of british valour, and his contempt of them and their
intrenchment, he succeeded in both.--His enemies on this side the water
say, "they gave him a _Rowland_ for his _Oliver_; _that_ he paid _too
dear_ for this victory; _that_ a more prudent general would have found a
better place to land the troops, and a safer mode of attack; _that_ the
_price_ he paid for this little redoubt ought to have convinced him, he
could not afford even to _bid_ for Dorchester heights, if once the
Americans got possession of those hills; _that_ he should therefore have
fortified them _himself_; _that_----" But as nothing is easier than to
see all these _thats_ when it is _too late_, I shall plague you with no
more of them, but conclude with an inscription from a monument on the
scene of action.

Yours, &c.

"ERECTED, 1794,
By King Solomon's Lodge of Free Masons,
[Footnote: General Warren was a brother.]
constituted at Charlestown, 1783,
In Memory of
MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN,
AND HIS BRAVE ASSOCIATES,
Who were slain on this memorable spot,
June 17th, 1775.

None but they, who set a just value on the
blessings of LIBERTY, are worthy to enjoy
her.
In vain we toil'd, in vain we fought,
We bled in vain, if you, our offspring,
Want valour to repel the assaults of her
invaders."

CHARLES TOWN settled 1628.
------------ burnt 1775.
------------ rebuilt 1776.

_P. S._ I was yesterday introduced to Cox, the celebrated
bridge-architect: he is famous for throwing a bridge over waters, where,
from the _depth_ or _stren