[Illustration: VIEW OF BOSTON LIGHT IN 1729 AND AN ARMED SLOOP
From the only known example of a mezzotint engraved in 1729 after a drawing by William Burgis]
_Owned by Josiah Quincy and Edward Jackson_
From an oil painting made about 1748, showing the vessel in two positions
The earliest known painting of a New England ship. Now owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society]
Minted in 1650-1652. Obverse and reverse. From a coin in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society]
Minted in 1652. Obverse and reverse. From a coin in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society]
Minted in 1662 and soon after. From coins in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society]
[Illustration: MASSACHUSETTS PAPER MONEY OF 1690
The first paper money issued by any colony
From an original in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society]
[Illustration: MASSACHUSETTS PAPER MONEY PRINTED ON PARCHMENT IN 1722
From originals in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society]
[Illustration: A MASSACHUSETTS MANUFACTORY BILL OF 1740
From an original in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society]
[Illustration: MASSACHUSETTS PAPER MONEY OF 1744
From an original in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society]
[Illustration: AN EARLY EXECUTION BY HANGING
The cart which brought to the gallows the condemned man and his coffin is in the foreground, and behind it, on horseback, is the sheriff]
[Illustration: SETH HUDSON'S SPEECH FROM THE PILLORY
[Illustration: Paper givng condemnation of Quelch and others]
BUILDING AGREEMENTS IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MASSACHUSETTS
Few seventeenth-century agreements to erect buildings in Massachusetts have been preserved. The following, with two exceptions, have been gleaned from court records where originally they were submitted as evidence in suits at law. They are of the greatest interest in connection with present day restoration work as they preserve detailed information of indisputable authority in relation to early building construction in the Bay Colony. The gable window, the second story jet, the stool window and casement sash, the catted chimney and the treatment of the inner and outer walls of the house have much curious interest at the present time. These architectural features long since fell into disuse and only here and there has a fragment survived. Two centuries ago the towns in New England must have presented an appearance most picturesque to our twentieth-century eyes. The dwellings seem to have been studies in projecting angles, strangely embellished with pinnacles, pendants and carved work. The unpainted and time-stained walls, the small windows and elaborate chimney tops, the narrow and curiously fenced ways, winding among the irregularly placed buildings, all contributed to the quaintness of the picture. The following agreements between builder and owner should help to solve some of the debated problems of this bygone construction that now confront those interested in the preservation and restoration of our early New England dwellings.