electric-lighted, steering by steam, a telephone system connecting all
parts of her hull--everything modern about her except her name. Not as
dignified, graceful, and picturesque as the ship perhaps--but she lasts,
while the ship disappears.

But to return to the colonial shipping. Boston soon became one of the
chief building centers, though indeed wherever men were gathered in a
seashore village ships were built. Winthrop, one of the pioneers in the
industry, writes: "The work was hard to accomplish for want of money,
etc., but our shipwrights were content to take such pay as the country
could make," and indeed in the old account books of the day we can read of
very unusual payments made for labor, as shown, for example, in a contract
for building a ship at Newburyport in 1141, by which the owners were bound
to pay "£300 in cash, £300 by orders on good shops in Boston; two-thirds
money; four hundred pounds by orders up the river for tim'r and plank, ten
bbls. flour, 50 pounds weight of loaf sugar, one bagg of cotton wool, one
hund. bushels of corn in the spring; one hhd. of Rum, one hundred weight
of cheese * * * whole am't of price for vessel £3000 lawful money."

By 1642 they were building good-sized vessels at Boston, and the year
following was launched the first full-rigged ship, the "Trial," which went
to Malaga, and brought back "wine, fruit, oil, linen and wool, which was a
great advantage to the country, and gave encouragement to trade." A year
earlier there set out the modest forerunner of our present wholesale
spring pilgrimages to Europe. A ship set sail for London from Boston "with
many passengers, men of chief rank in the country, and great store of
beaver. Their adventure was very great, considering the doubtful estate of
affairs of England, but many prayers of the churches went with them and
followed after them."