Melancholy events Boston, July 21st, 1813. On Monday last, the sloop Liberty ... was overset in a squall between this town and Noddle's Island, and sunk ... About the same time, a pleasure-boat ... was overset, on the edge of Dorchester flats ... The following lines have been written on the distressing occasion [One line from the Holy Writ]

The text at the top of Melancholy Events reflects nearly verbatim the account in the Boston Gazette where the title was “Melancholy Accidents.” The same article appeared the same day in the Boston Independent Chronicle; a Boston paper published on July 21 has not been found. The narrative describes the sudden squalls in Boston harbor that overset the sloop Liberty as well as a small pleasure boat on July 19, 1813. Sixteen people drowned, certainly a sad day for the people of Boston.

The lyric beneath this report is by a cleric, probably an Anglican, considering that his opening quote is from the graveside section of the burial service in the Book of Common Prayer. The opening of his elegy reflects James 4:14 of the Bible, and in the second verse he alludes to Macbeth’s soliloquy, “creeps in this petty pace from day to day” (5.5.20). The rest of the text, in common meter, is a commentary on the unexpectedness of the tragedy and exhorts readers to remember that life is fragile and eternity a happy state. It does not focus on the gloomy warnings of the doom of sinful man found in Puritan writings.