The  democratic  or  republican  party  having  succeeded  in  re-
electing Mr.  Gerry  in  1811,  with  both  branches  of  the  Legisla-
ture in  their  hands,  proceeded  to  divide  the  State  into  new
Senatorial  districts,  so  as  to  insure  a  democratic  majority  in  the
Senate.     Hon.  Samuel  Dana,  then  President  of  the  Senate,  is


OLD    TORY    ROW   AND    BEYOND.  321

considered  the  author  of  the  scheme,  which  has  also  been  at-
tributed to  Joseph  Story,  who  was  Speaker  of  the  House  until
January  12,  1812,  when  he  resigned.  The  bill  passed  both
branches  early  in  February,  1812,  and  received  the  approval  of
the  governor.  Under  this  new  and  then  audacious  arrange-
ment, the  counties  of  Essex  and  Worcester  were  carved  up  in
such  a  manner  as  to  disregard  even  the  semblance  of  fairness.
County  lines  were  disregarded  and  public  convenience  set  at
naught,  in  order  to  overcome  the  federal  majorities  in  those
counties.
The  singular  appearance  of  the  new  Essex  district,  where  a
single  tier  of  to^vns  was  taken  from  the  outside  of  the  county,
and  Chelsea,  in  Suffolk,  attached,  caused  a  general  outcry  from
the  federalists.  The  remainder  of  the  county  was  completely
enveloped  by  this  political  deformity,  which,  with  its  extremi-
ties in  the  sea  at  Salisbury,  and  Chelsea,  walled  out  the  remain-
ing towns  from  the  rest  of  the  State.  The  map  of  Essex,  which
gave  rise  to  the  caricature,  was  drawn  by  Nathan  Hale,  who,
with  Henry  Sedgwick,  edited  the  "  Boston  Weekly  Messenger,"
in  which  the  geographic-pohtical  monstrosity  first  appeared,
March  6,  1812.
