Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project

Verses in Vogue with the Vulgar

Thou shalt do no murder. On Thursday, December 16, sentence of death was passed in a most solemn and impressive manner, by the Hon. Judge Sewall, upon Livermore and Angier, after a conviction of the murder of Nicholas John Cruay [i.e., Crevay], an Indian, on the night of the 23d. November

Thou Shalt Do No Murder is the second of two broadsides printed about the murder of an Indian named Nicholas John Cruay (Crevay) and his wife, by two men who were then sentenced to death.

This broadside is larger than the first, Boston, December 18, 1813, and the text of the sermon may have been written by a clergyman. The title is integral to the design rather than just added to the top, and it is amplified by the details of the sentence. The italic text is selected from Proverbs 1, verses 10-11 and 15-16. The essay refers back to the Samuel Tully hanging (see A Copy of a Letter from Samuel Tully) and reviews the facts of another such sentence that is to be inflicted. Beneath are nine verses in ballad meter selected from the much longer version on Boston, December 18, 1813. Here only verses 1-11 and 21-24 are printed.

Additional Metadata

Date

1813

Place of Publication

Boston.

Publisher

Coverly, Nathaniel, 1775?-1824, printer.

Subjects

Livermore, Alpheus
Angier, Samuel
Indians of North America
Crime
Murder
Sin
Execution sermons
Judgment of God in literature
Christianity

First Line

Behold two youths, of years but few.

Identifiers

BIB ID: 308248
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocm58785124
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocn191501060
AAS General Catalog URL: http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=308248
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Physical Dimensions

43 x 27 cm.

Transcriptions

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Related Items

Woodcut for Thou shalt do no murder : On Thursday, December 16, sentence of death was passed in a most solemn and impressive manner, by the Hon. Judge Sewall, upon Livermore and Angier, after a conviction of the murder of Nicholas John Cruay [i.e., Crevay], an Indian, on the night of the 23d. November
Woodcut for Boston, December 18, 1813 : On Thursday last, two young men, one named Livermore and the other Angier, received the sentence of death, at the Supreme Court held at Cambridge, for the murder of an Indian man, named Nicholas John Cruay [i.e., Crevay], and his wife ...

Citation

“Thou shalt do no murder. On Thursday, December 16, sentence of death was passed in a most solemn and impressive manner, by the Hon. Judge Sewall, upon Livermore and Angier, after a conviction of the murder of Nicholas John Cruay [i.e., Crevay], an Indian, on the night of the 23d. November,” Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project, accessed June 10, 2023, https://www.americanantiquarian.org/thomasballads/items/show/328.