the Ideas I have of the present Disposition of the British
Administration towards this Country; and I the rather do it at
this time, because as Matters seem to me to be drawing to a
Crisis, it is of the greatest Importance that we should have a
right Understanding of their Sentiments and Designs. The "wild
and extravagant Notions" (as they have been lately called) of the
supreme Authority of Parliament "flowing from the Pen of an House
of Representatives" has greatly chagrind them; as they apprehend
it has been the means of awakning that Spirit of Opposition to
their Measures, which from the Information their Tools on this
side of the Water had given them, and the Confidence they had
placed in the Art and Address of Mr Hutchinson, they had flatterd
themselves, had subsided, & would soon be extinguished. At the
same time they are very sensible, that the impartial Part of the
Nation, considering that the House were in a Manner forced to
express their own Sentiments on the Subject, be they what they
might, with Freedom are ready to exculpate them, and lay the
whole Blame, if there be any, upon the Governor, for his
Imprudent Zeal in bringing a Matter into open Controversy which
the Ministry had hoped to have settled in a silent Way. It is my
Opinion that the present Administration even though the very good
Lord Darmouth is one of them, are as fixed in their Resolutions
to carry this favorite point as any of their Predecessors have
been; I mean to gain from us an implicit Acknowledgment of the
Right of Parliament to make Laws binding upon us in all Cases
whatever. The King who you know determines by their Advice, has
expressd his Displeasure at our late petitions because they held
up Rights repugnant to this Right. Some of our Politicians would
have the People believe that Administration are disposd or
determind to have all the Grievances which we complain of
redressd, if we will only be quiet. But this I apprehend would be
a fatal Delusion; for I have the best Assurances, that if the
King himself should make any Concessions or take any Steps
contrary to the Right of Parliamt to tax us, he would be in
Danger of embroiling himself with the Ministry; and that under
the present Prejudices of all about him, even the recalling an
Instruction to the Governor is not yet likely to be advisd. Lord
Dartmouth has indeed lately said in the House of Lords as I have
it from a Gentleman in London who receivd the Information from a
peer who was present, that "he had formd his plan of Redress,
which he was determind to carry AT THE HAZARD OF HIS OFFICE." But
his Lordship might very safely make this Promise; for from all
that I have heard, his Plan of Redress is built very much upon
the Hopes that we may be prevaild upon, at least implicitly to
yield up the Right, of which his Lordship is as fixd in his
Opinion, as any other Minister. This I conceive they have had
in view from the year 1763; and we may well remember, that when
the Stamp Act was repeald, our Friends in Parliamt submitted as a
Condition of the Repeal, that the declaratory Act as it is called
should be passed, declaratory of the Right & Authority of
Parliament to make Laws binding upon us in all Cases whatever.
Till that time the Dispute had been limitted to the Right of
Taxation. By assuming the Power of making Laws for America IN ALL
CASES, at the time when the Stamp Act was repeald it was probably
their Design to secure, as far as they could do it by an Act of
their own, this particular Right of Taxation thinking at the same
time that if they could once establish the Precedent in an
Instance of so much importance to us, as that of taking our Money
from us, they should thenceforward find it very easy to exercise
their pretended Right in every other Case. For this Purpose in
the very next Session if I mistake not, they passed another
revenue Act, for America; which they have been endeavoring to
support by military parade, as well as by other Means, at an
Expence to the Nation, as it is said of more than the revenue
yielded. And yet, in order to induce us to acquiesce in or
silently to submit to their Exercise of this Right, they have
even condescended to meet us half way (as it was artfully given
out) and lessened this Revenue by taking off the Duty on Glass &
several other Articles. Mr George Grenville declared that he
would be satisfied with a PEPER CORN, but that he must have
THREE; which shows that he had a stronger Sense of the Importance
of establishing the Power of Parliament, or as his own Words
were, "of securing the Obedience of the Colonies" than barely of
a Revenue. The Acknowledgment on our part of the Right of
Parliament has been their invariable Object: And could they now
gain this Acknowledgment from us, tho it were but implicitly,
they would willingly sacrifice the PRESENT revenue by a repeal of
the Acts, and FOR THE PRESENT redress all our Grievances. I have
been assured that a Question has of late been privately put by
one in Administration upon whom much Dependence is had by some
persons, to a Gentleman well acquainted with the Sentiments of
the People of this Province, Whether the present House of
Representatives could not be prevaild on to rescind the Answers
of the last House to the Governors Speeches relative to the
supreme Authority of Parliament; which Answers have been lookd
upon as a Bar in the Way of a Reconciliation and being informd
that such a measure on our part could by no means be expected, I
am apprehensive that Endeavors will be used to draw us into an
incautious mode of Conduct which will be construed as in Effect
receding from the Claim of Rights of which we have hitherto been
justly so tenacious. It has been given out, I suspect from the
Secrets of the Cabinet, that if we will now send home decent
temperate & dutiful petitions, even our imaginary Grievances
shall be redressd; but let us consider what Ideas Administration
have of Decency Temperance & Dutifulness as applyd to this Case.
Our late petitions against the Independency of the Governor &
Judges were deemd indecent intemperate & undutiful, not because
they were expressd in exceptionable Words, but because it was
therein said that by the Charter it plainly appeard to us to be
intended by the Royal Grantors that the General Assembly should
be the constituted Judge of the adequate Support of the
Government of the province and the Ways & Means of providing for
the same; and further that this operation of an Act of
parliament, by which the People are taxed & the money is
appropriated & used for that purpose, derogates from one of the
most sacred Rights granted in the Charter, & most essential to
the Freedom of the Constituion, & divests the Genl Assembly of a
most important part of legislative Power and Authority expressly
granted therein, and necessary for the Good and Welfare of the
province & the Support and Government of the same. The Subject
Matter of our Complaint was, not that a Burden greater than our
proportion was laid upon us by Parliament; such a Complaint we
might have made salva Authoritate parliamentaria: But that the
Parliament had assumed & exercisd the power of taxing us & thus
appropriating our money, when by Charter it was the exclusive
right of the General Assembly. We could not otherwise have
explaind to his Majesty the Grievance which we meant to complain
of; and yet he is pleasd in his answer to declare that he has
well weighd the Subject Matter of the petitions--and is
determined to support the Constitution and to resist with
firmness every Attempt to derogate from the Authority of the
supreme Legislature. Does not this imply that the parliament is
the supreme Legislature & its Authority over the Colonies of the
Constitution? And that until we frame our petitions so as that it
may fairly be construed that we have at least tacitly conceded to
it we may expect they will be still disregarded or frownd upon as
being not decent temperate and dutifull? We may even be allowd to
claim certain Rights and exercise subordinate powers of
Legislation like the Corporations in England, subject to the
universal Controul of Parliamt, and if we will implicitly
acknowledge its Right to make Laws binding upon us in all Cases
whatever, that is, its absolute Sovereignty over us the Acts we
shall them complain of as burdensome to us, shall be repeald, all
Grievances redressd, and Administration will flatter us that the
right shall never be exercisd but in a Case of absolute necessity
which shall be apparent to every judicious man in the Empire. To
induce us to be thus submissive beyond the bounds of reason &
Safety their Lordships will condescend to be familiar with us and
treat us with Cakes & Sugar plumbs. But who is to determine when
the necessity shall be thus apparent? Doubtless the Parliamt,
which is supposd to be the supreme Legislature will claim that
prerogative; and then they will for ever make Laws for us when
they think proper. Or if the several Colony Assemblies are to
signify that such necessity is apparent to every wise man within
their respective Jurisdictions before the parliamt shall exercise
the Right, the point will be given up to us in Effect, that the
Parliamt shall not make a Law binding upon us in any Case until
we shall consent to it, which their Lordships can in no wise be
thought to intend.
But I must break off this abruptly. I intend to write you
further. In the meantime I must beg to be indulgd with your Thots
on these matters & remain with great regard,
Sir,
________________________________________________________________
1The political leader of Northhampton, Massachusetts. His "Broken
Hints" is in Niles, Principles and Acts, p. 324.
TO JOSEPH HAWLEY.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Octob 13 1773
MY DEAR SIR/
I lately wrote you a long Epistle upon our political Affairs; and
although I fear I have put your patience on the Tryal, I can not
withstand a strong Inclination to communicate more of my mind to
you on the same Subject. Perhaps it may be of Service to you, as
it may afford you an opportunity of exercising that Charity or
Candor which "beareth all things."
I have taken some pains to enquire into the true Character of the
Minister in the American Department. And I find that all allow
him to be a good man. Goodness has rarely I fear been of late the
Chracteristick of his Majestys Ministers; for which reason his
Lordship is to be sure the more highly to be prizd. But it seems
very necessary that Men in such elevated Stations should be great
as well as good. The Promotion of a nobleman to this Department,
who is famed in America for his Piety is easily accounted for on
the principles of modern Policy. However illy we may deserve it,
the great men in England have an opinion of us as being a
mightily religious People. Surely than it must be supposd that we
shall place an entire Confidence in a Minister of the same
Character. We find it so in fact. How many were filled with the
most sanguine Expectations, when they heard that the good Lord
Dartmouth was entrusted with a Share in Administration? Little
did they think that if his Lordship did not come in upon express
terms, which however is doubted by some, yet without a Greatness
of mind equal, perhaps superior to his Goodness, it will be
impossible for him singly to stem the Torrent of Corruption. This
requires much more Fortitude than I yet believe he is possesd of.
Fain would I have him treated with great Decency & Respect, both
for the Station he is in and the Character he sustains; but
considering with whom he is connected, I confess that in regard
to any power he will have substantially to serve us, I am an
Infidel.
I do not agree with some of our Politicians who tell us that the
Ministry are "sick of their Measures." I cannot but wonder that
any prudent Man should believe this, while he sees not the least
Relaxation of measures; but instead of it new Insult & Abuse. Is
the Act of Parliament, made the last year, and the Appointment of
Commissioners with Instructions to put it in full Execution in
the Rhode Island Affair, a Ground of such a Beliefe? Can we think
the East India Company are so satisfied that Administration are
disposd to give up their Designs of establishing Arbitrary Power,
when no longer ago than the last Session of Parliament they
effected the Deprivation of their Charter Rights, whereby they
have acquired so great an Addition of Power & Influence to the
Crown? Or are such Hopes to be gatherd from the Treatment given
to our own Petitions the last May, when they were discountenancd
for no other Reason but because the Rights of our Charter were
therein pleaded as a Reason against a measure which if a little
while persisted in, will infallibly establish a Despotism in the
End? Surely this is not a time for us to testify the least
Confidence in the Spirit of the British Government, or from
flattering Hopes that their designs are to alter measures, to
trust to their Discretion or good Will.
I am apt to think that Ministry have two great Events in
Contemplation both which in all probability will take place
shortly. The one is a War & the other a new Election of
Parliament Men. In order to improve these Events to their own
purpose, it will become necessary to sooth & flatter the
Americans with Hopes of Reliefe. In Case of a War, America if in
good Humour will be no contemptible Ally. She will be able by her
Exertions to annoy the Enemy much. Her aid will therefore be
courted. And to bring her into this good Humour, the Ministry
must be lavish in promises of great things to be done for her.
Perhaps some Concessions will be made; but these Concessions will
flow from policy not from Justice. Should they recall their
Troops from the Castle, or do twenty other seemingly kind things,
we ought never to think their Designs are benevolent toward us,
while they continue to exercise the pretended Right to tax us at
their pleasure, and appropriate our money to their own purposes.
And this they have certainly no Thought at present of yielding
up. With regard to the Election of another House of Commons, that
will not take place within these Eighteen months unless a
Dissolution of parliamt should happen before; which has indeed
been hinted, & may be the movement in order suddenly to bring on
the Election before the People are prepared for it. We are to
suppose that an Attempt will be made to purchase the Votes of the
whole Kingdom. This will require much Time and dexterous
Management. The Ministry have in a great Measure lost the
Influence of London and other great Corporations as well as that
of the East India Company by their late Treatment of that
powerful Body, whom Lord North now finds it necessary to coax and
pascify. They will therefore be glad to sooth America into a
State of Quietness, if they can do it without conceding to our
Rights, that they may have the Aid of the Friends of America when
the new Election comes on. And that America has many Friends
among the Merchants & Manufacturers the Country Gentlemen &
especially the Dissenters from the establishd Church I am so well
informd that I cannot doubt. The last of these are so from
generous the others from private & selfish Principles. Such
Considerations as these will be strong Inducements [to] them to
make us fair & flattering Promises for the present; but Nothing I
think will be so dangerous as for the Americans to withdraw their
Dependence upon themselves & place it upon those whose constant
Endeavor for ten years past has been to enslave us, & who, if
they can obtain a new Election of old Members, it is to be feard,
unless we keep up a perpetual Watchfulness, will, in another
seven years, effect their Designs. The Safety of the Americans in
my humble opinion depends upon their pursuing their wise Plan of
Union in Principle & Conduct. If we persevere in asserting our
Rights, the Time must come probably a Time of War, when our just
Claims must be attended to & our Complaints regarded. But if we
discoverd the least Disposition to submit our Claims to their
Decision, it is my opinion that our Injuries will be increasd
then fold. I conclude at present with assuring you that I am with
sincere regard
Sir your Friend & hbl servt,
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF MASSACHUSETTS TO OTHER
COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
PRO OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY
BOSTON Octob 21 1773
GENTLEMEN
The Committee of Correspondence appointed by the House of
Representatives of this Province have been not altogether
inattentive to the Design of their Institution. We have been
waiting for Intelligence from Great Britain from whose
injudicious Councils the common Grievances of the Colonies have
sprang; in hopes that a Change in the American Department would
have producd a happy Change in the measures of Administration;
But we are sorry to say, that from the best Accounts that we have
obtaind the Ministry have been hitherto so far from radically
redressing American Grievances that even the least Relaxation has
not been advisd if thought of. On the Contrary, the British
Parliament have been prorogud without taking the least Notice of
the Affairs of America; while they have been curtailing the
Charter of the East India Company in such a Manner & in such a
Degree, as to indicate that they are much more intent upon
increasing the power & Influence of the Crown than securing
Liberties of the Subject. At the same time, this Province has had
a very recent Discovery of the unalterd Resolution of the
Ministry to pursue their plan of arbitrary Power, in the Kings
Answer to the Petitions of our Assembly against the appropriation
of the Revenue raisd from the Colonies, for the purpose of
rendering our Governor & Judges dependent on the Crown. In his
Majestys Answer, we have nothing explicit, but his Resolution to
support the supreme Authority of the British parliamt to make
Laws binding on the Colonies (altho the petitions were supported
by the express Declarations of the Charter of the province) and
his great Displeasure, that principles repugnant to that Right
were therein held forth. Such an Answer to such a petition
affords the strongest Grounds to conclude, that the Ministry are
as firmly resolvd as ever to continue the Revenue Acts & apply
the tribute extorted by Virtue of them from the Colonies, to
maintain the executive powers of the several Governments of
America absolutely independent of their respective Legislatures;
or rather absolutely dependent on the Crown, which will, if a
little while persisted in, end in absolute Despotism.
Such being still the temper of the British Ministry, Such the
Disposition of the parliament of Britain under their Direction &
Influence, to consider themselves as THE SOVEREIGN of America, Is
it not of the utmost Importance that our Vigilance should
increase, that the Colonies should be united in their Sentiments
of the Measures of Oppposition necessary to be taken by them, and
that in whichsoever of the Colonies any Infringments are or shall
be made on the common Rights of all, that Colony should have the
united Efforts of all for its Support. This we take to be the
true Design of the Establishment of our Committees of
Correspondence.
There is one thing which appears to us to be an Object worthy of
the immediate Attention of the Colonies. Should a War take place,
which is thought by many to be near at hand, America will then be
viewd by Administration in a Light of Importance to Great
Britain. Her Aids will be deemd necessary; her Friendship
therefore will perhaps be even courted. Would it not then be the
highest Wisdom in the several American Assemblies, absolutely to
withhold all kinds of Aid in a general War, untill the Rights &
Liberties which THEY OUGHT TO ENJOY are restored, & secured to
them upon the most permanent foundation? This has always been the
Usage of a spirited House of Commons in Britain, and upon the
best Grounds; for certainly protection & Security ought to be the
unalterable Condition when Supplys are called for. With Regard to
the Extent of Rights which the Colonies ought to insist upon, it
is a Subject which requires the closest Attention & Deliberation;
and this is a strong Reason why it should claim the earliest
Consideration of, at least, every Committee; in order that we may
be prepared when time & Circumstances shall give to our Claim the
surest prospect of Success. And when we consider how one great
Event has hurried on, upon the back of another, such a time may
come & such Circumstances take place sooner than we are now aware
of. There are certain Rights which every Colony has explicitly
asserted, & we trust they will never give up. THAT in particular,
that they have the sole & unalienable Right to give & grant their
own money & appropriate it to such purposes as they judge proper,
is justly deemd to be of the last Importance. But whether even
this Right, so essential to our Freedom & Happiness, can remain .
. . to us, while a Right is claimed by the British parliament to
make Laws binding upon us in all Cases whatever, you will
certainly consider with Seriousness. It would be debasing to us
after so manly a Struggle for our Rights to be contented with a
mere TEMPORARY reliefe. We take the Liberty to present you with
the State of a Controversy upon that Subject, between the
Governor of this province and the Assembly. And as the Assembly
of this or some other Colony may possibly be called into further
Consideration of it, we should think our selves happy in a
Communication of such further Thoughts upon it, as we are
perswaded will upon a . . . occur to your Minds. We are far from
desiring that the Connection between Britain & America should be
broken. ESTO PERPETUA, is our ardent wish; but upon the Terms
only of Equal Liberty. If we cannot establish an Agreement upon
these terms, let us leave it to another & wiser Generation. But
it may be worth Consideration that the work is more likely to be
well done, at a time when the Ideas of Liberty & its Importance
are strong in Mens Minds. There is Danger that these Ideas will
hereafter grow faint & languid. Our Posterity may be accustomd to
bear the Yoke & being inured to Servility they may even bow the
Shoulder to the Burden. It can never be expected that a people,
however NUMEROUS, will form & execute a wise plan to perpetuate
their Liberty, when they have lost the Spirit & feeling of it.
We cannot close without mentioning a fresh Instance of the temper
& Design of the British Ministry; and that is in allowing the
East India Company, with a View of pacifying them, to ship their
Teas to America. It is easy to see how aptly this Scheme will
serve both to destroy the Trade of the Colonies & increase the
revenue. How necessary then is it that Each Colony should take
effectual methods to prevent this measure from having its
designd Effects.2
GENTLEMEN
The foregoing Letter was unanimously agreed to by the Committee
of Correspondence, and is in their name and by their order
Transmitted to you by your most respectfull friends and humble
Servants,
T: CUSHING
S: ADAMS
W: HEATH
P.S. It is the request of the Committee that the Contents of this
Letter be not made publick least our Common Enemies should
counteract and prevent its design.
________________________________________________________________
1The origin of this letter appears in the manuscript journal,
preserved in the Boston Public Library, of the Committee of
Correspondence, consisting of fifteen members, appointed by the
House of Representatives of Massachusetts. At a meeting of the
committee on June 28, 1773, a sub-committee, consisting of Adams,
Hancock, Cushing, Phillips, and Heath, was appointed, to write to
the Connecticut Committee of Correspondence and also to the
committee of each assembly. The letter to Connecticut appears to
have been approved at a meeting of the sub-committee on July 4.
At a meeting of the sub-committee on July 15 Adams was asked to
draft a letter on general government to the committees of the
neighboring governments. This letter was still unwritten on
August 19, and on September 29 the sub-committee called a meeting
of the full committee for October 20. On that date it was voted
expedient to write a circular letter to the other committees, and
in the afternoon of the same day Adams and Warren were appointed
a sub-committee to draft such a letter. At the afternoon meeting
on October 21 a draft was reported, read several times, and
accepted; and it was voted that the chairman, with Adams and
Heath, should sign the letters. The Journal is printed in
Proceedings of Massachusetts Historical Society, 2d ser., vol.
iv., pp. 85-90.
2The remainder is not in the autograph of Adams.
RESOLUTIONS OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON, NOVEMBER 5, 1773.
[Boston Record Commissioner's Report, vol. xviii., pp. 142, 143;
a draft of the preamble, in the handwriting of Adams, is in the
Mellen Chamberlain collection, Boston Public Library.]
Whereas it appears by an Act of the British Parliament passed in
the last Sessions, that the East India Company are by the said
Act allowed to export their Teas into America, in such Quantities
as the Lord of the Treasury shall Judge proper1: And some People
with an evil intent to amuse the People, and others thro'
inattention to the true design of the Act, have so contrued the
same, as that the Tribute of three Pence on every Pound of Tea is
not to be enacted by the detestable Task Masters there2---Upon
the due consideration thereof, RESOLVED, That the Sense of the
Town cannot be better expressed on this Occasion, than in the
words of certain Judicious Resolves lately entered into by our
worthy Brethren the Citizens of Philadelphia---wherefore
RESOLVED, that the disposal of their own property is the Inherent
Right of Freemen; that there can be no property in that which
another can of right take from us without our consent; that the
Claim of Parliament to tax America, is in other words a claim of
Right to buy3 Contributions on us at pleasure-----
2d. That the Duty imposed by Parliament upon Tea landed in
America, is a tax on the Americans, or levying Contributions on
them without their consent-----