J. H. _Secretary_.
W. R. C. _Secretary_.
* * * * *
At a Committee of Correspondence of the Sons of Liberty, held at the
court-house in Norfolk, in Virginia, on Wednesday, the 2d April,
1766--
Present, Mr. Manuel Calvert; Mr. Paul Loyall; Mr. John Ramsay; Mr.
John Phripp, Jr.; Mr. Lewis Hansford; Mr. John Gilchrist; Mr. John
Lawrence; Mr. John Hutchings, Jr.; Mr. Thomas Newton, Jr.
A copy of the resolves of the Sons of Liberty having been fairly
transcribed, the same was delivered to Mr. John Hutchings, Jr., who
undertook to deliver the same to the printer of the Virginia Gazette,
and request him to insert the same in his next paper, and make report
to this committee.
J. H. _Secretary_.
W. R. C. _Secretary_.
The copy delivered is as follows:
At a meeting of a considerable number of inhabitants of the town and
county of Norfolk, and others, Sons of Liberty, at the court-house of
the said county, in the colony of Virginia, on Monday, the 31st of
March, 1766--
Having taken into consideration the evil tendency of that oppressive
and unconstitutional act of Parliament, commonly called the stamp act;
and being desirous that our sentiments should be known to posterity,
and recollecting that we are a part of that colony who first in
general assembly, openly expressed their detestation to the said act,
(which is pregnant with ruin, and productive of the most pernicious
consequences,) and unwilling to rivet the shackles of slavery and
oppression on ourselves and millions yet unborn, have unanimously come
to the following resolutions--
1. _Resolved_, That we acknowledge our sovereign lord and king George
the Third to be our rightful and lawful king, and that we will at all
times, to the utmost of our power and ability, support and defend his
most sacred person, crown and dignity; and will be always ready, when
constitutionally called upon, to assist his majesty with our lives and
fortunes, and defend all his just rights and prerogatives.
2. _Resolved_, That we will, by all lawful ways and means which Divine
Providence hath put into our hands, defend ourselves in the full
enjoyment of, and preserve inviolate to posterity, those inestimable
privileges of all free born British subjects, of being taxed by none
but representatives of their own choosing, and of being tried only by
a jury of their peers; for if we quietly submit to the execution of
the said stamp act, all our claims to civil liberty will be lost, and
we and our posterity become absolute slaves.
3. _Resolved_, That we will, on any future occasion, sacrifice our
lives and fortunes, in concurrence with the other Sons of Liberty in
the American provinces, to defend and preserve those invaluable
blessings transmitted us by our ancestors.
4. _Resolved_, That whoever is concerned, directly or indirectly, in
using or causing to be used, in any way or manner whatsoever, within
this colony, unless authorised by the general assembly thereof, those
detestable papers called stamps, shall be deemed to all intents and
purposes, an enemy to his country, and by the Sons of Liberty treated
accordingly.
5. _Resolved_, That a committee be appointed to present the thanks of
the Sons of Liberty to Colonel Richard Bland, for his treatise,
entitled "An Enquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies."
6. _Resolved_, That a committee be appointed, who shall make public
the above resolutions, and correspond, as they shall see occasion,
with the associated Sons of, and Friends to Liberty, in the British
colonies in America.
Copy--Test,
J. H. _Secretary_.
[Here ends the record of the proceedings of the Sons of Liberty.]
[The following is a copy of the original letter in the hand-writing of
Richard Bland, and attached to the above record, in answer to the
letter of thanks written him in obedience to one of the resolves, but
which no where appears on the minutes.]
_Gentlemen!_
The approbation of my Enquiry into the rights of the British Colonies,
by the Norfolk Sons of Liberty, which you have been pleased to
transmit to me in the politest terms, does me a very singular and
unexpected honor, and demands my most sincere acknowledgements, which
I beg leave to return to them with feelings of the warmest gratitude.
The glorious cause they have united to defend, merits of every true
friend of the colonies the highest sentiments of their virtue. And
though we have the strongest assurance that the violent attacks made
upon our rights and liberties by a late arbitrary and oppressive
minister will soon be removed; yet the noble resolutions entered into
by the Norfolk Sons of Liberty, against the detestable stamp act, will
remain lasting monuments of their patriotic spirit and love to their
country. I am, with particular regard to yourselves, and the deepest
respect to all the members of your association, gentlemen, your much
obliged and very