[1] The numerous documents relating to the burning of the Gaspee
are printed in _R. I. Colonial Records_, vol. 7, pp. 55-192; also
in R. I. Historical Society _Proceedings_, 1890-91, pp. 80-92, and
_Publications_, vol. 7, pp. 238-244.
[2] This is the only proclamation of which the editor finds record
that was printed outside of Great Britain. A marginal note appended
to the entry of the proclamation in the Privy Council Register (III
Geo., vol. 9, p. 428) reads: "N. B. The original proclamation under
the Great Seal was sent over to Rhode Island with the Commission &c
by the Secretary of State." In the _London Gazette_ of September
8, 1772, an article dated at Whitehall, August 29, and evidently
officially inspired, recites the circumstances of the attack upon the
Gaspee, the appointment of a commission of inquiry, and the issuance
of a Proclamation which was "to be printed and published within the
said Colony of Rhode Island." Under date of December 22, 1772, Governor
Wanton of Rhode Island wrote to the Sheriffs of the several counties:
"In obedience to the King's command, signified to me, by the Right
Honorable the Earl of Dartmouth, one of his principal secretaries of
state, I have caused to be printed His Majesty's proclamation for
discovering and apprehending the persons who plundered and burnt the
Gaspee schooner; copies of which, I send you by express, which you
are forthwith to affix in the most public places of the several towns
within your colony" (_R. I. Colonial Records_, vii, 117). John Howland
relates that the proclamation was posted near the Market house in
Providence, but was struck down by a patriotic citizen and "mingled
with the filth of the street" (Stone's _Life of Howland_, p. 37).
The editor could find no printed copy of this proclamation in England,
but a few days after returning to America had the good fortune to
discover one of the original broadsides, which was purchased for the R.
I. Historical Society.
1774, December 16.
[Providing Copper Currency for Virginia.]