Parliament of Great Britain in raising money from us. How it can affect
this matter I am utterly at a loss to comprehend. Have not large
quantities of tea for some years past been imported into this Province
from England, both on account of the dealers in tea there and the
merchants here, all which have paid the American duty? How in the name
of common sense does it differ, unless it be in favor of America, for a
New England merchant to have his tea shipped from Great Britain, on his
own account, or receive it on commission from the grocers there, and on
its arrival, paying the customary duty, than if it had been shipped by
the East India Company, who were the original importers? What
consistency is there in making a clamour about this small branch of the
revenue, whilst we silently pass over the articles of sugar, molasses
and rum, from which more than three-fourths of the American revenue has
and always will arise, and when the Act of Parliament imposing duties on
these articles stands on the same footing as that respecting tea, and
the moneys collected from them are applied to the same purposes? Many of
us complain of the Tea Act, not only as it affects our liberties, but as
it affects our purses, by draining us annually of a large sum of money.
But if it be considered that by this step the East India Company have
taken of sending their tea to market themselves at their own cost, and
the saving that is thereby made to the merchants here of commissions,
freight and charges of importing it, which will be equal to the whole
annual tax that has yet been paid, it must silence that complaint." "Z."
[43] Nathaniel Hatch, of Dorchester, graduated at Harvard University, in
1742, and subsequently held the office of Clerk of the Courts. He
accompanied the British troops to Halifax, in 1776; was proscribed and
banished in 1778, and in 1779 was included in the Conspiracy Act, by
which his estate was confiscated. He died in 1780.
[44] The proposition to burn the tea is referred to by Wyeth. See ante
p. LXXI.
[45] This letter, with all its extravagance and exaggeration,
undoubtedly expresses the popular feeling, the public sentiment of the
time. It is easy to see from its style, as well as from the sentiments
it contains, that it could have emanated from none of the popular
leaders. These, however strongly they felt in relation to ministerial
aggression, were, though direct and forcible in their utterances,
invariably discreet and temperate in their tone and language.
[46] Benjamin Faneuil, Jr., was the son of Benjamin, a merchant of
Boston, (born, 1701; died, 1785. [Symbol: dagger]) and a nephew of Peter
Faneuil, to whom Boston is indebted for her "Cradle of Liberty." His
place of business was in Butler's Row, and he resided in the Faneuil
mansion, on Tremont Street. Before the building of Quincy Market and
South Market Street, Butler's Row entered Merchants Row, between Chatham
and State Streets. With the other tea consignees, Faneuil fled to the
Castle, in Boston harbor, November 30, 1773, and being a loyalist, went
to Halifax, when Boston was evacuated, in March, 1776. In the following
spring he was in London, and subsequently resided in Bristol, Eng.,
where he died. His wife was Jane, daughter of Addington Davenport. While
in London, in lodgings in the Strand, almost opposite Somerset House, he
wrote as follows to a friend: "As soon as the Xmas holidays were over,
the tea consignees presented a petition to the Lords of the Treasury,
praying a support until the affairs in America were settled. We are told
we shall be allowed £150 a year. This is a fine affair, and we can by no
means live upon it, but there are such a confounded parcel of us to be
provided for, that I am told no more will be allowed....
When we shall be able to return to Boston I cannot say, but hope and
believe it will not exceed one year, for sooner or later America will be
conquered, that you may depend on."
[47] Henry White was an eminent and wealthy merchant of New York, a
member of the Council, and an original member and finally president, of
the New York Chamber of Commerce. He acted for a time as commissary,
while the royal army occupied that city, and being a pronounced
loyalist, his estate was confiscated. After the peace he went to
England, and died in London, December 23, 1786. Eve, his widow, died in
New York, in 1836, at the great age of ninety-eight. Of his sons, John
Chambers White, became a vice-admiral in the British navy, and Frederick
Van Cortland, became a general in the army.
[48] See p. xxxv., ante.
[49] Isaac Royal, of Medford, died in England, in October, 1781. He was
a representative from Medford to the General Court, and for twenty-two
years a member of the Council. In 1774, he was appointed a Councillor
under the writ of mandamus, but was never sworn into office. Appointed a
brigadier-general in 1761, and the first who bore that title here. He
left the country April 16, 1775; was proscribed in 1778, and his estate
was confiscated. He bequeathed upwards of two thousand acres of land in
Worcester County, Mass., to found the first law professorship of Harvard
University, and his bequests for other purposes were numerous and
liberal.
[50] William Brattle, F.R.S., lawyer, preacher, physician, soldier and
legislator, son of Rev. William, minister, of Cambridge, died in
Halifax, N.S., in October, 1776; aged seventy-four. He was graduated at
Harvard University, in 1722; was distinguished both for his talents and
eccentricities; was a representative from Cambridge, and many years a
member of the Council; a member of the Stamp Act Congress in 1765; a
major-general of militia, and was a member of every profession, and
eminent in all. For many years he pleased both the Government and the
people, but finally forfeited the good will of the Whigs, and
accompanied the British soldiers to Halifax on the evacuation of Boston,
and died there a few months after his arrival.
[51] Samuel Danforth, son of Rev. John, of Dorchester, died in Boston,
at the house of his son, Dr. Samuel Danforth, 27th October, 1777; aged
about eighty-one. He was graduated at Harvard University, in 1715;
taught school; was a Selectman in 1733-39; representative 1734-38;
member of the Council 1739-1774, and several years its president;
Register of Probate, 1731-45; Judge of Probate, 1745-75; and Judge of
the Court of Common Pleas, 1741-75. At the Revolution he passed out of
office, but was so quiet in his deportment that, though understood to be
a loyalist, he was not disturbed in the possession of his property. He
was distinguished for his love of the natural sciences.
[52] Thomas and Elisha Hutchinson, sons of Governor Hutchinson, were
merchants and partners in business, and consignees of one-third of the
tea shipped to Boston. I have seen no evidence of a pecuniary interest
in this shipment on the part of the Governor, as is asserted by the
historian Bancroft. Their names were given to the East India Company by
a London correspondent, who solicits the consignment for them, without
mentioning their connection with the Governor. Thomas, jr., born in
Boston, in 1740, was a mandamus Councillor and Judge of Probate, and was
proscribed and banished. When the condition of the country became
unpleasantly hostile, he left the mansion house at Milton, and took
shelter in Boston, but left all the furniture, silver plate, &c.,
expecting to be able to pass and repass at pleasure. When Boston was
evacuated, he and his family, and Peter Oliver and family, embarked for
London, in the "Lord Hyde" packet. He settled at Heavitree, near Exeter,
in Devonshire, and died there in 1811. His wife was Sarah Oliver.
Elisha, his brother, born in 1745, graduated at Harvard University, in
1762; was proscribed and banished, and died at Blurton Parsonage,
Trentham, Staffordshire, England, in November, 1824. His wife, Mary,
daughter of Col. George Watson, of Plymouth, Mass., died at Birmingham,
England, in 1803. "Neither of my sons," wrote the Governor, in March,
1774, "have dared to appear in Boston since the latter part of November,
to the total neglect and ruin of their business."
[53] Stephen Greenleaf, sheriff of Suffolk County, was arrested by the
Council of Massachusetts as a loyalist, in April, 1776. He died in
Boston, in 1795; aged ninety-one.
[54] John Singleton Copley, a famous painter, son-in-law of Richard
Clarke, and father of Lord Lyndhurst, was born in Boston, July 3, 1737,
and died in London, September 9, 1813. He was a self-taught artist, and
after painting many portraits in Boston, settled in London in 1775, and
acquired a high reputation.
[55] John Pownall, many years Clerk of the Reports, Secretary of the
Board of Trade (1754-68,) Deputy Secretary of State (1768-76,) and
afterwards a Commissioner of the Board of Customs, a Magistrate and High
Sheriff of Lincolnshire, died in London, July 17, 1795; aged seventy.
His brother, Thomas, Governor of Massachusetts in 1757-60, afterwards,
while a member of Parliament, opposed the American policy of the
Government.
[56] William Bull, M.D., Lieutenant-Governor of South Carolina, from
1764 to 1776, was the son of William, who held the same office from 1738
to 1743, and who was the son of Stephen, one of the early settlers of
South Carolina, and Surveyor-General of the Province. William studied
medicine at the University of Leyden, and was the pupil of the
celebrated Boerhaave. He settled in practice in his native Province;
became a member of the Council in 1751, and in 1763 was Speaker of the
Assembly. Faithful to the Crown, he accompanied the British troops to
England, on their departure in 1782, and died in London, July 4, 1791;
aged eighty-one.
[57] John Morris, Comptroller of Customs at Charleston, S.C., was
permitted, in November, 1775, on account of his impaired health, "to
pass and repass to his Island," during the pleasure of the Provincial
Congress, on condition of parole, to keep away from the King's ships. He
went to England, and died there in 1778.
[58] Sampson Salter Blowers, a distinguished lawyer and jurist, a native
of Boston, and a graduate of Harvard College, (1763,) was, in 1778,
proscribed and banished as a loyalist. In 1770, he was associated with
John Adams and Josiah Quincy in behalf of the British soldiers who were
on trial for their agency in the Boston Massacre. He settled in Halifax,
N.S.; became successively Attorney-General and Speaker of the House;
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and a member of the Council,
retiring from public life in 1833. Judge Blowers was born March 22,
1742, and died in Halifax, N.S., October 25, 1842, being over one
hundred years of age. The fact that he never wore an overcoat in his
life, told us on good authority, does not satisfactorily account for his
great longevity.
[59] Captain Bruce was a loyalist of Boston, and as such was proscribed
and banished. A loyalist of the same name was living at Shelburne, N.S.,
about the year 1805.--_Sabine._
[60] Captain Hezekiah Coffin, of Nantucket, married Abigail Colman, and
died in 1779. It is said that he saved from the destruction of his
cargo, tea enough to enable him to purchase a set of silver spoons.
Transcriber's Note:
This text is a compilation of letters written by individuals with varying
degrees of literacy. Spelling and punctuation have been preserved.