To-day Deyverdun, myself, and another gentleman dined at home. After
drinking coffee in the Library, we went down stairs again, and as we
entered the Parlour, our ears were saluted with a very harmonious
barking, and our eyes gratified by the sight of one of the prettiest
animals I ever saw. Her figure and coat are perfect, her manners
genteel and lively, and her teeth (as a pair of ruffles have already
experienced) most remarkably sharp. She is not the least fatigued
with her voyage, and compleatly at home in Bentinck Street. I call
her _Bath_. Gibbon would be ambiguous and Dorothea disrespectful.
However it may still be changed. A thousand thanks, and if the E.'s
are arrived, many compliments.
I am, dear Madam,
Ever yours,
E. G.
[Sidenote: THE MARCH TO CONCORD.]
250.
_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._
May 30th, 1775.
You will probably see in the Papers, the Boston Gazette
Extraordinary. I shall therefore mention a few circumstances which I
have from Governor Hutchinson.
That Gazette is the only account arrived. As soon as the business was
over the Provincial Congress dispatched a vessel with the news for
the good people of England. The vessel was taken up to sail instantly
at a considerable loss and expence, as she went without any lading
but her ballast. No other letters were allowed to be put on board,
nor did the crew know their destination till they were on the Banks
of Newfoundland. The Master is a man of character and moderation, and
from his mouth the following particulars have been drawn. _Fides sit
penes auctorem._
It cannot fairly be called a defeat of the King's troops; since they
marched to Concord, destroyed or brought away the stores, and then
returned back.[294] They were so much fatigued with their day's work
(they had marched above thirty miles) that they encamped in the
evening at some distance from Boston without being attacked in the
night. It can hardly be called an engagement, there never was any
large body of Provincials. Our troops during the march and retreat
were chiefly harrassed by flying parties from behind the stone walls
along the road and by many shots from the windows as they passed
through the villages. It was then they were guilty of setting fire to
some of those hostile houses. Ensign Gould had been sent with only
twelve men to repair a wooden bridge for the retreat; he was attacked
by the Saints with a minister at their head, who killed two men and
took the Ensign with the others prisoners. The next day the Country
rose. When the Master came away he says that Boston was invested by a
camp of about fifteen hundred tents. They have canon. Their General
is a Colonel Ward, a member of the late Council, and who served with
credit in the last War. His outposts are advanced so near the town,
that they can talk to those of General Gage.
This looks serious, and is indeed so. But the Governor[295] observed
to me that the month of May is the time for sowing Indian corn, the
great sustenance of the Province, and that unless the Insurgents are
determined to hasten a famine, they must have returned to their own
habitations: especially as the restraining act (they had already
heard of it) cuts off all foreign supply, which indeed generally
become necessary to the Province before Winter. Adieu.
[294] On April 18, 1775, General Gage despatched several hundred
British troops from Boston to destroy some military stores
collected at Concord. On the 19th they reached Concord; but,
on the return, they were attacked by the Colonial Minute-men,
and were only saved from annihilation by the detachment which
Gage had sent to their support at Lexington. The battle was
immediately followed by the investment of Boston by the American
militia.
[295] _I.e._ Hutchinson.
251.
_To J. B. Holroyd, Esq._
Bentinck Street, June 3rd, 1775.
The American news becomes every hour more problematical. Darby,
the master of the Ship, has not condescended to show to any one
the original of the Salem Gazette. He has refused to come to Lord
Dartmouth, and what is still more extraordinary, though he says he
left his ship at Southampton, a person of consequence sent down there
by Government has not been able to learn the least news about it.
Yet on the other hand a ship from New York is certainly arrived at
Bristol with the report that a Skirmish at Boston was talked of. No
news from Gage. What am I to do about Handkerchiefs? I thought the
letter you sent me for Downs was an order for them. He sent them to
me without my application, and they are already marked and used. On
the other hand Mrs. B[enjamin] W[ay] is outrageous. It is all your
fault and must be cleared up by you. I think I see some hopes about
Lovegrove, though too faint as yet to be worth any detail. I rejoyce
in My Lady's health. What is the name of her friend the Dutchess's
Captain? Deyverdun is on the wing. I wish you would make and send
me a cheese. I must eat two before I think of Sheffield. Bath, who
desires his compliments, promises himself a very pleasant summer
there.