[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected
without note; obsolete and inconsistent spelling, punctuation,
hyphenation, and capitalization have been preserved as they appear
in the original. Errors that appear in the original Errata list
are noted as [Errata: text]. Less obvious errors are marked with a
[Transcriber's Note].
This e-book was created from a presentation copy from the printers
to John Adams, now in the John Adams Library at the Boston Public
Library, and available in digitized form at the Internet Archive,
https://archive.org/details/novanglusmassach00adam.]
NOVANGLUS,
AND
MASSACHUSETTENSIS;
OR
POLITICAL ESSAYS,
PUBLISHED
IN THE YEARS 1774 AND 1775,
ON THE PRINCIPAL POINTS OF CONTROVERSY, BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND HER
COLONIES.
THE FORMER BY
JOHN ADAMS,
LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES;
THE LATTER BY
JONATHAN SEWALL,
THEN KING'S ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
_TO WHICH ARE ADDED_
A NUMBER OF LETTERS, LATELY WRITTEN BY
PRESIDENT ADAMS,
TO
THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM TUDOR;
SOME OF WHICH WERE NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.
BOSTON:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY HEWS & GOSS,
1819.
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT,
_District Clerk's Office._
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirtieth day of March, A. D. 1819,
and of the Forty-fourth Year of the Independence of the United
States of America, HEWS & GOSS, of the said District, have deposited
in this Office, the title of a Book, the Right whereof they claim
as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit:--"Novanglus and
Massachusettensis; or Political Essays, published in the years 1774
and 1775, on the principal points of controversy, between Great
Britain and her colonies. The former by John Adams, late President
of the United States; the latter by Jonathan Sewall, then king's
Attorney General of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. To which are
added a number of letters, lately written by President Adams, to the
Hon. William Tudor; some of which were never before published."
In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States,
entitled "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the
Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of
such Copies, during the times therein mentioned;" and also to an Act,
entitled "An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the
Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts
and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the
times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the
Arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching Historical and other Prints."
JOHN W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.
TO THE PUBLIC.
For the last twenty years, our political opinions have partaken
so much of feeling, in the contest between the two great European
rivals, that the happiness, the interests, and even the character
of America seem to have been almost forgotten. But the spirit of
party has now most happily so far subsided, that a disposition to
look into, and examine the history of our own dear country, and its
concerns, very generally prevails. Perhaps there is no part of that
history, that is more interesting, than the controversy between Great
Britain and her colonies, which produced the war of the revolution,
and their final separation.
It is important, that the rising generation should be well acquainted
with the principles and justice of that cause, which eventuated in
our Independence, and to which we are indebted for our present envied
state of prosperity and happiness.
The principles of that controversy were ably discussed by various
writers, both in England and America; but it has been supposed,
that the sentiments and conduct of each party were more elaborately
displayed, in certain essays published in Boston, a short time
previous to the commencement of hostilities, over the signatures of
_Novanglus_ and _Massachusettensis_, than in any other productions
whatever.
The former were written by JOHN ADAMS, then a distinguished
citizen of Boston, one of the noblest assertors of the rights and
privileges of the colonies, and who has since been elected to the
most important and honourable offices in the gift of the nation.
The latter were written by JONATHAN SEWALL, then king's
Attorney General of the province of Massachusetts; a gentleman of
education and talents--the champion--and possessing the confidence of
what were then called the government party.
By an attentive perusal of these essays, a correct judgment may be
formed of all the principal and leading points of the controversy,
between the colonies and the mother country.
Confiding in the correctness of these sentiments, and the patronage
of an enlightened public, we have re-published the above mentioned
essays; to which are added, all those interesting letters, written
by President ADAMS, and addressed to the Hon. WILLIAM TUDOR, lately
printed in the Boston Daily Advertiser, together with others never
before published.
The venerable and patriotic author of _Novanglus_, now lives to
behold and enjoy the blessed fruits of his labours, and that of his
compatriots, and possesses, in the highest degree, the intellect of
his most intellectual days.
In offering this volume to the public, we please ourselves with
the hope, that it will be a valuable acquisition to all classes of
citizens, who wish to become acquainted with those principles of
civil liberty, for which our ancestors so nobly, and so successfully
contended. To the gentlemen of the bar, to legislators, and to
politicians generally, we conceive it will be an inestimable treasure.
We are forcibly impressed with the wonderful effect the essays
of Novanglus must have produced, in the times in which they were
published, by convincing the great body of the people, that the
_parliament_ of Great Britain had no right to tax the colonies in
America. But in reflecting on the CONSEQUENCES of that glorious
revolution which these essays greatly tended to produce, the mind
is imperatively drawn to a contemplation of the present political
condition of Europe. Representative governments are gradually
introducing themselves into every part of that country; and we hope
the day is not far distant, when the whole world shall be emancipated
from tyranny. As AMERICANS we feel a _conscious_ pride, that the
resistance which our ancestors made to the arbitrary machinations of
an Hutchinson, a Bute, a Mansfield and a North, will terminate in the
civil and political freedom of ALL MANKIND.
HEWS & GOSS.
BOSTON, JULY 1, 1819.
_ERRATA._
PAGE. LINE.
24 26 from the top, for _procreations_, read _procurations_.
32 14 from the top, for _terms_ read _terrors_.
18 from the bottom, read _more_ after _much_.
44 9 from the top, for _their_ read _these_.
55 20 from the top, for _shewing_ read _knowing_.
69 1 from the bottom, for _articles_ read _artifices_
[Transcriber's Note: original already reads 'artifices'].
100 12 from the top, for _knew_ read _know_, and for _know_ read _knew_.
100 2 from the bottom, for _amity_ read _anxiety_.
120 7 from the bottom [Transcriber's Note: top], _dele-suo_.
120 6 from the bottom, for _compact_ read _conquest_.
240 8 from the bottom, for _expected_ read _respected_.
PREFACE.
Jonathan Sewall was descended from Mitchills and Hulls and
Sewalls, and I believe Higginsons, _i. e._ from several of the
ancient and venerable of New England families. But, as I am no
genealogist, I must refer to my aged classmate and highly esteemed
friend Judge Sewall of York, whose researches will, one day, explain
the whole.
Mr. SEWALL's father was unfortunate; died young, leaving his
son destitute; but as the child had discovered a pregnant genius, he
was educated by the charitable contribution of his friends, of whom
Dr. Samuel Cooper was one of the most active and successful, among
his opulent parishoners. Mr. SEWALL graduated at college
in 1748; kept a Latin school in Salem, till 1756, when Chambers
Russell, of Lincoln, a Judge of the Supreme Court and a Judge of
Admiralty, from a principle of disinterested benevolence, received
him into his family; instructed him in law; furnished him with books
and introduced him to the practise at the bar. In 1757 and 1758,
he attended the Supreme Court in Worcester, and spent his evenings
with me in the office of Colonel James Putnam, a gentleman of great
acuteness of mind, and very extensive and successful in practise, and
an able lawyer; in whose family I boarded and under whose auspices
I studied law. Here commenced between Mr. SEWALL and me,
a personal friendship, which continued, with none but political
interruptions, till his death. He commenced practice in Charlestown,
in the County of Middlesex, I, in that parish of the ancient town of
Braintree, now called Quincy, then in the County of Suffolk, now of
Norfolk. We attended the Courts in Boston, Cambridge, Charlestown,
and Concord; lived together, frequently slept in the same chamber,
and not seldom, in the same bed. Mr. SEWALL was then a patriot;
his sentiments were purely American. To James Otis, who took a
kind notice of us both, we constantly applied for advice in any
difficulty, and he would attend to us, advise us, and look into books
for us, and point out authorities to us, as kindly as if we had been
his pupils or his sons.
After the surrender of Montreal in 1759, rumours were every where
spread that the English would now new model the Colonies, demolish
the charters and reduce all to royal governments. These rumours I had
heard as often as he had. One morning I met him, accidentally, on the
floor of the old Town House. "John" said he, "I want to speak with
you;" he always called me John, and I him Jonathan, and often said to
him, I wish my name were David. He took me to a window seat and said;
"these Englishmen are going to play the devil with us. They will
overturn every thing. We must resist them and that by force. I wish
you would write in the Newspapers, and urge a general attention to
the Militia, to their exercises and discipline, for we must resist in
arms." I answered, "All this I fear is true; but why do you not write
yourself? You are older than I am; have more experience than I have,
are more intimate with the grandees than I am, and you can write ten
times better than I can." There had been a correspondence between
us, by which I knew his refined style as well as he knew my coarse
one. "Why," said Mr. SEWALL, "I would write, but Goffe will
find me out and I shall grieve his righteous soul, and you know
what influence he has in Middlesex." This Goffe had been Attorney
General for twenty years, and commanded the practise in Middlesex and
Worcester and several other Counties. He had power to crush, by his
frown or his nod any young Lawyer in his County. He was afterwards
Judge Trowbridge, but at that time as ardent as any of Hutchinson's
disciples, though he afterwards became alienated from his pursuits
and principles.
In December 1760, or January 1761, Stephen Sewall, Chief Justice
died, deeply lamented, though insolvent. My friend JONATHAN,
his nephew, the son of his brother, who tenderly loved and deeply
revered his uncle, could not bear the thought, that the memory of
the Chief Justice should lie under the imputation of bankruptcy. At
that time bankruptcy was infamous; now it is scarcely disgraceful.
JONATHAN undertook the administration of his uncle's estate.
Finding insolvency inevitable, he drew a petition to the General
Court to grant a sum of money, sufficient, to pay the Chief Justice's
debts. If my friend had known the character of his countrymen, or
the nature of that Assembly, he never would have conceived such a
project; but he did conceive it and applied to James Otis, and his
father, Colonel Otis, to patronize and support it. The Otis's knew
their countrymen better than he did. They received and presented
the petition, but without much hope of success. The petition was
rejected, and my friend SEWALL conceived a suspicion, that
it was not promoted with so much zeal, by the Otis's, as he thought
they might have exerted. He imputed the failure to their coldness;
was much mortified and conceived a violent resentment, which he
expressed with too much freedom and feeling in all companies.
Goffe, Hutchinson and all the courtiers soon heard of it and
instantly fastened their eyes upon SEWALL; courted his society;
sounded his fame; promoted his practise, and soon after made him
Solicitor General by creating a new office, expressly for him. Mr.
SEWALL, had a soft, smooth, insinuating eloquence, which gliding
imperceptibly into the minds of a Jury, gave him as much power over
that tribunal as any lawyer ought ever to possess. He was also
capable of discussing before the court, any intricate question
of law, which gave him, at least, as much influence there as was
consistent with an impartial administration of justice. He was a
gentleman and a scholar; had a fund of wit, humour and satire,
which he used with great discretion at the bar, but poured out
with unbounded profusion in the newspapers. Witness his voluminous
productions in the newspapers, signed _long J._ and _Philanthropos_.
These accomplishments richly qualified him to serve the purposes of
the gentlemen, who courted him into their service.
Mr. SEWALL soon fell in love with Miss Esther Quincy, the
fourth daughter of Edmund Quincy, Esq. an eminent merchant and
magistrate, and a grand daughter of that Edmund Quincy, who was
eighteen years a Judge of the Superior Court, who died of the small
pox in the agency of the province at the Court of St. James's,
and whose monument was erected, at the expense of the Province,
in Bun-hill-fields, London. This young lady, who was celebrated
for her beauty, her vivacity and spirit, lived with her father in
this parish, now called Quincy. Mr. SEWALL's courtship was extended
for several years, and he came up very constantly on Saturdays and
remained here until Mondays; and I was sure to be invited to meet him
on every Sunday evening. During all these years, there was a constant
correspondence between us, and he concealed nothing from me, so that
I knew him by his style whenever he appeared in print.
In 1766, he married the object of his affections, and an excellent
wife he found her. He was soon appointed Attorney General. In 1768,
he was employed by Governor Barnard to offer me the office of
Advocate General, in the Court of Admiralty, which I decidedly and
peremptorily though respectfully refused.
We continued our friendship and confidential intercourse, though
professedly in boxes of politics, as opposite as East and West,
until the year 1774, when we both attended the Superior Court in
Falmouth, Casco-bay, now Portland. I had then been chosen a delegate
to Congress. Mr. SEWALL invited me to take a walk with him, very
early in the morning, on the great hill. In the course of our rambles
he very soon begun to remonstrate against my going to Congress. He
said "that Great Britain was determined on her system; her power was
irresistible and would certainly be destructive to me, and to all
those who should persevere in opposition to her designs." I answered,
"that I knew Great Britain was determined on her system, and that
very determination, determined me on mine; that he knew I had been
constant and uniform in opposition to all her measures; that the die
was now cast; I had passed the Rubicon; swim or sink, live or die,
survive or perish with my country, was my unalterable determination."
The conversation was protracted into length, but this was the
substance of the whole. It terminated in my saying to him, "I see we
must part, and with a bleeding heart I say, I fear forever; but you
may depend upon it, this adieu is the sharpest thorn on which I ever
sat my foot." I never conversed with him again 'till the year 1788.
Mr. SEWALL retired in 1775 to England, where he remained and resided
in Bristol.
On my return from Congress in the month of November 1774, I found
the Massachusetts Gazette teeming with political speculations, and
Massachusettensis shining like the moon among the lesser stars.
I instantly knew him to be my friend SEWALL, and was told he excited
great exultation among the tories and many gloomy apprehensions among
the whigs. I instantly resolved to enter the lists with him, and this
is the history of the following volume.
In 1788, Mr. SEWALL came to London to embark for Halifax. I
enquired for his lodgings and instantly drove to them, laying aside
all etiquette, to make him a visit. I ordered my servant to announce
John Adams, was instantly admitted, and both of us forgetting that we
had ever been enemies, embraced each other as cordially as ever. I
had two hours conversation with him in a most delightful freedom upon
a multitude of subjects. He told me he had lived for the sake of his
two children; he had spared no pains nor expense in their education,
and he was going to Halifax in hope of making some provision for
them. They are now two of the most respectable gentlemen in Canada.
One of them a Chief Justice; the other an Attorney General. Their
father lived but a short time after his return to America; evidently
broken down by his anxieties and probably dying of a broken heart. He
always lamented the conduct of Great Britain towards America. No man
more constantly congratulated me, while we lived together in America,
upon any news, true or false, favorable to a repeal of the obnoxious
Statutes and a redress of our grievances; but the society in which he
lived had convinced him that all resistance was not only useless but
ruinous.
More conscious than ever of the faults in the style and arrangement,
if not in the matter of my part of the following papers, I shall see
them in print with more anxiety than when they were first published.
The principles however are those on which I then conscientiously
acted, and which I now most cordially approve.
To the candour of an indulgent nation, whom I congratulate on their
present prosperity and pleasing prospects, and for whose happiness I
shall offer up my dying supplications to Heaven, I commit the volume
with all its imperfections.
JOHN ADAMS.
_Quincy_, _January_ 1, 1819.
ADDRESSED
_To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay_,
January 23, 1775.
MY FRIENDS,
A writer, under the signature of Massachusettensis, has addressed
you, in a series of papers, on the great national subject of the
present quarrel between the British administration and the Colonies.
As I have not in my possession, more than one of his Essays, and that
is in the Gazette of December 26, I will take the liberty, in the
spirit of candor, and decency, to bespeak your attention, upon the
same subject.
There may be occasion, to say very severe things, before I shall have
finished what I propose, in opposition to this writer but there ought
to be no reviling. _Rem ipsam dic, mitte male loqui_, which may be
justly translated, speak out the whole truth boldly, but use no bad
language.
It is not very material to enquire, as others have done, who is the
author of the speculations in question. If he is a disinterested
writer, and has nothing to gain or to lose, to hope or to fear, for
himself more than other individuals of your community; but engages
in this controversy from the purest principles, the noblest motives
of benevolence to men, and of love to his country, he ought to have
no influence with you, further than truth and justice will support
his argument. On the other hand, if he hopes to acquire or preserve
a lucrative employment, to screen himself from the just detestation
of his countrymen, or whatever other sinister inducement he may have,
as far as the truth of facts and the weight of argument, are in his
favor, he ought to be duly regarded.
He tells you "that the temporal salvation of this province depends
upon an entire and speedy change of measures, which must depend upon
a change of sentiments respecting our own conduct and the justice of
the British nation."
The task, of effecting these great changes, this courageous writer,
has undertaken in a course of publications in a newspaper. _Nil
desperandum_ is a good motto, and _Nil admirari_, is another. He is
welcome to the first, and I hope will be willing that I should assume
the last. The public, if they are not mistaken in their conjecture,
have been so long acquainted with this gentleman, and have seen him
so often disappointed, that if they were not habituated to strange
things, they would wonder at his hopes, at this time to accomplish,
the most unpromising project of his whole life. In the character
of Philanthrop, he attempted to reconcile you to Mr. Bernard. But
the only fruit of his labor was, to expose his client to more
general examination, and consequently to more general resentment
and aversion. In the character of Philalethes, he essayed to prove
Mr. Hutchinson a patriot, and his letters not only innocent, but
meritorious. But the more you read and considered, the more you
were convinced of the ambition and avarice, the simulation and
dissimulation, the hypocricy and perfidy of that destroying angel.
This illfated and unsuccessful, though persevering writer, still
hopes to change your sentiments and conduct--by which it is
supposed that he means to convince you that the system of Colony
administration, which has been pursued for these ten or twelve
years past, is a wise, righteous and humane plan; that sir Francis
Bernard and Mr. Hutchinson, with their connections, who have been the
principal instruments of it, are your best friends;--and that those
gentle in this province, and in all the other Colonies, who have been
in opposition to it, are from ignorance, error, or from worse and
baser causes, your worst enemies.
This is certainly an inquiry that is worthy of you; and I promise to
accompany this writer, in his ingenious labours to assist you in it.
And I earnestly intreat you, as the result of all shall be, to change
your sentiments or persevere in them, as the evidence shall appear to
you, upon the most dispassionate and impartial consideration, without
regard to his opinion or mine.
He promises to avoid personal reflections, but to penetrate the
arcana, and expose the wretched policy of the whigs. The cause of
the whigs is not conducted by intrigues at a distant court, but
by constant appeals to a sensible and virtuous people; it depends
intirely on their good will, and cannot be pursued a single step
without their concurrence, to obtain which of all designs, measures,
and means, are constantly published to the collective body. The
whigs therefore can have no arcana; but if they had, I dare say they
were never so left, as to communicate them to this writer; you will
therefore be disappointed if you expect from him any thing which is
true, but what has been as public as records and newspapers could
make it.
I, on my part, may perhaps in a course of papers, penetrate arcana
too. Shew the wicked policy of the tories--trace their plan from its
first rude sketches to its present complete draught. Shew that it
has been much longer in contemplation, than is generally known,--who
were the first in it--their views, motives and secret springs of
action--and the means they have employed. This will necessarily
bring before your eyes many characters, living and dead. From such
a research and detail of facts, it will clearly appear, who were
the aggressors--and who have acted on the defensive from first to
last--who are still struggling, at the expense of their ease,
health, peace, wealth and preferment, against the encroachments of
the tories on their country--and who are determined to continue
struggling, at much greater hazards still, and like the Prince of
Orange, resolve never to see its entire subjection to arbitrary
power, but rather to die fighting against it, in the last ditch.
It is true, as this writer observes, "that the bulk of the people
are generally, but little versed in the affairs of State; that they
left the affairs of government where accident has placed them." If
this had not been true, the designs of the tories had been many years
ago, entirely defeated. It was clearly seen, by a few, more than ten
years since, that they were planning and pursuing the very measures,
we now see executing. The people were informed of it, and warned of
their danger: But they had been accustomed to confide in certain
persons, and could never be persuaded to believe, until prophecy,
became history. Now they see and feel, that the horrible calamities
are come upon them, which were foretold so many years ago, and they
now sufficiently execrate the men who have brought these things upon
them. Now alas! when perhaps it is too late. If they had withdrawn
their confidence from them in season, they would have wholly disarmed
them.
The same game, with the same success, has been played in all ages
and countries as Massachusettensis observes. When a favourable
conjuncture has presented, some of the most intrigueing and powerful
citizens have conceived the design of enslaving their country, and
building their own greatness on its ruins. Philip and Alexander,
are examples of this in Greece--Cæsar in Rome--Charles the fifth in
Spain--Lewis the eleventh in France--and ten thousand others.
"There is a latent spark in the breasts of the people capable of
being kindled into a flame, and to do this has always been the
employment of the disaffected." What is this latent spark? The love
of Liberty? _a Deo hominis est indita naturæ._ Human nature itself is
evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature, a
resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth
and a veneration for virtue.
These amiable passions, are the "latent spark" to which those whom
this writer calls the "disaffected" apply. If the people are capable
of understanding, seeing and feeling the difference between true and
false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can
the friends of mankind apply, than to the sense of this difference.
Is it better to apply as this writer and his friends do, to the
basest passions in the human breast to their fear, their vanity,
their avarice, ambition, and every kind of corruption? I appeal to
all experience, and to universal history, if it has ever been in
the power of popular leaders, uninvested with other authority than
what is conferred by the popular suffrage, to persuade a large
people, for any length of time together, to think themselves wronged,
injured, and oppressed, unless they really were, and saw and felt it
to be so.
"They," the popular leaders, "begin by reminding the people of the
elevated rank they hold in the universe as men; that all men by
nature are equal; that kings are but the ministers of the people;
that their authority is delegated to them by the people, for their
good, and they have a right to resume it, and place it in other
hands, or keep it themselves, whenever it is made use of to oppress
them. Doubtless there have been instances, when these principles have
been inculcated to obtain a redress of real grievances, but they have
been much oftener perverted to the worst of purposes."
These are what are called revolution principles. They are the
principles of Aristotle and Plato, of Livy and Cicero, and Sydney,
Harrington and Locke. The principles of nature and eternal reason.
The principles on which the whole government over us, now stands.
It is therefore astonishing, if any thing can be so, that writers,
who call themselves friends of government, should in this age and
country, be so inconsistent with themselves, so indiscreet, so
immodest, as to insinuate a doubt concerning them.
Yet we find that these principles stand in the way of
Massachusettensis, and all the writers of his class. The veteran, in
his letter to the officers of the army, allows them to be noble, and
true, but says the application of them to particular cases is wild
and utopian. How they can be in general true, and not applicable to
particular cases, I cannot comprehend. I thought their being true in
general, was because they were applicable in most particular cases.
Gravity is a principle in nature. Why? because all particular bodies
are found to gravitate. How would it sound to say, that bodies in
general are heavy; yet to apply this to particular bodies and say,
that a guinea, or a ball is heavy, is wild, &c.--"Adopted in private
life," says the honest amiable veteran, "they would introduce
perpetual discord." This I deny, and I think it plain, that there
never was an happy private family where they were not adopted. "In
the State perpetual discord." This I deny, and affirm that order,
concord and stability in this State, never was or can be preserved
without them. "The least failure in the reciprocal duties of worship
and obedience in the matrimonial contract would justify a divorce."
This is no consequence from those principles,--a total departure from
the ends and designs of the contract it is true, as elopement and
adultery, would by these principles justify a divorce, but not the
least failure, or many smaller failures in the reciprocal duties,
&c. "In the political compact, the smallest defect in the Prince a
revolution"--By no means. But a manifest design in the Prince, to
annul the contract on his part, will annul it on the part of the
people. A settled plan to deprive the people of all the benefits,
blessings and ends of the contract, to subvert the fundamentals
of the constitution, to deprive them of all share in making and
executing laws, will justify a revolution.
The author of a "Friendly Address to all reasonable Americans,"
discovers his rancour against these principles, in a more explicit
manner, and makes no scruples to advance the principles of Hobbs and
Filmer, boldly, and to pronounce damnation, _ore rotundo_, on all
who do not practice implicit passive obedience, to an established
government, of whatever character it may be. It is not reviling, it
is not bad language, it is strictly decent to say, that this angry
bigot, this ignorant dogmatist, this foul mouthed scold, deserves no
other answer than silent contempt. Massachusettensis and the veteran,
I admire, the first for his art, the last for his honesty.
Massachusettensis, is more discreet than either of the others;
sensible that these principles would be very troublesome to him, yet
conscious of their truth, he has neither admitted nor denied them.
But we have a right to his opinion of them, before we dispute with
him. He finds fault with the application of them. They have been
invariably applied in support of the revolution and the present
establishment--against the Stuart's, the Charles' and the James',--in
support of the reformation and the Protestant religion, against the
worst tyranny, that the genius of toryism, has ever yet invented, I
mean the Roman superstition. Does this writer rank the revolution and
present establishment, the reformation and Protestant religion among
his worst of purposes? What "worse purpose" is there than established
tyranny? Were these principles ever inculcated in favor of such
tyranny? Have they not always been used against such tyrannies,
when the people have had knowledge enough to be apprized of them,
and courage to assert them? Do not those who aim at depriving the
people of their liberties, always inculcate opposite principles, or
discredit these.
"A small mistake in point of policy," says he, "often furnishes
a pretence to libel government and persuade the people that
their rulers are tyrants, and the whole government, a system of
oppression." This is not only untrue, but inconsistent with what he
said before. The people are in their nature so gentle, that there
never was a government yet, in which thousands of mistakes were
not overlooked. The most sensible and jealous people are so little
attentive to government, that there are no instances of resistance,
until repeated, multiplied oppressions have placed it beyond a doubt,
that their rulers had formed settled plans to deprive them of their
liberties; not to oppress an individual or a few, but to break down
the fences of a free constitution, and deprive the people at large
of all share in the government and all the checks by which it is
limited. Even Machiavel himself allows, that not ingratitude to their
rulers, but much love is the constant fault of the people.
This writer is equally mistaken, when he says, the people are sure to
be loosers in the end. They can hardly be loosers, if unsuccessful;
because if they live, they can but be slaves, after an unfortunate
effort, and slaves they would have been, if they had not resisted.
So that nothing is lost. If they die, they cannot be said to lose,
for death is better than slavery. If they succeed, their gains are
immense. They preserve their liberties. The instances in antiquity,
which this writer alludes to, are not mentioned, and therefore
cannot be answered, but that in the country from whence we are
derived, is the most unfortunate for his purpose, that could have
been chosen. The resistance to Charles the First and the case of
Cromwell, no doubt he means. But the people of England, and the cause
of liberty, truth, virtue and humanity, gained infinite advantages
by that resistance. In all human probability, liberty civil and
religious, not only in England but in all Europe, would have been
lost. Charles would undoubtedly have established the Romish religion
and a despotism as wild as any in the world. And as England has
been a principal bulwark from that period to this, of civil liberty
and the Protestant religion in all Europe, if Charles' schemes had
succeeded, there is great reason to apprehend that the right of
science would have been extinguished, and mankind, drawn back to a
state of darkness and misery, like that which prevailed from the
fourth to the fourteenth century. It is true and to be lamented that
Cromwell did not establish a government as free, as he might and
ought; but his government was infinitely more glorious and happy to
the people than Charles'. Did not the people gain by the resistance
to James the second? Did not the Romans gain by the resistance to
Tarquin? Throughout that resistance and the liberty that was restored
by it, would the great Roman orators, poets and historians, the great
teachers of humanity and politeness, the pride of human nature, and
the delight and glory of mankind, for seventeen hundred years, ever
have existed? Did not the Romans gain by resistance to the Decemvirs?
Did not the English gain by resistance to John, when Magna Charta was
obtained? Did not the seven united provinces gain by resistance to
Philip, Alva, and Granvell? Did not the Swiss Cantons, the Genevans
and Grissons, gain by resistance to Albert and Grisler?
NOVANGLUS.
ADDRESSED
_To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay_,
January 30, 1775.
MY FRIENDS,
I have heretofore intimated my intention, of pursuing the tories,
through all their dark intrigues, and wicked machinations; and to
shew the rise, and progress of their schemes for enslaving this
country. The honor of inventing and contriving these measures, is
not their due. They have been but servile copiers of the designs of
Andross, Randolph, Dudley, and other champions of their cause towards
the close of the last century. These latter worthies accomplished
but little; and their plans had been buried with them, for a long
course of years, until in the administration of the late Governor
Shirley, they were revived, by the persons who are now principally
concerned in carrying them into execution. Shirley, was a crafty,
busy, ambitious, intrigueing, enterprising man; and having mounted,
no matter by what means, to the chair of this province, he saw, in a
young growing country, vast prospects of ambition opening before his
eyes, and he conceived great designs of aggrandizing himself, his
family and his friends. Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Oliver, the two famous
letter writers, were his principal ministers of State. Russell,
Paxton, Ruggles, and a few others, were _subordinate_ instruments.
Among other schemes of this Junto, one was to have a Revenue in
America by authority of Parliament.
In order to effect their purpose it was necessary to concert measures
with the other Colonies. Dr. Franklin, who was known to be an active,
and very able man, and to have great influence, in the province
of Pennsylvania, was in Boston, in the year 1754, and Mr. Shirley
communicated to him the profound secret, the great design of taxing
the Colonies by act of Parliament. This sagacious gentleman, this
eminent philosopher, and distinguished patriot, to his lasting honor,
sent the Governor an answer in writing with the following remarks
upon his scheme. Remarks which would have discouraged any honest man
from the pursuit. The remarks are these:--
"That the people always bear the burden best, when they have, or
think they have, some _share_ in the direction.
"That when public measures are generally distasteful to the people,
the wheels of government must move more heavily.
"That excluding the people of America from all share in the choice of
a grand council for their own defence, and taxing them in Parliament,
where they have no representative, would probably give extreme
dissatisfaction.
"That there was no reason to doubt the willingness of the Colonists
to contribute for their own defence. That the people themselves,
whose all was at stake, could better judge of the force necessary for
their defence, and of the means for raising money for the purpose,
than a British Parliament at so great distance.
"That natives of America, would be as likely to consult wisely and
faithfully for the safety of their native country, as the Governors
sent from Britain, whose object is generally to make fortunes, and
then return home, and who might therefore be expected to carry on the
war against France, rather in a way, by which themselves were likely
to be gainers, than for the greatest advantage of the cause.
"That compelling the Colonies to pay money for their own defence,
without their consent, would shew a suspicion of their loyalty, or of
their regard for their country, or of their common sense, and would
be treating them as conquered enemies, and not as free Britains,
who hold it for their undoubted right not to be taxed by their own
consent, given through their representatives.
"That parliamentary taxes, once laid on, are often continued, after
the necessity for laying them on, ceases; but that if the Colonists
were trusted to tax themselves, they would remove the burden from the
people, as soon as it should become unnecessary for them to bear it
any longer.
"That if Parliament is to tax the Colonies, their assemblies of
representatives may be dismissed as useless.
"That taxing the Colonies in Parliament for their own defence against
the French, is not more just, than it would be to oblige the cinque
ports, and other parts of Britain, to maintain a force against
France, and to tax them for this purpose, without allowing them
representatives in Parliament.
"That the Colonists have always been indirectly taxed by the mother
country (besides paying the taxes necessarily laid on by their own
assemblies) inasmuch as they are obliged to purchase the manufactures
of Britain, charged with innumerable heavy taxes; some of which
manufactures they could make, and others could purchase cheaper at
other markets.
"That the Colonists are besides taxed by the mother country, by being
obliged to carry great part of their produce to Britain, and accept a
lower price, than they might have at other markets. The difference is
a tax paid to Britain.
"That the whole wealth of the Colonists centres at last in the mother
country, which enables her to pay her taxes.
"That the Colonies have, at the hazard of their lives and fortunes,
extended the dominions, and increased the commerce and riches of the
mother country, that therefore the Colonists do not deserve to be
deprived of the native right of Britons, the right of being taxed
only by representatives chosen by themselves.
"That an adequate representation in parliament would probably be
acceptable to the Colonists, and would best raise the views and
interests of the whole empire."
The last of these propositions seems not to have been well
considered, because an adequate representation in parliament,
is totally impracticable; but the others have exhausted the
subject. If any one should ask what authority or evidence I have
of this anecdote, I refer to the second volume of the Political
Disquisitions, page 276, 7, 8, 9. A book which ought to be in the
hands of every American who has learned to read.
Whether the ministry at home or the junto here, were discouraged
by these masterly remarks, or by any other cause, the project of
taxing the Colonies was laid aside. Mr. Shirley was removed from this
government, and Mr. Pownal was placed in his stead.
Mr. Pownal seems to have been a friend to liberty and to our
Constitution, and to have had an aversion to all plots against
either, and consequently to have given his confidence to other
persons than Hutchinson and Oliver, who, stung with envy against
Mr. Pratt and others, who had the lead in affairs, set themselves,
by propagating slanders against the Governor, among the people, and
especially among the clergy, to raise discontents, and make him
uneasy in his seat. Pownal averse to wrangling, and fond of the
delights of England, solicited to be recalled, and after some time
Mr. Bernard was removed from New Jersey to the chair of this Province.
Bernard was the man for the purpose of the junto; educated in the
highest principles of monarchy, naturally daring and courageous,
skilled enough in law and policy to do mischief, and avaricious
to a most infamous degree; needy at the same time, and having a
numerous family to provide for,--he was an instrument, suitable
in every respect, excepting one, for this junto, to employ. The
exception I mean, was blunt frankness, very opposite to that cautious
cunning, that deep dissimulation, to which they had by long practice
disciplined themselves. However, they did not despair of teaching him
this necessary artful quality by degrees, and the event shewed they
were not wholly unsuccessful, in their endeavors to do it.
While the war lasted, these simple Provinces were of too much
importance in the conduct of it, to be disgusted, by any open attempt
against their liberties. The junto therefore, contented themselves
with preparing their ground by extending their connection and
correspondencies in England, and by conciliating the friendship of
the crown officers occasionally here, and insinuating their designs
as necessary to be undertaken in some future favorable opportunity,
for the good of the empire, as well as of the Colonies.
The designs of Providence are inscrutable. It affords to bad men
conjunctures favourable for their designs, as well as to good.
The conclusion of the peace, was the most critical opportunity
for our junto, that could have presented. A peace founded on the
destruction of that system of policy, the most glorious for the
nation, that ever was formed, and which was never equalled in the
conduct of the English government, except in the interregnum, and
perhaps in the reign of Elizabeth; which system however, by its being
abruptly broken off and its chief conductor discarded before it was
completed, proved unfortunate to the nation by leaving it sinking in
a bottomless gulf of debt, oppressed and borne down with taxes.
At this lucky time, when the British financier, was driven out of his
wits for ways and means, to supply the demands upon him, Bernard is
employed by the junto, to suggest to him the project of taxing the
Colonies by act of Parliament.
I do not advance this without evidence. I appeal to a publication
made by Sir Francis Bernard himself, the last year of his own select
letters on the trade and government of America, and the principles of
law and polity applied to the American Colonies. I shall make much
use of this pamphlet before I have done.
In the year 1764, Mr. Bernard transmitted home to different noblemen,
and gentlemen, four copies of his principles of law and polity,
with a preface, which proves incontestibly, that the project of
new regulating the American Colonies were not first suggested to
him by the ministry, but by him to them. The words of this preface
are these:--"The present expectation, that a new regulation of the
American governments will soon take place, probably arises more from
the opinion the public has of the abilities of the present ministry,
than from any thing that has transpired from the cabinet; it cannot
be supposed that their penetration can overlook the necessity of
such a regulation, nor their public spirit fail to carry it into
execution. But it may be a question, whether the present is a proper
time for this work; more urgent business may stand before it, some
preparatory steps may be required to precede it; but these will only
serve to postpone. As we may expect that this reformation, like all
others, will be opposed by powerful prejudices, it may not be amiss
to reason with them at leisure, and endeavor to take off their force
before they become opposed to government."
These are the words of that arch enemy of North America, written in
1764, and then transmitted to four persons, with a desire that they
might be communicated to others.
Upon these words, it is impossible not to observe, first, That the
ministry had never signified to him, any intention of new regulating
the Colonies; and therefore, that it was he who most officiously
and impertinently put them upon the pursuit of this _will with a
whisp_, which has led him and them into so much mire. 2. The artful
flattery with which he insinuates these projects into the minds of
the ministry, as matters of absolute necessity, which their great
penetration could not fail to discover, nor their great regard to
the public, omit. 3. The importunity with which he urges a speedy
accomplishment of his pretended reformation of the governments, and
4. His consciousness that these schemes would be opposed, although
he affects to expect from powerful prejudices only, that opposition,
which all Americans say, has been dictated by sound reason, true
policy, and eternal justice. The last thing I shall take notice of
is, the artful, yet most false and wicked insinuation, that such
new regulations were then generally expected. This is so absolutely
false, that excepting Bernard himself, and his junto, scarcely any
body on this side the water had any suspicion of it,--insomuch that
if Bernard had made public, at that time, his preface and principles,
as he sent them to the ministry, it is much to be doubted whether he
could have lived in this country--certain it is, he would have had no
friends in this province out of the junto.