** Thomas Hutchinson was born in 1711, and graduated at Harvard College

in 1727. He studied English constitutional law, with a view to public

employment. For ten years he was a member of the House of

Representatives of Massachusetts, and three years its Speaker. He

succeeded his uncle Edward as Judge of Probate in 1752; was a member of

the Council from 1749 until 1756, and lieutenant governor from 1758 to

1771. He held the office of chief justice after the death of Sewall, in

1760. This office had been promised by Shirley to the elder Otis, and

the appointment greatly displeased that influential family. Several acts

of Hutchinson had made him unpopular with certain of the people. In

1748, the paper currency of the colony having depreciated to about an

eighth of its original value, Hutchinson projected, and carried through

the House, a bill for abolishing it, and substituting gold and silver.

It was a proper measure, but displeased many. He also favored the law

granting Writs of Assistance; and on the bench, in the Council, and in

the Assembly he was always found on the side of the ministry. These

facts account for the violent feelings of the mob against him. In 1768

he was an active coadjutor of Governor Bernard in bringing troops to

Boston, which made him still more unpopular. When Bernard left the

province, in 1769, the government devolved wholly upon Hutchinson. In

1770 the Boston massacre occurred, and much of the responsibility of

that outrage was laid upon him. He was appointed governor in 1771, and

from that time until he left for England, in 1774, he was in continual

trouble with the Assembly. The popular feeling against him was greatly

increased by the publicity given to certain letters of his sent to

ministers, in which he recommended stringent measures against the

colonies. Toward the close of 1773 the destruction of tea in Boston

Harbor was accomplished. The Sons of Liberty had then paralyzed the

government, and there was not a judge or sheriff who dared to exercise

the duties of his office against the wishes of the inflamed people.

Hutchinson then resigned his office, and sailed for England in the

spring of 1774. He died at Brompton, England, June 3rd, 1780, aged

sixty-nine years.

Destruction of Governor Hutchinson's Property.--Character of the Rioters

in Boston.--"Constitutional Courant"

468in time to save their lives, for the mob were prepared, by liquor and

other excitement, for any deed. It was now midnight. With yells and

curses they entered, and by four o'clock in the morning "one of the best

finished houses in the colony had nothing remaining but the bare walls

and floors."

Every thing but the kitchen furniture was taken from the dwelling or

utterly destroyed. The rioters carried off between four and five

thousand dollars in money, a large quantity of plate, family pictures,

and clothing, and destroyed the fine library of the lieutenant governor,

containing a large collection of manuscripts relating to the history of

the colony, which he had been thirty years collecting. This loss was

irreparable. The street in front of the house was next morning strewed

with plate, rings, and money--destruction, not plunder, being the aim of

the mob.

These proceedings were disgraceful in the extreme, and mar the sublime

beauty of the picture exhibited by the steady and dignified progress of

the Revolution. While no apology for mob rioters should be attempted,

extenuating circumstances ought to have their due weight in the balance

of just judgment. All over the land the public mind was excited against

ministers and their abettors, and leading men in the colonies did not

hesitate to recommend forcible resistance, if necessary, to the

oppressions of the mother country. The principles underlying the violent

movement in Boston were righteous, but the mass were too impatient for

their vindication to await the effects of remonstrance and petition,

argument and menace, employed by the educated and orderly patriots. As

is commonly the fact, the immediate actors in these scenes were the

dregs of the population. Yet it was evident that they had, in a degree,

the sympathy of, and were controlled by, the great mass of the more

intelligent citizens. The morning after the destruction of Hutchinson's

house, a public meeting of leading men was held; expressions of

abhorrence for the act were adopted, and the lieutenant governor

received a pledge from the meeting that all violence should cease, if he

would agree not to commence legal proceedings. He acquiesced, and order

was restored.

The disturbances thus begun in Boston were imitated elsewhere during the

summer and autumn. These will be hereafter considered. It may properly

be mentioned here that the opposition to the Stamp Act was not confined

to the continental colonies. The people of the West India plantations

were generally opposed to it, and at St. Kitts the stamp-master was

obliged to resign. Canada and Halifax, on the continent, submitted, and

remained loyal through the Revolution that followed.

Boston, our present point of view, kept up the spirit of liberty, but

avoided acts of violence. A newspaper appeared under the significant

title of "The Constitutional Courant, containing matters instructing to

liberty, and no ways repugnant to loyalty; printed by Andrew Marvel, at

the sign of the Bribe Refused, on Constitution Hill, North America." Its

headpiece was a snake cut into eight pieces (see page 508), the head

part having N. E., the in-

Proceedings in Boston in Relation to the Stamp Act--Effigies burned.--

Effect of the Stamp Act--Non-importation Associations.

469itials of New England, inscribed upon it, and the other pieces the

initials of the other colonies. Accompanying the device was the motto,

Join or die.

The morning of the 1st of November, the day appointed for the Stamp Act

to take effect in America, was ushered in at Boston by the tolling of

muffled bells, and the vessels in the harbor displaying their flags at

half mast, as on the occasion of a funeral solemnity. On Liberty Tree

were suspended two effigies, representing George Grenville and John

Huske; the latter the American member of Parliament whom I have

mentioned as suggesting a heavy tax upon the colonies before the Stamp

Aet was proposed. A label, with a poetic inscription, was affixed to the

breast of each. * The figures remained suspended until about three

o'clock in the afternoon, when they were cut down in the presence of

several thousand people of all ranks, who testified their approbation by

loud huzzas. The effigies were placed in a cart, and taken to the court-

house, where the Assembly were sitting, followed by a vast concourse in

regular procession; thence the people proceeded to the Neck, and hung

the figures upon a gallows erected there. Speeches were made at the

place of _execution_, and, after the lapse of an hour, they were taken

down, torn in pieces, and the limbs thrown in the air. The people were

now desired, by one of the leaders of the pageant, to go quietly home.

They acquiesced, and Boston that night was remarkably tranquil.

The Stamp Act had now become a law. As none but stamped paper was legal,

and as the people were determined not to use it, business was suspended.

The courts were closed, marriages ceased, vessels were delayed in the

harbors, and the social and commercial operations of America were

suddenly paralyzed. Few dared to think of positive rebellion; the strong

arm of government held the sword of power above them, and a general

gloom overspread the colonies. Yet hope was not extinct, and it pointed

out a peaceable, but powerful, plan for effecting a repeal of the

noxious act. The commerce between Great Britain and the colonies had

become very important, and any measure that might interrupt its course

would be felt by a large and powerful class in England, whose influence

was felt in Parliament. The expediency of striking a blow at the trade

occurred to some New York merchants, and, accordingly, on the 31st of

October, the day before the act went into operation, a meeting was held,

and an agreement entered into not to import from England certain

enumerated articles after the first day of January ensuing. ** The

merchants of Phil-

* The following are copies of the labels. On that representing

Grenville, holding out a Stamp Act in his left hand:

"YOUR Servant, Sirs; do you like my Figure? YOU've seen one Rogue, but

here's a bigger. Father of Mischief! how I soar Where many a Rogue has

gone before. Take heed, my Brother Rogues, take heed, In me your honest

Portion read: Dear cousin Peter, no Excuse, Come dance with me without

your shoes, 'Tis G------le calls, and sink or swim, You'd go to h-----l

to follow him." On the figure representing John Huske: Quest. "What,

Brother H----ske? why, this is bad! Ans. Ah, indeed! but I'm a wicked

Lad; My Mother always thought me wild; 'The Gallows is thy Portion,

Child,' She often said: behold, 'tis true, And now the Dog must have his

due, For idle Gewgaws, wretched Pelf, I sold my Country, d----d myself;

And for my great, unequal'd Crime The D----1 takes II----ske before his

time. But if some Brethren I could name, Who shared the Crime, should

share the shame. This glorious tree, though big and tall. Indeed would

never hold 'em all!"

** The meeting was held at the house of George Bums, inn-keeper. As the

agreement entered into there is a type of those adopted by the merchants

and people of other colonies, I copy from the New York Mercury of

November, 1765, the portion of the proceedings of the meeting containing

the resolutions. These were, "First, That in all orders they send out to

Great Britain for goods or merchandise of any nature, kind, or quality

whatsoever usually imported from Great Britain, they will direct their

correspondents not to ship them, unless the Stamp Act be repealed. It

is, nevertheless, agreed that all such merchants as are owners of, and

have, vessels already gone, and now cleared out for Great Britain, shall

be at liberty to bring back in them, on their own accounts, crates and

casks of earthen-ware, grindstones, and pipes, and such other bulky

articles as owners usually fill up their vessels with. Secondly, It is

further unanimously agreed that all orders already sent home shall be

countermanded by the very first conveyance; and the goods and

merchandise thereby ordered not to be sent, except upon the condition

mentioned in the foregoing resolution. Thirdly, It is further

unanimously agreed that no merchant will vend dry-goods or merchandise

sent upon commission from Great Britain, that shall be shipped from

thence after the first day of January next, unless upon the condition

mentioned in the first resolution. Fourthly, It is further unanimously

agreed that the foregoing resolutions shall be binding until the same

are abrogated at a general meeting hereafter to be held for that

purpose. In witness whereof we have hereunto respectively subscribed our

names." [Here followed the names of more than two hundred of the

principal merchants.] In consequence of the foregoing resolutions, the

retail merchants of the city entered into an agreement not to buy or

sell any goods shipped from England after the 1st of January. This was

the beginning of that system of non-importation agreements which hurled

back upon England, with such force, the commercial miseries she had

inflicted upon the colonies.

The Non importation Agreements.--Rockingham made Prime Minister.--Apathy

in Parliament.--Domestic Manufactures

470adelphia readily responded to the measure, and on the 9th of December

those of Boston entered into a similar agreement. Nor were the pledges

confined to merchants alone, but the people in general ceased using

foreign luxuries; articles of domestic manufacture came into general

use, and the trade with Great Britain was almost entirely suspended. *

1765

In July the Marquis of Rockingham, an honorable and enlightened

statesman, succeeded Grenville in the premiership. His cabinet was

composed chiefly of the friends of America, and, for a while, the

colonists hoped for justice. General Conway, who had raised the first

voice of opposition to ministers in their relations to the colonies, was

made one of the Secretaries of State, and Edmund Burke, one of the

earliest friends of America, was Rockingham's private secretary. But the

new ministry, against the determined will of the king and the influence

of a strong power behind the throne, found it difficult to depart from

the line of policy toward the colonies adopted by Grenville, and the

hopes of the Americans faded in an hour.

A strange apathy concerning American affairs seemed still to prevail in

England, notwithstanding every vessel from America carried tidings of

the excited state of the people there.

Parliament met in December. The king, in his speech, mentioned that

* The following extracts from a letter written by a gentleman in

Newport, Rhode Island, to Hugh Gaine, the editor of the New York

Mercury, and published in that paper early in 1768, will give the reader

an idea of the industry of the colonists at that time: "Within eighteen

months past four hundred and eighty-seven yards of cloth and thirty-six

pairs of stockings have been spun and knit in the family of James Nixon

of this town. Another family, within four years past, hath manufactured

nine hundred and eighty yards of woolen cloth, besides two coverlids,

and two bed-ticks, and all the stocking yarn for the family. Not a skein

was put out of the house to be spun, but the whole performed in the

family. We are credibly informed that many families in this colony,

within the year past, have each manufactured upward of seven hundred

yards of cloth of different kinds." Another letter, dated at Newport,

1765, says, "The spirit of patriotism is not confined to the sons of

America, but glows with equal fervor in the benevolent breasts of her

daughters; one instance of which we think is worthy of notice. A lady of

this town, though in the bloom of youth, and possessed of virtues and

accomplishments, engaging, and sufficient to excite the most pleasing

expectations of happiness in the married state, has declared that she

should rather be an old maid than that the operation of the Stamp Act

should commence in these colonies."

Meeting of Parliament.--Speeches of Pitt and Grenville.--Boldness of

Pitt.--Proposition to repeal the Stamp Act

471something had occurred in America which might demand the serious

attention of the Legislature; but that body almost immediately adjourned

until after the Christmas holidays, 1766 and it was the 14th of January

before they reassembled. The king alluded to the disturbances in

America, and assured the Houses that no time had been lost in issuing

orders to the governors of the provinces, and to the commanders of the

forces there, to use all the power of the government in suppressing

riots and tumults. Pitt, who was absent on account of gout when the

passage of the Stamp Act was under consideration, was now in his place,

and, leaning upon crutches, nobly vindicated the rights of the colonies.

After censuring ministers for their delay in giving notice of the

disturbances in America, and animadverting severely upon the injustice

of the Stamp Act, he proceeded to vindicate the Americans. "The

colonists," he said, "are subjects of this kingdom, equally entitled

with yourselves to all the natural rights of mankind and the peculiar

privileges of Englishmen; equally bound by its laws, and equally

participating in the Constitution of this free country. The Americans

are the sons, not the bastards, of England. Taxation is no part of the

governing or legislative power. Taxes are the voluntary gift or grant of

the Commons alone....

When, therefore, in this House we give and grant, we give and grant what

is our own. But in an American tax what do we do? We, your majesty's

Commons for Great Britain, give and grant to your majesty, what? our own

property? No; we give and grant to your majesty the property of your

majesty's Commons of America. It is an absurdity in terms." Grenville

also censured ministers for their delay. "The disturbances," he said,

"began in July, and now we are in the middle of January; lately they

were only _occurrences_; they are now grown to _disturbances, to tumults

and riots_. I doubt they border on open rebellion; and, if the doctrines

of this day be confirmed, that name will be lost in revolution." And so

it was. Grenville also defended his own course, and dissented from Mr.

Pitt respecting the right to tax the colonies. He claimed obedience from

America, because it enjoyed the protection of Great Britain. "The

nation," he said, "has run itself into an immense debt to give them

protection; and now they are called upon to contribute a small share

toward the public expense--an expense arising from themselves--they

renounce your authority, insult your officers, and break out, I might

almost say, into open rebellion." Fixing his eyes intently upon Pitt, he

exclaimed, with great emphasis, "_The seditious spirit of the colonies

owes its birth to factions in this House. Gentlemen are careless of the

consequence of what they say, provided it answers the purposes of

opposition."_

When Grenville ceased speaking, several members arose to their feet,

among whom was Pitt. There was a loud cry of "Mr. Pitt, Mr. Pitt," and

all but he sat down. He immediately fell upon Grenville, and told him

that, since he had challenged him to the field, he would fight him on

every foot of it. "The gentleman tells us," he said, "that America is

obstinate, America is almost in open rebellion. I rejoice that America

has resisted. Three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of

liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit

instruments to make slaves of the rest." Alluding to the alleged

strength of Great Britain and the weakness of America, he said, "It is

true, that in a good cause, on a good ground, the force of this country

could crush America to atoms; but on this ground, on this Stamp Act,

many here will think it a crying injustice, and I am one who will lift

up my hands against it. In such a cause your success would be hazardous.

America, if she fall, would fall like the strong man; she would embrace

the pillars of the State, and pull down the Constitution along with

her." * Pitt concluded his speech with a proposition for an absolute and

immediate repeal of the Stamp Act, at the same time recommending an act

to accompany the repeal, declaring, in the most unqualified terms, the

sovereign authority of Great Britain over her colonies. This was

intended as a sort of salvo to the national honor, necessary, as Pitt

well knew, to insure the repeal of the act. Burke, who had been elected

to a seat in the House of Commons, ** Conway, Barré, and others,

seconded the views

* History Debates, &c., of the British Parliament, iv., 292-7.

** It is time Burke commenced his brilliant career as a statesman and an

orator. Dr. Johnson asserted that his two speeches on the repeal of the

Stamp Act "were publicly commended by Mr. Pitt, and filled the town with

wonder."

Position of Lord Camden.--Repeal of the Stamp Act.--Causes that effected

it.--Rejoicings in England and America.

472of Pitt, and with that great statesman were the principal advocates

of a repeal. Chief-justice Pratt, now become Lord Camden, was the

principal friend of the measure in the Upper House, but was opposed to

the Declaratory Act proposed by Pitt. "My position is this," he said, in

the course of debate; "I repeat it; I will maintain it to the last hour-

-taxation and representation are inseparable. The position is founded in

the law of nature. It is more: it is itself an eternal law of nature."

1766 On the 18th of March a repeal bill was passed by a large majority

of the men who, a few months previous, were almost unanimously in favor

of the Stamp Act. It was carried in the House of Commons by a vote of

two hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and sixteen. It met

strenuous opposition in the House of Lords, where it had a majority of

thirty-four. Thirty-three peers entered a strong protest, in which they

declared that "such a submission of king, Lords, and Commons, in so

strange and unheard-of a contest," would amount to an entire surrender

of British supremacy.

The change in the opinions of members of the House of Commons was

wrought more by the petitions, remonstrances, and personal influence of

the London merchants, than by appeals from America, or by disturbances

there. Ministers would not receive the petitions of the colonial

Congress held at New York, because that assembly had not been legally

summoned to meet by the supreme power. It was the importunities of

London merchants and tradesmen, suffering severely from the effects of

the non-importation agreements, that wrought the wondrous change. Half a

million of dollars were then due them from the colonies, and, under the

existing state of things, not a dollar of it was expected to be paid.

Their trade with the colonies was suddenly suspended, and nothing but

bankruptcy and ruin was before them. London being the business heart of

the kingdom, with a cessation of its pulsations paralysis spread to

other portions. Nothing but a retraction could save England from utter

commercial ruin, and, perhaps, civil war. These were the considerations

which made the sensible men in Parliament retrace their steps. According

to Pitt's recommendation, a Declaratory Act, which affirmed the right of

Parliament "to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever," accompanied

the bill. The repeal of the Stamp Act became a law, by the reluctant

signature of the king, on the day of its enactMarch 18, 1766 ment.

Great joy was manifested in London when the Repeal Act passed. Pitt had

all the honor of the measure, and as he came out to the lobby of the

House of Commons he was greeted by the crowd with the most extravagant

demonstrations of joy. They clung about him like children upon a long-

absent father. The ships in the river displayed their colors; houses at

night, all over the city, were illuminated; and the most fulsome

adulation was bestowed upon the king and Parliament for their goodness

and wisdom! Equally great was the joy that filled the colonies when

intelligence of the repeal of the Stamp Act arrived. The Declaratory

Act, involving, as it really did, the kernel of royal prerogatives which

the colonists rejected, was, for the moment, overlooked, and throughout

America there was a burst of loyalty and gratitude. New York voted

statues to the king and to Pitt, both of which were presently erected; *

Virginia voted a statue to the king;

* The statue of the king was equestrian, and made of lead. It stood

within the present inclosure at the foot of Broadway, New York, called

the Bowling Green. The statue of Pitt was of marble, and stood at the

intersection of William and Wall Streets. The mutilated remains of this

statue are now within an iron railing of the Fifth Ward Hotel, on the

corner of Franklin Street and West Broadway. A sketch of the broken

statue will be found on page 583, Vol. II.

Rejoicing in Boston.--Release of Prisoners for Debt.--Pyramid on the

Common.--Poetic Inscriptions.--Hancock's Liberality.

473Maryland passed a similar vote, and ordered a portrait of Lord

Camden; and the authorities of Boston ordered full-length portraits of

Barré and Conway for Fanueil Hall.

The Repeal Act reached Boston at about noon on Friday, the 13th of May.

It was brought by the brig Harrison, a vessel belonging to John Hancock.

Great was the general joy. The church-bells were immediately rung; the

colors of all the ships were hoisted; cannons were discharged; the Sons

of Liberty gathered under their favorite tree, drank toasts, and fired

guns; and bonfires and illuminations enlivened the evening. A general

celebration was arranged by the select-men for the following Monday. The

dawn, bright and rosy, was ushered in by salvos of cannon, ringing of

bells, and martial music. Through the liberality of some citizens, every

debtor in the jail was ransomed and set at liberty, to unite in the

general joy. "This charitable deed originated in a fair Boston nymph."

The whole town was illuminated in the evening. On the Common the Sons of

Liberty erected a magnificent pyramid, illuminated by two hundred and

eighty lamps, the four upper stories of which were ornamented with

figures of the king and queen, and "fourteen of the patriots who had

distinguished themselves for their love of liberty.'' On the four sides

of the lower apartment were appropriate poetic inscriptions. * "John

Hancock, Esq.," says a newspaper of the day, from which I have drawn

this account, "who gave a grand and elegant entertainment to the genteel

part of the town, and treated the populace to a pipe of Madeira wine,

erected at the front of his house, which was magnificently illuminated,

a stage for the exhibition of his

* The following are the poetic inscriptions referred to. They allude to

emblematic figures on the lower story:

"O thou whom next to Heaven we most revere, Fair Liberty! thou lovely

Goddess, hear! Have we not wooed thee, won thee, held thee long, Lain in

thy Lap, and melted on thy Tongue--Through Death and Dangers, rugged

Paths pursued, And led thee, smiling, to this SOLITUDE--Hid thee within

our Hearts' most golden cell, And braved the Powers of Earth and Powers

of Hell? GODDESS! we can not part, thou must not fly, Be SLAVES! we dare

to scorn it--dare to die." "While clanking Chains and Curses shall

salute Thine ears, remorseless G---le, thine, GB---te, To you, bless'd

PATRIOTS 1 we our cause submit, Illustrious CAMBDEN, Britain's guardian,

PITT! Recede not, frown not, rather let us be Deprived of being than of

LIBERTY. Let Fraud or Malice blacken all our crimes, No disaffection

stains these peaceful climes; O save us, shield us from impending Woes,

The Foes of Britain only are our Foes." "Boast, foul Oppression, boast

thy transient Reien, While honest FREEDOM struggles with her Chain, But

now the Sons of Virtue, hardy, brave, Disdain to lose through mean

Despair to save; Aroused in Thunder, awful they appear, With proud

Deliverance stalking in their rear: While Tyrant Foes their pallid Fears

betray, Shrink from their Arms, and give their Vengeance way; Sec, in

the unequal War, OPPRESSORS fall, The Hate, Contempt, and endless Curse

of all." Our Faith approved, our LIBERTY restored, Our Hearts bend

grateful to our sovereign Lord: Hail, darling monarch I by this act

endear'd, Our firm Affections are our best Reward; Should Britain's self

against herself divide, And hostile Armies form on either side--Should

Hosts rebellious shake our Brunswick's Throne, And as they dared thy

Parent, dare the Son, To this Asylum stretch thy happy Wing, And we'll

contend who best shall love our KING."

Liberality of Otis and others.--The Rejoicings clouded.--New Acts of

Oppression.--Insolence of Public Officers

474fire-works.".... "Mr. Otis, and some other gentlemen who lived near

the Common, kept open house the whole evening, which was very pleasant."

At eleven o'clock, on a signal being given, a horizontal fire-wheel on

the top of the pyramid was set in motion, "which ended in the discharge

of sixteen dozen serpents in the air, which concluded the show. To the

honor of the Sons of Liberty, we can with pleasure inform the world that

every thing was conducted with the utmost decency and good order."

His majesty's Council, by a previous invitation of the governor, met at

the Province House in the afternoon, where many loyal toasts were drunk,

and in the evening they went to the Common to see the fire-works. Past

animosities were forgotten, and the night of the 16th of May was a happy

one for Boston.

The glad sounds of rejoicing because of the repeal of the Stamp Act were

not mellowed into the harmony of confident hope, before the ministry of

England, by its unwise and unjust acts, again awakened loud murmurs of

discontent throughout America. That germ of new oppressions, the

Declaratory Act, which appeared so harmless, began to expand in the

genial soil of ministerial culture. The House of Commons, by

resolutions, demanded of the colonies restitution to the crown officers

who had suffered loss by the Stamp Act riots. This was just, and the

colonies complied; Massachusetts, however, in passing the

Indemnification Bill, inserted a provision that a free pardon should be

extended to all concerned. Much bad feeling was engendered by the

insolent manner in which the settlement of the claims was demanded.

Governor Bernard of Massachusetts was so peremptory and insulting, that

the people of Boston flatly refused to pay; and it was not until the

governor had lowered his authoritative tone very much that they

complied. **

A new clause in the Annual Mutiny Act *** was properly viewed as

disguised taxation, and a measure calculated not only to strengthen the

royal power in America, but to shift a heavy burden from the shoulders

of the home government to those of the colonies. The clause provided

that the British troops that might be sent here should be furnished with

quarters, beer, salt, and vinegar at the expense of the people. It was a

comparatively small tax, and easy to be borne, but it involved the same

principles, substantially, that were avowed in the Stamp Act, and was

more odious, because it was intended to make the people support bayonets

sent to abridge their liberties. New York and Massachusetts refused to

comply with its provisions, and opposition, as zealous as that against

the Stamp Act, was soon aroused. The insolent soldiers met rebuffs at

every corner, and at times serious outbreaks were apprehended in Boston,

New York, and Philadelphia.

On the 2d of August, 1766, the Rockingham cabinet was suddenly

dissolved. It was too liberal for "the king's friends," and was unable

to stem the current of opposition flowing from royalty itself. The new

cabinet was formed, by his majesty's commands, under the con-

* The Province House, the residence of the colonial governors, is still

standing, in the rear of stores on

Washington Street, opposite Milk Street. It is a large brick building,

three stories high, and was formerly decorated with the king's arms

richly carved and gilt.

*** The Mutiny Act granted power to every officer, upon obtaining a

warrant from to search any house, by day or by night, in search of

deserters.

Pitt created Lord Chatham.--Picture of his Cabinet by Burke.--New Scheme

of Taxation.--Commissioners of Customs

475trol of Mr. Pitt, just created Earl of Chatham. * This honor was

conferred on the 29th of July. The transformation of the great Commoner

into an earl was not more surprising than the curious medley of

politicians that formed his cabinet, so diversified and discordant that

neither party knew what confidence to repose in it. "He made an

administration so checkered and speckled," said Burke; "he put together

a piece of joinery so crossly indented and whimsically dove-tailed; a

cabinet so variously inlaid; such a piece of diversified mosaic; such a

tesselated pavement without cement; here a bit of black stone, and there

a bit of white; patriots and courtiers, king's friends and republicans;

Whigs and Tories; treacherous friends and open enemies; that it was,

indeed, a very curious show, but utterly unsafe to touch and unsure to

stand on. The colleagues whom he had assorted at the same boards stared

at each other, and were obliged to ask, 'Sir, your name?' 'Sir, you have

the advantage of me.' 'Mr. Such-a-one, I beg a thousand pardons.' I

venture to say it did so happen that persons had a single office divided

between them, who had never spoken to each other in their lives until

they found themselves they knew not how, pigging together, heads and

points, in the same truckle-bed." ** Had the general direction of

affairs been assumed by Pitt, even this incongruous cabinet might not

have done much mischief; but frequent and serious attacks of gout kept

the great orator confined at Hayes, his country seat in Kent.

"Having," said Burke, "put so much the larger part of his enemies and

opposers into power, the confusion was such that his own principles

could not possibly have any effect or influence in the conduct of

affairs. If ever he fell into a fit of the gout, or any other cause

with-drew him from public cares, principles directly contrary to his own

were sure to predominate.... When his face was hid for a moment, his

whole system was one wide sea without chart or compass." It was during

one of these attacks of illness that Grenville proposed a tax of two

millions of dollars upon America, for the support of troops, &c. Charles

January, 1767 Townshend, Pitt's chancellor of the Exchequer, upon whom

devolved the duty of suggesting financial measures, agreed with

Grenville as to the _right_ thus to tax the colonies, but, in view of

the late excitement produced by the Stamp Act, thought it inexpedient,

at the same time pledging himself to the House to find a revenue in

America sufficient to meet expenses. This pledge he attempted to redeem

in May, by asking leave to bring in a bill to impose a duty upon paper,

glass, painters' colors, lead, and tea imported by the Americans. Leave

was granted, and an act levying such duties became a law by royal assent

on the 29th of June. Another bill became a law on the 2d of July, which

provided for taking off a shilling on a pound of the export tax on all

black and single tea, and granting a drawback upon all teas exported to

Ireland and America. The object of this act was to encourage the

exportation of tea to America, in the belief that the reduced price of

the article would cause a great increase in the consumption, and,

consequently, augment the revenue arising from it under the new act. But

in this ministers reckoned neither wisely nor well.

Another bill was passed, reorganizing the colonial custom-house system,

and the establishment of a Board of Revenue Commissioners for America,

to have its seat at Boston. There was a provision in the first bill for

the maintenance of a standing army in America, and enabling the crown,

by sign manual, to establish _a general civil list_ throughout every

province, fixing the salaries of governors, judges, and other officers,

such salary to be paid by the

* Three weeks before the installation of the new cabinet Pitt received

an autograph letter from the king, commanding him to arrange a new

administration. Pitt spoke of his age and infirmities (he was then

fifty-eight), and proposed taking to himself the office of the privy

seal, which implied and necessitated his removal to the House of Lords!

The king was greatly astonished, but so desperately tangled were the

public affairs, and so great seemed the necessity of having the powerful

Pitt among his friends, that the king was obliged to yield. The witty

Lord Chesterfield, alluding to the ambition of Pitt to acquire a

coronet, said. "Every body is puzzled to account for this step. Such an

event was, I believe, never heard or read of, to withdraw, in the

fullness of his power and in the utmost gratification of his ambition,

from the House of Commons (which procured him his power, and which could

alone insure it to him), and to go into that hospital of incurables, the

House of Lords, is a measure so unaccountable, that nothing but proof

positive could make me believe it; but so it is." Chesterfield called it

a "fall up stairs--a fall which did Pitt so much damage that he will

never be able to stand upon his legs again."

** Speech on American Taxation.

Fresh Excitement in the Colonies.--Increasing Importance of the

Newspapers.--"Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer."

476crown. Thus the executive and judicial officers, from whom the people

were to expect good government and the righteous administration of laws,

were made entirely independent of the people, and became, in fact, mere

hireling creatures of the crown. This had been the object of almost

every minister from the time of Charles II. *

When intelligence of these acts reached America, the excitement

throughout the colonies was as great as that produced by the Stamp Act,

but action was more dignified and efficient. The royal governors and

their retainers, elated with the prospect of being independent of the

colonial Assemblies, eagerly forwarded the schemes of the ministry, and

aided greatly in fostering opposition among the people. The ministry

seemed totally blind to every light of common sense, and disregarded the

warnings of Lord Shelburne and others in Parliament, and the opinions of

just observers in America. **

The colonists clearly perceived the intention of government to tax them

in some shape, and took the broad ground asserted by Otis in his

pamphlet, that "taxes on trade, if designed to raise a revenue, were

just as much a violation of their rights as any other tax."

The colonial newspapers, now increased to nearly thirty in number, began

to be tribunes for the people, through which leading minds communed with

the masses upon subjects of common interest. They teemed with essays

upon colonial rights, among the most powerful of which were the "Letters

of a Farmer of Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the American liberty

which existed, and the fatal consequences of a supine acquiescence in

min-

British Colonies," written by John Dickinson,3 and first published in

the Pennsylvania Chronicle. They were twelve in number, and appeared

during the summer and autumn of 1767. Their effect, like that of the

"Crisis," by Thomas Paine, a few years later, was wonderful in forming

and controlling the will of the people, and giving efficiency to the

strong right arm of action. In a style of great vigor, animation, and

simplicity, Dickinson portrayed the unconstitutionality of the conduct

of Great Britain, the imminent peril to

* Gordon, i., 146.

** Gerard Hamilton (known as Single Speech Hamilton, because when a

member of Parliament he made but one speech) was then in America, and,

writing to Colcraft, a member from Lincolnshire, said, "In the

Massachusetts government in particular there is an express law, by which

every man is obliged to have a musket, a pound of powder, and a pound of

bullets always near him; so there is nothing wanting but knapsacks (or

old stockings, which will do as well) to equip an army for marching, and

nothing more than a Sartonius or a Spartacus at their head requisite to

beat your troops and your custom-house officers out of the country, and

set your laws at defiance."

*** John Dickinson was born in Maryland, November 13th, 1732. His father

was Samuel Dickinson, first judge, in Delaware, of the Court of Common

Pleas, about 1740. His father was wealthy, and John had every means

given him for acquiring learning which the colonies afforded. He studied

law in Philadelphia, and was for three years at the Temple in London. He

first appeared in public life as a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly

in 1764. He was a member from Pennsylvania of the "Stamp Act Congress"

in 1765. He soon afterward began his essays upon various political

subjects, and his pen was never idle during the conflict that succeeded.

Dr. Franklin caused his "Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer" to be

republished in London in 1768, and in 1769 they were translated into

French and published in Paris. Mr. Dickenson was a member of the first

Continental Congress in 1774. He wrote the Declaration of the Congress

of 1775, setting forth the causes and the necessity for war. He was

opposed to a political separation from Great Britain, and was

intentionally absent from Congress when the final vote on the

Declaration of Independence was taken on the 4th of July, 1776. In 1777

he received the commission of brigadier general. In 1780 he took his

seat in the Assembly of Delaware, and in 1782 was elected President of

Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Convention that framed the Federal

Constitution, and was its warm friend. He continued in public life, in

various ways, until his death, which occurred at Wilmington on the 14th

of February, 1808, at the age of seventy-five.

Honors to John Dickenson.--Massachusetts's Circular Letter.--Boldness of

Otis and Samuel Adams.--The "Rescinders."

477ministerial measures--more fatal as precedents than by the immediate

calamities they were calculated to produce. * The people of Boston, at a

public meeting, passed a vote of thanks to Dickinson, and some who were

afterward leading men of the Revolution composed the committee to write

the letter. In May, 1768, an association in Philadelphia, called the

Society of Fort St. David, presented an address to Mr. Dickinson, "in a

box of heart of oak." The following inscriptions were neatly done upon

it, in gold letters. On the top was represented the cap of liberty on a

spear, resting on a cipher of the letters J. D. Underneath the cipher,

in a semi-circular label, the words Pro Patria. Around the whole, the

following: "_The gift of the Governor and Society of Fort St. David to

the author of The Farmer's Letters, in grateful testimony to the very

eminent services thereby rendered to this country, 1768." On the inside

of the top was the following inscription: "The liberties of the British

colonics in America asserted with Attic eloquence and Roman spirit by

John Dickinson, Esq., barrister at law._" Spirited resolutions were

adopted by the colonial Assemblies, denouncing the acts of Parliament,

and new non-importation associations were formed, which almost destroyed

the commerce with England.

A special session of the Massachusetts Assembly was asked for in

October, to "consider the late acts of Parliament," but Governor Bernard

unwisely refused to call one.

At the opening of the regular session, in December, a large committee

was appointed to "consider the state of the province." It elaborated

several measures, the first of which was a petition to the king,

asserting the principles for which they were contending. A bolder step,

and one that most displeased the British ministry, was now taken; the

Assembly February, 1768 adopted a circular letter, to be addressed to

all the colonies, imbodying the sentiments expressed in the petition to

the king, and inviting their co-operation in maintaining the liberties

of America. When intelligence of this letter reached the ministers, Lord

Hillsborough, the colonial Secretary, sent instructions to Governor

Bernard to call upon the General Assembly of Massachusetts to rescind

its resolutions, and, in the event of non-compliance, to dissolve that

body. But the Assembly, or House of Representatives, consisting of one

hundred and nine members, much the largest legislative Convention in

America, ** were not easily frightened, and, instead of complying with

the governor's demand, made that very demand a fresh cause of complaint.

Mr. Otis and Samuel Adams were the principal speakers on the occasion.

The former made a speech which the friends of government pronounced "the

most violent, insolent, abusive, and treasonable declaration that

perhaps ever was delivered."

"When Lord Hillsborough knows," said Otis, "that we will not rescind our

acts, he should apply to Parliament to rescind theirs. _Let Britons

rescind their measures, or they are lost forever." For nearly an hour he

harangued the Assembly with words like; these, until even the Sons of

Liberty trembled lest he should tread upon the domain of treason. The

House refused to rescind, passed resolutions denunciatory of this

attempt to arrest free discussion and expression of opinion, and then

sent a letter to the governor, inform ing him of their action. "If the

votes of this House," they said, "are to be con January 301768 trolled

by the direction of a minister, we have left us but a vain semblance of

liberty. We have now only to inform you that this House have voted not

to rescind, and that, on a division on the question, there were ninety-

two yeas and seventeen nays." The seventeen "rescinders" became objects

of public scorn. The governor, greatly irritated, proceeded to dissolve

the Assembly; but, before the act was accomplished, that body had

prepared a list of serious accusations against him, and a petition to

the king for his removal. Thus Brit_ ain, through her representative,

struck the first blow at free discussion in America. Massachusetts,

however, felt strong, for the answer to her circular letter from other

colonies glowed with sympathy and assurances of support.

* American Portrait Gallery, vol. iii.

** About this time the debates in the Assembly began to be so

interesting to the public at large, that a gallery was prepared for the

use of spectators, which was usually crowded with citizens.

Treatment of a Tide-waiter.--Seizure of the Sloop Liberty.--Excitement

of the People.--Publie Meeting in Boston.

478A new scene in the drama now opened. The commissioners of customs had

arrived 1767 in May, and were diligent in the performance of their

duties. The merchants were very restive under the strictness of the

revenue officers, and these functionaries were exceedingly odious in the

eyes of the people generally. On the 10th of June the sloop Liberty,

Nathaniel Bernard master, belonging to John Hancock, arrived at Boston

with a cargo of Madeira wine. It was a common practice for the tide-

waiter, upon the arrival of a vessel, to repair to the cabin, and there

to remain, drinking punch with the master, while the sailors were

landing the dutiable goods. * On the arrival of the _Liberty_, Kirke,

the tidesman, went on board, just at sunset, and took his seat in the

cabin as usual. About nine in the evening Captain Marshall, and others

in Hancock's employ, entered the cabin, confined Kirke below, and landed

the wine on the dock without entering it at the custom-house, or

observing any other formula. Kirke was then released and sent ashore.

Captain Marshall died suddenly during the night, from the effects, it

was supposed, of over-exertion in landing the wine. In the morning the

commissioners of customs ordered the seizure of the sloop, and Harrison,

the collector, and Hallowell, the controller, were deputed to perform

that duty. Hallowell proceeded to place the broad arrow upon her (the

mark designating her legal position), and then, cutting her moorings, he

removed the vessel from Hancock's Wharf to a place in the harbor under

the guns of the _Romney_ ship of war.

This act greatly inflamed the people. Already a crowd had collected to

prevent the seizure; but when the vessel was cut loose and placed under

the protection of British cannon, a strong feeling of anger pervaded the

multitude. The assemblage of citizens became a mob, and a large party of

the lower class, headed by Malcomb, a bold smuggler, pelted Harrison and

others with stones, attacked the offices of the commissioners, and,

dragging a customhouse boat through the town, burned it upon the Common.

The commissioners, alarmed for their own safety, applied to Governor

Bernard for protection, but he told them he was utterly powerless. They

found means to escape on board the Romney, and thence to Castle William,

a fortress upon Castle Island, in the harbor, nearly three miles

southeast of the city, where a company of British artillery was

stationed. **

The Sons of Liberty called a meeting at Faneuil Hall on the afternoon of

the 13th. *** A large concourse assembled, and the principal business

done was preparing a petition to the governor, asking him to remove the

man-of-war from the harbor. The Council passed resolutions condemnatory

of the rioters, but the House of Representatives took no notice of the

matter. Legal proceedings were commenced against the leading rioters,

but the difficulty of procuring witnesses, and the bad feeling that was

engendered, made the prosecutors drop the matter in the following

spring.

Alarmed by these tumultuous proceedings, the governor requested General

Gage, then in New York, and captain general of all the British forces in

America, to act upon a permission already given him by Lord

Hillsborough, in a secret and confidential letter, to order some royal

troops from Halifax to Boston. Intelligence of this request leaked out,

and the people of Boston were greatly irritated. The arrival of an

officer sent by Gage to prepare quarters for the coming troops

occasioned a town meeting, and a committee, consisting of James Otis,

Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and John Adams, was appointed to wait upon a

September 12,1768 the governor, ascertain whether the report was true,

and request him to call a special meeting of the Assembly. (a) The

governor frankly acknowledged that troops were about to be quartered in

Boston, but refused to call a meeting of the Assembly until he should

receive instructions from home. Bernard was evidently alarmed; he

perceived the great popularity of the leaders who stood before him, and

his tone was far more pacific

* Gordon.

** The present fort upon Castle Island is called Fort Independence, so

named by the elder Adams while visiting it when he was President of the

United States, in 1799. It stands at the entrance of the harbor, and is

one of the finest forts in Ameriea.

*** The private meeting-place of the Sons of Liberty, according to John

Adams, was the counting-room in Chase and Speakman's distillery, in

Hanover Square, near the Liberty Tree.

Attempted Bribery of Patriots.--Soundness of their Principles.--Proposed

Convention in Boston.--Organization of the Meeting.

479than it had recently been. Nor did his pliancy end here; he actually

stooped to the base alternative of endeavoring to make some of those

leaders his friends by bribes. He gave Hancock a commission honoring him

with a seat in the Council, but the patriot tore the parchment into

shreds in the presence of the people. He offered John Adams the

lucrative office of advocate general, in the Court of Admiralty, but

Adams hurled back the proffered patronage with disdain. Bernard also

approached that sturdy representative of the Puritans, Samuel Adams, but

found him, though poor in purse, as Hutchinson on another occasion said,

"of such an obstinate and inflexible disposition that he could never be

conciliated by any office or gift whatsoever."

The governor having peremptorily refused to convene the Assembly, the

meeting recommended a convention of delegates from all the towns in the

province, to meet in Boston within ten days. "A prevailing apprehension

of war with France" was made the plausible pretense for calling the

meeting; and they requested the people to act in accordance with a law

of the colony, authorizing each one to provide himself with a musket and

the requisite ammunition. Every town and district but one--more than a

hundred in number **--sent a delegate. They met on the 22d, chose Mr.

Thomas Cushing, late Speaker of the Assembly, as their chairman, and

petitioned Governor Bernard to summon a Gen-September

* Faneuil Hall has been denominated "the cradle of American liberty,"

having been the popular gathering-place of the Sons of Liberty during

the incipient stages of the Revolution. It was erected in 1742, at the

sole expense of Peter Faneuil, Esq., of Boston, and by him generously

given to the town--the basement for a market, with a spacious and most

beautiful hall, and other convenient rooms above, for public meetings of

the citizens. It was burned in 1761, nothing but the brick walls

remaining. The town immediately ordered it to be rebuilt. Mr. Faneuil

had then been dead several years. The engraving shows it as it appeared

during the Revolution. It was enlarged in 1805, by the addition of

another story, and an increase of forty feet in its width. The hall is

about eighty feet square, and contains some fine paintings of

distinguished men. The lower part is no longer used as a market. The

original vane, copied from that of the London Royal Exchange, still

turns upon the pinnacle. It is in the form of a huge grasshopper (the

crest of Sir Thomas Gresham), through whose munificence the Royal

Exchange was built.

** At that time Massachusetts contained sixty-six regularly organized

towns.

Governor Bernard's Proclamation.--Meeting of the Convention.--Arrival of

Troops at Boston.--Origin of Yankee Doodle

480eral Court. The governor refused to receive their petition, and

denounced the Convention as treasonable, notwithstanding the

conservatism which the delegates from the country infused into the

proceedings. * They disclaimed all pretension to political authority,

and professed to have met "in this dark and distressing time to consult

and advise as to the best manner of preserving peace and good order."

The governor warned them to desist from further proceedings, and

admonished them to separate without delay. But the Convention, while it

was moderate in its action, was firm in its assumed position. It

remained in session four days, during which time a respectful petition

to the king was agreed to; also a letter to De Berdt, the agent of the

colony in England, the chief topic of which was a defense of the

province against the charge of a rebellious spirit. They also adopted an

address to the people, in which the alarming state of the country was

set forth; but submission to legal authority and abstinence from violent

tumults were strongly inculcated. This was the first of those popular

assemblies in America which speedily assumed the whole political power

in the colonies. September 27, 1768 Two regiments of troops from

Halifax, under Colonels Dalrymple and Carr, borne by a considerable

fleet, arrived at Boston the day after the adjournment of the

Convention. The people had resolved to oppose their landing. There was

room for the troops in the barracks upon Castle Island, and the

inhabitants insisted upon their being landed there. But the governor and

General Gage determined to have the troops near at hand, and, pretending

that the barracks were reserved for two other regiments, ordered by the

home government from Ireland, proceeded to provide quarters in the town.

The governor's Council refused to act in concert with him, and he took

the responsibility upon himself.

On Sunday morning the fleet sailed up the harbor, ** invested the town,

and, under cover

* The following is a copy of the governor's proclamation on the

occasion. Being short, I give it entire, as a fair specimen of the

mildest tone assumed by the royal representatives in America toward the

people:

* "_To the Gentlemen assembled at Faneuil Hall under the name of a

Committee or Convention_:

* "As I have lately received from his majesty strict orders to support

his Constitutional authority within this government, I can not sit still

and see so notorious a violation of it as the calling an assembly of

people by private persons only. For a meeting of the deputies of the

towns is an assembly of the representatives of the people to all intents

and purposes; and it is not the calling it a Committee or Convention

that will alter the nature of the thing. I am willing to believe that

the gentlemen who so hastily issued the summons for this meeting were

not aware of the high nature of the offense they were committing; and

they who have obeyed them have not well considered of the penalties

which they will incur if they should persist in continuing their

session, and doing business therein. A present ignorance of the law may

excuse what is past; a step further will take away that plea. It is,

therefore, my duty to interpose this instant, before it is too late. I

do, therefore, earnestly admonish you that instantly, and before you do

any business, you break up this assembly, and separate yourselves. I

speak to you now as a friend to the province and a well-wisher to the

individuals of it. But if you should pay no regard to this admonition, I

must, as governor, assert the prerogative of the crown in a more public

manner. For assure yourselves (I speak from instruction) the king is

determined to maintain his entire sovereignty over this province, and

whoever shall persist in usurping any of the rights of it will repent of

his rashness. Fra. Bernard. "Province House, Sept. 22d, 1768."

* A respectful reply to this proclamation, signed by Mr. Cushing in

behalf of the Convention, was sent to the governor, but he refused to

receive the message.

** There were eight ships--the Beaver, Senegal, Martin, Glasgow,

Mermaid, Romney, Launceston, and Bonetta. In the Boston Journal of the

Times of September 29th, 1768, I find the following: "The fleet was

brought to anchor near Castle William; that night there was throwing of

sky-rockets, and those passing in boats observed great rejoicings, and

that the Yankee Doodle Song * was the capital piece in the band music.

We now behold Boston surrounded, at a time of profound peace, by about

fourteen ships of war, with springs on their cables and their broadsides

to the town! If the people of England could but look into the town, they

would see the utmost good order and observance of the laws, and that

this mighty armament has no other rebellion to subdue than what existed

in the brain or letter of the inveterate G----.

* "October 3. In King [now State] Street, the soldiers being gathered, a

proclamation was read, offering a reward of ten guineas to such soldier

as should inform of any one who should attempt to seduce him from the

service."

* "October 6. In the morning nine or ten soldiers of Colonel Carr's

regiment were severely whipped on the Common. To behold Britons scourged

by negro drummers was a new and very disagreeable spectacle."

* This air, with quaint words about "Lydia Locket" losing "her pocket,"

was known in Cromwell's time. Our lyric poet, G. P Morris, Esq., in the

following pleasant song, in meter adapted to the air, gives a version of

* THE ORIGIN OF YANKEE DOODLE.

Once on a time old Johnny Bull flew in a raging fury, And swore that

Jonathan should have no trials, sir, by jury; That no elections should

be held across the briny waters: And now said he, "I'll tax the tea of

all his sons and daughters." Then down he sate in burly state, and

bluster'd like a grandee, And in derision made a tune call'd "Yankee

doodle dandy." "Yankee doodle"--these are facts--"Yankee doodle dandy:

My son of wax, your tea I'll tax; you--Yankee doodle dandy." John sent

the tea from o'er the sea, with heavy duties rated; But whether hyson or

bohea I never heard it stated. Then Jonathan to pout began--he laid a

strong embargo--"I'll drink no tea, by Jove 1" so he threw overboard the

cargo. Then Johnny sent a regiment, big words and looks to bandy, Whose

martial band, when near the land, play'd "Yankee doodle dandy." "Yankee

doodle--keep it up--Yankee doodle dandy--I'll poison with a tax your

cup; you--Yankee doodle dandy." A long war then they had, in which John

was at last defeated, And "Yankee doodle" was the march to which his

troops retreated. Cute Jonathan, to see them fly, could not restrain his

laughter; "That tune," said he, "suits to a T. I'll sing it ever after."

Old Johnny's face, to his disgrace, was flush'd with beer and brandy,

E'en while he swore to sing no more this "Yankee doodle dandy." Yankee

doodle--ho, ha, he--Yankee doodle dandy, We kept the tune, but not the

tea--Yankee doodle dandy. I've told you now the origin of this most

lively ditty, Which Johnny Bull dislikes as "dull and stupid"--what a

pity! With "Hail Columbia" it is sung, in chorus full and hearty--On

land and main we breathe the strain John made for his tea party. No

matter how we rhyme the words, the music speaks them handy, And where's

the fair can't sing the air of "Yankee doodle dandy!" Yankee doodle,

firm and true--Yankee doodle dandy--Yankee doodle, doodle doo, Yankee

doodle dandy.

Landing of the Troops.--Imposing Military Display.--Exasperation of the

People.--Non-importation Associations.

481of the guns of the ships, the troops, about seven hundred in number,

landed with charged muskets, fixed bayonets, colors flying, drums

beating, and every other military parade usual on entering a conquered

city of an enemy. A part of the troops encamped on the Common, and part

occupied Faneuil Hall and the town-house. Cannons were placed in front

of the latter; passengers in the streets were challenged, and other

aggravating circumstances attended the entrance of the troops. Every

strong feeling of the New Englander was outraged, his Sabbath was

desecrated, his worship was disturbed, his liberty was infringed upon.

The people became greatly exasperated; mutual hatred, deep and abiding,

was engendered between the citizens and the soldiers, and the terms

_rebel_ and _tyrant_ were daily bandied between them.

All Americans capable of intelligent thought sympathized with

Massachusetts, and the engine of non-importation agreements, which

worked so powerfully against the Stamp Act, was put in motion with

increased energy. * These associations became general in all the

colonies, under the sanction of the Assemblies. An agreement, presented

by Washington in the House of Burgesses of Virginia, was signed by every

member, and the patriotism of the people was every where displayed by

acts of self-denial. **

* The non-importation agreement of the people of Boston was,

substantially, that they would not import any goods for the fall of

1768, except those already ordered; that they would not import any goods

from Great Britain from the 1st of January, 1769, to the 1st of January,

1770, except salt, coals, fish-hooks and lines, hemp and duck, bar lead

and shot, wool cards and card wires; that they would not import on their

own account, or on commission, or purchase from any who should import,

from any other colony in America, from January, 1769, to January, 1770,

any tea, paper, glass, or painters' colors, until the aet imposing

duties on those articles should be repealed.

** A letter from Newport, published in a New York paper in January,

1768, remarks that, at an afternoon visit of ladies, "It was resolved

that those who could spin ought to be employed in that way, and those

who could not should reel. When the time arrived for drinking tea, bohea

and hyperion were provided, and every one of the ladies judiciously

rejected the poisonous bohea, and unanimously, to their very great

honor, preferred the balsamic hyperion." The hyperion here spoken of was

of domestic manufacture--the dried leaves of the raspberry plant. In

Boston a party of some forty or fifty young ladies, calling themselves

Daughters of Liberty, met at the house of the Rev. Mr. Morehead, where

they amused themselves during the day with spinning "two hundred and

thirty-two skeins of yarn, some very fine, which were given to the

worthy pastor, several of the party being members of his congregation."

Numerous spectators came in to admire them. Refreshments were indulged

in, and "the whole was concluded with many agreeable tunes, anthems, and

liberty songs, with great judgment; fine voices performing, which were

animated, in all their several parts, by a number of the Sons of

Liberty." It is added that there were upward of one hundred spinners in

Mr. Morehead's society.

The Duke of Grafton.--The King's Speech, and the Response.--Proposed Re-

enactment of a Statute of Henry VIII.

482Let us consider for a moment the acts of the British Parliament at

this juncture. It assembled on the 8th of November. Pitt was ill at his

country seat, Townshend was dead, and the Duke of Grafton, who had been

one of the Secretaries of State in the Rockingham administration, was

really at the head of this unpopular ministry. He was an able, straight-

forward politician, a warm admirer and friend of Pitt, and a firm

supporter of his principles. *

The king, in his speech from the throne, alluded to fresh troubles in

America, and denounced, in strong terms, the rebellious spirit evinced

by Massachusetts. The response of ministers assured the king of their

determination to maintain "the supreme authority of Great Britain over

every part of the British empire." The address was adopted in the House

of Lords, but met considerable opposition in the Commons, where the

oppressive acts of the government toward America were severely

criticised.

Early in January the consideration of American affairs was taken up in

Parliament. The petition from the Boston Convention was contemptuously

rejected; the Lords recommended, in an address to the king, the

transmission of instructions to the Governor of Massachusetts to obtain

full information of all treasons, and to transmit the offenders to

England, to be tried there under a statute of the 35th of Henry VIII.,

which provided for the punishment of treason committed out of the

kingdom. The address was opposed in the Commons by Pownall (who had been

Governor of Massachusetts (a)), Burke, Barré, and a 1757 Dowdeswell.

The latter denounced the measure as "unfit to remedy the disorders," and

as "cruel to the Americans and injurious to England." He also censured

Hillsborough for taking the responsibility, during the recess of

Parliament, of ordering colonial governors to dissolve the Assemblies.

Burke thundered his eloquent anathemas against the measure. "At the

request of an exasperated governor," he exclaimed, "we are called upon

to agree to an address advising the king to put in force against the

Americans the Act of Henry VIII. And why? Because you can not trust the

juries of that country! Sir, that word must convey horror to every

feeling mind. If you have not a party among two millions of people, you

must either change your plan of government, or renounce the colonies

forever." Even Grenville, the author of the Stamp Act, opposed the

measure as futile and unjust. Yet the January 26, 1769 address and

resolutions accompanying it were concurred in by a majority of one

hundred and fifty-five against eighty-nine. **

On the 8th of February Mr. Rose Fuller moved to recommit the address,

for he saw in the proposed rigor toward the Americans the portents of

great evil to the nation. He alluded to the miserable attempts to

collect a revenue in America, and the monstrous evils growing out of

them. "As for money," he said, "all that sum might be collected in Lon-

* The Duke of Grafton was the nobleman to whom the celebrated "Junius"

addressed eleven of his scorching letters. In these he is represented as

a most unscrupulous libertine in morals. He succeeded his grandfather in

the family honors in 1757. He died on the 11th of March, 1811, aged

seventy-five years.

** Cavendish's Debates.

Lord North.--Colonel Barré's Warnings.--General Gage in Boston.--No Co

operation--Dissolution of Assemblies.--Bernard

483don at less than half the expense." * Pownall, after alluding to the

early settlement of America, the privations of the people, their virtues

and courage, perseverance and enterprise, remarked, "But now that

spirit, equally strong and equally inflamed, has but a slight and

trifling sacrifice to make; the Americans have not a country to leave,

but a country to defend; and have not friends and relatives to leave and

forsake, but friends and relatives to unite with and stand by in one

common union." But all efforts to avert the evil were vain; Mr. Fuller's

motion was negatived by a majority of one hundred and sixty-nine against

sixty-five.

Lord North had succeeded Charles Townshend as Chancellor of the

Exchequer, he began his long career of opposition to the Americans by

offering a resolution, on the 14th of March, that a respectful petition

or remonstrance from the people of New York _should not be received_.

This proposition, which was adopted, called up Colonel Barré. He

reminded the House that he had predicted all that would happen on the

passage of the Stamp Act, and he now plainly warned ministers that, if

they persisted in their wretched course of oppression, the whole

continent of North America would rise in arms, and those colonies,

perhaps, be lost to England forever. But the British Legislature,

blinded by ignorance of Americans when the Stamp Act was passed, seemed

now still more blind, because of films of prejudice generated by a false

national pride. The motion of Lord North prevailed--the petition was

refused acceptance.

Gage went to Boston in October, to enforce the requisitions of the

Quartering Act. But he found none to co-operate with him except Governor

Bernard, whose zeal in his majesty's service had procured him a

baronetcy, at the king's expense. The Council and the select-men

declined to act, and Gage was obliged to hire houses for the troops, and

provide many articles for them out of his own military chest Thus

matters remained until spring, when intelligence of the several acts of

Parliament against Massachusetts aroused the fiercest sentiments of

opposition, short of actual rebellion, throughout the colonies.

Legislative Assemblies spoke out boldly, and for this crime they were

dissolved by royal governors. Yet amid all the excitement the colonists

held out the olive branch of peace and reconciliation.

The Massachusetts Assembly convened in May and resolved that it was

inconsistent with their dignity and freedom to deliberate in the midst

of an armed force, May 31, 1769 and that the presence of a military and

naval armament was a breach of privilege. They refused to enter upon the

business of supplies, or any thing else but a redress of grievances, and

petitioned the governor to remove the troops from Boston. He not only

refused, but adjourned the Assembly to Cambridge, when he informed them

that he was going to England to lay a statement of the affairs of the

colony before the king. The House unanimously voted a petition to his

majesty, asking the removal of Bernard forever; and adopted a

resolution, declaring that the establishment of a standing army in the

colony, in time of peace, was an invasion of natural rights, a violation

of the British Constitution, high-

* It has been said that when Charles Townshend's project of taxation was

in agitation, the English merchants offered to pay the taxes, or an

equivalent for them, rather than run the risk of provoking the Americans

and losing their trade.--Pictorial History of the Reign of George III.,

i., 72.

** Frederic, Earl of Guilford, better known as Lord North, was a man of

good parts, sincerely attached to English liberty, and conscientious in

the performance of all his duties. Like many other statesmen of his

time, he utterly misapprehended the character of the American people,

and could not perceive the justice of their claims. Devoted to his king

and country, he labored to support the dignity of the crown and the

unity of the realm, but in so doing he aided in bringing fearful misery

upon the Americans for a time. He was a persuasive orator, a fair

logician, amiable in private life, and correct in his morals. He was

afflicted with blindness during the last years of his life. He died

July, 1792, aged sixty years.

Departure of Governor Bernard for England.--Effect of the Non-

importation Agreements.--Hillsborough's Circular Letter

484ly dangerous to the people, and unprecedented. The governor, finding

the members incorrigible, dissolved the Assembly, and sailed for

England,1 leaving the colony in charge August 1, 1769. of his

lieutenant, Thomas Hutchinson.

The effects of the non-importation agreements upon English commerce

again brought ministers to their senses. The English merchants were

really more injured by the acts of Parliament than the Americans, and

they joined their petitions with those of the colonists for a repeal of

the noxious acts. ** Under the direction of Lord North, Hillsborough

sent a circular letter to the colonies, intimating that the duties upon

all articles enumerated in the late act would be taken off, as a measure

of _expediency_, except on tea. This would be a partial relief from the

burden, but not a removal of the cause of complaint. The _principle_ was

the same whether duties were exacted on one article or a dozen, and so

long as the assumed right of Parliament to tax the colonies was

practically enforced in the smallest degree, so long the Americans felt

their rights infringed. Principle, not expediency, was their motive of

action, and, therefore, the letter of Hillsborough had no effect in

quieting the disturbed ocean of popular feeling. The year 1769 closed

without any apparent approximation of Great Britain and her American

colonies to a reconciliation.

* Francis Bernard was Governor of New Jersey after Governor Belcher, in

1756. He succeeded Pownall as Governor of Massachusetts in 1760, and

held the office nine years. The first years of his administration were

satisfactory to the inhabitants, but, associating himself with ministers

in their taxation schemes, he became odious to the Massachusetts people.

His first false step was the appointment of Hutchinson chief justice

instead of the elder Otis. When difficulties arose under the Stamp Act

and kindred measures, Bernard was unfit for his position, for he had no

talent for conciliation, and was disposed to use British power more

prodigally than British justice in maintaining the supremacy of the

laws. He was created a baronet in the summer of 1769. He never returned

to America after leaving it, and died in England in June, 1779.

** The exports from England to America, which in 1768 had amounted to

$11,890,000, $660,000 being in tea, had fallen in 1769 to $8,170,000,

the tea being only $220,000.--Murray's United States, i., 352. Pownall,

in the course of a speech in Parliament, also showed that the total

produce of the new taxes for the first year had been less than $80,000,

and that the expenses of the new custom-house arrangements had reduced

the net profits of the crown revenue in the colonies to only $1475,

while the extraordinary military expenses in America amounted, for the

same time, to $850,000.--Hildreth, ii.. 552.

Secret Workings of the Spirit of Liberty.--Brief Review.--Alternative of

the Colonies.--The Newspaper Press.

485

CHAPTER XXI.

"There is a spirit working in the world,

Like to a silent, subterranean fire;

Yet, ever and anon, some monarch hurl'd

Aghast and pale attests its fearful ire,

The dungeon'd nations now once more respire

The keen and stirring air of liberty.

The struggling giant wakes, and feels he's free;

By Delphi's fountain-cave that ancient choir

Resume their song; the Greek astonish'd hears,

And the old altar of his worship rears.

Sound on, fair sisters! sound your boldest lyres--

Peal your old harmonies as from the spheres.

Unto strange gods too long we've bent the knee,

The trembling mind, too long and patiently."

George Hill.

"Grand jurors, and sheriffs, and lawyers we'll spurn;

As judges, we'll all take the bench in our turn,

And sit the whole term without pension or fee,

Nor Cushing nor Sewall look graver than we.

Our wigs, though they're rusty, are decent enough;

Our aprons, though black, are of durable stuff;

Array'd in such gear, the laws we'll explain,

That poor people no more shall have cause to complain."

Honeywood's "Radical Song."

E have considered, in the preceding chapter, the most important events,

during the first nine years of the reign of George III., having any

bearing on the Revolution. We have seen the germs of oppression, planted

at different times from the era of the Restoration, springing into life

and vigor, and bearing the bitter fruit of tyranny; and observed the

bold freemen of America pruning its most noxious branches, and trampling

in the dust its "apples of Sodom." We have seen the tide of British

power swelling high, and menacing, and beheld the firm rock of sound

principles fearlessly breasting its billows, and hurling them baek

toward their source. We have seen a loyal people, warmly attached to the

person of their sovereign, and venerating the laws of their fatherland,

goaded, by ministerial ignorance and haughty indifference respecting the

claims of right when interfering with expediency, to the assumption of

manly defiance both of king and Parliament, until hireling butchers,

with pike and bayonet, were seated in their midst to "harass the people

and eat out their substance." We now behold them pressed to the

alternative

_TO FIGHT OR BE SLAVES._

For several years the newspaper press had been rapidly growing in

political importance, and the vehicle of mere general news became the

channel of political and social enlightenment. In proportion to the

development of its power and the creation of public opinion favorable to

its views, was the increase of its boldness, and at the beginning of

1770 the American press was not only united in sentiment, but almost as

fearless in the expression of political and religious opinions as the

newspapers of the present day. American liberty was its theme, and

almost every sheet, whether newspaper, almanac, tract, or hand-bill,

issued at this time, was tinctured if not absolutely pervaded, by the

absorbing topic. I have before

Bickerstaff's Boston Almanac.--Explanation of its Frontispiece.--Revival

of the Terms "Whig" and "Tory."

486me a copy of Bickerstaff's Boston Almanac for 1770, the title-page of

which is here given, with a fac-simile of the engraving that adorns it.

The portrait of Otis is supported on one side by Liberty, and on the

other by Hercules, or Perseverance. At the feet of the latter,

uncoiling, preparatory to striking a blow, is the venomous rattlesnake,

an emblem used on some of the colonial flags when the war began. This

was significant of the intention of America, under the guidance of the

Spirit of Liberty, _to 'persevere, and strike a deadly blow, if

necessary_. The poetry and maxims of the almanac are replete with

political sentiments favorable to freedom; and its pages contain the

celebrated "_Massachusetts Song of Liberty_," which became almost as

popular throughout the colonies as did Robert Treat Paine's "Adams and

Liberty" at a later day. * It is believed to have been written by Mrs.

Mercy Warren.

Party lines began now to be strictly drawn, and the old names of Whig

and Tory, used in England toward the close of the seventeenth century,

and recently revived, were adopted here, the former being assumed by

those who opposed Parliamentary taxation, and the latter applied to

those who favored it. *** In Boston the wound inflicted by Bernard, in

the introduction of soldiers, was daily festering. A weekly paper, the

"Journal of the Times," fostered the most bitter animosity against the

soldiers, by the publication of all sorts of stories concerning them,

some true, but many more false and garbled. Daily quarrels between

citizens and soldiers occurred upon the Common and in the streets; and

* We give on the following page a copy of the Massachusetts Song of

Liberty, with the music, as printed in the Boston Almanac.

** See note, page 71.

Abuse of Mr. Otis.--Massachusetts Song of Liberty.

487the fact that Mr. Otis had been severely beaten with fists and canes,

in a coffee-house, by

THE MASSACHUSETTS SONG OF LIBERTY.

Fac-simile of the Music. Come swallow your bumpers, ye Tories, and roar,

That the Sons of fair Freedom are hamper'd once more; But know that no

Cut throats our spirits can tame, Nor a host of Oppressors shall smother

the flame. "In Freedom we're born, and, like Sons of the brace. Will

never surrender, But swear to defend her, And scorn to survive, if

unable to save. "Our grandsires, bless'd heroes, we'll give them a tear,

Nor sully their honors by stooping to fear; Through deaths and through

dangers their Trophies they won. We dare be their Rivals, nor will be

outdone. "In Freedom we're born.

"Let tyrants and minions presume to despise, Encroach on our Rights, and

make Freedom their prize; The fruits of their rapine they never shall

keep, Though vengeance may nod, yet how short is her sleep. "In Freedom

we're born.

"The tree which proud Haman for Mordecai rear'd Stands recorded, that

virtue endanger'd is spared; That rogues, whom no bounds and no laws can

restrain, Must be stripp'd of their honors and humbled again. "In

Freedom we're born.

"Our wives and our babes, still protected, shall know Those who dare to

be free shall forever be so; On these arms and these hearts they may

safely rely For in freedom we'll live, or like Heroes we'll die. "In

Freedom we're born.

"Ye insolent Tyrants! who wish to enthrall; Ye Minions, ye Placemen,

Pimps, Pensioners, all; How short is your triumph, how feeble your

trust, Your honor must wither and nod to the dust. "In Freedom we're

born.

When oppress'd and approach'd, our King we implore, Frill firmly

persuaded our Rights he'll restore; When our hearts beat to arms to

defend a just right, Our monarch rules there, and forbids us to fight."

In Freedom we're born.

"Not the glitter of arms nor the dread of a fray Could make us submit to

their chains for a day; Withheld by affection, on Britons we call,

Prevent the fierce conflict which threatens your fall. "In Freedom we're

born.

All ages shall speak with amaze and applause Of the prudence we show in

support of our cause: Assured of our safety, a Brunswick still reigns,

Whose free loyal subjects are strangers to chains. "In Freedom were

born.

"Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all, To be free is to live, to

be slaves is to fall; Has the land such a dastard as scorns not a Lord,

Who dreads not a letter much more than a sword!" In Freedym we're born.

Evasion of the Non-importation Agreements.--Tea proscribed.--Spirit of

the Women.--Spirit of the Boys.

488one of the commissioners of customs and his friends, * produced the

utmost excitement, and it was with great difficulty that open hostility

was prevented. Numerous fights with straggling soldiers occurred, and a

crisis speedily arrived.

While the non-importation agreements were generally adhered to

faithfully, there were a few merchants who, loving mammon more than

liberty, violated their obligations. In Boston they coalesced with the

military officers, and many of the proscribed articles were imported in

the names of the latter, ostensibly for the use of the soldiers. Many

goods were January 23, 1770 brought in and sold under this cover. This

fact became known, and a meeting of citizens was held at Faneuil Hall to

consider it. Spirited resolutions were adopted, among which was one

agreeing not only "totally to abstain from the use of tea" (the excepted

article mentioned in Hillsborough's letter), and from other of the

enumerated articles, but that they would use all proper measures to

prevent a violation of the non-importation pledges. From that time tea

was a proscribed article, and the living principle of opposition to

British oppression was strongly manifested by the unanimity with which

the pleasant beverage was discarded.

Early in February the females of Boston made a public movement on the

subject of non-importation, and the mistresses of three hundred families

subscribed their names to a league, binding themselves not to drink any

tea until the Revenue Act was repealed. Three days afterward the _young

ladies_ followed the example of the matrons, and multitudes signed a

document in the following terms: "We, the daughters of those patriots

who have, and do now, appear for the public interest, and in that

principally regard their posterity--as such, do with pleasure engage

with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, in hopes to

frustrate a plan which tends to deprive a whole community of all that is

valuable in life." All classes were thoroughly imbued with patriotism,

and even the children were sturdy asserters of natural rights. **

Disregarding these expressions of public sentiment, a few merchants in

Boston continued to sell the proscribed articles. Among them were

Theophilus Lillie and four others, who were particularly bold in their

unpopular conduct. To designate his store as one to be February 22, 1770

shunned, a mob, consisting chiefly of half-grown boys, raised a rude

wooden head upon a pole near Lillie's door, having upon it the names of

the other importers. A hand was attached to it, with the dexter finger

pointing to Lillie's establishment. The merchant was greatly irritated.

One of his friends, named Richardson, a stout, rough man, tried to

persuade a countryman to prostrate the pageant by running his wagon

against it. February 9.

* Robinson, one of the commissioners, had made such representations of

Mr. Otis in Britain as provoked him to make a publication in the Boston

Gazette on the subject. For some expression used in that article

Robinson attempted to pull Otis's nose at a coffee-house. An affray

ensued, in which Mr. Otis was so severely beaten that he was obliged to

leave the city and retire to his country residence. From the injuries

then received he never thoroughly recovered. Heavy damages (£2000) were

awarded him against Robinson for the assault, but Otis generously

forgave his assailant, and refused to take the money.

** While the king's troops were in Boston, an incident occurred that

evinced the bold spirit of even the little boys. In the winter they were

in the habit of building little hills of snow, and sliding down them to

the pond on the Common, for amusement. The English soldiers, to provoke

them, would often beat down these hills. On one occasion, having rebuilt

their hills, and finding, on their return from school, that they were

again demolished, several of the boys determined to wait upon the

captain and complain of his soldiers. The officer made light of it, and

the soldiers became more troublesome than ever. At last a meeting of the

larger boys was held, and a deputation was sent to General Gage, the

commander-in-chief. He asked why so many children had called upon him.

"We come, sir," said the tallest boy, "to demand satisfaction." "What!"

said the general, "have your fathers been teaching you rebellion, and

sent you to exhibit it here?" "Nobody sent us, sir," replied the boy,

while his eyes flashed and cheek reddened at the imputation of

rebellion; "we have never injured or insulted your troops, but they have

trodden down our snow-hills and broken the ice on our skating-grounds.

We complained, and they called us young rebels, and told us to help

ourselves if we could. We told the captain of this, and he laughed at

us. Yesterday our works were destroyed the third time, and we will bear

it no longer." The nobler feelings of the general's heart were awakened,

and, after gazing upon them in silent admiration for a moment, he turned

to an officer by his side, and said, "The very children here draw in a

love of liberty with the air they breathe. You may go, my brave boys,

and be assured, if my troops trouble you again, they shall be

punished."--Lossing's "1776," p. 90.

Fracas at the Door of a Merchant.--Death of a Boy.--Its Effect on the

Public Mind.--Pardon of the Murderer.--Riot in Boston

489The man was a patriot, and refused, and Richardson attempted to pull

it down himself. The mob pelted him with dirt and stones, and drove him

into Lillie's house. Greatly exasperated, Richardson brought out a

musket and discharged it, without aim, into the crowd. A lad named

Christopher Gore (afterward Governor of the Commonwealth (a)) was

slightly wounded, and another, Christopher Snyder, son of a poor widow,

was killed. The a 1809 mob seized Richardson and an associate named

Wilmot, and carried them to Fanueil Hall, where they were examined and

committed for trial. Richardson was found guilty of murder, but

Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson refused to sign his death warrant. After

two years' imprisonment, he was pardoned by the king.

The murder of the boy produced a great sensation throughout the country,

and in Boston it was made the occasion of a most solemn pageant. His

coffin, covered with inscriptions, such as "Innocence itself is not

safe," and others of like tenor, was taken to Liberty Tree, where a

great concourse assembled, and thence followed the remains to the grave.

In that procession between four and five hundred school-boys took the

lead. Six of Snyder's playfellows supported the coffin; after them came

the relatives and friends of the deceased, and nearly fifteen hundred of

the inhabitants. The bells of the city were tolled, and those of the

churches in the neighboring towns. The newspapers were filled with

accounts of the murder and the funeral, and little Christopher Snyder

was apotheosized as the _first martyr_ in the cause of American liberty.

A more serious occurrence took place a few days afterward. A soldier,

passing the rope-walk of John Grey, got into a quarrel with the workmen,

and was severely beaten. He went to the barracks, and, returning with

some comrades, they beat the rope-makers, and chased them through the

streets. A large number of the people assembled in the afternoon,

determined to avenge the workmen, but were stopped by the military. It

was Friday, and the act of vengeance was deferred until Monday, so as

not to disturb the Sabbath. March 5, 1770 On the evening of Monday,

between six and seven o'clock, about seven hundred men, with clubs and

other weapons, assembled in King (now State) Street, shouting, "Let us

drive out these rascals! They have no business here--drive them out!"

The mob speedily augmented in numbers, and about nine o'clock an attack

was made upon some soldiers in Dock Square, the mob shouting, "Town

born, turn out! Down with the bloody backs!" at the same time tearing up

the market-stalls. The fearful cry of "Fire, fire!" was echoed through

the town, and the inhabitants poured into the streets in terror and

confusion. The whole city was in commotion, and before midnight the

shouts of the multitude, the ringing of the alarum bells as if a great

conflagration was raging, and the rattle of musketry, produced a fearful

uproar. Two or three leading citizens endeavored to persuade the mob to

disperse, and had, in a measure, secured their respectful attention,

when a tall man, dressed in a scarlet cloak, and wearing a white wig,

suddenly appeared among them, and commenced a violent harangue against

the government officers and soldiers. He concluded his inflammatory

speech by a loud shout, "To the main guard! to the main guard!" The

populace echoed the shout with fearful vehemence, and, separating into

three divisions, took different routes toward the quarters of the main

guard. As one of these divisions was passing the custom-house, a boy

came up, and, pointing to the sentinel on duty there, cried out, "That's

the scoundrel who knocked me down." * Instantly a score of voices

shouted, "Let us knock him down! Down with the bloody back! kill him!

kill him!" The sentinel loaded his musket, the mob in the mean while

pelting him with pieces of ice and other missiles, and finally

attempting to seize him. He ran up the custom-house steps, but, unable

to procure admission, called to the main guard for assistance. Captain

Preston, the officer of the day,

* This boy was an apprentice to a barber named Piémont, at whose shop

some of the British officers were in the habit of shaving. One of them

had come there some months previous to dress by the quarter, whose bill

Piémont promised to allow to the boy who shaved him, if he behaved well.

The quarter had expired, but the money could not be got, although

frequently asked for. The last application was made on that evening,

and, as the boy alleged, the officer knocked him down in reply to the

"dun." The sentry he pointed out as the man that abused him.--See

"Traits of the Tea Party."

Attack of the Mob upon tbe Soldiers.--Discharge of Musketry.--Three of

the Citizens killed.--Terrible Excitement in Boston

490detailed a picket guard of eight men with unloaded muskets, and sent

them to the relief of the sentinel. As they approached, the mob pelted

them more furiously than they had the sentinel, and a stout mulatto

named Attucks, who was at the head of a party of sailors shouted, "Let

us fall upon the nest! The main guard! the main guard!"

The soldiers now loaded their guns. Attucks dared them to fire; and the

mob pressed so closely upon them that the foremost were against the

points of their bayonets. The soldiers, perfectly understanding the

requirements of discipline, would not fire without orders. Emboldened by

what seemed cowardice, or, perhaps, by a knowledge of the law which

restrained soldiers from firing upon their fellow-citizens without

orders from the civil magistrates, Attucks and the sailors gave three

loud cheers, beat the muskets of the soldiers with their clubs, and

shouted to the populace behind them, "Come on! don't be afraid of 'em--

they daren't fire! knock 'em over! kill 'em!" At that moment Captain

Preston came up, and endeavored to appease the excited multitude.

Attucks aimed a blow with a club at Preston's head, which was parried

with his arm, and, descending, knocked the musket of one of the soldiers

to the ground. The bayonet was seized by the mulatto, and the owner of

the musket was thrown down in the struggle. Just then voices in the

crowd behind Preston cried, "Why don't you fire? why don't you fire?"

The word fire fell upon the ears of Montgomery, the soldier struggling

with Attucks, and as he rose to his feet he fired, and shot the mulatto

dead. Immediately five other soldiers fired at short intervals; three of

the populace were instantly killed, five dangerously wounded, and a few

slightly hurt.

The mob instantly dispersed. It was near midnight; the ground was

covered with snow the air was clear and frosty, and the moon, in its

first quarter, gave just sufficient light to reveal the dreadful scene.

It was a fearful night for Boston. A cry, "The soldiers are rising! To

arms! to arms! Turn out with your guns!" resounded through the streets,

and the town drums beat their alarum call. Captain Preston also ordered

his drums to beat to arms, and in a short time Colonel Dalrymple, the

commander of the troops in the absence of Gage, with Lieutenant-governor

Hutchinson, at the head of a regiment, was on the spot. Order was at

length restored, and the streets were quiet before dawn. Captain

Preston, in the mean time, had been arrested and put in prison, and

during the next forenoon the eight soldiers were also committed, under a

charge of murder.

Early in the morning the Sons of Liberty collected in great numbers, and

Faneuil Hall was crowded with an excited and indignant assembly. The

lieutenant governor also convened his Council. A town meeting was

legally warned and held that afternoon, in the Old South Meeting-house,

then the largest building in the city, where it was voted "that nothing

could be expected to restore peace and prevent carnage but an immediate

removal of the troops." Nearly three thousand voices were unanimous in

its favor. A committee of fifteen, with Samuel Adams as chairman, was

appointed to present the resolution March 6, 1770

* Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, and James Caldwell were killed on the

spot; Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr received mortal wounds, of which

the former died the next morning, and Carr on Wednesday of the next

week.

** This venerable and venerated edifice, that stood through all the

storms of the Revolution, and yet remains, stands on the corner of

Washington and Milk Streets. It is of brick, and was erected in 1729-30,

upon the site of an edifice built by the Pedo-baptists in 1669. The

ancient church was of cedar, two stories high, with a steeple, gallery,

and pews. The "Old South" was the famous gathering-place of the people

during the excitements of 1773. The British troops occupied it as a

circus for the drill of cavalry in 1775, after removing all the wood-

work within, except the eastern gallery and the pulpit and sounding

board. The British officers felt no compunctions in thus desecrating a

Presbyterian chapel. It was repaired in 1782, and remains a fine model

of our early church architecture. This view is from Washington Street.

Delegation of Patriots before the Governor.--Boldness of the second

Committee.--Concessions.--Removal of the Troops.

491to the acting governor and his Council, and to Colonel Dalrymple.

These officers were assured by Royal Tyler, one of the committee, that

the people were determined to remove the troops out of town by force, if

they would not go voluntarily. "They are not such people," he said, "who

formerly pulled down your house, that conduct these measures, but men of

estates, men of religion. The people," he continued, "will come in to us

from all the neighboring towns; we shall have ten thousand men at our

backs, and your troops will probably be destroyed by the people, be it

called rebellion or what it may."

Hutchinson and Dalrymple were in a dilemma. They equally feared the

popular indignation and the censure of ministers, and each endeavored to

make the other responsible for the concessions which they saw must

inevitably be made. Hutchinson would not promise the committee that more

than one regiment of the troops should be removed; their report to the

meeting was, therefore, quite unsatisfactory. In the afternoon another

committee was appointed, consisting of seven of the former deputation, *

who bore the following resolution to the lieutenant governor: "It is the

unanimous opinion of this meeting that the reply made to the vote of the

inhabitants, presented to his honor this morning, is by no means

satisfactory, and that nothing else will satisfy them but a total and

immediate removal of all the troops." Samuel Adams again acted as

chairman. Hutchinson denied that he had power to grant their request;

Adams in a few words proved to him that he had power conferred by the

charter. The governor consulted with Dalrymple in a whisper, and then

made the offer again to remove one regiment. The patriots were not to be

trifled with. Adams, seeming not to represent, but to personify, the

universal feeling, stretched forth his arm, as if it had been upheld by

the strength of thousands, and, with unhesitating promptness and

dignified firmness, replied, "Sir, if the lieutenant governor or Colonel

Dalrymple, or both together, have authority to remove _one_ regiment,

they have authority to remove _two_; and nothing short of a total

evacuation of the town, by all the regular troops, will satisfy the

public mind or preserve the peace of the province."

The officers were abashed before this plain committee of a democratic

assembly. They knew the danger that impended; the very air was filled

with breathings of suppressed indignation. They receded, fortunately,

from the arrogance they had hitherto maintained. Their reliance on a

standing army faltered before the undaunted, irresistible resolution of

free, unarmed citizens. ** Hutchinson consulted his Council. The

concession was agreed upon--the lieutenant governor, Council, and

Dalrymple consenting to bear mutually the responsibility of the act--and

the people were assured of the immediate removal of the troops. On

Monday following the troops were conducted to Castle William, and Boston

beMarch 12, 1770came quiet.

The obsequies of the victims murdered on the night of the 5th were

performed on the 8th. *** The hearses met upon the spot in front of the

custom-house, where the tragedy occurred, and thence the procession, in

platoons six deep, marched to the Middle Burial-ground, wherein the

bodies were deposited. As on the occasion of the burial of young Snyder,

the bells of Boston and adjacent towns tolled a solemn knell, and again

a cry of vengeance burst over the land. The story of the "Boston

massacre," as it was called, became a tale of horror, which every where

excited the most implacable hatred of British domination; and the

justifiable act of the soldiers, in defending their lives against a

lawless mob, was exaggerated into an unprovoked assault of armed

mercenaries upon a quiet and defenseless people.

Captain Preston and the eight soldiers, after the lapse of several

months, were put upon their trial before Judge Lynde for murder. ****

John Adams, an eminent lawyer, one of the

* The committee consisted of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, William

Molineux, William Phillips, Joseph Warren. Joshua Henshaw, and Samuel

Pemborton.

** Snow's History of Boston.

*** Attucks and Caldwell had no relatives, and were friendless. Their

bodies were borne from Faneuil Hall. Maverick, only seventeen years of

age, was borne from the house of his mother, in Union Street, and Gray

from that of his brother, in Royal Exchange Lane.

****Captain Preston's trial commenced on the 24th of October, and lasted

until the 30th. The trial of the soldiers commenced on the 27th of

November, and ended on the 5th of December. So searching was the

examination of witnesses by Mr. Quincy, that Mr. Adams was obliged to

ask him to desist, for he was eliciting from them facts that were not

only irrelevant to the case in hand, but dishonorable to the town.

Defense of the Soldiers by Adams.--Result of the Trial.--New Ministerial

Proposition.--Its Effects upon the Colonies

492leaders in the attempt to procure the removal of the troops, and

greatly esteemed by the people for his patriotism, was solicited to

undertake their defense. It was a severe ordeal for his independence of

spirit, yet he did not hesitate. At the risk of losing the favor and

esteem of the people, he appeared as the advocate of the accused, having

for his colleague Josiah Quincy, another leading patriot, whose eloquent

voice had been often heard at assemblies of the Sons of Liberty. Robert

Treat Paine, afterward one of the signers of the Declaration of

Independence, conducted the prosecution, with great reputation, in the

absence of the attorney general. A Boston jury was empanneled, and,

after a fair trial, Captain Preston and six of the soldiers were

adjudged not guilty. The other two, Montgomery and Killroy, who were

known to have fired their muskets, were found guilty of manslaughter

only. They were branded in the hand, in open court, and discharged. This

trial, when all the circumstances are considered, exhibits one of the

most beautiful of the many pictures of justice and mercy that

characterized the Revolution, and silenced forever the slander of the

British ministry who favored the revival of the Act of Henry VIII., that

American jurors might not be trusted.

March 5, 1770 On the very day of the "Boston massacre" Lord North asked

leave to bring in a bill in the House of Commons, repealing the duties

upon glass, &c., mentioned in Hillsborough's circular, but retaining the

three per cent, duty upon tea. This duty was small, and was avowedly a

"pepper-corn rent," to save the national honor. North's proposition met

with little favor from either party. The friends of America asked for a

repeal of the whole act, and the friends of government opposed a partial

repeal as utterly fruitless of good. The bill, however, after

encountering great opposition in both Houses, and particularly in the

House of Lords, was carried, and received the royal assent on the 12th

of April.

When the intelligence of this act reached the colonies, it was regarded

with very little favor. The same unrighteous principle was practically

asserted, and the people felt that very little concession was made. But

they were beginning, toward the close of 1770, to be less faithful in

observing the non-importation agreements; and in October, at a meeting

of the Boston merchants, it was resolved, in consequence of the almost

universal violation of these agreements in New York, to import every

thing but tea. The Philadelphia and Charleston merchants followed their

example, and that lever of coercion in the hands of the colonists,

operating upon Parliament through English merchants, was almost wholly

abandoned, much to the chagrin of the leading patriots. These

associations, while they had a favorable political effect upon the

colonies, were also instrumental in producing social reforms of much

value. Many extravagant customs, such as pageantries at funerals,

displays of costly finery at balls and parties, and kindred measures,

involving great expenditure of time and money, were discontinued; new

sources of wealth and comfort to be derived from home industry were

developed; and, better than all, lessons of the strictest economy were

learned. The infant manufactories of America received a strong impulse

from the agreements, and homemade articles, first worn from necessity,

became fashionable. The graduating class at Cambridge took their degrees

in homespun suits, in 1770.

For two years very little occurred to disturb the tranquillity of

Boston. The brutal attack of Robinson had deprived the patriots of the

services of James Otis, for insanity clouded his active mind and

terminated his public career. * But new men, equally patriotic stood

* James Otis, Jr., was the son of Colonel James Otis, of Barnstable,

Massachusetts, where he was born February 5th, 1725. He graduated at

Harvard College in 1743. He studied law with Mr. Gridley, then the first

lawyer in the province, and commenced the practice of his profession at

Plymouth at the age of twenty-one years. In 1761 he distinguished

himself by his plea in opposition to the Writs of Assistance. His

antagonist on that occasion was his law tutor, Mr. Gridley.

* Of his speech at that time John Adams said, "James Otis was a flame of

fire.... American independence was then and there born. Every man of an

immense crowded audience appeared to me to go away as I did ready to

take up arms against Writs of Assistance." Otis was elected to the

Legislature in 1762, and was a member of the Stamp Act Congress held at

New York in 1765. That year he wrote his celebrated pamphlet in defense

of colonial rights. He held the office of judge advocate, but in 1767

resigned, and renounced all offices under government, because of

encroachments upon the rights of the people. Brutally beaten by a

commissioner of customs in the autumn of 1769, he was obliged to retire

to his country residence. The injuries he received left their effects

upon his mind, and from that time his reason was shattered. The great

man, though in ruins, lived nearly thirteen years, when, on the 23d of

May, 1782, while standing in the door of Mr. Osgood's house in Andover,

he was killed by lightning. He had often expressed a desire to be thus

deprived of life when it should please God to call him. In a

commemorative ode, written at the time by the Hon. Thomas Dawes, the

following lines occur:

"Yes, when the glorious work which he begun Shall stand the most

complete beneath the sun--When peace shall come to crown the grand

design, His eyes shall live to see the work divine--The heavens shall

then his generous spirit claim, In storms as loud as his immortal fame.

Hark! the deep thunders echo round the skies! On wings of flame the

eternal errand flies; One chosen, charitable bolt is sped, And Otis

mingles with the glorious dead."

* Mr. Otis was a scholar as well as a statesman. Ho was complete master

of classical literature,* and no American at that time possessed more

extensive knowledge. He may bo justly ranked among the founders of our

republic, for he was truly the master of ceremonies in laying the

corner-stone. He lived to see the work nearly completed, and beheld the

wing of peace spread over the land.

* The following anecdote is related of Mr. Otis as illustrative of his

ready use of Latin even an ring moments of mental aberration. Men and

boys, heartless and thoughtless, would sometimes make themselves merry

at his expense when he was seen in the streets afflicted with lunacy. On

one occasion he was passing a crockery store, when a young man, who had

a knowledge of Latin, sprinkled some water upon him from a sprinkling-

pot with which he was wetting the floor of the second story, at the same

time saying, "It rains so much, I know not how much. Do you know?" Otis

immediately picked up a missile, and, hurling it through the window of

the crockery store, it smashing every thing in its way, exclaimed, "I

have broken so many, I know not how many. Do you know!"

James Otis.--The Boston Patriots.--Hutchinson made Governor.--His

asserted Independence of the Assemblies.

493ready to take his place. John Adams, then in the vigor of life, and

rapidly rising in public estimation, was chosen to fill his place in the

House of Representatives. He, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Warren

(a young physician), Josiah Quincy, and Dr. Benjamin Church were the

leaders in private meetings, now beginning to be held, in whieh schemes

for public action were planned. These men were exceedingly vigilant, and

noticed every infringement of natural or chartered rights on the part of

government and its agents. In the House of Representatives they

originated almost every measure for the public good, and the people

esteemed them as the zealous guardians of their rights and privileges.

When Hutchinson removed the General Court to Cambridge, they protested,

contending that it March 31, 1770 could be held, legally, only at

Boston; and in all the struggles between the Assembly and the governor,

during his administration, these men were foremost in defense of popular

rights.

Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson received the appointment of governor in

the spring of 1771. About the same time Dr. Franklin was chosen agent

for Massachusetts, Dennis de Berdt being dead. When the Assembly

convened in May, the subject of taxing the May 25, 1771salaries of crown

officers, that of removing the General Court baek to Boston, and kindred

topics, produced considerable excitement in that body. Hutchinson told

them that he had been instructed not to give his consent to any act

taxing the income of the crown officers, and he positively refused to

adjourn the Assembly to Boston. The consequence was, that the Court was

prorogued without making any provision for the public expense.

The next year Parliament, by special aet, made the governors and judges

of the colonies quite independent of the colonial Assemblies for their

salaries; and Hutchinson 1772 informed the Massachusetts Assembly that

henceforth his salary would be paid by the crown. The Assembly at once

denounced the measure as a violation of the charter, and no better than

a standing bribe of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars a

year from the crown to the governor. Other colonial Assemblies took

umbrage, and made similar denunciations, and again the public mind was

agitated.

Further Agitation in Boston.--Committees of Correspondence.--Letters of

Hutchinson and others.--Petition for their Removal

494In the midst of this effervescence a circumstance occurred which

augmented intensely the flame of rebellion burning in the hearts of the

people. By it Boston was thrown into a violent commotion, and it was

with great difficulty that the people were restrained from enacting anew

the violence against Hutchinson in 1765. In October a town meeting was

held, at which a large committee, composed of the popular leaders, was

appointed to draw up a statement of the rights of the colonies, and to

communicate and publish the same to the several towns of the province.

This paper contained a list of all the grievances which Massachusetts

had suffered since the accession of the reigning sovereign, and

condemned a plan, said to have been in agitation for a long time, to

establish bishops in America. It was the boldest exposition of the

grievances and rights of the colonies yet put forth, and, by its

suggestion, Committees of Correspondence, such as were soon afterward

organized in Virginia, were appointed in the several towns. * This paper

was republished by Franklin in London, January, 1773 "with a preface of

his own, and produced a great sensation. At the opening of the next

session of the Legislature Hutchinson denounced the Boston address as

seditious and traitorous, and violent discussions ensued.

Just at this moment, when the public mind was greatly inflamed against

Hutchinson, the Assembly received a communication from Dr. Franklin,

inclosing several letters written by Hutchinson and others to Thomas

Whately, a member of Parliament, then out of office, wherein they

vilified the character of several of the popular leaders, advised the

immediate adoption of coercive measures, and declared that there "must

be an abridgment of what are called English liberties." By what means

Franklin obtained possession of these letters is not certainly known,

for he was too honorable to divulge the names of parties concerned. ***

They were sent to the Rev. Dr. Cooper, of Boston, and by him handed to

Mr. Cushing, the Speaker of the Assembly. After having been shown

privately to leading men for several months, they were made public. The

town was at once in a violent ferment. A committee was appointed to wait

upon the governor, and demand an acknowledgment or denial of the

genuineness of the letters. He owned them as his, but declared that they

were quite confidential. This qualification was not considered

extenuating, and the Assembly adopted a petition to the king for the

removal of Governor Hutchinson and Lieutenant-governor Oliver, as public

slanderers, and enemies to the colony, and, as such, not to be

tolerated.

This petition was sent to Franklin, who was instructed to present it in

person, if possible. This request could not be granted. He sent the

petition to Lord Dartmouth, then at his country seat, who presented it

to the king. After considerable delay, Franklin was informed that his

majesty had referred it to his Privy Council. **** The publication of

the letters produced excitement in England, and Franklin, to defend

innocent parties, frankly took upon

* Dr. Gordon says (i., 207) that the system of Committees of

Correspondence originated with James Warren, who suggested them to

Samuel Adams while the latter was passing an evening with the former at

Plymouth. Adams, pleased with the suggestion, communicated it to the

leading patriots at the next secret caucus, and that powerful engine in

the Revolution was speedily put in motion. James Warren was an active

patriot. He was descended from one of the first settlers at Plymouth,

and was greatly esteemed for his personal worth. He was chosen a member

of the General Court of Massachusetts in 1760, and, though not a

brilliant orator, was a deep and original thinker. He was for many years

Speaker of the House of Representatives. At the close of the war he

retired from public duties, and died at Plymouth, November 27th, 1808,

aged eighty-two years. He was the husband of Mercy Warren, the

historian.

** The names of the several writers were Andrew Oliver, Charles Paxton,

Thomas Moffatt, Robert Auchmuty, Nathaniel Rogers, and George Rome. Mr.

Whately was dead when the letters were given to Franklin.

*** The late Dr. Hosack, of New York, in his memoir of Dr. Hugh

Williamson, published in 1823, asserts that the papers were put into

Franklin's hands by that gentleman, without any suggestion on his part.

Williamson obtained them by stratagem from the office of Mr. Whately,

brother of the late Thomas Whately, then dead. Mr. Whately suspected

that Lord Temple, Pitt's brother-in-law, who had asked permission to

examine the papers of Secretary Whately, was the man who abstracted

them, and placed them in Franklin's hands. Whately charged the act upon

Temple, and a duel was the result, in which the former was wounded. Of

this affair Franklin knew nothing until it was over. In justice to

others, he took the responsibility upon himself, as mentioned in the

text.

**** The Privy Council consists of the cabinet and thirty-five peers.

Franklin before the Privy Council.--Wedderburne's Abuse.--Franklin's

Vow.--New Taxation Scheme.--East India Company

495himself the whole responsibility of sending them to America, he was

accordinglyJanuary 29, 1774 summoned before the Council, where he

appeared without a legal adviser. Finding Wedderburne, the solicitor

general, retained as counsel for Hutchinson, Franklin asked and obtained

leave to have counsel also. He employed Mr. Dunning, one of the ablest

Constitutional lawyers of the day, and toward the close of February the

case was brought before the Privy Council.

The solicitor general made a bitter attack upon Franklin, accusing him

of dishonor in procuring private letters clandestinely, and charging him

with duplicity and wily intrigue. The philosophic statesman received

this tirade of abuse in silence, and without any apparent emotion, for

he was conscious that he had violated no rule of honor or integrity. The

accusations and pleadings of Wedderburne had their effect, however.

His abuse greatly pleased the peers, and the petition was dismissed as

"groundless, scandalous, and vexatious." A few days afterward Franklin

received a notice of his dismissal from the responsible and lucrative

office of postmaster general for the colonies. This was an act of spite

which recoiled fearfully upon ministers. **

Early in 1773 a new thought upon taxation made its advent into the brain

of Lord North. The East India Company, *** feeling the effects of the

colonial smuggling trade, and of the non importation agreements,

requested the government to take off the duty of three per cent, a pound

on their tea, levied in America. Already seventeen millions of pounds

had accumulated in their stores in England, and they offered to allow

government to retain six pence upon the pound as an exportation tariff,

if they would take off the three-pence duty. Here was a fair and

honorable opening not only to conciliate the colonies, but to procure,

without expense, double the amount of revenue. But the ministry, deluded

by false views of national honor, would not take advantage of this

excellent opportunity to heal the dissensions and disaffection in the

colonies, but stupidly favored the East India Company, and utterly

* Lord Dartmouth succeeded the Earl of Hillsborough in the office of

Secretary of State for the colonies and as head of the Board of Trade,

in 1772. Dartmouth was considered rather friendly to the colonies, and

he and Franklin had ever been on terms of amity.

** On returning to his lodgings that night, Franklin took off the suit

of clothes he had worn, and declared that he would never wear it again

until he should sign the degradation of England and the independence of

America. He kept his word, and more than ten years afterward, when, on

the 3d of September, 1783, he signed a definitive treaty of peace with

Great Britain, on the basis of absolute independence for America, he

wore the same suit of clothes for the first time after his vow was

uttered.

*** The East India Company, still in existence, is a joint-stock

company, originally established to carry on a trade by sea, between

England and the countries lying eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. It

was constituted by royal charter in 1600, and enjoyed the monopoly of

the trade in those remote regions until 1688, when another corporation

was chartered. The two united in 1702, and the monopoly thus granted to

them was continued, by successive acts of Parliament, until 1804. It

then received some important modifications, and the charter was renewed

for twenty years. In 1833 an act was passed extending the charter, but

abolishing the monopoly of the China trade, which the company had

enjoyed nearly two hundred and fifty years. This company planted the

British empire in India. It first established armed factories, and for

many years competed with the French for the trade and political

influence in the surrounding districts. Under the pretense of securing

honest trade, they subdued small territories, until Lord Clive, the

governor general of the company in India, by several victories,

established British power there, and obtained a sway over some of the

fairest portions of the Mogul empire. At the present time the British

Indian empire comprises the whole of Hindostan, from the Himalaya

Mountains to Cape Comorin, with a population of more than one hundred

and twenty millions! At the time under consideration the East India

Company was at the height of its success, commercial and political.

Tea Ships sail for America.--Preparation for their Reception at Boston.-

-Treatment of the Consignees.--Hand-bills and Placards.

496neglected the feelings of the Americans. It was a sacrifice of

principle to mammon which produced a damage that no subsequent act could

repair.

On the 10th of May a bill was passed, allowing the company to export tea

to Amer1773 on their own account, without paying export duty. Ships were

immediately laden with the article, and in a few weeks several large

vessels, bearing the proscribed plant, were crossing the Atlantic for

American ports. Agents or consignees were appointed in the several

colonies to receive it, and the ministry fondly imagined that they had

at last outwitted the vigilant patriots.

Information of this movement had been received in the colonies, and,

before the company's vessels arrived, preparations were made in the

chief cities to prevent the landing of the cargoes. Public meetings were

held, and the consignees were called upon to resign. In Boston the

consignees were known to the public; they were all friends of Governor

Hutchinson. Two were his sons, and one (Richard Clarke * ) was his

nephew. They were summoned to November 3, 1773 attend a meeting of the

Sons of Liberty, convened under Liberty Tree, and resign their

appointments, ** but they contemptuously refused to comply. This meeting

was announced by the town-crier in the streets, and by the ringing of

bells for an hour. About five hundred persons assembled at the tree,

from the top of which, fastened to a pole, a large flag was unfurled.

Two days afterward a legal town meeting was held, at which John Hancock

presided. *** They adopted as their own the sentiments of eight

resolutions passed at a public meeting in Philadelphia a month before,

and appointed a committee to wait upon the consignees and request them

to resign. These gentlemen equivocated, and the meeting voted their

answer "unsatisfactory and daringly affrontive." On the 18th November,

1773 other meeting was held, and a committee appointed again to wait

upon the consignees. Their answer this time was more explicit. "It is

out of our power to comply with the request of the town." In the evening

the house of Richard Clarke and his sons, in School Street, was

surrounded by a crowd. A pistol was fired among them from the dwelling,

and was responded to by the populace breaking the windows.

The meeting, on receiving the reply of the consignees, broke up without

uttering a word. This was ominous; the consignees were alarmed, for it

was evident that the people had determined to stop talking, and

henceforth to act. The governor called a meeting of the Council, and

asked advice respecting measures for preserving the peace. A petition

was presented by the consignees, asking leave to resign their

appointments into the hands of the governor

* John Singleton Copley, the eminent painter, and father of Lord

Lyndhurst, married a daughter of Richard Clarke. Both Copley and his

father-in-law became early refugee Loyalists, and fled to England, where

the latter was pall-bearer at Governor Hutchinson's funeral in 1780.

** The following is a copy of the hand-bill that advertised the meeting:

"To the Freemen of this and the neighboring Towns.

"Gentlemen--You are desired to meet at the Liberty Tree this day at

twelve o'clock at noon, then and there to hear the persons to whom the

tea shipped by the East India Company is consigned, make a public

resignation of their offices as consignees, upon oath; and also swear

that they will reship any teas that may be consigned to them by the said

company, by the first vessel sailing to London. O. C., Sec'y.