Ver.04.29.93*END*
This text was prepared by Bill Stoddard <hscrr@vgernet.net>, and
Regina Azucena <razucena@netway.com>.
THE WRITINGS
OF
SAMUEL ADAMS
COLLECTED AND EDITED
BY
HARRY ALONSO CUSHING
_______
VOLUME II
_______
1770-1773
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
______
1770.
Article Signed "Vindex," January 8th . . .
Power of Governer over sessions of General Assembly.
Article Signed "Determinatus," January 8th . . .
Non-importation agreement.
To the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, March 19th . . .
Memorial of town of Boston--Apointment of special justices.
To John Hancock, May 11th . . .
Proposed resignation.
To Benjamin Franklin, July 13th . . .
Letter of town of Boston--Effect of massacre narrative--Influences
upon public opinion--"Case" of Captain Preston.
To the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, August 3d . . .
Answer of House of Representatives--Place of meeting of General
Assembly--Legal opinions--Precedents--Royal instructions--Nature of
Province Charter--Rights of House.
Article Signed "A Chatterer," August 13th . . .
Royal instructions.
Article Signed "A Chatterer," August 20th . . .
Character of office holders.
Article Signed "A Chatterer," August 27th . . .
Reply to "Probus"--Character of lieutenant-governor.
To Benjamin Franklin, November 6th . . .
Letter of House of Representatives--Appointment as agent--Attitude of
administration to Massachusetts--Royal instructions--Admiralty
jurisdiction--Salaries and appointments.
To Stephen Sayre, November 16th . . .
Letters of "Junius Americanus"--Non-importation agreement--Trial of
Preston--Royal instructions.
To the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachussetts, Novemer 20th . . .
Memorial of House of Representatives--Vacancies in militia.
Article Signed "A Tory," November 20th . . .
Effects of present administration.
To Peter Timothy, November 21st . . .
Reply to Charleston committee--Non-importation agreement.
To Stephen Sayre, November 23d . . .
Choice of agent--Royal instructions--Attitude of Huthchinson.
To Josiah Williams, November 23d . . .
Personal advice.
Article signed "A Chatterer," December 3d . . .
Royal instructions--Control of troops--Custody of Castle William.
Article signed "Vindex," December 10th . . .
Trials of Preston and soldiers--Discussion of testimony.
Article signed "Vindex," December 17th . . .
Trials of Preston and soldiers--Discussion of testimony.
Article signed "Vindex," December 24th . . .
Trials of Preston and soldiers--Discussion of testimony.
Article signed "Vindex," December 24th . . .
Reply to "Somebody"--Trial of soldiers.
To John Wilkes, December 28th . . .
Introduction of William Palfrey--Conditions in colonies.
Article signed "Vindex," December 31st . . .
Action of Boston on massacre--Attitude of troops--Events of March 5,
1770--Testimony upon trial--The dead.
Article signed "Vindex," December 31st . . .
Testimony upon trial of soldiers.
1771.
Article signed "Vindex," January 7th . . .
Trial of soldiers--Discussion of testimony.
To Stephen Sayre, January 12th . . .
Enclosing articles on trials.
Article signed "Vindex," January 14th . . .
Discussion of testimony--"Case" of Captain Preston.
Article signed "Vindex," January 21st . . .
Result of trial of soldiers--Discussion of testimony--Reply to
Philanthrop.
Article signed "Vindex," January 28th . . .
Discussion of testimony--"Case" of Captain Preston.
To Charles Lucas, March 12th . . .
Acknowledgments of Boston.
To Arthur Lee, April 19th . . .
Beginning of correspondence--General conditions--Designs of
Administration--Royal instructions.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, April 24th . . .
Answer of House of Representatives--Action of Spain at Port
Egmont--Attitude of Administration--Place of meeting of General
Assembly--Appointment of Governor.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, April 25th . . .
Salary bills.
Article signed "Candidus," June 10th . . .
Place of meeting of General Assembly--Royal instructions--Attitude of
Hutchinson.
Article signed "Candidus," June 17th . . .
Address of clergy.
To Benjamin Franklin, June 29th . . .
Letter of House of Representatives--Right of Parliament to
tax--Revenue and tribute--Independence of officers--Rights of
colonists--Position of colonial agent.
Article signed "Candidus," July 1st . . .
Convention of clergy.
To Arthur Lee, July 31st . . .
Conditions in London--Effects of faction and of arbitrary
power--Attitude of Hutchinson--Disturbances in North Carolina
Article signed "Candidus," August 5th . . .
Address of clergy--Character of convention.
Article signed "Candidus," August 19th . . .
Custom of "addressing"--Public opinion of Administration--Stamp
Act--Events in 1768--Character of addresses.
Article signed "Candidus," September 9th . . .
Assertion of rights by colonists--Factions--Revenue acts.
Article signed "Candidus," September 16th . . .
Circular letter of February, 1768--The mandate to rescind--Letter to
Hillsborough of June, 1768--Refusal to rescind.
Article signed "Candidus," September 23d . . .
Dissolution of General Assembly--Charter rights of General
Assembly--Royal instructions.
To Arthur Lee, September 27th . . .
Remonstrance of London--Despotism in Massachusetts--Cause of colonial
grievances--Possiblity of impeachment--Opposition to an American
episcopate--Introduction of William Story.
Article signed "Candidus," September 30th . . .
Letters of Bernard--Disorders in 1768--Letters of commissioners.
To Arthur Lee, October 2d . . .
Comments on William Story.
Article signed "Candidus," October 7th . . .
Salary of Governor--Attitude of Hutchinson.
Article signed "Candidus," October 14th . . .
Historic instances of slavery and tyranny--Comparison of America and
Rome--Liberties of America.
Article signed "Valerius Poplicola," October 28th . . .
Acts of trade--Subjection and allegiance--Legislative power in
Massachusetts--Jurisdiction of Parliament.
To Arthur Lee October 31st . . .
Action of Council on "Junius Americanus"--Relationship of office
holders--Attitude of House of Representatives--The "Hue and Cry."
To Joseph Allen, November 7th . . .
Personal advice.
Article signed "Candidus," November 11th . . .
Jeroboam as a Governor--Attitude of the clergy.
To Arthur Lee, November 13th . . .
Proclamation by the Governor--Its reception by the clergy.
Article signed "Cotton Mather," November 25th . . .
Salary of Governor--Provisions of the charter.
Article signed "Candidus," December 2d . . .
Attitude of the people--Reply to "Chronus"--Royal instructions.
Article signed "Candidus," December 9th . . .
Jealousy of liberty--Control of revenue--Powers of Governor.
Article signed "Candidus," December 16th . . .
Reply to "Chronus."
Memorandum, December 18th . . .
Alleged criticism of Hancock
Article signed "Candidus," December 23d . . .
Effect of petitioning--Control of funds--Infringement of liberties.
1772.
To Henry Marchant, January 7th . . .
Election in London--Activity of government agents--Policy of Crown
officers.
To Arthur Lee, January 14th . . .
Attitude of Government.
Article signed "Candidus," January 20th . . .
Acts of trade--Power of taxation--Colonial right of
legislation--Extent of "Dominion."
Article signed "Candidus," January 27th . . .
Acts of trade--Magna Charta.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, April 10th . . .
Answer of House of Representatives--Place of meeting of General
Assembly--Power of Governor over sessions.
Article signed "Vindex," April 20th . . .
Reply to "Philanthrop Jun."
To the Governor of Massachusetts, July 14th . . .
Answer of the House of Representatives--Repair of Province House.
Article signed "Valerius Poplicola," October 5th . . .
Tribute--Effect of petitions--Freemen or slaves?
To Andrew Elton Wells, October 21st
Family affairs--Royal power over colonial government.
To Elbridge Gerry, October 27th . . .
Independence of judges.
To Elbridge Gerry, October 29th . . .
Independence of judges--Action of Boston.
To Arthur Lee, November 3d . . .
Retirement of Hillsborough--Character of Dartmouth--Independence of
judges--Action of Boston.
To Elbridge Gerry, November 5th . . .
Concert of action--Action of Boston--Independence of judges.
To Elbridge Gerry, November 14th . . .
Activity in Marblehead--Rights as Christians--Attitude of Roxbury and
Plymouth.
The Rights of the Colonists as Men, as Christians, and as Subjects,
November 20th . . .
A List of Violations of Rights, November 20th . . .
A Letter of Correspondence, November 20th . . .
Article Signed "Vindex," November 30th . . .
To Aaron Davis--Character of Doctor Young.
To Arthur Lee, November 31st . . .
Proceedings of Boston--Activity of public enemies--Action of Roxbury
and Plymouth.
To Elbridge Gerry, December 7th . . .
Acknowledgment.
To William Checkly, December 14th . . .
Personal reflections.
Article Signed "Candidus," December 14th . . .
Criticism of Draper's Gazette--Proceedings of Boston . . .
To Elbridge Gerry, December 23d . . .
Proceedings of Marblehead.
To Darius Sessions, December 28th . . .
Response to request for advice--The Rhode Island commission--Effect on
judiciary system.
To the Committee of Correspondence of Cambridge, December 29th . . .
Acknowledgment of Boston committee for their endorsement.
To the Committee of Correspondence of Plymouth, December 29th . . .
Acknowledgment of Boston committee for their endorsement--Character of
early settlers.
1773.
To Darius Sessions, January 2d . . .
The issue in Rhode Island--Advice to the colony--Probabilities
considered.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, January 26th . . .
Answer of the House of Representatives--Jurisdiction of
Parliament--Colonial charters--Rights of colonists--Historical
precedents.
To the Committee of Correspondence of Lynn, February 9th . . .
Acknowledgment of Boston committee--Diffusion of liberty.
To Darius Sessions, February . . .
Futher advice upon political situation.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, February 12th . . .
Message of the House of Representatives--Independence of
judges--Attitude of Governor.
To John Adams . . .
On reply to Governor.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, March 2d . . .
Answer of House of Representatives--Proceedings of Boston--Rights of
King in colonies--Jurisdiction of Parliament--Historical precedents
THE WRITINGS OF
SAMUEL ADAMS.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, January 8, 1770.]
--"And the Governor for the time being shall have full power and
authority from time to time as he shall judge necessary, to adjourn,
prorogue and dissolve all Great and General Courts or Assemblies met
and conven'd as aforesaid."--1
THE power delegated by this clause to the Governor was undoubtedly
intended in favor of the people--The necessity and importance of a
legislative in being, and of its having the opportunity of exerting
itself upon all proper occasions, must be obvious to a man of common
discernment. Its grand object is the REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES: And for
this purpose it is adjudg'd that parliaments ought to be held
frequently--The people may be aggriev'd for the want of having a good
law made, as well as repealing a bad one: So they may be, by the mal
conduct of the executive in its manner of administring justice
wrongfully under colour of law. In all these cases and many others,
the necessity of the frequent interposition of the legislative
evidently appears. And if either of them, much more, if all of them
should at any time be justly complain'd of by the people, the
adjourning, proroguing or dissolving the legislative, at such a
juncture, must be the greatest of all grievances--There may be other
reasons for the sitting of an American assembly besides the correcting
any disorders arising from among the people within its own
jurisdiction.--Some of the Acts of the British parliament are
generally thought to be grievous in their operation, and dangerous in
their consequences to the liberties of the American subjects: An
American legislative therefore, in which the whole body of the people
is represented, ought certainly to have the opportunity of explaining
and remonstrating their grievances to the British parliament, and the
full exercise of that invaluable and uncontroulable Right of the
subject to petition the King, as often as they judge necessary, 'till
they are removed. To postpone a meeting of this universal body of the
people till it is too late to make such application must be a
frustration of one grand design of its existance; and it naturally
tends to other arbitrary exertions.--I have often tho't that in former
administrations such delays to call the general assembly, were
intended for the purpose above-mentioned: And if others should have
the same apprehension at present I cannot help it, nor am I answerable
for it. It may not be amiss however for every man to make it a subject
of his contemplation. We all remember that no longer ago than the last
year, the extraordinary dissolution by Governor Bernard, in which he
declared he was merely ministerial, produced another assembly, which
tho' legal in all its proceedings, awaked an attention in the very soul
of the British empire.
It is not to be expected that in ordinary times, much less at such an
important period as this is, any man, tho' endowed with the wisdom of
Solomon, at the distance of three thousand miles, can be an adequate
judge of the expediency of proroguing, and in effect even putting an
end to an American legislative assembly; and more especially at a time
when the evil spirit of Misrepresentation is become so atrocious, that
even M. . .y itself is liable to be wrongly informed!--It is for this
reason that the delegation of this power to the governor for the time
being, appears to be intended in favor of the people: That there might
be always at the head of the province, and resident therein, as the
charter provides, a person of untainted integrity, candor,
impartiality and wisdom, to judge of and determine so essential a
point--A point, in which I should think, no person who justly deserves
this character, can be passive or merely ministerial, against his own
judgment and conscience. Whenever therefore a Governor for the time
being, adjourns, prorogues or dissolves the general assembly, having
the full power and authority delegated to him of judging from time to
time of the Necessity of it, we ought to presume that he exercises
that power with freedom: That he determines according to the light of
his own understanding, and not anothers: That he clearly sees that it
will answer those purposes which he himself judges to be best; having,
as a man of fidelity in his station ought, thoro'ly revolv'd the
matter in his own mind: And, that however flattering the concurrent
sentiments of any other man may be, he would have been impelled to do
it, from the dictates of his own judgment, resulting from his own
contemplation of the matter, if he had not received the "express
command of his superior." Such a man "will bravely act his mind, and
venture--Death."
VINDEX.
1B. P. Poore, The Federal and State Constitutions, 1878, vol. i., p.
949. vol. ii.--i.
ARTICLE SIGNED "DETERMINATUS."
[Boston Gazette, January 8, 1770.]
To the Printers.
The agreement of the Merchants of this distressed and insulted
continent, to with hold importations from Great Britain, it seems to
be allowed on all sides, has the strongest tendency towards the repeal
of the acts of parliament for raising a revenue in America without our
consent. It is no wonder then, that it was oppos'd with so much
vehemence at first, by the Cabal; who knew full well, that their
Places and their Pensions, and all teh delectable profits which they
expected to reap, and are now actually reaping, at the expence of the
people in town and country, would entirely cease, if these acts, by
the means of which their places, pensions and profits arise should be
repealed--When they could no longer with any face call it the last
efforts of a dying faction, (for the measure was so rational and
pacific, that it soon spread far and wide, and was chearfully adopted
by all disinterested friends of the country thro'-out the continent)
they put on the appearance of the Sons of Liberty; and now their cry
is, Where is that Liberty so much boasted of and contended for? We
hear them very gravely asking, Have we not a right to carry on our own
trade and sell our own goods if we please? who shall hinder us? This
is now the language of those who had before seen the ax laid at the
very root of all our Rights with apparent complacency,--And pray
gentlemen, Have you not a right if you please, to set fire to your own
houses, because they are your own, tho' in all probability it will
destroy a whole neighbourhood, perhaps a whole city! Where did you
learn that in a state or society you had a right to do as you please?
And that it was an infringement of that right to restrain you? This is
a refinement which I dare say, the true sons of liberty despise. Be
pleased to be informed that you are bound to conduct yourselves as the
Society with which you are joined, are pleased to have you conduct, or
if you please, you may leave it. It is true the will and pleasure of
the society is generally declared in its laws: But there may be
exceptions, and the present case is without doubt one.--Suppose there
was no law of society to restrain you from murdering your own father,
what think you? If either of you should please to take it into your
head to perpetrate such a villainous act, so abhorrent to the will of
the society, would you not be restrained? And is the Liberty of your
Country of less importance than the life of your father! But what is
most astonishing is, that some two or three persons of very little
consequence in themselves, have Dared openly to give out that They
Will vend the goods they have imported, tho' they have Solemnly
pledg'd Their Faith to the body of merchants, that they should remain
in store 'till a general importation should take place! Where then is
the honor! where is the shame of these persons, who can look into the
faces of those very men with whom they have contracted, & tell them
Without Blushing that they are resolved to Violate the contract! Is it
avarice? Is it obstinacy, perverseness, pride, or from what root of
bitterness does such an unaccountable defection from the laws of
honor, honesty, and even humanity spring? Is it the Authority Of An
Unnatural Parent--the advice of some false friend, or their own want
of common understanding, and the first principles of virtue, by which
these unhappy young persons have been induced, or left to resolve upon
perpetrating that, at the very tho't of which they should have
shudder'd! By this resolution they have already disgrac'd themselves;
if they have the Hardiness to put the resolution into practice, who
will ever hereafter confide in them? Can they promise themselves the
regards of the respectable body of merchants whom they have affronted?
or can they even wish for the esteem of their country which they have
basely deserted, or worse, which they have attempted to wound in the
very heart.--If they imagine they can still weary the patience of an
injured country with impunity.--If--I will not utter it--would not the
grateful remembrance of unmerited kindness and Generosity, if there
was the least spark of ingenuity left, have Influenced to a far
different resolution!--If this agreement of the merchants is of that
consequence to All America which our brethren in All the other
governments, and in Great-Britain Itself think it to be--If the fate
of Unborn Millions is suspended upon it, verily it behooves, not the
merchants Only, but every individual of Every class in City and
Country to aid and support them and Peremptorily To Insist upon its
being Strictly adhered to.
DETERMINATUS.
THE TOWN OF BOSTON TO THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS1
[MS., Office of the City Clerk of Boston.]
To his Honor the Lieutenant Governor in Council
The Memorial of the Town of Boston legally assembled in Faneuil Hall
Monday March 19 1770
Humbly shews
That with deep Concern they are made to understand that thro the
Providence of God diverse of his Majestys Justices of the Superior
Court are renderd unable to attend the Duties of their important Trust
by bodily Indisposition.
That there are a great Number of Prisoners now in his Majestys Gaol in
the County of Suffolk, of whom fifteen are confind for Tryal for
capital offences.
That the Sherriff of said County has been under Apprehension of the
Escape of said Prisoners as appears by his Letter to the Town hereto
annexd to be laid before your honor.
That there are a great Number of Witnesses in the Cases of the late
Trajical Murder in Boston many of whom are Seamen & detaind to their
very great Disadvantage & possibly some of them may be under
Temptation to absent themselves from the Tryal.
All which the Town beg leave humbly to represent to your honor as
cogent Reasons for the Tryal of the said Prisoners as early as
possible in the present Term.
Wherefore your Memorialists humbly pray your Honor to appoint special
Justices in the Room of those taken off as aforesaid,2 in order for
the Tryal of the said Prisoners, or otherwise that your Honor wd take
such Steps to prevent the Delay of Justice at this important Crisis as
in your Wisdom shall seem meet.
And as in Duty bound your Memsts shall ever pray.
Signd in Behalf of the Town at the Meeting aforesaid.
1Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and John Barret were on March 19, 1770,
appointed by the Boston town-meeting "a Committee to draw up a
Memorial to the Lieuvetenant Governor and Council praying that special
Justices may be appointed for the Superior Court now sitting in the
room of those who may be necessarily prevented by sickness from
attending their duty; that so the Tryals of the many Criminals now
committed may not be postponed. . . ." At the same session the
committee reported a draft, which was accepted.--Boston Record
Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 15. [back]
2At this point the words "whom the Town reverence & esteem" were
stricken from the original draft.
TO JOHN HANCOCK.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; a text with slight
variations is in W. V. Wells Life of Samuel Adams, vol. i., p. 343.]
BOSTON May 11 1770
DEAR SR
Your Resolution yesterday to resign your seat gave me very great
Uneasiness. I could not think you had sufficient Ground to deprive the
Town of one whom I have a Right to say is a most valueable Member,
since you had within three of the unanimous Suffrages of your Fellow
Citizens, & one of the negative Votes was your own.1 You say you have
been spoken ill of. What then? Can you think that while you are a good
Man that all will speak well of you--If you knew the person who has
defamd you nothing is more likely than that you would justly value
your self upon that mans Censure as being the highest Applause. Those
who were fond of continuing Mr Otis on the Seat, were I dare say to a
Man among your warmest friends: Will you then add to their
Disappointment by a Resignation, merely because one contemptible
person, who perhaps was hired for the purpose, has blessd you with his
reviling--Need I add more than to intreat it as a favor that you would
alter your Design.
I am with strict truth
Your affectionate friend & Brother.
1At the Boston town-meeting on May 8, 1770, Hancock received, as a
candidate for representative, 511 out of 513 votes. On June 13, 1770,
William Palfrey, acting for Hancock, wrote to Haley and Hopkins: "The
removal of the General Court to Cambridge obliges Mr Hancock to be
often there." John Hancock. His Book, by A. E. Brown, p. 167.
A COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
[MS., Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society; an
incomplete draft is in the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; the
latter text only is in the handwriting of Adams.]
BOSTON July 13th: 1770
SIR,
It affords very great Satisfaction to the Town of Boston to find that
the Narrative of the horrid massacre perpetrated here on the 5th of
March last which was transmitted to London,1 has had the desired
effect; by establishing truth in the minds of honest men, and in some
measure preventing the Odium being cast on the Inhabitants, as the
aggressors in it. We were very apprehensive that all attempts would be
made to gain this Advantage against us: and as there is no occasion to
think that the malice of our Enemies is in the least degree abated, it
has been thought necessary that our friends on your side the Water,
should have a true state of the Circumstances of the Town and of
everything which has materially occurred, since the removal of the
Troops to the Castle. For this purpose we are appointed a Committee:2
But the time will not admit of our writing so fully by this
Conveyance, as we intend by the next, in the mean time we intreat your
further friendship for the Town, in your Endeavours to get the
Judgment of the Public suspended, upon any representation that may
have been made by the Commissioners of the Customs and others, until
the Town can have the Opportunity of knowing what is alleged against
it, and of answering for itself. We must confess that we are
astonished to hear that the Parliament had come to a determination, to
admit Garbled extracts from such Letters as may be received from
America by Administration and to Conceal the Names of the Persons who
may be the Writers of them. This will certainly give great
Encouragement to Persons of wicked Intentions to abuse the Nations &
injure the Colonies in the grossest manner with Impunity, or even
without detection. For a Confirmation hereof we need to recur no
further back than a few months, when undoubtedly the Accounts and
Letters carried by Mr. Rob[in]son would have been attended with very
unhappy if not fatal effects, had not this Town been so attentive as
to have Contradicted those false accounts by the depositions of many
credible persons under Oath. But it cannot be supposed that a
Community will be so Attentive but upon the most Alarming Events: In
general Individuals are following their private concerns, while it is
to be feared the restless Adversaries are forming the most dangerous
Plans for the Ruin of the Reputation of the People, in order to build
their own Greatness on the Distruction of their liberties. This Game
they have been long playing; and tho' in some few instances they have
had a loosing hand, yet they have commonly managed with such Art, that
they have so far succeeded in their Malicious designs as to involve
the Nation and the Colonies in Confusion and distress. This it is
presumed they never could have accomplished had not these very letters
been kept from the view of the Public, with a design perhaps to
conceal the falsehood of them the discovery of which would have
prevented their having any mischievous effects. This is the Game which
we have reason to believe they are now playing; With so much Secrecy
as may render it impossible for us fully to detect them on this Side
of the Water; How deplorable then must be our Condition, if ample
Credit is to be given to their Testimonies against us, by the Government
at home, and if the Names of our Accusers are to be kept a profound
Secret, and the World is to see only such parts or parcells of their
Representations as Persons, who perhaps may be interested in their
favor, shall think proper to hold up--Such a Conduct, if allowed,
seems to put it into the Power of a Combination of a few designing
men to deceive a Nation to its Ruin. The measures which have been
taken in Consequence of Intelligence Managed with such secrecy,
have already to a very great degree lessened that Mutual Confidence
which had ever Subsisted between the Mother Country and the Colonies,
and must in the Natural Course of things totally alienate their
Affections towards each other and consequently weaken, and in the
End destroy the power of the Empire. It is in this extended View
of things that our minds are affected--It is from these Apprehensions
that we earnestly wish that all communication between the two Countries
of a public nature may be unvailed before the public: with the names
of the persons who are concerned therein, then and not till then will
American affairs be under the direction of honest men, who are never
afraid or ashamed of the light. And as we have abudent reason to be
jealous that the most mischievous and virulent accounts have been
very lately sent to Administration from Castle William where the
Commissioners have again retreated for no reason that we can conceive
but after their former manner to misrepresent and injure this Town and
Province,--we earnestly intreat that you would use your utmost influence
to have an Order passed that the whole of the packetts sent by the
Commissioners of the Customs and others under the care of one Mr Bacon
late an officer of the Customs in Virginia, who took his passage the
last week in the Brigantine Lydia Joseph Wood Commander may be laid
before his Majesty in Council--
If the Writers of those Letters shall appear to be innocent, no harm
can possibly arise from such a measure; if otherwise, it may be the
means of exploring the true Cause of the National and Collonial
Malady, and of affording an easy remedy, and therefore the measure
must be justified & applauded by all the World.
We have observed in the English Papers, the most notorious falsehoods
published with an apparent design to give the World a prejudice
against this Town, as the Aggressors in the unhappy Transaction of the
5th of March, but no account has been more repugnant to the truth,
than a paper printed in the public Advertiser3 of the 28th of April
which is called The case of Capt. Preston. As a Committee of this Town
we thought ourselves bound in faithfulness to wait on Capt Preston to
enquire of him whether he was the Author--he frankly told us that he
had drawn a state of his case, but that it had passed thro different
hands and was altered at different times, and finally the Publication
in the Advertiser was varied from that which he sent home as his own;
we then desired him to let us know whether several parts which we
might point to him and to which we took exception were his own, but he
declined Satisfying us herein, saying that the alterations were made
by Persons who he supposed might aim at serving him, though he feared
they might have a Contrary effect, and that his discriminating to us
the parts of it which were his own from those which had been altered
by others might displease his friends at a time when he might stand in
need of their essential Service; this was the Substance of the
Conversation between us, whereupon we retired and wrote to Capt
Preston a Letter the Copy of which is now inclosed.4
The next day not receiving an answer from Capt. Preston at the time we
proposed, we sent him a message desiring to be informed whether we
might expect his answer to which he replied by a Verbal Message as
ours was that he had nothing further to add to what he had said to us
the day before, as you'l please to observe by the inclosed
Certificate--
As therefore Capt Preston has utterly declined to make good the
charges against the Town in the Paper called his case or to let us
know to whom we may apply as the Author or Authors of those parts
which he might have disclaimed, and especially as the whole of his
case thus stated directly militates not only with his own Letter
published under his hand in the Boston Gazette, but with the
depositions of others annexed to our Narrative which were taken, not
behind the Curtain as some may have been, but openly and fairly, after
notifying the Parties interested, and before Magistrates to whose
credit the Governor of the Province has given his full attestation
under the Province Seal, we cannot think that the Paper called the
Case of Capt. Thomas Preston, or any other Paper of the like import
can be deemed in the opinion of the sensible and impartial part of
mankind as sufficient, in the least degree to prejudice the Character
of the Town. It is therefore altogether needless for us to point out
the many falsehoods contained in this Paper; nor indeed would there be
time for it at present for the reason above mentioned--We cannot
however omit taking notice of the artifice made use of by those who
drew up the statement, in insinuating that it was the design of the
People to plunder the King's Chest, and for the more easily effecting
that to murder the Centinel posted at the Custom House where the money
was lodged. This intelligence is said to have been brought to Capt
Preston by a Townsman, who assured him that he heard the mob declare
they would murder the Centinel.--The townsman probably was one
Greenwood a Servant to the Commissioners whose deposition Number 96.5
is inserted among others in the Narrative of the Town and of whom it
is observed in a Marginal Note, that: "Through the whole of his
examination he was so inconsistent, and so frequently contradicted
himself, that all present were convinced that no credit ought to be
given to his deposition, for which reason it would not have been
inserted had it not been known that a deposition was taken relating to
this affair, from this Greenwood by Justice Murray and carried home by
Mr. Robinson," and further "this deponent is the only person, out of a
great number of Witnesses examined, who heard anything mentioned of
the Custom House." Whether this part of the Case of Capt Preston was
inserted by himself or some other person we are not told. It is very
much to be questioned whether the information was given by any other
than Greenwood himself, and the sort of Character which he bears is so
well known to the Commissioners and their Connections some of whom
probably assisted Capt Preston in stating his Case, as to have made
them ashamed if they regarded the truth, to have given the least
credit to what he said.--Whoever may have helped them to this
intelligence, we will venture to say, that it never has been and never
can be supported by the Testimony of any Man of a tolerable
reputation. We shall only observe upon this occasion, how inveterate
our Enemies here are, who, rather than omit what they might think a
lucky opportunity of Slandering the Town, have wrought up a Narrative
not only unsupported by, but contrary to the clearest evidence of
facts and have even prevailed upon an unhappy Man under pretence of
friendship to him, to adopt it as his own: Though they must have known
with a common share of understanding, that it's being published to the
world as his own must have injured him, under his present
Circumstances, in the most tender point, and so shocked was Capt
Preston himself, at its appearing in the light on this side the Water,
that he was immediately apprehensive so glaring a falsehood would
raise the indignation of a people to such a pitch as to prompt them to
some attempts that would be dangerous to him, and he accordingly
applyed to Mr Sheriff Greenleaf for special protection on that
account: But the Sheriff assuring him that there was no such
disposition appearing among the People (which is an undoubted truth)
Capt Preston's fears at length subsided: and he still remains in safe
custody, to be tried by the Superior Court of Judicature, at the next
term in August; unless the Judges shall think proper further to
postpone the Trial, as they have done for one whole term, since he was
indicted by the Grand Jury.
Before we conclude it may not be improper to observe that the removal
of the troops was in the Slowest order, insomuch that eleven days were
spent in carrying the two Regiments to Castle Island, which had before
landed in the Town in less than forty eight hours; yet in all this
time, while the number of the Troops was daily lessening, not the
least disorder was made by the inhabitants, tho' filled with a just
indignation and horror at the blood of their fellow Citizens, so
inhumanely spilt! And since their removal the Common Soldiers, have
frequently and even daily come up to the Town for necessary
provisions, and some of the officers, as well as several of the
families of the soldiers have resided in the Town and done business
therein without the least Molestation; yet so hardy have our Enemies
been as to report in London that the enraged populace had hanged up
Capt Preston.
The strange and irreconcileable conduct of the Commissioners of the
Customs since the 5th of March--their applying for leave to retire to
the Castle as early as the tenth, and spending their time in making
excursions into the Country 'till the 20th of June following, together
with other material Circumstances, are the subject of our present
enquiry; the result of which you will be made acquainted with by the
next conveyance. In the mean time we remain with strict truth.--
Sir
Your much obliged
and most Obedient Servants
THOMAS CUSHING,WM PHILLIPS,
RI DANA,WM MOLINEUX,
SAML ADAMS,EBENEZER STORER,
JOHN HANCOCK,WM GREENLEAF
1Under the date of March 23, 1770, James Bowdoin, Samuel Pemberton and
Joseph Warren, as a committee of the town of Boston, wrote to Lord
Dartmouth, enclosing a narrative of the events of March 5 and a
certified copy of the vote of town, on March 22, directing them to
transmit the printed narrative. The original letter is No. 320 of Lord
Dartmouth's American MSS., at Patshull House. The text of the same
letter, which was addressed to the Duke of Richmond and others, is in
A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston, New York, 1849.
(This is reprinted, with notes by John Doggett, Jr., from a copy of
the original edition of 1770, in the library of the New York
Historical Society. Another reprint, with notes by Frederic Kidder,
was published at Albany, 1870.) The Additional Observations to a Short
Narrative, 1770, are reprinted by Doggett, pp. 109-117. Cf.,
Proceedings of Colonial Society of Massachusetts, April 1900, pp.
13-21.
2The town of Boston, on July 10, 1770, appointed a committee of nine,
including Adams, Hancock, Dana, Cushing and Joseph Warren, to prepare
a "true state" of the town and of the acts of the commissioners since
March 5.
3Published in London. The "Case" was also printed in the Annual
Register, 1771. Cf., Boston Gazette, June 25, 1770.
4Under date of July II, 1770. A copy is in S. A. Wells, Samuel Adams
and the American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 230-232.
5The affidavit of Thomas Greenwood, sworn to March 24, 1770, is
printed in Doggett's edition of the Short Narrative, pp. e Short
Narrative, pp.101-103.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS TO THE LIEUTENANT
GOVERNOR.
[MS., Boston Public Library; a text, with many modifications of
detail, is in Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 240-248; it was also
printed in the Boston Gazette, August 6, 1770.]
In the House of Representatives August the 3 1770
Orderd that Mr Hancock Cap Thayer Mr Pickerin Cap Fuller and Cap
Sumner carry up to the Honbl Board the following Answer of this House
to his Honors Speech to both Houses at the opening of this Session
THOMAS CUSHING Spkr
1 May it please your Honor
The House of Representatives, having duly attended to your Speech2 to
both Houses at the Opening of this Session, and maturely considerd the
several parts of it, have unanimously, in a full House determind to
adhere to their former Resolution "that it is by no means expedient to
proceed to Business, while the General Assembly is thus constraind to
hold the Session out of the Town of Boston." Upon a Recollection of
the Reasons we have before given for this measure, we conceive it will
appear to all the World, that neither the good People of this
Province, nor the House of Representatives can be justly chargd with
any ill Consequences that may follow it. After the most repeated &
attentive Examination of your Speech, we find Nothing to induce us to
alter our Opinion, and very little that is new & material in the
Controversy: But as we perceive it is publishd, it may possibly be
read by some who have never seen the Reasons of the House; and as
there are specious things containd in it, which may have a Tendency to
make an unhappy Impression on some minds, we have thought proper to
make a few Observations upon it.
You are pleasd to say, "you meet us at Cambridge, because you have no
Reason to think there has been any Alteration in his Majestys
Pleasure, which you doubt not was determind by wise motives, & with a
gracious Purpose to promote the Good of the province." We presume not
to call in Question the Wisdom of our Sovereign or the Rectitude of
his Intentions: But there have been Times, when a corrupt and
profligate Administration have venturd upon such Measures, as have had
a direct Tendency, to ruin the Interest of the People as well as that
of their Royal Master.
This House have great Reason to doubt, whether it is, or ever was his
Majestys Pleasure that your Honor should meet the Assembly at
Cambridge, or that he has ever taken the matter under his Royal
Consideration: Because, the common and the best Evidence in such
Cases, is not communicated to us.
It is needless for us to add any thing to what has been heretofore
said, upon the Illegality of holding the Court any where except in the
Town of Boston: For admitting the Power to be in the Governor to hold
the Court in any other place when the publick Good requires it; yet,
it by no means follows that he has a Right to call it at any other
place, when it is to the manifest Injury & Detriment of the Publick
The Opinion of the Attourney and Solicitor General has very little
Weight with this House in any Case, any farther than the Reasons which
they expressly give are convincing. This Province has sufferd so much
by unjust, groundless & illegal Opinions of those officers of the
Crown, that our Veneration or Reverence for their Opinions is much
abated. We utterly deny that the Attuorny & Solicitor General have any
Authority or Jurisdiction over us; any Right to decide Questions in
Controversy, between the several Branches of the Legislature here: Nor
do we concede, that even his Majesty in Council has any Constitutional
Authority to decide such Questions, or any other Controversy whatever
that arises in this Province, excepting only such Matters as are
reservd in the Charter. It seems a great Absurdity, that when a
Dispute arises between the Governor and the House, the Governor should
appeal to his Majesty in Council to decide it. Would it not be as
reasonable for the House to appeal to the Body of their Constituents
to decide it? Whenever a Dispute has arisen within the Realm, between
the Crown & the two Houses of Parliament, or either of them, was it
ever imagind that the King in his privy Council had Authority to
decide it? However there is a Test, a Standard common to all, we mean
the publick Good. But your Honor must be very sensible that the
Illegality of holding the Court in any other place besides the Town of
Boston is far from being the only Dispute between your Honor & this
House: we contend, that the People & their Representatives have a
Right to withstand the abusive Exercise of a legal & constitutional
Prerogative of the Crown. We beg Leave to recite to your Honor what
the Great Mr Locke has advancd in his Treatise of civil Government,
upon the like Prerogative of the Crown. "The old Question, says he,
will be asked in this matter of Prerogative, who shall be Judge when
this Power is made a right Use of?" And he answers, "Between an
executive Power in being with such a Prerogative, and a Legislature
that depends upon his Will for their convening, there can be no Judge
on Earth, as there can be none between the Legislative & the People,
should either the Executive or Legislative when they have got the
Power in their Hands, design or go about to enslave or destroy them.
The People have no other Remedy in this, as in all other Cases, where
they have no Judge on Earth, but to appeal to Heaven. For the Rulers,
in such Attempts, exercising a Power the People never put into their
Hands (who can never be supposd to consent that any Body should rule
over them for their Harm) do that which they have not a Right to do.
And when the Body of the People or any single Man is deprivd of their
Right, or under the Exercise of a Power without Right, and have no
Appeal on Earth, then they have a Liberty to appeal to Heaven whenever
they judge the Cause of sufficient moment. And therefore, tho the
People cannot be judge, so as to have by the Constitution of that
Society any superior Power to determine and give effective Sentence in
the Case; yet they have by a Law antecedent & paramount to all
positive Laws of men, reservd that ultimate Determination to
themselves which belongs to all Mankind where there lies no Appeal on
Earth viz to judge whether they have just Cause to make their Appeal
to Heaven." We would however, by no means be understood to suggest
that this People have Occasion at present to proceed to such
Extremity.
Your Honor is pleasd to say, "that the House of Representatives in the
year 1728, did not think the Form of the Writ, sufficient to justify
them in refusing to do Business at Salem"; It is true they did not by
any Vote or Resolve determine not to do Business yet the House, as we
read in your Honors History, "met and adjournd from Day to Day without
doing Business";3 and we find by the Records, that from the 31 of
October 1728 to the 14th of December following the House did meet and
adjourn without doing Business; And then they voted to proceed to the
publick & necessary Affairs of the province "provided no Advantage be
had or made, for and by Reason of the aforesaid Removal (meaning the
Removal to Salem) or pleaded as a precedent for the future." Yet your
Honor has been pleasd to quote the Conduct of that very House, as a
precedent for our Imitation. We apprehend their proceeding to
Business, & the Consequences of it viz, the Encouragement it gave to
Governor Burnet to go on with his Design of harrassing them into
unconstitutional Compliances, and the Use your Honor now makes of it
as an Authority and a Precedent, ought to be a Warning to this House
to make a determind & effectual Stand. Their Example, tho respectable,
is not obligatory upon this House.--They lived in times, when the
Encroachments of Despotism were in their Infancy.--They were carried
to Salem, by the mere Caprice of Governor Burnet, who never pleaded an
Instruction for doing this--An Instruction from a Ministry who had
before treated them with unexampled Indignity--An Instruction which
they were not permitted to see. They had no Reason to apprehend a fixd
Design to alter the Seat of Government, to their great Inconvenience
and the manifest Injury of the Province.
We are not disposd to dispute the Understanding, Integrity, Familys &
Estates of the Council in 1728. We believe them to have been such,
that if they were now upon the Stage, they would see so many
additional & more weighty Reasons against proceeding to Business out
of Boston, that they would fully approve of the Resolution of this
House; as well as of what has been lately advancd by their Successors,
who are also Gentlemen of Understanding, Integrity, Fortune and
Family, in the following Words; "Governor Burnets Conduct in convening
the General Court out of Boston, cannot be deemd an acknowlegd or
constitutional Precedent, because, it was not founded on the only
Reason on which the Prerogative of the Crown can be justly founded,
The Good of the Community." We shall only add, that the Rights of the
province having been of late years most severely attackd, has inducd
Gentlemen to examine the Constitution more thorowly, & has increasd
their Zeal in its Defence.