prove so in its consequences, how remote I will not take upon me to
predict) upon the news of the passing of another revenue act, the
colonies immediately took such measures as were dictated to them, not
by passion and rude clamour, but by the voice of reason and a just
regard to the safety of themselves and their posterity. The assembly
of this province, being the first I suppose who had the opportunity of
meeting, prepared and forwarded a humble, dutiful & loyal petition to
the King1 and wrote letters to such of the British nobility2 and
gentry as had before discovered themselves friends to the rights of
America & of mankind, beseeching their interposition and influence on
their behalf. At the same time they wrote a circular letter to each of
the other colonies3, letting them know the steps they had taken and
desiring their advice & joint Assistance - This letter had its
different effects; on the one hand, in the deep resentment of my Lord
of Hillsborough, who was pleased to call it "a measure of an
inflamatory nature - Evidently tending to create unwarrantable
combinations, to excite an unjustifiable opposition to the
constitutional authority of parliament and to revive unhappy divisions
and distractions," &c. While on the other hand, the colonies, as
appears by their respective polite answers, receiv'd it with the
highest marks of approbation, as a token of sincere affection to them,
& a regard to the common safety; and they severally proceeded to take
concurrent measures. No one step I believe, united the colonies
more than this letter; excepting his lordship's endeavors by his
own circular letter to the colonies, to give it a different turn -
But however decent and loyal -However warrantable by or rather
conformable to the spirit and the written rules of the British
constitution, the petitions of right and other applications of the
distressed Americans were, they shared the same fate which those
of London, Westminster, Middlesex, & other great cities & counties
have since met with! No redress of grievances ensued: Not even the
least disposition in administration to listen to our petitions;
which is not so much to be wondered at, when we consider the
temper of the ministry, which was incessantly acted upon by
Governor Bernard in such kind of language as this "The authority
of the King, the supremacy of parliament, the superiority of
government are the real objects of the attack"; while nothing is
more certain, than that the house of representatives of this
province in their petition to the king, and in all their letters,
that in particular which was address'd to the other colonies, the
sentiment of which was recogniz'd by them, expressly declare,
"that his Majesty's high court of parliament is the supreme
legislative power over the whole empire, in all cases which can
consist with the fundamental rights of the constitution," and that
"it was never questioned in this province, nor as they conceive in
any other." They indeed in all their letters insist upon the right
of granting their own money, as a right founded in nature, the
exercise of which no man ever relinquished to another & remain'd
free - A right therefore which no power on earth, not even the
acknowledged supreme legislative power over the whole empire hath
any authority to divest them of - "The supreme power says Mr.
Locke, is not, nor can possibly be absolutely arbitrary, over the
lives and fortunes of the people - The supreme power cannot take
from any man any part of his property without his own consent. For
the preservation of property being the end of government, and that
for which men enter into society; it necessarily supposes and
requires that the people should have property, without which they
must be supposed to lose that by entering into society, which was
the end for which they entered into it. Men therefore in society
having property, they have such a right to the goods which by the
law of the community are theirs, that no body hath a right to take
their substance or any part of it from them without their consent.
Without this, they have no property at all: For I have truly no
property in that, which another can by right take from me when he
pleases, against my consent" - These are the principles upon which
alone, the Americans founded their opposition to the late acts of
parliament. How then could governor Bernard with any colour of
truth declare to a minister of state in general terms, that "the
authority of the King, the supremacy of parliament, the
superiority of government, were the objects of the attack?" Upon
the principles of reason and nature, their opposition is
justifiable: For by those acts the property of the Colonists is
taken from them without their consent. It is by no means
sufficient to console us, that the duty is reduced to the single
article of Tea, which by the way is not a fact; but if it should
be admitted, it is because the parliament for the present are
pleased to demand no more of us: Should we acquiesce in their
taking three pence only because they please, we at least tacitly
consent that they should have the sovereign controul of our
purses; and when they please they will claim an equal right, and
perhaps plead a precedent for it, to take a shilling or a pound -
At present we have the remedy in our own hands; we can easily
avoid paying the TRIBUTE, by abstaining from the use of those
articles by which it is extorted from us: - and further, we can
look upon our haughty imperious taskmasters, and all those who are
sent here to aid and abet them, together with those sons of
servility, who from very false notions of politeness, can seek and
court opportunities of cringing and fawning at their feet, of
whom, thro' favor, there are but few among us: we may look down
upon all these, with that sovereign contempt and indignation, with
which those who feel their own dignity and freedom, will for ever
view the men, who would attempt to reduce them to the disgraceful
state of SLAVERY.
I shall continue to send you an account of facts, as my leisure
will admit. In the mean time,
I am yours,
CANDIDUS.
1 Vol. I., page 162.
2 Vol. I., pages 152, i66, 169, 173, 180.
3 Vol. I., page 184.
ARTICLE SIGNED "CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, September 16, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
1 have already mentioned the circular letter written by the house
of representatives of this province to the other colonies, dated
the 11th of February, 1768; and the very different treatment it
met with from the Earl of Hillsborough and the respectable bodies
to whom it was addressed. And also the circular letter which his
lordship himself was pleased to send to those colonies, wherein he
recommended to them "to treat it with the contempt it deserved " -
But as the sentiments contained in the letter of the house were so
exactly similar to those of the other colonies, and the subject of
it was of equal importance to them all, it was not in the power of
his lordship to efface the impressions it made, or to disturb that
harmony which was the happy effect of it - Vis unita fortior -
That union of the colonies in their common danger, by which they
became powerful, was the occasion of the greatest perplexity to
their enemies on both sides the atlantick; and it has been ever
since their constant endeavor by all manner of arts to destroy it.
In this, it must be confess'd, they have discovered an unanimity, zeal
and
perseverance, worthy to be imitated by those who are embark'd in
the cause of American freedom. - It is by united councils, a
steady zeal, and a manly fortitude, that this continent must
expect to recover its violated rights and liberties.
Such was the resentment which the circular letter enkindled in the
breasts of administration, that it was immediately followed by a
Mandate from lord Hillsborough to governor Bernard, to require the
succeeding house to rescind the resolution which had given birth to
it, upon pain of a dissolution of the assembly in case of a refusal. -
Governor Bernard added to the severity of this mandate by assuring the
house in a message to them, that "if he should be obliged to dissolve
the general court, he should not think himself at liberty to call
another, till he should receive his Majesty's command for that
purpose." - It appeared that administration had been greatly
misinformed with regard to the circumstances of this resolution of the
house, particularly in a representation that it was brought on when
the members present were few, and at the end of the session; and that
it was therefore a very unfair proceeding procured by surprize and
contrary to the real sense of the house - But the house made it
evident in their letter to his lordship afterwards, from their own
minutes and journals, that it was the declared sense of a large
majority when the house was full - It was the constant practice of
governor Bernard and his adherents, to represent the opposition of the
house to the pernicious designs of the enemies of the colonies,
which generally consisted of full three quarters of the members
and sometimes more, as the feeble efforts of an expiring faction.
This direct and peremptory requisition, of a new and strange
constructure, and so strenuously urg'd by the governor, was taken
into consideration by the house, on the next day after it was laid
before them; and as is usual in all matters of importance, was
then referred to a large committee further to consider it, and
report their opinion of what was expedient to be done: As the
governor had assured the house in his message, that "their
resolution thereon would have the most important consequences to
the province," the committee were the more deliberate in their
consultations; very reasonably expecting, that after such an
assurance given to the house, the governor would indulge them with
sufficient time thoroughly to digest it.However sanguine the
expectation of lord Hills-borough might be, through the artful
insinuation of governor Bernard that, the "attempts of a desperate
faction (as his lordship expressed it) would be discountenanced,
and that the execution of the measure recommended would not meet with
any
difficulty;" the governor himself, who was fully acquainted with
the sentiments of the house, as well as of the generality of the
people without doors, had no "grounds to hope" that the requisition
would be comply'd with; and therefore as a dissolution was to be the
immediate consequence of a refusal, and as his lordship had directed
the governor to "transmit to him an account of their proceedings to be
laid before his Majesty, to the end that his Majesty might, if he
tho't proper, lay the whole matter before his parliament," it might
have been well supposed that a longer time was necessary for them to
state the reasons of their own conduct, and to set the transactions of
the former house, which had been grossly misrepresented, in a true
point of light, in order to vindicate themselves, when their whole
proceedings should be laid before his Majesty and the parliament.
But before the committee were ready to make their report, the
governor sent down a message to the house, signifying that it was
full a week since he had laid his Majesty's requisition before
them, and that he could not admit of a much longer delay, without
considering it as an answer in the negative - Upon which the
house, being desirous that the sense of the people concerning this
important matter might be known as explicitly as possible, which
would also have determined beyond all doubt, their sense of the
revenue acts, and the opposition made to them by the American
assemblies, requested a recess of the general court, that they
might have the opportunity of taking the instructions of their
constituents. But though his lordship in his letter to the
governor, express'd a satisfaction in "that spirit of decency and
love of order which has discovered itself in the conduct of the
most considerable of the inhabitants of the province;" and the
governor himself in his speech at the close of the preceeding
assembly, insinuated that matters had been conducted by a party in
the house; and declared that "the evils which threatened this
injured country, arose from the machinations of a few, very few
discontented men" - "false patriots who were sacrificing their
country to the gratification of their own passions," and that it
was "by no means to be charged upon the generality of the people,"
yet he did not think it proper to comply with the request of the
house for a recess, that the sentiment of the generality of" this
good people," as he calls them in this same speech, might be
taken. Had he not the fairest opportunity upon this motion of the
house, if there had been any grounds for his representations that
the opposition to the revenue acts was confined to a few, very few
discontented men, to have made it evident beyond all contradiction?
But he dared not rest the matter upon this issue: He knew very well
that it would put an end to his darling topic; and that the
determination of the generality of the people, would put it out of his
power any longer to hold up an expiring faction to administration with
success - A low piece of cunning, of which he was a perfect master,
and which he had constantly practiced to induce them to a perseverance
in their measures.
On the 30th June 1768, the committee, having maturely considered
the requisition made to the house in its nature and consequences
reported a letter to the Earl of Hillsborough1 his Majesty's
secretary of state for the American department, and laid it on the
table; wherein they observe to his lordship, that a requisition of
such a nature, to a British house of commons had been very unusual
and perhaps altogether unprecedented since the revolution: That
some very aggravated representations must have been made to his
Majesty of the resolution of the former house, to induce him to
require this house to rescind it, upon pain of forfeiting their
existence - That the people in this province had attended with anxiety
to the acts of the British parliament for raising a revenue in America
- That this concern was not limited within the circle of a few
inconsiderate persons; the most respectable for fortune, rank and
station, as well as probity and understanding in the province,
with very few exceptions, being alarm'd with apprehensions of the
fatal consequences, of a power exercised in any part of the
British empire, to command and apply the property of their fellow
subjects at discretion: That as all his Majesty's North American
subjects were alike affected by those revenue acts, the former
house very justly supposed that each of the assemblies on the
continent would take such methods of obtaining redress as should
be thought by them respectively to be regular and proper; and
being desirous that the several applications should harmonize with
each other, they resolved on their circular letter; wherein they
only acquainted their sister colonies with the measures they had
taken, without calling upon them to adopt those measures or any
other - That this was perfectly consistent with the constitution, and
that, so far from being criminal, or a measure "of an inflammatory
nature,' it had a natural tendency to compose his majesty's subjects
in the colonies, till they should obtain relief; at a time when it
seem'd to be the evident design of a party, they might have said a
faction, to prevent calm, deliberate, rational and constitutional
measures being pursued, or to stop the distresses of the people
from reaching his Majesty's ear, and consequently to precipitate
them into a state of desperation. They therefore leave it to his
lordship's impartial judgment, whether the representations that
had been made of this resolution, were not injurious to the house,
and an affront to his Majesty himself. And after proceeding to
give his lordship a full detail of all the circumstances relating
to the resolution which gave birth to the circular letter, and
which they were required to rescind, they add, that they rely upon
it that to petition his Majesty will not be deemed by him to be
inconsistent with the British constitution; that to acquaint their
fellow subjects, involved in the same distress, even if they had
invited the union of all America in one joint supplication, would not
be discountenanced by his Majesty as a "measure of an inflammatory
nature;" and that "when his lordship shall injustice lay a true state
of those matters before his Majesty, he will no longer consider them
as tending to create unwarrantable combinations, or to excitte an
unjustifiable opposition to the constitutional authority of
parliament." This is the substance of the letter; which being
twice read in the house, was accepted by a large majority of
ninety-two out of one hundred and five members, and ordered to be
transmitted by the speaker to his lordship as soon as might be.
After which it was immediately mov'd, that the question be put,
Whether the house would rescind the resolution of the last house
which gave birth to the circular letter; and the question being
accordingly put, it pass'd in the negative, there appearing on a
division upon the question to be seventeen yeas and ninety-two nays.
Thus the house determined upon as extraordinary a mandate as
perhaps was ever laid before a free assembly. - It is to us, said
the house in their message to the governor, altogether
incomprehensible, that we should be required on the peril of a
dissolution of the great and general court or assembly of this
province, to rescind a resolution of a former house of
representatives, when it is evident that such resolution has no
existence, but as a mere historical fact. Your excellency must
know, that the resolution referred to, is, to speak in the language of
the common law, not now "executory," but to all intents and purposes
"executed." The circular letter has been sent and answered by many of
the colonies: These answers are now in the public papers; the public
will judge of the proposals, purposes and answers. We could as well
rescind those letters as the resolves; and both would be equally
fruitless, if by rescinding, as the word properly imports, is meant a
repeal and nullifying of the resolution referred to. But if, as is
most probable, by the word, rescinding, is intended the passing a vote
of this house, in direct and express disapprobation of the measure
above mentioned, as "illegal, inflammatory and tending to promote
unjustifiable combinations" against his Majesty's peace, crown and
dignity, we take the liberty to testify and publickly to declare, that
it is the native, inherent and indefeasible right of the subject,
jointly or severally, to petition the King for the redress of
grievances. - And we are clearly and very firmly of Opinion that the
petition of the late dutiful and loyal house, and the other very
orderly applications for the redress of grievances, have had the most
desirable tendencies and effects - In another part they say, "we
cannot but express our deep concern, that a measure of the late house
in all respects so innocent, in most so virtuous and laudable, and as
we conceive, so truly patriotic, should be represented to
administration in the odious light of a party and factious
measure," and finally they say, that in refusing to comply with
the requisition, "they have been actuated by a conscientious and a
clear and determined sense of duty to God, their King, their
country, and their latest posterity." This determination of the
house gave general satisfaction, not only to the people of this
province, but of the other colonies also; as well as the friends
of liberty in Britain. It was spoken of by all except the
disappointed few, with great applause. Indeed the essential rights
of all were involved in the question: A different determination
would therefore have been to the last degree infamous and attended
with fatal consequences. Not only the right of the subjects
jointly to petition for the redress of grievances which all alike
suffer, but also that of communicating their sentiments freely to
each other upon the subject of grievances, and the means of
redress, which was the sole purport of the circular letter, would
in effect have been given up. I have often thought that in this
time of common distress, it would be the wisdom of the colonists,
more frequently to correspond with, and to be more attentive to
the particular circumstances of each other. It seems of late to
have been the policy of the enemies of America to point their
artillery against one province only; and artfully to draw off the
attention of the other colonies, and if possible to render that
single province odious to them, while it is suffering ministerial
vengeance for the sake of the common cause. But it is hoped that
the colonies will be aware of this artifice. At this juncture an
attempt to subdue one province to despotic power, is justly to be
considered as an attempt to enslave the whole. The colonies "form
one political body, of which each is a member." -The liberties of
the whole are invaded - It is therefore the interest of the whole
to support each individual with all their weight and influence.
When the legislative of the colony of New-York was suspended, the
house of representatives of this province consider'd it "as
alarming to all the colonies;" and bore their testimony against
it, in a letter to their agent, the sentiments of which they
directed him to make known to his Majesty's ministers. - That
suspension, says the patriotic Pennsylvania Farmer, is a
parliamentary assertion of the supreme authority of the British
legislature over these colonies in point of taxation; and is
intended to COMPEL New-York into a submission to that authority.
It seems therefore to me as much a violation of the liberty of the
people of that province, and consequently of all these Colonies,
as if the Parliament had sent a number of regiments (which has
since been the fate of this province) to be quartered upon them
till they should comply. - Whoever, says he, seriously considers
the matter, must perceive, that a dreadful stroke is aimed at the
liberty of these Colonies: For the cause of one is the cause of
all. If the parliament may lawfully deprive New-York of any of its
Rights, it may deprive any or all the other Colonies of their
Rights; and nothing can so much encourage such attempts, as a
mutual inattention to the interests of each other. To divide and
thus to destroy, is the first political maxim in attacking those
who are powerful by their union. - When Mr. Hampden's ship money
cause for three shillings and four pence was tried, all the people
of England, with anxious expectation, interested themselves in the
important decision: And when the slightest point touching the
freedom of a single Colony is agitated, I earnestly wish, that all
the rest may with equal ardour support their sister. - These are
the generous sentiments of that celebrated writer, whom several
have made feeble attempts to answer, but no one has yet done it.
May the British American Colonies be upon their guard; and take
care lest by a mutual inattention to the interest of each other,
they at length become supine and careless of the grand cause of
American Liberty, and finally fall a prey to the MERCILESS HAND OF
TYRANNY.
I am,
Your's,
CANDIDUS.
1Vol. I., page 219.
ARTICLE SIGNED "CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, September 23, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,