=Source.=--_Calendar of Home Office Papers, 1770-1772._ Pp. 191-193.
_Thos. Hutchinson, Governor of [Massachusetts Bay], to Lord
[Hillsborough]._
_22 Jan._--The disorders in the colonies do not seem to have been
caused by the defects in the forms or constitutions of government. They
have not prevailed in proportion as one has been under a more popular
form of government than another. They must be attributed to a cause,
common to all the colonies,--a loose, false, and absurd notion of the
nature of government, spread by designing, artful men, setting bounds
to the supreme authority, and admitting parts of the community, and
even individuals, to judge when those bounds are exceeded, and to obey
or disobey accordingly. These principles prevailing, there can be no
interior force exerted, and disorder and confusion must be the effect;
and when there is no apprehension of force from the supreme authority,
the effect is the same in the distinct parts as in the whole. Under
these circumstances measures for reforming the constitution of any
people will probably be ineffectual, and tend to increase their
disorders. The colonies were under these circumstances when he wrote
his first private letter. There was a general opinion prevailing that
they could distress the kingdom by withdrawing their commerce from it,
and that there was not the least danger of any compulsory measures. In
this colony there was room to hope for a change of circumstances, but
it was uncertain, and probably at a distance. They had just felt the
shock of that most fortunate stroke which freed the Castle from any
dependence upon the people, and kept the harbour and town of Boston
under the command of the King’s ships; but the effects did not appear.
He was striving for a just decision in the case of the soldiers, and
not without hope, but far from being certain of success. There was a
prospect of the dissolution of the confederacies against importation,
though several of the colonies appeared to be more resolute. There was
also an expectation of a rupture between Great Britain and France or
Spain, or both, which would tend to show the people their dependence
on the kingdom, and the reasonableness of their submission to the
supreme authority. He was not insensible of the peculiar defects in the
constitution of this province, and he has complained of the Council as
being under undue influence, and casting their weight into that scale
which had much too great proportion before; but was doubtful himself,
and there were others doubtful also, whether, while the body of the
people continued in the state they were then in, councillors appointed
by the Crown would dare to undertake the trust; or, if they should do
it, whether the people in general would not refuse to submit to their
authority; and he feared the consequences of either would more than
countervail the advantages to arise merely from an alteration in the
constitution. To this must be attributed the want of determination
which appeared in his private letters, and not to any unwillingness to
trust his Lordship with his real sentiments.
The change in the temper of the people has been brought about sooner,
and to a greater degree, than anybody could expect; and they seem now
to be as well prepared to receive such a change in the constitution
as at any future time; or, if it should be deferred, they will
probably remain in tolerably good order until such time as may be
judged convenient, provided something is done in the meantime to
discover the resentment of the kingdom against their avowed principles
and practices, which shall give them cause to imagine that further
measures are to be taken with them. Such resentment has been everywhere
expected. If omitted, they will go back to their former disorders. That
wise step of changing the garrison at the Castle began their cure. In
the height of this confusion a citadel upon Fort Hill seemed also to
be necessary. Now thinks the same end is answered without it. It may,
however, be proper for the King to have the actual possession of the
spot, either by erecting a warehouse or magazine, or by making some
kind of enclosure to restrain encroachments, and yet not prevent the
inhabitants from using the place to walk and air themselves in; as they
now frequently do. There is a vote of the town for selling it. Will
watch their motions, and, if anything further is attempted, will take
public notice of it. If no further advances are made for securing good
behaviour, there certainly will be no receding. To depart suddenly
from what has been done at the Castle, &c., would be very dangerous.
Every Act of Parliament carried into execution in the colonies tends
to strengthen Government there. A firm persuasion that Parliament
is determined at all events to maintain the supreme authority is all
they want; few or none are so weak as to question the power to do it.
If Acts were passed more or less to control them every Session, they
would soon be familiarized to them; their erroneous opinions would
die away, and peace and order would revive. An Act to enable the King
to alter the bounds of the province by his commission, the charter
notwithstanding, by making the province of Main, and country east of
it, a distinct and separate province, and to annex or not, as His
Majesty should think fit, New Hampshire to the Massachusetts, or to
separate the country east of Penobscot and annex it to Nova Scotia,
might either be kept as a rod over them, or, if executed immediately,
would show a just resentment against the province for countenancing the
intrusions in the eastern country, whereby the King’s timber is exposed
to waste and havoc, and would be a striking instance of the power and
authority of Parliament. Gives his reasons for thinking that the Act
would be executed. Suggests that whenever the charter and case of the
province comes under consideration, instead of expressly declaring that
the power of electing councillors by the Assembly shall determine, the
King should be enabled by his Royal order of declaration to determine
it, and to appoint a Council instead, as he shall think proper. The
late Act permitting the issue of bills of credit at New York was
extremely well adapted to maintain the authority of Parliament.
Makes application in behalf of Capt. Phillips, the late commanding
officer, who is by far the greatest sufferer of any belonging to the
late garrison.
Is taking every measure, consistent with the honour of Government,
to reconcile civil and military, whigs and tories. They begin to be
sensible that it must be a very bad constitution indeed which is
not preferable to the savage state they have been in for some years
past.--Boston. Private. R. 30th March.
_Thos. Hutchinson, Governor of [Massachusetts Bay], to [Lord
Hillsborough]._
_25 Aug._--Mr. Henry Barnes, who lately arrived from England, has
requested him, the Governor, to cover a letter from him to his
Lordship, and to represent his sufferings and services in the cause
of Government. Has not been made acquainted with the contents of the
letter. Mr. Barnes has certainly suffered greatly by refusing to
comply with the scheme of non-importation, and by his endeavours to
support the authority of the magistrate; but in his solicitations for
compensation he shows more impatience than could be wished. Is willing
to attribute it to a mind chafed with his troubles, and impressed with
a strong sense of his merit, which he supposes to exceed that of many
others who have received the favours of Government. He complains of
his, the Governor’s, neglecting him, in not particularly recommending
his case when he went to England. Though he did not ask it, he yet
concluded it had been done in the course of public correspondence. He,
the Governor, transmitted an account of the incendiary letters, and
would have been more particular had he been requested. Thought that for
his general character, which is very good, he depended on Sir Francis
Barnard, who held him in esteem, and to whom he was more particularly
known. If there were anything in the province in his, the Governor’s,
disposal worth accepting, would give it him, but there is not.
Makes his grateful acknowledgments to his Lordship for H.M.’s warrant
to the Commissioners of the Customs for the payment of his salary. The
fund on which the warrant is charged would rise to a very large sum if
the illicit trade with Holland could be prevented.
The consumption of tea in America exceeds what anybody in England
imagines. Some suppose five-sixths of the consumption in the last two
years has been smuggled, and in Philadelphia and New York it is judged
nine-tenths. The traders make such an extravagant profit that it will
require more frequent seizures to discourage them than there is any
reason to hope for. If the India Company had continued the sale of
their teas at 2s. 2d. to 2s. 4d., as they sold them two years ago,
the Dutch trade would have been over by this time; but now that teas
are 3s. and upwards in England, the illicit trader can afford to lose
one chest in three, whereas not one in a hundred has been seized. The
custom-house officers on shore have strong inducements to do their
duty, being entitled to a proportion of one-third or more, but they
are really afraid of the rage of the people. The sea officers have of
late been more active, and Admiral Montague appears disposed to keep
out his cruisers. Doubts, however, whether this trade will ever be
discouraged in any other way than by reducing the price in England to
the exporter very near the price it is at in Holland. For want of this,
the revenue has lost, the last and present years, at least 60,000_l._
sterling, from the 3d. duty only. Believes the cruisers are capable of
doing more. Suggests that a greater proportion is necessary for the
particular officer who makes the seizure under a commission from the
Customs than what he is now entitled to. Has discovered, when he has
sworn some of the Navy officers to qualify them for their commissions
from the Customs, a great indifference and disinclination to make
themselves obnoxious to the people without any great advantage to
themselves.--Boston. R. 29th Oct.
_Thos. Hutchinson, Governor of [Massachusetts Bay], to Lord
[Hillsborough]._
_10 Sept._--In reply to his Lordship’s private letter of 30 May, not
received till he had closed his letter of the 25th August. Now submits
an estimate of the consumption of Bohea tea in America. The two towns
of Boston and Charlestown consume a chest, or about 340 lbs., per day.
The towns are not more than one-eighth, perhaps not more than one-tenth
of the province. Suppose they consume only 300 chests in the year, and
allow that they are one-eighth, it will make 2,400 chests for the
whole province. This is much short, for in the country towns there
is much more tea drunk in proportion than at Boston. This province
is not one-eighth part of the colonies; and in other Governments,
New York especially, they consume tea in much greater proportion. If
it be one-eighth, the whole continent consumes 19,200 chests, which
at 4_l._ per chest, the 3d. duty only, amounts to 76,800_l._ But the
computation is short in every part. In New York they import scarce
any other than Dutch teas. In Rhode Island and Pennsylvania it is
little better. In this province the Dutch traders are increasing. Has
frequent information of large quantities when too late; and sometimes
such persons are concerned as he thought could not have been capable
of countenancing perjury or fraud. Cannot help repeating that unless
the East India Company bring the price of tea so near to the price in
Holland as to make the profit of importing from thence not equal to
the risk, there will scarce be any imported from England. The acting
collector at Falmouth, in Casco Bay, acknowledged it to be true that
the Acts of Trade were broken every day in his district, but said the
officers on shore could not prevent it. He suggested that the only way
to prevent it was to increase the number of small schooners, and to
keep one or more constantly cruising in the bay, rigged and fitted like
schooners. “We have not virtue enough to become obnoxious to the people
merely from a sense of duty.” It seems, therefore, best to have one
officer only in each vessel with a commission from the Customs, and he
to have the command, and to be entitled to all but the King’s half of
the forfeiture; which would give him a good chance of making a small
fortune. There does not seem to be the same reason for sharing any part
among the crew or other officers as in cases of prizes taken in war,
where all their lives are exposed; for in the present case there is no
danger of resistance to an armed vessel, seeing that all the smugglers
are themselves unarmed and depend entirely on concealment.--Boston. R.
29 October.
REFORMERS IN PARLIAMENT RECOMMENDED TO SINK DIFFERENCES AND PROMOTE
UNION (1771).
=Source.=--_Letters of Junius_ (Letter LIX.). London: G. Bell and Sons.
1910. Vol. i.
_To the Printer of the “Public Advertiser,” October 5, 1771._