USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of Boston, the metropolis of Massachusetts, from its origin to the present period; with some account of the environs > Part 30
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A justices' court was forthwith held, and Capt. Preston surrendered himself, and was committed to prison at three, the next morning : the eight soldiers also were committed early in the forenoon.
At eleven o'clock a town meeting was held. Various per- sons related to the assembly, what they had witnessed of the events of the preceding day. A committee of fifteen was ap- pointed to wait on the Lieut. Governour and Col. Dalrymple, and express to them the sentiment of the town, that it was impossible for the soldiers and inhabitants to live in safety to- gether, and their fervent prayer for the immediate removal of the former. The answer received to this application was not such as was wished ; and in the afternoon, seven of the first committee (viz. John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Wm. Moli- neux, Wm. Phillips, Jos. Warren, Joshua Henshaw, and Samuel Pemberton) were again deputed with the following message : ' It is the unanimous opinion of this meeting, that the reply made to a vote of the inhabitants presented His Honour. this morning. is by no means satisfactory ; and that nothing less will satisfy them, than a total and immediate re- moval of the troops.' Samuel Adams acted as ' chairman of this delegation, and discharged its duties with an ability com- mensurate to the occasion. Col. Dalrymple was by the side 36
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of Hutchinson, who at the head of the Council received them. He at first denied that he had power to grant the request. Adams plainly, in few words, proved to him that he had the power by the charter. Hutchinson then consulted with Dal- rymple in a whisper, the result of which was, a repetition of the offer to remove one of the regiments, the 14th, which had had no part in the massacre. At that critical moment Adams showed the most admirable presence of mind. Seeming not to represent, but to personify, the universal feeling, he stretch- ed forth his arm, as if it were upheld by the strength of thou- sands, and with unhesitating promptness and dignified firm- ness replied, " If the Lieutenant-Governour, or Colonel Dul- rymple, or both together, have authority to remove one regi- ment, they have authority to remove two : and nothing short of the total evacuation of the town, by all the regular troops, will satisfy the publick mind or preserve the peace of the prov- ince." The officers, civil and military, were in reality abash- ed, before this plain committee of a democratick assembly. They knew the imminent danger that impended : the very air was filled with the breathings of compressed indignation. They shrunk, fortunately shrunk, from all the arrogance, which they had hitherto maintained. Their reliance on a standing army faltered before the undaunted, irresistible reso- lution of free unarmed citizens.'
Hutchinson consulted the Council, and they gave him their unqualified advice, that the troops should be sent out of the town. The commanding officer then pledged his wo ] of honour, that the demand of the town should be comp lied with, as soon as practicable ; and both regiments were re. ) ved to the Castle in less than fourteen days.
The funeral solemnities, which took place on Thursday, th 8th, brought together the greatest concourse, that probably had ever assembled in America on one occasion. Attucks, who was a friendless mulatto, and Caldwell, who also was a stranger, were borne from Faneuil-Hall ; Maverick, who was about 17 years old, from his mother's house in Union-street, and Gray from his brother's in Royal Exchange lane. The four hearses formed a junction in King-street, and thence the procession marched in columns of six deep through the main street to the middle burial ground, where the four victims were deposited in one sgrave.
The trial of Richardon and Wilmot for the murder of Snider came on in April. Wilmot was cleared, but Richard- son was brought in guilty of murder. The Lieut. Gov. con- sidered it so clear a case of justifiable manslaughter, that he refused to sign the warrant for his execution, and after two
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years' confinement, he was ultimately pardoned by the king .*
The traders and people had generally adhered in good faith to the agreement not to import or use imported goods. In the session of parliament this spring, a proposition was sustained for repealing the duties on all the articles except tea. Some London traders, supposing this would break up the compact, ventured to send quantities of the proscribed merchandize, and it arrived in the latter part of April.t There was no willingness in Boston to admit of a compromise. On the first intimation of the design of the ministry, new resolu- tions had been formed, and agreements signed by the ladies throughout the town, that they would drink no more of the obnoxious beverage (except in case of sickness) until all the acts were repealed. There was some tea in the cargoes that had just arrived, and nothing would satisfy the publick mind short of its all being returned. Mr. Hancock offered one of of his vessels, freight free, for the purpose, and she was load- ed with great despatch and arrived safe in London, to the amazement and chagrin of those concerned in the consignment.
At the time of the May election, the health of Mr. Otis had so far declined, in consequence of the injury he had receiv- ed, and of the constant excitement, which his devotion to pub- lick business had occasioned, that the town was therefore obliged to dispense with his services in the General Court, this year, and elected in his stead the' Hon. James Bowdoin. This gentleman was a descendant of the French Protestants, and inherited from his father a large estate, to which he did honour by his talents, his sound principles, and generous views. He had represented the town three years, previous to 1756, when he was chosen into the council, where he re- tained a seat till Gov. Bernard negatived him in 1769. At that board he had been a leading member, and ever stood in the front of opposition to what were considered the arbitrary measures of government.
The last Wednesday in May, 1770, exhibited a. novel scene. The Court was ordered to meet at, the College in Cambridge, and the Lieut. Gov. could not be persuaded to adjourn them to Boston. ' A number of gentlemen, friends.to the rights of North America,' anticipating this state of things,
.
* On the 18th of April, there was a Liberty Tree celebration in honour of John Wilkes, Esq.
In six cargoes, there was about half a common vessel's lading of various proscribed articles. B. Gaz. Ap. 23, and News Letter, Sept. 13, 1770.
# Mr. Bowdoin was again chosen counsellor, and, unexpectedly, Mr. Hutchinson suffered him to go into that board : Mr. John Adams was chosen to supply his place as a represen- oative.
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made preparations for celebrating this annual festival of our fathers in its ancient seat. In the morning, the attention of people was attracted to the Common, by the roasting of an ox, which had been carried through the town, the day before, dressed with garlands of ribbons and flowers. Religious ser- vices were performed at noon : Mr. Samuel Mather, ' a wor- thy descendant of those christian patriots, Increase and Cotton,' made the prayers, and Dr. Chauncy, 'that inflexi- ble assertor of our civil and religious rights,' preached the sermon. A dinner at Faneuil-Hall, and the distribution of the ox among the poor concluded the day.
The melancholy result of the affray at Lillie's did not deter the violent part of the town from attacking another of the Importers. Two or three brothers, by the name of M. Masters, kept shop in King-street, at the corner of Pudding-lane, (late Abiel Smith, esq.'s house,) where they made bold to sell teas or broadcloth to the tories, and arms and ammunition to the whigs, as best suited their interest. But their good servi- ces in the last did not screen them from vengeance for their offence in the first. One of them was taken on the 19th of June, and carted, in the heat of the day, from the South-end, with a bag of feathers and some tar in a barrel at his side, towards King-street, where it was intended to expose him to publick view, besmeared with the one and coated with the other. But as he drew near to the spot, his colour forsook his lips, his eye sunk, and he was about to fall lifeless in the cart, when some gentlemen compassionated his case, so far as to beg permission to take him into a house. Cordials were exhibited, and M'Masters revived ; and on a solemn promise never to return, he was excused from ' this new-invented mode of punishment,' and carted, sitting in a chair, to the Roxbury line, where he was dismissed with hearty cheers.
The trial of Capt. Preston and the soldiers seemed to be unnecessarily delayed, and some apprehensions were mur- mured, that they might be rescued by government from the hand of the law. In September, the Castle, which had hith- erto been in charge of a province garrison, was by order from England delivered by the Lieut. Gov. into the command of Col. Dalrymple, and the absence of troops from the town was compensated by the presence of six ships of war and two schooners in the harbour. At length the trial of Capt. Preston was commenced in October. He was defended with masterly ability, by John Adams and Josiah Quincy jr. esqrs .* who, to use the words of Tudor, 'in so doing, gave a proof of that elevated genuine courage, which ennobles human na-
· Assisted by Sampson Salter Blowers, esq. in the case of the soldiers ..
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ture. For leaders on the patriotick side, the attempt, while the publick were in a state of such high exasperation, to de- fend an officer who was accused of murdering their fellow citizens, required an effort of no ordinary mind : it was made successfully, and will ever hold a distinguished rank among those causes that adorn the profession of the law ; in which a magnanimous, fearless advocate boldly espouses the side of the unfortunate, against the passions of the people, and haz- ards his own safety or fortune in the exertion.' Capt. P. was acquitted and discharged October 29th.
The soldiers were afterwards tried, and on the 8th of De- cember, six of them were found Not Guilty, and the verdict against the other two, Matthew Killroy and Hugh Montgom- cry, was ' Not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.' These two were slightly branded, and all of them liberated and sent to the Castle.
At this distance of time, we can look back and rejoice in this result, which was an honourable triumph of law and mer- cy over violence and revenge. But in that day of irritation there were many who believed the soldiers worthy of death, and regarded their acquittal as the effect of legal chicanery. Those who still bore in their own limbs the scars of wounds received on the fatal fifth of March, and those who were still mourning for the loss of their friends, could not suffer its an- niversary day to pass unnoticed. It was proposed to substi-
tute the celebration of the Boston Massacre for that of the Gunpowder plot. Accordingly when the evening arrived, in 1771, an address was delivered by Dr. Thomas Young to a collection of people at the Manufactory House .* At the north part of the town, Mr. Paul Revere (afterwards Col.) who lived in North square, had his house illuminated, and at one window exhibited a representation of Snider's ghost, at another a view of the massacre, and at a third the Genius of America in tears. The whole exhibition was so well execut- cd, that it produced a melancholy gloom and solemn silence in several thousand spectators, which was deepened by the
* This building stood where Hamilton place now does. It was selected for this occasion, because the first opposition to the soldiers had been made here in October, 1768. Mr. John Brown, having possession of the building as a tenant under the province, refused admission to the military .- The Sheriff was sent by Gov. Bernard to take possession and was refused admittance. On a third attempt he found a window open, and entered by that : upon which, the people gathered about him and made him prisoner. Notice of this being given to an officer of the regiment on the Common, a party of soldiers came and took possession of the yard and relieved the sheriff from his confinement. Mr. Brown continued obstinate : the soldiers stood guard all that day and the best part of the next, when the council declared to the governour, that they would not justify the use of force to dispossess him, and the sol- diers were withdrawn.
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dismal sound of the bells tolling from nine to ten o'clock. These were the acts of private individuals, but they proba- bly occasioned the resolution to commemorate the fifth of March in a publick way. Master James Lovell was this year appointed and delivered the first of the 'Boston Orations' on the 2d of April, and provision was made for a similar cele- bration, by the timely appointment of Dr. Joseph Warren for the orator of the next year .*
CHAPTER XLIX.
" For that he has, As much as in him lies, from time to time Envied against the people, seeking means To pluck away their power."
Mr. Hutchinson had received a commission promoting him to the office of Governour on the 8th of March, 1771, and been proclaimed in customary form on the fifteenth. On the third of April, he met the General Court at Cambridge. As soon as they had opportunity, they appointed a committee to pre- sent him a verbal message requesting him to 'remove the court to its ancient and legal seat, the town of Boston.' This he declined to do, while the House denied the King's right to order the court to be held where he thought proper. A con- troversy was maintained for a long time on this subject, which served to make the governour an object of publick odium. This was not decreased by his proclamation for aid and as- sistance to a recruiting party, which arrived here on the 29th of April to enlist for His Majesty's service.1 People could not misunderstand this movement, or consider it in any other light than that of a pretext for keeping a guard in the town, to be in readiness to protect the crown officers. And they found it employed for that purpose, on occasion of a ball at Concert-hall, given by Mrs. Gambier, wife of the commander of the naval forces on this station, on the king's birth day (June 4,)
* The anniversary was observed every year till 1783, inclusive. The orators in order were, Mr. Lovell, Dr. Warren, Dr. Benja. Church, John Hancock, Dr. Warren, Rev. Peter Thacher (of Malden, at Watertown, 1776,) Benja. Ilichborn, Jona. W. Austin, Wm. Tudor, Jona. Mason Jr. Thomas Dawes Jr. Geo. R. Minot, Dr. Thomas Welsh. The orations are published in a separate volume.
t From an advertisement of Mr. Ilancock's in the B. Gazette of April 15th, it appears that the agreement not to import, had before that time become null, except as to the article of Tea on which the duty of three pence per pound was still demanded
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which was attended by the Governour and other friends .to government.
The General Court,* which was obliged again to assemble at Cambridge, found other causes of complaint. It had been decided in England that the Governour's salary should be paid by the crown, and thus he was made independent of the people. The alarm which this step occasioned was very ex- tensive, and the indignation expressed against it was couched in no equivocal terms. The language of the whigs became every day more high-toned : 'We know,' say the H. of. R. on one occasion, ' we know of no commissioners of His Majesty's customs, nor of any revenue His Majesty has a right to establish in North America.' Heretofore the complaint had been against the ministry and parliament ; we find it here against the King himself. But this increased determination in favour of liberty produced no popular tumult : Boston remained as quiet throughout the year, as it had ever been before the ar- rival of the troops, and entirely free from those petty broils, which the soldiers were always creating. 'The greatest agi- tation was occasioned, by an abortive attempt to procure an indictment against Mr. Isaiah Thomas, for an article which appeared in his Massachusetts Spy, November 14th, signed Mucius Scevola, which was said to be the most daring produc- tion ever published in America. The Spy had been estab- lished about a year in Boston, and had taken a very decided stand in favour of liberty, in a stile calculated to engage the middling class of society.t
Early in 1772 .¿ a prominent writer made the declaration, 'the dispute between the kingdom and colonies has ceased every where except in this province-We are now left in the lurch-every other colony has made its peace.' On this ground he exhorted the Massachusetts to lay aside their animosities, and submit like dutiful children to parental au- thority. Governour H. intimated the same in his messages to the General Court. This drew, from the partizans on the other side, rejoinders equally positive of the contrary. "They (the colonies) will soon put in practise their meditated plan of the United Provinces, and form an independent common-
* Mr. Otis was returned this year (1771) from Boston instead of Mr. John Adams : but his infirmities had now increased so much that he could no longer give a close and continued attention to business : he withdrew soon after from publick life, and was bereft of his rea- son, except at very short intervals, for several years before his death, which happened at Andover, May 23, 1783.
t See News Letter, Feb. 6, 1772. Bost. Gaz. March 2, May 11, July 17. Thomas' H. of P. ii. 249.
The Boston representatives, in 1772, were S. Adams, Hancock, Cushing, and William Phillips, who also served in '73 and '74.
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wealth .- That the colonies will in some future time be an independent state is morally certain-it is very near-'tis not probable that it is at the distance of fifteen years.' Again, in May, on a rumour that war was to be expected between En- gland and some European power, the people are exhorted to establish a correspondence between the several colonies and unitedly refuse supplies, unless a redress of grievances can be obtained .*
Such a war did not take place, but the people of Boston found an opportunity for commencing a union on a smaller scale, which probably led to the general union of all the col- onies. People had remonstrated firmly against the Gover- nour's receiving his salary from the crown, but they were answered only by the further indignity of putting the judges on the same footing. As soon as the news of this design reached Boston, a petition was circulated to procure a town meeting, to consult on the measures required at this critical juncture. Several meetings were held, and continued by ad- journments to Nov. 2d, when, after ineffectual application to the Governour for information on this important subject, and having obtained from him a refusal to call together the Gen- eral Court, the following proceedings took place.
' Nov. 1772. Proceedings of Town Meeting.
' It was then moved by Mr. Samuel Adams, that a Commit- tee of Correspondence be appointed, to consist of twenty-one persons --- to state the Right of these Colonists, and of this Prov- ince in particular, as men, as christians, and as subjects : to communicate and publish the same to the several towns in this province and to the world, as the sense of this town, with the infringements and violations thereof, that have been, or from time to time may be made .. Also requesting of each town a free communication of their sentiments on this subject ; and the question being accordingly put, passed in the affirmative, nem. con.
( 'Also voted, that James Otis, S. Adams, Joseph Warren, Dr. B. Church, Wm. Dennie, Wm. Greenleaf, Jos. Greenleaf, Thomas Young, Wm. Powell, Nath. Appleton, Oliver Wen- dell, John Sweetser, Josiah Quincy jr. John Bradford, Rich- ard Boynton, Wm. Mackay, Nath. Barber, Caleb Davis, Aler. Hill, Wmn. Molineux, and Robert Pierpont, be and hereby are appointed a Committee for the purpose aforesaid, and that they be desired to report to the town as soon as may be.'
The committee reported on the 19th of November an elab- orate declaration of rights, and a lucid statement of the
* June 13, 1772. The Governour removed the Court to Boston. on the opinion of the Council that he could do it consistently with his instructions.
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violations of them, of which the town ordered 600 copies to be printed and distributed, together with a circular letter to every town in the province. These town meetings were rath- er thinly attended, and the tories improved that circumstance to represent the whole in a ludicrous light. But their smiles were changed to sadness when they found that almost every town adopted the measures proposed by Boston ; and the Governour considered it so serious a subject as to be worthy of mention to the general court in his message, Jan. 6, 1773. His condemnation of the towns drew from the representatives a justification, in which they were emholdened to say to him, ' Notwithstanding. all the terrours which Your Ex. has depict- ed to us as the effects of a total independence, there is more rea- son to dread the consequences of absolute, uncontrolled pow- er, whether of a nation or a monarch, than those of a total independence.'
Following up the plan of union, the town, in their instruc- tions to their representatives, chosen in May, thus express their approbation of it :
' We recommend to your serious consideration, whether an application to the English colonies on this continent, corres- pondent to the plan proposed by our noble patriotick sister colony of Virginia (which in our opinion is a wise and salu- tary proposal,) will not secure our threatened liberties, and restore that mutual harmony and confidence between the British nation and the English colonies, so important to both, especially the former, which, if rescinded from her connexion with this continent, must eventually fall a prey to her nume- rous and jealous neighbours.'
The Virginia proposal, to which these instructions referred, was contained in Resolves, passed by the House of Burges- ses in that colony, on the twelfth of March ; and in accord- ance with that, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, on motion of Samuel Adams, appointed a committee of corres- pondence and inquiry, to consist of 15 members, ' whose business it should be to obtain the most early and authentick. intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British par- liament, or proceedings of administrations, as may relate to, or affect the British colonies in America ; and to keep up and maintain a correspondence and communication with our sister colonies, respecting these important considerations : and the re- sult of such their proceedings, from time to time, to lay before the House.' 'This was adopted (110 to 4) on the 28th of May.
On the 2d of June, (the galleries of the house being clear- ed,) a disclosure was made by Mr. Adams, relative to the dis- covery of certain letters written by Messrs. Hutchinson and Oliver, Paxton, Auchmuty, and others, in which it appeared that they had long maintained and favoured the design of in- 37
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troducing arbitrary power into this country .* In conse- quence of this discovery, the House adopted resolutions of censure, which concluded with a petition to the king for the removal of Hutchinson and Oliver from their offices.
CHAPTER L.
" I do believe
(Statist though I am none, nor like to be) That this will prove a war, and you shall hear The legions, now in Gallia, sooner landed In our not-fearing Britain, than have tidings Of any penny tribute paid." Shakspeare.
ALTHOUGH the resolution of the Americans not to pay the duty on tea, imported from England, continued firm, there was still a considerable quantity of the article consumed. It could be obtained in Holland. at a less price than the English merchants demanded, and there was no difficulty in smuggling it, on its arrival here. Not one chest in 500 had been seized for the three years past, and the custom-house officers seemed unwilling to run any risk to make a seizure. The English East India Company ascertained by very accurate informa- tion, that the annual consumption in the colonies was not less than 3,264,000 pounds, and that the net profit, which they might reasonably calculate on realizing from that quantity, after paying the duties themselves, and deducting incidental charges, would amount to £39,320 sterling. They were, therefore, induced to apply for and obtained licence (Aug. 20, 1773) to export a quantity of tea to America, not exceeding 600,000 pounds wt. 'discharged from the payment of any cus- tomsor duties whatsoever' in the kingdom, on the understanding, that they were to pay the three pence per pound duty, at the custom-houses in America.t
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