USA > Massachusetts > History of Massachusetts, for two hundred years: from the year 1620 to 1820 > Part 24
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Governor Hutchinson took advantage of some misunder- standing between Mr. Hancock and Mr. Samuel Adams, to court the former, and to attempt gaining him to support the administration. But Mr. Hancock declined the proposal. Whether he was wavering at all in his political course, does not appear ; the reason he offered for giving up public business for the time, was the necessity of attending to his private af- fairs. Not long after, at the session in March 1772, Mr. Han- cock, being chosen speaker of the house (pro tem. ) was approved by the governor. At the same time, Mr. Hancock and some others proposed to request the governor to remove the court to Boston, for the reason that it was inconvenient to hold it in any other place. Mr. Adams and Mr. Bowdoin were oppos- ed to requesting it for that reason alone ; and insisted, that it should be objected to holding it out of Boston merely by virtue of ministerial instructions. But Governor Hutchinson did not find Mr. Hancock sufficiently pliable. At the election, in May 1772, when he was chosen counsellor, the governor again rejected him.
When the usual proclamation for a public thanksgiving was issued in the fall of 1771, the people of Boston prevailed on the clergy of the town, and of some places in the country, to omit reading it. Their objection to it was, " that it called on the people to give thanks for the continuance of their civil and religious liberties." They said, " it was not true ; and that it would be acknowledging their political rights remained unim- paired, which all knew not to be the case. Their rights were denied and violated, and it would be mockery to thank heaven for their continuance." The people must have been sadly oppressed, or given to idle apprehensions, when they resorted to language and conduct like this.
John Hancock.
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The finances of Massachusetts, at this time, were in a favorable condition. The public funds, arising from the sale of lands, and debts due the province, were such as to render a tax unnecessary. The debt, incurred by the wars of 1755 --- 1762, had been paid. There was no excise, and impost du- ties were less onerous than formerly. From some articles the duties had been removed ; and on molasses and teas, much reduced. These articles were imported into the province, in very large quantities. The first was chiefly manufactured into rum ; and more tea was used in Massachusetts than in all the other colonies. Navigation and the fisheries continued in a prosperous state. Still the claims of the British ministry, composed of men of arbitrary principles, were such as to spread discontent and alarm through the province. There were indeed some men of liberal political views in parliament ; but they were a small minority. Some changes had been made in the administration, but tory principles prevailed ; and the policy of ministers was, to keep the colonies in entire subordination. And as Massachusetts had been most forward and most decided in opposition to the claims of ad- ministration, the chief object was to keep the province in what was called due subjection.
There were in the province, at this period, two parties of somewhat similar political opinions and views with those in England. But however oppressive government may be, it is not strictly correct, perhaps, to call its friends and supporters a party. With very few exceptions, it was true in Massachu- setts, at this period, that the measures of the British govern- ment were advocated only by officers of the crown; by the governor, the lieutenant governor, by the officers of the cus- toms, and their family connexions. They failed not to repre- sent the opposers of administration as ambitious, selfish, and factious. All discontents among the people were attributed to artful and disappointed individuals ; and the government was declared to be just and mild. But the great body of the peo- ple knew and saw enough to perceive that their oppressions were real, and their rulers were arbitrary, without trusting to any exaggerated statements. Principles were advanced and measures adopted by the administration which the people be- lieved struck at the foundation of civil liberty and threatened to destroy every vestige of political freedom. It was not a speculative pursuit ; it was not a controversy of words as to an abstract theory. A system was avowed and commenced, which must soon issue in depriving them of all the attributes of self- government, and subjecting them wholly to the caprice and
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cupidity of individuals, whose wealth and power would be in exact proportion to the degradation and sufferings of the people.
Samuel Adams was so firm and decided, yet so discreet in his opposition to the measures of the British ministry, and to the conduct of Governor Hutchinson, that it was important to the friends of administration to destroy his influence with the people. No one had a stronger hold on their confidence. He was not to be bribed or flattered. No offers were made to him of office or favor. His character was too well known to lead to such an effort. But there was an attempt to leave him out of the house, by preventing his election from Boston, in 1772. He did not stand alone, indeed, against the venal sup- porters of administration. Many others, as before mentioned, were able, decided, and unwavering. Yet he was particularly obnoxious to ministerial agents ; and was considered by them to be one of their ablest opponents. But his popularity was too firmly rooted to be shaken. In 720 votes cast, at the elec- tion, he received more than 500. And when it was known, that he had the particular censure of the officers of govern- ment, the people rallied more strongly in his favor. They believed he sought nothing from the government, that he was the friend of constitutional law and order ; that he was fixed and immovable in purpose, and that his conduct was based on religious principles .*
In June, 1772, the governor directed, or consented, that the general court should be held in Boston. It had been convened by his orders, in conformity to ministerial instructions, subject however to his judgment of the propriety of the measure, for more than two years at Cambridge. The house and council, by very large majorities, opposed and remonstrated against it, as inconvenient and arbitrary. Nor did the governor ever give any " good reasons " for it. It was a mere exercise of power, without just cause ; and therefore it was censured ; and it was considered, as one among many other instances of a plan in England to govern the colonies at pleasure, and not according to constitutional principles. The friends of the gov- ernor disapproved of his conduct in this affair. He pleaded his instructions ; and yet these instructions left it to him to decide. He was offended that the house complained of his conduct as arbitrary ; and he yielded at last, by the strong and unanimous advice of the council : but afterwards said, with much truth and candor, " that if the desire of the general
Mr. Hutchinson says, the attack on Mr Adams failed ; and that it only served to unite the opposition more closely in vigorous exertions.
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court had been immediately complied with, in this respect, it would have been with a better grace."*
No sooner was the dispute closed, in which the governor and the general court had long been engaged, touching the right and propriety of the former to direct the meetings of the latter, to be in any place other than Boston, the capital of the province, where it had been always held, except for special and necessary cause, and where the public records were deposited ; when another subject of interest presented, which served to keep alive a spirit of opposition and hostility between the representative of the king and the representatives of the people in the province. This was, whether the governor and the judges of the superior court should receive their salaries from England, or from the people in the colony, in such man- ner and to such amount as their representatives might order. It was first determined by ministers to allow only the govern- or's salary ; but it was soon after agreed by them to pay the judges also from the public treasury in England ; or from the proceeds of duties collected in the province, by virtue of the laws of parliament, and by custom-house officers of their appointment. It was to be done entirely independent of the government of the province. And the effect would be to *render the governor and judges indifferent to the approbation and censures of the representatives of the people. If the gov- ernor had been chosen by the people, and the judges appoint- ed during good behavior, it would have been proper, that they should have fixed and permanent salaries while in office. But it was contended, by the house of representatives, that as the governor received his appointment from the king, and the judges were put into office by his nomination, and removable only by the pleasure of ministers in England, the only security or inducement for their fidelity to the province, was to depend on the general court for their support ; and such had been the immemorial usage. The effect of this new measure could not fail to be, a less regard for the favor and good will of the province, in the judges and governor, and their greater sub- serviency to the views of administration in England. No one denied that such would probably be the effect : nor was it doubted, that the suggestion, for such a measure, originated with the officers of the crown in the province.
The house desired to know of the governor, if such was the order of the ministry, and asked for a copy of the instructions on the subject ; as he had already declined signing a bill,
' These are his own words, Vol. III. page 357.
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providing for these salaries, in the usual form. He replied, that it was his majesty's will he should receive his support in future from the treasury of England, and not depend for it on the general assembly of the province. They objected to this mode of his receiving a support, as contrary to the spirit of the charter, to invariable usage, and as of dangerous tendency. He replied, that it was the pleasure of the king, his master, as signified by his ministers, he should receive his salary immedi- ately from the crown, and not depend on the general court for it ; and that the king had a perfect right to decide in what way he and his other servants should be supported. He went into a long argument to show that the charter was in no sense or measure a contract between the king and the province, so that they could claim any thing of right ; but that all was a grant of mere grace and favor from the royal goodness ; and subject therefore to his pleasure. It was sufficient for him, that the king had now ordered that he and the judges should receive their support ; and therefore he could approve of no bill granting him a salary by the general court, without the royal approbation and consent.
This plan gave uneasiness to the people, who considered it as a part of a system, gradually and insidiously to be introduced, to render all the officers of the crown, including the judges of . the courts, who had all power in their hands, and could prevent any laws and decisions they might choose, independent of the people, separating their interest, which had been heretofore identified, and could not be disunited without danger to civil liberty ; the very fundamental and essential principle of repub- lican freedom, being a union and identity of interests of the people and their public agents. The several messages to the governor on this subject from the house, were prepared by Ma- jor Hawley, Samuel Adams, J.Hancock, W. Heath, and J. War- ren ; and J. Adams, though not of the house, at the time, en- gaged in the controversy, and wrote in the public papers with great learning and ability. He showed, that the judges did not in fact hold their offices during good behavior ; that they ought to hold them by that tenure, being appointed by virtue of a law of the province, agreeably to the charter ; yet, that as they were not removable by any authority in the province, but liable at any time to be removed by the will and pleasure of the king, they would probably be retained in office so long as their conduct should be agreeable to the British government ; and if they received their support from the crown, they might become unduly subservient to the views of the ministry in England, and destitute of a due respect for the laws of the
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province or the rights of the people. These papers were as popular as they were able ; and, with other writings, which appeared within two years after, under the signature of No- vanglus, and the essays on canon and feudal law, justly gave the author great celebrity. The governor viewed them with a different spirit. The next election, when Mr. Adams was returned to the council by the house, he was rejected, with some others, who were among the most respectable characters in the province.
At the session of the general court in June, 1772, when the governor declined receiving his salary from the province, and attempted to justify receiving it from the British government, he requested that the province-house, so called, in Boston, which had often been the residence of the chief magistrate, might be repaired, and made fit for the reception of his family. The court replied, that the building was intended for the gov- ernor of the province who had heretofore received his support by order of the general court ; but as he chose to be supported by the British government, and declined a salary offered by the province, they did not feel obliged to be at any expense for his accommodation. *
The subject of the governor's and the judges' salary was taken up by the citizens of Boston in the fall of 1772; and they held a town meeting, to consider what measures were proper to be adopted. They sent a committee to the gover- nor to learn what had been done by the ministry in England, particularly as to the salaries of the judges. He gave them no answer. They desired the general court might be called together ; but he said he should not do it. A committee was then appointed to report on " the rights of the province, as men, as christians, and as subjects of the British empire ;" and also to correspond with other towns in the province. At a future meeting, a report was made, and accepted with perfect unanim- ty ; and ordered to be circulated in all parts of the country. James Otis and Samuel Adams were of the committee* chosen to make the report ; and it went fully into the inquiry of the authority of the British parliament over the people in the colo-
Mr. Hutchinson says, " the materials of the report were prepared for them in England, by their great director, whose advice they followed, and in whose wisdom they had implicit faith." Who he intended does not appear ; but it was, probably, Dr. Franklin, who was then their agent in England, and with whom they corresponded. But such men as Otis and Adams needed not and would not apply to any one for materials to prepare- a report on public and political affairs.
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nies, and of their civil rights, which had been long agitated with so much zeal and ability.
In this report, they referred to their natural and unalienable rights, as inen, for which they were indebted to none but their Creator, and with which no government or prince might inter- fere, except by consent or contract. As British subjects, or as Englishmen, they claimed equal rights with their brethren in England, who were represented in the British parliament, and contended for a legislative assembly in the province, to make laws and lay taxes. And they added, that the christian reli- gion gave its sanction to their views of civil liberty, and justi- fied the authority which their fathers had always exercised. They then referred to their grievances, and to the various in- stances in which their rights had been infringed. In their cir- cular letters to the other towns in the province, they expressed their fears " that a system of despotism and oppression was preparing, which, unless soon and vigorously opposed, would seal their political degradation and ruin forever." "They should deeply regret," they said, " if there was not a spirit still existing, such as animated their ancestors, which induced them, in face of every difficulty and danger, to forsake their native country, and make a settlement on bare creation. They were not afraid of poverty, but they disdained slavery." Most towns in the province replied to this address, and manifested an ardent attachment to civil liberty, and a correct knowledge of their rights. Efforts were made by the friends of the governor to prevent the meeting of the towns on this occasion. They wished to put down the spirit which was awakened, and to be able to say, that only a few approved of the measure. But the attempt was in vain.
The great question at issue between the agents and officers of the crown, and the people in the colonies, was never more deeply interesting than at this period. On the doctrines ad- vanced, of the authority of the British parliament in America, and of the right of ministers to issue instructions which had the force of law, encroachments had been making on the rights and liberties of the province, and it was seen to be necessary to make a stand against them. They were not prepared for, nor did many then meditate, independence ; but one spirit animated them to oppose arbitrary power, and to maintain their rights. To do this in a constitutional way, by remonstrances and ap- peals, and petitions, was the universal purpose. But these had produced no good effects, and had not prevented the ad- vance of claims, which they deemed intolerable. To resort to
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arms, was not their plan - and to act the part of rebels, was most abhorrent to their principles and habits. They had acted under a high sense of their duty as christians. They would not employ unlawful means to accomplish even a good end. They would act under the shield of the British constitution, and of their charter ; and appeal to them for a sanction of all their measures.
CHAPTER XV.
Governor Hutchinson's opinion and speech on the supremacy of Parlia- ment - Opinion of General Court, and dispute with governor on the subject - Governor's letters published, and added to his unpopularity - He is called to England by the King - Correspondence of General Court with Virginia - Tea imported and destroyed - Dispute about salaries of the Judges - Declaration of Ministers and others in England - The Charter altered, and the rights of the province infringed - Boston Port Bill-Jurors refuse to take the oath and to act-Governor Hutchinson sails for England - General Gage succeeds - Negatives several Counsellors - Adjourns the General Court to Salem - Delegates chosen for a Con- tinental Congress - Governor Gage dissolves the Court - Military Com- panies.
WHILE the people of Massachusetts were the more confirmn- ed in their opinion of their rights, and were resolved to oppose what they considered arbitrary power, the governor was equally determined to support the supreme authority of the parent state over the province, and to insist on subjection to all the measures of the British ministry. He had already contended for the absolute supremacy of parliament, and the prerogatives of the crown, with great ability and firmness. And he seems to have resolved to make one effort more to convince the rep- resentatives that they had taken untenable ground, and must yield the contest to him, or hazard the chance of an appeal to arms. In January, 1773, at the opening of the session, when there had been an unusually long period wthout a meeting of the general court, he delivered an elaborate speech, on the absolute supremacy of parliament, and on the duty of acquies- cence and submission in the colonies. His object was to show, that they ought to obey, without hesitation or inquiry, whatever laws or directions were given in England, or that their opposi- tion must be considered rebellion, and treated accordingly. He had evidently bestowed great labor on the speech. It was plausible in its statement, and gave proof of much research. To this important communication, both the council and the
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house replied; but not till after an unusual time ; the answer of the council being nineteen days after, and that of the house twenty .* The deep interest of the question at issue, and the responsibility they felt as to consequences, probably induced them not to reply but with great consideration and caution. There was, in truth, no new argument adduced by the gover- nor, for the supremacy of parliament, in the sense for which he contended ; nor in the reply of the council or house, for an exemption from such authority. But the governor attempted to reduce the general court to the dilemma of admitting the supreme authority of parliament over the colonies, in all cases, and to any extent ; or of intending and aiming at an entire independence of the British government. The reply was, " that if such were the alternative, then the colonists were mere slaves of the ministry and of parliament, or were totally inde- pendent ; and that they did not contend for, nor should admit either. Notwithstanding the terrors and evils your excellency has pictured to us, as the effects of independence," they said, " there is more reason to dread the consequences of absolute, uncontrolled power, whether of a monarch or a nation, than those of total independence. If your excellency expects to have a line drawn by us, between the supreme authority of parlia- ment and the total independence of the colonies, we should say, it would be an arduous undertaking, and of the highest import- ance to all the colonies ; and therefore if we could conceive of such a line, we should be unwilling to attempt to draw it, with- out their consent in a congress. We cannot but express our concern, that your excellency has reduced us to the unhappy alternative either of acquiescing in your sentiments, or of freely discussing this subject. With all the deference due to parlia- ment, we are humbly of opinion, that, as all human authority is, and ought to be, limited, it cannot constitutionally extend its power to the levying of taxes in any form, on the people of this province."
The governor rejoined, by a long and labored speechi, and the council and house again replied to him. Their replies were separate, but agreed in substance and in principle; and both
* Mr. Hutchinson was, undoubtedly, mistaken here (as before, in attributing the materials of " The Rights of the Colonies " to some one in England) when he gives the credit of this answer of the house to a gentle- man of Maryland, to whom, he says, they applied for assistance, " as they were unable to refute his arguments." It is enough, in Massachusetts, to state who were the committee to answer his speech, viz : Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Hawley, Jedediah Foster, and William Phillips ; and the committee of the council were Mr. Bowdoin, Harrison Gray, J. Otis, senior, and Stephen Hall.
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contended, that, apart from natural rights, their charter declared " they were to be governed by laws made by themselves, and by officers chosen by themselves ; that to this privilege and right they were also entitled as Englishinen ; and that it was therefore an unjust usurpation in the British government to legislate for them, to impose taxes on them, and appoint offi- cers to administer and enforce such laws within the province." They concluded by saying, " if the doctrine we oppose be true, then are the lands, property, liberties, and lives of the people in this province subject to the crown and a legislative body, in which they are not represented and have no voice. We have, indeed, a constitution, or charter, but your excel- lency has explained it to be a mere phantom, to be limited, controlled, superseded, and nullified, at the will of another. And is this the constitution which so charmed our ancestors, that they kept a day of thanksgiving for it? Were they men of so little discernment, such children in understanding, as to please themselves with the imagination, that they were blest with the same rights and liberties which their brethren in Eng- land enjoyed ; when, at the same time, they had consented to be ruled by a legislature, a thousand leagues distant, which could not be supposed to be acquainted with their circumstan- ces and wants, and in which they were not in any sense repre- sented?" *
The views of the governor, respecting the legislative author- ity of parliament within the colonies, which went to the entire subjection of the people to a government in which they were not represented, served to render him very obnoxious to the friends of civil liberty. He had volunteered his services as an advocate of the claims of the British administration to interfere and direct in all the concerns of the province, so as to leave no power whatever to the people, which might not be controlled and nullified. At the session in June, new matter was fur- nished, to place him in a most unfavorable attitude. Several of his letters were produced, written in 1768, and subsequently, to some friends of government in England, in which he had represented the people in Massachusetts to be in such a state of opposition to the British administration, and the executive so
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