USA > Massachusetts > History of Massachusetts from 1764, to July 1775; when general Washington took command of the American Army. V. 1 > Part 15
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lence, and the duties imposed and exacted have been punctually paid : That the frequent entries of nolle prosequi, by the attorney and advocate general, in cases favorable to the liberties of the people, and rigorous prosecutions by information and otherwise, in those in favor of power, are daring breaches of trust, and insupportable grievances on the people : That the late extension of the power of courts of admiralty in America, is highly dangerous and alarm- ing ; especially as the judges of the courts of common law, the only check upon their inordinate power, do not hold their places during good behaviour ; and those who have falsely represented to his Majesty's ministers that no dependance could be had on juries in America, and that there was a necessity of extend- ing the power of the courts of admiralty, so far as to deprive the subject of the inestimable privilege of a trial by jury, and to render the said courts of ad- miralty uncontrolable by the ancient common law of the land, are avowed enemies to the constitution, and manifestly intend to introduce and establish a system of insupportable tyranny in America : That a board of commissioners of customs in America is an unnecessary burden on the trade of these colonies, and that the unlimited power they are invested with of making appointments and allowing compensation, tends greatly to increase the number of placemen and pensioners, and is justly alarming, and dangerous to the liberties of the people : That it is the opinion of this House, that all trials for treason, or any crime whatever, committed or done in this province, by any person residing here, ought, of right, to be had and conducted before the courts held in said pro- vince, according to the fixed and known course of proceeding ; and that the seizing of any person, re- siding in this province, suspected of any crime whatever, committed therein, and sending such per- son to places beyond the sea to be tried,* is highly
* This was provided by one of the resolves of Parliament, Feb. 1769.
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derogatory of the rights of British subjects, as there- by the inestimable privilege of being tried by a jury of the vicinage, as well as the liberty of summoning and producing witnesses on such trial, will be taken away from the party accused."
The day these resolutions were voted, governor BERNARD informed the Assembly, that he had re- ceived his Majesty's commands to repair to England, and lay before him the state of the province. Al- though these resolves were prepared and reported by a committee of the House, before this communi- cation of the Governor was made to them, it had been reported for some time that he was to be recall- ed; and probably the severe reproaches cast upon his administration are to be accounted for, on the be- lief of his being soon to leave the province in conse- quence of some disapprobation of his conduct even in England. Nothing but a full proof his great mis- representations of the state of the province and of his advice to an alteration of the charter, could jus- tify the heavy charges they alleged, and the cen- sures they heaped upon him in their public declara- tions. His various letters to ministers for the year past, in which he had exaggerated whatever was dis- orderly or imprudent in the people, and given a false coloring to the proceedings of the Council and of intelligent individuals, however regular, if opposed to his wishes; these furnished sufficient evidence of his being inimical to the rights and liberties of the province ; and though he could not be supposed to have originated the oppressive system of taxing America, it was known that he constantly apologized for the authors of it ; that he had recommended the late alarming measures ; and was well disposed to carry them into effect by aid of a military force. Ministers even, at this time, became convinced, that if the people of Massachusetts were to be reconciled to the parent government, or diverted from further opposition, governor BERNARD must be recalled ;
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and a character of more prudence, at least, placed at the head of the province. They were led to believe that the citizens of this ancient colony were not so turbulent and factious as had been represented ; and if ministers had not enough of principle, they were too apprehensive of censure, to drive them into a state of rebellion, by needless irritation. The poli- cy of administration was not indeed materially chang- ed : But while there was a determination to assert the right of Parliament to govern and legislate for the colonies, there was a disposition to relax in some particular measures, against which the people loudly and justly complained. In fact, there were many eminent statesmen in England, who believed, that severity was not the proper course to be pursued towards America ; and that the prosperity of the parent country would, in some measure, be affected by an open rupture, or a long continued alienation.
The estimation, which the House of Representa- tives had for the character of governor BERNARD may be perceived by their reply to his message, in- forming them of his intention to leave the province, in compliance with the direction of the King. "We are bound in duty at all times," they said; "and we do, more especially, at this time, cheerfully acquiesce in the lawful command of our Sovereign. It is a particular satisfaction to us, that his Majesty has been pleased to order a true state of this province to be laid before him ; for we have abundant reason to be assured, that when his Majesty shall be fully ac- quainted with the great and alarming grievances, which his truly loyal subjects here have suffered, through your administration, and the injury they have sustained in their reputation, he will, in his great clemency and justice, frown upon and forever remove from his trust, all those, who, by wickedly mis- informing his ministers, have attempted to deceive even his Majesty himself. Your Excellency is best acquainted with the part you have acted : Your let-
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ters have enabled this House and the public, in some measure, to form a judgment. And while you will necessarily be employed, as this House conceives, in setting your own conduct in the most favorable light before his Majesty, we are persuaded we shall be able to answer for ourselves and our constituents to the satisfaction of our Sovereign, whenever we shall be called to do it."*
Toward the close of this season, the Governor proposed to the General Court to provide funds for discharging the debts incurred for the support of the British troops, which had then been in the province about eight months ; and to prepare accommodations for them in the town of Boston, or at the Castle. The proposal, he informed them, was made at the request of general GAGE, who was the commander in chief of his Majesty's forces in the colonies, and by the more immediate requisition and demand of the commanding officer of the troops stationed in this province. The repeated applications of the Gover- nor to the Council and to the municipal authority of
* It may serve to shew the instability and caprice of the character of governor Bernard to mention, that although he had, by a special message urged the Assembly to make provision for supporting the posts and garrisons in the province ; yet, when the House passed a resolve for an establishment at the Castle consisting of fifty inen, &c. he would not consent to it. For this strange conduct, he gave no rea- son ; but, perhaps, it is not difficult to furnish a sufficient one. He had time to reflect, that if the Assembly made provision for a suitable mili- tary guard at that place and kept possession of it accordingly, there would be less reason for ordering regular British troops there ; and that a difficulty also would arise in having it a fixed station for them. A vote of the House of Representatives, adopted about this time, will furnish new proof of their watchful care of the public interest ; and to some, perhaps, manifest a disposition to prefer claims respecting con- cerns of little importance. The commissioners of the customs, it will be recollected, took up their abode at the Castle for sometime in the year 1768, as they apprehended insult from the populace in Boston. The House resolved, " that in consideration of their occupying twenty- one rooms on Castle Island belonging to the province, for four months and an half, the Treasurer be directed to demand of them £54:4s. rent for the use of said rooms ; it being at the rate of two dollars a month for a room ; and half as much as governor Bernard demanded for each of those rooms, of the inhabitants of the province, who had the small pox in said rooms."
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Boston, on the arrival of the troops in October 1768, for quarters and provisions, and the various objec- tions made to the request, with the final and reluc- tant assent of the Council, that provision be made for those placed at the Castle (for those in the town, they never did consent to make any provision, pro- testing that they ought not to be there quartered) on condition, the contractor would take the risk of ob- taining a reimbursement from the General Assembly, have been above narrated. The House did not im- mediately notice this request of the Governor, and in a few days, he again called up the subject, and urged the necessity of the case; and insisted on knowing their determination. They replied with much spirit, and some asperity ; being indignant at the demand made upon them as the Legislative Body of the province, who were to judge of the propriety and necessity of paying such expenses from the funds of their constituents, and averse from having a mili- tary force stationed in the capital, even if supported by the crown. They claimed, as on all former occa- sion, the right to deliberate and decide freely on ap- propriating the funds of the province for this pur- pose ; and noticed the high tone of an inferior military officer, when making an application to the General Assembly, compared with the terms used even by ministers themselves, on a call upon the provincial legislature. They, always, in the name of the King, made a requisition ; a term, which they considered not inconsistent with their rights as a Le- gislative Body, and which allowed them to act volun- tarily in complying with such recommendation or instruction : But now a subordinate officer had made " a peremptory demand ;" which they thought would have been deemed an indignity by the Governor ; which, however, they were not disposed to pass by, without an expression of proper resentment. Simi- lar instances too often occur in the history of military affairs : And although no axiom or principle, espe-
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cially in free governments, is so universally acknow- ledged, as the subordination of the military to the civil authority, we have sometimes seen, in a collision between them, the military assuming an indepen- dence and superiority ; and, by insolence and threats, exercising a degree of influence extremely danger- ous to the liberties of the people, and calling for the severe reprehension of every true friend of repub- lican government. The House also referred to their opinion, expressed in the resolutions passed at an early day of the session, of the illegality of stationing troops in the province, in a time of peace, and of the great mischiefs and unnecessary expense of such a measure. They intimated their belief of the un- constitutionality of the mutiny act, by virtue of which the troops had been placed in Boston, and support required for them, of the Assembly ; and declared, that, according to their construction of the law, they were obliged to provide for those only who were quartered in public barracks ; and that it was made the duty of the municipal authority of each town, to furnish quarters and provisions for such as could not be received at the forts ; suggesting, however, that even this was obligatory in case only of troops re- maining for a short time in the province, on their march to the place of their permanent destination. They took occasion, likewise, in this reply, to advert to the general alarm and complaint among the people arising from the various acts of the British Parlia- ment imposing taxes on the colonies, for the express purpose of raising a revenue, in which they had no voice ; and which, they conceived, might rather be called "acts for raising a tribute in America, for purposes of dissipation among placemen and pension- ers." They declared, that, if this system should be long continued, there would be as grievous oppres- sion and distress as were known under the administra- tion of the most tyrannical Governors in the Roman provinces, at the period of the greatest corruption
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and venality. "By this regulation" (of requiring support of the military) they said, " the yet free representatives of the free Assemblies in America, are called upon to repay, of their own and their constituents money, such sums, as persons over whom they had no check or control, might be pleased to expend. As representatives, we are deputed by the people, agreeably to the royal charter, and laws of this province. By this charter and the nature of our trust, we are only empowered to grant such aids and levy such taxes for his Majesty's service as are reasonable ; of which, if we are not free and inde- pendent judges, we can no longer be free Represen- tatives, nor our constituents, free subjects. Your Excellency must, therefore, excuse us, in this express declaration, that as we can not, consistently with our honor or interest, and much less with the duty we owe our constituents, so we shall never make provi- sion for the purposes in your messages above men- tioned."
There was a remarkable unanimity in the votes and proceedings of the representatives at this most critical period : a satisfactory proof was thus given of the general sense of the people, that their liber- ties were in imminent danger, and that a firm and full expression of their feelings was requisite to maintain them. There was indeed no intention of forcible opposition to the authority, or of separation from the government, .of England. But all were highly dissatisfied with the arbitrary conduct of ad- ministration, and ready to join in legal measures for redress.
Soon after the Governor gave official notice to the General Court, of his design to repair to England, agreeably to the orders of the King, though he inti- mated that he should not vacate the chair, but return to Massachusetts, the House prepared a petition to his Majesty praying him to remove Mr. BERNARD forever from his station, at the head of this province.
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They considered it some relief to be freed from his most ungracious and unaccommodating administration. While he remained as chief magistrate, with his ar- bitrary principles and insolent manners, they had reason to fear continual disputes and excitement. They could not, indeed, believe, that he had dictated the late severe measures, or that ministers would materially depart from the policy hitherto pursued, on account of his absence from the province ; but they well knew that his exaggerated statements had been the plea for the recent most alarming order of sending a large military force into this part of the country ; and that he had even advised to a change in the charter, which would take power from the representatives and put it into the hands of the ad- ministration in England. There was a hope, at least, if not much probability, that a different person, as the representative of the King in the province, would be more mild and accommodating in his tem- per, and more sensible to the complaints and petitions of the people. But events will shew how little rea- son they had to indulge in such flattering views. The administration adhered to the system of gov- erning and taxing the colonies, without permitting their Assemblies to have any voice or influence in the regulations imposed : And it was not difficult to find those, who were so fond of place and power, or so ready to admit the unlimited authority of the British Parliament, as to be fit agents for enforcing arbitrary and oppressive laws upon the subjects in America.
If the charges preferred against the Governor by the Assembly were well founded, it was not strange that the citizens of Massachusetts had become great- ly disgusted and displeased with his official acts ; and had some expectation of comparative quiet on his departure. And, even if allowance be made for some exaggeration in their complaints, in consequence of the great excitement of that period, we shall per-
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ceive sufficient reason for the petition to the King, that governor BERNARD might not be longer con- tinued as chief magistrate of the province. He em- barked for England in August 1769, with the regrets of none who were sincerely desirous of the freedom and welfare of the colony; but followed by the honest indignation of every intelligent and upright patriot, for the misrepresentations he had often made of the views and conduct of the oppressed citizens, and the arbitrary and unfeeling manner in which he had executed the obnoxious laws of the British ministry. He left the province in the same unfriendly spirit, by which he had been actuated for several of the past years of his administration ; and prepared, no doubt, to be its bitter accuser at the British court. His last address to the General Court abounded with angry criminations ; tho' he pretended to apprehend the displeasure of the King for the great favor and in- dulgence he had shewn to the people of this province. He charged them with a direct and open invasion of the rights of Parliament: And intimated, that, no representations of his could possibly place their con- duct in a more aggravated view than had been done by their own publications. But his censures and reproaches were no longer heeded by them; nor did they continue to injure them in the opinion of ad- ministration. For on his arrival in England, he was treated with very little respect ; as it was evident, that to his rash and imprudent conduct, much of the difficulty in the province, and of the embarrassed situation of the ministers, were to be attributed.
On the departure of Sir FRANCIS BERNARD, Mr. HUTCHINSON, who had been several years the Lieu- tenant Governor, acceded to the chair of the chief magistrate. Some notice of his character, talents and principles has already been given. He was mild and prudent in his deportment; and some were disposed to predict favorably of his administration, because he was a native of the province, and was
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supposed to be naturally attached to the ancient rights and liberties of his fellow citizens. But he had been too long associated with the arbitrary BER- NARD, and was too ambitious of the favor of the British government, to be faithful to the interests of the people. He possessed more than a common share of learning and talent, which, united to a specious, not to say sophistical manner of writing, made him, in fact, a more formidable enemy to the province than even his predecessor. His chief object, we shall see, was to preserve the smiles of his royal master, and to fulfil most rigidly the commands and instructions of an arbitrary ministry. Had the suc- cessor of governor BERNARD been a sincere and firm friend to the rights of the province, though, at the same time, duly disposed to maintain the pre- rogatives of the King and the just authority of Par- liament ; one who had been disposed to conciliate, rather than to criminate, and to represent favorably, rather than to exaggerate, the temper and conduct of the people, harmony would probably have been, in a good degree, restored to the province ; and the separation of the colonies from the parent state de- layed for many years. For whatever may be justly said of the patriotic efforts made in the other colo- nies, had Massachusetts relaxed in her firm opposi- tion, the British government would have had much less to do or fear from the dissatisfaction in America. But ministers still advanced claims over the colonies incompatible with their charter rights and privileges : And Mr. HUTCHINSON, though less arbitrary, in manner, than BERNARD, was, perhaps, equally ready to enforce and to apologize for every measure they adopted. The resolution of Massachusetts, in defence of civil liberty, we shall find, remained unabated: And she had to prepare, indeed, for sufferings and for struggles greater still than on any former occasion.
It had been usual to have a session of the General Court in the month of September or October; but
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when governor BERNARD prorogued it, in July, this year, it was to January following. Nothing, there- fore, of a legislative nature, and no proceedings in the name and behalf of the province, are to be re- corded at this period. But while a large military force remained in the capital, to insult the people and enforce oppressive acts of the British Parliament, under the direction of interested placemen, and with- out due course of law, a general dissatisfaction pre- vailed, and the intelligent patriots were consulting, in all proper ways, for the freedom and welfare of their country. The newspapers printed in Boston, and which circulated in all the populous towns of the province, were filled with able and spirited essays, in vindication of the rights and liberties of the colo- nies, and with arguments against the arbitrary policy. of the parent state. Boston was then, as on most other occasions, the "head quarters of good principles:" Its inhabitants were always the ardent friends of civil liberty. And if a portion of them, when grievously oppressed, were sometimes prepared to commit acts of violence, and were chargeable with some excesses which could not be fully justified, they were gener- ally restrained and regulated by the good sense of the more discreet and judicious. We have seen with what promptness and resolution they opposed various attempts to terrify or seduce them into sub- mission to the unjust laws of Great Britain. They had always faithfully given the alarm to their fellow citizens through the province, in times of danger; and with them, generally, originated the most proper and effectual means for redress. In the beginning of this year, they prepared a very able and loyal petition to the King, stating the various grievances of the people, vindicating their conduct from the unfounded aspersions of governor BERNARD, and appealing to the clemency and justice of their Sovereign for re- lief. They declared, " they sincerely and ardently desired the former happy union between Great Bri-
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tain and this country restored ; but they should not be satisfied with a repeal of the duties on some articles imported, as ministers had proposed, and that merely upon commercial principles : That it would not wholly relieve trade from the burdens under which it labored; much less, remove the grounds of discontent, which prevailed through the colonies, upon much higher principles : Their rights were invaded by those acts ; and until they were all re-, pealed, the cause of just complaint would not be removed : In short, they should never think their grievances redressed, till every act, passed by the British Parliament for the express purpose of raising a revenue upon them without their consent, was repealed ; till the Board of Commissioners of the customs was dissolved; the troops withdrawn; and things restored to the state they were in before the late extraordinary measures of administration took place." The presence of a large military force in the town was a cause of continual alarm and dis- content : They had opposed every legal obstacle to their being stationed among them, and continued to solicit their removal lest greater evils might ensue. In the fall of this year, they renewed their agree- ment for the non-importation of British goods; and the few individuals* who had disregarded the reso- lution for this purpose, were severely censured, and declared to be deficient in a just regard for the welfare of the province.t Great efforts were made
* Mr. Hutchinson's sons and three others only in Boston refused to subscribe to the agreement.
t The merchants, very generally, discovered a most patriotic and disinterested spirit ; regarding rather the liberty of the people than their own particular profit : And at a meeting, in January 1770, said to have been larger than ever known, the town voted to use all proper arguments to prevail with those who imported goods to conform to the resolution before adopted, as in their opinion the most pacific and effectual method to preserve their civil rights. The Lieutenant Gover- nor sent a written message to them by the sheriff, requiring them im- mediately to separate and disperse, and to forbear all such unlawful assemblies in future. The citizens unanimously voted " that the sheriff
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