USA > Massachusetts > History of Massachusetts from 1764, to July 1775; when general Washington took command of the American Army. V. 1 > Part 3
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Governor BERNARD, who was well acquainted with the public sentiment, and was sensible of the great excitement produced in the province by the late measures of administration, postponed the meeting of the Assembly to a later day, than that, to which it had been prorogued ; probably with a design to pre- vent all occasion for discussion in the legislature, and with the hope of receiving intelligence from England. which would serve to allay the general ferment. When, after considerable delay, he convened the representatives of the people, he studiously avoided introducing the subject, which he must have known
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was uppermost in the minds of the Assembly, and most interesting to the people. But this did not prevent their deliberations in reference to the policy and measures of the parent country, which had excited such general alarm. The patriotic members of the legislature needed no promptings from a royal agent, who they knew had little regard for the liber- ties of America. They had not come together to receive instructions how they were to guard the rights of the province. They possessed the high feelings and spirit of their ancestors. They believed that they had a right to be free : and were deter- mined to omit no efforts to remain so. Not that they then meditated war or separation. They did not consider either to be necessary. But they were prepared to shew, that they knew and valued their civil privileges, and were ready and able to vindicate them. They believed that the present pretensions and impositions of ministers were unjust; and, if resolutely opposed, would soon be withdrawn : And that the regard for civil liberty was so great in Eng- land, that neither the people nor the government would justify such arbitrary measures. The event will shew, indeed, that in this they were mistaken. We shall see that the rulers of England, that boasted land of freedom, forgot right and resorted to force in the contest-That in their conduct toward the American colonies, they departed from the great constitutional principles, which they professed to venerate ; and thus absolved three millions of loyal subjects from their allegiance to the British govern- ment.
On the first day of the session, several letters were communicated by the Speaker, to the House of Rep- resentatives, from their agents in England, relating to recent measures of administration, with reference to America. The House immediately went into committee of the whole, to consider them, and unan- imously agreed to present an address to the king in
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Parliament, respecting the state of the province. A large committee, of which Mr. OTIS was chairman, was then appointed to prepare one accordingly. Three days after, an address to the King's most excellent Majesty, the Lords Spiritual and Tempo- ral, and the Honorable House of Commons, in Parlia- ment assembled, was reported and accepted; and then sent to the Council for their concurrence. But that Board did not concur in the measure ; and chose a committee of seven, the chairman of which was Mr. HUTCHINSON, to confer with a committee of the House on the subject. This proposition was agreed to in the House, and a committee, consisting of eight, was appointed on their part. The address prepared by the House, and disapproved by the Council, was much more explicit and decided, in asserting the rights claimed for the colonies, than the one adopted jointly by the House and the Council, which was originally drawn up by HUTCHINSON. The address finally adopted was of the nature of a memorial to the House of Commons of Great Britain; and the committee of conference was several days engaged on the subject, before they reported. The Council approved of the memorial; but a majority of the House of Representatives was dissatisfied. They proposed various alterations, which gave a more decided character to the address, and which went to shew, that they claimed as rights what the Council prayed for as privileges, depending entirely upon the will of Parliament. Some of these alterations were agreed to in the Council ;* and the memorial spoke a language more worthy of freemen than its original draft-Y'et was not altogether in that firm
* These were not allowed, however, till after repeated votes of the House to adhere to them, and a second committee of conference was chosen for the purpose of uniting on some common ground of opinion and representation. The petition, as passed in the Council, referred to the oppressive acts of Parliament for raising a revenue in the colonies, merely as a grievance, and as a burden, which it would be impolitic to enforce or continue-and addressed the faror of government for the
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and manly tone, which would have justly expressed the sentiments of the majority of the House. This was chiefly owing to the influence of Mr. HUTCHIN- SON, then the oldest member of the Council, who was disposed rather to support the prerogatives of the crown, and the arbitrary measures of Parliament, than to vindicate the rights of the province.
The memorial stated, that the act passed at the late session of Parliament, granting certain duties in the colonies, imposed heavy burdens on the people, which, it was believed, would not have been laid, if the state of the colonies had been fully known-that the duties laid on sugars, &c. by an act of 6th of George II. would have had the effect of an absolute prohibition, if it had been strictly executed-that the same effect would be produced by the act re- cently passed ; that the restrictions on the exporta- tion of fish, lumber, &c. by which they were allowed to be carried only to the kingdom of Great Britain, would greatly affect the trade of the province, would prevent the clearing and cultivating of the lands, would deprive many of the people of their usual employment, and lessen the number of seamen- That the powers given by the act, to courts of vice- admiralty, would authorize the greatest oppression and injustice ; as it was not made necessary to try those suspected of illicit trade in the port or colony where the seizure was made, and trial might be ordered in any distant place, where it might be for the interest of a corrupt or arbitrary judge to direct ; and no remedy was provided for costs and expenses incurred by the accused, in case of acquittal : That every thing was to depend on the opinion of the judge, interested as he was to seize and condemn ;
enjoyment of former privileges, rather on the score of indulgence, than as matter of right, which they might justly claim and demand. By the firmness of the House, the language and tenor of the petition were im- proved, by inserting the words 'rights and liberties,' in addition to the ferm 'privileges ;' which was the strongest the Council chose to use.
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the privilege of a jury in these trials not being per- mitted-That every act of Parliament, which, in this respect, distinguished his majesty's subjects in America from those in England must create deep concern-That, while they gratefully acknowledged the tenderness of the British legislature, of the lib- erties and privileges of the subjects in the colonies, in allowing them, heretofore, to judge by their own representatives, as to the way and manner internal taxes should be raised,* they trusted the colonies had so demeaned themselves as to merit the continu- ance of the rights and privileges hitherto enjoyed- They also stated their inability to pay the duties required by the sugar act, and such as were proposed to be added by the stamp act; and at the same time to discharge the debt of the province, and to con- tribute to the annual support of their own govern- ment-That the colonies would be much impoverished by these duties, and the prosperity of Britain herself be thereby impeded, as there would be less demand in the colonies for her manufactures-They, there- fore, humbly prayed "to be relieved from the bur- dens imposed by the late act of Parliament ; to have their privileges, especially as to internal taxation, continued to them ; or to have the execution of the laws already passed and of those in contemplation for raising a revenue in America, suspended, till the province in conjunction with the other governments in North America, could have opportunity to make a full representation of the state and condition of the colonies and of the interest of Great Britain with regard to them."
The petition to the House of Commons was accom- panied by a letter from the Council and Assembly to their agent in London, in which an opinion of their
* The House proposed an amendment here, by which they asserted this as a right, belonging to all British subjects, which they gloried in being esteemed, and which the royal charter declared them to be. But the Council objected.
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sole right to lay taxes is more fully expressed. This can be accounted for only on the supposition, that the Council were apprehensive of giving offence to the administration in England. For the letter was prepared the same day and by the same committee as the petition. In this they observe, "that the burdens brought upon the colonies by the late act of Parliament will affect this province more than any other-that they had prepared the representation and petition to the House of Commons, upon a sug- gestion of a member, that such a memorial would probably procure relief-that they had endeavoured not to give offence, and had so spoken of their rights, as that no inference could be drawn, either that they had given them up, or that they set up in oppo- sition to Parliament, and deny that they are bound to the observance of its acts-But that in a letter to him, they may be more explicit." They then de- clare, "that the people of the colonies have un- doubtedly a right by charter, to tax themselves- that so far as Parliament should lay taxes on the colonies, so far they would deprive them of this right -and that had not the first settlers of this province imagined themselves as secure in the enjoyment of this right as of their title to their lands, they proba- bly would never have left England, and no colony would ever have been settled." They proceeded to argue, " that should it be said, acts of Parliament are above charters, and can annihilate them, it would be admitted .* But that one act of Parliament could as well repeal and annihilate another; and that how- ever sacred the articles of the union with Scotland
* Though Parliament had the power, would it be conceded that it had a right to vacate a grant or annihilate a law, which was of the na- ture of a contract, (and such was the charter of Massachusetts) but upon charge of violation, or non performance of conditions on the part of the grantees? This was not admitted in a later period. Had it been, we should not have had just cause for forcible opposition. In this very letter, below, such an act of Parliament is said to be unconstitutional ; and, therefore, it would seem, not binding.
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might be deemed, an act of Parliament might infringe them-and that, perhaps, there would be no greater ground of complaint, in that case, than when the charter rights of the colonies are infringed; cer- tainly, not greater, than when what are deemed the fundamentals of the English constitution are changed, with respect to any considerable portion of the sub- jects. Such fundamentals, we deem the right of being taxed by our own representatives only ; and the right to trials by juries. It is granted, that the authority to appoint courts of admiralty is reserved by the charter to the crown-But it is also remem- bered, that all seizures for illicit trade are tried in the exchequer in England by juries-and we have no reason to suppose, that our ancestors, when they accepted the charter, expected the powers of courts of admiralty would be extended beyond what they are in England." The letter goes on to state, "that both in point of equity and policy, the province could claim exemption from taxes by Parliament ; since the inhabitants had not occasioned any, or very little expense, and yet had added much to the wealth, territory and population of the British nation ; and were burdened with the support of government for themselves and the defence of their extensive fron- tiers : and as additional taxes would distress and discourage the people, and produce great dissatisfac- tion towards the government of England."
Much of this statement is in the same timid and cautious style as the memorial to the House of Com- mons. Yet it contains a full and explicit declaration of the sentiments of the Council and Assembly of the province, in favor of the sole and exclusive right of the legislative authority in the colonies to raise taxes ; thus virtually denying the claims of Parlia- ment on this subject. It was the first expression of the legislature of any colony, publicly made on this momentous question, then beginning to be solemnly agitated : And though it was contained in a letter to
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an individual, that individual was a public agent, the document was a public one, and was soon published to the world, as expressive of the views and opinions of the patriots of Massachusetts.
In their answer to the speech of the governor, of the same date with the petition to Parliament, though he had barely alluded to their proceedings, at the June session, concerning the late measures of administration in England, the Council and House of Representatives went fully into the consideration of a subject, so deeply interesting and alarming to the citizens of the province. And here too, they made more explicit and spirited declarations respecting their rights, than the memorial contained. They said, they conceived their civil rights and their commercial interests were greatly affected by the late act; and stated, particularly, the great injustice which might be done to individuals by the authority given to the vice-admiralty courts ; and the embarrass- ments and discouragements which would attend the trade of the province, both in fish and lumber, pro- hibited as it was, with the West Indies, and with Portugal, France and Spain. In the original draft, prepared by a committee of the House, the right of taxing themselves by their own representatives was expressly asserted-It was declared an essential one, and that the British House of Commons had ever held such a right sacred, and deemed it the principal barrier of the liberties of the nation-' And, this right, in a laudable imitation of so great an example,' they add, 'the House of Representatives of this province hold equally sacred ; bottoming it on the same foundation, that of the constitution.' But the Council had this clause stricken out.
By a committee of the Council and House of Rep- resentatives appointed at this session of the General Court, a statement of the services and expences of the province was made, and soon after sent to their agent in England, for the purpose of shewing the un-
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reasonableness of the British government in laying any taxes in addition to those necessarily imposed to maintain the credit and discharge the debts of the colony. As the question of the right of Parliament to tax the people of the colonies was not brought into view in this document, there was probably no dif- ference of opinion in the committee-and it seems to have been unanimously adopted. The design was to show, by a brief reference to historical facts, that the province had ever been ready to comply, to the ex- tent of their ability and resources, with the requisi- tions of the British administration for aid, in defend- ing the colonies and resisting the encroachments of the enemies of England, in this part of her territory : That, on various occasions, when this province only was in danger, it had defended itself without ex- pense to the parent country-That in the several campaigns of 1755, 1756, 1757, 1758, '59, '60, and '61, it had furnished a large number of men ; and the debt was very great, and would require heavy taxes for many years to discharge-and, therefore, that it was to be hoped the privileges purchased by their ancestors, and which they had not forfeited, would be continued. In the letter accompanying this statement, the committee observe, "It will appear, that the province has had its full share of the bur- dens of the British empire ; and that, by its own representatives, it has ever cheerfully submitted to the heaviest taxes it was capable of bearing. The province finds itself greatly exhausted ; and it will be with the utmost difficulty we shall clear the heavy load of debt the last war has involved us in, though no new burdens are brought upon us, and our trade left to its natural course. But if the severe regulations of the late act are continued and new taxes laid on us, these will drain us of our specie, the sinews of trade, and otherwise so distress us, that we shall neither be able to pay the public debt we owe as a community. nor individuals what they owe to the
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merchants of Great Britain ; a general bankruptcy, public and private, must ensue."
On the last day of this session, the House again chose a committee, consisting of five of its mem- bers, four of whom were of Boston, to write to the other colonial governments and inform them of the proceedings of the Assembly of this province in re- lation to the recent acts and policy of Parliament. These various measures are proof of the provident anxiety and watchful patriotism of the representa- tives of Massachusetts for the preservation of their liberties, which entitle them to the highest praise. Their activity and firmness were equal to their intel- ligence, and to the ardent love of freedom with which they were animated. It was fit, that they should take the lead in this important controversy : Their resources and population were great ; and much was justly expected of them by the citizens of the other colonies. They did not indeed stand alone in the contest, neither at this early period, nor in any sub- sequent stage of the struggle for freedom-But their efforts were timely and unremitting, and their de- cision and perseverance in opposing the arbitrary measures of Britain of most important influence .*
During this meeting of the legislature, the gov- ernor communicated a letter which he had received from the earl of Halifax, one of the secretaries of state in England, in which he says, his majesty was displeased with their declining to raise the men
* The communications of this committee gave an impulse to patriotic feeling in various parts of America, and led to inquiries and resolu- tions highly favorable to the interests of civil liberty. The resolutions of the assemblies of Virginia and New-York in December were proba- bly suggested by the circular from Massachusetts. They asserted the exclusive right of the colonies to lay taxes on the subjects within their respective jurisdiction ; although at the same time they declared their loyalty to the King, and acknowledged the supreme authority of Par- liament. The declarations !of Massachusetts in November 1764 and their letter to the agent in England, at the same time, although not so explicit in claiming the exclusive right to lay taxes, gave great offence to the British ministry, one of whom said it contained principles tending to a denial of the right of Parliament to tax the colonies.
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called for by general GAGE for the defence of the western frontier. GAGE, at that time, had command of troops near the lakes; and fearing an attack from the Indians, had called for some new recruits from Massachusetts ; but the Assembly judged them not necessary. It was stated in the letter of the secretary, that an additional force would still be requisite. But the House adjourned, without making any provision for raising them ; giving as a reason, that the present expenses of the province were very great, and that, in their opinion, the safety of the colonies did not demand such a measure. A reference to this con- duct of the House is proper to shew the degree of authority the Legislature claimed and exercised, at the period of which we are speaking.
To give a just view of the importance of Massa- chusetts, at this period, it may be proper to mention its population, trade, &c. though perfect accuracy is not attainable. A census was ordered in 1763 ; but, being an unpopular measure, it was imperfectly taken. The result was 245,000; 5000 of which were people of colour .* The province' then con- tained 13 counties, and 240 incorporated towns. In all these towns, schools were maintained a great part of the year; and in most of them constantly; at which, children of all the citizens were instructed. The college was in a prosperous state, and furnished young men for the different professions in which a learned education was deemed requisite. The clergy, generally, were men of literary attainments and great respectability ; and their influence was highly favorable to civilization and good morals.
Manufactures were few. The citizens were chiefly employed in agriculture, navigation and the fisheries. About 300 vessels were employed in the cod fishery, 180 in the whale fishing business, and nearly 100 of mackerel vessels. And all these gave employment
* It is probable the whole population exceeded 250,000.
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to about 6000 people. The amount of exportation from the whaling business was £75,000 sterling- from the cod fishery about £125,000-of pickled fish, the amount exported was also considerable ; but is not easily ascertained.
The justices of the superior court of judicature for the province, at this time, were THOMAS HUTCH- INSON, chief justice, JOHN CUSHING, PETER OLIVER, CHAMBERS RUSSELL, BENJAMIN LYNDE ; and ED- MUND TROWBRIDGE was attorney-general. TROW- BRIDGE was soon after appointed a judge, and J. GRIDLEY was made attorney-general. Mr. HUTCH- INSON, who was also judge of probate for the county of Suffolk, at this time, for special reasons by him mentioned, proposed to resign the office for one year, or that a person might be appointed his deputy ; and the Council consented to the request, on condi- tion that the person appointed be approved at the following session of the board. At the next meeting, the lieutenant governor proposed that a judge of probate be specially appointed for the term of one year. The governor accordingly nominated F. HUTCHINSON to the office for that term, and the Council advised to the appointment.
CHAPTER III.
Session in January, 1765-Expectations of a milder policy-Loyal Declar- ations of the House-Local Concerns-Insolvent Act-Revenue grant- ed in the name of the King, for the Province-Distinction between in- ternal and external Taxes-Regulation of Trade admitted, but not the laying of Internal Taxes-Authority of Parliament Supreme, yet to be controled by the Constitution-Altercation between House and Council-and complaint of House of appropriation of money, without law-Forfeiture in Admiralty Courts, claimed by Representatives- Stamp Act passed-Petitions against it from the Colonies not present- ed-Goods seized on Taunton river-Proceedings of General Court, on passing of stamp act-Convention proposed of Deputies from all the Colonies-Elected in Massachusetts-Convention at New-York, in October, 1765-Their Petitions to King and Parliament.
AT the session of the General Court in January 1765, there was no particular discussion on the sub- ject of taxing the colonies by the British Parliament, which had excited so deep an interest, during the two meetings 'of the legislature in 1764. Every measure had been already adopted, which prudence or patriotism could suggest, in defence of chartered rights ; and the people and their representatives were now waiting, with anxious expectation, to learn the conduct of ministers in England, with reference to the future government of the colonies.
From the statements and memorials which had been sent to ministers, they believed it would be manifest, that neither justice nor good policy would support them in the continuance of measures, so
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alarming to freemen and so oppressive to all classes of people in the province. They had reason to hope that the act, which had been proposed for raising money on stamp paper would not receive the sanction of Parliament ; and that the one already in force, im- posing high duties on certain articles of importation, would be repealed. .
In his communication at the opening of the session, the Governor congratulated the Assembly on a settle- ment of disputes with the Indians, both on the west- ern frontiers near the lakes, who after the treaty of peace between England and France, had manifested a hostile disposition ; and in the eastern parts of Maine ; and on the determination of the French and Spanish governments to prevent all depredations on commerce, which had also been a cause of complaint. He likewise referred to the measures adopted at the former meeting of the General Court when they stated their grievances to Parliament : and admitted that their proceedings were loyal, prudent and mod- erate, though it was a time of difficulty and excite- ment. The joint reply of the House and Council was in the same good spirit : highly courteous and re- spectful to the Governor, but firm and independent. " We agree with your excellency," they say, " that the times are difficult ; but we hope they are not times of distrust. We distrust not the wisdom and goodness of Parliament ; having, with the colonies in general, often experienced the happy effects of both. On the same wisdom and goodness, next to the Supreme Being, we still rely. As that respectable body has power, we humbly trust their wisdom and goodness will exert it, to remove the embarrassments, to which the difficulty of the times is owing."
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