USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 31
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1 W. S. Johnson to Roger Sher- man, Sept. 28, 1768, in MS. Letters and Papers, 1760-1776, fol. 84; Wal- pole, ii. 418; Bancroft, vi. 56.
Cooke to Chatham, Feb. 27, 1767, in Chatham Corresp. iii. 222; Grafton to Chatham, Feb. 28, 1767, in ibid. iii. 224; Grenville Corresp. iv. 212- 214 ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 177; Bancroft, vi. 60.
3 Mass. Gazette for March 9, 1767; Bancroft, vi. 50. Hutchinson says meetings of a select number of the
inhabitants of Boston, with member of the House when the court was il. session, were held at least once a week at regular places ; and at these meet ings necessary measures were project ed and settled, and from hence it wa supposed the newspapers were genel ally furnished with speculations an compositions for the service of th cause in which they were engaged Hist. iii. 167. Comp. Diary of 3 Adams, in Works, ii. passim.
333
COURSE OF SHELBURNE.
suppress the spirit of freedom ; but with whatever sincerity CHAP. Shelburne, as secretary for the southern department, assured XI. the people they "might be perfectly easy about the enjoyment 1767. of their rights and privileges under the present administra- tion," and sought to relieve the burdens which pressed so heavily upon them, he could not suspend the declaratory act, nor insure exemption from further oppressions, but asserted that " the dignity of the government must be maintained." 1 He was fully aware that, if the Americans " should be tempted Feb. 16. to resist in the last instance," France and Spain would avail themselves of the opening to break the "peace, the days of which they had already begun to count."2 Prudence, there- fore, constrained him to consider the American question, and to prepare for its solution ; and the ill health of Chatham and the disorders in the cabinet furnished additional reasons for diligence.
The course of study upon which he now entered was one which superior talents alone could pursue with success. The matters in dispute were such in their nature as to involve the broadest and most complicated relations. The British consti- tution, the boasted bulwark of the liberties of the nation, had not been matured in a single generation, but was the product of the discussions and struggles of centuries. Based upon principles which were confirmed by experience and sanctioned by the happy results which attended them, it was in itself a tower of strength. But that constitution had reached its ma- turity before the difficulties with the colonies occurred. The growth of these colonies had been so rapid that their present importance could not have been anticipated by the sagest econ- omist ; and this marvellous expansion of territory and subjects presented to the philosopher problems which had never before
1 Letter of De Berdt, of Sept. 19, 1766, in Bradford's State Papers, 102; Hutchinson, iii. 164, note ; Gra- ame, ii. 421.
2 Shelburne to Pitt, February 16, 1767, in Chatham Correspondence, iii. 209.
334
COURSE OF SHELBURNE.
CHAP. challenged the attention of mankind. No precedents could be XI. found to fall back upon. Official records furnished no guide.
1767. Maxims from the files were equally useless. Whatever solution was attempted to be given must spring from the fertile brair of the statesman.
The talents which Shelburne brought to this task were re spectable, but not brilliant. His mind could not at a glance sweep the horizon of political science, and take in every thing that crossed the field of vision ; nor had he the keen intuitior which, from unpromising and apparently incongruous elements can evolve a consistent, harmonious system. He was hones and well-meaning, but by no means a prophet nor a successful inventor. He proposed, indeed, changes in certain depart ments which might have allayed the excitement in the colonies had his colleagues approved them. The billeting act, in hi estimation, could be safely modified ; and, instead of concen trating the troops in the principal towns, he advised that they should be scattered along the frontiers, where their presence was needed, and where it would provoke neither jealousy no: distrust. The principle upon which this act was based he also condemned, as establishing a "precedent which might hereafte. be turned to purposes of oppression." 1 The political depend ence of the judges he objected to, and advised that their com missions should conform to the precedents followed in England. He likewise advised the settlement of disputed boundaries. And other matters, of minor importance, which were complained of as grievances, engaged his attention.
The zeal with which the secretary advocated these change fastened upon him the suspicion of his associates, and led then to view him as "an enemy," who should be watched. The king demanded that submission should precede favor ; that th
1 Shelburne to Gage, Dec. 11, 1766, and to Chatham, Feb. 6 and 16, 1767.
2 Moore to Shelburne, Feb. 1, 1767.
3 Shelburne to Bernard, Dec. 1] 1766; Bernard to Shelburne, Fet 28 and March 23, 1767 ; Hutchinsor iii. 177.
335
COURSE OF THE FRENCH MINISTER.
colonies should evince a loyal spirit before attention was paid CHAP. o their clamors ; " otherwise," said he, " we shall soon be no XI. better than savages." 1 Accordingly, he declared that the bil- 1767. eting act should be enforced, and that no relaxation of its provisions should be made.2 In no other way could the de- endence of the colonies be secured. They were already on he verge of rebellion ; and firmness alone could check the icentiousness of opinion which was spreading.
De Choiseul, the minister of France at St. James's, was no nattentive observer of these movements; and, satisfied that he crisis was near, at his instance De Kalb, an officer of Ger- nan extraction, was sent to America, to investigate the condi- Apr. 22. ion of the colonies and the strength of their purpose to engage n a revolt. Should he find a plan of operations matured, he was to report the names of those who were to lead, and the esources of the government in troops and munitions.3 But his commission was premature ; for, such was the forbearance f the colonies, no open rupture was contemplated or advised. There were those, indeed, who felt that the struggle must even- ally come ; but, had moderate counsels prevailed with the ministry, its advent would have been delayed, if not prevented. The conduct of Townshend precipitated this struggle. He ad given a pledge that he would find means to raise a revenue Jan. 27. om America which should be free from offence ; and Gren- lle, the " outed proposer of the stamp act," 4 who had listened ith an almost savage joy to the speech of the chancellor, manded the fulfilment of this pledge. In compliance with
1 Grafton's Autobiog. ; George III. at present the devil seems to have Conway, Sept. 20, 1766.
2 " The American papers," wrote ckford to Chatham, April 29, 1767, re to be taken into consideration on morrow; and I hear the quartering ; is to be enforced, in violentiâ, et iva voluntate. If so, adieu peace and nfort ! A former administration, their ill-conceived projects, made : Americans stark staring mad ; and
taken possession of their understand- ings." Chatham Corresp. iii. 251. See also Shelburne to Chatham, Feb. 1767, in ibid. iii. 187, 207, 209.
3 Choiseul to De Kalb, April 20 and 22, 1767 ; De Kalb to Choiseul, April 24, 1767, in Bancroft, vi. 67; Grahame, ii. 427, 428, and notes.
4 Franklin's paper of 1768, in Works, iv. 247; Prior Doc'ts, 228.
336
THE REVENUE BILL.
CHAP. this demand, the chancellor came forward with the scheme he XI. had matured ; and, while the doors of the House, by a special
1767. order, were shut against the agents of the colonies, and even May 13 to 15. against every American merchant, he proposed a tax on glass, paper, painters' colors, and tea, to be paid as impost duties, from which an income of from thirty-five to forty thousand pounds a year might be realized. This scheme was agitated for some weeks. Lord Camden objected to it, and Jackson foretold the evils that would follow ; but the consent of the ministers was obtained, and the act passed both Houses with Jun. 29. but little opposition, and was approved by the king.1
It is evident that the passage of this bill, which would hardly have been consented to had Chatham been at his post, was not a little forwarded by the influence of Paxton, a citizen of Bos- ton in the confidence of Townshend, who had been sent from America at the instance of Bernard, and Hutchinson, and Oli- ver, to appear as the advocate of the officers of the crown, and to mature a scheme for a Board of Customs.2 Both Bernard and Hutchinson seem, at this time, to have resolved to push matters to the utmost extremity ; and the latter, in particular, resenting the conduct of the General Court, which had cen-
1 7 Geo. III. c. 46; Walpole's Mems. George III. iii. 28; Belsham's George III. i. 204; Cavendish De- bates, i. 38, 39, 213 ; Mass. Gazette for July 2, 1767 ; Boston Gazette for Oct. 12, 1767; Hutchinson, iii. 179; Franklin's Works, vii. 333; Grahame, ii. 423, 424; Bradford, i. 93; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 180, 181, and Mems. Duke of Grafton, in ibid. App. xvii. ; Bancroft, vi. 47, 75-78. " It had ever been uniformly acknowl- edged," says Belsham, George III. i. 204, " that Great Britain possessed the right of commercial regulation and control; it could not be denied that port duties had been at former periods imposed for the purpose of commercial regulation, particularly by the act passed in the sixth year of the
reign of the late king. It could not be pretended with consistency and plausibility that the same power did not now inhere in the British Parlia- ment ; but it was at the same time im- possible not to discern that this power was, in the present instance, exercised with a very different intention and for the accomplishment of a very different object, and that, by a species of artifice unworthy of a great nation, an attempt was now made to inveigle them into the payment of that revenue which could not be extorted by means more direct and unequivocal."
2 Bradford, i. 120, 121; Bancroft, vi. 32, 47. There is a portrait of Pax- ton at the rooms of the Mass. Hist. Soc., deposited by Peter Wainwright, Jr., Esq.
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337
COURSE OF HUTCHINSON.
sured his intrusion into the Council, of which he was not a CHAP. member, on the day when the governor read his message, took XI. it as a personal affront, which soured his temper and increased 1767. Feb. the violence of his opposition to their proceedings.1 The gov- ernor, indeed, from his official position, was expected to side with the ministry ;2 and, in some cases, his dissent from the action of the court was proper and politic. But, a royalist at heart, and a supporter of the prerogative, his opinions on meas- ures of public concern were too much in unison with those of the enemies of America to admit the supposition that his pro- fessions of regard to the interests of the province were cordial and sincere ; and much of the disturbance of this and the fol- lowing years must be attributed to him. He was in close correspondence with the active advocates of the taxation of the colonies ; and his misrepresentations were eagerly seized and quoted as arguments to prove the necessity of curbing the disloyal spirit by which, it was alleged, the people were animated.
Hutchinson, more cautious and crafty in his movements, dared not so openly avow his opinions ; yet, guarded as was his language in most of his letters, to the eyes of the discerning occasional passages betrayed his real sentiments, and few could mistake his real position. Of the two, Mr. Hutchinson was by far the more dangerous ; for the very duplicity which veiled his conduct, and the air of honesty which he could so well
1 On this affair, see Bradford's State Papers, 102-105, and the letter of the House of March 16, 1767, to Dennys De Berdt; Bernard to the Secretary of State, Feb. 7 and 21, 1767 ; Oliver to - -, May 7, 1767 ; Hutchinson, iii. 173-177; Mass. Gazette for Feb. 12 and 19, 1767; Boston Gazette for Feb. 23.and April 6, 1767; Bancroft, vi. 50.
2 " Nothing less," wrote Bernard to Hillsborough, July 18, 1768, “ than a general sacrifice of the rights of the sovereign state can make a governor VOL. II. 22
popular in this place at this time. It has been my misfortune to be gov- ernor of this province during a period when the most favorable representa- tion of the proceedings of the assem- blies and the doings of the people must occasion his majesty's displeas- ure. For these three years past it has been impossible to reconcile the duty of the governor with pleasing the people ; and it would have been so, if a man of greater ability than I pretend to had been in my place."
nd lid
338
EFFECTS OF THE NEW MEASURES.
CHAP. assume, imposed upon many who were ignorant of his true XI. character, and led them to ascribe to him virtues which he 1767. never possessed and abilities as a statesman to which he was not entitled. To one unacquainted with the part which he played, his sketch of the transactions which preceded the rev- olution would appear as an impartial, straightforward narra- tive. But the inquisitive reader, who compares his account with contemporary annals, will easily detect the gloss which he gives to many of the scenes his pen has portrayed, and the concealments which detract from the truthfulness of his state- ments. Implicit reliance can never be placed on partisan writers ; and students of history need not to be told that he who treats of matters in which he was personally concerned appears as the advocate pleading his own cause, and sitting in judgment on those who were opposed to him.1
The new scheme of taxation which Townshend had proposed, conjoined with the establishment of a Board of Customs 2 and the legalization of writs of assistance,3 was more subversive of the rights of the colonies than the stamp act, which Grenville had pressed upon Parliament.4 In effect, it was a menace of perpetual servitude. The revenue accruing from the duties imposed was to be disposed of at the king's pleasure, under his sign manual, and, by one of the provisions of the act, was to be principally employed in the support of the officers of the crown, to secure their independence of the colonial legislatures.5 The power of the king over his cabinet had been sensibly strength- ened by recent occurrences ; and Grafton, who was left with the position of prime minister, was completely under his con-
1 Comp. Bradford, i. 86.
2 Acts 7 Geo. III. c. 41. May 26, 1767, it was ordered in the House of Commons that a bill be brought in for establishing a Board of Customs in America. Mass. Gazette for Aug. 27, 1767.
3 Bancroft, vi. 84.
4 " It is the opinion of men of dis-
cernment and good judgment that the people through the continent are much more alarmed at the late acts than they were at the stamp act; and it would be vastly more difficult to rec- oncile the people to them." T. Cush- ing to De Berdt, July 13, 1768.
Mulford's N. Jersey, 376; Brad- ford, vi. 96.
1
this .
339
RECEPTION OF THE NEWS IN BOSTON.
trol.1 Yet the nation at large was a gainer by these factions ; CHAP. and, as the influence of the aristocracy lessened, the people, XI.
XI. whose intelligence was increasing, demanded fuller knowledge 1767. of every thing that was passing in Parliament, and the press was employed to support their claims.2
" The die is thrown," cried the patriots of Boston, when the Sept. news of the passage of the revenue bill arrived. "The Rubi- con is passed." "We will form an immediate and universal combination to eat nothing, drink nothing, wear nothing im- ported from Great Britain."3 " Our strength consists in union. Let us, above all, be of one heart and of one mind. Let us call on our sister colonies to join with us in asserting our rights. If our opposition to slavery is called rebellion, let us pursue duty with firmness, and leave the event to Heaven." 4
The fourteenth of August was celebrated as usual ; and the Aug.14. ceremonies of the day served to intensify the abhorrence with which the acts of the ministry were viewed.5 The revenue bill was to go into effect in November ; but in the mean time Nov.20. Townshend, its author, suddenly died,6 and Lord North, the Sept. 4. eldest son of the Earl of Guilford, who had voted for the stamp act and against its repeal, was appointed to his place.7 The new chancellor entered upon his duties at a critical period ; yet for fifteen years he remained in the cabinet, lending his influence to the measures of the ministry, and standing high in
1 Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 184 ; Bancroft, vi. 94.
2 T. Hollis to A. Eliot, Feb. 23, 1767. "Power," wrote Durand to Choiseul, July 21, 1767, (in Bancroft, vi. 90,) " has passed into the hands of the populace and the merchants. The country is exceedingly jealous of its liberty."
3 Hutchinson's Letter of July 18, 1767; Bernard to Shelburne, Sept. 14, 1767.
4 Mauduit to Hutchinson, Dec. 10, 1767; Boston Gazette for Aug. 31, 1767.
5 Boston Gazette for Aug. 17, 1767. W. S. Johnson to Dyer, Sept. 6 12, 1767 ; Mass. Gazette Extra for Feb. 11, 1769; Chatham Corresp. iii. 284 and note; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 184 ; Walpole's Geo. III. ii. 99; Bancroft, vi. 98.
7 W. S. Johnson to Gov. Pitkin, of Conn., 1767 ; North's Speech in the House of Commons, March 2, 1769; Letter to Grafton, Sept. 10, 1767; Lloyd to Lord Littleton, Sept. 17, 1767; Belsham's George III. i. 215 ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 184; Bancroft, vi. 99, 100.
he
ich
340
COURSE OF THE MERCHANTS OF BOSTON.
CHAP. the favor of the king.1 How the new act should be enforced XI. was a question which immediately solicited attention. Should 1767. the merchants of Boston subscribe to an agreement to import no more goods from England, no revenue, of course, would be paid into the treasury. But such an agreement Bernard thought to be "impracticable." Yet he advised that a regi- ment of soldiers should be sent over, to aid the officers of the customs in the discharge of their duties. "Ships of war and a regiment," said Paxton, in England, who echoed his wishes, " are needed to insure tranquillity." 2
The board of commissioners was to be established in Boston, and it was queried throughout the country how Boston would act. "The commissioners," said the more hasty, " must not be allowed to land." " Paxton, like Oliver, must be taken to Lib- erty Tree or the gallows, and obliged to resign." 3 The press spoke boldly, counselling resistance,4 and declared that those who had attempted this barbarous violation of their most sacred rights deserved "the name of rebels and traitors, not only against the laws of their country and their king, but against Heaven itself." Faith in the integrity of Parliament seemed shaken ; 5 and it was thought that there remained no alternative but an appeal to Heaven to vindicate their cause.
Oct. 28. At length the crisis came ; and, towards the last of October, the inhabitants of Boston, " ever sensitive to the sound of lib- erty," assembled in town meeting, and voted to dispense with the importation of a large number of articles of British manu- facture, which were particularly specified ; to "adhere to former agreements respecting funerals ; and to purchase no new cloth- ing for mourning." Committees were appointed to obtain
' Bancroft, vi. 100.
2 Bernard to Shelburne, Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, 1767; Bollan to Hutch- inson, Aug. 11, 1767 ; Bancroft, vi. 101.
3 Bernard to Shelburne, Sept. 21, 1767 ; Hutchinson, iii. 181; Bancroft, vi. 102. Yet the commissioners were
suffered to land, and did so on the 5th of November. Hutchinson, iii. 183. 4 J. Quincy, under the signature Hyperion, in the Boston Gazette for Oct. 5, 1767; Rogers to Hutchinson, Dec. 30, 1767.
5 Mass. Gazette for Oct. 12, 1767; Boston Gazette for Oct. 19, 1767.
341
LAST CHANGE IN THE MINISTRY.
subscribers to this agreement ; and the resolves were sent into CHAP. all the towns of the province, - many of which returned a XI. favorable reply,1 - and abroad to the other colonies.2 The 1767. twentieth of the ensuing month passed without tumult. Pla- Nov.20. cards were exhibited and effigies were set up, but the people in general were unusually quiet. Otis, at the town meeting held to discountenance riot, delivered a speech in which he Nov. recommended caution, and advised that no opposition should be made to the new duties. " The king has the right," said he, " to appoint officers of the customs in what manner he pleases and by what denominations ; and to resist his authority will but provoke his displeasure."3 Such counsel was displeas- ing to the zealous, but it was followed.
The last change in the ministry in this session of Parliament took place in December. The charge of the colonies, which Dec. 27. had been intrusted to Shelburne, was consigned to a separate department, and Lord Hillsborough, who had been " laid up in lavender at the post office " 4 until elsewhere wanted, was made its secretary ; the place which Conway had filled was given to Lord Weymouth ; Earl Gower became lord president ; Rigby was made vice treasurer of Ireland till he could get the pay office ; the post office was promised to Sandwich ; and Jenkin- son, the former secretary of Grenville, took a seat at the treas- ury board.5 Five of the six here named were the personal friends of the Duke of Bedford ; and the principle upon which they entered the ministry was the maintenance of the authority of Parliament over the colonies.6 The resolutions of the peo-
1 Mass. Gazette for Nov. 2, 1767; Nov. 21, 1767; Hutchinson, iii. 180, Bradford, i. 122. The plan was also 181. adopted in Portsmouth, Providence, 4 Chatham Corresp. iii. 139, note. New York, Philadelphia, and in some towns in other colonies.
2 Hutchinson to Pownall, Nov. 10, 1767 ; Bernard to Shelburne, Oct. 30, 1767; Boston Gazette for Nov. 2, 1767 ; Hutchinson, iii. 182; Hist. of the War, 39.
3 Boston Evening Post for Nov. 23 and 30, 1767; Bernard to Shelburne,
5 Chesterfield's Letter of Dec. 27, in Chatham Corresp. iii. 302, note ; Mass. Gazette Extra for February 25, 1769 ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 185 ; Grahame, ii. 432; Bancroft, vi. 109, 110.
6 Mauduit to Hutchinson, Dec. 15, 1767; Bancroft, vi. 110.
342
A PENSION SETTLED ON HUTCHINSON.
CHAP. ple of Boston, to suspend importations from England and to XI. encourage domestic manufactures, served to quicken their 1768. Jan. anger ; and, early in the new year, the intention was avowed of initiating measures to abrogate the charters, and introduce uniformity into the government of the colonies.1 Of the ap- proval of Hillsborough to this scheme his associates were assured. His professions of regard for the liberties of America were known to be a pretence; for if any purpose was cher- ished by him more fondly than all others, it was the purpose of abridging colonial privileges. Conceited and shallow in the opinions he held, headstrong and obstinate in defending and enforcing them, the union of stiffness with affected suavity gave to his manners an awkwardness and constraint which are often the accompaniments of craft and duplicity. He had not the boldness which courage confers; and, if his apologists esteemed him "honest and well meaning," it was because he had concealed from them the weak points of his character.2
Almost his first act respecting Massachusetts was the grant of a pension of two hundred pounds to Thomas Hutchinson, to be paid annually by the commissioners of customs.3 The news that such a grant had been made could not be kept se- cret ; and the people of Boston expressed their abhorrence in no gentle terms. "If such acts are continued," said they, "we shall be obliged to maintain in luxury sycophants, court para- sites, and hungry dependants, who will be sent over to watch and oppress those who oppose them. The governors will be men rewarded for despicable services, hackneyed in deceit and avarice, or some noble scoundrel who has spent his fortune in every kind of debauchery." 4 At this juncture Samuel Adams
1 Bancroft, vi. 111.
Franklin's Works, vii. 507; Ban- croft, vi. 116. " His lordship," writes De Berdt, Aug. 29, 1768, " says laws must be supported, or we sink into a state of anarchy, which he thinks must be avoided at all events."
3 Hutchinson to Hillsborough, Apr.
18, 1768 ; Oliver to -, May 11, 1768; Bancroft, vi. 116.
4 A. Eliot to T. Hollis, Dec. 10, 1767; A. Eliot to Blackburne, Dec. 15, 1767; Bancroft, vi. 117. Even Huske, who was hanged in effigy in 1765, in 1758 said, " As to the civil officers appointed for America, most
343
PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE.
drew up a voluminous letter, in the form of a remonstrance CHAP. against the revenue act, to be sent by the province to their XI. agent in England. This letter was read in the House of 1768. Jan. 6.
Representatives, which had opened its session in the previous month, and was debated for several days. "Seven times it Dec. 30. 1767. was revised ; every word was weighed, every sentence consid- ered ; each seemingly harsh sentence was tempered and re- fined ; " and, after it had passed this searching ordeal, it was adopted to be sent to the agent, communicated to the ministry, and published to the world as expressing the unchangeable opinion of Massachusetts.1
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