USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 37
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In accordance with these proceedings, the first step taken was to publish in the newspapers the names of those who per- Aug.11. sisted in importing goods contrary to agreement, " that there might be the concurrence of every person upon the continent in rendering their base and dangerous designs abortive ; " 2 and, shortly after, two of the principal merchants, whose ship had Aug. 28. recently arrived, were waited upon by the committee, and com- pelled to subscribe an engagement to sell none of their goods until the time fixed upon for non-importation had expired.3 Factors, to whom goods had been consigned, were likewise compelled to reship them to their principals in England. And there was a general determination that the agreement should be complied with, and that those who were refractory should be dealt with summarily to reduce them to obedience.4 .
The son of Bernard and two sons of Hutchinson were among the few who refused to submit to these measures ; and, at a public meeting in Faneuil Hall, Hancock proposed to send Aug. for the latter, to reprove them for their stubbornness - hint- ing, what was true, that their father was himself "a partner with them in their late extraordinary importations of tea." But a more prudent course was adopted ; and, as the best means of coercion, a paper was circulated from house to house,
1 Mass. Gazette for July 27, 1769; Boston Gazette for July 31, 1769; Observ. on several Acts of Parl., pub. by the Merchants of Boston, 1769 ; Hutchinson, ii. 252, 253; Grahame, ii. 452.
2 Hutchinson, iii. 258.
3 Boston News Letter for Aug. 31, 1769; Hutchinson, iii. 258.
4 Hutchinson to Bernard, Oct. 19, 1769 ; Hutchinson's Hist. iii. 258.
398
CELEBRATION AT DORCHESTER.
CHAP. which nearly every one signed, agreeing not to purchase of XII. them until they yielded.1
1769. Aug.14.
The anniversary of the outbreak against the stamp act was celebrated this year with great parade. At Dorchester, John Adams " dined with three hundred and fifty Sons of Liberty at Robinson's, the sign of the Liberty Tree." Two tables were " laid in the open field, by the barn, with between three and four hundred plates, and an awning of sailcloth over head ;" and, though the rain poured without, which made " some abate- ment of their pleasures," the day was for the most part agreea- bly spent. "Mr. Dickinson, the Farmer's brother, and Mr. Reed, the secretary of New Jersey," were there, as was also Balch, the wit of the province, who diverted the audience with his wonderful mimicry. The " Liberty Song " was sung as a duet ; and the whole company joined in the chorus. The toasts which were drunk were appropriate and spirited ; and "strong halters, firm blocks, and sharp axes, to such as deserve either," were the words of the forty-fifth. In the afternoon, between four and five, the company broke up ; the " carriages were got ready," and a procession of a mile and a half in length was formed, which entered the town before dark, marched round the State House, and then dispersed. "Otis and Samuel Adams," wrote the kinsman of the latter, "are politic in promoting these festivals ; for they tinge the minds of the people, they impregnate them with the sentiments of liberty ; they render the people fond of their leaders in the cause, and averse and bitter against all opposers." "To the honor of the Sons," he adds, " I did not see one person intox- icated, or near it." 2
Copies of letters from public officers to the ministry, taken by Beckford, had been published in Boston.3 Otis was cen-
-
1 Boston Gazette for Aug. 14 and ii. 218; Boston Gazette for Aug. 21, Sept. 4, 1769; Hutchinson to Ber- 1769; Bancroft, vi. 309. nard, Aug. 8, 1769.
Hutchinson to Mauduit, April 16, 3
2 John Adams's Diary, in Works, 1769. Authentic copies of letters,
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1.44:11
399
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VINDICATION OF BOSTON.
sured in these letters as a " demagogue ;" and, as the warmth CHAP. of his zeal in the cause of liberty had sensibly wrought upon XII. his susceptible nerves, he was nearly beside himself with anger. 1769. In this sad condition he provoked an affray with Robinson, Sept. 5. one of the revenue officers, at the British Coffee House, on King, now State, Street, and was severely wounded by a blow on the head. The sympathy that was felt for him, and the odium with which the conduct of the officers was viewed, tinged this transaction with a tragical hue, and quarrels be- tween the people and the officers increased.1 The merchants of Boston were likewise again aroused to action by letters from New York, inviting them to extend indefinitely the non-impor- tation agreement ; and, by the influence of Molineux, Samuel Oct. 17. Adams, and William Cooper, they were readily induced to comply with this request.2 The next day the town published Oct. 18. its " Appeal to the World," or " vindication from the asper- sions " of Bernard and others.3 The tone of this appeal was fearless, yet candid ; but Hutchinson, who felt that his own
memorials, &c., written by Bernard, Hood, and the commissioners to the ministry, were transmitted to the se- lectmen of Boston by Bollan, and read at a town meeting, Oct. 4. Boston News Letter for Oct. 5, 1769.
1 Mass. Gazette for Sept. 7, 11, and 14, 1769 ; Boston Gazette for Sept. 11 and 18, 1769; Boston News Letter for Sept. 21, 1769; Tudor's Life of Otis, 362; Snow's Hist. of Boston, 277; Bancroft, vi. 310. Otis sued Robinson for the injuries he had re- ceived, and obtained a verdict for £2000 damages; but on receiving a suitable apology from the defendant, he remitted the fine. That nervous irritability, which ended in insanity, was at this time fast increasing upon the once noble patriot. " Otis," writes John Adams, Diary, in Works, ii. 226, 227, "is in confusion yet; he loses himself ; he rambles and wanders like a ship without a helm. I fear, I tremble, I mourn for the man
and for his country; many others mourn over him with tears in their eyes."
2 Hutchinson to -, Oct. 17, 1769 ; Dalrymple to Gage, Oct. 22, 1769 ; Bancroft, vi. 311.
3 The title of this document was, " An Appeal to the World, or a Vin- dication of the Town of Boston from many False and Malicious Aspersions contained in certain Letters and Me- morials written by Governor Bernard, General Gage, Commodore Hood, the Commissioners of the American Board of Customs, and others, and by them respectively transmitted to the British Ministry. Published by Order of the Town. Printed and sold by Edes and Gill, in Queen Street, Boston, 1769," pp. 34. This appeal was most proba- bly written by Samuel Adams, as large fragments of the draught in his hand- writing are still in existence. Comp. Boston News Letter for Oct. 26, 1769, and Boston Gazette for Oct. 30, 1769.
400
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST LOYALISTS.
CHAP. conduct was rebuked in it, endeavored to wipe off the unfavor- XII. able impressions it might produce in England by renewing his
1769. charges against the people ; and, by secret despatches, he sent word to Grenville, to Jenkinson, and to Hillsborough that " all would be set right if Parliament, within the first week of its session, would change the municipal government of Bos- ton, incapacitate its patriots to hold any public office, and restore the vigor of authority by decisive action."1 At the same time, to prepare for the inaction of Parliament, he sent orders for a large supply of teas for the shop of his sons, and instructed his correspondents how to forward them so as to elude the vigilance of the committees of Boston.2
Hitherto the conduct of the people had been decorous. But, considering the provocations they were constantly receiving, not only from the soldiers, but from refractory merchants and headstrong loyalists, they should not be too sharply censured if, in a few cases, they departed from their usual course, and expressed their feelings by peculiar and decisive marks of dis- Oct. 28. pleasure. One such instance occurred at this time, when a " great number of people," a "little after sunset," seized "an informer against the breaches of the acts of trade," and, having stripped him of a "great part of his clothing," and "tarred and feathered him upon his naked body," " carted him about the town, requiring the inhabitants to place lights in their windows, and terrifying them with confused noise, tumult, and uproar." 3 Mein, a printer, whose publications had given offence, was likewise assaulted on King Street, and in the scuffle which ensued pistols were fired. For protection he fled to the main guard ; but the people followed, and insisted upon
1 Hutchinson to Bernard, Oct. 19, ' to Whateley, Oct. 20, and to Pownall, Oct. 23, 1769; Grenville Corresp. iv. 486 ; Bancroft, vi. 313.
2 Hutchinson to W. Palmer, Oct. 5 and 24, 1769.
3 Proclamation of Hutchinson, of
Oct. 30, in Mass. Gazette for Nov. 2, 1769; Dalrymple to Gage, Oct. 29, 1769; Hutchinson to Bernard, Oct. 30, and to Hillsborough, Oct. 31, 1769; Boston Gazette for Nov. 6, 1769.
401
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
his being delivered up to them. He finally escaped in disguise, CHAP. and absconded from the town.1 The soldiers, in the mean XII. time, were "rendered desperate ; " and a captain of the twenty- 1769. ninth regiment said to his men, "If they touch you, run them through the bodies." 2 For this speech he was indicted ; and, shortly after, the grand jury for the county of Suffolk found a Nov. true bill against Gage and others for " slandering the town of Boston." 3 The troops were rapidly becoming " the objects of the contempt even of women and children ; " and the position in which they were placed, to persons of their temper, was exceedingly humiliating.4
Hutchinson was appalled by the spirit of the people. To his mind it was evident that, "without a further exertion of power and authority from the kingdom, acts of Parliament for raising money by taxes from the inhabitants of the colonies could never be carried into execution." "The people," says he, " were determined to resist them. There was no power, legislative or executive, within the colonies, which would exert itself in checking this resistance. A military force was of no sort of use. Without the direction of a civil magistrate, it remained perfectly inactive in all times of tumult and riot." 5
Early in January Parliament met, and the American ques- tion was a topic of debate. Chatham, who for more than two years had been unable to take part in the transaction of busi- ness,6 had so far recovered as to venture to appear in the House of Lords ; and curiosity was excited to hear what he would say. The king, in his speech, with the "misery of a
1770. Jan. 9.
1 Hutchinson, iii. 258-260. Comp. Boston News Letter for Aug. 31, 1769, and Mass. Gazette for Sept. 7, 1769.
2 Bancroft, vi. 314.
3 Hutchinson, iii. 262, 263; Ban- croft, vi. 314.
4 S. Adams to De Berdt, Nov. 6, 1769; Hutchinson, iii. 263.
5 Hist. iii. 263.
6 He had recently effected a recon- VOL. II. 26
ciliation, which he had long anxiously sought, with his brother-in-law, Lord Temple, whom he had ever loved and esteemed, but whose friendship, in a moment of political elation, he had unhappily lost. This event, in con- junction with others, is supposed to have had a favorable influence upon his health. Political Register for Nov. 25, 1768; Belsham's George III. i. 255 ;, Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 244.
402
SPEECH OF PITT.
CHAP. ruined grazier rather than with the dignity of an English sov- XII. ereign," found himself obliged, before proceeding to other mat-
1770. ters, to announce to the guardians of the public welfare that " the distemper among the HORNED CATTLE had lately broken out in the kingdom, notwithstanding every precaution that had been used for preventing the infection from foreign parts." This reference in itself appeared so ridiculous that it excited the merriment of the witlings of the court; and the whole ses- sion, in consequence, was named "THE HORNED CATTLE SES- SION." 1 But it was perhaps well that there was something to excite good humor ; for, when graver questions came to be discussed, there was need of such humor to temper the heated passions of the disputants.
The speech of Pitt, on the motion for an address to the king, was marked with his wonted intellectual vigor. To his enemies he seemed as one risen from the dead, armed with supernatural power to scatter confusion and dismay in their camp. His friends were reminded of the fable of the swan, whose latest notes are said to be the sweetest.2 Every one hung on his lips with attention ; and the House of Lords was hushed to silence. Commencing with a compliment to the Duke of An- caster, the mover of the address, and acknowledging his per- sonal obligations to the king, he proceeded to bewail the unsatisfactory state of foreign affairs, which he principally ascribed to the manner in which the treaty of Paris was con- cluded. But, important as were these matters, there were others of greater consequence which demanded attention - the measures which had led to the estrangement of the colo-
1 Debates in Parl. v. 202; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 246; Boston News Letter for March 22, 1770. The address of the Lords and Com- mons in reply may be seen in the News Letter for April 6, 1770.
2 " With his health," says Belsham, George III. i. 255, " his intellectual faculties, so long clouded and op-
pressed, resumed their pristine force and vigor; and it is remarkable that, from this time to the termination of his life, they shone out with a bright- ness and lustre in no respect inferior to that which they displayed in the full meridian of his long and glorious career." See also Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 244.
Hist
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It
403
SPEECH OF PITT.
onies. "I own," said he, "my natural partiality to America, CHAP. and am inclined to make allowance for all excesses. The peo- XII. ple of the colonies should be treated with tenderness. Their 1770. ebullitions of liberty, which have broken out upon the skin, are a sign, if not of perfect health, at least of a vigorous constitu- tion, and must not be driven in too suddenly, lest they strike to the heart. With these views, I object to the word 'unwar- rantable ' in the address. It is passing sentence without hear- ing the cause or knowing the facts. What I have heard of the combinations in America, and of their success in supplying themselves with goods of their own manufacture, has indeed alarmed me for the commercial interests of the mother coun- try ; but I cannot conceive in what sense they can be called illegal, much less how a declaration of this house can remove the evil. They may be dangerous ; and I could wish to have this word substituted for unwarrantable.
" The discontent of two millions of people deserves consider- ation, and its foundation should be removed. But I shall give my opinion more fully on this subject when authentic informa- tion shall be laid before the house. For the present I will only say that we should be cautious how we invade the liber- ties of any part of our fellow-subjects, however remote in sit- uation or unable to make resistance. Liberty is a plant that deserves to be cherished. I love the tree, and wish well to its branches, wherever they are. Like the vine in the Scrip- tures, it has spread from east to west, has embraced whole nations with its branches, and sheltered them under its leaves. The Americans have purchased their liberty at a dear rate ; since they quitted their native country, and went in search of freedom to a desert." 1
1 Debates in Parl. v. 127-131; Johnson to Trumbull, Jan. 10, 1770, in Bancroft, vi. 323; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 246-248; Belsham's George III. i. 256. Bancroft gives the preference to the sketch of John-
son, and says, "The report of the American on America is the safest guide. The American understood the figure of the vine to refer to liberty in America. Chatham never meant to say it had embraced whole nations." I see
404
CAMDEN'S SPEECH.
CHAP. XII. Camden, who had once resisted oppressing the colonies, but who afterwards retracted, was aroused by this speech, and, 1770. rising from the woolsack, pledged himself thenceforth to take a nobler course. "I have suffered myself too long," said he, " to be trammelled by the ministers of his majesty. For some time I have beheld with silent indignation their arbitrary measures. I have often drooped and hung down my head in council, and disapproved by my looks those steps which I knew my avowed opposition could not prevent. I will do so no longer, but openly and boldly speak my sentiments. I now proclaim to the world that I entirely coincide in the opinion expressed by my noble friend, whose presence reanimates us, touching this illegal and unconstitutional vote." 1
The debate in the House of Commons was equally spirited ; and, on the article of the American affairs, the ministry were sharply treated, and condemned for having done every thing without success. In reality, it was said, they had done very little - and that little injudiciously, weakly, and inconsistently. Last year the king had declared America in actual rebellion. The House had desired him to send for the rebels, to be tried in England. The Americans had resolved this vote to be ille- gal and unconstitutional ; yet no notice had been taken of their behavior. This had rendered the resolutions of Parlia- ment ridiculous and contemptible. Barré, as usual, appeared as the defender of the colonies. "The people of England," said he, "know, the people of Ireland know, and the American people feel, that the iron hand of ministerial despotism is lifted up against them ; but it is not less formidable against the prince than against the people." "The trumpeters of sedi tion," was the reply of Lord North, " have produced the disaf
no reason, however, to doubt the sub- stantial correctness of the general re-
ports. 'The American is as likely to have Americanized the speech as the Englishman to have Anglicized it.
-
Debates in Parl. v. 141, 142;
Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 248 This speech of Camden had immediat reference to the vote incapacitatin; Wilkes from holding a seat in th House of Commons; but the pledg was general.
COL sale one
Bane 1
3
405
THE LEGISLATURE PROROGUED.
fection. The drunken ragamuffins of a vociferous mob are CHAP. exalted into equal importance with men of judgment, of mor- XII. als, and of property. I can never acquiesce in the absurd 1770. opinion that all men are equal. The contest in America, which at first might have been easily ended, is now for no less than sovereignty on one side and independence on the other." 1
From the temper of both Houses it was evident that nothing would be immediately done tending to the relief of the colo- nies. Changes in the ministry followed ; the new tory party Jan. 22 took possession of the cabinet ; difficulties increased ; and -31. political grievances remained unredressed. "The ship of state," said Barré, " tossed on a stormy sea, is scudding under a jury mast, and hangs out signals for pilots from the other side." "The pilots on board," was the reply of Lord North, " are capable of conducting her into port." How capable they were time soon proved.
The legislature of Massachusetts was to meet in January ; Jan. 10. but just as the members were preparing for their journey to the metropolis, Hutchinson prorogued the court to the middle of March.3 The reason assigned for this step was an arbitrary instruction from the Earl of Hillsborough, the validity of which, Samuel Adams denied.4 The non-importation agreement had expired by limitation ; and the sons of Hutchinson, " supposing Jan. 1. they had a right to be repossessed of their goods and to dis- pose of them as they thought fit," broke the padlock which the committee had placed on their warehouse, and secretly made sales of the teas deposited there, which had advanced in value one hundred per cent.5 A meeting of merchants was imme- Jan. 16.
Debates in Parl. v. 203, 204; Lord North, in Cavendish Debates, i. Bancroft, vi. 322.
2 Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 250 -253; Bancroft, vi. 325-327.
3 Hutchinson to Bernard, Jan. 10,
1770; Jour. H. of R. for 1770, 90. 4 Hillsborough to Hutchinson, Nov. 4, 1769 ; Vindex, in Boston Gazette for Jan. 8, 1770 ; Bancroft, vi. 329.
5 Hutchinson's Hist. iii. 266, 267 ;
488. The sons of Hutchinson, with Theophilus Lillie and others, entered into an agreement in October, 1769, to abide by the resolutions of the mer- chants, and to deliver up the tea they had imported. Boston News Letter for Oct. 5, 1769. See also ibid. for Dec. 14, 1769, and Jan. 4, 1770, for other names.
406
REFRACTORY MERCHANTS.
CHAP. diately called, and the committee demanded the restoration of XII. the goods ; but compliance was refused. The whole body then 1770. went to Hutchinson's house, and repeated the demand ; but, instead of opening his doors to them, a window was thrown up, at which his honor appeared, "warned them of the conse- quences of their illegal, riotous proceedings, and required them to disperse." 1 " We come," was the reply, "to treat with your sons, who have violated their contract, to which their honor was pledged." " A contract without a valuable consid- eration is not valid in law," was the rejoinder. Yet the chief magistrate was perplexed ; and early the next day, after con- sulting with Phillips, the moderator of the meeting, he consent- ed to return the goods which were unsold, and to make com- pensation for the rest. But no sooner had he entered into this agreement than he began to "repent," and, according to his own statement, " felt more trouble and distress from this error in his public trust than he had done from the loss and damage to his private fortune, when his house and great part of his property were destroyed." 2 The friends of Bernard censured him for his cowardice, said it " was as good a time as any to have called out the troops," and that it was best to " bring mat- ters to extremities." Dalrymple was ready, and his men were armed ; but no orders were given.
Yet the peace of the town was not restored ; and meetings were held from day to day. Hutchinson felt the embarrass- ment of his position, and the Council was convened, and the members were urged to join in quieting the people ; but they declined interfering. The justices were then called upon ; but they, too, declined, saying that, " though these assemblies might be deemed unwarrantable, there were times when irregularities could not be restrained ; and this was a time when the minds of the people were greatly agitated and disturbed from a sense
1 Hutchinson to Hillsborough, Jan. News Letter for Jan. 25, 1770.
24, 1770, and Hist. iii. 267; Cooper 2 Hist. iii. 267.
to Pownall, Jan. 30, 1770; Boston
De
407
SNIDER KILLED.
of danger to their just rights and liberties." The sheriff was CHAP. then sent to the adjourned meeting, which was in session, with XII. a paper requiring them, in his majesty's name, to disperse ; but, 1770. Jan. 23. though the paper was read, the meeting unanimously voted that their assembly was warranted by law, and that they were determined " to keep consciences void of offence towards God and towards man.". Hutchinson saw that the answer which was sent to him was in the handwriting of Hancock ; and he preserved the autograph as evidence against him, should he ever be tried for treason.1
The next step of the meeting was to proscribe by name four persons who had begun to sell contrary to agreement ; and they were declared enemies to their country, who should be treated as such, " by withholding, not only all commercial deal- ing, but every act and office of common civility." 2 To give greater effect to this proscription, posts were planted before the doors of the recusants, with a hand affixed pointing towards them in derision. One of these posts was placed before the door of Theophilus Lillie ; and Richardson, a neighbor and an informer, endeavored to persuade some teamsters from the country, who were passing by, to break it down by driving against it the wheels of their carts. A crowd soon gathered ; Feb. 22. Richardson was chased home ; his house was surrounded ; and bricks and stones were thrown at the windows. To repel the assailants, a random shot was fired among them ; and a lad of eleven or twelve years of age- the son of a poor German -
1 Boston News Letter for Feb. 1, 1770 ; Hutchinson to Hillsborough, Feb. 28, 1770, and Hist. iii. 267,268; Bancroft, vi. 331. " While these com- binations are tolerated," wrote Hutch- inson to Bernard, Feb. 28, 1770, “ gov- ernment can never be restored. They never will be suppressed by any pow- er within themselves; for both the legislative and executive power join with the body of the people in the combination." Almon's Remembr.
2 Hutchinson, iii. 268. On the 4th of October, 1769, at a town meeting, the names of several violators of the agreement were ordered to be entered on the records, " that posterity may know who those persons were that preferred their little private advantage to the common interests of all the col- onies in a point of the greatest impor- tance." Boston News Letter for Oct. 5, 1769.
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