USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 39
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The funeral of the slain was attended with great ceremony. Mar. 8. Many of the shops in Boston were shut ; and the bells of that town, and of Charlestown, Cambridge, and Roxbury were sol- emnly tolled. Attucks, the mulatto, and Caldwell, who was a stranger, were borne from Faneuil Hall; Maverick from the house of his mother, in Union Street; and Gray from his brother's, in Royal Exchange Lane. The procession was of great length ; and, after the four hearses had joined in King Street, near the scene of the tragedy, it marched in columns of six deep through the main street to the middle burial ground, where the four victims were deposited in one grave. The aggravated circumstances attending their death, the pres- ence of the soldiers, who had not yet removed, and the distress and sorrow of relatives and friends, - all conspired to invest the scene with a peculiar solemnity.3 It was a mournful day to the people of Boston. They well knew that exaggerated narratives of the affair would be published, and that no pains would be spared to insist upon harsher measures, and to justify
1 Oliver's Narr. in Bancroft, vi. 346.
2 Boston Narr. ; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 192.
3 Boston Post Boy for March 12, 1770 ; Boston Gazette for March 15, 1770.
4
420
TRIAL OF THE SOLDIERS.
CHAP. high-handed attempts to enslave them. Yet, withal, there was XII. a feeling in the breast of every one that, come what would, the 1770. province must on no account recede from its position.
Oct. The trial of Preston was held in October ; every indulgence was shown him by the citizens, and he was soon acquitted.1 Nov.27. The trial of the soldiers took place in November, and they were ably defended by Josiah Quincy and John Adams. Six of the accused were brought in " not guilty ; " two, Kilroi and Montgomery, were declared "guilty of manslaughter," but, praying the "benefit of clergy," they were " each of them burnt in the hand, in open court, and discharged." 2 Four others, who were charged by the grand jury with being present and Dec. 12. abetting, were tried in December ; but the jury acquitted them without leaving their seats.3 For several years, on the anni- versary of the massacre, orations were delivered by prominent citizens ; but, after the war of the revolution had ended, the observance ceased to engross attention, and the natal day of the freedom of the country was preferred as the time for a public address. 4
In reviewing the circumstances attending this "massacre," it will, perhaps, be acknowledged by the candid and thoughtful that there was blame on the part of the citizens of Boston as well as on the part of the soldiers of the king. Both the troops and the populace were highly excited. For a long time there had been grudges and collisions between them. In more
Bancroft, vi. 373; Snow's Boston, 284, 285.
2 Trial, &c. 120; Hutchinson to Bernard, Dec. 6 and 10, 1770. The names of the prisoners were William Weems, James Hartegan, William M'Cauley, Hugh White, William Warren, John Carroll, Matthew Kil- roi, and Hugh Montgomery.
3 Trial, &c. 120. The names of these four were Edward Manwaring, John Munro, Hammond Green, and Thomas Greenwood.
4 For particulars relative to the ora- tions on the 5th of March, see Loring's Hundred Boston Orators. A number of these orations are preserved in the archives of the Mass. Hist. Soc., in the Boston Athenæum, the Library of Harvard College, and other public in- stitutions. The earliest orators were Thomas Young, James Lovell, Joseph Warren, Benjamin Church, and John Hancock.
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421
THE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES.
than one instance they had resorted to blows. And the trage- CHAP. 4 dy of the fifth was the natural result. On which side there XII. was most blame it may be difficult to decide. Among the 1770. citizens the opinion prevailed that the soldiers could not fire without the order of the civil magistrate ; and this, doubtless, emboldened them to persist in their insults. The soldiers, governed by a different rule, looked to their own officers for the word of command. In the uproar which prevailed, it may have been difficult to distinguish from what quarter the order to fire came ; and, smarting under provocations and eager for revenge, the soldiers may not have been over-scrupulous in assuring themselves that they acted under proper authority, and may have availed themselves of the confusion and uncer- tainty of the occasion to redress their own wrongs, trusting to the influence of their superiors to clear them, should their con- duct be blamed. We should not too harshly judge Captain Preston. It is not certain that the order to fire proceeded from him. The evidence against him was not conclusive, and he personally denied having given such orders. The outbreak was one which will ever be lamented. Yet back of the in- cidents attending the tragedy there still lies the fact that the
- presence of the soldiery was the cause of the strife ; and if responsibility rests any where, it must rest upon those who sent them here, and, more than all, upon those who clamored for having them sent. Hillsborough and Bernard were the culpa- ble parties - the latter the more so, as it was at his instigation that the troops were quartered in Boston ; and the former, as the executive minister of the king, should be blamed for listen- ing to his insidious proposals.
CHAPTER XIII.
PROGRESS OF THE STRUGGLE. COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE.
CHAP. XIII.
THE fifth of March, 1770, was doubly memorable in the annals of New England - memorable as the day of the " mas- 1770. sacre " in Boston, and memorable as the day on which, in the Parliament of Great Britain, the " American question " was again under debate. A "petition from the merchants and tra- ders of London trading to North America " was presented in the House of Commons, setting forth the "alarming state of suspense " into which commerce had fallen, and that this "in- terruption of trade," in the apprehension of the petitioners, was "principally owing to certain duties imposed on tea, paper, glass, and painters' colors imported into the colonies." They " therefore presumed to lay the distressed situation of this trade before the House, and, for the recovery of so important a branch of commerce, to pray for such relief as to the House shall seem meet." 1 Lord North, who had been recently ap- pointed first lord of the treasury,2 moved the reading of the act to which the petitioners referred ; and, after it had been read, he observed that the act thus petitioned against had been "the occasion of most dangerous, violent, and illegal combinations in America ;" yet as "many of the articles contained in the tax " it was "absurd to have imposed a duty upon," for "these commercial reasons " it was " necessary to move the repeal of such duty."
1 Debates in Parl. v. 253.
2 The resignation of the Duke of Grafton occurred January 28, 1770,
and Lord North took his place. Bel- sham, i. 266.
(422)
423
SPEECH OF LORD NORTH.
"He had favored," he added, " with the rest of the ministry, CHAP. at the end of the last sessions, the circular letter to the govern- XIII. ors of the colonies, promising to repeal, on certain commercial 1770. principles, that part of the law which was repugnant to them ; that he did this as a persuasive to bring them back to their duty, by a measure which would not at the same time relax the reins of government over them ; and he could have wished to have repealed the whole, if it could have been done without giving up such absolute right. But he was sorry to say that the behavior of the Americans had by no means been such as to merit this favor, their resolutions being more violent this summer than ever ; neither did he think a total repeal would by any means quell the troubles there ; as experience had shown that to lay taxes when America was quiet, and repeal them when America was in flames, only added fresh claims to those people on every occasion ; and now, as they totally de- nied the power of Great Britain to tax them, it became more absolutely necessary to compel the observance of the laws, to vindicate the rights of Parliament." On these grounds he would not move an absolute repeal of the act, but only that "leave be given to bring in a bill to repeal the tax act as far as relat- ed to the tax on paper, glass, and painters' colors." 1
The speech of Pownall was an elaborate defence of the peti- tion ; and at its close he moved, as an amendment, a clause including tea with the articles enumerated .? "I do not," said he, "argue this repeal as asking a favor for the Americans ; they do not now ask the repeal as a favor. Nor do I move in this matter as seeking redress of a grievance complained of by them ; they have not complained to Parliament, nor do they come for redress. Although they feel deeply, they suffer and endure with a determined and alarming silence. They are
1 Debates in Parl. v. 253-255 ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 265 ; Boston News Letter for April 26, 1770. The report of Johnson, the agent of Connecticut, is somewhat dif-
ferent from the above, and an abstract of the same is given in Bancroft, vi. 351, 352.
2 Debates in Parl. v. 255-268 ; Bos- ton News Letter for April 26, 1770.
e
424
SPEECHES OF GRENVILLE AND OTHERS.
CHAP. under no apprehension for their liberty. They remember that XIII. it was planted under the auspicious genius of this constitution ; 1770. it hath taken root, and they have seen it grow up, under the divine blessing, to a fair and blooming tree. And should any severe strokes of fate again and again prune it down to the bare stock, it would only strike the deeper and the stronger. It would not, perhaps, rise in so straight and fair a form ; but it would prove the more hardy and durable. They trust, there- fore, to Providence ; nor will they complain."
Grenville followed ; and, after lauding the stamp act, his own favorite measure, and censuring the subsequent policy of the ministry, declared his intention to remain neutral in the present controversy, and " not vote in the question."1 Conway expressed his "concurrence in repealing the whole of the pres- ent act ; " 2 and Sir William Meredith declared the tax "ought to be repealed totally." 3 Barrington and Ellis opposed both the amendment and the original motion ; but the uncompromis- ing Barré " was for the whole repeal." The act was unjust in every sense of the word, and as impolitic as unjust ; and too soon the ministry could not retrace their steps, if they wished to restore peace to the kingdom.4 When the question was taken, however, upon the amendment of Pownall, it was reject- ed by a vote of two hundred and four against one hundred and forty-two ; and the repeal was lost, so far as the article of tea was concerned, though carried on the other points.5
The General Court of Massachusetts had been prorogued by Bernard to the tenth of January ; but before that day arrived, a "further signification of the king's pleasure " was received by Hutchinson, that the court "should be held at Cambridge, unless the lieutenant governor had more weighty
1 Debates in Parl. v. 268, 269; Boston News Letter for April 26, 1770. Comp. Du Chatelet to Choi- seul, Feb. 27, 1770, in Bancroft, vi. 353 ; Franklin's Works, vii. 466.
2 Debates in Parl. v. 269.
3 Debates in Parl. v. 269.
4 Debates in Parl. v. 269. Comp. Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 266, 267. 5 Debates in Parl. v. 270 ; Boston News Letter for April 26, 1770.
425
CONTROVERSY WITH HUTCHINSON. .
reasons for holding it at Boston ;" and, considering the "in- CHAP. struction tantamount to a peremptory order," contrary to his XIII. own judgment, as he afterwards affirmed,1 he convened the 1770. legislature at Cambridge.2 This step was displeasing to the Mar. 15. House ; and a remonstrance was prepared against the proroga- Mar. 16. tion of the assembly by the " mandate " of the minister as "an infraction of their essential rights as men and citizens, as well as those derived from the British constitution and the charter of the colony," and praying that the assembly should be ad- journed "to its ancient place, the court house in Boston." 3 But his honor, in reply, stood upon his reserved rights as com- mander-in-chief, and declared his determination not to depart from his duty to the king.4 For some days the controversy Mar. 16 was continued ; the Council joined with the House in petition- to 24. ing for the removal of the court ; and the House, by a verbal message, desired of his honor a copy of his instructions from the king, and drew up a memorial, based upon the act of 10 William III., authorizing the General Court or Assembly to be held " at the town house in Boston," as a warrant for their petition ; but all was to no purpose. Hutchinson was inflexi- ble, and the session of the court was continued at Cambridge. " We proceed to business under this grievance," the House then resolved, "only from absolute necessity - hereby protest- ing against the illegality of holding the assembly as aforesaid, and ordering this our protest to be entered on our journals, to the end that the same may not be drawn into precedent at any time hereafter." 5
1 Hutchinson to Gage, Feb. 25, 1770. Comp. the first draught of his letter to Hillsborough, of Feb. 28, 1770, in Almon's Remembrancer for 1775, 44.
2 Hutchinson to Hillsborough, Feb. 28, 1770, and Hist. iii. 280, 281; Al- mon's Remembrancer for 1775, 44, 45.
3 Jour. H. of R. for 1769-70, 91 ; Hutchinson, iii. 281.
Jour. H. of R. for 1769-70, 92 ; Hutchinson, iii. 282.
Jour. H. of R. for 1769-70, 92- 103; Hutchinson, iii. 282, 283; Brad- ford, i. 212 ; Boston News Letter Ex- tra for March 23, 1770, and News Letter for March 29, 1770. "The court," wrote Hutchinson, March 25, 1770, " has been sitting at Cambridge ever since the 15th, refusing to do any business, and urging me to re-
426
CONTROVERSY WITH HUTCHINSON.
CHAP. XIII.
1770. April 9.
Under such duress, the temper of the House was by no means softened to a conciliatory tone. Yet one more attempt was made in England in behalf of the colonies ; and several members of the House of Commons- Trecothick, Beckford, Beauchamp, and Dowdeswell 1 - proposed the repeal of the duty on tea. But the king, who was exceedingly jealous of his prerogative, was indignant at this "debate in the teeth of a standing order," and through his mouthpiece, Lord North, declared that, though he wished to " conciliate the Americans, and to restore harmony between the two countries," he would " never be intimidated by the threats nor compelled by the combinations of the colonies to make unreasonable or impoli- tic concessions." This decided the question ; the matter was passed over ; and the next order of the day was called for by a vote of eighty to fifty-two.2
It is not a little singular that, in the messages of Hutchinson to the General Court, no notice was taken of the event which had convulsed the province from one end to the other. To the tragedy of the fifth of March he made no allusion. Yet minor disturbances attracted his attention ; and, as a "riotous trans- April 7. action " had occurred in Gloucester, he " thought it proper to communicate it to the House and to the Council, that, if any act or order of the whole legislature should be judged neces- sary for strengthening or encouraging the executive powers of government, there might be an opportunity for it." 3 For more than a fortnight this communication remained unan- Apr. 23. swered ; then, in an address to his honor, the House assured
move them to Boston ; but I shall not do it. I hope no copy of my Lord Hillsborough's letter to me on the 9th of December will be suffered to be made public, nor of mine to his lordship in answer; for I have fol- lowed your advice, and they do not know that I had any sort of discre- tion left in the matter." Almon's Re- membrancer for 1775, 41.
1 Conway, Dunning, and Sir George
Saville likewise took part in this de- bate in favor of America. 2 Debates in Parl. v. 305, 306; Bancroft, vi. 360.
3 Jour. H. of R. for 1769-70, 139; Boston News Letter for May 3, 1770 ; Hutchinson, iii. 283. The " riotous transaction " consisted in tarring and feathering a custom house officer who had given offence by his proceedings.
427
CONTROVERSY WITH HUTCHINSON.
him of their " abhorrence of all disorderly and riotous pro- CHAP. ceedings," and of their "disposition and duty to take the most XIII. effectual measures to discountenance the same." But, while 1770. complaints were made of "riots and tumults," it became them to inquire into the "real causes " of such disturbances. "It may justly," they added, " be said of the people of this province that they seldom, if ever, have assembled in a tumultuous man- ner, unless they have been oppressed. It cannot be expected that a people accustomed to the freedom of the English consti- tution will be patient under the hand of tyranny and arbitrary power. They will discover their resentment in a manner which will naturally displease their oppressors. And, in such case, the severest laws and the most rigorous execution will be to little or no purpose. The most effectual method to restore tranquillity would be to remove their burdens, and to punish all those who have been the procurers of their oppression."
They then reviewed more fully the subject of the message, complained of the " enormities committed by the soldiery," and. closed with a protest against a military force posted among the people without their consent, which, in their estimation, was in itself " one of the greatest grievances, threatening the total subversion of a free constitution - much more, if designed to execute a system of corrupt and arbitrary power, and even to exterminate the liberties of the country." "Surely, then," say they, "your honor cannot think this House can descend to the consideration of matters comparatively trifling, while the capital of the province has so lately been in a state of actual imprisonment, and the government itself under duress." 1
Three days after the General Court had sanctioned this Apr. 26. message, the news of the massacre in Boston having reached England, Alderman Trecothick, in the House of Commons, moved that an address be presented to the king for "copies of
1 Jour. H. of R. for 1769-70, 178 App. P .; Boston News Letter for -181; Hutchinson, iii. 283, 284, and April 26, 1770.
1
428
DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT.
CHAP. all narratives of disputes or disturbances between his majesty's XIII. troops and the inhabitants of any of the colonies, since the 1770. twenty-fourth of June last, which had been received by the commissioners of the treasury or either of the secretaries of state, with copies of all orders and instructions to the govern- ors or other officers relative to such disputes." 1 The debate which ensued was highly interesting. Even Grenville, who spoke " exceedingly well," exclaimed, " God forbid we should send soldiers to act without civil authority." " The officers," said Barré, "agreed in sending the soldiers to the Castle ; and what minister will dare send them back to Boston ?" "Let us have no more angry votes against the people of America," cried Beauchamp. And William Burke, in the same spirit, declared that " the very idea of a military establishment in America " was " wrong." 2
May 8. Early in the ensuing month the discussion was renewed ; and Pownall introduced a motion, which he defended at length, and which was seconded by Beckford, praying his majesty to examine the commissions issued to officers in America, that they might be amended in all cases in which they clashed or interfered with each other, or contained any powers not war- ranted by the constitution.3 This motion was debated by Johnstone, Barrington, Beckford, Barré, Conway, and Sa- May 9. ville ; 4 and on the following day, on the motion of Burke, who acted in thorough conjunction with Grenville, a series of resolves, seventeen in number, was reported in the House, con- demning the measures of the ministry, but carefully abstaining from indicating the policy they should adopt ; 5 but these re- solves, after considerable debate, were all negatived except the first, declaring that, "in several of his majesty's colonies in
1 Debates in Parl. v. 308.
2 Boston Gazette for June 25, 1770 ; Bancroft, vi. 360, 361.
3 Debates in Parl. v. 312-325; Boston News Letter for July 12, 1770. Beckford died a few weeks
after this debate ; and thus the colo- nies lost one of their friends. Comp. Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 273.
4 Debates in Parl. v. 325-329. 5 Johnson to Trumbull, May 21,
1770 ; Debates in Parl. v. 329-333.
429
DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT.
North America, disorders had of late prevailed prejudicial to CHAP. the trade and commerce of this kingdom, and destructive to XIII. the peace and prosperity of the said colonies," which was " car- 1770. ried by a majority of one hundred and ninety-seven to seventy- nine." 1
In the House of Lords, the " affairs of America " were called May 18. up by the Duke of Richmond ; and the resolves which had been reported by Burke in the House of Commons were read.2 His grace then proceeded to charge on Lord Hillsborough the disorders which had latterly occurred in America, and was particularly severe upon his letter of September 8, 1768, di- recting some of the American governments to dissolve their assemblies, which he characterized as an "ill-written, unconsti- tutional, official letter, wanting the weight and advice of Par- liament, as well as the leniency of authority." 3
This charge brought Hillsborough to his feet, who expressed his surprise that his conduct should be thus questioned ; yet, as it ever had been, so it should be, his principle to attach him- self to no particular party, but to pursue steadily those objects which he thought were most conducive to the good of the con- stitution and the honor of the crown. The ground on which he stood he knew was slippery ; and hence he had always sought to be circumspect. Yet, in relation to quartering the troops in Boston, he acknowledged that he was the " culprit," nor did he attempt to defend the measure; and, to avoid the effect of further debate, he moved an adjournment. " Adjourn ! adjourn !" was cried by his friends. But the Marquis of Rockingham prevented it by rising; and Lord Temple, in seconding his motion, took occasion to animadvert upon the unwillingness of the administration to trust to the goodness of their cause, and asked how the promises which had been made relative to America had been complied with. "I must
1 Debates in Parl. v. 336.
2 Debates in Parl. v. 196-198.
3 Debates in Parl. v. 198; Supp't Boston News Letter for July 31, 1770.
430
A NEW GENERAL COURT CONVENED.
CHAP. confess," said he, " that these promises have been performed in XIII. a most singular manner, and that the business of the govern- 1770. ment has been done in a style still more singular - a style which reminds me of the French gasconade, -
'The King of France, with forty thousand men, Marched up the hill, and so marched down again.'"
But the ministry was immovable. The weight of authority was on their side ; and the resolves were rejected by a large majority.1
By the terms of the charter, the General Court was to com- mence its session on the last Wednesday in May. The election of members, accordingly, soon followed the dissolution of the old court ; and in most of the towns the people were careful to return men favorable to the cause of liberty.2 The town of May 15. Boston, at the instance of Quincy, instructed its representatives to resist the "unwarrantable and arbitrary exactions made upon the people, from which, under God, nothing but stern virtue and inflexible fortitude could save them." " A series of occurrences," say they, " many recent events, and especially the late journals of the House of Lords, afford good reason to believe that a desperate plan of imperial despotism has been laid, and partly executed, for the extinction of all civil liberty. For years we have with sorrow beheld the approaching con- flict. Every thing now conspires to prompt us to vigilance. And, as the exigencies of the times require, not only the refined abilities of true policy, but the more martial virtues, - conduct, valor, and intrepidity, - so, gentlemen, in giving you our suf- frages at this election, we have devolved upon you a most
1 Debates in Parl. v. 199-201 ; Supp't to Boston News Letter for July 26, 1770. Comp. Boston Gazette for Nov. 9, 1772.
2 Not in all; for, according to John Adams, Diary, in Works, ii. 263, the
House, in the sessions of 1770, was " very near equally divided." Yet the opponents of Hutchinson were in the majority, - decidedly so, - and able to carry their measures on al- most every occasion.
431
+
MESSAGE OF THE HOUSE.
important trust, to discharge which, we doubt not, you will CHAP. summon up the whole united faculties of both mind and XIII. 1770. body." 1
The message of the House, at the opening of the sessions at May 31. Cambridge, was conceived in the same spirit. "The town house in Boston," said they, " is the only place where the Gen- eral Court is to be convened and held. We do not conceive that it is in your honor's discretion to remove it to this or to any other place ; nor does the prerogative of the crown extend so far as to suffer you to exercise power to the injury of the people. We therefore esteem it our indispensable duty, before proceeding to the business of this assembly, to remonstrate against its being held in any other place than the town house in Boston." 2
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