USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 46
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Loyalists, in the mean time, had also been active; and throughout the province they had been concocting measures for the furtherance of the work in which the governor was engaged. Timothy Ruggles, of Hardwick, was one of their leaders ; and, at his instance, papers were drawn up, to be cir- culated in every town, calling upon the "friends to govern- ment" to form an association to counteract the designs of the Provincial Congress.9 Nor was this all. The number of troops quartered in Boston had been greatly augmented ; so that in November the force consisted of eleven regiments and Nov. the artillery ; and in December five hundred marines landed Dec. from the Asia.10 This army was in "high spirits ; " provisions
1 Jour. Prov. Cong. 209, 210.
2 Jour. Prov. Cong. 38, 39, 45.
3 Jour. Prov. Cong. 54, 59.
4 Jour. Prov. Cong. 56, 57. John Hancock, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine were the persons selected. in Jour. Prov. Cong. 60.
6 Jour. Prov. Cong. 61-65.
VOL. II. 32
7 Jour. Prov. Cong. 69-72.
8 Jour. Prov. Cong. 73, 74.
9 Jour. Prov. Cong. 68, and Boston
News Letter for Dec. 29, 1774, where the form of association is given.
10 Boston News Letter for Oct. 20, 1774; Frothingham's Siege of Bos- ton, 43.
498
OPENING OF THE NEW YEAR.
CHAP. were plenty, and they had little to do but to mount guard, XIV. parade, and boast of their prowess. The calmness of the peo-
1774. ple was viewed as an evidence of timidity or cowardice ; and officers wrote to their friends, " As to what you hear of their taking arms to resist the force of England, it is mere bullying, and will go no further than words. Whenever it comes to blows, he that can run the fastest will think himself best off. Believe me, any two regiments here ought to be decimated if they do not beat, in the field, the whole force of the Massa- chusetts province ; for though they are numerous, they are but a mob, without order or discipline, and very awkward at han- dling their arms." 1
1775. Jan. At the opening of the new year, Boston was garrisoned by thirty-five hundred soldiers of the king; and Gage, who was Jan. 17. already confident of success, wrote to Dartmouth that, "if a respectable force is seen in the field, the most obnoxious of the leaders seized, and a pardon proclaimed for all others, govern- ment will come off victorious, and with less opposition than was expected a few months ago."2 But his excellency mis- estimated the forbearance of the people. Hitherto, violent counsels had been deprecated, not from the want of a will to resist, but because such resistance, without sufficient provoca- tion, might have been used to their disadvantage, and would have been regretted by the prudent in other colonies. The patriots of Boston, therefore, were determined not to be the aggressors, but to submit to indignities and insults, if possible, without retaliating. Besides, delay was necessary to perfect their measures and increase their resources ; and as a resort to arms at this stage of affairs would have found the province poorly supplied with the munitions of war, there was nothing to be lost, but every thing to be gained, by patiently awaiting
) Gordon's Am. Rev. i. ; Frothing- ham's Siege of Boston, 44.
2 Gage to Dartmouth, Jan. 17, ton, 46.
1775 ; Boston News Letter for Jan. 5, 1775 ; Frothingham's Siege of Bos-
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499
DISTURBANCES IN MARSHFIELD.
the action of the governor, and leaving events to shape them- CHAP. selves. 1 XIV.
The first symptoms of the approaching struggle came from 1775. a quarter least expected. The Ruggles covenant, which has already been alluded to, had been diligently circulated ; and in the old colony it found a number of signers. In Marshfield, in particular, the " loyal association " became quite large ; 2 and as the patriots of the neighborhood evinced a determina- tion to make them recant, they hastily applied to Gage for relief, who sent a detachment of one hundred men, under Cap- Jan. 23. tain Balfour and three subalterns, with two field pieces and three hundred stands of arms, for their protection. But the presence of such a force, however exact the discipline pre- served, could not fail to excite alarm ; and though they boast- ed that "every faithful subject to his king " was enabled " freely to utter his thoughts, drink his tea, and kill his sheep as profusely as he pleases," an address was sent to the gov- ernor from the selectmen of Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, Feb. Pembroke, Hanover, and Scituate, protesting against the course he had pursued, and requesting their recall.3 The second Pro- vincial Congress was in session at this time; 4 and upon the reception of a copy of this address, passed a vote approving Feb. 14. the vigilance of the patriots, and recommending them " stead- ily to persevere in the same line of conduct which has, in this instance, so justly entitled them to the esteem of their fellow-
1 " The fortitude," says Gordon, Am. Rev. i. 279, " with which the town of Boston supports its present distresses, and the determination it discovers to endure as much as human nature can, rather than betray the American cause and endanger the lib- erties of posterity, will secure it the encomiums of future generations. Not a town or city in all the colonies would have been likely to have exhibited so glorious a spectacle, had it been called out to a similar trial; and all the friends of American liberty through- out the continent may congratulate
themselves that the storm of ministe- rial vengeance has fallen first on the capital of Massachusetts, as in conse- quence of it they have enjoyed the opportunity of providing against the worst that may be attempted in order to reduce them to subjection."
2 An article in Rivington's Gazette of Feb. 9, 1775, represents the num- ber as two hundred.
3 Boston Post Boy for Feb. 27, 1775 ; Winsor's Duxbury, 127, 128.
4 It met at Cambridge, Feb. 1, 1775. Jour. 77.
500
EXPEDITION TO SALEM.
CHAP. countrymen, and to keep a watchful eye upon the behavior of XIV. those who are aiming at the destruction of our liberties." 1
1775. Feb. 26. The expedition to Marshfield was followed by one to Salem, where a few brass cannon and gun carriages were deposited. The troops detached for this purpose were placed under Colo- nel Leslie, and embarked on Sunday, landed at Marblehead in the afternoon, while the people were at meeting, and marched to the town by the way of the North Bridge. On arriving at this spot, however, they found their progress arrested, the draw of the bridge being hoisted to prevent their passage. The colonel ordered it to be lowered, but was answered, “ It is a private way, and you have no authority to pass over it." He then prepared to seize two gondolas which were moored near by ; but their owners jumped in, and began to scuttle them. A scuffle ensued, and the soldiers thrust at the people with their bayonets ; but, by the intervention of Mr. Barnard, a clergyman of Salem, a compromise was effected, and the bridge was lowered, after Leslie had given a pledge that he would not march more than thirty rods beyond it. Thus bloodshed was prevented, and the brave colonel,
" Without loss of time or men, Veered round for Boston back again, And found so well their projects thrive, That every soul got home alive." ?
Meanwhile, in England, the affairs of America were again discussed, and the debates in both Houses were full and ani- mated. Josiah Quincy, one of the truest of the Boston patri- ots, had recently arrived in London, and was present in Par- liament ; and the minutes from his pen are the more valuable
Jour. Prov. Cong. 103, 104.
2 Gentleman's Magazine for 1775; Boston News Letter for March 2, 1775 ; Almon's Remembrancer for 1775, 60; Essex Gazette for Feb. 1775 ; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 305, 306;
Andrews's Am. Rev. i. 287; Brad- ford, i. 365, 366; Felt's Hist. Salem ; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 47, 48. The lines in the text are from Trumbull's M'Fingal.
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501
STATE OF FEELING IN ENGLAND.
from the fact that this was the last service he was able to ren- CHAP. der his country, his death following soon after.1 Bernard and XIV. Hutchinson were "incessant in their applications to adminis- 1775. tration ; " all the " measures against America were planned and pushed on " by them ; and they " gave the most positive assurance of success." 2 Lord North had repeatedly said, " We must try what we can do to support the authority we have claimed over America ; if we are defective in power, we must sit down contented, and make the best terms we can ; and nobody then can blame us after we have done our utmost ; but till we have tried what we can do, we can never be justi- fied in receding ; and we ought to and shall be very careful not to judge a thing impossible because it may be difficult ; nay, we ought to try what we can effect, before we can deter- mine upon its impracticability."3 Such being the state of feeling in England, is it surprising that arbitrary measures should have been vehemently counselled ? Indeed, it is ac- knowledged by a recent historian of that country that "there was then a general tendency at home to undervalue the colo- nies ; and they, and more especially the natives of New Eng- land, were often called by the name of YANKEES, which had grown to be, in some measure, a term of reproach." "To such an extent," he adds, "did these disparaging reflections proceed, that a doubt was even uttered whether the Americans possessed the same natural courage as the English." 4
It was at the commencement of the new year, after the usual Jan. 20. holiday recess, that the American question was brought for- ward in the House of Lords by the Earl of Chatham, when
1 Gordon, Am. Rev. i. 282 et seq., quotes from Quincy's Journal. Comp. Grahame, ii. 501; Quincy's Life of Quincy.
2 Quincy, in Gordon, i. 283. " Gov- ernor P[ownall] assured me that all the measures," &c. Comp. Lord Ma- hon's Hist. Eng. vi. 7. " Hutchinson, on his arrival in England, was admit-
ted to an audience of his majesty, and tended much by his misrepresentations to confirm the government in the hopes which they had formed." 3 Quincy, in Gordon, i. 283. " Lord N. repeatedly said to me," &c.
4 Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 7. Comp. Andrews's Am. Rev. i. 130.
502
SPEECH OF PITT.
CHAP. the bar was crowded with Americans, among whom stood XIV. conspicuous the venerable Franklin. An address to the king 1775. was moved, to open a way towards allaying the ferments and softening the animosities in America, requesting him to order the removal from Boston of the troops under Gage as soon as possible. "The hour of danger," said the eloquent speaker, " must arrive unless these fatal acts of the last session are done away ; it must arrive in all its horrors. There ought, there- fore, to be no delay in this matter ; we should proceed to it immediately. But it is not merely repealing these acts that can win back America to your bosom. You must repeal her fears and her resentments ; and you may then hope for her love and gratitude. Now, insulted with an armed force, irri- tated with a hostile array before her eyes, which is a bar to all confidence and cordial reconcilement, her concessions, even if you could force them, would be suspicious and insincere. We shall be forced ultimately to retract ; let us retract while we can, not when we must. Whoever advises the enforcement of these acts must do so at his peril. They must be repealed ; you will repeal them ; I pledge myself for it that you will in the end repeal them. I stake my reputation on it. I will consent to be taken for an idiot if they are not finally repealed. There is no time to be lost ; every moment is big with danger. Nay, while I am now speaking, the decisive blow may be struck, and millions involved in the consequence. The very first drop of blood will make a wound that will not easily be skinned over. Years, perhaps ages, may not heal it. It will be irri- tabile vulnus - a wound of that rancorous, malignant, corrod- ing, festering nature, that in all probability it will mortify the whole body. Repeal, therefore, my lords ; REPEAL, I say ! Thus will you convince America that you mean to try her cause in the spirit and by the laws of freedom and fair inquiry, and not by codes of blood. How can she trust you, with the bayonet at her breast ? She has all the reason in the world to believe you mean her death or bondage. Avoid, then, this
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503
FURTHER DEBATES.
humiliating, disgraceful necessity. To conclude, if the minis- CHAP. ters thus persevere in misadvising and misleading the king, I XIV. will not say that they can alienate the affections of his sub- 1775. jects from the crown, but I will affirm that, the American jewel out of it, they will make the crown not worth his wearing. I will not say that the king is betrayed ; but I will say that the nation is ruined." 1
This motion of Chatham was ably supported by Shelburne and Camden, and Rockingham also said a few words in its favor ; but the ministers opposed it, and declared that, instead of recalling the troops, they would send more if necessary. Hence, when the question was taken, but sixteen favored the motion, and sixty-eight opposed it.2 Petitions from the trading and manufacturing towns of the kingdom - Bristol, Glasgow, Norwich, Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, and even from London, the great metropolis - were presented in vain ; and the petition of the Congress of America, offered by Bol- lan, Franklin, and Lee, was scornfully rejected by a vote of more than three to one. It was evident that both Houses were bent upon violent measures. Already had Dartmouth, Jan. 4. by order of the king, written to the governors of the colonies to allow no more Congresses to be held ; and though it may possibly be doubted whether it was suspected that the contest would actually end in blood, no steps were taken to prevent such a catastrophe, and the measures which were adopted were eminently calculated to exasperate and inflame.3
Far from being daunted by his recent repulse, one more effort was made by Chatham, who had consulted with Frank- Feb. 1. lin,4 to arouse the nation to a sense of its danger, by intro-
1 For a fuller report of this speech see Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 286-290, where the date, by mistake, is Dec. 20; Belsham's George III. ii. 75 et seq. ; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 21 -23.
2 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 290-292; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 23. Quin-
cy, in Gordon, says there were " 18 contents, and 77 non-contents, in- cluding proxies."
Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 292-294 ; 3 Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 150.
4 On these interviews see Writings of Franklin, and Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 23-26.
504
NORTH'S CONCILIATORY SCHEME.
CHAP. ducing a provisional bill "for settling the troubles in America, XIV. and for asserting the supreme legislative authority and super- 1775. intending power of Great Britain over the colonies." But this bill was as objectionable to the ministry as his former pro- posal. It caused, indeed, "a variety of discussion, within and without doors." Several peers, as Shelburne and Camden, argued in its favor, while others, as Lyttleton and Temple, objected to some points in it ; but when a division took place, it was rejected by a vote of sixty-one to thirty-two, and was immediately printed by Chatham, as an appeal to the public judgment.1 The "conciliatory scheme" of North, proposed Feb. 20. shortly after, which contained a conditional renunciation of the right of taxation, met with a different fate ; but it was too defective in its character, and was adopted at too late a period, to remedy the evils which existed.2 Nay, even had this scheme been good in itself, it could have accomplished but little ; for Feb. 10. a bill had been reported, and was passing, for restraining the commerce of New England with Great Britain, as a retaliation for the non-importation agreement of the colonies ; and this bill, which was, in effect, an extension of the obnoxious Boston Port Bill, was "calculated in no slight degree to heap fresh fuel on the flames already burning in America."3 Hence con- ciliation was out of the question ; and the address to the king,
1 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 295 ; Ram- say's Am. Rev. i. 151-153 ; Belsham's George III. ii. 90; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 26-28. Lord Mahon, in a passage covering two pages of his excellent work, queries what conse- quences might have resulted from an opposite decision. " Would the Amer- icans have accepted the measure cheer- fully and readily ? Would it for a long time to come have closed the breach and cemented the union with the mother country ? From all the facts and testimonies then or since made public, I answer, without hesi- tation, that it would. On both sides there were injuries to redress, but not as yet bloodshed to avenge. It was
only a quarrel; it was not as yet a war."
2 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 301, 302; Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 161-168; Bel- sham's George III. ii. 95. The min- istry, it seems, condescended at length to consult with Franklin relative to this scheme; and the latter drew up a paper of " Hints," tending to an ad- justment of the differences between the countries ; but his " Hints " con- tained some inadmissible conditions, and were not approved. Sparks's Franklin; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 30, 31.
3 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 300, 301; Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 159; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 32.
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PREPARATIONS FOR RESISTANCE.
previously adopted, which declared that "a rebellion actually CHAP existed within the province of the Massachusetts Bay," and in XIV. which the Houses pledged themselves, "at the hazard of their 1775. lives and properties, to stand by his majesty, against such attempts, in the maintenance of his just rights and the rights of Parliament," was too palpable a proof of the intentions of the ministry, to admit the supposition that lenient or healing measures would ever be favored by them.1
While ministers in England were thus preparing to enforce their decrees at the cannon's mouth, statesmen in America were coolly and deliberately preparing for resistance. In Boston, the governor and his adherents maintained their posi- tion, surrounded by troops, ready at a moment's warning to obey their commands. At Cambridge, and afterwards at Con- cord, the new Congress, convened in February,2 chose dele- Feb. 1. gates to the next American Congress, and passed resolutions for strengthening the militia of the province, improving the discipline of the troops, and furnishing them with arms. No disposition, however, was evinced on either side to commence hostilities, though collisions occasionally occurred, which seri- ously threatened a civil disturbance. Letters had indeed been received from abroad, counselling bolder steps, and saying " Your countrymen must SEAL THEIR CAUSE WITH THEIR BLOOD. THEY MUST NOT DELAY. They must resist, or be trodden down into the vilest vassalage- the scorn, the spurn of their ene- mies, a by-word of infamy among all men."3 But such coun- sels were censured by the prudent as rash; and the patriots of the Bay Province, conscious that one misstep might ruin all, bore with inflexible fortitude the bitterest taunts, and soothed the excited passions of the turbulent.
' Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 296-300 ; Ramsay's Am. Rev. i. 157 ; Belsham's George III. ii. 90-93. A number of lords protested against this address, as holding out no substantial offer for the redress of grievances.
2 This Congress met at Cambridge
Feb. 1, 1775, and adjourned Feb. 16. It then met at Concord, March 22, and adjourned April 15, shortly before the battle of Lexington. Its subse- quent history will be hereafter given. Jour. Prov. Cong. 75.
3 Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 284.
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506
ARMS SECRETED.
CHAP. What if the gallant Warren was hissed at as he delivered
Mar. 5.
XIV. his "oration " in the Old South, on the anniversary of the 1775. Boston Massacre ? What if Ditson, a citizen of Billerica, was Mar. 9. tarred and feathered, fastened to a chair on trucks, and drawn through the streets, surrounded by a party of soldiers of the forty-seventh, playing in derision " Yankee Doodle "? What Mar.16. if the day of fasting and prayer was made an occasion of un- manly annoyance, while marquee tents were pitched before the west meeting house, and drums and fifes were played to dis- Mar.17. turb the devotional services ? What if the house of Hancock was assaulted, and his fences hacked by a party flushed with bravado and liquor ? All such outrages, however annoying; were borne with a calmness which discerning loyalists, had they been wise, would have construed as ominous of a fearful retribution, should the day of reckoning be hastened by their folly.1
Yet the people moved steadily on in their course, adopting the means which prudence prescribed to prepare for the strug- gle, whenever it should come. Some of their devices were exceedingly ingenious. Cannon were conveyed from the town to the country in carts, under the appearance of loads of manure ; half barrels of gunpowder were put into butcher's pads, or the hampers of marketmen, as they returned home in the evening ; and cartridges were packed in candle boxes, and Mar.18. sent off. Sometimes prizes were made; and in one instance over thirteen thousand cartridges and three thousand pounds of balls were seized. But this mishap, so far from dishearten- ing, only stimulated to increased vigilance ; and provisions were made for concentrating in places the most secure the sup- plies which had been provided by the Congress for the army.2 Indeed, every where, lynx-eyed men were abroad, secretly
1 Mass. Spy for March 10, 1775 ; Almon's Remembrancer for 1775, 62 ; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 307, 308; Jour. Prov. Cong. i. 131-133 ; Boston News
Letter for March 17, 1775 ; Froth- ingham's Siege of Boston, 50.
Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 309; Froth- ingham's Siege of Boston, 51.
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507
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PROJECTED ATTACK ON CONCORD.
watching the motions of the enemy, and reporting their doings CHAP. to the committees of safety. The country was aroused. De- XIV. termination was stamped upon every brow. Companies of 1775. minute men flitted about, and were here at one moment and there at another. Not a red coat could be seen in the neigh- boring villages but the wearer was followed, and his errand discovered.
A large quantity of stores had been deposited at Concord, and it was rumored that Gage was determined to destroy them. A guard was accordingly stationed for their security, Mar. 14. and couriers were engaged in Charlestown, and Cambridge, and Roxbury, the three avenues from Boston, to alarm the country, should the attempt be made. The disguised officers sent out by the commander-in-chief to sketch the roads were narrowly watched by vigilant patriots. The bodies of troops which were occasionally sent out were likewise watched ; and " great numbers " were prepared to attack them if necessary.1. It was known that Howe, and Clinton, and Burgoyne, officers April 4. of established reputation for courage, had been ordered to Boston to join General Gage, and that troops were to accom- pany them, to strengthen his forces; and it was also known that Parliament had prohibited the exportation of military stores to the colonies, to deprive the people of the means of defence.2 Gage had now four thousand men under his com- mand - veteran troops, trained to war, under leaders of ap- proved ability and courage.3 Sanguine of success, he did not for a moment harbor the thought that his designs would be defeated. He had no confidence whatever in the gallantry of the provincials, but regarded them as poltroons, easily intimi- dated. But the people were not dismayed. "Should admin- istration," wrote Cushing, " determine to carry into execution
1 2 M. H. Coll. iv. 204-215. Cap- tain Brown and Ensign De Bernicre were the officers sent to sketch the country.
2 Boston Gazette for April 4, 1775; 53.
Almon's Remembrancer for 1775, 56; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 52, 54.
3 Frothingham's Siege of Boston,
508
PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION.
CHAP. the late acts of Parliament by military force, they will make XIV. the last appeal. They are determined life and liberty shall go 1775. together." 1
Apr. 15. Towards the middle of April it was discovered that there were movements on foot which looked to the accomplishment of the attack upon Concord ; for the grenadiers and light in- fantry were relieved from duty, "upon the plea of learning a new exercise ; " and at night the boats of the transport ships, which had been hauled up to be repaired, were launched and moored under the sterns of the men of war.2 Immediately the committee of safety took additional measures for the security Apr. 17. of the stores, and ordered the cannon to be secreted, and a part of the munitions to be removed to Sudbury and Groton.3
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