USA > Massachusetts > The journals of each Provincial congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775, and of the Committee of safety, with an appendix, containing the proceedings of the county conventions-narratives of the events of the nineteenth of April, 1775 > Part 67
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
SIR :- You are hereby desired immediately to supply the store un- der your care, with such medicines as are absolutely necessary for the present relief of the sick in the army.]1
(1.) Although the sessions of the committee continued after the fifteenth day of July, 1775, the journal is not preserved to a later date.
APPENDIX.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
CONVENTIONS OF THE PEOPLE
IN THE
COUNTIES OF MASSACHUSETTS.
CONVENTION OF SUFFOLK COUNTY.
AT a meeting of the delegates of every town and distriet in the county of Suffolk, held on Tuesday, the sixth of September, 1774, at the house of Mr. Riehard Woodward of Dedham, and, by adjournment, at the house of Mr. Daniel Vose of Milton, on Friday, the ninth instant, Joseph Palmer, Esq. being ehosen moderator, and William Thompson, Esq., elerk, a committee was chosen to bring in a report to the convention, and the following, being several times read, and put paragraph by paragraph, was unanimously voted, viz. :
Whereas, the power, but not the justice ; the vengeance, but not the wis- dom of Great Britain, which of old persecuted, seourged, and exiled our fu- gitive parents fron their native shores, now pursues us, their guiltless ehil- dren, with unrelenting severity : and whereas this, then savage and uneulti- vated desert, was purchased by the toil and treasure, or acquired by the valor and blood of those, our venerable progenitors, who bequeathed to us the dear bought inheritance. who consigned it to our care and protection ; the most saered obligations are upon us to transmit the glorious purchase, unfettered by power, unelogged with shackles, to our innocent and beloved offspring. On the fortitude, on the wisdom, and on the exertions of this important day, is suspended the fate of this new world, and of unborn mil- lions. If a boundless extent of continent, swarming with millions, will taniely submit to live, move, and have their being at the arbitrary will of a licentious minister, they will basely yield to voluntary slavery, and future generations shall load their memories with incessant execrations. On the other hand, if we arrest the hand which would ransaek our pockets, if we disarm the parrieide who points the dagger to our bosoms, if we nobly de- feat that fatal ediet, which proelaims a power to frame laws for us in all
76
602
1
SUFFOLK CONVENTION.
cases whatsoever, thereby entailing the endless and numberless curses of slavery upon us, our heirs and their heirs forever ; if we successfully resist that unparalleled usurpation of unconstitutional power, whereby our capital is robbed of the means of life ; whereby the streets of Boston are thronged with military executioners ; whereby our coasts are lined, and the harbors crowded with ships of war ; whereby the charter of the colony, that sacred barrier against the encroachments of tyranny, is mutilated, and in effect an- nihilated; whereby a murderous law is framed, to shelter villains from the hands of justice ; whereby that unalienable and inestimable inheritance which we derived from nature, the constitution of Britain, which was cove- hanted to us in the charter of the province, is totally wrecked, annulled, and vacated ; posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved them free and happy; and while we enjoy the rewards and blessings of the faith- ful, the torrent of panegyric will roll down our reputations to that latest period, when the streams of time shall be absorbed in the abyss of eternity.
Therefore, we have resolved and do resolve :
1. That whereas, his majesty, George the third, is the rightful successor to the throne of Great Britain, and justly entitled to the allegiance of the British rcalm, and, agrceably to compact, of the English colonies in Amer- ica ; therefore, we, the heirs and successors of the first planters of this col- ony, do cheerfully acknowledge the said George the third to be our rightful sovereign, and that said covenant is the tenure and claim on which are founded our allegiance and submission.
2. That it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, ourselves, and posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power, to maintain, defend, and preserve those civil and religious rights and liberties, for which, many of our fathers fought, bled, and died; and to hand them down entire to-future generations.
3. That the late acts of the British parliament, for blocking up the harbor of Boston, and for altering the established form of government in this col- ony, and for screening the most flagitious violators of the laws of the prov- ince from a legal trial, are gross infractions of those rights, to which we are justly entitled by the laws of nature, the British constitution, and the charter of the province.
4. 'That no obedience is due from this province, to either or any part of the acts abovementioned; but that they should be rejected as the at- tempts of a wicked administration to enslave America.
5. That so long as the justices of our superior courts of judicature, court of assizc, and general gaol delivery, and inferior courts of common pleas in this county, are appointed, or hold their places by any other tenure than , that which the charter and the laws of the province direct, they must be considered as under undue influence, and are, therefore, unconstitutional officers, and as such, no regard ought to be paid to them by the people of this county.
6. That if the justices of the superior court of judicature, court of assize, &c., justices of the court of common pleas, or of the general sessions of
.
603
SUFFOLK CONVENTION.
the peace, shall sit and act dining their present disqualified state, this coun- ty will support and bear harmless all sheriff's and their deputies, constables, jurors, and other officers, who shall refuse to carry into execution the orders of said courts ; and, as far as is possible, to prevent the inconveniences that must attend the suspension of the courts of justice, we do earnestly rccom- mend it to all creditors to exercise all reasonable and generous forbearance to their debtors ; and to all debtors to discharge their just debts, with all possible speed ; and if any disputes concerning debts or trespasses should arise, which cannot be settled by the parties, we recommend it to them to submit all such causes to arbitration ; and if the parties, or cither of them, shall refuse so to do, they ought to be considered as cooperating with the enemies of this country.
7. That it be recommended to the collectors of taxes, constables, and all other officers, who have public moneys in their hands, to retain the same, and not to make any payment thereof to the province or county treasurers, until the civil government of the province is placed upon a constitutiona. foundation, or until it shall otherwise be ordered by the proposed provincial congress.
8. That the persons who have accepted scats at the council board, by virtue of a mandamus from the king, in conformity to the late act of the British parliament, entitled an aet for regulating the government of the Massachusetts bay, have aeted in direct violation of the duty they owe to their country, and have thereby given great and just offence to this people. Therefore,
Resolved, That this county do recommend it to all persons who have so highly offended by accepting said department, and have not, already, pub- liely resigned their seats at the council board, to make public resignations of their places at said board, on or before the twentieth day of this instant September ; and that all persons neglecting so to do, shall, from and after that day, be considered by this county as obstinate and incorrigible cnemies to this colony.
9. That the fortifications began and now carrying on upon Boston neck, are justly alarming to this county, and give us reason to apprehend some hostile intention against that town ; more especially as the commander in chief has, in a very extraordinary manner, removed the powder from the magazine at Charlestown, and has also forbidden the keeper of the maga- zine at Boston, to deliver out to the owners, the powder which they lodged in said magazinc.
10. That the late aet of parliament, for establishing the roman catholic religion and the French laws in that extensive country now called Canada, is dangerous in an extreme degree, to the protestant religion, and to the civil rights and liberties of all America ; and therefore, as men and protes- tant christians, we are indispensably obliged to take all proper measures for our security.
11. That, whereas, our enemies have flattered themselves that they shall make an easy prey of this numerous, brave, and hardy people, from an ap-
-
604
SUFFOLK CONVENTION.
prehension that they are unacquainted with military discipline ; we, there- fore, for the honor, defence, and security of this county and province, advise, as it has been recommended, to take away all commissions from the officers of the militia : that those who now hold commissions, or such other persons, be elected in each town as officers in the militia, as shall be judged of suffi- cient capacity for that purpose, and who have evidenced themselves to be inflexible friends to the rights of the people : and that the inhabitants of those towns and districts, who are qualified, do use their utmost diligence to acquaint themselves with the art of war as soon as possible, and do for that purpose appear under arms at least once every week.
12. That during the present hostile appearances on the part of Great Britain, notwithstanding the many insults and oppressions which we most sensibly resent ; yet, nevertheless, from our affection to his majesty, which we have at all times evinced, wc are determined to act merely on the defen- sive, so long as such conduct may be vindicated by reason and the princi- ples of self-preservation, but no longer.
13. That as we understand it has been in contemplation to apprehend sundry persons of this county, who have rendered theinselves conspicuous in contending for the violated rights and liberties of their countrymen, wc do recommend, should such an audacious measure be put in practice, to seize and keep in safe custody every servant of the present tyrannical and unconstitutional government, throughout the county and province, until thic persons so apprehended be liberated from the hands of our adversaries, and restored safe and uninjured to their respective friends and families.
14. That until our rights are fully restored to us, we will, to the utmost of our power, (and we do recommend the same to the other counties,) with- hold all commercial intercourse with Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies, and abstain from the consumption of British merchandize and man- ufactures, and especially of East India teas and piece goods, with such ad- ditions, alterations, and exceptions, only as the grand Congress of the colo- nies may agree to.
· 15. That under our present circumstances, it is incumbent on us to en- courage arts and manufactures amongst us, by all means in our power ; and that Joseph Palmer, Esq., of Braintree, Mr. Ebenezer Duer, of Roxbury, Mr. James Boice and Mr. Edward Preston, of Milton, and Mr. Nathaniel Guild, of Walpole, be, and hereby are appointed a committee, to consider of the best ways and means to promote and establish the saine, and report to this convention as soon as may be.
16. That the exigencies of our public affairs demand that a provincial congress be called, to concert such measures as may be adopted and vigor- ously executed by the whole people ; and we do recommend it to the sevc- ral towns in this county, to choose members for such a provincial congress, to be holden at Concord, on the second Tuesday of October next ensuing.
17. That this county, confiding in the wisdom and integrity of the Conti- nental Congress, now sitting at Philadelphia, will pay all due respect and submission to such measures as may be recommended by them to the colo-
1
605
SUFFOLK CONVENTION.
nies, for the restoration and establishment of our just rights, civil and reli- gious, and for renewing that harmony and union between Great Britain and the colonies, so earnestly wished for by all good mell.
18. Whereas, the universal uneasiness which prevails among all orders of men, arising from the wicked and oppressive measures of the present ad- ministration, may influence some unthinking persons to commit outrages upon private property : we would heartily recommend to all persons of this community, not to engage in any routs, riots, or licentious attacks upon the property of any persons whatsoever, as being subversive of all order and government ; but by a steady, inanly, uniform, and persevering opposition, to convince our enemies, that in a contest so important, in a cause so solemn, our conduct shall be sueli as to merit the approbation of the wise, and the adiniration of tl.e brave and free of every age and of every coun- try.
19. That should our enemies, by any sudden invasion, render it necessary for us to ask the aid and assistance of our brethren in the country, some one of the committee of correspondence, or a selectman of such town, or the town adjoining where such liostilities shall commence, or shall be ex- pected to commence, shall despatch couriers with written messages to the selectmen or committees of correspondence of the several towns in the vi- cinity, with a written account of such matters, who shall despatch others to committees or selectmen more remote, till proper and sufficient assistance be obtained ; and that the expense of said couriers be defrayed by the coun- ty, until it shall be otherwise ordered by the provincial congress.
Voted, That Joseph Warren, Esq. and Doct, Benjamin Church, of Bos- ton, Deacon Joseph Palmer and Col. Ebenezer Thayer, of Braintree, Capt. Lemuel Robinson, William Holden, Esq. and Capt. John Homans, of Dor- chester, Capt. William Heatlı, of Roxbury, Col. William Taylor and Doet. Samuel Gardner, of Milton, Isaac Gardner, Esq, Capt. Benjamin White and Capt. Thomas Aspinwall, of Brookline, Nathaniel Sumner, Esq. and Mr. Richard Woodward, of Dedhamn, be a committee to wait on his excel- lency the governor, to inform him that this county are alarmed at the forti- fications making on Boston neek, and to remonstrate against the same, and the repeated insults offered by the soldiery to persons passing and repass- ing into that town, and to confer with him upon those subjects.
WILLIAM THOMPSON, Clerk.
The committee appointed at the convention, accordingly prepared, and on Monday, September 12th, 1774, presented the following address, viz. :
To his Excellency Thomas Gage, Esq., Captain General and Commander in Chief of his Majesty's province of Massachusetts Bay.
May it please your Excellency :- The county of Suffolk, being greatly, and in their opinion, justly alarmed, at the formidable appearances of hostility, now threatening his majesty's good subjects of this country, and inore par-
606
SUFFOLK CONVENTION.
ticularly of the town of Boston, the loyal and faithful capital of this province, beg leave to address your excellency, and to represent, that the apprehen- sions of the people are more especially increased by the dangerous design now carrying into execution, of repairing and mantling the fortification at the south entrance of the town of Boston, which, when completed, may, at any time, be improved to aggravate the miseries of that already impoverish- ed and distressed city, by intercepting the wonted and necessary intercourse between the town and country, and compel the wretched inhabitants to the most ignominious state of humiliation and vassallage, Ly depriving them of the necessary supplies of provisions, for which they are chiefly dependant on that communication.
We have been informed, that your excellency, in consequence of the ap- plication of the selectmen of Boston, has, indeed, disavowed any intention to injure the town in your present manœuvres, and expressed your purpose to be for the security of the troops and his majesty's subjects in the town. We . are at a loss to guess, may it please your excellency, from whence your want of confidence in the loyal and orderly people of this country could originate. A measure so formidable, carried into execution from a preconceived though causeless jealousy of the insecurity of his majesty's troops and subjects in the town, deeply wounds the loyalty, and is an additional injury to the faith- ful subjects of this country, and affords a strong motive for this application. We therefore entreat your excellency, to desist from your design, assuring your excellency, that the people of this county are by no means disposed to injure his majesty's troops ; they think themselves aggrieved and oppressed by the late acts of parliament, and are resolved, by divine assistance, never to submit to them ; but have no inclination to comtnence a war with his majesty's troops ; and beg leave to observe to your excellency, that the fer- ment now excited in the minds of the people, is occasioned by some late transactions, by seizing the powder in the arsenal at Charlestown, by withholding the powder lodged in the magazine of the town of Boston fromn the legal proprietors, insulting, beating, and abusing passengers to and from the town by the soldiery, in which they have been encouraged by some of their officers, putting the people in fear, and menacing them in their nightly patrols into the neighboring towns, and more particularly, by fortifying the sole avenue by land to the town of Boston. In duty, therefore, to his maj- esty, and to your excellency, and for the restoration of order and security in this county, we, the delegates from the several towns in this county, being commissioned for this purpose, beg your excellency's attention to this our humble and faithful address, assuring you ,that nothing less than an immedi- ate removal of the ordnance, and restoring the entrance into that town to its former state, and an effectual stop of all insults and abuses in future, can place the inhabitants of this county in that state of peace and tranquillity, in which every free subject ouglit to live.
By order of the committee,
JOSEPH WARREN, Chairman.
Boston, Sept. 10, 1774.
607
SUFFOLK CONVENTION.
To which address, his excellency was pleased to make the following an- swer :
GENTLEMEN :- I hoped the assurances I gavo tho selectmen of Boston, on the subject of your address to mne, had been satisfactory to every body. 1 cannot possibly intercept tho intercourse between the town and the country ; it is my duty and interest to encourage it; and it is as much inconsistent with iny duty and interest to form tho strange schieme you are pleased to suggest, of reducing the inhabitants to a state of humiliation and vassallage, by stopping their supplies; nor have I mado it casier to effect this, than wl:at naturo has made it. You mention the soldiers insulting, beating, and abusing passengers as a common thing ; an instance, perhaps, may be given of the bad behavior of some disorderly soldiers; but 1 must appcal to the inhabitants of both town and country, for their general good behavior, from their first arrival to this time. I would ask, what occasion there is for such! numbers going arıncd in and out of the town, and through the country, in an hostile manner? Or, why were the guns removed, privately, in the night, from thic battery at Charlestown ?
Tho refusing submission to the late acts of parliament, I find general throughout the province ; and I shall lay the same before his majesty.
THOMAS GAGE.
Sept. 12, 1774.
The committee of thic delegates from the several towns in the county of Suffolk, who presented the address to the governor, on receiving his an- swer, met together, and having carefully perused the same, were of opinion, that his excellency's answer could not be deemed satisfactory to the county. And further thoughit, his excellency, in his reply, had been pleased to propose several questions, which, if unanswered by the committee, would leave on the minds of persons not fully acquainted with the state of facts, some very disagreeable impressions concerning the conduct and behavior of the peo- ple in this county and province. And the following address was unani- Inously voted to his excellency.
May it please your Excellency :- The answer you have been pleased to fa- vor us with, to the address this day presented to you, gives us satisfaction so far as it relates to your own intentions ; and we thank your excellency, for the declaration which you have made, that it is your duty and interest to en- courage an intercourse between town and country; and we entreat your in- dulgence, while we modestly reply to the questions proposed in your an- swer. Your excellency is too well acquainted with the human heart not to be sensible, that it is natural for the people to bo soured by oppression, and jealous for their personal security, when their exertions for the preservation of their rights are construcd into treason and rebellion. Our liberties are invaded by acts of the British parliament; troops are sent to enforce thoso
608
SUFFOLK CONVENTION.
acts ; they are now erecting fortifications at the entrance of the town of Boston ; upon the completing those, the inhabitants of the town of Boston will be in the power of a soldiery, who must implicitly obey the orders of an administration, who have hitherto evinced no singular regard to the liberties of America. The town is already greatly impoverished and distressed by the operation of the barbarous port-bill. Your excellency, we are persuad- ed, from principles of humanity, would refuse to be an actor in the tragical scene that must ensue upon shutting up the avenues to the town, and re- ducing the inhabitants by distress and famine, to a disgraceful and slavish submission ; but that cruel work may possibly be reserved for a successor, disposed and instructed thereto. Daily supplies of provisions are necessary for the subsistence of the inhabitants of the town. The country, disgusted and jealous at the formidable opcrations now carrying on, survey with hor- ror, a plan concerted, whereby the inhabitants of the town of Boston may bc imprisoned and starved, at the will of a military commander. They kindly invite them to abandon the town, and earnestly solicit them to share the homely banquet of peace in the country. Should their refusal involve them in miseries hitherto unheard of, and hardly conceived of, the country must stand acquitted, and will not hold their liberties so loosely, as to sacri- fice them to the obstinacy of their brethren in Boston.
Your excellency has been pleased to order the powder from the magazine in Charlestown; to forbid the delivery of the powder in the magazine of Boston to the legal proprietors ; to seize the cannon at Cambridge ; and to bring a formidable number from Castle-William, which are now placed at the entrance of the town of Boston ; and has, likewise, in addition to the troops now here, bcen pleased to send for recnforcements to Quebec, and other parts of the continent. These things, Sir, together with the disposi- tions of the ships of war, we humbly think, sufficiently justify the proceed- ings for which your excellency secms to be at loss to account.
Your excellency has suggested, that nature has made it easy to cut off thic communication between town and country. Our only request is, that the entrance into the town may remain as nature has formed it. If security to his majesty's troops is the only design in the late manœuvre, we beg leave to assure your excellency, that the most certain, and by far the most honor- able method of making them secure and safe, will be to give the people of the province, the strongest proof that no design is forming against their lib- erties. And we again solicit your excellency, with that earnestness which becomes us on this important occasion, to desist from every thing which has a tendency to alarm them, and particularly from fortifying the entrance into the town of Boston. We rely on your excellency's wisdom and candor, that in your proposed representation to our common sovereign, you will endeav- or to redeem us from the distresses which we apprehend were occasioned by the grossest misinformation, and that you will assure his majesty, that no wish of independence, no adverse sentiments or designs towards his majes- ty or his troops now here, actuate his good subjects in this colony ; but that their sole intention is, to preserve pure and inviolate those rights to which,
609
MIDDLESEX CONVENTION.
as men and English Americans, they are justly entitled, and which have been guaranticd to them by his majesty's royal predecessors.
A copy of the foregoing was delivered to Mr. Secretary Flueker, by the chairman, with a desire, that he would, as soon as was convenient, present it to the governor, and request his excellency to appoint a time for receiving it in form. The secretary informed the chairman the ensuing day, that he had seen the governor, and had given him the copy of the address, but, that he declined receiving it in form. The chairman mentioned to him the in- portance of the business, deelaring his belief, that the troops were not in any danger, and that no person had, so far as he had been informed, taken any steps which indicated any hostile intention, until the seizing and carry- ing off the powder from the magazine in the county of Middlesex ; and that if any ill consequences should arise, that should affect the interest of Great Britain, the most candid and judicious, both in Europe and America, would consider the author of thic ferment now raised in the minds of the people, as accountable for whatever consequences might follow from it.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.