USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III > Part 4
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1 [The lawyers engaged in this cause are characterized in the chapter in Vol. IV. by Mr. John T. Morse, Jr .- En.]
2 C. F. Adams's Life of John Adams, i. 81.
8 Greene, Historical View of the American Revolution, pp. 5, 6.
8
· THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
from which they sprang. Their lot was cast in troublous times, but the trouble was not of their fomenting. They never invoked revolution, but were driven to it at last against their will by the stern logic of events. One of these events has already been described; but properly speaking, the great struggle did not begin with the excitement attending the appli- cation for writs of assistance. That excitement did not affect the coun- try at large, nor did it seriously disturb the loyalty of the people of Boston. It led to much discussion and speculation, but to no organized resistance.
The first direct occasion for the uprising in America was the attempt on the part of the British Government to raise a revenue from the Colonies without their consent and without a representation in Parliament. Upon this turned the whole controversy, which lasted more than ten years and terminated in the final appeal to arms.
After the Peace of Paris,1 England took a position of undisputed su- premacy among the great powers of Europe. Her political and diplomatic influence was greatly increased by her military successes and her new terri- torial acquisitions. But this pre-eminence was attended by an exhausted treasury, and the first important question for her statesmen to ask was, how to increase the revenue. The American colonies, it was known, were gain- ing rapidly in population and wealth. There was no doubt of their ability to furnish large sums to the Crown. The people were loyal, and would be likely to sustain further draughts upon their resources.
So reasoned Charles Townshend, first lord of trade and secretary for the colonies in the new ministry formed by the Earl of Bute. No sooner did Townshend take office than he was ready with his audacious scheme to ignore charters, precedents, laws, and honor; to abrogate the rights and privileges of colonial legislatures ; and to give Parliament absolute author- ity to tax an unwilling people to whom the privilege of representation had never been granted.
Townshend's scheme, in the form in which he presented it, did not suc- ceed ; but shortly after, -in March, 1763, - Grenville, first lord of the ad- George Gainville) miralty, eager to advance the inter- ests of British trade, brought in a bill " for the further improvement of his majesty's revenue of the cus- toms," authorizing naval officers on the American coast to act as custom-house officers. This bill soon passed both Houses and became a law.2
Bute's ministry was of short duration. Grenville soon took his place, supported by Egremont and Halifax, and retaining Jenkinson as principal secretary of the treasury. This triumvirate ministry was so unpopular as to become a "general joke; "3 and was called " the three Horatii," "the
1 Signed in February, 1763.
2 Bancroft, v., 92; Barry, ii. 278.
8 Walpole 10 Mann, April 30, 1763. See Lord Mahon (Stanhope), Ilistory of England, xli.
9
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION.
Athanasian administration," a "sort of Cerberus," a "three-headed monster, quieted by being gorged with patronage and office." 1
One of Grenville's earliest measures was a bill for enforcing the Naviga- tion Acts, in which he met with no opposition from Parliament or the King. His next plan was to provide for the army in America by taxing the Colonies. Upon this matter he consulted the board of trade, to ascertain " in what mode least burdensome and most palatable to the Colonies they can contribute toward the support of the additional expense which must attend their civil and military establishment."2 The head of the board of trade was now the young Earl of Shelburne, an Irish peer, who was begin- ning to have great influence in British councils. On many questions he was a follower of Pitt, and was naturally opposed to extending the authority of Parliament. His reply gave no encouragement to the ministry; yet they continued pursuing their favorite project, and did all in their power to create a public sentiment in its favor. Before any action was taken Egre- mont died, and Shelburne was succeeded by the Earl of Hillsborough. Grenville now renewed his exertions for the passage of a revenue bill; and at a meeting of the lords of the treasury - Grenville, North, and Hunter - in Downing Street, on the morning of September 22, a minute was adopted directing their secretary, Jenkinson, " to write to the commis- sioners of the stamp duties to prepare a draught of a bill to be presented to Parliament for extending the stamp duties to the Colonies." 8 In obedi- ence to this order the famous Stamp Act was prepared, and subsequently presented to Parliament. Probably its origin is not due to any one man. Bute thought of it, Jenkinson elaborated it, North supported it, Grenville demanded it, and England accepted it. It has generally been called, and with good reason, Grenville's measure. Whatever of credit or of odium attaches to it must be given to him. He did not expect the favor of the Colonies, but he was anxious to secure support at home; and as there was some doubt of the bill's passing without an exciting debate, he did not press the matter at once. Hoping also, possibly, to conciliate the Colonies, he yielded to the urgent solicitations of some of their representatives 4 who maintained that the proposed stamp duty was " an internal tax," and therefore that it would be better to "wait till some sort of consent to it shall be given by the several assemblies, to prevent a tax of that nature from being levied without the consent of the Colonies."5 And so, "out of tenderness to the Colonies," the bill was not brought in for a year.
Meanwhile the Administration succeeded in carrying a measure, April 5. 1764, imposing duties on various enumerated foreign commodities im- ported into America, and upon colonial products exported to any other
1 Wilkes to Earl Temple, in Grenville Papers, sylvania; and Richard Jackson, his own private ii. SI.
secretary.
2 Bancroft, v. 107. 5 Grenville Correspondence, ii. 393; Massa- chusetts Gasette, May 10, 1764; Bancroft, v. 183; Barry, p. 284; Fitzmaurice, Life of William, Earl of Shelburne, i. 318, 319
8 Treasury Minutes, Sept. 22, 1763; Jenkin- son's Letter, Sept. 23, 1763; Bancroft, v. 151.
4 Thomas Penn and William Allen, of Penn- VOL 1It .- 2.
IO
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
place than Great Britain. A heavy duty was also laid upon molasses and sugar. To enforce the provisions of this bill, enlarged power was given to the vice-admiralty courts, and penalties under the act were made recover- able in these courts.1
The news of the passage of the Sugar Act stirred up an intense com- motion in all the maritime towns of America; the merchants everywhere held meetings, adopted memorials to the assemblies, and sent protests to England. In Boston, James Otis prepared a Statement of the Rights of the Colonies, and Oxenbridge Thacher expressed similar views in a pamphlet entitled Sentiments of a British-American.2 A committee - Otis, Cushing, Thacher, Gray, and Sheafe -was also appointed to correspond with the other Colonics ; and circulars were sent out stating the dangers that menaced " their most essential rights," and desiring the " united assistance " of all to secure, if possible, a repeal of the obnoxious acts, and to "prevent a' stamp act, or any other impositions and taxes, upon this and the other American provinces." 3
The Legislature, which had been prorogued month after month by Gov- ernor Bernard, to impede its action, finally met in October. Letters were received from the agents in England, and an address to the King was pre- pared; but as it failed of acceptance with the Council, it gave place to a milder address to the House of Commons, stating the objections which had been urged against the Sugar Act, and praying for a further delay of the Stamp Act.4
With the year 1765 the long dreaded measure, which had come to be regarded as the very symbol of usurpation, came into effect. At the open- ing of Parliament in January, Grenville presented the American question as one of obedience to the authority of the kingdom; and shortly after, with the support of Townshend, Jenyns,5 and others, he proposed a series of resolutions, fifty-five in number, embracing the details of the Stamp Act, - the essential feature being the requirement that all regal and business documents in the colonies should be written on printed or stamped paper, to be had only of the tax collectors. All offences under this act were to be tried in the admiralty courts, and the taxes werc to be collected arbitrarily, without any trial by jury.
I Minot, ii. 155; Holmes, Annals, ii. 125, et against. To what purpose will opposition to seq .; Barry, ii. 286.
any resolutions of the ministry be, if they are passed with such rapidity as to render it impos-
2 Both published in Boston, June, 1764. The General Court sent a letter of instructions to Mr. sible for us to be acquainted with them before Mauduit, the agent of Massachusetts in London, they have received the sanction of an aet of Parliament ? A people may be free and toler- ably happy without a particular branch of trade ; but without the privilege of assessing their own taxes, they can be neither." Minot, ii. 168-175; Bradford, i. 21, 22. expressing the state of feeling. " If all the Col- onies," says the letter, " are to be taxed at pleas- ure, without any representation in Parliament, what will there be to distinguish them, in point of liberty, from the subjects of the most abso- Iute prince ? Every charter-privilege may be 3 Hutchinson, iii. ro; Minot, ii. 175. taken from us by an appendix to a money bill, A Massachusetts Records ; Journal House of Representatives, 1764, P. 102. which, it seems, by the rules on the other side of the water, must not at any rate be petitioned 5 Bancroft, v. 231-234.
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION.
Grenville advocated his bill with many plausible arguments and explana- tions. He had evidently anticipated all the difficulties it would encounter in England, but he failed utterly to comprehend the situation it would create in America. As was expected, it passed in a full house, February 27, without serious opposition, obtaining a majority of five to one. Among those who spoke and voted against it the names of Jackson, Beckford, Conway, and Barré deserve especial mention, as they afterward received the thanks of the Province for their services.
Colonel Barré 1 will always be gratefully remembered by the American people in connection with this event. Townshend having said that the Colonies were planted by the care, nourished by the indulgence, and pro- tected by the arms of England, Barré rose and said : -
" They planted by your care ! No ! your oppressions planted them in America. . . . They nourished up by your indulgence ! They grew by your neglect of them. . . . They pr tected by your arms ! They have nobly taken up arms in your defence. . . . And believe me, - remember I this day told you so, - the same spirit of freedom which actuated that people at first will accompany them still." 2
" The sun of liberty is set," wrote Dr. Franklin to Mr. Thompson 3 the very night that the act was passed; " the Americans must light the lamps of industry and economy."
The news of the passage of the Stamp Act reached Boston in April, and produced immediate alarm and indignation throughout the province.4 Massachusetts and Virginia -" the head and the heart of the Revolution " - were the first to denounce the act, and they were soon followed by New York and Pennsylvania and all the other colonies. The determination was everywhere expressed that the act should never be executed. Sober men resisted it, because they saw that it would block the wheels of trade, prevent exchanges of property, interfere with all industry, and undermine their lib- erties, which they were not prepared thus to surrender. The case would have been entirely different if the colonists had levied these stamp duties
1 Isaac Barré was born, 1726, of a Huguenot family living in Ireland ; graduated at Trinity College, Dublin; entered the army and served in the French war ; was a warm friend of Wolfe,
Laacp Barrio
and was wounded at Quebec. Through the in- fluence of Lord Shelburne he entered l'arlia- ment in 1761, after the fall of Pitt's ministry. His speeches were spirited, and often aggres- sive and harsh. Ile denounced tyranny and corruption, and usually appealed to the moral sympathies of men. He had something of the vehement, fiery eloquence of Pitt, and was a debater to be feared See article on "Colonel
Barré and his Times," in Macmillan's Magasine, December, 1876. The town of Barre, in Massa- chusetts, which was first named for Hutchinson, was afterward named for Barré.
2 [l1 was in his speech of Feb. 6, 1765, that Barré had called the opposing party in the colonies the "Sons of Liberty," and the name brought over was soon adopted by them. -- ED. ]
$ Afterward secretary of the Continental Congress.
4 [The act was at once issued in a pamphlet by Edes and Gill, then keeping their press on the site of the present Adams Express Com- pany's office, in Court Street. See Snow's Boston, p. 258. For the feelings engendered, see Warren's letter, in Frothingham's Life of War- ren ; and John Adams's Works, iii. 465. - ED.]
12
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
upon themselves, through their own assemblies, as the American people have since freely done to meet the cost of war; or if they had been allowed a voice in the government which exercised this authority.
AME
QVIMAI
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II SHILI
INOHIO
EWS
It was an important principle which they felt to be at stake, - a principle which had hitherto been maintained in their relations with the mother country, and which they could not now sce vio- lated without a distinct and determined resist- ance.
At this juncture the Legislature of Massachu- SA setts, at the suggestion of Otis, proposed the calling of an American Congress, consisting of A STAMP.1 committees from each of the thirteen colonies, to meet at New York in October, "to consult to- gether," and consider the matter of a "united representation to implore relief."
Thận 18 Inch. by 13, at Fout-pente While the leaders of the people were thus taking counsel of one an- other in solemn deliberations as to the course to be pursued, the popu- 26 - by ao. # Eight-pence lar feeling against the act, and the TABLE officers appointed to execute it, ran high in Boston. An occasion soon of the Prices of Parchment and Paper for the Service occurred to show how the people of America. felt upon this subject. The birth- -by 2 3. at Ten-pence News day of the Prince of Wales, in Au- 22 - by 16, as Six pence Fook Cap at Nine-pence A gust, was kept as a holiday. Crowds Parchment. Horn at Sevea-petice D' with printed Nouces ] at J - by 26. a Thuteen-pence for Indentures Foho Polt at One Shelling each. Demy -- n Two Shillings Medium .et Three Shabogs Royal-t Four Shillings Paper. each Quire. Paper for Printing Super Royal a Sux Shillings assembled in the streets, shouting Book-Fools Cap ut 61." od.] Double Crown at 14 s. ] each Ream Double Demy u 191 } l'ocket -- Polo Polt at zo 1. . Seach Resen Sheet-Demy " Pitt2 and liberty !" Andrew Oli- ver, brother-in-law of Hutchinson, having been appointed stamp distrib- uter, it was proposed that he be hung in effigy; and two days later, August 14, the public saw suspended Almanacks. from the old elm known as Liberty Tree 3 a stuffed figure of the obnoxious official, together with a grotesque caricature of Bute.4 This pageant had
STAMP-OFFICE, Lincoln's-Inn, 1765.
1 [There are a number of these stamps in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; but our engraving is cut from one lent by Dr. Samuel A. Green. The impression is on a blue soft paper, secured by a transverse bit of soft metal, with another square piece of paper bearing the royal monogram covering the metal on the reverse. The accompanying reduced fac-simile of a schedule of prices for stamps is from a copy of the Broadside, kindly loaned by Dr. Green .- ED.]
2 A change had just taken place in the minis- try, and Pitt had returned to office.
8 [See the engraving in chapter iv. of the present volume, with note. This fourteenth of August became a memorable anniversary for the Sons of Liberty, who eight years later, 1773, celebrated it by a " festivity " on Roxbury Com- mon. Drake, Town of Roxbury, p 266. - ED.] 4 A large boot, designed to represent Lord Bute, with a head and horns upon it. Bule had been frequently burned in effigy in England in
13
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION.
been prepared by a party of Boston mechanics,1 called Sons of Liberty, who, prompted by the intense feeling of the hour, devised this method of expressing it. Great excitement followed, and thousands assembled to view the spectacle. When the news reached Hutchinson he ordered the sheriff to remove the effigies ; but nothing was done until evening, when they were taken down by those with whom the proceedings originated, and carried in procession, escorted by a great concourse of people, through the street, into the Old State House, and under the council chamber where Bernard,
Brotons J6/1. 76.
Gemtlemem
Your Humble Swants
The Sons of Liberty
Hutchinson, and their advisers were assembled. "Liberty, Property, and no Stamps !" was the shout which greeted the ears of those dignitaries. After repeated huzzas, the populace moved on to Kilby Street, where they destroyed a frame which the stamp distributer was said to be building for an office. Taking a portion of it, they proceeded to Fort Hill where Oliver lived, and burned the effigies in a bonfire before his house. Boston had
the guise of a jack-boot, - a pun upon his name as John, Earl of Bute. Bonfires of the jack- Bude 8 boot were repeated dur- ing several years both in England and America. Mahon (Stanhope), His- tory of England, v. 25. [One of the most considerate of the English writers is Grahame, History of the United States, iv. 183. See Winsor's Handbook, p. 4. for other references. - En.]
1 Benjamin Edes, printer; Thomas Crafts,
painter ; John Smith and Stephen Cleverly, braz- iers ; John Avery, Jr., Thomas Chase, Henry Bass, and Henry Welles.
2 [Subscription to a paper sent by the Order in Boston to the Sons of Liberty in New Hamp- shire, preserved in the Belknap Papers, iii., in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical So- ciety. A silver punch-bowl, said to have been used by the Sons of Liberty, bought by William Mackay after the Revolution, and now owned by R. C. Mackay, was lately exhibited in the Old South Loan Collection. - Et.]
14
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
rarely witnessed such a scene. No one knew what would come of it. Bernard and Hutchinson took refuge in the Castle. The next day a proc- lamation was issued by the Governor, offering one hundred pounds reward to be paid upon the conviction of any person concerned in this transac- tion ; 1 but no one cared to act as informant against stich a strong current of popular fccling. A few days later, August 26, a mixed crowd collected ncar the Old State House, and proceeded to the house of the registrar of the admiralty, opposite the court house, and burned his public and private papers. They next plundercd the house of the comptroller of customs, in Hanover Street, and then hurried to the mansion 2 of Licut .- Governor Hutchinson, who had incurred the increasing dislike of the people in con- sequence of his subserviency to the Government, his grecd of office, and his supposed influence in favor of the Stamp Act. Hutchinson and his family escaped; but the mob sacked his house and destroyed a large quantity of plate, pictures, clothing, books, and a valuable collection of manuscripts relating to the history of the colony.3 This was a disgraceful proceeding, and would never have taken place but for the frenzy occasioned by the free use of liquor among the "roughs" who led on the mob.4 A large public meeting was held the next morning in Faneuil Hall, and resolu- tions were passed strongly deprecating thesc lawless proceedings, and call- ing upon the selectmen to suppress such disorders in the future, and pledging the support of the inhabitants to preserve the peace.5 That the leading Patriots had no sympathy whatever with this riotous outbreak is scen also in a letter written by Samuel Adams to Richard Jackson, the colonial agent in London, in which he denounced these proceedings as " high-handed out- rages," of which the inhabitants, " within a few hours after the perpetration of the act, publicly declared their detestation. All was done the day follow- ing that could be expected from an orderly town, by whose influence a spirit
1 Drake, History of Boston, p. 696.
2 In Garden-court Street ; taken down about 1830. See Introduction to Vol. II. p. xi.
8 []Iutchinson, Massachusetts Bay, iii. 124; also see Introduction to Vol. I. of this History, p. xix. and Vol. 11. p. 526; and Drake's Land- marks, p. 167. - En.]
4 [Sce contemporary accounts in Josiah Quincy's Diary, Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., April, 1858; and Joshua Henshaw's letter, in N. E. Hist and Geneal. Reg., July, 1878, p. 268. Among the papers in the Charity Building is a copy of a deposition tending to show that the authorities had warning of the riot. Ebenezer Simpson testified to the selectmen that, Aug. 26, 1765, being at Spectacle Island, he met a man-of-war's boat, and one of the men lold him that there was to be a mob in Boston that night, with intent to pull down the Lieut .- Governor's house, and that their ship's crew was sent for. Among these papers is also a copy of a letter from Warren to the selectmen, dated July 3.
1766, relative to the riot of the year before. He says he came into Boston about eight o'clock in the evening and overtook a much greater num- ber of men than was nsual, not in one large body but in little companies of four or five per- sons; and that the report of the disturbance being actually begun had already, at that time, reached Roxbury.
These papers also contain, as illustrating this period : a report on the condition of the North Battery in 1765, and estimates for rebuilding it in 1768; a report to the Governor on the popu- lation of Boston in 1765; and depositions as to trouble with British officers in 1768. These papers should be calendared. - ED.]
5 [Drake's Boston, p. 701. There are on file in the city clerk's office various warning letters ad- dressed to Benjamin Cudworth, deputy-sheriff, in a disguised hand ; and also others to Stephen Greenleaf, sheriff, regarding Cudworth. They were read to the town, and pronounced " abu- sive."- ED.]
15
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION.
was raised to oppose and suppress it. It is possible these matters may be represented to our disadvantage, and therefore we desire you will take all possible opportunities to set them in a proper light." 1
Throughout the colonies the same spirit of determined opposition to the Stamp Act was everywhere seen. Many of the officers appointed to dis- tribute the stamps were compelled by the "unconquerable rage of the people " to resign, Oliver among the rest. Towns and legislatures hastened to make their declaration of rights, following one Whocens alle davatom was gustuday in reside another " like a chime of m'my name and at my de vive in more of the hortone Now Jaguars, that I would not act a Distributorof Sanyo withers Mu Provinces, which Dularation Jan informed is not intisfactory. Ide hardly in the most axn licit and umamed manuce derlase, But I have never takin any manfine In consequence of my Byustationu for Miat purposes. to act in the Office and that I never will directly or indirectly , by myself or any inder mes, makes use of the said sportation , or take any nanny for en forcing the Same Not in Online, which is se guroles to the Piopla bells," and planting them- selves firmly upon the Brit- ish Constitution and their chartered liberties. In the Massachusetts Assembly a series of fourteen resolves, prepared by Samuel Adamıs, asserting the in- herent and inalienable rights of the people, were particularly considered Fortoning Deamy's And Olives and passed in a full house.2 These resolves met with Sonfel dis Aoto Docon" of ybs The hos the Andrew Oliver of? Fifisabes lo gt above working , made at the game great favor, and were ex- tensively published and OLIVER'S OATH.3 quoted throughout the country. On October 7 the first American Congress ever held, composed of delegates from the different colonies, met in New York to take into con- sideration their rights, privileges, and grievances.4 After mature delibera- tion in which members from all parts of the country participated, resolutions were passed embodying the warmest sentiments of loyalty to the King and respect for " that august body, the Parliament," and setting forth, in plain but temperate language, the reasonable demands of America, - such as the right to trial by jury, in opposition to the recent extension of the admiralty jurisdiction ; and the right to freedom from taxation except through the colonial assemblies. The Congress also sent an address to the King, a memorial to the House of Lords, and a petition to the House of Commons. Before adjourning, this Congress consummated a virtual union by which the colonies became, as the delegates prophetically expressed it, " a bundle of sticks which could neither be bent nor broken." 5
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