USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 3 > Part 8
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January 14, 1766 .- Parliament was opened by a speech from the King, in which, among other things, he recommended to them to restore that harmony and peace between the colonics and mother country, which had been lately interrupted.
In the course of the debate, in the house of commons, on the motion for the address, Mr. Pitt, in explicit terms, condemned the act for collecting the stamp duties in America, and declared his opinion to be, that Parliament had no right to tax the co- lonies. He concluded, by recommending to the house the re- peal of the stamp act. ..
Mr. Grenville, in opposition, said, that the disturbances in America were grown to tumults and riots ; he doubted not they bordered on open rebellion ; and if the doctrine he had heard that day should be confirmed, he feared they would lose that name to take that of revolution. The government over them being dissolved, a revolution, he said, would take place in
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America. He contended, that taxation was a part of the sove- reign power-one branch of the legislation; and had been ex- ercised over those who were not represented. 1
The existing administration concurred in sentiment with Mr. Pitt, and the act was repealed ; but its repeal was accompanied with a declaratory act, asserting the power and right of Great Britain to bind the colonies in all cases whatever.
The joy in America, on receiving intelligence of this event, , was unbounded. .
Although the sentiment of joy produced by the repeal of the stamp act was common to all the colonies, the same temper did not prevail in all of them.
The first measures of Massachusetts and New-York demon- strated, that the reconciliation with the mother country was not cordial.
The letter of General Conway, secretary of state, already mentioned, inclosed a resolution, declaring that those persons who had suffered any injury or damage, in consequence of their assisting to execute the late act, should be compensated by the ' colonies. This gave offence, and tended to irritate.
In New-York, where General Gage was expected, with a con- siderable body of troops, a message was transmitted by the go- vernor to the assembly, desiring their compliance with an act of Parliament, called the mutiny act, which required that the co- Jony, in which any of the King's forces might be stationed, should provide for them barracks, and certain necessaries in their quarters. The assembly postponed the consideration of this message until the troops had actually arrived, and then, after a second message, reluctantly and partially complied with the requisitions of the act.
At a subsequent session, the governor brought the subject again before them, when they determined that the act of Par- · liament could only be construed, to require that they should provide necessaries for troops on a march, and not while per- manently stationed in their country, because, on a contrary construction the colony might be grievously burdened by march- ing into it several regiments.
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1767 .- The idea of raising a revenue in America was highly favoured in England by the landed interest.
The temper now discovered in some of the colonies, was by no means calculated to assuage the wound which this mea- sure had inflicted on the rulers of that country, and is supposed to have contributed to the revival of a system which had been reluctantly abandoned.
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A bill had been decided on in the cabinet, for imposing cer- tain duties on tea, paper, glass, and painters' colours, imported into the colonies from Great Britain. This bill was now brought into Parliament, and passed almost without opposition.
The present duties were plainly intended not to regulate commerce, but to raise a revenue, which would be as certainly collected from the colonists, as the duties on the stamps could have been. The principle was the same in the one case as in the other. The same object was in view. The Americans saw its operation and force.
With these sentiments concerning it, it was not strange that a determination was made to oppose its execution.
Jan. 7, 176S .- The general court of Massachusetts met in December, and very early in the session, took under their con- sideration, several acts of Parliament, which, during the re- cess, had been transmitted to the colony. They perceived plainly that the claim to tax America was revived ; and they determined to oppose it with all the means in their power.
A very elaborate letter was addressed to Dennis de Bert, agent for the house of representatives, in which are detailed at great length, and with much weight of argument, all the objec- tions to be made to the late acts of Parliament. Letters sign- ed by the speaker, were also addressed to the Earl of Shel- burne and General Conway, secretaries of state ; the Marquis of Rockingham, Lord Cambden, the Earl of Chatham, and the lords commissioners of the treasury. These letters, while they breathe a spirit of ardent attachment to the British con- stitution, and the nation, manifest a perfect conviction that their complaints were just.
A petition to the King was also agreed on, replete with pro-
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fessions of loyalty, but stating in very explicit terms, the sense they entertained of the acts against which they petitioned.
After the petition to the King had been voted, a day was appointed to take under consideration the propriety of address- ing their sister colonies, but it was lost. The question was afterwards reconsidered and carried.
A circular letter to the assemblies of the respective colonies, stating the proceedings of the house of representatives of Mas- sachusetts, was then agreed to.
This circular letter was well received in the other colonics. They generally approved the measures of the opposition which had been taken, and readily united in them. They too peti- tioned the King against the obnoxious acts of Parliament, and instructed their several agents to use all proper means to ob- tain their repeal.
1768-On the first intimation of the measures taken by Mas- sachusetts, the Earl of Hillsborough, who had been appointed about the close of the year 1767, to the then newly created office of secretary of state, for the department of the colonies, addressed a circular letter to the several governors, to be laid by them, before the assemblies of their respective colonies, in which he treats the circular letter of Massachusetts, as being of the most dangerous and factious tendency, calculated to inflame the minds of his Majesty's good subjects in the colonies, to promote an unwarrantable combination, to excite and en- courage an open opposition to, and denial of the authority of Parliament, and to subvert the true principles of the constitu- tion ; and he endeavoured to prevail with them, to treat, with a proper resentment, what he termed, such an unjustifiable attempt to revive those distractions which had operated so fa- tally to the prejudice of the colonies, and of the mother country.
Far from producing the desired effect, this letter of the Earl rather served to strengthen the determination of the colonies to unite in their endeavours for the purpose of obtaining a repeal of the laws; and they declared that they could not consider as an unwarrantable combination, a concert of measures, to give weight and efficacy to their representations, in support of prin-
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ciples, they deemed essential to the preservation of the British constitution, and of British liberty.
When the general court of Massachusetts was again conven- ed, Governor Barnard laid before the house of representatives, an extract of a letter from the Earl of Hillsborough, commu- nicating the great concern of his Majesty, that a house, at the end of a session, should have presumed to revert to, and resolve upon a measure of so inflammatory a nature, as that of writing to the other colonies, on the subject of their intended representations against some acts of Parliament. He also, among other things, declares it to be the King's pleasure, that the governor should require of the house of representatives, in his Majesty's name, to rescind the resolution which gave birth to the circular letter from the speaker, and to declare their dis- approbation of, 'and dissent from that rash and hasty measure.
This message produced a considerable degree of agitation ; but without coming to any resolution on it, the house requested the governor to lay before them the whole of the Earl's letter, and also copies of such letters as had been written by his excel- lency to that nobleman, on the subject to which the message referred.
The letters written by the governor were refused, but the re- sidue of that from the Earl was laid before them.
That minister had directed the governor, in case the house of representatives refused to retract, to dissolve them.
No immediate answer being returned to these communica- tions, the governor pressed the house for a decision on them ; adding, that he could not admit of a much longer delay, witlı- out considering it as an answer in the negative.
The next day the house requested a recess, that they might consult their constituents on the requisition made. This being refused, a letter to the Earl was reported and agreed to. In this they defend, in strong and manly terms, their circular let- ter, and repel the charges made by the Earl.
The question was then put, whether the house would rescind the resolution on which their circular letter was founded, and it passed in the negative, by a very large majority.
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A letter to the governor was then prepared, stating their ino- tives for refusing to comply with the requisition to rescind their resolution; immediately after receiving which they were pro- rogued, and the next day they were dissolved by proclamation.
While the opposition was thus conducted by the house with temperate firmness, and with the use only of legitimate means, the general irritation occasionally broke out in the town of Boston, in acts of violence.
The seizure of the sloop Liberty, belonging to Mr. Hancock, occasioned the assemblage of a tumultuous mob, who beat the revenue officers, and took possession of a boat belonging to the collector, which they burnt. The revenue officers took refuge on board of the Romney, man-of-war. After a considerable length of time, the governor moved the council to take mea- sures for restoring vigour and firmness to government : but they refused to act.
This riot demonstrated the impracticability of executing, by ordinary means, the obnoxious laws, which government seemed determined to enforce, though it might not occasion, certainly accelerated a measure, which tended in no inconsiderable de- gree, to irritate still further the angry disposition, already so prevalent in Boston.
Representations had already been made by the governor to . the administration, stating the necessity of stationing a military force in the province for the protection of the officers employed in collecting the revenne, and of the magistrates in preserving the public peace; and orders to detach, at least one regiment, on that service, had already been given to General Gage. The transactions respecting the seizure of the sloop Liberty, rendered any attempt to produce a countermand unavailing, and proba- bly was the cause of two regiments being sent, instead of one.
Before the arrival of the military force, the governor had used expressions, that it might be expected ; in consequence of which, a committee of the inhabitants was deputed, in a town meeting, to wait on his excellency, to know on what the suspicions he had expressed were founded, and also to pray him to con- vene another assembly.
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The answer of the governor confirmed their fears respecting a military force. He informed them, that no other assembly could be convoked, until his Majesty's commands should be received.
The answer of the governor to their message being reported, the meeting immediately proceeded to resolve, that to levy money within that province, by any other authority than that of the general court, was a violation of the royal charter, and of the undoubted natural right of British subjects.
That the inhabitants of the town of Boston would, at the peril of their lives and fortunes, take all legal and constitutional measures to defend all and singular the rights, liberties, privi- leges, and immunities granted in their royal charter.
They further resolved, that as the governor did not think proper to call a general court for the redress of their grievances, the town would then make choice of a suitable number of per- sons to act for them as a committee, in a convention to be held at Faneuil Hall, in Boston, with such as might be sent to join them from the several towns in the province.
These votes were communicated, in a circular letter, to the other towns in the province, which were invited to concur in them.
The measure was very generally adopted, and a convention assembled.
They petitioned the governor to assemble the general court, and addressed a letter to the agent for the province, in Eng- land, stating the character in which they met, and the motives which brought them together.
The day before the convention rose, two regiments, com- manded by Colonel Dalrymple, arrived, under convoy, in Nan- tucket road. The application of the governor to the council, to provide quarters for them in Boston, had been rejected, be- cause there were barracks sufficient for their reception in the castle. The troops were landed, and quartered in the state- house.
The utmost indignation was excited among the people, at seeing the chamber of their representatives filled with regular
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soldiers, and their town exhibiting the appearance of a garri- soned place.
While these measures were pursuing in America, every ses- sion of Parliament was opened with information from the King, that a disposition to refuse obedience to the laws, and to resist the authority of the supreme legislature of the nation, still pre- vailed among his misguided subjects, in some of the colonies. In their address, answering the speeches, both houses uniformly ·expressed their abhorrence of the rebellious spirit manifested in the colonies, and their approbation of the measures taken by . his Majesty for the restoration of order and good government.
To give a more solemn expression to the sense of Parlia- ment on this subject, joint resolutions of both houses were at length entered into, condemning, in the strongest terms, the measures pursued by the Americans ; and an address was like- wise agreed on, approving the conduct of the crown, giving assurances of effectual support to such further measures as might be found necessary to maintain the civil magistrates in a due execution of the laws in Massachusetts, and besceching him to direct the governor of that colony, to obtain and trans- mit to his Majesty, information of all treasons committed in Massachusetts since the year 1767, with the names of the per- sons who had been most active, that prosecutions might be in- stituted.
These threatening declarations, which seem to have been particularly directed against Massachusetts, made no impres- sion on any of the colonies, in any degree favourable to the mother country. Their resolution to resist the exercise of the authority claimed by Great Britain, not only remained unsha- ken, but manifested itself in a still more determined form.
1769 .- Associations had been set on foot, in Massachusetts, as early as May, 1768, for the non-importation of goods from Great Britain. These associations communicated with mer- chants residing in New-York, Philadelphia, and other towns. Similar associations were, in the course of that year, and 1769, formed in all the colonies. All ranks and conditions of per- sons seem to have united to give effect to them.
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The situation of Massachusetts rendering a legislative grant of money necessary for the purposes of government, the gene- ral court of that colony was again convened. They, however, discovered no disposition to enter on the business for which they had been called. The governor supposing they might be induced to, were they removed from Boston, adjourned them, to meet at Cambridge. This measure served. only to irritate and increase the difficulties which then existed.
The house refused to make the provision required by the mutiny act, for the troops stationed in Massachusetts ; and this being the object for which they were most especially convened, they were prorogued until the 1st of January, 1770.
'The Duke of Grafton, about this time, was placed at the head of the administration, and supported with great earnest- ness, a proposition for the repeal of all the duties imposed for the purpose of raising a revenue in the colonies. This mode- rate and judicious measure, he was unable completely to carry, a duty still being reserved on tea.
Never did a great and wise nation adopt a more ill-judged measure than this. The contest with America was a contest of principle. The measure now proposed for conciliation, while it encouraged in the Americans the hope that their cause was gaining strength in Britain, had no tendency to remove the ground of contest. Their opposition had been on the conviction, that the right to tax them was vested exclusively in themselves ; and while this measure was thought to evidence the effect already produced by that opposition, it left in full force, all the motives which originally produced it.
The legislature in 1767, voted four thousand five hundred pounds for the service of the King's troops. Provision was made to run a line of jurisdiction between the provinces of New-York and Massachusetts. Sundry acts were passed dur- ing the same year, among which we shall name the following, to wit : An act to prevent delays in suits, by the death of either party, between verdict and judgment ; an act for the better settling the estates of intestates ; an act for the prevention of frauds ; an act for the relief of creditors against fraudulent de-
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vises ; an act for the delivery of declarations to prisoners iu custody ; an act regulating trials in cases of treason. By the latter act, persons indicted were to have a copy of the indict- ment, and were allowed to make defence by counsel, and to call witnesses. Two witnesses were required to prove an overt act. Acts to prevent frivolous suits ; to limit the time when writs of error should be brought for reversing fines and common reco- veries ; to enable posthumous children to take estates ; to pun- ish accessories to felonies; to prevent forgery, perjury, and subornation of perjury ; and to relieve parishes against bastard children. The foregoing acts were, we believe, all copied from the English statute books. Most or all of these have been re- tained by the state government, with some modifications. The English statute book was the mine whence the colonial assem- blies drew most of the provincial laws, as the latter have been . the source whence the state legislatures have taken most of our statute laws, or such as have been enacted for the benefit of the whole community.
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In the years 1768 and 1769, three thousand six hundred pounds were appropriated by the assembly, towards subsisting the King's troops stationed in the province of New-York. Every year requisitions were made by the British government for the maintenance and subsistence of the troops. In the suc- ceeding year, two thousand pounds were voted.
On the twenty-ninth of September, 1769, the government of New-York devolved once more on Mr. Colden. Commission- ers were nominated this year to meet those appointed by the adjoining colonies, for the purpose of making regulations in relation to the Indian trade. Commissioners and agents had, on former occasions, been convened for similar purposes.
The assembly this year enacted laws in relation to the im- provement of roads, and the laying out and opening of others.
About this time, and a little before, settlements were formed at Johnstown, Ballston, Fort Ann, White Hall, and some other places. The opening of roads, and the improvements made on some which had been previously opened, tended very much to-" wards the establishment of those settlements. The liberal terms. also, on which the lands were obtained, had a like tendency.
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The Earl of Dunmore assumed the government of the pro- vince on the eighteenth of October, 1770.
The assembly on the sixteenth day of February, 1771, voted three hundred thousand dollars towards defraying the public debt created by the late war, and for meeting exigencies. This sum was apportioned among the several counties of the pro- vince, according to their population and wealth. An act was passed in the same mouth establishing the partition line between New-York and New Jersey, and confirmatory of the titles and possessions of certain of the inhabitants residing on and near the line.
In the year 1772, the counties of Tryon and Charlotte were erected from portions of the-county of Albany. The former comprehended all the country westwardly of the present counties of Schenectady, Saratoga and Warren. Johnstown was made the shire town. The territory embraced in the counties of Otsego and Chenango were in the same county. The popula- tion of the county of Tryon was confined mostly to the banks and vicinity of the Mohawk. The name of Tryon was, in 1784, changed to Montgomery.
'The county of Charlotte comprehended the southerly part of Washington county, and the southwesterly part of the State of Vermont.
The assembly, in the same year, divided the county of Albany into fifteen road districts, and the county of Tryon into five. The act is a document of considerable importance, and one which might be read with interest. We shall introduce so much of it as appertains to the latter county. The Mohawk district embraced the country on both sides of the river Mo- hawk, from the confines of Schenectady, westwardly to Antho- ny's Nose. The district of Stone Arabia, included the coun- try on the north side of the Mohawk, from Anthony's Nose westwardly to the Little Falls. The district of Canajobary was on the south side of the Mohawk, and had the same extent on that river. The district of Germanflats lay on the north side of the Mohawk, and extended westwardly about sixten miles. The district of Kingsland was south of the latter, being VOL. IIT.
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separated by the river Mohawk. There were no settlements, at this time, westerly of these districts. 1 1
On the fifteenth of February, 1773, the assembly appropriated fifteen hundred pounds towards draining the drowned lands in the precinct of Goshen, in the county of Orange. A sum was also appropriated towards lowering Wickham's pond, situated in the same precinct. Great attention was paid by the house at this session to the opening and improving of roads in the province.
In 1775, the assembly did not convene.
The preceding matters, we have supposed, would be read with more interest, although not inserted according to the order of their dates.
1770 .- In March, 1770, a circumstance occurred, which threatened, for the moment, effects the most extensively serious. The two regiments stationed at Boston, to support, as was said, the execution of the civil power, and preserve the peace of the town, could not fail to be viewed by the inhabitants with very prejudiced eyes. Frequent quarrels arose between them, and at length an affray took place, in which four of the people were killed.
The alarm bells were immediately rung, the drums beat to arms, and a large multitude assembled, who, inflamed to mad- ness by the view of the dead bodies, were, with some difficulty, restrained from rushing on the twenty-ninth regiment, which was drawn up under arms, in King's-street, by the exertions of the lieutenant-governor, who promised that the laws should be enforced on the perpetrators.
Captain Preston, and the soldiers who fired, were committed to prison for trial. Colonel Dalrymple removed the troops from the town to the castle very shortly after.
Captain Preston, and six of the soldiers, were afterwards tried by a jury, composed of men residing in Boston, and ac- quitted. Two only were found guilty, and these of man- slaughter. Mr. Quincy, and Mr. John Adams, who was after- wards President of the United States, were counsel for the prisoners.
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From the fact of their acquittal, and that by a jury of the Town where the deed was committed, it may be inferred that the military, on this occasion, had been grossly assaulted and abused. Indeed, it is said that they were assailed for some time by the mob, with balls of ice and snow, and sticks, before they fired.
This event increased in no inconsiderable degree, the detes- tation in which the soldiers, stationed among the people, were every where held.
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