USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. I > Part 99
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On the 1st of October the merchants of the city of New York (under the lead of Isaac Sears, the aggressive chief of the Sons of Lib- erty) unanimously agreed that unless the Stamp Act were repealed they would refrain from importing goods from England. About that time boxes of stamped paper destined for Connecticut were forcibly taken from the sloop Minerva and destroyed by the Sons of Liberty of New
* See Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, II : 246 and 248.
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York. In no place were the "Sons" more determined or were their op- ponents more influential than in the city of New York. It was the headquarters of the British forces in America, the commander of which, General Gage, wielded the powers of a viceroy. The chief executive of the Province of New York-Lieut. Governor Cadwallader Colden- (mentioned on page 32)-also resided there, and he was fully resolved to execute the Stamp Act. The latter was printed, and cried about the streets of New York, under the title of "The Folly of England and the Ruin of America."
October 7, 1765, a congress of twenty-eight delegates from nine of the Colonies met in the City Hall, in Wall Street, New York, and organized what is known in history as the "Stamp Act Congress." It was the first Colonial Congress. Previous to the meeting of this Con- gress a committee waited on Lieutenant Governor Colden, to solicit his aid and sympathy. His answer was: "Your Congress is unconstitu- tional, 1111precedented and unlawful, and I shall give you no counte- nance." The presence of the troops encouraged the Lieutenant Gov- ernor, for a moment, to take a bold stand in behalf of the law. He ordered the fortifications strengthened and proper provision made for the reception of the stamps. He talked of firing upon the people, but was warned that if he did so he would be speedily hanged on a lamp-post. Great excitement existed in the city, and a civil war was feared. McEvers, the Stamp Distributer, had disappeared, fearing the fury of the populace, and no official dared touch the stamped paper when it was delivered by the Captain of the vessel in which it had been brought from England. The Corporation induced the Lieutenant Gov- ernor to deposit it in the City Hall for safekeeping. A torchlight pro- cession, carrying images of Colden and the Devil, holding a copy of the Stamp Act, broke into Colden's coach-house, and, seizing his best coach, paraded it about town with the images upon it, and finally burned up the coach and images on the Bowling Green, in full sight of Colden and the garrison, who looked on from the Battery, speechless with rage, but afraid to interfere.
After eleven days' debate the Stamp Act Congress agreed, among other things, that trial by jury is the right of the British subject, and that the Stamp Act had a tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the Colonists. Having adopted resolutions, prepared an address and peti- tion to the King and memorials to the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the Congress adjourned. Special measures were taken to transmit the proceedings to the unrepresented Colonies. Meanwhile the Sons of Liberty, through their committees of correspondence, urged a Continental Union ; pledged a mutual support in case of danger ; in some instances stated the number of armned men that might be relied on, and thus evinced a common determination to resist the execution of the Stamp Act.
With the arrival of the second consignment of stamped paper for New York came the newly-appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Province-Sir Henry Moore-"who won the affections of the people by declaring he would have nothing to do with the obnoxious papers." He further "conciliated the citizens by ordering the discontinuance of the erection of the fortifications begun by Colden at the fort, and by declar- ing that he would not meddle with the enforcement of the Stamp Act.
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He endeavored in vain to restrain the demonstrations of the people and to bring them back to a sense of their loyalty." October 21, 1765, the sixteen Justices of the Peace of the county of Culpeper, Vir- ginia, drew up and signed a protest to Lieutenant Governor Fauquier against the enforcement of the Stamp Act-setting forth, among other things, the unconstitutionality of the Act, which taxed them without the consent of their representatives and affected their lives and proper- ties without granting them a trial by their peers. At the same time the Justices resigned their commissions. Four days later, in Philadel- phia, the merchants and traders subscribed to a non-importation agree- ment, such as were then being signed all over the country. In this the subscribers agreed-"in consequence of the late Acts of Parliament and the injurious regulations accompanying them, and in justice to them- selves and in hopes of benefit from their example"-to countermand all orders for English goods until the Stamp Act should be repealed, and that no goods which had been received for sale on commission should be disposed of until after the repeal of the Act.
By this vigorous combination and resistance in the several Colonies -due largely to the energetic work secretly carried on by the Sons of Liberty-the Stamp Act was made inoperative ; and when November 1st came not a sheet of the stamped paper was to be procured, it having been destroyed, sent back to England or stowed away for safe keeping. On that date, when the Act, according to its terms, was intended to be- come operative, the day was ushered in at Boston with the tolling of bells, many shops and factories were shut, and effigies of the authors and friends of the Act were carried about the streets and afterwards torn in pieces by the populace. In November the Legislature of Rhode Island passed resolutions thanking Colonel Barré for the stand he had taken with respect to the Stamp Bill. Under date of March 8, 1766, Barré wrote to Governor Ward of Rhode Island as follows :
"I acknowledge the honor of receiving your letter of November 19th, with the reso- lutions of the General Assembly of Rhode Island. It is exceedingly flattering to me to find that my conduct has been agreeable to that body. *
* The extending of our com- merce upon broad and sound principles, the binding the hearts of our American Colonists to the mother country by the generosity and justice of our government, have been and shall continue to be the motive of my conduct." * *
In December, 1765, the New York Sons of Liberty held a meeting, whereat they resolved that they would "go to the extremity with their lives and fortunes to prevent the enforcement of the Stamp Act." This spirit resulted in bringing about an agreement (entered into on Christ- mas-day, 1765) between the New York "Sons" and the Connecticut "Sons" to unitedly and separately oppose in every way the obnoxious law. Apparently, at that time, the opposition to the law raged more fiercely among the "Sons" in New York and Connecticut than in Massa- chusetts ; but in February, 1766, the Boston "Sons" accepted the pro- posal that they should unite themselves with the New York and Con- necticut bodies. At the same time, in a letter to the brotherhood at Norwich, Connecticut, the Bostonians proposed to begin to carry out plans for a "Continental Union." March 25, 1766, a meeting of the Sons of Liberty held in Hartford, Connecticut, was attended by a large number of delegates from eastern Connecticut. Col. Israel Putnam, Maj. John Durkee and Capt. Hugh Ledlie were appointed a committee to arrange for a correspondence "with the loyal Sons of Liberty in other
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Colonies." Captain Ledlie (who was then a resident of Windham) was sent as a representative to a general convention of the Order to be held at Annapolis, Maryland.
In the Autumn of 1765 the Sons of Liberty at Norwich, Connecti- cut, erected in the center of the town Green a tall pole for their Liberty Tree, decked with standards and appropriate devices, and crowned with a Liberty Cap. As early as 1766 there was constructed at the foot of this pole a booth, or summer-house, called "the Pavilion"; and there, almost daily, the people assembled* to hear the news, make speechies, sing patriotic songst and encourage each other in the determination to resist oppression. Early in December, 1767, there was received at Norwich from the selectinen at Boston a copy of their famous "Circu- lar," recommending the disuse of certain enumerated articles of British production. A town-meeting, to consider the subject, was immediately convened, and a committee was appointed, composed of the Hon. Heze- kiah Huntington, the Hon. Jabez Huntington, Simeon Tracy, Maj. John Durkee, Gershom Breed, Dr. Daniel Lathrop and other prominent citizens. They brought in a report, which consisted chiefly of an agree- ment not to import, purchase or make use of certain articles produced or manufactured outside of America. The report was unanimously adopted and ordered to be printed in The New London Gazette.
The Grenville Administration survived the passage of the Stamp Act by only a few months. The King could tolerate the Ministers no longer. They had unpardonably affronted him in the Regency Bill. The Duke of Bedford was impertinent to him, and Grenville lectured him till he cried-in fact, life liad become a burden to him under Gren- ville's domination. Therefore, in July, 1765, Grenville was dismissed and the Marquis of Rockingham became Prime Minister. Overtures
* See page 549.
+ Soon after the passage of the Stamp Act became known in this country many patriotic lyrics ap- peared in print, and were freely disseminated. One of the best of these was written by Dr. Prime, of New York, the author of several poems of considerable merit. It is entitled "A SONG FOR THE SONS OF LIBERTY." and the following are some of its stanzas.
"In story we're told How our fathers of old Brav'd the rage of the winds and the waves, And cross'd the deep o'er, To this desolate shore, All because they were loath to be slaves, brave boys ! All because they were loath to be slaves.
"Yet a strange scheme, of late, Has been formed in the State,
By a knot of political knaves ; Who in secret rejoice That the Parliament's voice
Has resolved that we all shall be slaves, brave boys ! etc.
"As the sun's lucid ray To all nations gives day,
And the world from obscurity saves, So, all happy and free, GEORGE'S subjects should be-
Then Americans must not be slaves, brave boys ! etc.
"Heaven, only, controls The great deep as it rolls, And the tide, which our country laves, Emphatical roars This advice to our shores-
'O Americans, never be slaves, brave boys !' etc. "To our Monarch, we know, Due allegiance we owe,
Who the scepter so rightfully waves ; But no sovereign we own, Save the King on his throne,
And we cannot, to subjects, be slaves, brave boys ! etc.
"Tho' fools stupidly tell That we mean to rebel, Yet all each American craves Is but to be free, As we surely must be, For we never were born to be slaves, brave boys ! etc.
"Thongh against the repeal, With intemperate zeal, Proud GRENVILLE so britishly raves, Yet our conduct shall show, And our enemies know, That Americans scorn to be slaves, brave boys ! etc.
"With the beasts of the wood We will ramble for food, We will lodge in wild deserts and caves, And live poor as Job, On the skirts of the globe, Before we'll submit to be slaves, brave boys ! etc.
"The birthright we hold Shall never be sold,
But sacred maintain'd to our graves ; And before we'll comply We will gallantly die, For we must not, we will not, be slaves, brave boys ! etc."
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were immediately made by the Government to Pitt, Shelburne and Barré-rank in the army (or anything he liked) in addition to the Vice Treasurership for Ireland, being offered to Barré; but the alliance between these three men was now firm, and all offers were refused. The Tory party was left without a backbone by the refusal of Pitt to co-operate. Shelburne and Barré, however, committed a mistake in refusing to join the new Administration. When Parliament met, Decem- ber 17, 1765, American difficulties were at a crisis. An English Parlia- ment had never listened to such accumulated insults as now assailed both Houses. A powerful Opposition, led by Grenville, strenuously urged that no relaxation or indulgence should be granted to the Col- onists. Pitt, on the other hand, rose from his sick-bed, and in speeches of extraordinary eloquence, and which produced an amazing effect on both sides of the Atlantic, justified the resistance of the Colonists. In one of his speeches he declared : "I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of people, so dead to all the feelings of liberty as volun- tarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest. * * I will beg leave to tell the House what is my opinion. It is that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely, totally and immediately."
Early in this session of Parliament a Bill was introduced by the Government leaders in the House of Commons repealing the Stamp Act ; and side by side with this measure there was brought in a Bill which declared "That the King's Majesty, by and with the consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and the Commons, of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled, had, hath and of right ought to have full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the Colonies and people of America, subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever." Barré, co-operating with Pitt and Shelburne, acted neither entirely with the Government nor with the Opposition ; and with respect to the abovementioned Bill he moved that the words "in all cases whatsoever" should be stricken out. This measure, which was passed February 24, 1766, in its original form, be- came known as the "Declaratory Act." While the Bill repealing the Stamp Act was pending in the House of Commons Benjamin Franklin was examined before a committee of the House. Among the questions then asked, and answered by Franklin, were the following* :
"Q .- What was the temper of America towards Great Britain before the year 1763 ? Ans .- The best in the world. "They submitted willingly to the government of the Crown, and paid, in all their Courts, obedience to Acts of Parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old Provinces they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons or armies to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this country at the expense only of a little pen, ink and paper. They were led by a thread. They had not only a respect but an affection for Great Britain, for its laws, its customs and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard. To be an Old England man was, of itself, a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us. * *
* Q .- What used to be the pride of the Americans? Ans .- To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain. Q .- What is now their pride? Ans .- To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make new ones."
The Bill repealing the Stamp Act was passed through both Houses by large majorities, and when, on the 18th of March, 1766, the King rode to Westminster Palace to give the Royal assent to the Bill, there was such a vast concourse of people, huzzaing, clapping their hands, etc.,
* For a full list of the questions and answers of that very interesting examination see Larned's "History for Ready Reference," V : 3192, et seq.
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that it took several hours for His Majesty to reach the House of Lords. As soon as the King had signed the Bill the merchants of London who traded with America despatched a vessel from Falmouth with copies of the new Act, under orders to put into the first port of the American Colonies and make known the fact of the repcal of the Stamp Act. There was great rejoicing among all classes in London; there were illuminations and bonfires, and all the ships in the river displayed their colors. The next day a procession of fifty coaches bore from the "King's Arms" tavern in Cornhill, to the House of Lords at Westminster, a large number of merchants (who did business with America) going to thank the King for signing the Repeal. Edmund Burke,* who was then serv- ing his first term in the House of Commons, subsequently described the passing of the Repeal as "an event that caused more universal joy throughout the British dominions than perhaps any other that can be remembered."
"News of the repeal of the Stamp Act was received in America with every manifestation of delight. It was regarded as a great triumph for the Colonists ; and in the victory many long-headed men saw the dawn of independence." When, early in May, news reached New York that the Act which had caused so much ill-feeling had been repealed, the Sons of Liberty in that city celebrated the event with much en- thusiasm. A great meeting was held on "The Common," or "The Fields" (where the Post Office building now stands, in City Hall Park), a royal salute of twenty-one guns was fired and two immense bonfires were lighted. On June 4th, the King's birthday, a special celebration was organized. For the refreshment of the crowd in attendance an ox was roasted, twenty barrels of strong beer were tapped, and a hogshead of rum and other necessary ingredients were brewed into punch. A pole was erected, to the top of which were suspended twenty-five empty tar- barrels. At another part of the Common twenty pieces of cannon were ranged, and, amid their thunders, and to the music of a band playing "God Save the King," the Standard of England was displayed. As the crowning event of this day of celebrations-at which Lieutenant Gov- ernor Moore, hoping to strengthen the loyalty of the citizens, "politically encouraged them in their rejoicings"-a tall Liberty Pole was erected, bearing a flag inscribed "The King, Pitt and Liberty !"
The joy of the people, however, was of short duration. The pro- visions of the Mutiny Act began to be enforced ere long ; in addition to
* EDMUND BURKE (previously referred to on pages 551, 553 and 565), a celebrated writer, orator and philosophic statesman, was born January 12, 1729, at Dublin, Ireland, where his father was an attorney- at-law. He was graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1748, after which, for awhile, he pursued a course of study in London for admission to the Bar. However, he never took kindly to the study of the law, and ultimately abandoned the idea of becoming a barrister. From 1750 to 1760 he was engaged chiefly in literary work. In 1759 the first volume of the Annual Register appeared, a work which Burke originated, and to which he contributed largely till 1788. In 1765 he became private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham (see page 541), and in the same year was returned to Parliament as Member for Wendover. His eloquence at once gained him a high position in the Whig party and in the House of Commons. He represented Wendover in Parliament till 1774; from that year till 1780 he represented Bristol, and then, until 1794, represented Malton. In 1774 he delivered in the House of Commons his celebrated classic speech on American Taxation; in 1782-'83 he was Paymaster General and Privy Coun- cilor; from 1786 to 1794 he conducted the impeachment of Warren Hastings.
During the American War of Independence Burke took an enlightened and a courageous attitude. Through his speeches there ran a continual insistence that the Colonies were to be conciliated, and that it did not matter for any practical purpose what the rights of Parliament were, so long as it was inex- pedient to exercise them. Burke earned a place, not only beside, but at the head of, the Englishi states- men who opposed the American War altogether. During the course of the Hastings trial Frederick Montagu, a Member of Parliament (see page 611), said in defense of Mr. Burke: "I have been honored with Mr. Burke's friendship these four and twenty years. I will not mention the brilliancy of his imagination, the strength and depth of his understanding, or the energy of his eloquence. They are confessed by all. It may at once be said of my right honorable friend that he has embraced the whole compass of human knowledge. But what I most admire in my friend are the qualities of his heart, his consummate integrity and his unbounded benevolence."
Burke died at Beaconsfield, England, July 9, 1797.
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which the British soldiers quartered in the city, irritated at the triumph- ant attitude of the citizens, soon devised plans to stir up trouble. On August 10th a party of "redcoats," or "lobster-backs," belonging to the 28th Regiment, cut down the Liberty Pole on the Common. The next day a meeting was held on the Common to raise another pole, during which the assemblage was attacked by some of the troops from the neigh- boring barracks, and several of the people were severely wounded. A few days later another meeting was held and a fine new pole was raised, only to be cut down on the night of September 23d. A third pole was erected September 25th, and by order of Lieutenant Governor Moore was permitted to stand. On March 18, 1767, it was leveled to the ground ; but the next day a more substantial one, "well secured with iron bands," was erected, and, though repeated assaults were made on it by the "redcoats," it continued to stand-a trophy of the victory of the people-until January 16, 1770, when it was cut down by British Regu- lars quartered in the city. "The patriots in the city rose to a man. The next day a multitude of 3,000 gathered in 'The Fields' to express their detestation and indignation over this cowardly and audacious act. Appropriate resolutions were adopted, which declared to be enemies to the peace of the city all soldiers below the rank of Orderly who appeared armed in the streets, and all, armed and unarmed, who were found out of barracks after roll-call. The following day a scurrilous placard ap- peared. This placard reads as follows (see original in the New York Historical Society) :
'God and a Soldier all Men most adore In Time of War, and not before ; When the War is over, and all things righted, God is forgotten, and the Soldier slighted.'
"Then follow references to the riotous disturbances in the city, to the Sons of Liberty, etc .- appended to which are the words 'The 16th Regiment of Foot.' "* It was this placard which precipitated the fight at Golden Hill (on the present John Street, between Cliff Street and Burling Slip, New York), January 18, 1770, between a number of the Sons of Liberty and some soldiers of the 16th Regiment of Foot (British Regulars), when one citizen was killed, three were severely wounded and several were injured. Then and there was shed "the first martyr blood of the American Revolution !" "The town was thrown into commotion, the bells rang, and the news, with the exaggerations and embellish- ments incident to all occasions of alarm, spread through the country with the rapidity of lightning. Everywhere throughout the old Thirteen Colonies it created a strong sensation, and was received with a degree of indignant emotion which very clearly foretold that blood had only begun flowing."t Less than two months later (March 5th), in King Street, Boston, within the shadow of the old State House, a fracas occurred between a party of citizens and a squad of British Regulars, commanded by Capt. Thomas Preston, of the 29th Regiment of Foot. The soldiers fired upon the citizens, and five of the latter were killed and six were wounded. This event is referred to in history as the "Boston Massacre."
When news of the repeal of the Stamp Act, together with an account of the stand which Colonel Barre had taken with reference to the matter, first reached Boston, the authorities of that town voted to have a portrait
* From the "Introduction" to "The Public Papers of George Clinton," previously mentioned.
+ William L. Stone, in his "Life of Brant."
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of Barré* painted and hung in Faneuil Hall. This was done, but the picture was subsequently destroyed by the British during the siege of the town in 1775. Within about two months after the news of the Repeal reached America Barré had become a member of the Government. Lord Rockingham had found himself utterly unable to contend with the adverse fortune which beset him. Pitt refused to join him, and the King made no secret of his hostility to the Ministers. The Opposition was bitter and formidable. Rockingham tlicrefore retired in July, 1766, and (as mentioned on page 541) was succeeded by Pitt, now created Earl of Chatham. In the new Administration Barré became one of the Vice Treasurers for Ireland, as well as a Privy Councilor, with his rank (Lieutenant Colonel) and position in the army restored to him. His patron, Lord Shelburne, at the same time became one of the Secretaries of State. Barré lield the office of Vice Treasurer until the break-up of the Ministry in October, 1768 ; but the King's hatred of him-a dislike second only to that felt for Wilkes at that time-blocked the promotion of Barré in the army and ultimately led to his retirement from the service.
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