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 early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume I > Part 100
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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 English 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 Barré 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 therefore 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 held 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.
With the entrance of Barré into the ranks of the Administration in the Summer of 1766 his prospects seemed brilliant. "He was in office under a great Minister for whom the country had long been sighing. The Minister was revolving in his mind vast schemes of foreign alliance and of Colonial reform, and Barré was certainly, in point of ability, though not in rank, the ablest representative of the Government in the House of Commons. It is natural to suppose that he expected to reap some of the glory of their accomplishment ; but never was a bright dawn more quickly obscured. In a few months Chatham had disappeared. He still attempted,t from his retirement, to direct the reform of the East India Company, but he did it in such a way as to cause the greatest embarrassment to his friends. In the debates on India Barré took a prominent part. He had long taken an interest in the business of India. A few years before, when Sullivan and Clive were striving for supremacy at the India House, it was generally believed that, had Sullivan been successful, Barré would have gone to India instead of Clive.} A Bill was now brought in to regulate the affairs of the Company. Burke and Rockingham loudly protested against the infringement of the charter,
while Barré became the champion of Parliamentary control.
"On another point the Opposition were more successful. They forced the Government to reduce the land tax. Some equivalent for this loss was necessary. The Opposition knew this well. They also knew that [Charles] Townshend, the Chancelor of the Exchequer, had declared the practicability of raising a revenue in America. * *
A revenue Act was passed, and all the ill-will, all the terror, all the sedi- tion, which it was hoped had subsided forever, awoke in America with
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* The portrait of Colonel BARRÉ, which appears as a frontispiece to this History, is a reproduction from an engraving by W. T. Fry (published in London February 1, 1817, and now owned by Mr. George S. Bennett of Wilkes-Barré), after a portrait painted by A. G. Stuart and owned by the Earl of St. Vincent. + His arrogance had increased, and it was so much intensified by irritating gout, that it became almost impossible to serve with him. His disease later almost approached madness.
Į ROBERT CLIVE, Baron CLIVE of Plassey, born in England in 1725. At the age of eighteen he entered, the service of the East India Company. In 1756 he commanded an expedition against the Nawab of Bengal, to avenge the tragedy of the Black Hole at Calcutta. In 1758 he was appointed Governor of Bengal. In 1760, owing to ill health, he returned to England, where he was elevated to the Irish peerage as Baron Clive of Plassey.
Lord Clive was Governor of Bengal a second time, from 1765 till 1767, when he resigned. His official conduct subsequently became the subject of Parliamentary inquiry, which resulted practically in his favor in 1773. He committed suicide at London in November, 1774.
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fresh violence .* It seems strange that Shelburne and Barré, when we consider their disapprobation of the measure, and recollect that it was subsequently one of the chief features of their opposition, should not have tendered their resignations at once. That they did not do so proves either that they were prepared to hold office while the Government pur- sued a policy which they supposed was of vital danger to the country, or that the real consequences of American taxation had not as yet been thoroughly appreciated, even by its opponents.
"In the commencement of 1768 John Wilkes returned to England [see page 542, ante] and was elected a Member of the House of Com- mons. Immediately the passions on both sides burst into a flame. Affairs went rapidly from bad to worse. From acts of folly and violence the popular party rushed into libels, and very nearly into rebellion. From threats and rigor the Government proceeded to frame illegal resolutions in the House of Commons, and to fill the streets of London with troops. The dignity of Parliament, which generations of corrup- tion, of buying, of selling and of bullying had never offended, was now declared insulted. The strife was between the New Age and the Old Age, and everything which was worst in both came conspicuously to the front."t
George III was a king by no means to be admired. So far as family matters went he was a model man, but beyond that he seems to have been not so dull as he was a most arbitrary master. Though decent at home, he permitted all kinds of corruption among the Court and Gov- ernment officials. He insisted on being a ruler of the most positive character. He had no liking for Parliamentary rule. He wanted to be an autocrat, indifferent to the means he employed. Under George there were two supreme issues : Ministers were not held responsible to Parlia- ment, and corruption in public place was rampant. As Erskine put it some years later-the House of Commons "instead of being a control upon the Crown, was become the great engine of its power." It was the King's policy-as a recent writer has stated-"to nullify the public control over Parliament as well as the control of Parliament over the Government; to obtain a Parliament unconnected with the people, and a Ministry unconnected with a Parliament."
The opinions of Shelburne and Barré and the Government were too divergent in 1768 for the two men to remain members of the Cabinet any longer, and so in the Autumn of that year they resigned their respective offices. About the same time the resignation of Chatham left the Duke of Grafton in name, as he had long been in reality, Prime Minister. The followers of Grenville, Rockingham and Chatham (who composed the Opposition) were, it is true, constantly at variance, but
* The leading spirit of the Chatham Ministry was Charles Townshend (mentioned on page 584), a brilliant statesman, but unscrupulous and unwise. His opinions were arbitrary ; he regretted the repeal of the Stamp Act, as did also the King and the Parliament in general, who felt themselves to have been humiliated. " Three measures affecting America were introduced in the House of Commons by Townshend May 13, 1767. They were : A suspension of the functions of the Legislature of New York for contumacy in the treatment of the Royal troops; the establishment of Commissioners of the Customs, appointed with large powers to superintend laws relating to trade ; and, lastly, an impost duty on glass, red and white lead, painters' colors, paper and tea. This last was an "external" duty, to which the Colonists had theretofore expressed a willingness to submit. A revenue of £40,000 a year was expected from the tax, which was to be applied to the support of a "civil list"-namely, the paying the salaries of the new Com- missioners of Customs and of the Judges and Governors in the Colonies, who were to be relieved wholly or in part from their dependence upon the annual grants of the Colonial Assemblies ; then, if a surplus remained, it was to go to the payment of troops for protecting the Colonies. Before the full effects of the new legislation could be seen, Townshend suddenly died; but in the new Ministry that was presently formed Lord North came to the front and adopted the policy of his predecessor-receiving in this course the firm support of George III, whose activity and interest in public affairs were so great that he "became his own Minister."
+ From Hugh F. Elliot's "Colonel Barré and His Times"-previously mentioned.
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they united in their ranks the most brilliant speakers of their time- Edmund Burke, John Dunning (see page 609) and Isaac Barré standing almost unrivalled in the House of Commons. At the beginning of his opposition Barré found all the materials at hand to make that opposition fierce and effective.
"During this period the position of the Government was difficult to the highest degree. The law imposed upon it the duty of maintaining order, but the police force at its disposal was composed of a few broken- down old men, who had become policemen simply because they were too aged or decrepit for other trades. Time and prescription had handed down to the House of Commons a vast mass of privileges which, to a certain extent, the Government was bound to protect, or, at all events, not to see lightly abused. The privileges of the House of Commons were now attacked by furious mobs. London became one seething mass of sedition. [See pages 543 and 547.] Not a day passed with- x- out its riot. The people rose in their trades. There were mobs of sailors, of weavers, of coal-heavers, of Thames watermen, of tailors, of hatters. The doors of Parliament were beset by an unruly multitude, who loudly called for redress, and beat the Members whom they considered hostile. The position was critical. Lord Mansfield prophe- sied that there would be a rebellion in ten days-but the Government called in the troops and the riots were quelled."
In January, 1770, Lord North became Prime Minister, but no change occurred in the policy of the Government. The country seemed united against the Premier, and numberless petitions praying for a dis- solution of Parliament were sent up to the King. A foreign war was imminent-Spain laying claim to the sovereignty of one of the Falkland Islands. Barré and those acting with him declared that the negligence of the Government amounted to a trifle less than treason, and the country was nearly involved in an expensive war for "an island which was little better than a barren moor, which had a detestable climate, no inhabit- ants, no trees, no commercial advantages, and no living creatures but the snipe and the flocks of wild geese which haunted its bogs." Next-in the Spring of 1771-came the quarrels between the House of Commons and the printers. (See page 554.) Barré took a most active part in at- tempting to avert the blow from Lord Mayor Crosby. He tried all the Parliamentary usages by which, in those days, a feeble minority could oppose a tyrannous majority. The House had never "divided" so often in one night. The Speaker complained that he was tired to death, and did not know how the question would ever be settled. At last, when every expedient had failed, Barré got up and attacked the Government. As the speech which he then delivered affords a fair specimen of Barré's declamatory style, and is also an illustration of the violence occasionally introduced into the Parliamentary debates of that period, the following passages from it are here introduced.
"What can be your [the Ministers'] intention in such an attack upon all honor and virtue ? Do you mean to bring all men upon a level with yourselves, and to extirpate all honesty and independence ? Perhaps you imagine that a vote will settle the whole con- troversy. Alas! you are not aware that the manner in which your vote is procured remains a secret to no man. Listen ; for, if you are not totally callous, if your con- sciences are not seared, I will speak daggers to your souls and awake you to all the hells of a guilty recollection. Guilt, as the poet justly observes, is the source of sorrow. Trust me, therefore, your triumph shall not be a pleasing one. I will follow you with whips and with stings through every maze of your unexampled turpitude, and plant eternal thorns beneath the rose of Ministerial reprobation. * * *
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"But it is in vain that you hope by fear and terror to extinguish every spark of the ancient fire of this Isle. The more sacrifices, the more martyrs, you make, the more numerous will the Sons of Liberty become. They will multiply like the Hydra's heads, and hurl down vengeance on your devoted heads. Let others act as they will, while I have a tongue or an arm they shall be free ; and that I may not be a witness of this monstrous proceeding, I will leave the House ! Nor do I doubt but every independent, every honest, man will follow me. These walls are unholy, they are baleful, they are deadly, while a prostitute majority holds the bolt of Parliamentary omnipotence, and hurls its vengeance upon the virtuous !"
As Barré retired from the House there were loud cries, "To the bar ! To the bar !" but the Ministers wisely declined to increase their embarrassments by calling him to account. Sir George Savile protested against the action of the Government and then, accompanied by several of his friends, followed Barré from the House.
Barré continued steadfast in opposition, but the Court was not to be braved with impunity. In January, 1773, Lieutenant Colonel Mor- rison of the army, who was Barré's junior, was promoted over his head to the rank of Colonel. Barré immediately wrote to Lord Chatham as follows :
"The particular manner in which His Majesty has been advised to make a late pro- motion in the army, has so much the appearance of a premeditated affront to me that I feel myself under an absolute necessity of retiring from a profession in which I have served six and twenty years. * * This new discipline, my Lord, is surely not cal- culated to cherish the spirit of an army which your Lordship has taught to conquer in every clime. Directed as it has been lately, I am proud of renouncing the profession. To enable me to take this step with propriety to myself, and with decent respect to the King, I feel that I stand in need of the long experience and sound judgment of much abler men than myself."
Chatham advised Barré to formally petition the King for promotion in his proper turn. This he did, but nothing resulting from it he resigned from the army February 21, 1773. Both Prime Minister North and the Hon. Richard Rigby, Paymaster General of the Forces, expressed regret for the manner in which Colonel Barré had been treated, and there can be little doubt that the course pursued by the War Office with respect to Barré was suggested by the King .* In 1773 the Opposition party was dead, and its members, according to Walpole, were wriggling themselves into Court as fast as possible. Not a cloud, even the size of a man's hand, appeared in the sky. Late in February, 1774, however, news reached England that on the night of December 16, 1773, at Boston, in Massachusetts, a band of "Mohawks" had thrown overboard into the cold waters of the harbor, from three ships lying there, 342 chests of tea belonging to the East India Company and valued at £18,000. March 18, 1774, Lord North presented in the House of Commons a Bill for the immediate removal of the officers concerned in the collection and management of His Majesty's custom-duties at Boston, and to discontinue the landing and discharging of goods at that port. In the course of the long and earnest debate on this Bill-known as "The Boston Port Bill" -it was stated that Boston was "the port of the greatest consequence to England of any existing." In discussing the Bill Colonel Barré said, among other thingst : * * "The Bill before you is the first vengeful step that you have taken. *
* As long as I sit here among you I will oppose the taxing of America. * * Keep your hands out of the pockets of the Americans and they will be obedient subjects. I think this Bill a moderate one, but I augur that the next proposition will be a black one. * * You have not a loom nor an anvil but what is stamped with America ; it is the main prop of your trade. *
* America employs all your workmen here ; nourish and protect it, that they may be supported."
* See page 601.
¡ See "American Archives," Fourth Series, I : 46.
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When the Bill came up on its final passage through the House Barré voted for it. He admitted afterwards* that he had supported the Administration in blocking the port of Boston, "but," said he, "I think I have no great guilt on that head, as I thought it was a measure adopted to produce a compromise for the damage the East India Company had sustained. The Ministers had given the most explicit assurances that the merchants of Boston desired such a Bill, and that the people of Massachusetts would, as soon as it was passed, immediately return to their duty." On March 31st, His Majesty "being seated on the throne in the House of Lords, adorned with his crown and regal ornaments, and attended by his officers of State-the Commons also being in at- tendance"-the Royal assent was pronounced on the Boston Port Bill.
Great Britain had now come, with respect to her American Colonies, to that fatal dilemma : "Resist, and we will cut your throats ; submit, and we will tax you !" April 15, 1774, on motion of Lord North, there was brought before the House of Commons a measure entitled : "An Act for the Impartial Administration of Justice in the cases of persons questioned for any acts done by them in execution of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England." With respect to this measure the Premier said he hoped that it would effectually secure the Province of Massachusetts from future disturbances. Further, it "was to give every man a fair and im- partial trial." Continuing, Lord North said :
"If it shall be found that a man is not likely to meet with a fair and impartial trial, the Governor will be empowered to send him to any of the other Colonies where the same kind of spirit has not prevailed ; but if it should be thought that he could not have such fair and impartial trial in any of the Colonies, in that case he is to be sent to Great Britain, to be tried before the Court of King's Bench. * * * A measure such as this will show to that country that this nation is roused to defend its rights and protect the security of peace in its Colonies ; and when roused, that the measures which it takes are not cruel nor vindictive, but necessary and efficacious. Temporary distress requires temporary relief. I shall, therefore, propose this Bill only for the limited time of three or four years. "We must consider that everything that we have that is valuable to us is now at stake. * * *
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