USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 1 > Part 24
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2From a copy of the letter in the R. I. H. S. Library.
8For the attempts at pacification see the letters on the subject printed in the R. I. C. R. vi, 550-554. The detailed vote by towns, giving 1,153 to Hopkins and 739 to Ward, is in the Prov. Gazette, Apr. 18, 1767.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
This signal victory showed the probability of further continuance of this politieal struggle which both sides now agreed must be stopped, even at the cost of party pride. In October, 1767, Hopkins urged upon the assembly the necessity of ascertaining "some method to heal our breaches, prevent animosities, and introduce peace and harmony and consequently happiness among the people. In order to do this I am willing and ready and freely offer to resign and give up the office that I sustain, and to do any and every other thing in my power that may any way contribute toward so desirable an end as the peace of the colony". His own proposition was as follows: "That Mr. Ward and his friends should nominate a Governor from among those in the interest of Mr. Hopkins, who were to appoint a Deputy-Governor of the friends of the first-named gentleman, and so on alternately with all the assistants; or, if Mr. Ward and those in his interest, should deeline the first nomination, his Honor, and those interested with him, will nominate a Governor from the friends of Mr. Ward, and so on as before".
Since Mr. Ward was not present when the plan was offered to the assembly, it was not then adopted. But early in the following year both parties addressed themselves to the matter with earnest effort. On March 11, 1768, a committee of ten Newport eitizens, representing Mr. Ward, wrote to Governor Hopkins that "the plan hath since been considered ; and indueed by a strong regard to the American interest in general and the peace and felieity of this unhappy colony in particular; and to avoid the contention which must infallibly take place without a coalition of parties. Moved by these considerations only, we consent to make trial of the plan, and now inform your Honor that we do, with the consent of Mr. Ward, accept of your proposals with this addition, that the Secretary, General Treasurer, and Attor- ney-General remain as at present, which in our opinion will tend to prevent any dispute about the General Offieers .- that is to say .- That your Honor and Mr. Ward both retire and relinquish your pretensions to the office of Governor; that you, Sir, with your friends nominate a Governor from among Mr. Ward's friends; that Mr. Ward with his friends nominate a Deputy Governor from among the friends of your Honor ; that the Assistants be nominated alternately by you and your friends and by Mr. Ward and his friends in the same manner as the Governor and Deputy Governor are to be nominated; and that the other General Officers remain as at present".
This proposed arrangement was accepted on March 17, with a further provision "that the same manner of nomination be carried
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THE HOPKINS-WARD PERIOD.
thro' all the officers of the several Courts in the Colony", these nomi- nations to be made alternately from among the friends of each con- testant beginning with a Chief Justice of the Superior Court chosen by the Ward party from among Mr. Hopkins's friends.1 This amend- ment was agreed to by Ward's friends on March 24, and five days later committees representing both parties met at Newport and con- cluded the treaty. Josias Lyndon of Newport was agreed upon for governor, and Nicholas Cooke of the Hopkins faction for deputy- governor, who in April were chosen to their positions by overwhelming majorities. Hopkins and Ward relinquished all future aspirations for the office, and in other capacities henceforth served their colony as faithfully and more profitably than before.
Thus came to an end the historic Ward-Hopkins controversy. Fortunately for the interests of the colony in general, as well as for the future good repute of its principal actors, this long and bitter struggle came to a peaceful settlement, although it was many years before the feelings engendered by it were wholly dispelled. The preceding ten years had surely been a decade in which discord and dissension had had full sway, and in which the evil effects had been visited both on the colony and on the participants. "Both parties", says an early Newport writer, "were heartily tired of the expense, discord and corruption which had marked its progress".2 Neither of the chief actors had much cause for congratulation. "It is diffi- cult", says an authority on the subject, "to comprehend the blindness
1The documents illustrating this final settlement were preserved by Moses Brown and are in the R. I. H. S. Library. Lyndon's own account of his elec- tion is in Moses Brown Papers, i, 94. See also the account from the Newport Mercury, reprinted in R. I. C. R. vi, 548.
2R. I. C. R. vi, 550. This matter of bribery and expense at elections is well authenticated. Col. Robert Rogers, in his Concise Account of N. A. p. 55-59, writes in 1765 concerning the R. I. method of electing governors, "Generally he that distributes the most cash, and gives the best entertainments, let him be merchant, farmer, tradesman, or what he will, is the man who obtains a majority of votes, which fixes him in the chair ( death alone excepted) for that year. These election expenses generally run high, as each candidate endeav- ors to excel his competitor". Governor Hopkins sends money down to South County "with the utmost regret that I find myself pushed by the scandalous efforts of my enemies in this manner to have recourse to the assistance of my friends once more in this extraordinary method". (See letters in Narr. Hist. Reg. ii, 109.)
An electioneering song, written by one G. B., amusingly portrays this cor- ruption in politics, not peculiar to Rhode Island, however. It begins thus:
"In Providence town, that old place of renown,
A certain great man did bear rule.
And he who was not his creature to show his ill nature
He would call him a knave or a fool."
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
of this partisan feud. The phenomenon would be a surprising one under any circumstances; but is almost incredible when the character, abilities, and attainments of the two chief actors in the contest are considered; and when it is remembered that in nearly every other connection they were distinguished by judicial fairness of temper".1
It is equally difficult to assign any satisfactory reasons for the inten- sity of the controversy. At first chiefly a difference between sections in regard to certain measures, it gradually grew to be a difference between men. And then politieal issues, loeal jealousies, and personal enmity beeame so indiscriminately mixed that it seemed as if the bitterness and discord of partisan politics were reproduced in inverse ratio to the small size of the colony. The results of the contest were not especially significant. The town of Providence came out a gainer both in political and governmental influenee, although this was undoubtedly brought about by her commercial and economic growth more than by any political triumph of Hopkins. Her improvement along economic and social lines had certainly been remarkable. During the decade of the Hopkins-Ward controversy her eommerce had almost doubled, trade and manufactures were encouraged, and her wealth had notably increased. She had established a library in 1754, a post-office in 1758, and a newspaper in 1762; and more than all this, in 1770 she had won away from Newport and every other town in the colony the honor of having Brown University as a local institution." A less edifying
It goes on to relate how Ward suddenly arose as an opponent and in print disclosed Hopkins's perfidiousness. The Governor thereupon called the assem- bly and proposing a plan for overturning Ward, asks their advice:
"Then they all did say we think it is the best way
For we do think he did act very bold,
As to dare to reply and to point out those lies It appears that your honor hath told."
In the same lofty strain, the poet tells of Hopkins's fears for the approach- ing election and his liberal use of illicit means. The following stanzas vividly portray the scene on election day :
"At Newport on the election day
Held in the month that's called May,
Some honest men assembled were
That day to choose their governor.
But to their grief they there did find
The drunk, the halt, the lame, the blind,
Who like knaves with them this trick did try
To break the act against Bribery."
The poem then concludes with a scurrilous attack on Hopkins's character. (R. I. H. S. MSS., ix, 27. There is another ballad on the subject of election expenses in the Newport Mercury, Aug. 29, 1768.)
'Foster's Hopkins, ii, 31.
2For the various early developments in Providence, see Foster's Hopkins,
i, ch. 5. The documents concerning the contest for the location of the college,
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THE HOPKINS-WARD PERIOD.
result was the jealousy and enmity manifested between the northern an l southern towns, which only the common hardship of a lasting war could dispel.
The united aid of such influential men as Hopkins and Ward was needed in matters far more important than the triumph of this or that political faction. Since the close of the Frenchi war, events had been conspiring to bring on almost constant friction between the colonies and the mother country. The new King, George III, had almost from the moment of his accession begun to adopt a more imperious policy towards the colonists; and they in turn, conscious of their military strength and more accustomed to united action, were ready to assume an independent attitude when the occasion offered. When Grenville became head of the cabinet in 1763, he inaugurated three lines of policy henceforth insisted upon by the British govern- ment. The first was the rigid execution of the Navigation Acts whereby English merchants could reap a middleman's profit, the second was the taxation of the colonies for the partial support of British garrisons, and the third was the permanent establishment of British troops in America.
One of the first propositions of the new ministry was to renew the Sugar and Molasses Act of 1733, which prohibited all direct trade in those staple articles between the colonies and the West Indies. Imme- diately Rhode Island, in common with the other governments, convened her assembly in January, 1764, and ordered her London agent, Joseph Sherwood, to join with the other agents in resisting this scheme. Gov- ernor Hopkins furthermore drew up an elaborate remonstrance, setting forth the injurious effects of such an act. His clear and force- ful argument showed how dependent the colony, whose chief means of existence lay in commerce, was upon this trade and how a prohibition of ยท it would injure her beyond measure. "Upwards of thirty distil houses, for want of molasses, must be shut up to the ruin of many families and of our trade in general. Two-thirds of our vessels will become useless, and perish upon our hands; our mechanics, and those who de- pend upon the merchant for employment, must seek for subsistence elsewhere; and what must very sensibly affect the present and future naval power and commerce of Great Britain, a nursery of seamen, at this time twenty-two hundred, in this colony only, will be in a manner destroyed; and as an end will be put to our commerce, the merchants
are either printed or quoted in Guild, B. U. and Manning, the originals being chiefly in the R. I. H. S. Library.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
cannot import any more British manufactures, nor will the people be able to pay for those they have already received".1
But Parliament was intent upon making the colonies contribute to English money eoffers, and in April, 1764, passed the aet, embodying in it duties on various other foreign goods and providing effective means of collecting the revenue. At the same time was projected another aet, mueh more offensive, since it involved the question of eolony rights. It was proposed to lay a small stamp tax upon the eolonies in order to support a permanent British garrison in Ameriea. The news of these measures produeed instant excitement. Parliament had asserted its "right to tax the colonies"; and the colonists asserted on their part that their relations with the erown were chiefly govern- inental, that external taxation through custom duties was a very different thing from internal taxation levied directly upon the people, and that taxation, anyway, without representation was illegal. The Rhode Island assembly in July, 1764, appointed a committee to eonfer with the other colonies, for the purpose of securing a repeal of the sugar act, of hindering the passage of the stamp tax, and of generally preventing "all sueh taxes, duties, or impositions, that may be pro- posed to be assessed upon the colonists, which may be ineonsistent with their rights and privileges as British subjects".2
The operation of these revenue laws was brought most elosely to the attention of the people by the presence in Newport harbor of a great number of English naval officers, ever on the watch for any evasion of the duties. Under the eireumstances it was but natural that many personal conflicts should take place. In one of these eases, in July, 1764, a Newport mob attacked the British schooner St. John, took a couple of prisoners and turned the guns of the fort upon the vessel. A few months later, in June, 1765, another mob burned one of the boats of the Maidstone, a British vessel that had long terrorized the sailors of Newport by insisting upon the right of impressinent.3 These early attempts to resist British oppression clearly showed the temper of the more tumultuous portion of the people.
1R. I. C. R. vi, 381.
2R. I. C. R. vi, 403.
3R. I. C. R. vi, 428, 446. Governor Ward, in a letter upon the latter attack, asserted that "the impressing of Englishmen, is, in my opinion, an arbitrary action, contrary to law, inconsistent with liberty, and to be justified only by very urgent necessity". He stated that all the English officers were subject to Rhode Island laws and announced that he intended "to assert and maintain the liberties and privileges of His Majesty's subjects; and the honor, dignity and jurisdiction of the colony."
217
THE HOPKINS-WARD PERIOD.
The committee appointed in July, 1764, to draw up addresses to the King reported at the November session. The results of their labors, both from the clear and forceful pen of Stephen Hopkins, consisted of a petition to His Majesty and a pamphlet entitled "The Rights of Colonies Examined".1 This latter composition, which Gov- ernor Hutchinson asserted "was conceived in a higher strain" than the memorials of the other colonies, contained a most just and discriminat- ing statement of colonial rights. It was insisted upon as a due and not as a privilege that the unjust restraints upon America's trade should be removed, that the courts of vice-admiralty should not be vested with powers so extensive as to curtail the legal rights of the colonists, and that internal taxes should not be levied without the consent of their own representatives.
But these remonstrances and all others were without avail. Parlia- ment, unwilling to yield any of its assumed prerogative, passed the Stamp Act in March, 1765, and appointed as collectors some of the most eminent men in each colony. Immediately a storm of protest arose. Remonstrances, non-importation agreements and riots followed each other in quick succession. The spirit of resistance was firm and everywhere manifest. The Rhode Island towns instructed their deputies to give their most urgent attention to the matter, the Newport town council asserting "It is for liberty, that liberty for which our fathers fought, that liberty which is dearer to a generous mind than life itself, that we now contend".2 The Providence Gazette issued an extra number with the stirring motto, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, There is Liberty", and reprinted everything obtainable that in-
1This pamphlet of Hopkins's was published in Providence in 1764 and 1765 and in London in 1766. It is reprinted in the R. I. C. R. vi, 416. It brought forth from the Newport Tory, Martin Howard, an anonymous reply entitled, "A Letter from a Gentleman at Halifax to his Friend in R. I.", etc., 1765. James Otis of Boston then answered this latter pamphlet anonymously with "A Vindication of the British Colonies and the Aspersions of the Halifax Gen- tleman in his Letter to a Rhode Island Friend". Howard replied with, "A Defence of the letter from a Gentleman in Halifax to his Friend in R. I.", which brought out another pamphlet, probably written by Otis, entitled "Brief Remarks on the Defence of the Halifax libel on the British American colo- nies". These were all published in 1765. For an analysis of the contents of Hopkins's pamphlet and an account of its different editions and of the replies of Howard and Otis, see Foster's Hopkins, ii, 51-70, 227. A copy of another pamphlet ascribed to Hopkins is entitled, "A Letter to the Author of the Hali- fax Letter, Occasioned by his Book, Entitled A Defence of that Letter", 1765, is listed in Sabin's Dictionary (no. 40,457), but has not as yet been located in any library.
2See Staples's Annals of Providence, p. 210; Newport MS. Town Rec. 1679- 1776, p. 802.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
dicated the spirit of freedom. In Newport the demonstrations were more violent, resulting in the hanging in effigy of obnoxious Tories and in plundering their houscs.
The general assembly nict in September, 1765, and gave their close attention to these important matters. They adopted a series of six resolutions, claiming that "the general assembly of this colony have, in their representative capacity, the only exclusive right to lay taxes and imposts upon the inhabitants of this colony", who "are not bound to yield obedience to any law or ordinance designed to impose any internal taxation whatsoever upon them, other than the laws and ordinances of the general assembly, aforesaid". Similar bold legisla- tion was embodied in instructions to the delegates to the proposed Stamp Act Congress.1 The sentiment of union and common defence that had gradually been forming throughout America manifested itself in this gathering of prominent men at New York in October, 1765. With careful deliberation they drew up a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances", asserting their privileges as Englishmen and complain- ing of Parliament's unjust legislation. Surprised at these bold utterances and at the unmistakable evidences of America's hostility, Parliament met, and after a long debate, in which the venerable Pitt insisted that "England has no right to tax the colonies", repealed the Stamp Act by a vote of more than two to one. Unwilling, however, to yield in principle, they passed an amendatory act declaring the right of Parliament to tax and otherwise govern the colonies in all cases whatsoever.
The news of the repeal was greeted by the colonists with extravagant demonstrations of joy. The Rhode Island assembly adopted an address of thanks to the King and ordered a day of public thanksgiv- ing. In the larger towns, like Providence and Newport, the firing of cannon and the ringing of bells, the display of flags and of fireworks, and the public demonstrations of processions, dinners, and balls, all attested the people's gratitude for their deliverance. But their joy was to be short-lived. The year 1766 witnessed a change in the English government. Pitt, although created prime minister, was too aged to direct affairs, and the control of the colonies fell into the hands of Townshend, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer. This active official quickly resumed an imperial colonial policy. The execu- tion of the navigation acts was given over to a board of commissioners with plenary powers, and soon a complete colonial department was
1For these resolutions see R. I. C. R. vi, 450-452. For R. I.'s part in urging this Congress, see Foster's Hopkins, ii, 70-71.
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THE PERIOD OF COLONIAL RESISTANCE.
created. In May, 1767, a new scheme of taxation was devised, laying import duties upon glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. This plan, which avoided the objection to internal taxes, was not financially burden- some to the colonies, but it again brought up the former question of the right of taxation. The law officers of the Crown had often rendered their opinion that, as a principle of English law, the colonies could not be taxed except through their own representatives. And the colonies insisted that the violation of this principle was unjust and tyrannical.
In Rhode Island, as elsewhere, the information that new importation acts had been passed was received with indignation. The time had come for determined and united action. Such a necessity undoubtedly was the controlling factor in the settlement of the party contest that had existed in Rhode Island for so many years. When compared with the momentous question of resistance to oppression and a possibility of national independence, this petty local strife lost its importance. Matters of too great portent forbade that it be continued, and accord- ingly it ceased. Henceforth the colony could give its undivided attention to the great subjects of the hour. Whether the future meant resistance or submission, slavery or freedom, Rhode Island could enter the contest with untrammelled powers.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE PERIOD OF COLONIAL RESISTANCE.
The effort of Parliament to coerce the colonies into a belief in the British principle of taxation met with tremendous opposition in America. Boston quickly led the way in a proposition refusing to import any of the articles listed in the tax. Providence and Newport soon followed suit, and passed acts to discourage the use of English goods and to encourage home manufacture.1 In February, 1768, Massachusetts sent out a circular letter to the other colonies protesting against the new laws and inviting concerted action against them. Parliament immediately took great offence at this letter. Lord Hills- borough wrote to Rhode Island, "Exert your utmost influence to
1See Prov. Gazette, Nov. 28, Dec. 12, 1767.
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
defeat this flagitious attempt to disturb the publie peaee, by prevailing upon the assembly of your province to take no notice of it, which will be treating it with the contempt it deserves". The reply to this com- mand was deeisive, patriotic and suggestive of Rhode Island independ- enee. "On the contrary, that letter appears to this Assembly to contain not only a just representation of our grievances, and an invitation to unite in humble, decent and loyal addresses to the throne for redress, but also sentiments of the greatest loyalty to His Majesty, of veneration for his high court of Parliament, of attachment to the British constitution, and of affcetion to the mother country.
Therefore, this Assembly, instead of treating that letter with any degree of contempt, think themselves obliged, in duty to themselves and to their country, to approve the sentiments contained in it".1
This response from Rhode Island, as well as from all of the other colonies, was emphatic for resistance to tyranny. At the same time, repeated communications were sent by the general assembly to Parlia- ment expressive of the most sincere and unfailing loyalty, provided the obnoxious measures were abolished. The Massachusetts eireular letter met with mueh favor in Rhode Island. On September 16, 1768, an address to the King was drawn up, in which the colonial grievances were given and the opinion hazarded that the late acts of Parliament imposing duties and taxes in America were not for the regulation of commerce, but for the express purpose of obtaining money. These spirited replies did not engender any too good feeling between the home government and the eolonies.
Meanwhile the offensive duties had gone into effeet, but the fearless spirit of the colonists and their former disregard of revenue laws led to frequent friction with the English custom offieers. One of the very earliest instanees oeeurred in Rhode Island, in July, 1769. The British armed sloop Liberty, Captain William Reid, was eruising about the bay and Long Island Sound, seeking contraband traders. On the 17th she brought into Newport two Connectieut vessels on suspicion of illieit trade. In an altcreation between some of the Liberty's crew and the captain of one of the captured ships, the latter was maltreated and his boat fired upon by the Liberty. On the same evening Reid was on the wharf, when the eitizens foreed him to order liis men, with the exeeption of the first officer, on shore. This aeeom- plished, a party boarded the vessel, sent the offieer ashore, cut the
1R. I. C. R. vi, 541, 563. Hillsborough's letter is dated Apr. 21, 1768, and the Rhode Island reply Sept. 17.
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