9490
The portrait of Otis is supported on one side by Liberty, and on the other by Hercules, or Perseverance. At the feet of the latter, uncoiling, preparatory to striking a blow, is the venomous rattlesnake, an emblem used on some of the colonial flags when the war began. This was significant of the intention of America, under the guidance of the Spirit of Liberty,to 'persevere, and strike a deadly blow, if necessary. The poetry and maxims of the almanac are replete with political sentiments favorable to freedom; and its pages contain the celebrated "Massachusetts Song of Liberty," which became almost as popular throughout the colonies as did Robert Treat Paine's "Adams and Liberty" at a later day. * It is believed to have been written by Mrs. Mercy Warren.
Party lines began now to be strictly drawn, and the old names of Whig and Tory, used in England toward the close of the seventeenth century, and recently revived, were adopted here, the former being assumed by those who opposed Parliamentary taxation, and the latter applied to those who favored it. *** In Boston the wound inflicted by Bernard, in the introduction of soldiers, was daily festering. A weekly paper, the "Journal of the Times," fostered the most bitter animosity against the soldiers, by the publication of all sorts of stories concerning them, some true, but many more false and garbled. Daily quarrels between citizens and soldiers occurred upon the Common and in the streets; and
* We give on the following page a copy of the Massachusetts Song of Liberty, with the music, as printed in the Boston Almanac.
** See note, page 71.
Abuse of Mr. Otis.—Massachusetts Song of Liberty.
the fact that Mr. Otis had been severely beaten with fists and canes, in a coffee-house, by
Fac-simile of the Music.Come swallow your bumpers, ye Tories, and roar,That the Sons of fair Freedom are hamper'd once more;But know that no Cut throats our spirits can tame,Nor a host of Oppressors shall smother the flame."In Freedom we're born, and, like Sons of the brace.Will never surrender,But swear to defend her,And scorn to survive, if unable to save."Our grandsires, bless'd heroes, we'll give them a tear,Nor sully their honors by stooping to fear;Through deaths and through dangers their Trophies they won.We dare be their Rivals, nor will be outdone."In Freedom we're born."Let tyrants and minions presume to despise,Encroach on our Rights, and make Freedom their prize;The fruits of their rapine they never shall keep,Though vengeance may nod, yet how short is her sleep."In Freedom we're born."The tree which proud Haman for Mordecai rear'dStands recorded, that virtue endanger'd is spared;That rogues, whom no bounds and no laws can restrain,Must be stripp'd of their honors and humbled again."In Freedom we're born."Our wives and our babes, still protected, shall knowThose who dare to be free shall forever be so;On these arms and these hearts they may safely relyFor in freedom we'll live, or like Heroes we'll die."In Freedom we're born."Ye insolent Tyrants! who wish to enthrall;Ye Minions, ye Placemen, Pimps, Pensioners, all;How short is your triumph, how feeble your trust,Your honor must wither and nod to the dust."In Freedom we're born.When oppress'd and approach'd, our King we implore,Frill firmly persuaded our Rights he'll restore;When our hearts beat to arms to defend a just right,Our monarch rules there, and forbids us to fight."In Freedom we're born."Not the glitter of arms nor the dread of a frayCould make us submit to their chains for a day;Withheld by affection, on Britons we call,Prevent the fierce conflict which threatens your fall."In Freedom we're born.All ages shall speak with amaze and applauseOf the prudence we show in support of our cause:Assured of our safety, a Brunswick still reigns,Whose free loyal subjects are strangers to chains."In Freedom were born."Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all,To be free is to live, to be slaves is to fall;Has the land such a dastard as scorns not a Lord,Who dreads not a letter much more than a sword!"In Freedym we're born.
Evasion of the Non-importation Agreements.—Tea proscribed.—Spirit of the Women.—Spirit of the Boys.
one of the commissioners of customs and his friends, * produced the utmost excitement, and it was with great difficulty that open hostility was prevented. Numerous fights with straggling soldiers occurred, and a crisis speedily arrived.
While the non-importation agreements were generally adhered to faithfully, there were a few merchants who, loving mammon more than liberty, violated their obligations. In Boston they coalesced with the military officers, and many of the proscribed articles were imported in the names of the latter, ostensibly for the use of the soldiers. Many goods wereJanuary 23, 1770brought in and sold under this cover. This fact became known, and a meeting of citizens was held at Faneuil Hall to consider it. Spirited resolutions were adopted, among which was one agreeing not only "totally to abstain from the use of tea" (the excepted article mentioned in Hillsborough's letter), and from other of the enumerated articles, but that they would use all proper measures to prevent a violation of the non-importation pledges. From that time tea was a proscribed article, and the living principle of opposition to British oppression was strongly manifested by the unanimity with which the pleasant beverage was discarded.
Early in February the females of Boston made a public movement on the subject of non-importation, and the mistresses of three hundred families subscribed their names to a league, binding themselves not to drink any tea until the Revenue Act was repealed. Three days afterward theyoung ladiesfollowed the example of the matrons, and multitudes signed a document in the following terms: "We, the daughters of those patriots who have, and do now, appear for the public interest, and in that principally regard their posterity—as such, do with pleasure engage with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, in hopes to frustrate a plan which tends to deprive a whole community of all that is valuable in life." All classes were thoroughly imbued with patriotism, and even the children were sturdy asserters of natural rights. **
Disregarding these expressions of public sentiment, a few merchants in Boston continued to sell the proscribed articles. Among them were Theophilus Lillie and four others, who were particularly bold in their unpopular conduct. To designate his store as one to beFebruary 22, 1770shunned, a mob, consisting chiefly of half-grown boys, raised a rude wooden head upon a pole near Lillie's door, having upon it the names of the other importers. A hand was attached to it, with the dexter finger pointing to Lillie's establishment. The merchant was greatly irritated. One of his friends, named Richardson, a stout, rough man, tried to persuade a countryman to prostrate the pageant by running his wagon against it.February 9.
* Robinson, one of the commissioners, had made such representations of Mr. Otis in Britain as provoked him to make a publication in the Boston Gazette on the subject. For some expression used in that article Robinson attempted to pull Otis's nose at a coffee-house. An affray ensued, in which Mr. Otis was so severely beaten that he was obliged to leave the city and retire to his country residence. From the injuries then received he never thoroughly recovered. Heavy damages (£2000) were awarded him against Robinson for the assault, but Otis generously forgave his assailant, and refused to take the money.
** While the king's troops were in Boston, an incident occurred that evinced the bold spirit of even the little boys. In the winter they were in the habit of building little hills of snow, and sliding down them to the pond on the Common, for amusement. The English soldiers, to provoke them, would often beat down these hills. On one occasion, having rebuilt their hills, and finding, on their return from school, that they were again demolished, several of the boys determined to wait upon the captain and complain of his soldiers. The officer made light of it, and the soldiers became more troublesome than ever. At last a meeting of the larger boys was held, and a deputation was sent to General Gage, the commander-in-chief. He asked why so many children had called upon him. "We come, sir," said the tallest boy, "to demand satisfaction." "What!" said the general, "have your fathers been teaching you rebellion, and sent you to exhibit it here?" "Nobody sent us, sir," replied the boy, while his eyes flashed and cheek reddened at the imputation of rebellion; "we have never injured or insulted your troops, but they have trodden down our snow-hills and broken the ice on our skating-grounds. We complained, and they called us young rebels, and told us to help ourselves if we could. We told the captain of this, and he laughed at us. Yesterday our works were destroyed the third time, and we will bear it no longer." The nobler feelings of the general's heart were awakened, and, after gazing upon them in silent admiration for a moment, he turned to an officer by his side, and said, "The very children here draw in a love of liberty with the air they breathe. You may go, my brave boys, and be assured, if my troops trouble you again, they shall be punished."—Lossing's "1776," p. 90.
Fracas at the Door of a Merchant.—Death of a Boy.—Its Effect on the Public Mind.—Pardon of the Murderer.—Riot in Boston
The man was a patriot, and refused, and Richardson attempted to pull it down himself. The mob pelted him with dirt and stones, and drove him into Lillie's house. Greatly exasperated, Richardson brought out a musket and discharged it, without aim, into the crowd. A lad named Christopher Gore (afterward Governor of the Commonwealth (a)) was slightly wounded, and another, Christopher Snyder, son of a poor widow, was killed. Thea 1809mob seized Richardson and an associate named Wilmot, and carried them to Fanueil Hall, where they were examined and committed for trial. Richardson was found guilty of murder, but Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson refused to sign his death warrant. After two years' imprisonment, he was pardoned by the king.
The murder of the boy produced a great sensation throughout the country, and in Boston it was made the occasion of a most solemn pageant. His coffin, covered with inscriptions, such as "Innocence itself is not safe," and others of like tenor, was taken to Liberty Tree, where a great concourse assembled, and thence followed the remains to the grave. In that procession between four and five hundred school-boys took the lead. Six of Snyder's playfellows supported the coffin; after them came the relatives and friends of the deceased, and nearly fifteen hundred of the inhabitants. The bells of the city were tolled, and those of the churches in the neighboring towns. The newspapers were filled with accounts of the murder and the funeral, and little Christopher Snyder was apotheosized as thefirst martyrin the cause of American liberty.
A more serious occurrence took place a few days afterward. A soldier, passing the rope-walk of John Grey, got into a quarrel with the workmen, and was severely beaten. He went to the barracks, and, returning with some comrades, they beat the rope-makers, and chased them through the streets. A large number of the people assembled in the afternoon, determined to avenge the workmen, but were stopped by the military. It was Friday, and the act of vengeance was deferred until Monday, so as not to disturb the Sabbath.March 5, 1770On the evening of Monday, between six and seven o'clock, about seven hundred men, with clubs and other weapons, assembled in King (now State) Street, shouting, "Let us drive out these rascals! They have no business here—drive them out!" The mob speedily augmented in numbers, and about nine o'clock an attack was made upon some soldiers in Dock Square, the mob shouting, "Town born, turn out! Down with the bloody backs!" at the same time tearing up the market-stalls. The fearful cry of "Fire, fire!" was echoed through the town, and the inhabitants poured into the streets in terror and confusion. The whole city was in commotion, and before midnight the shouts of the multitude, the ringing of the alarum bells as if a great conflagration was raging, and the rattle of musketry, produced a fearful uproar. Two or three leading citizens endeavored to persuade the mob to disperse, and had, in a measure, secured their respectful attention, when a tall man, dressed in a scarlet cloak, and wearing a white wig, suddenly appeared among them, and commenced a violent harangue against the government officers and soldiers. He concluded his inflammatory speech by a loud shout, "To the main guard! to the main guard!" The populace echoed the shout with fearful vehemence, and, separating into three divisions, took different routes toward the quarters of the main guard. As one of these divisions was passing the custom-house, a boy came up, and, pointing to the sentinel on duty there, cried out, "That's the scoundrel who knocked me down." * Instantly a score of voices shouted, "Let us knock him down! Down with the bloody back! kill him! kill him!" The sentinel loaded his musket, the mob in the mean while pelting him with pieces of ice and other missiles, and finally attempting to seize him. He ran up the custom-house steps, but, unable to procure admission, called to the main guard for assistance. Captain Preston, the officer of the day,
* This boy was an apprentice to a barber named Piémont, at whose shop some of the British officers were in the habit of shaving. One of them had come there some months previous to dress by the quarter, whose bill Piémont promised to allow to the boy who shaved him, if he behaved well. The quarter had expired, but the money could not be got, although frequently asked for. The last application was made on that evening, and, as the boy alleged, the officer knocked him down in reply to the "dun." The sentry he pointed out as the man that abused him.—See "Traits of the Tea Party."
Attack of the Mob upon tbe Soldiers.—Discharge of Musketry.—Three of the Citizens killed.—Terrible Excitement in Boston
detailed a picket guard of eight men with unloaded muskets, and sent them to the relief of the sentinel. As they approached, the mob pelted them more furiously than they had the sentinel, and a stout mulatto named Attucks, who was at the head of a party of sailors shouted, "Let us fall upon the nest! The main guard! the main guard!"
9494
The soldiers now loaded their guns. Attucks dared them to fire; and the mob pressed so closely upon them that the foremost were against the points of their bayonets. The soldiers, perfectly understanding the requirements of discipline, would not fire without orders. Emboldened by what seemed cowardice, or, perhaps, by a knowledge of the law which restrained soldiers from firing upon their fellow-citizens without orders from the civil magistrates, Attucks and the sailors gave three loud cheers, beat the muskets of the soldiers with their clubs, and shouted to the populace behind them, "Come on! don't be afraid of 'em—they daren't fire! knock 'em over! kill 'em!" At that moment Captain Preston came up, and endeavored to appease the excited multitude. Attucks aimed a blow with a club at Preston's head, which was parried with his arm, and, descending, knocked the musket of one of the soldiers to the ground. The bayonet was seized by the mulatto, and the owner of the musket was thrown down in the struggle. Just then voices in the crowd behind Preston cried, "Why don't you fire? why don't you fire?" The word fire fell upon the ears of Montgomery, the soldier struggling with Attucks, and as he rose to his feet he fired, and shot the mulatto dead. Immediately five other soldiers fired at short intervals; three of the populace were instantly killed, five dangerously wounded, and a few slightly hurt.
The mob instantly dispersed. It was near midnight; the ground was covered with snow the air was clear and frosty, and the moon, in its first quarter, gave just sufficient light to reveal the dreadful scene. It was a fearful night for Boston. A cry, "The soldiers are rising! To arms! to arms! Turn out with your guns!" resounded through the streets, and the town drums beat their alarum call. Captain Preston also ordered his drums to beat to arms, and in a short time Colonel Dalrymple, the commander of the troops in the absence of Gage, with Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson, at the head of a regiment, was on the spot. Order was at length restored, and the streets were quiet before dawn. Captain Preston, in the mean time, had been arrested and put in prison, and during the next forenoon the eight soldiers were also committed, under a charge of murder.
Early in the morning the Sons of Liberty collected in great numbers, and Faneuil Hall was crowded with an excited and indignant assembly. The lieutenant governor also convened his Council. A town meeting was legally warned and held that afternoon, in the Old South Meeting-house, then the largest building in the city, where it was voted "that nothing could be expected to restore peace and prevent carnage but an immediate removal of the troops." Nearly three thousand voices were unanimous in its favor. A committee of fifteen, with Samuel Adams as chairman, was appointed to present the resolutionMarch 6, 1770
* Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, and James Caldwell were killed on the spot; Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr received mortal wounds, of which the former died the next morning, and Carr on Wednesday of the next week.
** This venerable and venerated edifice, that stood through all the storms of the Revolution, and yet remains, stands on the corner of Washington and Milk Streets. It is of brick, and was erected in 1729-30, upon the site of an edifice built by the Pedo-baptists in 1669. The ancient church was of cedar, two stories high, with a steeple, gallery, and pews. The "Old South" was the famous gathering-place of the people during the excitements of 1773. The British troops occupied it as a circus for the drill of cavalry in 1775, after removing all the wood-work within, except the eastern gallery and the pulpit and sounding board. The British officers felt no compunctions in thus desecrating a Presbyterian chapel. It was repaired in 1782, and remains a fine model of our early church architecture. This view is from Washington Street.
Delegation of Patriots before the Governor.—Boldness of the second Committee.—Concessions.—Removal of the Troops.
to the acting governor and his Council, and to Colonel Dalrymple. These officers were assured by Royal Tyler, one of the committee, that the people were determined to remove the troops out of town by force, if they would not go voluntarily. "They are not such people," he said, "who formerly pulled down your house, that conduct these measures, but men of estates, men of religion. The people," he continued, "will come in to us from all the neighboring towns; we shall have ten thousand men at our backs, and your troops will probably be destroyed by the people, be it called rebellion or what it may."
Hutchinson and Dalrymple were in a dilemma. They equally feared the popular indignation and the censure of ministers, and each endeavored to make the other responsible for the concessions which they saw must inevitably be made. Hutchinson would not promise the committee that more than one regiment of the troops should be removed; their report to the meeting was, therefore, quite unsatisfactory. In the afternoon another committee was appointed, consisting of seven of the former deputation, * who bore the following resolution to the lieutenant governor: "It is the unanimous opinion of this meeting that the reply made to the vote of the inhabitants, presented to his honor this morning, is by no means satisfactory, and that nothing else will satisfy them but a total and immediate removal of all the troops." Samuel Adams again acted as chairman. Hutchinson denied that he had power to grant their request; Adams in a few words proved to him that he had power conferred by the charter. The governor consulted with Dalrymple in a whisper, and then made the offer again to remove one regiment. The patriots were not to be trifled with. Adams, seeming not to represent, but to personify, the universal feeling, stretched forth his arm, as if it had been upheld by the strength of thousands, and, with unhesitating promptness and dignified firmness, replied, "Sir, if the lieutenant governor or Colonel Dalrymple, or both together, have authority to removeoneregiment, they have authority to removetwo; and nothing short of a total evacuation of the town, by all the regular troops, will satisfy the public mind or preserve the peace of the province."
The officers were abashed before this plain committee of a democratic assembly. They knew the danger that impended; the very air was filled with breathings of suppressed indignation. They receded, fortunately, from the arrogance they had hitherto maintained. Their reliance on a standing army faltered before the undaunted, irresistible resolution of free, unarmed citizens. ** Hutchinson consulted his Council. The concession was agreed upon—the lieutenant governor, Council, and Dalrymple consenting to bear mutually the responsibility of the act—and the people were assured of the immediate removal of the troops. On Monday following the troops were conducted to Castle William, and Boston beMarch 12, 1770came quiet.
The obsequies of the victims murdered on the night of the 5th were performed on the 8th. *** The hearses met upon the spot in front of the custom-house, where the tragedy occurred, and thence the procession, in platoons six deep, marched to the Middle Burial-ground, wherein the bodies were deposited. As on the occasion of the burial of young Snyder, the bells of Boston and adjacent towns tolled a solemn knell, and again a cry of vengeance burst over the land. The story of the "Boston massacre," as it was called, became a tale of horror, which every where excited the most implacable hatred of British domination; and the justifiable act of the soldiers, in defending their lives against a lawless mob, was exaggerated into an unprovoked assault of armed mercenaries upon a quiet and defenseless people.
Captain Preston and the eight soldiers, after the lapse of several months, were put upon their trial before Judge Lynde for murder. **** John Adams, an eminent lawyer, one of the
* The committee consisted of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, William Molineux, William Phillips, Joseph Warren. Joshua Henshaw, and Samuel Pemborton.
** Snow's History of Boston.
*** Attucks and Caldwell had no relatives, and were friendless. Their bodies were borne from Faneuil Hall. Maverick, only seventeen years of age, was borne from the house of his mother, in Union Street, and Gray from that of his brother, in Royal Exchange Lane.
****Captain Preston's trial commenced on the 24th of October, and lasted until the 30th. The trial of the soldiers commenced on the 27th of November, and ended on the 5th of December. So searching was the examination of witnesses by Mr. Quincy, that Mr. Adams was obliged to ask him to desist, for he was eliciting from them facts that were not only irrelevant to the case in hand, but dishonorable to the town.
Defense of the Soldiers by Adams.—Result of the Trial.—New Ministerial Proposition.—Its Effects upon the Colonies
leaders in the attempt to procure the removal of the troops, and greatly esteemed by the people for his patriotism, was solicited to undertake their defense. It was a severe ordeal for his independence of spirit, yet he did not hesitate. At the risk of losing the favor and esteem of the people, he appeared as the advocate of the accused, having for his colleague Josiah Quincy, another leading patriot, whose eloquent voice had been often heard at assemblies of the Sons of Liberty. Robert Treat Paine, afterward one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, conducted the prosecution, with great reputation, in the absence of the attorney general. A Boston jury was empanneled, and, after a fair trial, Captain Preston and six of the soldiers were adjudged not guilty. The other two, Montgomery and Killroy, who were known to have fired their muskets, were found guilty of manslaughter only. They were branded in the hand, in open court, and discharged. This trial, when all the circumstances are considered, exhibits one of the most beautiful of the many pictures of justice and mercy that characterized the Revolution, and silenced forever the slander of the British ministry who favored the revival of the Act of Henry VIII., that American jurors might not be trusted.
March 5, 1770On the very day of the "Boston massacre" Lord North asked leave to bring in a bill in the House of Commons, repealing the duties upon glass, &c., mentioned in Hillsborough's circular, but retaining the three per cent, duty upon tea. This duty was small, and was avowedly a "pepper-corn rent," to save the national honor. North's proposition met with little favor from either party. The friends of America asked for a repeal of the whole act, and the friends of government opposed a partial repeal as utterly fruitless of good. The bill, however, after encountering great opposition in both Houses, and particularly in the House of Lords, was carried, and received the royal assent on the 12th of April.
When the intelligence of this act reached the colonies, it was regarded with very little favor. The same unrighteous principle was practically asserted, and the people felt that very little concession was made. But they were beginning, toward the close of 1770, to be less faithful in observing the non-importation agreements; and in October, at a meeting of the Boston merchants, it was resolved, in consequence of the almost universal violation of these agreements in New York, to import every thing but tea. The Philadelphia and Charleston merchants followed their example, and that lever of coercion in the hands of the colonists, operating upon Parliament through English merchants, was almost wholly abandoned, much to the chagrin of the leading patriots. These associations, while they had a favorable political effect upon the colonies, were also instrumental in producing social reforms of much value. Many extravagant customs, such as pageantries at funerals, displays of costly finery at balls and parties, and kindred measures, involving great expenditure of time and money, were discontinued; new sources of wealth and comfort to be derived from home industry were developed; and, better than all, lessons of the strictest economy were learned. The infant manufactories of America received a strong impulse from the agreements, and homemade articles, first worn from necessity, became fashionable. The graduating class at Cambridge took their degrees in homespun suits, in 1770.
For two years very little occurred to disturb the tranquillity of Boston. The brutal attack of Robinson had deprived the patriots of the services of James Otis, for insanity clouded his active mind and terminated his public career. * But new men, equally patriotic stood
* James Otis, Jr., was the son of Colonel James Otis, of Barnstable, Massachusetts, where he was born February 5th, 1725. He graduated at Harvard College in 1743. He studied law with Mr. Gridley, then the first lawyer in the province, and commenced the practice of his profession at Plymouth at the age of twenty-one years. In 1761 he distinguished himself by his plea in opposition to the Writs of Assistance. His antagonist on that occasion was his law tutor, Mr. Gridley.
* Of his speech at that time John Adams said, "James Otis was a flame of fire.... American independence was then and there born. Every man of an immense crowded audience appeared to me to go away as I did ready to take up arms against Writs of Assistance." Otis was elected to the Legislature in 1762, and was a member of the Stamp Act Congress held at New York in 1765. That year he wrote his celebrated pamphlet in defense of colonial rights. He held the office of judge advocate, but in 1767 resigned, and renounced all offices under government, because of encroachments upon the rights of the people. Brutally beaten by a commissioner of customs in the autumn of 1769, he was obliged to retire to his country residence. The injuries he received left their effects upon his mind, and from that time his reason was shattered. The great man, though in ruins, lived nearly thirteen years, when, on the 23d of May, 1782, while standing in the door of Mr. Osgood's house in Andover, he was killed by lightning. He had often expressed a desire to be thus deprived of life when it should please God to call him. In a commemorative ode, written at the time by the Hon. Thomas Dawes, the following lines occur:
"Yes, when the glorious work which he begunShall stand the most complete beneath the sun—When peace shall come to crown the grand design,His eyes shall live to see the work divine—The heavens shall then his generous spirit claim,In storms as loud as his immortal fame.Hark! the deep thunders echo round the skies!On wings of flame the eternal errand flies;One chosen, charitable bolt is sped,And Otis mingles with the glorious dead."
* Mr. Otis was a scholar as well as a statesman. Ho was complete master of classical literature,* and no American at that time possessed more extensive knowledge. He may bo justly ranked among the founders of our republic, for he was truly the master of ceremonies in laying the corner-stone. He lived to see the work nearly completed, and beheld the wing of peace spread over the land.
* The following anecdote is related of Mr. Otis as illustrative of his ready use of Latin even an ring moments of mental aberration. Men and boys, heartless and thoughtless, would sometimes make themselves merry at his expense when he was seen in the streets afflicted with lunacy. On one occasion he was passing a crockery store, when a young man, who had a knowledge of Latin, sprinkled some water upon him from a sprinkling-pot with which he was wetting the floor of the second story, at the same time saying, "It rains so much, I know not how much. Do you know?" Otis immediately picked up a missile, and, hurling it through the window of the crockery store, it smashing every thing in its way, exclaimed, "I have broken so many, I know not how many. Do you know!"
James Otis.—The Boston Patriots.—Hutchinson made Governor.—His asserted Independence of the Assemblies.
ready to take his place. John Adams, then in the vigor of life, and rapidly rising in public estimation, was chosen to fill his place in the House of Representatives. He, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Warren (a young physician), Josiah Quincy, and Dr. Benjamin Church were the leaders in private meetings, now beginning to be held, in whieh schemes for public action were planned. These men were exceedingly vigilant, and noticed every infringement of natural or chartered rights on the part of government and its agents. In the House of Representatives they originated almost every measure for the public good, and the people esteemed them as the zealous guardians of their rights and privileges. When Hutchinson removed the General Court to Cambridge, they protested, contending that itMarch 31, 1770could be held, legally, only at Boston; and in all the struggles between the Assembly and the governor, during his administration, these men were foremost in defense of popular rights.
Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson received the appointment of governor in the spring of 1771. About the same time Dr. Franklin was chosen agent for Massachusetts, Dennis de Berdt being dead. When the Assembly convened in May, the subject of taxing theMay 25, 1771salaries of crown officers, that of removing the General Court baek to Boston, and kindred topics, produced considerable excitement in that body. Hutchinson told them that he had been instructed not to give his consent to any act taxing the income of the crown officers, and he positively refused to adjourn the Assembly to Boston. The consequence was, that the Court was prorogued without making any provision for the public expense.
The next year Parliament, by special aet, made the governors and judges of the colonies quite independent of the colonial Assemblies for their salaries; and Hutchinson1772informed the Massachusetts Assembly that henceforth his salary would be paid by the crown. The Assembly at once denounced the measure as a violation of the charter, and no better than a standing bribe of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars a year from the crown to the governor. Other colonial Assemblies took umbrage, and made similar denunciations, and again the public mind was agitated.
Further Agitation in Boston.—Committees of Correspondence.—Letters of Hutchinson and others.—Petition for their Removal
In the midst of this effervescence a circumstance occurred which augmented intensely the flame of rebellion burning in the hearts of the people. By it Boston was thrown into a violent commotion, and it was with great difficulty that the people were restrained from enacting anew the violence against Hutchinson in 1765. In October a town meeting was held, at which a large committee, composed of the popular leaders, was appointed to draw up a statement of the rights of the colonies, and to communicate and publish the same to the several towns of the province. This paper contained a list of all the grievances which Massachusetts had suffered since the accession of the reigning sovereign, and condemned a plan, said to have been in agitation for a long time, to establish bishops in America. It was the boldest exposition of the grievances and rights of the colonies yet put forth, and, by its suggestion, Committees of Correspondence, such as were soon afterward organized in Virginia, were appointed in the several towns. * This paper was republished by Franklin in London,January, 1773"with a preface of his own, and produced a great sensation. At the opening of the next session of the Legislature Hutchinson denounced the Boston address as seditious and traitorous, and violent discussions ensued.
Just at this moment, when the public mind was greatly inflamed against Hutchinson, the Assembly received a communication from Dr. Franklin, inclosing several letters written by Hutchinson and others to Thomas Whately, a member of Parliament, then out of office, wherein they vilified the character of several of the popular leaders, advised the immediate adoption of coercive measures, and declared that there "must be an abridgment of what are called English liberties." By what means Franklin obtained possession of these letters is not certainly known, for he was too honorable to divulge the names of parties concerned. *** They were sent to the Rev. Dr. Cooper, of Boston, and by him handed to Mr. Cushing, the Speaker of the Assembly. After having been shown privately to leading men for several months, they were made public. The town was at once in a violent ferment. A committee was appointed to wait upon the governor, and demand an acknowledgment or denial of the genuineness of the letters. He owned them as his, but declared that they were quite confidential. This qualification was not considered extenuating, and the Assembly adopted a petition to the king for the removal of Governor Hutchinson and Lieutenant-governor Oliver, as public slanderers, and enemies to the colony, and, as such, not to be tolerated.
This petition was sent to Franklin, who was instructed to present it in person, if possible. This request could not be granted. He sent the petition to Lord Dartmouth, then at his country seat, who presented it to the king. After considerable delay, Franklin was informed that his majesty had referred it to his Privy Council. **** The publication of the letters produced excitement in England, and Franklin, to defend innocent parties, frankly took upon
* Dr. Gordon says (i., 207) that the system of Committees of Correspondence originated with James Warren, who suggested them to Samuel Adams while the latter was passing an evening with the former at Plymouth. Adams, pleased with the suggestion, communicated it to the leading patriots at the next secret caucus, and that powerful engine in the Revolution was speedily put in motion. James Warren was an active patriot. He was descended from one of the first settlers at Plymouth, and was greatly esteemed for his personal worth. He was chosen a member of the General Court of Massachusetts in 1760, and, though not a brilliant orator, was a deep and original thinker. He was for many years Speaker of the House of Representatives. At the close of the war he retired from public duties, and died at Plymouth, November 27th, 1808, aged eighty-two years. He was the husband of Mercy Warren, the historian.
** The names of the several writers were Andrew Oliver, Charles Paxton, Thomas Moffatt, Robert Auchmuty, Nathaniel Rogers, and George Rome. Mr. Whately was dead when the letters were given to Franklin.
*** The late Dr. Hosack, of New York, in his memoir of Dr. Hugh Williamson, published in 1823, asserts that the papers were put into Franklin's hands by that gentleman, without any suggestion on his part. Williamson obtained them by stratagem from the office of Mr. Whately, brother of the late Thomas Whately, then dead. Mr. Whately suspected that Lord Temple, Pitt's brother-in-law, who had asked permission to examine the papers of Secretary Whately, was the man who abstracted them, and placed them in Franklin's hands. Whately charged the act upon Temple, and a duel was the result, in which the former was wounded. Of this affair Franklin knew nothing until it was over. In justice to others, he took the responsibility upon himself, as mentioned in the text.
**** The Privy Council consists of the cabinet and thirty-five peers.
Franklin before the Privy Council.—Wedderburne's Abuse.—Franklin's Vow.—New Taxation Scheme.—East India Company
himself the whole responsibility of sending them to America, he was accordinglyJanuary 29, 1774summoned before the Council, where he appeared without a legal adviser. Finding Wedderburne, the solicitor general, retained as counsel for Hutchinson, Franklin asked and obtained leave to have counsel also. He employed Mr. Dunning, one of the ablest Constitutional lawyers of the day, and toward the close of February the case was brought before the Privy Council.
8499
The solicitor general made a bitter attack upon Franklin, accusing him of dishonor in procuring private letters clandestinely, and charging him with duplicity and wily intrigue. The philosophic statesman received this tirade of abuse in silence, and without any apparent emotion, for he was conscious that he had violated no rule of honor or integrity. The accusations and pleadings of Wedderburne had their effect, however.
His abuse greatly pleased the peers, and the petition was dismissed as "groundless, scandalous, and vexatious." A few days afterward Franklin received a notice of his dismissal from the responsible and lucrative office of postmaster general for the colonies. This was an act of spite which recoiled fearfully upon ministers. **
Early in 1773 a new thought upon taxation made its advent into the brain of Lord North. The East India Company, *** feeling the effects of the colonial smuggling trade, and of the non importation agreements, requested the government to take off the duty of three per cent, a pound on their tea, levied in America. Already seventeen millions of pounds had accumulated in their stores in England, and they offered to allow government to retain six pence upon the pound as an exportation tariff, if they would take off the three-pence duty. Here was a fair and honorable opening not only to conciliate the colonies, but to procure, without expense, double the amount of revenue. But the ministry, deluded by false views of national honor, would not take advantage of this excellent opportunity to heal the dissensions and disaffection in the colonies, but stupidly favored the East India Company, and utterly
* Lord Dartmouth succeeded the Earl of Hillsborough in the office of Secretary of State for the colonies and as head of the Board of Trade, in 1772. Dartmouth was considered rather friendly to the colonies, and he and Franklin had ever been on terms of amity.
** On returning to his lodgings that night, Franklin took off the suit of clothes he had worn, and declared that he would never wear it again until he should sign the degradation of England and the independence of America. He kept his word, and more than ten years afterward, when, on the 3d of September, 1783, he signed a definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain, on the basis of absolute independence for America, he wore the same suit of clothes for the first time after his vow was uttered.
*** The East India Company, still in existence, is a joint-stock company, originally established to carry on a trade by sea, between England and the countries lying eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. It was constituted by royal charter in 1600, and enjoyed the monopoly of the trade in those remote regions until 1688, when another corporation was chartered. The two united in 1702, and the monopoly thus granted to them was continued, by successive acts of Parliament, until 1804. It then received some important modifications, and the charter was renewed for twenty years. In 1833 an act was passed extending the charter, but abolishing the monopoly of the China trade, which the company had enjoyed nearly two hundred and fifty years. This company planted the British empire in India. It first established armed factories, and for many years competed with the French for the trade and political influence in the surrounding districts. Under the pretense of securing honest trade, they subdued small territories, until Lord Clive, the governor general of the company in India, by several victories, established British power there, and obtained a sway over some of the fairest portions of the Mogul empire. At the present time the British Indian empire comprises the whole of Hindostan, from the Himalaya Mountains to Cape Comorin, with a population of more than one hundred and twenty millions! At the time under consideration the East India Company was at the height of its success, commercial and political.
Tea Ships sail for America.—Preparation for their Reception at Boston.—Treatment of the Consignees.—Hand-bills and Placards.
neglected the feelings of the Americans. It was a sacrifice of principle to mammon which produced a damage that no subsequent act could repair.
On the 10th of May a bill was passed, allowing the company to export tea to Amer1773on their own account, without paying export duty. Ships were immediately laden with the article, and in a few weeks several large vessels, bearing the proscribed plant, were crossing the Atlantic for American ports. Agents or consignees were appointed in the several colonies to receive it, and the ministry fondly imagined that they had at last outwitted the vigilant patriots.
Information of this movement had been received in the colonies, and, before the company's vessels arrived, preparations were made in the chief cities to prevent the landing of the cargoes. Public meetings were held, and the consignees were called upon to resign. In Boston the consignees were known to the public; they were all friends of Governor Hutchinson. Two were his sons, and one (Richard Clarke * ) was his nephew. They were summoned toNovember 3, 1773attend a meeting of the Sons of Liberty, convened under Liberty Tree, and resign their appointments, ** but they contemptuously refused to comply. This meeting was announced by the town-crier in the streets, and by the ringing of bells for an hour. About five hundred persons assembled at the tree, from the top of which, fastened to a pole, a large flag was unfurled. Two days afterward a legal town meeting was held, at which John Hancock presided. *** They adopted as their own the sentiments of eight resolutions passed at a public meeting in Philadelphia a month before, and appointed a committee to wait upon the consignees and request them to resign. These gentlemen equivocated, and the meeting voted their answer "unsatisfactory and daringly affrontive." On the 18th November, 1773 other meeting was held, and a committee appointed again to wait upon the consignees. Their answer this time was more explicit. "It is out of our power to comply with the request of the town." In the evening the house of Richard Clarke and his sons, in School Street, was surrounded by a crowd. A pistol was fired among them from the dwelling, and was responded to by the populace breaking the windows.
The meeting, on receiving the reply of the consignees, broke up without uttering a word. This was ominous; the consignees were alarmed, for it was evident that the people had determined to stop talking, and henceforth to act. The governor called a meeting of the Council, and asked advice respecting measures for preserving the peace. A petition was presented by the consignees, asking leave to resign their appointments into the hands of the governor
* John Singleton Copley, the eminent painter, and father of Lord Lyndhurst, married a daughter of Richard Clarke. Both Copley and his father-in-law became early refugee Loyalists, and fled to England, where the latter was pall-bearer at Governor Hutchinson's funeral in 1780.
** The following is a copy of the hand-bill that advertised the meeting: