Chapter 41
Capt. Tompkins duly delivered your letter, dated Virginia, Chesterfield County, Dec. 1774, directed to Mr. Cus.h.i.+ng, Mr. John Adams, Mr. Paine and myself, with a bill of lading inclosed for I,054 bushels of wheat, 376 1/2 bushels corn, and five bushels peas, of which 210 bushels wheat, and 12 1/2 corn we perceive comes from the people of c.u.mberland. As this Town have appointed a Committee to receive and distribute donations made for the relief and employment of the sufferers by the Boston Port Bill, for which charitable purpose these donations of your const.i.tuents are appropriated, your letter and the bill of lading are a.s.signed to them, and in their name I am now to desire you to accept of their grateful acknowledgments for the benevolent part you have taken, and also to make their returns of grat.i.tude to the worthy Gentlemen of Chesterfield and c.u.mberland County, for the very Generous a.s.sistance they have afforded for the relief of the inhabitants of Boston, yet suffering, as you express it, under cruel oppression for the common cause of America. It is a sense of the dignity of the cause which animates them to suffer with that fort.i.tude which you are pleased candidly to attribute to them; and while they are thus encouraged and supported by the sister Colonies, they will, by G.o.d's a.s.sistance, rather than injure or stain that righteous cause, endure the conflict to the utmost.
The Committee have received 192 1/2 bushels of wheat, mentioned in your letter, as a donation from the people of Goochland County. You will greatly oblige the Committee if you will return their hearty thanks to their generous friends in that County.
I am, with truth and sincerity, Gentlemen, your respectful friend and humble servant,
_________________________________________________________________ 1Of Chesterfield County, Virginia.
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 223, 224; a text is also in Force, American Archives, 4th ser., vol. i., p. 1239, and a draft is in Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
CAMBRIDGE, Feb. 14th, 1775.
MY DEAR SIR,--A few days ago I received your letter of the 7th December, and was greatly pleased to find that you had returned from Rome at so critical a time. A sudden dissolution of the late parliament was a measure which I expected would take place. I must needs allow that the ministry have acted a politic part; for if they had suffered the election to be put off till the spring, it might have cost some of them their heads. The new parliament can with a very ill grace impeach them for their past conduct, after having so explicitly avowed it. The thunder of the late speech and the servile answers, I view as designed to serve the purposes of saving some men from the block. I cannot conclude that lord North is upon the retreat, though there seems to be some appearance of it. A deception of this kind would prove fatal to us. Our safety depends upon our being in readiness for the extreme event. Of this the people here are thoroughly sensible, and from the preparations they are making I trust in G.o.d they will defend their liberties with dignity. If the ministry have not abandoned themselves to folly and madness the firm union of the colonies must be an important objection. The claims of the colonies are consistent... and necessary to their own existence as free subjects, and they will never recede from them.
The tools of power here are incessantly endeavouring to divide them, but in vain. I wish the king's ministers would duly consider what appears to me a very momentous truth, that one regular attempt to subdue those in any other colony, whatever may be the first issue of the attempt, will open a quarrel, which will never be closed till what some of THEM affect to apprehend, and we sincerely deprecate, shall take effect. Is it not then high time that they should hearken not to the clamours of pa.s.sionate and interested men, but to the cool voice of impartial reason? No sensible minister will think that millions of free subjects, strengthened by such an union, will submit to be slaves; no honest minister would wish to see humanity thus disgraced.
My attendance on the provincial congress now sitting here will not admit of my enlarging at present. I will write you again by the next opportunity, and till I have reason to suspect our adversaries have got some of my letters in their possession. I yet venture to subscribe, yours affectionately,
TO JOSEPH NYE.1
[Collections of Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society, 4th ser., vol.
iv., pp. 206, 207.]
BOSTON, Feb. 21, 1775.2
SIR,
Your letter of the 17th of January, written in behalf of the Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Sandwich, came duly to hand. Capt. Tobey, the bearer, was kind enough to deliver to the Committee of this Town, appointed to receive Donations for the relief and employment of the sufferers by the Boston Port Bill, a charitable collection from the Congregational societies in Sandwich, amounting to nineteen pounds and three pence, for which he has our Treasurer's receipt. I am to desire you, in the name of our Committee, to return their sincere thanks to our worthy brethren, for the kindness they have shown to those sufferers by so generous a contribution for their support under the cruel hand of oppression. It affords us abundant satisfaction to have the testimony of such respectable bodies of men, that the inhabitants of this Town are not sufferers as evil doers, but for "their steady adherence to the cause of liberty," and we cannot but persuade ourselves that the Supreme Being approves our conduct, by whose all powerful influence the British American continent hath been united, and thus far successful, in disappointing the enemies of our common liberty, in their hopes, that by reducing the people to want and hunger, they should force them to yield to their unrighteous demands.
I am, Sir, in the name of the Committee, with sincere good wishes, your friend and countryman,
_________________________________________________________________ 1Member of the committee of correspondence of Sandwich, Ma.s.sachusetts.
2The actual date of this letter would appear to have been February 25, from a prior ma.n.u.script copy in the library of the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society. All letters here printed from the Collections, 4th ser., vol. iv., are contained in a volume of ma.n.u.script copies, from which apparently the texts in the Collections were edited. The text of the Collections has been followed in the present volume.
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO JOHN BROWN.1
[MS., Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON, Feb 21 1775
SIR/
Agreable to the Order of the Provincial Congress, the Committee of Correspondence of this Town have written Letters to some Gentlemen of Montreal and Quebeck, which are herewith inclosd. We have also sent you Twenty Pounds
Your humble Servants,
_________________________________________________________________ 1Of Pittsfield Ma.s.s.
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO INHABITANTS OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.1
[MS., Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON, Feb 21 1775
GENTLEMEN/
At a Time when the British Colonies in North America are universally complaining of the Oppression of a corrupt Administration, the Necessity and Advantage of a free Communication of Sentiments as well as Intelligence must be obvious to all. Hence it is that the Committee of Correspondence appointed by the Town of Boston, have long been sollicitous of establis.h.i.+ng a friendly Intercourse with their Brethren and Fellow Subjects in your Province. Having receivd Direction for this important Purpose from our Provincial Congress sitting at Cambridge on the first of this Instant,2 we take the Liberty of addressing a Letter to you Gentlemen, begging you would be a.s.sured that we have our mutual Safety and Prosperity at heart.
It is notorious to all the Colonies, that at the Conclusion of the last War, a System was formd for the Destruction of our common Rights & Liberties. The Design of the British Ministry was to make themselves Masters of the Property of the Colonists, and to appropriate their Money in such a Manner as effectually to enslave them. The Ministry had influence enough in Parliament to procure an Act, declaratory of a Right in the King Lords and Commons of Great Britain to make Laws binding his Majestys Subjects in America in all Cases whatsoever; and also to pa.s.s other Acts for taxing the American Subjects with the express Purpose of raising a Revenue, and appropriating the same for the Support of Civil Government & defraying the Charges of the Administration of justice in such Colonies where his Majesty should think proper. The Principle upon which these Acts was grounded, is in our opinion totally inconsistent with the Idea of a free Government; for there can be no Freedom where a People is governd by the Laws of a Parliament, in which they have no Share and over which they can have no Controul; and if such a Legislature shall give and grant as much of our Money as it pleases without our Consent in Person or by our Representatives what are we but Bond Servants instead of free Subjects? These Revenue Laws have in their operation been grievous to all the Colonies & this in a particular Manner. Our own property has been extorted from us, and applied to the purpose of rendering our provincial & only Legislature an insignificant Body; and by providing for the Executive & judiciary Powers in the Province independent of the People, to place them under the absolute Power & Controul of a Minister of State. Our righteous and stedfast opposition to this System of Slavery, has been artfully held up to our fellow Subjects in Britain as springing from a latent Design to break off all political Connections with the Parent Country and to set up an independent Government among ourselves.
The Letters of Bernard, Hutchinson and Oliver have been detected; by which it appears how great a Share they have had in misrepresenting & calumniating this Country, and in plotting the total Ruin of its Liberties, for the Sake of enriching & aggrandising themselves & their families. The two last named were Natives of the Colony, of ancient families in it, and having by Art & Intrigue gaind a considerable Influence over an unsuspecting People, and thereby a reputation in England, they found Means to get themselves advancd to the highest Seats in this Government; and they improvd these Advantages, to put a period to our free Const.i.tution, by procuring an Act of Parliament to disanul the essential parts of our Charter & const.i.tute an absolute despotick Government in its Stead; fourteen regiments are now a.s.sembled in this Capital, and Reinforcements are expected, to put this Act into Execution. The People are determined that this shall not be done. They are united & firmly resolvd to withstand it at the utmost Risque of Life and Fortune. A Scene therefore may open soon, unless the Ministry hearken to the Voice of Reason & Justice, which the Friends of Britain and America must deprecate.
In the same Session of the British Parliament the Act for establis.h.i.+ng a Government in the Province of Quebeck was pa.s.sed; whereby our Brethren & fellow Subjects in that Province are deprived of the most valueable Securities of the British Const.i.tution, for which they wisely stipulated, & which was solemnly Guaranteed to them by the Royal Proclamation. These new Governments of Quebeck and Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, of a kind nearly alike, though before unheard of under a British King, are looked upon by the other Colonies from Nova Scotia to Georgia, as Models intended for them all; they all therefore consider themselves as deeply concernd to have them abolishd; and it is for this Reason, that, although the Advantage of Delegates from your Province could not be had at the late Continental Congress, the Quebeck bill was considerd then not only as an intollerable Injury to the Subjects in that Province but as a capital Grievance on all. It is an inexpressible Satisfaction to us to hear that our fellow Subjects in Canada, of French as well as English Extract, behold the Indignity of having such a Government obtruded upon them with a resentment which discovers that they have a just Idea of Freedom & a due regard for themselves & their Posterity. They were certainly misrepresented in the most shameful Manner, when, in order to enslave them it was suggested that they were too ignorant to enjoy Liberty. We are greatly pleasd to hear that Remonstrances are already sent to the Court & Parliament of Britain against an Act so disgraceful to human Nature, and Pet.i.tions for its repeal. We pray G.o.d to succeed such n.o.ble Exertions, & that the Blessing of a free Government may be establishd there & transmitted to their latest posterity. The Enemies of American Liberty will surely be chagrind when they find, that the People of Quebeck have in common with other Americans the true Sentiments of Liberty. How confounded must they be, when they see those very Peoples upon whom they depended to aid them in their flagitious Designs, lending their a.s.sistance to oppose them, cheerfully adopting the resolutions of the late Continental Congress & joyning their own Delegates in another, to be held at Philadelphia on the l0th of May next. The Accession of that Colony in particular will add great Reputation & Weight to the Common Cause.
We rejoyce in the opportunity of informing you that the a.s.sembly of the Island of Jamaica have warmly espousd our Interest. We have seen a Copy of their Pet.i.tion to the King in which they declare....
We promise ourselves that great Good will be the Effect of this ingenuous Application in Behalf of the Northern Colonies.
As it is possible you may not have seen the Kings Speech at the opening of the Parliament we inclose it. Lord Dartmouth in a Circular Letter to the Governors in America, a Copy of which we have seen is pleasd to say "The Resolutions of both Houses to support the great CONSt.i.tUTIONAL Principles by which his Majestys Conduct hath been governd, and their entire Approbation of the Steps his Majesty has taken for carrying into Execution THE LAWS Pa.s.sED IN THE LAST SESSION, will, I trust, have the Effect to remove the FALSE IMPRESSIONS which have been made upon the Minds of his Majestys Subjects in America, and put an End to those EXPECTATIONS OF SUPPORT in their UNWARRANTABLE PRETENSIONS, which have been held forth by ARTFUL & DESIGNING MEN." Dated Whitehall Decr 20 1774. What Ideas his Lords.h.i.+p has of the Consistency of the Quebec Act with const.i.tutional Principles, which deprives the Subjects in Canada of those darling Privileges of the British Const.i.tution, JURORS and the HABEAS CORPUS Act, and in all Crown Causes, consigns them over to Laws made without their Consent in person or by their Representatives, perhaps by a Governor & Council dependent upon the Crown for their Places & Support, & to be tryed by Judges equally dependent, we will leave to your Consideration. The Boston Port Bill is another act pa.s.sed the last Session & it is executed with the utmost Rigour. How consistent was it with the great Principles of the Const.i.tution founded on the Laws of Nature & reason, to punish forty or fifty thousand Persons for what was done in all Probability by only forty or fifty. His Lords.h.i.+p may possibly find it very difficult with his superior understanding to prove that the Destruction of the Tea in Boston was, considering the Circ.u.mstances of the Action, morally or politically wrong, or, if he must needs think it was so, could his Lords.h.i.+p judge it inconsistent with the Laws of G.o.d for a Tribunal to proceed to try condemn and punish even the Individuals who might be chargd with doing it without giving them an opportunity of being heard or even calling them to answer! Such however is the Policy, the Justice of the British Councils. Such his Lords.h.i.+ps Ideas of "great const.i.tutional Principles"! Nothwithstanding the great Confidence of the n.o.ble Lord, we still have the strongest "Expectations of Support," not as his Lords.h.i.+p would have it, in the "unwarrantable Pretensions held forth by artful & designing Men," but in the rational & just Claims of every unpensiond & disinterested Man in this extended Continent.
We beg that you will favor the Committee of Correspondence by the return of this Messenger with your own Sentiments and those of the respectable Inhabitants of your Colony; and shall be happy in uniting with you in the necessary Means of obtaining the Redress of our Common Grievances.
We are Gentlemen with sincere good Wishes,
Your Friends & Countrymen,
_________________________________________________________________ 1A similar letter was at the same time addressed to residents of Montreal; their reply, dated, April 28, I775, is in Journals of each Provincial Congress of Ma.s.sachusetts, pp. 751, 752. Cf., W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, vol.
ii., p. 275.
2The session began February 1; the resolution referred to was adopted February 15. Journals of each Provincial Congress of Ma.s.sachusetts, p. 100.
TO GEORGE READ.
[Collections of Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society, 4th ser., vol.
iv., pp. 233, 234; the text is also in W. T. Read, Life and Correspondence of George Read, pp. 101, 102.]
BOSTON, Feb. 24, 1775.
SIR,
By your letter of the 6th instant, directed to Mr. David Jeffries, the Committee of this Town appointed to receive and distribute the donations made for the employment and relief of the sufferers by the Boston Port Bill, are informed that a very generous collection has been made by the inhabitants of the County of New Castle on Delaware, and that there is in your hands upwards of nine hundred dollars for that charitable purpose. The care you have taken, with our worthy friend Nicholas Vand.y.k.e, Esq., in receiving these contributions, and your joint endeavors to have them remitted in the safest and most easy manner, is gratefully acknowledged by our Committee; and they have directed me to request that you would return their sincere thanks to the people of New Castle County, for their great liberality towards their fellow subjects in this place who are still suffering under the hand of oppression and tyranny. It will, I dare say, afford you abundant satisfaction to be informed that the inhabitants of this Town, with the exception only of a contemptible few, appear to be animated with an inextinguishable love of liberty. Having the approbation of all the sister Colonies, and being thus supported by their generous benefactions, they endure the most severe trials, with a manly fort.i.tude which disappoints and perplexes our common enemies. While a great continent is thus anxious for them, and constantly administering to their relief, they can even smile with contempt on the feeble efforts of the British administration to force them to submit to tyranny, by depriving them of the usual means of subsistence. The people of this Province, behold with indignation a lawless army posted in its capital, with a professed design to overturn their free const.i.tution. They restrain their just resentments, in hopes that the most happy effects will flow from the united applications of the Colonies for their relief.