The Rhode Island declaration of independence

£63

R4LS

The Rhode Island
Declaration of Independence

May 4,

LIPPITT

THE

RHODE ISLAND
Declaration of Independence

CHARLES WARREN LIPPITT

IN
GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND

1895-1897

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE

Rhode Island Citizen's Historical Association

ON THE I30TH ANNIVERSARY

OF THE

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND

MAY 4, 1906

THE RHODE ISLAND DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE.

This celebration to-day is undoubtedly the first formal
public recognition of the anniversary of the Rhode Island
Declaration of Independence. In the northern part of
the State the efforts of a single citizen, James S. Slater,
have annually for several years directed attention to this
important occasion. The National Society of Colonial
Dames of America in Rhode Island, and the Bristol
Chapter of the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the
American Revolution, have also held their annual meet
ings on May fourth, for a number of years, in honor of
this anniversary.

The adjustment of this question is not between our
selves and our enemies. On the contrary, we now en
gage in friendly examination of official records to ascer
tain which colony was foremost in such formal action
against the encroachments of parliament as to constitute
separation from Great Britain. If any other colony
substantiates, by unquestionable facts, claims prior to
ours, however sad it may be to yield our position, let us
remember it is relinquished to our friends and fellow
countrymen.

It is our duty to determine if the honor of the first
colonial declaration of independence rightfully belongs

to the people who occupied these Plantations in Revo
lutionary times. We would indeed be recreant descend
ants if we did not claim, substantiate, and perpetuate,
the rightful honor of our ancestors.

May 31, 1775, a committee of the county of Mecklen
burg met at Charlottestown and passed a preamble and
twenty resolutions. They are entirely concerned with
the affairs of that county and do not declare themselves
in favor of independence, or renounce allegiance to Great
Britain. They represent a commendable effort to main
tain order and preserve the peace of their community
during the interval between the failure of the representa
tives of Great Britain to conduct the government and
satisfactory arrangements for some other acceptable
authority to accomplish that object, as the following
resolution declares:

" XVIII. That these Resolves be in full force and vir
tue, until instructions from the Provincial Congress,
regulating the jurisprudence of the province, shall pro
vide otherwise, or the legislative body of Great Britain,
resign its unjust and arbitrary pretentious with respect
to America.'7

The resolutions of a county do not control a state, and
the provisions arranged for Mecklenburg applied only to
that county, and were not binding on any other.

After these resolutions had been adopted, published
in several newspapers, and copies forwarded to the au
thorities in Great Britain, by some unfortunate circum
stances they were entirely overlooked and forgotten.
It was not until Mr. Peter Force, the compiler of the

" American Archives/' announced in the National In
telligencer of Dec. 18, 1838, over sixty-three years later,
his discovery in the "New York Journal/' June 29, 1775,
and subsequently in the "Massachusetts Spy/' of July 12,
of that year, partial copies of these resolutions, that they
again came to light. A copy of the entire series was sub
sequently found in the year 1847 in a copy of the
"'South Carolina Gazette/' June 13, 1775. Later Mr.
Bancroft, Minister of the United States at London, found
an entire series of the Mecklenburg Resolutions of May
31st, 1775, in the British State Paper Office, as published
in the South Carolina Gazette of June 13, 1775. The
copy of this paper was forwarded to the British Secretary
of State by the colonial governor of Georgia in 1775, that
"His Lordship might see the extraordinary resolves of
the people of Charlottestown in Mecklenburg County."

On the 30th of June, 1775, Governor Martin of North
Carolina also forwarded a copy to the British Secretary
of State.

On Friday, April 30, 1819, a little short of 44 years
after these events in Mecklenburg County, the "Raleigh
Register and North Carolina Gazette" published an article
calling attention to a Declaration of Independence made
by citizens of Mecklenburg County in North Carolina on
May 20, 1775, eleven days before the meeting of May 31st
referred to above. This document claims that the cit
izens of Mecklenburg, which then included the present
county of Gabarrus, inspired by the occurrences in
Massachusetts, organized themselves to protect their in
alienable rights and liberties. On May 19, 1775, a meet-

ing was held composed of two delegates from each mili
tary company in the county. They were vested with
unlimited powers. The news of the battle of Lexington
arrived on the day the meeting assembled. After a
long discussion of the objects for which they had con
vened, a series of resolutions was unanimously enacted.
The declaration, which has attracted so much attention,
is contained in the second and third of these resolutions,
as follows :

U2. Resolved, That we the citizens of Mecklenburg
County, do hereby dissolve the political bonds which
have connected us to the Mother Country, and hereby
absolve ourselves from our allegiance to the British
Crown, and abjure all political connection, contract or
association with that Nation, who have wantonly tramp
led on our rights and liberties — and inhumanely shed the
innocent blood of American patriots at Lexington."

"3. Resolved, that we do hereby declare ourselves a
free and independent People, are and of right ought to
be, a sovereign and self governing Association, under the
control of no power other than that of our God and the
General Government of the Congress; to the mainte
nance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each
other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and
our most sacred honor. "

These resolutions from time to time have attracted
considerable attention. No contemporary evidence of
their authenticity has yet been discovered. The action
of the supposed meeting of May 19th and 20th, 1775,
rests upon the memory of certain citizens of Mecklen
burg County who put them in writing, after the long

period of time referred to, from their recollection of the
proceedings of the meeting.

Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were alive in
1819, at the time the Mecklenburg Resolutions of May
20, 1775, were published in the " Raleigh Register and
North Carolina Gazette/' Their intimate acquaintance
with the circumstances attending the formation of the
American nation in 1775 developed a keen interest in
the subject. A copy of the Mecklenburg Resolutions
was forwarded to Mr. Jefferson by Mr. Adams in a letter
dated June 22, 1819. Mr. Jefferson replied in a com
munication to Mr. Adams dated July 9, 1819, in which
he refers -to many of the actors and the events of the time
when these supposed resolutions first appeared, and dis
credits their authenticity from his general knowledge of
all the circumstances. Mr. Adams in two letters to the
Rev. William Bentley, one dated the 15th of July and
one the 21st of August, 1819, unqualifiedly joined in the
position taken by Mr. Jefferson. In the last of the two
letters, Mr. Adams states:

"4. Is it possible that such resolutions should have
escaped the vigilant attention of the scrutinizing, pene
trating minds of Patrick Henry, R. H. Lee, Mr. Jefferson,
Mr. Gadsden, Mr. Rutledge, Mr. Jay, Mr. Sherman, Mr.
Samuel Adams, Hand credo. I can not believe that they
were known to one member of Congress on the fourth of
July, 1776."

It has also been possible to secure two letters of Mr.
John Adams, not heretofore published, expressing in
most emphatic terms his condemnation of the Mecklen-

10

burg Resolutions of May 20, 1775 (Exhibit A). It is
evident that neither Mr. Jefferson nor Mr. Adams had
any faith in the correctness of the Mecklenburg Declara
tion of Independence of May 20, 1775.

Four of the reputed signers of the Mecklenburg De
claration of May 20, 1775, were Thomas Polk, John Mc-
Ivnitt Alexander, John Pfifer, and Waightstill Avery.
These gentlemen, with two others, represented the county
of Mecklenburg in the Third Provincial Congress of
North Carolina, that met on the 21st of August, 1775.
On the 23rd of August, a committee of the Congress
reported a so-called test, to substantiate the loyalty and
patriotism of the members of the Congress, which reads
as follows:

"We, the subscribers, PROFESSING OUR ALLEGIANCE

TO THE KlNG, AND ACKNOWLEDGING THE CONSTITUTIONAL

EXECUTIVE POWER OF GOVERNMENT, do solemnly pro
fess, testify, and declare that we do absolutely believe
that neither the Parliament of Great Britain nor any
member or constituent branch thereof have a right to
impose taxes upon these Colonies to regulate the internal
policy thereof: and that all attempts by fraud or force
to establish and exercise such claims and powers are
violations of the peace and security of the people, and
ought to be resisted to the utmost," etc.

"In testimony whereof we have hereto set our hands,
this 23rd of August, 1775."

Gentlemen of courage, honor and integrity, willing to
risk their lives and their property in the cause of American
liberty, could not on the 20th of May, 1775, have pledged

11

themselves to the so-called Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence, and a little over three months afterward
in the presence of the delegates of North Carolina as
sembled in the Third Provincial Congress have willingly
subscribed to the above test, which was signed by the
four delegates from Mecklenburg County, as well as by
all of the other members of said Congress.

In addition the delegates from Mecklenburg County
joined with the other members of the Congress in unani
mously adopting an address to the Inhabitants of Great
Britain, pledging themselves in most vehement language
as loyal subjects of His Majesty, King George the Third.
(Exhibit D.) It is equally impossible to believe that
these gentlemen could have joined in enacting the sup
posed Mecklenburg Resolutions of May 20, 1775, and on
September 8, 1775, have formally bound themselves by
the unusually explicit protestations and statements of the
address to the Inhabitants of Great Britain. Such
action is entirely irreconcilable with the approval of the
supposed Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of
May 20, 1775, but is not incompatible with the authentic
Mecklenburg Resolutions of May 31, 1775.

The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence has
been most completely and critically examined and dis
cussed in an article in the North American Review for
April, 1874, by Mr. James C. Welling, that abundantly
proves from the official records of North Carolina, and
other equally authoritative sources, that the supposed
Mecklenburg meeting of May 20, 1775, and the resolu
tions claimed to have been adopted thereat, never oc-

12

curred, but that these circumstances were confused with
the authentic resolutions passed at the meeting actually
held on May 31 , 1775.

James Fiske, in the American Revolution, character
ises the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence as a
"legend." Frothingham, after a careful investigation,
states that he has not met with any contemporary refer
ence in manuscript or in print to prove the existence of
the convention or the public meeting which is said to have
passed these resolutions.

Some recent claims in behalf of the "Mecklenburg meet
ing of May 20th, 1775, have been carefully investigated
by A. S. Salley, Jr., in a pamphlet published in Columbia,
South Carolina, 1905, conclusively proving that the
supposed declaration of independence of May 20th, 1775,
has been undoubtedly mistaken for the authentic Meck
lenburg resolutions on May 31st, 1775, which are not
claimed to be a declaration of independence.

Notwithstanding the active warfare existing during
the greater part of 1775, the colonists still entertained a
strong feeling of dependence upon the mother country.
It was apparently expected that after a short conflict
Great Britain would recognize their rights and enable
them to continue as English colonists, in the enjoyment
of liberties they were not willing to relinquish. Ul
timate independence had not been favorably considered
by the mass of the colonists. The fear that it might be
attempted induced several colonial governments to pro
test against such action.

Pennsylvania was one of the most conservative of the

13

colonies. Her people were unable to contemplate final
separation from Great Britain. To prevent such a pos
sibility, her General Assembly, November 9, 1775, in
structed the State delegation in Continental Congress, as
follows :

" Though the oppressive Measures of the British Parlia
ment and Administration have compelled us to resist
their violence by Force of Arms, yet we strictly enjoin
you that you in behalf of this Colony dissent from, and
utterly reject, any Propositions, should such be made,
that may cause or lead to, a Separation from our Mother
Country or a change of the Form of this Government.
You are directed to make Report of your Proceedings to
this House.7' .

The sentiment of Pennsylvania naturally reflected
itself in New Jersey, and the Provincial Congress and
Council of Safety of the Colony, on the 28th of Novem
ber, 1775, took the following action in relation to inde
pendence.

"The House took into consideration the inquiry had
yesterday, touching the Petitions presented to this
House; and it appearing from the Petitioners of the City
of Burlington, who were called in and heard, that they
signed the same from reports that some men affected in
dependency, and being alarmed at such sentiments, they
were induced to present the Petition, hoping that the
House would discourage such sentiments by their Reso
lutions; whereupon, the several Petitions being read the
second time,

"1. Resolved, That reports of Independency, in the
apprehension of this House, are groundless.

14

"2. Resolved, That it be recommended to the Dele
gates of the Colony to use their utmost endeavors for the
obtaining a redress of American grievances, and for restor
ing the union between the Colonies and Great Britain,
upon constitutional principles.

"3. Resolved, That the said Delegates be directed not
to give their assent to, but utterly to reject any proposi
tions, if such should be made, that may separate this
Colony from the Mother Country, or change the form of
Government thereof.'7

Maryland entertained similar conservative sentiments.
The convention of the state assembled December 7, 1775.
Undoubtedly reflecting the opinion of a considerable
majority of her people, it placed upon its journal a de
claration

" That the people of this province, strongly attached
to the English constitution, and truly sensible of the
blessings they have derived from it, warmly impressed
with sentiments of affection for, and loyalty to, the
house of Hanover, connected with the British nation by
the ties of blood and interest, and being thoroughly con
vinced, that to be free subjects of the king of Great Bri
tain, with all its consequences, is to be the freest members
of any civil society in the known world, never did, nor
do entertain any views or desires of independency.

"That as they consider their union with the mother
country upon terms that may insure to them a permanent
freedom, as their highest felicity, so would they view the
fatal necessity of separating from her, as a misfortune
next to the greatest that can befal them." (Exhibit B.)

Intimately associated with these commonwealths by
proximity and business connections, New York took a

15

similar position. Her provincial congress on the 14th,
of December, 1775, "Resolved, That it is the opinion of
this Congress that none of the people of this colony have
withdrawn their allegiance from His Majesty. That the
turbulent state of this colony arises not from a desire to
become independent of the British Crown, but solely
from the oppressive Acts of the British Parliament, de
vised for enslaving His Majesty's liege subjects in the
American colonies, and the hostile attempts of the minis
try to carry these Acts into execution."

Delaware joined her neighbors in the opposition to
independence and instructed its delegates in the Conti
nental Congress to promote reconciliation. (Exhibit C.)
North Carolina took a stronger position. Her third
Provincial Congress unanimously adopted, September
8th, 1775, an " Address to the Inhabitants of the British
Empire" containing the following clauses:

"We have been told that Independance is our object;
that we seek to shake off connection with the parent
State. Cruel Suggestion! Do not all our professions,
all our actions, uniformly contradict this?"

"We again declare, and we invoke that Almighty
Being who searches the Recesses of the human heart,
and knows our most secret Intentions, that it is our most
earnest wish and prayer to be restored with the other
United Colonies, to the State in which we and they were
placed before the year 1763, disposed to glance over any
Regulations which Britain had made previous to this,
and which seem to be injurious and oppressive to these
Colonies, hoping that at some future day she will be-

16

nignly interpose and remove from us every cause of com
plaint/7 (Exhibit D.)

Even in New England such ideas prevailed. Ports
mouth, New Hampshire, December 25, 1775, instructed
its delegates in the State Provincial Congress against the
formation of a local government, fearing that such action
would provide their enemies "with arguments to per
suade the good people that we are aiming at independ
ence, which we decidedly disavow."

The necessity of providing for those portions of the
country not in actual control of the English forms of
government to maintain public order forced action of a
temporary character in some of the colonies. January 5,
1776, the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire en
acted a form of government to continue during the pres
ent unhappy and unnatural contest with Great Britain.
The preamble makes the usual recital, and closes as
follows :

" Protesting and Declaring that we never sought
to throw off our Dependency upon Great Britain, but
felt ourselves happy under her Protection, while we
could enjoy our Constitutional Rights and Privileges.—
And that we shall rejoice if such a reconciliation between
us and our Parent State can be effected as shall be ap
proved by the Continental Congress, in whose prudence
and Wisdom we confide.7'

Seven colonies, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and New York, compactly situated in the
centre of the country, North Carolina in the south and
New Hampshire in the north, all protested against in-

17

dependence. A majority of the thirteen colonies, there
fore, as late as March, 1776, stood opposed to any separa
tion from the mother country.

The fourth Provincial Congress of North Carolina met
at Halifax, April 4th, 1776, and was in session until
May 14th, 1776. A committee reported to the congress,
on April 12th, a suitable preamble reciting the prevailing
conditions between the colonies and the mother country,
and one resolution, as follows :

"Resolved: That the delegates for this Colony in the
Continental Congress be empowered to concur with the
delegates of the other Colonies in declaring independence,
and forming foreign alliances, reserving to this Colony
the sole and exclusive right of forming a constitution
arid laws for this Colony, and of appointing delegates
from time to time (under, the direction of a general re
presentation thereof), to meet the delegates of the other
Colonies for such purposes as shall be hereafter pointed
out." (Exhibit E.)

After consideration the report Was unanimously adopted
by the congress. The delegates attending the congress
represented about three-fourths of the colony. The res
olution confines itself entirely to instructions to the del
egates of North Carolina in the Continental Congress.
It does not decree that on and after its passage the col
ony of North Carolina shall be free and independent of
the Kingdom of Great Britain. The legal and actual
condition of North Carolina was precisely the same after
this resolution was passed as before it was offered. As
an indication of the patriotic sentiments and intentions

18

of a portion of the people of North Carolina, it is un
questionably commendable. It can not in any way be
regarded as severing the connection, between England
and the colony of North Carolina.

The North Carolina resolution does not stand in the
same degree with the action of the Rhode Island General
Assembly in September, 1765, over ten years prior to
the passage of said resolution. At that time, the Rhode
Island Assembly passed a series of resolutions as follows :

RHODE ISLAND RESOLVES ON THE STAMP ACT,
SEPTEMBER 16, 1765.

" This Assembly, taking into the most serious considera
tion, an act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain,
at their last session, for levying stamp duties, and other
internal duties, in North America, do resolve,—

"1. That the first adventurers, settlers of this, His
Majesty's colony and dominion of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations, brought with them and trans
mitted to their posterity, and all other His Majesty's
subjects since inhabiting this, His Majesty's colony, all
the privileges and immunities that have at any time been
held, enjoyed, and possessed by the people of Great
Britain.

"2. That by a charter granted by King Charles the
Second, in the fifteenth year of his reign, the colony, afore
said, is declared and entitled to all the privileges and
immunities of natural born subjects, to all intents and
purposes, as if they had been abiding and born within
the realm of England.

" 3. That His Majesty's liege people of this colony have
enjoyed the right of being governed by their own Assem-

19

bly, in the article of taxes and internal police; and that
the same hath never been forfeited, or any other way
yielded up; but hath been constantly recognized by the
King and people of Britain.

"4. That, therefore, the General Assembly of this col
ony have, in their representative capacity, the only exclu
sive right to levy taxes and imposts upon the inhabitants
of this colony; and that every attempt to vest such
power in any person or persons, whatever, other than the
General Assembly, aforesaid, is unconstitutional, and
hath a manifest tendency to destroy the liberties of the
people of this colony.

U5. That His Majesty's liege people, the inhabitants of
this colony, are not bound to yield obedience to any law
or ordinance designed to impose any internal taxation
whatsoever upon them, other than the laws or ordinances
of the General Assembly, aforesaid.

"6. That all the officers in this colony, appointed by
the authority thereof, be, and they are hereby, directed
to proceed in the execution of their respective offices in
the same manner as usual; and that this Assembly will
indemnify and save harmless all the said officers on account
of their conduct, agreeably to this resolution."-— (Rhode
Island Colonial Records, 1757-1769, v. 6, pp. 451-452.)

These Rhode Island resolutions were characterized by
Judge Staples as " little short of a declaration of entire
independence of the British government."

Prof. Gammell states: "These resolutions, taken as a
whole, are nearly equivalent to a declaration of inde
pendence."

The action of the Rhode Island legislature, taking
effect from and after its passage, placed the colony in

20

a position, in defense of the liberties and rights of its
people, entirely different from the action of North Caro
lina. Rhode Island enacted a law not dependent upon
the action of any future body, not postponing the time in
which its action should become effective to a distant
period, or permitting it to rest upon the contingency of
the action of another legislative body; but then and
there, in plain, unmistakable language, the colony refused
to abide by the act of the English Parliament, denied the
right of that body to impose such taxes, and authorized
its official representatives to ignore all laws in relation to
the vexed question of the Stamp Act except those en
acted by the Rhode Island legislature. It also assumed,
without equivocation, the antagonistic and, so to speak,
rebellious position of protecting its own officers against
the power of England in consequence of any action they
might take in executing the mandates of the colony of
Rhode Island.

May 1st, 1776, the province of Massachusetts Bay,
passed

" AN ACT FOR ESTABLISHING THE STILE OF COMMISSIONS WHICH
SHALL HEREAFTER BE ISSUED, AND FOR ALTERING THE STILE
OF WRITS, PROCESSES, AND ALL LAW PROCEEDINGS, WITHIN
THIS COLONY ; AND FOR DIRECTING HOW RECOGNIZANC(E)S
TO THE USE OF THIS GOVERNMENT, SHALL, FOR THE FUTURE,
BE TAKEN AND PROSECUTED." (Exhibit F.)

The preamble recites the grievances of the colony
against the King of Great Britain.

The bill provides that certain changes shall be made in
the legal papers named, as follows:

21

First, That the name and style of the King of Great
Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc.,
shall be changed to the name and style of the Govern
ment and People of the Massachusetts Bay in New Eng
land.

Second, That they shall be dated in the year of the
Christian era, and shall not bear the date of the year of
the reign of any king or queen of Great Britain.

Third, That the money recovered and levied upon
recognizances or any suits upon recognizances, shall be
paid into the treasury of the colony for the use and bene
fit thereof.

Fourth, Three sections of the act, the 2d, 5th, and 6th,
particularly specify that they shall not take effect until
June first, 1776, thirty days after the bill was passed.

At the close of the second section, which is perhaps the
most important of all in the act, the following limita
tions of the enactments therein contained are incorpor
ated :

First, "Until some recommendation of the American
congress,"

Second, "Or act, order, or resolve, of a general Ameri
can legislature,"

Third, "Or of the legislature of this colony,"
shall be made and passed, otherwise directing and pre
scribing.

Certain commissions, civil and military, previously
issued, are continued in force by section 3, until Sep
tember 19, 1776, and section 4 provides that said com-

22

missions may be made conformable to the style and
date of this act.

The bill does not repeal any of the acts of allegiance
then existing in the statutes of Massachusetts, nor in
any way abrogate the provisions regarding allegiance in
the charter of Massachusetts, the fundamental law of
the colony. The limitation clauses clearly anticipate
that the act was not to be permanent and that it almost
inevitably would be superseded by acts of legislative
bodies then in existence or likely to be formed. Noth
ing it contains justifies the claim that by the passage of
this act the colony of Massachusetts had severed her
connection with Great Britain to take effect on and after
its passage, or on June first, 1776.

This act was under consideration by the Massachusetts
general legislature for the greater part of the month of
April, and was discussed, amended, and otherwise con
sidered by a conference of the two houses before it was
passed on May first, 1776.

Contemporary evidence clearly indicates that this bill
was not considered even in spirit to formally renounce
all allegiance.

John Winthrop, a prominent member of the Massachu
setts Provincial Congress, in a letter, dated Watertown,
April 1776, to John Adams, states:

...... . "Our people are impatiently waiting for the

Congress to declare off from Great Britain. If they
should not do it pretty soon, I am not sure but this
colony will do it for themselves. Pray, how would such
a step be relished by the Congress? Would they ap-

23

prove of it? or would they think it too precipitate?
Would it endanger the breaking the union of the colonies?
These are very important questions, and I shall be ex
tremely glad to know your sentiments upon them.". . .

Mr. Adams replies as follows, on May 6th, 1776:

. . . . "Our people, you say, are impatiently wait
ing for the Congress to declare off from Great Britain.
What my own sentiments are upon the question is not
material. But others ask to what purpose should we
declare off. Our privateers are at liberty, our trade is
open, the colonies are sliding into new governments, a
confederation may be formed; but why should we de
clare we never will be reconciled to Great Britain again
upon any terms whatsoever?

"You ask how it could be relished by the Congress, if
our colony should declare off. I am happy to hear that
our colony is disusing a certain name in all commissions,
acts, and law processes, and I should like very well if
they would choose a governor, or at least ask leave of
Congress to do it; but I can not advise them to make
any public declarations separate from our sister col
onies." . .

On June first, 1776, when three sections of the act in
question became a law, Dr. Winthrop replies to Mr.
Adams, after treating of several other matters, as fol
lows:

"The style of commissions, law processes, etc., is altered
by an act, and instead of George the Third, it is to be
'The Government and People of the Massachusetts
Bay.' "

24

The Boston newspapers naturally gave much space to
the proceedings of the Massachusetts legislature and
printed many acts in full, yet neither the New England
Chronicle in either of its five editions for May, 1776, nor
the Continental Journal of May 30th, 1776, the first num
ber issued, makes any reference to this act of May first,
1776. Each of these newspapers is on file in the Boston
Athena3um. Neither of the four editions of the Boston
Gazette for May, 1776, which was printed at Watertown,
where the Massachusetts assembly was in session, makes
any reference to this act.

The colonial newspapers at that time did not deem the
act of sufficient importance to print. An examination
of the files of some prominent English newspapers of
1776 indicates that it was not noticed in those publica
tions.

Bancroft states, "On the first day of May, 1776, Mas
sachusetts expunged the regal style from all public pro
ceedings, and substituted the name of her government
and people." That was all the act accomplished.

The sentiments of Rhode Island in relation to taxa
tion and independence were much more decided than
those of the other colonies. In 1732-33 the colony pe
titioned the House of Commons against the Sugar Act,
then pending before that body, and therein Rhode Island
first proclaimed the principle that afterward became the
war-cry of the Revolution: "No Taxation without Rep
resentation." Her people unquestionably committed
the first overt acts in connection with the Revolution.
The attack upon the St. John in 1764, followed soon

25

after by the burning of the Maidstone's boat on the com
mon at Newport, in 1765, and the capture and destruc
tion in Newport Harbor in 1769 of the King's armed sloop
Liberty, indicated the feeling of the people concerning
the oppressive measures of Great Britain. The State was
fortunate in her leaders. Governor Ward, years before
the question of independence was generally discussed,
had foreseen the probabilities, and as early as 1766, in
writing to his son, said: " These colonies are destined to
an early independence, and you will live to see my words
verified."

In the troubled times of the Stamp Act, Bancroft
states : "The Rhode Island Governor stood alone among
the governors in his refusal to take the oath to support
the Stamp Act."

Governor Ward had unusual influence with the people
of the State, and his personal views undoubtedly contrib
uted to Rhode Island's prominent position in colonial
affairs. His rival in the politics of the State, Governor
Stephen Hopkins, was equally clear in his anticipations
of coming events. Without hesitation his opinions were
freely expressed.

In October, 1774, Colonel Paul Revere was in Phila
delphia. During his visit he chanced to be in conversa
tion with several of the congressional delegates at a time
when Hopkins was present. The probability of England's
repealing the obnoxious acts was the subject of discussion.
Suddenly turning and facing the company, he said :

" Gentlemen, those of you who indulge this opinion, I
think, deceive yourselves. Powder and ball will decide

26

this question. The gun and bayonet alone will finish the
contest in which we are engaged, and any of you who
can not bring your mind to this mode of adjusting the
question had better retire in time, as it will not, perhaps,
be in your power after the first blood shall have been
shed/'

The Rhode Island Assembly met May 1st, 1776, at
the State house on Benefit street, in Providence. On
May fourth the act separating the colony from Great
Britain was passed unanimously in the upper house,
and with sixty members of the lower house present all
but six voted in favor of the bill and it became a law.

AN ACT REPEALING AN ACT, INTITLED " AN ACT FOR THE MORE,
EFFECTUALLY FECURING TO HIS MAJEFTY THE ALLEGIANCE
OF HIS SUBJECTS, IN THIS HIS COLONY AND DOMINION OF
RHODE-ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS;" AND
ALTERING THE FORMS OF COMMIFFIONS, OF ALL WRITS AND
PROCEFFES IN THE COURTS, AND OF THE OATHS PREFCRIBED
BY LAW. (Exhibit H.)

The preamble states in concise and pertinent language
the cause of the colony against the king. Its first clause :

" Whereas, in all states, existing by compact, protec
tion and allegiance are reciprocal, the latter being due
only in consequence of the former/ '

testifies to the world a fundamental principle of allegi
ance and government. The remainder of the preamble
charges George III with a total failure to protect, and
with such positive acts of oppression that no other course
is open to the colony except self-protection by force.

27

The first enactment logically follows and repeals al
legiance in the colony and dominion of Rhode Island to
the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The second enactment follows with equal propriety.
All legal forms heretofore in use, by which the people of
the State indicated their dependence upon the sovereign
of Great Britain, were forever swept away. The name
of the king upon all public papers was abolished, and
there was substituted, "The Governor and Company of
the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations."

From that time Rhode Island became a free and inde
pendent State.

Immediately upon the passage of the act it was printed
on a suitable broadside, duly signed by the authority of
the colony, and distributed. It was at once noticed in
the local papers. The next morning the Providence
Gazette forever removed from the head of its columns
the arms of Great Britain and substituted therefor the
arms of Rhode Island. The proclamation was forwarded
to the assemblies of other colonies and was prominently
noticed in newspapers of the day.

The Boston Gazette of May 20, 1776, mentioned the
act by title as having been passed.

The Continental Journal of May 30, 1776, prints the
Rhode Island act of May 4th in full.

The New England Chronicle of May 23, 1776, prints the
Rhode Island act of May 4th in full, giving it the im
portant place of nearly all the first column of the first
page.

28

The Remembrancer for 1776, a magazine published in

r

London and entitled an Impartial Repository of Public
Events, prints the Rhode Island act of May 4, 1776, al
most entire.

The Rhode Island declaration was published in promi
nent English papers. The London Chronicle for August
3, 1776, printed the whole of the Rhode Island act,
giving it nearly a column. It is indexed in the news
paper: " Rhode Island, all Allegiance to the Crown of
Britain Renounced by the General Assembly."

The national Declaration of Independence of July 4,
1776, was printed in the London Chronicle of August 17th,
of the same year.

The Rhode Island act was also printed in the following
London papers:

The Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, No.
2249, August 5th, 1776.

The Daily Advertiser, August 5th, 1776.

The Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, August 5th,
1776.

The Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, August 6th,
1776.

No mention was found in any of these papers of the
Massachusetts act of May first, 1776.

Governor Cooke wrote to General Washington, on May
6, 1776, as follows: "I also enclose a copy of an Act dis
charging the inhabitants of this Colony from allegiance
to the King of Great Britain, which was carried in the
House of Deputies, after a debate, with but six dissen-

29

tient voices; there being upwards of sixty members
present."

Not only in the daily publications, but in many his
tories recognized as authorities upon American affairs,
the Rhode Island act is prominently noticed.

E. Benjamin Andrews, in his History of the United
States, says: "May 4 (1776), Rhode Island formally de
clared her independence of Great Britain, by a solemn
act, abjuring her allegiance to the British crown. . . .
It constitutes Rhode Island as the oldest independent
state in America."

Bancroft, in his History of the United States, says:
"The despondency and hesitation of the assembly of
Pennsylvania was in marked contrast with the fortitude
of Rhode Island, whose general assembly, on the fourth
day of May (1776), passed an act, discharging the in
habitants of that colony from allegiance to the king of
Great Britain. . . . The overturn was complete ; the
act was at once a declaration of independence, and an
organization of a self-constituted republic."

Bryant and Gay, History of the United States, after
referring to the act of May fourth, 1776, and quoting
largely from it, then states: "Thus the first colony to
declare her absolute independence of the crown, was
Rhode Island."

Chief Justice Job Durfee states: "She was the first
to enact and declare independence. In May, preceding
the declaration of the fourth of July by the Continental
Congress, the general assembly of this state repealed the
act more effectually to secure allegiance to the king, and

30

enacted an oath of allegiance to the state, and required
that all judicial processes should be in the name of the
state, and no longer in His Majesty's name; whereby,
Rhode Island, from that moment, became, and is at this
day, the oldest sovereign and independent state in the
western world.77

Green, History of Rhode Island: "The last colonial
assembly of Rhode Island met on the first day of May
(1776). On the fourth, two months before the congres
sional declaration of independence, it solemnly renounced
its allegiance to the British crown, no longer closing its
session with 'God Save the King!' but taking in its stead,
as expressive of their new relations, 'God Save the United
Colonies!' "

Mo wry, History of the United States: "The first state
actually to declare herself independent of Great Britain
was Rhode Island. This act was passed May 4, 1776."

Smith, The Thirteen Colonies: "In this wise, in May,
1776, the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, before
any other colony declared their absolute independence of
the British crown."

Judge Staples, in Rhode Island in the Continental Con
gress, referring to the act of May 4, 1776, states: " It is
believed to be the earliest vote of the kind passed by any
of the colonies. It severed the connection between Rhode
Island and the British crown, and the English colony of
Rhode Island became henceforth a sovereign state."

These authorities unquestionably confer on Rhode
Island priority in declaring independence.

The Connecticut Assembly convened May 9, 1776, and

31

during the session passed an act repealing an act of
this colony, entitled, "An Act Against High Treason."
It was also enacted that all writs and processes in "law
or equity shall issue in the name of the Governor and
Company of the Colony of Connecticut, instead of his
Majesty VName." . . . and "that no writ or process
shall have or bear any date save the year of our Lord
Christ only." The oaths of allegiance and supremacy
were repealed and new forms of oaths in harmony with
the above acts were prescribed.

At a convention of the colony of Virginia on Wed
nesday, May 15, 1776, a preamble and two resolutions
were unanimously passed. The principal resolution is
as follows :

"Resolved unanimously, that the delegates appointed
to represent this colony in General Congress, be instructed
to propose to that respectable body to declare the United
Colonies free and independent states, absolved from all
allegiance to, or dependence upon, the crown or parlia
ment of Great Britain ; and that they give the assent of
this colony to such declaration, and to whatever measures
may be thought proper and necessary by the Congress
for forming foreign alliances,, and a confederation of the
colonies at such time and in the manner as to them shall
seem best: Provided, that the power of forming govern
ment for, and the regulations of the internal concerns of
each colony, be left to the respective colonial legislatures."

In response to the advice of the Continental Congress,
the colony of New Jersey on July 2, 1776, agreed upon a
set of charter rights and the form of the constitution,
which contained this clause :

32

" Provided always, and it is the true Intent and Mean
ing of this Congress, That if a Reconciliation between
Great Britain and these Colonies should take Place, and
the latter be again taken under the Protection and Gov
ernment of the Crown of Great Britain, this Charter shall
be null and void, otherwise to remain firm and inviolable."

After a diligent search in the published acts of the
colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
South Carolina, and Georgia, no act in any way sepa
rating these colonies from Great Britain has been dis
covered.

South Carolina, Feb. 13, 1777, established an oath of
abjuration and allegiance to the state.

The legislative body that enacted the Rhode Island
Declaration of Independence was established by the
charter of the colony granted in 1663 by King Charles
the Second. It had been since then the duly recognized
government of Rhode Island. It was not elected for a
special purpose, but for the general government of the
colony. It was not a provincial assemblage, created in
the emergency caused by the failure of Great Britain's
authorities to maintain order and before the formation
of another staple government. It did not vehemently
protest that it had no thought of independence and
legislated only to cover the interval until the authority
of Great Britain should be. restored. It did not disavow
nor seek to explain its own acts tending toward independ
ence. Rhode Island understood and appreciated her
rights. She made no apologies. The period of dignified
petition for the recognition of her liberties had passed.

83

Without hesitation or undue debate, with the courage of
conviction and the determination to be free, the authority
that had governed the colony for nearly one hundred and
thirteen years forever terminated its allegiance to Great
Britain.

The act was in entire harmony with the past history
of the colony. Its repeated overt acts against the
authority of England, extending from 1764 to 1772, had
placed it far in advance of the other colonies in the
entirely unofficial popular uprisings against Great Brit
ain. They were followed as a legitimate consequence
by the first unofficial suggestion for a permanent Congress
of the American colonies, published in the " Providence
Gazette" for May 14, 1774:

"It seems to be the universal opinion in America, that
the Union of the Colonies is of the greatest Importance to
their Security, and therefore ought to be pursued by
every good Man in this Country. It is hoped that the
Wisdom of this great People will ever be exerted to make
the Union perpetual ; and for this Purpose it is proposed
that there be an Assembly of the AMERICAN STATES,
consisting of Deputies from the Representative Body in
each Colony, to form a League and COVENANT for the
Colonies to enter into, and fix the UNION upon a basis
which may, by the Blessing of Heaven, be durable as the
World, and lay a foundation for Freedom and Happiness
in America to all future Ages." (Exhibit K.)

The official acts of Rhode Island in some respects ante
dated the irrepressible popular efforts of her people in
behalf of liberty. As early as 1732-33 the colony,
through its agent in London, officially petitioned and

34

protested against the passage of the Sugar Act by the
English House of Commons. It proclaimed the then
novel principle that the people of Rhode Island could not
rightfully be taxed by the House of Commons, as they
were not represented in that body. This official claim
of the Revolutionary contention "No Taxation without
Representation " was emphatically rejected.

Rhode Island in her Stamp Act Resolutions, Sept.
16, 1765, was the only colony to direct her colonial offi
cers to defy the power of Great Britain and to execute
the laws of the colony.

The first official call for the Continental Congress was
voted at the Providence town meeting held May 17,
1774.

"That the deputies of this town be requested to use
their influence at the approaching session of the General
Assembly of this colony, for permitting a congress, as
soon as may be, of the representatives of the General
Assemblies of the several colonies and provinces of North
America, for establishing the firmest union; and adopt
ing such measures as to them shall appear the most
effectual to answer that important purpose; and to
agree upon proper methods for executing the same."

Rhode Island was the first to elect congressional dele
gates. On June 15, 1774, less than a month after the
passage of the Providence resolutions, her General Assem
bly elected Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward to repre
sent the colony in the Continental Congress.

April 25, 1775, the Rhode Island Assembly authorized
an army of observation of fifteen hundred men.

35

June 15th, 1775, the Rhode Island legislature authorized
the first Colonial Navy, and placed it under the command
of Commodore Abraham Whipple. The day he received
his commission, after a sharp action, he defeated the
tender of the Rose frigate, drove her upon the Conani-
cut shore, and captured her stores and outfit. This was
the first action between an official vessel, duly commis
sioned by any of the colonies, and any vessel in the ser
vice of the King. To Commodore Whipple, therefore,
belongs the honor of firing the first cannon upon the seas
in the defense of American liberty against any portion
of the King's navy.

Rhode Island's energetic action on the sea in her own
behalf was followed, August 26, 1775, by the formal in
structions of her General Assembly to the colony's Con
gressional delegates

"to use their whole influence, at the ensuing Congress,
for building at the Continental expense, a fleet of suffi
cient force, for the protection of these colonies, and for
employing them in such manner and places as will most
effectually annoy our enemies, and contribute to the
common defense of these colonies"

Bancroft states, after citing these circumstances,
"This was the origin of our navy."

In May, 1775, it became evident that Governor Wanton
was not in harmony with the people of the colony. He
had just been elected for the seventh time. In various
ways he had exhibited decided opposition to the cause
of colonial defense, and had even refused to sign the
commissions for the officers of the new army.

36

"By all which he hath manifested his intentions to
defeat the good people of these colonies in their present
glorious struggle to transmit inviolate to posterity, those
sacred rights they have received from their ancestors. "

With the decision and courage that usually marked
the action of the colony he was disqualified by the As
sembly. Nov. 7, 1775, Governor Wanton, having con
tinued his opposition to the cause of liberty, -was for
merly deposed, the office of Governor declared vacant,
and the Deputy-Governor, Nicholas Cooke, elected to fill
the vacancy.

By such successive steps Rhode Island approached
independence, and the colony became, by enactment, May
4th, 1776, a free and independent republic. Her people,
inspired with ardent patriotism, hesitated at no sacrifice
to maintain their position.

On sea as on land, the armed forces of the colony strove
valorously for the colonial cause. In privateering, the
State was particularly successful, and secured large
profits from these enterprises. The activity and success
of the State's private armed vessels gained wide repu
tation, and caused Providence to be known as the " Hor
net's Nest."

At Trenton, in 1777, a considerable portion of Washing
ton's army consisted of Col. Hitchcock's brigade, formed
in greater part of three Rhode Island regiments, Hitch
cock's, Varnum's, and Lippitt's. These men participated
in the action at Assunpink Creek, joined in the fateful
march the following night, and fought at Princeton in
the morning. After the contest, and on the field of bat-

37

tie, Gen. Washington, taking Col. Hitchcock by the hand,
expressed high admiration of his conduct and that of
his troops and desired him to convey his thanks to the
brigade.

At Springfield, in 1780, a portion of Col. AngelFs
regiment, consisting of 170 men, in checking for forty
minutes the advance of 1,500 of the enemy, rendered sig
nal service to the Continental cause. Washington highly
complimented this regiment in general orders, and wrote
to Gov. Greene, as follows:—

"The gallant behavior of Col. AngelFs, on the 23d
instant at Springfield, reflects the highest honor upon the
officers and men. They disputed an important pass
with so obstinate a bravery that they lost upwards of
forty in killed, wounded, and missing, before they gave up
their ground to a vast superiority of force." . . . He
adds, in conclusion: "The ready and ample manner in
which your State has complied with the requisitions of
the Committee of co-operation, both as to men and sup
plies, entitle her to the thanks of the public, and affords
the highest satisfaction to your Excellency's most obe
dient servant George Washington."

Rhode Island was equally marked for her financial
support of the patriot cause, as stated by the late Judge
Horatio Rogers.

"In 1783, the Continental Loan Office accounts show
that only four states had contributed more to the pub
lic treasury than Rhode Island, diminutive as she was,
and in proportion to population none could compare
with her. With less than a quarter of the inhabitants

38

of Maryland she held half again as much of the public
debt. Though only one-eighth as populous as Virginia,
she was a public creditor in more than double the amount
of that great state; and while North Carolina and South
Carolina each possessed more than three times the num
ber of inhabitants of Rhode Island, yet this state held
upwards of six times more of the public debt than the
former, and upwards of seven times more than the latter."

In proclaiming the action of Rhode Island and her peo
ple in the conflict for American liberty, and in submitting
evidence of their services in the Continental cause, it is
never to be forgotten that each of the thirteen colonies
was inspired with similar patriotism and an equal deter
mination to achieve Independence. Each furnished its
quota of ennobling sacrifices and heroic deeds. In grate
ful recognition thereof we confidently maintain the claims
of Rhode Island.

AUTHORITIES EXAMINED.

1. Affaires cle 1'Angleterre et de 1'Amerique.

2. ALLEN, History of the American Revolution.

3. ANDREWS, History of the U. S., 1894, Vol. 2.

4. ARNOLD, History of Rhode Island, Vol. 2.

5. ARNOLD, Spirit of Rhode Island History, 1853.

6. BANCROFT, History of the U. S., 1860. Ed. Vol. 8.

7. BOUCHER, View of the American Revolution.

8. British Annual Register, History of the War in America.

9. BRYANT AND GAY, History of the U. S., 1879, Vol. 3.

10. CHALMERS, Revolt of the American Colonies.

11. CHAMBERLAIN, John Adams and other Essays.

12. DuBuissoN, Abrege de la Revolution.

13. DURFEE, Discourse before the R. I. Historical Society, 1847.

14. FERGUS, History of the U. S.

15. FISKE, American Revolution, 1891, Vol. 1.

16. FRIEDENWALD, The Declaration of Independence.

17. FROST, History of the U. S.

18. FROTHINGHAM, Rise of the Republic, 1872.

19. GOODRICH, History of the U. S.

20. GORDON, History of the Independence of the U. S.

21. GRAHAME, History of the U. S.

22. GREENE, Historical view of the American Revolution.

23. GREENE, History of Rhode Island, 1877.

24. GREG, History of the U. S.

25. HALL, History of the War in America.

26. HART, Formation of the Union.

27. HIGGINSON, History of the U. S.

28. HILDRETH, History of the U. S., 1849, Vol. 3.

11

29. HINTON, History of the U. S.

30. HOLMES, American Annals.

31. HUNTER, Oration at Providence, 1826.

32. Impartial History of the War.

33. JOHNSTON, The United States.

34. LA BOULAYE, Histoire des Etats-Unis.

35. LECKY, American Revolution.

36. LODGE, Short History of the English Colonies.

37. LODGE, Story of the Revolution.

38. LUDLOW, War of Independence.

39. MORSE, Annals of the American Revolution.

40. MOWRY, W. A. and A. M., History of the U. S., 1896.

41. MURRAY, History of the War in America.

42. NEUMANN, Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika.

43. NILES, Principles and Acts of the Revolution.

44. PECK, History of the Great Republic.

45. PITKIN, Political and Civil History of the U. S., 1828, Vol. 1.

46. POWNALL, Administration of the American Colonies.

47. RAMSEY, History of the American Revolution.

48. RAMSEY, History of the U. S.

49. RAYNAL, The Revolution of America.

50. Remembrancer, for 1776.

51. ROCHELLE, Etats-Unis d'Amerique.

52. SANFORD, History of the U. S.

53. SLOANE, The French War and the Revolution.

54. SMITH, G., The United States.

55. SMITH, The Thirteen Colonies, 1901, Vol. 2.

56. SOULE, Histoire des Troubles de PAmerique.

57. STAPLES, Annals of Providence, 1843.

58. STAPLES, Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, 1870.

59. STEDMAN, History of the American War.

60. STEFFENS, " Rhode Island," in McClure's Magazine for Febru

ary, 1905.

61. THORPE, Constitutional History of the American People, 1898,

Vol. 1.

Ill

62. TREVELYAN, The American Revolution.

63. VON HOLST, Constitutional History of the U. S.

64. WARDEN, United States of North America.

65. WARREN, History of the American Revolution.

66. WILLSON, American History.

67. WILSON, History of the American Revolution.

68. WINTERBOTHAM, History of the U. S.

69. Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay,

Vol. 5 (Reprint), 1769-1780.

70. Rhode Island Acts and Resolves. May Session, 1776.

71. Connecticut Acts and Laws. Folio, 1784. October, 1776.

72. New Jersey Laws. Folio, 1784 (Peter Wilson).

73. Virginia Laws, 1776-1794 Folio.

74. North Carolina Laws. Folio, 1791 (James Iredell).

75. South Carolina, Statutes at Large, Vol. 1.

76. Rhode Island Public Laws, 1767. 1756-1766.

77. Massachusetts Colonial Laws. Folio, 1672 (Whit more).

78. Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay,

Vol. 5 (Reprint), 1769-1780.

79. (Anno Regni Gulielmi et Mariae, Regis et Regina?. Quarto.)

Acts and Laws of Massachusetts. Folio, 1714.

80. Massachusetts. Acts and Laws of Massachusetts, 1726.

Added Laws, 1726-1737.

81. Rhode Island. R. I. Schedules. May Session, 1776.

82. Rhode Island. Schedules of R. I., April, 1775.

83. The True Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, A. S.

Salley, Jr.

84. JOHN FISKE, American Revolution. (Riverside Pi-ess, 1898.)

85. Rise of the Republic of the United States, Frothingham.

(Little, Brown & Co.)

86. LARNED, History for Ready Reference, Vol. 4.

87. The Historical Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 3, March, 1862.

88. " Vol. 6, No. 5, May, 1862.

IV

89. American Commonwealth, Hon. James Bryce (1891 ed.),

Vol. 1.

90. Montcalm and Wolfe, Francis Parkman Vol. 1.

91. Stone's Life of Rowland.

92. Narrative and Critical History, Justin Winsor, Vol. 6.

93. Rhode Island Colonial Records, Vol. 7.

94. Life of Ward, Gammell.

95. North Carolina Colonial Records, Vols. 9, 10.

96. Original Schedules of the Rhode Island Assembly, 1770-1776.

97. Life and Correspondence of George Read, W. T. Read.

98. Proceedings of the Convention of the Province of Maryland,

1774-1776.

99. Journal of the New York Provincial Congress, 1775-1777.

100. Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of

the State of New Jersey.

101. Provincial Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. 7.

102. State Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. 8.

103. Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the

Province of Pennsylvania, 1682-1776, Vol. 6.

104. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. 4,

5th Series.

105. Connecticut Colonial Records, Vol. 14, 15.

106. Massachusetts Provincial Congress, 1774-1775.

107. Lincoln Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania.

108. History of Maryland, Scharf, Vol. 1.

109. Connecticut Colonial Records, Vol. 12.

110. History of Massachusetts, Hutchinson, Vol. 3.

111. South Carolina under Royal Governors, McCrady.

112. New Jersey Archives, Vol. 24.

113. English Liberties or the Freeborn Subjects' Inheritance, Henry

Care.

114. Magazine of History, October and November, 1906.

115. Pennsylvania's Votes and Proceedings, Vols. 5 and 6.

116. Original letters, John Adams, July 20th and July 28th, 1819.

117. Magazine of American History, Vol. 2.

CONNECTICUT.

118. Journal of Proceedings of Constitutional Convention, 1818.

8vo. . Hartford, 1873.

119. The Three Constitutions of Connecticut, 1638-39; 1662-1818.

8vo. Hartford, 1901.

120. Historical Notes, Constitutions of Connecticut, 1639-1818.

8vo. Hartford, 1901.

121. Journal Constitutional Convention, 1902. 8vo. Hartford,

1902.

122. Acts and Laws, 1786. 8vo.

MASSACHUSETTS.

123. Acts and Laws. July, 1775.

124. May, 1776.

RHODE ISLAND.

125. Rhode Island Colonial Records. 10 vols. 1636-1792.

126. Rhode Island Acts and Resolves, 1747-1777.

127. Acts and Laws. Folio. 1705.

128. ' " " 1719.

129. " " 1730.

130. " " 1730-36.

131. " " 1745.

132. 1745-52.

133. " " 1772.

NEW JERSEY.

134. Nevill's Laws. Folio, 2 vols. 1761.

NEW YORK.

135. Laws. 1774-1775. Reprint.

136. Van Schaak's Laws. Folio. 1774.

VI

137, Laws. Folio 1777.

138. Jones and Varick's Laws. " 1789.

PENNSYLVANIA.

139. Bailey's Laws.

140. Dallas's Laws.

141. Kilty's Laws.

142. Maxcy's Laws.

143. Public Laws.

144. Laws.

Folio. 1775-1781.

1700-1801. 4 vols.

MARYLAND.

4to. 1692-1800. 2 vols.
8vo. 1692-1800. 3 vols.

VIRGINIA.

Folio. 1769-1783.
1769.

NORTH CAROLINA.

145. Martin's Laws. 4to. 1715-1803. 2 vols.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

146. Statutes at Large. 8vo. Vol. 4 (1752-1786).

147. Grimke's Laws. 4to. 1790.

GEORGIA.

148. Marbury and Crawford's Digest of Laws. 4to. 1755-1800.

149. Watkin's Digest of Laws. 4to. 1800.

EXHIBITS.

Exhibit A.

Copy of the letter from John Adams to the Rev.
William Bentley, never before published, made by Mr.
Clarence S. Brigham, from the original manuscript in
the library of the American Antiquarian Society, Wor
cester, Massachusetts.

QUINCY July 20th 1819.
dear Sir

I thank you for myself, and for Mr Marston for the
kindness you did us by your letter of the 17th Which
I received this morning. And at the same time I
received the letter from Mr Jefferson, of which my Son
has made the inclosed Copy at my desire for your use.

This letter is to me inestimable for the most material
facts in it, I certainly know to be correct and exact. It
has convinced me that the Mecklengburg resolutions are
mere fictions. I wish I could request you to publish
this letter entire; but I cannot, because I have not the
writers consent — you may make such discreet use of
it as you think proper. I have wrote to Mr Jefferson
inclosing the Essex Register, and have received this
answer which to me is entirely satisfactory in all its parts.
It will be difficult for Posterity to detect the Multitudi
nous falsehoods which were published from day to day
during the Revolution, and ever since, but fictions of this
kind, five and forty years after the pretended fact, ought

Vlll

to be discountenanced by every man of honor, and this
in particular ought to be hunted from the dark Cavern
from which it originated, the more ingenious the inven
tion the more detestable—

I am Sir your greatly obliged Friend and

Humble Servant
Revnd William Bentley

(Signed) JOHN ADAMS

Copy of a letter from John Adams to the Rev. William
Bentley, never before published, made by Mr. Clarence
S. Brigham, from the original manuscript in the library
of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massa
chusetts.

QUINCY July 28th 1819

MY INESTIMABLE FRIEND.

The Essex Register, its Editors, and Printers are not
only Innocent but meritorious for Publishing the pre
tended Mecklengburg Resolutions. I have transmitted
to Mr Jefferson the National Register, for his satisfaction.
Such imposters, which our Polished English friends call
Hoaxes, and boares, I am impolite enough to think,
ought to be called forgerys, and Villanys, and the Authors
of them ought to be exposed to public Resentment, for
their tendency is to produce confusion and uncertainty
in the minds of the present generation, and in all History.

I hope the author of the second North Carolina vol
cano will be detected and brought to shame.

I will now add, that I am greatly obliged to the proprie
tors of the Essex Register; for kindly sending me that
paper, but as it is an expence and trouble to them, it
hurts my feelings, because the necessitys of my Family

IX

must prevent me from subscribing for it, though I think
it is the best paper amongst the many that I receive, and
cannot read.

I am Sir, with great Esteem, and sincere affection, your
obliged Friend and humble Sernt

JOHN ADAMS
Revnd William Bentley

Exhibit B.

MARYLAND CONVENTION,

January 18, 1776.

' Resolved unanimously, That the following declara
tion be entered on their journals:

" We, the delegates of the freemen of Maryland in
convention, affected with the deepest concern by the
opinion declared in the king's speech to parliament on
the 27th day of October last, and expressed in the
address of the lords spiritual and temporal to his majesty
in answer thereto, that the necessary preparations for
defence made by these colonies, are carried on for the
purpose of establishing an independent empire, and being
desirous to remove from the mind of the king, an opinion
which we feel to be highly injurious to the people of this
province, and to declare and manifest to his majesty, to
the parliament, the people of Great Britain, and to the

whole world, the rectitude and purity of our intentions
in the present opposition to the measures of the British
ministry and parliament, do declare :

" That the people of this province, strongly attached
to the English constitution, and truly sensible of the
blessings they have derived from it, warmly impressed
with sentiments of affection for, and loyalty to, the
house of Hanover, connected with the British nation by
the ties of blood and interest, and being thoroughly con
vinced, that to be free subjects of the king of Great Bri
tain, with all its consequences, is to be the freest members
of any civil society in the known world, never did, nor
do entertain any views or desires of independency.

" That as they consider their union with the mother
country upon terms that may insure to them a perma
nent freedom, as their highest felicity, so would they
view the fatal necessity of separating from her, as a mis
fortune next to the greatest that can befal them.

" Descended from Britons, entitled to the privileges of
Englishmen, and inheriting the spirit of their ancestors,
they have seen with the most extreme anxiety the at
tempts of parliament to deprive them of those privileges,
by raising a revenue upon them, and assuming a power to
alter the charters, constitutions, and internal polity of
the colonies without their consent. The endeavors of
the British ministry to carry those attempts into execu
tion by military force have been their only motive for
taking up arms, and to defend themselves against those
endeavors is the only use they mean to make of them,

XI

entitled to freedom, they are determined to maintain it
at the hazard of their lives and fortunes. " — (Proceed
ings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland,
1774, 1775, and 1776, p. 120-121.)

Exhibit C.

DELAWARE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

March 22, 1776.

" To the delegates of the ' Three Lower Counties on
Delaware ' the following instructions were at this time
given :

" In the House of Representatives for the Counties of
New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware. At New
Castle, Friday, March 22. P.M.:

" Instructions to the Deputies appointed by this
Government to meet in General Congress:

" 1st. That you embrace every favorable opportunity
to effect a reconciliation with Great Britain, on such
principles as may secure to your constituents a full and
lasting enjoyment of all their just rights and privileges;
and, as the most probable means of obtaining such
desirable ends, you are to cultivate with the greatest care
the union which so happily prevails throughout the
United Colonies, and consequently to avoid and dis
courage any separate treaty.

Xll

" 2d. Notwithstanding our earnest desire of peace
with Great Britain, upon the terms aforesaid, you are
nevertheless to join with the other colonies in all such
military operations as may be judged proper and neces
sary for the common defence, until such a peace can be
happily obtained.

u 3d. On every necessary occasion you are decently,
but firmly, to urge the right of this government to an
equal voice in Congress with any other Province on this
continent, as the inhabitants thereof have their all at
stake as well as others.

" Extract from the minutes.

" JAMES BOOTH,
" Clerk of the Assembly.7'

(W. T. Read's " Life and Correspondence of George
Read," p. 148, 149.)

Exhibit D.

THE COLONIAL RECORDS OF NORTH CAROLINA,

Vol. X.— 1775-1770. Pages 201-203.

THIRD PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

EXTRACT FROM "THE JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS" OF THE

PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF NORTH CAROLINA, HELD

AT HILLSBOROUGH FROM AUGUST 20th TO

SEPTEMBER 10, A. D. 1775.

"FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1775.

"Mr. Hooper laid before the house an Address to the
Inhabitants of the British Empire; and the same being
read, was unanimously received, and is as follows, viz,

"FRIENDS AND FELLOW CITIZENS,

"The fate of the contest which at present subsists
between these American Colonies and the British Minis
ters who now sit at the helm of public affairs, will be one

XIV

of the most important Epochs which can mark the An
nals of the British history. Foreign Nations with anxious
expectation wait the result, and see with amazement
the blind infatuated Policy which the present Adminis
tration pursues to subjugate these Colonies, and reduce
them from being loyal and useful Subjects to an abso
lute dependance and abject Slavery, as if the descend
ants of those Ancestors, who have shed Rivers of Blood,
and expended Millions of Treasure, in fixing upon a
lasting foundation the Liberties of the British Consti
tution, saw with envy the once happy state of this West
ern Region, and strove to exterminate the patterns of
those Virtues which shone with a Lustre which bid fair
to Rival and Eclipse their own.

"To enjoy the Fruits of our own honest Industry; to
call that our own which we earn with the labour of our
hands and the sweat of our Brows; to regulate that in
ternal policy by which we and not they are to be affected ;
these are the mighty Boons we ask. And Traitors,
Rebels, and every harsh appellation that Malice can dic
tate or the Virulence of language express, are the returns
which we receive to the most humble Petitions and earnest
supplications. We have been told that Independance
is our object; that we seek to shake off connection with
the parent State. Cruel Suggestion! Do not all our
professions, all our actions, uniformly contradict this?

"We again declare, and we invoke that Almighty
Being who searches the Recesses of the human heart and
knows our most secret Intentions, that it is our most
earnest wish and prayer to be restored with the other
United Colonies, to the State in which we and they were
placed before the year 1763, disposed to glance over any
Regulations which Britain had made previous to this,
and which seem to be injurious and oppressive to these

XT

Colonies, hoping that at some future day she will be
nignly interpose and remove from us every cause of com
plaint.

''Whenever we have departed from the forms of the
Constitution, our own safety and self preservation have
dictated the expedient ; and if in any Instances we have
assumed powers which the laws invest in the Sovereign
or his representatives, it has been only in defence of our
persons, properties and those rights which God and the
Constitution have made Unalienably ours. As soon as
the cause of our Fears and Apprehensions are removed,
with joy will we return these powers to their regular
channels; and such Institutions formed from mere ne
cessity, shall end with that necessity that created them.

11 These expressions flow from an affection bordering
upon devotion to the succession of the house of Hanover
as by law established, from Subjects who view it as a
Monument that does honor to human nature; a Monu
ment capable of teaching Kings how glorious it is to
reign over a free People. These are the heart felt ef
fusions of Men ever ready to spend their Blood and
Treasure when constitutionally called upon, in support
of the succession of His Majesty King George the third,
his Crown and dignity, and who fervently wish to Trans
mit his Reign to future ages as the Ord of common happi
ness to his people. Could these our Sentiments reach
the Throne, surely our Sovereign would forbid the hor
rors of War and desolation to intrude into this once
peaceful and happy Land, and would stop that deluge of
human Blood which now threatens to overflow this
Colony, Blood too precious to be shed but in a common
cause against the common enemy of Great Britain and
her sons.

"This declaration we hold forth as a Testimony of

XVI

Loyalty to our Sovereign, and Affection to our parent
State, and as a sincere earnest of our present and future
intentions.

"We hope hereby to remove those impressions which
have been made by the representations of weak and
wicked men to the prejudice of this Colony, who thereby
intended that the rectitude of our designs might be
brought into distrust; and sedition, Anarchy, and con
fusion, spread through this loyal province.

"We have discharged a duty which we owe to the
world, to ourselves and posterity ; and may the Almighty
God give success to the means we make use of so far as
they are aimed to produce just, lawful, and good pur
poses, and the Salvation and happiness of the whole
British Empire."

Exhibit E.

THE COLONIAL RECORDS OF NORTH CAROLINA,

Vol. X.— 1775-177G. Page 512.

FOURTH PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.

EXTRACT FROM " THE JOURNAL OF THE PROVINCIAL CON
GRESS, HELD AT HALIFAX, NORTH CAROLINA,
FROM APRIL 4th TO MAY 14, 1776.

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1776.

'The select committee to take into consideration the
usurpations and violences attempted and committed by
the King and Parliament of Britain against America,
and the further measures to be taken for frustrating the
same, and for the better defence of this Province, re
ported as follows, to wit :

"It appears to your committee, that pursuant to the
plan concerted by the British Ministry for subjugating
America, the King and Parliament of Great Britain have
usurped a power over the persons and properties of the
people unlimited and uncontrolled; and disregarding

XV111

their humble petitions for peace, liberty and safety, have
made divers legislative acts, denouncing war, famine,
and every species of calamity, against the Continent in
general. The British fleets and armies have been, and
still are daily employed in destroying the people, and
committing the most horrid devestations on the country.
That Governors in different Colonies have declared pro
tection to slaves, who should imbrue their hands in the
blood of their masters. That the ships belonging to
America are declared prizes of war, and many of them
have been violently seized and confiscated. In conse
quence of all which multitudes of the people have been
destroyed, or from easy circumstances reduced to the
most lamentable distress.

And whereas the moderation hitherto manifested by
the United Colonies and their sincere desire to be recon
ciled to the mother country on constitutional principles,
have procured no mitigation of the aforesaid wrongs and
usurpations, and no hopes remain of obtaining redress by
those means alone which have been hitherto tried, your
committee are of opinion that the House should enter
into the following resolve, to wit :

" Resolved, That the delegates for this Colony in the
Continental Congress be impowered to concur with the
delegates of the other Colonies in declaring Independ
ency, and forming foreign alliances, reserving to this
Colony the sole and exclusive right of forming a Con
stitution and laws for this Colony, and of appointing
delegates from time to time (under the direction of a
general representation thereof), to meet the delegates of
the other Colonies- for such purposes as shall be hereafter
pointed out.

"The Congress taking the same into consideration,
unanimously concurred therewith."

Exhibit F.

ACTS AND RESOLVES

OF THE

PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY

VOL. 5, PAGE 484.

(REPRINT.)
1709-1T8O.

CHAPTER 22.

" AN ACT FOR ESTABLISHING THE STILE OF COMMISSIONS WHICH
SHALL HEREAFTER BE ISSUED, AND FOR ALTERING THE STILE
OF WRITS, PROCESSES, AND ALL LAW PROCEEDINGS, WITHIN
THIS COLONY ; AND FOR DIRECTING HOW RECOGNIZANC(E)S
TO THE USE OF THIS GOVERNMENT, SHALL, FOR THE FUTURE,
BE TAKEN AND PROSECUTED."

WHEREAS the petitions of the United Colonies, to
George the Third, king of Great Brit(t)ain, for the re
dress of great and manifest gr(i)ev(e)ances, have not
only been rejected but treated with scorn and contempt,
and their opposition to designs evidently formed to re
duce them to a state of servile subjection, and their
necessary defence against hostile forces actually employed
to subdue them, have been declar(e)'d rebellion; and

XX

whereas an unjust war has been commenc(e)'d against
them, which the commanders of Brit(t)ish fleets and
armies have prosecuted, and still continue to prosecute,
with their utmost vigour, in cruel manners, and have di
rected their veng(e)ance principally against this colony,
wasting, spoiling and destroying the country, burning
houses and defenceless towns, and exposing the helpless
inhabitants to every mis (s)ery, — by which inhumane and
barbarous treatment, by the commandment of George the
Third, king of Great Brit (t) am, &c., the people of this col
ony consider themselves greatly injur(e)d, and have been
obli(d)ged to have recourse to arms to repel such injuries;
and whereas, under such circumstances, the absurdity of
issuing commissions, writs, processes and other procd-
ings in law, and in the courts of justice within this colony,
in the name and stile of the king of Great Brit(t)ain, is
very apparent, and the tendency it has to keep up ideas
inconsistent with the saf(e)ty of this government has
given the good people of this colony great uneasiness,—

Be it therefore enacted by the Council and House of
Represent (i) (a) tives in General Court assembled, and
by the authority of the same,

(SECT. 1.) That all civil commissions, writs and pre
cepts for conven(e)ing the general court or assembly,
which shall hereafter be made out in this colony, shall
be in the stile and name of the Government and People
of the Mass(e)(a)chusetts Bay, in New England; and
all commissions, both civil and military, shall be dated in
the year of the Christian (a) era, and shall not bear the

XXI

date of the year of the reign of any king or queen of
Great Brit(t)ain.

(SECT. 2.) And that all writs, processes and pro
ceedings in law, and in any of the courts of justice in this
colony, which have been used (and) (or) accust(u)(o)-
med, or, by any of the laws of this colony, are required
to be issued, used or practiced in law, and in any of the
courts of justice in this colony, in the name and stile of
the king of Great Brit(t)ain, France and Ireland, Defender
of the Faith, &c., or in any other words implying or in
tending the same, shall, from and after the first day of
June, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, be
made, issued, used and practiced, in the name and stile*
of the Government and People of the Mass(e)(a)chusetts
Bay, in New England, and no other; and shall bear the
date of the year of the Christian aera, and shall not
bear the date of the year of the reign of any king or queen
of Great Brit(t)ain, until (1) some (recommendation)
(accommodation) of the American Congress, or act,
order, or resolve, of a general American legislature, or
of the legislature of this colony, shall be made and passed,
otherwise directing and prescribing.

And be it enacted,

(SECT. 3.) That all commissions, civil and military,
which have been issued by the major part of the council
of this colony s(e)(i)ince the nineteenth day of September,
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, shall have
the same force and effect as if this act had not been made,
the stile and date therein notwithstanding, until (1) the

XX11

nineteenth day of September, one thousand seven hun
dred and seventy-six, and no longer.

Provided, nevertheless,—

(SECT. 4.) That when any such commissions shall be
brought to the council of this colony, to be made con
formable to the stile and date by this act required for
is(s)uing commissions hereafter, the council are hereby
impowered and directed to cause the same to be done.

And be it further enacted,

(SECT. 5.) That all recogni(s)(z)ances that hereto
fore have been used and accustomed to be taken to the
king of Great Brit(t)ain, by the stile and title of our
sovereign lord the king, shall, from and after the first day
of June, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six,
be taken to the government and people of the Mass(e)-
(a)chusetts Bay, in New England; and when a scire
facias, or other legal process shall be issued thereon
against the recognizor or recogni(s)(z)ors, they shall be
in the name and behalf of the said government and peo
ple; and when judgment shall be rendered thereon^ the
money recovered and levied shall be paid into the treas
ury of this colony, for the use of the same.

And be it further enacted,

(SECT. 6.) That all suits upon recogn(z)(in)an(c)es
which have been heretofore taken within this colony to
the king of Great Brit(t)ain, under any name, character
or form of words, whatsoever, that have been or that
may be hereafter forfeited (if any suits should be brought
thereon) shall, from and after the said first day of June,

XX111

be commenced and prosecuted in the name and behalf
of the government and people of the Mass(e)(a)chusetts
Bay, in New England, and not in the name of the said
king; and the money recovered and levied on such suits
shall be likewise paid into the treasury of this colony,
for the use and benefit of the said people. (Passed May
1, 1776.

A true Copy, Carefully compared with the original, and found correct.
(Signed) J. HARRY BONGARTZ,

Librarian of the State of R. I. Law Library.

Exhibit H.

RHODE ISLAND ACTS AND RESOLVES,

MAY SESSION, 1776, PAGE 22.

AN ACT REPEALING AN ACT, INTITLED, " AN ACT FOR THE MORE
EFFECTUALLY FECURING TO HIS MAJEFTY THE ALLEGIANCE
OF HIS SUBJECTS, IN THIS HIS COLONY AND DOMINION OF
RHODE-ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS ; " AND
ALTERING THE FORMS OF COMMIFFIONS, OF ALL WRITS AND
PROCEFFES IN THE COURTS, AND OF THE OATHS PREFCRIBED
BY LAW.

WHEREAS in all States, exifting by Compact, Protection
and Allegiance are reciprocal, the latter being only due
in Confequence of the former; And whereas GEORGE
the Third, King of Great-Britain, forgetting his Dignity,

XXIV

regardlefs of the Compact moft folemnly entered into, rati
fied and confirmed, to the Inhabitants of this Colony, by
his illuftrious Anceftors, and till of late fully recognized
by Him — and entirely departing from the Duties and
Character of a good King, inftead of protecting, is en
deavoring to deftroy the good People of this Colony, and
of all the United Colonies, by fending Fleets and Armies to
America, to confiscate our Property, and fpread Fire,
Sword and Def olation, throughout our Country, in orcler to
compel us to fubmit to the moft debafing and deteftable
Tyranny; whereby we are obliged by Neceffity, and it
becomes our higheft Duty, to ufe every Means, with
which God and Nature have furnifhed us, in Support of
our invaluable Rights and Privileges; to oppofe that
Power which is exerted only for our Deftruction.

BE it therefore Enacted by this General Affembly, and
by the Authority thereof it is Enacted, That an Act in
tituled, "An Act for the more effectual fecuring to his
Majefty the Allegiance of his Subjects in this his Colony
and Dominion of Rhode-Ifland and Providence Planta
tions," be, and the fame is hereby, repealed.

AND be it further Enacted by this General Affembly,
and by the Authority thereof it is Enacted, That in all
Commiffions for Offices, civil and military, and in all
Writs and Proceffes in Law, whether original, judicial or
executory, civil or criminal, wherever the Name and
Authority of the faid King is made Ufe of, the fame fhall
be omitted, and in the Room thereof the Name and Au
thority of the Governor and Company of this Colony
fhall be Fubftituted, in the following Words, to wit:

XXV

"The Governor and Company of the English Colony of
Rhode-Ifland and Providence Plantations:" That all
Fuch Commiffions, Writs and Proceffes, fhall be other-
wife of the fame Form and Tenure as they heretofore were :
That the Courts of Law be no longer entitled nor con-
fidered as the King's Courts : And that no Inftrument in
Writing, of any Nature or Kind, whether public or pri
vate, fhall in the Date thereof mention the Year of the
faid King's Reign: Provided neverthelefs That nothing
in this Act contained fhall render void or vitiate any
Commiffion, Writ, Procefs or Inftrument, heretofore
made or executed, on Account of the Name and Author
ity of the faid King being therein inferted.

AND be it further Enacted by the Authority aforefaid,
That the Oaths or Engagements to be administered to
the Officers appointed in this Colony fhall be as follow, to
wit:

GENERAL OFFICERS.

"You being by the free Vote of the Freemen of

this Colony of Rhode-Ifland and Providence Plantations
elected unto the Place of do folemnly engage to be

true and faithful unto this faid Colony, and in your faid
Office equal Juftice to do unto all Perfons, poor and rich,
within this Jurifdiction, to the utmoft of your Skill and
Ability, without Partiality, according to the Laws ef-
tablifhed, or that may be eftablifhed, by the General
Affembly of this Colony, as well in matters military as
civil: And this Engagement you make and give upon the
Peril of the Penalty of Perjury.

XXVI

DEPUTIES.

"You being chofen to the Place of a Deputy, to

fit in the General Affembly, do solemnly engage, that you
will be true and faithful to this Colony of Rhode-Ifland
and Providence Plantations; and that you will do equal
Right and Juftice to all perfons who fhall appeal unto you
for your Judgment in their refpective Cafes, according
to the Laws eftablifhed or that may be eftablifhed, by
the General AfTembly of this faid Colony; And this En
gagement you make and give upon the Peril of the Pen
alty of Perjury.

JUDGES OF THE SUPERIOR COURT.
s

"You being by the General Affembly of this

Colony chofen to the Place of a Juftice of the Superior
Court of Judicature, Court of Affize, and General Gaol
Delivery, in and throughout the Colony, do folemnly
engage to be true and faithful to this faid Colony, and to
execute the Office unto which you are chofen as afore-
faid with fidelity, to the beft of your Skill and Knowl
edge, according to the Laws eftablifhed, or that may be
eftablifhed, by the General Affembly of this faid Colony :
and this Engagement you make and give upon the Peril
of the Penalty of Perjury.'7

(Public Notaries, Clerks of the Superior and Inferior
Courts, Juftices of the Inferior Courts, and Sheriffs, to
take the fame Oaths as the Juftices of the Superior
Court, mutatis mutandis.)

XXV11
GRAND JURORS.

" You A. B. being of the Grand Inqueft, on the Behalf
of the Governor and Company of the English Colony of
Rhode-Ifland and Providence Plantations, do hereby
promife and engage to make a true Return to this Court
of all fuch Bills as fhall be prefented to you, or fuch
Breakers of Law as fhall come to your Knowledge : And
this Engagement you make and give upon the Peril of
the Penalty of Perjury."

PETIT JURORS IN CIVIL CAUFES.

" You A. B. being of this Jury of Trials, fhall well and
truly try the Iffue of this Cafe, and all Cafes that fhall
be committed unto you from this Court, between the
Parties, Plaintiff and Defendant, according to Law and
Evidence; and to keep together until you agree of a
Verdict in the Cafe or Cafes committed to you, and make
true Return of the Verdict or Verdicts unto this Court;
and to keep your own and Fellow's Secrets: And this
Engagement you make and give upon the Peril of the
Penalty of Perjury."

PETIT JURORS IN CRIMINAL CAUFES.

"You A. B. being of this Jury of Trials, fhall well and
truly try, and true Deliverance make, between the Gov
ernor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode-Ifl
and and Providence Plantations, and the Prifoner at
the Bar, according to Law and Evidence; and to keep
together until you are agreed of a Verdict or Verdicts,
in the Cafe or Cafes that fhall be committed to you from

XXV111

this Court, and to keep your own and Fellow's Secrets:
And this Engagement you make and give upon the Peril
of the Penalty of Perjury."

TOWN OFFICERS.

" You A. B. do hereby folemnly engage to be true and
faithful unto this Colony of Rhode-Ifland and Providence
Plantations, and that you will well and truly, according
to the Laws eftablifhed, or that may be eftablifhed by
the. General Affembly of faid Colony, execute the Office
of for the enfuing Year or until another be en

gaged in your Room, or you be legally dif charged there
from : And this Engagement you make and give upon the
Peril of the Penalty of Perjury."

MILITARY COMMIFFIONED OFFICERS.

" You A. B. being by the General Affembly chofen and
elected unto the Place and Office of do solemnly

fwear to be true and faithful unto this Colony of Rhode-
Ifland and Providence Plantations, and to the Authority
therein eftablifhed by the General Affembly: And you
do alfo further engage well and truly to execute the Office
of to which you are elected according to your Com

mission : and to perform and obf erve all the laws made
and provided for the Support and well ordering the Mili
tia, without Partiality; and that you will observe and
follow fuch orders and Inftructions as you fhall from
Time to Time receive from Your Superiors.
So help you God."

XXIX

CLERK OF A COMPANY OF MILITIA.

"You A. B. do solemnly swear well and truly to per
form and execute the Office of Clerk of the Company, or
Trained Band, under the Command of C. D. to the utmost
of your Skill and Ability, without Partiality, according
to the Laws of this Colony which relate to your office.
So help you God."

A True Copy, carefully compared with the original and found correct.
(Signed) J. HARRY BONGARTZ,

Librarian, State of Rhode Island Law Library.

Exhibit K.

EARLIEST SUGGESTION FOR A PERPETUAL CONGRESS OF
THE AMERICAN STATES.

Providence Gazette, May 14th, 1774. (Signed) NEW ENGLAND.

"It seems to be the universal opinion in America, that
the Union of 'the Colonies is of the greatest Importance
to their Security, and therefore ought to be pursued by
every good Man in this Country. It is hoped that the
Wisdom of this great People will ever be exerted to make
the Union perpetual; and for this Purpose it is proposed
that there be an Assembly of the AMERICAN STATES, con
sisting of Deputies from the Representative Body in each
Colony, to form a League and COVENANT for the Colonies

XXX

to enter into, and fix the UNION upon a basis which may,
by the Blessing of Heaven, be durable as the World, and
lay a foundation for Freedom and Happiness in America
to all future Ages.

"The American will undoubtedly, in future Time, make
the most grand and noble Figure that ever was exhibited
by any People under Heaven, and their Conduct, at this
important Era, will be of infinite Moment to their future
Glory and Happiness; therefore we may justly expect
the greatest Exertions of our Patriots to compleat the
Freedom of America, for which they have long and glori
ously contended. — Then will they reap the full Harvest
of Fame, and when their Praise is echoed from Tongue to
Tongue, all the People will say, Amen. Britain will also
unite her voice (for she will soon be sensible that the
LIBERTY of America is Life to her) and sound their fame
to distant Nations. — The Glory of American Freedom will
startle Europe, alarm the World, rouse up the Spirit of
Liberty in despotic Regions, and kindle the heaventy
Fire in the Bosoms of Slaves. — Tyrants will be bound in
Fetters of Iron, and their insulted People will resume their
native Majesty; the Nations will be drest in new Colours
and appear in the new Dignity of human Nature. But
we forbear; — if the one Half should be told, the World
would not contain the Pages that must be written.

"It is proposed that the constitutional Toast to be
drank forever hereafter, be ' THE UNION OF THE COLON
IES, AND THE FREEDOM OF AMERICA/ ;

NEW ENGLAND.

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APR 3 1959

LD 21A-50m-9,'58
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dence

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY