THE WRITINGS
OF
SAMUEL ADAMS
VOLUME II.
1770-1773
OF THIS LETTER-PRESS EDITION
7JO COPIES HA VE BEEN PRINTED FOR SALE
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January, 1906
THE WRITINGS
OF
SAMUEL ADAMS
COLLECTED AND EDITED
BY
HARRY ALONZO GUSHING
VOLUME II
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK LONDON
27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND
®^t fimcherbaehei ^ttsa
1906
5\3
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COPYRIGHT, 1906
BY
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
ttbe ftnicfcerbocfecr pre08, "Hew
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
1770.
PAGE
Article Signed " Vindex," January 8th ... I
Power of Governor over sessions of General Assembly.
Artfcle Signed " Determinatus," January 8th . . 4
Non-importation agreement.
To the Lieutenant-Goyernor of Massachusetts, March
I9th . . 7
Memorial of town of Boston — Appointment of special
justices.
To John Hancock, May nth 9
Proposed resignation.
To Benjamin Frapklin, July I3th 10
Letter of town of Boston — Effect of massacre narrative —
Influences upon public opinion — "Case" of Captain Preston.
To the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, Au
gust 3d . .19
Answer of House of Representatives — Place of meeting of
General Assembly — Legal opinions — Precedents — Royal in
structions — Nature of Province Charter — Rights of House.
Article Signed '"A Chatterer," August I3th . . 35
Royal instructions.
Article Signed f"A Chatterer," August 2Oth . . 39
Character of office holders.
Article Signed "A Chatterer," August 27th . . 43
Reply to " Probus " — Character of lieutenant-governor.
To Benjamin Franklin, November 6th ... 46
Letter of House of Representatives — Appointment as agent —
Attitude of administration to Massachusetts — Royal instruc
tions — Admiralty jurisdiction — Salaries and appointments.
iv CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
PAGE
To Stephen Sayre, November i6th ; ... 56
Letters of " Junius Americanus" — Non-importation agree
ment — Trial of Preston — Royal instructions.
To the Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, No
vember 2oth 61
Memorial of House of Representatives — Vacancies in militia.
Article Signed "A Tory," November 2oth . . 62
Effects of present administration.
To Peter Timothy, November 2 ist .... 64
Reply to Charleston committee — Non-importation agree
ment.
To Stephen Sayre, November 23d . . . 66
Choice of agent — Royal instructions — Attitude of Hutchinson.
To Josiah Williams, November 23d .... 69
Personal advice.
Article Signed "A Chatterer," December 3d . . 70
Royal instructions — Control of x troops — Custody of Castle
William.
Article Signed " Vindex;" December loth ... 77
Trials of Preston and soldiers — Discussion of testimony.
Article Signed "Vindex," December i7th . . 83
Trials of Preston and soldiers — Discussion of testimony.
Article Signed " Vindex," December 24th ... 89
Trials of Preston and soldiers — Discussion of testimony.
Article Signed " Vindex," December 24th . . 98
Reply to " Somebody "—Trial of soldiers.
To John Wilkes, December 28th . . . . 100
Introduction of William Palfrey— Conditions in colonies.
Article Signed "Vindex," December 3 i.st . . . 102
Action of Boston on massacre — Attitude of troops— Events
of March 5, 1770— Testimony upon trial— The dead.
Article Signed "Vindex," December 3 ist . . . 122
Testimony upon trial of soldiers.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
1771.
PAGB
Article Signed " Vindex," January 7bh . . . 124'.
Trial of soldiers — Discussion of testimony.
To Stephen «Say re, January j 2th . . . .134
Enclosing articles on trials.
Article Signed " Vindex," January I4th . . 135
Discussion of testimony — " Case " of Captain Preston.
Article Signed "Vindex," January 2 1st . . .142
Result of trial of soldiers — Discussion of testimony — Reply
to Philanthrop.
Article Signed " Vindex," January 2.8th . . . 153
Discussion of testimony — " Case" of Captain Preston.
To Charles 'Lucas, March. 1 2th 163
Acknowledgments of Boston.
To Arthur-Lee, April iQth 164
Beginning of correspondence — General conditions — Designs
of Administration — Royal instructions.
To the Governor , of Massachusetts, April 24th . . 168
Answer of House of Representatives — Action of Spain at
Port Egmont — Attitude of Administration — Place of meeting of
General Assembly — Appointment of Governor.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, April 25th . . 171
Salary bills.
Article Signed " Candidas, " June i oth . . . 172
Place of meeting of General Assembly — Royal instructions —
Attitude of Hutchinson.
Article Signed "Candidus^" June 1 7th . . . 176
Address of clergy.
To Benjamin Franklin, June 2Qth . . . .177
Letter of House of Representatives — Right of Parliament to
tax — Revenue and tribute — Independence of officers — Rights of
colonists — Position of colonial agent.
Article Signed " Candidas," July 1st . . . . 186—
Convention of clergy.
I
vi CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
PAGE
To Arthur Lee, July 3 ist 189
Conditions in London — Effects of faction and of arbitrary
power — Attitude of Hutchinson — Disturbances in North
Carolina.
Article Signed " Candidus," August 5th . . . 193
Address of clergy — Character of convention.
Article Signed " Candidus," August I9th . . . 198
Custom of " addressing " — Public opinion of Administration —
Stamp Act — Events in 1768 — Character of addresses.
Article Signed " Candidus," September 9th . . 204
Assertion of rights by colonists — Factions — Revenue acts.
Article Signed " Candidus," September i6th . . 212
Circular letter of February, 1768 — The mandate to rescind
— Letter to Hillsborough of June, 1768 — Refusal to rescind.
Article Signed "Candidus,"' September 23d . . 222
Dissolution of General Assembly — Charter rights of General
Assembly — Royal instructions.
To Arthur Lee, September 2/th .... 230
Remonstrance of London — Despotism in Massachusetts —
Cause of colonial grievances — Possibility of impeachment — Op
position to an American episcopate — Introduction of William
Story.
Article Signed " Candidus," September 3oth . . 237
Letters of Bernard — Disorders in 1768 — Letters of commis
sioners.
To Arthur Lee, October 2d . 245
Comments on William Story.
Article Signed " Candidus/V October /th . . . 246
Salary of Governor — Attitude of Hutchinson.
* Article Signed "Candidus," October I4th . . . 250
Historic instances of slavery and tyranny — Comparison of
America and Rome— Liberties of America.
Article Signed " Valerius Poplicola," October 28th . 256
Acts of trade — Subjection and allegiance — Legislative power
in Massachusetts — Jurisdiction of Parliament.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. vii
PAGE
To Arthur Lee, October $ist 264
Action of Council on "Junius Americanus" — Relationship
of office holders — Attitude of House of Representatives—The
" Hue and Cry."
To Joseph Allen, November ^th .... 268
Personal advice.
Article Signed " Candidus," November nth . . 268
Jeroboam as a Governor — Attitude of the clergy.
To Arthur Lee, November i^th .... 274
Proclamation by the Governor — Its reception by the clergy.
Article Signed " Cotton Mather," November 25th . 276
Salary of Governor — Provisions of the charter.
Article Signed "Candidus," December 2d . . . 281
Attitude of the people — Reply to "Chronus" — Royal in
structions.
Article Signed " Candidus," December Qth . . 287
Jealousy of liberty — Control of revenue — Powers of Governor.
Article Signed " Candidus," December i6th . . 293
Reply to " Chronus."
Memorandum, December i8th ..... 296
Alleged criticism of Harrcock.
Article Signed " Candidus," December 23d . . 297
Effect of petitioning — Control of funds — Infringement of
liberties.
1772.
To Henry Marchant, January 7th .... 306
Election in London — Activity of government agents — Policy
of Crown officers.
To Arthur Lee, January I4th 310
Attitude of Government.
Article Signed " Candidus," January 2Oth . . . 313
Acts of trade — Power of taxation — Colonial right of legis
lation — Extent of " Dominion."
Article Signed " Candidus," January 27th . . . 322
Acts of trade — Magna Charta.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
PAGE
To the Governor of Massachusetts, April loth . . 327
Answer of House of Representatives — Place of meeting of
General Assembly — Power of Governor over sessions.
Article Signed "Vindex," Aprilt2Oth . . . 329
Reply to " Philanthrop Jun."
To the Governor of Massachusetts, July I4th . . 331
Answer of House of Representatives — Repair of Province
House.
> Article Signed " Valerius Poplicola," October 5th . 332
Tribute — Effect of petitions — Freemen or slaves?
To Andrew Elton Wells, October 2ist . . . 337
Family affairs — Royal power over colonial government.
To Elbridge Gerry, October 27th .... 339
Independence of judges.
To Elbridge Gerry, October 29th .... 340
Independence of judges — Action of Boston.
To Arthur Lee, November 3d 342
Retirement of Hillsborough— Character of Dartmouth — In
dependence of judges— Action of Boston.
To Elbridge Gerry, November 5th . . . 346
Concert of action — Action of Boston — Independence of
judges.
To Elbridge Gerry, November I4th .... 348
Activity in Marblehead — Rights as Christians— Attitude of
Roxbury and Plymouth.
The Rights of the Colonists as Men, as Christians, and
as Subjects, November 2Oth 350
A List of Violations of Rights, November 2Oth . 359
A Letter of Correspondence, November 2oth . . 369
Article Signed " Vindex," November 30th . . 374
To Aaron Davis — Character of Doctor Young.
To Arthur Lee, November 3 ist 379
Proceedings of Boston — Activity of public enemies— Action
of Roxbury and Plymouth.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. ix
To Elbridge Gerry, December 7th .... 380
Acknowledgment.
To William Checkley, December I4th . . . 380
Personal reflections.
Article Signed " Candidas," December I4th . . 382
Criticism of Draper's Gazette — Proceedings of Boston.
To Elbridge Gerry, December 23d .... 387
Proceedings of Marblehead.
To Darius Sessions, December 28th .... 389
Response to request for advice — The Rhode Island commis
sion — Effect on judiciary system.
To the Committee of Correspondence of Cambridge,
December 2Qth ....... 392
Acknowledgment of Boston committee for their endorsement.
To the« Committee of Correspondence of Plymouth,
December 29th 394
Acknowledgment of Boston committee for their endorsement
— Character of early settlers.
1773-
To Darius Sessions, January 2d .... 395
The issue in Rhode Island — Advice to the colony — Probabil
ities considered.
To the Governor of Massachusetts, January 26th . 401
Answer of the House of Representatives — Jurisdiction of
Parliament — Colonial charters — Rights of colonists— Histori
cal precedents.
To the Committee of Correspondence of Lynn,
February 9th 426
Acknowledgment of Boston committee — Diffusion of
liberty.
To Darius Sessions, February . . . . . 427
Further advice upon political situation.
x CONTENTS OF VOL UME II.
, ,
To the Governor of Massachusetts, February I2th . 428
Message of the House of Representatives — Independence of
judges — Attitude of Governor.
To John Adams . 430
On reply to Governor. x
To the Governor of Massachusetts, March 2d . . 431
Answer of House of Representatives — Proceedings of Boston
— Rights of King in colonies — Jurisdiction of Parliament —
Historical precedents.
THE WRITINGS OF
SAMUEL ADAMS.
ARTICLE SIGNED
[Boston Gazette, January 8, 1770.]
— " AND the Governor for the time being shall have
full power and authority from time to time as he shall
judge necessary, to adjourn, prorogue and dissolve all
Great and General Courts or Assemblies met and
conven'd as aforesaid." — 1
THE power delegated by this clause to the Governor
was undoubtedly intended in favor of the people — The
necessity and importance of a legislative in being, and
of its having the opportunity of exerting itself upon
all proper occasions, must be obvious to a man of
common discernment. Its grand object is the RE
DRESS of GRIEVANCES : And for this purpose it is ad-
judg'd that parliaments ought to be held frequently—
The people may be aggriev'd for the want of having
a good law made, as well as repealing a bad one : So
they may be, by the mal conduct of the executive
in its manner of administring justice wrongfully
under colour of law. In all these cases and many
1 B. P. Poore, The Federal and State Constitittions , 1878, vol. i., p. 949.
VOL. II.— I.
i
2 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
others, the necessity of the frequent interposition of
the legislative evidently appears. And if either of
them, much more, if all of them should at any time
be justly complain'd of by the people, the adjourning,
proroguing or dissolving the legislative, at such a
juncture, must be the greatest of all grievances-
There may be other reasons for the sitting of an
American assembly besides the correcting any dis
orders arising from among the people within its own
jurisdiction. — Some of the Acts of the British parlia
ment are generally thought to be grievous in their
operation, and dangerous in their consequences to
the liberties of the American subjects : An American
legislative therefore, in which the whole body of the
people is represented, ought certainly to have the
opportunity of explaining and remonstrating their
grievances to the British parliament, and the full ex
ercise of that invaluable and uncontroulable Right of
the subject to petition the King, as often as they
/^judge necessary, 'till they are removed. To post-
J pone a meeting of this universal body of the people
till it is too late to make such application must be
a frustration of one grand design of its existance ;
\ and it naturally tends to other arbitrary exertions. — I
\ have often tho't that in former administrations such
delays to call the general assembly, were intended
for the purpose above-mentioned : And if others
should have the same apprehension at present I can
not help it, nor am I answerable for it. It may not
be amiss however for every man to make it a subject
of his contemplation. We all remember that no
longer ago than the last year, the extraordinary dis-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 3
solution by Governor Bernard, in which he declared
he was merely ministerial, produced another assembly,
which tho' legal in all its proceedings, awaked an
attention in the very soul of the British empire.
It is not to be expected that in ordinary times,
much less at such an important period as this is, any
man, tho' endowed with the wisdom of Solomon, at
the distance of three thousand miles, can be an ade
quate judge of the expediency of proroguing, and in
effect even putting an end to an American legislative
assembly ; and more especially at a time when the
evil spirit of Misrepresentation is become so atrocious,
that even M. . .y itself is liable to be wrongly
informed ! — It is for this reason that the delegation of
this power to the governor for the time being, appears
to be intended in favor of the people : That there
might be always at the head of the province, and
resident therein, as the charter provides, a person of
untainted integrity, candor, impartiality and wisdom,
to judge of and determine so essential a point — A
point, in which I should think, no person who justly
deserves this character, can be passive or merely
ministerial, against his own judgment and conscience.
Whenever therefore a Governor for the time being,
adjourns, prorogues or dissolves the general assembly,
having the full power and authority delegated to him
of judging from time to time of the Necessity of it,
we ought to presume that he exercises that power
with freedom : That he determines according to the
light of his own understanding, and not anothers :
That he clearly sees that it will answer those purposes
which he himself judges to be best ; having, as a man
THE WRITINGS OF
of fidelity in his station ought, thoro'ly revolv'd the
matter in his own mind : And, that however flatter
ing the concurrent sentiments of any other man may
be, he would have been impelled to do it, from the
dictates of his own judgment, resulting from his own
contemplation of the matter, if he had not received
the " express command of his superior." Such a man
"will bravely act his mind, and venture — Death."
VlNDEX.
ARTICLE SIGNED " DETERMINATES.
[Boston Gazette, January 8, 1770.]
To the Printers.
The agreement of the Merchants of this distressed
and insulted continent, to with hold importations from
Great Britain, it seems to be allowed on all sides, has
the strongest tendency towards the repeal of the acts
of parliament for raising a revenue in America without
our consent. It is no wonder then, that it was
oppos'd with so much vehemence at first, by the
Cabal ; who knew full well, that their Places and
their Pensions, and all the delectable profits which
they expected to reap, and are now actually reaping,
at the expence of the people in town and country,
would entirely cease, if these acts, by the means of
which their places, pensions and profits arise should
be repealed — When they could no longer with any
face call it the last efforts of a dying faction, (for the
measure was so rational and pacific, that it soon
spread far and wide, and was chearfully adopted by
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 5
all disinterested friends of the country thro'-out the
continent) they put on the appearance of the Sons of
Liberty ; and now their cry is, Where is that Liberty
so much boasted of and contended for ? We hear
them very gravely asking, Have we not a right to
carry on our own trade and sell our own goods if we
please ? who shall hinder us ? This is now the lan
guage of those who had before seen the ax laid at the
very root of all our Rights with apparent complacency,
—And pray gentlemen, Have you not a right if you
please, to set fire to your own houses, because they
are your own, tho' in all probability it will destroy a
whole neighbourhood, perhaps a whole city ! Where
did you learn that in a state or society you had a right
to do as you please ? And that it was an infringe
ment of that right to restrain you ? This is a refine
ment which I dare say, the true sons of liberty despise.
Be pleased to be informed that you are bound to con
duct yourselves as the Society with which you are
joined, are pleased to have you conduct, or if you
please, you may leave it. It is true the will and
pleasure of the society is generally declared in its
laws : But there may be exceptions, and the present
case is without doubt one. — Suppose there was no
law of the society to restrain you from murdering
your own father, what think you ? If either of you
should please to take it into your head to perpetrate
such a villainous act, so abhorrent to the will of the
society, would you not be restrained ? And is the
Liberty of your Country of less importance than
the life of your father ! But what is most astonishing
is, that some two or three persons of very little con-
6 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
sequence in themselves, have Dared openly to give
out that They Will vend the goods they have im
ported, tho' they have Solemnly pledgd Their Faith
to the body of merchants, that they should remain in
store 'till a general importation should take place !
Where then is the honor ! where is the shame of these
persons, who can look into the faces of those very
men with whom they have contracted, & tell them
Without Blushing that they are resolved to Violate
the contract ! Is it avarice ? Is it obstinacy, per-
verseness, pride, or from what root of bitterness does
such an unaccountable defection from the laws of
honor, honesty, and even humanity spring ? Is it the
Authority Of An Unnatural Parent — the advice of
some false friend, or their own want of common un
derstanding, and the first principles of virtue, by
which these unhappy young persons have been in
duced, or left to resolve upon perpetrating that, at
the very tho't of which they should have shudder'd !
By this resolution they have already disgrac'd them
selves ; if they have the Hardiness to put the resolu
tion into practice, who will ever hereafter confide in
them ? Can they promise themselves the regards of
the respectable body of merchants whom they have
affronted? or can they even wish for the esteem of
their country which they have basely deserted, or
worse, which they have attempted to wound in the
very heart. — If they imagine they can still weary the
patience of an injured country with impunity. — If — I
will not utter it — would not the grateful remembrance
of unmerited kindness and Generosity, if there was
the least spark of ingenuity left, have Influenced to a
.
'
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 7
far different resolution ! — If this agreement of the
merchants is of that consequence to All America
which our brethren in All the other governments, and
in Great-Britain Itself think it to be — If the fate of
Unborn Millions is suspended upon it, verily it be
hooves, not the merchants Only, but every individual
of Every class in City and Country to aid and sup
port them and Peremptorily To Insist upon its being
Strictly adhered to.
DETERMINATES.
THE TOWN OF BOSTON TO THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR
OF MASSACHUSETTS.1
[MS., Office of the City Clerk of Boston.]
To his Honor the Lieutenant Governor in Council
The Memorial of the Town of Boston legally
assembled in Faneuil Hall Monday March 19 1770
Humbly shews
That with deep Concern- they are made to under
stand that thro the Providence of God diverse of his
Majestys Justices of the Superior Court are renderd
unable to attend the Duties of their important Trust
by bodily Indisposition.
1 Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and John Barret were on March 19, 1770,
appointed by the Boston town-meeting " a Committee to draw up a Memorial
to the Lieuvetenant Governor and Council praying that special Justices may be
appointed for the Superior Court now sitting in the room of those who may be
necessarily prevented by sickness from attending their duty ; that so the Tryals
of the many Criminals now committed may not be postponed. . . ." At
the same session the committee reported a draft, which was accepted. — Boston
Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 15.
8 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
That there are a great Number of Prisoners now in
his Majestys Gaol in the County of Suffolk, of whom
fifteen are confind for Tryal for capital offences.
That the Sherriff of said County has been under
Apprehension of the Escape of said Prisoners as
appears by his Letter to the Town hereto annexd
to be laid before your honor.
That there are a great Number of Witnesses in the
Cases of the late Trajical Murder in Boston many of
whom are Seamen & detaind to their very great
Disadvantage & possibly some of them may be under
Temptation to absent themselves from the Tryal.
All which the Town beg leave humbly to represent
to your honor as cogent Reasons for the Tryal of the
said Prisoners as early as possible in the present
Term.
Wherefore your Memorialists humbly pray your
Honor to appoint special Justices in the Room of
those taken off as aforesaid,1 in order for the Tryal
of the said Prisoners, or otherwise that your Honor
wd take such Steps to prevent the Delay of Justice
at this important Crisis as in your Wisdom shall
seem meet.
And as in Duty bound your Memsts shall ever pray.
Signd in Behalf of the Town at the Meeting
aforesaid.
1 At this point the words " whom the Town reverence & esteem " were stricken
from the original draft.
1770] ' SAMUEL ADAMS. 9
TO JOHN HANCOCK.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; a text with slight variations is
in W. V. Wells Life of Samuel Adams, vol. i., p. 343.]
BOSTON May n 1770
DEAR SR
Your Resolution yesterday to resign your seat gave
me very great Uneasiness. I could not think you had
sufficient Ground to deprive the Town of one whom
I have a Right to say is a most valueable Member,
since you had within three of the unanimous Suf
frages of your Fellow Citizens, & one of the negative
Votes was your own.1 You say you have been spoken
ill of. What then ? Can you think that while you
are a good Man that all will speak well of you — If
you knew the person who has defamd you nothing is
more likely than that you would justly value your
self upon that mans Censure as being the highest
Applause. Those who were fond of continuing Mr
Otis on the Seat, were I dare say to a Man among
your warmest friends : Will you then add to their
Disappointment by a Resignation, merely because
one contemptible person, who perhaps was hired for
the purpose, has blessd you with his reviling — Need
I add more than to intreat it as a favor that you would
alter your Design.
I am with strict truth
Your affectionate friend & Brother.
1 At the Boston town-meeting on May 8, 1770, Hancock received, as a candi
date for representative, 511 out of 513 votes.
On June 13, 1770, William Palfrey, acting for Hancock, wrote to Haley and
Hopkins : " The removal of the General Court to Cambridge obliges Mr. Han
cock to be often there." John Hancock. His Book, by A. E. Brown, p. 167.
io THE WRITINGS OF [1770
A COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON TO BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN.
[MS., Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; an incomplete draft
is in the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; the latter text only
is in the handwriting of Adams.]
BOSTON July isth : 1770
SIR,
It affords very great Satisfaction to the Town of
Boston to find that the Narrative of the horrid mas
sacre perpetrated here on the 5th of March last which
was transmitted to London,1 has had the desired
effect ; by establishing truth in the minds of honest
men, and in some measure preventing the Odium
being cast on the Inhabitants, as the aggressors in it.
We were very apprehensive that all attempts would
be made to gain this Advantage against us : and as
there is no occasion to think that the malice of our
Enemies is in the least degree abated, it has been
thought necessary that our friends on your side the
Water, should have a true state of the Circumstances
of the Town and of everything which has materially
occurred, since the removal of the Troops to the
1 Under date of March 23, 1770, James Bowdoin, Samuel Pemberton and
Joseph Warren, as a committee of the town of Boston, wrote to Lord Dart
mouth, enclosing a narrative of the events of March 5 and a certified copy of
the vote of town, on March 22, directing them to transmit the printed narra
tive. The original letter is No. 320 of Lord Dartmouth's American MSS.,
at Patshull House. The text of the same letter, which was addressed to the
Duke of Richmond and others, is in A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre
in Boston, New York, 1849. (This is reprinted, with notes by John Doggett,
Jr., from a copy of the original edition of 1770, in the library of the New York
Historical Society. Another reprint, with notes by Frederic Kidder, was pub
lished at Albany, 1870.) The Additional Observations to a Short Narrative,
1770, are reprinted by Doggett, pp. 109-117. Cf., Proceedings of Colonial
Society of Massachusetts, April 1900, pp. 13-21.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. n
Castle. For this purpose we are appointed a Com
mittee : l But the time will not admit of our writing
so fully by this Conveyance, as we intend by the next,
in the mean time we intreat your further friendship
for the Town, in your Endeavours to get the Judg
ment of the Public suspended, upon any representa
tion that may have been made by the Commissioners
of the Customs and others, until the Town can have
the Opportunity of knowing what is alleged against
it, and of answering for itself. We must confess that
we are astonished to hear that the Parliament had
come to a determination, to admit Garbled extracts
from such Letters as may be received from America
by x^dministration and to Conceal the Names of the
Persons who may be the Writers of them. This will
certainly give great Encouragement to Persons of
wicked Intentions to abuse the Nations & injure the
Colonies in the grossest manner with Impunity, or
even without detection. For a Confirmation hereof
we need to recur no further back than a few months,
when undoubtedly the Accounts and Letters carried
by Mr. Rob[in]son would have been attended with
very unhappy if not fatal effects, had not this Town
been so attentive as to have Contradicted those false
accounts by the depositions of many credible persons
under Oath. But it cannot be supposed that a Com
munity will be so Attentive but upon the most Alarm
ing Events : In general Individuals are following
their private concerns, while it is to be feared the
1 The town of Boston, on July 10, 1770, appointed a committee of nine, in
cluding Adams, Hancock, Dana, Gushing and Joseph Warren, to prepare a
" true state" of the town and of the acts of the commissioners since March 5.
12 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
restless Adversaries are forming the most dangerous
Plans for the Ruin of the Reputation of the People,
in order to build their own Greatness on the Distruc-
tion of their liberties. This Game they have been long
playing ; and tho' in some few instances they have
had a loosing hand, yet they have commonly managed
with such Art, that they have so far succeeded in
their Malicious designs as to involve the Nation and
the Colonies in Confusion and distress. This it is
presumed they never could have accomplished had
not these very letters been kept from the view of the
Public, with a design perhaps to conceal the false
hood of them the discovery of which would have
prevented their having any mischievous effects. This
is the Game which we have reason to believe they
are now playing ; With so much Secrecy as may ren
der it impossible for us fully to detect them on this
Side of the Water ; How deplorable then must be
our Condition, if ample Credit is to be given to their
Testimonies against us, by the Government at home,
and if the Names of our Accusers are to be kept a
profound Secret, and the World is to see only such
parts or parcells of their Representations as Persons,
who perhaps may be interested in their favor, shall
think proper to hold up — Such a Conduct, if allowed,
seems to put it into the Power of a Combination of a
few designing Men to deceive a Nation to its Ruin.
The measures which have been taken in Consequence
of Intelligence Managed with such secrecy, have al
ready to a very great degree lessened that Mutual
Confidence which had ever Subsisted between the
Mother Country and the Colonies, and must in the
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 13
Natural Course of things totally alienate their Affec
tions towards each other and consequently weaken,
and in the End destroy the power of the Empire. It
is in this extended View of things that our minds are
affected — It is from these Apprehensions that we
earnestly wish that all communication between the
two Countries of a public nature may be unvailed
before the public : with the names of the persons who
are concerned therein, then and not till then will
American affairs be under the direction of honest
men, who are never afraid or ashamed of the light.
And as we have abundent reason to be jealous that
the most mischievous and virulent accounts have been
very lately sent to Administration from Castle Wil
liam where the Commissioners have again retreated
for no reason that we can conceive but after their
former manner to misrepresent and injure this Town
and Province, — we earnestly intreat that you would
use your utmost influence to have an Order passed
that the whole of the packetts sent by the Commis
sioners of the Customs and others under the care of
one Mr Bacon late an officer of the Customs in Vir
ginia, who took his passage the last week in the
Brigantine Lydia Joseph Wood Commander may be
laid before his Majesty in Council—
If the Writers of those Letters shall appear to be
innocent, no harm can possibly arise from such a
measure ; if otherwise, it may be the means of ex
ploring the true Cause of the National and Collonial
Malady, and of affording an easy remedy, and there
fore the measure must be justified & applauded by
all the World.
i4 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
We have observed in the English Papers, the most
notorious falsehoods published with an apparent de
sign to give the World a prejudice against this Town,
as the Aggressors in the unhappy Transaction of the
5th of March, but no account has been more repug
nant to the truth, than a paper printed in the public
Advertiser1 of the 28th of April which is called The
case of Cap t. Preston. As a Committee of this Town
we thought ourselves bound in faithfulness to wait on
Cap1 Preston to enquire of him whether he was the
Author — he frankly told us that he had drawn a state
of his case, but that it had passed thro different
hands and was altered at different times, and finally
the Publication in the Advertiser was varied from
that which he sent home as his own ; we then desired
him to let us know whether several parts which we
might point to him and to which we took exception
were his own, but he declined Satisfying us herein,
saying that the alterations were made by Persons
who he supposed might aim at serving him, though
he feared they might have a Contrary effect, and that
his discriminating to us the parts of it which were his
own from those which had been altered by others
might displease his friends at a time when he might
stand in need of their essential Service ; this was the
Substance of the Conversation between us, whereupon
we retired and wrote to Cap1 Preston a Letter the
Copy of which is now inclosed.2
The next day not receiving an answer from Capt.
1 Published in London. The " Case" was also printed in the Annual Regis
ter, 1771. Cf,, Boston Gazette, June 25, 1770.
2 Under date of July n, 1770. A copy is in S. A. Wells, Samuel Adams
and the American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 230-232.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 15
Preston at the time we proposed, we sent him a mes
sage desiring to be informed whether we might ex
pect his answer to which he replied by a Verbal
Message as ours was that he had nothing further to
add to what he had said to us the day before, as you '1
please to observe by the inclosed Certificate-
As therefore Cap1 Preston has utterly declined to
make good the charges against the Town in the
Paper called his case or to let us know to whom we
may apply as the Author or Authors of those parts
which he might have disclaimed, and especially as the
whole of his case thus stated directly militates not .,{jn\i
only with his own Letter published under his hand in
the Boston Gazette, but with the depositions of others
annexed to our Narrative which were taken, not be
hind the Curtain as some may have been, but openly
and fairly, after notifying the Parties interested, and
before Magistrates to whose credit the Governor of
the Province has given his full attestation under the
Province Seal, we cannot think that the Paper called
the Case of Capt. Thomas Preston, or any other Paper
of the like import can be deemed in the opinion of
the sensible and impartial part of mankind as suffi
cient, in the least degree to prejudice the Character
of the Town. It is therefore altogether needless for
us to point out the many falsehoods contained in this
Paper ; nor indeed would there be time for it at
present for the reason above mentioned — We cannot
however omit taking notice of the artifice made use
of by those who drew up the statement, in insinuating
that it was the design of the People to plunder the
King's Chest, and for the more easily effecting that
16 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
to murder the Centinel posted at the Custom House
where the money was lodged. This intelligence is
said to have been brought to Cap1 Preston by a
Townsman, who assured him that he heard the mob
declare they would murder the Centinel. — The towns
man probably was one Greenwood a Servant to the
Commissioners whose deposition Number 96.* is in
serted among others in the Narrative of the Town
and of whom it is observed in a Marginal Note, that :
" Through the whole of his examination he was so
inconsistent, and so frequently contradicted himself,
that all present were convinced that no credit ought
to be given to his deposition, for which reason it
would not have been inserted had it not been known
that a deposition was taken relating to this affair, from
this Greenwood by Justice Murray and carried home
by Mr. Robinson," and further "this deponent is the
only person, out of a great number of Witnesses ex
amined, who heard anything mentioned of the Custom
House." Whether this part of the Case of Cap1 Pres
ton was inserted by himself or some other person
we are not told. It is very much to be questioned
whether the information was given by any other than
Greenwood himself, and the sort of Character which
he bears is so well known to the Commissioners and
their Connections some of whom probably assisted
Cap1 Preston in stating his Case, as to have made
them ashamed if they regarded the truth, to have
given the least credit to what he said. — Whoever
may have helped them to this intelligence, we will
1 The affidavit of Thomas Greenwood, sworn to March 24, 1770, is printed
in Doggett's edition of the Short Narrative, pp. 101-103.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 17
venture to say, that it never has been and never can
be supported by the Testimony of any Man of a
tolerable reputation. We shall only observe upon
this occasion, how inveterate our Enemies here are,
who, rather than omit what they might think a lucky
opportunity of Slandering the Town, have wrought
up a Narrative not only unsupported by, but con
trary to the clearest evidence of facts and have even
prevailed upon an unhappy Man under pretence of
friendship to him, to adopt it as his own : Though
they must have known with a common share of
understanding, that it's being published to the world
as his own must have injured him, under his pres
ent Circumstances, in the most tender point, and
so shocked was Cap1 Preston himself, at its appear
ing in the light on this side the Water, that he
was immediately apprehensive so glaring a falsehood
would raise the indignation of a people to such a
pitch as to prompt them to some attempts that would
be dangerous to him, and he accordingly applyed to
Mr Sheriff Greenleaf for special protection on that
account : But the Sheriff assuring him that there
was no such disposition appearing among the People
(which is an undoubted truth) Cap1 Preston's fears at
length subsided : and he still remains in safe custody,
to be tried by the Superior Court of Judicature, at
the next term in August ; unless the Judges shall
think proper further to postpone the Trial, as they
have done for one whole term, since he was indicted
by the Grand Jury.
Before we conclude it may not be improper to
observe that the removal of the troops was in the
VOL. II. — 2.
i8 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
Slowest order, insomuch that eleven days were spent
in carrying the two Regiments to Castle Island, which
had before landed in the Town in less than forty eight
hours ; yet in all this time, while the number of the
Troops was daily lessening, not the least disorder was
made by the inhabitants, tho' filled with a just indigna
tion and horror at the blood of their fellow Citizens, so
inhumanely spilt ! And since their removal the Com
mon Soldiers, have frequently and even daily come
up to the Town for necessary provisions, and some of
the officers, as well as several of the families of the
soldiers have resided in the Town and done business
therein without the least Molestation ; yet so hardy
have our Enemies been as to report in London that
the enraged populace had hanged up Cap1 Preston.
The strange and irreconcileable conduct of the Com
missioners of the Customs since the 5th of March —
their applying for leave to retire to the Castle as
early as the tenth, and spending their time in making
excursions into the Country 'till the 2Oth of June follow
ing, together with other material Circumstances, are
the subject of our present enquiry ; the result of which
you will be made acquainted with by the next convey
ance. In the mean time we remain with strict truth. —
Sir
Your much obliged
and most Obedient Servants
THOMAS CUSHING, WM PHILLIPS,
Ri DANA, WM MOLINEUX,
SAML ADAMS, EBENEZER STOKER,
JOHN HANCOCK, WM GREENLEAF.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 19
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS
TO THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.
[MS., Boston Public Library ; a text, with many modifications of detail, is
in Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 240-248; it was also printed in the Boston
Gazette, August 6, 1770.]
In the House of Representatives August the 3
1770
Orderd that Mr Hancock Cap Thayer Mr Pickerin
Cap Fuller and Cap Sumner carry up to the Honbl
Board the following Answer of this House to his
Honors Speech to both Houses at the opening of
this Session
THOMAS CUSHING Spkr
1 May it please your Honor
The House of Representatives, having duly at
tended to your Speech2 to both Houses at the Open
ing of this Session, and maturely considerd the
several parts of it, have unanimously, in a full House
determind to adhere to their former Resolution
" that it is by no means expedient to proceed to Busi
ness, while the General Assembly is thus constraind
to hold the Session out of the Town of Boston."
.Upon a Recollection of the Reasons we have before
given for this measure, we conceive it will appear to
all the World, that neither the good People of this
Province, nor the House of Representatives can be
justly chargd with any ill Consequences that may
follow it. After the most repeated & attentive Ex
amination of your Speech, we find Nothing to induce
1 From this point the manuscript is wholly in the handwriting of Adams.
2 Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 237-240.
2O
THE WRITINGS OF [1770
us to alter our Opinion, and very little that is new &
material in the Controversy: But as we perceive it is
publishd, it may possibly be read by some who have
never seen the Reasons of the House ; and as there
are specious things containd in it, which may have a
Tendency to make an unhappy Impression on some
minds, we have thought proper to make a few Obser
vations upon it.
You are pleasd to say, " you meet us at Cam
bridge, because you have no Reason to think there
has been any Alteration in his Majestys Pleasure,
which you doubt not was determind by wise motives,
& with a gracious Purpose to promote the Good of the
province." We presume not to call in Question the
Wisdom of our Sovereign or the Rectitude of his
Intentions : But there have been Times, when a cor
rupt and profligate Administration have venturd upon
such Measures, as have had a direct Tendency, to
ruin the Interest of the People as well as that of their
Royal Master.
This House have great Reason to doubt, whether
it is, or ever was his Majestys Pleasure that your
Honor should meet the Assembly at Cambridge, or
that he has ever taken the matter under his Royal
Consideration : Because, the common and the best
Evidence in such Cases, is not communicated to us.
It is needless for us to add any thing to what has
been heretofore said, upon the Illegality of holding
the Court any where except in the Town of Boston :
For admitting the Power to be in the Governor to
hold the Court in any other place when the publick
Good requires it ; yet, it by no means follows that he
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 21
has a Right to call it at any other place, when it is to
the manifest Injury & Detriment of the Publick.
The Opinion of the Attourny and Solicitor General
has very little Weight with this House in any Case,
any farther than the Reasons which they expressly
give are convincing. This Province has sufferd so
much by unjust, groundless & illegal Opinions of
those officers of the Crown, that our Veneration or
Reverence for their Opinions is much abated. We
utterly deny that the Attourny & Solicitor General
have any Authority or Jurisdiction over us ; any
Right to decide Questions in Controversy, between
the several Branches of the Legislature here : Nor do
we concede, that even his Majesty in Council has any
Constitutional Authority to decide such Questions, or
any other Controversy whatever that arises in this Pro
vince, excepting only such Matters as are reservd in
the Charter. It seems a great Absurdity, that when
a Dispute arises between the Governor and the
House, the Governor should appeal to his Majesty in
Council to decide it. Would it not be as reasonable
for the House to appeal to the Body of their Constit
uents to decide it ? Whenever a Dispute has arisen
within the Realm, between the Crown & the two
Houses of Parliament, or either of them, was it ever
imagind that the King in his privy Council had \
Authority to decide it ? However there is a Test, a
Standard common to all, we mean the publick Good.
But your Honor must be very sensible that the
Illegality of holding the Court in any other place
besides the Town of Boston is far from being the
only Dispute between your Honor & this House : we
22 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
contend, that the People & their Representatives have
a Right to withstand the abusive Exercise of a legal
& constitutional Prerogative of the Crown. We beg
Leave to recite to your Honor what the Great Mr
Locke has advancd in his Treatise of civil Govern
ment, upon the like Prerogative of the Crown. " The
old Question, says he, will be asked in this matter of
Prerogative, who shall be Judge when this Power is
made a right Use of ?" And he answers, " Between
an executive Power in being with such a Prerogative,
and a Legislative that depends upon his Will for
their convening, there can be no Judge on Earth, as
there can be none between the Legislative & the
People, should either the Executive or Legislative
when they have got the Power in their Hands, design
or go about to enslave or destroy them. The People ^
have no other Remedy in this, as in all other Cases,
where they have no Judge on Earth, but to appeal to
Heaven. For the Rulers, in such Attempts, exercis- ,
ing a Power the People never put into their Hands -
(who can never be supposd to consent that any Body
should rule over them for their Harm) do that
which they have not a Right to do. And when the
Body of the People or any single Man is deprivd of
their Right, or under the Exercise of a Power with
out Right, and have no Appeal on Earth, then they
have a Liberty to appeal to Heaven whenever they
judge the Cause of sufficient moment. And there
fore, tho the People cannot be judge, so as to have
by the Constitution of that Society any superior
Power to determine and give effective Sentence in
the Case ; yet they have by a Law antecedent & para
mount to all positive Laws of Men, reservd that ulti-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 23
mate Determination to themselves which belongs to
all Mankind where there lies no Appeal on Earth viz
to judge whether they have just Cause to make their
Appeal to Heaven." We would however, by no
means be understood to suggest that this People have
Occasion at present to proceed to such Extremity.
Your Honor is pleasd to say, "that the House of
Representatives in the year 1728, did not think the
Form of the Writ, sufficient to justify them in refus
ing to do Business at Salem " ; It is true they did not
by any Vote or Resolve determine not to do Busi
ness yet the House, as we read in your Honors
History, " met and adjournd from Day to Day with
out doing Business " ; 1 and we find by the Records,
that from the 31 of October 1728 to the 14* of De
cember following the House did meet and adjourn
without doing Business ; And then they voted to
proceed to the publick & necessary Affairs of the
province " provided no Advantage be had or made,
for and by Reason of the aforesaid Removal (mean
ing the Removal to Salem) or pleaded as a prece
dent for the future". Yet your Honor has been
pleasd to quote the Conduct of that very House, as
a precedent for our Imitation. We apprehend their
proceeding to Business, & the Consequences of it viz,
the Encouragement it gave to Governor Burnet to go
on with his Design of harrassing them into unconstitu
tional Compliances, and the Use your Honor now
makes of it as an Authority and a Precedent, ought
to be a Warning to this House to make a determind
1 Inaccurately quoted from T. Hutchinson, History of the Province of Massa
chusetts Bay, vol. ii., p. 317.
24 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
& effectual Stand. Their Example, tho respectable,
is not obligatory upon this House. — They lived in
times, when the Encroachments of Despotism were
in their Infancy. — They were carried to Salem, by
the mere Caprice of Governor Burnet, who never
pleaded an Instruction for doing this — An Instruction
from a Ministry who had before treated them with
unexampled Indignity — An Instruction which they
were i\o\. permitted to see. They had no Reason to
apprehend a fixd Design to alter the Seat of Govern
ment, to their great Inconvenience and the manifest
Injury of the Province.
We are not disposd to dispute the Understanding,
Integrity, Familys & Estates of the Council in 1728.
We believe them to have been such, that if they were
now upon the Stage, they would see so many addi
tional & more weighty Reasons against proceeding
to Business out of Boston, that they would fully
approve of the Resolution of this House ; as well as
of what has been lately advancd by their Successors,
who are also Gentlemen of Understanding, Integrity,
Fortune and Family, in the following Words ; " Gov
ernor Burnets Conduct in convening the General
Court out of Boston, cannot be deemd an acknow-
legd or constitutional Precedent, because, it was
not founded on the only Reason on which the Pre
rogative of the Crown can be justly founded, The
Good of the Community." We shall only add, that
the Rights of the province having been of late years
most severely attackd, has indued Gentlemen to ex
amine the Constitution more thorowly, & has increasd
their Zeal in its Defence.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS, 25
You are pleasd to adduce an Instance in 1754 in
Addition to that in 1747, which you say " makes it
probable, that the House of Representatives rather
chose that the Court should sit elsewhere, when a
Comittee was chosen to consider of and report a
proper place for a Court House at a Distance from
Boston". We beg Leave here to observe, that both
these are Instances of the House's interesting them
selves in this Affair, which your Honor now claims as
a Prerogative : If the House were in no Case to have
a Voice, or be regarded, in chusing a place to hold
the Court, how could they think of building a House
in a place, to which they never had been, and proba
bly, never would be called.—
While the House have been from time to time,
holding up to View, the great Inconveniencys and
manifest Injurys resulting from the Sitting of the
Assembly at Cambridge, and praying a Removal to
Boston, it is with Pain that they have heard your
Honor, instead of pointing out any one good Purpose
which can be answerd by it, replying that your
Instructions will not permit you to remove the Court
to Boston. By a royal Grant in the Charter, in favor
of the Commons of this province, the Governor has
the sole power of adjourning, proroguing and dissolv
ing the General Court : And the Wisdom of that
Grant appears in this, that a person residing in the
province, must be a more competent Judge, of the
Fitness of the Time, and we many add, the place of
holding the Court, than any person residing in Great
Britain. We do not deny, that there may be In
stances when the Comander in Chiefe, ought to obey
26 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
the Royal Instructions : And should we also admit,
that in ordinary Cases he ought to obey them, respect
ing the convening, holding, proroguing, adjourning
& dissolving the General Court, notwithstanding
that Grant ; yet we clearly hold, that whenever In
structions cannot be complyd with, without injuring
the people, they cease to be binding. Any other
Supposition would involve this Absurdity in it, that
a Substitute by Means of Instructions from his Prin
cipal, may have a greater Power than the Principal
himself; or in other Words, that a Representative
of a King who can do no Wrong, by means of
Instructions may obtain a Right to do Wrong : for
that the Prerogative extends not to do any Injury,
never has and never can be denyd. Therefore this
House are clearly of Opinion, that your Honor is
under no Obligation to hold the General Court at
Cambridge, let your Instructions be conceivd in
Terms ever so peremptory, in as much as it is incon
venient and injurious to the province. — As to your
Commission, it is certain, that no Clause containd in
that, inconsistent with the Charter can be binding :
To suppose, that when a Grant is made by Charter
in favor of the people, Instructions shall supercede
that Grant, and oblige the Governor to act repugnant
to it, is vacating the Charter at once, by the Breath of
a Minister of State. Your Honor thinks you may
safely say, " there is not one of us, who if he was in
your Station, would venture to depart from the Instruc
tions." As you had not the least Shadow of Evidence
to warrant this, we are sure you could not say it with
Safety : And we leave it with your Honor to deter-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 27
mine, how far it is reconcileable with Delicacy to sug
gest it. In what particulars the holding the General
Court at Cambridge is injurious to us and the Pro
vince, has already been declared by the House, and
must be too obvious to escape your Honors Obser
vation. Yet you are pleasd to tell us, that "the
Inconveniences can easily be removd, or are so incon
siderable that a very small publick Benefit will out
weigh them "- -That they are not inconsiderable,
every Days Experience convinces us ; nor are our
Constituents insensible of them : But how they can
be easily removd, we cannot conceive, unless by
removing the Court to Boston. Can the publick
Offices & Records, to which we are under the
Necessity of recurring, almost every Hour, with any
Safety or Convenience to the publick be removd to
Cambridge ? Will our Constituents consent to be at
the Expence of erecting a proper House at Cam
bridge, for accommodating the General Court, espe
cially when they have no Assurance that the next
Freak of a capricious Minister will not remove the
Court to some other place ? Is it possible to have
that Communication with our Constituents, or to be
benefited by the Reasonings of the people without
Doors here, as at Boston ? We cannot but flatter
ourselves, that every judicious and impartial Person
will allow, that the holding the General Court at
Cambridge, is inconvenient and hurtful to the Pro
vince ; Nor has your Honor ever yet attempted to
show a single Instance, in which the province can be
benefited by it : No good purpose which can be
answerd by it, has ever yet been suggested by any
28 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
one to this House. And we have the utmost Confi
dence, that our gracious Sovereign, has no Desire to
hold the General Court at any place inconvenient to
its Members, or injurious to the province ; but rather,
that he will frown upon those, who have procurd its
Removal to such a place, or persist in holding it
there.
We are not indeed sure, that the Ministry caused
the Assembly to be removd to Cambridge, in order
to worry them into a Compliance with any arbitrary
Mandate, to the Ruin of our own or our Constitu
ents Libertys : But we know, that the General As
sembly has in Times past been treated with such
Indignity and Abuse, by the Servants of the Crown,
and a wicked Ministry may attempt it again.
Your Honor observes, that "the same Exception
may be made to the Use of every other part of the
prerogative, for every part is capable of Abuse." We
shall never except to the proper Use of the preroga
tive : We hold it sacred as the Liberty of the Sub
ject. But every Abuse of it, will always be excepted
to, so long as the Love of Liberty, or any publick
Virtue remains. And whenever any other part of the
prerogative shall be abusd, the House will not fail to
judge for themselves of the Grievance, nor to exert
every power with which the Constitution hath en
trusted them, to check the Abuse, and redress the
Grievance.
The House had expressd to your Honor their Ap
prehension of a fixd Design, either to change the
Seat of Government, or to harrass us, in order to
bring us into a Compliance with some arbitrary Man-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 29
date : Your Honor says, you know of no fixd De
sign to harrass us &c. : Upon which we cannot but
observe, that if you did not know of a fixd Design to
change the Seat of Governm1 you would not have
omitted so fair an Opportunity to satisfy the Minds
of the House, in a Matter of such Importance to the
Province. As to your very condescending and liberal
Professions, of exercising patience, or using Dispatch,
as would be most agreable to us, we shall be very
much obligd to your Honor, for the Exercise of those
Virtues, whenever you shall see Cause to remove us
to our ancient and establishd Seat : But these pro
fessions can be no Temptations to us, to give up our
Privileges.
Your Honor is pleasd to say, that "we consider
the Charter as a Compact between the Crown and
the People of this province " and to ask a Question
" Shall one Party to the Compact be held, and not
the other"? It is true, we consider the Charter as
such a Compact, and agree that both Parties are held.
The Crown covenants, that a Great & General Court
shall be held, every last Wednesday in May for ever ;
The Crown therefore, doubtless is bound by this
Covenant. But we utterly deny, that the people
have covenanted to grant Money, or to do Business,
at least any other Business than chusing Officers and
Councellors to compleat the General Court, on the
last Wednesday of May, or in any other Day or Year
whatever: Therefore this House, by refusing to do
Business, do not deprive the Crown of the Exercise
of the prerogative, nor fail of performing their part of
the Compact. Your Honor wd doubtless have been
3o THE WRITINGS OF [1770
culpable had you refusd to call a General Court on
the last Wednesday in May : And the House might
have been equally culpable, if they had refusd to
chuse a Speaker and Clerk, or to elect Councellors,
whereby to compleat the General Court ; for in Case
of Omission in either part, a Question might arise,
Whether the people would have a Legislative. When
the General Assembly is thus formd, they are impow-
erd by the Charter, to make, ordain and establish all
Manner of wholesome and reasonable Orders, Laws,
Statutes & Ordinances, Directions and Instructions,
either with penaltys or without. But the Charter no
where obliges the Gen1 Court, to make any Orders,
Laws, Statutes or Ordinances, unless they, at that
time judge it conducive to the publick Good to make
them : Much less does it oblige them to make any
Laws &c, in any particular Session, year or number
of years, whenever they themselves shall judge them
not to be for the publick Good. Such an Obligation
would leave them the least Color of Freedom, but
reduce them to a mere machine ; to the State the
Parliament would have been in, if the Opinion of
the two Chiefe Justices and the three puisne Judges
had prevaild in the Reign of Richard the second
"that the King hath the Governance of Parlia
ment, and may appoint what shall be first handled,
and so gradually what next, in all matters to be treated
of in parliament, even to the End of the parliament ;
and if any person shall act contrary to the Kings
pleasure made known therein, they are to be punishd
as Traitors" — for which opinion those five Judges
had Judgment as in Case of high Treason, — Your
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 31
Honor will allow us to ask, Whether the Doctrine
containd in your Question viz, " If you should refuse
to do Business now you are met, would you not de
prive the Crown of the Exercise of the prerogative,
and fail of performing your part of the Compact "
which implys a strong affirmation, is not in a Degree,
the very Doctrine of Chiefe Justice Tresilian and the
four other Judges just now mentiond ? By conven
ing in Obedience to his Majesty's Writ, tested by
your Honor, and again, at the time to which we are
prorogud, we have submitted to the prerogative, and
performd our part of the Compact.
This House has the same inherent Rights in this
Province, as the House of Commons has in Great
Britain. It is our Duty to procure a Redress of
Grievances, and we may constitutionally refuse to
grant our Constituents money to the Crown, or to do
any other Act of Government, at any given time, that
is not affixd by Charter to a certain Day, until the
Grievances of the people are redressd. We do not
pretend, that our Opinion is to prevail against his
Majestys Opinion : We never shall attempt to ad
journ or prorogue or dissolve the General Court :
But we do hope, that our Opinion shall prevail,
against any Opinion whatever, of the proper time to
make Laws and to do Business. And by exerting
this Power which the Constitution has given us, we
hope to convince your Honor and the Ministry of the
Necessity of removing the Court to Boston. — All
judicious Men will allow that the proper time for the
House to do their part of the Business of the province,
is for the House to judge of and determine. The
32 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
House think it is not, in the present Circumstances
of the province, a proper time to do this Business,
while the Court is constraind to hold their Session
out of Boston : Your Honor is of a different Opin
ion : We have conformd to this Opinion as far as
the Constitution requires us, And now our right of
judging commences. If your Honors or even his
Majestys Opinion concerning this Point is to prevail
against the Opinion of the House, why may not the
Crown, according to the Tresilian Doctrine, as well
prescribe what Business we shall do, and in what
Order.
The House is still ready to answer for all the ill
Consequences which can justly be attributed to them ;
nor are they sensible of any Danger from exerting
the power which the Charter has given them of doing
their part of the Business in their own time. — That
the Province has Enemies who are continually defam
ing it, and their Charter, is certain ; that there are
Persons who are endeavoring to intimidate the pro
vince from asserting and vindicating their just Rights
and Liberties, by Insinuations of Danger to the Con
stitution, is also indisputable ; But no Instance hap-
pend, even in the execrable Reign of the worst of the
Stuart Race, of a Forfeiture of a Charter, because
any one Branch of a Legislature, or even because the
whole Government under the Charter, refusd to do
Business at a particular time, under grievous Circum
stances of Ignominy, Disgrace and Insult ; and when
their Charter had explicitly given to that Government
the sole power of judging of the proper Season &
Occasion of doing Business.
\
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 33
We are obligd at this time to struggle, with all the
Powers with which the Constitution hath furnishd us,
in Defence of our Rights ; to prevent the most value-
able of our Libertys, from being wrested from us, by
the subtle Machinations, and daring Encroachments
of wicked Ministers. We have seen of late, innumer
able Encroachments on our Charter : Courts of Ad-
miraltry extended from the high Seas, where by the
Compact in the Charter, they are confind, to number
less important Causes upon Land : Multitudes of
civil Officers, the Appointment of all which is confind
by Charter to the Governor and Council, sent here
from abroad by the Ministry : A Revenue, not
granted by us, but torn from us : Armys stationd
here without our Consent ; and the Streets of our
Metropolis, crzmsondwith the Blood of our fellow Sub
jects. — These, and other Grievances and Cruelties,
too many to be here enumerated, and too melan-
cholly to be much longer born by this injurd People,
we have seen brot upon us by the Devices of Minis
ters of State. We have seen & had of late, Instruc
tions to Governors which threaten to destroy all the
remaining Privileges of our Charter. In June 1768,
the House, by an Instruction were orderd to rescind
an excellent Resolution of a former House, on pain
of Dissolution ; * they refusd to comply with so im
pudent a Mandate, and were dissolvd. And the
Governor, tho' repeatedly requested, and tho' the
Exigences of the Province demanded a General As
sembly, refusd to call a new one, till the following
May. In the last year, the General Court was forcd
1 See Vol. I., p. 230.
VOL. II. — 3.
=======^====
34 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
to give Way to regular Troops, illegally quarterd in
the Town of Boston, in Consequence of Instructions
to Crown Officers, and whose main Guard was most
daringly and insultingly placd at the Door of the
State house ; and afterwards they were constraind to
hold their Session at Cambridge. The present year
the Assembly is summond to meet, and is still con
tinued there in a kind of Duress, without any Reason
that can be given — any Motive whatever, that is not
as great an Insult to them, and Breach of their Privi
lege, as any of the foregoing. — Are these things
consistent with the Freedom of the House ; or, could
the General Courts tamely submiting to such Usage,
be thought to promote his Majestys Service !
Should these Struggles of the House prove unfor
tunate and ineffectual, this Province will submit, with
pious Resignation to the Will of Providence ; but it
would be a kind of Suicide, of which we have the
utmost Horror, thus to be made the Instruments of
our Servitude.
We beg leave before we conclude, to make one
Remark on what you say, that " our Compliance can
be of no Benefit to our Sovereign, any farther than as
he interests himself in the Happiness of his Subjects."
We are apprehensive that the World may take this
for an Insinuation, very much to our Dishonor : As
if the Benefit of our Sovereign were a Motive in our
Minds, against a Compliance. But as this Imputa
tion would be extremely unjust, so we hope it was
not intended by your Honor. We are however
obligd in Justice to our selves and our Constituents
to declare that if we had Reason to believe, that a
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 35
Compliance would be any, the least Benefit to our
Sovereign, it would be a very powerful Argument
with us ; But we are on the Contrary, fully perswaded,
that a Compliance at present, would be very injurious
and detrimental to his Majestys Service.
ARTICLE SIGNED " A CHATTERER."
\Boston Gazette, August 13, 1770.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
"What availed the good Qualities of Galba? He
who should not have employed bad Men, or at least
should have restrained or punished them, incurred the
same Censure as if he himself had done it ! — // is the
common Craft of corrupt Ministers to represent their
Cause as the Cause of their Prince."
His Honor the Lieutenant Governor, in his late
Reply2 to the House of Representatives, tells them,
that " a Secretary of State has by Virtue of his Office
free Access " to the King ; & " receives the Significa
tion of his Majesty's pleasure " ; from whence he
concludes that " he will give no directions but what
he knows to be agreable thereto ", and therefore
" every order coming from a Minister of State, must
be suppos'd to come immediately from the Crown"
-This is reasoning plausibly enough ; but before I
1 The succeeding articles of this series were attributed to Adams by George
Bancroft. This is confirmed by apparently contemporaneous annotations in the
file of the Gazette owned by Harbottle Dorr, at one time a selectman of Boston.
At the trial of Capt. Preston in November, 1770, he was drawn as a juror and
" challenged for cause." An advertisement of his business appears in the
Boston Gazette, October I, 1770.
2 August 3, 1770, Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 249-254.
3 6 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
can give my full Assent to the Conclusion, I must
have good Grounds to believe this same Secretary
to be a Man of Wisdom and Integrity; a Charac
ter, which however requisite, does not always belong
to a Minister of State. If he is deficient in both
or either of these, we can have no Assurance, that
every Order coming from him is declaratory of the
Pleasure of the Sovereign : His want of Wisdom
may render him altogether incapable of understand
ing the Mind of his royal Master ; or, failing in point
of Integrity he may maliciously and traiterously per
vert his benevolent Intentions for the Good of his
Subjects. Whenever Orders are given by a Secre- }\
tary of State, that are evidently calculated to injure
the Publick, we are by no Means to suppose them to
come immediately from the Crown, for the King can
do no Wrong : Will his Honor have us believe that
the King can do a weak & foolish, or a malevolent
and wicked Act? If not, such Instructions are to be
look'd upon as the acts of the Minister and not of the I
King. Ministers of state were formerly shields to
the persons of Kings from such kind of imputations ;
but it is much to be feared, if care is not taken to
prevent it, the idle whimsies of Ministers, their weak
ness and folly, or their daring and impudent attempts
to destroy the Liberties of the People, will be at
tributed to a Cause which no one, to be sure at
present, will chuse to mention. — I hope his Honor's
reasoning, and his correspondent Conduct, does not
lead to this — The House of Representatives seem
to be aware of the Danger of such Doctrine, when
they expressly say, " They presume not to call in
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 37
question the Wisdom of their Sovereign or the rec
titude of his Intentions"; at the same time that
they speak with a manly Freedom, of certain Instruc
tions that have come from Ministers of State, and
even treat them with Indignity and Contempt. His
Honor presumes " they would not have done this, if
they had known it to be an Order from his Majesty."
I believe they would not ; they saw reason to think
that the Mandate to rescind in June 1768, was the
mere act of a weak Minister ; and as his Honor does
not give the least Intimation, that he either knows or
believes to the Contrary, I must beg leave to say,
that in my poor Opinion, the Epithet given to it by
the House, is neither " coarse " nor "indecent."
We seem, Messrs. Printers, to be drawing very
near the time, when some people will be hardy enough
to dispute, whether we are to be governed accord
ing to the rule of the Constitution, the building of
which has been the Work of Ages, or to use the
words of the House, by the "breath of a Minister of
State." — Instructions, form'd by a set of Ministers,
calculated for certain purposes and sent over to a
Governor, who to avoid their high Displeasure and
the terrible Effects of it, must implicitly believe, or
say he believes them, to come immediately from the
King ; and the House of Representatives must by no
means controvert them, lest, as Bernard once impu
dently told them, they should be chargeable with
" oppugnation against the King's authority." 1
There is a sort of Impropriety, as I take it, in say
ing that every Order from a Minister of State comes
1 May 29, 1766, Massachusetts State Papers, p. 75.
38 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
immediately from the Crown. However, little Inac
curacies in diction are not to be regarded in a per
formance fraught with reason and sound argument :
It is rather to be wondered at that we meet with so
few Imperfections, since we are assured by his Honor
that he had taken "one Day only for his Reply" to
an Answer which he intimates cost a Committee of
the House full Eight Days hard Labor.1 Some men
are said to have intuitive knowledge ; and such have
nothing to do but write down pages of unanswerable
reasons as fast as the Ink can flow.
It was doubtless from this opinion that "every
Order from a Secretary of State comes immediately
from the King," or as his Honor elsewhere more
properly expresses it, is a * Signification of his Maj
esty's pleasure/ that he concludes it to be his Majesty's
pleasure that he should not communicate them ; for
such a prohibitory order is said to come from the
Secretary. But the House seemed to think it impos
sible that our gracious King, should hold his Subjects
to a blind obedience to Orders which they were not
permitted to see ; and therefore concluded, and as I
humbly conceive very justly, that this order in a par
ticular manner, was to be suppos'd to be an Act of
the Minister and not of the King — His Honor in
deed speaks of it with great Veneration ; and tells
them that " the restraint he is under appears to him
to be founded upon wise Reasons." But from this
alone, he could not with certainty conclude that the
Order came immediately from the King ; for it is un
doubtedly his Honor's opinion, that \he. present set of
1 Massachusetts State Papers, p. 254.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 39
Ministers are very wise men, tho' not so wise as his
Majesty ; and therefore he might take it for granted,
the Order was founded on wise reasons if it had come
from them only. But as in these times of Light and
Liberty, every man chuses to see and judge for him
self, especially in all matters which are prescribed to
him as rules of faith and practice ; it is pity his Honor
did not condescend to communicate those wise rea
sons, that the House and the People without Doors,
here and there "a transient Person" who may have a
common share of understanding, might judge whether
they appeared to them to be reasons becoming the
Wisdom of a King, or only as the House somewhere
express it, "the freaks of a capricious Minister of
State!'
If I have leisure I shall write you again. In the
mean Time, I am, Your's,
A CHATTERER.
ARTICLE SIGNED "A CHATTERER."
[Boston Gazette, August 20, 1770.]
u One of the greatest indications of Wisdom that a
Prince can show, is to converse with and have about
him virtuous and wise Men : But Princes are liable
to be deceived ; Fraudum sedes aula, was the saying
of a Philosopher who understood Courts well. — A
good Prince may suffer by employing bad Ministers
and Servants."
MESSIEURS PRINTERS,
WE are told in a late reply, that " the offices of
Attornies and Sollicitors-General have been for more
4o
THE WRITINGS OF [1770
than fifty years past filled up by persons of the highest
reputation for learning and integrity." I am apt to
think, if we look back we shall find that some of these
officers of the crown have been as deficient in learning
or integrity, or both, as we know some ministers of state
have been. The house of Representatives say, " the
province has suffer'd much by their unjust, groundless
and illegal opinions" — 2 Among other instances of
weakness or wickedness in some persons who have
filled these offices, I shall only mention one which
now occurs to my mind — There is an act of Parlia
ment which exempts seamen from an impress in
America : This act was upon several occasions urged
by the Americans, and it has been the opinion of at-
tornies and sollicitors general, at different times, that
the act was limitted to a time of war, when in truth
there was no part or clause whatever in it to justify
such opinion. — Well then may it be called a groundless
opinion ; and if groundless, will any one insist that
there was no defect in these instances in point of in
tegrity, if not of learning — Perhaps these opinions
may appear to his Honor to be founded upon wise
reasons ; but others who cannot see the force of these
reasons, have a right to think differently ; and such a
freedom is not likely to bring dishonor upon them
—It is enough for those who are dependent upon
the great for commissions, pensions, and the like, to
preach up implicit faith in the great — Others whose
minds are unfettered will think for themselves — They
will not blindly adopt the opinions even of persons
who are advanced to the first stations in the courts of
1 Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 249, 250. '* Ibid., p. 241.
i77°] SAMUEL ADAMS. 41
law and equity, any further than the reasons which
they expressly give are convincing. — They will judge
freely of every point of state doctrine, & reject with
disdain a blind submission to the authority of mere
names, as being equally ridiculous, as well as danger
ous in government and religion. — It may have been,
Messirs. Printers, too much the practice of late, for
some plantation governors, like Verres either ancient
or modern, to oppress and plague the people they
were bound to protect, and, perhaps in obedience to
" orders that have come from secretaries of state"-
These orders truly were to be treated with as profound
veneration, without the least enquiry into their nature
and tendency, as ever a poor deluded Catholic rev-
erenc'd the decree of Holy Father at Rome. — While
such a disposition prevailed, O how orderly were the
people, how submissive to government ! But when
once a statute or the constitution was pleaded, which
it was as dangerous for the people to look into, as it
would be for an Italian, after the example of the
noble Bereansy to search the scriptures, the secretary
of state was to be informed that the people were be
come rebellious ; as they said of St. Paul for preach
ing doctrines opposite to the humour of the Jewish
Masters, that he " turned the world upside down"-
The whole ministerial cabal was summoned ; opinions
were called for and taken — and however ludicrous,
to say the best of them, those opinions were, if the
people did not swallow them down as law & reason,
they were told, that the freedom they used with the
characters of great men forsooth " would bring dis
honor upon them " and standing armies were sent to
42 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
convince them of the reasonableness of these opin
ions — I confess that " too great respect cannot be paid
to the honorable part of the profession of the law," but
when state-lawyers, attorneys and sollicitors general, &
persons advanced to the highest stations in the courts
of \sw, prostitute the honor of the profession, become
tools of ministers, and employ their talents for explain
ing away, if possible the Rights of a kingdom, they
are then the proper objects of the odium and indigna
tion of the public. — A very judicious author has ob
served that " our maladies and dangers have originated
chiefly in the errors and misconduct of ministers ;
who from defect of ability or fidelity, or both, were
unequal to the wants of a kingdom : A great genius,
infinite knowledge and infinite care, says he, are
requisite to form a prime minister ; but youth and
dissipation, with the trainings of the turf and the
gaming table, will now suffice to make a man master
of the most difficult trade in the world, without learn
ing it" — Such were the men, under whose Influence
Attorneys and Sollicitors General, within these fifty
Years past, have held their places, and have even
been advanced to the highest Stations in the Courts
of Law, without any other recommendation than a
servile disposition to prostitute the Law and the
Constitution, whenever their Masters should require
it of them — Such have been the Men, from whom
Orders have come to Governors and Commanders in
Chief, civil and military in America ! And shall we
easily be persuaded to take it for granted that
suck men are incapable of abusing the high trust
reposed in them, and that Orders coming from them
i77°] SAMUEL ADAMS. 43
are always to be considered as " Significations of the
pleasure of the Sovereign. "-
Your's,
A CHATTERER.
ARTICLE SIGNED "A CHATTERER."
[Boston Gazette, August 27, 1770.]
MESSIEURS PRINTERS,
I Find in the last Monday's Evening Post,1 a Piece,
signed Probus ; the Intention of which seems to be,
at least in Part, to show that I must be " effectually
disappointed in my Attempt to convince the World
that I am a greater Scholar than the Lieutenant-
Governor of this Province" ! Now upon the Word
of a Chatterer, I declare to all my kind Readers, as
well as Hearers, that I never did make the least Pre
tension to Scholarship ; and besides, the World must
long have been so fully convinced of the " profound
Erudition " of the Lieutenant-Governor of this Pro
vince, that it would be the highest Degree of Vanity
in any Man to think of rivaling him as a Scholar. It
was obvious to common Readers that " what comes
from the King thro' his Minister, does not come im
mediately from the King" —And yet every Paper of
the 6th of August led us to think that an " Expression
in itself repugnant and absurd ", had, perhaps thro'
Inadvertency, drop't even from a learned Pen — So far
was I from "bravely attacking the Word imme
diately," or " entering into a formal Criticism," or any
1 The Boston Evening Post, published by T. & J. Fleet.
44 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
Criticism at all, that I but barely mentioned it as a
''little inaccuracy"; at the same Time making the
best Apology I could for it, by saying that as his
Honor had assured us he "had taken one Day only
for his Reply" it was rather to be wonder' d at, that
we met with so few Imperfections of that kind. But
Probus has rectify'd the Mistake, and Probus has vin
dicated the Lt. Governor of this Province as a Scholar.
-We Chatterers, Messrs. Printers, have as much
Pretension to the Character of the Gentleman, as any
such formal and grave kind of folks as Probus : But I
did not think myself under any obligation " as a Gen
tleman or an honest Man " to hunt after the Original,
and therefore I have no Acknowledgment to make to
any one for " a faulty Neglect in not seeing it before
my Publication." I suppos'd, as any one might, that
the printed Copies were agreable to the original ;
and, that our Enemies may not avail themselves of
the common Artifice, in representing the Advocates
for the People as endeavoring to deceive the public
I do again declare, that " in my Conscience I thought
the printed Copy to be genuine"; and I hereby bear
my Testimony, as far as that will go, against any
Abuse being offered to Probus, which, poor Man, he
either is, or affects to be under Apprehensions of, for
rectifying this Mistake : But as few persons beside
his Honor the Pope, lay Claim to Infallibility, upon
due Consideration it seemeth not, that I am guilty of
such high Crime and Misdeameanour, as by any Rule
in Law to be subjected to Indictment or ex officio
Information. However, I think it incumbent on you
to suffer your Readers to be advertiz'd, that instead of
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 45
immediately in his Honor's Reply to the House of Rep
resentatives, as published in your Paper of the 6th of
August, they ought to read mediately ; which may pre
vent some other Chatterer from rudely attempting to
convince the World that he is " a greater Scholar than
the Lt. Governor of this Province ; " Such an attempt
perhaps may otherwise be made at a Distance where
Probus may not have it in his Power to set right this
notable Mistake — The Word being thus restored, the
Passage will remain just as liable to the Chatterer's
Exception, notwithstanding all that Probus has said,
as if it stood as it did ; for the whole that was in
tended, was, to show, that we ought to take the
Characters of Ministers of State into Consideration,
before we conclude, as his Honor would have us, that
every Order from them comes mediately from the
Crown, or is a Signification of his Majesty's Pleasure.
There is in the same Evening Post, as well as the
Boston Post-Boy & Advertiser,1 & also in the Gazette
of Thursday last, an Advertisement wherein the same
Notice is taken of this Assault and Battery of mine
upon the Scholarship of the Lieutenant Governor of
this Province — I am sorry that my poor Publication,
which seems after all to be of no more Significancy
in their Opinion than " a Man of Straw " has given
so great Uneasiness to some of his Honor's Friends
o
-This Advertiser indirectly chargeth me with Inde
cency in " undertaking to answer a Governor's
Message." Now I did not undertake to answer a
Governor's Message ; and to speak plain, I did not
1 The Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser, published
by Mills and Hicks.
46 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
think it worth while to undertake it — I believe I am
not alone in the Opinion, that some messages might
easily be answered, & possibly each in " one Day
only ": But if I had undertaken it, where in the Name
of common sense would have been the Indecency of
it ? I know very well that it has been handed as a
political Creed of late, that the Reasoning of the
People without Doors is not to be regarded — But
every " transient Person " has a Right publickly to
animadvert upon whatever is publickly advanc'd by
any Man, and I am resolv'd to exercise that Right,
when I please, without asking any Man's Leave —
And moreover, I am free to say, that if ever a Gov
ernor's Message should happen to be below the
Attention of a Scholar, no Person can more aptly
take Notice of it, that I know of, than
A CHATTERER.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS
TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.1
[Boston Gazette, July 22, 1771: a text is printed in Papers Relating to Public
Events in Massachusetts, Philadelphia, 1856, pp. 169-177.]
PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS-BAY,
Nov. 6, 1770.
SIR,
The House of Representatives of this his Majesty's
province, having made choice of you to appear for
Attributed to Adams by Governor Hutchinson. Hutchinson to Pownall ;
Public Record Office, Domestic Geo. III., 11:25. Franklin's reply, addressed
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives under date of December
24, 1770, is in J. Bigelow, Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin vol. iv., pp.
371-373-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 47
them at the court of Great Britain, as there may be
occasion ; it is necessary that you be well informed of
the state and circumstances of the province, and the
grievances we labor under, the redress of which will
require your utmost attention and application.
You are sensible that the British parliament have
of late years thought proper to raise a revenue in
America without our consent, by divers acts made
expressly for that purpose ; The reasons and grounds
of our complaints against those acts, are so well
known and understood by you, that it is needless for
us to mention them at this time.
The measures that have been taken by the Amer
ican assemblies, to obtain the repeal of these acts,
tho' altogether consistent with the constitution, and
clearly within the bounds of the Subjects Rights, have
been nevertheless disgustful to administration ; to <
whom we have been constantly represented by the ]
servants of the crown and others on this side the /
water, in the most disagreeable and odious light.
Whether this province has been considered as hav
ing a lead among the other colonies, which they have
never affected, or whether it is because Governor
Bernard, the Commissioners of the Customs and
others, who have discovered themselves peculiarly
inimical to the Colonies, have had their residences
here, certain it is, that the resentment of government
at home has been particularly pointed against this
province : For it is notorious that we have been
charged with taking inflammatory measures, tending
to create unwarrantable combinations, to excite an
unjustifiable opposition to parliament, and revive
48 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
unhappy divisions among the Colonies ; and we have
frequently been censured as disobedient to govern
ment for parts of conduct which have been in no wise
dissimular to those which have been taken by other
colonies without the least censure or observation.
While administration appeared to have conceived
undue prejudices against us, our enemies have not
failed to take every measure to increase those preju
dices ; and particularly by representing to the King's
ministers, that a spirit of faction had so greatly and
universally prevailed among us, as that government
could not be supported, and it was unsafe for the
officers of the crown to live in the province and
execute their trusts, without the protection of a
military force : Such a force they at length obtained ;
the consequence of which was a scene of confusion &
distress for the space of seventeen months, which
ended in the J^lood and slaughter of his Majesty's
ood subjects.
It was particularly mortifying to us to see the whole
system of civil authority in the province, yielding to
this most dangerous power ; and at the very time
when the interposition of the civil magistrate was of
the most pressing necessity, to check the wanton and
bloody career of the military, the Lieutenant-Governor
himself declared, as Governor Bernard had before,
that "he had no authority over the King's troops in
the province," and his Majesty's representative in
Council became an humble supplicant for their re
moval out of the town of Boston ! What would be
the feelings of our fellow-subjects in Britain, if con
trary to their Bill of Rights, and indeed to every
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 49
principle of civil government, soldiers were posted
even in their capital, without the consent of their Par
liament ? And yet the subjects of the same Prince
in America who are entitled to the same freedom,
are compelled to submit to as great a military power
as administration shall please to order to be posted
among them in a time of profound peace, without the
consent of their assemblies ! And this military power
is allowed to trample upon the laws of the land, the
common security, without restraint ! Such an instance
of absolute uncontroul'd military tyranny must needs
be alarming, to those who have before in some meas
ure enjoy'd, and are still entitled to the blessings of a
free government, having never forfeited the character
of loyal subjects. — After the fatal tragedy of the fifth
of March, the regiments under the command of Lieut.
Colonel Dalrymple were removed from the Town of
Boston to the Barracks on Castle Island, in conse
quence of a petition from the town to the Lieutenant
Governor and his Prayer to the Colonel ; since which,
in pursuance of Instruction to the Lieut. Governor,
the garrison there in the pay of the province, is with
drawn, and a garrison of his Majesty's regular troops
placed in their stead. And although this exchange
is made ostensively by the immediate order of the
lieutenant-governor, yet it appears by the inclosed
depositions, that Col. Dalrymple in reality took the
custody and government of the fortress by order of
general Gage ; and therefore the lieutenant governor
has no longer that command, which he is vested with
by the royal charter.
We cannot help observing upon this occasion, that
VOL. II. — 4.
50 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
the instructions which have of late been given to the
governor, some of them at least, directly militate, as
in the present instance, with the charter of the pro
vince ; And these instructions are not always adapted
to promote his Majesty's service, or the good of the
people within this province, but often appear to be
solely calculated to further and execute the measures,
and enforce the laws of a different state ; by which
means his Majesty's colonies may be entirely subjected
to the absolute will of his other subjects in Great
Britain, for which there can be no pretence of right,
but what is founded in mere force. — By virtue of
their positive instructions, the general assembly of
the province has been remov'd from its ancient
establish'd and only convenient seat in Boston, and is
still obliged to hold its session at Harvard College
in Cambridge, to the great inconvenience of the
members and injury of the people, as well as detri
ment of that seminary of learning, without any reason
that can be assigned but will and pleasure : And thus
the prerogative of the King, which is a trust reposed
in him to be improved only for the welfare of his
subjects, is perverted to their manifest injury.
And what is still more grievous is, that the Gov
ernor of the province is absolutely inhibited, as we
are told, from laying before the assembly any instruc
tion, which he receives, even such as carry in them
the evident marks of his Majesty's displeasure : By
which means the House of Representatives cannot
have it in their power to obtain here, that precise
knowledge of the grounds of our Sovereign's dis
pleasure, which we are in reason and justice entitled
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 51
to, nor can the ministry be made responsible for any
measures they may advise to in order to introduce
and establish an illegal and arbitrary government
over his Majesty's subjects in the colonies. — We have
an instance of this kind now before us ; the Lt. Gov
ernor of the province having in his speech at the
opening of this session, given a dark intimation of
something intended against the province, and when
the House of Representatives earnestly desired him
to explain it, that they might have a clear understand
ing of what was intended therein, he declared as he
had before done in other like cases, that he was not
at liberty to make public or to communicate by speech
or message an order from his Majesty in council which
he had received, although in consequence thereof the
state of the province was to be laid before parliament.
By such conduct in the ministry it appears that we
may be again accus'd and censur'd by parliament as
we have heretofore been, and perhaps surfer the
greatest injury without knowing our accusers or the
matters that may be alleg'd against us.
At the same time, by an order of parliament that
the names of persons giving intelligence to the min
istry which may at any time be laid before parliament,
shall be made secret even to the members themselves,
the greatest encouragement is given to persons in
imical to the province, to send home false relations of
speeches and proceedings in public assemblies, and
elsewhere, containing injurious charges upon individ
uals as well as publick bodies : Some of which have
been transmitted home under the seal of the province,
without the least notice given to those individuals, or
52 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
any but the few in the secret to attend and cross-
examine such witnesses. Thus even parliament itself
may be misled into measures highly injurious and
destructive to the province, by the calumny and de
traction of those who are not and cannot be known,
and whose falsehoods cannot therefore be detected.
—So wretched is the state of this province, not only
to be subjected to absolute instructions, given to the
governor to be the rule of his administration, whereby
some of the most essential clauses of our charter,
vesting in him powers to be exercis'd for the good of
the people are totally rescinded, which in reality is a
state of despotism ; but also, to a standing army,
which being uncontroul'd by any authority within the
province, must soon tear up the very foundations of
civil government.
Moreover we have the highest reason to complain
that since the late parliamentary regulations of the
colonies, the jurisdiction of the court of admiralty has
been extended to so enormous a length, as itself to
threaten the very being of the constitution : By the
statute 4th Geo. 3 chap. 15, " All forfeitures and pen
alties inflicted by this or any other act of parliament
relating to the trade and plantations in America which
shall be incur'd there, may be prosecuted, sued for and
recovered in any court of admiralty in the said colo
nies." Thus a single judge, independent of the
people, and in a civil law court, is to try these extra
ordinary forfeitures and penalties without a jury :
Whereas the same statute provides, that all penalties
and forfeitures which shall be incurred in Great
Britain, shall be prosecuted, sued for and recovered in
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 53
any of his Majesty's courts of record, in Westminster
or in the court of exchequer in Scotland respec
tively. Here is the most unreasonable and unjust
distinction, made between the subjects in Britain and
America ; as tho' it were designed to exclude us from
the least share in that clause of Magna-Charta, which
has for many centuries been the noblest bulwark of
the English liberties, & which cannot be too often /
repeated ; " No freeman shall be taken or imprison'd
or disseiz'd of his freehold, or liberties, or free cus
toms, or be outlawed, or exil'd, or any otherwise de
stroyed, nor will we pass upon him nor condemn him,
but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the
land."
These are some of the insupportable grievances
which this province has long been laboring under,
and which still remain altogether unredressed : For
although they have been set forth in the clearest
manner by humble petitions to the throne, yet such
an ascendency over us have the officers of the crown
here in the minds of administration, that our com
plaints are scarcely heard ; our very petitions are
deemed factious, and .instead of obtaining any relief,
our oppressions have been more aggravated, & we
have reason to apprehend will be still increased.
For by the best intelligence from England, we are
under strong apprehensions that by virtue of an act
of parliament of the 7 Geo. 3.1 which impowers his
Majesty to appropriate a part of the revenue raised
in America, for the support of civil government, and
the administration of justice in such colonies where he
1 Chap. 46.
54 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
shall judge it necessary, administration is determined
to bestow large salaries upon the attorney-general,
judges and governor of this province ; whereby they
will be made not only altogether independent of the
people, but wholly dependent upon the ministry for
their support. These appointments will be justly ob
noxious to the other colonies, and tend to beget and
keep up a perpetual discontent among them ; for they
will deem it unjust as well as unnecessary to be
oblig'd to bear a part of the support of government
in this province, and even in the courts of law ;
especially if designs are also meditating to make other
important alterations in our Charter, by appointing
the Council from home, &c. whereby the executive
will be rendered absolute, and the legislative totally
ineffectual to any valuable purpose. The assembly
is in all reason sufficiently dependent already upon
the Crown : The one branch annually for its being,
as it is subject to the negative of the Governor ; and
both the branches for every grant and appropriation
of their money, and also for their whole defence and
security, as he is Captain-General, and has by Charter
the sole military command within the province : All
civil officers are either nominated and appointed by him
with the advice and consent of his Majesty's Council,
or if elected they are subject to his negative : And our
laws, after being consented to by his Majesty's Govern
or, are by the first opportunity from the making thereof,
to be transmitted to his Majesty for his approbation or
disallowance : Three years they are subject to the revi
sion of the crown lawyers in Britain, who may always
be strangers to our internal polity, & sometimes dis-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 55
affected to us : And at any time within the three
years, His Majesty in his privy council may, if he
thinks proper, reject them, and then they become ut
terly void. Surely the parliament of Great Britain
cannot wish for greater checks, both upon the legisla
tive and executive of a colony, unless we are to be
considered as bastards and not Sons. — A step further
will reduce us to absolute subjection. If administra
tion is resolved to continue such measures of severity,
the colonies will in time consider the mother-state as
utterly regardless of their welfare : Repeated acts of
unkindness on one side, may by degrees abate the
warmth of affection on the other, and a total aliena
tion may succeed to that happy union, harmony and
confidence, which has subsisted, and we sincerely wish
may always subsist : If Great Britain, instead of
treating us as their fellow-subjects, shall aim at mak
ing us their vassals and slaves, the consequence will
be, that although our merchants have receded from
their non-importation agreement, yet the body of the
people will vigorously endeavor to become indepen
dent of the mother-country for supplies, and sooner
than she may be aware of it, will manufacture for
themselves. The colonists, like healthy young sons,
have been chearfully building up the parent state,
and how far Great Britain will be affected, if they
should be rendered even barely useless to her, is an
object which we conceive is at this very juncture
worth the attention of a British Parliament.
Your own acquaintance with this province, and
your well known attachment to it, will lead you to
exert all your powers in its defence : And as the
56 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
Council have made choice of William Bollan, Esq ;
for their agent, you will no doubt confer with him,
and concert such measures as will promote our com
mon interest : Your abilities we greatly confide in ;
but if you shall think it for the advantage of the pro
vince to consult with and employ council learned in
the law, the importance of your agency will be a
motive sufficient for us to acquiesce in such expence
on that account, as your own judgment shall dictate
to you to be necessary.
Included are the proceedings of his Majesty's
Council of this province, upon an affidavit of Mr.
Secretary Oliver, which this House apprehend has a
tendency to make a very undue impression on the
minds of his Majesty's ministers and others, respect
ing the temper and disposition of the people, previous
to the tragical transaction of the fifth of March last :
You are therefore desired to make such use of them
as shall prevent such unhappy consequences from
taking effect.
TO STEPHEN SAYRE.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Novr 16 1770
SIR
I should before now have acknowledgd your favor
of the 5 June,2 but my being obligd to attend the
Session of the General Court for 7 weeks3 & other
1 A resident of London, and at one time sheriff ; his relations with the
colonists appear in the letters printed in this volume.
2 A copy is in S. A. Wells, Samuel Adams and the American Revolution^
vol. i., pp. 293, 294.
3 The session began September 26 and ended November 20.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 57
necessary Avocations prevented it. I return the
Letters signd Junius Americanus deliverd to me by
Mr Gary,1 by your direction to be a valueable present.
The Author has servd the American Cause in a man
ner in which I have long wishd some able pen would
have undertaken to do it by appealing to the good
Sense of the Body of the Nation. I believe the gen
eral Inclination there is to wish that we may preserve
our Liberties ; and perhaps even the Ministry could
for some Reasons find it in their hearts to be willing
that we shd be restord to the State we were in before
the passing of the Stamp Act, were it not that a Set
of detestable Men were continually writing from hence
that we shd carry our Claims still higher & there wd
be no Bounds to our Demands. I can venture to as
sure you that there is no Foundation for such Asser
tions, nor do I think they are really believd by any.
The People here are indeed greatly tenacious of their
just Rights & I hope in God they will ever firmly
maintain them. Every Attempt to enforce the plan
of Despotism will certainly irritate them; While they
have a Sense of freedom they will oppose the Efforts
of Tyranny ; and altho the Mother Country may at
present boast of her Superiority over them, she may
perhaps find the Want of that Superiority, when by
repeated provocations she shall have totally lost their
Affections. — All Good Men surely wish for a cordial
Harmony between the two Country s. Great Britain
can lose Nothing which she ought to retain by restor
ing the Americans to their former State, & they I am
1 Probably Richard Gary, of Charlestown, Mass. Letters by him are in
Papers Relating to Public Events in Massachusetts, pp. 113, 122, 124.
58 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
satisfied will no further contend ; While the Struggle
continues Manufactures will still increase in America
in spite of all Efforts to prevent it ; & how far Britain
will be injurd by it, ought certainly to be well con-
siderd on your side the Atlantick.
Our Merchants have receded from their Nonim
portation Agreement. They held it much longer
than I ever thought they would or could. It was a
grand Tryal which pressd hard upon their private In
terest. But the Landholders find it for their Interest
to manufacture and it is their happy Consideration
that while they are most effectually serving their
Country they are adding to their private fortunes.
The representatives of the people have this day agreed
to promote Manufactures in their respective Towns,
& the House have appointed a special Committee1 to
form a plan for the effectual Encouragement of Arts
Agriculture Manufactures & Commerce in this pro
vince ; & even the Administration of a Bernard could
not tend more to sharpen the Edge of resentment
which will perpetually keep alive the Spirit of Manu
factures than that which we are now blessd with. Lc
Governor Hutchinson, more plausible indeed than
Bernard, seems resolvd to push the same plan & the
people plainly see that a Change of Men is not likely
to produce a Change of Measures — so soon are the
Words of the one verified when he said of the other
that he could rely upon him as he could on himself.
Our House of Representatives have been indued
to do Business this Session, against their former re
monstrances, principally from a Necessity which they
1 On November 16 ; Samuel Adams was a member of the committee.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 59
apprehended they were under of attending to what
ml be doing on your Side the Water. They ac
cordingly chose an Agent. I gave my Suffrage with
about a third part of the House, for Dr Lee — but Dr
Franklin being personally known to many of the
Members had the preference — both the Gentlemen
were highly spoken of in the House, & afterwards
Dr Lee was appointed to the Trust, by a very full
vote in Case of the Death or Absence of Dr Franklin.
Our State Tryals as we may call them have at length
come on. Preston is acquitted by a Jury ! l It is to
be remarkd that the Baker of the Regiment, who in
deed wd have had himself excusd, and three others
were put on as Talesmen Preston having challengd
Eighteen. One of the three was a known Intimate
of Prestons and another had declared before that if
he was to be of the Jury he wd sit till Doomsday
before he wd consent to a Verdict agl him. Evidence to
prove that the Soldiers were the Aggressors of which
there was plenty was not admitted. The main Ques
tion was whether he orderd the Men to fire — diverse
persons swore positively that he did, but they differing
about the Circumstance of his Dress, & others swear
ing, one that he was very near him & did not hear
him give the orders, & others that some other person
unknown gave them, operated, in his favor. But no
Weight that I can learn was given, to full proof that
he led the Soldiers armd with loaded Musquets &
Bayonets. This he had a Right, nay it was his Duty
to do, because the Centinel was in Danger & we must
1 The stenographic report of Preston's trial was sent to England, but never
published in America. Works of John Adams, vol. ii., p. 236.
60 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
presume the People were the Aggressors. This Prin
ciple I suppose will clear the Soldiers whose Tryals
begin on Tuesday next.1 Richardson who was con
victed of the Murder of young Snider so long ago
as March, remains unhangd, the Court not having
yet determind upon his Motion for another Tryal.
You may easily observe that we have catchd the im
partial Spirit of the Kings friends, a synonimous term
for friends of Gov1 here, from the Mother Country.
I had not the opportunity of attending Prestons
Tryal, but am in hopes of having a minute Acco' of it
from a sensible Gentleman who was present — if I can
obtain it I will write you more precisely upon the
Subject.
Before I conclude I must mention to you that the
Minister has taken a Method which in my Opinion
has a direct tendency to set up a despotism here, or
rather is the thing it self — and that is by sending In
structions to the Governor to be the rule of his Ad
ministration & forbiding him as the Govr declares to
make them known to us, the Design of which may be
to prevent his ever being made responsible for any
measures he may advise in order to introduce & estab
lish arbitrary power over the Colonies. Mr Hutchin-
son has pushd this point with all the Vigour of Bernard,
which has occasiond warm messages between him &
the Assembly as you may observe in the Boston
Gazette for several Weeks past. But of this I shall
be more particular in my next.
1 The Trial of the British Soldiers of the 2gth Regiment of Foot was
published at Boston in 1770, 1807 and 1824, and was reprinted in History of
the Boston Massacre, Albany, 1870, pp. 123-285.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 61
I shall be proud of an epistolary Correspondence
with you, and with Dr Lee to whom tho personally
unknown to him I beg you wd make my Compliments.
I am with strict truth.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE LIEUTENANT-
GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS.1
[Journal of the House of Representatives, 7770-7777, p. 175 ; the text is also
in Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts, vol. v., p. 348.]
November 20, 1770.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOR,
The House of Representatives have heretofore
view'd with Concern the deplorable State of the Mili
tia of this Province. But have hitherto refrained from
any public mention of it least some Misconstruction
should be put upon it.
But by the last Advices from Great-Britain, the
Nations of Europe appear to be upon the Eve of a
general War ; and perhaps America may be the Object
in the Eye of some of those Nations.
And when some of the Regiments within this Pro
vince are destitute of Field-Officers, and many Com
panies without Captains or Subalterns, the Arms of
the Militia we fear are deficient, and military Dis
cipline too much neglected.
Duty to his Majesty, and a Regard to our own Safety
constrain us to Address your Honor, praying that you
1 On November 19, 1770, Samuel Adams was appointed a member of a com
mittee to draft a message to the Lieutenant Governor with reference to the
vacancies in the militia. On the following day Adams reported to the House
a draft, which was accepted.
62 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
would be pleased (as soon as may be) to fill up the
Vacancies in the several Regiments (wherever such
Vacancies are) with such Persons as to your Honor
shall seem meet : And that your Honor would be
pleased to use your Endeavours that the several
Officers carefully Discharge the Trust reposed in them.
And should any Amendments in, or Addition to the
Laws for regulating the Militia of this Province be
thought needful, at the next Session of the General
Court the House of Representatives will chearfully
do all in their Power towards putting the Militia on a
respectable Footing.
ARTICLE SIGNED "A TORY."
[Boston Gazette, November 26, 1770.]
I HAVE thought of several things that have taken
place since the present a n l began, which must
needs have given sensible pleasure to every friend of
this province, and possibly were alluded to in a late
pr n.2 — In the first place, the friends of govern
ment have so far prevailed against the faction, as to
get the non-importation plan broke thro', which had
for so long time embarrassed the Ministry in their
laudable efforts to Establish A Revemie in the colonies.
The consequence of this, it is hoped, will be, that the
worthy Commissioners of the customs will be con
tinued ; and the troops which have so eminently pro
tected the lives, and reformed the morals of the people,
1 Administration. 2 Proclamation.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 63
will be reinstated ; so that the well-affected may enjoy
their places and Pensions without molestation from
the vulgar. In the next place, our Castle- William is
taken out of the hands of the rude natives, and put
under the government of regular forces ; this was
an admirable manoeuvre, which has occasioned the
highest joy in the friends of government, (thank his
- for it) and in proportion damp'd the spirits of
the faction. And then, such a grand appearance of
tall ships of war in our capital harbour, which were
certainly designed to show us the marks of the great
est respect, (for what other end could the wise minis
try have had in view) and may serve to make up for
the loss of troops, if we should unfortunately not be
favoured with more ! — There is also the advantage
which his H— — r the Lt. G r must reap from
some late instructions, which, no doubt, " are founded
in wise reasons," whereby the great defects in our
Charter, which the friends of government have been
long complaining of, may be supply'd. — I might men
tion also, a late remarkable deliverance from death
and danger, (blessed a-m— — n !) for it would have
been a great discouragement to the efforts of govern
ment. — But no more — these may be thought to be
matters of great thankfulness, and may suitably em
ploy our minds at the approaching solemnity.
Your's
A TORY.
CAMBRIDGE, Nov. 20, 1770.
64 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
TO PETER TIMOTHY.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Novr 21 1770
SIR
Ever since I recd your favr of Sept 22 2 I have
been incessantly employd in the Gen1 Assembly
which met agr cable to Instructions at Harfvard]
Coll[ege] in Cam[bridge]. This I hope will be some
Apology for my not acknowleging it before.
I had recd a Letter from Mr John Neufville Chair
man of the Com6 of Merchts in Charlestown, inclosing
Letters for the Sons of Liberty in Boston Connecti-
cutt & N Hampshire. The two last of which I for
warded as soon as possible to such Gentn in the
respective places as I judgd worthy so excellent a
Character. That which was directed for Boston I
unseald, professing my self a Son of Liberty but found
it was designd for the Trade, with whom I was not con
nected, but as an Auxiliary in their Nonimportation
Agreement. I therefore deliverd it to the Chairman
of the Com6 here, and it was read with very great
Approbation, in a large Meeting of the Body of
the people. I desire you wd make my Compts and
Apology to Mr Neufville. I verily believd that the
Com6 of Merchants had duly honord his Letter by
returning an Answer to it, as they had orderd it to
be publishd in our news papers ; and I candidly
suppose they had the same Expectation from me
which may be the occasion that the Letter remaind
unanswerd.
1 Of Charleston, South Carolina.
2 Asking why an earlier letter of the Charleston committee had not been an
swered. A copy of Timothy's letter is in S. A. Wells, Samuel Adams and the
American Revolution, vol. i., p. 292.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 65
The Nonimportation Agreem1 since the Defection
of New York is entirely at an end. From the Be-
gining I have been apprehensive it wd fall short of
our Wishes. It was continued much beyond my Ex
pectation : There are here & I suppose every where,
men interrested enough to render such a plan abor
tive. Thro the Influence of the Com6 & Tories
here, Boston has been made to appear in an odious
Light ; but I wd not have you believe it to be the
true Light. The Merchts in general have punctually
abode by their Agreem', to their very great private
loss ; Some few have found means to play a dishonor
able Game without Detection, tho the utmost pains
have been taken. The Body of the people remaind
firm till the Merchts receded. I am very sorry that
the Agreem1 was ever enterd into as it has turnd
out ineffectual. Let us then ever forget that there
has been such a futile Combination, & awaken our
Attention to our first grand object. Let the Colonies
still convince their implacable Enemies, that they are
united in constitutional Principles, and are resolvd
they will not be Slaves ; that their Dependance is not
upon Merchts or any particular Class of men, nor is
their dernier resort, a resolution barely to withhold
Commerce, with a nation that wd subject them to des
potic Power. Our house of reps [sic] have appointed
a Corn6 to correspond with our friends in the other
Colonies,1 & AMERICAN MANUFACTURES shd be the
constant Theme.
Our young men seem of late very ambitious of
making themselves masters of the art MILITARY.
1 Consisting of Samuel Adams, John Adams, Hancock, Hall and Gushing ;
appointed November 7, 1770.
VOL. II. — 5.
66 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
TO STEPHEN SAYRE.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON 23 Novr 1770
SIR
Capt Scott being detaind by a contrary Wind, and
the General Assembly being now prorogud,1 I have an
Opportunity of writing in Addition to my Letter of
the 1 6 Inst1 & by the same Conveyance.
As soon as I heard of the Death of our worthy
Friend Mr De Berdt, I was determind, if the House
should come to the Choice of an Agent, to give my
Vote for yourself ; and I was confirmd in my Resolu
tion when I found by your Letter of the 5 June 2 that
such an Appointm1 would be agreable to you. But
being afterwards told by a Friend of yours that you
were desirous yourself that Dr Lee might be chosen,
which by no means lessened my Opinion of your
Merit, & having also a great Opinion of Dr Lee, I
thought myself happy in a Conclusion that your In
clination perfectly coincided with my own Judgment.
At the same time, such was my Opinion of your hon
est Zeal for the Rights of America and of your Ability
to defend them that I could with equal Satisfaction
have voted for Mr Sayer. I am perfectly of your
Opinion that no man shd be the object of our Choice
who holds any place at the Will of the present Admin
istration ; how far the House have been influencd by
this Principle you are able to judge.
1 The prorogation, on November 20, was until January 23, 1771; the next
session actually began April 3, 1771.
2 Delivered by Richard Gary. A copy is in S. A. Wells, Samuel Adams and
the American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 293, 294.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 67
You will observe by the inclosd papers, to how
great a degree ministerial Instructions are enforcd
here. They not only prescribe to the Assembly which
ought to be free the forms of Legislation in the most
essential Parts, but even annihilate the Powers of the
Govr vested in him by Charter.1 Could it possibly be
imagind that a man who is bone of our Bone, & flesh
of our flesh — who boasts that his Ancestors were of
the first Rank & figure in the Country, who has had
all the Honors lavishly heapd upon him which his
Fellow Citizens had it in their power to bestow, who
with all the Arts of personal Address professes the
strongest Attachm1 to his native Country & the most
tender feeling for its Rights. Could it be imagind that
such a Man shd be so lost to all sense of Gratitude
& publick Love, as to aid the Designs of despotick
power for the sake of rising a single step higher.
"Who would not weep if such a Man there be
Who would not weep if H n were he."
Aut C<zsar aut nulhis, is inscribd on the Hearts
of some Men who have neither Caesars Learning nor
Courage. Caesar three times refusd the Crown ; His
Heart & his Tongue evidently gave each other the
Lye. Our modern Great Man, would fain have it
thought that he has refusd a Government, which his
Soul is every day panting after & without the Pos
session of which his Ambition & Lust of Power will
perpetually torment him.
The Intelligence in Your Letter of the 18 Septr
which I have just now with pleasure receivd, does not
1 At this point the words " Good God ! " are crossed out.
68 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
at all surprize me — " His former Letters" "wrote
before Bernard embarkd for England" "have been
equally oppugnant to the Form of your Gov'" — And
yet this very Man gives out, that in six months, the
Province will be convincd that his Letters are written
in defence of our Charter ! So I remember Bernard
himself, not long before his own Letters returnd, de-
clard to both Houses of Assembly, that if he was at
Liberty to make publick the Letters he had written
to the several Boards in favor of the Province, his
Enemies wd blush. — Why does not this Man make
his Letters publick ? Would not a Roman Senator
have seizd the opportunity of appeasing the Jealousys
of the angry Citizens ? But the Body of the people
are contemptible.1 This People who know not the
Law are accursed, said a haughty Jewish priest. It
has been his Principle from a Boy, that Mankind are
to be governd by the discerning few — and it has ever
since been his Ambition to be the Hero2 of the few.
I have long since been of your Opinion that few
great Men in Britain are entitled to an American Con
fidence — They will all in their Turns clamour for us
while it is their Interest so to do. — It is the Business
of America to take Care of herself — her salvation as
you justly observe depends upon her own Virtue.
Arts & Manufactures aided by Commerce have raised
Great Britain to its present Pitch of Grandeur. Amer
ica will avail herself by imitating her. We have already
seen her troops and as we have a Prospect of a War
1 Before alteration, this sentence read : " But the Body of the people are too
contemptible to be favord with a Sight of them."
2 Originally "Head."
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 69
I hope I may safely tell you that our young Men begin
to be ambitious of making themselves perfect Masters
of the Art military. Amidst the innumerable Evils
which we complain of from the bad policy of your
Ministry, this is the happy Effect of Britains
transplanting her Arms into America.
TO JOSIAH WILLIAMS.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text, with variations, is in W.
V. Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, vol. i., pp. 341, 342.]
BOSTON Novr 23 1770
MY DEAR SR
When you embarkd for London I promisd you
I would write by the next Ship. I did not write — but
it was owing to incessant Avocations at Cambridge &
not to an unmindfulness of my promise or a Want of
Inclination to fulfil it. I hope ere now you are safe
arrivd. You are then a Sojourner in one of the most
opulent and most luxurious Cities in the World.
Musick is your dear Delight — there your taste will
be improvd. But I fear that Discord will too often
discompose you, and the rude Clamors against your
Country will vex you. I rely upon it that your own
good Sense will dictate to you that which will suffi
ciently vindicate your Country against foul Aspersion
whenever you may meet with it ; and I cannot enter
tain the least Doubt but you are possessd with all
that patriotick Zeal which will for ever warm the
Breast of an ingenuous young Gentleman. Such a
Zeal temperd with a manly Prudence will render you
70 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
respectable in political Circles of Men of Sense. I
am sure you will never condescend to be a Compan
ion of Fools. After telling you what I know will be
agreable to you, that your friends are well, you must
allow me to plead haste & conclude at present with
my best Wishes for your Prosperity.
ARTICLE SIGNED "A CHATTERER."
[Boston Gazette, December 3, 1770.]
We should all remember that British America was well affected to
the nation till MINISTERIAL INNOVATIONS occasioned these
Difficulties. Anon.
Instead of submitting to MINISTERIAL GUIDANCE, they seem so
far led away by common Sense, and their Regard for the
common Welfare, that they have no Reverence for the IN
STRUCTIONS and REFINEMENTS of our Ministers. Ibid.
Messieurs PRINTERS,
SOME time ago I took the liberty of making a few
remarks in my poor manner, upon a Speech deliver'd
at the close of a session of the General Assembly :
I then thought, and still think that I had ' good
right and lawful authority so to do, notwithstanding
the rebuke which the venerable Mr. Probus 1 then
"thought fit" to give me. In imitation of some of
my brethren, I solemnly warned my readers, by way
of application, of the danger of certain Instructions,
or as they were term'd, "ministerial mandates" we
had about that time been told of ; which appear'd to
me to be equal to that of revenue acts, or standing
1 See above, p. 43.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 71
armies to enforce them: I little thought that these
instructions, or mandates, call them what you will,
would in their effects have made so rapid a progress,
in so short a time, as I find they have since the present
administration began : For I perceive that our house
of representatives have plainly told the Lt. Governor
that " merely in obedience to instructions, he has
made an absolute surrender of Castle William to his
Majesty's forces, with a most express resignation of
his power of garrisoning the same to Lt. Col. Dal-
rymple": and to prove it they recite his Honor's
orders under his own hand, to Capt. Phillips, to de
liver that Fort into the hands of the commanding
officer of his Majesty's regular forces then upon the
island, to be garrison d by such detachment as he
should order \ To this indeed his honor says, " There
is nothing in the orders which I gave to Capt.
Phillips, which does not perfectly consist with my
retaining the command of the Castle, and my right to
exchange the present garrison for the former or any
other, as I shall think proper": But I must confess,
it is mysterious to me, how his Honor can retain the
Right to dismiss Col. Dalrymple and his detachment,
when he pleases, or exchange the present garrison for
any other as he shall think proper, after having de
livered the fort without any reservation, into the
hands of Col. Dalrymple, in consequence of express
orders from another, to be garrison'd by such detach
ment as he shall order. I am not so certain that his
Honor, who pays a sacred regard to instructions, will
easily be perswaded to exchange the present garrison
for the former, or any other, however necessary such
72 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
exchange may be, without first having leave from the
right Hon. the Earl of Hillsborough, as full and
express as the orders he receiv'd from his lordship to
place the present garrison there — Others may recon
cile an absolute delegation of power without any re
serve, by the express orders of a superior, with a right
retain'd in the person who is thiis order d to delegate,
to exercise the same power when he pleases ; I have
not that intuitive knowledge which some men are said
to be bless'd with, and therefore it will not be thought
strange if I do not see clearly through this mystery
in Politics. — The house further observe, that " as
his Honor has heretofore repeatedly declared that
he has no authority over the King's troops in the
province,1 it was absurd to suppose he could have the
command of a fort, thus unreservedly surrendered to,
and in full possession of such troops " : Which ap
pears to be a just conclusion ; for can any one believe
that Col. Dalrymple will hold himself oblig'd to
march the King's troops under his command out of
that fort, in obedience to the orders of one who
has no authority over them ? Think not, Mess.
Printers, that I am now finding fault : For if his
Honor has " in this instance divested himself of a
power of governing which is vested in him by the
Charterer the safety of the province ", as wiser heads
than mine have determin'd, who WILL DARE to
find fault? It was done by virtue of instructions;
and we are told that instructions from a minister of
1 The identical words used by that warm friend to this province, the
colonies, the nation and all men but himself, Sir F. B. of Nettleham,
Baronet.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 73
state come mediately from the K , and his Honor
knows that instructions, whatever " coarse epithet "
may have been bestow'd upon them, are " founded in
very wise reasons ", and ought not to be treated with
contempt — HOLT, SOMERS and others, who near eighty
years ago laid their heads together to form our
Charter, were certainly wise and great men ; and
King William who gave it was as certainly a wise
and good King : But does not the wisdom of my
Lord of H— — h far exceed theirs? Pray, does
not every measure which he has advis'd, fully evince
this to the conviction of all but a few factious fel
lows here and there. The friends of government are
willing to submit what judgment they have to such
profound wisdom ; and what if our old fashion
Charter should be pared down by instructions, and
a power or two of the G r, vested in him for
the safety of the people, should even be annihilated
by them, we are only to believe there are very wise
reasons for it, and we shall find that all is for the
best.
But it is said that " Mr. Hall the late chaplain
(whose deposition was also taken) has not only not
given the House the form of words in which his
Honor committed the ciistody of the Castle " accord
ing to the Charter " to Col. Dalrymple, but has sub
stituted words which carry a very different meaning."
—It is strange that Mr. Hall, whom his Honor di
rected to attend him — I suppose as a witness — should
so grosly mistake the meaning of the words. But
whatever he may lack in comprehension, memory or
veracity, he shall, if he likes it, be touch'd up with the
74 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
reputation of a very modest kind of gentleman ; "he
has with great modesty declared that he could not
recollect the words " — Mr. Hall's expression is, " Per
haps I may not recollect the words exactly " ; — and
" could only recollect the impression they made upon
his mind" — Here again we find Mr. Hall's expression
to be, " This as far as I can recollect is the impres
sion they made upon my mind." He spoke upon
memory, and if he delivered the substance of what he
heard, his not being certain that he recollected the
words exactly, is not material — What then is the sub
stance as deliver'd by Mr. Hall under oath, who has
the character both of an honest and a sensible man,
altho' it is said that he substituted words which con
vey a very different meaning ? It is this ; " By virtue
of authority deriv'd from his Majesty to govern this
province, and in consequence of express orders from
the Right Hon. the Earl of Hillsborough to deliver
this fort into the hands of the commanding officer of
the King's troops now upon the island to be gar-
rison'd by such detachment or detachments as he shall
think proper I deliver these keys to you as command
ing officer". If his Honor has a copy of the exact
form of words, and will favor the publick with it, we
shall be able to judge where the difference is, and
whether " in our opinion " it is material. Perhaps
the words "according to the Charter" which I ob
serve are comma'd in his Honor's reply as emphati-
cal, are omitted by Mr. Hall : But if they are a part
of the form of words, the house seem to have fully
taken them up by affirming that his Honor has no
authority either by the Charter or his commission to
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 75
delegate the power of garrisoning the Castle to any
other person : And "that the shew of the authority
of the Governor thus held up serv'd only to make the
surrender the more solemn and formal." If then he
had no such authority to do it either by Charter or
Commission, how could he do it by virtue of the
authority deriv'd from his Majesty to govern the
province ? unless that authority is deriv'd to him to
govern, solely by the "express orders from the Rt.
Hon. the Earl of Hillsborough " — If so, where in
deed " is the freedom of the Governor of this pro
vince " : I desire to know, how his Honor in delivering
the keys of the Castle and the power of garrisoning it
to Col. Dalrymple, can be suppos'd to have exercis'd
his own judgment and election, when he declares he
did it in consequence of express orders from another ?
And that other does not appear to be his Majesty,
but the Right Hon. the Earl of Hillsborough — The
whole matter that could exercise his judgment, as it
appears to me, must have been whether he should de
liver the fort to Col. Dalrymple to be garrison'd by
such detachment of the regular forces as he should
think proper, in obedience to the express orders of
Lord Hillsborough, or retain the Right of committing
the custody and government thereof to such person
or persons as to him should seem meet, by virtue of
the authority deriv'd from his Majesty to govern
the province according to the express terms of the
Charter.
I may venture to say, there has not been an instance
of this kind since the date of our Charter ; and in the
opinion of judicious and unprejudiced persons, it is a
76 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
matter of very great moment. Our enemies may
now have the pleasure of seeing the principal fort &
key of the province in the hands of persons who have
not the least dependance upon it ; the capital en-
viron'd with ships of war ; the General Assembly re
moved from its ancient seat, into the country ; and
the College, which has been liberally supported by the
people for the education of our youth, has been made
a seat of government, under a pretence, as it is said,
of a prerogative in the Crown, to take up any public
buildings ; — All by virtue of instructions, which we
are implicitly to believe are founded in wise reasons ;
while the people thro'out the province, whether they
are sensible of it or not, are every day contributing to
a revenue rais'd by the act of a legislature in which
they are not and cannot be represented, and against
their most earnest petitions and warmest remon
strances ! Surely these are not the blessings of
adm n for which we are this week to return to Al
mighty God our unfeigned thanks.
When the public observe that the House had
ordered Mr. Hall's deposition to be published at
large, and that his Honor was didy notified to be
present at the caption, perhaps it may be thought
that the mention that is made of the " care industri
ously taken by the House to omit the reserve" Mr.
Hall had made, because it " did not suit their pur
pose ", might have been spared. Its not suiting their
purpose, might be a sufficient reason for their omitting
it: But possibly his Honoris manner of introducing
it, may be taken by some " to convey a very different
meaning."
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 77
As to " the formality of delivering the keys of the
fort," I suppose it to have been in much the same
form of words, as is used, when a governor who is re
called, delivers them to another who is to succeed
him in the government of the province by his Ma
jesty's appointment. — Col. Dalrymple accepted them
" in consequence of orders from General Gage," with
out recognizing any subordination to his Honor.
Whether he will ever deliver them to any person, but
such as may claim more authority over the King's
troops in the province than the Lieutenant Governor
has, I very much doubt. — You shall hear from me
again.—
In the mean while, I am yours,
A CHATTERER.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, December 10, 1770.]
To the PRINTERS,
THE trial of Capt. Preston and the Soldiers who
were indicted for the murder of Messrs. Gray, Ma
verick, Caldwell, Carr and Attucks, on the fatal fifth
of March last, occasions much speculation in this
Town : And whatever may be the sentiments of
men of the coolest minds abroad, concerning the issue
of this trial, we are not to doubt, but the Court, l the
Jury, the Witnesses, and the Council on both sides,
have conscienciously acquitted themselves : To be
1 The published report, cited above, p. 60, contains the charge to the jury as
given only by Judge Trowbridge and Judge Oliver. All that is extant of Judge
Lynde's charge to the jury is printed in The Diaries of Benjamin Lynde and of
Benjamin Lynde, Jr., pp. 228-230.
7 8 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
sure, no one in his senses will venture to affirm the
contrary.
I am free to declare my opinion, that a cause of so
great importance, not only to this town, but to all his
Majesty's subjects, especially to the inhabitants of
cities and sea-port towns ; who are expos'd to have
troops posted among them, whenever the present ad
ministration shall take it into their heads in his Ma
jesty's name to send them ; such a cause, I say, ought
to be fairly stated to the public ; that we may from
thence learn how far we are bound to submit to every
band of soldiers we may meet with in the streets, and
in what instances we may venture to interpose and
prevent their murdering those whom we may think to
be innocent persons without being liable to be cen
sured for acting unlawfully, if we escape with our
lives, or charg'd with bringing our blood on our own
heads, if we should fall victims to their rage and
cruelty.
It was a question put by the chief magistrate of
this province to the officer who commanded on that
bloody evening, " Did you not know that you should
not have fired without the order of a civil magis
trate ". And it was sworn in court in the case of
Capt. Preston, that he answered, " I did it to save my
Sentry " : But whatever his answer was, or however
" unsatisfactory " to his Honor, the question plainly
implies that it was the judgment of his Honor, that
the soldiers could not justify themselves in firing
upon the people without the order of the civil magis
trate. Yet they did fire without such orders, and
killed five of his Majesty's good subjects ; most,
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 79
if not all of whom were at that time, for aught that
has yet appear'd, in the peace of God and the King !
They not only fired without the orders of the civil
magistrate, but they never called for one, which they
might easily have done — They went down of their
own accord, arm'd with musquets, and bayonets fix'd,
presuming that they were cloath'd with as much au
thority by the law of the land, as the Posse Comita-
tus of the county with the high sheriff at their head —
How little regard is due to the word of a m — r, who
who would fain have flatter'd us into a belief that the
troops were sent here to aid the civil magistrate, and
were never to act without one ? And let me observe,
how fatal are the effects, the danger of which I long ago
mention'd, of posting a standing army among a free
people !
If his Honor was not mistaken in his judgment,
and I presume he was not, viz. that it was unlawful
for them to fire without the order of the civil magis
trate, they were certainly from the beginning, at least
very imprudent and fool-hardy, in going down, arm'd
as they were, with weapons of death, without the
direction of the civil magistrate ; especially, if they
intended to fire, if they should judge there should be
occasion for it, as I think it is manifest they did.—
When Captain Preston was asked, Whether the sol
diers intended to fire, he answer'd they could not fire
without his orders : No one will pretend that they
had not strength or skill to pull their trickers ; but by
the rules of the army, their own rules, they were re
strained from firing till he first gave them orders :
Yet contrary to those very rules they all did fire ; all
8o THE WRITINGS OF [1770
but one, and he did all he could to fire, for his gun
flush'd in the pan — it is said that when it was urg'd
by the council for the crown, that by the rules of law
they ought to have retreated if they were in danger
of their lives ; it was answered, that by the rules of
the army they were chain'd as it were to their post-
that they dared not to retreat without the orders of
their captain — that in so doing they would have * ex-
pos'd themselves to a sentence of death in a court
martial :' — Yet we have it from great authority that
they would have been distracted if they had not fired,
upon a supposition that they were in danger ; altho'
by the same rules of war they could not have fired
any more than they could have retreated, till the cap
tain order'd them ; and they expos'd themselves to
be shot by the sentence of a court martial if they did
fire, as much as they would have done if they had
retreated without his order — Certainly it will not be
said, it was more becoming the bravery of a British
soldier, to stand his ground against the subjects of
his own King, and kill them upon the spot, than to
have retreated and deserted the glorious cause, and
thus have saved the lives of his Majesty's subjects.
The behavior of the party as they went from the
main guard discover'd an haughty air — they push'd
their bayonets and damn'd the people as they went
along — and when they arriv'd at their post, one wit
ness who is a young gentleman of a liberal education
and an unspotted character, declared, that when they
came down there were about ten persons round the
sentry — that one of the prisoners whom he particu
larly named, loaded his gun, pushed him with his
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 81
bayonet and damn'd him — that about fifty or sixty
persons came down with the party, and that he did
not observe the people press on. Another declared,
that when the soldiers were loading, about a dozen
surrounded them, and that several of them struck
their guns — that he saw ice or snow balls thrown, but
did not apprehend himself or the soldiers in danger
by any thing he saw — This witness was very near the
soldiers ; and will any one wonder, that when the sol
diers were to all appearance meditating the death of
people by loading their guns, while there was no ap
parent danger to them, some of the people should
strike their guns, to prevent the mischief which they
seem'd to be resolv'd upon.
Another declared, that one of the prisoners whom
he also named, struck him upon the arm with his
bayonet as the party came down before they formed ;
and that he had then told Capt. Preston that every
body was about dispersing — The characters of these
witnesses will not be contested. Such a conduct
surely did not discover the most peaceable disposi
tion in this lawful assembly of soldiers — One would
think that they intended to assassinate those, who
they had no reason to think had the least inclination
to injure them — If these are not instances of assault,
I know not what an assault is : And if they were not
an unlawful assembly before, it may well be suppos'd
they were at this time doing an unlawful act — an act
that to be sure very ill became gentlemen soldiers sent
here to curb a rebellious spirit and keep the peace :
But there is a colouring at hand ; and because this
party did not knock a witness down, or run him thro',
VOL. II. — 6.
82 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
who had the audacity to refuse at their sovereign
order to move out of the way for them as they pass'd
the street from the main guard to the custom-house,
tho' he had then been push'd with a bayonet by one
of them, it is sufficient to convince all the world of
their lamb-like meekness and immaculate innocence.
I have in a former paper consider'd soldiers when
quarter'd in free cities, in the light of other inhabi
tants, under the same direction of the civil magistrate
and the same controul of the law of the land : and
that by this law, like all other men, they are to be
protected, govern'd, restrain'd, rewarded or punish'd.
If then a soldier has the right in common with other
men, to arm himself for his defence when he thinks
there is a necessity for it, he has certainly no more
right than they, to use his weapons of death at ran
dom ; or at all under a pretence of suppressing riots,
or any other pretence, without the presence of the
civil magistrate, unless his own life is in danger, and
he cannot retreat : Such a liberty would tend to in
crease the disorder rather than suppress it, and would
endanger life rather than save it : In the instances I
have mention'd, the lives of the soldiers were not in
danger from the men whom they assaulted : This
was early in the tragical scene, and it was an assault
personally upon those who had not attempted to do
them- the least injury : How far their lives were in
danger afterwards, and who were in fault, shall be the
subject of free Enquiry in a future paper.
VINDEX.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 83
ARTICLE SIGNED " VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, December, 17, 1770.]
To the PRINTERS.
THAT the trial of the soldiers concern'd in the car
nage on the memorable 5th of March, was the most
solemn trial that ever was had in this country, was
pronotmc'd from the bench. To see eight prisoners
bro't to the bar together, charg'd with the murder of
five persons at one time, was certainly, as wras then
observ'd, affecting : But whoever recollects the trag
edy of that fatal evening, will I believe readily own
that the scene then was much more affecting — There
is something pleasing and solemn when one enters
into a court of law — Pleasing, as there we expect to
see the scale held with an equal hand — to find mat
ters deliberately and calmly weigh'd and decided, and
justice administered without any respect to persons
or parties, and from no other motive but a sacred
regard to truth — And it is solemn as it brings to our 1
minds the tribunal of GOD himself ! before whose
judgment-seat the scriptures assure us all must ap
pear : And I have often tho't that no one will receive
a greater share of rewards at that decisive day, than
he who has approv'd himself a faithful upright judge.
Witnesses who are bro't into a court of justice,
while their veracity is not impeach'd, stand equal in
the eye of the judge ; unless he happens to be
acquainted with their different characters, which is
not presum'd — The jury who are taken from the
vicinity, are suppos'd to know the credibility of the
witnesses : In the late trials the witnesses were most
84 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
if not all of them either inhabitants of this town
or transient persons residing in it, and the jurors
were all from the country : Therefore it is not likely
that they were acquainted with the characters of all
the witnesses ; and it is more than probable that in
so great a number of witnesses there were different
characters, that is, that some of them were more,
others less creditable. If then the judge, whose prov
ince it is to attend to the law, and who, not knowing
the characters of the witnesses, presumes that they
are all good, & gives an equal credit to them, it
is the duty of the jurors who are sovereign in regard
to facts, to determine in their own minds the credi
bility of those who are sworn to relate the facts :
And this in a trial for murder requires great care and
attention. I would just observe here, that in the last
trial there were not less than eighty-two witnesses for
the jury to examine and compare, which was an ar
duous task indeed ! And I will venture further to
observe, that some of these witnesses who swore very
positively were not so creditable as others, and the
testimony of one of them in particular, which was
very precisely related & very peremptory, might
have been invalidated in every part of it. I shall not
at present suggest what I take to be the reason why
it was not done. These matters will no doubt have
their place in the history of the present times in some
future day, when the faithful recorder it is to be
hoped will, to use the language of our courts of
justice, relate the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth.
It is enough for the jury to receive the law from
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 85
the bench : They may indeed determine this for
themselves ; but of facts they are ever the uncon-
troulable judges. They ought therefore to receive
the facts from the mouths of the witnesses them
selves, and implicitly from no other : Unless the jury
particularly attend to this, they may be in danger
of being misled by persons who would be far from
doing it with design : For instance, if one should
swear that A being forewarn'd against it, levell'd his
gun and kill'd B : and afterwards it should be forgot,
that the witness also swore that A immediately ad-
vanc'd & push'd his bayonet at C, which pass'd be
tween his waistcoat and his skin ; if this I say should
be forgot, and should be overlook'd by the jury when
they are together, perhaps instead of bringing it in
murder according to the rules of the law laid down
by the bench, they would bring it in manslaughter—
I do not here affirm that this has ever been a fact :
I mention it as what may hereafter be a fact, and to
show the necessity of a jury's relying upon facts as
they receive them from the witnesses themselves, and
from them alone.
The furor brevis which we have heard much of,
the fury of the blood which the benignity of the law
allows for upon sudden provocation, is suppos'd to
be of short duration — the shooting a man dead upon
the spot, must have stopp'd the current in the breast ^./>
of him who shot him, if he had not been bent upon
killing — an attempt to stab a second person imme
diately after, infers a total want of remorse at the
shedding of human blood ; and such a temper of
mind afterwards discovers the rancorous malice be-
86 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
fore, especially if it be proved that the same man had
declared that he would never miss an opportunity so
to do : If this does not imply malice at first, I do
not see but he might have gone on stabbing people
in his furor brevis, till he had kill'd an hundred ; and
after all, it might have been adjudg'd, in indulgence
to the human passions, excuseable homicide.
The law in its benignity makes allowance for hu
man passions': But the law is just ; and makes this
allowance upon the principle of justice : It gives no
indulgence to malice and rancour against any indi
vidual ; much less against a community or the human
species — He who threatens or thirsts for the blood of
'. the community is an enemy to the publick ; and hostis
humani generis, the enemy of mankind consummates
the villain. I will not take upon myself to say that
either of these characters belong to any of the late
prisoners — There are two remaining yet in gaol, con
victed of manslaughter, and waiting for the judgment
of the court. With regard to one of these, namely,
Kilroi, it was sworn that about a week or a fortnight
before (the 5th of March, which must be before the
affray at the ropewalks, that happening on the 2d)
he said he would never miss an opportunity of firing
upon the inhabitants, and that he had wanted such
an opportunity ever since he had been in the country
—It is said that these might be words spoken in jest,
or without any intention, when they were spoken, of
acting according to their true import & meaning :
But the witness said, he repeated the words several
times : And that after he had told him he was a very
great fool for saying so, he again declared he would
SAMUEL ADAMS. 87
never miss an opportunity. — It appears that the wit
ness himself, as any one might, tho't him to be in
earnest, and rebuked him for saying so ; and in truth,
none but a madman, or one whose heart was desper
ately wicked, would repeatedly, especially after such
wholesome reproof, have persisted in such a threat ;
It discovered, to borrow the expression of a very
polite & humane gentleman, upon another late occa
sion, a malignity beyond what might have been ex
pected from a Barbarian.
It was also sworn, that this same Kilroi was with a
party of soldiers in the affray at the Ropewalks a few
evenings before the 5th of March, — and that they had
clubs & cutlasses — That Kilroi was of the party of
soldiers that fired in King-street — that as the party
came round before they form'd, Kilroi struck a wit
ness upon his arm — and after the firing began, Kilroi
struck at the same witness, tho' he had hear'd nothing
said, nor seen any thing done to provoke the sol
diers.- — Another witness declared, that he saw Kilroi
there, that he knew him well before, and was positive
it was he — that he heard the word fire, twice,, upon
which he said to the soldiers, damn you, don't fire,
and Kilroi fired at once, and killed Gray, who had no
weapon, and his arms were folded in his bosom.
Gray fell at the feet of this witness, and immediately
Kilroi pushed his bayonet at the witness, which pass'd
thro' all his clothes, and came out at his surtuit be
hind, and he was oblig'd to turn round to quit himself
of the weapon — the witness suppos'd he designed to
kill them both. — How long is this furor brevis, this
short hurricane of passion to last in the breast of a
88 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
soldier, when called, not by the civil magistrate, but
by his military officer, under a pretence of protecting a
Centinel, and suppressing a Riot ? who had taken
with him weapons, not properly of defence, but of
death, and was calm enough in this impetuosity of
anger, to load his gun, and perhaps with design, to
level it, for it killed one of the very men with whom
he had had a quarrel but a few evenings before : He
had now a fair opportunity, which he had wished for,
and resolved never to miss, of firing upon the inhab
itants. It was said upon the words he uttered, that
if all the unjustifiable words that had been spoken by
the inhabitants of this town, were to be bro't in judg
ment against them, they would have much to answer
for. — Those who believe the letters of governor Ber
nard, the Commissioners of the customs, and some
others whom I could name, and will name in proper
time, may think so. I dare say, if Bernard could have
proved one overt-act of rebellion or treason, after the
many things he pretended had been said, and he or
his tools could have had any influence, the words if
prov'd, would have been adjudg'd to have been said
in sober earnest, and would have been considered as
material to have shown the malignancy of the heart.
This Kilroi's bayonet was prov'd to be the next
morning bloody five inches from the point. It was
said to be possible that this might be occasion'd by
the bayonet's falling into the human blood, which ran
plentifully in the street, for one of their bayonets was
seen to fall. It is possible, I own ; but much more
likely that this very bayonet was stab'd into the head
of poor Gray after he was shot, and that this may ac-
1 77°] SAMUEL ADAMS. 89
count for its being bloody five inches from the point
— Such an instance of Savage barbarity there un
doubtedly was. — It was sworn before the Magistrate
who first examined into this cruel tragedy, though the
witness who then swore it, being out of this province,
could not be produced in Court upon the trial. It is
not to be wonder'd at that any material witness was
out of the way, when it is consider'd that the trial did
not come on till the second term, and nine months
after the facts were committed. I shall continue the
subject at my leisure.
VINDEX.
Dec. nth.
ARTICLE SIGNED " VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, December 24, 1770.]
To the PRINTERS.
In the late trials of Preston and the Soldiers, it was
observ'd that the Court constantly from day to day
adjourn'd at noon and at sun-set — Our enemies, who
are fruitful in their inventions, may possibly from
hence take occasion to represent that it was dangerous
for the Court to sit in the tumultuous town of Boston
after dark. At the first view it may perhaps bear this
complexion in the eye of a prejudiced stranger ; for
such adjournments in capital causes it may be were
never before known here : But the representation
would be without the least foundation in truth. It is
possible that among other reasons this might be one,
that the judges are all of them, to use the words of a
9o THE WRITINGS OF [1770
good old Patriarch, well stricken in years, and one of
them labours under infirmities of Body. I have an
other observation to make on this occasion, but I
reserve it till a future opportunity.
I have already said that the Soldiers in coming
down from the main-guard to the custom-house be
haved with an haughty air — that they abused the
people as they pass'd along — pushing them with their
bayonets — and damning them ; and when they had
got to their post, they in like manner abused and
struck innocent persons there who offer'd them no
injury — and all this was even before they form'd, in
doing which it does not appear that they were ob
structed ; and as the witnesses declared, before the
people press'd upon them, if they did at all, and when
there did not appear to be danger to them or any one
else. These facts, I think were prov'd, if we may be
lieve persons of good credit, who declared them upon
their oaths in Court : — And that they came down
under a pretence of suppressing a riot, without a civil
magistrate or peace officer, which ought always to be
remembered, no one will dispute.
There was indeed a sort of evidence bro't into Court,
which, if it is at all to be rely'd upon, may serve to
invalidate in some measure what has been said—
namely the declaration of one of the deceas'd persons,
as it was related by the gentleman who dress'd his
wounds, and to whom he is said to have declared it.
This man, as the doctor testified, told him among
many other things, that he saw some Soldiers passing
from the main-guard to the custom-house and the
people pelted them as they went along. But whether
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 91
these Soldiers were Preston and his party ; or other
Soldiers who are mention'd by another witness, as
going from the main-guard towards the Gentry, hav
ing short coats and arm'd with bayonets, swords or
sticks, and one of them with a pair of kitchen tongs,
chasing the people as they went, must remain an un
certainty — If he meant the former, it is somewhat
strange that among all the witnesses on both sides,
no one saw the people pelting them as they \vent along
but he. This man confess'd to the doctor that he was
a fool to be there — was surprized at the forbearance
of the soldiers ; believed that they fired in their own
defence & freely forgave the man that shot him. But
it is to be observed, he did not declare this under
oath nor before a magistrate : It was however the dy
ing speech, — very affecting and all, true no doubt ;
altho' no one knew the character of this believing
penitent either in point of veracity or judgment. — By
the testimony of his land-lady in Court, one would
not form the best opinion of him ; but de mortuis nil
nisi bonum.
There were others ready to be sworn, if the Council
for the crown had thought it worth while to have
o
bro't them forward, that they also could relate what
this man had told them, viz. that his doctors had en
couraged him that he would soon recover of his
wounds, and he hoped to live to be a swift witness
against the soldiers — Great stress was laid by some
upon the simple declaration of this man, who in all
probability died in the faith of a roman catholick.
This however, I am apt to think, will not disparage
his declaration in the opinion of some great men at
92 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
home, even tho' he did not make his confession to a
ghostly physician.
Before I proceed to enquire into the danger the
Soldiers were in, if they were in any at all, and who
were in fault, I will take the liberty to lead the
reader back to a consideration of the temper the
Soldiers in general discovered, and their correspond
ent conduct, for some considerable time before the
fatal tragedy was acted — It is well known indeed
that from their first landing, their behavior was to a
great degree insolent ; and such as look'd as if they
had enter'd deeply into the spirit of those who pro-
cur'd them, — and really believed, that we were a
country of rebels and they were sent here to subdue
us. But for some time before the fifth of March, they
more frequently insulted the inhabitants who were
quietly passing the streets ; and gave out many
threats, that on that very night the blood would run
down the streets of Boston, and that many who
would dine on Monday would not breakfast on Tues
day ; and to show that they were in earnest they fore-
warn'd their particular acquaintance to take care of
themselves — These things were attested before the
magistrates by credible persons under oath. — Accord
ingly when the Monday evening came on, they were
early in every part of the town arm'd with bludgeons,
bayonets and cutlasses, beating those whom they
could, and assaulting and threatning others — 'By the
way, I will just observe for the information of a cer
tain honorable gentleman, that the name of bludg
eons was unheard of in this town till the Soldiers
arrived — This behavior put the inhabitants in mind
i7?o] SAMUEL ADAMS. 93
of their threatenings ; and was the reason that those
of them who had occasion to walk the streets, came
out arm'd with canes or clubs. Between eight and
nine o'clock, the Soldiers in Murray's barracks in the
centre of the town rush'd out with their naked cut
lasses insulting, beating and wounding the inhabitants
who were passing along : This, in so frequented a
street, naturally collected numbers of people who re
sented the injury done and an affray ensued — About
the same time a difference arose in King-street,
between a centry there and a barber's boy, who said
to his fellow-apprentice in the hearing of the centry
" there goes Capt. who has not paid my master
for dressing his hair : " The centry foolishly resented
it, and words took place ; and the boy answering
him with pertness, & calling him a name, the centry
struck him. Here was the first assault in King-
street. — But for what reason the evidence of this
matter was not bro't into Court, at the last trial, as it
had been at the trial of Preston, the reader if he
pleases may conjecture. At the -same time a gentle
man not living far from the custom-house, and hear
ing as he tho't a distant cry of murder, came into
the street, which he had just before left perfectly
still, and to use his own words, " never clearer" : He
there saw a party of Soldiers issue from the main-
guard, and heard them say, damn them where are
they, by Jesus let them come ; and presently after
another party rush'd thro' Quaker-lane into the street,
using much such expressions : — Their arms glitter'd
in the moon-light. These cried fire, and ran up the
street and into Cornhill which leads to Murray's
94 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
barracks ; in their way they knocked down a boy of
twelve years old, a son of Mr. Appleton, abused and
insulted several gentlemen at their doors and others
in the street : — Their cry was, damn them, where are
they, knock them down ; and it is suppos'd they
join'd in the affray there, which still continued
-They also then cried fire, which one of the wit
nesses took to be their watch-word.
By this time the barber's boy had return'd to the
centry with a number of other boys to resent the
blow he had received : The centry loaded his gun
and threatened to fire upon them, and they threat
ened to knock him down — The bells were ringing as
for fire : Occasion'd either by the Soldiers crying
fire as is before mention'd, for it is usual in this town
when fire is cried, for any one who is near a church
to set the bells a ringing ; or it might be, to alarm
the town, from an apprehension of some of the in
habitants, that the Soldiers were putting their former
threats into execution, and that there would be a
general massacre : It is not to be wonder'd at, that
some persons were under such apprehensions ; when
even an officer at Murray's barracks, appeared to en
courage the Soldiers and headed them, as it was
sworn before the magistrate. — This officer was in
dicted by the grand jury, but he could not be found
afterwards — Some other officers, and particularly
lieutenants Minchen and Dickson, discovered a very
different temper.
The ringing of the bells alarmed the town, it being
suppos'd by the people in general there was fire ;
and occasion'd a concourse in King-street which is a
i7?o] SAMUEL ADAMS. 95
populous part of it. As the people came into the
street, the barber's boy told them that the centry had
knock'd him down — and a person who had come into
the street thro' Royal-exchange lane, which leads
from Murray's barracks, (and possibly had observ'd
the behavior of the Soldiers there) and seeing the
centry, cried here 's a Soldier — Various were the dis
positions and inclinations of the people according to
their various " feelings " no doubt ; for mankind, it is
said, " act from their feelings more than their reason : "
The cooler sort advis'd to go home : The curious
were willing to stay and see the event, and those
whose feelings were warmer, perhaps partook of the
boys resentment. So it had been before at Murray's
barracks, and so it always will be among a multitude :
At the barracks some, to use the expression of one of
the witnesses, called out home, home ; while some in
their heat cried, huzza for the main-guard — there is
the nest — This was said by a person of distinction in
court, to savour of treason ! Tho' it was allow'd on
both sides, that the main-guard was not molested
thro' the whole evening.
I would here beg the reader's further patience, while
I am a little more particular, in relation to the affray
at Murray's barracks ; for it may be of importance to
enquire how it began there. — Mr. Jeremiah Belknap,
an householder of known good reputation, had been
sworn before the magistrate ; and why he was not
bro't in as a witness at the trial, is not my business to
say, and I shall not at present even conjecture — Mr.
Belknap, who lived in Cornhill near Murray's bar
racks, testified, that on the first appearance of the
96 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
affray there, hearing a noise he ran to his door, and
heard one say he had been struck by a Soldier : he
presently saw eight or nine Soldiers arm'd with clubs
and cutlasses, come out of Boylston's alley, which is a
very short passage leading from Murray's barracks
into the street — he desired them to retire to the bar
racks — one of them with a club in one hand and a
cutlass in the other, with the latter, made a stroke at
him : Finding no prospect of stopping them, he ran
to the main-guard and called for the officers of the
guard — he was inform'd, there was no officer there —
he told the Soldiers, that if a party was not sent down
there would be bloodshed ; upon which he was at
tacked by two Soldiers, with drawn cutlasses, who he
suppos'd were of the party from Murray's barracks —
Another gentleman, one of the prisoners witnesses,
swore in Court, that a little after eight o'clock he saw
at his own door, which is very near the barracks, sev
eral Soldiers passing and repassing, some with clubs,
others with bayonets : And then he related the noise
& confusion he afterwards heard, & the squabble he
saw, but no blows — that he saw two Soldiers, each at
a different time, present his gun at the people, threat-
ning to make a lane through them ; but the officers
drove them in — The tragedy was compleated very
soon in King-street — The firing was reserv'd for an
other party of Soldiers, not much if at all to their
discredit in the judgment of some, and under the com
mand of an officer who did not restrain them. The
witness heard the report of the first gun soon after
the people cried home, home ; and declared that he
tho't they had fired upon the main guard, for he heard
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 97
the drum at the main guard beat to arms — Another,
who was sworn in Court, a witness for the Crown de
clared, that about nine o'clock, passing near Draper's
(or Boylston's) alley, which leads into Murray's bar
racks, and thro' which he intended to go, he heard
some boys huzzaing — he judged there were not more
than six or seven, and they were small ; they ran thro'
dock-square towards the Market — Presently after he
saw two or three persons in the alley with weapons—
a number of Soldiers soon sallied out, arm'd with large
naked cutlasses, assaulting every body coming in their
way — that he himself narrowly escaped a cut from the
foremost of them who pursued him ; and that he saw
a man there, who said he was wounded by them and
he felt of the wound — The wounded man stopped, and
this occasioned the people who were passing to gather
round him — Thinking it dangerous for him to proceed,
the witness returned home — A Captain of the 14th,
one of the prisoners witnesses was also sworn in Court :
He testified that in Cornhill he saw a mob collected
at the pass (Boylston's alley) leading to Murray's bar
racks — the people were pelting the Soldiers and they
were defending themselves — one of the Soldiers he
tho't had a fire-shovel — as soon as they knew him, he
prevailed on them to go to the bottom of the pass,
and with some difficulty he got down — This witness, it
seems, must have been later than the others ; and Mr.
Belknap, perhaps gives as early an account of it, as
any can, but the Soldiers themselves.
I would only ask how it came to pass that the
Soldiers, on that particular evening, should be seen
abroad, in every part of the town, contrary to the
VOL II. — 7.
98 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
rules of the army, after eight o'clock — If the officers,
who should have restrain'd them, were careless of
their duty, whence was so general a carelessness
among the officers at that juncture ? It was said,
there was no officer at the main-guard, which may in
part account for it. Or, if the Soldiers were all at
once ungovernable by their officers, and could not be
restrain'd by them, a child may judge from the ap
pearance they made, that there had been a general
combination, agreable to their former threats, on
that evening to put in execution some wicked and
desperate design.
VlNDEX.
Dec. 1 8th.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, December 24, 1770.]
To the PRINTERS.
SOMEBODY, in Mr. Draper's paper of Thursday
last, charges me with Partiality, in my two first
performances on the subject of the late Trial — I deny
the Charge, and desire he would explain himself. He
also says, I freely charge Partiality on others : /
utterly deny that also ; and call upon him to point out
one Instance. He desires the publick would not be
influenced by any remarks made by me on the late
Trials : With regard to that, the piiblick will do as
they please. He insinuates that I have cast the most
injurious reflections upon Judges, Jury and Wit
nesses : Again, I deny it. — It remains then that he
either retracts his charges or proves them : Otherwise
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 99
the publick will judge him to be guilty of something
worse than " the fault" of Partiality. He threatens
to bring out some facts which were not allowed to be
given in evidence : This is what I earnestly desire,
for the reasons I have already mention d. And
among other facts he intends, to ascertain the person
in a red Cloak, mention'd on the trial, if Vindex and
his Adherents desire it / Vindex has no Adherents
but in the cause of truth : And Vindex, for the sake
of truth, requests it as a favor that the person in a
red Cloak may be ascertained. He says that this
person was declared by some of the witnesses, to have
been very busy at the beginning of the Tragedy ; I
affirm, that neither of the witnesses declared that he
was very busy at the beginning, or any part, of the
Tragedy. There were two only that made mention
of him, viz. Mr. William Hunter & Mr. James Selk-
rig: The one declared that in dock-square " there
was a tall gentleman in a red Cloak ; that he stood
in the midst of them (the people) ; that they were
whist for some time, and presently huzza'd for the
main guard : The other said, there was a gentleman
with a red Cloak & a large white Wig ; that he made
a speech to them (the people) 4 or 5 minutes — (this
witness mention'd nothing of their huzzaing for the
main guard, which one would have thought must
have been observable by all, but only adds) they went
and knock'd with their sticks, and said they would do
for the soldiers — What the tall gentleman said, neither
of them could tell. — I cannot help observing here,
that some of the late letter-writers from hence to
London, have mark'd the red Cloak and white Wig,
ioo THE WRITINGS OF [1770
as the garb of a Boston Hypocrite ; but I have never
yet heard it hinted, that such a dress was the pecul
iarity of an actor in Tragedies — Great pains have been
taken to make the world believe that men of " estates,
of figure and religion " had formed a plan, before the
$th of March, to drive off the soldiers ; witness a
deposition lately published : And perhaps it may be the
low cunning of this writer to insimiate, that there was
a mob at that time, and for that purpose, on dock-
square ; and that their leader must be a man of figure
in the town, because he wore a red Cloak — As it is not
yet known what the tall gentleman with a red Cloak
said to the people ; whether he gave them good or
ill advice, or any advice at all, we may possibly form
some conjecture concerning it, when his person is
ascertained. The sooner it is done the better.
VINDEX.
Dec. 22.
TO JOHN WILKES.
[MS., British Museum ; a draft is in the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ;
a text is in W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, vol. i., pp. 377, 378.]
BOSTON Decr 28 1770
SIR
Having been repeatedly sollicited by my friend,
Mr William Palfrey,1 I embrace this opportunity of
making my particular compliments to you, in a
Letter which he will deliver. My own Inclination
has coincided with his Request ; for I should pride
myself much, in a Correspondence with a Gentleman,
of whom I have long entertaind so great an Opinion.
1 See above, page 9.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 101
— No Character appears with a stronger Luster in
my Mind, than that of a Man, who nobly perse
veres in the Cause of publick Liberty, and Virtue,
through the Rage of Persecution : Of this, you have
had a large Portion ; but I dare say, you are made
the better by it : At least I will venture to say, that
the sharpest Persecution for the sake of ones Country,
can never prove a real Injury to an honest Man.
In this little Part of the World— a Land, till of
late happy in its Obscurity — the Asylum, to which
Patriots were formerly wont to make their peaceful
Retreat ; even here the stern Tyrant has lifted up his
iron Rod, and makes his incessant Claim as Lord of
the Soil: But I have a firm Perswasion in my Mind,
that in every Struggle, this Country will approve
her self, as glorious in defending & maintaining her
Freedom, as she has heretofore been happy in enjoy
ing it.
Were I a Native and an Inhabitant of Britain, &
capable of affording the least Advice, it should con
stantly be ; to confirm the Colonies in the fullest
Exercise of their Rights, and even to explore for
them every possible Avenue of Trade, which should
not interfere with her own Manufactures. From the
Colonies, when she is worn with Age, she is to expect
renewed Strength. But the Field I am entering, is
too large for the present : May Heaven forbid, that
it should yet be truly said of Great Britain, Qiiam
Deus vult perdere, — !
I am with strict Truth
Sir
Your most humfr Serv'
v or THE
{ UNIVERSJ
102 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
ARTICLE [SIGNED "VINDEX."]1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
To THE PRINTER
In my last I considerd the Temper which the
Soldiers in general hadyliscoverd and the threats they
had [utter'd] previous to the fifth of March together
with their correspondent Behavior on that alarming
Evening. I was the more brief, because there had
been a narrative of the horrid massacre, printed by
the order of this Town, which was drawn up by a
Com* appointed for that purpose ; and reported by
their Chairman, JAMES BOWDOIN Esqr. The affi
davits which are annexd to the narrative were each
of them taken before two Justices of the Peace
Quorum Unus to perpetuate the remembrance of the
thing : Coll William Dalrymple, chiefe Commander of
the Soldiers, was duly notified by the Justices to at
tend the Captions : And His Honor the Lt Governor
certified, under his Hand with the province Seal an
nexd, that full faith & Credit was & ought to be given
to the several Acts & Attestations of the Justices,
both in Court & without.
The Candor of the Town indeed was such, that at
their meeting in March,2 by a Vote they restraind
their Committee from publishing the narrative, lest it
might unduly prejudice those whose lot it should be
to be jurors to try these Causes : This restraint they
continued by a Vote at their meeting in May,3 &
1 This article in the form as published is printed at pages 110-122.
2 March 26. Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 20.
3 On July 10, the town meeting defeated a motion that the printers be
allowed to sell the printed narrative. Ibid., p. 34.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 103
untill the Trials should be over . . . plaud ; as it
discoverd a Sense of Justice ; as well as the greatest
Humanity1 towards those men who had wantonly
spilt the hearts Blood of Citizens like Water upon
the Ground. A Temper far from vindictive ; calm and
moderate, at a time, when if ever they might have -^
been expected to be off their Guard : And yet, so 1
barbarous & cruel, so infamously mean & base were
the Enemies of this Town, who are the common Ene
mies of all America & of the Truth it self, that they
had falsly inserted in the publick news papers in Lon
don, that the Inhabitants had seizd upon Capt Preston ^J
& hung him like Porteus upon a Sign Post \ —
I shall now in a few . . . endeavor to show
the Temper which some of the Soldiers, (by whom I
do not now particularly mean the late Prisoners), dis
coverd at & after the fatal Catastrophes. Readers
may have observd, that I am careful to distinguish
between the evidence given in Court from that which
was given out of Court ; Witnesses to this point, it
ought not to be supposd, were admissible at the Trial,
unless perhaps the one immediately following : That
is a credible Person, who is mistress of a reputable
family in the Town. She testified before the Magis
trates, & was ready to swear it in Court, if she had
been called, that on the Evening of the 5 of March a
number of Soldiers were assembled from Greens Bar
racks & opposite to her Gate, which is near those
Barracks — that they stood very still until the Guns
were fired in Kingstreet ; then they clapd their Hands
& gave a Cheer, saying, this is all we want ; they then
1 The words "& Impartiality" were stricken out at this point.
io4 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
ran to their Barrack & came out again in a few min-
o
utes, all with their arms, &. ran towards Kingstreet.1
These Barracks were about a quarter of a mile from
Kingstreet : Their standing very still, untill they heard
the firing, compared with their subsequent Conduct,
looks as if they expected it ; it seems, as though they
knew what the Signal should [be], & the part they
were to act in Consequence of it. This perhaps may
be thought by some to be too straining : I will not
urge it, but leave it to any one to judge, how far if
at all, it affords Grounds of Suspicion, that there was
an understanding between the Soldiers in Kingstreet
at the time of the firing & these ; especially, if it be
true as has been said, that they fired ivithout the Com
mand of their officers — There was another Witness
similar to this ; an housholder of good reputation,
who testified, that the Soldiers from Greens Barracks
rushd by him with their Arms towards Kingstreet,
saying this is our time or chance ; that he never saw 2
Dogs so greedy for their prey as they seemd to be,
and the Sergeants could hardly keep them in their
ranks.3
Another swore, that after the firing, he saw the
Soldiers drawn up in the Street, and heard Officers
[as] they walked backwards & forwards say, Damn it,
what a fine fire that was ! How bravely it dispersd
the mob /4 A person belonging to Hallifax in Nova Sco
tia, testified that when the Body of troops was drawn
1 see Narrative first Edit. Apendix page 68.
2 At this point the words " Men or " were stricken out.
3 Idem.
4 page 69.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 105
up before the Guard house (which was presently after
the Massacre) he heard an officer say to another, that
this was fine work, just what he wanted}* I shall add
but one more to this List, and that is the Testimony
of a Witness, well known for an honest man in this
Town, who declared, that at about one o'Clock the
next morning, as he was going alone from his own
house to the Town House, he met a Sergeant of the
29th with Eight [or] nine Soldiers, all with very large
Clubs & Cutlasses when one of them speaking of the
Slaughter, swore by God it was a fine thing & said
you, shall see more of it.2 These Testimonies it is con-
fessd would not be pertinent to the Issue of the late
Tryal : But I think it necessary to adduce them here
to convince the World of the wretched Condition this
town was in, the Reasons they had to apprehend &
the necessity they were under constantly to be upon
their Guard while such were quarterd among them :
Much was brot into Court to show that the Town was
in a State of disorder on the Evening of the 5 of
March previous to the Affray at Murrays Barracks ;
Witnesses were admitted to testify that they were met
by one & another armd with Clubs.3 But Nothing
1 page 22.
2 Page 61.
To these, I cannot help subjoining the Testimony of Mr John Cox,
a very reputable Inhabitant of this town ; who swore in Court at one
of the late trials, that after the firing, he went to take up the dead—
that he told the Soldiers, it was a cowardly trick in them to kill men
within reach of their Bayonets, until nothing in their hands, and that
the officer said, damn them, fire again & let them take the Conse
quence! — to which he replyd you have killed . . . already to hang
you all — But he was mistaken.
3 The remainder of this paragraph is crossed out in the draft. Cf. , page 108.
106 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
appeard there to show the Cause & even the Neces
sity of it.1 It is a Mistake to say the soldiers were
in danger from the Inhabitants. The reverse is true ;
the Inhabitants were in danger from the Soldiers.
With all the Indulgence which was & perhaps ought
to be shown to Prisoners upon Tryal for Life, not a
single Instance of any Injury ofTerd to Soldiers was
provd, except at Murrays Barracks, & not even there
but in return for intolerable Insults. Many Witness-
[es] were ready if called for to testify to the Insults &
Abuse offerd by the Soldiers to the Inhabitants in
various parts of the Town.
Thus one of the prisoners Witnesses testified in
Court that at 7 o'Clock going to the South End he
met forty or fifty in small Parties, four or five in a
party. It has been testified by a credible Witness that
before the fifth of March, the Soldiers were
not only seen making their Clubs, but from what the
Witness could collect from their Conversation, they
were resolvd to be revengd on Monday 2 and divers
others swore to the same purpose ; They did not in
deed say, whether they knew them to be soldiers or
Inhabitants : It is as probable that they were Soldiers
as Inhabitants; for it was sworn before the magis
trates by a person of Credit, that on the Saturday be-
1 Narrative Appendix page 4.
- id. pa. 4 — this alludes to the affrays at the ropewalk : The Soldiers
at Greens Barracks had made three Attacks upon the ropemakers
when they were at their Work, in revenge for one of them being told
by one of the hands in the Walk, that "if he wanted work he might
empty his Vault." Enough to enkindle the flame of resentment in the
Breast of a common Soldier, who of all men has the most delicate
Sentiments of honor ! Two of the prisoners were of the party in
these noble Exploits, as was testified in Court.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 107
fore he saw the Soldiers making Clubs ; Another was
ready to testify in Court that thirty of these Clubs or
Bludgeons were made, by the Soldiers, in his own
Shop. And in the part of the Town where the Wit
ness was going, a Gentleman was attackd by two
Soldiers, one of them armd with a Club & the other
with a broad Sword ; the latter struck* him, & threat-
ned that he should soon hear more of it. It was noto
rious that the Soldiers were seen frequently on that
evening armd with Chibs — but in the Judgment of
some men, every party that was seen with Chibs, or
in the modern term, Bludgeons, to be sure must have
been Inhabitants. If the Soldiers were in such Danger
why were they not kept in their Barracks after Eight
o'clock agreable to their own orders? In stead of
this we find the Testimony of a person, who was not
an Inhabitant of the Town, that being at the South
End on that Evening exactly at Eight o Clock he saw
there Eleven Soldiers : An officer met them . . .
orderd them to appear at their respective places at the
time : and if they should see any of the Inhabitants
of the Town, or any other people not belonging to
them, with Arms, Clubs or any other warlike weapon
more than two being assembled together to order
them to stop, & if they refusd, to stop them with their
Jirelocks, and all that should take their part — the
officer went Northward & the Soldiers Southward.
These were orders discretely given indeed ! And
well becoming a Gentleman in any Command, over
troops sent here, or as the Minister pretended, to aid
the civil Magistrate in keeping the peace, & with direc
tions never to act without . . . Will any one
io8 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
think the Town could be safe, even from this band of
Soldiers only, especially while under such direction &
influence — This is a single Instance — No wonder that
when the Bells soon after rang as for fire, & the
people in that same part of the town came into the
Streets with Bucketts, they should be told by some, as
a Gentleman who was a Witness in Court for the pris
oners swore they were, that they had better bring
Clubs than Bucketts — Such Appearances were enough
to put the Town in Motion. It is a Mistake to say the
Soldiers were in danger from the Inhabitants ; the
reverse is true : The Inhabitants were in danger
from the Soldiers. With all the Indulgence which was
shown, and perhaps ought to be shown to Prisoners
at the bar, upon trial for Life, not a single Instance
was provd, of any Abuse offerd to any Soldier that
Evening, previous to the insolent Behavior of those
of them who rushd out of Murrays Barracks & fell
upon all whom they met : on the Contrary, there had
been many Instances of their insulting & assaulting
the Inhabitants indiscriminately in every part of the
Town.
As it was said in Court that the unhappy persons
who fell a Sacrifice to the Cruel Revenge of the
Soldiers, had brot their Death upon their own heads,
I shall finish this paper in saying what ought to be
said in behalf of those who cannot now speak for
themselves. — Mr Maverick a young Gentleman of
a good family & a blameless Life, was at Supper in
the House of one of his friends, and went out when
the bells rang as for fire. Mr Caldwcll, young Sea
man & of a good Character, had been at School to
1 77°] SAMUEL ADAMS. 109
perfect himself in the Art of Navigation, and had
just returnd to the house of a reputable Person in
this town to whose daughter he made his visits with
the honorable Intention of Marriage : He also went
out when the bells rang. Mr Gray was of a good
family, he was at his own house the whole of the
Evening, saving his going into a Neighbours house
to borrow the News paper of the day & returning :
He went out on the ringing of the Bells ; and altho
a Child swore in Court that he saw him with a Stick
after the bells rang, yet another Witness saw him
before he got into Kingstreet without a Stick, Others
saw him in Kingstreet & testified that he had no Stick,
and when he was shot, the Witness then testified,
as is mentiond in a former paper, that he had no
Stick & his Arms were folded in his bosom ; so that it
is probable the young Witness mistook the person.
Mr Attucks, it is said was at his Lodgings & at Sup
per when the bells rang ; Witnesses indeed swore
that they afterwards saw him with a Club, & great
pains were taken to make it appear that he attackd
the Soldiers, but the proof faild ; even Andrew, a
Negro Witness whom I shall hereafter mention,
testifies that he thot Attucks was the Man who struck
one of the Soldiers, but could not account how he
could get at such a Distance, as he was when he fell,
the Soldier firing so soon. Others swear that he was
leaning on his Stick when he fell, which certainly was
not a threatning posture. It may be supposd that
he had as good Right to carry a Stick, even a Blud
geon, as the Soldier who shot him had, to be armd
with Musquet & ball ; & if he at any time lifted
no THE WRITINGS OF [1770
up his Weapon of Defence, it was surely not more
than a Soldiers leveling his Gun at the Multitude
chargd with Death — If he had killed a Soldier, he
might have been hangd for it, & as a traitor too, for
to attack a Soldier upon his post, was declared
Treason; But the Soldier shot Attucks & killed him,
& he was convicted of Man Slaughter! As to Mr
Car, the other deceasd person, it is doubtful with
what Intent he came out. He was at Mr Fields
house when the Bells rang ; Mr Field & another
Witness who was at the House, testify that Car went
upstairs and got his Sword. . . .
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
{Boston Gazette, December 31, 1770.]
To the PRINTERS.
IN my last, I consider'd the temper which the Sol
diers in general, had discover'd, and the threats they
had utter'd, previous to the 5th of March, together
with their correspondent behavior, on that alarming
evening. I was the more brief, because there had
been a " Narrative of the horrid Massacre," printed
by the Order of this Town ; which was drawn up by a
Committee appointed for that purpose, and reported
by their Chairman, James Bowdoin, Esq. The Affi
davits which are annexed to the Narrative, were each
of them taken before two Justices of the Peace,
Quorum Unus, to perpetuate the remembrance of the
thing : Col. William Dalrymple, chief Commander of
the Soldiers, was duly notified by the Justices to
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. in
attend the Captions : And his Honor the lieutenant-
governor, certified under his hand with the Province
Seal affixed, that full faith and credit was, and ought
to be given to the several Acts and Attestations of
the Justices, both in Court and out. — It will be own'd
by the impartial World, that nothing could be fairer :
I am not, however, at all surprized, to find, publish'd
in a late New- York Paper, a letter said to be written
in this Town, in which among other chit-chat, it is
asserted, that from the borders of Connecticut to Bos
ton, there are people who " exclaim against the Town
for imposing on the Country by false Representa
tions : " This Narrative has been in a Manner
adopted by the Province ; for I am assured, that in
the last Session of the General Assembly, the House
of Representatives, generously granted to the Town
a sum of Money to defrey the Charge of a vessel,
hired for no other Purpose but to carry it to London ;
that his Majesty's Council concurr'd with the House
in the grant, and his Honor the lieutenant-governor
gave his Assent to it. — Arts have been used, and are
still using, to detach the rest of the Colonies from
this Province ; and the same arts are every day prac
tised, to divide the Towns in this Province from the
Capital. It is the Machiavellian Doctrine, Divide et
impera — Divide and Rule : But the people of this
Province and of this Continent are too wise, and they
are lately become too experienced, to be catch'd in
such a snare. While their common Rights are in
vaded, they will consider themselves, as embark'd in
the same bottom : And that Union which they have
hitherto maintain'd, against all the Efforts of their
ii2 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
more powerful common Enemies, will still cement,
notwithstanding such trifling letter writers as these.
The candor of this Town was indeed such, that at
their annual Meeting in March, by a vote, they re-
strain'd their Committee from publishing the Narra
tive here, altho' it was printed, lest it might unduly
prejudice those, whose Lot it might be, to be Jurors
to try these Causes : This Restraint, they continued
at their Meeting in May, and untill the Trials should
be over. — A Caution, which all good Men will applaud:
As it disco ver'd a sense of Justice ; as well as the
greatest Humanity towards those Men, who had spilt
the blood of Citizens, like Water upon the Ground !
—A temper far from vindictive — Calm and sedate,
when it might have been expected, if ever, they would
be off their guard. And yet so barbarous and cruel,
so infamously mean and base were the Enemies of
this Town, who are the common Enemies of all
America and of the Truth itself, that they had it
falsely inserted in the public News-Papers in London,
that the Inhabitants had seizd upon Capt. Preston and
hung him, like Porteus ^lpon a sign-post !
I shall now, in a few instances, endeavor to show,
the temper which many of the Soldiers discover'd
after .the fatal Catastrophe was over. The Reader
may have observed, that I am careful to distinguish,
between the Evidence given in Court, from that
which was given out of Court : Witnesses to this
point, it is not to be suppos'd, were admissible at the
Trial ; unless perhaps the one immediately following :
This is a creditable person who is Mistress of a
reputable family in the Town. She testified before
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 113
the Magistrates, and was ready to swear it in Court,
if she had been called, that on the Evening of the 5th
of March, a number of Soldiers were assembled at
Green's Barracks, and opposite to her Gate, which
is near those Barracks ; that they stood very still,
until the Guns were fired in King-Street ; then they
clapped their hands and gave a Cheer, saying, this is
all we want ; they then ran to their Barracks and
came out again in a few minutes, all with their arms,
and ran towards King-Street.1 — These Barracks
are about a quarter of a Mile from King-Street :
Their standing very still untill they heard the firing,
compared with their subsequent Conduct, looks as if
they expected it : It seems as tho' they knew what
the signal should be, and the part they were to act in
consequence of it. This, perhaps, may be tho't by
some to be too straining: I will not urge it; but
leave it to any one to judge, how far, if at all, it
affords grounds of Suspicion, that there was an under
standing, between the Soldiers in King-Street at the
time of the firing, and these ; especially if it be true,
as has been said, that they fired without the com
mand of their officer. — There was also a Witness, an
householder of good reputation, whose testimony was
similar to this : That the Soldiers from Green's
Barracks, on that Evening, rushed by him, with their
arms, & ran towards King-Street, saying, this is our
time or chance ; that he never saw Dogs so greedy for
their Prey, and the Serjeants could hardly keep them
in their Ranks 2 — Another swore, that after the firing,
he saw the Soldiers drawn up under Arms, and heard
1 Narrative Appendix p. 68, 2 Idem p. 68.
VOL. II.-
ii4 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
the officers, as they walked backwards and forwards say
to one another, Damn it, what a fine fire that was !
How bravely it dispersdthe Mob ! 1 — A gentleman be
longing to Halifax in Nova Scotia testified that when
the body of Troops was drawn up before the guard
house (which was presently after the Massacre) he
heard an Officer say to another, that this was fine
work, just what he wanted!* — I shall add but one
more to this list, and that is, the testimony of a Wit
ness, well known in this Town for an honest man ;
who declared that at about one o'Clock the next morn
ing, as he was going alone from his own House to the
Town-House, he met a Serjeant of the 2gth with
eight or nine Soldiers, all with very large Clubs and
Cutlasses, when one of them, speaking of the Slaugh
ter, swore by God, it was a fine thing, and said, you
shall see more of it? — To these I cannot help sub
joining, the testimony of Mr. John Cox, a very re
putable Inhabitant of this Town ; who swore in Court
at one of the late trials, that after the firing, he went
to take up the dead ; that he told the Soldiers, it was
a cowardly trick in them to kill men within reach of
their Bayonets, with nothing in their hands ; and that
the officer said, damn them, fire again, and let them
take the consequence — to which he replied, you have
killed enough already to hang you all : But it has
since appeared that he was mistaken. — There are
others, who saw, a very large party from the South-
guard, after the firing, take their post under Liberty-
Tree ; by which one would think they intended to act
the same part which the Soldiers in New-York had
1 Idem 69. * Idem. 22. 3 Idem. 61.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 115
before done, as indeed some of them had threatened
they would, and which would probably have bro't on
a new scene of confusion. But the commanding
officer, very prudently ordered the regiment to be
under arms, which prevented it.
If these testimonies would not have been pertinent
to the issue of the late trial, I think it necessary to
adduce them here, to convince the world of the
wretched state this Town had been in ; the reason
they had to apprehend, while such blood-thirsty in
mates were quarter'd among them ; and the necessity
they were under, constantly to be on their guard,
while there were even such exultations at the barbar
ous " action " of the Evening.
Much was bro't into Court, to show that the Town
was in a state of disorder on that Evening, and pre
vious to the Affray at Murray's Barracks ; Witnesses
were admitted to testify, that they had been met by
one and another arm'd with Clubs ; but nothing ap
peared there, to show the Cause and even the neces
sity of it : Thus, one of the prisoners witnesses testified
in Court, that at seven o'clock, going to the South-
End of the Town, he met forty or fifty in small
parties, four or five in a party ; and divers others
swore to the same purpose : They did not indeed
say, whether they knew them to be Inhabitants ; it is
as probable, that they were Soldiers, as inhabitants,
if not more so ; for it was sworn before the Magis
trates, by a person of credit, that on the Saturday
before, he saw the Soldiers making Clubs}- Another
was ready to testify in Court, that thirty of these
1 Idem. 4.
n6 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
Clubs or Bludgeons, were made by the Soldiers, in his
own Shop. And in the part of the Town where the
before-mentioned witness was going, a gentleman was
early in the Evening attacked by two Soldiers, one
of them arm'd with a Club, and the other with a broad
Sword ; the latter struck him, and threatned that he
should soon hear more of it? It was notorious, that
the Soldiers were frequently seen on that Evening,
arm'd with Clubs, as well as other Weapons ; and the
night before, very late, it can be prov'd that forty or
fifty of them were seen, thus armd, in several parts
of the Town in terror of his Majesty's subjects : But
in the judgment of some men, every party that was
seen with Clubs, or in the modern term, bludgeons, to
be sure, must have been inhabitants. It had been
testified, that on the Saturday before the fifth of
March, the Soldiers, had not only been seen making
their Clubs, as is before mentioned, but from what
the witness could collect from their conversation,
they were resolved to be reveng'd on the Monday.2
If they were in such danger, as some will pretend
they were, pray, why were they not kept in their
Barracks, especially after eight o'clock, according to
their own rules? Instead of this, we find the testi
mony of a person, who was not an inhabitant of the
1 Idem. 12.
2 Idem. p. 4, This alludes to the affray at the Ropewalks : The
Soldiers at Green's Barracks had made three attacks upon the Rope-,
makers, while they were at work, in revenge, for one of them being told
by a hand in the Walk that " if he wanted work he might empty his
Vault " : Enough, to enkindle the flame of resentment, in the breast of
a common Soldier, who of all men has the most delicate sentiments of
Honor . Two of the Prisoners were of the party in these noble Exploits,
as was testified in Court.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 117
Town : that being at the South-End on that Evening,
exactly at Eight o Clock, he saw there Eleven Sol
diers ; an officer met them, and order'd them to ap
pear at their respective places at the time ; and if
they should see any of the inhabitants of the Town,
or any other people not belonging to them, with
Arms, Clubs or any other warlike Weapon, more than
two being assembled together, to order them to stop :
and if they refused, to stop them with their firelocks,
and all that should take their part — The officer went
Northward and the Soldiers Southward1 — Here were
orders discretely given indeed ! And well becoming a
gentleman, in any command over troops, sent here, as
the Minister pretended, to aid the civil Magistrate in
keeping the peace ; and with directions never to act
without one. Will any one suppose, that the Town
could be safe, even from this band of Soldiers only ;
especially while under such direction and influence.
This is a single instance — No wonder that when the
bells soon after rang as for fire, & the people in that
same part of the Town, came into the Street with
their Buckets, they were told by some, as a gentle
man who was a witness in Court for the prisoners
said they were, that they had better bring their Clubs
than their Buckets — Such appearances were enough
to put the Town in Motion — It is a glaring mistake
to say, the Soldiers were in danger from the inhabi
tants : The reverse is true ; the inhabitants were in
danger from the Soldiers. — With all the indulgence
which was shown, and perhaps ought to have been
shown to prisoners at the bar, upon trial for life, not
1 Idem. p. 48.
n8 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
a single instance was prov'd, of abuse offer'd to
Soldiers that Evening, previous to the insolent be
havior of those who rush'd out of Murray's Barracks,
with Cutlasses, Clubs and other Weapons, and fell
upon all whom they met : On the contrary, there
had been many instances of their insulting and even
assaulting the Inhabitants in every part of the Town ;
and that without Discrimination ; which did not look,
as if they design'd to seek revenge, for any former
Quarrel, upon particular persons.
As it was said, in Court that the unhappy Persons
who fell a sacrifice to the cruel revenge of the Sol
diers, had brought their death upon their own heads,
I must not omit saying, what I think ought to be said,
in behalf of those who cannot now speak for them
selves — Mr. Maverick, a young gentleman of a good
family and a blameless life, was at supper in the house
of one of his friends, and went out when the Bells
rang as for fire. Mr. Caldwell, a young seaman and
of a good character, had been at School to perfect
himself in the art of Navigation ; and had just re-
turn'd to the house of a reputable person in this town,
to whose daughter he made his visits, with the honor
able intention of Marriage : He also went out when
the bells rang. Mr. Gray was of a good family ; he
was at his own house the whole of the Evening, sav
ing his going to a neighbour's house to borrow the
News-Paper of the day and returning ; He went out
on the ringing of the bells ; and altho' a child swore
in Court, that he saw him with a stick, after the bells
rang, yet another witness saw him before he got into
King-Street without a stick ; others saw him in King-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 119
Street and testified that he had no stick ; and when he
was shot, the Witness at whose feet he fell, declared,
as is mentioned in a former Paper, that he had no stick,
and his arms were folded in his bosom ; so that it
is probable, the young Witness mistook the person.
Mr. Attucks, it is said, was at supper when the bells
rang ; he went out as others did, to enquire where the
fire was ; in passing thro' Dock-Square, he saw the
affray at Murray's Barracks ; and hearing a man say
that if any one would join, he would drive the Soldiers
into the Barracks, he join'd ; & they two were princi
pally concerned in doing that piece of service. Great
pains were taken to make it appear that he attacked
the Soldiers in King-Street, but the proof fail'd : He
was leaning upon his stick when he fell, which cer
tainly was not a threatning posture : It may be
supposed that he had as good right, by the law of the
land, to carry a stick for his own and his neighbor's
defence, in a time of such danger, as the Soldier who
shot him had, to be arm'd with musquet and ball, for
the defence of himself and his friend the Centinel :
And if he at any time, lifted up his weapon of defence,
it was surely, not more than a Soldiers levelling his
gun charg'd with death at the multitude : If he had
killed a Soldier, he might have been hanged for it,
and as a traitor too ; for even to attack a Soldier on
his post, was pronounc'd treason : The Soldier shot
Attucks, who was at a distance from him, and killed
him, — and he was convicted of Manslaughter. — As to
Mr. Carr, the other deceas'd person, it is doubtful
with what intent he came out : He was at the house
of one Mr. Field, when the bells rang ; Mrs. Field,
120 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
and another witness who was at the house, declared
that Carr went up Stairs, and got his Sword, which
he put between his Coat and his Surtout, and it was
with difficulty that they prevail'd upon him to lay by
his Sword : They could not persuade him to keep
in : It does not appear that he took any part in the
contest of the Evening : He was soon shot : and
tho' dead, he afterwards spoke in Court, by the mouth
of another, in favour of the prisoners ; declaring
among other things already mentioned, that he was a
native of Ireland, and had often seen mobs and Sol
diers fire upon them there, but never saw them bear
half so much before they fired as these did.
The conduct of the Soldiers and of the people in
King-Street, shall be the Subject of a future Paper.
In the mean time, I must desire Philanthropy who
appeared in the last Evening Post, if he pleases, to
read. again what I observ'd upon the case of Killroi
in particular, in this Gazette of the I7th Inst ; l and to
consider, whether he did me justice in saying, that I
had publish'd " the only piece of Evidence producd
against Killroi and argued upon that alone : " I then
publish'd several material pieces of Evidence against
him; and. upon the whole concluded, that what was
called the furor brevis was, in my opinion, of rather
too long a continuance, to come within the indulgence
of the law. I then tho't, and I believe I am far from
being singular in thinking it ; that for a man repeat
edly to say, that he had wanted an opportunity of firing
upon the inhabitants ever since he had been in the
Country and that he would never miss an opportunity
1 See above, page 83.
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 121
of doing it ; and afterwards, when forewarn'd against
it, to fire upon the inhabitants, kill one man upon the
spot, and then unrelentingly attempt to stab another,
who had not offer'd him any injury, all which was ^^t
sworn in open Court: If such a man is not, hostis
*
humani generis, he discover'd at least, a total want of
remorse at the shedding of human blood, as well as
rancorous malice from the beginning. Philanthrop
further says, that " there was no evidence given in
Court" of the wound in Mr. Gray's head ; and "that
it is, in the highest degree unjust, to blame the Court
and jury for not regarding evidence which they never
heard" : If he will candidly recur to the aforemen
tioned Paper he will find, that I expressly said, that
the witness being out of the Province, the evidence
of so savage an act of barbarity could not be produc'd
in Court; nor did I take it upon me to " blame the
Court and Jury for not regarding it" — "I do not
charge Philanthrop with a design " to amuse his read
ers in this, or any other instance ; but if he intends to
continue the subject, I would advise him to be more
cautious lest he misleads them for the future. Again
he says "the impossibility of the bayonets being
bloody the next morning, is demonstrable from this,
that every gun and bayonet of the party was scowered
clean that very night " ; but to borrow his own words
" it is certain no such evidence was given in Court " : If
this could have been proved, I dare say it would
have been done without fail. Philanthrop may sup
pose it to be true, from its being, as he says, "the
constant practice of the army after firing " ; but such
a vague supposition will not invalidate the oaths of
122 THE WRITINGS OF [1770
creditable witnesses in open Court, who swore that Kill-
roi's bayonet was bloody, five inches from the point.
To vilify and abuse "the most amiable and respect
able characters," I detest from the bottom of my
heart : At the same time, I leave it to Philanthrop,
or any one who pleases, to write Panegyricks, on the
living or the dead.
VINDEX.
Dec.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, December 31, 1770.]
Messieurs PRINTERS.
I Desire you would correct the following mistake I
made in your last paper. I said " there were two only
of the witnesses in the late trial that made mention of
the tall Gentleman in a red cloak and white wig, viz.
Mr. Hunter and Mr. Selkrig" : In looking over my
minutes, I find there was another, viz. Mr. Archibald
Bowman, who also made mention of him. Mr. Bow
man testified, that they (the people in dock-square)
" stood thick round him some time, and after cried
huzza for the main guard" ; in which he agreed with
Mr. Hunter : But he declared, that he did not re
member their striking their sticks at Simpsons Store,
& saying, they would do for the Soldiers, tho' Mr.
Selkrig, who was with him at the same time, declared,
that those words were spoken by numbers at Simpson s
Store. Mr. Selkrig mention'd nothing of their saying
huzza, &c. From all which we may conclude, that
these cries were not general ; especially, as other wit-
1770] SAMUEL ADAMS. 123
nesses declared that the people also cried, home, home.
Mr. David Mitchelson testified, that "\\\ey cried, they
would go to the main guard, and that the effect soon
followed " : But they went not to the main guard, nor
was the main guard attack' d thro' the whole evening.
He further said, the bells were ringing. — The truth
is, the generality of the people of the town thought
there was a fire ; but not knowing where, they natur
ally, in passing thro' the main streets, from the north
and south parts of the town, stopped in dock-square,
which is in the center : There, they found there was
not fire ; but that the soldiers at Murray's barracks,
had, if I may use the expression, broke loose. Mr.
Selkrig said, that the people " made unsuccessful at
tacks upon the barracks " ; but immediately adds,
"that he saw nothing" (of the attacks, I suppose;
for it was impossible he should see them, there being
a stone building between the house in which he was,
and the barracks) but that " they went up the alley
and came back siiddenly " ; which corresponds with
what another of the prisoners witnesses said, who was
on the other side of the stone building, and therefore
could see ; viz. that the soldiers several times presented
their guns at the people : Mr. Selkrig must be can
didly suppos'd to intend, that he judgd the people to
have made attacks upon the barracks, and unsuccess-
fidly, from seeing them retreat only : But his conclu
sion might not be well grounded : It is as natural to
conclude that these sudden retreats were occasioned
by the soldiers attacking the people, as they had be
fore done ; and their levelling their guns and threat-
ning to make a lane thro' them, as was sworn in open
i24 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
court. Mr. Dickson, who was with Mr. Selkrig, and
the other Scotch gentleman at Mr. Hunter s house,
declared, that " a party came running down the alley,
as if they had met with opposition there " ; which con
firms what Mr. Selkrig had said of their sudden
retreats, and strengthens the supposition I have now
made.
But the writer in Mr. Draper's paper of the 2Oth
Instant, has not yet fulfilled his promise to "ascertain
the person " in a red cloak : I am sollicitous that the
publick should know the very man ; and the rather,
because it has been impudently insinuated, that he
was a gentleman in office in this town.
VINDEX.
Dec. 27.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, January 7, 1771.]
To the PRINTERS.
I Have taken occasion to mention the unhappy per
sons, who lost their lives on the fatal fifth of March :
And I think it must appear to every candid reader,
that they were totally unconnected with each other ;
and that it cannot be even suspected, that either, or
to be sure, more than one of them had any ill inten
tion in coming abroad on that evening ; much less,
that they were combin'd together to do any sort
of mischief : Nay, it is even to be doubted, whether
they ever had any knowledge of each other. I will fur
ther observe, that there was not the shadow of evi
dence to prove, that any other persons, excepting the
lyyi] SAMUEL ADAMS. 125
Soldiers, had form'd a design to commit disorders at
that or any other time : Unless credit is to be given
in a court of law, to the hearsay of an hearsay ; the
story which one man told another at sea, and months
after the facts were committed : Evidence which was
in vain objected to by the council for the crown ; but
to the honor of one of the prisoners council was by
him interrupted and stopped. This worthy gentle
man declared in open court that it was not legal, and
that it ought not to have the least weight in the minds
of the jurors ; upon which it was ruled, that the wit
ness should proceed no further, and he was dismiss'd.
I come now to consider the tragical scene, as it was
acted in King-street ; in doing which, I shall confine
myself chiefly, to the evidence as it was given in
court : If I vary from the truth, let Philanthrop, or
any one else correct me ; it is far from my design :
And I am willing to appeal for facts, to the book
which Philanthrop has told us of ; provided always,
that the facts are there stated with impartiality and
truth : This I think it necessary to premise, because
I find it advertiz'd, that the book is to be publish'd,
not by the direction, but with the permission of the
court : A distinction, which appears to me to be of
oome importance.
It may be necessary, first to enquire into the situa
tion the centinel was in, for whose relief the party
was said to have afterwards gone down. By the
testimony given in court, by Col. Marshall, who had
spent the evening at a friend's house in dock-square,
it appears that at nine o'clock all was quiet there ;
and passing thro' Royal - exchange lane into King
126 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
street, where the centry was, he found all as peace
able there ; " the street never clearer," was his ex
pression. It is probable that very soon after this,
the difference arose between the centry and the
barber's boy ; for Col. Marshall testified, that some
time after, he heard a distant cry of murder ; and it
is without doubt the centry struck the boy, with his
gun, — It was then that Colonel Marshall saw a party
turn out from the main-guard, and soon after another
party rush'd thro' Quaker-lane, all arm'd — It is prob
able, that these were the Soldiers who, as they ran
into Cornhill, abus'd the people there, as I have be
fore mention'd : Upon the appearance of these parties,
it is said, that the barber's boy, and his fellow-appren
tice, ran either into his Master's or a neighbor's shop,
— Mr. William Parker, one of the prisoner's witnesses
declared, that when he came into King street, which
was after the affray began at Murray's barracks, all
was quiet and peaceable : But presently the barber's
boy, with two or three more, came to the centry —
they push'd one another against him (in resentment
it is to be suppos'd for) they said, he had knock'd the
boy down — In the trial of Capt. Preston, the boy
himself swore in Court, that the centry had struck
him with his bayonet. Mr. Parker adds, that pres
ently a number, about fifteen, came thro' Silsby's
lane, which leads from Murray's barracks, with sticks
like pieces of pine in their hands — The most of them
small boys, i or 2 of them large lubbers, as he called
them — they said, let us go to the main-guard ; by
which it does not appear that they interested them
selves in the dispute with the centry, nor does it
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 127
appear that they molested the main-guard, if they
went up to it — Soon after, five or six more came up
Royal exchange lane, which also leads from Murray's
barracks, with sticks like the others ; but neither did
the witness say, that these interfered with the centry
—Mr. Parker further said, that he went up by Mr.
Jackson's corner, and met twenty or thirty more
coming out of Cornhill, a good many men among
them, some with sticks and some with walking canes
— These opened the matter to him ; and told him
there had been a squabble at Murray's barracks, but
that the Soldiers were driven in, and all was over. —
These different parties met in a cluster, at and near
Quaker lane, and not long after seem'd to disperse ;
and he soon went off himself, not leaving above
twelve or fifteen in the street : And, just as he got
home, which might not be more than ten minutes, he
heard the bells ring, and the guns discharg'd — No
one I believe will dispute the veracity, either of Col.
Marshall or Mr. Parker.
Mr. Edward Payne, a merchant of note in this
town, was also summoned as a witness for the prison
ers ; and his testimony will undoubtedly be rely'd
upon, by all who know him or his character. Mr.
Payne came out after Mr. Parker left the street ; for
he declared in Court, that at 20 minutes after nine,
when the bells rang, he went out into the street, and
was told, as Mr. Parker had been, that the soldiers
had sallied out of their barracks, and had cut &
wounded a number, but were driven in again — He
declared that the centinel was walking by himself,
and no body near him — so that the barber's boy and
128 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
his three or four comrades, were at that time gone off
— He heard a considerable noise in Cornhill, and a
noise of people coming up Silsby's alley — they were
inhabitants: Fourteen or fifteen, perhaps twenty,
passed by him, some with sticks, others without ; as
many of the latter as the former — They cried where
are they ? It is necessary to connect the circum
stances, as the facts are related : Here therefore I
will remind the reader, that besides the Soldiers that
came out of Murray's barracks, and who now may be
suppos'd to have been driven in, there was also a
party that had issued from the main guard, and
another party of Soldiers who came thro' Quaker-
lane, all arm'd with naked cutlasses, &c. who went
into Cornhill not long \ before, and there insulted
every person they met : These were the men whom
the persons mentioned by Mr. Payne, in all proba
bility refer'd to, when they cried, where are they.—
Certainly no persons could be tho't blame-worthy, for
pursuing a banditti, who had already put a number
of peaceable people in great terror of their lives,
with a design to prevent their doing further mischief :
There is no foundation to suppose, that they had any
other design : Yet these are the persons, who, as
some would have it, were the faulty cause of the
slaughter, that afterwards ensued : It was indeed
unfortunate that they happened to take that rout ;
for Mr. Payne added, that a lad came up and said,
that the centry had knock'd down a boy, upon which
the people turn'd about, and went directly to the
centry : By which, one would think, that they had
no design to attack the centry before : and that they
1770 SAMUEL ADAMS. 129
would not even have spoken to him, had they not
been told that he had injured the boy : Till then, the
centry had not been the object of their attention ;
and I must insist upon it, that they had then as good
right by the law, to resent the injury done to the boy,
as the party from the main-guard had afterwards, to
resent the injury done, if there was any, to the
centry - - The prudence in either case I will not
undertake to vindicate — Mr. Payne further said,
he was afraid of what might happen from the peoples
surrounding the centry, and wished they might be
taken off — He returned to his own door, which is
nearly on the opposite side of the street, and there
heard the people cry to the centry, fire, damn you,
why don't you fire. — I have just observ'd, that Mr.
Payne expressed his concern at the peoples surround
ing the centry : Mr. Henry Knox, another witness
for the prisoners, a young gentleman of a very good
reputation, was probably near the centry while Mr.
Payne was at his own door — He testified in court,
that the people were round the centry, and they said
he was going to fire — That he was waving his gun —
That he (Mr. Knox) told him, if he fired he must die
— That in return he damn'd them, and said, that if
they molested him, he would fire — That the boys
were damning him and daring him to fire — That he
heard one say he would go and knock him down for
sweeping (his gun) — that he thought the centry
snapped — He added that he saw nothing thrown
at the centry, altho' he was near him till after the
party came down and Mr. Payne finished his
testimony with saying, that he perceived nothing
VOL. II. — 9.
130 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
but the talk that led him to think the Soldiers
would fire.
Mr. Leigh, and Mr. Frost, both witnesses for the
prisoners, testified, that the barber's boy came up to
the people, and pointing at the centry, said, here 's
the son of a b — ch that knocked me down ; upon
which one of the witnesses said, the people cried kill
him — Both said, that the centry ran to the custom
house steps, knocked at the door, but could not get
in — neither of them mention'd any thing thrown at
him, nor any attack upon him — he prim'd and loaded
his gun and levelled it ; told the people to stand off,
and called to the main-guard ; upon which Capt.
Preston and his party came down — Mr. Bulkly, sum
moned also by the prisoners, testified that he thought
the centry was in danger, by the number of people
about him, and the noise ; and mentioned no other
reason for his thinking so — he said that a person told
Capt. Preston, that they were killing the centry—
This person was probably one Thomas Greenwood, a
servant in the custom-house ; for he himself declared
before the magistrates, that he was in the custom
house, and went from thence to the main-guard, and
told one of the Soldiers, if they did not go down to
the centry, he was afraid they would hurt him, tho' he
had not seen any person insult him — This man, at the
same time depos'd, that he saw two or three snow
balls fall near the steps of the custom-house, but saw
no person throw any stones ; tho' he had placed
himself in the most convenient room in the house
for observation — Mr. Harrison Gray mention'd the
people round the centry, making use of opprobrious
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 131
language, and threatening ; but said nothing of their
attacking him, or throwing anything at him — Mr.
Hinckley declared, that the people went to the centry,
and at last some of them cried kill him, but did not
see any attempt to hurt him — Mr. Cornwall swore,
that he saw snow balls and 2 or 3 oyster shells thrown
at the centry, but did not think they hit him — he
heard several young gentlemen perswading the people
to go off, and believed they all would have gone off,
if the Soldiers had not come down — Mr. Helyer de
clared, that he came into King-street, and saw the
centry and twenty or thirty persons — some boys at
their diversion — The centry wav'd his gun in a way
that had a tendency to exasperate the people — Mr.
Brewer saw the centry with his bayonet breast high —
a number of boys, twenty or more round him, talking
but doing nothing. Mr. Bailey was standing with the
centry on the custom-house steps — saw 20 or 30 boys
of about 14 years old — they were throwing pieces of
ice at him, large and hard enough to hurt him, but did
not know whether they hit him. This must appear
very strange as he was so near him — his standing
with him on the steps, would lead one to think he was
an acquaintance of the centry ; which is confirmed by
another circumstance, for he said that when the party
came down, one of the Soldiers put his bayonet to his
breast, and the centry told him not to hurt him — Mr.
Simpson swore, that the centry knock'd at the custom
house door — that a person came to the door and
spoke to him, upon which he turn'd and loaded his
gun — There was one witness, and I think but one,
who mention'd pieces of sea-coal thrown at the centry;
i32 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
and that was Andrew a Negro — A fellow of a lively im
agination indeed ! — One, who I believe could tell as
good a story even to my lord of H. and give his lord
ship as circumstantial an account of " the unhappy
transaction ", as some, who have already had the
honor of doing it, & who may think themselves to be
Andrew's betters — he is remarkable for telling roman-
tick stories in the circles of his acquaintance — And
whether his fancy had beguil'd his own judgment, or
whether he had a mind to try his success at painting
upon so serious an occasion, or lastly, whether he was
resolv'd to do his utmost to save the prisoners, I pre
tend not to say ; but he certainly made some folks
believe, that the ashes made of sea-coal burnt with
great savings in the adjacent offices, were like the
cinders thrown out of a blacksmith's shop — Andrew's
evidence, if not his judgment, was greatly rely'd upon ;
and the more, because his master, who is in truth an
honest man, came into court and swore to his char
acter ; and further said, that Andrew had told him,
that He really believ'd the inhabitants were to blame
— It is, I am apt to think, in general true, that no
man knows so little of the real character of his ser
vant, as the master himself does : It is well known,
that the Negroes of this town have been familiar with
the soldiers ; and that some of them have been
tamper'd with to cut their master's throats : I hope
Andrew is not one of these. His character for in
tegrity and even for learning, for he can both read
& write, has been upon this occasion wrought to so
high a pitch, that I am loth even to hint any thing
that may tend to depreciate^ it ; otherwise, I should
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 133
say, that there are some, whose kitchens Andrew has
frequented, who will not give him quite so exalted a
character, as others, who had not known him, thought
he deserved. — Several others, witnesses for the pris
oners testified to the same purpose ; that the peo
ple encroach'd upon the centry ; that he loaded his
gun and threatned to fire upon them ; and that they
in return dared him to fire, and throw'd a few snow
balls. Mr. Hall said, that he presented his gun at
the people, and they threw snow balls and some
oyster-shells at him ; and they hit his gun two or
three times — Mr. Payne who saw the centry when he
was alone, and until the party came up and fired,
u perceived nothing but the talk, that he thought
would have induced him or any of the Soldiers to
fire " : Words are not an assault, and could not war
rant him to fire : Mr. Knox and others saw nothing
thrown at him nor any attack made on him : Mr.
- and some others said, they saw snow balls and
other things thrown at him ; but it appears very prob
able, from the course of the evidence, that if any
thing was thrown at him, it was not till he had loaded
his gun, threatened to fire, & waved it in such a man
ner as tended to exasperate people ; and as Mr. Knox
tho't, had snapped his gun. The first assault was
made by the centry himself, when upon a foolish
provocation in words only, he struck the barber's boy :
He renewed the assault, when he loaded his gun and
presented it upon the people, threatning to fire upon
them : In doing this, he put his Majesty's subjects in
terror of their lives, against the law of the land ;
and they would have been justified in seizing him at
i34 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
least — If he had thought himself in danger, instead of
threatning the lives of others, he must first, accord
ing to the law of the land, have retreated if he could,
and even from his post : Other doctrine, I know, has
been strongly inculcated of late, by those who would
set up, or tamely yield to, an uncontroulable military
power ; but I trust in God, it will never be established
here : It never can, while the people entertain a just
idea of the nature of civil government, and are upon
their guard against the daring encroachments of arbi
trary, despotic power. The people were inclin'd to
disperse, and did disperse, in the beginning of this
childish dispute ; as appeared by the evidence of Mr.
Parker : And notwithstanding the mutual animosity,
if the reader pleases, which afterwards arose between
the centry and them, they would have finally dis-
pers'd, in the opinion of another witness, if the party
had not come down from the main-guard.
VlNDEX.
Jan. i.
TO STEPHEN SAYRE.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Jan* 12 1771
SIR
I wrote you p Capt Hall who saild about ten days
ago, & then inclosd, some papers publishd in the
Boston Gazette upon the Subject of the late Trial of
the Soldiers, I now send you duplicates, together
with others on the same Subject since publishd. I
i7?0 SAMUEL ADAMS. 135
perceive that Mr Hutchinson is appointed Govr here,1
& it is said he is to have an independent Salary ! Is
not this perfect Despotism ? What can the people of
Britain mean, by suffering their great men to enslave
their fellow Subjects ? Can they think that the plan
is confind to America ? They will surely find them
selves mistaken. I am in haste.
ARTICLE SIGNED " VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, January 14, 1771.]
To the PRINTERS.
I Have in my last, consider'd the situation and
behavior of the centry, and the people that were
round him, immediately before the coming down of
the Soldiers from the main-guard. Some of the wit
nesses, sworn in open court, who I believe, are
allow'd to be of equal credit with any of the rest, and
were present thro' the whole bloody scene, declared,
that they perceived nothing thrown at the centry —
Nothing but the number of people and the noise
they made, that led them to apprehend he was in
danger — Nothing but the talk, that induc'd them to
think he would fire : Others indeed saw snow balls,
and other things thrown at him, after he presented
" I find by the prints that the Commissions have been published at Bos
ton 14th Ins1 constituting Ll Gov. Hutch. Governor, and Secret? Oliver L* Gov.
of Massachusetts."— Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles [March 22, 1771], vol. i.,
p. 97. " Govr Thomas Hutchinson and Lieut. Govr Andrew Oliver, Esq's.,
commissions published ; Judges in their robes, and all the Bar in their habbits,
walked in procession." [March 14, 1771], The Diaries of Benjamin Lynde
and of Benjamin Lynde, Jr., p. 2OI.
136 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
his gun, and wav'd it in an exasperating manner, and
threatened to fire: — One in particular, declared, that
he saw balls of ice thrown, large & hard enough to
hurt any man : It is strange, if he thought the
centry in danger, that he should stand so near him, as
by his own testimony it is evident he did, till the
Soldiers came down : I think, upon the whole, we
may fairly conclude, that but few of these things were
thrown at him ; and that they were in consequence
of his loading his gun, & presenting it at the people :
It was the opinion of one of the witnesses for the
prisoners, that the people would have dispersed, if
the soldiers had not come down : It was then un
fortunate, that the soldiers were so suddenly order' d
down. Whether it was regular, for a captain to take
a corporal's command, or was ever done before in the
army, I leave others to say, who are better ac
quainted with the art military, than I pretend to be :
If not, it may be difficult to account for Capt. Pres
ton's great readiness to undertake so disagreable and
dangerous a task.
In the publick Advertiser, printed in London, the
28th of April last, I have seen a paper called, the
Case of Capt. Thomas Preston : It was published in
his name, tho' not wholly his own draft ; as he de
clared to a committee of this town, who waited upon
him for an explanation of some passages in it,1 which
were notoriously false, and grosly reflecting upon
some of the magistrates, as well as the people of the
town and province. I may hereafter particularly
consider this paper, which has had its run thro'
1 See above, page 14.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 137
Britain and America ; and point out the many " faults
of partiality " which are contain'd in it : The only
reason why I have not already done it, was, because
I agreed in the general sentiment of the inhabitants
of this town, that nothing of this kind should be pub-
lish'd, at so critical a juncture, lest it might be tho't
to prejudice the minds of Jurors on a trial for life.1—
It may be perhaps more easy, and of full as much im
portance to the publick, to ascertain the person, who
several times alter'd the state of the case ; and, as
Capt. Preston himself declared, even after it finally
came out of his hands, as it would be, to ascertain
the person in a red cloke ; which the writer in
Draper's paper has been so often in vain called upon
to do, in fulfillment of his voluntary promise. — In
this paper, Capt. Preston, or his friend in his behalf,
says, "he sent a non-commission'd officer and twelve
men, and very soon follow'd himself : " The wit
nesses in court, on both sides declared, that Capt.
Preston himself came down with the party. Again
he says, he followed, " lest the officer and soldiers
should be thrown off their guard, and commit some
rash act " : But, did he restrain them from commit-
ing so rash an act, as firing upon the multitude ?—
He surely must have observ'd the violent temper
which the soldiers discover'd, as " they rushed thro'
the people " according to his own account; " upon the
trot, in a threatning manner, damning the people
and pushing them with their bayonets", as Mr. Knox
and others swore in court : He knew their guns
were charg'd with ball ; he declar'd it at the time, and
1 See above, page 102.
138 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
on the spot, as Mr. Palmes testified : Should he not
then, at the very instant, when he must if ever, have
been apprehensive, that they would commit some
rash act, at least have caution'd them, not to fire, till
he himself should give the orders? Instead of this,
by his own, or his friend's account, publish'd as his
own, we find no such prudent directions to the men
under his command ; who by the rules of the army,
would have been liable to suffer death, if they had
disobey'd ! What single step did he take, to prevent
their committing a rash act, for the sake of which
alone, he tells us, he followed down? Not one ac
cording to the state of his case, till after they began
to fire : " Upon my asking the men, says he, why
they fired without orders, they said, they heard
the word, fire, and suppos'd it come from me " : It
seems, it was the apprehension of the Soldiers, that
he order'd them to fire ; and we must suppose, that
the Soldiers were particularly attentive to their com
manding officer : But he adds, " I assured them my
words were, don't fire " ; from hence it is plain that
he gave them some order. I am no Soldier, and
never desire to be one : But I appeal to those who
are, whether the words, " don't fire," are words of
command in the British army ; and whether there is
not some other word which Soldiers are taught to
understand, more proper to be given on such an occa
sion, or, as I chuse to express it, in the heat of action,
which would have prevented such rashness, and even
put it out of their power to have fired, at least to
have done any mischief. These words, I well re
member, it was said were made use of in command,
i7?i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 139
at another time, and by another officer of the same
regiment ; when one of the soldiers, thro' mistake,
fired upon the march, in the street, and very nearly
effected the death ; not to say, the murder of a
worthy citizen : The soldier was soon jostled from
the reach of civil power ; which was a mighty easy
thing to be done, as was found by experience, at a
time when the first magistrate of the province had
publickly declared, that he had no authority over the
King's troops, which has since been repeated : The
good men of the county however, found a bill of in
dictment against the officer who commanded the
party : But when the matter came upon trial before
the superior court, altho' some positively swore that
he gave the word, fire, yet because the soldiers swore
that his words were don't fire, a doubt arose ; and a
doubt you know, must turn in favor of the accused
party ; for the good old maxim is, whether founded
in the law of Moses, the common law, the law of na
ture and reason, or the safety of human societies,
better ten villains escape than one honest, harmless
man be hang'd — Whether the officer would have so
luckily escaped, upon a trial before a court martial, for
giving a word of command, unintelligible in a military
sense, I very much doubt. — Capt. Preston further
said, that " his intention was not to act offensively,
nor even the contrary part, without compulsion " :
That is, when he should think himself compelled, he
was to act defensively ; and in what way could he or
his soldiers act upon the defence, with muskets
charg'd with ball, but by discharging them upon the
people, which he must have concluded would have
140 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
kill'd some of them ? No matter, the people were
the agressors ; and besides, " the King's money was
to be protected" as well as the centinel — Here I will
acquit Capt. Preston, as a man of too much honor to
suggest a known falshood : It has been the con
stant practice of a certain set of men, meanly to
insinuate, that the Americans in their exertions
against lawless power, have always had something
dishonorable in view : At present, it is the plundering
the King's chest ; altho' even Greenwood himself, an
hired servant in the custom-house, a dependent upon
dependents, if he is to be believed, depos'd before
the magistrate, that amidst the whole volley, as some
would have it, of snow balls, oyster shells, ice, and as
Andrew said, sea coal, thrown at the centinel, " not a
single Pane of the custom-house windows were bro
ken ; nor did he see any person attempt to get into
the house, or break even a square of glass " -The
soldiers acted defensively, and it seems as tho' Pres
ton thought they were at length compelled to do it ;
for if it was done against his orders, or barely with
out his orders, with what propriety could he say to
the person of the first character in the province, " I
did it to save my men," — A precise answer indeed,
to the question put to him ; and therefore, I should
have thought, not " unsatisfactory," or " imperfect ",
as it was afterwards affirmed to have been.
Such were the effects of Capt. Preston's sending
the non-commission'd officer and the soldiers to pro
tect the centinel and the King's money ; and of his
following very soon after, to prevent their com
mitting a rash act : But if Capt. Preston had a right
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 141
to go to the protection of any man whom he thought
in danger, had he or his party a right to engage in an
affray, and carry into an incensed mob, as he calls it,
weapons which could not be used without killing, and
there make use of them as he should judge neces
sary ? Ought he not to have called upon a civil offi
cer, and put himself, and his men, if required, under
his direction, before he went upon so desperate a de
sign ? Or, does the law of the land, invest every, or
any military officer, even of the highest rank, with
the right, above all other citizens, of making himself
a party in a riot, under a pretence of suppressing it ;
of carrying with him soldiers arm'd with weapons of
death, and making use of them at discretion, with
out even the presence of a civil officer — This is a
point of too much importance to be yielded ; for the
lives of subjects are not to depend, upon the judg
ment or discretion, much less upon the will and pleas
ure, or wanton humour of his Majesty's military
servants.
I am sensible, I have heretofore taken up too
much room in your useful paper : I shall avoid
it at present ; and the rather, to afford you the op
portunity of inserting an address "to the PROTEST
ANTS of the three Kingdoms, and the COLONIES " ;
being the preface to a late publication in London,
containing a series of important letters of the Earl of
Hillsborough, the Marquiss of Rockingham, and
others, from a gentleman whose signature is Pliny,
junior.
VINDEX.
i42 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, January 21, 1771.]
To the PRINTERS.
As the lives of five of his Majesty's subjects were
unfairly\vs\. on the evening of the 5th of March last,
it follows that some persons must have been in fault :
The unhappy sufferers, for ought that has ever ap
peared, were in the peace of God and the King ; let their
memories then, so far at least as respects this matter,
remain unreproach'd. It appeared by the evidence
in court, that all the prisoners were present in king
street ; that they all discharg'd their musquets but
one, and his flush'd in the pan ; and that the deceas'd
were all kill'd by musquet balls. Six of the prisoners
were acquitted by the jury, and two were found guilty
of manslaughter. In ordinary cases, the publick
ought to rest satisfied, with the verdict of a jury ; a
method of trial, which an Englishman glories in as
his greatest security : It is a method peculiar to the
English ; and as a great writer observes, has been a
probable means of their having supported their liber
ties thro' so many ages past : Among the most sub
stantial advantages arising from trials by juries,
there is this incidental one, in this province espe
cially ; that by our laws, no man being oblig'd to
serve as a juryman more than once in three years, it
falls upon the freemen as it were by rotation ; by this
means, the people in general are in their turns called
to that important trust ; by attending in courts of
law and justice, it is to be presum'd that their minds
are there impress'd with a sense of justice ; and that
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 143
they gain that general idea of right or law, which it
is necessary that all men in a free country should
have. " It is an admirable institution, by which every
citizen may be plac'd in a situation, that enables him
to contribute to the great end of society, the dis
tributing justice ; and it every where diffuses a spirit
of true patriotism, which is zealously employed for
the publick welfare." I am not about to arraign the
late jurors before the bar of the publick : They are
accountable to God and their own consciences, and
in their day of trial, may God send them good de
liverance. But in times when politicks run high, we
find by the experience of past ages, it is difficult to
ascertain the truth even in a court of law: At such
times, witnesses will appear to contradict each other
in the most essential points of fact ; and a cool con
scientious spectator is apt to shudder for fear of per
jury : If the jurors are strangers to the characters of
the several witnesses, it may be too late for them to
make the enquiry, when they are upon their seats :
The credibility of a witness perhaps cannot be im-
peac'd in court, unless he has been convicted of per
jury : But an immoral man, for instance one who will
commonly prophane the name of his maker, certainly
cannot be esteemed of equal credit by a jury, with
one who fears to take that sacred name in vain : It is
impossible he should in the mind of any man : There
fore, when witnesses substantially differ in their
relation of the same facts, unless the jury are ac
quainted with their different characters, they must be
left to meer chance to determine which to believe ;
the consequence of which, may be fatal to the life of
144 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
the prisoner, or to the justice of the cause, or per
haps both. It was for this reason, that I was con-
cern'd, when the council for the crown objected the
notoriety of the immoral character of a witness, that
he was stopped by one of the council on the other
side. In a court of justice, it is beneath any charac
ter to aim at victory and triumph : Truth, and truth
\alone is to be sought after.
" While the soldiers were passing from the main
guard to the custom-house, it did not appear by any
of the witnesses, that they were molested by the
people ; if we except what was mention'd, as having
been said by Mr. Car, one of the deceased persons :
His doctor testified, that he told him, the " people
pelted them as they went along ". — The declaration
of a dying man commonly carries much weight, and
oftentimes, possibly more than it ought : This man's
declaration was not made upon oath, nor in the pres
ence of a magistrate : The doctor had a curiosity, as
most had, to know how matters were, and enquired
of his patient who he thought could inform him ; it
may be, not expecting to be called to relate it before
a court, nine months afterwards, when he might have
nothing but memory to recur to : No one disputes
the doctor's understanding or integrity : I have before
said, that others were ready to testify, that Car gave
them a very different account from that which he
gave to his doctor : It ought to be remembered, that
the unhappy man was laboring under the pains and
anxiety occasioned by a mortal wound ; and might
not be able at all times to attend duly to such ques
tions as were asked him : What makes it highly
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 145
probable that he must have been mistaken, is, that
among the many witnesses, not one on either side,
mention'd their seeing the least ill usage offer'd to
the soldiers as they pass'd from the main guard ; not
even Mr. Gridley, whose declared intention was, at
the request of some gentlemen, with whom he had
been in company, to bring them as circumstantial an
account of the matter as he could.
It is agreed by the witnesses for the prisoners, who
mention'd their seeing the soldiers upon their first
coming down, that they loaded their guns, levelled
them at the people & began to insult & abuse them,
(as indeed they did upon their march) ; before any
just provocation had been offer'd to them. — Mr.
Hinckley saw the party come down — they loaded —
push'd their bayonets and pricked the people — Mr.
Wilkinson also saw the party come down ; did not
see anything thrown at them, tho' he stood at two or
three yards distance — Mr. Murray said they came
down and cried make way — Andrew declared, that
the party planted themselves at the custom-house —
the people gave three cheers — he heard one of the
soldiers say, damn you stand back — one of them had
like to have prick'd a man as he was passing by, and
swore by God he would stab him — several persons
were talking with the captain, and a number pressing
on to hear what they said ; one of the persons talking
with the officer said " he is going to fire " / the people
shouted and said, he dare not fire ; and then they
began to throw snow balls. Even by Andrews ac
count, the people were rather curious to know what
the soldiers design'd to do, than intent upon doing
146 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
them any hurt, untill they were assaulted by them ;
which I am apt to think is true ; because Newtown
Prince, another Negro, of whom for my own part I
conceive a better opinion than of Andrew, declared,
that the Soldiers planted themselves in a circle — their
guns breast high — and, the people crowded on, to
speak with Capt. Preston — and further, several of the
witnesses swore that they themselves talked with the
Captain, and one of them caution'd him against firing
—Capt. Preston himself also in his printed state of
his case says, that he reasoned with "some well be-
havd persons" : To show that "as he was advanced
before the muzzels of their pieces, he must fall a
sacrifice if they fired " — and that his ordering them
to fire " upon the half cock and charged bayonets
would prove him no officer " ; all which might be true,
and yet in my humble opinion not quite so " satis
factory " as the answer which he afterwards gave to
the Lieutenant Governor ; for he might, I suppose,
in an instant shift his station, and the soldiers,
by a proper word of Command, might discharge
their musquets without his falling a sacrifice or for
feiting the character of a soldier — Such a manner of
reasoning upon their question, whether he intended
to order the men to fire, was evasive ; and may serve
to show Captain Preston's opinion, that however well
behav'd these gentlemen were, they were no Soldiers.
I shall now take notice of what the witnesses for
the crown testified concerning the behavior of the
Soldiers, upon their first arrival at the custom-house.
—Mr. Austin saw the party come down ; the captain
was with them ; McCauley, one of the prisoners,
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 147
loaded his gun, pushd at him with his bayonet and
damn'd him — He did not observe the people press
on — Mr. Bridgham declared, that about a dozen sur
rounded the Soldiers and struck their guns with their
sticks : But he also said the Soldiers were loading at
the same time — He further added, that he did not ap
prehend himself or the Soldiers in any danger by any
thing he saw ; from whence it may be suppos'd, that
as the people struck their guns only, when they might
as easily have have knocked them down, their inten
tion was not to hurt them, but rather to prevent their
loading — Mr. Brewer saw the party come down-
told Captain Preston that every body was about dis
persing ; in which he agreed with another witness,
who was of the opinion that the people would have
dispers'd if the Soldiers had not come down ; Mr.
Brewer added, that Killroi,. one of the prisoners,
struck him with his bayonet before they formed, and
that he saw no blows and nothing thrown before the
firing — Mr. Bayley testified, that when the party came
down, Carrol one of the prisoners put his bayonet to
his breast. Mr. Wilkinson stood at about two yards
distance from the Soldiers all the while they were
there — He saw no ice nor snow balls thrown ; in which
he agreed with Mr. Austin — Mr. Fosdick testified,
that he was pushd as the party came down — that
afterwards they wounded him in the breast — two
different bayonets were thrust into his arm — all this
while there had been no blows that he saw, nor did he
know the cause of their firing — Mr. Palmes saw Capt.
Preston at the head of the Soldiers who were drawn
up with their guns breast high and their bayonets
i48 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
fixed ; and Preston told him they were loaded with
powder and ball — I think I have mentioned all the
witnesses, who testified in court to what they saw
upon the first arrival of the party at the custom
house : And by their testimonies the reader will
judge, whether the Soldiers had just provocation to
fire upon the people ; or whether they were in danger
of their lives or had any reason to think they were :
On the contrary, whether they did not themselves
first assault the people as they were coming from the
main guard ; and afterwards, by levelling their guns
loaded with ball in an exasperating manner at the
people ; pushing their bayonets at some of them,
wounding others and threatning all, even before any
injury had been offer'd to them.
I shall conclude what I have to say upon this inter
esting subject in my next. In the mean time let me
assure Philanthropy that I am fully of his mind, that
a true patriot "will not irom private views, or by any
ways or means foment and cherish groundless fears
and jealousies " : But perhaps we may not be so well
agreed in our determination, when the fears and jeal
ousies of our fellow citizens are groundless — It is I
believe the general opinion of judicious men, that at
present there are good grounds to apprehend a settled
design to enslave and ruin the colonies ; and that
some men of figure and station in America, have
adopted the plan, and would gladly lull the people to
sleep, the easier to put it in execution : But I believe
Philanthrop would be far from acknowledging that
he is of that opinion. The fears and jealousies of the
people are not always groundless : And when they
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 149
become general, it is not to be presum'd that they
are ; for the people in general seldom complain, with
out some good reason. The inhabitants of this con
tinent are not to be dup'd " by an artful use of the
words liberty and slavery, in an application to their
passions^ as Philanthrop would have us think they
are ; like the miserable Italians, who are cheated with
the names " Excommunication, Bulls, Crusades" &c.
They can distinguish between " realities and sounds " ;
and by a proper use " of that reason which Heaven
has given them ", they can judge, as well as their
betters, when there is danger of slavery : They have
as high a regard for George the III. as others have,
& yet can suppose it possible they may be made
slaves, without " enslaving themselves by their own
folly and madness " ; They can believe, that men who
"are bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, born
and bred among us," may, like Achan, for a wedge of
gold, detach themselves from the common interest,
and embark in another bottom ; in hopes that they,
"with their wives and children" will one day stand
and see, and enjoy, and triumph, in the ruins of their
country : Such instances there have been frequently
in times past ; and I dare not say, we have not at
present, reason enough for " exclaiming with the
roman patriot, O tempora, O mores". The true
patriot therefore, will enquire into the causes of the
fears &&& jealousies of his countrymen ; and if he finds
they are not groundless, he will be far from endeavor
ing to allay or stifle them : On the contrary, con-
strain'd by the Amor Patrice, and ITQI& public views,
he will by all proper means in his power foment and
150 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
cherish them : He will, as far as he is able, keep the
attention of his fellow citizens awake to their griev
ances ; and not suffer them to be at rest, till the
causes of their, just complaints are removed. — At such
a time Philanthropes Patriot may be "very cautious
of 'charging the want of ability or integrity to those
with whom any of the powers of government are en
trusted " : But the true patriot, will constantly be
jealous of those very men : Knowing that power,
especially in times of corruption, makes men wanton ;
that it intoxicates the mind ; and unless those with
whom it is entrusted, are carefully watched, such is
the weakness or the perverseness of human nature,
they will be apt to domineer over the people, instead
of governing them, according to the known laws of
the state, to which alone they have submitted. If he
finds, upon the best enquiry, the want of ability or
integrity ; that is, an ignorance of, or a disposition to
depart from, the constitution, which is the measure
and rule of government & submission, he will point
them out, and loudly proclaim them : He will stir up
the people, incessantly to complain of such men, till
they are either reform'd, or remov'd from that sacred
trust, which it is dangerous for them any longer to
hold. — Philanthrop may tell us of the hazard " of
disturbing and inflaming the minds of the multitude
whose passions know no bounds " : A traitor to the
constitution alone can dread this : The multitude I
am speaking of, is the body of the people — no con
temptible multitude — for whose sake government is
instituted ; or rather, who have themselves erected it,
solely for their own good — to whom even kings and
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 151
all in subordination to them, are strictly speaking,
servants and not masters. " The constitution and its
laws are the basis of the public tranquility — the firm
est support of the public authority, and the pledge of
the liberty of the citizens : But the constitution is a
vain Phantom, and the best laws are useless, if they
are not religiously observed. The nation ought then
to watch, and the true patriot will watch very atten
tively, in order to render them equally respected, by
those who govern, and the people destin'd to obey " —
To violate the laws of the state is a capital crime ;
and if those guilty of it, are invested with authority,
they add to this crime, a perfidious abuse of the
power with which they are entrusted : " The nation
therefore, the people, ought to suppress those abuses
with their utmost care & vigilance " — This is the lan
guage of a very celebrated author, whom I dare say,
Philanthrop is well acquainted with, and will acknow
ledge to be an authority.
Philanthrop, I think, speaks somewhat unintelligi
bly, when he tells us that the well being and happiness
of the whole depends upon subordination ; as if man
kind submitted to government, for the sake of being
subordinate : In the state of nature there was subor
dination : The weaker was by force made to bow
down to the more powerful. This is still the unhappy
lot of a great part of the world, under government :
So among the brutal herd, the strongest horns are
the strongest laws. Mankind have entered into
political societies, rather for the sake of restoring
equality ; the want of which, in the state of nature, ren
dered existence uncomfortable and even dangerous.
152 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
I am not of levelling principles : But I am apt to
think, that constitution of civil government which
admits equality in the most extensive degree, con
sistent with the true design of government, is the
best ; and I am of this opinion, because I agree with
Philanthrop and many others, that man is a social
animal. Subordination is necessary to promote the
purposes of government ; the grand design of which
is, that men might enjoy a greater share of the bless
ings resulting from that social nature, and those
rational powers, with which indulgent Heaven has
endow'd us, than they could in the state of nature :
But there is a degree of subordination, which will for
ever be abhorrent to the generous mind ; when it
is extended to the very borders, if not within the
bounds of slavery : A subordination, which is so far
from conducing " to the welfare and happiness of the
whole", that it necessarily involves the idea of that
worst of all the evils of this life, a tyranny : An ab
ject servility, which instead of " being essential to our
existence as a people," disgraces the human nature,
and sinks it to that of the most despicable brute.
I cannot help thinking, that the reader must have
observed in Philanthropes last performance, that a
foundation is there laid for a dangerous superstruc
ture : and that from his principles, might easily be
delineated a plan of despotism, which however uncom
mon it may be, for the laws and constitution of the
state to be openly and boldly oppos'd, our enemies
have long threatened to establish by violence. • If
Philanthrop upon retrospection shall think so, he will,
like a prudent physician, administer an antidote for
1770 SAMUEL ADAMS. 153
the poison : If not, I hope the attention of others
will be awakened to that excellent maxim, " no less
essential in politicks than in morals", principiis obsta.
It is impolitick to make the first attempt to enslave
mankind by force : This strikes the imagination, and
is alarming : " Important changes insensibly happen :
It is against silent & slow attacks that a nation ought
to be particularly on its guard."
VINDEX.
Jan. I5//5.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, January 28, 1771.]
To the PRINTERS.
IN my last, I recollected the testimonies of the wit
nesses on both sides, who related in court the be
havior of the soldiers and the people, on the fatal
evening of the fifth of March last. The reader, if he
pleases, will judge ; whether the people struck the sol
diers guns, or threw snow balls or any other thing, or
offer'd them the least violence, from their first turn
ing out till they had march'd to the custom-house,
abused, threatned, beat and wounded the people,
loaded their guns with powder and ball, levelled them,
and waved them in an exasperating manner, and gave
out that they would fire ; for, if Andrew is to be be
lieved, he testified, that when one of the persons talk
ing with the officer, turn'd and said, " they are going
to fire ", the people shouted, and said " they dare not
fire ", and then they began to throw snow balls. If
all these things were done by the soldiers, before the
154 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
people offer'd them any injury, I would ask, who made
the first assault ? If there was an unlawful assembly,
who were they ? Were the people the unlawful as
sembly, who were collected together, some from an
apprehension of fire in the town, and with the neces
sary preparations, engines and buckets, to have ex-
tinguish'd it, if there had been one ; others from the
more alarming apprehension, that the soldiers had
issued from the barracks, as indeed they had done,
and that agreable to their threatnings many days
before, and their correspondent behavior on that very
evening, they were massacreing the inhabitants ?
Were they, who bore all that insolent and irritating
language from the soldiers, as they march'd from the
main guard, and before they form'd at the custom
house ; who were push'd at, struck with bayonets and
wounded, to be charg'd with being the aggressors, be
cause they finally, when they saw them bent upon
firing against repeated warnings, took such methods
as their understanding dictated to them, in the midst
of such a scene, to prevent their " committing so rash
an act " ? An act, which it was the duty as well as
the profess'd design of their officer to have prevented ;
and which, in the opinion of some, he might have pre
vented if he would : And yet we find a person of
high rank and figure in this province, testifying in
court in the case of Capt. Preston, that such was his
opinion of the prudence of this same officer, that he
should have chosen him out to have commanded upon
a like occasion.
I believe, that in ordinary times, if a banditti of
men of violence had been seen, with guns loaded and
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 155
bayonets fix'd, trembling with rage, and ready to fire
upon a multitude in the street, it would have been
counted meritorious, in any man or number of men,
at all events to have disarm'd them ; and if death had
ensued in the attempt, perhaps it would not have
been adjudg'd excuseable homicide or manslaughter. I
am sensible it is said by some, that it was the duty of
the soldiers to maintain their post : It was sworn by a
military officer in court, that " the centinel at the
custom-house, was station'd and appointed by the
commanding officer, Lieut. Colonel Dalrymple ; that
they could not stir from their post, and it was at their
peril if they did " ; and Capt. Preston in his state of
the case says, " He sent a party to protect the cen
tinel " : But this is military language ; to be used in
camps and garrison'd towns, not in free cities ; in
courts martial, and not in courts of common law : It
is dangerous to adopt military maxims, however pleas
ing they may be to some men, and to bring them into
use in civil societies : If the centinel had been in
danger, as was pretended, the law of the land, to
which the most distinguish'd officer in the King's
army is subjected, would have protected that centi
nel : Or, if there had indeed been a dangerous mob,
the law would have suppress'd it ; and no soldier
should have dared to have interfered, as a soldier,
without the command of a civil magistrate.
Capt. Preston in his state has said, " The mob still
increas'd, and was more outrageous " : And what did
he say the mob did after they became more out
rageous ? Why, " they struck their clubs or bludg
eons one against another : and called out, come on
156 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
you rascals, bloody backs, lobster scoundrels, fire if
you dare, we know you dare not fire, and much more
such language " : But surely it will not be said, that
all this would justify or excuse their firing : This
was after the soldiers had insulted and wounded the
people, and had loaded their guns and threatned to
fire, as appears by the current evidence ; and yet
hitherto, by his own account, we find no violence nor
even threat offer'd to the soldiers ; nothing but hard
names and daring them to fire. He adds, " while
I was parleying and endeavoring all in my power
to perswade them to retire peaceably — they advanced
to the points of the bayonets, struck some of them,
and even the muzzels of the peices " ; which corre
sponds with the testimonies of some of the witnesses
in court before mentioned, who said that while they
were loading, the people struck their guns ; very
probably, however indiscrete it might be, to prevent
their firing. He further says " they seem'd to be en
deavoring to close in with the soldiers " : This was
not mentioned by any witness in court, nor does it
seem to be likely : Indeed, I cannot see how Capt.
Preston could imagine, that they seem'd to be en
deavoring to close in with the soldiers : He says,
" he was talking with some well behaved persons,
who had asked him whether he intended to order the
men to fire " : Some of the witnesses mention'd the
people's pressing in, and more naturally accounted for
it, viz. from a curiosity " to know what was said ".
Capt. Preston adds, " while I was thus speaking (with
the well behaved persons, and in all likelihood at the
very instant, when Andrew testified it was said, they
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 157
were going to fire) one of the soldiers having received
a severe blow with a stick, stepped a little on one side
and instantly fired." Upon this, says Capt. Preston,
4<a general attack was made upon the men": So
that there was no general attack, according to his
account, till after the firing ; which agrees with Mr.
Bridgham and other unexceptionable witnesses in
court, who declared, that " there was no danger to the
soldiers from any thing they saw " — " no molestation,
nor any thing which they thought could produce fir
ing " : Indeed, one of the witnesses for the prisoners,
Mr. Nath. Russell testified, that " the soldiers were in
a trembling situation, and seemed to apprehend
themselves in immediate danger of death " ; but be
ing interrogated, whether their trembling might not
be the effect of rage, he replied, perhaps it might
proceed both from fear and rage. If there had been
such a general attack as Capt. Preston mentions, after
one of the soldiers had actually fired, and the others
appear'd to be just ready to fire (for they all dis-
charg'd their guns in a few minutes afterwards) it
would have been such an appearance as might natu
rally have been expected ; and therefore Capt. Pres
ton, who, as he says, " followed " the party for that
very purpose, should have taken more effectual care
than he did to have "prevented so rash an act" —
There was time enough for him to have at least pre
vented the continuance of the firing after the first
gun was discharg'd, and consequently to have saved
the lives of some of his Majesty's subjects ; for Mr.
Bridgham testified, that there was half a minute be
tween the first and the second gun.
158 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
It seems by the evidence, that Montgomery, one of
the prisoners, was the first who fired : It is probable
that he was the man, whom Captain Preston men
tions, as having received a blow : The witnesses
varied in their testimonies concerning this fact : He
was struck with a stick, either flung from behind or
otherwise : Some say he was knock'd down ; others,
that he did not fall : Capt. Preston himself said,
" he stepped a little on one side " : Mr. Palmes, who
gave, I think, the clearest account of this matter, de
clared, that he saw Montgomery struck ; he stepped
or sallied back, he could not say which — he did not
fall ; he was sure he was not knock'd down before he
fired ; he could not be, & he not see it, for his hand
was laid familiarly on Capt. Preston's shoulder, and
the soldier stood close to the Captain ; he added,
that he himself knock'd Montgomery down, after
they had all fired ; and the reason was, that because
even then, he was going to prick him with his bayonet.
It seems, the rage of passion in the breast of this sol
dier, like that in Killroi's, had not abated, after dis
charging his piece upon the people : His thirst was
not even then asswaged : Upon his attempt, after
all the firing, and while numbers were dead on the
spot before him, to stab Mr. Palmes, he struck with
his stick, and knock'd his gun out of his hand ;
and then he struck the first man he could, which hap
pened to be Preston : A circumstance related by
Preston himself, with this difference ; he says he re
ceived the blow, as he turned to the man who fired,
and asked him why he fired without orders ; Mr.
Palmes said, it was after all the o-uns were fired : So
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 159
that if Mr. Palmes was not mistaken, Capt. Preston
did not put that necessary question, till after all the
firing \vas over, tho' there was half a minute's distance
between the first and second gun ! Mr. Palmes spake
upon oath in court ; Capt. Preston did not : Which
of them was the more disinterested person, the
reader will judge. Mr. Palmes mentioned a further
struggle between him and Montgomery ; and the sol
dier, after the third attempt to stab him, in missing him
fell to the ground, and he escaped with his life. — Mr.
Danbrook saw Montgomery fire, and two persons fall
— Mr. Bass also saw the same soldier fire ; was sure
he did not fall before he fired ; he stood where he
must have seen it ; he thought he fell afterwards,
which co-operates with Mr. Palmes's testimony. — Mr.
Burdick went up to one of the soldiers, whom he took
to be the bald man (pointing at Montgomery) ; asked
him whether he intended to fire ; he answered, yes by
the eternal God ! A soldier push'd his bayonet at
him, upon which he struck at him a violent blow and
hit the cock of his gun ; he saw but one thing thrown,
and that was a short stick ; he heard a ratling, &
took it to be the knocking of the soldiers guns to
gether ; for the ground was slippery, and they were
continually pushing at the people ; after the firing,
while the people were taking up the dead, the soldiers
began to present and cock their guns, and then the
officer said don't fire any more. — Andrew declared,
that the soldiers were pushing with their bayonets
all the time he was there ; and that the people (being
advis'd so to do before any gun was discharged)
seemed to be turning awav to leave the soldiers : he
160 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
gives a very minute account of three or four person's
coming round Jackson's corner, with a stout man at
their head — his throwing himself in and making a
stroke at the officer — their paying upon each others
heads — and the soldiers paying upon the heads of
the people too ; and concludes this part of his narra
tive, with the soldiers firing : It seems however, to
be the account of the contest between Mr. Palmes
and Montgomery, after all the firing was over, as
related by Mr. Palmes ; and wro't up and embel
lished, in a manner in which Andrew was said to be
capable of doing, and sometimes to have done upon
occasions of mirth, and to divert company.
It appears from what has been said, that after the
Soldiers had repeatedly put the lives of individuals
in danger, by pushing them with their bayonets and
stabbing them ; and had loaded their guns and
threatned to fire upon the multitude indiscriminately,
and the people had reason to apprehend they were
just about to put their threats into execution, by a
stick thrown as is most probable, Montgomery re
ceived a blow : That this was tho't by him sufficient
provocation to fire upon the people, by which one of
the witnesses said, two persons were killed ; that
Capt. Preston, at so alarming a juncture took no
method to prevent the rest from firing, if what was
testified, in court is to be credited ; or, if his own
account must be rely'd upon, he exerted no authority
over his men, but used expostulations only : " I asked
him (who first fired and as soon as he had fired) why
he fired without order " ; very faintly said indeed, by
a gentleman in command, and who had followed the
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 161
party to " prevent their committing a rash act":
What ensued was enough to show, either that he had
no command over the men, or that they did not ap
prehend he was much adverse to their firing ; for they
soon after fired, and as we are told, without orders—
That after they had all fired, Montgomery made
three attempts to stab Mr. Palmes, who defended
himself, and with difficulty escaped with his life —
That the Soldiers had even at that time, again loaded
their guns and were then, ready to repeat the bloody
"action", and fire upon the people as they were
taking care of the dead ! Then, for the first time, we
hear of a positive order from Capt. Preston " don't fire
any more " : His order before should have been, " don't
fire by any means ", or some other order equivalent
to the last, and more regular perhaps than either.—
It further appeared by the evidence in court, that
when the first gun was fired, the people began to dis
perse : Mr. Bridgham, whose testimony I presume,
will not be disputed, said "they retired after the first
gun " : Was it not then " such malignity as might
hardly have been expected from barbarians," to con
tinue firing ! Astonishing as it may be to humanity,
this they did : And being resolved to do further exe
cution, Mr. Williams, a person of known credit, testi
fied, that " they waved their guns at the people as
they ran " : And what, if possible, is still more bar
barous, the last man that fired, as Mr. Bridgham testi
fied, " level'd his gun at a boy, and mov'd it along,
with the motion of the lad " ; which testimony, if it
needs it, is confirmed by that of Mr. Helyer: Both
agreed that the lad was not wounded.
VOL. ii. — ii.
i62 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
" I shall make no further comments ; there needs
none " : I will just say, that however safely Philan-
throp may speak, when he tells us, that " no indi
vidual can have a right, openly to complain or
murmur " ; if the times at present were even such, as
not to allow one openly to declare the utmost detes
tation of such slavish doctrine, I would still venture
to declare my opinion to all the world, that no indi
vidual is bound, nor is it in the power of the tyrants
of the earth to bind him, to acquiesce in any decision,
that upon the best enquiry, he cannot in his con
science approve of. I pretend not to judge the
hearts of men : The " temptations that some men
could be under, to act otherwise than conformably to
the sentiments of their own hearts" are obvious : But
I would ask Philanthrop, whether, if a man should
openly say, that those temptations have had their
genuine effects, he would not expose himself to have
a bill of information filed against him, by the attorney
general, and to be dealt with in a summary way.—
As it was published to the world by Mr. Draper,
that the witnesses in the trial of the custom-house
officers, were not credited, I may possibly hereafter,
when I shall be more at leisure, make that the sub
ject of a free enquiry.
VlNDEX.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 163
TO CHARLES LUCAS.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; the text is in W. V. Wells,
Life of Samuel Adams, vol. i., p. 383.]
BOSTON [March 12] 1771
SIR
Your Letter of the i Sept 1770 has been laid before
the Town of Boston at their annual Meeting & at
tended to with great Satisfaction, and we are ap
pointed a Committee to return a respectfull Answer.
Accordingly we take this Opportunity in Behalf of
the Town to acknowledge the kind Sentiments your
Letter expresses towards us and to intreat you to
employ your Abilities for our Advantage whenever a
favorable Opportunity may present. We are very
sensible that you have an arduous Task in resisting
the Torrent of Oppression & arbitrary Power in Ire
land : a kingdom where the brutal power of standing
Armies, & the more fatal Influence of pensions &
places has left, it is to be feard, hardly any thing
more than the Name of a free Constitution. We
wish you Strength & fortitude to persevere in patri-
otick Exertions. Your Labour will meet with its
immediate & constant Reward, in the most peaceful
& happy Reflections of your own mind amidst the
greatest discouragements ; and be assured that the
Man who nobly vindicates the Rights of his Country
& Mankind shall stand foremost in the List of fame.
1 Of Dublin. Cf, Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xxxiv., p. 231.
The committee which reported this letter was appointed March 12, and con
sisted of James Bowdoin, Joseph Warren, Samuel Pemberton, Richard Dana
and Adams. Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 46.
Franklin wrote to Bowdoin, January 13, 1772 : "In Ireland, among the
patriots, I dined with Dr. Lucas." J. Bigelow, Complete Works of Benjamin
Franklin, vol. iv., p. 439.
164 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON April 19 1771.
SIR
Your Letter of the 31 Dec1 which I receivd by
Cap Scott a few days past affords me great Satisfac
tion ; especially as it promises a Correspondence
which I dare say will be carried on with an Openness
& Sincerity becoming those who are anxiously con-
cernd for the publick Liberty at so alarming a Crisis.1
Perhaps there never was a time when the political Af
fairs of America were in a more dangerous State ;
Such is the Indolence of Men in general, or their Inat
tention to the real Importance of things, that a steady
& animated perseverance in the rugged path of Virtue
at the hazard of trifles is hardly to be expected. The
Generality are necessarily engagd in Application to
private Business for the Support of their own families
and when at a lucky Season the publick are awakened
to a Sense of Danger, & a manly resentment is en
kindled, it is difficult, for so many separate Communi
ties as there are in all the Colonies, to agree in one
consistent plan of Opposition while those who are
the appointed Instruments of Oppression, have all the
Means put into their hands, of applying to the pas
sions of Men & availing themselves of the Necessi
ties of some, the Vanity of others & the timidity
of all.
1 On January 10, 1771, Lee wrote to Adams: " Our friend Mr. Sayre has
done me the favour of communicating to me your very obliging invitation to a
correspondence." — R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. i., p. 249.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 165
I have long thought that a Design has been on foot to
render ineffectual the Democratical part of this Gov
ernment, even before the province was cursd with
the Appointment of Bernard, and so unguarded have
the people been in former times, so careless in the \
Choice of their representatives as to send too many
who either through Ignorance or Wickedness have
favord that Design. Of late the lower house of
Assembly have been more sensible of this Danger
& supported in some Measure their own Weight,
which has alarmd the Conspirators and been in my
opinion the true Source of Bernards Complaint
against them as having set up a faction against the
Kings Authority. The 4 Judges of the Supreme
Court, the Secretary & the Kings Attourny who had
been Councellors were left out at the annual Election
in 1 766 ; this gave great offence to the Govr, and
was followd with two Speeches to both Houses perhaps
as infamous & irritating as ever came from a Stuart
to the English parliam*.1 Happy indeed it was for
the Province that such a Man was at the Head of it,
for it occasiond such a Jealousy & Watchfulness in
the people as prevented their immediate & total
Ruin.
The plan however is still carried on tho in a Man- \
ner some what different ; and that is by making the
Governor altogether independent of the People for
his Support ; this is depriving the House of Repre
sentatives of the only Check they have upon him
& must consequently render them the Objects of the
Contempt of a Corrupt Administration. Thus the
1 See Vol. I., pages 79, 83.
1 66 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
peoples Money being first taken from them without
their Consent, is appropriated for the Maintenance
of a Governor at the Discretion of one in the King
dom of Great Britain upon whom he absolutely
depends for his Support. If this be not a Tyranny I
am at a Loss to conceive what a Tyranny is. The
House of Representatives did a few days since, grant
the Govr the usual Sum for his Support and it is
expected that this Matter will be made certain upon
his refusal of it. The Govr of New York was explicit
at the late Session of their Assembly, upon the like
Occasion : But I confess I should not be surprisd
if our good Govr, should accept the Grant & discount
it out of what he is to receive out of the Kings Chest ;
thinking it will be conceivd by the Minister as highly
meritorious in him, in thus artfully concealing his In
dependency (for the Apprehension of it is alarming
to the people) & saving ^"1000 sterling of the revenue
at the same time.
While the Representative Body of the people is
thus renderd a mere Name, it is . . . considerd
that the other Branch of the Legislative tho annually
elective, is at the same time subject to the Gover
nors Negative : A Consideration which I doubt not
has its full Weight in the minds of some of them
at least, whenever any Matter comes before them
which they can possibly think will affect the Measures
of Administration. You will easily conjecture how
far this may tend to annihilate that Branch or pro
duce Effects more fatal.
It seems then that we are in effect to be under the ab
solute Governm4 of one Man — ostensively the Gover-
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 167
nor of the province but in Reality some other person
residing in Great Britain, whose Instructions the Govr
must punctually observe upon pain of forfeiting his
place. So that any little advantage that might now
& then arise from his happening to form Connections
with wise Men in the province are totally lost. As
Matters are now circumstancd he must associate with
Pensioners, Commissioners of the Customs Officers
of the Army & Navy, Tools Sycophants &c who to
gether with him are to make such representations as
to them shall seem meet, & joyntly if Occasion shall
require it, execute such Orders as they shall from
time to time receive. Such is to be the happy Gov
ernment of free British Subjects in America. I will
however do Govr Hutchinson the Justice to say that
tho he may 1 . . . yet he has a very natural Con
nection with some of the principal Gentlemen Inhabi
tants of the province for his Excellencys own Brother is
a Justice of the Superior Court, & also a Judge of the
probate of Wills & he has also a Brother by marriage
upon the same superior Bench. Moreover the L1
Govr is his Brother by marriage who has an own
Brother & a Brother by marriage who are justices of
the Superior Court. As these Gentlemen are Natives
of the province it is hoped the Channells of Justice
will remain unpolluted notwithstanding his Excel
lencys other Connections.
1 At this point the words " mar a State of Absolute Independency in both
Houses of Assembly " are erased in the draft.
1 68 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS
TO THE GOVERNOR.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library; a text, with modifications, is in
Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 296, 297 ; a text is also in Journal of the
House of Representatives •, 7770-7777, pp. 241, 242.]
In the House of Representatives April 24 1771
Orderd that Mr Hancock Mr Adams Mr Ingersol
of Great Barrington Capt Brown & Capt Darby be a
Committee to wait on his Excellency the Governor
with the following Answer to his Speech to both
Houses at the Opening of this Session.
May it please your Excellency.
The House of Representatives have given all due
Attention to your Speech to both Houses at the
Opening of this Session.
The violent proceedings of the Spanish Governor
of Buenos Ayres in dispossessing his Majestys Sub
jects of their Settlement at Port Egmont, has raisd
the Indignation of all, who have a just Concern for
the Honor of the British Crown. Such an Act of
Hostility, we conceive could not but be followd with
the most spirited Resolution on the part of the Brit
ish Administration, to obtain a Satisfaction fully
adequate to the Insult offerd to his Majesty, & the
Injuries his Subjects there have sustaind. Your Ex
cellency tells us that it is probable Satisfaction may
have been made; for this Hostile act of the Span
iards : If it is so, the publick Tranquility of his
Majestys Dominions so far as it has been disturbd,
by this unwarrantable Proceeding, is again restored ;
and therefore it seems to us reasonable to suppose, that
the proposd Plan of Augmentation of Troops on the
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 169
British Establishment is already receded from ; which
renders any Consideration upon that Subject on our
part unnecessary.
We owe our Gratitude to his Majesty for his
repeated Assurances expressd to your Excellency by
his Secretary of State, that the Security of his Domin
ions in America, will be a principal Object of his
most gracious Care & Attention. This Province has
frequently in times past expended much Blood &
Treasure for the Enlargement as well as the Support
of those Dominions : And when our natural & consti
tutional Rights & Liberties, without which no Bless
ing can be secure to us, shall be fully restord &
establishd upon a firm Foundation, as we shall then
have the same Reasons and Motives therefor as here
tofore, we shall not fail to continue those Exertions
with the utmost Chearfulness & to the Extent of our
Ability.
As your Excellency has no particular interior Busi
ness of the Province to lay before us, it would have
given us no uneasiness, if an End had been put to
the present Assembly, rather than to have been again
called to this Place : And we are unwilling to admit
the Beliefe, that when the Season for calling a new
Assembly agreable to the Charter shall arrive, your
Excellency will continue an Indignity, & a Grievance
so flagrant & so repeatedly remonstrated by both
Houses as the Deforcement of the General Assembly
of its ancient & Rightful Seat.1
1 On April 3 the House had appointed a committee, and on April 4 two
committees, in connection with the requests to the Governor to remove the
General Court to Boston. Adams was a member of each of these committees.
170 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
Your Excellency is pleasd to acquaint us in Form,
that you have receivd his Majestys Commission
appointing you Captain General & Commander in
Chiefe in and over the Province. Your having had
your Birth & Education in this Province, and sus-
taind the highest Honors which your Fellow Subjects
could bestow, cannot fail to be the strongest Motives
with your Excellency to employ those Powers which
you are now vested with, for his Majestys real Ser
vice & the best Interest of this People. The Duties
of the Governor & Governed are reciprocal : And by
our happy Constitution their Dependence is mutual :
Nothing can more effectually produce & establish
that Order and Tranquility in the Province so often
disturbd under the late unfortunate Administration :
Nothing will tend more to conciliate the Affections
of this People, & ensure to your Excellency those
Aids which you will constantly stand in Need of from
their Representatives, than, as a wise and faithful
Administrator to make Use of the publick Power,
with a View only to the publick Welfare : And while
your Excy shall religiously regard the Constitution of
this Province ; while you shall maintain its funda
mental Laws, so necessary to secure the publick
Tranquility, you may be assured, that his Majestys
faithful Commons of this Province, will never be
wanting in their utmost Exertions to support you in
all such measures, as shall be calculated for the
publick Good, & to render your Administration pros
perous & happy.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 171
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS
TO THE GOVERNOR.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text, with modifications, is in
Massachusetts State Papers, p. 298 ; a text is also in Journal of the House
of Representatives, 1770-1771, p. 246.]
In the House of Representatives April 25 1771
Orderd that Mr Sam1 Adams Brig Ruggles Mr
Hersy Coll Bowers & Mr Godfrey be a Committee
to wait on his Excellency with the following message.
May it please your Excellency.
The House of Representatives after Enquiry of
the Secretary cannot be made certain whether you
have yet given your Assent to two Bills which were
laid before your Excellency early in this Session :
The one for granting the Sum pf five hundred and
Six pounds for your Services when Lieutenant Gov
ernor and Commander in Chiefe ; and the other for
granting the usual Sum of Thirteen hundred Pounds
to enable your Excellency, as Governor, to carry on
the Affairs of this Province.
And as your Excellency was not pleasd to give
your Assent to another Bill passd in the last Session
of this Assembly, for granting the Sum of three
hundred & twenty five pounds for your Services,
when in the Chair, as Lieutenant Governor, the
House are apprehensive that you are under some
Restraint ; and they cannot account for it upon any
other Principle, but your having Provision for your
1 On April 24, Adams moved that the House send a message to the Governor
asking whether provision had been made for his support independently of the
legislature. The motion was carried, and Adams was named as the first mem
ber of the committee to prepare such a message. On April 25, he was named
as the first of a committee to present the message to the Governor.
172 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
Support, in some new and unprecedented manner.
If the Apprehensions of the House are not ground
less, they are sollicitous to be made certain of it,
before an End is put to the present Session;1 and
think it their Duty to pray your Excellency to inform
them, whether any provision is made for your Sup
port, as Governor of this Province, independent of
his Majestys Commons in it.
ARTICLE SIGNED "CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, June 10, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
BENEVOLUS, in Mr. Draper s Gazette seems to have
no doubts in his mind, but that "a general air of
satisfaction arising from the accounts given in the
last Monday's papers of the present state of our
publick affairs will shew itself universally thro' the
province." I have no inclination to disturb the sweet
repose of this placid gentleman ; but I must confess
I see no cause for such a general air of satisfaction
from those accounts, and I will venture to add, that
there is no appearance of it in this town — Does
Benevolus think it possible for the good people of
this province to be satisfied, when they are told by
the Governor, as appears by the last Monday's papers,
that he is restrained from holding the court in its
antient, usual and most convenient place without his
Majesty's express leave ? Does not the charter say
that the Governor shall have the power of acting in
1 The General Court was dissolved on April 26.
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 173
this matter " as he shall judge necessary" ? Is it not
of great importance to the welfare of the province
that the Governor should be vested with such a
power, and that he should exercise it without re
straint ? While he is, or thinks himself fetter d, by
an absolute instruction to hold the assembly out of
the town of Boston, to the inconvenience of the mem
bers and the injury of the people, as the present
House of Representatives express it, can he be said
to have the free exercise of all the powers vested in
him by the charter, which is our social compact ? Will
it yield such a general satisfaction to the people as
Benevolus. expects, to see their Governor thus em
barrass d in his administration, and to hear him ex
pressly declaring, that he must ask leave, and be
determin'd by the judgment of another in the matter
in which it is his indispensible duty to act with free
dom, and by the determination of his own judgment.
—Is not this power devolv'd upon him by the consti
tution of the province for the good of the people ? Is
it not a beneficiary grant, and therefore a right of
the people ? And if instructions may controul him
in the exercise of one charter right, may they not
controul in the exercise of any or every one ? And
yet Benevolus would fain have it thought that there
is a general satisfaction in the town of Boston arising
from this account, and doubts not but it will run
thro' the province. Does not the present House of
Representatives in their Remonstrance to the Gov
ernor against the holding the assembly at Cambridge,
instead of " departing from the principles " as Benevo-
lus would insinuate, adopt the remonstrances of the
174 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
two houses of the last year as founded upon just
principles ? Do they not tell his Excellency that the
holding the assembly at Cambridge " was consider'd
as a GRIEVANCE by the people in general in the prov
ince ; and that while it is continued it will have a
tendency to prevent a restoration of that harmony,
between the several branches of the general assembly,
which is so earnestly to be desired by all good men " ?
And is it so pleasant a story to be told to the people
of the province, that the Governor either cannot, or
will not, remove a Grievance of so fatal a tendency,
though expressly vested by the charter with the power
of doing it if he pleases, without asking leave to do
it? How then can Benevolus possibly entertain the
least hopes that a general air of satisfaction will run
thro' the province ? Is not this Instruction a novelty f
Was ever a Governor before thus restrain'd ? And
is it not a mortifying circumstance that a gentleman
from whom the clergy of the province, (I mean the
goodly number of SEVENTEEN out of near four hun
dred in the province, full seven eighths of whom never
heard that an address was intended^) have express'd
the most sanguine expectations as being born and
educated among us, and who we are told accepted
the government with great reluctance, should submit
to be shackled with an instruction so grievous to
the people while it is obey'd : And if HE is as re-
solv'd as any other Governor would be, to make
Instructions the rule of his governing, and give them
the force of laws in this province, as he certainly ap
pears to be, what " distinguishing mark of favor" is
it, or what satisfaction can it afford the people in
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 175
general, that " a native of the province is appointed
to preside over it " ? — Surely Benevolus must either
be totally inadvertent to the accounts of the state of
our publick affairs as given to us in the last Mondays
papers, or he must have altogether confided in the
accounts of a confused writer in the Evening-Post,
who in the old stile of the hackney'd writers in Ber
nard's administration, tells us that FACTION is now at
an end ; and with an awkward air of gravity insinu
ates, that the people, after having nobly struggled
for their freedom, are, under the benign influence of
the present administration, " returning to their right
senses". A firm and manly opposition to the at
tempts that have been made, and are still making, to
enslave and ruin this continent, has always been
branded by writers of this stamp, with the n&me of a
FACTION. Governor Bernard used to tell his Lord
ship, that it was an "expiring faction " ; with as little
reason it is now said to have given up the ghost :
Gladly would some, even of the Clergy, persuade this
people to be at ease ; and for the sake of peace under
the administration of "a son of the province", to
acquiesce in unconstitutional revenue acts, arbitrary
ministerial mandates, and absolute despotic indepen
dent governors, &c. &c. But the time is not yet
come ; and I am satisfied that, notwithstanding the
address of a few who took the opportunity to carry it
through, while only the small number of twenty-four
were present, there is in that venerable order a great
majority, who will not go up to the house of Rimmon,
or bow the knee to Baal.
CANDIDUS.
176 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
[Boston Gazette, June 17, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
It is not very material whether the Address of the
Convention of the Clergy, as it is called by the Lay
man, in Mr. Draper s last Paper, was the Act of
seventeen or twenty three Gentlemen, or whether
there were only twenty-four or thirty present, when
the Vote was procured. — Be it as it may, it is a Ques
tion, why this Matter was bro't on and finished so
early, and when so small a Number as thirty, if so
many, were present. — It is said that after the Address
was Voted, the Number increased to Sixty ; and
upon a Proposal to reconsider the Vote, " not above
Ten of that Number voted for such Reconsidera
tion." Allowing this to be the Case, it appears, that
not more than one in seven of the Congregational
Clergy of this Province were at the Meeting, and in all
Probability seven-eights of that Denomination never
heard that an Address was intended ; for I am told, that
upon a moderate Computation, their Number in the
Province is at least upwards of Four-Hundred. I
should be glad therefore, if the Reverend Doctor who
presided at the Meeting, would inform us, with what
Propriety the World is told, that this was " the Address
of the Congregational Ministers of the Province."
For my own Part, I pay very little Regard to Ad
dresses to Great Men : Whenever they appear to be
but the Breath of Flattery, they must be offensive to
the Ears of any Man who has the Feelings of Truth
and Sincerity in his own Breast. — There is no Ques
tion but the Clergy have a Right to address whom
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 177
they please ; and it is not strange to find some of
them ready to make their Compliments to a Gover
nor — It is in Course : But of all Men, we are to ex
pect from them, even upon such Occasions, Examples
of that Simplicity and godly Sincerity, which we so
often hear them inculcate from the Pulpit. — I do not
pretend to charge them with a Failure in this In
stance : But I cannot help thinking, that rather more
of those excellent Christian Graces would have ap
peared in these Reverend Addressers, if they had
ascertained the Number present. This might have
prevented a Mistake in many of the distant Readers,
who may possibly conceive that "so kind, so affec
tionate an Address," contained the declared Senti
ments of a Majority at least of the " respectable and
venerable " Body of the Clergy of the Province ;
which cannot be true, if in Fact not more than a
seventh Part of them knew any Thing about it. — I
am with due Veneration for " the Congregational Min
isters of the Province." CANDIDUS.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS
TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.1
[Boston Gazette, July 29, 1771 ; a text from the Bowdoin MS. is in Proceedings
of Massachusetts Historical Society, Ser. I., vol. viii., pp. 468-473.]
PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY,
gIR June 29, 1771.
Your letter of the 5th of February2 has been laid
before the House : The contents are important and
claim our fixed attention.
1 Page 46, note, applies also to the authorship of this letter.
9 J. Bigelow, Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin, vol. iv., p. 378.
VOL. II. — 12.
178 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
We cannot think the doctrine of the right of Par
liament to tax us is given up, while an act remains in
force for that purpose, and is daily put in execution ;
and the longer it remains the more danger there is of
the people's becoming so accustomed to arbitrary and
unconstitutional taxes, as to pay them without dis
content ; and then, as you justly observe, no Minister
will ever think of taking them off, but will rather be
encouraged to add others. — If ever the provincial
assemblies should be voluntarily silent, on the Parlia
ment's taking upon themselves a power thus to vio
late our constitutional and Charter Rights, it might
be considered as an approbation of it, or at least a
tacit consent, that such a power should be exercised
at any future time. It is therefore our duty to de
clare our Rights and our determined Resolution at
all times to maintain them : The time we know will
come, when they must be acknowledged, established
and secured to us and our posterity.
/We severely feel the effects, not of a revenue raised,
but a tribute extorted, without our free consent or con-
troul. Pensioners and Placemen are daily multiply
ing ; and fleets and standing armies posted in North
America, for no other apparent or real purpose, than
to protect the exactors and collectors of the tribute ;
for which they are to be maintained, & many of
them in pomp & pride to triumph over and insult an
injured people, and suppress if possible, even their
murmurs. And there is reason to expect, that the
continual increase of their numbers will lead to a pro
portionable increase of a tribute to support them.
What would be the consequence ? Either on the
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 179
one hand, an abject slavery in the people, which is j
ever to be deprecated ; or, a determined resolution,
openly to assert and maintain their rights, liberties
and privileges.; The effects of such a resolution may
for some time be retarded by flattering hopes and
prospects ; and while it is the duty of all persons of
influence here to inculcate the sentiments of modera
tion, it will in our opinion, be equally the wisdom of
the British administration, to consider the danger of
forcing a free people by oppressive measures into a
state of desperation. We have reason to believe
that the American Colonies, however they may have
disagreed among themselves in one mode of oppo
sition to arbitrary measures, are still united in the
main principles of constitutional & natural liberty ;
and that they will not give up one single point in
contest of any importance, tho' they may take no vio
lent measures to obtain them.-^-The taxing their
property without their consent, and thus appropriat
ing it to the purposes of their slavery and destruction, ^
is justly considered, as contrary to and subversive of
their original social compact, and their intention in
uniting under it :/ They cannot therefore readily
think themselves obliged to renounce those forms of
government, to which alone for the advantages im-
ply'd or resulting, they were willing to submit. We ~~\
are sensible, as you observe, that the design of our
enemies in England, as well as those who reside here,
is to render us odious as well as contemptible, and to
prevent all concern for us in the friends of liberty in »
England ; and perhaps to detach our Sister Colonies ^
from us, and prevent their aid and influence in our
i8o THE WRITINGS OF [1771
behalf, when the projects of oppressing us further
and depriving us of our Rights by various violent
measures, should be carried into execution. In this
however, we flatter ourselves they have failed : But
should all the other Colonies become weary of their
liberties, after the example of the Hebrews, this
Province we trust, will never submit to the authority
of an absolute government.
We are now led to take notice of another fatal
consequence, which we are under strong apprehen
sions will follow from these parliamentary revenue
laws ; and that is, the making the governors of the
colonies, and other officers, independent of the people
for their support. You tell us there is no doubt of
such intention, and that it will be persisted in, if the
American revenue is found sufficient. We are the
more inclin'd to believe it, not only because the gov
ernor of the province of New-York has openly de
clared it with regard to himself, to the assembly
there ; but because the present governor of this
province has repeatedly refused to accept of the
usual grant for his support, tho' he has not been so
explicit as to assign a reason for it. The charter of
this province recognizes the natural Right of all men
to dispose of their property : And the governor here,
like all other governors, kings and potentates, is to
be supported by the free grants of the Representa
tives of the people. Every one sees the necessity of
this to preserve the balance of power and the free
dom of any state : A power without a check, is sub
versive of all freedom : If therefore the governor,
who is appointed by the crown, shall be totally inde-
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 181
pendent of the free grants of the people for his
support, where is the check upon his power? He
becomes absolute and may act as he pleases : He
may make use of his power, not for the good of those
who are under it, but for his own private separate
advantage, or any other purpose to which he may be
inclined, or instructed by him upon whom alone he
depends. Such an independency threatens the very
being of a free constitution ; and if it takes effect,
will produce and firmly establish a tyranny upon its
ruin. The act of parliament of the 7 Geo. 3. 1 intitled,
" An act for granting certain duties in the Colo
nies, &c." declares That it is expedient that a reve
nue should be raised in his Majesty's dominions in
America, for making more certain and adequate pro
vision for the defraying the charge of the administra
tion of justice, and the support of civil government
in such colonies where it shall be found necessary ;
and, towards further defreying the expences of de
fending, protecting and securing the said dominions.
—These are the very purposes for which this govern
ment by the Charter is empowered to grant taxes :
So that by the act aforementioned, the Charter is in
effect made void. Agreeable to the design of that
act, the governor it seems is first to be made inde
pendent ; and in pursuance of the plan of despotism,
the judges of the land, and all other important civil
officers, successively : Next follows an independent
military power, to compleat the ruin of our civil lib
erties. — Let us then consider the power the Governor
already has, and his Majesty's negative on all our
1 Chap. 46.
1 82 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
acts, and judge whether the purposes of tyranny will
not be amply answered ! Can it be expected that
any law will pass here, but such as will promote the
favourite design ? And the laws already made, as
they will be executed by officers altogether de
pendent on the crown, will undoubtedly be perverted
to the worst purposes. The governor of the province,
and the principal fortress in it, are probably already
thus supported. These are the first fruits of the
system : If the rest should follow, it would be only
in a greater degree, a violation of our essential,
natural rights. For what purpose then will it be to
preserve the old forms without the substance? In
such a state, and with such prospects, can Britain ex
pect anything but a gloomy discontent in the Colo
nies ? Let our fellow-subjects there recollect, what
would have been their fate long ago, if their ancestors
had submitted to the unreasonable and uncharitable
usurpations, exactions and impositions of the See of
Rome, in the reign of Henry the VIII. Soon would
they have sunk into a state of abject slavery to that
haughty power, which exalteth itself above all that is
called God : But they had the true spirit of liberty,
and by exerting it, they saved themselves and their
posterity; The act of parliament passed in the 25th
of that reign,1 is so much to our present purpose, that
we cannot omit transcribing a part of it, and refer
you to the statute at large. In the preamble it is de
clared, that " the realm of England hath been and is
free from subjection to any man's law but only to
such as have been devised, made and ordained within
1 Chap. 21. The quotation from the statute is inexact.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 183
the realm for the wealth of the same." And further,
" it standeth therefore with natural equity and good
reason, that in every such law humane made within
this realm by the said sufferance, consents and cus
toms, your Royal Majesty and your Lords spiritual
and temporal and Commons representing the whole
state of your realm in this your Majesty's high court
of parliament, hath full power and authority, not only
to dispense, but also to authorize some elect person or
persons to be sent to dispense with those and all
other humane laws in this your realm, and with every
one of them, as the quality of the persons and matter
may require. And also the said laws and every one
of them to abrogate, annul, amplify or diminish, as it
shall seem to your Majesty and the Nobles and Com
mons of your realm present in parliament meet and
convenient for the wealth of your realm. And be
cause that it is now in these days present seen, that
the state, dignity and superiority, reputation and au
thority of the said imperial crown of this realm, by
the long sufferance of the said unreasonable and
uncharitable usurpation and exaction is much and
sore decayed, and the people of this realm thereby
much impoverished." It is then enacted, that " no
person or persons of the realm, or of any other his
Majesty's dominions, shall from henceforth pay any
pensions, censes, portions, peter pence, or any other
impositions to the use of the said Bishop of the See
of Rome ; but that all such pensions, &c. which the
said Bishop or Pope hath heretofore taken — shall
clearly surcease, and never more be levied or paid to
any person or persons in any manner or wise." —
1 84 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
Nothing short of the slavery and ruin of the nation
would have been the consequence of their submitting
to those exactions : And the same will be the fate of
America, if the present revenue laws remain, and the
natural effect of them, the making governors inde
pendent, takes place.
It is therefore with entire approbation that we ob
serve your purpose freely to declare our Rights, and
to remonstrate against the least infringement of
them. The capital complaint of all North- America,
hath been, is now and will be until relieved, a subju
gation to as arbitrary a tribute as ever the Romans
laid upon the Jews, or their other colonies : The
repealing these duties in part is not considered by
this house as a renunciation of the measure: It has
rather the appearance of a design to sooth us into
security in the midst of danger : Any species of
tribute unrepealed, will stand as a precedent, to be
made use of hereafter as circumstances and oppor
tunity may admit : If the Colonies acquiesce in a
single instance, it will in effect be yielding up the
whole matter and controversy. We therefore desire
it may be universally understood, that altho' the
tribute is paid, it is not paid freely : It is extorted
and torn from us against our will : We bear the
insult and the injury for the present, grievous as it is,
with great impatience ; hoping that the wisdom and
prudence of the nation will at length dictate measures
consistent with natural justice and equity : For what
shall happen in future, We are not answerable :
Your observation is just, that it was certainly as bad
policy, when they attempted to heal our differences,
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 185
by repealing part of the duties only, as it is bad
Surgery to leave splinters in a wound which must
prevent its healing, or in time occasion it to open
afresh.
The doctrine, that no agent ought to be received or
attended to by government, who is not appointed by
an act of the general court, to which the governor has
given his assent, if established, must be attended with
very ill consequences ; for, besides the just remarks
you made upon it, if whatever is to be transacted be
tween the assemblies of the Colonies and the gov
ernment, is to be done by agents appointed by and
under the direction of the three branches, it will be
utterly impracticable for an assembly ever to lay be
fore the Sovereign their complaints of grievances oc
casioned by the corrupt and arbitrary administration
of a governor. This doctrine, we have reason to
think, was first advanced by governor Bernard, at a
time when he became the principal agent in involving
the nation and the Colonies in controversy and con
fusion : Very probably, it now becomes a subject of
instruction to governor Hutchinson1 who refuses to
confirm the grants of the Assembly to the Agents for
the respective houses. In this he carries the point
beyond Governor Bernard who assented to grants
made in general terms for services performed, without
holding up the name of agent : But governor Hutch
inson declines his assent even in that form ; so that
we are reduced to a choice of difficulties, either to
1 Since the writing of this letter an Instruction of this kind is ar
rived, which has been communicated by the Governor to his Majesty's
Council ; and is recorded in their Journal !
1 86 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
have no agent at all, but such as shall be under the
influence of the minister ; or to find some other way
to support an agent than by grants of the general as
sembly. — But we are fallen into times, when governors
of colonies seem to think themselves bound to con
form to instructions, without any regard to the civil
constitution, or even the public safety.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, July I, 1771.]
MESSIEURS EDES & GILL,
The Layman, who again appeared in Mr. Draper s
last Thursday's Gazette, is sollicitous to know why
Candidus "pitched upon the specific Number seven
teen, as present at the late Convention of the Clergy,
and voting for an Address to his Excellency the Gov
ernor ; and further, he asks, Whether " it was not
purposely done to throw an undeserved Reproach on
that reverend Body." — I will endeavour to answer
the Layman in a Manner not "militating," as he
charges me with having done before, "with my as
sumed denomination." — I mentioned that " specific
number," because I was told by several reverend Gen
tlemen who were present at the Convention, that
the Address was bro't on early, when only twenty-four
had got together ; and that of this number, seventeen
only voted in favor of it. I own I thought it unlucky,
that the precise Number seventeen should appear to
countenance the Address, because I agree with the
Layman that it has of late become an " obnoxious
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 187
Number." I have Reason to think I was truly in
formed ; if it was a misrepresentation, the Reverend
Doctor who presided at the Meeting, may set us right,
if he thinks it worth his While. I am still of Opinion,
that is immaterial to my Purpose, whether twenty-four
or thirty Gentlemen were present, when the Address
was carried through ; either of those numbers being
very inconsiderable, when compared with the whole
Number of Congregational Ministers in the Province,
which is said to be at least four Hundred. — Allowing
that the Number, after the Address had passed, was
augmented to Sixty, and that Fifty of them were
against reconsidering the Matter, it is not certainly to
be inferred from thence, that all those Fifty would
have voted for an Address, if they had been present
when it was first proposed. But however that might
be, the Propriety (to say the least) of calling it, An
Address of the Congregational Ministers of the Prov
ince, when not more than about One in Seven of
them were present, or in any Likelihood ever had
heard that any Address was intended, yet remains a
Question : And I again say, I should be glad to see
it reconciled with that Simplicity and Godly Sincerity
which we often hear inculcated from the Pulpit. — The
Layman supposes, that it is with the Convention as
" with other Corporate Bodies, convened at stated
Time and Place " — Now other corporate Bodies are
notified of the Matters to be transacted at Time &
Place; but no Notice was given to "the Congrega
tional Ministers of the Province" that an Address to
his Excellency the Governor was to be proposed ;
and as this is said to be the first Instance of an
i88 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
Address to a Governor ever made by the Convention,
it is not likely that seven-eighths of them, who were
absent, ever had it in contemplation. But after all, I
would ask, " with Modesty, Decency, and Charity,"
and with Humility too, all which I take to be excel
lent Christian Graces, as well as Sincerity ; by what
Authority is the Convention of the Clergy, as it is
called, constituted " a corporate Body " ? I am never
theless, with all due Respect to the Ministers of the
Congregational Churches,
Yours,
CANDIDUS.
P. S. Perhaps an Address of Thanks from the
Convention of the Reverend & very venerable Dr.
Chauncy, for his excellent Defence of their ecclesiastic
Constitution, at a Time when they stood in need of so
able a Defender, may be judg'd by some to be rather
more in Character than a political Address to the
Man in Power.
C.
Postscript the 2d. I am inform'd that it was first
propos'd to address his Excellency at Cambridge,
after Dinner on the Day of Election, and that the
Reason assign'd for it was, because it had been un
justly asserted that his - - had stood Sponsor at a
Christening — The Truth of which Assertion, however,
it is also said, might have been made evident by
enquiring of a worthy Clergyman of the Church of
England in that Town,
C.
i77 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 189
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 173-177.]
BOSTON, July 3ist, 1771.
SIR, —
Since I received your favour of the 28th of March,
I have observed by the London papers that the lord-
mayor and alderman are liberated. From the wisdom
and firmness which formerly distinguished that opu
lent and independent city, we expected that when
they had so fair an occasion for exerting themselves,
the power which has too long oppressed and insulted
the nation and the colonies, would have been made to
bend. But we have seen complimentary letters and
addresses to the imprisoned gentlemen, and their an
swers ; while by a stretch of arbitrary power they have
been kept in confinement, till by a prorogation instead
of a dissolution, they have been discharged of course.
Is this my friend a matter of such triumph ? Does it
not show that Britons are unfeeling to their condi
tion ? Or has brutal force at length become so formi
dable, that after having in vain petitioned those whose
duty it is to redress their grievances, they are afraid to
imitate the virtue of their ancestors in similar cases,
and redress their grievances themselves ?
Mr. Hume, if I mistake not, somewhere says, that
if James the Second had had the benefit of the riot-
act, and such a standing army as has been granted
since his time, it would have been impracticable for
the nation to have wrought its own delivery, and
establish the constitution of '88. If the people have
put it in the power of a wicked and corrupt ministry
190 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
to make themselves absolute lords and tyrants over
them by means of a standing army, we may at present
pity them under the misfortune ; but future historians
will record the story with astonishment and indigna
tion, and posterity, who will share in the fatal effects
of their folly and treachery, will accuse them. Has
there not for a long time past been reason to appre
hend the designs of a restless faction to oppress the
nation ; and the more easily to affect their purposes,
to render the king's government obnoxious, and if
possible put an end to a family which has heretofore
supported the rights of the nation, its happiness and
grandeur ?
In this colony we are every day experiencing the
miserable effects of arbitrary power. The people are
paying the unrighteous tribute, (I wish I could say
they were groaning under it, for that would seem as
if they felt they are submitting to it,) in hopes that
the nation will at length revert to justice. But befpre
that time comes, it is to be feared they will be so
accustomed to bondage, as to forget they were ever
free. Swarms of locusts and caterpillars are main
tained by this tribute in luxury and splendour, and a
standing army, (not in the city thank God, since the
5th March 1770, but within call upon occasion).
While our independent governor is found to crouch to
his superiors, and to look down upon and sneer at those
below him, he is from time to time receiving instruc
tions how to govern this people, to govern ! rather
to harass and insult his country in distress. . . .
where his adulating priestlings are reminding him he
was born and educated, forgetting perhaps if they ever
177 O SAMUEL ADAMS. 191
knew, that the tyrants of Rome were the natives of
Rome. Among other edicts which have been lately
sent to this governor, there is one which prohibits his
assenting to any tax-bill, unless the commissioners
and other officers, whose salaries are not paid out of
moneys granted by this government, are exempted
from a tax on the profits of their commissions.
Nothing that I can say will heighten the resentment
of a man of sense and virtue against such a mandate ;
and yet our governor would have us think it is a mark
of his paternal goodness. Another instruction forbids
the governor to give his assent to grants to any agent,
unless he is appointed by a law of the province, or a
resolve of the assembly, to which his excellency con
sents. And a third requires him to refuse his assent
to a future election of such councillors as shall pre
sume to meet together as a council, without being
summoned by him into his presence. These instruc
tions, so humiliating to the council, the secretary by
the governor's order has entered on their journals.
It has been observed that the nearer any man ap
proaches to an absolute independence, the more he
will be flattered ; and flattery is always great in pro
portion as the motives of flatterers are bad. These
observations are so disgraceful to human nature that
T wish I could say they were not founded in experi
ence. Perhaps there never was a man in this province
more flattered, or who bore it better, I mean who was
better pleased with it, than Governor Hutchinson.
You have seen Miss in her teens, surrounded with dy
ing lovers, praising her gay ribbons, the dimples in
her cheeks or the tip of her ear ! In imitation of the
192 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
mother country, whom we are too apt to imitate in
fopperies, addresses have been procured and presented
to his excellency, chiefly from dependants and expec
tants. Indeed some of the clergy have run into the
stream of civility, which is the more astonishing, when
it is considered that they altogether depend upon the
ability and good disposition of their parishes for their
support. But it is certain that not a fifth part, some
say not an eighth part of the clergy, were present.
It cannot, therefore, be said to be the language of the
body of the clergy, and all ages have seen that some
of that order have ever been ready to sacrifice the
rights as well as the honoured religion of their coun
try, to the smiles of the great. It is a sore mortifica
tion that the independent house of representatives,
and the town of Boston have refused to make their
compliments to a man, whose administration since
the departure of the Nettleham Baronet, they can by
no means approve of. From hence you will judge
whether these addresses speak the sentiments of the
people in general, or are any more than the foul
breath of sycophants and hirelings.
The province of North Carolina, by accounts from
thence, appears to have been involved in a civil war.
It is the general opinion here that the people in the
back parts of that province have been greatly op
pressed, and that the governor, instead of hearkening
to their complaints and redressing their grievances,
has raised an army and spilt their blood. This it
must be confessed, is treating the people under his
government much in the same manner as his superiors
have treated the nation and the colonies. But their
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 193
example may prove dangerous to be followed by a
plantation governor. At this distance from Carolina
we have not yet received a perfect account from
thence. I hope your friends in the adjacent colony
of Virginia have wrote you particularly of this impor
tant matter. Tryon has arrived at New York, where
he is appointed governor. He has already been ad
dressed with all the expressions of court sincerity, and
perhaps he may hereafter receive the reward of a
baronet for his fidelity and courage. * When vice
prevails and impious men bear sway, the post of
honour is the private station.'
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, August 5, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
ONE who stiles himself, in Mr. Draper's paper, a Lay
man, having repeatedly endeavoured in vain to make
the Public believe, that the paper presented to gov
ernor Hutchinson, by about a fifth part, according to
his own account, and as others say, not more than
an eighth part of the congregational ministers of this
province, ought still to be called " an address of the
congregational ministers of this province " ; and that
its being thus represented in the newspapers, did not
betray any want of that simplicity and godly sin
cerity, which we have so often heard inculcated from
the pulpit ; and what is still more extraordinary in a
vindication of reverend addressers, having sneer'd at
me for expressing my regard for these and other emi-
VOL. II. — 13.
i94 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
nent Christian graces, which however, I have reason
to hope are the peculiar ornaments of the generality
of the ministers of that denomination ; I say, after all
this, he proceeds to tell us, that there never has been
an instance of a majority of the clergy present at any
convention ; and that the individuals who compose
that reverend corporate body, as he would fain have us
think it to be, have never before been notified of such
political or other matters as a few of them may have
taken it into their heads to transact at any future
time or place — Are we to infer from thence by any
means, that it was fair to call this the address of the
body of the congregational ministers of the province ?
For so it was manifestly intended to be understood,
and so it is plain his Excellency himself chose to
understand it, as appears by his calling it in his
answer, " so kind, so affectionate an address, from so
respectable and venerable a body of men " —Aye, but
says the Layman, it has been customary for a mi
nority of the congregational ministers of the province,
to meet in convention, and address the new govern
ors, without notifying the majority of them, (who
have always been absent) of the matter. If this be
true, it argues that such former addresses can no
more than the last, be fairly called addresses of the
body of the clergy, or be so represented or received
— This Layman, as he calls himself, mentions the con
vention in one of his performances, as acting like
" other corporate bodies," at the meetings of which
the presence of a majority of the members may not
be necessary to warrant their proceedings ; but he
does not incline to answer my question, viz. When
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 195
and by whom they were incorporated ? But if they
had been a corporate body, the members should have
been duly warned of the matters to be transacted, as
well as the time and place ; otherwise, who does not
know that their proceedings must be invalid ? To be
sure if, without such notification, not a sixth part of
them should be present, which is the fact, no one in
his senses would plead that they could with fairness
be called the proceedings of that corporate body —
However, thus it has been represented by the Lay
man : The reverend addressers themselves, call their
address, " An address of the ministers of the congre
gational churches in the province," and his Excellency
receives it very kindly, as coming from so " respect
able and venerable a body " -Whatever some of those
reverend gentlemen, (I care not how small a number
is supposed, for I would be tender of the character of
the cloth,) I say, whether some of them might not
think, that if the address was supposed to be the de
clared sentiment of the whole body of the clergy of
the province, it would be further supposed, to speak
the sentiments of the whole body of the people of
the province, and whether they were not under this
temptation to give their address so pompous an in
troduction, I will not presume to say ; I shall only
in my usual way, and with my usual modesty, as the
Layman witnesses, ask whether there is not reason
to think it. If this was actually the case, I will just
remark, that though the body of the people of this
province, treat the clergy, as I hope they always will,
with all due respect, yet they are not priest-ridden as
in some other parts of the world, and I hope in God
196 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
they never will be — They claim a right of private
judgment ; and they will always venture to express
their own sentiments of men or things, of politicks
or religion, against the sentiments of the clergy,
whenever they think the clergy in the wrong.
This indefatigable Layman threatens to " chastise "
me for falshood, in saying I had heard, or "it is
said " that this is the first instance of an address ever
made to a governor by the convention ; but strictly
speaking it was truly said, according to his own ac
count ; for if a majority of the members which com
pose the convention, have never met, nor any of the
members ever been notified of time, place or matters
to be transacted, how can any act be said to have
been the act of the convention ? But this is not what
I intended — - I was told, or to use my own words,
it was said in my hearing, that this was the first ad
dress to a governor ever made by the convention : I
understood it to be the first address ever made to a
governor by any number of ministers calling them
selves the ministers of the congregational churches of
this province met in convention : The Layman has
convinced me that I was misinformed : Does it fol
low that I am chargeable with falshood ? a gross
violation of truth ? Fie, fie, Layman ! As your
client's cause requires the utmost candor, learn to ex
ercise a little of it towards others ; it is a shame for
you to rail in behalf of the clergy — An instance is
bro't of an address to Governor Pownal, and another
to Bernard ! But in neither of these instances, as
the Layman tells us, were the members of the con
vention notified, or the majority of them present.
SAMUEL ADAMS. 197
Perhaps only SEVENTEEN met, and an hour before the
usual time, as was said by one of the convention to be
the case, when the late address was first carried. The
Layman indeed insists upon twenty-four ; it is imma
terial as I said before, since either of these numbers
is inconsiderable, in comparison with 300, some say
400 ministers of that denomination in the province.
If the Layman thinks it material, I am sorry the Rev.
Dr. who presided at the meeting, though repeatedly
requested, will not condescend to ascertain it for him
—With regard to addresses to governors upon their
promotion, so far as it can be presumed that they are
well qualified and well dispos'd to employ their shin
ing talents, (for such they all have, if we are to be
lieve the late addresses here and elsewhere,) and to
make themselves " diffusive blessings in their exalted
stations," those of the clergy and others, who are so
very fond of congratulating, let them congratulate, if
they please. I believe many of the clergymen who
congratulated the Nettleham baronet, and others be
sides, have since been fully convinced that they have
no reason to pride themselves in it. The truth is,
every man in power will be adulated by some sort of
men in every country, because he is a man in power
— TRYON arrives from the bloody scenes of Ala-
mance, and receives the high encomiums of New
York, the clergy as well as others, for having " saved
a sister colony " by his noble exploit ; and another is
flattered as being the " father of his country," and
" the delight of an obliged and grateful people," by
those very men who now detest the administration
of BERNARD whom they had before cannonized, altho'
1 98 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
he has assured his noble patron, and many believe it,
that this Father of his country is just such an one as
himself ; that he is pushing forward with the utmost
vehemence, tho' in different modes, the same meas
ures, and that he may be depended upon by his Lord
ship equally with himself. I am with great respect to
the congregational ministers,
CANDIDUS.
ARTICLE SIGNED
[Boston Gazette, August 19, 1771.]
Messieurs Edes & Gill.
IT has become of late so fashionable for some per
sons to make their addresses to every one whom they
call a great man, that one can hardly look upon them
as the genuine marks of respect to any one who is
really a good man. Their addresses seem to spring
altogether from political views ; and without the least
regard to the character or merit of the persons whom
they profess to compliment in them. From the ob
servations I have been able to make, I have been led
to think that one of their designs in addressing, is to
give occasion to my Lord of H and other great
men to think, or at least to say it, whether they think
so or not, that the scales have at length fallen from
the eyes of the people of this town and province ; and
that in consequence thereof, they have altered their
sentiments, & are become perfectly reconciled to the
whole system of ministerial measures ; for otherwise,
they might argue, could they possibly be so liberal in
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 199
their addresses and compliments to those persons who
are employed, and no question, are very active in
carrying those measures into execution. But I should
think that if a question of this consequence, namely,
Whether the people have altered their sentiments in
so interesting a point, is to be decided by their ap
parent disposition to compliment this or that particu
lar gentleman, because he is employed in the service
of administration in America, it would be the fairest
method to call a meeting of the inhabitants of the
Town, duly notifying them of the occasion of the
meeting, and let the matter be fully debated if need
be, and determined by a vote. Every one would then
see, if the vote was carried in favour of addressing, or
which upon my supposition is the same thing, in fa
vour of the measures of administration, whether it
obtain'd by a large or small majority of the whole ;
and we might come to the knowledge of the very
persons, which is much to be desired, as well as
the weight of understanding and property on each
side.
For my own part, I cannot but at present be of
opinion, and " I have reason to believe " that my
opinion is well founded, that the measures of the
British administration of the colonies, are still as dis
gustful and odious to the inhabitants of this respect
able metropolis in general, as they ever have been :
And I will venture further to add, that nothing, in
my opinion, can convey a more unjust idea of the
spirit of a true American, than to suppose he would
even compliment, much less make an adulating ad
dress to any person sent here to trample on the
200 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
Rights of his Country ; or that he would ever con
descend to kiss the hand which is ready prepared to
rivet his own fetters — There are among us, it must
be confess'd, needy expectants and dependents ; and
a few others of sordid and base minds, form'd by na
ture to bend and crouch even to little great men : —
But whoever thinks, that by the most refined art and
assiduous application of the most ingenious political
oculist, the " public eye " can yet look upon the chains
which are forg'd for them, or upon those detestable
men who are employ'd to put them on, without ab
horrence and indignation, are very much mistaken —
I only wish that my Countrymen may be upon their
guard against being led by the artifices of the tools of
Administration, into any indiscreet measures, from
whence they may take occasion to give such a color
ing. " There have been, says the celebrated American
Farmer, in every age and in every country bad men :
Men who either hold or expect to hold certain advan
tages by fitting examples of SERVILITY to their coun
trymen : Who train'd to the employment, or
self-taught by a natural versatility of genius, serve as
decoys for drawing the innocent and unwary into
snares. It is not to be doubted but that such men
will diligently bestir themselves on this and every like
occasion, to spread the infection of their meanness as
far as they can. On the plans they have adopted this
is their course. This is the method to recommend
themselves to their patrons. They act consistently
in a bad cause. They run well in a mean race. From
them we shall learn, how pleasant and profitable a
thing it is, to be, for our submissive behavior, well
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 201
spoken of at St. James's or St. Stephen's, at Guildhall
or the Royal Exchange."
We cannot surely have forgot the accursed designs
of a most detestable set of men, to destroy the Liber
ties of America as with one blow, by the Stamp- Act ;
nor the noble and successful efforts we then made to
divert the impending stroke of ruin aimed at ourselves
and our posterity. The Sons of Liberty on the I4th
of August 1765, a Day which ought to be for ever
remembered in America, animated with a zeal for
their country then upon the brink of destruction, and
resolved, at once to save her, or like Samson, to perish
in the ruins, exerted themselves with such distin
guished vigor, as made the house of Dogon to shake
from its very foundation ; and the hopes of the lords
of the Philistines even while their hearts were merry,
and when they were anticipating the joy of plunder
ing this continent, were at that very time buried in
the pit they had digged. The People shouted ; and
their shout was heard to the distant end of this Con
tinent. In each Colony they deliberated and resolved,
and every Stampman trembled ; and swore by his
Maker, that he would never execute a commission
which he had so infamously received.
We cannot have forgot, that at the very Time when
the stamp-act was repealed, another was made in
which the Parliament of Great-Britain declared, that
they had right and authority to make any laws what
ever binding on his Majesty's subjects in America —
How far this declaration can be consistent with the
freedom of his Majesty's subjects in America, let any
one judge who pleases — In consequence of such right
202 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
and authority claim'd, the commons of Great Britain
very soon fram'd a bill and sent it up to the Lords,
wherein they pray'd his Majesty to accept of their
grant of such a part as they were then pleas'd, by vir
tue of the right and authority inherent in them to
make, of the property of his Majesty's subjects in
America by a duty upon paper, glass, painter's colours
and tea. And. altho' these duties are in part repeal'd,
there remains enough to answer thej^uxpose of ad
ministration, which was to fix the (precedent^ We
remember the policy of Mr. Grenville, who would
have been content for the present with a pepper corn
establish'd as a revenue in America : If therefore we
are voluntarily silent while the single duty on tea is
continued, or do any act, however innocent, simply
considered, which may be construed by the tools of
administration, (some of whom appear to be fruitful
in invention) as an acquiescence in the measure, we are
in extreme hazard ; if ever we are so distracted as to
consent to it, we are undone.
Nor can we ever forget the indignity and abuse
with which America in general, and this province and
town in particular, have been treated, by the servants
& officers of the crown, for making a manly resistance
to the arbitrary measures of administration, in the
representations that have been made to the men in
power at home, who have always been dispos'd to be
lieve every word as infallible truth. For opposing a
threatned Tyranny, we have been not only called, but
in effect adjudged Rebels & Traitors to the best of
Kings, who has sworn to maintain and defend the
Rights and Liberties of his Subjects — We have been
i7?i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 203
represented as inimical to our fellow subjects in Britain,
because we have boldly asserted those Rights and
Liberties, wherewith they, as Subjects, are made free.
—When we complain'd of this injurious treatment ;
when we petition'd, and remonstrated our grievances :
What was the Consequence ? Still further indignity ;
and finally a formal invasion of this town by a fleet
and army in the memorable year 1 768.
Our masters, military and civil, have since that
period been frequently chang'd ; and possibly some
of them, from principles merely political, may of late
have look'd down upon us with less sternness in their
countenances than a BERNARD or a . . . : But
while there has been no essential alteration of meas
ures, no real redress of grievances, we have no reason
to think, nay we deceive ourselves if we indulge a
thought that their hearts are changed. We cannot
entertain such an imagination, while the revenue, or
as it is more justly stiled, the TRIBUTE is extorted
from us : while our principal fortress, within the en
virons of the town, remains garrison'd by regular
troops, and the harbour is invested by ships of war.
The most zealous advocates for the measures of ad
ministration, will not pretend to say, that these troops
and these ships are sent here to protect America, or
to carry into execution any one plan, form'd for the
honor or advantage of Great-Britain. It would be
some alleviation, if we could be convinced that they
were sent here with any other design than to insult us.
How absurd then must the addresses which have
been presented to some particular gentlemen, who
have made us such friendly visits, appear in the eyes
204 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
of men of sense abroad ! Or, if any of them have
been so far impos'd upon, as to be induc'd to believe
that such addresses speak the language of the general
ity of the people, how ridiculous must the generality
of the people appear ! On the last supposition,
would not a sensible reader of those addresses, upon
comparing them with the noble resolutions which this
town, this province and this continent have made
against SLAVERY, and the just and warm resentment
they have constantly shown against EVERY man what
ever, who had a mind sordid and base enough, for the
sake of lucre, or the preservation of a commission, or
from any other consideration, to submit to be made
even a remote instrument in bringing and entailing it
upon a free and a brave people ; upon such a com
parison, would he not be ready to conclude, " that we
had forgot the reasons which urged us, with unex-
ample/1 unanimity a few years ago — that our zeal for
the public good had worn out, before the homespun
cloaths which it had caused us to have made — and,
that by our present conduct we condemned our own
late successful example ! " — Although this is alto
gether supposition, without any foundation in truth,
yet, so our enemies wish it may be in reality, and so
they intend it shall be — To prevent it, let us ADHERE
TO FIRST PRINCIPLES. CANDIDUS.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette ', September 9, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
PERHAPS there never was a people who discovered
themselves more strongly attached to their natural
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 205
and constitutional rights and liberties, than the British
Colonists on this American Continent — Their united
and successful struggles against that slavery with
which they were threatened by the stamp-act, will
undoubtedly be recorded by future historians to their
immortal honor — The assembly of Virginia, which in
deed is the most ancient colony, claimed their pre
eminence at that important crisis, by first asserting
their rights which were invaded by the act, and by their
spirited resolution to ward off the impending stroke :
And they were seconded by all the other colonies,
with such unanimity and invincible fortitude, that those
who, to their eternal disgrace and infamy, had ac
cepted of commissions to oppress them, were made
to shudder at the thought of rendering themselves
still more odious to all posterity, by executing their
commissions, and publickly to abjure their detestable
design of raising their fortunes upon the ruin of their
country. Under the influence of the wisest admin
istration which has ever appeared since the present
reign began : The hateful act was at length repeal'd ;
to the joy of every friend to the rights of mankind in
Britain, and of all America, except the few who either
from the prospect of gain by it, or from an inveterate
envy which they had before and have ever since dis
covered, of the general happiness of the people of
America, were the promoters if not the original
framers of it. This restless faction could not bear to
see the Americans restored to the possession of their
rights and liberties, and sitting once more in security
under their own vines and their own fig trees : Un
wearied in their endeavours to introduce an absolute
2o6 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
tyranny into this country, to which they were insti
gated, some from the principles of ambition or a lust
of power, and others from an inordinate love of
money which is the root of all evil, and which had
before possessed the hearts of those who had under
taken to distribute the stamped papers, they met to
gether in cabal and laid a new plan to render the
people of this continent tributary to the mother coun
try — Having finished their part of the plan, their in
defatigable Randolph was dispatched to Great-Britain
to communicate it to the fraternity there, in order
that it might be ripen'd and bro't to perfection : But
even before his embarkation, he could not help dis
covering his own weakness, by giving a broad hint of
the design — This parricide pretended that his inten
tion in making a voyage to England at that time,
was to settle a private affair of his own ; that he had
nothing else in view ; and that having settled that
private affair, he should immediately return, and as he
expressed it, lay his bones in his native country. Full
of the appearance of love for his country, he express'd
the greatest solicitude to do the best service he
could for it, while in England ; but unluckily drop'd a
question, strange and inconsistent as it may appear
to the reader, " What do you think, sir, of a small
Duty upon divers articles of importation from Great-
Britain?" No sooner had he arriv'd in London,
than the news was dispatch'd from the friends of
America there, of a design to lay a duty upon paper,
glass, painter's colours, and tea imported into
America, with the sole purpose of raising a revenue
— The lucrative commission which he obtain'd while
i7 7 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 207
in England, in consequence of the passing of the act
of parliament, whereby he was appointed one of the
principal managers of this very revenue, affords but
little room to doubt what his intention was in his voy
age to London, notwithstanding his warm professions
of concern for his native country — It is not always a
security against a man's sacrificing a country, that
he was born and educated in it. The Tyrants of
Rome were Natives of Rome. Such men indeed in
cur a guilt of a much deeper dye, than Strangers,
who commit no such violation of duty and of feeling.
There was another of the cabal who em-
bark'd about the same time, but he was call'd out of
this life before he reach'd London, and de mortuis nil
dico — Of the living I shall speak, as occasion shall
call for it, with a becoming freedom.
The whole continent was justly alarmed at the
parliament's resuming the measure of raising a reve
nue in America without their consent, which had so
nearly operated the ruin of the whole British empire
but a few months before ; & that this odious measure
should be taken, so soon after the happy coalition be
tween Britain and the colonies which the repeal of
the stamp-act had occasioned ; for if one may judge
by the most likely appearances, the affections of her
colonists, were upon this great event, more strongly
attached to the mother country if possible, than ever
they had been. But the great men there had been
made to believe otherwise — Nay the governor of this
province had gone such a length as to assure them,
that the design of the Americans in their opposition
to the stamp-act, was to bring the authority of parlia-
208 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
ment into contempt — Many of his adherents privately
wrote to the same purpose — All which had a ten
dency to break that harmony, which after the only in
terruption that had ever taken place and that of short
continuance, had been renewed, and doubtless would
have been confirmed to mutual advantage for ages, had
it not been for that pestilent few, who first to aggran
dize themselves and their families, interrupted the har
mony, and then to preserve their own importance, took
every step their malice could invent, with the advan
tage they had gain'd of a confidence with the ministry,
to prevent it's ever being restored.
Upon the fatal news (fatal, I call it, for I very much
fear it will prove so in its consequences, how remote
I will not take upon me to predict) upon the news of
the passing of another revenue act, the colonies im
mediately took such measures as were dictated to them,
not by passion and rude clamour, but by the voice
of reason and a just regard to the safety of themselves
and their posterity. The assembly of this province,
being the first I suppose who had the opportunity of
meeting, prepared and forwarded a humble, dutiful &
loyal petition to the King ; * and wrote letters to such
of the British nobility 2 and gentry as had before dis
covered themselves friends to the rights of America &
of mankind, beseeching their interposition and influ
ence on their behalf. At the same time they wrote a
circular letter to each of the other colonies, 3 letting
them know the steps they had taken and desiring their
1 Vol. I., page 162.
2 Vol. I., pages 152, 166, 169, 173, 180.
8 Vol. I., page 184.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 209
advice & joint assistance — This letter had its different
effects ; on the one hand, in the deep resentment of
my Lord of Hillsborough, who was pleased to call it
" a measure of an inflamatory nature — Evidently ten
ding to create unwarrantable combinations, to excite
an unjustifiable opposition to the constitutional au
thority of parliament and to revive unhappy divisions
and distractions," &c. While on the other hand, the
colonies, as appears by their respective polite answers,
receiv'd it with the highest marks of approbation, as
a token of sincere affection to them, & a regard to the
common safety ; and they severally proceeded to take
concurrent measures. No one step I believe, united
the colonies more than this letter ; excepting his lord
ship's endeavors by his own circular letter to the
colonies, to give it a different turn — But however de
cent and loyal — However warrantable by or rather
conformable to the spirit and the written rules of the
British constitution, the petitions of right and other
applications of the distressed Americans were, they
shared the same fate which those of London, West
minster, Middlesex, & other great cities & counties
have since met with ! No redress of grievances en
sued : Not even the least disposition in administration
to listen to our petitions ; which is not so much to be
wondered at, when we consider the temper of the
ministry, which was incessantly acted upon by Gover
nor Bernard in such kind of language as this " The
authority of the King, the supremacy of parliament,
the superiority of government are the real objects
of the attack "; while nothing is more certain, than that
the house of representatives of this province in their
VOL. II.— 14.
210 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
petition to the king, and in all their letters, that in par
ticular which was address'd to the other colonies, the
sentiment of which was recognized by them, expressly
declare, " that his Majesty's high court of parliament
is the supreme legislative power over the whole em
pire, in all cases which can consist with the funda
mental rights of the constitution," and that " it was
never questioned in this province, nor as they con
ceive in any other." They indeed in all their letters
insist upon the right of granting their own money, as
a right founded in nature, the exercise of which no
man ever relinquished to another & remain'd free — A
right therefore which no power on earth, not even the
acknowledged supreme legislative power over the
whole empire hath any authority to divest them of—
/ " The supreme power says Mr. Locke, is not, nor can
possibly be absolutely arbitrary, over the lives and for
tunes of the people — The supreme power cannot take
from any man any part of his property without his
own consent. For the preservation of property being
the end of government, and that for which men enter
into society ; it necessarily supposes and requires that
the people should have property, without which they
must be supposed to lose that by entering into so
ciety, which was the end for which they entered into
it. Men therefore in society having property, they
have such a right to the goods which by the law of the
community are theirs, that no body hath a right to
take their substance or any part of it from them with
out their consent. Without this, they have no prop
erty at all : For I have truly no property in that,
which another can by right take from me when he
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 211
pleases, against my consent " — These are the prin
ciples upon which alone, the Americans founded their
opposition to the late acts of parliament. /How then
could governor Bernard with any colour of truth de
clare to a minister of state in general terms, that " the
authority of the King, the supremacy of parliament,
the superiority of government, were the objects of the
attack ? " Upon the principles of reason and nature,
their opposition is justifiable : For by those acts the
property of the Colonists is taken from them without
their consent. It is by no means sufficient to console
us, that the duty is reduced to the single article of
Tea, which by the way is not a fact ; but if it should
be admitted, it is because the parliament for the
present are pleased to demand no more of us : Should
we acquiesce in their taking three pence only because
they please, we at least tacitly consent that they
should have the sovereign controul of our purses ; and
when they please they will claim an equal right, and
perhaps plead a precedent for it, to take a shilling or
a pound — At present we have the remedy in our own
hands ; we can easily avoid paying the TRIBUTE, by
abstaining from the use of those articles by which it is
extorted from us : — and further, we can look upon our
haughty imperious taskmasters, and all those who are
sent here to aid and abet them, together with those
sons of servility, who from very false notions of polite
ness, can seek and court opportunities of cringing and
fawning at their feet, of whom, thro' favor, there are
but few among us : we may look down upon all these,
with that sovereign contempt and indignation, with
which those who feel their own dignity and freedom,
2i2 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
will for ever view the men, who would attempt to re
duce them to the disgraceful state of SLAVERY.
I shall continue to send you an account of facts, as
my leisure will admit. In the mean time,
I am yours,
CANDIDUS.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, September 16, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
I have already mentioned the circular letter written
by the house of representatives of this province to the
other colonies, dated the nth of February, 1768; and
the very different treatment it met with from the Earl
of Hillsborough and the respectable bodies to whom
it was addressed. And also the circular letter which
his lordship himself was pleased to send to those col
onies, wherein he recommended to them " to treat it
with the contempt it deserved "- —But as the sentiments
contained in the letter of the house were so exactly
similar to those of the other colonies, and the subject
of it was of equal importance to them all, it was not
in the power of his lordship to efface the impressions
it made, or to disturb that harmony which was the
happy effect of it — Vis unita fortior — That union of
the colonies in their common danger, by which they
became powerful, was the occasion of the greatest
perplexity to their enemies on both sides the atlantick ;
and it has been ever since their constant endeavor by
all manner of arts to destroy it. In this, it must be
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 213
confess'd, they have discovered an unanimity, zeal and \
perseverance, worthy to be imitated by those who are
embark'd in the cause of American freedom. — It is by
united councils, a steady zeal, and a manly fortitude,
that this continent must expect to recover its violated
rights and liberties.
Such was the resentment which the circular letter
enkindled in the breasts of administration, that it was
immediately followed by a Mandate from lord Hills-
borough to governor Bernard, to require the succeed
ing house to rescind the resolution which had given
birth to it, upon pain of a dissolution of the assembly
in case of a refusal. — Governor Bernard added to the
severity of this mandate by assuring the house in a
message to them, that " if he should be obliged to dis
solve the general court, he should not think himself
at liberty to call another, till he should receive his
Majesty's command for that purpose." — It appeared
that administration had been greatly misinformed
with regard to the circumstances of this resolution of
the house, particularly in a representation that it was
brought on when the members present were few, and
at the end of the session ; and that it was therefore a
very unfair proceeding procured by surprize and con
trary to the real sense of the house — But the house
made it evident in their letter to his lordship after
wards, from their own minutes and journals, that it
was the declared sense of a large majority when the
house was full — It was the constant practice of gov
ernor Bernard and his adherents, to represent the op
position of the house to the pernicious designs of the
enemies of the colonies, which generally consisted of
2i4 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
full three quarters of the members and sometimes
more, as the feeble efforts of an expiring faction.
This direct and peremptory requisition, of a new
and strange constructure, and so strenuously urg'd by
the governor, was taken into consideration by the
house, on the next day after it was laid before them ;
and as is usual in all matters of importance, was then
referred to a large committee further to consider it,
and report their opinion of what was expedient to be
done : As the governor had assured the house in his
message, that " their resolution thereon would have
the most important consequences to the province," the
committee were the more deliberate in their consulta
tions ; very reasonably expecting, that after such an
assurance given to the house, the governor would in
dulge them with sufficient time thoroughly to digest
it. However sanguine the expectation of lord Hills-
borough might be, through the artful insinuation of
governor Bernard that, the " attempts of a desperate
faction (as his lordship expressed it) would be dis
countenanced, and that the execution of the measure
recommended would not meet with any difficulty ; "
the governor himself, who was fully acquainted with
the sentiments of the house, as well as of the general
ity of the people without doors, had no "grounds to
hope " that the requisition would be comply'd with ;
and therefore as a dissolution was to be the immediate
consequence of a refusal, and as his lordship had
directed the governor to " transmit to him an account
of their proceedings to be laid before his Majesty, to
the end that his Majesty might, if he tho't proper, lay
the whole matter before his parliament," it might have
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 215
been well supposed that a longer time was necessary
for them to state the reasons of their own conduct,
and to set the transactions of the former house, which
had been grossly misrepresented, in a true point of
light, in order to vindicate themselves, when their
whole proceedings should be laid before his Majesty
and the parliament.
But before the committee were ready to make their
report, the governor sent down a message to the
house, signifying that it was full a week since he had
laid his Majesty's requisition before them, and that
he could not admit of a much longer delay, without
considering it as an answer in the negative — Upon
which the house, being desirous that the sense of the
people concerning this important matter might be
known as explicitly as possible, which would also have
determined beyond all doubt, their sense of the reve
nue acts, and the opposition made to them by the
American assemblies, requested a recess of the general
court, that they might have the opportunity of taking
the instructions of their constituents. But though
his lordship in his letter to the governor, express'd a
satisfaction in "that spirit of decency and love of
order which has discovered itself in the conduct of the
most considerable of the inhabitants of the province ; "
and the governor himself in his speech at the close of
the preceeding assembly, insinuated that matters had
been conducted by a party in the house ; and declared
that " the evils which threatened this injured coun
try, arose from the machinations of a few, very few
discontented men "-— '''false patriots who were sacri
ficing their country to the gratification of their own
216 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
passions," and that it was " by no means to be charged
upon the generality of the people" yet he did not
think it proper to comply with the request of the
house for a recess, that the sentiment of the general
ity of " this good people" as he calls them in this same
speech, might be taken. Had he not the fairest op
portunity upon this motion of the house, if there had
been any grounds for his representations that the
opposition to the revenue acts was confined to a few,
very few discontented men, to have made it evident
beyond all contradiction ? But he dared not rest the
matter upon this issue : He knew very well that it
would put an end to his darling topic ; and that the
determination of the generality of the people, would
put it out of his power any longer to hold up an ex
piring faction to administration with success — A low
piece of cunning, of which he was a perfect master,
and which he had constantly practiced to induce them
to a perseverance in their measures.
On the 3<Dth June 1768, the committee, having
maturely considered the requisition made to the
house in its nature and consequences reported a
letter to the Earl of Hillsborough1 his Majesty's
secretary of state for the American department,
and laid it on the table ; wherein they observe
to his lordship, that a requisition of such a nature,
to a British house of commons had been very un
usual and perhaps altogether unprecedented since
the revolution : That some very aggravated repre
sentations must have been made to his Majesty of
the resolution of the former house, to induce him
1 Vol. I., page 219.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 217
to require this house to rescind it, upon pain of for
feiting their existence — That the people in this' prov
ince had attended with anxiety to the acts of the
British parliament for raising a revenue in America
-That this concern was not limited within the circle
of a few inconsiderate persons ; the most respectable
for fortune, rank and station, as well as probity
and understanding in the province, with very few
exceptions, being alarm'd with apprehensions of the
fatal consequences, of a power exercised in any part
of the British empire, to command and apply the
property of their fellow subjects at discretion : That
as all his Majesty's North-American subjects were
alike affected by those revenue acts, the former house
very justly supposed that each of the assemblies on
the continent would take such methods of obtaining
redress as should be thought by them respectively
to be regular and proper ; and being desirous that
the several applications should harmonize with each
other, they resolved on their circular letter ; wherein
they ojily--aiiqruainted._th.eir. sister colonies with the
measures they had taken, without calling upon them
to-adopt those measures or any other — That this was
perfectly consistent with the constitution ; and that,
so far from being criminal, or a measure " of an in
flammatory nature," it had a natural tendency to com
pose his majesty's subjects in the colonies, till they
should obtain relief ; at a time when it seem'd to be
the evident design of a party, they might have said a
faction, to prevent calm, deliberate, rational and con
stitutional measures being pursued, or to stop the
distresses of the people from reaching his Majesty's
218 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
ear, and consequently to precipitate them into a state
of desperation. They therefore leave it to his lord
ship's impartial judgment, whether the representations
that had been made of this resolution, were not in
jurious to the house, and an affront to his Majesty
himself. And after proceeding to give his lordship a
full detail of all the circumstances relating to the reso
lution which gave birth to the circular letter, and
which they were required to rescind, they add, that
they rely upon it that to petition his Majesty will not
be deemed by him to be inconsistent with the British
constitution ; that to acquaint their fellow subjects,
involved in the same distress, even if they had invited
the union of all America in one joint supplication,
would not be discountenanced by his Majesty as a
" measure of an inflammatory nature ; " and that
"when his lordship shall in justice lay a true state of
those matters before his Majesty, he will no longer
consider them as tending to create unwarrantable
combinations, or to excite an unjustifiable opposition
to the constitutional authority of parliament." This
is the substance of the letter ; which being twice read
in the house, was accepted by a large majority of
ninety-two out of one hundred and five members, and
ordered to be transmitted by the speaker to his lord
ship as soon as might be. After which it was im
mediately mov'd, that the question be put, Whether
the house would rescind the resolution of the last
house which gave birth to the circular letter ; and
the question being accordingly put, it pass'd in the
negative, there appearing on a division upon the
question to be seventeen yeas and ninety-two nays.
i7?i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 219
Thus the house determined upon as extraordinary a
mandate as perhaps was ever laid before a free assem
bly. — It is to us, said the house in their message to
the governor, altogether incomprehensible, that we
should be required on the peril of a dissolution of the
great and general court or assembly of this province,
to rescind a resolution of a former house of represen
tatives, when it is evident that such resolution has
no existence, but as a mere historical fact. Your ex
cellency must know, that the resolution referred to,
is, to speak in the language of the common law, not
now " executory," but to all intents and purposes
" executed." The circular letter has been sent and
answered by many of the colonies : These answers
are now in the public papers ; tJiejDublic will judge
of the proposals, purposes and answers. We could
as well rescind those letters as the resolves ; and both
would be equally fruitless, if by rescinding, as the
word properly imports, is meant a repeal and nullify
ing of the resolution referred to. But if, as is most
probable, by the word, rescinding, is intended the
passing a vote of this house, in direct and express
disapprobation of the measure above mentioned, as
" illegal, inflammatory and tending to promote
unjustifiable combinations" against his Majesty's
peace, crown and dignity, we take the liberty to
testify and publickly to declare, that it is the native,
inherent and indefeasible right of the subject, jointly
or severally, to petition the King for the redress of
grievances. — And we are clearly and very firmly of
opinion that the petition of the late dutiful and loyal
house, and the other very orderly applications for the
220 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
redress of grievances, have had the most desirable
tendencies and effects — In another part they say,
" we cannot but express our deep concern, that a
measure of the late house in all respects so innocent,
in most so virtuous and laudable, and as we conceive,
so truly patriotic, should be represented to adminis
tration in the odious light of a party and factious
measure," and finally they say, that in refusing to
comply with the requisition, " they have been actuated
by a conscientious and a clear and determined sense
of duty to God, their King, their country, and their
latest posterity." This determination of the house
gave general satisfaction, not only to the people of
this province, but of the other colonies also ; as well
as the friends of liberty in Britain. It was spoken of
by all except the disappointed few, with great ap
plause. Indeed the essential rights of all were
involved in the question : A different determination
would therefore have been to the last degree infamous
and attended with fatal consequences. Not only the
right of the subjects /0zW//j/ to petition for the redress
of grievances which all alike suffer, but also that of
communicating their sentiments freely to each other
upon the subject of grievances, and the means of
redress, which was the sole purport of the circular
letter, would in effect have been given up. I have
often thought that in this time of common distress,
it would be the wisdom of the colonists, more fre
quently to correspond with, and to be more attentive
to the particular circumstances of each other. It
seems of late to have been \hs. policy of the enemies
of America to point their artillery against one prov-
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 221
ince only ; and artfully to draw off the attention of
the other colonies, and if possible to render that
single province odious to them, while it is suffering
ministerial vengeance for the sake of the common
cause. But it is hoped that the colonies will be
aware of this artifice. At this juncture an attempt to
subdue one province to despotic power, is justly to be
considered as an attempt to enslave the whole. The
colonies " form one political body, of which each is a
member." — The liberties of the whole are invaded —
It is therefore the interest of the whole to support
each individual with all their weight and influence.
When the legislative of the colony of New-York was
suspended, the house of representatives of this prov
ince consider'd it "as alarming to all the colonies;"
and bore their testimony against it, in a letter to
their agent, the sentiments of which they directed
him to make known to his Majesty's ministers. — That
suspension, says the patriotic Pennsylvania Farmer,
is a parliamentary assertion of the supreme authority
of the British legislature over these colonies in point
of taxation ; and is intended to COMPEL New-York
into a submission to that authority. It seems there
fore to me as much a violation of the liberty of the
people of that province, and consequently of all these
Colonies, as if the Parliament had sent a number of
regiments (which has since been the fate of this
province) to be quartered upon them till they should
comply. — Whoever, says he, seriously considers the
matter, must perceive, that a dreadful stroke is aimed
at the liberty of these Colonies : For the cause of one
is the cause of all. If the parliament may lawfully _J
222 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
deprive New-York of any of its Rights, it may de
prive any or all the other Colonies of their Rights ;
and nothing can so much encourage such attempts,
as a mutual inattention to the interests of each other.
To divide and thus to destroy, is the first political
maxim in attacking those who are powerful by their
union. — When Mr. Hampden's ship money cause
for three shillings and four pence was tried, all the peo
ple of England, with anxious expectation, interested
themselves in the important decision : And when
the slightest point touching the freedom of a single
Colony is agitated, I earnestly wish, that all the rest
may with equal ardour support their sister. — These are
the generous sentiments of that celebrated writer,
whom several have made feeble attempts to answer,
but no one has yet done it. — May the British Ameri
can Colonies be upon their guard ; and take care lest
by a mutual inattention to the interest of each other,
they at length become supine and careless of the
grand cause of American Liberty, and finally fall a
prey to the MERCILESS HAND OF TYRANNY.
I am,
Your's,
CANDIDUS.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, September 23, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
The consequence of the determination of the house
of Representatives not to rescind the resolution of the
former house, of which I gave you a particular account
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 223
in my last, was an immediate prorogation of the gen
eral assembly, and the next day a dissolution, agree
able to the orders of a minister of state / — Governor
Bernard in a subsequent letter to lord Hillsborough,
pressed his lordship for further orders respecting the
calling a new assembly ; and acquainted him that
" when the usual time should come, it would be quite
necessary that the governor should be able to vouch
positive orders for his not calling the assembly, if he
was not to do it," and he adds that, "with regard to
calling the new assembly in May, it would require
much consideration." By the Charter of this province,
which is a Compact between the Crown and the Peo
ple, it is ordained that a General Assembly shall be
called on every last Wednesday in May yearly : Did
gov. Bernard then think that his lordship, to whom in
one instance at least, he had surrendered the power
of the governor of the province, could by another
order rescind that effectual Right of the Charter? It
would in truth require much consideration with one,
even of his lordship's peculiar turn of mind, before he
would assume an authority to put an end to the con
stitution of the province : He had gone far enough
already. — The Charter further ordains, that the as
sembly shall be held " at all such other times as the
governor shall think fit." Not as lord Hillsborough
shall think fit, for he is not the governor. Could the
governor think that the people were so stupid as to
be satisfied with his vouching orders for neglecting
that which it was his indispensable duty to do as gov
ernor of the province ; and by neglecting which, either
with or without his lordship's orders, there would be an
224 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
end to the supreme legislative power ; the establish
ing of which, as Mr. Locke says, is the first and fun
damental positive law of the commonwealth. The
general assembly is constituted by the charter, the
legislative of the province ; having full power and au
thority to make all such orders, laws, statutes, &c.
not repugnant to the laws of England, as they shall
judge to be for the good and welfare of the province.
— " The first framers of the government, not being
able by any foresight to prefix so just periods of
return and duration to the assemblies of the legisla
tive, in all times to come, that might exactly answer
all the emergencies of the commonweath, the best
method that could be found, was to trust this to the
prudence of one, who was always to be present, and
whose business it should be to watch over the com
monwealth." Hence the charter provides, that the
governor who is to reside in the province, and who,
being always present, must be acquainted with the
state and exigences of the public affairs, shall have full
power and authority to adjourn or dissolve the as
sembly, and call a new one from time to time as he
shall judge necessary : But our governors have of
late given up this power of judging to a minister of
state ; residing at a thousand leagues distance, and
therefore utterly unable to determine, if it was lawful
for him to do it, at what time the necessities of the
state might require the immediate exertion of legisla
tive power. This ministerial manoeuvre, to speak in
modern language, which threatens the destruction of
the constitution, will, it is hoped, be the subject of
national enquiry, when the present confusion in Brit-
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS, 225
ain and America shall, as it must soon, be brought to
a happy issue. " The legislative is sacred and unal
terable in the hands where the community has fixed
it." In this province it is fixed by the community, in
the hands of the Governor, Council and House of
Representatives : In their hands therefore, it ought
to rest sacred and unalterable ; to be sure as long as
the express conditions of the compact are fulfilled. —
Lord Stafford, and many lords and great men before
him, suffered death for attempting to overthrow the
constitution of the state. — Their crime was called, and
I supposed justly called, Treason : It surely could
not have been treason therefore, to have disturbed
and resisted them in their mad attempts, even though
they might have produced the orders of a king —
What punishment awaits those who have manifestly
attempted to overthrow the constitution of the Amer
ican colonies, the time which we hope for, and is
hastening on, will determine. If the very being of
the legislative of this province is for the future to de
pend upon the mere will and pleasure of an arbitrary
minister — if he may take it upon him to dictate such
measures as he pleases, and to dissolve them, or which
is the same thing, order an obsequious governor to do
it, upon their non-compliance with his will and pleas
ure, surely we have little to boast of in such an as
sembly. The charter may be taken away in parts as
well as in the whole : And it seems by some later
ministerial mandates and measures, as if there was a
design to deprive us of our Charter- Rights by degrees :
An attempt upon the whole by one stroke would
perhaps be thought too bold an undertaking. His
VOL. II. — 15.
226 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
lordship could not indeed have chosen a more effectual
step to deprive us of the whole benefit of a free con
stitution, than by attempting to controul the debates
and determinations of the House of Representatives,
which ought forever to be free, and suspending the
legislative power of the province, for their refusing to
obey any mandate, especially when it is not only con
trary to their judgments and consciences, but, as it
appeared to them, absurd. It is a pitiful constitution
indeed, which so far from being fixed and permanent
as it should be — sacred and unalterable in the hands
of those where the community has placed it, depends
entirely upon the breath of a minister, or of any man :
But it is to be feared from this as well as other more
recent instances, that there is a design to rase the
foundations of the constitutions of these colonies, and
place them upon this precarious and sandy founda
tion. — I have seen a letter from the agent of this
province to the government here, dated so long ago
as March the 7th, 1 750 ; wherein he says, " I am afraid
there is at bottom in the minds of some, a fixed de
sign of getting a parliamentary sanction of some kind
or other, if possible, to the King's instructions on this
occasion ; " which was the redressing the inconvenien-
cies proceeding from the paper bills. And in an
other letter of the 1 2th of April following, he writes,
" Since my last, I have found too great reason to con
firm my apprehensions, that some persons of conse
quence here, are determined, if possible, to put the
future use of the credit of the several governments
of New England, wholly under the power of an in
struction ; and what tendency that may have to intro-
I77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 227
duce the Kings instructions into the government of the
other colonies, in other instances, I need not observe.
This design seems to be conducted with great art''
The fears of that watchful agent, there is reason to
apprehend, from the perfect good understanding that
now exists between the ruling men in the American
department, on both sides the atlantic, may very soon
be far from appearing groundless. Instructions have
of late been so frequent, and in every instance so
punctiliously obeyed, that there is reason to fear, un
less greater attention is had to them, they soon will
be established as rules of administration, not only to
governors as servants of the crown, but to legislatures.
The enforcing them seems to be conducted with equal
art on this side of the water at present, to that with
which the original design of introducing them was
conducted on the other side, when that agent wrote.
— They may soon therefore be regarded %s fixed laws
in the colonies, even without the sanction or interven
tion of parliament. Principiis obsta, is a maxim worth
regarding in politics as well as morals ; and it is more
especially to be observed, when those who are the
most assiduous in their endeavours to alter the civil
constitution, are not less so in persuading us to go to
sleep and dream that we are in a state of perfect
security. — What benefit is it to us to have a governor
residing in the province, invested with certain powers
of judging, and acting according to his own judgment,
for the good of the people, if he submit to be made a
man of wire, & for the sake of preserving the emolu
ment of a governor, with the name only, is turned
this way or that, as the minister directs, without any
228 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
judgment of his own ? And of what use can a legisla
tive be to us, without the free exercise of the powers of
legislation ? Liable to be thrown out of existence for
not acting in conformity to the will of another ? Can
there be any material difference between such a legisla
tive and none at all ? The original constitution of this
province, the charter, required the convening of a new
general assembly in May : The public exigencies might
have required it sooner : But governor Bernard was
determined in neither of these cases to convene an as
sembly, if he could but vouch the positive orders of
the minister, who had no right or legal authority at
all to interpose in the matter. " The using of force
upon the people without authority, and contrary to
the trust reposed in him that does so, is a state of
war with the people ; " This is the judgment of one
of the greatest men that ever wrote. "If the execu
tive power, being possessed of the power of the com
monwealth, shall make use of that force to hinder the
meeting and acting of the legislative, when the original
constitution or the public exigencies shall require it,
the people have a right to reinstate their legislative in
the exercise of their power : For having erected a
legislative, with an intent they should exercise the
power of making laws, either at certain set times or
when there is need of it, if they are hindered by any
force from what is so necessary to the society, and
wherein the safety and preservation of the people
consists, they have a right to remove it by force"
From this instance of the dissolution of the assembly
of this province, as well as that of the suspension of the
legislative of New York, for refusing to execute an act
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 229
of parliament, requiring them to give and grant away
their own and their constituents money for the sup
port of a standing army, posterity will form a judg
ment of the temper of the British administration at
that time : Whether a different disposition has since
prevailed, will appear from the measures they have
taken in general ; and particularly from the answers
to the addresses, petitions and remonstrances which we
have lately seen. One would have thought that the
American legislative assemblies had become too harm
less bodies to have been the object of ministerial rage,
since the passing of acts of parliament for the sole
purpose of raising revenues at the expence of the
colonists, without their consent, and for appropriating
those revenues as they should think proper. The
most essential Rights of American legislation, are
those of raising and applying their own monies for
the support of their own government, and for their
own defence : By the late revenue acts, these rights
are in effect superseded ; the parliament having al
ready granted, such sums as they please, out of the
purses of the colonists, for the same purposes. Thus
the shadow of legislation only remains to them :
Their importance is at an end. They may indeed, as
the Pennsylvania farmer observes, whose works I wish
every American would read over again, " They may
perhaps be allowed to make laws for yoking of hogs
or pounding of stray cattle : Their influence will
hardly be permitted to extend so high as the keeping
roads in repair ; as that business may more properly
be executed by those who receive the public cash."
Their substantial rights and powers, lord Hillsborough
2 so THE WRITINGS OF [1771
himself should know, are as really annihilated by these
acts, as they would be, if they were deprived of all
existence. " Upon what occasion, says that elegant
writer, will the crown ever call our assemblies together,
when, the charges of the administration of justice, the
support of civil government, and the expences of pro
tecting, defending and securing us, are provided for " by
the parliament? " Some few of them may meet of
their own accord, by virtue of their several charters :
But what will they have to do when they are met ?
To what shadows will they be reduced ? The men,
whose deliberations heretofore, had an influence on
every matter relating to the liberty and happiness of
themselves and their constituents, and whose author
ity in domestic affairs at least, might well be compared
to that of Roman senators, will find their determina
tions to be of no more consequence than that of con
stables." — And this will not be the utmost extent of
our misery and infamy.
CANDIDUS.
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text, with variations, is in R.
H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 177-183.]
BOSTON Sept 27 1771
SIR
I am greatly indebted to you for your several Let
ters of [the loth and i4th of June].
To let you know that I am far from being inatten
tive to the favors you have done me I inclose you a
Letter I wrote you some time past, but was prevented
putting it in the Bag by an Accident. I have since been
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 231
confind to my house by Sickness & by a late Excur
sion into the Country I have fully recoverd my
Health.
I take particular Notice of the Reasons you assign
for a whole Session of parliam* being spent without
one offensive Measure to America. You account for
our being flatterd that all Designs against the Char
ter of the Colony are laid aside, in a manner perfectly
corresponding with the Sentiments I had preconceivd
of it. The opinion you have formd of the ruling men
on both sides the Atlantick, is exactly mine and as I
have the most unfavorable Idea of the Heads or the
Hearts of the present Administration, I cannot hope
for much Good from the Services of any man who
can submit to be dependent on them.
I was pleasd with the petition & remonstrance of
the City of London — but are not the Ministry lost to
all Sensibility to the peoples Complaints, & like the
Egyptian Tyrant, do they not harden their Hearts
against their repeated Demands for a redress of
Grievances. Does it not fully appear not only that
they neither fear God nor regard Man, but that they
are not even to be wearied, as one of their ancient
predecessors was, by frequent Applications. What
do you conceive to be the Step next to be taken by
an abused people ? For another must be taken either
by the ministry or the people or in my opinion the
nation will fall into that ruin of which they seem to
me to be now at the very precipice. May God afford
them that Prudence, Strength & fortitude by which
they may be animated to maintain their own Liberties
at all Events. By your last letter you appear to resolve
232 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
well ; if ever the Spirit of impeaching should rise in
Britain. But how is it possible such a Spirit should
rise. In all former Struggles the House of Commons
has naturally taken Sides with the people against op
pressing Ministers & Favorites. But whether that is
the Case at present or not, is no secret to the World.
We have indeed heard little of the Business of im
peaching since the Revolution. A corrupt ministerial
Influence has been gradually & too insensibly increas
ing from that QEra, & is at length become so pow
erful (for which I think the Nation is particularly
beholden to Sir R. Walpole) as to render it impracti
cable to have even one capital Object of the peoples
just Vengeance impeachd. The proposals you were
so kind as [to] favor me with, I cannot but highly ap
prove of. I communicated them to two or three in
timate & judicious friends who equally approvd of
them. But they cannot be carried into Execution
till the present parliam1 is at an End. And if it is
not to be dissolvd before the End of its septennial
Duration, is it not to be feard that before its Expira
tion there will be an End of Liberty. If I mistake not
there is an Act of parliam1 whereby the Seats of
placemen and pensioners in the House of Commons
(who were not such at the time of their Election) shall
be vacated, & their Electors have a right to the
Choice of another if they see proper. Perhaps there
never was a time when the Advantages of this Law
were more apparent. Would it not then be doing the
most important Service to the Cause of Liberty if the
Gentlemen of the Bill of Rights, who I pray God
may be united in their Councils, would exert their
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 233
utmost Influence to prevail upon the Constituents of
such rotten Members to claim that privilege & make
a good Use of it ? If there is any Virtue among the
people, I should think this might easily be done. If
it be impracticable, I fear another general Election
wd only serve to convince all of what many are appre
hensive, that there is a total Depravation of princi
ples & manners in the Nation, or in other Words that
it is already irrecoverably undone.
We are in a State of perfect Despotism. Our
Governm1 is essentially alterd. Instead of having
a Gov exercising Authority within the Rules &
Circumscription of the Charter which is the Compact
between the King & the People, & dependent upon
the people for his Support, we have a Man with the
Name of a Governor only. He is indeed commis- 1
siond by the King, but under the Controul of the J
Minister, to whose Instructions he yields an unlimitted
Obedience, while he is subsisted with the Money of
that very people who are thus governd, by virtue of
an Assumd Authority of the British Parliament to
oblige them to grant him such an annual Stipend as
the King shall order. Can you tell me who is Gov
ernor of this province ? Surely not Hutchinson, for
I cannot conceive that he exercises the power of
judging vested in him by the Constitution, in one Act
of Gov1 which appears to him to be important. The -\
Gov1 is shifted into the Hands of the Earl of Hills- \
borough whose sole Councellor is the Nettleham
Baronet. Upon this Governor aided by the Advice
of this Councellor depends the time & place of the
Sitting of the legislative Assembly or whether it shall
234 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
sit at all. If they are allowd to sit, they are to be dic
tated by this duumvirate, thro the Instrumentality of
a third, & may be thrown out of Existence for failing
in one point to conform to their sovereign pleasure, a
Legislative to be sure worthy to be boasted of by a
free people. If our nominal Governor by all the Arts
of perswasion, can prevail upon us to be easy under
such a Mode of Government, he will do a singular
piece of Service to his Lordship, as it will save him
the trouble of geting our Charter vacated by the for
mal Decision of parliam1 & the tedious process of
Law.
The Grievances of Britain & the Colonies as you
observe spring from the same root of Bitterness &
are of the same pernicious Growth. The Union of
Britain & the Colonies is therefore by all means to be
cultivated. If in every Colony Societies should be
formd out of the most respectable Inhabitants, similar
to that of the Bill of Rights, who should once in the
year meet by their Deputies, and correspond with such
a Society in London, would it not effectually promote
such an Union ? And if conducted with a proper
spirit, would it not afford reason for the Enemies of
our common Liberty, however great, to tremble.
This is a sudden Thought & drops undigested from
my pen. It would be an arduous Task for any man
to attempt to awaken a sufficient Number in the
Colonies to so grand an Undertaking. Nothing how
ever should be despaird of.
If it should ever become a practicable thing to
impeach a corrupt Administration I hope the Min
ister who advisd to the introducing arbitrary power
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 235
into America will not be overlookd. Such a Victim I
imagine will make a figure equal to Lord Strafford in
the Reign of Charles, or de le Pole & others in former
times. " The Conduct of the Judges touching
Juries " appears to be alarming on both sides of the
Water & ought to be strictly enquired into. And are
they not establishing the civil Law which Mr Black-
stone says is only permitted in England to the
prejudice of the Common Law, the Consequence of
which will prove fatal to the happy Constitution. I
observe that one of your proposals is that a Law may
be made " subjecting each Candidate to an Oath
against having used Bribery " to obtain his Election.
Would there not be a danger that a Law by which a
Candidate may purge himself by his Oath would ex
clude some other more certain Evidence than the
Oath of one who has already prostituted his Con
science for a Seat than his own Declaration of his
Innocence even upon Oath ? I am of opinion that
He who can be so sordid as to gain an Election by
Bribery or any other illegal means, must be lost to all
such feelings as those of Honor or Conscience or the
Obligation of an Oath. With Regard the Grievances
of the Americans it must be owned that the Violation
of the essential Right of taxing themselves is a Capi
tal one. This Right is founded in Nature. It is un-
alienable & therefore it belongs to us exclusively.
The least Infringement on it is Sacrilege. But there
are other Methods taken by Lord Hillsbro & punc
tually put into Execution by Govr Hutchinson,
which in my Opinion would give a mortal Stab to
our essential Rights, if the Parliament had not by
236 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
their declaratory Act claimd Authority to make
use of our money to establish a standing army
over us & an host of pensioners and placemen civil
& ecclesiastical, which are as terrible as an Array of
Soldiers. And if the Commons of this province
cannot impeach, we have nothing to rely upon but
the Interposition of our friends in Britain, or the
ultima Ratio.
Inclosd you have a Copy of the protests of divers
patriotick Clergymen in Virginia against an Episco
pate in America. It is part of the plan the design of
which is to secure a ministerial Influence in America,
which in all Reason is full strong enough without the
Aid of the Clergy. The Junction of the Cannon &
the feudal Law you know has been fatal to the Liber
ties of Mankind. The Design of the first Settlers of
New England in particular was to settle a plan of
gov4 upon the true principles of Liberty in which the
Clergy should have no Authority. It is no Wonder
then that we should be alarmd at the Designs of
establishing such a power. It is a singular pleasure
to us that the Colony of Virginia tho episcopalian
should appear against it as you will see by the Vote
of thanks of the House of Burgesses to the protest
ing Gentlemen ; they declare their protest to be " a
wise & well timed opposition." I wish it could be
publishd in London. I had the pleasure of knowing
Mr Hewet who was in this Town about two years ago
in Company with Mr Eyre of Northhampton County,
in Virginia, who is a member of the House of Bur
gesses. I did not then know that Mr Hewet was a
Clergyman.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 237
I fear I have tired your patience & conclude by as
suring you that I am in strict Truth
Sir Your friend & hum6 serv*
P.S. — The Bearer hereof is William Story Esqr
formerly of this Town, but now of Ipswich a Town
about 30 Miles East. He was Deputy Register
in the Court of Vice Admiraltry before & at the time
of the Stamp Act & would then have given up the
Place as he declared but his Friends advisd him against
it — he sufferd the Resentment of the people on the
26 of August 1765, together with Ll Govr Hutchinson
& others for which he was recompencd by the Gen1
Assembly, as he declares in part only. He tells me
that his Design in going home is to settle an Affair of
his own relating to the Admiraltry Court, in which the
Commissioners of the Customs as he says declare it is
out of their power to do him Justice. One would
think it was never in their Power or Inclination to
do any man Justice. Mr Story has always professd
himself a Friend to Liberty for many years past. I
tell him that I make no doubt but you will befriend
him as far as shall be in your power in obtaining
Justice, in which you will very much oblige,
' ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS.
[Boston Gazette, September 30, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
A General Assembly, when actuated with a be
coming spirit of public liberty against the attacks of
arbitrary and despotic ministers, appeared to be as
238 THE WRITINGS OF [177!
disgustful to Gov. Bernard, as parliaments were to
James the first ; with whom it was even an aphorism
that the lords and commons were two bad co-partners
with a monarch : Having got rid of such a trouble
some assembly at least for one year, he was more at
leisure, in conjunction with the commissioners of the
customs and his other confederates, to attend to the
plan which their hearts had been long set upon, of in
troducing into the province a military power for their
aid. — Accordingly every little occurrence, which a
man of sense who had no political designs in view
would not have thought worth his notice such as fre
quently happen in the most orderly cities, was gath
ered up with uncommon industry and made the
subject of representation to the ministry — He even
descended so low as to give lord Hillsborough a
/""^letail of the diversion of a few boys in the street with
\ a drum, which at no time is unusual in populous
\ places, and pictured it to his lordship, who, it seems
/ gave it its full weight, as a prelude to a designed in-
\ surrection, in which " persons of all kinds, sexes and
\ ages," were to bear their part — The common amuse
ments of children were construed rebellion, and his
lordship had minute accounts of them sent to him by
this busy journalist, as grounds upon which he might
form measures of administration. But his letters,
together with those of general Gage and commodore
Hood, and the memorials, &c. of the commissioners
of the customs, have already been sufficiently ani
madverted upon — " No one, says the town of Boston,
in a pamphlet, entitled, An appeal to the World}* can
1 See Vol. I., page 396.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 239
read them without being astonished at seeing a per
son in so important a department as governor Ber
nard sustained, descending in his letters to a minister
of state to such trifling circumstances and such slan
derous chit-chat: Boasting as he does in one of
them of his over-reaching those with whom he was
transacting publick business ; and in order to preju
dice the most respectable bodies, meanly filching from
individuals belonging to those bodies, what had been
drop'd in the course of business or debate : Journal
izing every idle report bro't to him, and in short
acting the part of a pimp rather than a governor"
Sufficient however were they finally to prevail upon
administration, which had before been full ready eno'
to employ the military force in England, to order
four regiments and part of a fifth, for the preservation
0/"the peace in the town of Boston. The only dis
orders in the town that could give any colouring to
measures so severe, and not more severe than un
justifiable by the constitution, happened on the i8th of
March and loth of June, 1768 — The first was nothing
more than the parading of the lower sort of people
thro' the streets at the close of an anniversary fes
tivity ; when no injury was offered to any person
whatever, no harm was done, nor did even Governor
Bernard himself pretend that any was intended.
General Gage, in a letter to Lord Hillsborough,
mentioned this disorder as " trifling." The other
was occasioned by the unprecedented and unlawful
manner of seizing a vessel by the collector and comp
troller — His Majesty's Council after full enquiry
into this disorder and the cause of it, declared, that it
240 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
"was occasioned by the making a seizure (in a man
ner unprecedented) in the town of Boston on the
loth of June,1 a little before sun-set, when a vessel
was seized by the officers of the customs ; and
immediately after, upon a signal given by one of said
officers, in consequence of a preconcerted plan, sev
eral armed boats from the Romney man-of-war took
possession of her." — The officers who made the
seizure were insulted, some of the windows of their
dwelling houses were broke, and other disorders
were committed — But the council further declared,
that it was " highly probable that no such disorders
would have been committed if the vessel had not
been with an armed force and with many circum
stances of insults & threats carried away from the
wharff." They also say, that the disorder " seemed to
spring wholly from the persons who complained of it"
and that it " was probable that an uproar was hoped
for, and intended to be occasioned by the manner of
proceeding in making the seizure." This representa
tion of the matter was made by those very gentlemen,
of whom governor Bernard not above 3 or 4 months
before, had given this ample testimony to Lord
Hillsborough ; that "they had shown great attention
to the support of government," and " upon many oc
casions a resolution and steadiness in promoting his
Majesty's service, which would have done honor to
his Majesty's appointment, if they had held their
places under it : " And to whom he about the same
time very warmly returned his thanks, " for their
steady, uniform and patriotic conduct, which had
1 See Vol. I., page 245.
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 241
shown them impressed with a full sense of their duty
both to their king & their country." A representation
of matters of fact, made by gentlemen whom gov
ernor Bernard had so highly applauded for their atten
tion to the support of government, and resolution and
steadiness in promoting his Majesty's service, must
surely meet with full credit with \^ friends of govern
ment ; and induce a conclusion, even in their minds,
that if there was a necessity of troops in the town of
Boston to keep the peace, it arose not from the " mad
ness of the people," (a decent expression of General
Gage) but altogether from the extravagance of the
servants of the crown ; who after a preconcerted plany
according to the account given by the council, hoped
for, and intended that an uproar should be occasioned,
by the manner of their proceeding with an armed
force, and many circumstances of insult and threats
in making a seizure. — This disturbance, after a few
hours, wholly subsided, thro' the interposition of the
inhabitants of the town, & no great mischief was done ;
yet the most aggravated accounts were given of it by
the Cabal, to answer their own purposes. The Rom-
ney ship of war, had before been ordered by com
modore Hood to this place, in consequence of
information sent to him of a factious and turbulent
spirit among the people. The captain thought it his
duty to acquaint the commodore of this fresh dis
turbance ; and the Beaver sloop, being then in the
harbour, and preparing for her station at Philadel
phia, was remanded back to Halifax for that purpose,
and with such speed as to be obliged to leave part of
her provisions behind — Large packets were sent by
VOL. II. 1 6.
242 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
this vessel to the commodore, and others for England,
where it was proposed by the cabal she should be
immediately dispatched from Halifax. The comp
troller of the customs embark'd on board the same
sloop very privately, by whom letters in abundance
were sent to London. In these letters a number of
gentlemen, who were called the leaders of the faction,
were proscribed. Some of the cabal could not con
ceal their designs ; for it was even then given out by
them, that troops would probably soon arrive from
Halifax, and that two regiments of Irish troops were
to be sent to this town ; all which accordingly took
place in about four months afterwards, being the
time in which they might have been expected by
orders of the ministry in consequence of these letters.
Indeed we have since been made certain by a publica
tion of their own letters, that they had earnestly
sollicited the sending of troops about this time. The
commissioners of the customs in a letter to the lords
of the treasury, acquainted that board " that there
had been a long concerted and extensive plan of re
sistance to the authority of Great Britain, and that
the seizure had hastened the people to the commis
sion of actual violence sooner than was intended" and
further, " that nothing but the exertion of military
power would prevent an open revolt in this town, which
would probably spread throughout the provinces."
The collector and comptroller in their letters upon
this occasion to the commissioners, which was laid
before administration tell their honors, " that it ap
peared evident to them that a plan of insurrection of
a very dangerous and extensive nature had long been in
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 243
agitation, & now brought nearly to a crisis" But it
is needless to repeat the many exaggerated accounts
given by the governor and his confederates, of this
occurrence, which on the part of the people was alto
gether unexpected', and as the Council observed,
" seemd to have sprang wholly from the persons who
complained of it."- -To crown all, the Commissioners
pretended that "they had reason to expect further
violences," and fled, Bernard says in a letter to lord
Hillsborough, "were driven" to Castle William;
where they represented to the lords of the treasury
that the " protection afforded them by Commodore
Hood, viz. the Romney and one or two sloops of
war, was the most seasonable, as without it they
should not have considered themselves (even there)
in safety, nor his Majesty's Castle secured from fall
ing into the hands of the people" and " that it was im
possible for them to set foot in Boston, until there
were two or three regiments in the town, to restore and
support government" — However true it may be, that
the Commissioners had rendered themselves the ob
jects of the publick resentment, which their letters
and memorials have had no tendency to abate, they
never had been, to use an expression of Gov. Bernard,
the objects of popular fury ; not the least injury had
ever been offer'd to their persons or property. They
had landed without opposition, and had lived in the
town many months, if despisd and hated, yet unmo
lested : For this we have the testimony of his
Majesty's Council ; " They were not, say they,
oblig'd to quit the town — it was a voluntary act of
their own — there never had been any insult offer'd
244 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
them — and when they were at the Castle there was
no occasion for men of war to protect them." And
even after their voluntary flight, they often made
excursions upon the main, for the purpose of amuse
ment and recreation, for which, having quitted the
severe exercises of their employment in the town, they
now had sufficient leisure : There, they might easily
have been insulted if there had been any such dispo
sition in the people. It has long been evident that
all this pretended apprehension of danger, and their
flight first to the Romney ship of war, and then to the
castle for protection, was intended to cooperate with
& confirm the letters and memorials sent home, and
to facilitate the prosecution of their design. Such
were the methods us'd by a restless set of men, to
hold up this town and province, to the nation and to
the world, in a false and odious light. It was there
fore peculiarly incumbent upon all, and those persons
especially, who were entrusted by the publick, to be
vigilant for it, at a time when they who were seeking
its ruin, were remarkably attentive to and active in
prosecuting their plans. And can any one say there
is reason to think that a minister of the temper of
Lord H h, perpetually acted upon by the im
placable hatred of Bernard, has yet abandon'd, or is
likely to abandon, his favorite system, while there is
ONE left on this side the water who is ready to put
it in execution ? — No — The disputes with the court of
Spain and the city of London during the late session
of parliament, may have prov'd so embarrassing to
A — n as to have caus'd a suspension of the exe
cution of it for a while ; but to trust that it is there-
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 245
fore wholly laid aside, is a degree of credulity and
infatuation, which I hope will never be impos'd by
any man on this country. Great pains we know are
taken to perswade and assure us, that as long as we
continue quiet, nothing will be done to our prejudice :
But let us beware of these soothing arts. — Has any
thing been done for our relief ? — Has any one griev
ance which we have complained of been redressed ?
On the contrary, are not our just causes of complaint
and remonstrance daily increasing, at a time when we
were flattered that a change of men would produce a
change of measures ? Have our petitions for the
redress of grievances ever been answered or even
listened to ? If not, what can be intended by all the
fair promises made to us by tools and sycophants, but
to lull us into that quietude and sleep by which slavery
is always preceeded. — While treachery and imposition
is the fort of any man, let us remember, there is
always most danger when his professions are warmest.
CANDIDUS.
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., p. 183.]
BOSTON, Oct. 2d, 1771.
SIR,
I have already written to you by this conveyance,
and there mentioned to you Mr. Story, a gentleman
to whose care I committed that letter. I have since
heard that he has a letter to Lord Hillsborough from
Gov. Hutchinson, which may possibly recommend
him for some place by way of compensation for his
246 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
joint sufferings with the governor. I do not think it
possible for any man to receive his lordship's favour,
without purchasing it by having done or promising
to do some kind of jobs. If Mr. Story should form
connexions with administration upon any principles
inconsistent with those of a friend to liberty, he will
then appear to be a different character from that
which I recommended to your friendship. I mention
this for your caution, and in confidence ; and am
with great regard sir, your humble servant,
[Boston Gazette \ October 7, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
Instead of voted Aid,
" Th' illegal imposition followed harsh
With Execration given, or ruthless squeezed
From an insulted People."
THOMPSON.
I Think it necessary the publick should be inform'd,
that his Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq; Gov
ernor of this Province, has lately received, a warrant
from the Lords of the Treasury in England, for the
Sum of Twenty-two Hundred and fifty Pounds Ster
ling for his Services for one year and a half, being at
the rate of Fifteen Hundred Sterling or Two Thousand
L. M. per Ann. — The payment is to be made out of
the Commissioners Chest ; wherein are reposited the
Treasures that are daily collected, tho' perhaps insen
sibly, from the Earnings and Industry of the honest
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 247
Yeomen, Merchants and Tradesmen, of this continent,
against their Consent ; and if his friends speak the
truth, against his awn private judgment. — This treas
ure is to be appropriated according to the act of
parliament so justly and loudly complain'd of by
Americans, for the support of civil government, the
payment of the charges of the administration of jus
tice, and the defence of the colonies ^And it may
hereafter be made use of, for the support of standing
armies and ships of war ; episcopates & their numer
ous ecclesiastical retinue ; pensioners, placemen and
other jobbers, for an abandon'd and shameless minis
try ; hirelings, pimps, parasites, panders, prostitutes
and whores^His Excellency had repeatedly refused
to accept the usual Salary out of the treasury of this
province ; which leads us to think that his eminent
patron the Earl of Hillsborough, or his most re
spected friend Sir Francis Bernard, who is ever at
his Lordship's elbow, had given him certain informa
tion that this honorable stipend would be allow'd to
him — Whether he tho't the generous grant of a thou
sand sterling, annually made to his predecessors, and
offer'd to him, by the assembly, not adequate to his
important services to the province in supporting and
vindicating its charter and constitutional rights and
liberties ; or whether he was forbid by instruction
from his Lordship to receive it, which is probable
from his own words, " I could not consistent with my
duty to the King " ; or lastly, and which is still more
probable, Whether he was ambitious of being, beyond
any of his predecessors, a Governor independent of
the free grants of the assembly, which is no doubt
248 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
reconcileable with his Excellency's idea of a constitu
tional governor of a free people, are matters problem
atical. — Adulating Priestlings and others, who have
sounded his high praises in the news-papers, and in
the church of God, as well as in other solemn assem
blies, may perhaps echo the fallacious reasoning from
one of his publick speeches, " The people will not
blame (him) for being willing to avoid burdening
them with his support, by the increase of the tax
upon their polls and estates," since it is now " pro
vided for another way." In all ages the supercilious
part of the clergy have adored the Great Man, and
shown a thorough contempt of the understanding
of the people. But the people, and a great part, I
hope, of the clergy of this enlightened country, have
understanding enough to know, that a Governor in
dependent of the people for his support, as well as his
political Being, is in fact, a MASTER ; and may be, and
probably, such is the nature of uncontroulable power,
soon will be a TYRANT. It will be recorded by the
faithful historian, for the information of posterity,
that the first American Pensioner — the first independ
ent Governor of this province, was, not a stranger,
but one "born and educated" in it — Not an ANDROSS
or a RANDOLPH ; but that cordial friend to our civil
constitution — that main Pillar of the Religion and the
Learning of this country ; the Man, upon whom she
has, (I will not say wantonly) heaped all the Honors
she had to bestow — HUTCHINSON ! ! — We are told
that the Justices of the Superior Court are also to
receive fixed salaries out of this American revenue ! —
" Is it possible to form an idea of slavery, more com-
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 249
pleat, more miserable, more disgraceful, than that of
a people, where justice is administer'd, government
exercis'd, and a standing army maintain'd, at the ex-
pence of the people, and yet without the least depend
ence upon them ? If we can find no relief from this
infamous situation" —I repeat it, " If we can find no
relief from this infamous situation ", let the ministry
who have stripped us of our property and liberty, de
prive us of our understanding too ; that unconscious
of what we have been or are, and ungoaded by tor
menting reflections, we may tamely bow down our
necks, with all the stupid serenity of servitude, to any
drudgery which our lords & masters may please to
command." — I appeal to the common sense of man
kind. To what a state of misery and infamy must a
people be reduced ! To have a governor by the sole
appointment of the crown ; under the absolute con-
troul of a weak and arbitrary minister, to whose dic
tates he is to yield an unlimited obedience, or forfeit
his political existence .• while he is to be supported at
the expence of the people, by virtue of an authority
claimed by strangers, to oblige them to contribute for
him such an annual stipend, however unbounded, as
the crown shall be advised to order ! If this be not
a state of despotism, what is f Could such a gov
ernor, by all the arts of persuasion, prevail upon a
people to be quiet and contented under such a mode
of government, his noble patron might spare himself
the trouble of getting their Charter vacated by a
formal decision of parliament, or in the tedious pro
cess of law — Whenever the relentless enemies of
America shall have compleated their system, which
250 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
they are still, though more silently pursuing, by subtle
arts, deep dissimulation, and manners calculated to
deceive, our condition will then be more humiliating
and miserable, and perhaps more inextricable too, than
that of the people of England in the infamous reigns
of the Stuarts, which blacken the pages of history ;
when,
" Oppression stalk'd at large and pour'd abroad
Her unrelenting Train; Informers — Spies —
Hateful Projectors of aggrieving Schemes
To sell the starving many to the few,
And drain a thousand Ways th' exhausted Land.
. . . And on the venal Bench
Instead of Justice, Party held the Scale,
And Violence the Sword."
Your's,
CANDIDUS.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS.
[Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
" Ambition saw that stooping Rome could bear
A MASTER, nor had Virtue to be free."
I Believe that no people ever yet groaned under the
heavy yoke of slavery, but when they deserv'd it.
This may be called a severe censure upon by far the
greatest part of the nations in the world who are in-
volv'd in the misery of servitude : But however they
may be thought by some to deserve commiseration,
the censure is just. Zuinglius, one of the first re-
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 251
formers, in his friendly admonition to the republic of
the Switzers, discourses much of his countrymens
throwing off the yoke : He says, that they who lie
under oppression deserve what they suffer •, and a great
deal more ; and he bids them perish with their oppres
sors. The truth is, All might be free if they valued
freedom, and defended it as they ought. Is it possi
ble that millions could be enslaved by a few, which is
a notorious fact, if all possessed the independent
spirit of Brutus, who to his immortal honor, expelled
the proud Tyrant of Rome, and his " royal and rebel
lious race ?" If therefore a people will not be free ;
if they have not virtue enough to maintain their
liberty against a presumptuous invader, they deserve
no pity, and are to be treated with contempt and ig
nominy. Had not Casar seen that Rome was ready
to stoop, he would not have dared to make himself the
master of that once brave people. He was indeed, as
a great writer observes, a smooth and subtle tyrant,
who led \hen\gently into slavery ; " and on his brow,
'ore daring vice deluding virtue smil'd ". By pretend
ing to be the peoples greatest friend, he gain'd the
ascendency over them : By beguiling arts, hypocrisy
and flattery, which are even more fatal than the
sword, he obtain'd that supreme power which his am
bitious soul had long thirsted for : The people were
finally prevail'd upon to consent to their own ruin :
By the force of perswasion, or rather by cajoling arts
and tricks always made use of by men who have am
bitious views, they enacted their Lex Regia ; whereby
Quod placuit principi legis habuit vigor em ; that is, the
will and pleasure of the Prince had the force of law.
252 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
His minions had taken infinite pains to paint to their
imaginations the god-like virtues of Caesar : They
first persuaded them to believe that he was a deity,
and then to sacrifice to him those Rights and Liber
ties which their ancestors had so long maintained,
with unexampled bravery, and with blood & treasure.
By this act they fixed a precedent fatal to all pos
terity : The Roman people afterwards, influenced no
doubt by this pernicious example, renew'd it to his
successors, not at the end of every ten years, but for
life. They transfer'd all their right and power to
Charles the Great : In eum transtulit omne suum jus
et potestatem. Thus, they voluntarily and ignomini-
ously surrendered their own liberty, and exchanged a
free constitution for a TYRANNY !
It is not my design at present to form the compari
son between the state of this country now, and that
of the Roman Empire in those dregs of time ; or be
tween the disposition of Ccesar, and that of :
The comparison, I confess, would not in all parts hold
good : The Tyrant of Rome, to do him justice, had
learning, courage, and great abilities. It behoves us
however to awake and advert to the danger we are in.
The Tragedy of American Freedom, it is to be feared
is nearly compleated : A Tyranny seems to be at the
very door. It is to little purpose then to go about
cooly to rehearse the gradual steps that have been
taken, the means that have been used, and the instru
ments employed, to encompass the ruin of the public
liberty : We know them and we detest them. But
what will this avail, if we have not courage and reso
lution to prevent the completion of their system ?
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 253
Our enemies would fain have us lie down on the
bed of sloth and security, and persuade ourselves that
there is no danger : They are daily administering
the opiate with multiplied arts and delusions ; and I
am sorry to observe, that the gilded pill is so alluring
to some who call themselves the friends of Liberty.
But is there no danger when the very foundations of
our civil constitution tremble ? — When an attempt
was first made to disturb the corner-stone of the
fabrick, we were universally and justly alarmed : And
can we be cool spectators, when we see it already re
moved from its place ? With what resentment and
indignation did we first receive the intelligence of
a design to make us tributary, not to natural enemies,
but infinitely more humiliating, to fellow subjects ?
And yet with unparallelled insolence we are told to
be quiet, when we see that very money which is torn
from us by lawless force, made use of still further to
oppress us — to feed and pamper a set of infamous
wretches, who swarm like the locusts of Egypt ; and
some of them expect to revel in wealth and riot on
the spoils of our country. — Is it a time for us to sleep
when our free government is essentially changed, and
a new one is forming upon a quite different system ?
A government without the least dependance upon the
people : A government under the absolute controul
of a minister of state ; upon whose sovereign dictates
is to depend not only the time when, and the place
where, the legislative assembly shall sit, but whether
it shall sit at all : And if it is allowed to meet, it shall
be liable immediately to be thrown out of existence, if
in any one point it fails in obedience to his arbitrary
254 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
mandates. Have we not already seen specimens
of what we are to expect under such a govern
ment, in the instructions which Mr. HUTCHINSON
has received, and which he has publickly avow'd,
and declared he is bound to obey? — By one, he
is to refuse his assent to a tax-bill, unless the Com
missioners of the Customs and other favorites are ex
empted : And if these may be freed from taxes by
the order of a minister, may not all his tools and
drudges, or any others who are subservient to his de
signs, expect the same indulgence ? By another he is
to forbid to pass a grant of the assembly to any agent,
but one to whose election he has given his consent ;
which is in effect to put it out of our power to take
the necessary and legal steps for the redress of those
grievances which we suffer by the arts and machina
tions of ministers, and their minions here. What
difference is there between the present state of this
province, which in course will be the deplorable state
of all America, and that of Rome, under the law be
fore mention'd ? The difference is only this, that they
gave their formal consent to the change, which we
have not yet done. But let us be upon our guard
against even a negative submission ; for agreeable to
the sentiments of a celebrated writer, who thoroughly
understood his subject, if we are voluntarily silent, as
the conspirators would have us to be, it will be con-
sider'd as an approbation of the change. " By the
fundamental laws of England, the two houses of par
liament in concert with the King, exercise the legisla
tive power : But if the two houses should be so
infatuated, as to resolve to suppress their powers, and
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 255
invest the King with the full and absolute government,
certainly the nation would not suffer it." And if a
minister shall usurp the supreme and absolute govern
ment of America, and set up his instructions as laws
in the colonies, and their Governors shall be so weak
or so wicked, as for the sake of keeping their places,
to be made the instruments in putting them in execu
tion, who will presume to say that the people have not
a right, or that it is not their indispensible duty to God
and their Country, by all rational means in their
power to RESIST THEM.
" Be firm, my friends, nor let UNMANLY SLOTH
Twine round your hearts indissoluble chains.
Ne'er yet by force was freedom overcome.
Unless CORRUPTION first dejects the pride,
And guardian vigour of the free-born soul,
All crude attempts of violence are vain.
Determined, hold
Your INDEPENDENCE; for, that once destroyed,
Unfounded^ree&om is a morning dream."
The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our
civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards :
And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.
We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from our
worthy Ancestors : They purchas'd them for us with
toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood ;
and transmitted them to us with care and diligence.
It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the
present generation, enlightned as it is, if we should
suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without
a struggle ; or be cheated out of them by the
artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter
256 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
we are in most danger at present : Let us there
fore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our fore
fathers and posterity ; and resolve to maintain the
rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake
of the latter. — Instead of sitting down satisfied with
the efforts we have already made, which is the wish
of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than
ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation,
fortitude and perseverance. Let us remember, that
" if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty,
we encourage it, and involve others in our doom." It
is a very serious consideration, which should deeply
impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be
the miserable sharers in the event.
CANDIDUS.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VALERIUS POPLICOLA." '
[Boston Gazette, October 28, 1771 ; the text is also in W. V. Wells, Life of
Samuel Adams, vol. i., pp. 427-432.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
THE writer of the history of Massachusetts Bay
tells us, that " our ancestors apprehended the acts of
trade to be an invasion of the rights, liberties and
properties of the subjects of his Majesty in the colony,
they not being represented in parliament ; and accord
ing to the usual sayings of the learned in the law, the
laws of England were bounded within the four seas,
and did not reach America. However, they made
provision by an act of the colony, that they, i. e. the
1 Attributed to Adams by Wells and by Bancroft, and also by the annotations
of the Dorr file of the Gazette.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 257
acts of trade should be strictly attended from time to
time "• -The passing of this law of the colony, and
thus making it an act of their own legislature, he
says, " plainly shows the wrong sense they had of the
relation they stood in to England " — And he further
adds, that " tho' their posterity have as high notions
of English Liberties as they had, yet they are sensi
ble that they are Colonists, and therefore subject to
the controul of the parent state." As I am not dis
posed to yield an implicit assent to any authority
whatever, I should have been glad if this historian,
since he thought proper to pronounce upon so impor
tant a matter, had shown us what was the political re
lation our ancestors stood in to England, and how
far, if at all, their posterity are subject to the controul
of the parent state. — If he had vouchsafed to have
done this, when he published his history, he
would have rendered the greatest service both to
Great-Britain and America, and eased the minds of
multitudes who have been unsatisfied in points of
such interesting importance.
Mr. Locke, in his treatise on government discovers
the weakness of this position, That every man is born
a subject to his Prince, and therefore is under the per
petual tie of subjection and allegiance ; and he shows
that express consent alone, makes any one a member
of any commonwealth. He holds that submission to
the laws of any country, & living quietly & enjoying
privileges & protection under them, does not make a
man a member of that society, or a perpetual subject
of that commonwealth, any more than it would make
a man subject to another, in whose family he found it
VOL. II. — I/.
258 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
convenient to abide for some time, tho' while he con
tinued under it, he were obliged to comply with the
laws, and submit to the government he found there.
Every man was born naturally free ; nothing can make
a man a subject of any commonwealth, but his actually
entering into it by positive engagement, and express
promise & compact.
If the sentiments of this great man are well
grounded, our historian before he asserted so peremp
torily that the ancestors of this country as colonists
were subject to the controul of the parent state, should
have first made it appear that by positive engagement,
or express promise or contract, they had thus bound
themselves.
Every man being born free, says another distin
guished writer, the son of a citizen, arrived at the
years of discretion, may examine whether it be con
venient for him to join in the society for which he was
destined by birth*. If he finds that it will be no ad
vantage for him to remain in it, he is at liberty to
leave it, preserving as much as his new engagements
will allow him, the love and gratitude he owes it.1
He further says, " There are cases in which a citizen
has an absolute right to renounce his country, and
abandon it for ever " ; which is widely different from
the sentiment of the historian, that "allegiance is not
local, but perpetual and unalienable " : And among
other cases in which a citizen has this absolute right,
he mentions that, when the sovereign, or the greater
part of the nation will permit the exercise of only one
religion in the state ; which was the case when our
1 Mr. Vattel, law of nature and nations.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 259
ancestors forsook their native country. They were
denied the rights of conscience. They left it however
with the consent of the nation : It is allowed by this
historian that they departed the kingdom with the
leave of their prince. They removed at their own
expence and not the nation's, into a country claimed
and possessed by independent princes, whose right to
the lordship and dominion thereof has been acknow
ledged by English kings ; and they fairly purchased
the lands of the rightful owners, and settled them at
their own and not the nation's expence. It is incum
bent then upon this historian to show, by what rule of
equity or right, unless they expressly consented to it,
they became subject to the controul of the parent
state.— ^The obligation they had been under to sub
mit to the government of the nation, by virtue of their
enjoyment of lands which were under its jurisdiction,
according to Mr. Locke, began and ended with the
enjoyment. That was but a tacit consent to the gov
ernment ; and when by donation, sale or otherwise,
they quitted the possession of those lands, they were
at liberty, unless it can be made to appear they were
otherwise bound by positive engagement or express
contract, to incorporate into any other commonwealth,
or begin a new one in vacuis locis, in any part of the
world they could find free and unpossessed. — They
entered into a compact, it is true, with the king of
England, and upon certain conditions become his vol
untary subjects, not his slaves. But did they enter
into an express promise to be subject to the controul
of the parent state ? What is there to show that they
were any way bound to obey the acts of the British
260 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
parliament, but those very acts themselves ? Is there
any thing but the mere ipse dixit of an historian, who
for ought any one can tell, design'd to make a sacri
fice to the ruling powers of Great-Britain, to show
that the parent state might exercise the least controul
over them as Colonists, any more than the English
parliament could exercise controul over the dominions
which the Kings formerly held in France, or than it
can now over the inhabitants of the moon, if there be
any ?
By the charter of this province, the legislative power
is in the Governor, who is appointed by the King, the
Council and House of Representatives. The legisla
tive of any commonwealth must be the supreme
power. But if any edict or instruction of any body
else, in what form soever conceiv'd, or by what power
soever backed, can have the force and obligation of a
law in the province which has not its sanction from
that legislative, it cannot be the supreme power. Its
laws however salutary, are liable at any time to be
abrogated at the pleasure of a superior power. No
body can have a power to make laws over a free peo
ple, but by their own consent, and by authority re-
ceiv'd from them : It follows then, either that the
people of this province have consented & given au
thority to the parent state to make laws over them,
or that she has no such authority. No one I believe
will pretend that the parent state receives any author
ity from the people of this province to make laws for
them, or that they have ever consented she should.
If the people of this province are a part of the body
politick of Great Britain, they have as such a right to be
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 261
consulted in the making of all acts of the British parlia
ment of what nature soever. If they are a separate
body politick, and are free, they have a right equal to
that of the people of Great Britain to make laws for
themselves, and are no more than they, subject to the
controul of any legislature but their own. " The law
ful power of making laws to command whole politick
societies of men, belongs so properly unto the same
intire societies, that for any prince or potentate of
what kind soever upon earth to exercise the same of
himself, and not by express commission immediately
and personally receiv'd from God, or else from author
ity deriv'd at the first from their consent, upon whose
persons they impose laws, is no better than mere
tyranny. Laws therefore they are not which publick
approbation hath not made so.1 This was the reason
given by our ancestors why they should not be bound
by the acts of parliament, because not being repre
sented in parliament, the publick approbation of the
province had not made them laws. And this is the
reason why their posterity do not hold themselves
rightly oblig'd to submit to the revenue acts now in
being, because they never consented to them. The
former, under their circumstances, thought it prudent
to adopt the acts of trade, by passing a law of their
own, and thus formally consenting that they should
be observ'd. But the latter I presume will never
think it expedient to copy after their example.
The historian tells his readers that " They (the peo
ple of this province) humbly hope for all that tender
ness and indulgence from a British parliament, which
1 Hooker's Eccl. Pol.
262 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
the Roman senate, while Rome remain'd free, shewed
to Roman colonies" — Why the conduct of Rome
towards her colonies should be recommended as an
example to our parent state, rather than that of
Greece, is difficult to conjecture, unless it was because
as has been observed, the latter was more generous
and a better mother to her colonies than the former.
Be that as it may, the colonists have a right to expect
from the parent state all possible tenderness ; not only
as they sprang from her, and are subjects of the same
King, but as they have greatly contributed to her
wealth & grandeur : And we are willing to render to
her respect and certain expressions of honor and
reverence as the Grecian colonies did to the city from
whence they deriv'd their origin, as Grotius says, so
long as the colonies were well treated. By our compact
with our King, wherein is contained the rule of his
government and the measure of our submission, we
have all the liberties and immunities of Englishmen,
to all intents, purposes and constructions whatever ;
and no King of Great-Britain, were he inclin'd, could
have a right either with or without his parliament, to
deprive us of those liberties — They are originally from
God and nature, recognized in the Charter, and en-
tail'd to us and our posterity : It is our duty there
fore to contend for them whenever attempts are made
to violate them.
He also says that " the people of Ireland were un
der the same mistake " with our ancestors ; that is, in
thinking themselves exempt from the controul of
English acts of parliament. But nothing drops from
his pen to shew that this was a mistake, excepting
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 263
that " particular persons in Ireland did pennance for
advancing and adhering to those principles." The
same mighty force of reasoning is used to prove that
this colony was mistaken, viz. " They suffer' d the
loss of the charter." Such arguments may serve to
evince the power of the parent state, but neither its
wisdom nor justice appears from them. The sense of
the nation however was very different after the revolu
tion. The House of Commons voted the judgment
against the Charter a Grievance ; and a bill was
brought in and passed that house for restoring the
Charters, among which that of this province was ex-
presly mentioned ; notwithstanding the mistake above-
mention'd was one great article of charge against
it. But the parliament was proroug'd sooner than
was expected, by reason of the King's going to Ire
land.
Our historian tells his readers by way of consola
tion, that " it may serve as some excuse for our ances
tors, but they were not alone in their mistaken
apprehensions of the nature of their subjection " ; and
he appears to be mighty glad that " so sensible a
gentleman as Mr. Molineux, the friend of Mr. Locke,
engag'd in the cause ". But we want no excuse for
any supposed mistakes of our ancestors. Let us first
see it prov'd that they were mistakes. 'Till then we
must hold ourselves obliged to them for sentiments
transmitted to us so worthy of their character, and so
important to our security : And we shall esteem the
arguments of so sensible, and it might justly be added,
so learned a gentleman as Mr. Molineux, especially as
they had the approbation of his friend Mr. Locke to
264 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
be valid, while we see nothing to oppose them, but
the unsupported opinion of Mr. Hutchinson.
VALERIUS POPLICOLA.
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text with- variations is in R.
H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 184-187.]
BOSTON Octob 31 1771.
Sir
I Inclose a printed Copy of a Resolve of the Coun
cil of this province, whereby Junius Americanus is
censurd for asserting that the late Secretary Oliver
stood recorded in the Councils Books as a perjurd
traitor. You may easily suppose that the Friends of
America for whom that Writer has been & is a firm
& able Advocate, resent this Conduct of the Council
whose Ingratitude to say nothing of the Injustice of
this proceeding is the more extraordinary as Junius
Americanus has taken so much pains to vindicate that
very Body against the malignant Aspersions of Ber
nard & others. There was however only Eight of
twenty six Councellors present when they were pre-
vaild upon by an artful man to pass this Resolve.
You will see by the inclosd some remarks upon the
former proceedings of the Council, or rather a recital
of parts of them, by which I think it appears that the
Assertion could not be groundless nor malicious ; nor
can it be false if their own publication is true. I can
conceive that the Design of the first mover of this
Resolve was to injure the Credit of all the Writ
ings of Junius Americanus, which I believe he very
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 265
sensibly feels, & also to make it appear to the World
that the Council, as they had before said of the
House, had departed from & disavowd the Senti
ments of former Assemblys ; and that this Change
has been effected by the Influence of Mr. Hutchinson.
With Regard to the Council, it is hardly possible for
any one at a distance to ascertain their political Sen
timents from what they see of their determinations
publishd here in general, for it has been the practice
of the Governor to summon a general Council at the
Time when the Assembly is sitting & of Course
the whole Number of Councillors is present — but in
their Capacity of Advisers to the Governor they are
adjournd from week to week during the Session of the
Assembly & till it is over when the Country Gentle
men Members of Council return home. Thus the
general Council being kept alive by Adjournments,
the principal & most important part of the Business
of their executive department is done by seven or eight
who live in & about the Town, & if the Governor can
manage a Majority of so small a Number, Matters
will be conducted according to his mind. I believe I
may safely affirm that by far the greater Number of
civil officers have been appointed at these adjourn
ments ; so that it is much the same as if they were ap
pointed solely by our ostensible Governor or rather
by his Master, the Minister for the time being. You
will not then be surprisd if I tell you that among
the five Judges of our Superior Court of Justice,
there are the following near Connections with the first
& second in Station in the province. Mr Lynde is
Chiefe Justice ; his Daughter is married to the Son of
266 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
Mr Oliver, the L' Govr; Mr Oliver another of the
Judges is his Brother ; his Son married Gov Hutch-
insons Daughter; & Judge Hutchinson lately ap
pointed, who is also Judge of the probate of Wills for
the first County, an important department, is the
Govrs brother. Besides which the young Mr Oliver
is a Justice of the Common pleas for the County of
Essex. Mr Cotton a Brother in Law of the Govr is
deputy Secretary of the province & Register in the
probate office under Mr Hutchinson ; a cousin ger-
man of the Govr was sent for out of another province
to fill up the place of Clerk to the Common pleas in
this County ; & the eldest Son of the Govr will prob
ably soon be appointed a Justice of the same Court
in the room of his Uncle advancd to the superior
bench. I should have first mentiond that the Gov &
the L' Govr are Brothers by Marriage.
The House of Representatives, notwithstanding
the Advantages which a new Governor always has in
his hands I have reason to think will be so firm as at
least not to give up any Right. The Body of the
people are uneasy at the large Strides that are made
& making towards an absolute Tyranny — many are
alarmd but are of different Sentiments with regard
to the next step to be taken — some indeed think
that every Step has been taken but one & the ul
tima Ratio would require prudence unanimity and
fortitude. The Conspirators against our Liberties
are employing all their Influence to divide the people,
partly by intimidating them for which purpose a fleet of
Ships lies within gun Shot of the Town & the Capital
Fort within three miles of it is garrisond by the
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 267
Kings Troops, and partly by Arts & Intrigue ; by
flattering those who are pleasd with Flattery ; form
ing Connections with them, introducing Levity Lux
ury & Indolence & assuring them that if they are
quiet the Ministry will alter their Measures. I fear
some of the Southern Colonies are taken with this
Bait, for we see hardly anything in their publick
papers but Advertisements of the Baubles of Britain
for sale. This is the general Appearance of things \
here while the people are anxiously waiting for some
happy Event from your side the Water — for my own
part I confess I have no great Expectations from
thence, & have long been of Opinion that America
herself under God must finally work out her own
Salvation.
I have been told by a friend that a Manuscript has
been sent from hence upon the Subject of the Tryals
of Preston & the Soldiers, for your perusal entitled a
Hue & Cry &c. Had I seen & thought it answer
able to what I have heard of it, I should have en-
deavord to have had it publishd here. I wish it
had been or still might be publishd in London if you
have seen it & think it worth while, subject entirely
to your Correction and Amendment. But after all
what will the best & most animating publications
signify, if the many are willing to submit & be en-
slavd by the few.
I wrote you about a fortnight past by Capt. Hood1
& can add nothing more at present but that I am sin
cerely
your friend & hbl serv*
1 See above, page 230.
268 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
TO JOSEPH ALLEN.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text is in W. V. Wells, Life
of Samuel Adams, vol. i., pp. 342, 343.]
T-\ T^ Nov 7 1771
DEAR KINSMAN
As you are just now setting out on the Journey of
Life, give me leave to express to you my ardent Wish
that you may meet with all that prosperity which
shall be consistent with your real happiness. I can
not but think you have a good prospect ; yet your
path will in all probability be uneven : Sometimes
you must expect like all other Travellers, to meet
with Difficulties on the Road ; let me therefore recom
mend to you the Advice of one of the Ancients, a
Man of sterling Sense, tho a Heathen. " GEquam
memento Rebus in arduis, servare mentem." In the
busy Scenes of Life, you may now and then be dis-
posd to drive on hard, & make rather too much haste
to be rich ; you will then be upon your Guard against
Temptations which if yielded to, will poison the
Streams of all future Comfort : You will then in a
more particular manner, impress upon your mind the
advice of an inspired writer, to " maintain a Con
science void of offence." I do not flatter you when I
say, you have hitherto supported a good reputation :
You will still preserve it unsullied ; remembering that
a good name is your Life.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, November n, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
WE read that " Jeroboam the Son of Nebat made
Israel to sin" : For this he "stands recorded" and
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 269
repeatedly stigmatiz'd, in the sacred volumn, as
a "perjur'd Traitor," and a Rebel against GOD and
his Country. However mysterious fawning priests
and flatterers may affect to think it, Kings and Gov
ernors may be guilty of treason and rebellion : And
they have in general in all ages and countries been
more frequently guilty of it, than their subjects.
Nay, what has been commonly called rebellion in the
people, has often been nothing else but a manly &
glorious struggle in opposition to the lawless power
of rebellious Kings and Princes ; who being elevated
above the rest of mankind, and paid by them only to
be their protectors, have been taught by enthusiasts
to believe they were authoriz'd by GOD to enslave and
butcher them ! It is not uncommon for men, by their
own inattention and folly, to suffer those things
which an all-gracious providence design'd for their
good, to become the greatest evils. If we look into
the present state of the world, I believe this will hold
good with regard to civil government in general :
And the history of past ages will inform us, that
even those civil institutions which have been best
calculated for the safety and happiness of the people,
have sooner or later degenerated into settled tyr
anny; which can no more be called civil government,
and is in fact upon some accounts a state much more
to be deprecated than anarchy itself. It may be said
of each, that it is a state of war : And it is beyond
measure astonishing that free people can see the
miseries of such a state approaching to them with
large and hasty strides, and suffer themselves to be
deluded by the artful insinuations of a man in
power, and his indefatigable sychophants, into a full
270 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
perswasion that their liberties are in no danger. May
we not be allow'd to adopt the language of scripture,
and apply it upon so important a consideration ; that
seeing, men will see and not perceive, and hearing,
they will hear and not understand ?
Jeroboam must needs have been a very wicked
Governor : And he discover'd so much of the ma
lignancy of treason against his people, in making them
to sin against the supreme Being upon whose power
and protection the welfare of nations as well as in
dividuals so manifestly depends, and by whose good
ness that people in particular were so greatly oblig'd,
that one would have thought, they would upon a
retrospect of their folly, in being thus seduc'd, have
testified to future generations their just resentment
and indignation, by at least dethroning so impious a
traitor. Perhaps they relented when they consider'd
that their Governor was "born and educated among
them " : But this heightened his wickedness ; as it
might have convinc'd them, that he was as destitute
of the common feelings of love for one's native
country, as he was of religion and piety. This, and
many other instances of later date may serve to show,
that the people have no solid reason to depend upon
every man that he will be a good Governor, merely
because of his having had his birth and education
among them ; as well as the folly and wickedness of
priests and minions, who would from such a circum
stance endeavor to dupe the people into a perswasion
of their security under any man's administration.
— The sin which the people of Israel were prevailed
upon by Jeroboam the son of Nebat to commit, re-
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 271
spected their religious worship on a Thanksgiving
day : He had ordained a solemn festival to be kept
at Bethel '; in which, it seems, he had a particular
view to serve a political purpose : And the people
knew it, although he had artfully endeavored to
colour it with a plausible appearance. At this festival,
through his influence, they sacrificed unto Calves \
This was the dire effect of their foolish adulation of
their Governor, while they professed to observe a day
set apart in honor to the King of kings. — Their thanks
giving began with prophaness & ended in idolatry,
or rather it began & ended with both. There is no
question but the priests were the vicegerents of the
Governor, or his heralds to publish his impious proc
lamations to the people. But is it not strange that the
people were so king-ridden and priest-ridden, es
pecially in matters which concern'd their Religion,
as to look upon ti\e joint authority of their Governor
and Clergy, sufficient to justify them in sinning
against the authority of God himself/ and in acting
in open violation of his law, revealed to them from
Heaven with signs and miracles at Mount Sinai^ and
register'd in their book of the law, as well as engrav'd
on the tables of their hearts ! — It is no unusual thing
for people to complement their Governors with the
sacrifice of their consciences, after they have surren
der d to them their civil liberty, which had been the
folly of that people long before ; for they grew weary
of their liberty in the days of Samuel the prophet,
and exchanged that civil government which the wis
dom of heaven had prescribed to them, for an absolute
despotic monarchy ; that they might in that regard
272 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
be like the nations round about them. — Even in these
enlightened times, the people in some parts of the
world are so bewitched by the enchantments of priest
craft and king-craft, as to believe that tho' they sin
against their own consciences, in compliance with the
instruction of the one, or in obedience to the com
mand of the other, they shall never suffer, but shall
be rewarded in the world to come, for being so
implicitly subject to the higher powers : And the
experience of the world tells us that there are, and
always have been various ways of rewarding them
for it in this world. On the contrary, if they hesitate
to declare a blind belief in the most palpable absurdi
ties in government and religion, they are sure to fall
into the immediate hands of spiritual inquisitors, to
be whipped and tortured into an acknowledgment of
the error, or threatened with the further pains of eter
nal damnation if they persist in their contumacy.
Thanks be to GOD, there is not yet so formidable
a junction of the secular and ecclesiastical powers in
this country ; and there is reason to hope there are
but few of the clergy who would desire it. Yet such
is the deplorable condition we are in, and so no
torious is it to all, that should any man, be he who he
may, tell me that our civil liberties were continued, or
that our religious privileges were not in danger, I
should detest him, if in his senses, as a perfidious
man. And if any clergyman should in compliance
with the humours or designs of a man in power, echo
such a false declaration in the church of GOD, he
would in my opinion do well seriously to consider,
whether an excessive complaisance may not have
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 273
betrayed him into the sin of Ananias and Saphira,
in lying against the Holy Ghost ! This is a most
weighty consideration : But the times require plain
dealing. We hope and believe, nay we know that
there are more than seven thousand who will never
bow the knee to Baal, or servilely submit to Tyranny,
temporal or spiritual : But are we not fallen into an
age when some even of the Clergy think it no shame
to flatter the Idol ; and thereby to lay the people, as
in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, under a
temptation to commit great wickedness, and sin
against God ? Let us beware of the poison of flat
tery — If the people are tainted with this folly, they ""1
will never have VIRTUE enough to demand a restora
tion of their liberties in the very face of a TYRANT, if
the necessity of the times should call for so noble an ex-
ertion. And how soon there may be such NECESSITY,
GOD only knows. May \\¥, grant them FORTITUDE as j
well as SOUND PRUDENCE in the day of TRIAL ! He
who can flatter a despot, or be flattered by him,
without feeling the remonstrances of his own mind
against it, may be remarkable for the guise and ap
pearance of sanctity, but he has very little if any true
religion — If he habitually allows himself in it, without
any remorse, he is a hardened impenitent sinner
against GOD and his COUNTRY. Whatever ^^profes
sion may be, he is not fit to be trusted ; and when
once discover'd, he will never be trusted by any but
fools and children. To complement a great man to
the injury of truth and liberty, may be in the opin
ion of a very degenerate age, the part of a polite
and well-bred gentleman — Wise men however will
VOL. II.— 18.
274 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
denominate him a Traitor or a Fool. But how much
more aggravated must be the folly and madness of
those, who instead of worshipping GOD in the solemn
assembly, " in spirit and in truth," can utter a lie TO
HIM ! ! — in order to render themselves acceptable to
a man who is a worm or to the son of a man who is a
worm.
CANDIDUS.
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text with variations is in
R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 187-189.]
BOSTON Novr 13 1771.
MY DEAR SIR, —
Several Vessells have lately arrivd from London,
but I have not had the pleasure of a Line from you
by either of them. Since the Resolve of Council, by
which Junius Americanus was so severely censurd,
there has been a proclamation issued by the Gover
nor with their Advice, for a general Thanksgiving
which has been the practice of the Country at this
time of the year from its first Settlement. The pious
proclamation has given the greatest offence to the
people in general, as it appears evidently to be calcu
lated to serve the purpose of the British Adminis
tration, rather than that of Religion. We were the
last year called upon to thank the Almighty for the
Blessings of the Administration of Government, in
this Province, which many lookd upon as an impious
Farce. Now we are demurely exhorted to render
our hearty & humble Thanks to the same omniscient
Being for the Continuance of our civil & religious
i77i] SAMUEL ADAMS. 275
Privileges & the Enlargement of our Trade. This I
imagine was contrivd to try the feelings of the peo
ple; and if the Governor could dupe the Clergy as
he had the Council, & they the people, so that the
proclamation should be read as usual in our Churches,
he would have nothing to do but acquaint Lord Hills-
borough that most certainly the people in General ac-
quiescd in the measures of Government, since they
had appealed even to God himself that notwithstand
ing the faction & turbulence of a party, their Liberties
were continued & their Trade enlargd. I am at a loss
to say whether this measure was more insolent to the
people or affrontive to the Majesty of Heaven, neither
of whom however a modern Politician regards, if at
all, so much as the Smiles of his noble Patron. But
the people saw thro it in general, & openly declared
that they would not hear the proclamation read. The
Consequence was, that it was read in but two of all
our Churches in this Town consisting of twelve besides
three Episcopalian Churches ; there indeed it has not
been customary ever to read them. Of those two
Clergymen who read it, one of them being a Stranger
in the province, & having been settled but about Six
Weeks, performd the servile task a week before the
usual Time when the people were not aware of it,
they were however much disgusted at it. The Min
ister of the other is a known Flatterer of the Gov
ernor & is the very person who formd the fulsome
Address of which I wrote you some time ago — he was
deserted by a great number of his Auditory in the
midst of his reading. Thus every Art is practisd
& every Tool employd to make it appear as if this
276 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
people were easy in their Chains, & that this great
revolution is brought about by the inimitable Address
of Mr Hutchinson. There is one part of the procla
mation which I think deserves Notice on your side
the Water, & that relates to the Accommodation with
the Spaniards in the Affair of Faulkland Island. This
must have been referrd to under the Terms of the
preservation of the peace of Europe. From what I
wrote you last you cannot wonder if the Governor
carrys any thing he pleases in his Divan here. His
last Manoevre has exposd him more than any thing.
Ne lude cum sacris is a proverb. Should he once
lose the Reputation which his friends have with the
utmost pains been building for him among the Clergy
for these thirty years past, as a consummate Saint, he
must fall like Samson when his Locks were cut off.
The people are determind to keep their Day of Fes
tivity but not for all the purposes of the infamous
proclamation. I beg you would omit no Opportunity
of writing to me & be assured that I am in a Stile too
much out of fashion
Your Friend
ARTICLE SIGNED "COTTON MATHER."1
\_Boston Gazette, November 25, 1771.]
MESSIEURS EDES & GILL,
Mucius SCAEVOLA, a writer whom I very much ad
mire, tells us, " A Massachusetts Governor the King by
Compact may nominate and appoint, but not pay : For
1 Attributed to Adams in the Dorr file of the Gazette.
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 277
his support he must stipulate with the people, & until
he does, he is no legal Governor ; without this, if he
undertakes to rule he is a USURPER."- -These senti
ments have given great disgust to the Governor &
Council, and the publisher, it is said, is to be prose
cuted : But if he has spoken the words of truth and
soberness, why should he be punished? Is there any
man in the community that can procure harm in a
process of law, to him who speaks necessary and im
portant truths ? If there be such a man, mark him for
a Tyrant. Is there any man whose publick conduct
will not bear the scrutiny of truth ? he is a Traitor,
and it is high time he was pointed out. — ^
I have upon this occasion looked into the Charter
of the province in which the COMPACT between the
King and the people is contain'd, and I find not a sin
gle word about the King's paying his Governor. If
therefore the Charter is altogether silent about it,
Mucius is certainly to be justified in saying that by
the compact the King may not p ay him ; that is, there
is nothing in the Charter to warrant it. But it is
asked, whether the King may not pay his Governor
notwithstanding ? And ought it not to be looked
upon as a mark of royal bounty and goodness, thus to
save the people from being " burdened by a tax upon
their polls and estates for a Governor's support ? "
This is the Court language ; and great pains have
been taken by some gentlemen, whose particular
business it is to ride through the several counties, to
spread it in every part of the province. But it has a
tendency to mislead and ensnare. It no doubt sounds
very agreeably in the ears of an unwary man, that by
278 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
this ministerial manoeuvre, the province have a sav
ing of a thousand pounds sterling every year, for the
support of a Governor. Let us consider the matter a
little. Did not our ancestors, when they accepted
this Charter, understand that they had contracted for
a free government ? And did not the King on his
part intend that it should be so ? Was it not under
stood, that by this contract every power of govern
ment was to be under a check adequate to the
importance of it, without which, according to the
best reasoners on government, and the experience of
mankind in all ages of the world, that power must be
a tyranny f Undoubtedly it was the sense of both
parties in the contract, that the government to be
erected by the Charter, should be a free government,
and that every power of it should be properly controuled
in order to constitute it so. I would then ask, what
weight remains in the scale of the democratick part of
the constitution to check the monarchick in the hands
of the governor, if the king has not only an uncon-
troulable power to nominate and appoint a governor,
but may pay him too ? If any one will point out to
me a sufficient weight to balance the scale, I will differ
from Mucius : But until that is done, I must be of
his mind, that the king has no right to pay his gov
ernor : " For that, he must stipulate with the peo
ple ; " otherwise our civil constitution is rendered
materially different from what the contracting parties
intended it should be, viz. a free constitution. It
places the governor in such a state of independency
as must make any man formidable. — It puts it in
his power in many instances to act the tyrant, even
I7yi] SAMUEL ADAMS. 279
under the appearance of all the forms of the consti
tution. The man who is possessed of a power to act
the tyrant when he thinks proper, let him become
possessed of it as he may, is at least an USURPER of
power that cannot belong to him in any free state-
Power is intoxicating : There have been few men, if
any, wrho when possessed of an unrestrained power,
have not made a very bad use of it — They have gen
erally exercised such a power to the terror both of the
good and the evil, and of the good more than the
evil — While a governor is possessed of a power with
out any other check than that which the constitution
has provided, upon a supposition that the king by
charter may/tfj/ him as well as appoint him, for aught
I can see, under such an administration as the present,
I mean in England, he may make the people slaves as
soon as he pleases and keep them so as long as
he pleases. I have heard it asked, What ! may not
the king make a present to his governor of fifteen
hundred sterling every year, if he sees fit ? Is not his
MAJESTY allowed to be upon a footing with even a
private subject? This reasoning is very plausible, but
I think not just. In some respects the king is more
restrained than the lowest of his subjects. He may
not for instance, turn a Roman Catholic, or marry
one of that religion and hold his crown : He forfeits
it by law if he does. And why ? Because it has been
found that the Roman Catholic principles are incon
sistent with the principles of the British constitution,
which is the rule of his government. And there is the
same reason why the governor who is appointed by
the crown, should stipulate with the people for his
28o THE WRITINGS OF [1771
support, if that mutual check among the several pow
ers of government, which is essential to every free
constitution, is otherwise destroyed. — If the king's
paying or making yearly presents to his governor,
renders him a different being in the state from that
which the Charter intends he shall be, and that to the
prejudice of the people, the king by the compact may
not pay him, for in such a case, it would be inconsist
ent with the principles of our constitution — No king
can have a right to put it in the power of his governor
to become a tyrant, or govern arbitrarily ; for he can
not be a tyrant or govern arbitrarily himself.
I beg leave to make a supposition ; If his Holiness
the Pope, for the sake of once more having a Catholic
King seated on the British throne, should make him
a present yearly of eight hundred thousand pounds
sterling, for the support of himself and his household,
it would be a great saving indeed to the nation ; but
would the people, think you, consent to it because of
that saving ? Should we not hear the faithful Com
mons objecting to it as an innovation big with danger
to the rights and liberties of the nation ? I believe it
would be in vain to flatter them that their constitu
ents would be eas'd of a burden of a tax upon their
polls and estates, by means which would render their
king thus independent of them, and place him in a
state of absolute dependance, for his support, upon
another, who had especially for a long course of
years, tried every art and machination t^roverthrow
their constitution in church and state-^Would not
the people justly think there would be danger that
such a king thus dependent on the pope, and oblig'd
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 281
by him, would be as subservient to the admonitions
of his Holiness, or his Legate in his name, as a cer
tain provincial governor, we know, has been to the in
structions of a minister of state, upon the bare pros
pect of his being made independent of the people for
his support. ^
COTTON MATHER.
ARTICLE SIGNED "CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, December 2, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
No methods are yet left untried by the writers on
the side of the ministry, to perswade this People that
the best way to get rid of our Grievances is to submit
to them. This was the artifice of Governor Bernard,
and it is urg'd with as much zeal as ever, under the
administration of Governor Hutchinson. They would
fain have us endure the loss of as many of our
Rights and Liberties as an abandon'd ministry shall
see fit to wrest from us, without the least murmur :
But when they find, that they cannot silence our com
plaints, & sooth us into security they then tell us,
that " much may be done for the publick interest
by way of humble & dutiful representation, point
ing out the hardships of certain measures"- -This is
the language of Chronus in the last Massachusetts
Gazette. But have we not already petition'd the
King for the Redress of our Grievances and the
Restoration of our Liberties? — have not the House
of Representatives done it in the most dutiful
282 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
terms imaginable ? — Was it not many months be
fore that Petition was suffer'd to reach the royal
hand ? — And after it was laid before his Majesty,
was he not advis'd by his ministers to measures still
more grevious and severe ? Have any lenient meas
ures been the consequence of our humble repre
sentations of "the hardship of certain measures,"
which were set forth by the house of assembly
in the most decent and respectful letters to persons
of high rank in the administration of government at
home ? Did not the deputies of most of the towns
and districts in this province met in Convention in
the year 1 768, when Bernard had in a very extraor
dinary manner dissolv'd the General Assembly ?—
Did they not, I say, in the most humble terms, peti
tion the Throne for the Redress of the intolerable
grievances we then labor'd under? — Has not the
Town of Boston most submissively represented " the
hardship of certain measures " to their most gracious
Sovereign, and petition'd for Right and Relief ? —
Was not petitioning and humbly supplicating, the
method constantly propos'd by those very persons
whom Chronus after the manner of his brethren,
stiles " pretended patriots ", and constantly adopted
till it was apparent that our petitions and representa
tions were treated with neglect and contempt ? — Till
we found that even our petitioning was looked upon
as factious, and the effects of it were the heaping
Grievance upon Grievance? — Have not the people
of this province, after all their humble supplications,
been falsly charg'd with being " in a state of dis
obedience to all law and government ? " And in
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 283
consequence of petitioning, has not the capital been
filled with soldiers to quiet their murmurs with the
bayonet ; & to murder, assassinate & plunder with
impunity! — Have we not borne for these seven
years past such indignity as no free people ever
suffer'd before, and with no other tokens of resent
ment on our part, than pointing out our hardships,
and appealing to the common sense of mankind,
after we had in vain petition'd our most gracious
Sovereign ? — And now we are even insulted by those
who have bro't on us all these difficulties, for uttering
our just complaints in a publick Newspaper ! Point
ing out the hardships of our sufferings, and calling
upon the impartial world to judge between us and
our oppressors, and protesting before God and man
against innovations big with ruin to the public Liberty,
is call'd by this writer, " a stubborn opposition to
public authority" and " a high hand opposition and
repugnancy to government" For God's sake, what
are we to expect from petitioning ? Have we any
prospect in the way of humble and dutiful represen
tation ? Let us advert to the nation of which this \
writer says we are a part. Are not they suffering the
same grievances, under the same administration ?
Have not they repeatedly petitioned and remon
strated to the throne, and "pointed out the hard
ships of certain measures," to the King himself?
And has not his Majesty been advised by his minis
ters, to treat them as imaginary grievances only ?
And yet after all, against repeated facts, and common
experience to the contrary, we are told, that " much
might be done for the public interest, by way of
284 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
humble and dutiful representation ! " If there were
even now, any hopes that the King would hear us,
while his present counsellors are near him, I should
be by all means for petitioning again ; but every
man of common observation will judge for himself
of \^K. prospect.
I am not of this writers opinion that the claims of
our sister colonies, New-Hampshire and Rhode-Island,
were so very reasonable, when disputes arose about
the dividing lines ; nor do I believe any of his disinter
ested readers will think his bare ipse dixit, however
peremptory, a sufficient evidence of it. — It seems in
the estimation of Chronus and his few confederates,
all are " intemperate patriots ", who will not yield the
public rights to every demand, however unjust it may
appear. — Thus a whole General Assembly is branded
by this writer, with the character of "wrong-headed
politicians ", for not surrendering a part of the
territory of this province to New-Hampshire and
Rhode-Island, because they demanded it. It is no
uncommon thing for those who are resolved to
carry a favorite point, when they cannot reason with
their opponents, to rail at them. — I shall not take
upon me at present to say, whether the claims of
those governments were right or wrong ; but if the
governor of the province, & a majority of the two
houses, whom Chronus does not scruple to call "pre
tended patriots ", then judged them to be wrong, their
conduct in contending for the interest of the province,
affords sufficient evidence, that they were real patri
ots. These instances are bro't by Chronus
to show the wisdom "of scorning the influence, and
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 285
rejecting the rash and injudicious clamour of pre
tended patriots, and wrong-headed politicians," in the
present assembly ; who by their " indecent treatment
of his Majesty's governor, are pressing him to comply
with measures contrary to his instructions " : But if
his Majesty's governor s instructions are repugnant
to the Rights and Liberties of his Majesty's subjects
of this province, and those who are elected by the
people to be the guardians of their rights and liber
ties, are really of that mind ; especially if they also
think that such instructions are design'd to have the
force of laws ; is it reasonable or decent for Chronus,
tho' he may think differently, to call them mere pre
tended patriots, which conveys the idea of false
hearted men, for protesting against such instructions,
as dangerous innovations, threatning the " very being
of government ", as constituted by the Charter ? —
Chronus and his brethren would do well to consider,
that "a high handed opposition and repugnance,
('tis a wonder he did not in the style of his friend
Bernard, call it ' oppugnation ') to government ",
is as dangerous when level'd at the representative
body of the people, as at " his Majesty s Governor " :
An attack upon the constitution especially in that
silent manner in which it has of late been attacked, is*
more dangerous than either. — He says that those
" wretched politicians ", " have made the Governor's
subsistence to depend upon his compliance with
measures contrary to his instructions." If this had
been true, it would have been treating the Governor
in a manner in which the British parliaments, when
free, have treated their sovereign : No supplies till
286 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
grievances are redressed, has been the language of
those " wrong headed politicians ", the British house of
commons in former, and better times, than these — If
the commons of this province have at any time with
held their grant for the support of a governor, till he
should comply with measures contrary to his instruc
tions, they looking upon those instructions, as they
have been, in fact, repugnant to the very spirit
'of the charter, and subversive of the liberty of their
constituents, who can blame them ? They are in my
opinion highly to be commended, for making use of
a power vested in them, or rather reserv'd by the
constitution, & originally intended to check the
wanton career of imperious governors — A power, in
the due exercise of which, even KINGS, their masters,
have sometimes been brought to their senses, when
they had any. But Chronus cannot show an instance
of this conduct in the house of representatives for
many years past, I dare say. It must therefore be a
mistake in him to suppose that this conduct of " our
intemperate patriots ", has " occasion'd his Majesty to
render him more independent, by taking the payment
of his governor upon himself." I make no doubt
but some other motive occasion'd the minister to ad
vise an independent governor in this province, which
will in all probability take place in every colony
throughout America. — The motive is too obvious to
need mentioning — If Chronus will make it appear
that a governor's being made independent of the
people, is not repugnant to the principles of the
charter of this province, or any free government, he
will do more than I at present think he or any other
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 287
can — Till this is done, it is in vain to flatter a sensible
people with the prospect of enjoying " peace, happi
ness or any other blessing they have reason to
desire," and right to expect from good government,
while the measure is persisted in.
CANDIDUS.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
{Boston Gazette, December 9, 1771.]
MESSIEURS EDES & GILL,
"Whene'er from putrid Courts foul Vapours rose,
. with vigorous wholesome Gales
The Winds of OPPOSITION fiercely blew,
Which purg'd and clear' d the agitated State"
IF the liberties of America are ever compleatly
ruined, of which in my opinion there is now the ut
most danger, it will in all probability be the conse
quence of a mistaken notion of prudence, which leads
men to acquiesce in measures of the most destructive
tendency for the sake of present ease. When designs
are form'd to rase the very foundation of a free gov
ernment, those few who are to erect their grandeur
and fortunes upon the general ruin, will employ every
art to sooth the devoted people into a state of indo
lence, inattention and security, which is forever the
fore-runner of slavery — They are alarmed at nothing
so much, as attempts to awaken the people to jealousy
and watchfulness ; and it has been an old game played
over and over again, to hold up the men who would
rouse their fellow citizens and countrymen to a sense
288 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
of their real danger, and spirit them to the most zeal
ous activity in the use of all proper means for the
preservation of the public liberty, as " pretended pa
triots" "intemperate politicians" rash, hot-headed
men, Incendiaries, wretched desperadoes, who, as was
said of the best of men, would turn the world upside
down, or have done it already. — But he must have a
small share of fortitude indeed, who is put out of
countenance by hard speeches without sense and
meaning, or affrighted from the path of duty by the
rude language of Billingsgate — For my own part, I
smile contemptuously at such unmanly efforts : I
would be glad to hear the reasoning ®i Chronus, if he
has a capacity for it ; but I disregard his railing as I
would the barking of a " Cur dog" .
The dispassionate and rational Pennsylvania
Farmer has told us, that " a perpetual jealousy re
specting liberty, is absolutely requisite in all free
states." The unhappy experience of the world has
frequently manifested the truth of his observation.
For want of this jealousy, the liberties of Spain were
destroyed by what is called a vote of credit ; that is,
a confidence placed in the King to raise money upon
extraordinary emergencies, in the intervals of parlia
ment. France afterwards fell into the same snare ;
and England itself was in great danger of it, in the
reign of Charles the second ; when a bill was brought
into the house of commons to enable the King to
raise what money he pleased upon extraordinary oc
casions, as the dutch war was pretended to be — And
the scheme would doubtless have succeeded to the
ruin of the national liberty, had it not been for the
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 289
watchfulness of the "intemperate patriots", and
" wrong-headed politicians" even of that day.
How much better is the state of the American colo
nies soon likely to be, than that of France and Spain ;
or than Britain would have been in, if the Bill before
mention'd had pass'd into an act ? Does it make any
real difference whether one man has the sovereign
disposal of the peoples purses, or five hundred ? Is
it not as certain that the British parliament have as
sumed to themselves the power of raising what money
they please in the colonies upon all occasions, as it is,
that the Kings of France and Spain exercise the same
power over their subjects upon emergencies ? Those
Kings by the way, being the sole judges when emer
gencies happen, they generally create them as often
as they want money. And what security have the
colonies that the British parliament will not do the
same ? It is dangerous to be silent, as the ministerial
writers would have us to be, while such a claim is
held up ; but much more to submit to it. Your very
silence, my countrymen, may be construed a submis
sion, and those who would perswade you to be quiet,
intend to give it that turn. Will it be likely then that
your enemies, who have exerted every nerve to estab
lish a revenue, rais'd by virtue of a supposed inherent
right in the British parliament without your consent,
will recede from the favorite plan, when they imagine
it to be compleated by your submission f Or if they
should repeal the obnoxious act, upon the terms of
your submitting to the right, is it not to be appre
hended that your own submission will be brought
forth as a precedent in a future time, when your
VOL. II. — IQ.
^
or THF. "
UNIVERSITY
29o THE WRITINGS OF [1771
watchful adversary shall have succeeded, and laid the
most of you fast asleep in the bed of security and
insensibility. Believe me, should the British parlia
ment, which claims a right to tax you at discretion,
ever be guided by a wicked and corrupt administra
tion, and how near they are approaching to it, I will
leave you to judge, you will then find one revenue act
succeeding another, till the fatal influence shall ex
tend to your own parliaments. Bribes and pensions
will be as frequent here, as they are in the unhappy
kingdom of Ireland, and you and your posterity will
be made, by means of your own money, as subservient
to the will of a British ministry, or an obsequious
Governor, as the vassals of France are to that of their
grand monarch. What will prevent this misery and
infamy, but your being finally oblig'd to have recourse
to the ultima ratio \ But is it probable that you will
ever make any manly efforts to recover your liberty,
after you have been inur'd, without any remorse, to
contemplate yourselves as slaves ? Custom, says the
Farmer, gradually reconciles us to objects even of
dread and detestation. It reigns in nothing more ar
bitrarily than in publick Affairs. When an act injuri
ous to freedom has once been done, and the people
bear it, the repetition of it is more likely to meet with
submission. For as the mischief of the one was found
to be tolerable, they will hope that the second will
prove so too ; and they will not regard the infamy of
the last, because they are stain d with that of the first.
The beloved Patriot further observes, "In mixed
governments, the very texture of their constitution
demands a perpetual jealousy ; for the cautions with
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 291
which power is distributed among the several orders,
imply, that each has that share which is proper for
the general welfare, and therefore that any further
imposition must be pernicious' '. The government of
this province, like that of Great Britain, of which it
is said to be an epitome, is a mixed government.
It's constitution is delicately framed ; and I believe
all must acknowledge, that the power vested in the
crown is full as great as is consistent with the
general welfare. The King, by the charter, has
the nomination and appointment of the governor :
But no mention being therein made of his right to
take the payment of his governor upon himself, it is
fairly concluded that the people have reserv'd that
right to themselves, and the governor must stipulate
with them for his support. That this was the sense
of the contracting parties, appears from practice con
temporary with the date of the charter itself, which is
the best exposition of it ; and the same practice has
been continued uninterruptedly to the present time-
But the King now orders his support out of the
American revenue : Chronus himself, acknowledges
that he is thereby " render' d more independent of
the people." — Consequently the balance of power if
it was before even is by this means disadjusted.
Here then is another great occasion of jealousy in the
people. No reasonable man will deny that an undue
proportion of power added to the monarchical part
of the constitution, is as dangerous, as the same un
due proportion would be, if added to the democratical.
Should the people refuse to allow the governor the
due exercise of the powers that are vested in him by
292 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
the Charter, I dare say they would soon be told, and
very justly, of " the mischief that would be the con
sequence of it." And is there not the same reason
why the people may and ought to speak freely &
LOUDLY of the mischief which would be the conse
quence of his being rendered more independent of
them ; or which is in reality the same thing, his
becoming possessed of more power than the charter
vests him with ? For the annihilating a constitu
tional check, in the people, which is necessary to
prevent the Governor's exercise of exorbitant power,
is in effect to enable him to exercise that exorbitant
power, when he pleases, without controul. A Gov
ernor legally appointed may usurp powers which do
not belong to him : And it is ten to one but he
will, if the people are not jealous and vigilant.
Charles the first was legally appointed king : The
doctrines advanced by the clergy in his father's
infamous reign, led them both to believe that they
were the LORD'S anointed, and were not accountable
for their conduct to the people. — It is strange that
kings seated on the English throne, should imbibe
such opinions : But it is possible they were totally
unacquainted with the history of their English pre
decessors. — Charles, by hearkening to the council of
his evil ministers, which coincided with the principles
of his education, and his natural temper, and con
fiding in his corrupt judges, became an usurper of
powers which he had no right to ; and exercising
those powers, he became a Tyrant : But the end
proved fatal to him, and afforded a solemn lesson for
all succeeding usurpers and tyrants : His subjects
177 1] SAMUEL ADAMS. 293
who made him king, called him to account, dismiss d
and PUNISH'D him in a most exemplary manner !
Charles was obstinate in his temper, and thought of
nothing so little as concessions of any kind : If he
had been well advis'd, he would have renounced his
usurped powers : Every wise governor will relin
quish a power which is not clearly constitutional, how
ever inconsiderable those about him may perswade him
to think it ; especially, if the people regard it as a PART
OF A SYSTEM OF OPPRESSION, and AN EVIDENCE OF
TYRANNICAL DESIGNS. And the more tenacious he is
of it, the stronger is the reason why " the SPIRIT OF
APPREHENSION " should be kept up among them in its
Utmost VIGILANCE.
CANDIDUS.
[Boston Gazette, December 16, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
I Profess to be more generous than to make severe
remarks upon the apparent absurdities that run
through the whole of Chronuss performance in the
last Massachusetts-Gazette. He tells us that " he
seldom examines political struggles that make their
weekly appearance in the papers". If by this mode
of expression he means to inform us, that he seldom
reads the papers with impartiality and attention, as
every one ought, who designs to make his own obser
vations on them, I can easily believe him ; for it is
evident in the piece now before me, that thro' a want
294 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
of such impartiality or due attention, to the political
struggles which he examines, he mistakes one writer
for another, and finds fault with Candidus for not
vindicating what had been advanc'd by Mutius Scae-
vola. I am no party man, unless a firm attachment
to the cause of Liberty and Truth will denominate
one such : And if this be the judgment of those who
have taken upon themselves the character of Friends
to the Government, I am content to be in their sense
of the word a party man, and will glory in it as long
as I shall retain that small portion of understanding
which GOD has been pleas'd to bless me with. If at
any time I venture to lay my own opinions before the
public, which is the undoubted right of every one, I
expect they will be treated, if worth any notice, with
freedom and candor : But I do not think myself
liable to be called to account by Chronus, or any
one else, for not answering the objections they are
pleased to make to what is offered by another man,
and not by me. Whatever may be the opinion of
Mr. Hutchinson, as a Usurper or a Tyrant or not, or
as Governor or no Governor, if Chronus had fairly
" examined the political struggles " which have ap
peared in the papers, he must have known that I had
not published my sentiments about the matter ; I shall
do it however, as soon as I think proper. — I would
not willingly suppose that Chronus artfully intended
to amuse his readers, and " mislead them to believe ",
that his address to the publick of the 28th of Novem
ber, was particularly applicable to me, as having ad
vanced the doctrine which has given so much disgust
to some gentlemen, and from whence he draws such
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 295
a long string of terrible consequences. Whether
the denying the governor's authority be right or
wrong, or whether upon Mutiuss hypothesis it be
vindicable or not, it is a " maxim" (to use his own
word) upon which it no more concerned me to pass
my judgment than it did any other man in the com
munity. Had Chronus then a right to press me into
this " political struggle," or to demand my opinion of
what he had so sagely observed upon a subject which
I had never engag'd in ? Yes, by all means ; says he,
" I pointed out some of the mischiefs that would in
evitably follow upon denying the Governor s authority,
if that maxim should be generally received " ; and
adds, "what now has Candidus reply d to all this?
Why truly nothing, but — altum silentium" in Eng
lish, a profound silence ; that is in the words of an
honest Teague on another occasion " he answered and
said nothing"-— But notwithstanding the deep silence
that I preserv'd when I made my answer, it seems
that " I assured him that the way of peaceable, duti
ful and legal representations of our grievances had
already been tried to no purpose " : With the most
profound Taciturnity I "was pleas'd most largely to
expatiate upon this point ", & with all my " altum
silentium " my " interrogations follow'd one another
with such amazing rapidity, that he (poor man) was
almost out of breath in repeating them."-— Here, gen
tle reader, is presented to you a group of ideas in the
chaste, the elegant style of CHRONUS, which required
much more skill in the English language than I am a
master of, to reduce to the level of common sense.
Thus I have given you a short specimen of the taste
296 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
of Chronus, who is said to be the top hand on the
side of the ministry : For want of leisure I must
omit taking notice of his " method of reasoning" till
another time.
CANDIDUS.
MEMORANDUM.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
Decbr iS 17/1.
This day I waited on Mr Harrison Gray junr to ac
quaint him that I had been informd that he had told
John Hancock Esqr that he heard me say in a threat-
ning manner that Mr Hancock might think as he
pleasd, Mr Otis had friends & his (Mr Hancocks)
treatment of Mr Otis would prejudice his (Mr Han
cocks) Election. Mr Gray declard to me that he did
not hear me mention a Word of Mr Hancocks Elec
tion — that a conversation happend between Mr John
Cotton & my self (Mr Gray being present) relative to
Mr Otis — that Mr Cotton said Mr Otis' Conduct must
be the Effect of Distraction or Drunkeness — that I
said I did not think so— but that it rather proceeded
from Irritation — that he (Mr Gray) said if Mr Otis is
distracted why should Mr Hancock pursue him — &
that I answerd that Mr Hancock might be stirred up
by others to do it, but I thought he had better not or
it was a pity he should. This Mr Gray declared was
all that I said relative to Mr Hancock, in answer to
his Question as is before mentiond & that it did not
appear to him that I discoverd the least Unfriendliness
towards Mr Hancock. He further said he was willing
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 297
to give his oath to the truth of this his declaration.
Upon which I told Mr Gray that it was far from my
Intention to make Mr Hancock displeasd with him,
that I was satisfied that Mr Hancock understood him
differently & I should let Mr Hancock know what he
now said, & asked him to repeat it which he did pre
cisely as before — & told me he was freely willing
that I should repeat it to Mr Hancock that if Mr
Hancock & myself desired it he would thus explain it
in presense of us both.
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, December 23, 1771.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
The writer in the Massachusetts Gazette, who
signs Chronus, in his address to the publick, recom
mended petitioning and humbly representing the hard
ship of certain measures ; and yet before he finished
his first paper, he pointed out to us the unhappy ef
fects in former times of the very method he had pre
scribed. Those " intemperate patriots " it seems, the
majority of both houses of the general assembly, not
hearkning to the cool advice of the few wise men
within and without doors, must needs make their
humble representations to the King and Council
upon the claims of New-Hampshire and Rhode-
Island : And what was the consequence ? Why, he
says the province lost ten times the value of the land
in dispute. Did Chronus mean by this and such like
instances, to enforce the measure which he had recom-
298 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
mended ? They certainly afford a poor encourage
ment for us to persevere in the way of petitioning and
humble representation. But perhaps he will say, the
General Assembly had at that time no reason to com
plain of the incroachment of these sister colonies ;
their claims were just ; and the discerning few who
were in that mind were in the right. Just so he says
is the case now. For he tells us that " no one has at
tempted to infringe the peoples rights." Upon what
principle then would he have us petition ? It is pos
sible, for I would fain understand him, that what
Candidus and others call an invasion of our rights, he
may choose to denominate a Grievance ; for if we suf
fer no Grievance, he can certainly have no reason to
advise us to represent the hardship of certain meas-,
ures. And I am the rather inclin'd to think, that this
is his particular humour, because I find that the stamp-
act, which almost every one looked upon as a most
violent infraction of our natural and constitutional
rights, is called by this writer a Grievance. And he
is so singular as to enquire, " What Liberties we are
now deprived of," altho' an act of parliament is still in
being,'and daily executed, very similar to the stamp-act,
and form'd for the very same purpose, viz. the raising
and establishing a revenue in the colonies by virtue
of a suppos'd inherent right in the British parliament,
where the colonies cannot be represented, and there
fore without their consent. The exercise of such a
power Chronus would have us consider as a Grievance
indeed, but not by any means a deprivation of our
rights and liberties, or even so much as the least
infringement o£ them. ' Mr. Locke has often been
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 299
quoted in the present dispute between Britain and
her colonies, and very much to our purpose. His
reasoning is so forcible, that no one has even at
tempted to confute it. He holds that " the preserva
tion of property is the end of government, and that
for which men enter into society. It therefore neces
sarily supposes and requires that the people should
have property, without which they must be suppos'd
to lose that by entering into society, which was the end
for which they enter'd into it ; too gross an absurdity
for any man to own. Men therefore in society having
property, they have such a right to the goods, which
by the law of the community are theirs, that no body
hath the right to take any part of their subsistence
from them without their consent : Without this, they
could have no property at all. For I truly can have
no property in that which another can by right
take from me when he pleases, against my consent.
Hence, says he, it is a mistake to think that the su
preme power of any commonwealth can dispose of the
estates of the subjects arbitrarily, or take any part of
them at pleasure. The prince or senate can never
have a power to take to themselves the whole or any
part of the subjects property without their own con
sent ; for this would be in effect to have no property at
all."- -This is the reasoning of that great and good
man. And is not our own case exactly described by
him ? Hath not the British parliament made an act
to take a part of our property against our consent^
Against our repeated submissive petitions and humble
representations of the hardship of it ? Is not the act
daily executed in every colony ? If therefore the
300 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
preservation of property is the very end of govern
ment, we are depriv'd of that for which government
itself is instituted. — Tis true, says Mr. Locke, " Gov
ernment cannot be supported without great charge ;
and tis fit that every one who enjoys a share in the
protection should pay his proportion for the mainte
nance of it. But still it must be with their own con
sent, given by themselves or their representatives."
Chronus will not say that the monies that are every
day paid at the custom-houses in America for the ex
press purpose of maintaining all or any of the Gov
ernors therein, were rais'd with the consent of those
who pay them, given by themselves or their repre
sentatives — " If any one, adds Mr. Locke, shall claim
a power to lay and levy taxes on the people by his
own authority & without such consent of the people,
he thereby subverts the end of government"- — Will
Chronus tell us that the British parliament doth not
claim authority to lay and levy such taxes, and doth
not actually lay and levy them on the colonies without
their consent? This is the case particularly in this
province. If therefore it is a subversion of the end of
government, it must be a subversion of our civil
liberty, which is supported by civil government only./
And this I think a sufficient answer to a strange
question which Chronus thinks it " not improper for
our zealous Patriots to answer, viz. What those
liberties and rights are of which we have been de
prived. — If Chronus is really as ignorant as he pre
tends to be, of the present state of the colonies, their
universal and just complaints of the most violent in
fractions of their liberties, and their repeated petitions
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 301
to the throne upon that account, I hope I shall be ex
cused in taking up any room in your valuable paper,
with a view of answering a question, which to him
must be of the utmost importance. — But if he is not,
I think his question not only impertinent, but a gross
affront to the understanding of the public. We have
lost the constitutional right which the Commons of
America in their several Assemblies have ever before
possessed, of giving and granting their own money, as
much of it as they please, and no more ; and appropri
ating it for the support of their own government, for
their own defence, and such other purposes as they
please. The great Mr. Pitt, in his speech in par
liament in favor of the repeal of the stamp-act, de
clared that " we should have been slaves if we had not
enjoy'd this right." This is the sentiment of that
patriotic member, and it is obvious to the common
sense of every man. — If the parliament have a right to
take as much of our money as they please, they may
take all. And what liberty can that man have, the
produce of whose daily labour another has the right
to take from him if he pleases, and which is similar to
our case, takes a part of it to convince him that he has
the power as well as the pretence of right ? — That
sage of the law Lord Camden declar'd, in his speech
upon the declaratory bill, that " his searches had more
and more convinced him that the British parliament
have no right to tax the Americans. Nor, said he,
" is the doctrine new: It is as old as the constitution'.
Indeed, it is its support." The taking away this right
must then be in the opinion of that great lawyer, the
removal of the very support of the constitution, upon
302 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
which all our civil liberties depend. He speaks in
still stronger terms — " Taxation and representation
are inseparably united : This position is founded on
the laws of nature : It is more : It is itself an
eternal law of nature — Whatever is a man's own is ab
solutely his own ; and no man has a right to take it
from him without his consent, either express'd by him
self or his representative — Whoever attempts to do it,
attempts an injury : Whoever does it, commits a
ROBBERY: He throws down the distinction between
liberty and slavery' - - Can Chronus say, that the
Americans ever consented either by themselves or their
representatives, that the British parliament should tax
them ? That they have taxed us we all know : We
all feel it : I wish we felt it moresensrffy : They have
therefore, according to the sentiments of the last men-
tion'd Nobleman, which are built on nature and com
mon reason, thrown down the very distinction between
liberty and slavery in America — And yet this writer,
like one just awoke from along dream, or, as I cannot
help thinking there are good grounds to suspect, with
a design to ''mislead his unwary readers (and unwary
they must needs be, if they are thus misled,) to be
lieve that all our liberties are perfectly secure, he calls
upon us to show "which of our liberties we are de
prived of; " and in the face of a whole continent,
as well as of the best men in Europe, he has the
effrontery to assert, without the least shadow of argu
ment, that "no one has attempted to infringe them."
One cannot after all this, be at a loss to conceive,
what judgment to, form of his modesty, his under
standing or sincerity.
177 r] SAMUEL ADAMS. 303
It might be easy to show that there are other in
stances in which we are deprived of our liberties. — I
should think, a people would hardly be perswaded to
believe that they were in the full enjoyment of their
liberties, while their capital fortress is garrison'd by
troops over which they have no controul, and under
the direction of an administration in whom, to say the
least, they have no reason to place the smallest con
fidence that they shall be employ'd for their protec
tion, and not as they have been for their destruction
—While they have a governor absolutely independent
of them for his support, which support as well as his
political being depends upon that same administration,
tho' at the expence of their own money taken from
them against their consent — While their governor acts
not according to the dictates of his own judgment, as
sisted by the constitutional advice of his council, if he
thinks it necessary to call for it, but according to the
edicts of such an administration — Will it mend the
matter that this governor, thus dependent upon the
crown, is to be the judge of the legality of instructions
and their consistency with the Charter, which is the
constitution ? Or if their present governor should be
possess'd of as many angelic properties as we have
heard of in the late addresses, can they enjoy that
tranquility of mind arising from their sense of safety,
which Montesquieu defines to be civil liberty, when
they consider how precarious a person a provincial
governor is," especially a good one ? And how likely a
thing it is, if he is a good one, that another may soon
be placed in his stead, possessed of the principles of
the Devil, who for the sake of holding his commission
304 THE WRITINGS OF [1771
which is even now pleaded as a weighty motive,
will execute to the full the orders of an abandon'd
minister, to the ruin of those liberties which we are
told are now so secure — Will a people be perswaded
that their liberties are safe, while their representatives
in general assembly, if they are ever to meet again,
will be deprived of the most essential privilege of giv
ing and granting what part of their own money they
are yet allowed to give and grant, unless, in conform
ity to a ministerial instruction to the governor,
solemnly read to them for their direction, they ex
empt the commissioners of the customs, or any other
favorites or tools of the ministry, from their equitable
share in the tax ? All these and many others that
might be mention'd, are the natural effects of that
capital cause of complaint of all North- America,
which, to use the language of those " intemperate pa
triots ", the majority of the present assembly, is " a
subjugation to as arbitrary a TRIBUTE as ever the
Romans laid upon the Jews, or their other colonies "
— What now is the advice of Chronus ? Why, " much
may be done, says he, by humble petitions and repre
sentations of the hardship of certain measures " — Ask
him whether the colonies have not already done it ?
Whether the assembly of this province, the conven
tion, the town of Boston, have not petitioned and
humbly represented the hardship of certain measures,
and all to no purpose, and he tells you either that he
is " a stranger to those petitions ", or " that they were
not duly timed, or properly urged," or " that the true
reason why ALL our petitions and representations met
with no better success was, because they were ac-
1771] SAMUEL ADAMS. 305
companied with a conduct quite the reverse of that
submission and duty which they seem'd to express "-
that " to present a petition with one hand, while the
other is held up in a threatning posture to enforce it,
is not the way to succeed "- —Search for his meaning,
and enquire when the threatning hand was held up,
and you'll find him encountering the Resolves of the
Town of Boston to maintain their Rights, (in which
they copied after the patriotic Assemblies of the
several Colonies) and their Instructions to their
Representatives. Here is the sad source of all our
difficulties. — Chronus would have us petition, and
humbly represent the hardships of certain measures,
but we must by no means assert oitr Liberties. We
must acknowledge, at. least tacitly, that the Parliament
of Great Britain has a constitutional authority, " to
throw down the distinction between Liberty and
slavery " in America. We may indeed, humbly repre
sent it as a hardship, but if they are resolved to ex
ecute the purpose, we must submit to it, without the
least intimation to posterity, that we look'd upon it as
unconstitutional or unjust. Such advice was sagely
given to the Colonists a few years ago, at second
hand, by one who had taken a trip to the great city,
and grew wonderfully acquainted, as he said, with
Lord Hillsborough ; but his foibles are now " buried
under the mantle of chanty." Very different was his
advice from that of another of infinitely greater abili
ties, as well as experience in the public affairs of the
nation, and the colonies : I mean Doctor Benjamin
Franklin, the present agent of the House of Repre
sentatives. His last letter to his constituents, as I
VOL. II. — 20.
306 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
am well informed, strongly recommends the holding
up our constitutional Rights, by frequent Resolves,
&c. This we know will be obnoxious to those who
are in the plan to enslave us : But remember my
countrymen, it will be better to have your liberties
wrested from you by force, than to have it said that
you even implicitly surrendered them.
I have something more to say to Chronus when
leisure will admit of it.
CANDIDUS.
TO HENRY MARCHANT.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Jan 7 1772
SIR
I wrote you soon after your departure from hence
but am lately informd by Mr F. Dana that you have
not receivd my Letter ; he has put me in the way of
a more sure direction under an Inclosure to Mess
Trecothick & Apthorp.
By our last Vessells from London we have an Ac
count of the Choice of Mr Nash for the Lord Mayor,
& that he was brot in by ministerial Influence. It
gives great Concern to the Friends of Liberty here
that any Administration much more such as the pres
ent appears to be, should have an Ascendency in the
important Elections of that City, which has hereto
fore by her Independency & Incorruption been the
great Security of the Freedom of the nation. It is
J Attorney-General of Rhode Island. The letter was addressed to Marchant
at London, where he was acting as the agent of Rhode Island. He left Rhode
Island in July, 1771, and returned in the autumn of 1772. Cf., Records of the
Colony of Rhode Island, vol. vii., pp. 27-31, 197.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS, 307
questionable however whether the Ministry would
have gaind their point, if they had not according to
the Machiavellian plan accomplishd a Division among
those who profess to be Patriots. The same Art is
now practicd by their Tools & Dependents on this
side the Water. They have been endeavoring to ex
cite a Jealousy among the Colonies, each one of the
others, & in a great measure brought it about by the
unfortunate failure of the Nonimportation Agreement.
Perhaps every Colony was faulty in that matter in
some degree but neither chose to take any of the
Blame of it to its self, & to shift it off each cast the
whole upon the others. The Truth is there were so
many of the Merchants under the Court Influence in
all of them as that they were able to defeat the plan,
& for that Reason I was doubtful from the beginning
of the Success of it. The Agents of the Ministry
have since been trying to perswade the people to be
lieve that they are sick of their measures & would be
glad to recede, but cannot consistent with their own
honor while the Colonies are clamoring against them
—they would therefore have us to be quite silent as
tho we enjoyd our Rights & Liberties to the full, &
trust that those who have discoverd the greatest per
severance in every Measure to enslave us, will of their
own Accord & without the least Necessity give up their
Design. This soothing & dangerous Doctrine I fear
has had an effect in some of the Colonies, but I am in
hopes that those who have been ready to trust to the
false promises of Courtiers begin to see through the
Delusion. It was impossible that many persons could
be catchd in such a Snare in this province, where
3o8 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
absolute Despotism appears to be continually making
large Strides with barefaced Impudence. It will not
be easy to convince this people that the Ministry have
in their hearts any favor towards them, while they
are taking their money out of their pockets, & appro
priating it for the maintenance of a Governor who
because of his absolute Dependence upon them will
always yield obedience to their Instructions, and a
standing Army in their Capital fortress, over which
that Governor I presume to say dares not exercise
any Authority, tho invested with it by the Charter,
without express Leave from his Masters. Adminis
tration must be strangely blind indeed, or they must
think us the most foolish and ductile people under
Heaven (in which they are greatly mistaken) to im
agine that in such a Condition we are to be flatterd
with hopes of any kind Disposition of theirs towards
us. The Governor & other Friends to the Ministry
or rather friends to themselves would fain have it
thought in England, that the People in general are
easy & contented or to use the Words of his Speech
at the opening of the last Session, that they are re-
turnd to Good order & Government ; l this may tend
to establish him in his Seat as one who can carry the
most favorite points but Nothing can afford greater
Evidence to the Contrary than the general Contempt
and Indignation with which his proclamation for an
annual Thanksgiving was treated, because we were
therein exhorted to return Thanks to Almighty God
that " our religious & civil privileges were continued
to us" & that " our Trade was enlargd" — It is said
1 May 30, 1771. Massachusetts State Papers, p. 300.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 309
& I believe it to be a fact, that full two thirds of the
congregational Clergy refusd to read the proclama
tion, & perhaps not more of them than appeard the
last Spring in favor [of] the pompous congratulatory
Address, that is not a Sixth part of them took any
notice of those Clauses in the religious Services of
the day. It is for the Interest of the Crown Officers
here who are dependent upon the Ministers to make
them believe that they have by their Art & policy
reconciled the people to their Measures, & if the
Nation is so far misled as to believe so, the Ministry
may avail themselves of it, but if the Contrary should
happen to be true, as it appears to me to be, such
Events may sooner than we are aware of it take place,
as may afford the Nation Grounds to repent of her
Credulity. It may be thought arrogant for an Ameri
can thus to express himself, but let Britain consider
that her own & her Colonies dependence is at present
mutual which may not & probably will not be the
Case in some hereafter. Why should either side
hasten on the alarming Crisis. I am a friend to both,
but I confess my friendship to the latter is the most
ardent — they have in time past and if by the severe
treatment which the Colonies have receivd, Confi
dence in the Mother Country is not in too great a
Degree lost, they may still for some time to come
administer to each others Happiness & Grandeur.
This in my humble Opinion greatly depends upon a
Change of Ministers & Measures which it is not in
my power & I presume not in yours however earnestly
we both may desire it, to accomplish.
I wait in daily Expectation of a Letter from you.
310 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp., 189-192 ; a draft is in the
Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON, January i4th, 1772.
SIR,—
Your latest letter to me is of the loth June,1 since
which I have several times written to you and have
been impatiently waiting for your farther favours.
I suppose by this time the parliament is sitting for
the despatch of business, and we shall soon discover
whether administration have had it in their hearts, as
we have been flattered, to recede from their oppres
sive measures, and repeal the obnoxious revenue
acts. Is it not a strange mode of expression of late
years made use of, that administration intends that
this law shall be enacted, or that repealed ? It is
language adapted to the infamy of the present times,
by a nation which boasts of the freedom and inde
pendency of her parliaments. I believe almost any
of the American assemblies would highly resent such
an imperious tone, even in the honoiirable board of
commissioners of the customs, who I dare say think
themselves equal in dignity, at least in proportion to
the different countries, to his majesty's ministers of
state. A Bostonian, I assure you, would blush with
indignation to hear it said that his majesty's commis
sioners of the customs (though perhaps they are of
his excellency's privy council) had held a consultation
at Butcher's Hall, upon the affairs of the province,
and that they had come to a conclusion that the
1 R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. i., pp. 215-219.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 311
house of representatives should rescind their late
protest against any doctrines which tend to give royal
instructions to the governor, \heforce of laws. This
protest it is said, his majesty's wise ministers were
so hugely affronted at, as to alter their determination
upon a question, in which the fate of the British
nation was involved, namely, whether our general
assembly should sit at Cambridge or in Boston. I
confess this was a question of such astonishing im
portance to the millions of Britons and their descend
ants, and decided no doubt with such refined
discrimination of judgment, that is not so much to
be wondered at, if all national wisdom is to be
ascribed to such a bed of counsellors, who seem to
have possessed themselves of all national power.
But as the circumstances of things may alter, and his
majesty may be obliged through necessity to have
recourse to men of common understanding, when
these are gone to receive their just rewards in
another life, would it not be most proper that the
parliament should be at least the ostensive legislature,
for there is danger in precedents, and in time to
come the supreme power of the nation may be the
dupes of a ministry, who may have no more under
standing than themselves. It has been said that the
king's ministers have for years past received momen
tary hints respecting the fabrication of American
revenue laws and other regulations, from some very
wise heads on this side of the water, and particularly
of this place ; and perhaps Great Britain may be
more indebted to some Bostonians or residents in
Boston than she may imagine, however reproachfully
312 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
she may have spoken of them. Bernard publicly
declared that he did not obtrude his advice on his
majesty's ministers unasked; and therefore we may
naturally conclude that my lord of Hillsborough,
(sublime as his understanding is) the minister in the
department, stood in need of and asked his advice,
when the baronet journalized the necessary measures
of administration for the colonies, which he retailed
in weekly and sometimes daily letters to his lordship.
On his departure he recommended Mr Hutchinson,
though a Bostonian, " born and educated " as one
upon whom his lordship might depend as much
as upon himself ; and in this one thing I believe
Bernard wrote the truth, for if they have not equal
merit for their faithful services to administration, Mr.
Hutchinson, I verily believe, has the greatest share.
It is whispered here that the honourable board of
commissioners have represented to administration
that the present revenue is not sufficient to answer
all demands, which are daily increasing, and there
fore it will be necessary for their lordships to
establish an additional fund. This is an important
hint, which may relieve their lordships, unless a new
manoeuvre should succeed, of which we have an
account in the Boston Gazette enclosed. By a vessel
just arrived from London, the friends of govern
ment, as they call themselves, pretend that they have
certain assurances from administration, that in three
months we shall not be troubled with commissioners
or standing armies. This, if we could depend upon
court promises, would* afford an agreeable prospect.
But the root of all our grievances is the parliament's
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 313
taxing us, which they cannot do, but upon principles
repugnant to and subversive of our constitution. If
their lordships, the ministry, would be pleased to
repeal the revenue acts, they would strike a blow at
the root.
The grand design of our adversaries is to lull us
into security, and make us easy while the acts re
main in force, which would prove fatal to us.
I have written in great haste, and am sincerely
your friend and humble servant,
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS.
[Boston Gazette, January 20, 1772.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
IN the Massachusetts-Gazette of the Qth instant,
Chronus attempts to prove that " the Parliament's lay
ing duties upon trade, for the express purpose of rais
ing a revenue, is not repugnant to and subversive of
our constitution." In defence of this proposition, he
proceeds to consider the nation as commercial, and
from thence to show the necessity of laws for the
regulation of trade. — In the nation he includes Great-
Britain and all the Colonies, and infers that these acts
for the reflation of trade, u should extend to all
the British dominions, to prevent one part of the
national body from injuring another." And, says he,
" If laws for the regulation of trade are necessary, who
so proper to enact them, &c. as the British parlia
ment, or to dispose of the fines & forfeitures arising
314 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
from the breach of such acts ? " And then he tells us,
that as a number of preventive officers will here
upon become necessary, the parliament have thought
proper to assign to his Majesty's revenue " the profits
arising on the duties of importation for the payment
of those officers ". This is Chronuss " method of
reasoning ", to prove that because it is necessary that
the parliament should enact laws for the regulation of
trade, about which there has as yet been no dispute
that I know of, and because it is proper that such
preventive officers as shall be found needful to carry
those laws into execution, should be paid out of the
fines and forfeitures arising from the breach of them,
Therefore, the parliament hath a right to make laws
imposing duties or taxes, for the express purpose of
raising a revenue in the colonies without their
consent ; and that this is not (as is alledg'd by our
" Patriots ") " repugnant to or subversive of our con
stitution ". Every one may easily see how Chronus
evades the matter in dispute, and aims at amusing his
readers according to his usual manner, by endeavour
ing, and that without a shadow of argument, to prove
one point, instead of another which is quite distinct
from it, and which he ought to prove, but cannot. He
is indeed sensible that his artifice is seen through ; that
it will be urged that " he has evaded the chief diffi
culties," and that " the objection doth not lie against
the regulation of trade, but against the imposing
duties for the express purpose of raising a revenue."
And he is full ready to remove this objection. But
how ? Why, by asking a question, which he often
substitutes in the room of argument. Are we not,
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 315
says he, " fellow-subjects with our brethren at home,
and consequently bound to bear a part according to
our ability, in supporting the honor & dignity of the
crown ? " It is aliow'd that we are the subjects of the
same prince with our brethren at home, and are in
duty bound, as far as we are able, to support the
honor and dignity of our Sovereign, while he affords us
his protection. But does Chronus from thence infer
an obligation on us to yield obedience to the acts of
the British parliament imposing taxes upon us with
the express intention of raising a revenue, to be ap
propriated for such purposes as that legislative thinks
proper, without our consent ? O, says he, " there is
good reason for this." What is the good reason ?
Why " if we will not consent to do anything our
selves ", " our money will be taken from us without
our consent." This is conclusive argument indeed.
And then he, as it were, imperceptibly glides into that
which has ever appeared to be his favorite topick,
however impertinent to the present point, viz. an in
dependent support for the governor. He boldly
affirms, what is a notorious untruth, that " we are
unwilling to pay his Majesty's substitute in such a
manner as should leave him that freedom and inde
pendency which is necessary to his station, and with
which he is vested by the constitution : " And there
fore the parliament hath a right to enable his Majesty
to pay his substitute, out of a revenue extorted from
us against our consent. If his premises were well
grounded, his conclusion would not follow : And the
question would still remain, to which Chronus has not
attempted to give any rational answer, namely, By
316 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
what authority doth the parliament these things, and
who gave them this authority ? Thus we still con
tinue to dispute the authority of the parliament to lay
duties and taxes upon us, with the express purpose of
raising a revenue, as " repugnant to, and subversive
of our constitution ; " and for a reason which I dare
say Chronus will never get over, namely, because as
he himself allows, " we are not represented in it"-
The English constitution, says Baron Montesquieu,
has Liberty for its direct object : And the constitu
tion of this province, as our own historian,1 informs
us, is an epitome of the British constitution ; and it
undoubtedly has the same end for its object : What
ever laws therefore are made for our government,
either in a manner, or for purposes subversive of
Liberty, must be subversive of the end of the consti
tution, and consequently of the constitution itself.—
No free people, as the Pennsylvania Farmer has ob
served, ever existed, or ever can exist without, to use
a common but strong expression, keeping the purse-
strings in their hands : But the parliament's laying
taxes on the Colonies for the express purpose of rais
ing a revenue, takes the purse strings out of their
hands, and consequently it is " repugnant to, and sub
versive of (the end of) our constitution " —Liberty.
Mr. Locke says, that the security of property is the
end for which men enter into society ; and I believe
Chronus will not deny it : Whatever laws therefore
are made in any society, tending to render property
insecure, must be subversive of the end for which
men prefer society to the state of nature ; and conse-
1 Mr. Hutchinson.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 317
quently must be subversive of society itself : But the
parliament in which the Colonies have no voice, tak
ing as much of their money as it pleases, and appro
priating it to such purposes as it pleases, even against
their consent, and as they think repugnant to their
safety, renders all their property precarious, and there
fore it is subversive of the end for which men enter '
into society and repugnant to every free constitution.
—Mr. Hooker in his ecclesiastical polity, as quoted
by Mr. Locke, affirms that " Laws they are not, which
Republic approbation hath not made so." This seems
to be the language of nature and common sense ; for
if the public are bound to yield obedience to the laws,
to which they cannot give their approbation, they are
slaves to those who make such laws and enforce
them : But the acts of parliament imposing duties,
with the express purpose of raising a revenue in the
colonies, have received every mark of the public dis
approbation in every colony ; and yet they are en
forced in all, and in some with the utmost rigour./
The British constitution having liberty for its object,
is so framed, as that every man who is to be bound
by any law about to be made, may be present by his
representative in parliament, who may employ the
whole force of his objections against it, if he cannot
approve of it : If after fair debate, it is approv'd of
by the majority of the whole representative body of
the nation, the minority, by a rule essential in society,
and without which it could not subsist, is bound to
submit to it : But the colonies had no voice in parlia
ment when the revenue acts were made ; nay, though
they had no representatives there, their petitions were
3i8 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
rejected, because they were against duties to be laid
on ; and they have been called factious, for the objec
tions they made, not only against their being taxed
without their consent, which was a sufficient objection,
but against the appropriation of the money when
rais'd to purposes which as the Farmer has made to
appear, will supersede the authority in our respective
assemblies, which is most essential to liberty. Repre
sentation and Legislation, as well as taxation, are
inseparable, according to the spirit of our constitu
tion ; and of all others that are free. Human fore
sight is incapable of providing against every accident.
A small part of the nation may be " at sea, as Chronus
tells us, when writs are issued out for the election of
members of parliament " ; and to admit that they,
after their return " should be exempt from any acts
of parliament, the members of which were chosen in
their absence ", would be attended with greater evil
to the community, the safety and welfare of which is
the end of all legislation, than the misfortune of their
o
voluntary absence, if it should prove one, could be to
them. I say, if it should prove a misfortune to them ;
for those acts being made by the consent of repre
sentatives chosen by all the rest of the nation, it is
presum'd they are calculated for the good of the whole,
of which they, as a part, must necessarily partake :
But the supposed case of these persons is far different
from that of the colonists ; who are, not by a volun
tary choice of their own, but through necessity, not by
mere accident, but by means of the local distance of
their constant residence, excluded from being present
by representation in the British legislature. Chronus
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 319
allows that by means of their distance, "they are be
come incapable of exercising their original right of
choosing representatives for the British parliament"
If so, they cannot without subversion of the end of
the British constitution, be bound to obedience,
against their own consent, to such laws as are there
made ; especially such laws as tend to render precari
ous their property, the security of which is the end of
men's entering into society. If they are thus bound,
they are slaves and not free men : But slavery must
certainly be " repugnant to the constitution " which
has liberty for its direct object. If the supreme legis
lative of Great Britain, cannot consistently with the
British constitution or the essential liberty of the
colonies, make laws binding upon them, and Chronus
for ought I can see, has not attempted to make it
rationally appear that it can, it is dangerous for the
colonies to admit any of its laws. For however up
right some may think the present parliament to be, in
intention, they may ruin us through mistake arising
from an incurable ignorance of our circumstances ;
and though Chronus may be so singular as to judge
the present revenue acts of parliament binding upon
the colonies, to be salutary, the time may perhaps
come, when even he may be convinced, that future ones
may be oppressive and tyrannical, not only in their
execution, but in the very intention of those that
may make them.
Chronus says, that " he has all along taken it
for granted, that the kingdom and the colonies are
one dominion." If so he must allow the colonies
to take it for granted that they have an equal share
320 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
with the inhabitants of Britain in the rights belonging
to this one dominion, and particularly in the cardinal
right of being represented in the supreme legisla
ture. But that right, he says, they are " incapable of
exercising," by reason of their distance. We all agree
in this, and it is not their fault ? Why then should
they not have the right of legislating for themselves, as
well as that other part of this one dominion f Why
truly, we have " a right of choosing an assembly,
which with the concurrence of his Majesty's Gov
ernor, hath a power of enacting local statutes, estab
lishing taxes, &c.— Yet still in subordination to
the general laws of the empire, reserving the full
right of supremacy & dominion, which are in them
selves unalienable" If I understand his meaning
in this dark expression, it is this, we have a right
of choosing an assembly, but this assembly is con-
troulable in all its acts, by another assembly which
we have no right to choose, and which has this right
of controul in itself unalienable. But the question
still recurs, How came this right to be in the British
parliament? Chronus says that " admitting that we
are all one dominion, there is, and must be, a supreme,
irresistible, absolute, uncontrouled authority, in which
must reside the power of making and establishing
laws," " and all others must conform to it, and he gov
ern d by it ". But if we are all one dominion ; or if I
understand him, the members of one state, tho' so re
motely situated, the kingdom from the Colonies, as
that we cannot all partake of the rights of the su
preme Legislature, why may not this " irresistible, ab
solute, uncontrouled," and controuling " authority, in
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 321
which the jura summi imperii, or the rights of the
government reside", be established in America, or in
Ireland, as well as in Britain. Is there any thing in
natiire, or has Ireland or America consented that the
part of this one dominion called Britain shall be thus
distinguished! Or are we to infer her authority
from her power ? But it must be, and Chronus gives
us no other reason for it than his bare affirmation,
that " the King, Lords and Commons of Great-Britain
form the supreme Legislature of the British domin
ions". And he adds, " to say that each of the
Colonies had within itself a supreme independent
Legislature, and that nevertheless the kingdom and
the Colonies are all one dominion, is a solecism : "
Let him then view the Kingdom and the Colonies in
another light, and see whether there will be a solecism
in considering them as more dominions than one,
or separate states. It is certainly more concordant
with the great law of nature and reason, which the
most powerful nation may not violate and cannot
alter, to suppose that the Colonies are separate inde
pendent and free, than to suppose that they must be
one with Great-Britain and slaves. And slaves they
must be, notwithstanding all which Chronus has said
to the contrary, if Great Britain may make all laws
whatsoever binding upon them, especially laws to
take from them what portions of their property she
pleases, without and against their consent.
I shall make further remarks upon Chronus, when
I shall be at leisure.
CANDIDUS.
322 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, January 27, 1772; a complete draft of this article is in the
Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
I have observed from Baron Montesquieu, that the
British constitution has liberty for its direct object ;
and that the constitution of this province, according
to Mr. Hutchinson, is an epitome of the British con
stitution : That the right of representation in the
body that legislates, is essential to the British consti
tution, without which there cannot be liberty ; and
Chronus himself acknowledges, that the Americans
are "incapable of exercising this right": Let him
draw what conclusion he pleases. All I insist upon
is, that the conclusion cannot be just, that " the par
liament's laying duties upon trade with the express
purpose of raising a revenue, is not repugnant to or
subversive of our constitution." This doctrine, tho'
long exploded by the best writers on both sides of the
atlantic, he now urges ; and he is reduced to this
necessity, in order to justify or give coloring to his
frequent bold assertions, that " no one has attempted
even to infringe our liberties," and to his ungenerous
reflections upon those who declare themselves of
a different mind, as " pretended patriots," " over-
zealous," " intemperate politicians," " men of no
property," who "expect to find their account" in
perpetually keeping up the ball of contention. But
after all that Chronus and his associates have said,
or can say, the people of America have just
" grounds still to complain " that their rights are vio-
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 323
lated. There seems to be a system of " tyranny and
oppression " already begun. It is therefore the duty
of every honest man, to alarm his fellow-citizens and
countrymen, and awaken in them the utmost vigi
lance and circumspection. Jealousy, especially at such
a time, is a political virtue : Nay, I will say, it is a
moral virtue ; for we are under all obligations to do
what in us lies to save our country. " Tyrants alone,
says the great Vatei, will treat as seditious, those
brave and resolute citizens, who exhort the people to
preserve themselves from oppression, in vindication
of their rights and privileges : A good prince, says
he, will commend such virtuoiis patriots " and
will " mistrust the selfish suggestions of a minister,
who represents to him as rebels, all those citizens who
do not hold out their hands to chains, who refuse
tamely to suffer the strokes of arbitrary power."
I cannot help observing how artfully Chronus ex
presses his position, that the " parliament's laying
duties ^tpon trade with the express purpose of raising
a revenue, is not repugnant to our constitution." It
has not been made a question, that I know of,
whether the parliament hath a right to make laws for
the regulation of the trade of the colonies. Power
she undoubtedly has to enforce her acts of trade :
And the strongest maritime power caeteris paribus,
will always make the most advantageous treaties,
and give laws of trade to other nations, for whom
there can be no pretence to the right of legislation.
The matter however should be considered equitably,
if it should ever be considered at all : If the trade of
the Colonies is protected by the British navy, there
324 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
may possibly be from thence inferr'd a just right in
the parliament of Great Britain to restrain them from
carrying on their trade to the injury of the trade of
Great Britain. But this being granted, it is very dif
ferent from the right to make laws in all cases what
ever binding upon the Colonies, and especially for
laying duties upon trade for the express purpose of
raising a revenue. In the one case it may be the
wisdom of the Colonies, under present circumstances
to acquiesce in reasonable restrictions, rather than lose
their whole trade by means of the depredations of a
foreign power : In the other, it is a duty they owe
themselves and their posterity, by no means to ac
quiesce ; because it involves them in a state of perfect
slavery. I say perfect slavery : For, as political
liberty in its perfection consists in the people's con
senting by themselves or their representatives, to all
laws which they are bound to obey, so perfect political
slavery consists in their being bound to obey any laws
for taxing them, to which they cannot consent. If
a people can be deprived of their property by an
other person or nation, it is evident that such a peo
ple cannot be free. Whether it be by a nation or a
monarch, is not material : The masters indeed are
different, but the government is equally despotic ; and
tho' the despotism may be mild, from principles of
policy, it is not the less a despotism.
Chronus talks of Magna Charta as though it were
of no greater consequence than an act of parliament
for the establishment of a corporation of button-
makers. Whatever low ideas he may entertain of
that Great Charter, and such ideas he must entertain
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 325
of it to support the cause he hath espous'd, it is
affirm'd by Lord Coke, to be declaratory of the prin
cipal grounds of the fundamental laws and liberties of
England. "It is called Chart a Liber tatum Regni,
the Charter of the Liberties of the kingdom, upon
great reason, says that sage of the law, because
liber os facit, it makes and preserves the people free"
Those therefore who would make the people slaves,
would fain have them look upon this charter, in a
light of indifference, which so often affirms sua jura,
suas libertates, their own rights, their own liberties :
But if it be declaratory of the principal grounds of the
fundamental laws and liberties of England, it cannot
be altered in any of its essential parts, without alter
ing the constitution. Whatever Chronus may have
adopted from Mr. Hume, Vatel tells us plainly and
without hesitation, that " the supreme legislative can
not change the constitution," " that their authority
does not extend so far," & "that they ought to con
sider the fundamental laws as sacred, if the nation
has not, in very express terms, given them power to
change them." And he gives a reason for it solid
and weighty ; for, says he, " the constitution of the
state ought to be fixed" Mr. Hume, as quoted by
Chronus, says, the only rule of government is the
established practice of the age, upon maxims univer
sally assented to. If then any deviation is made from
the maxims upon which the established practice of the
age is founded, it must be by universal assent. " The
fundamental laws," says Vatel, " are excepted from
their (legislators) commission," " nothing leads us to
think that the nation was willing to submit the cons ft-
326 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
tution itself to their pleasure." " They derive their
authority from the constitution, how then can they
change it without destroying the foundation of their
own authority ? " If then according to Lord Coke,
Magna Charta is declaratory of the principal grounds
of the fundamental laws and liberties of the people,
and Vatel is right in his opinion, that the supreme
legislative cannot change the constitution, I think it
follows, whether Lord Coke has expressly asserted it
or not, that an act of parliament made against Magna
Charta in violation of its essential parts, is void. — " By
the fundamental laws of England, says Vatel, the two
houses of parliament in concert with the King, exer
cise the legislative power : But if the two houses
should resolve to suppress themselves, and to invest
the King with the full and absolute government, cer
tainly the nation would not suffer it" although it was
done by a solemn act of parliament. But such doc
trine is directly the reverse of that which Chronus
holds ; which amounts to this, that if the two houses
should give up to the King, any, the most essential
rights of the people declared in Magna Charta, the
nation has not a power either de jura or de facto to
prevent it. I may hereafter quote for his serious
perusal, the reasoning of the immortal Locke upon
this important subject, and am, in the mean time,
Yours,
CANDIDUS.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 327
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS TO
THE GOVERNOR, APRIL 10, 1772.
{Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 315, 316 ; a draft, is in the Samuel Adams
Papers, Lenox Library.]
May it please your Excellency.
The House of Representatives have duly consid
ered your speech * to both Houses, at the opening
of this session. Your Excellency is pleased to ac
quaint us, that, " if we had desired you to carry the
Court to Boston, because it is the most convenient
place ; and the prerogative of the Crown to instruct
the Governor to convene the Court at such place as
his Majesty may think proper, had not been denied ;
you should have obtained leave to meet us in Boston,
at this time ; but that you shall not be at liberty to
do so, whilst this denial is persisted in. "
We have maturely considered this point ; and are
still firmly in opinion, that such instruction is re
pugnant to the royal charter, wherein the Governor
is vested with the full power of adjournment, pro
roguing and dissolving the General Assembly, as he
shall judge necessary. Nothing in the charter, ap
pears to us to afford the least grounds to conclude,
that a right is reserved to his Majesty of controling
the Governor, in thus exercising this full power. Nor
indeed does it seem reasonable that there should ;
for, it being impossible that any one, at the distance
of three thousand miles, should be able to foresee the
1 The original message of Governor Hutchinson of April 8, 1772, is among
the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library, and on it is endorsed, in the hand
writing of Adams, the fourth paragraph of the following reply.
3 Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 313-315.
328 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
most convenient time or place of holding the Assem
bly, it is necessary that such discretionary power
should be lodged with the Governor, who is, by
Charter, constantly to reside within the Province.
We are still earnestly desirous of the removal of
this Assembly to the Court House, in Boston ; and
we are sorry that your Excellency's determination
thereon, depends upon our disavowing these prin
ciples ; because we cannot do it consistently with the
duty we owe our constituents. We are constrained
to be explicit at this time ; for if we should be silent,
after your Excellency has recommended it to us, as
a necessary preliminary, to desist from saying any
thing upon this head, while we request your Excel
lency for a removal of the Assembly, for reasons of
convenience only, it might be construed as tacitly
conceding to a doctrine injurious to the constitution,
and in effect, as rescinding our own record, of which
we still deliberately approve.
The power of adjourning and proroguing the Gen
eral Assembly, is a power in trust, to be exercised
for the good of the province ; this House have a
right to judge for themselves, whether it was thus ex
ercised. We cannot avoid taking this occasion, freely
to declare to your Excellency, that the holding of
the Assembly in this place, without any good reason
which we can conceive of, under the many and great
inconveniences which this, and former Houses, have
so fully set forth to your Excellency, is, in our
opinion, an undue exercise of power ; and a very
great grievance, which we still hope will soon be
fully redressed.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 329
Your Excellency may be assured, that this House
will, with all convenient despatch, take into our most
serious consideration, that part of your speech which
concerns the establishment of a partition line between
this province and the province of New York ; and
that we will, with great candor, contribute every
thing in our power, to accomplish the same equitable
terms.
The other parts of your Excellency's speech, have
had the proper attention of the House ; and we are
determined, during the remainder of the session,
which must be short, to consult his Majesty's real
service — the true interest of the province.
ARTICLE SIGNED " VINDEX.
[Boston Gazette, April 20, 1772.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
Philanthrop Jun. in Draper's paper of the
current tells us, that " For four or five years together
nobody could appear in print unless he was a favourer
of what is call'd Liberty," and therefore concludes,
" Falshood has been imposed on the credulous readers
of News-papers, and has spread through the country
for truth, because no one would contradict it." What
fortitude must a man be possess'd of that can offer
two such sentences to the eye of the public in a paper
which for that space has contained nothing else in
the political way ? Again, why have we a mark of dis
tinction in the signature ? Was Philanthrop senior
330 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
a liberty writer ? Was the True Patriot a liberty
writer ? Were all the scribblers in Mein's Chronicle
friends or favourers of what is called liberty ? Blush !
reformer blush at imposition of so gross a kind !
But what are the falshoods these credulous people
have been led to believe ? Why it seems that men
from Lancaster and elsewhere, have been insinuating
that we laboured under grievances in commerce, legis
lation, and execution of the wholesome laws of the
land, when no such thing has been seen, /<<?//, heard
or understood among us ; and one Lancaster man
in particular, has been furnished with all his prejudices
from the letters of Junius Americanus, a despicable
creature (as we say) who has certainly blackened
some men and measures in both Englands, in such
manner as defies time itself to bleach their characters.
And till the officious Philanthrop engaged, every one
judged the friends, at least, of those respectable men,
would avoid the provocation of fresh caustics to such
rankled ulcers ; but luxuriant flesh forever interrupts
the efficacy of the most healing plaisters, and must
be removed as fast as it puts forth. Indeed gentle
men, I myself who live in Boston, the centre of Amer
ican politicks, have suspected we had some grievances
to complain of before either Junius Anglicanus or
Americanus ever published a letter on the subject to
my knowledge : I thought the stamp-act a grievance,
I think the extension of the vice-admiralty courts a
grievance, I think the captious and unprecedented
treatment of our legislature a grievance ; and above
all, I think the alteration of our free and mutually
dependent constitution, into a dependent ministerial
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 331
despotism a grievance so great, so ignominious and
intolerable, that in case I did not hope things would
in some measure regain their ancient situation, with
out more blood shed and murder than has already
been committed, I could freely wish at the risk of my
all to have a fair chance of offering to the manes of
my slaughtered countrymen a libation of the blood of
the ruthless traitors who conspired their destruction.
It is here I confess my fingers would fall with weight,
let those of Dr. Y- — g, Mr. x, or even Mr.
A s, fall how or where they pleased.
VINDEX.
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS TO
THE GOVERNOR. JULY 14, I772.1
[Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 330, 331 ; extracts are printed in W. V.
Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, vol. i., p. 482, with the statement that such ex
tracts were copied from an original draft in the autograph of Adams.2]
May it please your Excellency,
In answer to your message of yesterday, this
House beg leave to observe, that they are not un-
apprized that the Province House is out of repair,
and that expense might be saved, by making such re
pairs as are necessary, as soon as may be. But, that
building was procured for the residence of a Governor,
whose sole support was to be provided for by the
grants and acts of the General Assembly, according
to the tenor of the charter : and, it is the opinion of
1 On this date the Governor prorogued the General Court to meet again Sep
tember 30. The next session actually commenced January 6, 1773.
2 Wells also attributes to Adams the message of the House of May 29, 1772 ;
Life of Samuel Adams, vol. I., p. 477; Massachusetts Slate Papers, p. 321.
332 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
this House, that it never was expected by any Assem
bly of this province, that it would be appropriated
for the residence of any Governor, for whose support,
adequate provision should be made in another way.
Upon this consideration, we cannot think it our duty
to make any repairs, at this time.
Your Excellency may be assured, that this House
is far from being influenced by any personal dis
respect. Should the time come, which we hope for,
when your Excellency shall think yourself at liberty
to accept of your whole support from this province,
according to ancient and invariable usage, we doubt
not, but you will then find the Representatives of
this people ready to provide for your Excellency a
house, not barely tenantable, but elegant. In the
mean time, as your Excellency receives from his
Majesty a certain and adequate support, we cannot
have the least apprehensions that you will be so far
guided by your own inclination, as that you will
make any town in the province the place of your
residence, but where it shall be most conducive to
his Majesty's service, and the good and welfare of
the people.
ARTICLE SIGNED "VALERIUS POPLICOLA." '
[Boston Gazette, October 5, 1772.]
Messieurs EDES & GILL,
" Is there a Prince on Earth, who has power to lay
a single Penny upon his Subjects, without the Grant
and Consent of those who are to pay it, otherwise
1 Attributed to Adams by W. V. Wells. See above, page 256.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 333
than by Tyranny and Violence! No Prince can levy
it unless through Tyranny and under Penalty of Ex
communication. But there are those who are Bruitish
enough not to know what they can do or omit in this
Affair."
Such is the language of a great and good Historian
and Statesman, a Subject of France. Had the
English Politicians and Ministers been either half as
honest or half as wise as he, they would never have
driven the American Revenue without the Grant or
Consent of those who pay it, to such a length, as to
cause an Alienation of affection which perhaps may
not easily if ever be recovered. By this kind of poli
tics, says the worthy Frenchman, Charles the seventh
brought a heavy Sin upon his own Soul and upon that
of his Successors, and gave his Kingdom a Wound
which would continue long to bleed. The British
Ministers, possibly, may entertain different Ideas of
Morals from those of the French Historian, if indeed
they have any such kind of ideas at all. However, the
Nation, I fear, will have Occasion to rue the day,
when they suffer'd their Politics so far to prevail, as
to gain such an Influence in their Parliament as they
certainly did in the last, to say nothing of the present.
The Impositions upon the French, says Mr. Gordon,1
grew monstrous almost as soon as they grew arbitrary.
Charles the seventh, who began them, never rais'd
annually more than one hundred and eighty thousand
Pounds. His Son Lewis the eleventh almost trebled
1 Rev. William Gordon, of Roxbury, author of The History of the Rise,
Progress, and Establishment, of the Independence of the United Stales of
America.
334 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
the Revenue ; and since then, all that the Kingdom
and People had, even to their Skins, has hardly been
thought sufficient for their Kings." An awakening
Caution to Americans ! Lest by tamely submitting
to be plundered, they encourage their Plunderers to
grasp at all they have.
The Merchants of this Continent have passively
submitted to the Indignity of a Tribute ; and the
Landholders, tho? Sharers in the Indignity, have been
perhaps too unconcern'd Spectators of the humiliat
ing Scene. Posterity, who will no doubt revenge
their Fathers Wrongs, may also be ashamed, when in
the Page of History they are informed of their tame
Subjection. Had the Body of this People shown a
proper Resentment, at the time when the proud
Taskmasters first made their appearance, we should
never have seen Pensioners multiplying like the Lo
custs in Egypt, which devoured every green Thing.
I speak with Assurance ; because it seldom has hap
pened if ever, that even a small People has been kept
long in Bondage, when they have unitedly and perse-
veringly resolv'd to be Free.
At that critical Period, we hearkened to what we
then took to be, the Dictates of sound policy and
Prudence. We were led to place a Confidence in
those, whose Protection we had a right to claim, and
we hoped for Deliverance in dry Remonstrances and
humble Supplication. We have petition'd, repeatedly
petition'd, and our Petitions have been heard, barely
heard ! The Grievances of this Continent have no
doubt "reached the Royal Ear" ; I wish I could see
reason to say they had touch'd the Royal Heart.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 335
No — They yet remain altogether unredress'd. Such
has been the baneful Influence of corrupt and in
famous Ministers and Servants of the Crown ; that
the Complaints of three Millions of loyal Subjects
have not yet penetrated the Royal Breast, to move it
even to pity.
Have not our humble Petitions, breathing a true \
Spirit of rational Loyalty, and expressive of a just
Sense of those Liberties the Restoration of which
we implored, been followed with Grievance upon
Grievance, as fast as the cruel Heart and Hand of a
most execrable Paricide could invent and fabricate
them ? I will not at present enumerate Grievances ;
they are known, sufficiently known, felt and under
stood. Is it not enough, to have a Governor, an
avowed Advocate for ministerial Measures, and a
most assiduous Instrument in carrying them on—
moddel'd, shaped, controul'd, and directed — totally
independant of the people over whom he is commis
sioned to govern, and yet absolutely dependent upon
the Crown — pensioned by those on whom his exist
ence depends, and paid out of a Revenue established
by those who have no Authority to establish it, and
extorted from the People in a Manner most Odious,
insulting and oppressive. Is not this, Indignity
enough to be felt by those who have any feeling?
Are we still threatned with more? Is Life, Prop
erty and every Thing dear and sacred, to be J
now submitted to the Decisions of PENSION'D JUDGES,
holding their places during the pleasure of such
a Governor, and a Council perhaps overawed ! To
what a State of Infamy, Wretchedness and Misery
336 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
1
shall we be reduc'd if our Judges shall be prevail'd
upon to be thus degraded to Hirelings, and the Body
of the People shall suffer their free Constitution to be
overturn'd and ruin'd. Merciful GOD ! Inspire Thy
People with Wisdom and Fortitude, and direct them
to gracious Ends. In this extreme Distress, when the
Plan of Slavery seems nearly compleated, O save our
Country from impending Ruin — Let not the iron
Hand of Tyranny ravish our Laws and seize the
Badge of Freedom, nor avow'd Corruption and the
murderous Rage of lawless Power be ever seen on
the sacred Seat of Justice !
Is it not High Time for the People of this Country
explicitly to declare, whether they will be Freemen
or Slaves ? It is an important Question which ought
to be decided. It concerns us more than any Thing
in this Life. The Salvation of our Souls is inter
ested in the Event : For wherever Tyranny is es-
tablish'd, Immorality of every Kind comes in like a
Torrent. It is in the Interest of Tyrants to reduce
the People to Ignorance and Vice. For they cannot
live in any Country where Virtue and Knowledge
prevail. The Religion and public Liberty of a
People are intimately connected; their Interests are
interwoven, they cannot subsist separately ; and
therefore they rise and fall together. For this Rea
son, it is always observable, that those who are com-
bin'd to destroy the People's Liberties, practice every
Art to poison their Morals. How greatly then does
it concern us, at all Events, to put a Stop to the Pro
gress of Tyranny. It is advanced already by far too
many Strides. We are at this moment upon a preci-
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 337
pice. The next step may be fatal to us. Let us
then act like wise Men ; calmly took around us and
consider what is best to be done. Let us converse
together upon this most interesting Subject and open
our minds freely to each other. Let it be the topic
of conversation in every social Club. Let every
Town assemble. Let Associations & Combinations
be everywhere set up to consult and recover our just,
Rights.
" The Country claims our active Aid.
That let us roam; & where we find a Spark
Of public Virtue, blow it into Flame."
VALERIUS POPLICOLA.
TO ANDREW ELTON WELLS.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Octob 21 1772
MY DEAR SIR
I have receivd several Letters from you ; and my
not having returnd any Answer to them before, is
owing by no means to an Inattention to them, but to
my misfortune in not hearing of the few Vessells that
pass from hence to Georgia being about to sail, till I
lost the Opportunity. I therefore upon the first
Notice, make use of this Conveyance to assure you of
my tender Regards & Affection for you as a Brother ;
sincerely hoping this will meet yourself & Family in
health & happiness. Indeed common Experience
convinces me that there is very little Dependence
upon either in this Life ; We too often mistake our
1 Brother-in-law of Adams.
VOL. II. — 22.
338 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
true Happiness, and when we arrive to the Enjoy
ment of that which seemd to promise it to us, we
find that it is all an imaginary Dream, at the best
fleeting & transitory. We have an affecting Instance
of this within our own Connections ; Your amiable
Sister Kitty was agreably married, and when in the
daily Expectation of seeing the happy Pledge of con
jugal Affection, cutt off without a moments Warning
of the fatal Stroke of Death ! Still more happy how
ever in another Life as we [have] abundant Reason to
be assured ; for the Christian Temper & Behavior
she constantly exhibited, when she least expected it,
afford us more solid hopes of her present Happiness,
than any Expressions she might have made use of,
had she been permitted, at the time of her Departure.
One would from this & other like Instances conclude,
that to be possessd of the Christian Principles, & to
accommodate our whole Deportment to such Princi
ples, is to be happy in this Life ; it is this that sweet
ens every thing we enjoy ; indeed of it self it yields
us full Satisfaction, & thus puts it out of the power
of the World to disappoint us by any of its frowns.
Your last Letter mentioned your Expectation of
the sudden Dissolution of your General Assembly,
which I perceive afterwards took place. It appears
still to be the determination of the ministry to en
slave the Colonies, and the Governors are to be the
Instruments. It therefore behoves every Colony to
be vigilant ; & agreably to the Advice of the Penn
sylvania Farmer, Each should support the others.
This Province seems to be devoted to ministerial
Vengeance. We have been long struggling against
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 339
the Incroachments of Tyranny, which now threatens
its Completion by the Independency of the Governor
& the Judges of the superior Court. If the Tribute
which is by Acts of Parliament extorted from the
Americans, is appropriated for making the executive
Power totally independent of the People for their
Support, while it is absolutely dependent upon the
Crown for its being as well as Subsistence, there will
be an End of freedom. In such Courts & under
such an Administration, you will easily conceive
what Constructions of Law & what Decisions the
people are to expect. I send you two or three of our
latest papers ; there may be some Speculations upon
the Subject in them, which you may think proper to
get republishd in your papers.
You mentiond in one of your Letters your Inten
tion to send your Daughter here, than which nothing
would be more agreable to us.
Your Sister, my dear Betsy,1 joyns with me in Ex
pressions of Love to Mrs Wells, & begs me to assure
you that she is, as I am in strict truth
Yours affectionately,
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY.
[J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 9, 10.]
BOSTON, October 27, 1772.
SIR,
I have just now received your favour, dated this
day. I am perfectly of your opinion with regard to
1 Mrs. Adams.
340 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
the independency of the judges. It is a matter be
yond doubt in my mind. I was told yesterday, by
one of his majesty's council, that Mr. Hutchinson has
a letter by the packet, from Bernard, which advises
him of it as a fact. This town is to meet to-morrow,
to consider what is proper for them to do. We have
looked upon it as of so interesting a nature to us,
that even the report should alarm us. It is proposed
by many among us to apply to the judges for their ex
plicit declaration, whether they will accept of so
odious a support, and to apply also to the governour
for a general assembly forthwith. I will write you on
Thursday, and let you know the event. Our enemies
would intimidate us, by saying our brethren in the
other towns are indifferent about this matter, for
which reason I am particularly glad to receive your
letter at this time. Roxbury, I am told, is thoroughly
awake. I wish we could arouse the continent.
I write in the utmost haste,
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text with slight variations is in
J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 10-12. J
BOSTON Oct 29 1772
MY DEAR SIR
I wrote you in great Haste on Tuesday last. Since
which the Freeholders & other Inhabit15 of this Town
have had a Meeting,1 to enquire into the Grounds of
the Report that the Salaries of the Judges are fixd &
1 October 28, Boston Record Commissioners' Report^ vol. xviii., p. 88.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 341
paid by order of the Crown, and to determine upon
such measures as should be proper for them to take
upon so alarming an Occasion.
The inclosd paper contains a short but true Ac
count of their proceedings. It is proposd by some to
petition the Governr to order a session of the Gen1
Assembly, and that the Town should expressly de
clare their natural & Charter Rights to their Repre
sentatives, and the Instances in which they have been
violated peremptorily requiring them to take every
Step which the Constitution prescribes to redress our
Grievances, or if every such Step has been already
taken, to inform their Constituents, that they may
devise such Measures as they may see their way clear
to take, or patiently bear the Yoke. I will acquaint
you with the proceedings of the Town as they pass.
In the mean time I wish your Town would think it
proper to have a Meeting, which may be most season
able at this time. For as the Superr Court is to be
held at Salem next Week, you will have the Oppy of
making a decent Application to them, & enquiring
of the Certainty of this Report, & other matters
mentd in your Letter to me. Which Enquiry will be
more naturally made to them in Case the Govr should
decline answering the message of this Town, or do it,
if I may be allowd the Expression, equivocally.
This Country must shake off their intolerable bur
dens at all Events. Every day strengthens our op
pressors & weakens us. If each Town would declare
its Sense of these Matters I am perswaded our Ene
mies would not have it in their power to divide us, in
whh they have all along shown their dexterity. Pray
342 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
use your Influence with Salem & other Towns — But
I am now going with our Com1 to his Excellency.1
Shall be glad of a Letter from you. Your last I read
to the Town to their great Satisfaction though I
concealed the name of its worthy Author.
TO ARTHUR LEE/
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text, with variations, is in R.
H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 193-195.]
BOSTON Novr 3 1772
MY DEAR SIR/
Since my last we have Advice that Lord Hills-
borough is removd from the American Department,
& tho he makes his Exit with the smiles & honors
of the Court, he has the Curses of the disinterrested
& better part of the Colonists. Not that it is thought
his Lordship is by any means to be reckoned the
most inveterate & active of all the Conspirators
against our Rights : There are others on this Side
of the Atlantick who have been more assiduous in
plotting the Ruin of our Liberties than even he, and
1 Adams, Otis and Joseph Warren were members of a committee of seven ap
pointed by the Town of Boston on October 28 to present to the Governor the
address adopted by the Town on that date. Ibid., p. 90. The address was
prepared by a committee consisting of Adams, Joseph Warren and Benjamin
Church. The text is in ibid., p. 89. Cf. Works of John Adams, vol. ii., p.
299 (October 27, 1772).
2 Arthur Lee to Samuel Adams, January 25, 1773: "I have just now re
ceived your favour of Nov. 3, 1772, together with a pamphlet and some papers,
for which I am extremely obliged to you. ... I shall take the liberty of
putting the first part of your letter in the newspapers here, as I think it ex
tremely proper my Lord Dartmouth should read the excellent admonition it
contains." R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. i., p. 226.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 343
they are the more infamous, because the Country
they would enslave, is that very Country in which (to
use the Words of their Adulators & Expectants) they
were "born & educated."
The Character of Lord Dartmouth has been unex
ceptionable in America in point of moral Virtue ; I
wish it could be ascertaind of all his Majestys Minis
ters and Servants. It is the opinion I have of them
that makes me tremble for his Lordship, lest in the
Circle he should make Shipwreck of his Virtue. I
am well informd that he has wrote a very polite Let
ter to Hutchinson, in which he expresses a Satisfac
tion in his Conduct, & tells him he has always been
of Opinion that the King has a Right to pay his
Governors & other officers but surely he should have
made himself thoroughly acquainted with the several
political Institutions and Charters of the Colonies as
well as the nature of free Governments in general
before he explicitly & officially declares such an
Opinion. I wish a Consideration that he has to cor
respond with the most artful plausible and insinuating
Geniusses, & some of them the most malicious Ene
mies of the common Rights of Mankind, might induce
his Lordship to be upon his Guard against too sud
denly giving full Credit to their Representations,
which perhaps was the capital mistake of his pre
decessor in office — our Conspirators were alarmd
at his Appointment & I believe are determined if
they can to impose upon his Credulity, if he has any
such Weakness about him.
We are now alarmd with the Advice that the Judges
of our Superior Court, have Salaries appointed by
344 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
order of the Crown, independent of the people. This
has occasiond a meeting of this metropolis, the pro
ceedings of which you have in the inclosed papers.
At the first meeting on the Wednesday J & at the last
Adjournment on the Monday2 following, there was a
respectable Appearance of the Inhabitants, tho not
so full as has sometimes been on Occasions of much
less Importance ; owing partly to its being the Season
of the year when the Town is filled with our Country
folks & every one is laying up provisions necessary
for the approaching long Winter, partly from the In
dustry of the Enemies to prevent a full meeting as
they before had been to prevent any meeting at all
(for they dread nothing more) & partly from the
Opinion of some that there was no method left to be
taken but the last, which is also the Opinion of many
in the Country. However as I said before, there was
a respectable meeting ; and I think the Town has
taken a necessary Step to ascertain the true Sense of
the Country with regard to our Grievances, which
being known, it will be the easier to determine upon
& prosecute to Effect the Methods which ought to be
taken for the Redress of our intolerable Grievances.
The Tories give out, tho in Whispers, that they ex
pect what they call a Breese before long, which they
say they gather from the slow, but regular Approaches
that are made. They will form what Judgment they
please. Perhaps they begin to be apprehensive that
the body of a long insulted people will bear the In-
1 Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 88.
3 Ibid., p. 92.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 345
suits & Oppression no longer than untill they feel in
themselves Strength to shake off the Yoke. If this
is their Determination, it is justifiable as far as the
Declaration of Mr. H. himself has Weight ; for I am
told by a Gentleman whom I can credit, that in Con
versation he said there was nothing in Morality that
forbid Resistance.
In your last you expressd your hopes of the re
moval of Hillsborough. I could not joyn with you ;
for if I am to have a master, let me have a severe one
that I may always have the mortifying Sense of
it. I shall then always be disposed to take the first
fair Opportunity of ridding my self of Slavery. There
is danger of the peoples being flatterd with such par
tial Reliefe as Lord Dartmouth may be able, (if dis
posed) to obtain for them & building upon vain
Hopes till their Chains are rivetted. Are they not
still heaping Grievance upon Grievance, & while they
remain, to what purpose would it be if his Lordship
should get a few boyish Instructions to the Govr re
laxed ? Would this be a reason for a final Submis
sion to a Tribute & Egyptian Taskmasters in Support
of despotick Power ! The Tribute, the Tribute is the
Indignity which I hope in God will never be patiently
borne by a People who of all the people on the Earth
deserve most to be free.
I am astonishd that [Dr. Franklin] has written no
Letter to the Speaker.
I shall write you by the next Ship.
346 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text, with variations, is in J. T.
Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 15-18.]
BOSTON 5 Novr 1772
MY DEAR SIR
I recd with pleasure your Letter of the 2d Inst.
I was sure you cd not but be of Opinion, that Una
nimity in the Measures taken by the friends of the
Country is of the utmost Importance. I must with
great Deferrence to your Judgment, think that even
in our wretched State, the mode of petitioning the
Govr will have a good Effect. I was aware that his
Answers would be in the same high tone, in which
we find them expressd ; yet our requests have been
so reasonable that in refusing to comply with them he
must have put himself in the wrong, in the opinion of
every honest & sensible man ; the Consequence of
which will be, that such measures as the people may
determine upon to save themselves, if rational &
manly, will be the more reconcileable even to cautious
minds, & thus we may expect that Unanimity which
we wish for.
I have the satisfaction of inclosing the last proceed
ings of our Town meeting, in which I think you will
perceive a Coincidence with your own Judgment, in a
plan concerted for the whole to act upon. Our timid
sort of people are disconcerted, when they are posi
tively told that the Sentiments of the Country are
different from those of the City. Therefore a free
Communication with each Town will serve to ascertain
this matter ; and when once it appears beyond Con-
| tradiction, that we are united in Sentiments there will
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 347
be a Confidence in each other, & a plan of Opposition
will be easily formed, & executed with Spirit. In
such a Case (to return your own Language with en
tire Approbation) those " who have Virtue enough to
oppose the wicked designs of the Great, will have this
for their boast that they have struggled for & with an
honest people."
I was at first of your Opinion " that it wd be most
proper for a Com6 from Boston, united with Comtes
from two or three other Towns to wait on the Judges "
&c. and I mentiond it to several Gentlemen of the
Neighboring Towns who approved of it, but so much
Caution prevails, that they suspected whether their
respective towns wd stir till Boston had given the
Lead, (a needless Compliment to the Capital) ; This
turnd our Thoughts to the Measures taken by the
Town, & led me to conceive hopes, that as the Super1
Court wd be soon sitting at Salem, Mbl Head & other
towns in that County would come into such a proposal.
I take Notice of what you observe " that our whole
dependence as a people seems to be upon our own Wisdom
& Valor" in which I fully agree with you. It puts
me in mind of a Letter I recd not along ago from a
friend of mine of some note in London, wherein he
says, " your whole dependence under God is upon
your own Virtue, (Valor). I know of no Noblemen
in this Kingdom who care any thing about you, ex
cepting Lords Chatham & Shelburne, & you would
do well to be watchful even of them."
I earnestly wish that the Inhabitants of Marblehead
& other Towns would severally meet, & if they see
Cause, among other Measures, second this town &
348 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
appoint a Com6 to be ready to communicate with ours 1
when ready. This would at once discover an Union
of Sentiments thus far & have its Influence on other
Towns. It wd at least show that Boston is not wholly
deserted, & might prevent " its falling a Sacrifice to
the Rage or ridicule of our (common) Enemies."
I shall be pleasd with your further Sentiments &
am in strict truth,
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library ; a text, with variations, is in J.
T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 19-21.]
BOSTON Novr 14 1772
MY DEAR SIR
Your Letter of the 10 Inst.2 did not come to my
hand till this Evening. It is a great Satisfaction to
me to be assured from you that the Friends to Liberty
in Marblehead are active & that there is like to be a
Town meeting there. Our Committee are industrious,
and I think I may promise you, they will be ready to
report to the Town in two or three days ; so that if
your Town should think proper to make an Adjourn-
1 The Boston Committee of Correspondence was appointed on November 2.
" It was then moved by Mr Samuel Adams, That a Committee of Correspond
ence be appointed to consist of twenty one Persons — to state the Rights of the
Colonists and of this Province in particular, as Men, as Christians, and as Sub
jects ; to communicate and publish the same to the several Towns in this Pro
vince and to the World as the sense of this Town, with the Infringements and
Violations thereof that have been, or from time to time may be made — Also
requesting of each Town a free communication of their Sentiments on this Sub
ject — And the Question being accordingly put — Passed in the Affermative.
Nem. Con*.'" Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 93. Cf.,
William Gordon, History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment, of the In-
dependetice of the United States of America, vol. i., pp. 312-314.
2 J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 18, 19 ; the original is
in the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 349
ment for ten days or a Fortnight, they will doubtless
by that time if not before have an Opportunity of
acting upon our Resolutions. I am sorry when any of
our Proceedings are not exactly according to your
Mind. The Word you object to 1 in our resolves was
designd to introduce into our State of Grievances
" the Chh Innovations and the Establishment of those
Tyrants in Religion, Bishops " which as you observe
will probably take place. I cannot but hope, when
you consider how indifferent too many of the Clergy
are to our just & righteous Cause, that some of them
are the Adulators of our Oppressors, and even some
of the best of them are extremely cautious of recom
mending (at least in their publick performances), the
Rights of their Country to the protection of Heaven,
lest they should give offence to the little Gods on
Earth, you will judge it quite necessary that we should
assert [and] vindicate our Rights as Christians as well
as Men & Subjects.
The Town of Roxbury are to meet on Monday
next ; and a great Number in Cambridge have sub
scribed a Petition to their Selectmen for a Meeting
there. I have recd a Letter from a Gentleman of In
fluence in Plymouth who is pleasd to say, he thinks
the general plan adopted here will produce great
Consequences if supported with Spirit in the Country ;
& that he believes there will be no Difficulty in getting
a Meeting there & carrying the point in seconding
this town. He tells me, the Pulse of his fellow
Townsmen beat high and their resentment he sup
poses is equal to that of any other Town. May God
1 " Christians."
350 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
grant, that the Love of Liberty & a Zeal to support
it may enkindle in every town. If the Enemies
should see the flame bursting in different parts of the
Country & distant from each other, it might dis
courage their attempts to damp & quench it. I am.
well assured they are alarmd at the Measure now
taking, being greatly apprehensive of the same Con
sequences from it which our good friend at Plymouth
hopes and expects. This should animate us in carry
ing it into Execution. I beg you would exert your
utmost Influence in your neighboring towns and else
where. I hear Nothing of old Salem. I fear they
have had an opiate administerd to them. I am told
there has been a Consultation there, a Cabal in which
his E— — y presided. Pray let me still be favord
with your Letters & be assured I am sincerely
YOUR FRIEND,
THE RIGHTS OF THE COLONISTS, A LIST OF VIOLATIONS
OF RIGHTS AND A LETTER OF CORRESPONDENCE.1
Adopted by the Town of Boston, November 20, 1772. 2
[Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., pp. 94-108.]
The Committee appointed by the Town the second
Instant " to State the Rights of the Colonists and
1 A complete draft of the " Rights of the Colonists," in the handwriting of
Adams, is in the Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library ; in the
same collection is a copy of the " List of Violations," said to be in the hand
writing of William Eustis, a medical student under Joseph Warren ; also in the
same collection is a draft of the " Letter of Correspondence," with corrections
in the autograph of Adams. The preface to the English edition of the " Rights
of the Colonists " is printed in J. Bigelow, Complete Works of Benjamin Frank
lin, vol. iv., pp. 542-548, and in the Boston Gazette, May 3, 1773.
* In the Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library, is the original
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 351
of this Province in particular, as Men, as Christians,
and as Subjects ; to communicate and publish the
same to the several Towns in this Province and to
the World as the sense of this Town with the Infringe
ments and Violations thereof that have been, or from
Time to Time may be made. Also requesting of each
Town a free Communication of their Sentiments
Reported —
First, a State of the Rights of the Colonists and of
this Province in particular
Secondly, A List of the Infringements, and Viola
tions of those Rights.
Thirdly, A Letter of Correspondence with the
other Towns.
Ist. Natural Rights of the Colonists as Men.
Among the Natural Rights of the Colonists are
these First, a Right to Life ; Secondly to Liberty ;
thirdly to Property ; together with the Right to sup
port and defend them in the best manner they can—
Those are evident Branches of, rather than deduc
tions from the Duty of Self Preservation, commonly
called the first Law of Nature-
All Men have a Right to remain in a State of
Nature as long as they please : And in case of in-
tollerable Oppression, Civil or Religious, to leave the
Society they belong to, and enter into another.
When Men enter into Society, it is by voluntary
consent ; and they have a right to demand and insist
upon the performance of such conditions, And
warrant for this town meeting, with the original return thereon signed by the
twelve constables of the town. The collection also contains the rough draft
minutes of the meeting, made by the town clerk, William Cooper.
352 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
previous limitations as form an equitable original
compact.
Every natural Right not expressly given up or
from the nature of a Social Compact necessarily ceded
remains.
All positive and civil laws, should conform as far as
possible, to the Law of natural reason and equity.
As neither reason requires, nor religeon permits the
contrary, every Man living in or out of a state of
civil society, has a right peaceably and quietly to
worship God according to the dictates of his
conscience. —
" Just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty "
in matters spiritual and temporal, is a thing that all
Men are clearly entitled to, by the eternal and im
mutable laws Of God and nature, as well as by the
law of Nations, & all well grounded municipal laws,
which must have their foundation in the former.—
In regard to Religeon, mutual tolleration in the
different professions thereof, is what all good and
candid minds in all ages have ever practiced ; and
both by precept and example inculcated on mankind :
f And it is now generally agreed among Christians that
! this spirit of toleration in the fullest extent consist
ent with the being of civil society " is the chief char-
acteristical mark of the true church" * & In so much
that M.r Lock has asserted, and proved beyond the
possibility of contradiction on any solid ground, that
such toleration ought to be extended to all whose
doctrines are not subversive of society. The only
Sects which he thinks ought to be, and which by all
* See Locks Letters on Toleration.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 353
wise laws are excluded from such toleration, are those
who teach Doctrines subversive of the Civil Govern
ment under which they live. The Roman Catholicks
or Papists are excluded by reason of such Doctrines
as these " that Princes excommunicated may be de
posed, and those they call Hereticks may be destroyed
without mercy ; besides their recognizing the Pope in
so absolute a manner, in subversion of Government,
by introducing as far as possible into the states, under
whose protection they enjoy life, liberty and property,
that solecism in politicks, Imperium in imperio * lead
ing directly to the worst anarchy and confusion, civil
discord, war and blood shed
The natural liberty of Men by entring into society is
abridg'd or restrained so far only as is necessary for the
Great end of Society the best good of the whole—
In the state of nature, every man is under God,
Judge and sole Judge, of his own rights and the
injuries done him : By entering into society, he _\
agrees to an Arbiter or indifferent Judge between
him and his neighbours ; but he no more renounces
his original right, than by taking a cause out of the
ordinary course of law, and leaving the decision to
Referees or indifferent Arbitrations. In the last case
he must pay the Referees for time and trouble ; he
should be also willing to pay his Just quota for the
support of government, the law and constitution ;
the end of which is to furnish indifferent and impar
tial Judges in all cases that may happen, whether
civil ecclesiastical, marine or military.
" The natural liberty of man is to be free from any
* A Government within a Government —
354 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
superior power on earth, and not to be under the will
or legislative authority of man ; but only to have the
law of nature for his rule."-
In the state of nature men may as the Patriarchs
did, employ hired servants for the defence of their
lives, liberty and property : and they should pay them
reasonable wages. Government was instituted for the
purposes of common defence ; and those who hold the
reins of government have an equitable natural right
to an honourable support from the same principle
" that the labourer is worthy of his hire " but then the
same community which they serve, ought to be asses
sors of their pay : Governors have no right to seek
what they please ; by this, instead of being content
with the station assigned them, that of honourable
servants of the society, they would soon become Ab
solute masters, Despots, and Tyrants. Hence as a
private man has a right to say, what wages he will
give in his private affairs, so has a Community to de
termine what they will give and grant of their Sub
stance, for the Administration of publick affairs. And
in both cases more are ready generally to offer their
Service at the proposed and stipulated price, than are
able and willing to perform their duty.—
In short it is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in
the power of one or any number of men at the enter
ing into society, to renounce their essential natural
rights, or the means of preserving those rights
when the great end of civil government from the
very nature of its institution is for the support, pro
tection and defence of those very rights : the principal
of which as is before observed, are life liberty and
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 355
property. If men through fear, fraud or mistake,
should in terms renounce and give up any essential
natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great
end of society, would absolutely vacate such renuncia
tion ; the right to freedom being the gift of God Al
mighty, it is not in the power of Man to alienate this
gift, and voluntarily become a slave —
2d. The Rights of the Colonists as Christians
These may be best understood by reading — and
carefully studying the institutes of the great Lawgiver
and head of the Christian Church : which are to be
found closely1 written and promulgated in the Neiv
Testament
By the Act of the British Parliament commonly
called the Toleration Act, every subject in England
Except Papists &c was restored to, and re-established
in, his natural right to worship God according to the
dictates of his own conscience. And by the Charter
of this Province it is granted ordained and established
(that it is declared as an original right) that there shall
be liberty of conscience allowed in the worship of
God, to all Christians except Papists, inhabiting or
which shall inhabit or be resident within said Province
or Territory.* Magna Charta itself is in substance
but a constrained Declaration, or proclamation, and
promulgation in the name of King, Lord, and Com
mons of the sense the latter had of their original in
herent, indefeazible natural Rights, f as also those of
1 So printed. The draft and pamphlet edition read " clearly."
*See i. Wm. and Mary. St. 2. C. 18— and Massachusetts Charter.
f Lord Cokes Im.2 Blackstone, Commentaries— Vol. Ist. Page 122.
8 So printed. The draft and pamphlet edition read " Inst."
356 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
free Citizens equally perdurable with the other. That
great author that great jurist, and even that Court
writer Mr Justice Blackstone holds that this recog
nition was justly obtained of King John sword in
hand : and peradventure it must be one day sword in
hand again rescued and preserved from total destruc
tion and oblivion.—
3d. The Rights of the Colonists as Subjects
A Common Wealth or state is a body politick or
civil society of men, united together to promote their
mutual safety and prosperity, by means of their
union.*
The absolute Rights of Englishmen, and all freemen
in or out of Civil society, are principally, personal
security personal liberty and private property.
All Persons born in the British American Colonies
are by the laws of God and nature, and by the Com
mon law of England, exclusive of all charters from
the Crown, well Entitled, and by the Acts of the
British Parliament are declared to be entitled to all
the natural essential, inherent & inseperable Rights
Liberties and Privileges of Subjects born in Great
Britain, or within the Realm. Among those Rights
are the following ; which no men or body of men,
consistently with their own rights as men and citizens
or members of society, can for themselves give up, or
take away from others
First, " The first fundamental positive law of all
Commonwealths or States, is the establishing the
legislative power ; as the first fundamental natural
* See Lock and Vatel—
3^
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 357
law also, which is to govern even the legislative
power itself, is the preservation of the Society." *
Secondly, The Legislative has no right to absolute \
arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the
people : Nor can mortals assume a prerogative, not
only too high for men, but for Angels ; and therefore
reserved for the exercise of the Deity alone. —
" The Legislative cannot Justly assume to itself a
power to rule by extempore arbitrary decrees ; but it
is bound to see that Justice is dispensed, and that
rights of the subjects be decided, by promulgated,
standing and known laws, and authorized independent
Judges;" that is independent as far as possible of
Prince or People. " There shall be one rule of Jus
tice for rich and poor ; for the favorite in Court,
and the Countryman at the Ploiigh" f
Thirdly, The supreme power cannot Justly take j
from any man, any part of his property without his j
consent, in person or by his Representative. —
These are some of the first principles of natural
law & Justice, and the great Barriers of all free
states, and of the British Constitution in particular.
It is utterly irreconcileable to these principles, and to-Vl
many other fundamental maxims of the common law,
common sense and reason, that a British house of
commons, should have a right, at pleasure, to give
and grant the property of the Colonists. That these
Colonists are well entitled to all the essential rights,
liberties and privileges of men and freemen, born
in Britain, is manifest, not only from the Colony
* Locke on Government. Salus Populi Suprema Lex esto —
f Locke—
358 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
charter, in general, but acts of the British Parliament.
The statute of the 13th of George 2. c. 7. naturalizes
even foreigners after seven years residence. The
words of the Massachusetts Charter are these, " And
further our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby for
us, our heirs and successors, grant establish and or
dain, that all and every of the subjects of us, our
heirs and successors, which shall go to and inhabit
within our said province or territory and every of
their children which shall happen to be born there, or
on the seas in going thither, or returning from
thence shall have and enjoy, all liberties and im
munities of free and natural subjects within any of
the dominions of us, our heirs and successors, to all
intents constructions & purposes whatsoever as if
they and every of them were born within this our
Realm of England." Now wha^ib^r^^anjthere be,
where .property-is taken away without consent ? Can
it be said with any colour of truth and Justice, that
this Continent of three thousand miles in length, and
of a breadth as yet unexplored, in which however, its
supposed, there are five millions of people, has the
least voice, vote or influence in the decisions of the
British Parliament ? Have they, all together, any
more right or power to return a single number * to
that house of commons, who have not inadvertently,
but deliberately assumed a power to dispose of their
lives, * Liberties and properties, then 2 to choose an
Emperor of China ! Had the Colonists a right to
1 So printed. The draft and pamphlet edition read " member."
2 So printed. The draft and pamphlet edition read " than."
* See the Act of the last Session, relating to the Kings Dock
Yards—
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 359
return members to the british parliament, it would
only be hurtfull ; as from their local situation and
circumstances it is impossible they should be ever
truly and properly represented there. The inhabi
tants of this country in all probability in a few years
will be more numerous, than those of Great Britain
and Ireland together ; yet It is absurdly expected by
the promoters of the present measures, that these, with
their posterity to all generations, should be easy while
their property, shall be disposed of by a house of
commons at three thousand miles distant from them ; /
and who cannot be supposed to have the least care or
concern for their real interest : Who have not only
no natural care for their interest, but must be in effect
bribed against it ; as every burden they lay on the
colonists is so much saved or gained to themselves.
Hitherto many of the Colonists have been free from
Quit Rents ; but if the breath of a british house of
commons can originate an act for taking away all our
money, our lands will go next or be subject to rack
rents from haughty and relentless landlords who
will ride at ease, while we are trodden in the dirt.
The Colonists have been branded with the odious
names of traitors and rebels, only for complaining of
their grievances ; How long such treatment will, or
ought to be born is submitted.
A List of Infringements 6° Violations of Rights
We cannot help thinking, that an enumeration of some of the
most open infringments of our rights, will by every candid Per
son be Judged sufficient to Justify whatever measures have been
already taken, or may be thought proper to be taken, in order
to obtain a redress of the Grievances under which we labour.
360 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
Among many others we Humbly conceive, that the following
will not fail to excite the attention of all who consider themselves
interested in the happiness and freedom of mankind in general,
and of this continent and province in particular.—
ist The British Parliament have assumed the power of legisla
tion for the Colonists in all cases whatsoever, without obtaining
the consent of the Inhabitants, which is ever essentially necessary
to the right establishment of such a legislative
2d They have exerted that assumed power, in raising a Reve
nue in the Colonies without their consent; thereby depriving
them of that right which every man has to keep his own earnings
in his own hands until he shall in person, or by his Representa
tive, think fit to part with the whole or any portion of it. This
infringement is the most extraordinary, when we consider the
laudable care which the British House of Commons have taken
to reserve intirely and absolutely to themselves the powers of giv
ing and granting moneys. They not only insist on originating
every money bill in their own house, but will not even allow the
House of Lords to make an amendment in these bills. So tena
cious are they of this privilege, so jealous of any infringement
of the sole & absolute right the people have to dispose of their
own money. And what renders this infringement the more
grievous is, that what of our earnings still remains in our
own hands is in a great measure deprived of its value, so long as
the British Parliament continue to claim and exercise this power
of taxing us; for we cannot Justly call that our property which
others may, when they please take away from us against our
will-
In this respect we are treated with less decency and regard
than the Romans shewed even to the Provinces which They
had conquered. They only determined upon the sum which
each should furnish, and left every Province to raise it in the
manner most easy and convenient to themselves
3d A number of new Officers, unknown in the Charter of this
Province, have been appointed to superintend this Revenue,
whereas by our Charter the Great & General Court or Assembly
of this Province has the sole right of appointing all civil officers,
excepting only such officers, the election and constitution of
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 361
whom is in said charter expressly excepted; among whom these
Officers are not included.
4th These Officers are by their Commission invested with
powers altogether unconstitutional, and entirely destructive to
that security which we have a right to enjoy; and to the last de
gree dangerous, not only to our property; but to our lives: For
the Commissioners of his Majestys customs in America, or any
three of them, are by their Commission impowered, " by writing
under their hands and scales to constitute and appoint inferior
Officers in all and singular the Port within the limits of their
commissions " Each of these petty officers so made is intrusted
with power more absolute and arbitrary than ought to be lodged
in the hands of any man or body of men whatsoever; for in the
commission aforementioned, his Majesty gives & grants unto his
said Commissioners, or any three of them, and to all and every
the Collectors Deputy Collectors, Ministers, Servants, and all
other Officers serving and attending in all and every the Ports
and other places within the limits of their Commission, full power
and authority from time to time, at their and any of their wills and
pleasures, as well By Night as by day to enter and go on board
any Ship, Boat, or other Vessel, riding lying or being within, or
coming into any Port, Harbour, Creek or Haven, within the
limits of their commission; and also in the day time to go into
any house, shop, cellar, or any other place where any goods
wares or merchandizes lie concealed, or are suspected to lie con
cealed, whereof the customs & other duties, have not been, or
shall not be, duly paid and truly satisfied, answered or paid unto
the Collectors, Deputy Collectors, Ministers, Servants, and other
Officers respectively, or otherwise agreed for; and the said house,
shop, warehouse, cellar, and other place to search and survey,
and all and every the boxes, trunks, chests and packs then and
there found to break open."-
Thus our houses and even our bed chambers, are exposed to
be ransacked, our boxes chests & trunks broke open ravaged and
plundered by wretches, whom no prudent man would venture to
employ even as menial servants; whenever they are pleased to say
they suspect there are in the house wares &c for which the dutys
have not been paid. Flagrant instances of the wanton exercise
362 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
of this power, have frequently happened in this and other sea
port Towns. By this we are cut off from that domestick security
which renders the lives of the most unhappy in some measure
agreable. Those Officers may under colour of law and the
cloak of a general warrant, break thro' the sacred rights of the
Domicil^ ransack mens houses, destroy their securities, carry off
their property, and with little danger to themselves commit the
most horred murders.
And we complain of it as a further grievance, that notwith
standing by the Charter of this Province, the Governor and the
Great and General Court or Assembly of this Province or Terri
tory, for the time being shall have full power and authority, from
time to time, to make, ordain and establish all manner of whole
some and reasonable laws, orders, statutes, and ordinances,
directions and instructions, and that if the same shall not within
the term of three years after presenting the same to his Majesty
in privy council be disallowed, they shall be and continue in full
force and effect, untill the same shall be repealed by the Great
and General Assembly of this Province: Yet the Parliament of
Great Britain have rendered or attempted to render, null and
void a law of this Province made and passed in the Reign of his
late Majesty George the first, intitled " An Act stating the Fees
of the Custom-house Officers within this Province " and by meer
dint of power, in violation of the Charter aforesaid, established
other and exorbitant fees, for the same Officers; any law of the
Province to the contrary notwithstanding.
5th. Fleets and Armies have been introduced to support these
unconstitutional Officers in collecting and managing this uncon
stitutional Revenue; and troops have been quarter'd in this
Metropolis for that purpose. Introducing and quartering stand
ing Armies in a free Country in times of peace without the con
sent of the people either by themselves or by their Representatives,
is, and always has been deemed a violation of their rights as free
men; and of the Charter or Compact made between the King of
Great Britain, and the People of this Province, whereby all the
rights of British Subjects are confirmed to us.
6th. The Revenue arising from this tax unconstitutionally laid,
and committed to the management of persons arbitrarily ap-
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 363
pointed and supported by an armed force quartered in a free
City, has been in part applyed to the most destructive purposes.
It is absolutely necessary in a mixt government like that of this
Province, that a due proportion or balance of power should be
established among the several branches of legislative. Our An
cestors received from King William & Queen Mary a Charter by
which it was understood by both parties in the contract, that such
a proportion or balance was fixed; and therefore every thing
which renders any one branch of the Legislative more inde
pendent of the other two than it was originally designed, is an
alteration of the constitution as settled by the Charter; and as it
has been untill the establishment of this Revenue, the constant
practise of the General Assembly to provide for the support of
Government, so it is an essential part of our constitution, as it is
a necessary means of preserving an equilibrium, without which
we cannot continue a free state.
In particular it has always been held, that the dependence of
the Governor of this Province upon the General Assembly for
his support, was necessary for the preservation of this equilibrium;
nevertheless his Majesty has been pleased to apply fifteen
hundred pounds sterling annually out of the American revenue,
for the support of the Governor of this Province independent of
the Assembly, whereby the ancient connection between him and
this people is weakened, the confidence in the Governor lessened
and the equilibrium destroyed, and the constitution essentially
altered.
And we look upon it highly probable from the best intelligence
we have been able to obtain, that not only our Governor and
Lieuvetenant Governor, but the Judges of the Superior Court of
Judicature, as also the Kings Attorney and Solicitor General are
to receive their support from this Grievous tribute. This will
if accomplished compleat our slavery. For if taxes are raised —
from us by the Parliament of Great Britain without our consent,
and the men on whose opinions and decisions our properties
liberties and lives, in a great measure depend, receive their sup
port from the Revenues arising from these taxes, we cannot,
when we think on the depravity of mankind, avoid looking with
horror on the danger to which we are exposed ? The British
364 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
Parliament have shewn their wisdom in making the Judges there
as independent as possible both on the Prince and People, both
for place and support : But our Judges hold their Commis
sions only during pleasure; the granting them salaries out of this
Revenue is rendering them independent on the Crown for their
support. The King upon his first accession to the Throne, for
giving the last hand to the independency of the Judges in Eng
land, not only upon himself but his Successors by recommending
and consenting to an act of Parliament, by which the Judges
are continued in office, notwithstanding the demise of a King,
which vacates all other Commissions, was applauded by the
whole Nation. How alarming must it then be to the Inhabi
tants of this Province, to find so wide a difference made between
the Subjects in Britain and America, as the rendering the Judges
here altogether dependent on the Crown for their support. —
7th. We find ourselves greatly oppressed by Instructions sent
to our Governor from the Court of Great Britain, whereby the
first branch of our legislature is made merely a ministerial
engine. And the Province has already felt such effects from
these Instructions, as We think Justly intitle us to say that they
threaten an entire destruction of our liberties, and must soon, if
not checked, render every branch of our Government a useless
burthen upon the people. We shall point out some of the
alarming effects of these Instructions which have already taken
place.
In consequence of Instructions, the Governor has called and
adjourned our General Assemblies to a place highly inconvenient
to the Members and grately disadvantageous to the interest of
the Province, even against his own declared intention
In consequence of Instructions, the Assembly has been pro
rogued from time to time, when the important concerns of the
Province required their Meeting
In obedience to Instructions, the General Assembly was Anno
1768 dissolved by Governor Bernard, because they would not
consent to rescind the resolution of a former house, and thereby
sacrifise the rights of their constituents.
By an Instruction, the honourable his Majesty Council are
forbid to meet and transact matters of publick concern as a
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 365
Council of advice to the Governor, unless called by the Gov
ernor ; and if they should from a zealous regard to the interest
of the Province so meet at any time, the Governor is ordered to
negative them at the next Election of Councellors. And although
by the Charter of this Province the Great & General Court have
full power and authority to impose taxes upon the estates and
persons of all and every the proprietors and inhabitants of this
Province, yet the Governor has been forbidden to give his con
sent to act imposing a tax for the necessary support of govern
ment, unless such persons as were pointed out In the said
instruction, were exempted from paying their Just proportion of
said tax
His Excellency has also pleaded Instructions for giving up the
provincial fortress, Castle William into the hands of troops,
over whom he had declared he had no controul (and that at
a time when they were menaceing the Slaughter of the Inhabi
tants of the Town, and our Streets were stained with the blood
which they had barbariously shed) Thus our Governor, ap
pointed and paid from Great Britain with money forced from
us, is made an instrument of totally preventing or at least of
rendering [futile], every attempt of the other two branches of the
Legislative in favor of a distressed and wronged people : And
least the complaints naturally occasioned by such oppression
should excite compassion in the Royal breast, and induce his Ma
jesty seriously to set about relieving us from the cruel bondage and
insult which we his loyal Subjects have so long suffered, the
Governor is forbidden to consent to the payment of an Agent to
represent our grievances at the Court of Great Britain, unless he
the Governor consent to his election, and we very well know
what the man must be to whose appointment a Governor in such
circumstances will consent
While we are mentioning the infringement of the rights of
this Colony in particular by means of Instructions, we cannot
help calling to remembrance the late unexampled suspension of
the legislative of a Sister Colony, New York by force of an In
struction, untill they should comply with an Arbitrary Act of the
British Parliament for quartering troops, designed by military
execution, to enforce the raising of a tribute.
366 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
8th. The extending the power of the Courts of Vice Admir-
ality to so enormous a degree as deprives the people in the
Colonies in a great measure of their inestimable right to tryals
by Juries : which has ever been Justly considered as the grand
Bulwark and security of English property.
This alone is sufficient to rouse our jealousy : And we are
again obliged to take notice of the remarkable contrast, which
the British Parliament has been pleased to exhibit between the
Subjects in Great Britain & the Colonies. In the same Statute, by
which they give up to the decision of one dependent interested
Judge of Admirality the estates and properties of the Colonists,
they expressly guard the estates & properties of the people
of Great Britain ; for all forfeitures & penalties inflicted by
the Statute of George the Third, or any other Act of Parlia
ment relative to the trade of the Colonies, may be sued for in
any Court of Admiralty in the Colonies ; but all penalties and
forfeitures which shall be incurred in Great Britain, may be sued
for in any of his Majestys Courts of Record in Westminster or in
the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, respectively. Thus our
Birth Rights are taken from us ; and that too with every mark
of indignity, insult and contempt. We may be harrassed and
dragged from one part of the Continent to the other (which some
of our Brethren here and in the Country Towns already have
been) and finally be deprived of our whole property, by the arbi
trary determination of one biassed, capricious Judge of the
Admirality. •
9th. The restraining us from erecting Stilling Mills for manu
facturing our Iron the natural produce of this Country, Is an
infringement of that right with which God and nature have in
vested us, to make use of our skill and industry in procuring the
necessaries and conveniences of life. And we look upon the re
straint laid upon the manufacture and transportation of Hatts to
be altogether unreasonable and grievous. Although by the
Charter all Havens Rivers, Ports, Waters, &c. are expressly
granted the Inhabitants of the Province and their Successors, to
their only proper use and behoof forever, yet the British Parlia
ment passed an Act, whereby they restrain us from carrying our
Wool, the produce of our own farms, even over a ferry; whereby
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 367
the Inhabitants have often been put to the expence of carrying a
Bag of Wool near an hundred miles by land, when passing over
a River or Water of one quarter of a mile, of which the Province
are the absolute Proprietors, would have prevented all that
trouble.
ioth. The Act passed in the last Session of the British Parlia
ment, intitled, An Act for the better preserving his Majestys Dock
Yards, Magizines, Ships, Ammunition and Stores, is, as we appre
hend a violent infringement of our Rights. By this Act any one
of us may be taken from his Family, and carried to any part of
Great Britain, there to be tried whenever it shall be pretended
that he has been concerned in burning or otherwise destroying
any Boat or Vessel, or any Materials for building &c. any Naval
or Victualling Store &c. belonging to his Majesty. For by this
Act all Persons in the Realm, or in any of the places thereto be
longing (under which denomination we know the Colonies are
meant to be included) may be indicted and tryed either in any
County or Shire within this Realm, in like manner and form as
if the offence had been committed in said County, as his Ma
jesty and his Successors may deem Most expedient. Thus we \
are not only deprived of our grand right to tryal by our Peers in
the Vicinity, but any Person suspected, or pretended to be sus
pected, may be hurried to Great Britain, to take his tryal in any
County the King or his Successors shall please to direct ; where,
innocent or guilty he is in great danger of being condemned;]
and whether condemned or acquitted he will probably be ruined
by the expense attending the tryal, and his long absence from
his Family and business; and we have the strongest reason to
apprehend that we shall soon experience the fatal effects of this
Act, as about the year 1769 the British Parliament passed Re
solves for taking up a number of Persons in the Colonies and
carrying them to Great Britain for tryal, pretending that they
were authorised so to do, by a Statute passed in the Reign
of Henry the Eighth, in which they say the Colonies were in
cluded, although the Act was passed long before any Colonies
were settled, or even in contemplation.
nth. As our Ancestors came over to this Country that they
might not only enjoy their civil but their religeous rights, and
368
THE WRITINGS OF
[1772
,
particularly desired to be free from the Prelates, who in those
times cruilly persecuted all who differed in sentiment from
the established Church ; we cannot see without concern the
various attempts, which have been made and are now making, to
establish an American Episcopate. Our Episcopal Brethren of
the Colonies do enjoy, and rightfully ought ever to enjoy, the
free exercise of their religeon, we cannot help fearing that they
who are are so warmly contending for such an establishment,
have views altogether inconsistent with the universal and peace
ful enjoyment of our Christian privileges : And doing or attempt
ing to do any thing which has even the remotest tendency to en
danger this enjoyment, is Justly looked upon a great grievance,
and also an infringement of our Rights, which is not barely to
exercise, but peaceably & securely to enjoy, that liberty where
with CHRIST has made us free.
And we are further of Opinion, that no power on Earth can
justly give either temporal or spiritual Jurisdiction within this
Province, except the Great & General Court. We think there
fore that every design for establishing the Jurisdiction of a
Bishop in this Province, is a design both against our Civil and
Religeous rights : And we are well informed, that the more can
did and Judicious of our Brethren of the Church of England in
this and the other Colonies, both Clergy and Laity, conceive of
the establishing an American Episcopate both unnecessary and
unreasonable.
12th. Another Grievance under which we labour is the frequent
alteration of the bounds of the Colonies by decisions before
the King and Council, explanatory of former grants and Char
ters. This not only subjects Men to live under a constitution
to which they have not consented, which in itself is a great
Grievance ; but moreover under color, that the right of Soil is
affected by such declarations, some Governors, or Ministers, or
both in conjunction, have pretended to Grant in consequence of
a Mandamus many thousands of Acres of Lands appropriated
near a Century past ; and rendered valuable by the labors of the
present Cultivators and their Ancestors. There are very notable
instances of Setlers, who having first purchased the Soil of the
Natives, have at considerable expence obtained confermation of
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 369
title from this Province ; and on being transferred to the Juris
diction of the Province of New Hampshire have been put to the
trouble and cost of a new Grant or confermation from thence ;
and after all this there has been a third declaration of Royal
Will, that they should thence forth be considered as pertaining
To the Province of New York. The troubles, expences and
dangers which hundreds have been put to on such occasions,
cannot here be recited ; but so much may be said, that they have
been most cruelly harrassed, and even threatned with a mili
tary force, to dragoon them into a compliance, with the most
unreasonable demands.
A Letter of Correspondence to the Other Towns.
BOSTON November 20 : 1772
Gentlemen We the Freeholders and other Inhabi
tants of Boston in Town Meeting duly Assembled,
according to Law, apprehending there is abundant to
be alarmed at1 the plan of Despotism, which the ene
mies of our invaluable rights have concerted, is
o
rapidly hastening to a completion, can no longer
conceal our impatience under a constant, unremitted,
uniform aim to enslave us, or confide in an Adminis
tration which threatens us with certain and inevitable
destruction. But, when in addition to the repeated
inroads made upon" the Rights and Liberties of the
Colonists, and of tnose in this Province in particular,
we reflect on the late extraordinary measure in affix
ing stipends or Salaries from the Crown to the Offices
of the Judges of the Superior Court of Judicature,
making them not only intirely independent of the
people, whose lives and properties are so much in
their power, but absolutely dependent on the Crown
1 So printed. Corrected by Adams in the draft to read " that."
VOL. II. — 24.
370 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
(which may hereafter, be worn by a Tyrant) both
for their appointment and support, we cannot but
be extremely alarmed at the mischievous tendency of
this innovation ; which in our opinion is directly
contrary to the spirit of the British Constitution,
pregnant with innumerable evils, and hath a direct
tendency To deprive us of every thing valuable as
Men, as Christians and as Subjects, entitled, by the
Royal Charter, to all the Rights, liberties and privi
leges of native Britons. Such being the critical
state of this Province, we think it our duty on this
truly distressing occasion, to ask you, What can with
stand the Attacks of mere power ? What can pre
serve the liberties of the Subject, when the Barriers
of the Constitution are taken away ? The Town of
Boston consulting on the matter above mentioned,
thought proper to make application to the Governor
by a Committee ; requesting his Excellency to com
municate such intelligence as he might have received
relative to the report of the Judges having their sup
port independent of the grants of this Province a
Copy of which you have herewith in Paper N. i.1
To which we received as answer the Paper N. 2.2
The Town on further deliberation, thought it ad
visable to refer the matter to the Great and General
Assembly ; and accordingly in a second address as
N. 3 3 they requested his Excellency that the General
1 Prepared by a committee consisting of Adams, Joseph Warren and Benja
min Church. The text is in Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii.,
p. 89.
3 The text is in ibid.^ p. 90.
3 Prepared by a committee consisting of Adams, James Otis and Thomas
Gushing. The text is in ibid., p. 91.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 371
Court might Convene at the time to which they then
stood prorogued ; to which the Town received the
reply as in N. 4.* in which we are acquainted with his
intentions further to prorogue the General Assem
bly, which has since taken place. Thus Gentlemen
it is evident his Excellency declines giving the least
satisfaction as to the matter in request. The affair -)f
being of publick concernment, the Town of Boston
thought it necessary to consult with their Brethren
throughout the Province ; and for this purpose ap
pointed a Committee, to communicate with our fellow
Sufferers, respecting this recent instance of oppres
sion, as well as the many other violations of our
Rights under which we have groaned for several
Years past — This Committee have briefly Recapitu
lated the sense we have of our invaluable Rights as
Men, as Christians, and as Subjects ; and wherein
we conceive those Rights to have been violated, which
we are desirous may be laid before your Town, that
the subject may be weighed as its importance re
quires, and the collected wisdom of the whole People,
as far as possible, be obtained, on a deliberation of
such great and lasting moment as to involve in it the
fate of all our Posterity — Great pains has been taken
to perswade the British Administration to think that
the good People of this Province in general are quiet
and undisturbed at the late measures ; and that any
uneasiness that appears, arises from a few factious
designing and disaffected men. This renders it the
more necessary, that the sense of the People should
be explicitly declared. — A free communication of
1 The text is in ibid., p. 92.
372 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
your sentiments to this Town, of our common dan
ger, is earnestly solicited and will be gratefully re
ceived. If you concur with us in opinion, that our
Rights are properly stated, and that the several
Acts of Parliament, and Measures of Administration,
pointed out by us are subversive of these Rights,
you will doubtless think it ol the utmost importance
that we stand firm as one man, to recover and sup
port them ; and to take such measures by directing
our Representatives, or otherwise, as your wisdom
and fortitude shall dictate, to rescue from impending
ruin our happy and glorious constitution. But if it
should be the general voice of this Province, that the
Rights as we have stated them, do not belong to us ;
or that the several measures of Administration in the
British Court, are no violations of these Rights, or
that if they are thus violated or infringed, they are
not worth contending for, or resolutely maintaining ;
—should this be the general voice of the Province,
we must be resigned to our wretched fate ; but shall
forever lament the extinction of that generous ardor
for Civil and Religeous liberty, which in the face of
every danger, and even death itself, induced our
fathers to forsake the bosom of their Native Country,
and begin a settlement on bare Creation — But we trust
this cannot be the case : We are sure your wisdom,
your regard to yourselves and the rising Generation,
cannot suffer you to dose, or set supinely indifferent
on the brink of destruction, while the Iron hand of
oppression is dayly tearing the choicest Fruit from
the fair Tree of Liberty, planted by our worthy Pre
decessors, at the expence of their treasure, & abun-
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 373
dantly water'd with their blood — It is an observation
of an eminent Patriot, that a People long inured to
hardships, loose by degrees the very notions of
liberty ; they look upon themselves as Creatures at
mercy, and that all impositions laid on by superior
hands, are legal and obligatory. — But thank Heaven
this is not yet verified in America! We have yet
some share of publick virtue remaining : we are not
afraid of poverty, but disdain slavery. — The fate of
Nations is so Precarious and revolutions in States so
often take place at an unexpected moment, when the
hand of power by fraud or flattery, has secured every
Avenue of retreat, and the minds of the Subject de
based to its purpose, that it becomes every well wisher
to his Country, while it has any remains of freedom,
to keep an Eagle Eye upon every inovation and
stretch of power, in those that have the rule over us.
A recent instance of this we have in the late Revolu
tions in Sweden, by which the Prince once subject to
the laws of the State, has been able of a sudden to
declare himself an absolute Monarch The Sweeds
were once a free, martial and valient people : Their
minds are now so debaced, that they rejoice at being
subject to the caprice and arbitrary power of a
Tyrant & kiss their Chains. It makes us shudder to
think, the late measures of Administration may be
productive of the like Catastrophe ; which Heaven
forbid ! — Let us consider Brethren, we are struggling
for our best Birth Rights & Inheritance; which be
ing infringed, renders all our blessings precarious in
their enjoyments, and consequently trifling in their
value. Let us disappoint the Men who are raising
374 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
themselves on the ruin of this Country. Let us
convince every Invader of our freedom, that we will
be as free as the Constitution our Fathers recognized,
will Justify. 1
ARTICLE SIGNED " VINDEX."
[Boston Gazette, November 30, 1772.*]
MR. A N D s.
SIR,
The weakness of an adversary with a man of under
standing will frequently disarm him of his resentment :
Who would chuse to enter the lists, when even vic
tory is attended with disgrace ? A— — n D— — s as a
Hockster of small Wares, within the Bar-room ; or
laudably vending Milk and Water, might have
grubbed on unnoticed, and not superlatively con
temptible ; but when he so far mistakes his proper
department, as to blunder into the field of politicks,
1 The four papers mentioned in the " Letter of Correspondence " are included
in the pamphlet edition of the three principal documents printed by order of the
town for distribution among the other towns of the province. (Cf. Boston Rec
ord Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 94.) The title page of the pamphlet
edition was as follows : The Votes and Proceedings of the Freeholders and other
Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, In Toiun Meeting Assembled, According to
Law. [Published by Order of the TownJ\ To which is prefixed, as Introduc
tory, An attested Copy of a Vote of the Town at a preceeding Meeting. Boston :
Printed by Edes and Gill, in Queen Street, and T. and J. Fleet, in Cornhill.
For a claim that the " Letter of Correspondence" was written by Benjamin
Church, see R. Frothingham, Life of Joseph Warren, p. 206. As to the
" Rights of the Colonists," see also W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel Adams, vol.
i., p. 501. In addition to the complete draft, a preliminary draft, or outline of
topics, of the " Rights" is in the Samuel Adams Papers.
2 The following note by the publishers is printed with this article :
" Dr. Young's Letter to Mr. Aaron Davis, Jun. should have had a Place
in this Day's Paper had we not been pre engaged with the following."
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 375
and assume a dictatorial and offensive part, we are
compelled with reluctance to scourge the insect, tho'
convinced 'tis but an insect still. We are informed
by your fellow townsman, whom we presume must
know you well, that you are destitute of feeling ; your
unexampled effrontery in the publick transaction
which has unhappily brought you into notice, added
to the consummate assurance evidenced in the stupid
composition to which you have tacked your name,
are strong circumstances in favour of this position :
But is your modesty truly impregnable ? cannot the
weapon of stern rebuke arouse your sensibility ? must
honest indignation mourn a defeat ? I intend to try
the doubtful experiment, tho' you should analize a
satyr to be a proof of your general consequence, and
extract incense to your vanity from the blackest
records of your shame.
In your courageous zeal for the cause of Christ
ianity, and the Virgin Mary, permit me to question
your sincerity : It is evident from your notable per
formance, that you have been acquainted with the
religious principles and immoral practices of the^/z-
tleman so very exceptionable to you ; for some years
past : That he was then as thorough-paced an infidel,
as virulent an opposer of o^lr holy religion, as he is
now : That he was doing discredit to the Bible then,
or to adopt your own phrase, was undeceiving mankind
as actively as at any time since : That you was ac
quainted with the open profanity of his conversation,
and if we may take your word for it, was an ear-
witness of his oaths and execrations : Why did you
not commence a champion in the cause of Christianity
376 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
some months earlier? It would have had a better
appearance, if in your ebullient zeal you had endeav
oured to prevent his disseminating such mischievous
principles, and seasonably entered your caveat against
the pernicious effects of his example. But the cause
of Christianity abstracted from political concerns, was
not sufficient to awaken your resentment : Will not
this my dear sir ! occasion suspicions, that all your
flaming professions of patriotism will neither discredit
nor remove ?
Doctor Young (I dare you to contradict me) has
ever been an unw.earied assertor of the rights of his
countrymen : has taken the post of hazard, and acted
vigorously in the cause of American freedom : Such
endeavours and exertions, have justly entitled him to
the notice, to the confidence of the people ; they, from
a thorough conviction of his political integrity have
united him with several gentlemen, against whom we
presume you can have no just exception, to explain
their rights and state their grievances ; was not your
conscience so delicately offensible, I would ask such
an immaculate Christian, whether your ideas of repro
bation extended not only to the whole committee, but
to every transaction in which they could possibly be
employed? If not, are you not ashamed of your
capricious folly, in rejecting a cause which you pro
fess to have at heart, for the sake of an individual,
against whom, your spotless purity has matter of
objection.
Shall I be arraigned for want of charity, if I here
express my doubt of your veracity in this matter?
The cloak of Christianity is the threadbare garb of
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 377
hypocrisy ; and novel cover for political apostates :
I suspect 't is the cause that renders the man ob
noxious ; the infidel might have perverted the world,
and your zeal been smothered in its native bosom
of sanctity : in short, had not the cause of liberty
found a busy advocate in the man you brand with
irreligion, your abhorrence would probably never
have found a tongue.
o
You do not chuse to have any thing to do with
measures wherein you must follow the lead of such men
as Dr. Young\ I apprehend you confine yourself
here to political matters ; if so, what must those re
jected measures be ? if just, right and reasonable, the
man must be an incorrigible blockhead to reject them,
let them originate where they will : if on the contrary,
they are improper and exceptionable ; you might
have discountenanced the measure, without villifying
the man.
Inconsiderable and weak as I esteem you, you
have still an interest in the constitutional claims of an
English subject, equal to a nobleman, equal to an
intelligent being : these you have no right to sacrifice
even to your own predominant folly. You assert
that you are, and ever have been as steady a friend
to the rights and privileges of your country, as any
man whatsoever, &c. what then is that exact point of
difference, that chaste line of decorum, to which your
love of your country will carry you, and no further?
all those concerned in consulting and labouring for
the redemption of their country, must be very exem
plary Christians, or your patriotism hangs so loosely
about you, that your country may perish rather than
378 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
you will unite for its salvation, with a man not com-
pleatly orthodox : For no political measures can
possibly be reasonable or Just, which are not dictated
by men of piety and real Christianity : The truth of
this observation will appear with peculiar lustre, when
we consider what a paultry figure, those antient
heathenish states of Greece and Rome made in the
primitive ages. You elsewhere shrewdly remark.
that it has always been astonishing to the world, how
any important trusts came to be committed to Doctor
Young ; the best account that can be given for it,
YOU BELIEVE is, that he has appeared ready to lead
in such bold and exceptional measures, as rather
savoured of faction, than boded any good to the public :
which is in plain English, that because the measures
he proposed, were dangerous and exceptionable,
Therefore the town approved and confided in him.
To wave the illiberal slander upon the town ; I
question, most Christian sir ! whether any article of
Doctor Young's CREED will shock decency and com
mon sense more than this.
The present crisis is truly an alarming one to your
country ; the few friends of the people have abundant
necessity to have their hands strengthened : the man
who deserts now, is the worst enemy of his country :
You sir ! have done this, with the aggravated guilt of
endeavouring to load with obloquy the cause you
abandon — I scorn to keep terms with a man I esteem
so base — You have provided yourself a Retreat,
being assured of the smiles of power ; nay more, you
are entitled to their favour, for the rank injury you
meant to the oppressed people ; and we shall probably
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 379
see such baseness distinguished in the commissioned
scroll of SCOUNDRELLS and RESCINDERS.
VINDEX.
TO ARTHUR LEE.
[R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. ii., pp. 196, 197.]
BOSTON, Nov. 3ist, 1772.
MY DEAR SIR, — My last letter to you was of the 3d
inst. I now enclose the proceedings of this town at a
meeting appointed to receive the report of the com
mittee, which is attested by the town-clerk, and pub
lished by order of the town.
Our enemies are taking all imaginable pains to dis
parage the proceedings, and prevent their having any
effect in the country. They are particularly endeav
ouring to have it believed, that the vote was carried
at a very thin meeting ; and in the Court Gazette of
last week have had the assurance to say, that there
were not more than twenty persons present, and that
not ten voted for it ; whereas it was much such a
meeting, or rather fuller than the last. The town
of Roxbury, adjacent to this, have met, and against
the efforts of the whole cabal have raised a committee
of nine persons to take our proceedings into consid
eration, and report at an adjournment ; having before
voted the independency of the judges, " a most danger
ous innovation." Plymouth, another large town, forty
miles distant, has also met, but we have not yet heard
what has been done there ; 1 from the spirit of the
petitions to their selectmen for a meeting, among the
enclosed papers, I hope to send you an agreeable ac
count. Other towns are in motion of their accord,
1 See below, page 394.
380 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
for our pamphlet is not yet sent into the country
towns, Roxbury excepted. The conspirators are
very sensible that if our design succeeds, there will
be an apparent union of sentiments among the peo
ple of this province, which may spread through the
continent. You cannot then wonder that their utmost
skill is employed to oppose it.
I intended to have sent my last by Capt. Scott, but
having failed in that design, I herewith enclose it. I
am disappointed if I do not receive a letter from you
by every vessel that arrives here. Be assured that I
am with great esteem sir, your humble servant,
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY.
[J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 22, 23.]
BOSTON, Dec. 7, 1772.
MY DEAR SIR,
I have just received your's of the 26th Novem
ber,1 and take the earliest opportunity to acknowledge
it. I shall lay it before our committee as soon as may
be. Hope you have had a happy meeting this day,
and rest with esteem,
Sir, your friend,
Monday, 10 o'clock evening.
TO WILLIAM CHECKLEY.2
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Decr 14 1772
MY DEAR SR
I am at a Loss to determine in my own Mind
whether a Letter from me will be agreable to you,
1 J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 21, 22.
2 Addressed, "in the Customs, Providence." Cf. Literary Diary of Ezra
Stiles, vol. i., p. 58.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 381
as I have not receivd a Line from you since I wrote
my last several Months ago. If any Consideration
has brot you to a Resolution no longer to keep up an
Epistolary Conversation with me, I must on my part
cease ; but while I remember former Connections, I
shall never forget the only surviving Branch of a
Family I loved, and shall make my self as happy as
possible, in silently wishing the best Welfare of him
whose Regards I think I have not forfeited.
It is not an easy thing at this time of my Life, to
put me out of the possession of my self. I have
been used to the alternate Frowns & Smiles of many
who call themselves, & some of them in truth are my
Friends. I bear it all with QEquanimity, infinitely
better pleasd with the Approbation of my own
mind, than I should be with the flatteries of the
Great, & in the Sunshine of power. Those who love
this Country, I have the Vanity to think are in Real
ity, my friends ; for they must be convincd that the
small Share of Ability which Gracious Heaven has
been pleasd to bestow on me, has ever been em-
ployd for its Happiness. If I have mistaken its true
Happiness (which by the Way I think I have not) it
belongs to the Candid to overlook it ; die Opinion of
others I very little regard, & have a thorough Con
tempt for all men, be their Names Characters &
Stations what they may, who appear to be the
irreclaimable Enemies of Religion & Liberty. Had
I not thought it would have been rather an Incon
venience to you, I should have sent you the last
Week the Votes & proceedings of your native town ;
If I can be informd by you that it will not be dis-
382 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
agreable, I will send you a printed Copy by the next
post.
Altho I have already transgressd the Bounds of a
Letter to so great a Stranger, yet having a warm
friendship for Mrs Checkley, I cannot help desiring
you to make mention of my own & my family regards
to her. Having said this I must beg you to believe,
whatever others may have whisperd to the Contrary \
that I am
Yours affectionately,
ARTICLE SIGNED " CANDIDUS."
[Boston Gazette, December 14, 1772.]
To the PRINTERS,
NOTWITHSTANDING the ministerial Tools have so
often puff'd upon the Impartiality of the Court
Gazette, we have had a second Instance of the Neces
sity the Selectmen of this Town have thought them
selves under to vindicate the Cause of Liberty &
Truth, from the gross Misrepresentation of well
known Facts that have been made in that immaculate
Paper. If Mr. Draper had had the least Inclination
to have ascertained the Falsehood of the Paragraph
inserted in his Paper of the 26th of November, it was
so notorious, that without giving the Selectmen the
Trouble of it, he might have done it himself, by en
quiring of perhaps the first honest Man he had met
in the Street : But it was calculated to mislead the
Reader into a Belief, that " not ten Persons voted
for sending the Letter of Correspondence " into the
Country, and therefore it must, to answer so good a
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 383
Purpose, be inserted in that " circulating " Gazette,
whether true or false ; and the Publisher, very de
murely, by Way of Atonement, after the Falsehood
is detected, promises the injur'd Publick " to enquire
into the Foundation of it." — ! ! !
In his last Gazette he informs his Readers that he
had accordingly apply'd to his Author ; who, he says,
" does not deny the Number present " at the Meeting
" as declared by the Selectmen when the first Vote
pass'd." Now the Selectmen declare, u that a respect
able Number of the Inhabitants attended the Meet
ing through the Day, and when the Letter, after
being twice read and amended in the Meeting was
voted, and accepted to be sent, it appeared to them,
and they are well satisfied, that there was not less
than three Hundred Inhabitants present, and in the
Opinion of others the Number was much larger " ;
which is undoubtedly the Fact. But Mr. Draper's
Author of the Note (if he had any) had said that
" when the Votes pass'd for sending the letter, there
was not twenty Men present besides the Gentlemen
Selectmen & some of the Committee ". The Contra
diction appear'd so glaring even in Mr. Draper's eyes,
as well as others, that after he had publish'd it to the
World, he thought his own Reputation concern'd, as
indeed it was, to enquire into the Foundation of the
Report, which he ought to have done before. The
Man of Verity his Author, makes a shift to tell him,
that truly " it was a Vote that pass'd half an Hour
after Nine o'Clock that he meant in his Note, when
most of the Inhabitants had withdrawn " ; but he does
not now say what Vote he meant in his Note, though
384 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
when he reported it " with some Confidence " he
plumply said it was the Vote for sending the Letter.
The Man who is resolv'd to serve a Party at the ex-
pence of Truth, should have the best of Memories ;
the want of which has render'd the Court Writers
oftentimes inconsistent with themselves and with each
other. But what else are we to expect from Cham
pions of a Cause which has only the feeble Props of
Misrepresentation and low Artifice to support it !
As this Author reported according to Draper with
some Confidence, he ought to have inform'd himself
of a known Fact, that the question debated at half an
Hour after Nine o'Clock, as he now says, or at about
Ten as he had asserted in his Note, was not whether
the Letter should be sent to the Selectmen of the
Towns in the Country ; — That had been determined
by a full Vote Nem. Con. before " most of the In
habitants had withdrawn ". It was after this Vote
had pass'd, and when it is allow'd the Meeting was
thin, a Question of much less Importance than the
other was debated, viz. In what Manner the Letter
should be sent ; upon which it was agreed that the
Town-Clerk should sign and forward it by the Direc
tion of the Committee.1 Accordingly, I am well as
sured, it has been forwarded to four fifths of the
Gentlemen Selectmen in the Country, the representa
tives of the several Towns, the Members of his Ma
jesty's Council and others of Note, by the Direction
of the Committee, in Pursuance of the Vote of the
Town, with less Expence for Carriage than two Dol
lars. I have a better Opinion of the good Sense of
^Boston Record Commissioners' Report, vol. xviii., p. 94.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 385
the People of this Country, than to believe they will
be diverted from an Attention to Matters which essen
tially concern their own and their Childrens best
Birthrights, and which every Day become more seri
ous and alarming, by the Trifles that are every Week
thrown out perhaps with that very Design in the
Court Gazette more especially. The Ax is laid at
the Root of our happy civil Constitution : Our reli
gious Rights are threatned : These important Mat
ters are the Subjects of the Letter of this Town to
our Friends and Fellow Sufferers in the Country.
Whether there were present at the Meeting three Hun
dred or three Thousand, it was a legal Meeting : As
legal as a Meeting of the General Assembly convened
by the King's Writ or a Meeting of his Majesty's
Council summoned by his Excellency the Governor :
This I say with due respect to those great Assem
blies. The Selectmen, among whom is the honorable
Gentleman who was Moderator* of the Meeting,
have condescended to publish it under their Hands,
that "a very respectable Number attended the Meet
ing through the Day " : — If it had been as thin a
Meeting as Mr. Draper's Writers would fain have the
Country think it was, still, being a legal Meeting,
their proceedings according to the Warrant for call
ing it, would have been as legal as those of his Ma
jesty's Council when seven Gentlemen only (which
Number by the Charter constitutes a Quorum) out of
their whole Number, Twenty-Eight, happen to be
present. If the Generality of my Countrymen shall
think those Proceedings to be of any Importance to
* John Hancock, Esq;
VOL. II. — 25
386 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
them, and shall act upon them with their own good
Sense and Understanding, I care not who concern
themselves in adjusting the private, moral or religious
Characters of Dr. Young and the Lieutenant Gover
nor. The part which each of these Gentlemen has
acted upon the political Stage is well known.
I would just observe to Mr. Draper, that the Name
of the Gentleman who furnish'd him with the Note
before refer'd to, is perhaps not so deep a Secret as he
may imagine it to be. It may be, he had then no
thought that a Story inadvertently told, would have
been immediately work'd up by the Press : This how
ever has been done, and the Publick has been thereby
abused : It should make one cautious not too sud
denly to communicate any Piece of Intelligence, espe
cially of Importance, and still more especially of
political Importance, to one whose Business it is
to publish what he hears. Mr. Draper may flatter
himself that " the Credit of his Paper has not yet
suffered " : It is sometimes not an easy thing, to
perswade a Man to believe that to be true, which he
wishes may not be true : It must needs be difficult to
establish in the minds of impartial Men, the Reputa
tion of a Paper, the Publisher of which (to use the
mild, very mild Expressions of the Selectmen) " has
suffered", it may be said repeatedly, " what was so
different from the fact to be inserted," before he
" had Opportunity to be very particular in his In
quiries about it ; especially as it was a Matter, by his
own Concession, so interesting to the People in the
Country, as that " they ought to be satisfied whether
the Report be true or false ". This, we hope, by the
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 387
Interposition of the Selectmen is now done ; and it
was the more necessary, because the same Gentleman
who furnished Mr. Draper with the Note, as he calls
it, had related the story which is now detected, to a
Person going, and since gone into a distant Country
in this Province.
Whether Mr. Draper in the Conclusion of what
he inserted in his last, sign'd the Printer, had an In
tention obliquely to reflect on the Honor of the
Selectmen, those Gentlemen, if they please will
consider.
CANDIDUS.
TO ELBRIDGE GERRY.
[J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, vol. i., pp. 23-25.]
BOSTON, Dec. 23, 1772.
MY DEAR SIR,
The further proceedings of the truly patriotic town
of Marblehead, together with your own esteemed
favours of the i6th and 2ist instant, came to my hand
in due season. The proceedings I immediately com
municated to our chairman ; and from your hint that
it was thought proper to suspend the publication, to
gether with assurances of letters from some other
towns speedily, we agreed also to suspend the calling
a meeting of our committee, which however will be
done soon. Agreeably to the intimations in your last
I find in the Essex Gazette 1 a, — what shall I call it ? a
disapprobation, to use their own term, signed by a
few men, of the proceedings of a whole town. If
1 Published at Salem, by S. and E. Hall.
388 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
" in fact there was but about twenty persons who
voted at the meeting" and all the rest were against
the measure, I wonder much that they did not follow
the example of so eminent a person as the single dis
sentient and outvote you when they had it in their
power. Or why could not the twenty-nine disappro-
bators have attended the meeting the second time and
prevented your taking such measures from which
they " are apprehensive the town will incur a great
deal of public censure " ? This would indeed have
been meritorious. I am a stranger to most of the
gentlemen who have thus signalized themselves ; Mr.
Mansfield I once thought a zealous whig, perhaps I
was mistaken. After all, the whole seems to be but
a weak effort ; their third reason appears to me so ex
cessively puerile, that I am surprised that gentlemen
of character could deliberately set their hands to it.
Your last proceedings sent to us in manuscript are
attested by the town clerk. I am sorry to observe
that the printed copy in the Essex Gazette is without
his attestation, because an advantage may be made of
it in our Court Gazette to lessen its credit and author
ity ; to prevent which I intend the next Monday's
papers shall have it from the manuscript unless
(which I cannot much expect) I shall be otherwise
advised by you.
I was thinking that you might turn the tables upon
your disapprobating friends, by getting a much larger
subscription from persons who were not at the meet
ing and approve of the proceedings. Whether it be
prudent or worth while to try this method you must
certainly be a better judge th^n I am.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 389
The tools of power, little and great, are taking un
wearied pains to prevent the meeting of the towns,
but they do not succeed altogether to their wishes.
I cannot help entertaining some sanguine hopes that
the measures we have pursued will have a happy
event.
TO DARIUS SESSIONS.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Deer 28 1772
SIR
This day I had the Honor of receiving a Letter
signd by yourself and other Gentlemen of Note
in Providence. The Subject is weighty, & requires
more of my Attention than a few Hours, to give you
my digested Sentiments of it ; neither have I yet had
an Opportunity of advising with the few among my
Acquaintances, whom I would chuse to consult upon
a Matter, which in my Opinion may involve the Fate
of America. This, I intend soon to do ; and shall
1 Of Providence, R. I. Under date of December 25, 1772, Deputy Governor
Sessions, Chief Justice Stephen Hopkins, John Cole, and Moses Brown had
written to Adams with reference to the Gaspee affair and to Lord Dartmouth's
letter to the Governor of Rhode Island of September 4, 1772. A copy is in S.
A. Wells, Samuel Adams and the American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 363—365.
A copy of a letter, under date of February 15, 1773, from Sessions, Hopkins,
Cole, and Brown to Adams, acknowledging the receipt of three letters from
Adams in response to their letter of December 25, 1772, is in ibid., pp. 370,
371. In this letter to Adams his correspondents comment as follows : " At or
about the time we wrote you, we transmitted copies of the same to several
gentlemen in North America, from the most of whom we have received answers,
agreeing nearly in sentiments, with those you were pleased to communicate to
us ; though no one has entered into a disquisition of the subject so fully and
satisfactorily as you have." The original letter is also in the Lenox Library.
390 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
then, I hope, be able to communicate to you (before
the Time you have set shall expire) such Thoughts,
as in your Judgment, may perhaps be wise and salu
tary on so pressing an Occasion. Thus much how
ever seems to me to be obvious at first View ; that
the whole Act of Parliament so far as it relates to
the Colonies, & consequently the Commission which
is founded upon it, is against the first Principles of
Government and the English Constitution, Magna
Charta & many other Acts of Parliament, declaratory
of the Rights of the Subject ; & therefore the Guard
ians of the Rights of the Subject will consider whether
it be not their Duty, so far from giving the least
Countenance to the Execution of it, to declare it,
ipso Facto null & Void. This Commission seems to
be substituted in the Room of a Grand Jury, which is
one of the greatest Bulwarks of the Liberty of the
Subject ; instituted for the very Purpose of prevent
ing Mischeife being done by false Accusers. By the
Act of Parliament of the 25th of Ed. 3d (in the true
Sense of the Words the best of Kings) it is establishd,
that none shall be taken by Suggestion made to the
King or his Council (which seems to me to be the
present Point) unless it be by Indictment or Present
ment of good & lawful People of the same Neigh
bourhood, where such Deeds be done — And, "if
any thing be done against the same it shall be re-
dressd & holden for none." But certain Persons
proscribd in the Colony of Rhode Island, are to be
taken without such Indictment or Presentment, &
carried away from the Neighborhood where Deeds
unlawful are suggested to the King to have been
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 391
committed, & there put to answer contrary to that
Law, which even so long ago was held to be the old
Law of the Land. One Reason given in the
Act for taking away that accursed Court called the
Star Chamber was, because all Matters examinable
& determinable before that Court might have their
due Punishment and Correction by the Common Law
of the Land and in the ordinary Course of Justice
elsewhere. But here seems to be a stopping of the
ordinary Course of Justice ; & by setting up a Court
of Enquiry founded upon a Suggestion of evil Deeds
made to the King & of certain Persons supposd to be
concernd therein, Jurisdiction is given to others than
the constituted ordinary Courts of Justice, & in a
Way other than the ordinary Course of the Law,
that is, an arbitrary Way to examine & draw into
Question Matters & things which, by the Act for
regulating the privy Council it is declared, that
neither his Majesty nor his privy Council have or
ought to have any Jurisdiction Power or Authority to
do. In short, this Measure appears to me to be
repugnant to the first Principles of natural Justice.
The interrested Servants of the Crown, and some of
them pensiond, perhaps byassd & corrupted being
the constituted Judges, whether this or that Subject
shall be put to answer for a supposd Offence against
the Crown, & that in a distant Country, to their great
Detriment & Danger of Life & Fortune, even if their
Innocence shd be made to appear. What Man is safe
from the malicious Prosecution of such Persons, un
less it be the cringing Sycophant, and even he holds
his Life and Property at their Mercy. It should
392 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
awaken the American Colonies, which have been too
long dozing upon the Brink of Ruin. It should again
unite them in one Band. Had that Union which
once happily subsisted been preservd, the Conspira
tors against our Common Rights would never have
venturd such bold Attempts. It has ever been my
Opinion, that an Attack upon the Liberties of one
Colony is an Attack upon the Liberties of all ; and
therefore in this Instance all should be ready to yield
Assistance to Rhode Island. But an Answer to the
most material Part of your Letter must be referd, for
the Reasons I have given, to another Opportunity.
In the mean time I am with due Regards to the
Gentlemen who have honord me with their Letter
Your assured Friend & very hbl Serv'
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF
CAMBRIDGE.1
[MS., Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Decr 29 1772
GENTLEMEN
Your cordial Approbation 2 of our sincere En
deavors for the Common Safety, affords us great
Encouragement to persevere with Alacrity in the
Execution of our Trust. Our hands have been
abundantly strengthend by the generous and manly
Resolves of our worthy Brethren in the several
1 Addressed to " Capt Ebenezer Stedman & others, a Committee of Corre
spondence in Cambridge."
9 Boston Gazette, December 28, 1772.
1772] SAMUEL ADAMS. 393
Towns who have hitherto acted. Should such Senti
ments, which we are convincd generally prevail
through the province, be as generally expressd, it
must refute the insidious misrepresentation so in
dustriously propagated on both sides of the Atlan-
tick, that the people have not Virtue enough to resist
the Efforts made to enslave them ! It affords us the
greatest Satisfaction to find the Opportunity offerd
to our Fellow Countrymen to wipe off so igno
minious a Reproach so readily embraced. We trust
in God, & in the Smiles of Heaven on the Justice of
our Cause, that a Day is hastening, when the Efforts
of the Colonists will be crownd with Success ; and the
present Generation furnish an Example of publick
Virtue^wprthy the Imitation of all Posterity. In this
we are greatly encouraged, from the thorough Under
standing of our civil & Religious Rights Liberties &
Privileges, throughout this province : The Import
ance of which is so obvious, that we are satisfied,
nothing we can offer, would strengthen your Sense
of it.
I't gives us Pleasure to be assured from you, that
the meetings of the Town of Cambridge on the
Occasion have been so respectable ; as, in our Opin
ion, it is an Evidence of their virtuous Attachment to
the Cause of Liberty.
It shall be our constant Endeavor to collect and
communicate to our esteemed fellow Countrymen
every Interresting Information we can procure ; in
pursuance thereof we take the Liberty to inclose,
a material Extract of a Letter from the Right
Honorable the Earl of Dartmouth to his Honor the
394 THE WRITINGS OF [1772
Governor of Rhode Island, Dated White Hall, Sept.
7 1772 ; which we have good reason to assure you
is genuine.1
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF
PLYMOUTH.2
[MS., Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Decr 29 1772
MUCH RESPECTED GENTLEMEN
We the Committee of Correspondence for the
Town of Boston, have receivd your kind Letters in
closing the noble & patriotick Resolves of the Me
tropolis of the ancient Colony of Plymouth.
It must give singular Pleasure to the friends of
this Country to find in all times of Difficulty & Dan
ger, the worthy Inhabitants of Plymouth, [are] ready
to assert the natural religious & civil Rights of the
Colonists in general & of this by a new Charter
united province in particular.
Your thorough knowledge of those Rights the
Sense you have of the many late Infractions thereof,
the manly & becoming Spirit with which you have
always expressd your selves on such Occasions, must
best appear without any Comment, from your Re
solves for a number of years past ; more especially
your last which are before the publick Eye.
We heartily congratulate you on the return of that
1 The form of signature is : " Signd by order of the Committee for Corre
spondence in Boston William Cooper, Clerk."
2 Addressed to "Joseph Warren Esq & others a Committee of Corre
spondence for the Town of Plymouth."
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 395
great Anniversary, the landing of the first Settlers at
Plymouth, & on the religious & respectful Manner, in
which it has been celebrated.
You may say without Vanity, and surely we may
affirm without any such Imputation, that a handful of
persecuted brave people, then made way for the ex
tensive Settlement of New England : That had it not
been for their Efforts, Virginia would have soon been
abandoned : That the French who were then settled
at Quebec ; & the Dutch interloping in Hudsons
River with the Assistance they might have derived
from the Natives, and the Aid at all times ready to be
afforded, by the Crown of Spain, then in possession
of South America, against the Crown of England,
would have availd themselves of all the Continent of
North America. And that at this very period Great
Britain might have thought herself well off, with such
trifling Islands as are now in the possession of the Dane.
In pursuance of our Instruction from this Town to
communicate any new Infractions of our Rights &
Liberties we inclose an Extract of a Letter from
Lord Dartmouth to the Governor of Rhode Island &
shall take the earliest Opportunity to advise you of
every thing Important that may occur to us.
TO DARIUS SESSIONS.
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Jan 2 1773.
SIR,
I wrote you on Monday last acknowledging the
Receipt of a Letter directed to me from your self &
396 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
other worthy Gentlemen in Providence. The Ques
tion proposed was in what manner your Colony had
best behave in this critical Situation & how the
Shock that is coming upon it may be best evaded or
sustaind. It appears to me probable that the Ad
ministration has a design to get your Charter vacated.
The Execution of so extraordinary a Commission,
unknown in your Charter & abhorrent to the princi
ples of every free Government, wherein Persons are
appointed to enquire into Offences committed against
a Law of another Legislature, with the Power of
transporting the persons they shall suspect beyond
the Seas to be tryed, would essentially change your
Constitution ; and a Silence under such a Change
would be construed a Submission to it. At the same
time it must be considerd that an open declaration
of the Assembly against the Appointment & order of
the King, in which he is supported by an Act of the
British Parliament, would be construed by the Law
Servants of the Crown & other ministers such a
Defiance of the Royal Authority, as they would
advise proper to be recommended to the Considera
tion & Decision of Parliament. Should your Gov
ernor refuse to call the Commissioners together, or
when called together, the civil magistrates refuse to
take measures for arresting & committing to Custody
such persons as upon Information made shall be
chargd with being concernd in burning the Gaspee,
or if they should issue their precepts for that purpose
the Officers should refuse to execute them, the Event
would be perhaps the same as in the Case of an open
Declaration before mentiond, for in all these Cases it
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 397
would be represented to the King & the parliament
that it was to be attributed to what they will call the
overbearing popularity of your Government, & the
same pretence would be urgd for the Necessity of an
Alteration in order to support the Kings Authority
in the Colony. As the chiefe Object in the View of
Administration seems to be the vacating your Charter,
I cannot think the Commissioners in case they should
meet together, would upon any of the aforementiond
Occasions, chuse to call upon General Gage for the
Aid of the Troops or make any more than the Shew
of a Readiness to execute their Commission ; for they
might think the grand purpose would be sufficiently
answerd without their Discussing such danger to
their Reputation, if not their persons. If the fore
going Hypotheses are well grounded, I think it may
be justly concluded that since the Constitution is
already destined to suffer unavoidable Dissolution,
an open & manly Determination of the Assembly
not to consent to its ruin would show to the World
& posterity that the people were virtuous though un
fortunate, & sustaind the Shock with Dignity.
You will allow me to observe, that this is a Matter
in which the whole American Continent is deeply
concernd and a Submission of the Colony of Rhode
Island to this enormous Claim of power would be
made a Precedent for all the rest ; they ought indeed
to consider deeply their Interest in the Struggle of a
single Colony & their Duty to afford her all practi
cable Aid. This last is a Consideration which I shall
not fail to mention to my particular friends when
our Assembly shall sit the next Week.
398 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
Should it be the determination of a weak Adminis
tration to push this Measure to the utmost at all
Events, and the Commissioners call in the Aid of
troops for that purpose it would be impossible for me
to say what might be the Consequence, Perhaps a
most violent political Earthquake through the whole
British Empire if not its total Destruction.
I have long feard that this unhappy Contest be
tween Britain & America will end in Rivers of Blood ;
Should that be the Case, America I think may wash
her hands in Innocence ; yet it is the highest prudence
to prevent if possible so dreadful a Calamity. Some
such provocation as is now offerd to Rhode Island
will in all probability be the immediate Occasion of it.
Let us therefore consider whether in the present Case
the Shock that is coming upon you may not be evaded
which is a distinct part of the Question proposed.
For this purpose, if your Governor should omit to
call the Commissioners together, in Consequence of
a representation made to him by the Assembly, that
the Innovation appears to them of a most dangerous
Tendency ; and altogether needless, inasmuch as the
same Enquiry might be made as effectually (and
doubtless would be) by a Grand Jury, as is proposed
to be made by the Commissioners ; which would be
agreable to the Constitution & in the ordinary
Course of Justice. A representation of this kind
made by the Assembly to the Governor, would afford
him a reasonable plea for suspending the Matter till
he could fully state the Matter to Lord Dartmouth
& the odious light in which the Commission is
viewd by that & the other Colonies as a measure in-
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 399
compatible with the English Constitution & the
Rights of the Colonists together with the fatal Con
sequences of which it might probably be productive.
This perhaps could not be done till the rising of
Parliament, & before the next Session a war or
some other important Event might take place which
would bury this Affair in Oblivion. Or if it should
ever come before Parliament in this Manner, the
Delay on the part of the Governor would appear to
be made upon motives of sound prudence & the best
Advice which would tend to soften their Spirits.
And besides, its appearing to be founded not directly
on the principles of Opposition to the Authority of Par
liament, the sacred Importance of Charters upon which
many of the Members hold their Seats, might be con-
siderd without prejudice, & the Matter might subside
even in Parliament. Should that be the Case it would
disappoint the designs & naturally abate the Rigour
of Administration & so the Shock might be evaded.
If, without being called together by Governor
Wanton who is first named, the rest of the Commis
sioners should meet upon the Business of their
Commission, which I cannot suppose they will do,
especially if the Governor should acquaint them with
the Reason of his not calling them, it would show a
forward Zeal to execute an order new arbitrary &
universally odious, & how far that, might justly in-
sence the people against them personally, & lessen
them in the Esteem of all judicious Men, they would
do well calmly to consider ; and how far also they
would be answerable for the fatal Effects that might
follow such a forwardness all the world and Posterity
400 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
will judge : For such an Event as this will assuredly
go down to future Ages in the page of History, &
the Colony & all concernd in it will be characterizd
by the part they shall act in the Tragedy. Upon the
whole it is my humble Opinion, that the grand Pur
pose of Administration is either to intimidate the
Colony into a Compliance with a Measure destructive
of the freedom of their Constitution, or to provoke
them to such a Step as shall give a pretext for the Va
cation of their Charter which I should think must sound
like Thunder in the Ears of Connecticutt especially.
Whatever Measures the Wisdom of your Assembly
may fix upon to evade the impending Stroke, I hope
nothing will be done which may by the Invention of
our Adversarys, be construed as even the Appearance
of an Acquiescence in so grasping an Act of Tyranny.
Thus I have freely given my Sentiments upon the
Question proposed ; which I should not have venturd
to do had it not been requested. I have done it with
the greatest Diffidence because I think I am fully sensi
ble of my Inability to enter into a Question of so
delicate a Nature & great Importance especially as I
have not had that opportunity to consult my friends
which I promisd my self. I hope the Assembly of
Rhode Island will in their Conduct exhibit an Ex
ample of true Wisdom Fortitude & Perseverance.
And with the greatest Respect to the Gentlemen to
whose superior Understanding this and my former
Letter to you is submitted, I remain
Sir
Your assured friend
& humble servant
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 401
P.S. I beg just to propose for Consideration
whether a circular Letr from your Assembly on this
Occasion, to those of the other Colonies might not
tend to the Advantage of the General Cause & of R
Island in particular ; I should think it would induce
each of them, at least to injoyn their Agents in Great
Britain to represent the Severity of your Case in the
strongest terms.
To the Hon Darius Sessions Esqr
to be communicated
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS TO
THE GOVERNOR. JANUARY 26, 1773.!
[Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 351-364; also printed in \hzBoston Gazette,
February I, 1773, and in The Speeches of His Excellency Governor Hutchinson
(Boston, 1773), pp. 33-58.]
May it please your Excellency,
Your Excellency's speech to the General Assembly,
at the opening of this session,2 has been read with
great attention in this House.
We fully agree with your Excellency, that our own
happiness, as well as his Majesty's service, very much
depends upon peace and order ; and we shall at all
times take such measures as are consistent with our
constitution, and the rights of the people, to promote
1 Adams was a member of the committee appointed by the House on January
8 to prepare this answer, and also a member of the committee appointed Janu
ary 26 to present the answer to the Governor.
Concerning the authorship of the answer, see W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel
Adams ', vol. ii., p. 31, and R. Frothingham, Life of Joseph Warren, p. 223.
For a claim adverse to the authorship of Samuel Adams, see W. Tudor, Life
of James Otis, p. 411, See also below, pages 430, 431.
2 Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 336-342.
VOL. ii. — 26.
402 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
and maintain them. That the government at present
is in a very disturbed state, is apparent. But we can
not ascribe it to the people's having adopted uncon
stitutional principles, which seems to be the cause
assigned for it by your Excellency. It appears to us,
to have been occasioned rather by the British House
of Commons assuming and exercising a power incon
sistent with the freedom of the constitution, to give
and grant the property of the colonists, and appro
priate the same without their consent.
It is needless for us to inquire what were the prin
ciples that induced the councils of the nation to so
new and unprecedented a measure. But, when the
Parliament, by an act of their own, expressly declared,
that the King, Lords, and Commons, of the nation
" have, and of right ought to have full power and
authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force
and validity, to bind the colonies and people of
America, subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, in
all cases whatever," and in consequence hereof, an
other revenue act was made, the minds of the people
were filled with anxiety, and they were justly alarmed
with apprehensions of the total extinction of their
liberties.
The result of the free inquiries of many persons, into
the right of the Parliament, to exercise such a power
over the colonies, seems, in your Excellency's opinion,
to be the cause, of what you are pleased to call the
present " disturbed state of the government ; " upon
which, you " may not any longer, consistent with your
duty to the King, and your regard to the interest of
the province, delay communicating your sentiments."
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 403
But that the principles adopted in consequence hereof,
are unconstitutional, is a subject of inquiry. We
know of no such disorders arising therefrom, as are
mentioned by your Excellency. If Grand Jurors
have not, on their oaths, found such offences, as
your Excellency, with the advice of his Majesty's
Council, have ordered to be prosecuted, it is to be
presumed, they have followed the dictates of good
conscience. They are the constitutional judges of
these matters, and it is not to be supposed, that moved
from corrupt principles, they have suffered offenders
to escape a prosecution, and thus supported and en
couraged them to go on offending. If any part of
authority shall, in an unconstitutional manner, inter
pose in any matter, it will be no wonder if it be
brought into contempt ; to the lessening or confound
ing of that subordination, which is necessary to a well
regulated state. Your Excellency's representation
that the bands of government are weakened, we
humbly conceive to be without good grounds ; though
we must own, the heavy burdens unconstitutionally
brought upon the people, have been, and still are uni
versally, and very justly complained of, as a grievance.
You are pleased to say, that, " when our predeces
sors first took possession of this plantation, or colony,
under a grant and charter from the Crown of Eng
land, it was their sense, and it was the sense of
the kingdom, that they were to remain subject to the
supreme authority of Parliament ; " whereby we un
derstand your Excellency to mean, in the sense of
the declaratory act of Parliament afore mentioned,
in all cases whatever. And, indeed, it is difficult, if
404 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
possible, to draw a line of distinction between the uni
versal authority of Parliament over the colonies, and
no authority at all. It is, therefore, necessary for us
to inquire how it appears, for your Excellency has not
shown it to us, that when, or at the time that our
predecessors took possession of this plantation, or
colony, under a grant and charter from the Crown of
England, it was their sense, and the sense of the king
dom, that they were to remain subject to the author
ity of Parliament. In making this inquiry, we shall,
according to your Excellency's recommendation, treat
the subject with calmness and candor, and also with a
due regard to truth.
Previous to a direct consideration of the charter
granted to the province or colony, and the better to
elucidate the true sense and meaning of it, we would
take a view of the state of the English North Ameri
can continent at the time, when, and after possession
was first taken of any part of it, by the Europeans. It
was then possessed by heathen and barbarous people,
who had, nevertheless, all that right to the soil, and
sovereignty in and over the lands they possessed,
which God had originally given to man. Whether
their being heathen, inferred any right or authority
to Christian princes, a right which had long been as
sumed by the Pope, to dispose of their lands to
others, we will leave your Excellency, or any one of
understanding and impartial judgment, to consider.
It is certain, they had in no other sense, forfeited
them to any power in Europe. Should the doctrine
be admitted, that the discovery of lands owned and
possessed by pagan people, gives to any Christian
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 405
prince a right and title to the dominion and property,
still it is vested in the Crown alone. xlt was an acqui
sition of foreign territory, not annexed to the realm
of England, and, therefore, at the absolute disposal of
the Crown. For we take it to be a settled point, that
the King has a constitutional prerogative, to dispose
of and alienate, any part of his territories not an
nexed to the realm./ In exercise of this prerogative,
Queen Elizabeth granted the first American charter ;
and, claiming a right by virtue of discovery, then sup
posed to be valid, to the lands which are now pos
sessed by the colony of Virginia, she conveyed to Sir
Walter Rawleigh, the property, dominion, and sov
ereignty thereof, to be held of the Crown, by hom
age, and a certain render, without any reservation to
herself, of any share in the Legislative and Executive
authority. After the attainder of Sir Walter, King
James the I. created two Virginian companies, to be
governed each by laws, transmitted to them by his
Majesty, and not by the Parliament, with power to
establish, and cause to be made, a coin to pass cur
rent among them ; and vested with all liberties, fran
chises and immunities, within any of his other
dominions, to all intents and purposes, as if they had
been abiding and born within the realm. A declara
tion similar to this, is contained in the first charter of
this colony, and in those of other American colonies,
which shows that the colonies were not intended, or
considered to be within the realm of England, though
within the allegiance of the English Crown. After
this, another charter was granted by the same King
James, to the Treasurer and Company of Virginia,
406 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
vesting them with full power and authority, to make,
ordain, and establish, all manner of orders, laws,
directions, instructions, forms and ceremonies of gov
ernments, and magistracy, fit and necessary, and the
same to abrogate, &c. without any reservation for se
curing their subjection to Parliament, and future laws
of England. A third charter was afterwards granted
by the same King, to the Treasurer and Company of
Virginia, vesting them with full power and authority
to make laws, with an addition of this clause, u so, al
ways, that the same be not contrary to the laws and
statutes of this our realm of England." The same
clause was afterwards copied into the charter of this
and other colonies, with certain variations, such as,
that these laws should be " consonant to reason,"
" not repugnant to the laws of England," " as nearly
as conveniently may be to the laws, statutes and
rights of England," &c. These modes of expression,
convey the same meaning, and serve to show an in
tention, that the laws of the colonies should be as
much as possible, conformable in the spirit of them,
to the principles and fundamental laws of the English
constitution, its rights and statutes then in being,
and by no means to bind the colonies to a subjection
to the supreme authority of the English Parliament.
And that this is the true intention, we think it further
evident from this consideration, that no acts of any
colony Legislative, are ever brought into Parliament
for inspection there, though the laws made in some of
them, like the acts of the British Parliament, are laid
before the King for his dissent or allowance.
We have brought the first American charters into
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 407
view, and the state of the country when they were
granted, to show, that the right of disposing of the
lands was, in the opinion of those times, vested
solely in the Crown ; that the several charters con
veyed to the grantees, who should settle upon the
territories therein granted, all the powers necessary
to constitute them free and distinct states ; and that
the fundamental laws of the English constitution
should be the certain and established rule of legisla
tion, to which, the laws to be made in the several
colonies, were to be, as nearly as conveniently might
be, conformable, or similar, which was the true intent
and import of the words, " not repugnant to the laws
of England," "consonant to reason," and other vari
ant expressions in the different charters. And we
would add, that the King, in some of the charters, re
serves the right to judge of the consonance and simi
larity of their laws with the English constitution, to
himself, and not to the Parliament ; and, in conse
quence thereof, to affirm, or within a limited time,
disallow them.
These charters, as well as that afterwards granted
to Lord Baltimore, and other charters, are repugnant
to the idea of Parliamentary authority ; and, to sup
pose a Parliamentary authority over the colonies,
under such charters, would necessarily induce that
solecism in politics, imperium in imperio. And the
King's repeatedly exercising the prerogative of dis
posing of the American territory by such charters,
together with the silence of the nation thereupon, is
an evidence that it was an acknowledged prerogative.
But, further to show the sense of the English
408 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
Crown and nation, that the American colonists, and
our predecessors in particular, when they first took
possession of this country, by a grant and charter
from the Crown, did not remain subject to the su
preme authority of Parliament, we beg leave to ob
serve, that when a bill was offered by the two Houses
of Parliament to King Charles the I. granting to the
subjects of England, the free liberty of fishing on the
coast of America, he refused his royal assent, declar
ing as a reason, that " the colonies were without the
realm and jurisdiction of Parliament."
In like manner, his predecessor, James the I.
had before declared, upon a similar occasion, that
" America was not annexed to the realm, and it was
not fitting that Parliament should make laws for those
countries." This reason was, not secretly, but openly
declared in Parliament. If, then, the colonies were
not annexed to the realm, at the time when their
charters were granted, they never could afterwards,
without their own special consent, which has never
since been had, or even asked. If they are not now
annexed to the realm, they are not a part of the
kingdom, and consequently not subject to the Legis
lative authority of the kingdom. For no country, by
the common law, was subject to the laws or to the
Parliament, but the realm of England.
We would, if your Excellency pleases, subjoin an
instance of conduct in King Charles the II. singular
indeed, but important to our purpose, who, in 1769,
framed an act for a permanent revenue for the sup
port of Virginia, and sent it there by Lord Culpepper,
the Governor of that colony, which was afterwards
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 409
passed into a law, and " enacted by the King's most
excellent Majesty, by, and with the consent of the
General Assembly of Virginia." If the King had
judged the colony to be a part of the realm, he would
not, nor could he, consistently with Magna Charta,
have placed himself at the head of, and joined with
any Legislative body in making a law to tax the
people there, other than the Lords and Commons of
England.
Having taken a view of the several charters of the
first colony in America, if we look into the old charter
of this colony, we shall find it to be grounded on the
same principle ; that the right of disposing the terri
tory granted therein, was vested in the Crown, as
being that Christian Sovereign who first discovered it,
when in the possession of heathens ; and that it was
considered as being not within the realm, but being
only within the Fee and Seignory of the King. As,
therefore, it was without the realm of England, must
not the King, if he had designed that the Parliament
should have any authority over it, have made special
reservation for that purpose, which was not done ?
Your Excellency says, " it appears from the charter
itself, to have been the sense of our predecessors,
who first took possession of this plantation, or colony,
that they were to remain subject to the authority of
Parliament." You have not been pleased to point
out to us, how this appears from the charter, unless it
be in the observation you make on the above men
tioned clause, viz.: " that a favorable construction has
been put upon this clause, when it has been allowed
to intend such laws of England only, as are expressly
410 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
made to respect us," which you say, "is by charter, a
reserve of power and authority to Parliament, to bind
us by such laws, at least, as are made expressly to re
fer to us, and consequently is a limitation of the
power given to the General Court." But, we would
still recur to the charter itself, and ask your Excel
lency, how this appears, from thence, to have been
the sense of our predecessors ? Is any reservation of
power and authority to Parliament thus to bind us,
expressed or implied in the charter ? It is evident,
that King Charles the I. the very Prince who granted
it, as well as his predecessor, had no such idea of the
supreme authority of Parliament over the colony,
from their declarations before recited. Your Excel
lency will then allow us, further to ask, by what
authority, in reason or equity, the Parliament can en
force a construction so unfavorable to us. Quod ab
initio injustum est, nullum potest habere juris cffec-
tum, said Grotius. Which, with submission to your
Excellency, may be rendered thus : whatever is origi
nally in its nature wrong, can never be sanctified, or
made right by repetition and use.
In solemn agreements, subsequent restrictions
ought never to be allowed. The celebrated author,
whom your Excellency has quoted, tells us, that,
" neither the one or the other of the interested, or
contracting powers, hath a right to interpret at pleas
ure." This we mention, to show, even upon a sup
position, that the Parliament had been a party to the
contract, the invalidity of any of its subsequent acts,
to explain any clause in the charter ; more especially
to restrict or make void any clause granted therein to
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 41 r
the General Court. An agreement ought to be in
terpreted " in such a manner as that it may have its
effect." But, if your Excellency's interpretation of
this clause is just, " that it is a reserve of power and
authority to Parliament to bind us by such laws as are
made expressly to refer to us," it is not only " a limi
tation of the power given to the General Court " to
legislate, but it may, whenever the Parliament shall
think fit, render it of no effect ; for it puts it in the
power of Parliament, to bind us by as many laws as
they please, and even to restrain us from making any
laws at all. If your Excellency's assertions in this,
and the next succeeding part of your speech, were
well grounded, the conclusion would be undeniable,
that the charter, even in this clause, " does not confer
or reserve any liberties," worth enjoying, " but what
would have been enjoyed without it ; " saving that,
within any of his Majesty's dominions, we are to be
considered barely as not aliens. You are pleased to say,
it cannot " be contended, that by the liberties of free
and natural subjects," (which are expressly granted
in the charter, to all intents, purposes and construc
tions, whatever,) " is to be understood, an exemption
from acts of Parliament, because not represented
there ; seeing it is provided by the same charter, that
such acts shall be in force." If, says an eminent law
yer, " the King grants to the town of D. the same
liberties which London has, this shall be intended the
like liberties." A grant of the liberties of free and
natural subjects, is equivalent to a grant of the same
liberties. And the King, in the first charter to this
colony, expressly grants, that it " shall be construed,
4i2 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
reputed and adjudged in all cases, most favorably on
the behalf and for the benefit and behoof of the said
Governor and Company, and their successors — any
matter, cause or thing, whatsover, to the contrary not
withstanding." It is one of the liberties of free and
natural subjects, born and abiding within the realm,
to be governed, as your Excellency observes, " by
laws made by persons, in whose elections they, from
time to time, have a voice." This is an essential
right. For nothing is more evident, than, that any
people, who are subject to the unlimited power of
another, must be in a state of abject slavery. It was
easily and plainly foreseen, that the right of represen
tation in the English Parliament, could not be exer
cised by the people of this colony. It would be
impracticable, if consistent with the English constitu
tion. And for this reason, that this colony might
have and enjoy all the liberties and immunities of
free and natural subjects within the realm, as stipu
lated in the charter, it was necessary, and a Legisla
tive was accordingly constituted within the colony ;
one branch of which, consists of Representatives
chosen by the people, to make all laws, statutes, or
dinances, &c. for the well ordering and governing
the same, not repugnant to the laws of England, or,
as nearly as conveniently might be, agreeable to the
fundamental laws of the English constitution. We
are, therefore, still at a loss to conceive, where your
Excellency finds it " provided in the same charter,
that such acts," viz. acts of Parliament, made ex
pressly to refer to us, " shall be in force " in this
province. There is nothing to this purpose, ex-
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 413
pressed in the charter, or in our opinion, even im
plied in it. And surely it would be very absurd, that
a charter, which is evidently formed upon a supposi
tion and intention, that a colony is and should be con
sidered as not within the realm ; and declared by the
very Prince who granted it, to be not within the juris
diction of Parliament, should yet provide, that the laws
which the same Parliament should make, expressly
to refer to that colony, should be in force therein.
Your Excellency is pleased to ask, " does it follow,
that the government, by their (our ancestors) removal
from one part of the dominion to another, loses its
authority over that part to which they removed ; and
that they are freed from the subjection they were
under before ? " We answer, if that part of the King's
dominions, to which they removed, was not then a
part of the realm, and was never annexed to it, the
Parliament lost no authority over it, having never
had such authority ; and the emigrations were conse
quently freed from the subjection they were under
before their removal. The power and authority of
Parliament, being constitutionally confined within the
limits of the realm, and the nation collectively, of which
alone it is the representing and Legislative Assembly.
Your Excellency further asks, " will it not rather be
said, that by this, their voluntary removal, they have
relinquished, fora time, at least, one of the rights of an
English subject, which they might, if they pleased, have
continued to enjoy, and may again enjoy, whenever
they return to the place where it can be exercised ? "
To which we answer ; they never did relinquish the
right to be governed by laws, made by persons in
414 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
whose election they had a voice. The King stipu
lated with them, that they should have and enjoy all
the liberties of free and natural subjects, born within
the realm, to all intents, purposes and constructions,
whatsoever ; that is, that they should be as free as
those, who were to abide within the realm : conse
quently, he stipulated with them, that they should
enjoy and exercise this most essential right, which dis
criminates freemen from vassals, uninterruptedly, in
its full sense and meaning ; and they did, and ought
still to exercise it, without the necessity of returning,
for the sake of exercising it, to the nation or state of
England.
We cannot help observing, that your Excellency's
manner of reasoning on this point, seems to us, to
render the most valuable clauses in our charter unin
telligible : as if persons going from the realm of
England, to inhabit in America, should hold and exer
cise there a certain right of English subjects ; but, in
order to exercise it in such manner as to be of any
benefit to them, they must not inhabit there, but
return to the place where alone it can be exercised
By such construction, the words of the charter can
have no sense or meaning. We forbear remarking
upon the absurdity of a grant to persons born with
out the realm, of the same liberties which would
have belonged to them, if they had been born within
the realm.
Your Excellency is disposed to compare this gov
ernment to the variety of corporations, formed within
the kingdom, with power to make and execute by
laws, &c.; and, because they remain subject to the
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 415
supreme authority of Parliament, to infer, that this
colony is also subject to the same authority : this
reasoning appears to us not just. The members of
those corporations are resident within the kingdom ;
and residence subjects them to the authority of Par
liament, in which they are also represented ; whereas
the people of this colony are not resident within the
realm. The charter was granted, with the express
purpose to induce them to reside without the realm ;
consequently, they are not represented in Parliament
there. But, we would ask your Excellency, are any
of the corporations, formed within the kingdom, vested
with the power of erecting other subordinate corpora
tions ? of enacting and determining what crimes shall
be capital ? and constituting courts of common law,
with all their officers, for the hearing, trying and pun
ishing capital offenders with death ? These and
many other powers vested in this government, plainly
show, that it is to be considered as a corporation, in
no other light, than as every state is a corporation.
Besides, appeals from the courts of law here, are not
brought before the House of Lords; which shows,
that the peers of the realm, are not the peers of
America : but all such appeals are brought before the
King in council, which is a further evidence, that we
are not within the realm.
We conceive enough has been said, to convince
your Excellency, that, "when our predecessors first
took possession of this plantation, or colony, by a
grant and charter from the Crown of England, it was
not, and never had been the sense of the kingdom,
that they were to remain subject to the supreme
4i6 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
authority of Parliament. We will now, with your
Excellency's leave, inquire what was the sense of our
ancestors, of this very important matter.
And, as your Excellency has been pleased to tell
us, you have not discovered, that the supreme author
ity of Parliament has been called in question, even by
private and particular persons, until within seven or
eight years past ; except about the time of the anarchy
and confusion in England, which preceded the resto
ration of King Charles the II. we beg leave to remind
your Excellency of some parts of your own history of
Massachusetts Bay. Therein we are informed of the
sentiments of " persons of influence," after the resto
ration ; from which, the historian tells us, some parts
of their conduct, that is, of the General Assembly,
" may be pretty well accounted for." By the history,
it appears to have been the opinion of those persons
of influence, " that the subjects of any prince or state,
had a natural right to remove to any other state, or
to another quarter of the world, unless the state was
weakened or exposed by such remove ; and, even in
that case, if they were deprived of the right of all
mankind, liberty of conscience, it would justify a sep
aration, and upon their removal, their subjection de
termined and ceased." That " the country to which
they had removed, was claimed and possessed by
independent princes, whose right to the lordship and
sovereignty thereof had been acknowledged by the
Kings of England," an instance of which is quoted in
the margin. "That they themselves had actually
purchased, for valuable consideration, not only the
soil, but the dominion, the lordship and sovereignty
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 417
of those princes;" without which purchase, "in the
sight of God and men, they had no right or title to
what they possessed." They had received a charter
of incorporation from the King, from whence arose a
new kind of subjection, namely, "a voluntary, civil
subjection ; " and by this compact, " they were to be
governed by laws made by themselves." Thus it ap
pears to have been the sentiments of private persons,
though persons by whose sentiments the public con
duct was influenced, that their removal was a justi
fiable separation from the mother state, upon which,
their subjection to that state, determined and ceased.
The supreme authority of Parliament, if it had then
ever been asserted, must surely have been called in
question, by men who had advanced such principles
asj:hese.
The first act of Parliament, made expressly to refer
to the colonies, was after the restoration. In the
reign of King Charles the II. several such acts passed.
And the same history informs us, there was a difficulty
in conforming to them ; and the reason of this diffi
culty is explained in a letter of the General Assembly
to their Agent, quoted in the following words ; " they
apprehended them to be an invasion of the rights,
liberties and properties of the subjects of his Majesty,
in the colony, they not being represented in Parlia
ment, and according to the usual sayings of the learned
in the law, the laws of England were bounded within
the four seas, and did not reach America : However,
as his Majesty had signified his pleasure, that those
acts should be observed in the Massachusetts, they
had made provision, by a law of the colony, that they
VOL. II. 27.
4i8 "THE WRITINGS OF [1773
should be strictly attended." 1 Which provision, by a
law of their own, would have been superfluous, if they
had admitted the supreme authority of Parliament.
In short, by the same history it appears, that those
acts of Parliament, as such, were disregarded ; and
the following reason is given for it : " It seems to
have been a general opinion, that acts of Parliament
have no other force, than what they derived from acts
made by the General Court, to establish and confirm
them."
But, still further to show the sense of our ancestors,
respecting this matter, we beg leave to recite some
parts of a narrative, presented to the Lords of Privy
Council, by Edward Randolph, in the year 1676,
which we find in your Excellency's collection of papers
lately published.2 Therein 3 it is declared to be the
sense of the colony, " that no law is in force or esteem
there, but such as are made by the General Court ;
and, therefore, it is accounted a breach of their privi
leges, and a betraying of the liberties of their com
monwealth, to urge the observation of the laws of
England." And, further, " that no oath shall be urged,
or required to be taken by any person, but such oath
as the General Court hath considered, allowed and
required." And, further, "there is no notice taken of
the act of navigation, plantation or any other laws,
made in England for the regulation of trade." " That
the government would make the world believe, they
1 T. Hutchinson, History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, vol. i., p. 322.
9 A Collection of Original Papers Relative to the History of the Colony of
Massachusetts Bay. Boston, 1769. Reprinted by the Prince Society, 2 vols.,
Albany, 1865, under the title The Hutchinson Papers.
3 The Hutchinson Papers, vol, ii., pp. 210 et seq.
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 419
are a free state, and do act in all matters accordingly."
Again, " these magistrates ever reserve to themselves,
a power to alter, evade and disannul any law or com
mand, not agreeing with their humor, or the absolute
authority of their government, acknowledging no su
perior." And, further, " he (the Governor) freely
declared to me, that the laws made by your Majesty
and your Parliament, obligeth them in nothing, but
what consists with the interests of that colony ; that
the Legislative power and authority is, and abides in
them solely." And in the same Mr. Randolph's letter
to the Bishop of London, July 14, 1682, he says,
" this independency in government is claimed and
daily practised." l And your Excellency being then
sensible, that this was the sense of our ancestors, in a
marginal note, in the same collection of papers, ob
serves, that, "this, viz. the provision made for observ
ing the acts of trade, is very extraordinary, for this
provision was an act of the colony, declaring the acts
of trade shall be in force there." Although Mr. Ran
dolph was very unfriendly to the colony, yet, as his de
clarations are concurrent with those recited from your
Excellency's history, we think they may be admitted,
for the purpose for which they are now brought.
Thus we see, from your Excellency's history and
publications, the sense our ancestors had of the juris
diction of Parliament, under the first charter. Very
different from that, which your Excellency in your
speech, apprehends it to have been.
It appears by Mr. Neal's History of New England,
that the agents, who had been employed by the colony
1 The Hutchinson Papers, vol. ii., p. 281.
420 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
to transact its affairs in England, at the time when
the present charter was granted, among other reasons,
gave the following for their acceptance of it, viz.
" The General Court has, with the King's approba
tion, as much power in New England, as the King
and Parliament have in England ; they have all Eng
lish privileges, and can be touched by no law, and by
no tax but of their own making." * This is the earliest
testimony that can be given of the sense our prede
cessors had of the supreme authority of Parliament,
under the present charter. And it plainly shows,
that they, who having been freely conversant with
those who framed the charter, must have well under
stood the design and meaning of it, supposed that
the terms in our charter, " full power and authority,"
intended and were considered as a sole and exclusive
power, and that there was no " reserve in the charter,
to the authority of Parliament, to bind the colony "
by any acts whatever.
Soon after the arrival of the charter, viz. in 1692,
your Excellency's history informs us,2 " the first act "
of this Legislative, was a sort of Magna Charta, as
serting and setting forth their general privileges, and
this clause was among the rest ; " no aid, tax, tallage,
assessment, custom, loan, benevolence, or imposition
whatever, shall be laid, assessed, imposed, or levied
on any of their Majesty's subjects, or their estates, on
any pretence whatever, but by the act and consent of
the Governor, Council, and Representatives of the
people assembled in General Court." And though
1 Daniel Neal, History of New England. London, 1720, vol. ii., p. 479.
2 T. Hutchinson, History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay ', vol, ii., p. 64.
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 421
this act was disallowed, it serves to show the sense
which the General Assembly, contemporary with the
granting the charter, had of their sole and exclusive
right to legislate for the colony. The history says,
" the other parts of the act were copied from Magna
Charta ; " by which, we may conclude that the As
sembly then construed the words, " not repugnant to
the laws," to mean, conformable to the fundamental
principles of the English constitution. And it is
observable, that the Lords of Privy Council, so
lately as in the reign of Queen Anne, when several
laws enacted by the General Assembly were laid be
fore her Majesty for her allowance, interpreted the
words in this charter, " not repugnant to the laws
of England," by the words, " as nearly as con
veniently may be agreeable to the laws and statutes
of England." And her Majesty was pleased to dis
allow those acts, not because they were repugnant to
any law or statute of England, made expressly to
refer to the colony, but because divers persons, by
virtue thereof, were punished, without being tried by
their peers in the ordinary " courts of law," and " by
the ordinary rules and known methods of justice,"
contrary to the express terms of Magna Charta,
which was a statute in force at the time of granting
the charter, and declaratory of the rights and liberties
of the subjects within the realm.
You are pleased to say, that " our provincial or
local laws have, in numerous instances, had relation
to acts of Parliament, made to respect the planta
tions, and this colony in particular." The authority
of the Legislature, says the same author who is
422 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
quoted by your Excellency, " does not extend so far
as the fundamentals of the constitution. They ought
to consider the fundamental laws as sacred, if the
nation has not in very express terms, given them the
power to change them. For the constitution of the
state ought to be fixed ; and since that was first
established by the nation, which afterwards trusted
certain persons with the Legislative power, the funda
mental laws are excepted from their commission."
Now the fundamentals of the constitution of this
province, are stipulated in the charter ; the reason
ing, therefore, in this case, holds equally good. Much
less, then, ought any acts or doings of the General
Assembly, however numerous, to neither of which
your Excellency has pointed us, which barely relate
to acts of Parliament made to respect the plantations
in general, or this colony in particular, to be taken as
an acknowledgment of this people, or even of the
Assembly, which inadvertently passed those acts, that
we are subject to the supreme authority of Parlia
ment ; and with still less reason are the decisions in
the executive courts to determine this point. If they
have adopted that " as part of the rule of law," which,
in fact, is not, it must be imputed to inattention or
error in judgment, and cannot justly be urged as an
alteration or restriction of the Legislative authority
of the province.
Before we leave this part of your Excellency's
speech, we would observe, that the great design of
our ancestors in leaving the kingdom of England,
was to be freed from a subjection to its spiritual laws
and courts, and to worship God according to the
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 423
dictates of their consciences. Your Excellency, in
your history observes, that their design was " to
obtain for themselves and their posterity, the liberty
of worshipping God in such manner as appeared to
them most agreeable to the sacred scriptures." And
the General Court themselves declared in 1651, that
" seeing just cause to fear the persecution of the then
Bishop, and high commission for not conforming to
the ceremonies of those under their power, they
thought it their safest course, to get to this outside
of the world, out of their view and beyond their
reach." But, if it had been their sense, that they
were still to be subject to the supreme authority of
Parliament, they must have known that their design
might, and probably would be frustrated ; that the
Parliament, especially considering the temper of those
times, might make what ecclesiastical laws they
pleased, expressly to refer to them, and place them
in the same circumstances with respect to religious
matters, to be relieved from which, was the design of
their removal ; and we would add, that if your Ex
cellency's construction of the clause in our present
charter is just, another clause therein, which provides
for liberty of conscience for all christians, except
papists, may be rendered void by an act of Parlia
ment made to refer to us, requiring a conformity to
the rights and mode of worship in the church of
England, or any other.
Thus we have endeavored to show the sense of
the people of this colony under both charters ; and,
if there have been in any late instances a submission
to acts of Parliament, it has been, in our opinion,
424 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
rather from inconsideration, or a reluctance at the
idea of contending with the parent state, than from a
conviction or acknowledgment of the Supreme Legis
lative authority of Parliament.
Your Excellency tells us, "you know of no line
that can be drawn between the supreme authority of
Parliament and the total independence of the colo
nies." If there be no such line, the consequence is,
either that the colonies are the vassals of the Parlia
ment, or that they are totally independent. As it
cannot be supposed to have been the intention of the
parties in the compact, that we should be reduced to
a state of vassalage, the conclusion is, that it was
their sense that we were thus independent. " It is
impossible," your Excellency says, " that there should
be two independent Legislatures in one and the same
state." May we not then further conclude, that it
was their sense, that the colonies were, by their
charters, made distinct states from the mother coun
try ? Your Excellency adds, "for although there
may be but one head, the King, yet the two Legis
lative bodies will make two governments as distinct
as the kingdoms of England and Scotland, before
the union." Very true, may it please your Excel
lency ; and if they interfere not with each other, what
hinders, but that being united in one head and com
mon Sovereign, they may live happily in that connec
tion, and mutually support and protect each other?
Notwithstanding all the terrors which your Excel
lency has pictured to us as the effects of a total
independence, there is more reason to dread the con
sequences of absolute uncontroled power, whether of
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 425
a nation or a monarch, than those of a total inde
pendence. It would be a misfortune "to know by
experience, the difference between the liberties of an
English colonist and those of the Spanish, French,
and Dutch " : and since the British Parliament has
passed an act, which is executed even with rigor,
though not voluntarily submitted to, for raising a
revenue, and appropriating the same, without the
consent of the people who pay it, and have claimed a
power of making such laws as they please, to order
and govern us, your Excellency will excuse us in ask
ing, whether you do not think we already experience
too much of such a difference, and have not reason to
fear we shall soon be reduced to a worse situation than
that of the colonies of France, Spain, or Holland?
If your Excellency expects to have the line of dis
tinction between the supreme authority of Parlia
ment, and the total independence of the colonies
drawn by us, we would say it would be an arduous
undertaking, and of very great importance to all the
other colonies ; and therefore, could we conceive of
such a line, we should be unwilling to propose it,
without their consent in Congress.
To conclude, these are great and profound ques
tions. It is the grief of this House, that, by the ill
policy of a late injudicious administration, America
has been driven into the contemplation of them.
And we cannot but express our concern, that your
Excellency, by your speech, has reduced us to the
unhappy alternative, either of appearing by our
silence to acquiesce in your Excellency's sentiments,
or of thus freely discussing this point.
426 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
After all that we have said, we would be far from
being understood to have in the least abated that
just sense of allegiance which we owe to the King of
Great Britain, our rightful Sovereign ; and should
the people of this province be left to the free and
full exercise of all the liberties and immunities granted
to them by charter, there would be no danger of an
independence on the Crown. Our charters reserve
great power to the Crown in its Representative, fully
sufficient to balance, analogous to the English con
stitution, all the liberties and privileges granted to
the people. All this your Excellency knows full well ;
and whoever considers the power and influence, in
all their branches, reserved by our charter, to the
Crown, will be far from thinking that the Commons
of this province are too independent.
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF LYNN.1
[MS., Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON Febry 9 1773
SRS
The Committee of Correspondence have now be
fore them the Letter of the Town of Lynn, & will,
agreable to their desire, lay it before this Town.
We heartily joyn with you in wishing the glorious
spirit of Liberty which now animates the Inhabitants
of this Province shall be diffused through the Colo
nies, & happily Effect the restoration of their Rights,
which are cruelly ravishd from them.
'Addressed to Ebenezer Burrill, town clerk.
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 427
TO DARIUS SESSIONS.1
[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
[February , 1773.]
SIR
As I am informd the Commissioners are all now in
Newport, and your Assembly is to meet this day I am
anxious to know precisely the Steps that are or shall
be taken by each. I hope your Governor will not
think it proper for him to act in the Commission if
the others should determine so to do. Will it not be
construed as conceding on his part to the Legality of
it ? Every Movement on the Side of the Commis
sioners & the Assembly must be important. I trust
no Concessions will be made on your part which shall
have the remotest tendency to fix a precedent ; for if
it is once establishd, a thousand Commissions of the
like arbitrary kind may be introducd to the utter ruin
of your free Constitution. The promoters of minis
terial measures in this Town are pleasd to hear from
one of the Commissioners that they are treated with
great respect : Even common Civility will be thus
colourd to serve the great purpose. Will it not be
necessary at all Events for the] Assembly to enter a
protest on their Journal against so unconstitutional a
proceeding. This is the Sentiment of a Gentleman
here whose Judgment I very much regard. Such has
been the constant practice of the Assembly of this
province in like Cases, for some years past. You will
see by our Governors Speech what Use is made of
Mistakes of this Sort ; they are even improved as
1 See above, page 389, note.
428 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
Arguments of our having voluntarily consented to be
the Vassals of the British Parliament. Indeed the
Doctrine he has advancd strikes at the root of every
civil Constitution in America. If it be admissible,
yo^i have no just Cause to complain of the present
Measure for it is founded upon the Authority of that
parliament, to the Jurisdiction of which notwithstand
ing your Charter, you remain subject.
I shall receive a Letter from you by the return of
the post if your Attention to the publick Affairs will
admit of it, as a great favor. In the mean time I beg
you to excuse this hasty Scrawl & believe me to
be&c
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS
TO THE GOVERNOR. FEBRUARY 12, 1773. '
[Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 366, 367; printed also in the Gentleman's
Magazine, vol. xliii., pp. 198, 199.]
May it please your Excellency,
Your message of the 4th instant,2 informs this
House, that his Majesty has been pleased to order
that salaries shall be allowed to the Justices of the
Superior Court of this province.
We conceive that no Judge, who has a due regard
to justice, or even to his own character, would choose
to be placed under such an undue bias as they must
be under, in the opinion of this House, by accepting
1 Stated to have been written by Adams, in W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel
Adams, vol. ii., p. 47, but with no authority given.
2 Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 365, 366.
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 429
of, and becoming dependent for their salaries upon
the Crown.
Had not his Majesty been misinformed, with re
spect to the constitution and appointment of our
Judges, by those who advised to this measure, we
are persuaded, he would never have passed such an
order ; as he was pleased to declare, upon his accession
to the throne, that " he looked upon the indepen
dence and uprightness of the Judges, as essential to
the impartial administration of justice, as one of the
best securities of the rights and liberties of his sub
jects, and as most conducive to the honor of the
Crown."
Your Excellency's precaution to prevent all claim
from the province for any services, for which the Jus
tices may also be entitled to a salary from the King,
is comparatively, of very small consideration with us.
When we consider the many attempts that have
been made, effectually to render null and void those
clauses in our charter, upon which the freedom of
our constitution depends, we should be lost to all
public feeling, should we not manifest a just resent
ment. We are more and more convinced, that it
has been the design of administration, totally to
subvert the constitution, and introduce an arbitrary
government into this province ; and we cannot wonder
that the apprehensions of this people are thoroughly
awakened.
We wait with impatience to know, and hope your
Excellency will very soon be able to assure us, that
the Justices will utterly refuse ever to accept of
support, in a manner so justly obnoxious to the
430 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
disinterested and judicious part of the good people
of this province, being repugnant to the charter, and
utterly inconsistent with the safety of the rights,
liberties and properties of the people.
TO JOHN ADAMS.1
[MS., Adams Papers, Quincy, Mass. ; a facsimile is in Works of John Adams,
vol. ii., p. 310.]
MY DEAR SIR
If you have had Leisure to commit your Thoughts
to writing agreable to my request I shall be obligd
if you will send them by the Bearer. The Govr says
the House have incautiously applied a rule of the
Common Law 2 (see the 4th Coll. of his Speech).
The Assertion is mine, upon your Authority as I
thought. If it be vindicable, pray give me your Aid
in that as briefly as you please. I am sorry to trouble
you at a time when I know you must be much engagd
but to tell you a Secret, if there be a Lawyer in the
house in Major Hawleys Absence, there is no one
whom I incline to confide in.
Monday Evg
Presumably written on February 22 or March I, 1773. Cf. W. V. Wells,
Life of Samuel Adams, vol. ii., p. 41.
2 Speech of February 16, 1773. Massachusetts State Papers, p. 374. See
ibid., p. 387.
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 431
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS TO
THE GOVERNOR. MARCH 2, 1773. »
[Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 384-396; printed also in the Boston Gazette,
March 8, 1773, and in The Speeches of His Excellency Governor Hutchinson,
pp. 90-113-]
May it please your Excellency,
In your speech, at the opening of the present ses
sion2, your Excellency expressed your displeasure, at
some late proceedings of the town of Boston, and
other principal towns in the province. And, in an
other speech 3 to both Houses, we have your repeated
exceptions at the same proceedings, as being " unwar
rantable," and of a dangerous nature and tendency;
" against which, you thought yourself bound to call
upon us to join with you in bearing a proper testi
mony." This House have not discovered any prin
ciples advanced by the town of Boston, that are
unwarrantable by the constitution ; nor does it appear
to us, that they have " invited every other town and
district in the province, to adopt their principles."
We are fully convinced, that it is our duty to bear our
testimony against " innovations, of a dangerous nature
and tendency ; " but, it is clearly our opinion, that it
is the indisputable right of all, or any of his Majesty's
subjects, in this province, regularly and orderly to
meet together, to state the grievances they labor
1 Hutchinson is the principal authority for the statement that this document,
as well as that of January 26, 1773, was prepared by Adams. C/.t R. Froth-
ingham, Life of Joseph Warren, p. 223. W. V. Wells, Life of Samuel
Adams, vol. ii., p. 45. An instance of the later recognition of this claim is
in Publications, Colonial Society of Massachusetts, vol. vi., p. 170. And see
also above, pages 401, 430.
'2 Massachusetts State P:apers, p. 338.
3 Ibid., pp. 368-381. February 16.
432 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
under ; and, to propose, and unite in such constitu
tional measures, as they shall judge necessary or
proper, to obtain redress. This right has been fre
quently exercised by his Majesty's subjects within the
realm ; and, we do not recollect an instance, since the
happy revolution, when the two Houses of Parliament
have been called upon to discountenance, or bear their
testimony against it, in a speech from the throne.
Your Excellency is pleased to take notice of some
things, which we " allege," in our answer to your
first speech ; and, the observation you make, we must
confess, is as natural, and undeniably true, as any
one that could have been made ; that, " if our founda
tion shall fail us in every part of it, the fabric we
have raised upon it, must certainly fall." You think
this foundation will fail us ; but, we wish your Excel
lency had condescended to a consideration of what
we have ''adduced in support of our principles." We
might then, perhaps, have had some things offered
for our conviction, more than bare affirmations ;
which, we must beg to be excused, if we say, are far
from being sufficient, though they came with your
Excellency's authority, for which, however, we have
a due regard.
Your Excellency says, that, " as English subjects,
and agreeable to the doctrine of the feudal tenure, all
our lands are held mediately, or immediately, of the
Crown." We trust, your Excellency does not mean
to introduce the feudal system in its perfection ;
which, to use the words of one of our greatest histo
rians, was " a state of perpetual war, anarchy, and con
fusion, calculated solely for defence against the assaults
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 433
of any foreign power ; but, in its provision for the in
terior order and tranquillity of society, extremely de
fective. A constitution, so contradictory to all the
principles that govern mankind, could never be
brought about, but by foreign conquest or native
usurpation." And, a very celebrated writer calls it,
" that most iniquitous and absurd form of govern
ment, by which human nature was so shamefully de
graded." This system of iniquity, by a strange kind
of fatality, "though originally formed for an encamp
ment, and for military purposes only, spread over a
great part of Europe ; " and, to serve the purposes of
oppression and tyranny, "was adopted by princes,
and wrought into their civil constitutions ; " and,
aided by the canon law, calculated by the Roman
Pontiff, to exalt himself above all that is called God,
it prevailed to the almost utter extinction of know
ledge, virtue, religion, and liberty from that part of
the earth. But, from the time of the reformation, in
proportion as knowledge, which then darted its rays
upon the benighted world, increased, and spread
among the people, they grew impatient under this
heavy yoke ; and the most virtuous and sensible
among them, to whose steadfastness, we, in this dis
tant age and climate, are greatly indebted, were de
termined to get rid of it ; and, though they have in a
great measure subdued its power and influence in
England, they have never yet totally eradicated its
principles.
Upon these principles, the King claimed an abso
lute right to, and a perfect estate in, all the lands
within his dominions ; but, how he came by this
VOL. II. — 28.
434 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
absolute right and perfect estate, is a mystery which
we have never seen unravelled, nor is it our business
or design, at present, to inquire. He granted parts
or parcels of it to his friends, the great men, and they
granted lesser parcels to their tenants. All, therefore,
derived their right and held their lands, upon these
principles, mediately or immediately of the King ;
which Mr. Blackstone, however, calls, " in reality, a
mere fiction of our English tenures."
By what right, in nature and reason, the Christian
princes in Europe, claimed the lands of heathen
people, upon a discovery made by any of their sub
jects, is equally mysterious. Such, however, was the
doctrine universally prevailing, when the lands in
America were discovered ; but, as the people of
England, upon those principles, held all the lands
they possessed, by grants from the King, and the
King had never granted the lands in America to
them, it is certain they could have no sort of claim to
them. Upon the principles advanced, the lordship
and dominion, like that of the lands in England, was
in the King solely ; and a right from thence accrued
to him, of disposing such territories, under such
tenure, and for such services to be performed, as the
King or Lord thought proper. But how the grantees
became subjects of England, that is, the supreme
authority of the Parliament, your Excellency has not
explained to us. We conceive that upon the feudal
principles, all power is in the King ; they afford us no
idea of Parliament. "The Lord was in early times,
the Legislator and Judge over all his feudatories,"
says Judge Blackstone. By the struggle for liberty
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 435
in England, from the days of King John, to the
last happy revolution, the constitution has been grad
ually changing for the better ; and upon the more
rational principles, that all men, by nature, are in a
state of equality in respect of jurisdiction and do
minion, power in England has been more equally
divided. And thus, also in America, though we hold
our lands agreeably to the feudal principles of the
King ; yet our predecessors wisely took care to enter
into compact with the King, that power here should
also be equally divided, agreeable to the original
fundamental principles of the English constitution,
declared in.Magna Charta, and other laws and stat
utes of England, made to confirm them.
Your Excellency says, " you can by no means con
cede to us that it is now, or was, when the plantations
were first granted, the prerogative of the Kings of
England, to constitute a number of new governments,
altogether independent of the sovereign authority of
the English empire." By the feudal principles, upon
which you say " all the grants which have been made
of America, are founded, the constitutions of the
Emperor, have the force of law." If our government
be considered as merely feudatory, we are subject to
the King's absolute will, and there is no authority of
Parliament, as the sovereign authority of the British
empire. Upon these principles, what could hinder
the King's constituting a number of independent
governments in America? That King Charles the I.
did actually set up a government in this colony, con
ceding to it powers of making and executing laws,
without any reservation to the English Parliament, of
436 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
authority to make future laws binding therein, is a
fact which your Excellency has not disproved, if you
have denied it. Nor have you shewn that the Parlia
ment or nation objected to it ; from whence we have
inferred that it was an acknowledged right. And we
cannot conceive, why the King has not the same
right to alienate and dispose of countries acquired by
the discovery of his subjects, as he has to u restore,
upon a treaty of peace, countries which have been
acquired in war," carried on at the charge of the
nation; or to "sell and deliver up any part of his
dominions to a foreign Prince or state, against the
general sense of the nation;" which is " an act of
power," or prerogative, which your Excellency allows.
You tell us, that, "when any new countries are dis
covered by English subjects, according to the general
law and usage of nations, they become part of the
state. The law of nations is, or ought to be, founded
on the law of reason. It was the saying of Sir
Edwin Sandis, in the great case of the union of the
realm of Scotland with England, which is applicable
to our present purpose, that " there being no prece
dent for this case in the law, the law is deficient ; and
the law being deficient, recourse is to be had to cus
tom ; and custom being insufficient, we must recur to
natural reason ; " the greatest of all authorities, which,
he adds, " is the law of nations." The opinions, there
fore, and determinations of the greatest Sages and
Judges of the law in the Exchequer Chamber, ought
not to be considered as decisive or binding, in our
present controversy with your Excellency, any fur
ther, than they are consonant to natural reason. If,
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 437
however, we were to recur to such opinions and de
terminations, we should find very great authorities in
our favor, to show, that the statutes of England are
not binding on those who are not represented in Par
liament there. The opinion of Lord Coke, that
Ireland was bound by statutes of England, wherein
they were named, if compared with his other writ
ings, appears manifestly to be grounded upon a
supposition, that Ireland had, by an act of their own,
in the reign of King John, consented to be thus
bound ; and, upon any other supposition, this opinion
would be against reason ; for consent only gives
human laws their force. We beg leave, upon what
your Excellency has observed of the colony becom
ing a part of the state, to subjoin the opinions of
several learned civilians, as quoted by a very able
lawyer in this country. " Colonies," says Puffendorf,
" are settled in different methods ; for, either the
colony continues a part of the Commonwealth it was
set out from, or else is obliged to pay a dutiful regard
to the mother Commonwealth, and to be in readiness
to defend and vindicate its honor, and so is united by
a sort of unequal confederacy ; or, lastly, is erected
into a separate Commonwealth and assumes the
same rights, with the state it descended from." And,
King Tullius, as quoted by the same learned author,
from Grotius, says, " we look upon it to be neither
truth nor justice, that mother cities, ought, of neces
sity, and by the law of nature, to rule over the
colonies."
Your Excellency has misinterpreted what we have
said, " that no country, by the common law, was sub-
438 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
ject to the laws or the Parliament, but the realm of
England ; " and, are pleased to tell us, " that we have
expressed ourselves incautiously." We beg leave to
recite the words of the Judges of England, in the be
fore mentioned case, to our purpose. " If a King go
out of England with a company of his servants, alle
giance remaineth among his subjects and servants,
although he be out of his realm, whereto his laws are
confined." We did not mean to say, as your Ex
cellency would suppose, that " the common law pre
scribes limits to the extent of the Legislative power,"
though, we shall always affirm it to be true, of the
law of reason and natural equity. Your Excellency
thinks, you have made it appear, that the " colony of
Massachusetts Bay is holden as feudatory of the im
perial Crown of England ; " and, therefore, you say,
" to use the words of a very great authority in a
case, in some respects analogous to it," being feuda
tory, it necessarily follows, that "it is under the gov
ernment of the King's laws." Your Excellency has
not named this authority ; but, we conceive his mean
ing must be, that being feudatory, it is under the gov
ernment of the King's laws absolutely ; for, as we
have before said, the feudal system admits of no idea
of the authority of Parliament ; and this would have
been the case of the colony, but for the compact with
the King in the charter.
Your Excellency says, that " persons thus holding
under the Crown of England, remain, or become sub
jects of England," by which, we suppose your Excel
lency to mean, subject to the supreme authority of
1 See above, page 430.
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 439
Parliament, " to all intents and purposes, as fully, as
if any of the royal manors, &c. within the realm, had
been granted to them upon the like tenure." We
apprehend, with submission, your Excellency is mis
taken in supposing that our allegiance is due to the
Crown of England. Every man swears allegiance
for himself, to his own King, in his natural person.
" Every subject is presumed by law to be sworn to
the King, which is to his natural person," says Lord
Coke. Rep. on Calvin's case.1 " The allegiance is
due to his natural body ; " and, he says, " in the reign
of Edward II. the Spencers, the father and the son,
to cover the treason hatched in their hearts, invented
this damnable and damned opinion, that homage and
oath of allegiance was more by reason of the King's
Crown, that is, of his politic capacity, than by reason
of the person of the King ; upon which opinion, they
inferred execrable and detestable consequents." The
Judges of England, all but one, in the case of the
union between Scotland and England, declared, that
"allegiance followeth the natural person, not the
politic ; " and, " to prove the allegiance to be tied
to the body natural of the King, and not to the body
politic, the Lord Coke cited the phrases of divers
statutes, mentioning our natural liege Sovereign."
If, then, the homage and allegiance is not to the
body politic of the King, then it is not to him as the
head, or any part of that Legislative authority, which
your Excellency says, " is equally extensive with the
1 Rep. i. (1608). Referred to as " the leading case" on the subject as
recently as 1897. United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 United States
Reports, 649.
440 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
authority of the Crown throughout every part of
the dominion ; " and your Excellency's observations
thereupon, must fail. The same Judges mention the
allegiance of a subject to the Kings of England, who
is out of the reach and extent of the laws of England,
which is perfectly reconcileable with the principles
of our ancestors, quoted before from your Excel
lency's history, but, upon your Excellency's principles,
appears to us to be an absurdity. The Judges, speak
ing of a subject, say, " although his birth was out of
the bounds of the kingdom of England, and out of
the reach and extent of the laws of England, yet, if
it were within the allegiance of the King of England,
&c. Normandy, Aquitain, Gascoign, and other places,
within the limits of France, and, consequently, out of
the realm or bounds of the kingdom of England,
were in subjection to the Kings of England." And
the Judges say, " Rex et Regnum, be not so rela
tives, as a King can be King but of one kingdom,
which clearly holdeth not, but that his kingly power
extending to divers nations and kingdoms, all owe
him equal subjection, and are equally born to the
benefit of his protection ; and, although he is to gov
ern them by their distinct laws, yet any one of the
people coming into the other, is to have the benefit
of the laws, wheresoever he cometh." So they are
not to be deemed aliens, as your Excellency in your
speech supposes, in any of the dominions, all which
accords with the principles our ancestors held.
" And he is to bear the burden of taxes of the place
where he cometh, but living in one, or for his liveli
hood in one, he is not to be taxed in the other, be-
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 441
cause laws ordain taxes, impositions, and charges, as
a discipline of subjection, particularized to every par
ticular nation." Nothing, we think, can be more
clear to our purpose than this decision of Judges, per
haps as learned, as ever adorned the English nation,
or in favor of America, in her present controversy
with the mother state.
Your Excellency says, that, by 4< our not distin
guishing between the Crown of England, and the
Kings and Queens of England, in their personal or
natural capacities, we have been led into a fundamen
tal error." Upon this very distinction we have
availed ourselves. We have said, that our ancestors
considered the land, which they took possession of
in America, as out of the bounds of tne kingdom of
England, and out of the reach and extent of the laws
of England ; and, that the King also, even m the act
of granting the charter, considered the territory as
not within the realm ; that the King had an absolute
right in himself to dispose of the lands, and that this
was not disputed by the nation ; nor could the lands,
on any solid grounds, be claimed by the nation ; and,
therefore, our ancestors received the lands, by grant,
from the King ; and, at the same time, compacted
with him, and promised him homage and allegiance,
not in his public or politic, but natural capacity only.
If it be difficult for us to show how the King ac
quired a title to this country in his natural capacity,
or separate from his relation to his subjects, which
we confess, yet we conceive, it will be equally difficult
for your Excellency to show how the body politic
and nation of England acquired it. Our ancestors
442 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
supposed it was acquired by neither ; and, therefore,
they declared, as we have before quoted from your
history, that saving their actual purchase from the
natives, of the soil, the dominion, the lordship, and
sovereignty, they had in the sight of God and man,
no right and title to what they possessed. How
much clearer then, in natural reason and equity,
must our title be, who hold estates dearly purchased
at the expense of our own, as well as our ancestors
labor, and defended by them with treasure and blood.
Your Excellency has been pleased to confirm,
rather than deny or confute, a piece of history, which,
you say, we took from an anonymous pamphlet, and
by which you " fear we have been too easily misled."
It may be gathered from your own declaration, and
other authorities, besides the anonymous pamphlet,
that the House of Commons took exception, not at
the King's having made an absolute grant of the
territory, but at the claim of an exclusive right to the
fishery on the banks and sea coast, by virtue of
the patent. At this you say, " the House of Com
mons was alarmed, and a bill was brought in for
allowing a free fishery." And, upon this occasion,
your Excellency allows, that " one of the Secretaries
of State declared, that the plantations were not an
nexed to the Crown, and so were not within the juris
diction of Parliament." If we should concede to
what your Excellency supposes might possibly or
" perhaps," be the case, that the Secretary made this
declaration, "as his own opinion," the event showed
that it was the opinion of the King too ; for it is not
to be accounted for upon any other principle, that he
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 443
would have denied his royal assent to a bill, formed
for no other purpose, but to grant his subjects in
England, the privilege of fishing on the sea coasts in
America. The account published by Sir Ferdinando
Gorges himself, of the proceedings of Parliament
on this occasion, your Excellency thinks, will re
move all doubt, of the sense of the nation, and of
the patentees of this patent or charter, in 1620.
" This narrative," you say, " has all the appearance of
truth and sincerity," which we do not deny ; and, to
us, it carries this conviction with it, that " what was
objected " in Parliament, was the exclusive claim of
fishing only. His imagining that he had satisfied
the House, after divers attendances, that the planting
a colony was of much more consequence than a sim
ple disorderly course of fishing, is sufficient for our
conviction. We know that the nation was at that
time alarmed with apprehensions of monopolies ; and,
if the patent of New England was presented by the
two Houses as a grievance, it did not show, as your
Excellency supposes, " the sense they then had of
their authority over this new acquired territory," but
only their sense of the grievance of a monopoly of
the sea.
We are happy to hear your Excellency say, that
" our remarks upon, and construction of the words,
not repugnant to the laws of England, are much the
same with those of the Council." It serves to con
firm us in our opinion, in what we take to be the
most important matter of difference between your
Excellency and the two Houses. After saying, that
the statute of 7th and 8th of William and Mary
444 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
favors the construction of the words, as intending
such laws of England as are made more immediately
to respect us, you tell us, that "the province Agent,
Mr. Dummer, in his much applauded defence, says,
that, then a law of the plantations may be said to be
repugnant to a law made in Great Britain, when it
flatly contradicts it, so far as the law made there,
mentions and relates to the plantations." 1 This is
plain and obvious to common sense, and, therefore,
cannot be denied. But, if your Excellency would
read a page or two further in that excellent defence,2
you will see that he mentions this as the sense of the
phrase, as taken from an act of Parliament, rather
than as the sense he would choose himself to put
upon it ; and, he expressly designs to show, in vindi
cation of the charter, that, in that sense of the words,
there never was a law made in the plantations re
pugnant to the laws of Great Britain. He gives
another construction, much more likely to be the
true intent of the words, namely, " that the patentees
shall not presume, under color of their particular
charters, to make any laws inconsistent with the great
charter, and other laws of England, by which the
lives, liberties, and properties of Englishmen are
secured." This is the sense in which our ancestors
understood the words ; and, therefore, they are un
willing to conform to the acts of trade, and disre
garded them till they made provision to give them
force in the colony, by a law of their own ; saying,
that " the laws of England did not reach America ;
1 Jer. Dummer, A Defence of the New England Charters. London, 1721,
P- 57- * Ibid., pp. 58, 59. *Ibid.i p. 59-
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 445
and those acts were an invasion of their rights, liber
ties, and properties," because they were not " repre
sented in Parliament." The right of being governed
by laws, which were made by persons, in whose elec
tion they had a voice, they looked upon as the found
ation of English liberties. By the compact with the
King, in the charter, they were to be as free in Amer
ica, as they would have been if they had remained
within the realm ; and, therefore, they freely asserted,
that they " were to be governed by laws made by
themselves, and by officers chosen by themselves."
Mr. Dummer says, " it seems reasonable enough to
think that the Crown," and, he might have added,
our ancestors, " intended by this injunction to pro
vide for all its subjects, that they might not be op
pressed by arbitrary power ; but being still subjects,
they should be protected by the same mild laws, and
enjoy the same happy government, as if they con
tinued within the realm." l And, considering the words
of the charter in this light, he looks upon them as
designed to be a fence against oppression and des
potic power. But the construction which your Ex
cellency puts upon the words, reduces us to a state of
vassalage, and exposes us to oppression and despotic
power, whenever a Parliament shall see fit to make
laws for that purpose, and put them in execution.
We flatter ourselves, that, from the large extracts
we have made from your Excellency's history of the
colony, it appears evidently, that under both charters,
it hath been the sense of the people and of the
1 Jer. Dummer, A Defence of the New England Charters, London, 1721,
pp. 59, 60. The quotation is abridged.
446 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
government, that they were not under the jurisdiction
of Parliament. We pray you again to turn to those
quotations, and our observations upon them ; and we
wish to have your Excellency's judicious remarks.
When we adduced that history, to prove that the
sentiments of private persons of influence, four or
five years after the restoration, were very different
from what your Excellency apprehended them to be,
when you delivered your speech, you seem to con
cede to it, by telling us, " it was, as you take it, from
the principles imbibed in those times of anarchy,
(preceding the restoration,) that they disputed the
authority of Parliament ; " but, you add, " the gov
ernment would not venture to dispute it." We find
in the same history,1 a quotation from a letter of Mr.
Stoughton, dated seventeen years after the restora
tion, mentioning " the country's not taking notice of
the acts of navigation, to observe them." And it
was, as we take it, after that time, that the govern
ment declared, in a letter to their Agents, that they
had not submitted to them ; and they ventured to
" dispute" the jurisdiction, asserting, that they appre
hended the acts to be an invasion of the rights, liber
ties, and properties of the subjects of his Majesty in
the colony, they not being represented in Parliament,
and that " the laws of England did not reach Amer
ica." It very little avails in proof, that they conceded
to the supreme authority of Parliament, their telling
the Commissioners, " that the act of navigation had
for some years before, been observed here ; that they
1 T. Hutchinson, History of the ^ Province of Massachusetts Bay, vol. i.,
P- 3IQ.
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 447
knew not of its being greatly violated ; and that, such
laws as appeared to be against it, were repealed." It
may as truly be said now, that the revenue acts are
observed by some of the people of this province ; but
it cannot be said that the government and people of
this province have conceded, that the Parliament had
authority to make such acts to be observed here.
Neither does their declaration to the Commissioners,
that such laws as appeared to be against the act of
navigation, were repealed, prove their concession of
the authority of Parliament, by any means, so much
as their making provision for giving force to an act
of Parliament within this province, by a deliberate
and solemn act or law of their own, proves the
contrary.
You tell us, that " the government, four or five
years before the charter was vacated, more explicitly,"
that is, than by a conversation with the Commis
sioners, " acknowledged the authority of Parliament,
and voted, that their Governor should take the oath
required of him, faithfully to do and perform all mat
ters and things enjoined him by the acts of trade."
But does this, may it please your Excellency, show
their explicit acknowledgment of the authority of
Parliament ? Does it not rather show directly the
contrary ? For, what could there be for their vote,
or authority, to require him to take the oath already
required of him, by the act of Parliament, unless both
he, and they, judge that an act of Parliament was not
of force sufficient to bind him to take such oath ? We
do not deny, but, on the contrary, are fully persuaded,
that your Excellency's principles in governments are
448 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
still of the same with what they appear to be in the
history ; for, you there say, that " the passing this
law, plainly shows the wrong sense they had of the
relation they stood in to England." But we are from
hence convinced, that your Excellency, when you
wrote the history, was of our mind in this respect,
that our ancestors, in passing the law, discovered their
opinion, that they were without the jurisdiction of
Parliament ; for it was upon this principle alone, they
shewed the wrong sense they had in your Excellency's
opinion, of the relation they stood in to England.
Your Excellency, in your second speech, conde
scends to point out to us the acts and doings of the
General Assembly, which relates to acts of Parlia
ment, which, you think, " demonstrates that they have
been acknowledged by the Assembly, or submitted
to by the people ; " neither of which, in our opinion,
shows that it was the sense of the nation, and our
predecessors, when they first took possession of this
plantation, or colony, by a grant and charter from
the Crown, that they were to remain subject to the
supreme authority of the English Parliament.
Your Excellency seems chiefly to rely upon our
ancestors, after the revolution, " proclaiming King
William and Queen Mary, in the room of King James,"
and taking the oaths to them, "the alteration of the
form of oaths, from time to time," and finally, " the es
tablishment of the form, which every one of us has com
plied with, as the charter, in express terms requires, and
makes our duty." We do not know that it has ever
been a point in dispute, whether the Kings of Eng
land were ipso facto Kings in, and over, this colony,
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 449
or province. The compact was made between King
Charles the I. his heirs and successors, and the Gov
ernor and company, their heirs and successors. It is
easy, upon this principle, to account for the acknowl
edgment of, and submission to King William and
Queen Mary, as successors of Charles the I. in the
room of King James ; besides, it is to be considered,
that the people in the colony, as well as in England,
had suffered under the tyrant James, by which, he
had alike forfeited his right to reign over both. There
had been a revolution here, as well as in England.
The eyes of the people here, were upon William and
Mary ; and the news of their being proclaimed in
England, was, as your Excellency's history tells us,
"the most joyful news ever received in New Eng
land." And, if they were not proclaimed here, "by
virtue of an act of the colony," it was, as we think
may be concluded from the tenor of your history,
with the general or universal consent of the people,
as apparently, as if " such act had passed." It is con
sent alone, that makes any human laws binding ; and
as a learned author observes, a purely voluntary sub
mission to an act, because it is highly in our favor
and for our benefit, is in all equity and justice, to be
deemed as not at all proceeding from the right we in
clude in the Legislators, that they, thereby obtain an
authority over us, and that ever hereafter, we must
obey them of duty. We would observe, that one of
the first acts of the General Assembly of this province,
since the present charter, was an act, requiring the
1 T. Hutchinson, History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay^ vol. i.,
p. 387.
VOL. II. — 29.
450 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
taking the oaths mentioned in an act of Parliament,
to which you refer us. For what purpose was this
act of the Assembly passed, if it was the sense of the
Legislators that the act of Parliament was in force in
the province ? And, at the same time, another act
was made for the establishment of other oaths ne
cessary to be taken ; both which acts have the royal
sanction, and are now in force. Your Excellency
says, that when the colony applied to King William
for a second charter, they knew the oath the King
had taken, which was to govern them according to
the statutes in Parliament, and (which your Excel
lency here omits,) the laws and customs of the same.
By the laws and customs of Parliament, the people of
England freely debate and consent to such statutes
as are made by themselves, or their chosen Repre
sentatives. This is a law, or custom, which all man
kind may justly challenge as their inherent right.
According to this law, the King has an undoubted
right to govern us. Your Excellency, upon recollec
tion, surely will not infer from hence, that it was the
sense of our predecessors that there was to remain a
supremacy in the English Parliament, or a full power
and authority to make laws binding upon us, in all
cases whatever, in that Parliament where we cannot
debate and deliberate upon the necessity or expedi
ency of any law, and, consequently, without our con
sent ; and, as it may probably happen, destructive of
the first law of society, the good of the whole. You
tell us, that " after the assumption of all the powers
of government, by virtue of the new charter, an act
passed for the reviving, for a limited time, all the
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 451
local laws of the Massachusetts Bay and New Ply
mouth respectively, not repugnant to the laws of
England. And, at the same session, an act passed
establishing naval officers, that all undue trading,
contrary to an act of Parliament, may be prevented."
Among the acts that were then revived, we may rea
sonably suppose, was that, whereby provision was
made to give force to this act of Parliament, in the
province. The establishment, therefore, of the naval
officers, was to aid the execution of an act of Parlia
ment, for the observance of which, within the colony,
the Assembly had before made provision, after free
debates, with their own consent, and by their own
act.
The act of Parliament, passed in I74I,1 for putting
an end to several unwarrantable schemes, mentioned
by your Excellency, was designed for the general
good ; and, if the validity of it was not disputed, it
cannot be urged as a concession of the supreme au
thority, to make laws binding on us in all cases what
ever. But, if the design of it was for the general
benefit of the province, it was, in one respect, at least
greatly complained of, by the persons more immedi
ately affected by it ; and to remedy the inconvenience,
the Legislative of this province, passed an act, directly
militating with it ; which is the strongest evidence,
that although they may have submitted, sub silent to ^
to some acts of Parliament, that they conceived might
operate for their benefit, they did not conceive them
selves bound by any of its acts, which, they judged,
would operate to the injury even of individuals.
1 14 Geo. II., chap. 37.
452 THE WRITINGS OF [1773
Your Excellency has not thought proper, to attempt
to confute the reasoning of a learned writer on the laws
of nature and nations, quoted by us, on this occasion,
to shew that the authority of the Legislature does not
extend so far as the fundamentals of the constitution.
We are unhappy in not having your remarks upon the
reasoning of that great man ; and, until it is confuted,
we shall remain of the opinion, that the fundamentals
of the constitution being excepted from the commis
sion of the Legislators, none of the acts or doings of
the General Assembly, however deliberate and solemn,
could avail to change them, if the people have not, in
very express terms, given them the power to do it ;
and, that much less ought their acts and doings, how
ever numerous, which barely refer to acts of Parlia
ment made expressly to relate to us, to be taken as
an acknowledgment, that we are subject to the su
preme authority of Parliament.
* We shall sum up our own sentiments in the words
of that learned writer, Mr. Hooker, in his Ecclesias
tical Policy, as quoted by Mr. Locke. " The lawful
power of making laws to command whole political
societies of men, belonging so properly to the same
entire societies, that for any prince or potentate of
what kind soever, to exercise the same of himself,
and not from express commission, immediately and
personally received from God, is no better than mere
tyranny. Laws, therefore, they are not, which public
approbation hath not made so ; for human laws, of
what kind soever, are available by consent." " Since
men, naturally, have no full and perfect power to
command whole politic multitudes of men, therefore,
1773] SAMUEL ADAMS. 453
utterly without our consent, we could in such sort, be
at no man's commandment living. And to be com
manded, we do not consent, when that society,
whereof we be a party, hath at any time before con
sented." We think your Excellency has not proved,
either that the colony is a part of the politic society
of England, or that it has ever consented that the
Parliament of England or Great Britain, should make
laws binding upon us, in all cases, whether made ex
pressly to refer to us or not. /
We cannot help, before we conclude, expressing
our great concern, that your Excellency has thus re
peatedly, in a manner, insisted upon our free senti
ments on matters of so delicate a nature and weighty
importance. ^The question appears to us, to be no
other, than, whether we are the subjects of absolute
unlimited power, or of a free government, formed on
the principles of the English constitution./ If your
Excellency's doctrine be true, the people of this pro
vince hold their lands of the Crown and people of
England ; and their lives, liberties, and properties,
are at their disposal, and that, even by compact and
their own consent. They were subject to the King
as the head alterius populi of another people, in whose
Legislative they have no voice or interest. They are,
indeed, said to have a constitution and a Legislative
of their own ; but your Excellency has explained it into
a mere phantom ; limited, controled, superseded, and
nullified, at the will of another. Is this the constitu
tion which so charmed our ancestors, that, as your
Excellency has informed us, they kept a day of solemn
thanksgiving to Almighty God when they received
454 THE WRITINGS OF SAMUEL ADAMS. [1773]
it ? And were they men of so little discernment, such
children in understanding, as to please themselves
with the imagination, that they were blessed with the
same rights and liberties which natural born subjects
in England enjoyed, when, at^ the same time, they
had fully consented to be ruled and ordered by a
Legislative, a thousand leagues distant from them,
which cannot be supposed to be sufficiently ac
quainted with their circumstances, if concerned for
their interest, and in which, they cannot be in any
sense represented ?
END OF VOLUME II.
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