wbu^ University of California Berkeley HERBERT CARLETON WRIGHT JOHN HENRY NASH LIBRARY SAN FRANCISCO PRESENTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ROBERT GORDON SPROUL, PRESIDENT. MR.ANDMRS.MILTON S.RAY CECILY, VIRGINIA AND ROSALYN RAY RAY OIL BURNER COMPANY The Committee on Publications of The Grolier Club certifies that this copy of " The Boston Port Bill as Pictured by a Contemporary London Car- toonist," is one of an edition of three hundred and twenty-five copies on American hand-made paper and three copies on vellum, the printing of which was completed in the month of December, MCMIV THE BOSTON PORT BILL THE BOSTON PORT BILL AS PICTURED BY A CONTEMPORARY LONDON CARTOONIST BY R. T. H. HALSEY NEW YORK THE GROLIER CLUB MCMIV COPYRIGHT, 1904 BY THE GROLIER CLUB To the memory of the one 'whose researches along the by-paths of our country's history furnished much of the material used in the making of this volume INTRODUCTION |N the year 1 774 the political sit- uation in the American Colo- nies engrossed the attention of the British people, and Boston held the centre of the stage in the prologue to the tragedy soon to be enacted across the ocean, the curtain of which was to fall upon Great Britain mourn- ing the loss of the best part of her American Empire. Constitutional government in England at this time was considered by many to be existing merely in name. His Majesty, George III, had made himself supreme. The Cabinet was com- posed of men chosen for their willingness to do their master's pleasure, and the House of Com- mons was filled with the King's creatures, almost THE BOSTON PORT BILL two-fifths of its members being placemen and pensioners of the Administration. Popular representation in the House of Com- mons was a misnomer. The great centres of pop- ulation were barely represented. The County of Middlesex, which included both London and Westminster, was allowed only eight repre- sentatives, while Cornwall had forty-four. Of the five hundred and thirteen members of the House, two hundred and fifty-four represented less than eleven thousand five hundred electors. There were few seats in smaller boroughs which could not be purchased. The enormous sums known to have been expended in bribery and corruption by the Administration, in order to make the King's power absolute, had not only emptied the Treasury, but placed all England at the mercy of a Sovereign, whose love of power made him believe himself almost superior to the Magna Charta. The newspaper attacks upon the Adminis- tration, for its faintly disguised attempts to stifle constitutional government in England, were no less bitter than the arraignment emanating from the pen of " Junius," which had appeared in the London Public Advertiser at intervals during the period from 176772. The economic and constitutional questions involved in Parliament's American policy had INTRODUCTION been for some years freely discussed in the press, and had thus become no less clearly understood in England than America, and a strong pro-Amer- ican sentiment had been developed among the English people. Some were undoubtedly influ- enced by the fact that the curtailment of the American trade, arising from the retaliatory meas- ures adopted by the Colonies, had brought much destitution to the manufacturing centres of Eng- land. Others took the stand that the system of personal government instituted by the King could be checked, only by America's successful stand in behalf of rights and privileges long enjoyed, but then in jeopardy. Free discussion of both sides of the Ameri- can question predominated in the columns of the newspapers. The editors gave much space to news from America, and lamented, that, owing to the government's practice of searching the mail- bags from America, they were hampered in their efforts to enlighten their readers more fully on this all-important topic. The attitude of the newspapers, at this time, and during the war which followed, was thus fittingly described in " The History of British Journalism " written by Alexander Andrews, and published in Lon- don nearly half a century ago. "With the exception of the Constitutional Society's advertisements, the melancholy strife THE BOSTON PORT BILL between Old England and her refractory children on the other side of the Atlantic, which divided households and brought bitterness and angry words into almost every home, seems to have in- volved the newspapers in no trouble. The tone they assumed was strong, decisive, even violent, but it was a sign of the times that, although the public mind was heated almost to combustion, they were allowed to scatter the most explosive materials about almost unchecked. Governments had discovered that the newspapers spoke the voice of the people, and that to put them down would require an army, not a few crown coun- sel. Neither could they be so easily put down when they gave up low and vulgar personalities, and wrote with that studied and convincing rea- soning that is far more terrible. It is beyond doubt that, as the law stood, they wrote treason; but the people's sentiments, right, justice, hon- our, and religion were all treason to that frater- nal strife: they spoke treason when they cried, ' Hold, you shall not murder your brother ! ' they wept treason over the dead of Lexington and Concord ; they shouted treason when they rejoiced that cousins' blood had ceased to flow, and men speaking the same tongue had ceased to fight. Yet the guilty law was coward, for then treason was right and law was wrong." Additional, yet neglected, evidence of the un- INTRODUCTION popularity of the Administration's course is pre- served to us in the cabinets of the print collec- tors, for of all the numerous political cartoons of the period published in London, but few attack the opponents of the Administration in England or America. The craze for "humourous mezzotints," which kept engravers well occupied and English print- sellers prosperous during the last three decades of the eighteenth century, was in its early stages. The designs of many of these were furnished by Morland,Ward, Wheatley, Dighton and Edwards, some of whom hold high places in the annals of British art, and were scraped by many of the popular mezzotinters of the day, McArdell, Dickinson, Wilson, Watson, Houston, and Earl- om. Others were both invenit and fecit by Phillip Dawe, William Humphrey, J. Dixon and J. Raphael Smith, examples of whose work are reproduced in this volume. In these cartoons, the fashions, follies, frailties and foibles, and also the sports and vices of every-day life were delin- eated and held up to ridicule. The scenes from the novels of Fielding and Smollett afforded pleasing subjects for the designer's pencil as well as the ostentation displayed by the " Indian Na- bobs" after their arrival home saturated with the gold and vices of the Orient. Advantage was taken of the widespread knowledge of the uses THE BOSTON PORT BILL which this class of adventurers made of their ill- gotten wealth, to picture them entering White- hall seated on elephants, and paving the street before them with showers of golden coin. While apparently the function of these car- toons was to amuse, yet their real province was to ridicule and deride features of English life, which, if unchecked, would undermine the health of the nation. Hundreds of them were advertised under the heading of " Posture Mezzotints " at a price of one shilling (two shillings coloured) in the contemporary catalogues issued by the va- rious print warehouses. The reasons for this designation, as well as for the size of the prints, 14x10 inches, inside measurement, are eluci- dated by the views of the old English print- shops (see illustration). This cartoon shows the front windows of the shop of John Bowles (one of whose cartoons is reproduced on page 157), each print appearing within its individual win- dow pane the kindly faces of Bunyan, the Wes- leys, Whitfield and others being displayed above an assortment of the humourous mezzotints with which the rival print-sellers regaled their patrons. The Act of Parliament which peremptorily ordered the Harbour of Boston to be closed to commerce on June first, 1 774, and known in his- tory as THE BOSTON PORT BILL, aroused such a storm of indignation in America that the thir- Mils MACARONI and her GALLANT at a Print -Shop . //tfi-rtn'/tf ,m,/ /iM"///M/rr^i /if/r-. j ', >>////< /.. /// /ii-tArs / /iiirarfrKi. in "(i,(iiri.,>iirri ) I //<wll* .;/ \"/.l/// t'.'/rt/ll// INTRODUCTION teen Colonies rallied to the support of Boston and became united in their opposition to the plans made by the British Ministry for the subservi- ence of local government on this continent. In the following autumn and early in the next year Messrs. Rob't Sayer and J. Bennett, Print-sellers, of 53 Fleet St., London, put upon the English market a series of five of these hu- mourous mezzotint cartoons, which, by their de- piction of certain amusing incidents which had taken place in the Colonies, subtly and with sympathetic moral told the story of the causes, effects and results of this mistaken act of legis- lation. The information in regard to these in- cidents had reached England in the form of pri- vate letters from America, the recipients of which had allowed their publication in the London newspapers, thereby furnishing the designer with a subject for his pencil which was familiar to the print buying public of London. A study of these cartoons (which are repro- duced upon pages 83, 171, 215, 277, 317) dis- closes an extraordinary knowledge of the life, customs and political conditions in the Colonies. Though unsigned, they are unmistakably the work of Phillip Dawe, a pupil of Hogarth, who, while lacking his master's skill with the pencil, inherited his master's power of exposing politi- cal follies in their weakest and most ludicrous THE BOSTON PORT BILL points. The qualities which Charles Lamb de- scribed as being peculiar to work of Hogarth are here present the quantity of thought crowded into each picture, the extraordinary attention to detail, the strongly charactered faces and the introduction of children to give tranquillity and a portion of their own innocence to the scene all bespeak the master's influence. The results of the ingenious skill displayed, in thus utilizing the knowledge of amusing scenes taken from the political world in the Colonies, with which to ridicule the Administration's American policy, suggests another tribute by Lamb to the works of the great cartoonist: " We do not merely laugh at them, but we are led into long chains of reflection by them." The uncouth garments, in which Dawe clothed his Colonials, in no way indicated a de- sire to ridicule the wearers, for, by exaggerating this distinguishing feature, he forcibly pointed out with his pencil what the newspapers bemoaned in their columns that home industries were fur- nishing to America the necessities, the supplying of which had hitherto enriched the manufac- turers of England. In addition to the series is- sued by Rob't Sayer & J. Bennett, individual mezzotints of similar character, which were put upon the market by their rivals, John Bowles, William Humphrey and Carington Bowles, are INTRODUCTION reproduced in this volume. The wealth of ma- terial on this subject, in the form of political caricatures, engraved in line and etched, has not been drawn upon. The great attention paid to detail in these prints presages a corresponding knowledge of American affairs on the part of the future pur- chasers. A thorough elucidation of the individ- ual story told by each cartoon, and of the moral told by the series as a whole, obviously can be obtained only by recourse to the source whence the designer derived his inspiration, and the print- buyer the enlightenment on American affairs, which rendered possible proper appreciation of these eccentric political arguments. Therefore, in unfolding the stories told by these prints the English newspapers have been searched with a view of presenting such inti- mate knowledge of American affairs as was pos- sessed by and influenced the thought of both the designer and his patrons. To describe adequately the sympathy felt in Great Britain for those living in the Colonies, it has been necessary to review, from the stand- point of the British people, Parliament's Amer- ican policy during the ten years previous to the passage of The Boston Port Bill. For this pur- pose the columns of the English press have been lavishly quoted from. THE BOSTON PORT BILL Of the newspapers at my disposal the London Chronicle, which was made up of eight quarto pages and published tri-weekly, has been most freely utilized. Additional weight must be given to the evidence gleaned from its columns, from the fact that in all histories of British Jour- nalism, this paper is described as a Tory organ. Other information has been taken from the Mid- dlesex Journal, or Chronicle of Liberty, also a tri- weekly, which was started in 1769 by William Beckford,then Lord Mayor of London, and other citizens, for the avowed purpose of championing the cause of John Wilkes. Its editors spared neither energy nor ink in attacking the Admin- istration's treatment of the Colonies. The prin- ciples of the paper, " LIBERTY MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD," were strongly expressed in the ini- tial letter, which headed its columns in 1774, and is reproduced on page xi. The other news- papers quoted from, like most of their contem- poraries, were vehement in their opposition to the Administration. While perusing the columns of the British press in search of light upon the story of these cartoons the thought was constantly recurrent that many of these articles on the American question emanated from the pen of Benjamin Franklin, bearing, as they do, a striking resem- blance to the literary style of those contributions INTRODUCTION known to have been written by him, which ap- peared under various pseudonyms in the London Chronicle, Public Advertiser and Public Ledger. No attempt has been made to cover com- pletely, the history of the period to which the cartoons refer. Only such portions of it as man- ifestly impressed themselves upon the cartoon- ist have been discussed, the explanation of which necessarily has been given in the form of a series of monographs. Every effort has been made to keep all the features of the volume contemporaneous. Con- temporary portraits, views, and emblems appear in the headbands and tailpieces, the decorative motives of which are based entirely upon those used by our Colonial engravers. The insertion of views of our Colonial buildings in the ini- tial letters was suggested by the practice followed by our Colonial editors. The binding, full calf, is stamped in gold with motives used by our Co- lonial book-binders. I wish to express my appreciation of the courtesies and facilities afforded me in the vari- ous libraries where I have had occasion to work, my thanks to the many friends who have so in- terestedly and, at times, so labouriously assisted me in the preparation of the manuscript, and my gratitude to my friend, Mr. Francis S. King, for the painstaking and consummate skill with which THE BOSTON PORT BILL he adapted and refined the designs, oftentimes rude, of our early American engravers, and yet preserved all the character and feeling of the period in the illustrations which are the feature of this volume. While the typography of the volume testi- fies to the care bestowed upon it by Mr. Walter Gilliss, to whom the making of the book was intrusted, I wish to express my obligation to Mr. Gilliss for the judgment, taste, and unre- mitting zeal with which he personally supervised the carrying out of every detail connected with this publication. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction xi i British Opinion of the Stamp Act Leg- islation i ii English Disapproval of the Colonial Policy of Parliament .... 49 in British Indignation at the Punishment of Boston 123 iv London's Knowledge of the Activities of the Sons of Liberty in New York 1 77 v Virginia Defies Parliament and Sup- ports Boston 223 vi English Recognition of the Political Activities of Colonial Women . 283 Index 323 ILLUSTRATIONS His MAJESTY GEORGE III. . Frontispiece Engraved in mezzotint by S. Arlent-Edwards from a Wedgwood medallion modeled by Flaxman. PHOTOGRAVURES ON COPPER Lord North Title-page Printed in colour from a Wedgwood medallion modeled by Flaxman. Mifs MACARONI and her GALLANT at a Print-Shop xvii Published by John Bowles, April 2d, 1773. Cartoon of Britannia in the Act of Self-de- struction 19 THE WISE MEN of GOTHAM and their GOOSE 43 Published by W. Humphrey, February i6th, 1776. Printed in the colours of the original. The BOSTONIAN'S Paying the EXCISE-MAN, or TARRING & FEATHERING ... 83 Printed for Rob't Sayer & J. Bennett, October 3ist, 1774. ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE A NEW Method of MACARONY MAKING, as practifed at BOSTON . . . 92 Printed for Carington Bowles, October nth, 1774. (Advertised as still for sale, in Carington Bowies' Catalogue of 1790.) A POLITICAL LESSON ..... 157 Printed for John Bowles, September 7th, 1774. The BOSTONIANS in DISTRESS . . .172 Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, November 1774. THE PATRIOTICK BARBER of NEW YORK, or the CAPTAIN in the SUDS . . 215 Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, February I4th, I775- THE ALTERNATIVE OF WILLIAMS-BURG 277 Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, February i6th, 1775. A SOCIETY of PATRIOTIC LADIES AT ED- ENTON in NORTH CAROLINA . . 317 Printed for R. Sayer & J. Bennett, March 25th, I775- HEADBANDS, TAILPIECES AND INITIAL LETTERS ENGRAVED ON COPPER BY FRANCIS S. KING i Bofton N Eng d Planted A.D. MDCXXX xi A faithful copy (without the cartouche) of the emblematic vignette, 6) x 3> inches in size, on " fhis plan of "Boston in JftftD 4Bne lattt), engraven by Thos. Johnson, Bofton, N. E., and published by Will Burgifs," 1729. 1 1 Initial Letter used by the Middlesex Jour- nal in 1 774 ..... xi xxvii ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE in Stamp issued in 1765 for taxation- purposes in America . . . xxiv iv Symbolical headband .... 3 Composed of the medal described on page 26; a design of a chain- ring, bearing the names of and linking together the Thirteen Colo- nies, which appears on a service of Queen's ware, impressed with the mark used by Wedgwood not later than 1769; the Tudor rose, thistle and harp, emblems of England, Scotland and Ireland, from the headband of a pamphlet by John Dickinson entitled "The Late Regulations respecting the British Colonies consid- ered, etc.," printed by William Bradford, Philadelphia, 1765; the cock, the contemporary symbol by which France's interest in American affairs was depicted; the "disjointed snake" with its motto "UNITE OR DIE" designed by Franklin in 1754 for thePenn- sylvania Gazette, and frequently used as a headband by other Co- lonial newspapers ten and twenty years later. v The State House at Boston . . 3 Redrawn from the view of the "Boston Massacre" engraved by Paul Revere in 1770, and a painting done in 1801, now in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. vi Benjamin Franklin .... 48 From a medallion made by Josiah Wedgwood in 1775; enclosed in a border similar to that engraved by Paul Revere with which he framed a portrait of Cromwell on the bill-head of the Crom- well's Head Tavern. In the original " JOSHUA BRACKETT CROMWELL'S HEAD SCHOOL-STREET BOSTON" filled the space occupied by the legend "IDLENESS AND PRIDE TAX WITH A HEAVIER HAND THAN KINGS AND PARLIAMENTS," taken from the letter quoted on page 22. vii William Pitt and America . .51 From a contemporary Chelsea-Derby Group in the British Mu- seum. At least as far back as 1742 the Pennsylvan ia Gazette used for its headband a crude copy of the book-plate of William Penn with the legend "JUSTICE" and "MERCY" in place of the motto "DUM CLAVUM TENEAM." Some years later this was su- perseded by an armorial design containing the same crest, the arms and legend . This in time gave way to the exquisite cartouche (here reproduced) which enclosed the arms of William Penn and first appeared April I2th, i759,overthe signature of j. TURNER, 5c. viii Faneuil Hall 51 From an engraving in the Massachusetts Magazine, March, 1789. ix John Wilkes 122 Contemporary Chelsea-Derby Statuette; the symbolic border was suggested by the one employed by Paul Revere to decorate the punch-bowl described on page 113. ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE x Emblem of the United Colonies . 125 The central portion of this, the Tree of Liberty, supported by the arms of the twelve Colonies represented at Philadelphia in 1774, resting on the Magna Charta and encircled by the "living snake" bearing the prophetic legend here given, appeared in the headband of the New York Journal or the General Advertiser, of December I5th, 1774. xi Carpenters Hall, Philadelphia . .125 From a contemporary drawing by Edw. Mumford in the posses- sion of the Philadelphia Historical Society. xii The Governor's Palace, Newberne, N. C 176 From a print in Lossing's " Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolu- tion." The most elaborate and beautiful of all of our Colonial public buildings. It was built of brick with marble trimmings and finished in 1770 at a cost of 16,000. The central build- ing had a frontage of eighty-seven feet and a depth of fifty-nine feet and served both as a residence and State-house ; connected with it by curviform colonnades were buildings used for the kitchen and servants'-hall, Secretary's office and laundry; the decorative motives in the border of the engraving were suggested by those in the headband of Rivington's New York Gazetteer in 1774. xiii St. Paul's Chapel, New York . .179 As it appeared in Colonial days, the steeple not having been added until 1794. The Arms of the City of New York, here reproduced, formed the headband of Gaines' New York Gazette in 1774; the elaborate border was copied from the one in the headband of the Williatniburg Gazette, where it enclosed the Seal of Virginia and a view of Jamestown. xiv The "New Jail," New York . .179 Erected in 1757, remodelled in 1830, it 'served since then for a Hall of Records until demolished during the past year. The con- tour of the building itself is based upon a print in Valentine's Manual for 1847, and the cupola follows the lines of those shown on the building in the Howdell (1765), Ratzer (1776) and other contemporary views. xv Statue of William Pitt . . .222 Erected in New York in 1770 (pp. 28-32) ; this restoration is made from the torso in] the possession of the New York Historical Society, and the companion statue which, in a mutilated condi- tion, is still standing in Charleston, South Carolina. xvi Statue of Lord Botetourt at Wil- liamsburg, Virginia . . .225 A full description of this is given on pages 243-248 ; on the left of the oval frame is the Seal of Virginia, copied from that appear- ing in the headband of the WiUiamsburg Gazette; on the right are the Arms of Lord Botetourt, which were chiselled on the front of the pedestal, as shown in the engraving. ILLUSTRATIONS xvii The House of Burgesses at Wil- PAGE liamsburg, Virginia . . .225 From a contemporary drawing in the library of William and Mary College, at WilUamsburg. xvni Emblematic figures of Great Britain and America 282 Both the bas-relief and its frame are reproduced from the panel on the back of the pedestal of the statue of Lord Botetourt; the honeysuckle and rosette motives are also found on the pedestal itself. xix The Bruton Parish Church at Wil- liamsburg 285 Erected in 1715; the chalice, paten (both 1655) and alms-basin (1739) "* tne P ane l on the left? formerly belonged to the James- town Church; since its abandonment they have been in use at the Bruton Church; in the panel on the right are the flagon (1766), alms-basin (1764) and chalice (unmarked), which were purchased for the Bruton Parish Church; and a two-handled cup and cover (1686); these pieces are fully described in "Old Plate" by John H. Buck. xx Colonial House at Edenton, North Carolina 285 In this hangs an oil portrait of Mrs. Penelope Barker, whose sig- nature was attached to the agreement printed on page 314. xxi Vignette Colonial China . .322 Consisting of Cauliflower, Leeds, Tortoise-shell and so-called Lowestoft wares, and a soft pottery tea caddy decorated with two "Macaronies"; the gavel resting on the fan suggests feminine inter- est in politics. I BRITISH OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION BRITISH OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION ERE AS it is just and necessary that a revenue be raised in His Majesty's dominions in Amer- ica for defraying the expenses of defending and protecting and securing the same." Such was the apparently innocent phraseology, as it ap- peared in the press, of the preamble to the Act passed by the British Parliament in 1764 with which Great Britain started on her policy of colonial oppression a policy which was only THE BOSTON PORT BILL terminated twelve years later by the dismem- berment of her American empire. The Seven Years' War which resulted in the loss of Canada to France had just ended. The question of financing the immense debt thereby incurred was a serious one, and the yearly bud- get placed before Parliament disclosed the fact that the maintenance of the royal forces in Amer- ica necessitated a yearly expense of nearly three hundred thousand pounds sterling. To English- men it seemed but just that the American Col- onies should bear a portion of this burden. While the object of the Act purported to be the raising of additional revenue from America, yet certain provisions in it tended still more strongly to con- fine the trade of the Colonies to the seaports of Great Britain, and threatened the destruction of the commerce which the American merchants had developed with the neighbouring French and Spanish possessions. Up to this time England had interfered but slightly with the affairs of her colonies, and the sundry acts passed for the purpose of furthering her policy of securing for herself alone the trade of her American possessions had been but lightly enforced. The afore-mentioned Act, moreover, provided that the monies obtained by the duties therein imposed, be placed at the disposal of the royal Exchequer and that offenders against its OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION restrictions on commerce be brought to trial be- fore the Vice-Admiralty Courts. Resolutions were also passed in Parliament declaring it to be the intention of the government in the next year to impose Stamp Duties in the American Colonies upon all newspapers, legal instruments, etc. Neither the Act nor the resolution which followed it met with opposition in Parliament or adverse comment in the English press. The statement contained in the preamble apparently justified both measures. In America, news of these innovations met with a different reception. The threatened de- struction of the magnificent trade whereby her merchants were exchanging not only the native products of the Colonies, but the manufactures of England for the gold and silver of their French and Spanish neighbours, portended financial ruin. The balance of trade with England was leaning heavily in favor of the latter, and payment for her manufactures purchased by the Colonial mer- chants had been only possible by the use of the coin obtained from the above-mentioned sources. The proposed Stamp Duty was disliked also for the reason that the people of this country, already impoverished by loss of the revenue derived from their commerce, would be still further drained of their scanty supplies of bullion, which neces- sarily would be forwarded to England in settle- THE BOSTON PORT BILL ment for the stamps. In addition to the fi- nancial distress consequent upon the carrying out of the proposed measures, it became evident that certain clauses in the bill betokened a radical change in England's ancient policy of dealing with her Colonies, which up to this time had been left to manage their own internal affairs according to the provisions of their charters. An atmosphere of gloom and indignation pervaded America when it became known that two of the privileges which had been so long enjoyed there namely, that of trial by jury, and the manage- ment of her own fiscal affairs were thenceforth to be put in jeopardy. The impossibility up to this time of securing the conviction before a jury of their own countrymen of those accused of the offense of smuggling, was given as the reason for the insertion in the Act of the provision that of- fenders against the new law be tried in the Courts of the Vice-Admiralty, the Judges of which owed their livelihood to the King's pleasure. The change to be made in the fiscal policy was contained in the proposal to devote the funds raised by the Act to the maintenance of a Civil List in America with its attendant dangers. Heretofore the rights of the people had been safe- guarded, owing to the fact that the salaries of the King's appointees were largely fixed and paid by the Colonial Assemblies. The people of Bos- OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION ton were the first to scent the threatened danger to their liberties, and in May 1764, at their town meeting voiced their protest in a series of resolu- tions drawn up and offered by Samuel Adams, and instructed their representatives in the Assembly of the Province to urge upon that body similar action, and suggested the calling upon the other Colonies for united assistance. The dangers lurk- ing in the bill were thus graphically described : "What still increases our apprehensions is, that these unexpected Proceedings may be prepara- tory to more extensive Taxations upon us. For if our Trade may be taxed, why not our Lands, the Produce of our lands, and in short every- thing we possess or make use of? This we apprehend, annihilates our Charter Rights to govern and tax ourselves ... If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable state of Tributary Slaves?" The Assembly of Massachusetts-Bay, whose stately home appears in the initial letter of this chapter, acted promptly and forwarded its protest to the House of Commons. This action was quickly followed by similar remonstrances from the Assemblies of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and the House of Burgesses of Virginia. THE BOSTON PORT BILL News of the state of political feeling in the Colonies was slow in reaching the English peo- ple, for the press had up to this time devoted scant space to American news. To the great majority of Englishmen the forms of government existing in their various possessions, and the temper and traditions of the people were almost unknown. Exaggerated conceptions of the wealth of the American people prevailed in England, due to the stories brought home of the lavish entertainment and hospitality showered upon those who had held the King's commission in America. The Colonies were considered desirable possessions simply for the purposes of trade, it being recog- nized that much of England's commercial pros- perity was due to the great and growing market they furnished for the manufactures of Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. During the year of the passage of the Act, the information given in the English press con- cerning the feeling in America against the new legislation merely reflected the financial depres- sion caused thereby, and the determination of the people to counteract the same by economy and frugality. In an article dated "Boston, New Eng- land, Sept. f." the London Chronicle of October i6th-i8th, 1764, thus described the situation in Boston, and the measures considered necessary for adoption nearly a month previous to the date OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION on which the new Act was to go into effect: "Some of the principal Merchants here have come into a resolution to curtail many superfluities in dress ; and upwards of fifty have already signed a certain agreement for that purpose. Lace, ruffles, &c., are to be entirely laid aside: No English cloths to be purchased but at a fixed price : The usual manner of expressing their regard and sor- row for a deceased friend or relative by covering themselves in black, is also in the list of super- fluities, and no part thereof but the crape in the hat is to be retained ; instead of which, a piece of crape is to be tied upon the arm, after the man- ner of the military gentlemen." Another letter which appeared in the same news-sheet nearly two weeks later described in the following words the state of mind in Vir- ginia and noted the determination then forming to manufacture at home the necessaries hitherto purchased in England : " Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman at Virginia, to his friend in Bristol, Sept. 4. ' Melancholy and uneasiness are visible in most countenances ; and happy is the man that can keep his effects together. Tobacco is low, and grain of all sorts much fallen ; from whence then is to come our relief? It can happen, in my opinion, only from the strictest frugality in our affairs. Hemp and flax are the two objects that are looked on, as if they would deliver THE BOSTON PORT BILL us ; and, so they may, in a great measure but something else is necessary. I am told the col- ony of Maryland has planted little tobacco this year, and I believe much less will be planted here another year. The acts of parliament have made such impressions on the minds of the northward people, and the men of war so strictly enforce them, that there is an entire stagnation of trade. Nothing do they talk of but their own manufactures. The downfall of England, and the rise of America, is sung by the common ballad singers about the streets, as if, in a little time, we should supply ourselves with most of the necessaries we used to take from England/ ' Another letter from Boston, published in the same newspaper in the latter part of November, informed its readers that " the disposition seems to continue in many of the inhabitants of this and the neighbouring governments, to cloath them- selves with their own manufactures. At Hemp- stead, on Long Island, in the province of New York, a company of gentlemen have set up a new woolen manufactory, and have given notice to gentlemen, shopkeepers, and others, of any of the provinces, that by sending proper patterns of any colour, they may be supplied with broad-cloths, equal in fineness, colour and goodness, and cheap- er than any imported: The proprietors gave good encouragement to persons who are in any way OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION versed in the woolen manufactures, such as wool- combers, weavers, clothiers, shearers, dyers, spin- ners, carders, or understanding any branch of the broadcloth, blankets or shroud manufactory. There are many articles of dress manufactured in this government, which if wore would be a great saving thereto, particularly knit stockings, leather habits for working, shoes, &c. more es- pecially shoes for women, which are made at Lynn, and exceed in strength and beauty, any that are usually imported from London." Practically all that a reader of the London Chronicle in 1 764 could have learned of Ameri- can sentiment towards the new legislation is con- tained in the above extracts. A great majority of the news items from America merely recounted the troubles with the Indians on the frontiers, maritime disasters and domestic news of no pol- itical import. The wisdom of the passage of the Act was considered simply a matter of politi- cal economy by the average Englishman. The constitutional rights therein involved were as yet unconsidered. The Stamp Act, after strenuous opposition by Pitt, Barre, Conway and Camden, was passed by both Houses of Parliament and received the royal assent on the 2 2nd of March 1 765. Neither the debates nor the contents of the bill appear to have awakened any popular interest. The few THE BOSTON PORT BILL letters from America which were published in the press during the first quarter of that year merely recounted the successful starting of in- dustries in the various Colonies, with the fol- lowing exception which appeared in the London Chronicle of January 1 5th 1 7th, 1765, and was the only reference in this influential newspaper to the fact that constitutional as well as economical questions were involved in the new legislation for the Colonies. The great masses of England were still not cognizant of the vital question at stake. " Extract of a letter from Providence (in Rhode Island} Dec. 8. 'The general assembly of this colony, which sat here this week, rose last night ; having first ordered an address, which had be- fore been prepared by a Committee, to be sent to his Majesty: praying that our trade may be re- stored to its former condition ; that courts of Admiralty may not have more extensive powers in the colonies, than the law gives them in Brit- ain; that stamp duties and internal taxes be not laid on the people here, without their own con- sent; and, that the colonies be not any way de- prived of their just and long enjoyed rights.' ' In the latter half of 1765, the questions at issue received somewhat more attention in the newspapers. A very lengthy and convincing ex- position of the folly displayed in the policy of taxing the American Colonies and the damage OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION caused thereby to the trade of both England and America, appeared in the London Chronicle of Aug- ust ^th-i/th, and of August 24th-27th, 1765, over the signature of "MARCUS AURELIUS" and under the heading of "A Dialogue between a North American and a Courtier" and evidently attracted considerable attention. It purported to give an account of a debate which took place by appointment between a gentleman from the Col- onies and a man of influence in Court circles. The discussion was conducted in terms of the greatest friendliness, and the issue of the debate hinged entirely upon the question as to whether the taxation of the Colonies was necessary and beneficial to the prosperity and trade of both countries. The debate closed with a complete demolition of the arguments advanced in favour of the taxation policy. The closing paragraph is here quoted for the purpose of showing the view of this ill-fated innovation then accepted by many Englishmen. " Courtier. I am perfectly of your opinion, that an army in the colonies, and for the support of which these duties and taxes are imposed, is entirely useless, therefore with the removal of the one, the other ought to vanish. Besides, if the Crown collects the little money you have for taxes, the merchant here must go without it. This is already severely felt by them, and THE BOSTON PORT BILL the manufacturers have now neither orders for goods nor remittances for debts, and this evil it is apparent will be an increasing one, unless the cause of it is removed. You may therefore rest assured that I shall use my influence, and make my utmost efforts toward the repealing, or at least amending these acts, which I think are big with the most dangerous consequences to this kingdom, as well as to the colonies." From this time on the tone of the letters from America began to change. Less stress was laid upon the paralysis of trade. The resent- ment of the people against the attack upon their constitutional right of self-government was be- coming the predominant feature of the "Amer- ican News." Accounts soon appeared of the events in Boston on the " Fourteenth of August," on which day effigies of the Stamp Officer and Lord Bute were paraded through the streets es- corted by " a great concourse of people, some of the highest standing." The burning of the suspected Stamp Office, and the enforced resig- nation of the Stamp Officers were also described in the account of this day's doings. The appended "extract of a letter from Eos- ton in New England" written two days before the uprising of the Bostonians, called attention to the activity of the " Sons of Liberty " at Prov- idence. This name was now being enthusias- 14 tically and rapidly adopted throughout the Col- onies by those who were active in their efforts to protect their constitutional liberties. It owed its origin to Isaac Barre's characterization of the Americans as "Sons of Liberty," when speaking in the House of Commons against the passage of the Stamp Act. " We hear from Providence, in the Colony of Rhode Island, that the Freemen of that town being lately called to confer on such matters as should appear to them necessary relative to the STAMP-ACT,* whereby the Liberties, the dar- ling boast of the English North American Sub- ject, which was once deem'd indefeasible, must be greatly abridg'd, if not totally annihilated; they accordingly met for the aforesaid purpose, and unanimously appointed a Committee to pre- pare instructions suitable to be given their Rep- resentatives for their conduct in the next gene- eral Assembly, on this truly alarming occasion, and that they are to be laid before the town for their approbation to-morrow : at which time those Sons of Liberty are to convene again for the noblest of all causes, their Country's Good. A proceeding this that conveys the most lively idea of principles nobly patriotic, and which will, it is to be wish'd, serve as an example to other * ' Instead of voted aid, Free, cordial, large, a never failing source, The cumbrous imposition followed harsh." THE BOSTON PORT BILL towns to exert themselves at this crisis, and to re- mind them, that they are entitled to all the priv- ileges of British Subjects, as long as they are de- nominated such, to bear in utter abhorrence the name without the substance." The same week brought advices of the mem- orable resolutions passed by the Burgesses of Vir- ginia, an account of which may be found in Chapter V. News of the resignation of the Stamp Officers, both voluntary and enforced, fol- lowed in rapid succession. The English people were gradually being awakened to the fact that all America was aroused. A very clever series of articles on the American question appeared in the London Chronicle during October and November 1765, in which, over the signature of " RATIONALES," the oppressions from which the Americans were suffering were discussed and attention was repeatedly drawn to the union in behalf of the common defense, then being agi- tated in the Colonies. The Colonials were lauded as being a people who " have a strong passion for freedom, which is here lost in a lust for pleas- ures the most contemptible in their natures ; so that they idolize those blessings which from de- generacy we disregard. It can never, therefore, be wisdom in us to kindle in them a fire of patri- otism in opposition to ourselves, which in its wild- est excuses plain reason should convince us would 16 OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION never be destitute of exterior support, as there is not a trading state of Europe which must not wish to see North America in a state of inde- pendence, or which we can rationally think would not contribute every means in their power to her establishment therein : such an event, as we may rationally conclude, being much more desirable to rival states to Great Britain than to the North Americans themselves, because with the downfall of her American empire there must become a complete downfall of our power and prosperity, as we should then have our chief pursuits to begin anew from the time of the ref- ormation under tenfold disadvantages and with tenfold imbecility." Other letters written by Englishmen con- stantly appeared in the press calling attention to the seriousness of the situation in America, pre- dicting that at some future date the American Colonies, which were constantly increasing in population and each year becoming less dependent upon Great Britain, would be OBLIGED to cast off the domination now thrust upon them, and giving warning that England's old-time foe, the kingdom of France, would gladly give assist- ance to any such effort. This line of reasoning rilled many a column in the English press during the next ten years, and was well illustrated by a semi-allegorical mez- 17 THE BOSTON PORT BILL zotint cartoon, a reproduction of which appears upon the opposite page. In it Britannia, seated on an island, is pictured in the act of self-de- struction. Lying at her feet, and piercing a lib- erty cap, may be seen her spear emblematic of Great Britain's war upon the freedom and con- stitutional rights of her subjects. To the right, and upon the mainland, earnestly watching this proceeding appears a cock, the emblem by which France had long been symbolized. The coming war with its attendant horrors was suggested by the insertion of the naval conflict in the back- ground. Of the two vessels in close combat one flies the Cross of St. George, the other a flag which in no way bears resemblance to that of any nation then in existence. The keen interest taken by the French in the controversy then raging was also alluded to in many a fable and anecdote, which appeared in the English press during the next few years, with a moral similar to that contained in the extract from the London Chronicle of March 22nd 26th, 1766, given below: ANECDOTE "A young English Lord who was lately at Paris, having asked a French Nobleman of dis- tinction there, in the Government of his Coun- try, whether they had heard of the Commotions which the Stamp-Act had occasioned in North ii OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION America ; he replied they had, and were in great fears concerning them. * Fears ? Nous craig- nons y que r Angleterre s' accommodera trop tot avec ses Colonies! ' On November i6th, 1765, the London Chron- icle devoted its opening columns to the follow- ing letters, which pointed out the mental atti- tude of Parliament and drew attention to the dangerous state of the public mind in the Colo- nies : " To the PRINTER of the LONDON CHRONICLE. "SIR, " I make no apology for presenting to the Public, thro' the channel of your useful Paper, the following letters, as they contain the sentiments of two Gentlemen of acknowledged abilities and integrity upon a subject which is of the last Con- sequence to the peace, safety, union, dignity, and stability of the British Empire. Your's, W. S. " Extract of a Letter from a North American in London, to his Friend in America, dated "July II 9 " ' Depend upon it, my good Friend, every possible step was taken to prevent the passing of the Stamp Act. But the tide was too strong against us. The nation was provok'd by Ameri- can claims of independence, and all parties join'd THE BOSTON PORT BILL in resolving by this act to settle the point. We might as well have hindered the sun's setting. But since it is down, my Friend, and it may be long ere it rises again, let us make as good a night of it as we can. We may still light candles. Fru- gality and Industry will go a great way towards indemnifying us. Idleness and Pride tax with a heavier hand than Kings and Parliaments. If we can get rid of the former, we may easily bear the latter. Our country produces, or is capable of producing, all the necessaries of life, the wast- ing superfluities come from hence. Let us have but the wisdom to be content awhile with our own, and this country will soon feel, that its loss in point of commerce, is infinitely more than its gain in taxes.' " The ANSWER, dated Philadelphia, 24 Sept. " ' Yes, my friend, I grant that " Idleness and Pride tax with a heavier hand than Kings and Parliaments," and that frugality and industry will go a great way towards indemnifying us.' But the misfortune is, the very thing that renders in- dustry necessary cuts the sinews of it. With in- dustry and frugality the subjects of eastern tyrants might be wealthier than those of England or Holland. But who will labour or save who has not a security in his property ? When people are taxed by their own representatives, though OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION the tax is high they pay it chearfully, from a con- fidence that no more than enough is required, and that a due regard is had to the ability of the giver. But when taxes are laid merely to " set- tle the point of independence ," and when the quan- tity of the tax depends on the caprice of those who have the superiority, and who will doubtless lay it heavier in order to bring down the spirits or weaken the power of those who claim inde- pendence, what encouragement is there to labour or save ? The wealth we thereby acquire will be a new motive, which fear or avarice will sug- gest, to tax us anew. No wonder then if people will chuse to live poor and lazy rather than la- bour to enrich their taxmasters, or furnish mat- ter for new oppression. There never was any mention of the colonies aiming at independence, till the ministry began to abridge them of their liberties. I will venture to affirm, and to you I can appeal for the truth of what I say, that his- tory cannot shew a people so numerous, so far removed from the seat of Royalty, who were so loyal, so attached to their King, and who at the same time had such true sentiments of liberty, as the British American Colonies. How long this will continue God knows. The Sun of Lib- erty is indeed fast setting, if not down already, in the American Colonies : But I much fear in- stead of the candles you mention being lighted, THE BOSTON PORT BILL you will hear of the works of darkness. They are in general alarmed to the last degree. The Colonies expect, and with reason expect, that some regard shall be had to their liberties and privileges, as well as trade. They cannot bring themselves to believe, nor can they see how Eng- land with reason or justice could expect, that they should have encountered the horrors of a defeat, borne the attacks of barbarous savages, and, at the expence of their blood and treasure, settled this country to the great emolument of England, and after all quietly submit to be de- prived of everything an Englishman has been taught to hold dear. It is not property only we contend for. Our Liberty and most essential privileges are struck at : Arbitrary Courts are set over us, and trials by juries taken away: The Press is so restricted that we cannot complain : An army of mercenaries threatened to be bill- eted on us : The sources of our trade stopped ; and, to compleat our ruin, the little property we had acquired, taken from us, without even al- lowing us the merit of giving it ; I really dread the consequence. The parliament insist on a power over all the liberties and privileges claimed by the colonies, and hence require a blind obe- dience and acquiescence in whatever they do: Should the behaviour of the colonies happen not to square with these sovereign notions (as I OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION much fear it will not), what remains but by vio- lence to compel them to obedience. Violence will beget resentment, and provoke to acts never dreamt of: But I will not anticipate evil ; I pray God avert it. " I congratulate you on the change in the ministry : We hope for much good from it. For such seems the state of the British constitution at present, that from them we are to look for good or ill. Heretofore we have been taught to look for redress from another quarter. I am, " Dear Sir, Your affectionate Friend, &c.' ' It soon became known that the two corre- spondents were Charles Thomson, of Philadel- phia, and the popular Dr. Franklin, who was so greatly loved, respected, and sought after in Brit- ish scientific and literary circles. Dr. Franklin was then holding the royal appointment of Dep- uty Postmaster General for the Colonies and at the same time was the duly accredited agent in London for the Province of Pennsylvania. His portrait, made by his friend Josiah Wedgwood, appears in the engraving which ends this chap- ter. It was fast becoming recognized in England that the future of Great Britain herself was being imperilled by the differences which had arisen over the right of taxation claimed by Parliament THE BOSTON PORT BILL and denied by the inhabitants of the Colonies. The gravity of the situation, and the disastrous results to all Englishmen which would result from a clash between the two peoples, were strikingly summed up in the following lines, which first headed a column of the London Chron- icle of November i6th-i9th, 1765, and which appeared at irregular intervals during the next nine years in the same prominent position in this newspaper, as well as in Lloyd's Evening Post (London), and in the Middlesex "Journal: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, MEN OF ENGLAND, THE COLONIES, BRETHEREN. Confider well the Reverfe of a Dutch medal, ftruck in their early troubles. " Two earthen vafes, floating in the waters. Infcription. Frangimur ft Collidimur" The medal to which this exhortation re- ferred, an engraving of which appears in the headband of this chapter, was struck in 1587 at the time when the jealousies between the two factions of the town of Horn threatened the very existence of its government and freedom. The simile was a forcible one and readily comprehended, and the inscription, " If we are forced together, we are shattered," was truly prophetic of the separation which took place be- tween Great Britain and the Colonies, which fin- 26 OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION ally ended the long-drawn-out contest between the King and his transatlantic subjects. The news of the action of the Congress of the Colonies at New York ; their protest against the Stamp Act and the principle involved there- in; the stories of the destruction of the stamps (an engraving of one of these ends the introduc- tory chapter of this volume) at many places in the Colonies, and the text of the many agree- ments made against the non-importation of Brit- ish goods, were printed in the press simultaneously with accounts of the distress existing in the manu- facturing centers of England, resulting from the loss of American trade. Portions of the original charters granted to the Colonies of Massachusetts-Bay, Maryland and Virginia appeared in the newspapers, and were cited as demonstrating that the inhabitants of North America had long been entitled to the same rights and privileges enjoyed by those who resided in England. A clearer understanding of the American question was at last obtainable from the news-sheets, and the year 1765 closed with commercial England prepared for and de- manding the repeal of the Stamp Act. A bill repealing this Act, which, during its short life had been so fraught with disaster to both Eng- land and America, was finally passed by both Houses of Parliament on March I7th, 1766, and *7 THE BOSTON PORT BILL the peril which threatened the nation seemed averted. In thanksgiving therefor, and in grati- tude for the active energies displayed by Wil- liam Pitt in securing the passage of the bill, the following remarkable leader appeared in the London Chronicle the next day and many times thereafter, during the next few months: MARCH XVIII, MDCCLXV ENGLISHMEN, SCOTTISHMEN, IRISHMEN, COLONISTS, BRETHEREN, Rejoice in the wifdom, fortitude of one man, which hath faved You from civil-war and your enemies ! Erecl: a Statue to that Man in the Metropolis of your dominions ! Place a garland of oak leaves on the Pedeftal and grave in it CONCORD The above exhortation has been here re- printed, for the purpose of demonstrating that in England, even at the time this leader ap- peared, it was recognized that a contest between Great Britain and her Colonies would partake of the nature of a civil war, the horrors of which were only prevented by the repeal of the Stamp Act. It also tells us of the added esteem in which William Pitt, already a popular hero, was held, and of the debt of gratitude owed to this great statesman not only by the Colonials, whose burdens he had lightened, but also by the people of England, Scotland and Ireland. In addition, this recognition of Pitt's services to the nation OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION undoubtedly first suggested to the people of America the idea of erecting statues in his hon- our in their cities, for the same packets which brought the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act brought also copies of the London news- paper which had just proposed this method of honouring Pitt. The English people quickly learned of America's desire to perpetuate the memory of Pitt's services from a letter, which appeared in the press, written from New York only two days after the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act was received there, which mentioned the fact "that the merchants and principal in- habitants of that city have opened a subscription for erecting an elegant statue of the Right Hon. William Pitt, Esq." Public sentiment, however, demanded that the erection of the statue be made an official act of the Province. News of the quick response of the Assembly, preceded by their substantial expression of loyalty and gratitude to their King, appeared in the London Chronicle of August 2nd- 5th, 1766: "From the JOURNAL of the General Assembly of NEW YORK. Die Veneris, June 2O. The house taking into consideration the innu- merable and singular benefits received from our most gracious Sovereign, since the commence- ment of his auspicious reign, during which they have been protected from the fury of a cruel, 29 THE BOSTON PORT BILL merciless, and savage enemy; and lately from the utmost confusion and distress, by the repeal of the Stamp Act: In testimony therefore of their gratitude and the reverence due to his sacred person and character, " Resolved, That this House will make pro- vision for an Equestrian statue of his present Majesty, our most gracious Sovereign, to be erected in the City of New York, to perpetuate to the latest posterity the deep sense this Colony has of the eminent and singular blessings derived from him, during his most auspicious reign. "Mr. Cruger moved, that in consideration of the many eminent and essential services done the Northern Colonies, by the Right Hon. Wil- liam Pitt Esq ; but particularly in promoting the Repeal of the late Stamp Act, and to perpetuate to the latest posterity the grateful sense this Colony entertains on that account, provision might be made for erecting an elegant statue of him in brass: whereupon it was resolved, that this House will provide ways and means to pro- cure and pay for a statue of the Right Hon. William Pitt, Esq; accordingly. " Other letters soon told of similar action con- templated by the Assemblies of Massachusetts- Bay, Maryland and South Carolina. The orders for the execution of the statues of Pitt voted by the people of New York and South Carolina were 3 OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION entrusted to the same sculptor. In 1 770, and at a time when the Ministry were again oppress- ing the Colonies, the following description of the statue of Pitt, which had been ordered by the South Carolina Assembly and then just completed, and the accompanying inscription for its pedestal, appeared in the London news- papers : "The following inscription is on a pedestal on which is intended to erect a colossal statue of the new Lord Chatham in the Ciceronian character and habiliment, which is now going to be sent to South Carolina. The action is spirited, and the execution masterly treated by Mr. Wilton, the statuary : In grateful memory of his services to his country in general, and to America in particular, the Commons House of Assembly of South Carolina unanimously voted this statue of the Right Hon. WILLIAM PITT Esq. who gloriously exerted himself in defend- ing the freedom of the Americans, the True Sons of England, by promoting a repeal of the Stamp Act in the year 1766. Time shall sooner destroy this mark of their esteem, than erase from their minds the just sense of his patriotic virtue.' " The two statues were almost identical in ap- pearance, both being of white marble from the same model, and mounted upon brick pedestals s* THE BOSTON PORT BILL with white marble tablets and facings. The wording of the inscription upon the pedestal of the New York statue (an engraving of which as it originally appeared ends Chapter IV) is pre- served by the following account of the unveil- ing which appeared in the New York "Journal or the General Advertiser of September I3th, 1770: Laft Friday the STATUE of the Right Hon. WILLIAM PITT, Esq; Earl of Chatham, was fixed on the Pedeftal ere&ed for it in Wall-Street, amidft the Acclamations of a great Number of the Inhabitants. The Statue is of fine white Mar- ble, the Habit Roman, the right Hand holds a Scroll, partly open, whereon we read, ARTICULI MAGNA CHARTA, LIBERTATUM ; the left Hand is extended, the Figure being in the Attitude of one delivering an Oration. On the South Side of the Pedeftal, the following Infcription is cut on a Table of white Marble. THIS STATUE O F T H E RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM, WAS ERECTED AS A PUBLIC TESTIMONY OF THE GRATEFUL SENSE THE COLONY OF NEW-YORK RETAINS OF THE MANY EMINENT SERVICES HE RENDERED AMERICA, PARTICULARLY IN PROMOTING THE REPEAL OF THE STAMP-ACT. ANNO DOM. M,DCC,LXX. It is interesting to note in this connection that the statues of the King and Pitt were voted 3* OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION on the same day by the Assembly ; were carried to New York from London in the same vessel four years later, and were, in the year when Independence was declared, pulled down by the opposing factions the King being moulded into bullets to send against his own troops, and the Minister wantonly decapitated by the King's forces, in order to vent their spleen against a fellow-countryman whom their enemies revered as a friend and ally. A witness to the contemporary recognition in England of the grateful appreciation by America of William Pitt's efforts in her behalf, is af- forded us by a Chelsea-Derby statuette moulded by England's greatest manufacturer of porcelain, William Duesbury. An engraving of this statu- ette is given at the head of the following chapter. In this America is shown kneeling before Pitt in an attitude suggestive of the entreaty for jus- tice made by the radicals among her citizens, as well as of the prayer for mercy against the unbear- able taxation uttered by those, who, because of loyalty to their King and mistaken faith in his kindness, had kept out of the political arena. The delight with which the news of the re- peal of the Stamp Act was welcomed in those portions of England, where the curtailment of their American market had resulted in financial depression with its attendant distresses, was simi- 33 THE BOSTON PORT BILL lar to the jubilation exhibited in the City of London on the same occasion and noted in the issue of the London Chronicle of March i8th- 2oth, 1766, in the ensuing paragraph: "A great number of Merchants met yesterday at the King's Arms Tavern in Cornhill, from whence they went in their coaches to Westminster, to express their satisfaction on the royal assent being given to the bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act. The bells rang in every part of the city on the same occasion ; and in the afternoon the Merchants had a grand entertainment at the above Tavern, at which were present many per- sons of distinction. At night many coffee houses, and other houses in the city were finely illum- inated, and other demonstrations of joy were shown on this event." Although the news of the repeal of the Stamp Act was immediately dispatched to Amer- ica, it did not reach there until about the middle of May, the season of the year militating against fast voyages by the packets. The glad tidings spread like wild-fire, and celebrations were in order in all parts of the country. Descriptions of these scenes of jubilee, and incidentally of the frequent damage to life and property therein incurred through the careless handling of ex- plosives, quickly reached the people of England through the medium of their newspapers, and 34 OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION graphically pictured the exultation the American people displayed in their joy over the relief from legislation which they had opposed as being in- compatible with the liberty to which as Eng- lishmen and loyal servants of the King they were entitled. In the cities the ceremonies held in celebra- tion of the Repeal were conducted upon a grand scale, as may be learned from the appended letter which appeared in the London Chronicle of June 28th-July ist, 1766, and which has been selected as being typical of the accounts which crossed the water of the thanksgivings of the people of the Colonies for relief from hostile legislation. "Extract of a Letter from Boston , (New England} dated May 26. On Friday sevennight, to the in- expressible joy of all, were received by Captain Coffin, the important news of the repeal of the Stamp Act, which was signed by his Majesty the 1 8th of March last ; upon which the bells in the town were set a ringing, the ships in the harbour display'd their colours, guns were discharged in different parts of the town, and in the evening were several bonfires. According to a previous vote of the town the Selectmen met in the after- noon at Faneuil-Hall, and appointed Monday last for a day of general rejoicings on that happy occasion. The morning was ushered in with musick, ringing of bells, and the discharge of 35 THE BOSTON PORT BILL cannon, the ships in the harbour and many of the houses in town being adorned with colours. Joy smil'd in every countenance, benevolence, gratitude and content seemed the companions of all. By the generosity of some Gentlemen re- markable for their humanity and patriotism, our gaol was freed of debtors. At one o'clock the castle and batteries, and train of artillery fired a royal salute, and the afternoon was spent in mirth and jollity. In the evening the whole town was beautifully illuminated : On the common the sons of Liberty erected a magnificent pyramid, il- luminated with 2 80 lamps: The four upper stories of which were ornamented with the figures of their Majesties, and fourteen of the worthy patriots who have distinguished themselves by their love of Liberty. The following lines were on the four sides of the next apartment, which referred to the emblematical figures on the lower story, the whole supported by a large base of the Doric order : " O thou whom next to heav'n we most revere, Fair Liberty ! thou lovely Goddess hear ! Have we not woo'd thee, won thee, held thee long, Lain in thy lap and melted on thy tongue : Thro' deaths and dangers rugged paths pursu'd, And led thee smiling to this Solitude : Hid thee within our hearts most golden cell, And brav'd the powers of earth and powers of hell. OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION Goddess ! we cannot part, thou must not fly, Be Slaves ; we dare to scorn it dare to die. " While clanking chaines and curses shall salute, Thine ears remorseless G le, thine OB ; To you blest Patriots ! we our cause submit, Illustrious Campden, Britain's Guardian Pitt : Recede not, frown not, rather let us be Depriv'd of being, than of Liberty. Let fraud or malice blacken all our crimes, No disaffection stains these peaceful climes ; O save us, shield us from impending woes, The foes of Britain, only are our foes. " Boast foul oppression, boast thy transient reign, While honest Freedom struggles with her chain ; But know the sons of Virtue, hardy, brave, Disdain to lose thro' mean despair to save; Arrouz'd in thunder, awful they appear, With proud deliverance stalking in their rear ; While tyrant foes their pallid fear betray, Shrink from their arms, and give their venge- ance way ; See in th' unequal war Oppressors fall, The hate, contempt, and endless curse of all. " Our Faith approv'd our Liberty restor'd, Our hearts bend grateful to our sov' reign Lord; Hail darling Monarch ! by this act endear'd, 37 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Our firm affections are thy best reward ; Shou'd Britain's self, against herself divide, And hostile armies frown on either side ; Shou'd hosts rebellious, shake our Brunswick's- throne, And as they dar'd thy parent, dare the son ; To this Asylum stretch thine happy wing, And we'll contend, who best shall love our King. " On the top of the pyramid was fixed a round box of fireworks, horizontally. About one hun- dred yards from the pyramid the Sons of Lib- erty erected a stage for the exhibition of their fireworks, near the Work-House, in the lower room of which they entertained the gentlemen of the town. John Hancock, Esq; who gave a grand and elegant entertainment to the genteel part of the town, and treated the populace with a pipe of Madeira wine, erected at the front of his house, which was magnificently illuminated, a stage for the exhibition of his fireworks, which was to answer those of the Sons of Liberty. "At dusk the scene opened by the discharge of twelve rockets from each stage ; after which the figures on the pyramids were uncovered, making a beautiful appearance. To give a description of the great variety of fireworks exhibited from this time till eleven o'clock would be endless the air was filled with rockets the ground with OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION bee-hives and serpents and two stages with wheels of fireworks of various sorts. Mr. Otis and some other gentlemen who lived near the Common kept open house the whole evening, which was very pleasant ; the multitudes of gen- tlemen and ladies, who were continually passing from one place to another, added much to the brilliancy of the night : At eleven o'clock, the signal being given by the discharge of twenty- one rockets, the horizontal wheel on the top of the pyramid or obelisk was played off, ending in the discharge of sixteen dozen of serpents in the air, which concluded the shew. To the honour of the Sons of Liberty we can with pleasure in- form the world, that everything was conducted with the utmost decency and good order ; not a reflection cast on any character, nor the least dis- order during the whole scene. The pyramid, which was designed to be placed under the Tree of Liberty, as a standing monument of this glo- rious sera, by accident took fire about one o'clock, and was consumed : The lamps by which it was illuminated not being extinguished at the close of the scene it is supposed to have taken fire by some of them. " On Tuesday evening some of the Sons of Liberty apprehending the lanthorns hung on the tree of Liberty, which the night before amounted only to the ever memorable No. 45, would 39 THE BOSTON PORT BILL have made a more loyal and striking appearance if increased to the glorious majority of 108, met and procuring that number, disposed them on the tree in a very agreeable picturesque manner. The houses next adjoining and opposite were deco- rated with figures characteristic of those to whom we bear the deepest loyalty and gratitude : Here an imperfect portrait of their Majesties, our most gracious King and Queen there, the royal arms : here the illustrious Campden, Pitt, Con- way, Barre, and others of late so conspicuous in the cause of Liberty and their country : in short, imagination must supply the variety exhibited on this occasion, which words are wanting to ex- press. "The Honour his Majesty's Council, at a pre- vious invitation of the Governor, met at the province House on Monday afternoon, where his Majesty's health, and many other loyal toasts were drank ; and in the evening his Excellency with the Council, walked in the Common, to see the fireworks, exhibitions, &c. who were well pleased with the regularity the inhabitants car- ried on their demonstrations of loyalty and joy on this happy occasion." This celebration took place at a period when numerical symbolism was in frequent use, hence the numbers 280, 45, 108 mentioned in the OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION above description were readily recognized as be- ing emblematical respectively, of the number of votes cast in favour of the Repeal in the House of Commons (the actual number was two hun- dred and seventy-five, but erroneously reported to America as two hundred and eighty), of John Wilkes (see pages 95-121), and of the majority by which the bill was carried in the House of Commons. Trade in both England and the Colonies quickly revived, and the Stamp Act, and the en- mities caused thereby, bade fair to be forgotten. Any American news of political import which appeared in the English press took the shape of "Addresses to the King" from the various Co- lonial Assemblies, who used this method of for- mally expressing their loyalty to their Sover- eign, and their gratitude for the removal of the unpopular and oppressive legislation. Undoubt- edly the story of the Stamp Act would have gone down in history as a bit of unwise and hasty legislation, which had been repealed as soon as its significance was clearly understood, if the Ministry had taken to heart the lessons taught thereby, and had not soon attempted measure after measure repressive to self-govern- ment in the Colonies, accounts of which will appear in later chapters of this volume. In the course of events, however, its mem- THE BOSTON PORT BILL ories were constantly revived, and during the tempestuous times in this country which pre- ceded the breaking out of the American Rev- olution, the Stamp Act was kept constantly in mind, and effigies of its author, Lord Grenville, though dead, and of Lord Bute, its supposed in- stigator, received the same treatment accorded to the images of Lord North and other mem- bers of the Ministry, who were then attempt- ing a domination as obnoxious as that which their predecessors had inaugurated. In England also, at the same time, the principles involved in the Stamp Act were popularly considered to be the primary cause of the troubles which were then threatening the integrity of the nation. Additional evidence of this fact may be deduced from the study of the mezzotint cartoon, repro- duced upon the opposite page in the colours of the original. It was issued by W. Humphrey y Gerrard Street, Sobo. [London], and first appeared upon sale in the print shops of London on the 1 6th of February, 1776, ten months after the battles of Lexington and Concord had precipi- tated the war, which ended in the separation of the Colonies from Great Britain. The title of this print, " THE WISE MEN of GOTHAM and their GOOSE," is sarcasm itself, and its story is told in the following verses, which hang upon the wall of the Council Chamber upon 4-* >rf.!fj',-iii(f a-*\Saa/iu.tivt ' uitJi fop Ifty tt> quilts was letfi 'far ,m UTivA nffa&O/f jwrtlj f/irir Silt a/i'i-f all l/iaf f/if*yyfr/!i-u 6o- - ' Tt matr tfsJimi/f(r ffmf far' Uro . '17ii> C'lsnsiv /iitrjHvf fr c/'faiit if JirrjVitA ttty/iafa f/i,iat , hut m.-1-e Mrfef/y /< ,/,&,,/- f>- Stmpt iifum Sw Wf?rs Hffff, lit this ImJ nt E/f,rf at 'of/ . ff nadf Jut- stni<7/(, l/iit J? daf ,'nry (r/vw matt A Tfaf/Kii//i,rjiterfi- if, ^l'^Ml .vis f/ nwrr dirf>n, /',/< T/uj- Wfa laid eaehj)a\- an *as f,' atari- man- WISE MEIV of GOTHAM GOOSED OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION each side of the portrait of the British Lion, whose attitude indicates a sense of shame and sorrow : In Gotham once the Story goes A lot of Wise-acres arose Skill'd in the Great Politic Wheel Could pound a Magpie, drown an Eel, With many Things of worthy Note At present much too long to quote, Their District was both far and wide Which not a little swelled their Pride But above all that they possess' d Was a Jine Goose, by all confessed A Kara Avis to behold Who laid each Day an Egg of Gold This made them grow immensely rich Gave them an Avaritious Itch, The Case belongs to many more They not contented with their Store Would Methods vague and strange pursue To make the Harmless Bird lay Two This glorious purpose to obtain About her Neck they put a chain, And more their Folly to compleat They Stampt upon her Wings & Feet But this had no Effect at all, Tet made her struggle, flutter, squall, And do what every Goose would do 45 THE BOSTON PORT BILL That had her Liberty in view, When one of more distinguished Note Cry'd D n her, let us cut her Throat. They did, but not an Egg was found But Blood came pouring from y e Wound. The artist has pictured a meeting of King George and his Cabinet and has grouped them around an executioner's block upon which lies a splendid goose. Her numerous eggs of gold are symbolical of the wealth of America, which had been flowing into the coffers of Great Britain through the channels of trade, and are evidenced in the huge basket, which Lord North, the Prime Minister, holds aloft, as well as in the overflow- ing sack marked TAXES, lying on the floor. The source of this wealth, whose neck already wears a chain, is about to have her usefulness ended by a blow of the cutlass brandished by Lord Bute, to whose secret influence the baleful policy against America was attributed. By a comparison with other caricatures and cartoons of the day the personage to the left of the executioner is plainly identified as the Earl of Sandwich, the " Jemmy Twitcher " of the opponents of the King's policy, and whose bit- ter and hypocritical attack upon Wilkes in the House of Lords twelve years before had brought down upon him the ire and contempt of both 4 6 OPINION OF THE STAMP ACT LEGISLATION England and America. The two personages in the centre of the group, who are interestedly overseeing the execution, were easily recogniz- able as King George the Third, and his Solic- itor-General, Alexander Wedderburn, whose effigy figured in many a Colonial demonstration on account of the brutal and uncalled for insult heaped upon Franklin in the presence of the Privy Council two years before. In the fore- ground of the scene, the lawn sleeves and robe denote the wearer to be one of the Bishops, then sitting in the House of Lords, whose votes at this period were severely commented on by the press, as being in no way worthy of men whose profession proclaimed them lovers of jus- tice and peace (see page 147). The heavy wig and the slender nose of the Minister standing be- tween his Majesty and the Bishop identify their owner as Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chancellor of England, a man who during his long service in public life neglected no opportunity to further any measures which might tend to restrict the rights of the King's subjects in America. In this cartoon, put upon the market by an English print-seller for sale to an appreciative English public, may be read a story of a power- loving King and his foolish advisers, and of their jealousy of the increasing wealth of their Amer- ican subjects, though cognizant of the fact that 47 THE BOSTON PORT BILL the commercial activities of the latter were add- ing great prosperity to the people of England. It also tells of the recognition of the attempts of the Ministry to take to itself additional reve- nue through the imposition of import duties and of the Stamp Act, of the righteous protest of the Colonies against the same, and of the final outcome, the shedding of the BLOOD of a peo- ple who were only attempting to defend the lib- erty which they were entitled to possess. II ENGLISH DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY OF PARLIAMENT II ENGLISH DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY OF PARLIAMENT HE preamble to the Bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act as- signed as the reason therefor that "the Continuance of the said Act would be attended with many Inconveniences and may be productive of Consequences greatly detri- mental to the Commercial Interests of these THE BOSTON PORT BILL Kingdoms." At the same time, in order to maintain the supremacy claimed by Parliament over the Colonies, an Act was passed which denied the claims made by Colonial Assemblies of exemption from the taxation imposed by Par- liament, and declared that " the Parliament had, and of right ought to have power to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever." This asser- tion of the right of Parliament to control the Colonies caused little comment among the peo- ple of England: in America it was quietly ac- cepted as being merely a balm to the wounded feelings of the King and his party in Parliament. Along with the feeling of relief from the well- nigh intolerable taxation, however, grew the un- derstanding that much of Great Britain's pros- perity depended upon, and sprang from America, and that in future the rights of the Colonies necessarily must receive more considerate treat- ment from the law-makers on the other side of the water. A few months later the serious illness of Lord Chatham necessitated his temporary re- tirement ; in his absence Charles Townsend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the behest of George Grenville, and to the delight of the King, introduced into Parliament early in 1767 an Act imposing duties on lead, glass, painter's colours, paper and tea imported into the Colonies. 5* DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY The ostensible purpose of this Bill was to raise from America the small sum of twenty thousand pounds sterling for the Exchequer ; its real purpose was to reassert the domination of Parliament over the growing American Colonies. This Bill awakened but little general interest in Parliament, as its sponsors called attention to the fact that the American Colonial Assemblies had virtually admitted the right of Great Britain to restrain the commerce of the Colonies by the imposition of duties upon importations. In America the news of the passage of the Bill caused great indignation. At first no organized attempt was made to resist its provisions, al- though its enactment was exceedingly irritating to the people and caused them to be jealous and suspicious of any fancied attack upon their pre- rogatives. An expression of the prevailing distrust of the motives of Parliament, then extant in Amer- ica, manifested itself in the Assembly of the Col- ony of New York. Parliament had recently passed an Act which compelled the various Col- onies to provide for the billeting of the royal troops stationed among them. With this Act the Assembly of New York complied in every par- ticular, except the supplying of pepper, salt and vinegar. For this insubordination, trifling as it appeared, its legislative powers were suspended. 53 THE BOSTON PORT BILL In the latter part of the year 1767, under date of November 3Oth-December 2nd, there appeared in the Pennsylvania Chronicle and Uni- versal Advertiser the first of twelve successive weekly letters from a "Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies." In these were skillfully and exhaustively discussed the possibilities which might result from the attitude then being assumed by Great Britain toward her Colonies. These "Letters" instantly struck a responsive note, and were reprinted in almost all of the Colonial newspapers and pub- lished in book form in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Williamsburg. Their contents called attention to the seeming indifference with which the news of the suspension of the legislative powers of the Assembly of New York was re- ceived in the various Colonies, and argued that this action was indirectly a positive assertion of the power of Parliament to tax the Colonies, and, in a measure, virtually similar to the method of taxation sought to be established by the Stamp Act. The levying of the new duties was next discussed, and a sharply defined distinction drawn between the right of Parliament to impose duties for the purpose of directing the trade of the Colonies into English channels, and the right of the same body to levy duties for the purpose of securing revenue therefrom. 54 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY Lack of space prevents further exposition of the contents of these "Letters" beyond stating that they drew attention to other dangers lurk- ing in the situation, and called upon the Col- onies for a solid and united resistance to the attacks upon their liberties. The "Farmer's Letters" were also published in book form in London and Dublin, and being favourably re- viewed in the press and periodicals, had large circulation, and their contents formed an inter- esting topic of conversation among all classes. The name of John Dickinson, for it soon was known that he was the "illustrious author," became famous in England. In the House of Commons Isaac Barre characterized him as "a man who was not only an ornament to his coun- try but an honour to human nature." The arguments advanced in the " Farmer's Letters " were freely quoted in speeches in Par- liament, and their substance appeared in many discussions of the American question found in the press. From this time on, the principles of constitutional freedom advocated by the Amer- ican Assemblies became more thoroughly under- stood in England. The tone of the press there changed ; the material advantage or disadvantage to Great Britain of the policy of taxing her Col- onies was but little dwelt upon. The questions at issue in this connection, as discussed in the 55 THE BOSTON PORT BILL press, were the constitutional rights of the Col- onies to regulate their own affairs. America soon became aroused to the threat- ened danger, and Protests, Petitions and Ad- dresses to the King praying for the abolition of the recent duties were voted by Assemblies and town meetings. The insignificance of the sum purposed to be raised by the new revenue meas- ures gave ground to a general suspicion that this legislation would be followed by a more univer- sal system of taxation. In many parts of the country the old Non-Importation Associations were revived, and the feeling of hostility to Great Britain, which had disappeared, sprang up anew. The collection of the duties aroused antagonism and the Custom House officers were subject to frequent outrages at the hands of the lawless ele- ment; an ominous undercurrent of resentment against his Majesty's servants was sweeping through the country. The Assembly of Massachusetts-Bay on Jan- uary i /th, 1768, voted to send to their agent in London, Dennis de Berdt, a carefully prepared letter couched in terms of the greatest loyalty to Great Britain, but affirming strongly its consti- tutional power to legislate for the Colony and pointing out the manifest unfairness of the prop- osition of taxing Colonies where manufactures were prohibited, and the trade of which was con- 56 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY fined to the nation imposing the taxation. Other clauses in the letter contained strong objections to the proviso in the new Act that the revenues derived therefrom be used for the payment of the salaries of the Royal Governors and Justices, which payments had hitherto been made by the legislative bodies of the Colonies ; objection was also made to the maintenance of a standing army in America and alarm was expressed at the Act suspending the legislative powers of the Assem- bly of New York. Massachusetts-Bay at the same time instructed its Agent to see that the contents of the letter reached the individual members of the Ministry, and also be given wide circulation in England through the medium of the press : along with the letter was sent a Peti- tion to the King which complained of Parlia- ment's action against America. One month later the same body issued Letters to the Assem- blies of their sister Colonies and the House of Burgesses ofYirginia. These letters enclosed copies of the above mentioned Letter to their Agent and Petition to the King, and recounted the vari- ous other steps Massachusetts-Bay had taken to se- cure, through the instrumentality of their friends in England, the repeal of the new legislation and expressed the belief that the united supplications of the distressed Americans would be favourably received by his Majesty, King George, and also 57 THE BOSTON PORT BILL suggested, though disclaiming any desire to take the lead, that a correspondence be opened between the various Colonies upon the all absorbing and vital question of the new taxation. In America these Letters met a hearty re- sponse from their recipients, but the copy which reached the Ministry gave great offense. The Secretary of State to the Colonies, the Earl of Hillsborough, immediately sent copies of it to each Royal Governor, with instructions to pre- vent any concurrent action as suggested therein, and characterized the contents of the letter as "seditious." The Ministry then ordered the Massachu- setts Assembly to rescind their " Circular Let- ter'* under penalty of dissolution. This demand was firmly refused by a decisive majority, the vote, which stood ninety-two to seventeen, being greeted with acclamations of joy throughout all the Colonies. " 92 " at once became another American symbol and the patriotic members of the Assembly were immortalized in song and verse; fetes were given in their honour through- out the country and few public functions closed without the toasting of " the glorious ninety- two." The press of England almost unanimously denounced this procedure of the Ministry in no uncertain terms and declared that no fair minded DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY person could deny the folly and injustice of a demand which required " a public body to re- scind a resolution for sending a letter which was already sent, answered, and acted upon." The ad- ministration's designation of the vote for sending a " Circular Letter " to invite the Assemblies of the neighbouring colonies to communicate to- gether in behalf of the public safety in order to obtain a redress of grievances, as "a flagitious attempt to disturb the public peace" was con- sidered to involve the liberty of legislative action in England itself as well as in America. The tension between Governor Bernard and the Assembly was at the breaking point in the Province of Massachusetts-Bay. The Executive was known to be inciting the home government to further action against his people. The en- forcement of the customs laws became more and more difficult and his Majesty's servants in the Customs service held no enviable position. In order to enforce the provisions of the law, main- tain order, and assert the supremacy of the Crown, the Governor applied for an armed garrison for Boston and his request was granted. When it was learned that troops would be sent to Boston, the people there appointed a committee to wait upon the Governor with a request that the As- sembly be convened. This being denied, a town meeting was called which empowered the Se- 59 THE BOSTON PORT BILL lectmen to propose to the Selectmen of the other towns of the Province a convention to be held in Faneuil Hall in Boston on the 22nd of Septem- ber, 1768. Representatives of ninety-six towns and eight districts responded and elected the Speaker and Clerk of the late Assembly to corresponding po- sitions in this newly organized representative body. The convention remained in session for six days, drew up a set of resolutions which voiced their protest against the danger to " the liberties of the Colonies from the united body of pensioners and soldiers," repeated also the protest of the As- sembly of Massachusetts-Bay, and, after strongly counselling moderation and patience until their just demands were granted, dispersed. This act of the people of Boston, in calling a convention com- posed of duly authorized delegates from all the towns of their colony, demonstrated to America that legislative government could still be insti- tuted, even though the representative of the Crown should fail to call together the regular legislative body of the people. Massachusetts- Bay thus or- ganized a Province in defiance of the royal Gov- ernment and paved the way for the action of Virginia six years later, when the latter called to- gether a similar representative body elected by duly authorized conventions of the twelve Col- onies, for the express purpose of devising measures 60 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY of relief in behalf of the distressed people of Bos- ton and Massachusetts-Bay. Two regiments arrived at Boston the day after the convention adjourned, and immediately be- came a cause of irritation to the inhabitants of the city, one being encamped upon the Common, the other quartered in Faneuil Hall, the meeting- place of the people a view of which appears in the initial letter at the opening of this chapter. The maintenance of an armed force in Bos- ton enraged the people of the other Colonies for they feared that their own capitals might later on be similarly garrisoned. In the meantime the trade centres of Eng- land were feeling the loss of their American trade, as the example of non-importation set by the merchants of Boston, had been followed in many other places. Their quaintly worded resolutions and odd penalties imposed for the infraction thereof, which appeared in the English press, did much to convince the thinking people of Eng- land of the earnest determination of the Amer- icans to uphold their right of self-government. The following article which appeared in the London Chronicle of May 3ist June 2nd, 1768 concisely reflected the serious views held in many parts of the Colonies : " Boston, April n. The Connecticut papers acquaint us that their great towns have come into similar measures with 61 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Boston. The Mansfield agreement concludes thus: 'And if any of the inhabitants of this town does not conform to the said resolutions, or violates the said agreement without offering superior arguments to vindicate their conduct, they shall be looked upon as having their reasoning faculty beclouded and treated with that tenderness that such a melancholy circum- stance requires.' ' In 1769 the people of Boston, following out a suggestion made by their friends in Great Brit- ain, took a still more decisive step and returned goods imported from England, and thereby em- phasized their determination to use no British goods until the obnoxious legislation was repealed. In the same year Parliament sent an Address to the King, in which it gave assurance of its support to any measures necessary to maintain order in Mas- sachusetts-Bay, and also besought him to direct the Governor of that Colony to transmit infor- mation in regard to persons there suspected of treasonable practices, in order that they might be brought to England for trial. This step attacked the cherished right of trial by jury. Nothing can be selected which more strongly instances the sympathy displayed in the London press for the people of Massachusetts-Bay than the following four lines which headed a page of the London Chronicle on May 23d, 1769. The 6z DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY sentiment* was the more noteworthy from the fact that this paper was almost alone in its edi- torial attacks upon John Wilkes, whose struggle with the King and Parliament was the all-absorb- ing topic at this time. THE fign, by which to know, that Government repents of its feverities againft the North Americans, would be, the recall of a certain Governour. The press continually drew attention to the fact that the dangers, which had happily been avoided by the repeal of the Stamp Act, had been revived by the new American legislation. Of the numerous warnings of the peril which threatened the integrity of the nation, none was more pointed than the one which was frequently to be found heading the columns of the London Chronicle during the year 1769, and called at- tention to the truism, that by disagreement which causes passion, the greatest of the great will be destroyed. ENGLISHMEN, SCOTTISHMEN, IRISHMEN, COLONISTS, BRETHEREN, Difcordia res maximae dilabuntur ! The impression steadily gained ground even in Parliament that the persecution of the Colo- * In order to demonstrate the full force of the editorials quoted on pages 26, 28, 63, the statement must be made that during the previous four years almost the only leading articles presented in this form in the London Chronicle were those herein embodied. 63 THE BOSTON PORT BILL nies had gone too far and had awakened a sym- pathy for America in England, which was too universal to be disregarded, hence partial relief from taxation was promised. The tone of the English press was most sarcastic and bitter against the Ministry. The following fables ad- dressed to the Earl of Hillsborough, Secretary of State for the American Department, appeared on January 2nd, 1770, in the newspaper above quoted; these in unmistakable terms referred to the foolish policy of taxation inaugurated for the sake of obtaining revenue from America, which had resulted in the encouragement of manufac- turing there and loss of trade to England (further references to this fact are found in the closing chapter of this volume) ; they also briefly fore- told the impending repeal of this foolish act of legislation and contained the warning that the constantly growing American Colonies would in time no longer brook the unjust interference to which in their weaker days they had been com- pelled to submit. " New Fables, humbly inscribed to the S y of St e for the American Department. FABLE I. "A Herd of cows had long afforded plenty of milk, butter, and cheese to an avaricious Farmer, who grudged them the grass they subsisted on, DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY and at length mowed it to make money of the hay, leaving them to shift for food as they could, and yet still expected to milk them as before ; but the cows, offended with his unreasonable- ness, resolved for the future to suckle one an- other. FABLE II "An eagle, king of birds, soaring on his wings aloft over a Farmer's yard, saw a cat there bask- ing in the sun, mistook it for a rabbit, stooped, seized it, and carried it up into the air, intend- ing to prey on it. The cat turning, set her claws into the eagle's breast ; who, finding his mistake, opened his talons and would have let her drop ; but puss unwilling to fall so far, held faster ; and the eagle, to get rid of the incon- venience, found it necessary to set her down where he took her up. FABLE III "A lion's whelp was put on board a Guinea ship bound to America as a present to a friend in that country : it was tame and harmless as a kitten, and therefore not confined, but suffered to walk about the ship at pleasure. A stately, full-grown English mastiff, belonging to the Captain, despising the weakness of the young lion, frequently took its food by force, and often turned it out of its lodging-box, when he had a 65 THE BOSTON PORT BILL mind to repose therein himself. The young lion nevertheless grew daily in size and strength, and the voyage being long, he became at last a more equal match for the mastiff, who contin- uing his insults, received a stunning blow from the lion's paw that fetched his skin over his ears, and deterred him from any future con- test with such growing strength ; regretting that he had not rather secured its friendship than provoked its enmity." American affairs claimed increasing promi- nence in the British press, and the opinions there- in expressed voiced the wide-spread demand that the Colonists receive redress for their grievan- ces. The following card, which appeared in the London Chronicle under date of February 3rd-6th, 1 770, in a very few lines summed up the views previously advocated by various writers in many lengthy epistles, and offered a solution which, if it had been accepted by the Ministry, would have reunited the bonds of loyalty and love which hitherto had held the Colonies true to Great Britain, and reopened the channels of trade which had been clogged by evil legislation. A CARD "RATIONALIS presents his compliments to the Ministry and Merchants connected with America, and begs leave to acquaint them, that, in his opinion, the remedy to heal the difference 66 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY between this Kingdom and the Colonies, can be contained in a nutshell : It is, Repeal your impolitic Revenue Acts ; Recall your army from America ; Revoke the Board of Commissioners of Cus- toms; Abolish the Vice Courts of Admiralty ; And ask such aids as you may want through their Assemblies. Do this, and all will instantly be at peace; the Colonies will embrace you ; they will aban- don their manufactures, and as heretofore bring you the fruits of their labour for your goods." The next step taken by the Ministry was a weak one, for by repealing, "at the request of the merchants and people of Great Britain," all duties save that on tea, it neither affirmed its power of enforcing taxation nor renounced its right to impose duties upon the Colonies. The reten- tion of the tax upon tea in no way reflected the wish of the people of England, and was only secured by the strenuous efforts of the King's henchmen in Parliament, as the bill for its re- peal failed by only sixty-two votes at a full meet- ing of the House of Commons, a body largely composed of men who owed their livelihood to their willingness to act at their King's pleasure. The abolition of four-fifths of the duties, how- ever, had the effect which its author, Lord North, 6 7 THE BOSTON PORT BILL had predicted, namely, that of the dismember- ment of the Non-Importation Associations and the renewal of commerce with Great Britain. There had been great difficulty in America in maintaining the agreements against trading with England, for there was no such unanimity of hos- tile sentiment against the Acts of '67 as had been manifested at the time of the Stamp Tax. The southern Colonies as a rule suffered little dimi- nution of trade, but in New York so strictly was the agreement observed that the London press had noted that even "the statues of his Majesty and Lord Chatham, executed by Mr. Wilton, by order of the General Assembly of New York, will not be shipped for that Province till the fate of the American Revenue Acts is known." To all appearances the era of contention between Great Britain and her Colonies was closed and the old relations renewed except in Massachusetts-Bay, where the presence of the soldiery was a con- stant source of irritation. In this Province the next three years were marked by a steady increase of the ill-feeling between the King's servants and the populace. The affair which took place on the 5th of March, 1770, in Boston between the royal troops and the citizens, popularly known as the " Boston Massacre," was kept con- stantly in mind and its anniversary celebrated each year by the delivering of an oration by i 68 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY some distinguished patriot who took this occa- sion to add fuel to the flame of Liberty by dis- coursing on the wrongs of the Colonies, the menace of standing armies, and similar topics calculated to keep the public mind aroused against the royal Government. The festivities in honour of the " I4th of August, 1765,'* on which day Boston first showed her opposition to the Stamp Tax, were enthusiastically entered into, and the frequent collisions between mem- bers of the Military and Customs Service, and the lawless element of the town increased the tension. The contest between the Governor and the Assembly over their Prerogatives was freely recorded in the English press and kept the name of Boston and the distresses of its people prom- inent in the public eye, and elicited as well, in the shape of "Letters to the Editors," many expressions of sympathy for their transatlantic brethren. The repeal of the duties imposed by the "Acts of '67," save that on tea, was considered a concession to both parties to the controversy, for Parliament, in retaining the duty, affirmed its right of taxation. America, by refraining from the use of tea imported from England, denied that right, and drank tea smuggled in from other countries. In the year 1773 the controversy between the King and his subjects in America 6 9 THE BOSTON PORT BILL took a new turn, owing to the direct refusal of all the Colonies to receive tea from England. At this time the great East India Company, high in favour with the Crown, was in financial straits, for in its warehouses in England some seventeen million pounds of tea had been ac- cumulated for which there was apparently no market. In order, therefore, to relieve this Com- pany from its financial embarrassment, and at the same time secure a revenue from America, Parliament passed a Bill remitting the duty of a shilling a pound hitherto paid upon all tea on its arrival at an English port, provided it be ex- ported to America, thereby enabling that country, after paying the duty of three-pence per pound, to secure its tea at a lower cost than before the duty had been imposed. The news of this innovation, which was regarded as an attempt to seduce the Colonies into the payment of the revenue tax, caused widespread indignation and alarm, and plans were formulated to render it ineffectual. Word soon came that ships were lading with tea for Charleston, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The citizens of Phila- delphia were quick to act, and on the i8th of October passed the following resolutions, which were so comprehensive that they were shortly afterwards adopted by the citizens of the prin- cipal towns of the various Colonies, and given 70 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY to the world as America's reply to this new move of Parliament : "I. That the disposal of their own property is the inherent right of freemen ; that there can be no property in that which another can, of right, take from us without our consent ; that the claim of parliament to tax America, is in other words, a claim of right to levy contribu- tions on us at pleasure. "2. That the duty imposed by parliament upon tea landed in America, is a tax on the Americans, or levying contributions on them without their consent. "3. That the express purpose for which the tax is levied on the Americans, namely, for the support of government, administration of justice, and defence of his Majesty's dominions in Am- erica, has a direct tendency to render assemblies useless, and to introduce arbitrary government and slavery. "4. That a virtuous and steady opposition to this ministerial plan of governing America, is ab- solutely necessary to preserve even the shadow of liberty, and is a duty which every freeman in America owes to his country, to himself and to his posterity. "5. That the resolution lately entered into by the East-India company, to send out their tea to America, subject to the payment of duties on its 71 THE BOSTON PORT BILL being landed here, is an open attempt to enforce this ministerial plan, and a violent attack upon the liberties of America. "6. That it is the duty of every American to oppose this attempt. "7. That whoever shall directly or indirectly, countenance this attempt, or in any wise aid or abet in unloading, receiving, or vending the tea sent, or to be sent out by the East-India com- pany, while it remains subject to the payment of a duty here, is an enemy to his country. " 8 . That a committee be immediately chosen to wait on those gentlemen, who, it is reported, are appointed by the East-India company, to re- ceive and sell said tea and request them, from a regard to their own character and the peace and good order of the city and province, immediately to resign their appointment." The news of the arrival of the tea ships was everywhere anxiously awaited and measures were adopted to prevent the landing and sale of their cargoes. In most places the consignees of the tea selected by the East India Company were forcibly obliged to resign their appointments. Among the consignees designated to receive the tea at Bos- ton were the two sons of Governor Hutchinson, hence the tea destined for that place was virtually consigned to the Governor. It was realized in Boston that the issue thus defined must of neces- DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY sity be a serious one. On the first of November all the consignees were petitioned to meet the people of the town at the Liberty Tree and then and there hand in their resignations. As no no- tice was taken of this entreaty, they were waited upon by a committee who endeavoured to obtain their signatures to a paper promising that no at- tempt would be made to land the tea, and that they would be returned immediately to London. As this request was not complied with, a town meeting was held on the fifth of the same month, the Philadelphia Resolutions above quoted were adopted, and the consignees again asked to relin- quish their commissions, but in vain. Twelve days later word was received in Boston that the Boston tea ships had actually sailed. Another town-meeting was held the next day, at which a new attempt was made to obtain the resignation of the consignees. On the 22d of the month rep- resentatives from the neighbouring towns met the Boston Committee and addressed letters to all other towns of the Province, in which advice was asked upon the momentous question of the land- ing of the tea. On Sunday the 2 8th the Dart- mouth, the first of the three tea ships, was sighted. A promise was immediately obtained from the owner that his vessel should not be entered until the following Tuesday. The three consignees took refuge in the Castle for they 73 THE BOSTON PORT BILL feared bodily harm from their excited fellow townsmen. The next day a mass meeting of the people of Boston and surrounding towns was held, and the assemblage, comprising several thousands of citizens, voted unanimously that " the tea should be sent back to the place from whence it came at all events, and that no duty should be paid upon it." A promise not to unload the tea was obtained from the owner and master of the Dartmouth, as well as from the owners of the two other ships daily expected. The Governor, thoroughly alarmed at the situation, solicited the Council, without avail, to assume the guardian- ship of the tea. In the meantime the Massachusetts Com- mittee of Correspondence had been seeking coun- sel from the similar Committees of the other Colonies. The replies of the latter encouraged the people of Boston to maintain the stand al- ready taken, and the fate of the Boston tea ships then lost its local significance and became, so to speak, a national issue. The arrival of the two belated vessels added to the excitement. In vain the owners attempted to secure from the Collector clearance papers which would allow the return of the cargoes. A pass for the same purpose was peremptorily refused by the Governor, and the guns of the Castle at the entrance of the harbour were or- 74 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY dered to be kept loaded and ready to fire upon the vessels, if they should attempt to clear with- out the proper papers. Two men-of-war, which had been laid up for the winter, were ordered into commission and sent to guard the passages out of the harbour. The King's representatives were not willing to allow the return of the tea, for they believed, that if once landed, it would soon find its way into the dining rooms of the people of Boston. The revenue laws demanded, under penalty of seizure, that all cargoes be landed within twenty days after arrival. This period had now nearly expired and the efforts were renewed to secure clearances for the ships. Thursday, the 1 6th of December, was a momentous day in the history of Boston and all America. The town was in a state of suppressed excitement, for it was well understood that on the following day, owing to the provisions of the revenue laws, the tea, if still unloaded, would come into the pos- session of the Custom House, be landed at the Castle and there receive military protection. At ten o'clock in the morning two thousand Bostonians convened at the Old South Church, and patiently awaited the news of the result of the final attempt to secure from the Governor, who had retired to his country seat, a pass which would allow the Dartmouth to return to London. 75 THE BOSTON PORT BILL During this period of suspense, the sense of the meeting was taken as to the measures to be adopted in case the Governor should persist in his refusal, and the whole assemblage unani- mously voted that the tea must not be landed. Not until nightfall did the owner of the Dart- mouth appear with the news that the permission to clear his vessel had again been refused. The meeting then adjourned. The story of the im- mediate destruction of the tea needs no repeti- tion here. When the news of this apparently willful destruction of the East India Company's property first reached England, the popular feeling against Boston ran high. The enemies of America were jubilant at what they termed an overt act of re- bellion ; even the friends of America were aghast at the lawlessness displayed. A few months later, after the Ministry had passed measures which threatened the extermination of the flour- ishing town of Boston, and after the full story of the endeavours made by her citizens to avoid peaceably the issue raised by their Governor, had appeared in the press, popular opinion, as voiced in letters to the newspapers, veered around, and the insistence of Governor Hutchinson upon the landing of the tea was reprobated as being an attempt to force the objectionable tea down the throats of the protesting Bostonians. 7 6 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY The open defiance of royal authority demon- strated in the incident of the " Boston Tea Party " only increased the irritation of the citi- zens of Boston against those in the King's ser- vice. On the 29th of January, 1774, one John Malcomb, a King's Exciseman, who had in- curred the displeasure of the Bostonians, was tarred and feathered and treated in a most in- human way (see illustrations on pages 83, 92). While many of the King's servants in America had been similarly clothed in feather garments on account of their misplaced zeal in assisting the execution of the detested revenue laws, the viru- lent outrage upon Malcomb, the story of which reached England at the time when the feeling against Boston was so vindictive, was considered to be an attack upon the King himself and was often cited in Parliament and in the press as de- monstrating the necessity of maintaining by force some responsible form of government in the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, and thereby giv- ing protection to those in the King's service. However, as may be gathered from the fol- lowing extract from the New York 'Journal of February I7th, 1774, Malcomb brought upon himself his punishment by his offensive person- ality and by conduct in no way consistent with that of a King's officer, though undoubtedly his previous activity in assisting in the enforcement 77 THE BOSTON PORT BILL of the revenue laws had brought him into bad odour with the populace, and had caused him to receive a suit of tar and feathers which, in this instance, had been put on over his regular wear- ing apparel. " BOSTON, January 31. " Last Tuesday about two o'clock Mr. George Robert Twelves Hewes was coming along Fore Street, near Capt. Ridgway's, and found the redoubted John Malcom, standing over a small boy, who was pushing a little sled before him, cursing, damning, threatening and shaking a very large cane, with a very heavy ferril on it over his head. The boy at that time was perfectly quiet, notwithstanding which Mal- com continued his threats of striking him, Mr. Hewes conceiving if he struck him with that weapon, he must have killed him, came up to him, and said, Mr. Malcom, I hope you are not going to strike this boy with that stick. Mal- com returned, you are an impertinent rascal, it is none of your business. Mr. Hewes then asked him, what had the child done to him ? Malcom damned him, and asked him if he was going to take his part ? Mr. Hewes answered no further than this, that he thought it was a shame for him to strike the child with such a club, if he intended to strike him. Malcom damned Mr. Hewes, called him a vagabond, and said, he 78 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY would let him know he should not speak to a gentleman in the street. Mr. Hewes returned, he was neither a rascal nor a vagabond, and though a poor man, was in as good credit in town as he was. Malcom called him a liar, and said he was not, nor ever would be. Mr. Hewes retorted, be that as it will, I never was tarred nor feathered any how. On this Malcom struck him, and wounded him deeply on the forehead, so that Mr. Hewes for some time lost his senses. Capt. Godfrey, then present, interposed, and after some altercation, Malcom went home, when the people were gathering round, he came out and abused them greatly, saying, you say I was tarred and feathered, and that it was not done in a proper manner, damn you, let me see the man that dare do it better! I want to see it done in the new fashioned manner. After Malcom had thus bullied the people some time, and Mr. Usher the constable had persuaded him into the house, Mrs. Malcom threw up a sash, and begged the people to go away, and Malcom came suddenly behind her, and pushed his naked sword thro' the opening, pricked Mr. Waddel in the breast, the bone stopping its course, which would otherwise have reached his vitals. Mr. Waddel on this made a stroke at the window with his cane, and broke a square of glass, through which breach he again made a pass, 79 THE BOSTON PORT BILL and slightly wounded Mr. Waddel, who a sec- ond time returned the blow, and Malcom with- drawing, the people soon after dispersed. " Mr. Hewes, after having his wound taken care of, went to Justice Quincy and took out a warrant for Malcom, and gave it to a constable, who went to Malcom's house to serve it, but found the doors shut against him, and was told by him, from a window, that he would not be taken that day, as he should be followed by a damned mob ; but would surrender himself to- morrow afternoon. Here the matter appeared to subside, till in the evening, the people being informed of the outrages he had committed, the threatenings and defiances he had uttered; and among other things, that he would split down the yankies by dozens and receive 20!. sterling a head for every one he destroyed, they mustered and went to his house, which being barred against them, and menacing with his loaded pistols, which he declared he would fire upon them if they came near him, they got ladders, and beat- ing in an upper window, entered the house, and took him without loss of blood, and dragging him out, put him on a sled, and amidst the huzzas of great numbers, brought him into King street. Several gentlemen endeavouring to divert the populace from their intention, alledging that he was open to the laws of the land, which so DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY would undoubtedly award a reasonable satisfac- tion to the parties he had abused ; they answered he had been an old impudent and mischievous offender he had seized vessels on account of sailors having a bottle or two of gin on board he had in office, and otherwise, behaved in the most capricious, insulting and daringly abusive manner and on every occasion discovered the most rooted enmity to this country, and the de- fenders of its rights that, in case they let him go, they might expect a like satisfaction as they had received in the cases of Richardson and the soldiers, and the other friends of government. With these, and such like arguments, together with a gentle crowding of persons not of their way of thinking, out of the ring, they proceeded to elevate Mr. Malcom from his sled into a cart, and stripping him to buff and breeches, gave him a modern jacket and hied him away to lib- erty-tree, where they proposed to him to re- nounce his present commission, and swear that he would never hold another inconsistent with the liberties of his country ; this he obstinately refusing, they then carted him to the gallows, passed a rope round his neck, and threw the other end over the beam, as if they intended to hang him : But this manoeuvre he set at defi- ance. They then basted him for some time with a rope's end, and threatened to cut his ears off, 81 THE BOSTON PORT BILL and on this he complied, and they then brought him home." On the 3ist of October in the same year, at a time when London and much of the rest of England were clamouring for justice for Amer- ica, and protesting against the enforcement of the measures which threatened the very destruc- tion of the lately prosperous town of Boston, a cartoon, entitled "The BOSTONIANS Paying the EXCISE-MAN, or TARRING & FEATHERING " the first of a series of five folio mezzotint cartoons illustrating the existing state of public feeling in America was issued by Messrs. Rob*. Sayer & J. Bennett, the well-known Map and Print-sellers of No. 53 Fleet Street, and placed for sale in the English market. The sug- gestion for this cartoon, a reproduction of which appears on the opposite page, was unquestion- ably obtained from the following article, which shortly before had appeared in the London news- papers, thereby throwing further light upon the details of the punishment of Malcomb : " A Correspondent says he has been informed, by a Gentleman lately arrived from Philadelphia, that when Mr. John Malcomb, an Officer of the Customs at Boston, was leading, tarred and feath- ered, to the Gallows, with a rope about his Neck, he was asked by one of the Mob whether he was not thirsty, which was natural to a Man expect- 82 The B N TOP* lAN's fin-ing the TCXC ISF. -M A^, or TATRWINR it F-R ATUEKW f Syrr JJtfniK-K. Mp I IVinlMbt: VUrirrt StlrrU* t> Art Aiwti jUkl r i^ 4 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY ing to be hanged. The unfortunate Officer of the Customs, as well as he could speak, answered yes, and immediately a large Bowl of strong Tea was put into his Hands, with Orders to drink the King's Health. Whether it was owing to Loyalty or Thirst is not material ; poor Malcomb Half emptied the Bowl. He was then told to mend his Draught, and drink the Queen's Health. Though he had done his utmost for the King, he found he must do something for the Queen ; and having taken off Half the Remainder of the Bowl, he presented it back to the Persons from whom he had received it. Hold ! hold ! cries his Friend, you are not to forget the rest of the Royal Fam- ily ; come, drink to the Prince of Wales. Re- plenish, replenish, cries the loyal American ; and instantly poor Malcomb saw two Quarts more of what he was heartily sick of. Make Haste, cries another loyal American ; you have nine more Healths to drink before you arrive at the Gal- lows. For God's Sake, Gentlemen, be merciful, I am ready to burst ; if I drink a Drop more, I shall die. Suppose you do, cries one of the Mob, you die in a good Cause, and it is as well to be drowned as hanged, and immediately the drench- ing Horn was put to his Mouth, to the Health of the Bishop of Osnaburg [the second son of the King], and, having gone through the other eight, he turned pale, shook his Head, and 85 THE BOSTON PORT BILL instantly filled the Bowl which he had just emp- tied. What says the American, are you sick of the Royal Family ? No, replies Malcomb, my Stomach nauseates the Tea ; it rises at it like Poison. And yet, you Rascal, returns the Am- erican, your whole Fraternity at the Custom house would drench us with this Poison, and we are to have our Throats cut if it will not stay upon our Stomachs. The merciful Americans desisted and the Procession was continued towards the Gallows/' This cartoon, while ostensibly telling the story of an incident which occurred in this notori- ous case of tarring and feathering, had far greater significance. Entirely dependent for its sale upon its success in striking a sympathetic chord among the people of London, it depicted the opinion so freely expressed in the press, that the destruction of the tea at Boston was the natural result of the enforcement of a policy, which if carried out, would have poisoned the " Tree of Liberty " in the Colonies. A study of the details of the picture shows that the cartoonist had more than a passing knowl- edge of affairs in America. The crude home- made garments in which he had clothed Mai- comb's tormentors were surely suggestive of the inroads the newly started woolen manufactories of America had made into English trade. The 86 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY majestic LIBERTY TREE, from which a noose was suspended, had often been described in the press as the " Great Tree at the south part of the town." The depiction upon the trunk of the latter, of an inverted Stamp Act placard, is an- other illustration of the impression then preva- lent, which was pointed out in the previous chap- ter, that the Stamp Act, though long since re- pealed, was the primary cause of the trouble then existing between Great Britain and her Am- erican subjects. While the print pictured a special incident in the punishment of John Malcomb, it portrayed as well an "American custom" of tarring and feathering which was thoroughly familiar to those upon whose patronage the print-sellers depended for their livelihood, the English press having given to their readers numerous accounts of this method of " Paying the EXCISE-MAN " in America for the five years previous. It must be said, however, that this treatment was not seri- ously objected to by many in England, for as a rule it was known to have been accorded only to those who had acted as spies and informers, or to those who had become obnoxious to the ma- jority on account of their refusal to abide by the articles of the Non-Importation Associations. In the early part of March, 1774, the fol- lowing item of news appeared in various Eng- 87 THE BOSTON PORT BILL lish papers. It called attention to the odium in which the consignees of the Boston tea were held, and possibly created the erroneous impres- sion that Boston maintained a regularly organ- ized Committee for "Tarring and Feathering" : "Boston, Jan. 17. On Saturday Morning the following was posted up in the most publick Parts of this Town. "Brethren and Fellow Citizens! " You may depend that those odious Miscre- ants and detestable Tools to Ministry and Gov- ernor, the Tea Consignees (those Traitors to their Country, Butchers, who have done, and are do- ing every Thing to murder and destroy all that shall stand in the Way of their private Interest) are determined to come and reside again in the Town of Boston. " I therefore give you this early Notice, that you may hold yourselves in Readiness, on the shortest Notice, to give them such a Reception as such vile Ingrates deserve. " JOYCE, jun. Chairman of the Committee for Tarring and Feathering : " If any Person should be so hardy as to tear this down, they may expect my severest Resent- ment. J. jun." So thoroughly appreciated was this Ameri- can custom in London at this time, that a " Tar- 88 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY ring and Feathering " scene was introduced into a Pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Covent Gar- den, and became one of the features of the even- ing, as may be learned from the comment on ther play, given below, which was taken from the Lon- don Chronicle of November I9th-22nd, 1/74: "The new pastoral pantomime entertain- ment of the Druids was performed last night for the second time at the Theatre Royal, Co- vent Garden, with alterations. The revision it has undergone since Saturday evening has been of infinite service to the piece, a distinct chain of connection being now discernible through the whole ; several absurdities are expunged, and a happy trick or two introduced in the panto- mime; one of which, that of Pantaloon's re- ceiving the American suit of 'tar and feathers' occasions an uncommon roar through the house. The audience being a more peaceable one than that which usually frequent a first performance, we could attend with more pleasure to the music, and therefore found just cause of approbation. The choruses are noble, particularly the last by the Druids, which is in every respect full and masterly." The recognition of the appropriateness of clothing certain offenders in feather garments was not confined to London, for the Metropol- itan press during the years 1770-1775 not in- 8 9 THE BOSTON PORT BILL frequently noted among other paragraphs of news from the towns along the coast of Eng- land, where smuggling was popularly regarded as a legitimate vocation, that certain energetic Excise-men had received from the irate people "American suits" or "American dresses," these terms being too thoroughly understood to need explanation. As voicing the sentiment prevalent among certain classes in England concerning Lords North, Mansfield and Bute, as well as indicating the local appreciation of the new use found for TAR and FEATHERS in America, the Editor of the Kentish Gazette stated in the columns of his paper of February 2nd, 1775, that "A correspond- ent informs us that the following sentiment on a certain triumvirate is now the reigning toast: May Feathers and Tar be the next Birth Day Suit, And the Block be the fate of N M and B- He further remarks: What so proper as Tar for so Scabby a flock, There is but one thing: that's their Heads on the Block." There is every reason to believe that this sentiment was not confined to the neighbour- hood of Canterbury, as during the next three 90 A New Method ol MACARONY MAKING, as praclifed al BOSTON. Fm l/////<,/ ,/ir>,i/l ',/ /Hill ,,,i lrr/1 /v/// /;/luuiaiut 6lf,nt Tkty TmiitluM. and Hat/if n/ /inn ,/u.it , i., , f ,.u .,rr , I r'///>/ /'^ Treasurers. * John Trevamon, ) * Robert Bernard, ' Joseph Mawbey, ' James Townsend, ' John Sawbridge, >- Committee.' The struggles of Wilkes excited no less in- terest in America than in England. His success created enthusiasm, and his misfortunes deep- ened the indignation against the Ministry. The symbol 45 was freely used in public decoration (see pages 39, 114, 162). Few public functions broke up without the toasting of his name. His portraits were engraved, and his name was con- sidered one to conjure with. The advertisement for " Bickerstaff 's Boston Almanack " in the fall of 1768 announced that it was embellished with a portrait of "JOHN WILKES, The Celebrated PATRON of LIBERTY/' Paul Revere, en- graver, silversmith and patriot, in executing an or- der given by fifteen Sons of Liberty, in Boston, for a silver punch bowl dedicated " To the Memory DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY of the glorious NINETY-TWO Members of the Hon bl Houfe of Reprefentatives of the MafTachusetts-Bay, who, undaunted by the infolent Menaces of Villains in Power, from a jirict Regard to Confcience and the LIBERTIES of their Conftituents, on the joth of "June Ij68, Voted NOT TO RESCIND," ornamented it with a crude design consisting of a wreath surmounted by a Liberty Cap encircling the symbol "No. 45," the legend "Wilkes & Lib- erty," and a torn parchment marked " Generall Warrants," and enflanked with two flags labelled "Magna Charta " and "Bill of Rights." This device in a highly refined form encircles the portrait of Wilkes with which this chapter ends. Through letters from America which ap- peared in their press, the English people were informed that Americans looked upon the cause of Wilkes as their own. The following account of one of the demonstrations in Wilkes' honour, which appeared in the London Chronicle August I3th-i6th, 1768, may be considered as afair de- scription of numerous similar gatherings held in Wilkes' honour in this country. " New- London, "June 1 2. We hear from Norwich, that last Tuesday a number of the principal Gentlemen of that town, had an enter- tainment at Mr. Peck's Tavern, adjoining the Liberty-Tree, on account of Mr. Wilkes's be- in THE BOSTON PORT BILL ing chosen a Member of Parliament. All the fur- niture of the table, as dishes, plates, bowls, &c. were marked with Number 45. A variety of healths were drank, among which were that of the King, the Queen, Mr. Wilkes, &c. The Tree of Liberty, we hear, is decorated with num- ber 45, Wilkes and Liberty." In 1771 Wilkes was elected one of the Sheriffs of London. In the same year he was bitterly assailed by a former zealous supporter, the Rev. John Home [Tooke.] Among other misrepresentations made in this controversy was the one that " Wilkes always hated the Ameri- cans and was a declared foe of their liberties." Wilkes replied in a lengthy letter which ap- peared in the London Chronicle of June i 3th- 1 5th, 1771, and in refutation of this special charge, quoted (writing over them the word "COPY") the following letters written by him while in prison " as giving to the world my opinion of the American contest." King's Bench Prison, July 19, 1768. GENTLEMEN, I Am extremely honoured by your Letter, and the valuable present, which accompanied it. Nothing cou'd give me more satisfaction than to find the true spirit of Liberty so generally diffused through the most remote parts of the 114 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY British Monarchy. I thank you very heartily for the generous and rational entertainment of the Farmer 's Letters , in which the cause of free- dom is perfectly understood, and ably defended. As a Member of the Legislature, I shall al- ways give a particular attention to whatever re- spects the interests of America y 'which I believe to be immediately connected with, and of essential moment to our parent country, and the common wel- fare of this great political system. After the first claims of duty to England, and of gratitude to the County of Middlesex, none shall engage me more than the affairs of our Colonies, which I consider as the propugnacula imperii, and I know how much of our strength and weight we owe to, and derive from them. I will ever, Gentlemen, AVOW MYSELF A FRIEND TO UNIVERSAL LIBERTY. I hope free- dom will ever flourish under your hemisphere as well as our's; and I doubt not, from your spirit and firmness, that you will be careful to transmit to your posterity the invaluable rights and fran- chises, which you received from your ancestors. Liberty I consider as the birthright of every sub- ject of the British Empire, and I hold Magna Charta to be in as full force in America as in Europe. I hope that these truths will become generally known and acknowledged through the wide extended dominions of our Sovereign, and "5 THE BOSTON PORT BILL that a real union of the whole will prevail to save the whole, and to guard the public Liberty, if in- vaded by despotic Ministers, in the most remote equally as in the central parts of this vast Em- pire. It shall be the study of my life, Gentlemen, to give you and all my fellow-subjects the clear- est proofs that I have at heart the welfare and prosperity of every part of this great Monarchy. The only ambition I feel is to distinguish myself as a Friend of the rights of Mankind, both religious and civil, as a Man zealous for the preservation of this Constitution and our Sovereign, WITH ALL OUR LAWS AND NATIVE LIBERTIES THAT ASK NOT HIS LEAVE, if I may use the expression of Milton. My conduct shall be steady and uni- form, directed in every point by an obedience to the LAWS, and a reverence to the Constitution. The favourable opinion, which you are pleased to express of me, is a great encourage- ment and a noble reward of my efforts in the service of this Kingdom. I hope to shew my- self not quite unworthy of an honour, which I feel as I ought. I am, with great regard, Gentlemen, your obliged, and faithful, humble servant, John Wilkes. To the Gentlemen of the Committee of the Sons of Liberty in the Town of Boston. DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY King's Bench Prison, March j>0, Ij6y. GENTLEMEN, I Should sooner have acknowledged the very great honour of the letter Captain Bruce deliv- ered to me, but from a real tenderness for you, and the other friends of Liberty in America, still more than from my own important concerns. I did hope that the spirit of persecution, which had gone forth against you, would have abated, and that I should have had it in my power to con- gratulate you on the recovery of your rights. If I had been permitted to take my seat in the House of Commons, I should have been eager to move the repeal of the late Act, which lays the new duties on paper, paint, and other articles. I would have done this from the full persuasion not only of that Act's being highly impolitic and inex- pedient, but, in my idea, likewise absolutely un- just and unconstitutional, a direct violation of the great fundamental principles of British Liberty. The present session has been in many instances most unfavourable to public Liberty, but I hope that the next, and a more upright Administra- tion, will restore all the subjects of the British Empire to the possession of their rights, and I wish to enjoy the satisfaction of contributing to so noble a work. I have read with grief and indignation the 117 THE BOSTON PORT BILL proceedings of the Ministry with regard to the troops ordered to Boston, as if it were the cap- ital of a province belonging to our enemies, or in the possession of rebels. Asiatic despotism does not present a picture more odious in the eye of humanity than the sanctuary of justice and law turned into a main guard. I admire exceedingly your prudence and temper on so intricate an oc- casion, maintaining at the same time your own dignity and the true spirit of Liberty. By this wise and excellent conduct you have disappointed your enemies, and convinced your friends that an entire reliance is to be had on the Supporters of Freedom at Boston in every occurrence, how- ever delicate or dangerous. Your moderation prevented the effusion of blood, which we have seen by the military in St. George's-Fields on the most frivolous pretext, and in the most in- human way. I submit to you, Gentlemen, the propriety of a publication of any letters, which may pass be- tween us. You are the true judges of what re- spects the new world. Perhaps while I am doomed to this prison, unfair advantages might be taken here against me, which I should find it difficult to overcome. I leave however the whole to your mature consideration, with the truest assurances that in whatever way I can serve the generous cause of Liberty I will be active and zealous. You will 118 DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY always oblige me by pointing out the particulars respecting yourselves. I am, Gentlemen, with Truth and Regard, your affectionate, and faithful, humble Ser- vant, John Wilkes. To the Gentlemen of the Committee of the Sons of Liberty in the Town of Boston. During his term as Sheriff, Wilkes availed him- self of his official position in again asserting and defending the Liberty of the Press. The news sheets little by little were commencing to publish the substance of the debates which took place in the House of Commons. This was done in di- rect opposition to a resolution of that body hold- ing that it was a breach of privilege to print "any account of the debates or other proceedings of this House .... and that this House will proceed with the utmost severity against such offenders." The House of Commons decided to enforce this, and two offending printers R. Thompson, the printer of the Gazefeer, and John Wheble, the printer of the Middlesex Journa/,were ordered before it for trial. Wilkes persuaded his friends, the Lord Mayor, and Alderman Oliver, to thwart the enforcement of this order in the City of London. The two printers failed to present themselves at the bar of 119 THE BOSTON PORT BILL the House, and concealed themselves from the law officers. At the request of the House, the King issued a proclamation offering fifty pounds for the arrest of each of the offending printers. With a view of securing the reward, a journey- man printer arrested Wheble and brought him to the Guildhall, for which service Wilkes, who had been elected Alderman and was then sitting as Magistrate, promptly committed him for as- sault and discharged his prisoner. John Mil- ler, the publisher of the London Evening Post, was f also arrested by an officer of the Court. For this act in the performance of his duty, the latter was committed to jail by the Lord Mayor and Alder- men Oliver and Wilkes. The House of Commons then ordered the Lord Mayor and Alderman Oliver to be impris- oned in the Tower, and Wilkes to present him- self before the bar of the House. Though twice ordered to appear Wilkes each time refused, and the House not daring to take further measures against this defender of the people, dropped the matter, and made no further attempt to prevent the publishing of the news of their proceedings. While serving as Alderman of the City of Lon- don, Wilkes, in 1774, was elected Mayor of that city, an office at the time more coveted and car- rying with it greater honour and dignity than any elective position in England. In the same year, DISAPPROVAL OF THE COLONIAL POLICY he was returned to Parliament for the fifth time, by the Freeholders of Middlesex, and upon tak- ing his seat, actively opposed the measures which were being enacted against the people of Boston and Massachusetts-Bay. Such was Wilkes' pop- ularity in America that many in England advo- cated, as a solution of American troubles, his ap- pointment as Governor of Massachusetts-Bay. Evidence that the two cartoons* which form the subject of this chapter had free circulation in London is furnished by the following item,which appeared under the heading of London News in the Kentish Gazette of May 23rd, 1775. "An American Officer appeared at the Masquerade the other night, tarred and feathered, just as he is rep- resented in the print shops, to the no small di- version of the company." Rarely interesting as are these cartoons in re- calling an almost forgotten incident in our country's history, they have a yet greater value in that they evidence the local appreciation of the justice of the Colonies' refusal to acquiesce in the attempt of the administration to force the * Proof of their popularity among the London public, is also evinced by the fact that on June *nd, 1775, Carington Bowles used the same derisive wording and verses, which appeared on the print last described, as the legend upon a folio line engraving, in which Malcomb was pictured as being lowered by ropes from the window of his house into a cart, prepara- tory to receiving his "American suit" from the irate Bostonians. The title of this line engraving differed from that of the mezzotint cartoon only in the addition of the words "in NORTH AMERICA" after BOSTON. THE BOSTON PORT BILL tea down the throat of America. This is dem- onstrated by the fact that the account of the one droll incident that had occurred in this notoriously brutal and inhuman treatment ac- corded a King's Excise-man at Boston, was thus utilized for commercial purposes by two of the most consequential British print-sellers, to deline- ate humourously and with obvious moral the de- termination expressed by the people of America to resent strongly an insidious attack on their liberty. The impression the treatment of Mai- comb made upon the Crown will be discussed in the following chapter. Ill BRITISH INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON III BRITISH INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON HEN the first reports of the apparently wanton destruction of the tea at Boston reached England late in January, 1 774, it was the almost universal ver- dict of the English people that Boston must be punished, and the supremacy of the King and Parliament in America upheld. On the 1 4th of March, 1774, Lord North, the Prime Minister, acting under instructions from the Ministry, presented to the House of Com- 1*5 THE BOSTON PORT BILL mons a Bill entitled " An ACT to discontinue, in such manner, and for such time as are therein mentioned, the landing and discharging,* lading or shipping of goods, wares, and merchandize, at the town, and within the harbour of Boston, in the Pro- vince of Massachusetts-Bay, in North- America" This Act was destined to go down to his- tory under the name of The BOSTON PORT BILL, and finally brought to an issue the vital question which had so long agitated the people of Eng- land and America. It ordained that " from and after the FIRST DAY OF JUNE, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, it shall not be lawful for any person or persons whatsoever to lade or put, or cause or procure to be laden or put, off or from any quay, wharf, or other place, within the said town of Boston, or in or upon any part of the shore of the bay, commonly called the harbour of Boston, between a certain headland or point called NAHANT POINT, on the Eastern side of the entrance into the said bay, and a cer- tain other headland or point called ALDERTON POINT, on the Western side of the entrance into the said bay, or in or upon any island, creek, landing-place, bank, or other place, within the said bay or headlands, into any ship, vessel, light- er, boat, or bottom, any goods, wares, or mer- chandize whatsoever, to be transported or carried into any other country, province, or place what- 126 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON soever, or into any other part of the said pro- vince of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New Eng- land; or to take up, discharge, or lay on land, or cause or procure to be taken up, discharged, or laid on land, within the said town, or in or upon any of the places aforesaid, out of any boat, lighter, ship, vessel, or bottom, any goods, wares, or merchandize, whatsoever, to be brought from any other country, province or place, or any other part of the said province of the Massachusetts- Bay, in New-England, upon pain of the forfeit- ure of the said goods, wares, and merchandize, and of the said boat, lighter, ship, vessel, or other bottom into which the same shall be put, or out of which the same shall be taken, and of the guns, ammunition, tackle, furniture, and stores, in or belonging to the same: And if any such goods, wares, or merchandize, shall, within the said town, or in any of the places aforesaid, be laden or taken in from the shore into any barge, hoy, lighter, wherry, or boat, to be carried on board any ship or vessel outward bound to any other country or province, or other part of the said province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New- England, or be laden or taken into such barge, hoy, lighter, wherry, or boat, from or out of any ship or vessel coming in and arriving from any other country or province, or other part of the said province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New- 127 THE BOSTON PORT BILL England, such barge, hoy, lighter, wherry, or boat shall be forfeited and lost." While the Act aimed to destroy the com- merce from which the Bostonians derived their livelihood, the stipulation was made that it should not extend " to any fuel or victual brought coastwise from any part of the continentof Amer- ica, for the necessary use and sustenance of the inhabitants of the said town of Boston, provided the vessel wherein the same are to be carried shall be duly furnished with a cocket and let- pass, after having been duly searched by the proper officers of his Majesty's customs at Mar- blehead, in the port of Salem, in the said pro- vince of Massachusetts-Bay ; and that some offi- cer of his Majesty's customs be also there put on board the said vessel, who is hereby authorized to go on board, and proceed with the said ves- sel, together with a sufficient number of persons, properly armed for his defence, to the said town or harbour of Boston. The Bill was to remain in force until it should appear to the King that " peace and obe- dience to the laws shall be so far restored in the said town of Boston that the trade of Great Britain may be safely carried on there and his Majesty's customs duly collected" and "that full satisfaction hath been made by or on behalf of the inhabitants of the said town of Boston to 128 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON the united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, for the damage sus- tained by the said company by the destruction of their goods sent to the said town of Boston, on board certain ships or vessels as aforesaid; and until it shall be certified to his Majesty, in Council, by the Governor, or Lieutenant Gov- ernor, of the said province, that reasonable sat- isfaction hath been made to the officers of his Majesty's revenue, and others, who suffered by the riots and insurrections above-mentioned, in the months of November and December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy- three, and in the month of January, in the year of one thousand seven hundred and seventy- four." The reasons given for the necessity of this action were that "dangerous commotions and insurrections have been fomented and raised in the town of Boston, in the province of Massa- chusetts-Bay, in New-England, by divers ill- affected persons, to the subversion of his Majes- ty's government, and to the utter destruction of the public peace, and good order of the said town; in which commotions and insurrections certain valuable cargoes of teas, being the prop- erty of the East-India company, and on board certain vessels lying within the bay or harbour of Boston, were seized and destroyed : And THE BOSTON PORT BILL whereas, in the present condition of the said town and harbour, the commerce of his Majes- ty's subjects cannot be safely carried on there, nor the customs payable to his Majesty duly col- lected; and it is therefore expedient that the officers of his Majesty's customs should be forth- with removed from the said town." Eight days after the reading of this Bill there was presented to the House of Commons a peti- tion which was immediately published in the press under the title of "The humble petition of several NATIVES and INHABITANTS of NORTH AMERICA," then in London. Drawn up in terms of the greatest loyalty and respect it called attention to the fact that the measures against Boston were violating what was considered to be "an inviolable rule of natural justice, that no man should be condemned unheard, and that according to law no person or persons can be judged without being called upon to answer, and being permitted to hear the evidence against them and to make their defence." The petition further stated that if the people of Boston were punished unheard, that under such a precedent "no man or body of men in America could enjoy a moment's security: For if judgment be immediately to follow an accu- sation against the people of America, supported even by persons notoriously at enmity with them, 130 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON the accused unacquainted with the charge, and from the nature of the situation utterly incapable of answering and defending themselves, every fence against false accusation would be pulled down, justice will be no longer their shield, nor innocence an exemption from punishment." It maintained that "law in America minis- ters redress for any injury sustained there" and cited the fair trial and favourable verdict ac- corded to Captain Preston and his soldiers for their part in the "Boston Massacre." The peti- tion stated in addition that there had been no in- stance in which Parliament had ever attempted to punish a city for a civil offence, without redress having first been sought at common law, and referred to certain historic cases of Parliament- ary punishment of municipalities, notably that of Edinburgh in which the punishment was not accorded until after the city had been heard in its defence. Its closing portions contained the statement that "the petitioners thought them- selves bound to declare that they apprehend such a proceeding of excessive rigour and injustice will sink deep in the minds of their country- men, and tend to alienate their affection from this country." This petition in no way attempted to excuse the destruction of property in Boston; it only protested against the injustice of punishing a city 131 THE BOSTON PORT BILL without allowing it to be heard in its own de- fence. It was given wide circulation in the press, and its arguments formed the basis of numerous editorial comments and "Letters to the Printer'* for such summary methods of punishment as proposed by the new Bill were at variance with the British people's sense of justice. The sub- stance of the debates upon the Bill itself were fully reported in the newspapers, for the victo- ries won by Wilkes in behalf of the liberty of the press, were now bearing fruit. Such was considered the enormity of the offence commit- ted by Boston, that sentiment in the House of Commons was divided only as to the form of punishment to be inflicted upon the Bostonians, for of their guilt there was, at the time, appar- ently no question. The opponents of the Bill made every en- deavour to have the punishment to be meted out to the Bostonians take the form of a fine of "^"15,000, which would make amends to the East-India Company, and in some measure be a relief to the custom house officer [Malcomb] who has been tarred and feathered." Its sup- porters advanced among other arguments in its behalf "that the Americans were a strange set of people, and that it was in vain to expect any degree of reasoning from them ; that instead of [proving] their claim by argument, they always 13* INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON chose to decide the matter by tarring and feath- ering, that the method now proposed in the bill would become more a punishment by their re- fusal than by their compliance ; that the Ameri- cans alone were the persons by whose behaviour the lenity or severity of the measure was to be proved." The sponsor of the bill, Lord North, in urg- ing its passage, stated that many years ago the Bostonians had commenced to endeavour to throw off all obedience to Great Britain, and that now for the first time Parliament was pro- ceeding to punish them. In offering other rea- sons for the necessity of the measure he said : "I am by no means an enemy to lenient meas- ures, but I find that resolutions of censure and warning will avail nothing ; we must there- fore proceed to some immediate remedy; now is our time to stand out to defy them ; to pro- ceed with firmness and without fear. That it would be enough to show that Great Britain was in earnest.'* He predicted that no armed force would be necessary to put the Act into execution, that " four or five frigates will do the business" (see page 175) and expressed the belief and hope that the rest of the Colonies would see the justice and propriety of the punishment and leave Boston to its fate. His argument ended with the following exhortation to the members 133 THE BOSTON PORT BILL of the House present : " Let us continue to pro- ceed with firmness, justice and resolution; which if pursued will certainly produce that due obe- dience and respect to the laws of this country, and the security of the trade of its people, which I so ardently wish for." The events of the next year proved how little Lord North understood the temperament of the people of America. Another opponent of the measure under dis- cussion gave warning to Parliament that the Bill in shutting off the trade of Boston would in re- ality result in the punishment of the merchants and manufacturers of Great Britain, whose trade, dependent largely upon the American Colonies, would again be subject to great curtailment. George Dempster, a member from Scotland, bitterly assailed the proposed action of the Min- istry and gloried in the fact that he had assisted in the repeal of the Stamp Act, claiming that the disorders in America had arisen solely from the attempt of Parliament to tax America through the " odious stamp act/' He also ques- tioned the right of Parliament to place in the King's hand the decision as to when the Port of Boston should be reinstated in its rights. Dempster made a further plea for justice to Bos- ton, and declared that it was beneath the dignity of Parliament to concern itself in the disputes then taking place between the King and the 134 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON Colonies, for the latter should be " treated as children and cherished and nourished and pro- tected." Charles James Fox framed his attack on the portion of the Bill which " vested the power to restore the Port in the Crown alone," and bitterly assailed its sponsors for providing that the per- secution against the Bostonians should not cease, until the King himself was satisfied that the spirit of Boston was broken. The closing scenes of the debate were marked by very great excitement, for Van, of the Ad- ministration party, declared that " The town of Boston ought to be knocked about their ears and destroyed, ' Delenda est Carthago/ " and voiced the opinion that " you will never meet with that proper obedience to the laws of this country un- til you have destroyed that nest of locusts." Up to this time that stalwart defender of the rights of the Colonies, Col. Barre, had not op- posed the new measure, but stirred by the words of the last speaker, he arose and denounced the Bill as the first vengeful step which had been taken. In the closing portion of his speech (which is here reprinted from the press accounts of the debate), Barre called attention to the fact that the punishment of Boston was only another form of the taxation which was the cause of all the troubles between Parliament and the Ameri- 135 THE BOSTON PORT BILL can Colonies. " We ought to go coolly," he said, " to this business and not trouble our heads with who passed or who repealed the Stamp Act or other Taxes. We are to proceed rebus sic talibus, I hate the word fine ; it is a Tax, and as long as I sit here among you I will oppose the taxing of America. This bill, I am afraid, draws in the fatal doctrine of submitting to taxation ; it is also a doubt by this bill whether the port is to be restored to the full extent. Keep your hands out of the pockets of the Americans and they will be obe- dient subjects. I have not a doubt but a very small part of our strength will, at any time, overpower them. I think this bill a moderate one ; but I argue that the next proposition will be a black one. You have not a loom or an anvil but what is stamped with America ; it is the main prop of your trade. Parliament may fancy that they have rights in theory which they can never reduce to practice. America employs all your workmen here ; nourish and protect it, that they may be supported." The Bill passed the House of Commons without division and was sent to the House of Lords, where its passage was strenuously com- bated by the Earl of Chatham, the Duke of Richmond, and Lord Camden and vigourously advocated by the Earl of Mansfield, who urged the necessity of immediate action, declaring 136 " The Americans will then know that we shall temporize no longer ; if it passes with tolerable unanimity, Boston will submit, and all will end with victory without carnage." The Bill again passed without division and received the King's Assent seventeen days after its first reading in the House of Commons. Public opinion in England, while recogniz- ing the necessity of Parliamentary action against the Bostonians, placed its protest in the press against the summariness of not allowing Boston to be heard in its own defense. The idea that the Ministry were actuated by motives of re- venge rather than justice rapidly became wide- spread, and the Bill became a target at which the scribblers hurled their shafts of wit and sat- ire, the following examples of which found their way into print almost immediately after the Bill had received the Royal assent. From the London Chronicle, April 5th-/th, *774- "A correspondent has sent a dialogue, to which he says he was an ear witness : " Dr. First. Pray how do you cure the toothache ? " Dr. Last. I always plucks 'em out. Are you a Doctor ? " Dr. First Yes, a political Physician. I am a Member of Parliament, and of course, being 137 THE BOSTON PORT BILL one of the great Council of the Nation, have a right to give my opinion on all the diseases of the State. "Dr. Last. Indeed ! that's pure. Pray Doc- tor, if twenty or thirty riotous lawless people in a town, consisting of between twenty and thirty thousand inhabitants, were to commit a trespass, what remedy would you prescribe ? " Dr. First. Oh, nothing more easily done. I would beat the town about their ears ; and with fire and sword I would exterminate the whole inhabitants from the face of the earth. Delenda est Carthago. " Dr. Last and Dr. First together. Nothing like a radical cure: no, nothing like a radical cure." From the Kentish Gazette, April 6th~9th, 1774: INTELLIGENCE " An ingenious writer in the dramatic walk, having begun a tragedy on the present debates with the Americans, which- he intends to name * THE FALL OF BOSTON/ has given us permis- sion to lay the following speech before the pub- lic, as a specimen of the work. ACT I. Scene the last. (Lord NORTH solus.} WHAT in this piping time of peace, when ev'ry Wind conspired to swell my sails to glory, 138 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON And guide my P ce to arbitrary rule ; When haughty Spain's revengeful ire I sooth'd And even patriots (once my greatest dread) Had partly bow'd their stubborn necks to kiss The rod and place, upraised to win them To their duty to be thus crost and spurn'd By a few vagrant outcasts from this isle, O ! tis too much, come then, black vengeance With thy deadliest thought ! in either hand a torch Such as of old great Erostratus Us'd, when he fair Dian's temple flam'd, And since they dare to urge their freedom* s strength 'Gainst my commands , burn their detested town, Their Temples, farms, their household Gods, and all And when the whole in piles of ashes lie, Rise, Massachuset, from thy lowest bed, And in one surge sweep off the dam'd remains, That not a wreck be left for future time To mark the spot where BOSTON once had stood. "In former cases, when a house has been pulled down, or a citizen's goods destroyed by riot, the American provincial Assemblies have been applied to, and have paid 'the damages. The assembly of Massachusetts - Bay would doubtless have paid for the tea, had it been re- quired of them in the usual form. It is well '39 THE BOSTON PORT BILL known that the Father of this City, and several other gentlemen, were willing to give security for the payment of the tea on these terms. But that would have been a trifling scheme, by which we could hardly expect the pleasure of making a single woman or child shed a tear ; whereas the present plan perfectly agrees with [the] gov- ernment's ideas of governing a distant colony ; it affords the pleasing prospect of starving at least a thousand of them to death, and reducing half of the remainder to beggary ; to say nothing of the motion it must give to the wheels of trade on this side of the water." The editorial was evidently written from Lon- don, for the reference to the " Father of the City," alludes to the offer made by Wilkes to go on a bond for the payment of the tea, provided the Boston Port Bill should not be passed. Ten days later the same editor printed the fol- lowing tribute to Lord North's motives in intro- ducing this act of vengeance. On the Author of the Boston Port Bill. Fierce Nimrod first the bloody chace began, A mighty hunter and his prey was man Our blust'ring North boasts still a fiercer name ; He marks a people out as Royal game. Letters defending the action of the Bostonians soon appeared, and advanced the argument that 140 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON the Colonials had merely acted in defense of their constitutional rights in preventing the landing of the tea. No more forcible arraign- ment of the injus- tice of the sum- mary punishment accorded to Boston could have been drawn up, than a parallel, here repro- duced, which ap- peared in the col- umns of the London Chronicle of April 9th -i 2th, 1774. This parallel com- pared Parliament's proceedings against Edinburgh thirty- seven years before, and its recent action against Boston, the charge in the for- mer case being for the wanton murder by the citizens of Edinburgh of one John Por- teous, the captain of the City Guard, who, after being condemned to death by due process of law To the PR INTER. PROCEEDINGS AGAINST EDINBURGH BOSTOH Began the xotb of February, 1737, and ended the 21 ft of June, having continued near four taonths. The Proved and MagiOratei of Edin- burgh, the Judges of Scotland, and many other witneflet exa- mined at the bar. Council and evt deoce for the Magjf- tratei and city fully heard at the bar. Two Members for Not one Member lor Edinburgh, forTy-fiv to the amount, we may prefume, of 30,000). Journals of the Lord* and Commoni 1774, and tb< Boftott port bill. 141 THE BOSTON PORT BILL for firing on a mob of infuriated citizens, had been reprieved by Queen Caroline, and while under the royal protection had been forcibly taken from his prison by the angry populace and hanged. No bird of prey ever pursued its quarry more relentlessly than did the King and his Cabinet ill- fated Boston. Rendered desperate by the hostile criticism, which the Boston Port Bill provoked, and fully cognizant that the citizens of Boston would defy the mandate of Parliament and be supported in their opposition by public opinion in England, the maddened King and his Minis- try, in the vain hope that their policy of intimi- dation would be successful, quickly caused to be introduced into the House of Commons other Bills which were aimed at the Province of Mas- sachusetts-Bay as well as at unhappy Boston. The first of these was entitled an " Act for the better regulating the government of Massachu- setts-Bay," and was read for the first time in the House of Commons on the fifteenth of April. It provided for the altering of the ancient charter of the Province and the changing of its form of government. The Ministry had long been jealous of the rights conveyed to the colonies by the charters, which had been granted at a time when " col- onies were considered instruments of commerce INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON rather than objects of government." The oppor- tunity afforded by the disorders in Boston was eagerly seized upon as an excuse for remodelling the government of the Province, for the temper of Parliament, as shown by the ease with which the Boston Port Bill was put through, was most hostile to that Colony. The object of the Bill was to take the govern- ment out of the hands of the people. The changes called for the appointment of the Council by the King, instead of their election by the General Court of the Province as heretofore, their tenure of office to be subject only to the King's pleas- ure. The Governor was empowered to appoint, and with consent of his Council remove, all the Judges of the Inferior Courts, the Attorney Gen- eral, Provost Marshal, Justices and other officers of the Council or Courts of Justice, and the Sher- iffs, also to fill vacancies which might arise in the offices of Chief Justice, and Judges of the Supe- rior Court. Town meetings without the writ- ten permission of the Governor were prohibited, except for the purpose of local elections. The juries and grand juries, which had hith- erto been elected by the freeholders of the towns, were henceforth to be summoned and returned by the Sheriff. In short the whole machinery of the Courts was to be in the hands of the royal appointees. The opposition to this 143 THE BOSTON PORT BILL measure in Parliament was fierce, though futile, and the proposed act of changing the govern- ment of a people without their consent was pop- ularly characterized as "the highest and most arbitrary act of sovereignty that one nation can exercise over another, for charters are sacred and only revocable by due process of law for proven misconduct." To enforce the two previous Acts another measure was passed, entitled "An Act for the impartial administration of Justice in the case of persons questioned for any acts done by them in execution of the law or for the suppression of riots in the province of Massachusetts-Bay." It provided that the Governor of Massachusetts- Bay should be empowered to remove to Eng- land the trial of any person indicted for murder or any capital offense committed in assisting the Magistrates in executing the laws of the pro- vince. The Governor was also empowered to compel the attendance at the trial of any wit- nesses deemed necessary to the prosecution or defense. The evident purpose of this Act was to stiffen the courage of those entrusted to carry out the King's commands in Massachusetts-Bay. Its effect was to demonstrate that in the wreaking of min- isterial vengeance upon Boston all ideas of jus- tice and right had been laid aside. 144 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON Determined that the new policy against Bos- ton should not fail from lack of sufficient armed support to the new magistrates, a Bill was rushed through Parliament, which decreed that the bar- racks which were provided for the soldiers at the expense of the Colonies, and which, for the sake of good order, were in many cases erected outside the limits of the towns, " might be dis- used at the commanding officer's pleasure and the troops quartered in the heart of the town, in public houses, and houses uninhabited and even in private families, it is presumed, if the neces- sity of the case is. thought to require it." To many the very existence of constitutional government in England seemed endangered by a policy which denied the protection accorded by charters, constitutions and even common law to the people of Massachusetts-Bay. The feeling sprang up that the liberties of Englishmen at home must eventually become endangered, if the Ministry were successful in destroying the constitutions and rights of the colonists. "Nothing," wrote the editor of the Kentish Gazette, on June iith, "can be more truly Machiavellian in our Ministry than their first endeavouring to sap the liberties of our settle- ments abroad. Every act, however injurious to freedom, loses its horror by repetition. Thus by progressive steps, and the pleading of precedents, 145 THE BOSTON PORT BILL we may expect shortly to see all of our most valuable privileges taken away from us, without so much as feeling their loss, till their restoration is irremediable. 1 ' In the meantime g determined effort had been made in Parliament to secure the repeal of the tea duty with its obnoxious preamble, for it was believed by many that in this way alone could America be conciliated and the threatened crisis averted. Though strenuously advocated by the minority in Parliament, this measure failed in the Commons by a vote of nearly four to one. Not satisfied with the passage of the four measures framed against Boston and Massachu- setts-Bay, the Ministry, with a view of prevent- ing the extension of colonial government safe- guarded by charter rights, and in disregard of the claims of Massachusetts-Bay, Connecticut, New York and Virginia, passed a bill extending the boundaries of the Province of Quebec over all the territory now occupied by the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wiscon- sin. The Bill placed the government of all this vast territory in the hands of a Governor and Council appointed by the Crown, and sanctioned " the free exercise of the religion of the Church of Rome and confirmed to its clergy their ac- customed dues and rights." It virtually did away with the jury system, and left the people, 146 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON who were to colonize this vast territory, without the protection of the writ of habeas corpus and without any share in its government. The effect of this measure was to strengthen greatly the conviction in England that the Jacobite influences were still at work in the Cabinet. To the influence of the Pope and Lord Bute was ascribed the provision sanction- ing and legalizing the use of the Roman Cath- olic religion in America, a privilege which had long been denied the people of Ireland. Many of those whose loyalty to the King and mistaken idea of the royal prerogative, had hitherto coun- tenanced the measures passed to uphold the su- premacy of Parliament in America, were shocked at this new step. The press was very bitter in its comments. The satirists found it a new field for their attacks. No expression of opinion could be more forcible or caustic than the fol- lowing comments on the passage of the Bill which appeared in the Kentish Gazette of June 22nd-25th, 1 774, the first of which was inspired by the knowledge of the fact that, when speak- ing in opposition to the Bill, " Lord Camden on reaching the religious part of the bill directed his discourse to the Bench of B , telling them that, as by the Bill the Catholic religion was made the established religion of that vast continent, it was impossible that they could be 147 THE BOSTON PORT BILL silent on the occasion. He called the bill a child of inordinate power, and desired and asked if any of that bench would hold it out for bap- tism." EPIGRAM " (To) the unanimous vote of the Right Reverend the Bench of Bishops to the Quebec Bill, which yes- terday received the Royal Assent. Old Nick, highly pleased at what yesterday past, With rapture exclaim'd, ' We have got it at last; What MARY, nor CHARLES, nor JAMES cou'd atchieve, We have partly obtained by the crosier and sleeve ; But let us be grateful (then calling an imp) Do you hear my young Tycho ! when next I want drink'; Instead of that liquid of brimstone you dish up, Pray let me be serv'd, every day with a Bishop. LONDON "As soon as the division was over, on Friday, in the House of Lords, a member of the minor- ity asked Lord Chatham, whether it would not be right to protest ? ' No, no, (replied his Lord- ship) there can be little use in a. few names pro- testing against this bill; the insult it offers to 148 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON people at large as PROTESTANTS and BRITONS will hold it in sufficient remembrance.' ' Nothing can more vividly picture London's attitude towards this new attack upon the Amer- ican Colonies than the description given by an English newspaper editor of the scene in the city on the day the royal Assent was given to the Que- bec Bill. " The Park, Whitehall and other parts of Parliament-street," he wrote, " were thronged with multitudes of people in dress and appearance much above the common level. As the King passed they gave him a most cordial salute of groans and hisses ; the universal cry was ' No Popery ! No French laws ! No Protestant Popish King ! The Duke of Gloucester for ever ! ' His Majesty was observed several times to change colour, but whether from a consciousness that he was suffer- ing in a religious cause, or whether from the su- preme delight he felt at passing an act so univer- sally odious to the factious citizens, he bronzed it out with a comfortable share of firmness. When he executed the Romish business by passing the Que- bec Bill, the people on his return grew exceed- ingly clamourous ; they groaned most hideously until the state-coach arrived opposite Mr. Church- ill's house, in Parliament-street, when (Mr. Wilkes being at the window) a loud huzza ensued ; the King bowed, but the people, too honest to deceive his Majesty, instantly shouted, ' Wilkes for ever/' 149 THE BOSTON PORT BILL The state-coach had no sooner entered the Park, than the multitude who had accompanied it to the Parliament-House, being joined by a prodig- ious concourse of people, the hiss, groans and cry of ' No Popery ! No French laws ! The Protes- tant Duke of Gloucester!' became incessant. The King once leaning his head toward the coach win- dow, which was beset with numbers, a fellow, with great jocularity, called out ' God bless your Majesty's head, but damn Lord Bute's.' His Maj- esty reddened, but soon collecting his firmness, shewed as much contempt for the rabble as James II when he took water to escape their fury. . . . A fellow returning through the Park with the sword of state on his shoulder, the case which contained it being exactly like a crucifix, some of the mob insisted upon seeing the contents; the fellow stopped, and opened the case, but when they perceived it contained only a very harmless sword, they went away saying ' they really thought it was a present from the Court of Rome of a Popish Crucifix, for the use of the Protestant King of England?" Letters from America soon appeared in the press and told of the instantaneous determina- tion of many of the Colonies to revive the Non- Importation Agreements, which had proved in the past such formidable weapons of retaliation against the attacks upon their liberties. These 150 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON also dwelt strongly upon the indignation aroused in the other Colonies, their sympathy for Boston and their promised assistance in her time of dis- tress. The calmness of the Bostonians, when they received the news of the vengeful legislation aimed against them, and their firm determin- ation to suffer the penalty imposed, rather than pay for the tea, was considered to redound greatly to their credit. The new and offensive measures were de- nounced as being the handiwork of a Junto in the Ministry. Fierce denunciation of the lat- ter filled the press, for such was the loyalty and love for the King in both England and America, that he was absolved from all participation in the attacks upon his American subjects. Warnings by innuendo that the King was being deceived as to the measures the Ministry were favouring were not infrequent. That the course he was pursuing was most distasteful to a certain element may be gathered from the fol- lowing which appeared in the London Chronicle on June 3Oth, 1774, shortly after the passage of the Boston and Massachusetts Acts. To the PRINTER How Some Princes are deceived ; a true picture. " FOUR or five men usually form themselves into a cabal, and conspire together to deceive THE BOSTON PORT BILL and betray their Royal Master. This knot of knaves prescribe what be is to think, and put into his mouth the very words he is instructed to ut- ter. They shut him up, and as it were imprison him in his own Palace, so that truth shall never be able to come near him. He is permitted to know nothing but what they or their spies planted about him think fit to tell him. By their in- trigues and influence he prefers the most unde- serving men to the first dignities and posts in the empire ; and to make way for them disgraces and dispossesses the most worthy of his subjects, and the most devoted to his and the nation's interest." A Ballad entitled " The Boston Bill/* which appeared in the London Chronicle of July 23d 25th, 1774, and is here reprinted, well illustrates the unwillingness to associate the King with the odium attached to the Boston measures. It also described the vehemence with which the Bill was pushed by the administration, the futile opposition of America's friends in Parlia- ment, and the unseemly haste and vindictiveness displayed by Lord Mansfield (William Murray) in his demand for speedy legislation. THE BOSTON BILL A BALLAD If at a time to turn a rhyme, I have a particle of skill, INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON My muse wou'd for her subject chuse, That wond'rous act the Boston Bill. The steady North stept boldly forth, Each clause was fram'd his mouth to fill, Resolved to make th' Atlantic quake, He carried thro' the Boston Bill. The blade of Burke and Dempster's dirke, From Irish bog and Scottish hill; Were brandish'd bright, in the Court's sight, In vain against the Boston Bill. Not Isaac Barre cou'd make it tarry, It rapid ran like wheel of mill ; Old Abram's self, had seem'd an elf, Had he oppos'd the Boston Bill. To th' Upper House it went up souse, Of no effect was Chatham's will, His quiv'ring crutch, could hardly touch, The borders of the Boston Bill. Not Leinster's fire, nor Camden's ire, The Mother Country's rage could still ; She stopt each ear, and wou'd not hear, One word against the Boston Bill. But tell us, Murray, why such hurry, Thus with Cane Wood those men to drill; Whom if left free, we soon shou'd see, Do well without a Boston Bill. 153 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Come let us sing long live our King, For we are sure be means no ill, And hope the best for the opprest By the unhappy Boston Bill. In August, the Bill of Rights Society rec- ommended to the electors of England a platform on which candidates for the coming Parliament must swear to stand, provided they desired the support of this powerful element in English pol- itics. Among other stipulations made therein was the following : "ii th. You shall endeavour to restore to America the essential right of taxation by Rep- resentatives of their own free election ; repeal- ing the acts passed in violation of that right since the year 1763; and the universal excise, so notoriously incompatible with every principle of British liberty, which has been lately substi- tuted in the colonies, instead of the laws of cus- toms/' Discussion of the American question pre- dominated throughout England in the autumn of 1774. The platform adopted by the Free- holders of Middlesex County in September, 1 774, and upon which Wilkes was returned un- opposed to Parliament as member from Middle- sex for the fifth time, called for the repeal of the American legislation, as may be seen from "54 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON the perusal of the following extract from the London Chronicle of September 2/th 29th, 1774: " The following is a copy of the engagement signed by John Wilkes and John Glynn, Esqrs. " We \Jobn Wilkes and John Glynn\ do sol- emnly promise and engage ourselves to our con- stituents, if we have the honour of being chosen the Representatives in Parliament of the county of Middlesex, that we will endeavour to the ut- most of our power to restore and defend the excellent form of government modelled and es- tablished at the Revolution, and to promote acts of the Legislature, for shortening the duration of Parliaments, for excluding Placemen and Pen- sioners from the House of Commons, for a more fair and equal representation of the people, for vindicating the injured rights of the Freeholders of this county, and the whole body of electors of this united kingdom, and an act for the re- peal of the four late acts respecting America, the Quebec act, establishing Popery and the system of French Canadian laws in that extensive prov- ince, the Boston port act, the act for altering the charter of the province of Massachusetts- Bay, and the act for the trial in Europe of per- sons accused of criminal offences in America, being fully persuaded that the passing of such acts will be of the utmost importance for the security of our excellent constitution, and the 155 restoration of the rights and liberties of our fel- low subjects in America. JOHN WILKES, JOHN GLYNN." Thoughtful England felt that a crisis was fast approaching. Letters from America, many of which were handed over to the press for pub- lication by their recipients, told of the approach- ing Congress of the Colonies and of the una- nimity with which Boston was being supported. Warnings that the Ministry had gone too far in its punishment of Boston took varied forms. Of these none was more powerful than the car- toon* entitled " A POLITICAL LESSON/' repro- duced upon the opposite page. From the in- scription upon its margin we learn that it was Printed for John Bowles at No. fj in Cornhill (London), mventf et fecit by J. Dixon and Published J Sep r . 1774, at the price i'6 d . The scene of the disaster which it pictures is clearly and unmistakably defined by the shattered mile- stone marked " To Boston VI Miles" and guide- post labelled " To SALEM," as being on the boundary line between the two places. The ter- rific fall received by the royal Governor, General * The artist and engraver who thus so ingeniously and so truly pre- dicted the doom of England's domination over America was one of Eng- land's foremost mezzotint engravers of portraits. In the standard work, "British Mezzotint Portraits, described by J. C. Smith," the author allots space to the description of thirty-eight of J. Dixon' s works and characterizes them as "powerful, well drawn, and rich in line." 156 POLITICAL LESSON. INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON Gage, indicated the artist's conception of the overthrow of royal authority in America, which he believed would follow the removal of the Government of Massachusetts-Bay " from their ancient and legal seat in Boston to the Court House in Salem." The news of the passage of the Act, which would close its port, reached Boston on the tenth of May and was immediately printed upon paper with a black border and cried about the streets under the name of " a barbarous cruel bloody and inhuman murder." The counsel of the surrounding towns was immediately sought, and on the twelfth of May delegates from nine towns met at Faneuil Hall and denounced the action of Parliament and promised assistance to Boston in her hour of trouble. Letters were authorized to be sent to the other colonies pro- posing a cessation of trade with Great Britain, as it was believed that only by united action could Boston secure justice. The next day a numerously attended town meeting was held, the Boston Bill denounced, promises of assistance were given to all citizens who should be in need through lack of their accustomed employment, and an appeal was made " to all the sister colo- nies inviting a universal suspension of exports and imports, promising to suffer for America with a becoming fortitude, confessing that singly '59 THE BOSTON PORT BILL they might find their trial too severe and en- treating not to be left to struggle alone, when the very being of every colony, considered as a free people depended upon the event." On the same day the new Governor and Cap- tain-General of the Province, General Gage, sailed into the harbour and, after remaining four days at the Castle with Governor Hutchinson, entered the town. Shortly after his arrival an attempt was made at a town meeting to secure the passage of a resolution authorizing that pay- ment for the tea be made, but the vote of dis- approval was almost unanimous. Encouraged by promises of assistance from the towns of the neighbouring Provinces, Boston cheerfully re- solved to suffer in behalf of the rights of all the Colonies. The new Governor, who had come to conciliate, only increased the feeling against the Ministry by refusing to concur in the elec- tion of the new Council. Tidings of the proposed punishment of Bos- ton travelled rapidly through the Colonies. Public meetings were held at which the Min- istry was denounced and Boston upheld in the stand she was taking, for it was universally rec- ognized that, if the tea be paid for and assur- ance be given by the Bostonians that the duties hereafter could be peacefully collected, the King would thus establish a precedent for forcing the 160 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON obnoxious tea upon America. Lengthy accounts of the action of the people in all sections of the Colonies soon appeared in the press of both countries, and not only cheered the distressed Bostonians, but also informed all England that America looked upon the attack upon Boston as being one in which the future of the liberty of America was involved. Of all the stories of these proceedings which reached England, pos- sibly none was more impressive than the appended concise statement of the happenings in the little village of Farmington on that twenty-third day of May, for the height of the Liberty Pole therein mentioned, again vividly associated the struggles which the people of England were making for the retention of their own constitution under the leadership of Wilkes, with the stand being taken by the Americans in behalf of privileges granted under the ancient charters of the Colo- nies, then being jeopardized by the recent Ameri- can legislation. AMERICA " Farmington, in Connecticut, May 23. Early in the morning of the I9th instant, was found the following hand-bill, posted up in various parts of the town, viz. " ' To pass through the fire at six o'clock this evening, in honour to the immortal God- dess of Liberty, the late infamous act of the 161 B sh Parliament, for further distressing the American Colonies : The place of execution will be the public parade, where all Sons of Lib- erty are desired to attend.' " Accordingly, a body were assembled, of near one thousand people, when a huge pole, just 45 feet high, was erected, and consecrated to the Shrine of Liberty : after which the Act of P 1 for blocking up Boston harbour was read aloud, sentenced to the flames, and executed by the hands of the common hangman : After which several resolves were passed, Nem. con. expressing dislike to the said Act." On the first of June the Act went into effect. Industry stopped in Boston, and compulsory idle- ness with its attendant suffering threatened its inhabitants. The next day news came of the passage of the Acts, which took away the char- ter of their Province and provided for trial in England " of any who under the pretext of sup- porting or carrying into execution the late acts of Parliament shall murder or destroy the peo- ple of this country." Almost immediately the Town Committee forwarded a circular letter to all sections of the Province which called attention to " the present distressed condition of this insulted province" and invited signatures to a "solemn covenant" which was inclosed, and which would bind its 162 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON signers to refrain from any commercial inter- course with England or purchase any of its pro- ducts after the first of the following August, and declaring that in this way alone the "horrors of slavery or the carnage of a civil war might be averted." Starvation soon began to stare thousands in Boston in the face, for there were few whose means of earning their daily bread was not af- fected. The shipyards and all the various trades dependent upon this industry were idle, for no vessel could leave the stocks or wharfs; build- ing ceased, for timber and bricks could not be brought into the harbour ; the distillers and sugar boilers no longer could receive their mo- lasses and sugar from the West Indies ; the truck- men and day labourers were idle, for trade had vanished ; the small tradesmen could neither ob- tain supplies or sell what they had in stock, for their patrons had nothing with which to pay them. Many who were dependent upon their rent roll soon found themselves destitute. Fuel and provisions advanced in price, for the vessels conveying them were obliged to unload their cargoes at the few wharfs of Marblehead and then reload, thereby increasing the cost of all the necessaries of life. Whatever merchandise came to Boston had to be conveyed by land from Salem over twenty-eight miles of rough roads. 163 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Gifts soon began to pour in from all parts of the country. The first of these noted in the English press were "two hundred and seven quintals of codfish " purchased by a subscription raised at Marblehead ; South Carolina sent its cargoes of rice, Virginia and Quebec their wheat ; flocks of sheep and droves of cattle were driven to Boston from the New England Colonies. Scarcely a town or a hamlet on the continent failed to contribute liberally to alleviate the dis- tress of Boston. The West Indies sent their honorariums and the London press, by the following notice in- formed its readers that even in England the question of sending assistance to Boston was being agitated: "We hear that a subscription is soon to be opened, under very respectable patronage, for the inhabitants of Boston who are truly suf- fering all the rigours of a siege, in opposition to arbitrary power." A committee was appointed to receive the donations and make the best possible distribution of the same, and met daily at Faneuil Hall to investigate the application of all those "suffer- ing by the Boston Bill." The labourers were set to work on paving the streets, which fact caused the following ebullition in the Virginia Gazette of September I5th, 1774: " By some gentlemen arrived from Boston 164 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON we are told that at a meeting last week, at Fan- euil Hall, concerning the money, arising from the cargo of rice from South Carolina, three methods were proposed for applying it, the build- ing a wharf, the construction of a vessel, and the paving the streets ; when, after some debates, the last was adopted ; and accordingly a large num- ber of the poor people of the town were imme- diately employed upon that business. "On the poor of Boston being employed in paving the streets. In spite of rice, in spite of wheat, Sent for the Boston poor to eat, In spite of brandy, one would think, Sent for the Boston poor to drink ; Poor are the Boston poor indeed, And needy, though there is no need : They cry for bread ; the mighty ones, Instead of bread, give only stones." By a judicious use of the funds which poured into Boston from all quarters a brick yard was started, vessels set up in the stocks, and wool, flax and cotton bought and distributed to spin- ners, leather was supplied to shoemakers, the manufactured product being taken in pay for the raw material and distributed to the needy; nail-rods were also purchased for the blacksmiths and hemp for the rope-makers. Every effort was 165 THE BOSTON PORT BILL thus made to enable all who were suffering from the Port Bill to make a subsistence. In England the news of the determined way in which the people of Boston met their hard- ships and of the generous aid extended to them in their peril caused the conviction to be wide- spread that America had decided to take up the gauntlet flung down by the Ministry. The feel- ing was daily strengthening that, only through America's successful opposition to the Ministry, could Englishmen preserve their own constitution, which opinion was well expressed by a contrib- utor to the Middlesex Journal of August 9th- iith, 1774, in the verses here quoted: Alarmed, with manly care, behold, The Colonies consistent bold, For Boston's fate, their own At distant periods have to fear, Their liberties, and all things dear, Of power such seeds are sown. A British senate, prone to gain ; Nobility, a vicious train, With luxury in bloom. Disgrace the annals of the brave, Commend the baseness of the slave, As wretches fit for Rome. Let N and M proudly brave us, America, we trust, will save us, 166 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON Since all our tears are vain. We all revere old Runny Mead, True valour must with tyrants plead, And liberty regain. T. L. The feeling had become prevalent also that, owing to its severe treatment of Boston, the Min- istry had overreached itself. This was well voiced by the following stanzas which appeared on Sep- tember 2oth, 1774, over the same signature, in the journal last quoted: Who has not seen a musket ramm'd With too much powder often cram'd, Then burst, alas! asunder. By which great mischief has been done, By such an overloaded gun, That roar'd as loud as thunder. Sad acts oppressive have been made, One tax, and then another, laid, Such token full of power. Are like the overloaded gun, By their own force themselves undone, At Boston wait the hour. In the meantime the Governor, and the As- sembly, which had been prorogued at Boston, to meet at Salem, June 7th, were at odds and the As- sembly was dissolved, not, however, before it had appointed delegates to attend the Congress 167 THE BOSTON PORT BILL of the Colonies which was called to meet at Philadelphia in September. The town meetings which were expressly forbidden to be called af- ter the first of August under the new Acts, were still held throughout the Province, and when the Governor protested, he was informed that the only meetings held were those which had been adjourned from those regularly called before the Act went into effect. Many of the members of the Council appointed by the Governor were obliged to resign. The new judges dared not officiate. The new juries refused to be sworn. Of all the numerous letters from Boston which appeared in the English press none gave a more complete and graphic account of the indig- nities put upon her people than the following: "Boston, October I jib. Upwards of five months have expired since this devoted town has expe- rienced all the horrors of the Port-Bill ; and as if these were not sufficient to satiate the malice of our enemies, severities which that act, venge- ful as it is, did not know of, have been grafted upon it. Many instances might be mentioned ; suffice it to say, that a scow with boards and old iron have been seized in a mill pond, and libelled in an admiralty Court ; a boat owned by one Stewart, with sand for our floors, has been taken in our harbour, and the sand thrown into the sea without the form of a trial ; as was a lighter 1 68 INDIGNATION AT THE PUNISHMENT OF BOSTON load of hay coming up from Braintree ; the produce of the islands near the town have not been suffered to be taken off; and a float carry- ing sheep to feed on one of those islands, has been obliged to carry them back again ; bread, meal and other provisions were not suffered to pass a little ferry to Charlestown, and their ferry boats have been taken and detained for daring to attempt a passage after nine o'clock at night ; our numerous poor are suffering by the rise of wood, butter, cheese and other provisions not permitted to be brought up as usual from the little rivers and bays in our harbour, and when our tyrants have been expostulated with for these illegal proceedings, they have insultingly replied that, agreeable to the act of Parliament, it was to distress us ; and this their intention has been so effectually accomplished that it may be af- firmed without exaggeration, the loss this town has sustained within only one month of our blockade, exceed the whole amount of those generous donations received from our sympa- thizing friends through the Continent. Added to all this, our town is surrounded with ships of war; and it is said the fleet at Newfound- land are to winter in this harbour, formidable fortifications are erected and others erecting at the only avenue to the town ; chains and che- veaux de frise already provided to stop up the 169 THE BOSTON PORT BILL entrances at pleasure ; four regiments encamped upon the Common, with a large train of artil- lery and mattrosses ; one regiment on Fort-hill, one on the new fortifications in the Neck, and another regiment at Castle Williams ; three com- panies just arrived in the Rose man of war from Newfoundland ; transports dispatched some time past to New York, for two regiments from thence and the Jersies, and to Quebec for two regi- ments from that quarter ; military stores and implements of all kinds are collecting in this town, which has now the appearance of a gar- rison. Reports are propagated here, and the English papers announce, that six more regi- ments are coming from Europe. What may be the intention of all this, and what ought to be the conduct of this and the other provinces upon so alarming an occasion, we shall not pretend to say. This capital is a spectacle to them and to the whole world, a striking example of what is to be expected from the uncontrolable power claimed by a British Parliament over these col- onies that have not a single representative in it ; but under all these sufferings and terrors Boston has not renounced the great and common cause for which it suffers." After the story told in previous pages of the indignation aroused in England by the passage of the Boston Acts and the knowledge and regret 170 The- BO KSS. there displayed for the distress caused thereby, no further proof is needed that " Plate II " of the series issued by R. Sayer and J. Bennett as the Act directs IQ Now IJQ4, entitled " The BOSTONIANS in DISTRESS," and reproduced upon the opposite page, touched the hearts and ap- pealed to the sympathy of many of the people of London. The scene portrayed needs little ex- planation. The cartoonist has pictured the Bos- tonians suspended from their LIBERTY TREE and imprisoned in an enormous cage. Here he again showed his thorough acquaintance with Ameri- can customs, for he thus has given to the men of Boston the punishment meted out in America to slaves convicted of capital offences, who, thus im- prisoned, were left to starve as a terrible example to their fellows in bondage. The parallel drawn was a forcible one, as during the long controversy which had taken place the Americans in their numerous petitions had repeatedly referred to the fact, that bereft of their rights, their condition would be that of slavery. At about the time this cartoon was issued, several of the English papers had published " An American Parody on the old song of ' Rule Britannia,' ' ' the closing stanzas of which pathetically voiced the love and loyalty felt in America for Great Britain and their plea to be treated as subjects and not as slaves. 173 THE BOSTON PORT BILL VI With Justice and with Wisdom reign, We then with thee will firmly join, To make thee Mistress of the Main, " And every shore it circles thine." Rule Britannia, rule the waves, But never make your children slaves. VII When life glides slowly through thy veins, We'll then our filial fondness prove, Bound only by the welcome chains Of duty, gratitude, and love. Rule Britannia, rule the waves, But never make your children slaves. VIII Our youth shall prop thy tott'ringe age; Our vigour nerve thy feeble arm : In vain thy foes shall spend their rage, We'll shield thee safe from ev'ry harm. Rule Britannia, rule the waves, But never make your children slaves. IX For thee we'll toil with cheerful heart, We'll labour but we will be free Our growth and strength to thee impart, And all our treasures bring to thee. Rule Britannia, rule the waves, We're subjects but we're not your slaves. 174 The cartoonist also emphasized Boston's cry for assistance, and the response it met, by his de- lineation of the scroll held aloft by one of the Boston Fathers, inscribed with a quotation from Psalm CVII, 13: "They cried unto the Lord in their Trouble and he fayed them out of their Dis- trefs" The answer to the prayer is graphic- ally shown by the shallop laden with baskets of codfish labelled " To From the Committee of" , and was undoubtedly suggested by a knowledge of the gift of the men of Mar- blehead referred to on page 164. He has pic- tured the occupants of the boat as engaged in alleviating the hunger of the imprisoned Bos- tonians. Possibly the knowledge of the numer- ous sermons preached by the Boston clergy dur- ing the troubles in the Province, and quoted in the English press, suggested the religious aspect given to the scene by the long-handled contri- bution boxes, which served as a medium of con- veyance of the food to its emaciated recipients. The huge parcel of papers labelled "Promises" vividly calls to mind the "covenants" referred to on page 160. In the distance may be seen the "four or five frigates" which Lord North had predicted would be sufficient to enforce the Act. The cannon with muzzles pointed toward the " Liberty Tree " represent the "eight pieces of ordnance" which letters from Boston had de- 175 THE BOSTON PORT BILL scribed as being parked upon the Common. In the background may be seen the troops " with fife and drum," which were being landed at in- tervals to strengthen the royal forces in Boston. Few cartoons have ever more completely and more forcibly pointed a moral than the one which forms the subject of this chapter. The vivid picture it gave to sympathetic England of the Bostonians in distress for defending the free- dom accorded them by their charter, their cry for assistance and the moral and material response thereto, met with a demand which required that the plate be kept in use until the badly worn copper almost refused to hold its ink, which fact is proven by one of the copies extant to-day. IV LONDON'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK IV LONDON'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK T was the substantial response to the cry of distressed Boston for assistance, which furnished no small portion of the moral lesson told by the cartoon which formed the subject of the pre- vious chapter. Plate III of the series however found its subject in a droll incident which oc- curred in the town of New York in the autumn of 179 THE BOSTON PORT BILL 1 774, the knowledge of which was spread abroad in the shape of a vote of thanks passed by the Sons of Liberty of that place (see page 214). This incident was utilized to call attention, in a hu- mourous manner, to the determination known to exist in America to refrain from contributing to the comfort of those who wore the King's uniform, until the suffering Bostonians were re- stored to their "ancient privileges " and the griev- ances of America redressed. The fact that a naval captain figured in the incident may have added to its interest, for the print was put upon the London market at the time when the press of that city was chronicling the wholesale desertions from the English regi- ments stationed in the Colonies, the requests of the officers for transfer from the regiments or- dered on American service, and the protest of the veterans of the late war against being obliged to help enslave their former comrades of many a campaign. The appended verses from the London Even- ing Post of March i ith-i4th, 1775, are an ex- emplification of the feeling of the time : "70 the Printer of the London Evening Post. " SIR, " If you think it consistent with your Safety to publish the following Song, the Admission i So of it into your Paper will oblige one who is a true Friend of the Public, as well as your con- stant reader, sincere Friend, and humble Ser- vant, NAUTICUS." THE SAILOR'S ADDRESS i COME listen, my cocks, to a brother and friend, One and all to my song, gallant sailors attend, Sons of Freedom ourselves, let's be just as we're brave, Nor America's freedom attempt to enslave. Firm as oak are our hearts, where true glory depends, Steady, boys, steady, We'll always be ready To fight all our foes, not to murder our friends. ii True glory can ne'er in this quarrel be won, If New-England we conquer, Old England's undone ; On brethren we then should assist to fix chains, For the blood of Great Britain flows warm in their veins. Firm as oak, &c. in Shall Courtiers' fine speeches prevail to divide Our affection from those who have fought by our side ? 181 THE BOSTON PORT BILL And who often have join'd us to sink in the main The proud boasting navies of France and of Spain ? Firm as oak, &c. IV Near relations of some who at Court now do thrive, The Pretender did join in the year forty-five; And many in favour, disguis'd with foul arts, While they roar out for George, are for James in their hearts. Firm as oak, &c. v Of such men as these let us scorn to be tools, Dirty work to perform do they take us for fools ? Brave sailors are wiser than thus to be bamm'd, Let them turn out themselves, lads, and fight and be d 'd. Firm as oak, &c. VI To the ground may disputes with our Colonies fall, And George long in splendour reign King over all; And may those who would set the two lands by the ears, Be put in the bilboes, and brought to the jears. 182 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK Firm as oak are our hearts, where true glory depends, Steady, boys, steady, We'll always be ready To fight all our foes, not to murder our friends. While the episode pictured was in itself merely one of the bubbles upon the waters of unrest which had enveloped America, yet the les- son taught by the cartoon could equally well have been derived from numerous other tales which reached London and told of a similar attitude assumed towards those in the King's employ throughout the Colonies. The details of the print not only prove its designer to have been familiar with the names of individual members of the Sons of Liberty in New York but also to have possessed a clear conception of the political situation existing in that town. From the time of the Stamp Act days, po- litical sentiment in New York had been affected by too much discord to admit of comprehensive treatment here. It is true that the Assembly of the Province had joined the other legislative bodies in their protest against the Stamp Act, and the Congress of the Colonies, called to- gether to raise a united voice against the same measures met at her capital. The history of 183 THE BOSTON PORT BILL the next nine years must, however, be dis- missed with the mere statement that there had been no such unanimity of action among her people as had so long prevailed in Massachu- setts-Bay and Virginia, for class distinctions, with their attendant jealousies, were more closely drawn in this Province than in the other Colo- nies. Very broadly speaking, her people may be said to have been divided in their politics along religious lines. One element composed largely of the members of the Church of Eng- land, who as a rule represented the wealth and refinement of the place, showed little inclination to assist in disturbing the existing order of affairs, though they deemed the legislation aimed against America unwise and unjust. The members of the other party, men largely of the Presbyterian faith who feared God but not their King, were disposed to enter the political arena, and take up the cudgels in behalf of what they considered not only their charter but their God-given rights. The Sons of Liberty of the town of New York, made up largely of those who earned their bread by daily toil, were no less strenuous in the defence of their liberties than their brethren in other parts of the country. The Common, now the City Hall Park, was their public meeting ground. It was there that their Liberty Pole 184 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK was placed, around which their celebrations were held and their protests voiced. It was there also that their demonstrations against the royal author- ity were made, and the walls of St. Paul's Chapel an engraving of which as it appeared in Colonial days heads this chapter were silent spectators of scenes more stirring in their nature than were witnessed by any other building which has been preserved to us from that period. The activities of these Sons of Liberty are too well known to need repetition here. To the shame of New York, it must be confessed that it was only through their efforts that the Non-Im- portation Agreement, which followed the "Acts of 1 767," was more rigidly observed in that Pro- vince than in any other of the Colonies, for her merchants had no such enthusiasm for the cur- tailment of their income, as was displayed by those whom they generally characterized in let- ters to their correspondents abroad as the " Pres- byterian junto." The method employed was as brutal as it was efficacious and was well described in the following letter which circulated in the English press during the latter part of the year 1769: " A Letter from an English Dealer in the Hardware Business in New-Tor k y to a merchant in London. " On the arrival of your goods, which Mr. 185 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Copestakes came with, I was sent for by the Committee ; on which I thought, as I had not signed their agreement, they could have nothing to do with me ; Three days after another ship arrived, in which I had a large quantity of fine cutlery and files ; upon this, they sent for me again, and I waited on them, and told them I had things in your box, which had been ordered a long while ago ; on that account they gave leave I should have that box, but my other goods they sent into the stores. I told them, if the Acts were not repealed in three months, I would have them out, and leave the place. " ' On the 1 4th of July the Ship Edward ar- rived in which I had only 317. 4^. commission, and all in chapes and necessaries for carrying on my business; on the ijth I was ordered again to wait on the Committee ; I attended them di- rectly, and declared I could not possibly carry on my business without chapes, and shewed them some pinchbeck buckles, out of which I had been obliged to take the chapes to put in silver ones. As they saw I was not willing to give up my goods to be stored, I was set upon by three of the Committee, who threatened me, and treated me in a most scurrilous manner. In con- sequence of my knowing they acted contrary to law, I told the above three persons that I did not value either, or all of them, and retired. 1(6 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK " ' On the 2oth day of July an advertisement was published by them against me : It contained such falsehoods as I could not have thought would have entered the heart of man. Disputes ran very high that evening ; and as I had some friends who took my part, they were afraid they should not succeed ; and therefore, to prejudice the people against me, caused several hundred hand-bills, to be put under every door in and about town, directing everybody to meet at the Liberty Pole, on the next evening, at six o'clock, and there to consult what death I should die. " * Alarmed at this, by the advice of some friends, on Friday, I got several hundred hand- bills printed, and dispersed them, informing the publick, I would give up my goods to be stored, if the President of the Committee approved of this advertisement, and thought it would satisfy everybody. On Friday evening great numbers of the mob assembled at the appointed place, when the President went up to the Liberty Pole, and read one of them to the mob ; but the three persons beforementioned, said my advertisement was not sufficient, and nothing would do with- out I was brought up ; however, I was deter- mined not to go. I had reason to apprehend the most alarming consequences. Several merchants were deputed from the Liberty Pole to bring me there ; I told them I was an Englishman, 187 THE BOSTON PORT BILL and it should never be said I died like a dog ; and as I had nothing but death before my eyes, I was determined to die in my own house. " ' By this time a part of the mob came to my door, to fetch me by force. At this instant, Major Pulline of the i6th regiment, came to my house, and engaged to convey me to the fort in safety. We passed by about 400 of the mob, without any hurt ; but in my way to the fort I had a stone thrown at me, [which] weighed four pounds, and which hit me on my right shoulder, and contused it ; I was let blood, and it was fol- lowed with no bad symptoms. " ' On my arrival at the fort, the G seemed angry, and said, now I had given up my goods, I wanted his advice : I told him, I wanted him to protect my person only ; he left me in the hall, and I saw him no more. That night I slept in the fort ; next morning I told his secretary I should be glad to be admitted to speak to the G ; he acquainted him with it, and brought me word I must go to Mr. John Cruger's, one of the Committee, at whose house I would be safe : I told him that I did not chuse to leave the fort, as my life was in imminent danger. "' During this time, I had deputations from the Liberty Pole to come up and ask pardon of men that I never injured, or knew in my life; and finding I had nothing to expect from the 188 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK G , and considering the money I had owing me here, I thought it best to submit, and bow my neck to their Liberty Pole. " 'About one o'clock, the G ordered me, by his Steward to leave the Fort, as I had not followed his advice in going to Mr. Cruger's ; though if I had attempted it, I believe I should have been murdered in the street. In this situ- ation I was obliged to submit, after a five days stay in the Fort. They offered me any num- ber of merchants to protect me if I chose it ; I told them I would put my life in the hands of three or four, and with them went and asked pardon of the mobility, and was most ignomini- ously treated. " ' Now it is resolved no one shall buy any- thing of me ; and though this affair has raised me many friends, yet they dare not come into my shop, so I have nothing to expect here, and shall be a great loser by my goods, a large quan- tity of which are in stores, which if they lie long there, will spoil. " ' I must not forget to tell you of the great humanity and tenderness of the Mayor and Al- derman, when the mob came before my house ; they stayed with my wife a long while, and ex- erted themselves to the utmost, but could do nothing with such a riotous multitude/ ' Pending the news of the arrival of the East 189 THE BOSTON PORT BILL India Company's tea ships in America, New York had figured even more prominently in the English newspapers than Boston, on account of the opposition agitated by her Sons of Lib- erty against the proposed unlading of the tea in their port. The determination of her people first publicly expressed itself in a meeting held on October 25th, 1773, at which the thanks of the people there assembled were tendered to the " Captains of the London ships belonging to this port for their refusal to take from the East In- dia Company on freight, a quantity of tea, and thereby contributed so earnestly to discounte- nance a measure, which ought to be opposed by all good men as contrary to every principle of British liberty, and therefore cannot but incur the just indignation and resentment of the much injured Americans." An interesting incident, which followed shortly afterward, was thus described in the fol- lowing extract from a letter published in the London Chronicle of January 8th- 1 1 th, 1 774, dated New York, November 1 5th : "On Friday morning the 5th instant was dis- tributed about the city a printed advertisement, directed to the Friends of Liberty and Com- merce in New York, and signed as follows : By order of the Legion's Committee, CASSIUS." 190 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK " In this paper, Mr. K ,* now in Lon- don, was charged with sundry speeches tending to encourage the sending to America tea, sub- ject on its arrival to a duty imposed by the Brit- ish Parliament, and that in order to get the Commission of the sale of the said teas, he had said, * There was no danger from the resentment of the Public in New York, if it should be as high as it was in the time of the Stamp act, for that now they had a different person to deal with, and the tea would be crammed down their throats.' " That animated by these speeches, the East India Company had concluded to send their tea to America ; and that therefore Mr. K was an enemy to his country, and ought to be treated accordingly. The same evening an effigy, with his name inscribed in luminous letters, and sus- pended on a gallows, fixed in a cart, with a tea canister before him, inscribed tea, 3d. sterling duty, with several other inscriptions and devices, expressive of the people's resentment, was drawn through the principal streets of this city, attended by a great multitude of spectators, and at last burnt before the door of the Coffee-house ; after * The personage in whose honour this affair took place was a Mr. Kelly, a former resident, who had taken up his home in England, and in his canvass for a seat in Parliament had attempted to curry favour with the Administration by making statements of a similar nature to those here quoted. 191 THE BOSTON PORT BILL which the people gave three cheers and dis- persed." Reports quickly followed of the demand for resignation of the three tea consignees, of their ready compliance with the request, and that the Sons of Liberty had " threatened all the Pilots to bring them to the liberty tree if they conduct the ship up to the city," also that, not satisfied with these measures, the Mohawks, for the Sons of Liberty in New York had their band of abo- rigines at this period as well as Boston, pro- ceeded to define in unmistakable terms their at- titude towards the expected tea ship, and to warn all citizens against receiving the tea by placarding the city with the following notice : " Whereas our nation have lately been in- formed, that the fetters which have been forged for us by Great Britain, are hourly expected to arrive in a certain ship belonging to, or char- tered by, the East India Company. We do there- fore declare, that we are determined not to be enslaved by any Power on earth ; and that who- soever shall aid or abet so infamous a design, or shall presume to let their store or stores for the reception of the infernal chains, may depend upon it, that we are prepared, and shall not fail to pay them an unwelcome visit, in which they shall be treated as they deserve ; by "Nov. 29th, 1773. THE MOHAWKS." 192 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK Copies of the above broadside appeared in various English papers about the middle of Jan- uary, 1 774, shortly before the tidings had reached England that Boston's tribe of Indians had de- stroyed the cargoes of tea consigned to that ill- fated port. Two weeks later came the account of a meet- ing held at New York on December I7th, as follows : " On Friday last, in pursuance of an advertisement distributed about this City the day before, addressed to * The Members of the Asso- ciation of the Sons of Liberty,' a respectable num- ber of Citizens met at the City Hall, when Mr. John Lamb, a Member of the Association, ad- dressed the meeting and informed them, that he was desired by a number of his Fellow Citizens to communicate to them, that there were several letters received from the Committee of Corre- spondence of the Town of Boston, and a letter from Philadelphia, relative to the importation of the East-India Company's Tea, which it was de- sired might be communicated. The letters were accordingly read ; and a Committee of fifteen Gentlemen was chosen to answer these letters, and to correspond with our sister Colonies on the sub- ject of the dutied Tea. The Association of the Sons of Liberty was then read ; after which the Sons of Liberty came to several resolutions, of the same tendency with those of Philadelphia, 193 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Boston, &c., not to suffer the introduction of Tea. Mr. Lamb put the question, Whether they agreed to the said resolution : It passed in the affirmative, Nem. Con. "The Mayor and the Recorder came into the meeting, and informed them, that they had a message from Government to deliver to the Peo- ple, and to take their sense upon it. Where- upon it was agreed, that the Mayor should de- liver the message ; which he accordingly did in the words following : " * Gentlemen, I have a message from Gov- ernment to deliver to you. The Governor de- clares, that the Tea will be put into the Fort at noon day ; and engages his honour that it shall continue there, till the Council shall advise it to be delivered out, or till the King's order, or the Proprietor's order, is known ; and then the tea will be delivered out at noon day. Gentlemen, is this satisfactory to you ? ' This was answered with a general no, no, no. " Mr. Lamb then read to the people the act of Parliament that imposes the duty on tea im- ported into America, and after making some pertinent remarks on the Commons of Great Britain's giving and granting the property of the Americans, and that the duty was due on the landing of the tea, put the following question : * Is it then your opinion, gentlemen, that the 194 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK tea should be landed under this circumstance ? ' This was carried so generally in the negative, that there was no call for a division. " Whereas this Body is informed, from un- questionable authority, and the letters that have now been read, that the patriotic inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia, and the Town of Bos- ton, have determined that no tea, subject to a duty by a British Act of Parliament, for the pur- pose of raising a revenue in America, should be landed in either of those places. " Resohed, Nem. Con. That this Body highly approves of that spirited and patriotic conduct of our brethren of the City of Philadelphia, and the Town of Boston, in support of the common liberties of America. Then the question was put, whether this meeting should be adjourned till the arrival of the tea ship, or be dissolved ? It was carried, that the meeting should be ad- journed till the arrival of the tea ship." In the meantime other letters had appeared, written by " Officers at New York to Friends in London," describing the growing excitement in the town, the daily drilling of the Independent Companies, the target practice of the local ar- tillery and noting " that the minds of the town people are inflamed by the examples of some of their principals : they swear that they will burn every ship that comes in." The same letters '95 THE BOSTON PORT BILL told of the orders issued to the royal troops to prepare ball cartridges for use and to keep " good flints in their firelocks and for every officer and soldier, as soon as any riot is in town, to repair directly to the barracks and acquaint the com- manding officer to it." Then followed news that " it is determined on the arrival of the ship-Nancy, Capt. Lock- yer, with the Tea from the East- India Com- pany, the Commander will be acquainted with the sentiments of the inhabitants respecting the shipping that article, which will indubitably oc- casion his return with it in statu quo, to Eng- land, and that he will be provided with every necessary for his voyage ; by which discreet in- tentions, every fatality both to this colony and the Honourable Company will be most happily prevented." Almost six months months full of excite- ment and feverish anxiety had elapsed from the day when the people of New York first ex- pressed their disapproval of the proposed tea shipments, before the tea ship Nancy hove in sight. Her captain's experience with the Sons of Liberty and the Nancy's peaceful departure with unbroken cargo, as well as New York's " tea party," were related in the following interesting article which appeared in the London Chronicle of June 4th-7th, 1 774 : 196 "New York, April 2$th. On Monday last [the 1 8th] advice was received from Philadel- phia, that Captain Chambers of the London, of this port, had taken on board at the port of Lon- don, eighteen boxes of fine tea, which were reg- ularly cleared, and the mark and numbers were taken from the cocket by Capt. All, of Phila- delphia. As Capt. Chambers was one of the first who refused to take the India Company's tea on freight the last Summer, for which he received the thanks of the Citizens, they could not believe that he knew of the teas being on board, and therefore supposed it to have been shipt by some ministerial tool, under another denomination, in order to injure the Owners, or the reputation of the Master, or to make an experiment of this mode of introducing the teas to America. The Committee and the Inhabitants were therefore determined to examine into the matter with great vigilance. "In the night the long expected tea ship, Nancy, Capt. Lockyer, arrived at Sandy Hook, without her mizen mast and one of her anchors, which were lost in a gale of wind the 2d inst. when her main top mast was sprung and thrown on her beam ends. Letters being delivered to him by the Pilot from sundry Gentlemen of this city, informing him of the determined resolution of the citizens not to suffer the tea on board of 197 his ship to be landed, he requested the Pilot to bring him up to procure necessaries and make a protest, but they would not do it till leave was obtained. Early the next morning this was com- municated to the Committee, and it appearing to them to be the sense of the city that such leave should be granted to him, the ship to re- main at the Hook, the Pilot was immediately dispatched to bring him up. This intelligence we immediately communicated to the Public by an hand bill. "At 6 P. M. the pilot boat returned with Capt. Lockyer on board, and although the people had but a very short notice of it, the wharf was crowded with the Citizens, to see the man whose arrival they long and impatiently wished, to give them an opportunity to co-operate with the other Colonies. The Committee conducted him to the house of the Hon. Henry White, Esq ; one of the Consignees, and there informed Capt. Lockyer that it was the sense of the Citizens that he should not presume to go near the Cus- tom House, and to make the utmost dispatch in procuring the necessary articles he wanted for his voyage. To this he answered, ' That as the Consignees would not receive his cargo, he would not go to the Custom-house, and would make all the dispatch he could to leave the city.' A Com- mittee of Observation was immediately appointed 198 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK to go down in a sloop to the Hook, to remain there near the tea ship till she departs for Lon- don. " Wednesday night arrived Capt. Lawrence, from London, who confirmed the account re- ceived from Philadelphia, of Capt. Chambers having on board 1 8 boxes of fine tea, but could not tell who was the Shipper, or to whom it was addressed. Thursday the Committee interro- gated Capt. Lawrence relative to what he knew of the tea's being on board of Captain Cham- bers, when he shewed them a memorandum in his pocket book, which he took from the cocket in the middle of Capt. Chambers's file of papers in the Searcher's Office at Gravesend, corre- sponding with the advice transmitted from Phil- adelphia, except some variation in the mark. This morning the following hand bill was dis- tributed : " * To the PUBLIC, The sense of the city relative to the landing the India Company's tea, being signified to Capt. Lockyer, by the Com- mittee, nevertheless, it is the desire of a number of the citizens, that at his departure from hence, he should see, with his own eyes, their detesta- tion of the measures pursued by the Ministry and the India Company, to enslave this country. This will be declared by the convention of the people at his departure from this city; which 199 THE BOSTON PORT BILL will be on next Saturday morning about nine o'clock, when no doubt, every friend of this country will attend. The bells will give the no- tice about an hour before he embarks from Mur- ray's Wharf. "' New-York, April 2ist. " ' By Order of the Committee/ " Friday at noon Capt. Chambers came into the Hook; the Pilot asked him if he had any tea on board. He declared he had none. Two of the Committee of Observation went on board of Capt. Chambers, and informed him of the advices received of his having tea on board, and demanded a sight of all his cockets, which was given them, but the cocket for tea was not found among them, nor was the mark or num- ber on his manifest. " About 4 P. M. the ship came to the wharf, when she was boarded by a number of the citi- zens, Capt. Chambers was interrogated relative to his having the tea on board, but he still de- nied it. He was then told it was vain to deny it, for there was good proof of its being on board; for it would be found, as there were Committees appointed to open every package, and that he had better be open and candid about it ; and demanded the cocket for the tea ; upon which he confessed it was on board, and deliv- ered the cocket. The owners and the Commit- THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK tee immediately met at Mr. Francis's, where Capt. Chambers was ordered to attend. Upon examining him who was the shipper and owner of the tea, he declared that he was sole owner of it. After the most mature deliberation, it was determined to communicate the whole state of the matter to the people, who were convened near the ship ; which was accordingly done. "The Mohawks were prepared to do their duty at a proper hour, but the body of the peo- ple were so impatient, that before it arrived a number of them entered the ship, about 8 P. M. took out the tea which was at hand, broke the cases, and started their contents in the river, without doing any damage to the ship or cargo. Several persons of reputation were placed below to keep talley, and about the companion to pre- vent ill-disposed persons from going below the deck. At 10, the people all dispersed in good order, but in great wrath against the Captain ; and it was not without some risque of his life that he escaped. Saturday at 8 A. M. all the bells of the City rang. "About 9, the greatest number of people were collected at and near the Coffee House that was ever known in this city. At a quarter past 9 the Committee came out of the Coffee House with Capt. Lockyer, upon which the band of music attending, played 'God save the King.' THE BOSTON PORT BILL Immediately there was a call for Capt. Cham- bers, Where is he ? where is he ? Capt. Lockyer must not go till we find Capt. Chambers to send him with the tea ship. This produced marks of fear in Capt. Lockyer, who imagined some mischief was intended him ; but upon assurance being given him to the contrary, he appeared composed. The Committee, with the music, conducted him through the multitude to the end of Murray's Wharf, where he was put on board the pilot boat, and wished a safe passage; upon which the multitude gave loud huzzas, and many guns were fired, expressive of their joy at his de- parture. The Committee of Observation at the Hook have cognizance of him till a fair wind offers for his departure from thence. "On Sunday night, the Committee of Ob- servation returned from the Hook. They inform us, that the sailors of the tea ship, being un- willing to proceed with her to London, made a raft of spars and boards, in order to quit the ship with the tide of flood, but were observed by the Captain, and being aided by the Committee, who offered their assistance to him, they desisted from their project. That on Sunday at 10 A. M. the ship and the sloop, with the Committee, weighed their anchors and stood to sea; and at 2 p. M. the Pilot boat and the Committee's sloop left her at the distance of three leagues from the Hook. THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK "With Capt. Lockyer, in the ship Nancy, went passenger, Capt. James Chambers." The story told in the preceding pages ex- plains the numerous protests uttered at home and abroad against the injustice of singling out Bos- ton for punishment for her action in taking up the gauntlet deliberately thrown down by Gov- ernor Hutchinson. It also justified the popular belief, that if the desire evinced by Governor Tryon of New York and other royal Governors to avoid the issue, which the compulsory land- ing of the tea would have forced, had been dis- played at Boston, the crisis would have been averted, and the necessity for the destruction of the valuable property of the East India Company obviated, the consequences of which act were then threatening the existence of a people whom many in England looked upon as merely defend- ing the principle expressed in the classic proverb, " Nothing is pleasant without true Liberty," which headed the Poets Corner in the Middlesex Journal of August 3Oth-September ist, 1774. Nibil est jucundum invita sine Libert ate When tyrants on the Continent were spread, Men, for Liberty, to the islands fled, The scene now changed; from those they daily fly To seek a Continental safer sky. 203 THE BOSTON PORT BILL America invites us to her arms, Freedom, all know, contains a thousand charms, With them that noble spirit is not broke, Gage he may swagger, Bernard shape the yoke, Hutchinson to rage a nation great provoke, But when the contest comes, the mighty odds Appear with slaves contending with the Gods. The reception which the news of the pas- sage of the Boston Port Bill received in New York on the i2th of May, the meeting called to discuss it and "the printing off and distribu- tion of 10,000 copies of the Act along with a copy of several letters from England," indicated New York's interest in the cause of Boston. On the 1 6th of May, the merchants met for consultation and, in order to prevent any radical action being taken by the citizens in general, decided to present to the people at large the names of fifty persons to act as a Committee of Correspondence to represent New York in the emergency which confronted the Colonies. Three days later at a meeting of the people the list was formally approved, but only after bitter opposition from the Sons of Liberty, for the com- position of the Committee indicated that con- servatism would control its actions. At this gathering an additional name was added and the THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK appointees were thereafter known as the Com- mittee of Fifty-one. In the meantime Isaac Sears and Alexander McDougall, acting for the Sons of Liberty, had written their Boston brethren informing them of the proposed meeting and pledging it to agree upon "a Non-importation and Non-exportation of goods to Great Britain." In this they were in error, for the Committee, in drawing up a letter of sympathy for Boston, only suggested that this step should be discussed at a meeting of Deputies from all the Colonies, being mind- ful of the fact that New York's loyalty to the previous Non-Importation agreement had re- sulted in the diversion of much of her trade to other Colonies, where the agreement was but lightly observed. The moderation of the Committee of Fifty- one was in no way satisfactory to those of its members who were appointed from the Sons of Liberty, and suspicion became rife as to the mo- tives of their inaction. This was accentuated by the statements made by the English newspapers that General Gage had told Lord North that he " knew of many Persons of Consequence in New York who could easily be brought over to sell their Privileges for a Pension for the Crown." Announcements that the Ministry would at- tempt to introduce into America the methods of 105 THE BOSTON PORT BILL bribery and corruption, which were known to be sapping the life blood of constitutional gov- ernment at home, frequently appeared in the London press during the next twelve months and furnished the satirists fresh ammunition to hurl at the Administration. By no means the least interesting of these effusions was that which was presented to the public by the London Evening Post under the heading of, A SONG By the TORY MINISTRY To the tune of abegging we will go, will go, &c. i 'Tis money makes the Member vote, And sanctify our ways; It makes the Patriot turn his coat, And money we must raise. And a taxing we will go, will go, &c. ii More taxes we must sure impose, To raise the Civil List; Also to pay our ayes and noes, And make opposers wist. And a taxing, &c. in One single thing untax'd at home, Old England could not shew; 206 THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK For money we abroad did roam, And thought to tax the New. And a taxing, &c. IV The pow'r supreme of Parliament, Our purpose did assist, And taxing laws abroad were sent, Which rebels do resist. And a taxing, &c. v Shall we not make the rascals bend To Britain's supreme power? The sword shall we not to them send And leaden balls a shower? And a taxing, &c. VI Boston we shall in ashes lay, It is a nest a knaves; We'll make them soon for mercy pray, Or send them to their graves. And a taxing, &c. VII But second thoughts are ever best, And lest our force should fail, What fraud can do we'll make a test, And see what bribes avail. And a taxing, &c. VIII Each Colony, we will propose, Shall raise an ample sum; 207 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Which well applied, under the rose, May bribe them as at home. And a taxing, &c. IX We'll force and fraud in one unite, To bring them to our hands ; Then lay a tax on the sun's light, And King's tax on their lands. And a taxing, &c. On July 5th an advertisement appeared in the streets of New York couched in " mystic and ambiguous terms." It called for a meeting the next day in the Fields, and assigned as the reason that " The enemies of the Liberty of America being unwearied in misrepresenting the attach- ment of the inhabitants of this city to the com- mon cause of this country to the neighbouring colonies, etc." The response thereto was a numerous gath- ering of New York's citizens. Its chairman was Alexander McDougall, one of the Com- mittee of Fifty-one, who after calling atten- tion to "the dangerous tendency of the numer- ous and vile acts used by the enemies of Amer- ica to divide and distract her councils, as well as the misrepresentations of the citizens of this Metropolis in this interesting and alarming state of the liberties of America," offered a series of THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK resolutions which were separately voted upon and passed unanimously. Their general tenor indicated the strong desire of the citizens to put themselves on record as declaring that the Bos- ton Port Act was unconstitutional, that Boston was suffering in a common cause as a result of the attack upon her liberty, that it was the opin- ion of the meeting that " if the principal col- onies should jointly cease trading with Great Britain that this will prove the salvation of Amer- ica," that the Deputies who should represent the colony at the projected Congress be instructed to agree for the city upon a Non-Importation Agreement to remain in effect until the Boston Port Bill be repealed and the grievances of Amer- ica be redressed and that their representatives should also agree to all other measures which the Congress shall deem best to adopt. In addition it was resolved that all present would observe any regulation which the Congress should enact, that a subscription be immediately started to re- lieve the distresses of the Bostonians, and finally that the city Committee of Correspondence be in- structed to use their utmost endeavours to carry the resolutions into effect. The next day at a meeting of the Com- mittee of Correspondence the proceedings of the day before, which evidently had been de- signed to throw odium upon the Committee, 209 THE BOSTON PORT BILL were disavowed, whereupon eleven of its mem- bers, among whom were Sears, McDougall and Jacobus Van Zandt, in an open letter to the peo- ple over their signatures, handed in their resig- nations. From that time on, however, the Com- mittee of Correspondence became more alert and kept in frequent conference with the Com- mittee of the Mechanics, who represented the more radical element of the city and to whose influence was due the fact that the New York delegates went to the Congress at Philadelphia pledged to advocate a policy of Non-Importa- tion. Undoubtedly the loyalty to the Administra- tion displayed by many of New York's most worthy and influential citizens arose from the fact that their Colony had been particularly for- tunate in having for Governors men who pre- ferred to conciliate rather than to offend. The tale of the swift punishment meted out by the Crown to an unfaithful Executive over a cen- tury and a half before was frequently cited to show the beneficial effects of justice, as well as to expose the canker which was eating away the ties which had hitherto bound the Colonies to Great Britain. " In the late Queen Ann's reign," wrote the editor of the Middlesex Journal in the latter part THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK of September, 1 774, " when Lord Cornbury was Governor of New York, a committee was ap- pointed by the general assembly of that province to examine into the grievances of their constitu- tion. This committee paying due attention both to the prerogatives of the crown, and the lib- erty of the subject, proceeded to draw up sev- eral noble and spirited resolves, which were ap- proved by the assembly then sitting ; who there- upon exhibited a complaint to her Majesty, against Lord Cornbury's haughty and oppressing government. To which the Queen returned this truly gracious answer : ' I have heard the cries of my injured subjects, nor will I counten- ance my nearest relation in oppressing my peo- ple.' Though Lord Cornbury was her cousin, she divested him of his commission and put Lord Lovelace in his place. If his present Maj- esty had judged as wisely, we should have had no American disturbances." The tidings of the material assistance for- warded to distressed Boston from New York, of the disinclination of her people to contribute to the comfort of those employed in carrying out the royal commands in Boston, and of her ac- tion in sending Deputies to the Congress at Phil- adelphia came like a thunderbolt to the Minis- try, for New York's course, in the years imme- diately preceding, had fostered the belief that THE BOSTON PORT BILL this Colony of all others could be counted on to remain submissive to the King's mandate. The seriousness of the situation in America was at last apparent to all. As instancing the attitude of New York and her decision to stand by Boston in her trouble the English press had noted that " General Gage sent an order to New York for eight hundred pair of blankets, which order was presented to every Merchant in town, who all nobly refused supplying them, returning for answer ' that they never would supply any article for the benefit of men who were sent as enemies to their coun- try.' " That there was no such unanimity of action as was attributed to the New York merchants, may be deduced from the perusal of a Broadside dated October ist, 1774, in which Isaac Sears and Anthony Griffiths and others of the Com- mittee, who had been appointed " to call upon sundry persons held to be purchasing and ship- ping goods for the supply of the troops in Boston," made a written denial that they had " arbitrarily censured and threatened several worthy and respected persons among ' our Fel- low Citizens/ ' The Broadside further certi- fied over the signatures of John Lamb, Francis Van Dyke and others that at the meeting at which the Committee was appointed " no in- THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK structions were charged the committee to threat- en the gentlemen to whom they were sent." In the preceding pages frequent reference has been made to the practice of the Sons of Liberty of issuing " Cards " and " Addresses to the Public," which circulated throughout the city and surrounding towns and thereby dissem- inated information of their calls for meetings, warnings against acts considered detrimental to the general welfare of the Colonies, and addresses upon topics which were then engrossing the pub- lic attention. On October 3d, 1774, another of these cards made its appearance in the streets of New York, was reprinted freely in various English newspapers early in the following January, and thereby furnished our cartoonist with the knowl- edge of the droll incident which he utilized to portray, in a humourous manner, the attitude assumed by the people living in the Colonies towards those actively engaged in the royal ser- vice. The extract printed below, which ap- peared in the Kentish Gazette of January 7th, 1775, tells the story of the cartoon issued 14 Feb., 1775, a reproduction of which may be seen on page 215. " The following card, copies of which were circulated at New York, is too singular not to merit insertion: 213 THE BOSTON PORT BILL "A Card, "New York, Oct. 3rd. " The thanks of the worthy sons of liberty in solemn Congress assembled, were this night voted and unanimously allowed to be justly due to Mr. Jacob Vredenburgh, Barber, for hisjirm spirited and patriotic conduct, in refusing to complete an operation, vulgarly called Shaving, which he had begun on the face of Captain John Crozer, Com- mander of the Empress of Russia, one of his Majesty's transports, now lying in the river, but most fortunately and providentially was informed of the identity of the gentleman's person, when he had about half finished the job. " It is most devoutly to be wished that all Gentlemen of the Razor will follow this wise, prudent, interesting and praiseworthy example, so steadily, that every person who pays due alle- giance to his Majesty, and wishes Peace, Hap- piness, and Unanimity to the Colonies, may have his beard grow as long as ever was King Ne- buchadnezzar's." The main feature of the scene, the ejectment of the half-shaven customer, after the disclos- ure of his identity by the letter addressed " To Cap" Crozer." (which may be seen in the hands of the messenger), humourously delineated Ameri- ca's determination to refrain from contributing to the comfort of those in the royal service. *4 Plate III /v ' 'lie 1'ATRIOTU'K BARBER ol NKWYORK.orthe I'APTAIX intlur SUJJS. . " ' On Wednesday evening the Honourable the Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Bur- gesses, gave a ball at the capitol for the entertain- ment of his Excellency Lord Botetourt ; and the same patriotic spirit which gave rise to the asso- ciation of the Gentlemen on a late event, was most agreeably manifested in the dress of the Ladies on this occasion, who to the number of near one hundred, appeared in homespun gowns ; a lively and striking instance of their acquies- cence and concurrence in whatever be the true and essential interest of their country. It is to be wished that all assemblies of American Ladies would exhibit a like example of public virtue and private oeconomy, so amiably united. Not all the gems that sparkle in the mine, Can make the Fair with so much lustre shine.' " 303 THE BOSTON PORT BILL It is not difficult to picture the appearance of the great room of the House of Burgesses (a view of which building appears in the initial letter of Chapter V) on that festal winter evening, filled as it was with the fair women of Virginia, dressed in garments of home manufacture, symbolic of their industry and patriotism, and dancing in honour of a Governor, who, though loyal to his King, needed no such manifestation of the spirit of Virginia to enlist his sympathies in the cause of the people. Two weeks before the publication of the letter describing this practical demonstration of the part the dames of Virginia were industriously playing in the prologue to the tragedy which precipitated the American Revolution, the Lloyds Evening Post had printed the following agree- ment, voted by the women of Boston in support of the action taken by the merchants of that town. " Boston, New England, January 31. The following is a copy of the agreement of the Ladies in this town, against drinking tea, until the Revenue Acts are repealed: "'At a time when our invaluable rights and privileges are attack'd in an unconstitutional and most alarming manner, and as we find we were, reproached for not being so ready as could be desired to lend our assistance, we think it our 34 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN duty perfectly to concur with the true friends of Liberty in all the measures they have taken to save this abused Country from ruin and slavery ; and particularly, we join with the very respecta- ble body of Merchants, and other inhabitants of this town, who met in Faneuil-Hall the 23d of this instant, in their resolutions totally to abstain from the use of Tea : And as the greatest part of the revenue arising by virtue of the late Acts is produced from the duty paid upon Tea, which revenue is wholly expended to support the Ameri- can Board of Commissioners : We the Subscrib- ers do strictly engage, that we will totally abstain from the use of that article (sickness excepted) not only in our respective families, but that we will absolutely refuse it, if it should be offered to us upon any occasion whatsoever. "' This agreement we chearfully come into, as we believe the very distressed situation of our Country requires it, and we do hereby oblige ourselves religiously to observe it, till the late Revenue Acts are repealed.' " To the above agreement, the Mistresses of their respective families (only) are come in, to the number of 300. " Note, In the above number, the worthy Ladies of the highest rank and influence (that could be waited on in so short a time) are in- cluded." 305 THE BOSTON PORT BILL The spirit of the American women was measured not alone by their patriotic abstinence from tea-drinking, and in their example of fru- gality and industry in matters of dress, for under date of November 7th~9th, 1769, the newspaper so frequently quoted thus had noted the Colonial feminine interest in the politics of the time, and eagerness for knowledge of the constitutional questions in dispute in America. " Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman at Boston in New-England, to his Friend in London dated August ij, Ij6y. ' The North Ameri- cans, though they have prohibited the importa- tion of books have paid Mrs. Macaulay the compliment of allowing the free sale of her His- tory of England in all the Colonies, and the Ladies of America in particular read her His- tory with great avidity and speak of her with the greatest applause.' ' The English author so highly complimented in the above paragraph was Mrs. Catharine Ma- caulay, the distinguished author of the " History of England from the Accession of James the First to that of the Brunswick Line," the first volume of which appeared in 1763 and met such an enthusiastic reception among the Whig parti- sans, that the London publishers competed strenu- ously for the right to bring out each succeeding part. Mrs. Macaulay was imbued with strong 306 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN republican principles and treated her subject in a manner diametrically opposed to the monarch- ical and Jacobinian theory which David Hume exploited in his " History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688," published shortly before. She at once became the idol of the Whig party and William Pitt delivered before the House of Commons a panegyric upon the manner in which she han- dled the constitutional questions involved. A quotation from the first volume of her history " Government, a Power Delegated for the Hap- piness of Mankind, conducted by Wisdom, Jus- tice and Mercy " became a popular toast, and her portrait along with that of John Dickinson, the author of the " Farmer's Letters," embel- lished an ALMANACK for the year of our LORD CHRIST 1772, published in Boston by Nathaniel Ames. In connection with this asso- ciation of these two personages by a Boston pub- lisher, it is interesting to note that six years later, William Duesbury, England's greatest manufacturer of porcelain, put upon the Eng- lish market an exquisitely modelled porcelain statuette of Mrs. Macaulay which pictured her leaning on a pedestal, upon the sides of which appear, along with the names of Sidney, Locke, Hampden, etc., that of our own Dickinson, and the words American Congress, so associated was 307 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Mrs. Macaulay with the fight for constitutional liberty then waging in the English colonies. It must not be inferred that throughout the eight long years which preceded the American Revolution, during which time tea was an ob- ject of special taxation, this exotic beverage was unknown in the dining room of the patriotic colonial household, for the long coast line and inefficient custom service allowed the importa- tion from Holland of thousands of chests of tea, which paid no tribute to the royal exchequer. However, after the destruction of the tea in Boston had brought to an issue the prolonged controversy between the Ministry and the peo- ple of Massachusetts Bay, tea became the rec- ognized symbol of tyranny, and its disuse gen- eral. The following quaint series of resolutions which appeared in the London Chronicle of March 29th 31 st, 1774, as emanating from the ladies of Boston, told its readers of the approbation the " Boston Tea Party " met with among the fair sex of that town : " To the PRINTER of the LONDON CHRONICLE. " SIR : " The following appeared in the Massachu- setts Gazette of Jan. 31, perhaps it may amuse many of your Readers, as it did, Your's &c. G - . POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN " We hear that a number of the fair Daugh- ters of Liberty have lately entered into the fol- lowing spirited RESOLVES : I. That the Destruction of the East-India Tea, imported among us, is absolutely necessary for the Happiness of America. II. That the said Tea ought to be looked upon as a Traitor to the MAJESTY of the PEOPLE, and treated accordingly. III. That all the Aiders, Abettors, Associ- ates and Accomplices, of said Tea, are equally guilty of High Treason. IV. That for the Credit of the noble Cause we are engaged in, all our Proceedings, at this alarming Crisis, shall be strictly conformable to Law. V. That as hanging, drawing and quarter- ing, are the Punishments inflicted by Law in Cases of High-Treason, we are determined, con- stantly to assemble at each other's Houses, to HANG the Tea-Kettle, DRAW the Tea, and QUARTER the Toast." Three weeks previous to the appearance of the above letter, the London Daily Advertiser had noted in the following extract, that Ameri- can women were not content, in this crisis of their country's history, with the mere passage of self-denying resolutions against the use of tea, but were also, in ways of their own devising, 309 THE BOSTON PORT BILL actively assisting in carrying out the measures so widely adopted : " Newport, Rhode-Island, January loth. Last Wednesday 57 Ladies, of Bedford, in Dartmouth, had a Meeting, at which they entered into an Agreement not to use any more India Tea : And having heard that a Gentleman there had lately bought some, they requested he would imme- diately return the same, which he complied with, upon which the Ladies treated him with a Glass of this Country Wine, and dismissed him, highly pleased with their exemplary Conduct, for which a Number of Gentlemen present gave him three Cheers in Approbation of his noble Behaviour." A loyalist's impressions of the influence ex- erted by American women in swelling the ranks of the companies of minute-men then forming, and the method of moral suasion they used, was cited in the Middlesex Journal of November 22nd 24th, 1774, in an amusing " Extract from a letter from Boston Dated October 2$th. ' Our country, it is true, wears a very military appear- ance, and between ourselves, that is the only serious air either party wishes to put on. For our parts, the Americans would certainly have abandoned the cause long ago and bowed to the yoke, but that a certain epidemical kind of phrenzy runs through our fair country women, which outdoes all the pretended patriotic virtue 310 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN of the more robustic males : these little mis- chief making devils have entered into an almost unanimous association that any man ivho shall basely and cowardly give up the public cause of free- dom, shall from that moment be discarded [from\ their assemblies, and no future contrition shall be able to atone for the crime. This has had a wonderful effect, and not a little served to increase the pro- vincial forces.' ' The above citations from the English press of the frugality, industry and cheerful abstinence from many of the comforts of life displayed by the women of the American Colonies have been quoted to demonstrate that the political activi- ties of the Colonial women were well known to the public on whom our cartoonist depended for a market for the sale of his prints. The es- pecial incident, the action of "A SOCIETY OF PATRIOTIC LADIES AT EDENTON in NORTH CAROLINA," which he had selected as being typical of the attitude of the women in the Col- onies, was described in several of the London papers about the middle of January, 1775. The account contained in the Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser of January i6th, 1775, has been selected for reprinting, as this paper alone allotted space in its columns to the lengthy list of signatures attached to the resolutions passed at this meeting. 3" THE BOSTON PORT BILL The Province of North Carolina had not lagged behind the other Colonies in assertion of her rights. At the time of the Stamp Act her Assembly sent a protest to the King "against what we esteem our inherent right and exclu- sive privilege of imposing our own taxes." The bearers of the stamps from England to this Col- ony met with no kind reception. North Carolina was unrepresented in the New York Congress in 1764, owing to the as- tuteness of Governor Tryon, who, acting in the interest of his Sovereign, abruptly dissolved the Assembly, before duly accredited representa- tives therefrom could be chosen to attend the proposed Congress. With the same grasp of the situation, Governor Tryon failed to call the rep- resentatives together again until after the Stamp Act had been repealed. The protracted trouble with the Regulators in this province, about which so much has been written, was in reality a law- less uprising of the people in the upper coun- ties, and was largely due to the distress caused by the great financial depression then prevailing throughout America. The fact that its suppres- sion was due to a volunteer body of militia, most of whom, both officers and men, fought against the King in the War of the American Revolution, deprives this affair of the political importance almost universally attributed to it. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN In 1773, however, the Assembly of North Carolina joined the other Colonial Assemblies in choosing a Committee of Correspondence, and in August, 1774, the Provincial Congress of this Colony, called in defiance of the Gover- nor, met at Newberne, under the very shadow of the Governor's Palace, an engraving of which embellishes the tail piece at the end of Chapter III. The Deputies first elected Samuel John- ston, of Edenton, their President, and then passed a series of resolutions similar in purport to those which had just been voted at Williamsburg by the Delegates of their Northern neighbours. The following extract from the Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser tells of the Associ- ation formed by the women of Edenton, in their endeavours to assist in carrying out the resolutions taken by the men of North Carolina, and fur- nished the cartoonist with the subject for his illustration, a reproduction of which appears upon page 317: " Extract of a Letter from North Carolina, Oct. 27. 'The provincial deputies of North Carolina, having resolved not to drink any more tea, nor wear any more British cloth, &c. many ladies of this province have determined to give a memorable proof of their patriotism, and have accordingly entered into the following honoura- ble and spirited association. I send it to you to 313 THE BOSTON PORT BILL shew your fair countrywomen, how zealously and faithfully American ladies follow the lauda- ble example of their husbands, and what opposi- tion your matchless ministers may expect to re- ceive from a people, thus firmly united against them : " Edenton, North Carolina, Oct. 25. " ' As we cannot be indifferent on any occa- sion that appears nearly to affect the peace and happiness of our country, and as it has been thought necessary, for the public good, to enter into several particular resolves by a meeting of members deputed from the whole Province, it is a duty which we owe, not only to our near and dear connections, who have concurred in them, but to ourselves, who are essentially in- terested in their welfare, to do everything as far as lies in our power, to testify our sincere adher- ence to the same ; and we do therefore accord- ingly subscribe this paper, as a witness of our fixed intention and solemn determination to do so. Abigail Charlton Mary Blount F. Johnstone Elizabeth Creacy Margaret Cathcart Elizabeth Patterson Anne Johnstone Jane Wellwood Margaret Pearson Mary Woolard Penelope Dawson Sarah Beasley Jean Blair Susannah Vail 314 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN Grace Clayton Frances Hall Mary Jones Anne Hall Rebecca Bondfield Sarah Littlejohn Penelope Barker Elizabeth P. Ormond M. Payne Elizabeth Johnston Mary Bonner Lydia Bonner Sarah Howe Lydia Bennet Marion Wells Anne Anderson Sarah Mathews Anne Haughton Elizabeth Bearsley Elizabeth Vail Elizabeth Vail Mary Creacy Mary Creacy Ruth Benbury Sarah Howcott Sarah Hoskins Mary Littledle Sarah Vallentine Elizabeth Crickett Elizabeth Green Mary Ramsey Anne Horniblow Mary Hunter Tresia Cunningham Elizabeth Roberts Elizabeth Roberts Elizabeth Roberts*" The town of Edenton, where this incident took place, is delightfully situated on an arm of Albemarle Sound. Its majestic church, stately court-house, and numerous beautiful dwellings (an interesting example of which appears in the initial letter at the head of this chapter) erected prior to the Revolution and still in exist- ence, testify to its flourishing condition at that time. The town's prosperity was largely derived 3*5 THE BOSTON PORT BILL from its fisheries and commerce with the West Indian Islands. Our cartoonist has pictured in the closing cartoon of the series, a living room of a colonial home, filled with women both of high and lowly station, matrons and maidens, all clothed in gar- ments the materials of which bore no trace of having emanated from the looms of Manchester or Birmingham. Upon the table in the centre of the gathering, rests a large sheet of paper, upon which has been inscribed the following paraphrase of the resolutions above quoted : " We the Ladys of Edenton do hereby Solemnly Engage not to Conform to that Pernicious Custom of Drinking Tea, or that, we the aforesaid Ladys will not promote y e wear of any Manufacture from Eng- land untill such time that all Acts which tend to Enslave this our Native Country shall be Repealed" The length of the original resolutions pre- vented their embodiment in the picture, yet the substitute in no way weakened the force of the argument told in this cartoon, for the quaint Anglo-Saxon wording found therein may have delicately reminded the reader that the above agreement was entered into by women of Eng- lish descent, who, though now living across the ocean, were entitled to the privileges enjoyed by all who remained at home. 316 Plate V. A SOCIETY of PATRIOTIC LADIES, E DENT (Win NORTH CAROLINA. London, fri*A4 fir "R. Sjver fc .1 Brr.netl N?Slts\F'jKf Sou' ai lAt AftJisfA 1$ North ijj s 377 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN A touch of humour was injected into the scene, by the introduction of a young gallant, unabash- edly carrying on his courtship undisturbed by the earnestness of the occasion. Tranquillity and harmony are suggested by the child quietly playing upon the floor. The sorrowing coun- tenance of the aged woman sipping her last and lengthy draught of tea from a bowl prior to affixing her signature to the aforesaid agreement shows our artist's recognition of the self denial practised by abstaining from this greatly esteemed beverage. The scene at the doorway was un- mistakably suggested to the designer by the closing portion of the following article which had appeared in the London Chronicle of January 5th~7th, 1775, under the heading of: " Charles Town, November 6. A few days ago arrived the Britannia, Ball, from London. No- tice having been received, that he had six chests of tea on board, near a thousand people were assembled on the wharf. They had prepared a scaffold two feet high to run on wheels ; had placed the Pope, Lord , and the Pretender, in order to burn the tea; but as soon as the tea was brought upon deck, the owners were ready with hatchets, and chopped the chests to pieces, and threw the tea overboard. The people then drew the scaffold about the town; and when it be- came dark, there was computed to be 2500 men, 319 THE BOSTON PORT BILL with each a candle in his hand, who retired to the out-parts of the town, where they set fire to the scaffold ; in the meantime, some of them took the Pope's cap, and went round to the Ladies in the town, who emptied the tea out of their cannisters into the cap ; they then burnt Lord , the Pope, and Pretender, with the cap full of tea, all together." The scene described in the first part of this extract was not a novel one to the readers of the English press, for several letters had recently ap- peared in the London newspapers, which told of occurrences of a like nature in the towns and cities of the Northern Colonies, where the in- habitants had in similar manner vented their spleen against Lord North, the author of the Boston Port Bill, the Pope, the reputed benefic- iary of the Quebec Bill, and Lord Bute, who was popularly known among his Whig opponents as the " Pretender/* No attempt has been made herein to tell the full part played by our Colonial women during the trying years which preceded our Nation's birth, but merely such portions of it as had been wafted to England and there exploited in the press. The devotion of the women to the cause the men of the Colonies were endeavouring to uphold and their abandoned tea-tables (see page 322) were fit- tingly described in the following lines which POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF COLONIAL WOMEN appeared in nearly all the Colonial newspapers under the heading of : A LADY'S ADIEU TO HER TEA-TABLE FAREWELL the Tea-board with your gaudy attire, Ye cups and ye saucers that I did admire ; To my cream pot and tongs I now bid adieu, That pleasure's all fled that I once found in you. Farewell pretty chest that so lately did shine, With hyson and congo and best double fine ; Many a sweet moment by you I have sat, Hearing girls and old maids to tattle and chat ; And the spruce coxcomb laugh at nothing at all, Only some silly word that might happen to fall. No more shall my teapot so generous be In filling the cups with this pernicious tea, For I'll fill it with water and drink out the same, Before I'll lose LIBERTY that dearest name, Because I am taught (and believe it is fact) That our ruin is aimed at in a late act, Of imposing a duty on all foreign Teas, Which detestable stuff we can quit when we please. LIBERTY'S the Goddess that I do adore, And I'll maintain her right until my last hour, Before she shall part I will die in the cause, For I'll never be govern'd by tyranny's laws. No more fitting subject with which to end 321 THE BOSTON PORT BILL this series of cartoons illustrating the attitude of the people of the Colonies in the year 1774, could have been selected, than the one described in this, our closing chapter. The display of en- thusiasm and cheerful assistance in carrying out measures devised in behalf of the common weal, and the sacrifices and hardships thereby necessi- tated, were then, as now, typical of American womanhood, and furnished the inspiration which enabled their husbands and fathers, despite almost insurmountable obstacles, to establish the nation whose history we hold so dear. INDEX INDEX Acts of 1767, 52, 53, 68, 69, 232, 293, 300. Adams, Samuel (1722-1803), 7. Adams, Thomas, Letter from Richard Bland, 243-245. "Address to the Inhabitants of the Col- onies," by Continental Congress, 269. "Address to the People of Great Britain," by Continental Congress, 269. All, Captain, of Philadelphia, 197. "Almanack for the year of our Lord Christ, 1 772," 307. "The Alternative of Williams-Burg," car- toon, 276-281. American Board of Commissioners, 305. Ames, Nathaniel, printer, 307. Amherst, Jeffrey, Baron Amherst (1717- 1797), Governor of Virginia, 238. Andrews, Alexander, author of " The History of British Journalism," xiii. Anne, Queen of England (1665-1714), 210-211. Assemblies, Colonial. See Colonial Assemblies. Ball, Captain, of the "Britannia," 319. Ballad of "The Boston Bill," 152-154. Barclay Street (New York), 217. Barre", Isaac (1726-1802). Opposition to Stamp Act, 1 1 . Characterizes Americans as "Sons of Liberty," 15-16. Portrait displayed, 40. Characterization of John Dickinson, 55- Denounces Port Bill, 135-136. Alluded to in ballad " The Boston Bill," 153. Beckford, William (1709-1770), xxii. Bennett, J. See Sayer, Messrs. Robert and Ben- nett, J., publishers and printsellers. Berdt, Dennis de, Colonial agent in Lon- don, 56. Bernard, Sir Francis (1711 ?-i779), Gov- ernor of Massachusetts Bay, 59. Bickers tafTs Boston Almanack, 112. Bill of Rights, 107, 1 13. Bill of Rights, Society of Supporters of the, 108,109,154. Birmingham (England), 8, 300, 316. Bishops, Bench of, 147-148. Bland, Richard, of Virginia (1710-1778), Blagge, John, of New York, 220, 222. Boston. Town Meeting, May, 1764, 7. Economies practiced, S-io. "Fourteenth of August," 1765, 14. Governor's request for garrison grant- ed, and indignation thereat, 59-61. Convention in Faneuil Hall, Sept. 22, 1768,60. Non-Importation Resolutions and Agreements, 6 1 . Return of importations, 62. "Fourteenth of August" celebration, 69. Prominence of city in English press, 69 . Tea ships sent to, 70. "The Tea Party," 72-77, 193. English verdict upon destruction of tea, 125. Punishment and indignation thereat, 125-176. Meeting of delegates from nine towns, 159. Poit Bill denounced in Town meet- ing, 159. Appeals to sister Colonies, 159-160. Assembly prorogued to meet at Salem, 167. Indignities put upon citizens de- scribed in letter, 168-170. Cartoon, "The Bostonians in Dis- tress," 173-176. 3*3 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Boston. (Continued) New York's approval of attitude toward Tea resolutions, 195. Protests against injustice to Boston, 203. Letter of sympathy from Sons of Lib- erty, New York, 205. Williamsburg Convention resolves to send aid, 268. Two hundred families agree not to use tea, 301. Agreement of ladies against tea-drink- ing. 34-35- Letters from, 306, 3 10-3 1 1 . "The Boston Bill," a ballad, 152-154. "Boston Massacre," Mar. 5, 1770, 68, 105,131. Boston Port Bill. Unites Colonies against British Min- istry, xvi-xix. Great Britain's policy previous to, xxi. Presented to House of Commons by Lord North, Mar. 4, 1774, 125. Title and abstract, 126-130. Petition against Bill by Americans in London, 130-132. Debate upon, in House of Commons, 132-136. Passes House of Commons, 136. Passes House of Lords, 137. Public protests expressed in Press, 137-142. Object of Bill, 143. Attitude of Colonies, 150-151. Ballad "The Boston Bill," 152-154. News of passage of Act reaches Bos- ton, 159-161. Act put into effect, 162. Suffering caused and sympathy aroused, 163-170. Reception of news of passage of Bill in New York, 204. New York meeting declares Bill un- constitutional, 209. Reception of news in Virginia, and action of House of Burgesses, 249- 260. Boston State House (Boston), xxviii, 7. Boston Tea Party, 72-77, 308. "The Bostonians in Distress," cartoon, 173-176. " The Bostonian's Paying the Excise- Man," 82-87. Botetourt, Norborne Berkeley, Baron de (1717 ?-i77o), Governor of Virginia. Difficulties of position, 233. Lord Hillsborough's letter, 234-235. Botetourt. (Continued.) Address to House of Burgesses, 235 236. His characteristics, 237-241. His death, 241-243. Statue erected to, xxix, xxx, 243-248 . Statue represented in cartoon, 280. Bowles, Carington, publisher and print- seller, xx, 93, 121. Bowles, John, publisher and printseller, xvi, xx, 156. "Britannia," tea ship, 319. "Britannia in the Act of Self-destruction," cartoon, 17-18. The Briton, edited by Tobias Smollett, 97- Brookfield (Massachusetts), 301. Broome, Samuel, of New York, 221, 222. Bruton Parish Church (Williamsburg), xxx, 254, 285. Buckinghamshire (England), 96. Bunyan, John (1628-1688), xvi. Bute, John Stuart, third Earl of (1713- 1792). Burned in effigy, 14, 42. Caricatured, 46. Toast to, 90. Becomes Prime Minister, 97. Resigns, 98. Relations to King's mother, 102. Jacobite influence, 147. Curse upon, 150. Known as the "Pretender," 320. Camden, Sir Charles Pratt, first earl (1714-1794). Opposition to Stamp Act, 1 1 . Celebration portrait, 40. Combats passage of Port Bill, 136. Opposes religious clauses of Quebec boundary bill, 147, 148. Canada, 4, 296. Caricatures. See Cartoons. Carlisle, Bishop of, 103. Caroline, Queen of George II (1683- 1737), 142- Canterbury (England), 90. Carpenters Hall (Philadelphia), xxix, 269. Cartoons. Evince the unpopularity of the Ad- ministration, xiv-xv. "Humourous mezzotints," xv, xix. "Posture mezzotints," xvi. "Miss Macaroni and her Gallant at a Print-shop," xvi. Series of five issued by Sayer and Ben- nett, xix, 82. 3*4 INDEX Cartoons. (Continued). "Britannia in the Act of Self-de- struction," 17, 18. "The Wise Men of Gotham and their Goose," published by W. Hum- phrey, 42-48. "The Bostonians Paying the Excise- Man, or Tarring and Feathering," Plate I of a series issued by Sayer and Bennett, 82-87. "A New Method of Macarony Mak- ing, as practised at Boston," pub- lished by Carington Bowles, 93 . "A Political Lesson," published by John Bowles, 156-159. "The Bostonians in Distress," Plate II of series issued by Sayer and Ben- nett, 173-176. "The Patriotic Barber of New York, or the Captain in the Suds," Plate III of series issued by Sayer and Bennett, 179-183,214-218. "The Alternative of Williams-Burg," Plate IV of series issued by Sayer and Bennett, 276-28 1 . "A Society of Patriotic Ladies, At Edenton in North Carolina," Plate V of series issued by Sayer and Ben- nett, 316-319. "Cassius," Printed advertisement signed, 190-192. " Catullus, Poems of ," 96. Chamber of Commerce (New York), 222 . Chambers, Captain, of the "London," 197-203. Charles I (1600-1649), 108, 290. Charles II (1630-1685), 226. Charleston (South Carolina), 70. Charlestown (Massachusetts), 169, 301, 319- Charlotte Sophia, Queen of George III (1744-1818), 40. Chatham, William Pitt, earl of. See Pitt, William, first earl of Chatham. Charters, Colonial, 27. See also under names of Colonies. Chelsea-Derby statuettes. Pitt, xxviii, 33. Wilkes, xxviii, 107. Mrs. Macaulay, 307. Church of England. In New York, 184. In Virginia, 225. Foreshadowing of Disestablishment, 280. Church of Rome. See Quebec Act ; Pope (Pius V). Circular Letters. Of Massachusetts Bay Assembly, 57- 59- Of Boston Town Committee, 162-163. City Hall Park (New York), 184. Civil List, 6. Coffin, Captain, 35. Colonial Assemblies. Salaries fixed by, 6. Remonstrances against Stamp Act, 7. Addresses to King after Repeal of Stamp Act, 41. Claims of exemption from taxation denied by Parliament, 52. Protests against Act of 1767, 56. North Carolina Assembly joins, 313. See also under Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts - Bay, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia Colonial Congress, New York. Protests against Stamp Act, 27, 183. North Carolina not represented at, 312. Colonial Congress, Philadelphia. Rumored in England, 156. Delegates appointed at Salem, 167. Colonies. English knowledge of, displayed in cartoons, xx-xxi, 86. English commerce, 4-5. Fiscal Policy, 6. Financial depression, 8-1 1 . Manufactures, 9-11, 86, 265, 274,299 -301. Arousal realized in England, 16-17. Parliament's assertion of right to con- trol, 52. Prevailing distrust of Parliament, 53 . Acclaim vote of "92 ", 58. Enraged at troops in Boston, 61 . Non-importation Resolutions and Agreements, 62. Revival of old relations, 68. Refuse to receive tea from England, 70. Parallel between Colonists and elec- tors of England, 107. Quebec Bill and its effects, 146-152. Congress rumored in England, 156. Boston's appeal to, after Port Bill, 159-160. Boston upheld, 160-162. New York's trade diverted to Colonies where Non-Importation Agreements were lightly observed, 205. Effect of Virginia's challenge to Par- liament, 228. 325 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Colonies. (Continued.) Continental Congress, 269-271. Symbol of "living snake," xxix, 270- 271. "Colonies, Address to the Inhabitants of the," from Continental Congress, 269. Commerce. Colonial, xiii, 4-5, 128, 254, 263. English, xiii, 5, 8, 51-52, 134, 253. Commerce, Chamber of (New York), 222. Committee of Fifty-one, 205. Committee of One Hundred, New York, 219,220,221. Committee of Inspection against Non- Importation, 221 . Committee of Mechanics, New York, 210. Committees of Correspondence, 248, 254, 266,313. Boston, 193, 254. Massachusetts, 174, 249. New York, 204, 209, 210. Virginia, 254, 266. Concord, Battle of, April 19, 1775, xiv,42. Congress. See Colonial Congress, New York ; Colonial Congress, Philadelphia ; Continental Congress, Philadelphia. Connecticut, 61, 146. Connecticut, Assembly of, 7. Constitutional Government, si. Constitutional Society, xiii. Continental Congress, Philadelphia. Massachusetts delegates appointed at Salem, 167. Richard Bland, representative from Virginia, 443. House of Burgesses of Virginia recom- mends formation, 253. Williamsburg Resolution concerning, 268. First meeting, Sept. 5, 1774,269-271. Conway, Henry Seymour (1721-1795). Opposition to Stamp Act, 1 1 . Portrait, 40. Supports Meredith, 228. Cornbury, Edward Hyde, Lord (d. 1723), Governor of New York, 211. Cornwall (England), xii. Courts of Justice, Colonial, 143, 272. Crook, Justice, 292. Crozer, John, Captain of the "Empress of Russia," 214. Cruger, John (1710. '-1792?), 30,188-189. Customs officers, 56, 69, 128. See also Malcolm, John. Daily Advertiser, London, 309-310. "Dartmouth," tea hip, 73, 76. Dawe, Phillip (fl. 1765-1801), mezzotint engraver, xv, xix, xx. Declaration of Independence, 269. "Declaration of Rights," by Continental Congress, 269. Dempster, George (1752-1818), 134-135. "A Dialogue between a North American and a Courtier," signed "Marcus Aurelius," 13-14. Dickinson, John (1732-1808), author of the "Farmer's Letters" 55, 307. Dickinson, William (1746-1823), mez- zotint engraver, xv. Dighton, Robert (1752 ?-i8i4),xv. Dixon, John (i74O?-i78o?), mezzotint engraver, xv, 156. Dress, Economy in, 9-11, 297-303. Duesbury, William (1725-1786), china manufacturer. Statuette of Pitt, xxviii, 33. Of Wilkes, xxviii, 107. Of Mrs. Macaulay, 307. Dunmore, John Murray, fourth Earl of (1732-1809), Governor of Virginia, 248,250,271. Duties. Act of 1764,3,59. Acts of 1767, 52, 53, 69. See also Stamp Act; Tea. Earlom, Richard (1743-1822), mezzotint engraver, xv. East India Company. See Tea. Edenton (North Carolina), xxx, 313, 315-316. Edenton (North Carolina), A Society of Patriotic Ladies at, xxx, 293 , 3 1 1 , 3 13 -316. Edinburgh (Scotland), 131, 141. English Army in America. Cost of maintaining, 4. Objections of Colonies to mainte- nance, 57.61, Troops in Faneuil Hall, 61 Bill for quartering troops, 145. Maintenance of, and desertions from, 1 80. English Church. See Church of England. English Ministry. See Ministry, English. English Navy, 292. Epigram on Quebec Bill, 148. "Essay on Woman," 102-103. Excise Men, 90. See also Malcolm, John; Customs Officers. 326 INDEX Fables addressed to the Earl of Hills- borough, 64-66. Fairfax County (Virginia). Convention, 258. Resolution regarding slave trade, 259- 260, 264. Faneuil Hall (Boston), xxviii. Meeting of Selectmen, 35. Convention, Sept. 22, 1768, 60. Troops quartered in, 61 . Meeting of delegates after passage of Port Bill, 159. Committee on donations meet there, 164. Meeting to resolve against use of tea, 35- "Farmer's Letters," by John Dickinson, 54-56,115,307. Farmington (Connecticut), 161. Fielding, Henry (1707-1754), xv. Fox, Charles James (1749-1806), 135. Francis, Samuel, proprietor of "Fraunces Tavern," 201 . France, 295. Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790). Articles contributed to British Press, xxii-xxiii. Letters to Charles Thomson, 22-25. Portrait by Wedgwood, xxviii, 25. His "Candles" of industry referred to, 2 93- Franklin, Walter (Welle) (d. 1780), of New York, 221. Frederick the Great, 97. French and Indian War (1756-1763), 4. French East-India Company, 295. French interest in controversy, 18, 21. Gage, Thomas (1721-1787), General. Terrific fall, 156-159. Arrival at Boston as Governor, 160. Meets with Assembly at Salem, 167. Protests against Town meetings, 168. Statement to Lord North, 205. His order to New York, 212. Letter from Continental Congress, 269. Gaspe" Affair, 248. Gazetteer, London, 1 19. General Warrants, 99, 106, 113. George HI (1738-1820). Supremacy, xi-xii. Portrait, xxvi, 40. Equestrian statue, 29-30, 32-33. Cartooned, 46, 47. Delight at Acts of 1767, 52. Petitions to, 56, 57. Parliament assures its support against Massachusetts-Bay, 62. George III. (Continued). Struggle with Wilkes, 63, 99-101. His henchmen in Parliament, 67. Jealousy of Pitt, elevation of Bute, 96-97. Speeches. Assents to Port Bill 137. Reception in London after Quebec Act, 149-150. Loyalty to, in England and America, 151. Botetourt influences Virginia in his favor, 233-237. Georgia, 269. Gloucester, Duke of, 149. Glynn, John, of London (1722-1779), loo, 112, 155-156. Great Britain. Knowledge of Colonies in, xx-xxi. Policy of Colonial oppression, 3. Fiscal Policy, 6. Gravity of situation, 25-26. Loss of American trade, 27. Prosperity dependent upon Colonies, 52, 262. Feeling of hostility against, revived, 5S-5 6 - Trade with Colonies, 128-129, I 34- Earnestness in issue, 133-134. Loyalty to, in the Colonies, 173. Williamsburg Resolution regarding exports to, 265, 267. Colonial policy, 299. See also House of Commons; House of Lords; Parliament; Vice-Admi- ralty Courts; King's Bench Court. Grenville, George (1712-1770). Burned in effigy, 42 Originator of Acts of 1767, 52. Prime Minister, 98 . Letters from Bishop of Carlisle, 103. Grenville, afterwards Grenville-Temple, Richard Temple, Earl Temple. See Temple, Earl (Richard Grenville Temple). Griffiths, Anthony, of New York, aiz, 219, 222. Gwatkin, Rev. Mr., of Virginia, 280. Habeas Corpus, 147. Hall of Records (New York), 219. Hampden, John (1594-1643), 292, 307. Hampton (Virginia), 231. Hancock, John (i737~i793) 3 8 - Hayward, Richard, sculptor, 245. Hemp and flax, 9-10. Hempstead (Long Island), 10-11. Henley, Rev. Mr., of Virginia, 280. 327 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Henry, Patrick (1736-1799), 231, 279. Hewit, Rev. Mr., of Virginia, 280. Hillsborough, Wills Hill, second Viscount (1718-1739). Secretary of State to the Colonies, 58. Fables addressed to him, 64-66. Letter to Lord Botetourt, 234-235. Complimentary allusion to, 239. "The History of British Journalism," by Alexander Andrews, xiii. "History of England from the Accession of James the First to that of the Bruns- wick Line," 306-307. "History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688," 307. Hogarth, William (1697-1764), painter and engraver, xix, xx. Holland, 22, 308. Homespun, 86, 303. Horn, medal of town of, 1587, 26. Home, John. See Tooke, John Home. House of Commons. Popular representation a misnomer, xii. Number of votes in favor of Repeal of Stamp Act, 41 . Resolution concerning North Briton No. 45, 101 . Wilkes summoned for trial, 105. Action in Wilkes-Luttrell election, 106. Newspapers begin to publish sub- stances of debates, 119. Port Bill presented by Lord North, 125-126. Sentiment about punishment of Bos- tonians divided, 132. Passage of Port Bill, 136. Bills aimed at Massachusetts Bay, 142-152. Failure to secure repeal of duty on tea, 146. Virginia protests against violation of established rights, 227-228. Governor Dunmore's Letter, 271-275. Women sympathizers with Colonies refused admittance, 286-287. Pitts' appreciation of Mrs. Macaulay, 307. House of Lords. Attack on Wilkes, 102. Passage of Port Bill, 137. Division over Port Bill, 148. Houston, Richard (1721 .'-1775), mezzo- tint engraver, xv. Hume, David (171 1-1776), 307. Humphrey, William (i74of-i8io?), mez- zotint engraver and printseller, xv, xx, 42. Hutchinson, Thomas (1711-1780), Gov- ernor of Massachusetts, 72, 76, 160, 203. Hyperion or Labrador tea, 295-296. Illinois, 146. Indian Nabobs, xv-xvi. Indiana, 146. Jacobite influence in Cabinet, 147. Jacobite Rebellion, 1745, 97- James I (1566-1625), 229. James II (1633-1701), 108, 150. "Jemmy Twitcher," soubriquet of Earl of Sandwich, 102. Johnston, Samuel, of Edenton, 1733- 1816, 313. Judges, Bench of, 292. "Junius," xii. J UI 7 143- Trial by, 6. Right of, attacked, 62, Effect of Quebec Bill, 146. In Virginia, 232. Kelly, Mr., of England, formerly of New York, 191. Kentish Gazette, 90, izi, 138-140, 145- 146, I47-I49 3-4- King's Bench, Court of, 104. Labrador tea, or Hyperion, 295-296. "A Lady's Adieu To Her Tea-Table," a poem, 321. Lamb, Charles (1775-1834), xx. Lamb, John, of New York, 1735-1800, 193,212,218, 222. Lawrence, Captain, 199. Lee, Richard Henry, of Virginia (1732- 1794), 280. Leeds (England), 8, 300. "Letters to the Inhabitants of the Prov- ince of Quebec," from Continental Congress, 269. Lexington, Battle of, April 19, 1775, xiv, 42, 220. Liberty of the Press, 98, 119. Liberty Pole. Farmington, 161-162. New York, 184, 187-189. Liberty Tree, Boston, 73, 86, 87, 173 '75- "List of Grievances," issued by Conti- nental Congress, 269. Liverpool (England), 8. Livingston, Abraham, of New York, 220 222. Lloyd's Evening Post, 26, 304. 328 INDEX Lockyer, Captain, of tea ship "Nancy," 196-203. London Chronicle, xxii, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16,21,26, 28, 29 34>35 6l > 62 > 6 3> 64, 66, 89, 93, 109, 113, 114, 137, 141, 151, 155, 190, 196, 228, 233, 255, 275, 28i,;286, 287, 293, 294, 295, 301, 302, 303,306,308,319. London Evening Post, 120, 180-183, 2O ^- London Public Advertiser, rxii, xxiii. "London," tea ship, 197. Lovelace, Francis (i6i8?-i675?), Gov- ernor of New York, 211. "Low, Cornelius the big," 219. Low, Cornelius P., of New York, 219. Lugg, Charles, of New York, 220. Luttrell, Henry Lawes, second Earl of Carhampton (1743-1821), 106. Lynn (Massachusetts), 1 1 . McArdell, James (17291 ^-1765), mezzo- tint engraver, xv. Macarony. "New Method of Macarony Making," 93-.. Definition of term, 94. Macaulay, Mrs. Catherine, afterwards known as Catherine Macaulay Gra- ham (1731-1791), 306-308. McDougall, Alexander, "the American Wilkes," 1731-1786, 205, 208, 210, 218-219,222. Magna Charta,xu, 107, 113, 115,270. Malcomb, John. Tarred and feathered, 77-82. Cartoons, 82-86, 93-95, 122. His case one of reasons given for pun- ishment of Bostonians by House of Commons, 132. Manchester (England), 8, 300, 316. Mansfield (Connecticut), agreement, 62. Mansfield, William Murray, first Earl of (1705-1793). Cartooned, 47. Toast to, 90. Advocates Port Bill, 136-137. Manufactures. Colonial, 9-11, 86, 265, 274, 269-301. English, xiii, 27, 296, 299-301 . Marblehead (Massachusetts), 163, 164. "Marcus Aurelius," "Dialogue," signed, 1765, 13-14. Maryland, 10, 27, 28 1 . Maryland, Assembly of, 30. Massachusetts-Bay. Charter, 27. Convention in Faneuil Hall, Sept. 22, 1768,60. Massachusetts-Bay. (Continued.) Presence of soldiers a source of irrita- tion, 61, 68. Wilkes advocated as Governor, 121. Bills aimed at, 142-152. Massachusetts Bay, Assembly of. Protests against Stamp Act, 7. Contemplates erection of statue to Pitt, 30. Protests to King against Acts of 1767, 56-57. Sends circular letter to Colonies, 57. Speaker and clerk elected to like offices in convention held in Faneuil Hall, 60. Contest with Governor, 69. Philadelphia Resolutions adopted, 73. Referred to by Kentish Gazette, 139- 140. Meets at Salem and is dissolved, 167. Massachusetts Gazette, 308. Medal, "Frangimur si Collidimur," 26. Mercer, Col. George, of Virginia, 231, 238. Merchants. Resolutions concerning, in Williams- burg convention, 266-267. Meredith, Sir William (1724-1790), 228. Mezzotints. See Cartoons. Michigan, 146. Middlesex, County of, England, xii, 104, 106,121,154. Middlesex Journal, xxii, 26, 119, 166,203, 210-211,260-269,310-311. Miller, John, publisher, 120. Ministry, English. Lesson of Stamp Act not learned, 41 . Attempt to take additional revenue, 48. Letter from Massachusetts-Bay As- sembly, 57-58 . Denounced by Press for order to re- scind Circular Letter, 58. Attitude of English Press toward, 64- 67. Weak step, 67. Ridiculed by cartoonist, 94. Power called into play against Wilkes, 101. Predicament in Wilkes affair, 101-105. Motives in Port Bill attacked, 137. Jealousy of rights of Colonies, 142. Quebec Bill 146. Denunciation on account of Bill, 151. America takes up gauntlet against; 166-167. 329 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Ministry. (Continued.) Effect of New York sympathy with Boston, 2 1 1-2 1 2. Feeling antagonistic to, in Colonies, 285. "Miss Macaroni and her Gallant at a Print-shop," cartoon, xvi. Mohawks, 192, 201. Montagu, Virginia agent, 228. Morland, George (1763-1804), painter, xv. Morning Chronicle and London Adver- tiser, 31 1, 313-3 15. Mourning, Curtailment of expression of, in dress, 9. Murray's Wharf (New York), 200, 202. Nahant Point (Massachusetts), 126. "Nancy," the tea ship, 196. "Nauticus," Article signed, 180-183. Navy, English, 292. Nelson, William, of Virginia (171 1-1772), 248. New England Colonies. Sheep and cattle sent to Boston, 164. Efforts to restrict trade with England, 296-299. New Jail (New York), xxix, 219. New London (Connecticut), 113. "A New Method of Macarony Making," cartoon, 93. New York. Economies practiced, IO-H. Tea ships sent to, 70. Disregard of her claims, 146. Transports despatched to, 170. Incident and cartoon of the "Patri- otic Barber," 179-180, 183, 214- 218. Discord in political sentiments, 183- 184. Sons of Liberty enforce Non-Impor- tations Agreement, 185-190. "New York Tea Party," 190-202. Reception of news of passage of Port Bill, 204. Loyalty to Non-Importation Agree- ment, 205. Meeting held, July 6, 208-209 . Her conciliatory governors, 210. Material assistance sent to Boston, 211. Action in sending Deputies to Con- gress at Philadelphia, 210, 21 1 . New York, Assembly of. Protests against Stamp Act, 7. Votes statue to George III, 29-30. Votes statue to Pitt, 30-32. New York. (Continued.) Legislative powers suspended, 53-54. Attacked by McDougall, 218. New Tork Journal or the General Adver- tiser, 32, 77, 271. Newberne (North Carolina), xxix, 313. Newfoundland, 168. Newport (Rhode Island), 302, 310. Nicholas, Robert Carter, of Virginia (1715-1780), Treasurer of Virginia, 1766-76, 242-243, 268-269. Non-Importation. Associations revived, 56. Examples of merchants of Boston, 61 . Difficulties in maintaining agreement, 68. Associations dismembered, 68. Opponents tarred and feathered, 87. Agreements revived, 150. Agreements enforced by Sons of Lib- erty in New York, 185-190. New York Deputies to projected Con- gress instructed upon Agreements, 209. Influence of New York Committee of Correspondence and Committee of Mechanics on delegates to Con- gress, 210. Enthusiasm for, in Virginia, 232. Associations formed in Virginia, 234. Women's connection with, 293. Effect upon Colonial manufacturers, 299-300. North, Frederick, second Earl of Guil- ford (1732-1792). Portrait, xxvi. Burned in effigy , 42 . Cartooned, 46. Prediction fulfilled, 67-68. Toast to, 90. Presents Port Bill to Commons, 125- 126. Reasons for Bill, 133-134. Satire upon, 138-139. Satirical Tribute to, in Kentish Ga- zette, 140. Alluded to in Ballad "The Boston Bill," 153. Cartoon reference, 175. General Gage to, 205. Reads Governor Dunmore's letter in House of Commons, 271 . Spleen vented against, 320. North Briton, edited by John Wilkes, 95- 99,101. North Briton, No. 45, April, 23, 1763, 95- 99,101-103. 330 INDEX North Carolina, Assembly of, 7, 312, 313. Northampton (Virginia), County of, 231. Norwich (Connecticut), 113. Numerical Symbolism, 40-41 . "92," 58. "45>"95> IIZ "3>"4- Ohio, 146. Old South Church (Boston), 75. Oliver, Richard (i734?-i784), 119-120. Otis, Mr. James (1725-1783), 39. Parliament. American policy, xii-xiii, xxi. Act imposing new duties, 1764, 3. Act denying Colonial plans of exemp- tion from taxation, 52. Acts of 1767,52-53. Act compelling Colonies to billet Royal troops, 53 . "Farmer's Letters," quoted in, 55. Address to King assuring support against Massachusetts-Bay, 62, 232. Duties, save that on tea, repealed, 67, 69 Duty on tea remitted to relieve East India Company, 70. Wilkes affair, 100-106. Dissolution demanded, 108. Boston Port Bill, 126-137. Bill concerning quartering of troops, 145. Effort to secure repeal of tea duty, 146. Quebec Bill, 146-147. Platform recommended by Bill of Rights Society, 154. Ship-money tax,' 29 2 . "Parson's Cause," 279. "The Patriotic Barber of New York, or the Captain in the Suds," cartoon, 179-183,214-218. Pennsylvania, Assembly of, 7. Pennsylvania Chronicle and Universal Advertiser, 54. Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). Resolutions on importation of tea, Meeting of Continental Congress, 269- 271. Pitt, William, first Earl of Chatham (1708-1778). Opposition to Stamp Act, 1 1 . Gratitude to, expressed in London Chronicle, 28. Statues, xxix, 28-33, 68. Statuette by Duesbury, xxviii, 33 . Celebration portrait, 40. Temporary retirement, 5*. Replaced as Prime Minister by Bute, 96-97. Pitt, William. (Continued.) Brother-in-law of Grenville, 98. Attitude toward North Briton, No. 45, 101. Toward Wilkes, 107. Combats passage of Port Bill, 136. On Quebec Bill, 148-149. On Mrs. Macaulay, 307. Poem on Repeal of Stamp Act, 36-38. "A Political Lesson," cartoon, 156-159. Pope (Pius V), 147, 319, 320. Popery. See Quebec Act. Pope's " Essay on Man," parodied, 102. Port Bill. See Boston Port Bill. Porteous, John, Captain of Edinburgh City Guards, 141 -142. Presbyterian Church in New York, 184. "Presbyterian junto," 185. Press, Liberty of the, 98, 1 19. "The Pretender," See Bute, John Stuart, third Earl of. Preston, Captain William (1729-1783), 131. Princeton College, 241. Prints. See Cartoons. Public Ledger, xxiii. Pulline, Major, 188. Quebec. Sends wheat to Boston, 164. Transports despatched to, 170. "Letter to the Inhabitants of the Province of," 269. Quebec Act, 146-152, 155, 320. "Rationalis." Article signed, 16-17. Card beginning, 66-67. Religious tolerance, 279-280. Revenue laws, 75. Revere, Paul (1735-1818), 112. Revolution, American, 312. Rhode Island, 248. Rhode Island, Assembly of, 7, 12. Richmond (Virginia), 245. Richmond, Charles Lennox, third Duke of (1735-1806), 136. Rome, Church of. See Quebec Act ; Pope (Pius V). Roxbury (Massachusetts), 302. Royal Governors, salaries, 57. "Rule Britannia," American parody on, 173-174. "The Sailor's Address," song published in London EveningPost, 1775, 181-183. St. George VField Prison affair, 105, 118. 331 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Saint Paul's Chapel (New York), xxix, 185. Salem (Massachusetts), 156, 159, 163, 167. Sandwich, John Montagu, fourth Earl of (1718-1792). , Cartooned, 46. Attack on Wilkes, 46, 102. Sandy Hook (New York), 197, 199, 200. Sayer, Messrs. Robert (d. 1794) and Ben- nett, J., publishers and printsellers, xix,xx, 82, 173. Sears, Isaac, of New York (1729-1786), 205, 2IO, 212, 2l8,221. "Series of Resolves," made by Conti- nental Congress, 269 . Seven Years' War (1756-1763), 4. Sheep. Williamsburg resolution concerning, 265. New York encourages breeding for wool, 300. Ship-money tax, 290-292. Slave trade, Resolution of Convention of Fairfax County, 259-260, 264. Smith, John Raphael (1752-1812), en- graver, xv. Smollett, Tobias George (1721-1771), xv, 97. Society of Patriotic Ladies at Edenton, 293,311,313-316. "A Society of Patriotic Ladies, At Eden- ton in North Carolina," cartoon, 316-319. "A Song by the Tory Ministry," 206-208. Sons of Liberty. Origin of term, 15. In Providence, 14-16. In Boston, 36-40, 112-1 19. In Farmington, 162. In New York, 180-222. South Carolina, 218. South Carolina, Assembly of. Statue to Pitt, 30, 31. Letter from supporterstof BUI of Rights, 109-112. Sends rice to Boston, 164. Springfield (Massachusetts), 301 . Stamp Act. Protest against, by Assemblies, 7, 312. Protest against, by Colonial Congress, ^^, 183. Repeal, Mar. 17, 1766, 27-28. Statues of George III and Pitt com- memorating, 28-33. Delight in England, 33-34. Delight in America, 34-35. Celebrations, 35-41. Stamp Act. (Continued). Number of votes for repeal, 41 . Lesson of, not learned by Ministry, 41 . Reasons for repeal, 51 . Dangers revived, 63. Dempster's opposition, 134. Virginia's petition and resolutions on proposal of the Act, 227-23 1 . Virginia's condemnation, 232. Refusal to trade with England meant loss of comforts to Colonies, 299. Stamp Duties, resolutions concerning, 5. Stamp Office, burning of, 14. Stamp Officers. Burning in effigy, 14. Resignation, 14, 16. Statues. Of George III, 29-30, 32-33. Of Pitt, xxix, 28-33. Of Lord Botetourt, xxix, xxx, 243-248 . Statuettes. OfPitt,xxviii, 33. Of Wilkes, xxviii, 107. Of Mrs. Macaulay, 307. Symbols. "Living snake," xxix, 270. "Disjointed snake," 270. Symbols, Numerical, 40-41 . "92," 58. "45 W 95"*"34' Tarring and feathering. "An American custom," 87-90, 121, 132-133. " Reigning Toast," 90. See also Malcomb, John. Taxation. Colonial Assemblies claim of exemp- tion from, denied by Parliament, 52. Representation demanded by Bill of Rights Society, 154. House of Burgesses upon, 253 . See also Duties; Stamp Act; Tea; Ship-money tax. Tea. Tax imposed, 52. Tax retained, 67. Action of Colonies, 69-70. Sent to Charleston, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, 70. Philadelphia resolutions, 70-72, 73 . "Boston Tea-Party ,"72-76, 308. Reports of destruction reach England, 125. Failure to secure repeal of duty, 146. Bostonians refuse to pay for, 151. Story of attitude of New York towards shipment of, 190-202. 332 INDEX Tea. (Continued). Virginia recommends disuse of, 252- 253. Resolution of Williamsburg Conven- tion, 264. Ruse to demonstrate before House of Commons the sympathy of Eng- lish women with Colonies, 286. Discontinuance of, and makeshifts for, an all-absorbing topic, 294-296. Attempts to cultivate, in America, 299. Disuse general after Boston Tea Party, 308. Resolutions of ladies of Boston, 308- 39- Reception of tea-ships in Virginia, 319-320. Temple, Earl (Richard Grenville Temple) (171 1-1779), 98, ico. Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (London), 89. Thomson, Charles, of Philadelphia (1729- 1824X21-22,25,293. Thompson, R., printer, 1 19-120. "To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New- York," pamphlet by Alexander McDougall, 218. Tobacco, 10, 265, 267-268. Tooke, John Home (1736-1812), 114. Tory paper, xxii. Town Meetings in Engand, 108. Townsend, Charles (1725-1767), in- troduces Act imposing new duties, 1767,52. Trade. Revival after repeal of Stamp Act, 41 . England's loss of American trade, 61 . Difficulty of maintaining agreements against trade with England, 68. Effect of Port Bill in Boston, 163. Williamsburg Convention Resolutions, 266-267. New England's efforts to restrict, 296299. See also Commerce, English ; Com- merce, American. Tree of Liberty, 270. Trial by Jury. See Jury. Tryon, William (1725-1788), Governor of New York, 203 ; of North Carolina, 312. Upham, Joshua, of Brookfield, 301 . Van, favors Port Bill, 135. Van Dyke, John, New York, 212, 219. Van Zandt, Jacobus, of New York, no, 221, 222. Vaughn, Samuel, 28 1 . Vice-Admiralty Courts, 5, 6. Virginia. Economies practiced, 9-11. Charter, 27. Measures of aid for Boston, 60, 164, 256-269. Disregard of claims by Ministry, 146. Record assuring, to Boston, 225. Church of England in, 225. Claim of exemption from taxation, 226. Story of her seal, 226-227. Petition upon proposed Stamp Act, 227. Remonstrance to House of Commons, 227-228. Challenge to Parliament, 228-23 ' Passes resolution asserting rights of Colony, 232-233. Governorship of Botetourt, 233-243. Statue to Botetourt, 243-248 . Lord Dunmore succeeds Botetourt as Governor, 248 . Action with regard to Port Bill, 249- 256. Attitude toward slave trade, 259-260. Conventional Williamsburg, 260-269. Manufactures, 265-274. Defiant attitude of, 275-296. Feminine economy in dress, 303. Virginia Gazette, 164-167, 226, 241, 249- . *# Virginia, House of Burgesses of. Protests against Stamp Act, 7. Resolutions passed against Stamp Act, 16,227-231. Resolution on taxation, 232-233. Botetourt's address, 235-236. Approval of statue to Botetourt, 244. Takes steps to unite a nation, 248- 254. Favors religious tolerance, 279-280. Ball in honor of Lord Botetourt, 303- 34- Virginia, House of Burgesses of (the building), xxx, 245, 304. Vredenburgh, Jacob, the "Patriotic Barber," 214, 217. Ward, William (1766-1826), engraver.xv. Washington, George (1732-1799), 259. Watson, James (i739?-i79o), mezzotint engraver, xv. Wedderburn, Alexander, first Earl of Rosslyn (1733-1805), cartooned, 47. 333 THE BOSTON PORT BILL Wedgwood, Josiah (1730-1795), potter, xxviii, 25. Wesley s, The, xvi. West Indies, 164, 263,264. Wheatley, Francis (1747-1801), painter, xv. Wheble, John, printer, 1 19-120. Whig families, 96. Whig party, 307. White, Henry, fourth president Chamber of Commerce, N. Y., died in Eng- land 1786, 198. Whitehall (London), xvi, 222. Whitefield, George (i7H-i77o)> divine, xvi. Wilbraham (Massachusetts), 301. Wilkes, John (1727-1797). Middlesex Journal, his organ, xxii. Attack upon, by Earl of Sandwich, 46 102. Editorial attack upon, 63. Editor of North Briton, 95-99. Personal characteristics, 95-96. Member of Paliament, 96. Hatred of Scotch, 97. Story of North Briton No. 45, 98-99. Struggle with Parliament, Imprison- ment, etc., 99-106. Private press, 102. Cartoons, portraits, statuette, etc., rrviii, 107. Fares sumptuously in prison, 108. Sympathy between his followers in England and America demon- strated, 109-112. American demonstrations in his honor, 112-114. Sheriff of London, 1 14. Letter from prison to Boston Sons of Liberty, 117-119. Mayor of London, 120. Advertisement announces portrait of Wilkes in BickerstafTs Almanack, 112. Fruit of victories, 132. Wilkes, John. (Continued.) "Father of the City," 140. Demonstration in his favor after pas- sage of Quebec Bill, 149-150. Returned to Parliament, 1774, 154. Pledges himself against Quebec Act, 155-156. References to, in cartoon, 280-28 1 . Gifts from Colonies, 281-282. William and Mary College, Williams- burg, Virginia, 240, 245. Williamsburg (Virginia), 227, 254, 313. Association of, 261. Convention held at, 254, 260-275. Cartoon, " The Alternative of Wil- liams-Burg," 282. Willett, Marinus, of New York, 220. Wilson, William Charles (1750), engraver, xv. Wilton, Joseph (1722-1803), sculptor. Statues of Pitt, 31,68. Wisconsin, 146. "The Wise Men of Gotham and their Goose," cartoon, 42-48 . Witherspoon, Rev. John (1722-1794), President of Princeton College, 241. Women. Letter from a lady in Williamsburg to a friend in London, 255-256. In the cartoon "The Alternative of Williams-Burg," 282. Their part in the dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies, 285-322. Sentiment of, in England, 286-293. Sentiment of, in the Colonies, 286, 293-299. Society of Patriotic Ladies of Eden- ton in North Carolina, 293, 311- 316. In the cartoon, " Society of Patriotic Ladies," 316. Wool, 300-301. Wythe, George, of Virginia (1726-1806), 250, 280. o>, ^ |Vv*- . _' '*- '~ '^. '+ -