the windows of the houses of three of them, and, seizing the Collector's " pleasure boat," dragged it in a procession through the streets, and made a bonfire of it on the Common. The Commissioners, professing to be alarmed for their lives, went first on board the ship of war, and then to the Castle.1 — years sooner than was necessary." (Sir George Savile to Lord Rockingham, of July 31, 1768, in Albemarle's Rockingham, II. 75; comp. 76-81.) "I have never yet discovered the least view to that service [the real interest of the revenue'] in all our deliberations [the deliberations of the Commissioners]. They have appeared to me to flow rather from an anxious desire of lighting up a war between these Colonies and their mother country; and no means seem to have been left unattempted (by some of the principal servants of the Crown) that might effect it." (Letter of Sir John Temple, a Commister of Sir John Temple, a Commissioner of the Customs in Boston, to Mr. Grenville, of November 7, in the Grenville Papers, IV. 396.) 1 A curious correspondence began at this time between a sort of club in Boston, who, adopting a phrase which had become popular from Colonel Barré's famous speech, called themselves “Sons of Liberty," and John Wilkes, who had lately returned from the Continent to England, and been committed to the King's Bench Prison, and been elected to the House of Commons for Middlesex. William Palfrey was a member of the Society, and, like the rest, was for the time infatuated with Wilkes. June 7 he wrote to his commercial friend, Mr. Hayley, in London: "I have taken the liberty to enclose you a letter of congratulation to John Wilkes, Esq., from a number of gentlemen in this place, who have the warmest affection for Mr. Wilkes, for Mr. Wilkes, and the most sincere attachment to the glorious cause in which he is now engaged,—to that cause which he has with so much fortitude maintained against the whole force of ministerial influence. May he live to see all his Majesty's subjects enjoying the fruits of his labor in the blessings of peace and liberty." The letter to Wilkes was as follows: ILLUSTRIOUS PATRIOT, — The friends of Liberty, Wilkes, Peace and good order, to the number of forty-five [this was an allusion to the famous Number of the North Briton, which occasioned Wilkes's prosecution] or upwards, assembled at the Whig Tavern, Boston, New-Eng land, take this first opportunity to congratulate your Country, the British Colonies, and yourself, on your happy return to the land worthy such an Inhabitant, -worthy! as they have lately manifested an incontestable proof of virtue in the honorable and most important trust reposed in you by the County of Middlesex. May you convince Great Britain and Ireland in Europe, the British Colonies, Islands, and Plantations in America, that you are one of those incorruptibly honest men reserved by Heaven to bless and perhaps save a tottering Empire; that Majesty can never be secure but in the arms of a brave, a virtuous, and a united people; that nothing but a common interest and absolute confidence in an impartial and general protection can combine so many millions of Men, born to make laws for themselves, conscious and invincibly tenacious of their rights. That the British Constitution still ex ists, is our glory; feeble and infirm as it is, we cannot, we will not, despair of it. To a Wilkes much is already due for his strenuous efforts to preserve it. Those generous and inflexible principles which have rendered you so greatly eminent, support our claim to your favor Such was the way of proceeding of one class of the ill-treated and angry people. A different way, at once less exceptionable and more effectual, was taken by another class. Many of the traders-first of Boston, then of other ports- agreed together, in writing, that, in the year soon to begin, they would import no merchandise from England except certain specified articles of urgent necessity, and particularly that they would receive, neither from any other Colony nor from Great Britain, any of the commodities made liable to duties under the recent law.1 and esteem. To vindicate Americans is, not to desert yourself. Permit us, therefore, much respected Sir, to express our confidence in your approved abilities and steady Patriotism. Your Country, the British Empire, and unborn millions plead an exertion at this alarming Crisis. Your perseverance in the good old cause may still prevent the great system from dashing to pieces. "T is from your endeavors we hope for a royal "Pascite, ut ante, boves ;" and from our attachment to "peace and good order we wait for a constitutional redress: being determined that the King of Great Britain shall have Subjects, but not slaves, in these remote parts of his Dominions. We humbly present you the "Farmer;" his sentiments are ours. If we may dare lisp a wish to be indulged with a line from you, a direction to John Marston, Esqr, at the Whig Tavern, Merchants Row, Boston, would assuredly reach the hands of, worthy Sir, Your most faithful and obedient Humble Servants, THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN THE BOSTON, 6th June, 1768. Wilkes answered this letter, dating from his prison on the following July 19; and further correspondence followed, of which any one who is sufficiently curious may see an account in the "Life of William Palfrey,' in Sparks's "American Biography," XVII. 252 et seq. 1. For above a week past there has been agitated, among the merchants of this town, a subscription against importing English goods. It was last night reported at their third meeting . . . . that there were forty who would not subscribe, but would observe the restriction, and thirty-five who would neither subscribe nor observe. The latter, I suppose, are to be brought to reason by mob law; otherwise thirtyfive importers only will defeat the scheme. There was the like subscription set about at the beginning of March last. .. That was defeated by the merchants of Philadelphia refusing to concur in the measure, and the merchants of New York thereupon declining it also." (Letter of Bernard to Hillsborough, of August 9; comp. Boston Gazette and Evening Post, of Aug. 14, 1769.) The following, taken from a pamphlet of over a hundred pages by John Mein, entitled "A State of the Importation from Great Britain into the Port of Boston from the beginning of January, 1769, to Aug. 17, 1769," &c., p. 1, is the text of "the agreement entered into by the merchants and traders" of Boston at this time: "We the subscribers, in order to relieve the trade under those discouragements [specified in the preamble], to pro 1768. June. Three days after the tumult which has been described, a town meeting was held by the citizens of Boston, which directed an Address to be sent to the Governor, complaining that their "navigation was obstructed, upon which alone depended their whole support," congratulating themselves that the Commissioners had, by their withdrawal from the town, relinquished the exercise of their commission, which it was hoped they would never resume; and praying the Governor to "issue his immediate order to the commander of his Majesty's ship Romney to remove from this harbor,' that officer being responsible for the proceedings by which they described themselves as being "invaded with an armed force, seizing, impressing, and imprisoning the persons of their fellow-subjects." In a paper of instructions to the Representatives of their town in the General Court, they expressed the vehement and growing indignation which prevailed against what now seemed the deliberate purpose of the British Government to extort contributions from the colonists. "Several armed vessels," they complained, "and among the rest his Majesty's ship-of-war the Romney, have appeared in our harbor, and the last, as we believe, by the express application of the Board of Commissioners, mote industry, frugality, and economy, and to discourage luxury and every kind of extravagance, do promise and engage to and with each other as follows: "First, That we will not send for or import from Great Britain, either upon our own account, or upon commission, this fall, any other goods than what are already ordered for the fall supply. Secondly, That we will not send for or import any kind of goods or merchandise from Great Britain, either on our own account, or on commissions, or any otherwise, from the 1st of January, 1769, to the 1st of January, 1770. Except Salt, Coals, Fish-hooks, Lines, Hemp, Duck, Bar-Lead, Shot, Wool-Cards, and Card-Wire. Thirdly, That we will not purchase of any factor, or others, any kinds of goods imported from Great Britain, from January, 1769, to January, 1770. Fourthly, That we will not import, on our own account, or on commission, or purchase of any who shall import from any other Colony in America, from January, 1769, to January, 1770, any Tea, Glass, Paper, or other goods commonly imported from Great Britain. Fifthly, That we will not, from and after the 1st of January, 1769, import into this Province any Tea, Paper, Glass, or Painters' colors, until the act imposing duties on those articles shall be repealed. "In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, this first day of August, 1768," and the arrival of with design to overawe and terrify the inhabitants of this town into base compliances and unlimited submission, has been anchored within a cable's length of the wharfs." They earnestly urged the illegality of the impressment of American subjects into the King's ships. “We are continually alarmed," they said, "with rumors and reports of new revenue acts to be passed; fresh arrival of ships-of-war; a military force to dragoon us into passive obedience." And they charged their representatives to promote a parliamentary inquiry as to the truth of such rumors, and to "forward, in the House of Representatives, resolutions that every such person who shall solicit or promote the importation of troops at this time is an enemy to this town and Province, and a disturber of the peace and good order of both." July. Before intelligence could reach England of the 1768. flight of the Commissioners to the Castle in Boston harbor, the Minister had become so alarmed respecting the state of things in that town as to send instructions to New York to General Gage, Commander-in-Chief, to order one or two regiments from Halifax to Boston. Several months before, Commodore Hood, commanding the fleet at Halifax, had been directed to send forces whenever Bernard should call for them. But this, as has been seen, Bernard was not willing to take the responsibility of doing without the Council's consent, which he could not obtain. An officer came to Boston to make arrangements for quartering the soldiers coming from Halifax. He made no secret of his business, and a new excitement followed. A town meeting was held in Boston, which sent a message to the Governor, inquiring what reasons he had to expect an arrival of 1 Hutch., Hist., III. 489-491; comp. Journal of the House for June 18, in which almost the first business had Sept. reference to the town's instruction of the day before to its Representatives. troops, and praying him to convoke a General Court, in order to such measures as the critical times required. He replied that he had no official information on the former subject, and that his instructions forbade him to convene the Legislature. Thereupon the town passed a series of Resolves, among which was one against "keeping a standing army in the town without the consent of the inhabitants in person or by their representatives; " and voted to invite all the towns of the Province to a convention, to be constituted in the same manner as the House was constituted under the Governor's writ. It was further voted to invite the ministers of the town to set apart a day for fasting and prayer; and, in a halffacetious mood, in language not expected to deceive any one, the inhabitants were advised to provide themselves with fire-arms on account of "a prevailing apprehension in the minds of many of an approaching war with France." 2 1 This invitation was conveyed by the selectmen of Boston to the selectmen of the other towns of the Province in a Circular Letter, for which see Hutch., Hist., III. 492. 2 In a letter to Lord Hillsborough, of September 16, the Governor gave a full account of the proceedings at this town meeting, with reflections and some embellishments. He said that, being apprehensive of an outbreak "if the troops from Halifax were to come here of a sudden," he "took an occasion to mention to one of the Council, in the way of discourse, that he had private advice that troops were ordered hither, but he had no public orders about it himself. This was on the 8th inst., and before night it was thoroughly circulated all over the town." And on the 11th the town meeting was held. For the impression made in England by the tidings of this "rebellion," see letters of Whately to Grenville, of October 27 and 28, in Grenville Papers, IV. 389, 391. Bernard's hesitation about calling for troops brought on him reproach from Grenville's friends for pusillanimity and "low cunning." Commodore Hood wrote to Grenville from Halifax, October 15: "Affairs in America by no means wear a pleasant complexion, but I hope and fully trust that peace and good order will be restored in no long time. God be praised, the troops are safe landed, and very critically too, as you will see by an extract of a letter sent to me, as well as by a short diary of Capt. Corner's. |