Lexington Town (part 3 of 25)

" Therefore, Resolved, That the freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Lexington, will at the utmost peril of their lives and fortunes, take all legal and constitutional measures to defend and maintain the person, family, crown and dignity of our said Sovereign Lord, George the Third, and all and singular, the rights, liberties, privileges and immunities granted in said royal charter, as well as those which are declared to be belonging to us as British subjects, by birthright, as all others therein specially mentioned.

*' And lohereas by the said royal Charter, it is specially granted to the Great and General Court or Assembly therein constituted, to impose and levy proportionable and reasonable assessments, rates, and taxes, upon the estates and persons of all and every, the proprietors and inhabitants of the said Province or territory, for the service of the King in the necpssary defence and support of his government of the Province, and the protection and preservation of his subjects therein :

" Therefore Voted, As the opinion of this town, that levying money within this Province for the use and service of the crown in any other manner than the same is granted by the Great and General Court or Assembly of this Pi'ovince, is in violation of the said royal Charter; and the same is in violation of the undoubted, natural rights of subjects, declared in the aforesaid Act of Parliament, freely to give and grant their own money for the service of the croAvn, with their own consent in person, or by Representatives of their own free election.

" And ivhereas in the aforesaid Act of Parliament, it is declared that the raising and keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with the consent of Parliameijt, is against law ; it is the opinion of this town that the said Declaration is founded in the indefeasible rights of the subjects to be consulted, and to give their free consent in person or hj Representative, of their own free election, to the raising and keeping a standing army among them. And the inhabitants of this town being free subjects, have the same rights derived from nature, and confirmed by the British Constitution, as well as by the royal Charter; and therefore, the raising or keeping a standing army without their consent in person or by Representatives of their own free election, would be an infringement of their natural, constitutional, aud charter rights ; and the employment of such an army for the enforcing of laws made without the consent of the people in person or by their Representatives, would be a grievance."

The foregoing Report being several times distinctly read, and considered by the town, the question was put whether the same shall be accepted and recorded, and passed unanimously in the affirmative.

'- Whereas by an Act of Parliament of the first of King William and Queen Mary, it is declared, that for the redress of all grievances and for amending, strengthening, and preserving the laws, Parliament ought to be held frequently ; and inasmuch as it is the opinion of this town, that the people of this Province labor under many grievances, which unless speedily redressed, threaten the total destruction of our invaluable, natural, constitutional and charter rights ; and furthermore, as his Excellency the Governor, at the request of the town of Boston, has declared himself unable to call a General Court, which is the Assembly of the States of this Province for the redress of grievances :

" Voted, That this town will now make choice of some suitable person to join with such as are or may be appointed and sent from the several other towns in this Province, to consult and advise what may be best for the public good at this critical juncture.

These sentiments pul:)lished in open town meeting, and sanctified by a day of fasting and prayer, Avoidd of course govern the conduct of a sincere and conscientious people. No wonder therefore, we find them in 1769, ready to make what at the present day would in some families be considered a great sacrifice ; by voting "Not to use any tea or snuff, nor keep them, nor suffer them to be used in our families, till the duties are taken off."

In 1772, a measure was on foot to make tlie Supreme Judges independent of tlie people, })y granting them a salary directly by Parliament, thus taking from the people the only hold they had

Causes Of The Revolution

"1. That it is the natural right and indisputable duty of every man, and consequently of every society or body of men, to consult their own safety, and to take measures for the preservation of their own liberty and property, without which life itself can scarcely be deemed worth possessing.

*' 2. That the security of life, liberty and property to a people, is and ought always to be considered, as the great end of all government, and is acknowledged to be the professed end of the happy Constitution of the British Government in particular.

"3. That when through imperfections, necessarily attendant upon the wisest systems of which fallible men are capable, or through the designs of wicked or crafty men in places of power and trust, any laws or acts of government are found to be obnoxious or oppressive to the subject, it is -wisely provided and established by Magna Charta, the petition of Rights and other Statutes of England, that not only Counties, Cities, and Corporations, but also Towns and individuals, may consult and adopt measures for redress by petition, remonstrance or other ways, as occasion and the emergency of affairs may require.

" 4. That the inhabitants of this town and Province by the Royal Charter (a sacred compact between them and the crown) being vested with all the rights and privileges of Englishmen, and British subjects, have the indisputable right, both as a people and as individuals, to judge for themselves when laws or measures of government are obnoxious or oppressive, and to consult upon, and adopt the best measures in their power for redress when oppressed.

" 5. And therefore, That as the inhabitants of this town look upon themselves, in common with their brethren and fellow subjects through the Province, to be greatly injured and oppressed in various instances, by measures of Government lately adopted, especially by the proposed measure of making the judges dependent upon the crown alone for their support, they cannot but judge it their inalienable right and a duty they owe to themselves and posterity, as a town as well as individuals, to take these matters into serious consideration, freely to express their sentiments concerning them, and consult measures for redress.

" Then voted that a committee of seven be chosen to report to the town at an adjournment of this meeting, a draft of Instructions for their Representative, also of such further Votes and Resolves, as they may think best to recommend to the town. - Then made choice of William Reed, Esq., Isaac Bowman, Esq., Capt. Thaddeus Bowman, Dea. Benjamin Brown, Mr. Samuel Bridge, Dea. Joseph Loring, and Mr. Joseph Simonds."

At an adjourned meeting lield Jan. 5, 1772, this committee submitted the following document, fraught with the wisdom and patriotism of their pious and devoted pastor, which was unanimously adopted :

" Sir : It is not to call in question your capacity, disposition, or fidelity, of which we have given the fullest evidence in the choice we have made of you to represent us in the General Court of this Province, but in exercising our right of instructing our Representatives, to open our minds freely to you upon matters which appear to us interesting to ourselves, to the Province, and to posterity, and to strengthen and confirm you in measures, which, we trust, your own judgment would have suggested, as necessary and important to our common safety and prosperity, though we had been silent.

" Our worthy ancestors, after many struggles with their enemies in the face of every danger, and at the expense of much treasure and blood, secured to themselves and transmitted to us, their posterity, a fair and rich inheritance, not only of a pleasant and fertile land, but also of invaluable rights and privileges both as men and Christians, as stated in the Royal Charter of the Province, and secured to us by the faith of the British Crown and Kingdom. As we hold due allegiance to our rightful Sovereign King George III., and are ready with our lives and fortunes to support his just and constitutional government, so we look upon ourselves as bound by the most sacred ties, to the utmost of our power, to maintain and defend ourselves in our charter rights and privileges, and as a sacred trust committed to us, to transmit them inviolate to succeeding generations.

"It is the general voice, at least of the more thinking and judicious among us, that our charter rights and liberties are in danger, are infringed, and upon the most careful, mature, and serious consideration of them, as stated in our Charter, and comparing them with Acts of the British Parliament, and measures adopted by the British Court, Ministry and Government, relating to this and other American Colonies, some of which have been carried into execution among us ; we are clearly of opinion that they have been for some time past, and are at present, greatly infringed and violated hereby in various instances, and these measures have been gone into from time to time by the Honorable Council and House of Representatives of the Province for relief and redress ; yet so far from being successQil, our grievances seem to increase and be more and more intolerable every day.

" The unhappy and distressing effects of the measures referred to, are too many to admit, and too well known and felt to require a particular mention. But we cannot forbear observing the glowing contrast which in some instances is to be seen, between our Charter and the Resolves and Acts of the British Parliament, and measures of administration, adopted

'* The Charter grants to our General Court full power and authority from time to time to make, ordain and establish all manner of reasonable laws, die, and that such laws, &c., not being disallowed by the King within three years, shall continue in full force until the expiration thereof, or until repealed by the same authority. But the British Parliament have resolved, that they have a right to make laws, binding upon the Colonies in all cases whatsoever ; so that whenever they please to carry this resolve into execution, they may by another resolve passed into an Act, by one powerful stroke vacate our Charter, and in a moment dash all our laws out of existence, or bury them together in one common ruin. By the Charter, the right of taxing the people is lodged in the General Court of the Province, and we think exclusively. But by the late revenue Acts, which have been, with so many ensigns of power and terror, in open violations of the laws and liberties of this people, put into execution by the Commissioners of the Customs, this right is clearly infringed, and the power put into and exercised by other hands.

" By the Charter, we are vested with all the rights and liberties of British subjects, one of which we know is in Magna Charta declared to be that of trial by jury, and that no freeman shall be disseized of his freehold, liberties, (fee, but by the lawful judgment of his peers, &c. But such is the provision made in the revenue Act, and such the exercise of the power of courts of admiralty, that men may be disseized of their liberty, and carried from one part of the country to the other, and be tried and sentenced by one judge, for any, even the smallest breach of this Act, whether real or supposed. Though the Charter provides for the erecting of judicatories for the hearing and trying all manner of offences, as well criminal and capital as civil ; yet if we are rightly informed, a late Act of Parliament provides, and directs in some cases, that persons maybe seized and carried to England for trial, and that for life. Should this be the truth, where is the right of freemen - where the boasted liberty of English subjects?

"The Charter represents the Governor of this Province, as Captain General, and as having full power and authority in all military and warlike affairs, and of himself to appoint all military officers, to erect forts and commit them to the custody of such person or persons as to him shall seem meet. But can it be said that this is the truth in fact, when the Governor himself declares, that he has no authority over those who Lave custody of the most important fortress, and where garrisons are changed, and officers appointed, not only not by the Governor, but without his knowledge or consent. - Whether this is the state of Castle William, the principal fortress of this Province, appears to us to be a question not unworthy the serious attention, and most critical inquiry of the Great and General Court.

*' The Charter not only vests the General Court with the right of imposing taxes, but also points out the ends for which taxes are to be raised - one of wliich is the support of the government, justly supposing that necessary connection between the governing and governed, and that mutual dependence which preserves a due balance between them, which in all well regulated States has been found to have the happiest tendency to promote good government on the one hand, and cheerful obedience on the other. But not enough that the right of taxation is violated, but the right of determining the merit and services of those that are employed in government, must be yielded too. Thus with respect to the first officers among us, the only remaining interest whereby persons in the service of the public were induced to be faithful in their trust to the people, is dissolved, and being entirely dependent upon the crown for both place and support, it becomes their interest, at least in many cases, to be unfaithful and partial in their administration with regard to the people. And considering the imperfections of human nature, it is scarcely possible it should be otherwise, even though the best of men were in authority. For interest will have its influence to blind the eyes, and pervert the judgment of the wisest and most upright.

We have been certified in form, that this is the case with the gentlemen in the chief seat of Government, and at the head of the Province, and from the best information we are able to obtain, we have but too much reason to fear, that the same has taken place with respect to a number of others in places of trust and power, of no small importance to the well being of this people. Particularly we have reason to think this to be the fact with respect to the Judges of the Supreme Court, the highest court of justice in the Province - the court upon the decisions and determinations of which, all our interests respecting property, liberty or life, do chiefly and ultimately depend ; and what adds to the indignity of this measure is, that it is to be carried into effect, as we have just reason to suppose, at our expense, at the same time that it is against our consent. Thus the plan of oppression is begun, and so far carried on, that if our enemies are still successful, and no means can be found to put a stop to their career, no measures contrived for a restoration of our affairs to a constitutional course, as pointed out in our Charter ; we have just reason to fear that the eyes of the head of the Government being blinded, the sources of justice poisoned, and hands of the administration bribed with interest, the system of slavery will soon be complete. These things are of so interesting a nature, so deeply affecting, and so big with the ruin of all our rights and liberties, both civil and religious, that we readily acknowledge that we cannot so much as transiently view them without a mixture of horror, indignation, and grief.

" But this is not all. Our Charter knows no such thing as. instructions to Government ; and yet what have not instructions done to distress this people ; and if in addition to these, it should be found upon the inquiry of the o-uardians of the Province in General Court assembled, (and tliey have a riifht to Inquire,) tliat the law has not In all Instances had Its course, or that at any time, measures have been successful to stay justice from offend- ers, it seems as if it was time to be alarmed, and provide for our own safety, or else tamely to bow to the yoke and forever hereafter be silent. Whether this representation be just, is submitted and must be left to time and facts to discover. But that these among other things, are worthy our most serious attention, as subjects of inquiry and deep interest, cannot be disputed.

'* And therefore to you, Sir, whom we have chosen to represent us in the Great and General Court of Inquest for this Province, we do most earnestly recommend it, that you use your utmost influence, that these as well as all other matters in which the rights and liberties of this people are concerned, are impartially inquired into, and dispassionately considered by the General Assembly, and that measures be pursued by Petition to the throne, or otherwise, as the Court in their great wisdom shall see meet, for a radical and lasting redress. That thus, whether successful or not, succeeding generations might know that we understood our rights and liberties, and were neither afraid nor ashamed to assert and maintain them ; and that we ourselves may have at least this consolation in our chains, that it was not through our neglect that this people were enslaved.

*- Voted, That this Town entirely concur with them in their sentiments, both as to the nature of our rights, and the high infraction of them by the late measures of Government ; and with pleasure embrace this opportunity to express the great sense they have of the vigilance and patriotic spirit they and our brethren in many other towns, have discovered upon this and various occasions, for the preservation of our rights.

*- Voted, also. That this town has a right to correspond with other towns upon matters of common concern ; and that a Committee be accordingly chosen to transmit the proceeding of this meeting to the Gentlemen of the Committee of Correspondence in Boston ; and further, to correspond with them as well as the Committee of other towns, upon matters of common concern, as occasion may require."

The town then proceeded and chose the following named gentlemen, as their Committee of Correspondence : Capt. Thaddeus Bowman, Dea. Jonas Stone, Ensign Robert Harrington, Dea. Benjamin Brown, and Dea. Joseph Loring.

The opposition to the Stamp Act was such that Parliament was induced to repeal it, which they did in 1766. But this was a change rather than an abandonment of their policy. They repealed an act which they saw that they could not enforce, for the purpose of adopting other measures which they deemed more artful and seductive, and hence more likely to bring the colonists to their feet. The sequel will show their measures, and the manner in which they were met by the people of America.

In December, 1773, the inhabitants were called together to consider the state of public affairs, and especially the subject of the Tea, sent over by the East India Company ; when the whole subject was referred to the Committee of Correspondence, who subsequently submitted the following Report, which was unanimously adopted :

" That from intelligence transmitted by the Committee of Correspondence in the Town of Boston, to the Committee of Correspondence for this place, and by them communicated to the town, it appears that the enemies of the rights and liberties of America, greatly disappointed in the success of the Revenue Act, are seeking to avail themselves of a new, and if possible, yet more detestable measure to distress, enslave, and destroy us. Not enough that a tax was laid upon teas, which should be imported by us, for the sole purpose of raising a revenue to support task masters, pensioners, &c., in idleness and luxury; but by a late Act of Parliament, to appease the wrath of the East India Company, whose trade to America had been greatly clogged by the operation of the Revenue Acts, provision is made for said Company to export their Teas to America free, and discharged from the payment of all duties and customs in England, but liable to all the same rules, regulations, penalties and forfeitures in America, as are provided by the revenue Act, as much as if the above mentioned Act had never been passed.

" Not to say anything of the gross partiality herein discovered in favor of the East India Company, and to the injury and oppression of Americans, we are alarmed at the masterly effort of iniquitous policy, as it has the most gloomy effect upon the ti'ade of these Colonies, and gives an opening to the East India Company, or others under the covert of an Act of Parliament, for the unrighteous purpose of raising and securing a revenue to the crown out of the purses of industrious Americans, to monopolize one branch after another, until in the process of time, the whole trade will be in their hands, and by their consignees, factors, &c., they will be the sole merchants of America.

"And further, we are more especially alarmed, as by these crafty measures, the revenue Act is to be established, and the rights and liberties of Americans forever sapped and destroyed. These appear to us to be sacrifices we must make ; and these are the costly pledges that must be given into the hands of the oj)pressor. The moment we receive this detested article, the tribute will be established upon us. For nothing short of this will ever fill the mouth of the oppressor, or gorge the insatiate appetite of lust and ambition. Once admit this subtle, wicked ministerial plan to take place - once permit this tea, thus imposed upon us by the East India Company, to be landed, received and vended, by their consignees, factors, &c., the badge of our slavery is fixed, the foundation of ruin is surely laid, and unless a wise and powerful God, by some unforeseen revolution in Providence, shall prevent, we shall soon be obliged to bid farewell to the once flourishing trade of America, and an everlasting adieu to those glorious rights and liberties, for which our worthy ancestors so earnestly prayed, so bravely fought, so freely bled !

" This being the light in which we view these measures of administration in their nature and tendency, we cannot but be alarmed, especially when we see our danger so great, - our ruin so nearly effected: - the ship with the detested tribute Tea in the harbor, and the persons appointed to receive and sell the same, unnaturally refusing to resign their appointment, though by carrying it into effect, they should procure their country's ruin. As therefore we should be wanting to ourselves, to our country and posterity, to be silent upon such an occasion as this, and as we have no reason to expect that God, the Supreme Disposer of all things, will work miracles for us, while we neglect ourselves, we do with the greatest seriousness and sincerity, come into the following

"1. That as the Revenue Act, and the Act allowing the East India Company to export Teas into the Colonies subject to duties, with all the measures of the Ministry and Administration, whether by secret craft or open violence to carry said Acts into effect, appear to us to be a direct violation of our charter rights and liberties ;' we are determined to the utmost of our power in every rational way, upon this and all proper occasions to oppose them, and use our most vigilant and resolute endeavors to prevent their taking place among us.

*' 2. That we will not be concerned either directly or indirectly in landing, receiving, buying or selling, or even using any of the Teas sent out by the East India Company, or that shall be imported subject to a duty imposed by Act of Parliament, for the purpose of raising a revenue in America.

*' 3. That all such persons as shall directly or indirectly aid and assist in landing, receiving, buying, selling or using the Teas sent by the East India Company, or imported by others subject to a duty, for the purpose of a revenue, shall be deemed and treated by us as enemies of their country.

*- 4. That the conduct of Richard Clarke and son, the Governor's two sons Thomas and Elisha Hutchinson, and other consignees, in refusing to resign their appointment as factors, or vendue masters for the East India Company, when repeatedly requested by the town of Boston, has justly rendered them obnoxious to their fellow citizens, to the inhabitants of this town, and to the people of the Province, and America in general ; and as upon this occasion they have discovered, not only want of dne affection for their native country, but also from selfish vicw^s, (as we think,.) a strange disposition to accelerate its ruin - we cannot but consider them as objects of our just resentment, indignation, and contempt.

"5. That, as it has been basely insinuated, that the measures taken to prevent the reception of the East India Company's Teas, are the effect of a scheme of the merchants to advance their own interest, it is the opinion of this town, that the suggestion is false and malicious, and designed at the same time to deceive and delude the people into a compliance with measures of their enemies, and to prevent the good effect of the honest and patriotic endeavors of so valuable and powerful part of the community to rescue the trade and liberties of their country from impending destruction.

" 6. That as with gratitude to our brethren in Boston, and other towns, we do express our satisfaction in the measures they have taken, and the struggles they have made upon this, as well as many other occasions, for the liberties of their country and America ; we are ready and resolved to concur with them in every rational measure that may be necessary for the preservation or recovery of our rights and liberties as Englishmen and Christians ; and we trust in God, that should the state of our affairs require it, ice shall be ready to sacrifice our estates and every thing dear in life, yea, and life itself, in support of the common cause.''''

The above Resolves being passed, a motion was made that to them another should be added ; accordingly it was resolved, without a dissenting voice :

" That if any head of a family in this Town, or any person shall from this time forward, and until the duty be taken off, purchase any Tea, or sell or consume any Tea in their families, such person shall be looked upon as an enemy to this town, and to this country, and shall by this town be treated with neglect and contempt."

At a meeting of the inhabitants of Lexington, duly warned, on the 2Gth of September, 1774, Dea. Stone was chosen to represent the town in the General Court. A committee, consisting of Capt. Bowman, Dea. Brown, and Lieut. Edmund jNIunroe, was chosen to prepare Instructions, who reported the following di'aft, which was adopted :

-* The alarming situation of our public affairs being so distressing as at present, and our Council being chosen by a mandamus from the King, whose authority as a Council we cannot own, nor consent to, -

Causes Of The Revolution

September instant, to make choice of a Representative, and having made choice of Dea. Stone as our Representative, we, putting the fullest confidence in your integrity and ability, do instruct you. Sir, in the following manner - to use your utmost influence at the Great and General Court, that nothing there be transacted as a Court, under the new Council, or in conformity with any of the late Acts of Parliament."

At the same meeting they chose Dea. Stone a delegate to the Provincial Congress. Having repeatedly denounced the acts of the Ministry and Parliament, as acts of oppression, designed to rob the people of the Colonies of every right which they held dear; and having pledged their fortunes and their lives, should the occasion require, in defence of the great principles of liberty, like men who knew what they said, and said what they meant, the inhabitants of the town made preparation for the last resort of oppressed subjects. Consequently, at meetings held in November and December, they voted " to provide a suitable quantity of flints," - " to bring two pieces of cannon from Watertown and mount them," - "to provide a pair of drums for the use of the military company in Town," - " to provide bayonets at the town's cost for one third of the training soldiers," - "to have the militia and alarm list meet for a view of their arms," &c. And that these votes should not prove a mere dead letter, committees were chosen to carry them into effect.

Besides, as the Provincial Congress had recommended to the people to put themselves in a state of defence by organizing military companies, to be armed and equipped, and to be ready to march at the shortest notice, it was voted by the inhabitants of Lexington, that they would carry out these recommendations, and committees were appointed for that purpose. As the Congress had also chosen Henry Gardner, Esq., of Stow, to be Receiver General of all province taxes which should be collected, and requested the several towns to pay their respective portions of the taxes, when collected, over to him, instead of paying them over to Harrison Gray, Esq., His Majesty's Receiver General ; the people directed their collectors to pay the province tax, when collected, over to Henry Gardner, Esq., and assured them by solemn vote, that the town would see them harmless for so doing. These " awful notes of preparation " showed that the people were prepared for any emergency, and firmly resolved to maintain tlieir rights by the sword, if remonstrance and entreaty should prove inefFcctual. We do not chiim for the town of Lexington any exclusive honor in this respect. But we do say, that no town, under all the circumstances, is deserving of more praise. No town was more ready to resolve, and no town backed up her declarations with more promptitude, or made greater sacrifices in the cause than the town of Lexington. Her population was small, being only about seven hundred, and her means were limited ; but like the woman in Scripture, " she did what she could " in the cause of the colonies - the cause of freedom.

I have been thus particular in presenting the acts and doings of the inhabitants of Lexington, preparatory to the opening of hostilities ; for, after all, we are to contemplate the American Revolution, not so much in the strife upon the ensanguined field, as in the cool deliberation, and the firm resolve which characterized our people at the period immediately preceding the open rupture. I have been thus particular in order to present to the public those valuable state papers, written by the Rev. Jonas Clarke, which prepared our people, not only for the contest, but for the just appreciations of rational and constitutional liberty. It is an easy thing in times of excitement to arouse the passions of men, and nerve their arms for battle - 'to teach their hands to war and their fing-ers to fifjlit.' But to instil into their minds the great principles of civil and religious liberty, and make them realize their duty as citizens, is a more difficult task. But this has been done in a clear and able manner, in the documents above cited. So fully and so clearly are the grievances under which our fathers labored, and the causes Avhich gave rise to the American Revolution set forth, that if all other records were destroyed, and all recollections blotted from the memory, the faithful historian could, from the Instructions given to the Representatives of Lexington, and the other papers found in our Records, emanating from the pen of Mr. Clarke, trace the developments of oppression from year to year, and state the true causes of that mighty struggle.

With the master mind of this pious divine, operating upon and almost controlling the people of his charge, and with the military discipline to which some thirty of the citizens of Lexington had been subjected in their service in the French war, we can easily account for the firm and manly resistance made by them on the 19th of April, 1775. It was not mere military ardor, thirsting for renown on the field of battle - it was not that spirit of adventure which frecjuently leads to deeds of noble daring in the face of an enemy - nor was it a thirst of conquest for the hope of gain, that animated the breasts of the citizens of Lexington on that memorable day. No, it was the higher and holier aspirations of patriotism that fired their bosoms, and led them into the face of danger ; it was a love of liberty, guided by reason and sanctified by religion, that gave them firmness, and made them steadfast and immovable in the cause they had espoused. They knew in whom they trusted, and the charge they had to keep ; they knew that they stood the defenders of human rights - the protectors of their wives and children. And though the odds were fearfully against them, they looked to that Power to whom their devoted pastor had so often pointed them, and had confidence that the justice of their cause would bring down the sustaining aid of the "Lord of Sabaoth."

As the feelings and sentiments which prevailed among the people of Lexington, pervaded the whole community on the opening of the year 1775, an open rupture was a mere question of time. With such haughty pretentions as were put forth by the Ministry and Parliament of Great Britain on the one side, and the calm but resolute determination of the colonists to enjoy the rights and maintain the privileges of British subjects on the other, it was certain that this controversy could not end in words. There was too much pride on the one hand, and too much principle on the other, to justify the belief that England would abandon her policy, or the colonists their rights. To the eye of the enlightened statesman, the Revolution had already commenced, and the great battle of freedom was being fought. The resolve had been taken, and the armor had been burnished. The magazine had been prepared, the train laid, and the match ignited ; and whenever by design or by accident, the fuse should come in contact with the powder, the explosion must take place.

Those, therefore, who contemplate the Revolution as commencing on the 19th of April, 1775, must look at eflfects rather than at causes ; and suflfer their minds to rest upon the outward and visil)lc, rather tlian penetrate the fjreat moral causes operating- by fixed and certain hnvs, which had been deveh)ping themselves for more than a century. Tlie rash act of Pitcairn at Lexinoton Common, was by no means the cause of the Revolution. It was merely the accidental occurrence which opened the drama at that time and place. The tragedy had been written, the great parts assigned, and the grand result penned by the recording angel, and if the first act had not been opened at Lexington and Concord, it must have transpired on some other field. Otis and Adams opened the battle of the Revolution, long before the bayonet was fixed, or the sword drawn. Clarke's Instructions to our Representatives did as much to make the patriots stand firm on the Common in the very face of a superior force, as did the stern command of the gallant Parker.

Nor does this view of the subject lessen the praise due to the patriot band, which rallied in freedom's cause on the 19th of April. On the contrary, it adds greatly to their honor, and reflects imperishable lustre upon their names. It shows that they acted, not from passion, but from principle, and fought not to conquer, but to defend - not to despoil a foe, but to establish for themselves and for their posterity a government of laws, which would mete out to every citizen his rights and his privileges, and secure them in their enjoyment. The colonies had outgrown their minority, and, by an irresistible instinct of our nature, felt that they had a right to set up for themselves. The freedom of thought and of speech which had been so long enjoyed in America, had prepared the people for freedom, and that precious boon must be enjoyed. They were no sticklers for forms. They were sober, peaceable, and law-abiding, and had no desire to break off their connection with the mother country, if they could be treated with parental regard. But as the matter then stood, a separation was inevitable. The irrepressible conflict had commenced, and the work must go on to its completion. The day of debate, must now give place to a day of action ; and any attom{)t at a peaceable adjustment would be merely a temporary adjournment of the open rupture.

Chapter Iv Causes Of The American Revolution

The State of Feeling towards the Mother Country - Allegiance to the Crown - Massachusetts the First to deny the Right of Parliament to legislate for us - Massachusetts Charter annulled - Andros appointed Governor, with Despotic Powers - Andros imprisoned - Anew Charter granted - Writs of Assistance issued - Otis opposed them - Admiralty Jurisdiction extended - The Stamp Act passed - Stamp Officer hung in Effigy - General Congress at New York - Stamp Act repealed - A Ship-of-War sent to Bo.'- ton - Gov. Bernard dissolved the General Court - Refuses to Order a New Election - A Convention assembles in Boston - Two Regiments sent to Boston - The People refuse to furnish them Quarters or Rations - Bernard recalled, and Hutchinson appointed Governor - The Boston Massacre - Hutchinson removes the Troops to the Castle - Boston laid under Martial Law - Committees of Correspondence organized - The Tea destroyed - Massachusetts the First to deny the Power of Parliament, and the First to baffle the ^Ministry.

In the preceding chapter, the state of feeling in the town of Lexington, up to the commencement of the revolutionary struggle, and the measures there adopted, have been presented. We have seen in the instructions to their representatives the great doctrines of freedom and good government plainly foreshadowed, and the causes which led to the Revolution, strongly set forth in general terms. In this chapter it is proposed to state these causes on a broader scale, and to trace, from time to time, the developments of oppression on the one hand, and of the spirit of freedom on the other. By this view, broader in its territorial application, we shall see that the aspirations and the throbs which swelled the bosoms of the citizens of Lexington, beat in unison with the pulsations throughout the province.

Springing from a stock proverbial for its. loyalty, our fathers . were not inclined to revolt from the mother country. On the contraiy, they were proud of their ancestry, and claimed nothing but the rights of English subjects. The Reformation in the six- tccnth century, by establishing the right of private judgment, had clothed man with individuality, and taught him to think and judge for himself; and while the consciousness of personal accountability had in a degree wrought out spiritual emancipation, the contests growing out of the aljsurd prerogatives of the crown of England, had prepared the many for political freedom. The most intelligent among the people of Great Britain regarded the infallibility of the Pope in spiritual, and the infallibility of the King in temporal things, as equally absurd. The seeds of civil and religious liberty had in this manner been sown broadcast throughout the realm, and though some had fallen by the wayside, and some in stony places, others had fallen on good ground, and were promising a future harvest. Those who emigrated to these shores were deeply imbued with the spirit of liberty, both civil and religious. They had felt the exactions of the state, and the persecutions of the church in their own country, and rather than submit to these evils, they chose to encounter the perils and privations of a life in a wilderness, surrounded by savage foes.

But though they had fled from persecution in their native land, they did not design to throw oflT their allegiance to their rightful sovereign. The first settlers of New England, before they left the Mayflower, declared that they came to this wilderness to promote " the glory of God, the advancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of their king and country." And after they had landed upon these shores, they cherished a fond recollection of the land of their birth. Their memories recurred to the scene of their childhood, and brought up anew all the endearing associations of early life. They remembered with filial gratitude the parents who had reared them, and the friends they had left behind ; and next to the spot which was endeared to them by their trials, their dangers, and their sufferings, their warmest benisons rested upon their native isle. But being separated from the parent country by the broad expanse of ocean, they knew that they must rely mainly upon themselves. Realizing that they held their fortunes in their own hands, they naturally felt that they had a right to manage their own affairs in their owti way. Holding the country by the double right of charter and of j)urchase, tiiey could not divest themselves of the conviction that the lands they had cleared and the huts they had erected were theirs by no ordinary title. Having set up civil and religious institutions for themselves, they had a growing attachment for the work of their own hands, and felt that their wishes should be consulted in everything which related to the colonies. Claiming by their Charter, not only their possessions, but all the rights and immunities of Englishmen, - while they acknowledged their allegiance to the Crown, they maintained that they had full powers of legislation : and hence they denied all right in Parliament to impose taxes upon them without their consent.

As the controversy growing in part out of taxation, gave rise to the Revolution, of which the events of the 19th April were the commencement ; and as the resistance of our fathers to the Acts of Parliament is sometimes appealed to, to justify resistance to our laws at the present day, - it is important to a just understanding of the issue then, and of our duty now, that the facts be distinctly stated, and the exact issue be kept in view. The precise question was this : Has the British Parliament, in which the colonies have no representatioti, a right bij the colonial Charters and by the English Constitution, to tax the colonies for the support of the Home Government, or to modify their Charters, without the consent of the colonists ? Great Britain claimed this right, and rested it upon the supremacy of Parliament. The colonies, they said, were of their own planting ; and being a part of the British empire, were subject to all the laws of the realm ; and that Parliament, being supreme, " had a right to legislate for them in all cases what' soever.''^ On the other hand, it was maintained by the colonists, that on leaving Great Britain with a Charter from the crown, they brought with them to this country, all the rights and immunities of English subjects ; that on the great principles of natural rights, recognized and secured by the English constitution, all private property was sacred, and hence that all taxes must be granted by the people themselves, or by representatives chosen by them ; that those natural and constitutional rights were not only inherent in the colonists, but were also secured to them in their Charters, which were sacred compacts that no power on earth could rightfully infringe ; that by the fundamental law of the empire, taxation and representation were inseparably united, and as the colonies were not, and frt)m the nature of the case, could not be represented in the British Parliament, so Parliament had no right to impose taxes upon them, especially for the maintenance of the Government at home. It was moreover contended that their Charters gave them full powers of legislation, and that they had exercised those powers from the first, with the full knowledge and acquiescence of the British Government. They also declared their willingness at all times, to grant by their own Legislatures, all moneys which they should deem necessary for the support of their OAvn government, and also to defend His Majesty's Colonies in America against the enemies of their king and country. Such was the precise issue made at that time.

The Colony of jNIassachusetts may justly claim the honor of being the first to put forth this doctrine. As early as 1634, attempts were made to vacate the Charter of the Colony, rather for non-conformity in religious matters than any thing else, and the people of Massachvisetts distinctly intimated that they had full powers of themselves to make all needful laws for their own preservation. But in 1646, Parliament having asserted full powers over the colonies, the General Court of Massachusetts protested against the doctrine, as one calculated to bring them into a state of vassalage. In a memorial to Parliament they say, " We have not admitted appeals to your authority, being assured that they cannot stand with the liberty and power granted to us by our Charter, and would be destructive of all government." In the same spirit, Winslow, the agent of Massachusetts in England, publicly denied the jurisdiction of Parliament over the colonies. "If the Parliament of England,'" said he, " should impose laAvs upon us, having no burgesses in the House of Commons, we should lose the liberties and freedom of Englishmen indeed." Thus did ]\[assaclmsetts, within the first quarter of a century after the first settlement of New England, assert the power of the colonies, and deny the right of Parliament to legislate for them, on the ground that they were not represented in that body - a doctrine on which the colonies finally united, and resisted the acts of the parent country.

they had a right to choose their own officers, to exercise "all power and authority, legislative, executive, and judicial, to defend themselves by force of arms against every aggressor, and to reject, as an infringement of their rights, any parliamentary or royal imposition prejudicial to the country, and contrary to any just act of colonial legislation."

To punish Massachusetts for her bold and independent opposition to the claims of the King and Parliament, a quo rvarranto was issued in 1683, to annul her Charter ; the King at the same time making a public declaration that pardon would be extended to the colonist!?, in case they would consent to certain modifications of the Charter. On the receipt of this intelligence in Massachusetts, a general consternation at first prevailed. They knew that many cities in England had been compelled to surrender their charters, and submit to the King and Parliament. The Governor and assistants were persuaded that it was hopeless to resist, and recommended that agents be sent to Enoland " to receive His Majesty's command." This ,recommendation was sent to the representatives of the people, who returned it with this laconic endorsement " The Dejnities consent not, but adhere to their former bills." The Charter, however, was annulled, and the Colony was left to the tender mercy of the corrupt court of Charles II.

The revocation of the Charter was followed by the introduction of a despotism, more grievous than anything before known in Massachusetts. Sir Edmund Andros, who had been appointed Governor of Ncav England, arrived in Boston, in 1686, empowered by the new sovereign, James II., to appoint and remove his own council, and with their consent to exercise all powers of legislation, to make laws, lay taxes, control the militia, and to sustain his authority by force. To carry out this arbitrary and despotic system of government, he resolved that no printing presses should be tolerated in the country, and that the people should not be permitted to assemble in town meetings to deliberate upon public affairs. Under his corrupt administra-^ tion, public schools were neglected, religious institutions were impaired, and the personal rights of the citizens were either <lisregarded or basely tram[)led upon. But a despotism like this was not long to be endured. Those who hfid denied the power of the King and Parliament, would not long siil)mit to the imposition of taxes by a subordinate n\agistrate. And while his monarch was pi'eparing the way for his own overthrow in Great Britain, Andros was laying the foundation for his overthrow in the colonies. When the news reachetl Boston in the spring of 1689, that James II. had fled his country, and that the Prince of Orange had ascended the throne, the people were detci-mined to imitate the example of their British brethren, and rid themselves of their tyrant. Andros attempted to sustain himself by force ; but the people were too sensible of their rights, and of his weakness, to submit. They seized the sheriiF, the military commander, and, at last, the Governor himself, and committed them to prison. The whole town of Boston was in arms, and, actuated by what they declared to be their sense of duty to their God and country, completely overthrew the government of Andros. While the people of' Great Britain were rejoicing in the expulsion of the Stuarts, the people of New England were soimding their peans for the overthrow of a subordinate tyrant.

The Charter of the Colony of IVIassachusetts, which was annulled in 1685, was restored by William and ISIaiy in 1691, Avith several limitations; the crown claiming the right to appoint the Governor, who should have a negatiAe upon the Legislature. The Council, however, were to be chosen by the Legislature. Though this Charter did not restore to the people all the rights and privileges which they had formerly enjoyed, taken in connection with the arbitrary government of Andros, it contained some important provisions. The people of New England, from the first, were in the habit of transacting all kinds of business in their town meetings. In those little democracies, they not only acted upon their municipal affairs, but had been accustomed to discuss all public questions, and devisc measures for the good of the Colony. These meetings had been suspended by Andi'os, who, judging correctly, considered them the great means of creating and keeping alive a thirst for independence. Though the first Charter did not in terms authorize the holding of such meetings for such purposes, it gave powers which almost nccessarilv iuiplied it. But no such meetings were forbidden during the period which intervened between the annulling of the first Charter, and its restoration ; the Act of AVilliam and ^lary revived these customs, and gave the rojal construction in favor of what may be denominated the political rights of towns. This construction of the riglits of the people will appear more important in the subsequent part of this narrative. Under this modified Charter, the General Court were to provide for the support of the Government, and the payment of ita officers ; and to make these officers resj)onsfble to the people, they claimed the right of fixing their salaries annually, instead of establishing them by standing laws. This course invohed the Colony in a controversy Avith the crown, which was renewed from time to time, for nearly forty years, when Governor Belcher prevailed upon the crown to accept the annual grant ; and so the controA-ersy subsided, leaving the Colony victor in the field.

During the war between England and France for the conquest of Canada, the controvei-sy between the former and her colonies was in a great measure suspended ; though the attempts of Great Britain to quarter her troops upon the people, without the consent of their legislatures, kept them alive to a sense of their i-ights, and of the injustice of the parent country. But after the close of the war with France in 1763, the British Government turned their attention to the colonies, and attempted by various means to bring them to subjection. One measure was to make the judges dependent upon the crown alone; thus making the judiciary the mere creature of the king, and a fit instrument by wiiich to oppress the colonies, and so bring them to submission. This roused the indignation of the people, who plainly saw a settled purpose in Great Britain to reduce them to a state of vassalage.

But the darling policy of the Administration was to raise a revenue from the colonies. Various propositions were presented for some new and direct enactment, which would bear upon the. colonies, and do something to supply the British treasury. It was, however, thought best to revive and enforce some general existing law regulating trade, rather than adopt a special provision for America. An effi->rt was consequently made to carry out this plan, and, to render it efi^ectual, it was thought necessary to clothe the officers of the customs with full power and authority to call to their aid all the executive and judicial officers in the Colony. As Boston was the great mart of trade, and Massachusetts the most perverse Colony, it Avas deemed advisable to tiy the experiment there. In 17G1, the officers of the customs applied to Hutchinson, who had been raised to the chief justiceship in Massachusetts, for " Writs of Assistance," to enable them to collect the duties upon various imported articles. The application was resisted, and the case argued before the whole court. Jeremiah Gridley appeared for the croAvn, and argued the necessity and legality of the writ ; but when he had closed, James Otis, a man of ardent feeling, exalted patriotism, and thrilling eloquence, stepped forth in behalf of the colonists. "I am determined," said he, "to sacrifice estate, ease, health, applause, and even life itself, to the sacred calls of my country, in opposition to a kind of power, the exercise of which cost one king of England his head, and another his throne." He then proceeded to point out the illegality and oppressive character of such a writ. He denounced it, "as the worst instrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of English liberty and the fundamental principles of law." "No Act of Parliament," said he, " can establish such a writ; an Act of Parliament against the Constitution is void."

The powerful and eloquent appeal of Otis awakened a feeling which had been slumbering in the breasts of the patriots of the colonies, and prepared the people for more active and efficient efforts in the cause of freedom. John Adams, who was present and listened to the argument and eloquence of Otis, declared " that from that time, he could never read the Acts of trade without anger, nor any section of them without a curse." The Court after some delay and consulting the English ministry, gi'anted the writ, which greatly heightened public feeling, and prepared the people for more decisive measures. But the great cause of discontent was the enforcing of the Acts of trade by the Courts of Admiralty - courts entirely independent of the colonies, and depending upon the crown alone - courts in which all cases were decided without the intervention of a jury, and where the pleasure of the ministry was the paramount law.

Trade recommended, in 1763, the passage of an Act, requiring all the legal instruments in the colonies, including notes, receipts, orders, certificates, &c., to be Avritten on stamped paper, upon which a duty should be imposed - the agents of the colonies in England partially assenting to the measure. On the arrival of this intelligence in America, the people of Boston and the Legislature of Massachusetts, ever alive to the rights of freemen, in their instructions to their agent in London, remonstrated against the threatened measure ; declaring, " that ' the silence of the Province should have been imputed to any cause, even to despair, rather than be construed into a tacit cession of their rights, or an acknowledgment of a right in the Parliament of Great Britain to impose duties and taxes vipon a people, who are not represented in the House of Commons." In the same instructions, they endorse the doctrine of Otis, "that the imposition of taxes, whether on trade or on lands, on houses or ships, on real or personal, on fixed or floating property in the colonies, is absolutely irreconcilable with the rights of the colonists, as British subjects or as men."

Li 1765, the worst fears of the colonies were realized in the passage of the Stamp Act, and the adoption of other measures, designed to support the absolute supremacy of Parliament over them. And to insure the execution of these odious and oppressive acts, not only all the civil officers in the Colony were put in requisition, but the whole naval and military force, which was to be increased in America, was to aid in the support of these arbitrary measures ,' and to render the pill more bitter, the people here were required to support the troops which were sent over to oppress them. And to render the tyranny absolute, all cases aris^ing under these acts were to be decided in Courts of Admiralty, without the intervention of a jury, by a single judge, created by the crown, whose sole support was to be drawn from his share of the profits of his OAvn condemnations.

Massachusetts took the alarm. Her people saw in this series of measures, a fixed and determined plan to reduce them to subjection, and to bring them to the foot of the throne. Governor Bernard, in his message to tlie Legislature, assured them tliat it was the duty and interest of the Colony to submit, for the law

*' would now be prosecuted to " its utmost completion ; " but the representatives of the people addressed letters to the other colonies, inviting them to choose delegates to meet in a General Congress at New York, to consult together on the affairs of the colonics. In the meantime the Stamp Act arrived in Boston, and Oliver, naturally odious to the people, was announced as the officer who was to receive and dispose of the stamps. The Act was universally condemned in Boston, "as arbitrary, unconstitutional, and a breach of the Charter." Oliver, the stamp officer, was hung in effigy. Hutchinson, the Chief Justice, ordered the sheriff to remove the image, but the people insisted that it should remain through the day. Governor Bernard summoned his Council, but a majority of them refused to interfere. The next evening, the image was taken down, placed upon a bier, carried down State street, directly by the Council Chamber, the multitude shouting at the top of their voices, "Liberty, Property, and no jStamps.^' They then proceeded to Kilby street, where they demolished a frame, which it was said Oliver was erecting for a stamp office, and with the fragments of the frame made " a funeral pyre for the effigy in front of his house on Fort Hill." A few evenings after, the mob assembled near the old State House, seized and burnt the records of the Admiralty Court, and afterwards assaulted the house of the Comptroller of Customs, and of the Chief Justice, who had rendered himself extremely odious to the people. The demonstration was so strong that Oliver was induced to resign his office, and the stamps were left in the hands of the Governor. Never had the feelings of the people of Boston and vicinity been wrought up to such a pitch ; for though the sober part of the community condemned the assault upon the house of the Comptroller and of the Chief Justice, they were willing to have such a manifestation of public sentiment as should render the execution of the oppressive law impracticable. The press and the pulpit spoke out in language not to be misunderstood. The patriotic May hew preached to a large audience from the text - "I would that they were even cut off, which trouble you ; for, brethren, ye have been called to liberty ;" in Avhich he set forth the importance of civil and religious IVi'cdom, and the duty of the people to maintain their just rights by all suitable means.

Causes Of The Revolution

The General Congress which convened at New York, pnt forth a declaration of sentiments, dwelling mainly upon the inherent right of trial by jury, in opposition to the extension of Admiralty jurisdiction ; and the right of exemption from taxation, except through their respective colonial legislatui'es. This doctrine being avowed by a General Congress, tended directly to unite the different colonies, and so prepare them for the great struggle which was approaching. On the very day of the adjournment of Congress, the Legislature which first proposed that assembly, convened at Boston, and in reply to Governor Bernard, asserted a doctrine in relation to the power of Parliament, from which the Colony never receded. " The Charter of the Province," they declare, "invests the General Assembly with the power of making laws for its internal government and taxation ; that there are certain orisjinal, inherent rio;hts belonoinsf to the people, of which Parliament cannot divest them ; among these is the right of representation in the body which exercises the power of taxation ; that there is a necessity that the subjects in America should exercise this power within themselves, for they are not represented in Parliament, and such a representation is deemed impracticable."

While these doctrines were advocated in Massachusetts by James Otis, Samuel Adams, and their associates, and in several of the other colonies by some of their purest patriots and wisest statesmen, they also found able advocates in Great Britain. Pitt, Barre, Burke, and others (5onnected with the government, pleaded the cause of liberty in the British Parliament, with such distinguished ability and force of argument, that the ministry, fearing the strength of the opposition at home, and the resistance of their subjects in America, consented to the repeal of the Stamp Act. Thus was Great Britain completely foiled in her first attempt at raising a revenue in her colonies, to sustain her burdened treasury. The repeal of the Stamp Act produced a general rejoicing in the colonies. The Legislature of Massachusetts passed an Act remunerating those who had suffered in the destruction of their property in attempting to execute the Stamp Act. But with characteristic wisdom, they were careful to state in the bill itself, that the sufferers had no just claim, and that

In the meantime the ministry were devising measures of taxation in the shape of duties upon imports into the colonies. In the debates u})on the Stamp Act, a distinction had been taken between internal and external taxation. It was maintained by the opponents of the Stamp Act, that it related to the internal trade of the colonies, and was a proper subject to be regulated by local law. The ministry thought to avoid this objection by imposing a duty upon imports, which related to foreign commerce - to the genei-al subject of trade. But the colonists were not disposed to acquiesce in any such distinction. Seeing the new attempt of Parliament to subject them to taxation, the peo})le of Boston in town meeting assembled, resolved that they would not import British manufactures or other merchandise on which duties were imposed. The Legislature of Massachusetts, led on by that distinguished and far-seeing patriot, Samuel Adams, forwarded instructions to their agent in Great Britain, to be communicated to the ministry, in which they embodied their fixed and unchangeable opinions. They renewed their former declarations, that Parliament had no right to tax the colonies ; and they further declared that the creation of new crown officers, and the sending of a standing army to be quartered upon the people, were in fact introducing an al)solute government into the colony, which would lead to the most dangerous consequences ; for they add significantly, " the laws of God and nature are invariable." They also addressed a circular to the other colonies, setting forth their common grievances, and asking their cooperation in all such measures as may be found necessary for the maintenance of their rights as freemen.

Governor Bernard, with all his professions, was a deadly enemy to the Colony. For while he was pretending to be friendly to the people, and was assuring them of his cooperation and aid in all their eflforts to obtain their rights, he was writing to the ministry, representing the Colony in a state of rebellion, and urging upon them the necessity of sending over a naval and militaiy force to reduce them to subjection. In May, 1768, the Romney, a ship-of-war, arrived in Bosl^on harbor from Halifax, being sent at the suggestion of Bernard, and at the request of the Commissioners of Customs, to awe the Bostonians into submission. To strengthen his crew, and to show his entire disregard of the feehngs of the people, and the rights of tlie colonists, the commander forcibly and insolent!}^ impressed New England seamen to serve on board his ship. He also seized a merchant ship belonging to John Hancock, and anchored her under the guns of his vessel. This created intense feeling among the inhabitants. A town meeting was called, and a committee of twenty-one was chosen to wait upon the Governor, and present an address to the citizens, in Avhicli they claimed for the Colony the sole power of taxation. At the same time they condemned in strong terms, the practice of impressment, and demanded the removal of the Romney from the harbor. The town also declared and put on record, their irrevocable determination to assert and maintain their dear and invaluable rights and liberties, at the utmost hazard of their fortunes and their lives. At the same time, they expressed their readiness to maintain loyalty and submission to Great Britain in all things necessary to the preservation of the whole empire.

In the midst of this excitement. Governor Bernard laid before the Legislature a letter from the British ministry, calling upon them to rescind their Resolutions denying the power of Par- Ifament to tax the colonies ; and also to recall their Circular addressed to the other colonies, asking their cooperation and suppoi-t in defence of their just rights. This presented a more direct and important issue than had ever before been made. Here was an express requisition made upon the Legislature, and it must be met at once. Under the guidance of Samuel Adams, who was ever ready to meet any emergency, an answer was returned to Lord Hillsborough, justifying the course of the Legislature, and refusing to reti\ace their steps. This bold and independent measure was sustained by the House with o-reat unanimity, there being but seventeen against the measure, and ninety-two in its favor. When the Governor was informed by a message from the House, that they had refused to rescind, and had affirmed their former doings, trembling with fear, he first prorogued, and then dissolved the assembly.

on the defensive. They knew their rights, and were determined to maintain them at every hazard ; but, at the same time, they intended to act with prudence. Massachusetts had not only the consciousness that she was in the right, but that she had the sympathy, and in an emergency, should have the aid and support of her sister colonies.

In the autumn of 1768, hearing that three regiments of troops were to be sent to Boston to reduce them to a state of subjection , and the Legislature having been dissolved by the Governor, the people requested him to order a new election. On hearing of the refusal of Bernard to call a new Legislature, the people of Boston repaired to Faneuil Hall, that cradle of American Liberty, and resolved, " That the inhabitants of Boston will at the utmost peril of their lives and Jhrtunes, maintain and defend their rights, liberties, privileges and immunities ; and that money cannot be granted, nor a standing army kept up in the Province, but by their own free consent." They also unanimously requested the selectmen to wait upon the clergymen of the town, and request them to set apart the following Tuesday as a day of fastmg and j^'^^cty^^"- The request was cheerfully complied with, and the day was kept in a solemn manner. In this way the sacred sanctions of religion were brought to bear upon the civil policy of our fathers, and hence they asserted theft rights, not simply as patriots who owed a debt to their country, but as Christians who were under obligations to their God.

Shortly after, a Convention of the Province assembled at Boston to consult upon the public safety. One of their first acts was to petition the Governor to summon a constitutional Legislature, to prevent the encroachments of the military upon the civil power. The Governor not only refused to receive their petition, but admonished the Convention to separate, as they should "repent of their rashness." The Convention, however, continued in session six days, and repeated the protest of the Colony against taxation by Parliament, and against a standing army quartered among them. There were many in the Province, and foremost among them was Samuel Adams, who saw that a collision of arms was inevitable. But it was desirable to unite all the people in the Colony, and also to secure the sympathy and assistance of the other colonies. The cause was one, and all had a common interest in the result ; and so all must be induced, if possible, to act together. To secure this, it was essential that wise and discreet measures should be adopted. On this ground, prudence and a strict adherence to law, were strongly enjoined. Adams, though firm as a rock, and fearless in the hour of danger, was at all times cool and collected, and knew when to arouse, and when to soothe public feeling. Patriotism with him was a religious sentiment ; and though he had a zeal of God, it was always according to knowledge. He knew that it would be madness for the citizens of Boston to provoke an encounter with the King's troops, which were about to be landed among them ; but he knew that by holding the military to a strict legal account, and keeping it subordinate to the civil power, the force would be of but little utility to the crown ; and would, in fact, do but little towards enforcing the arbitrary commands of the treacherous Governor.

A few days after the adjournment of the Convention, a squadron from Halifax, with two regiments of troops and a company of artillery on board, arrived in the harbor of Boston. The selectmen being called upon to provide quarters for the troops, taking the advantage of an Act of Parliament, refused to grant them " till the barracks were full," at Castle William. The Governor's Council also insisted upon this provision of law, and refused to furnish quarters. They also refused to provide supplies of provisions and fuel without the consent of the Legislature, which had been dissolved by the Governor himself. Thus was the treacherous Bernard caught in his own toils. He was greatly perplexed in providing for the troops he had secretly called for ; to send them down to the Castle^ as Fort Independence was then called, would be removing them too far from the point where he wished to station them, that they might awe the people into submission. Great efforts had been made, both in England and in this country, to have Otis, Adams, and other leading patriots, sent to Great Britain to be tried for their lives. But after all the endeavors of the corrupt and deceitful Bernard, and the administration at home, it was decided by the law officers of the crown, that their acts did not constitute treason, the only crime which by the statute would justify their being brought to England for trial.

The people of Boston were encouraged to persevere in their resohition not to import dutiable articles. Many of the towns in the Province adopted resolutions, assuring the citizens of the metropolis that they would aid them in carrying out tliat policy. The people of Lexington as we have already seen, declared in 17G9, that they would drink no more tea till the unconstitutional revenue Act should be repealed. Such assurances from every quarter gave the people of Boston great courage, and induced them to persevere. Boston being the seat of oppression, was of course the fii'st to complain - the first to speak out - the first to act. And they performed their part nobly. But at the same time, it should be understood that the patriots of Charlestown, of Roxbury, of Cambridge, of Salem, and we may add of the towns generally, coimselled with the patriots of Boston, and whatever was done at Boston, was sustained by the people in the interior. The people in the country followed the town of Boston, not merely because Boston had acted, but because she had acted on the general policy, and carried out the great principles to which all the people, both in the town and in the country, had assented.

In 1769, Bernard being notified of his recall, convened the newly chosen Legislature, that they might appropriate his salary before he left. But the Legislature, true to the interests of freedom, even before electing a Clerk or a Speaker, complained to the Governor that " the armament by sea and land in the port and at the gates of the city, during the session of the Assembly," was an indignity to the Legislature. Bernard in reply declared that he had no authority over his Majesty's troops ; whereupon they declare by way of rejoinder, that a standing army, uncontrollable by the civil authority of the Province, was dangerous to liberty and inconsistent with the spirit of a free constitution. The Governor however adjourned the Legislature to Cambridge, that they need not be overawed by the presence of the troops ; and his great object being to obtain his salary, he urged the appropriation upon the House ; but that body instead of granting it, directly refused, and petitioned the crown for his removal from the government. They also affirmed their former doctrine in relation to taxation, and declared that "-the establishment of a standing army in the Colony in time of peace.

The treacherous Bernard M^as succeeded by the more treacherous Hutchinson ; and the aft'airs of the Colony were not at all improved by the change. The ministry had so far yielded to the colonies as to remove the tax upon tea ; but the concessions came too late. The people plainly saw that paying the duty upon one article, would be sun-endering the great principle for which they had contended ; and they boldly declared that they would resist the payment of taxes in any form. On the 18th of October, 1769, the town of Boston published an "Appeal to the World," in wliich they say, " A legal Meeting in the Town of Boston is an Assembly where a noble freedom of speech is ever expected and maintained ; where men think as they please, and speak as they think. Such an Assembly has ever been the dread, and often, the scourge of Tyrants. Our Rights are invaded by the Revenue Acts ; therefore, till they are all repealed, and the troops recalled, the cause of our just complaints cannot be removed." Still the people of Boston were disposed to abide by all laws constitutionally made ; for while they had no disposition to encounter the troops stationed in their midst, they were careful to have every officer and soldier, who should invade tlie rights of the citizen, or trample upon the civil authority, brought before the magistrate. In this way, they rendered the troops comparatively harmless, and as burdensome to the crown as they were to the people.

The troops so stationed, became weary of a life of inactivity, and, like soldiers generally in that situation, assumed important airs towards the citizens. Small bodies of them would go through the town at night creating disturbances, and insulting the people who were abroad in the streets. On the evening of the 2d of March, 1770, a number of British soldiers having collected in State street, insulted some of the citizens who were passing, which soon drew together a considerable concourse of people. Preston, a British captain, who was officer of the day, soon appeared with a file of men with fixed bayonets, and their muskets loaded. Preston ordered them to fire upon the citizens, which they did, killing three men, and wounding several others. The excitement was fearful. The bells rang in all the chiu-ches.

The town drums beat. "To arms! to arms," was the cry. The people were excited almost to madness at the sight of their slaughtered brethren. At eleven the next day, a town meeting was opened at Faneuil Hall with a prayer by Rev. Mr. Cooper. Samuel Adams and fourteen others were chosen a committee to wait upon the Governor, and, in the name of the town, demand the removal of the troops. The Governor after considerable hesitation consented to remove one regiment to the Castle ; but decided to retain the rest in the town. Faneuil Hall being insufficient to contain the multitude which had assembled, the meeting was adjourned to the Old South Church. The committee which had waited upon Hutchinson, came in with their report of the interview, and pronounced the answer of the Governor unsatisfactory.

The town after due deliberation raised a new committee, composed of Adams, Hancock, Warren,, and other prominent citizens, to bear to the Governor their final message. Samuel Adams, always manly and dignified, would at times rise even above himself, and speak with a majesty and authority which would excite admiration and command obedience. Here was a proper occasion for him to appear as he was, truly great. Hutchinson had exerted liimself to the utmost to have Adams sent to England as a traitor to be tried for his life ; and at this important juncture the patriot and the courtier stood face to face. " It is the unanimous opinion of the meeting," said Adams to the Governor, " that your reply to the vote of the inhabitants in the morning is unsatisfactory; nothing less will satisfy them than a total and immediate removal of all the troops." Hutchinson hesitated, repeating his former statement, that he had no power to remove them. "If you have power," rejoined Adams, " to remove one regiment, you have power to remove both. It is at your peril, if you do not. The meeting is composed of three thousand people. They are become very impatient. A thousand men are already arrived from the neighborhood, and the country is in general motion. Night is approacliing ; an immediate answer is expected." Hutchinson hesitated, trembled, and finally quailed before the master-spirit of this patriot band, and consented to withdraw the troops from the town, and quarter them at the Castle. On the return of the committee with the intelligence, the meeting dispersed ; but not until they had provided a strong military watch of their own, to be on duty tUl the regiments should leave the town whose peace and safety they had disturbed.

The Governor was mortified and' chagrined, at finding himself foiled in his plan, and his military force checked and controlled by the civil authority. The government at home, sharing in this mortification, strove to raise the military above the civil power by placing the proscribed town of Boston under martial law. The Governor, in consequence of this step, resigned the Castle to the military commander at Boston. This new act of arbitrary power on the part of the King and Council, tended to hasten the rupture which the wisest statesmen had long seen to be merely a question of time.

Up to the commencement of 1772, Boston had acted without any special concert with other towns in the Province. Resolutions had been adopted, and the leading patriots in Boston had counselled with kindred spirits in other towns ; but there had been no organized channel of communication. But as the weight of British vengeance seemed to be concentrating upon Boston alone, many of her patriotic citizens were filled with apprehension, bordering upon despair. And well might they hesitate, if not tremble. They saw their town subjected to martial law, and then' trade threatened with destruction ; the King and Parliament, drawing the cords of oppression tighter and tighter around them. And while these accumulatino^ evils seemed to be gathering, as if to burst upon their devoted heads, they saw some of the other colonies faltering and even giving in a partial adherence to the demands of their common oppressor. Boston had become comparatively quiet, and the fires of patriotism seemed to be dying out. John Adams had retired from the service of the people ; Hancock faltered ; Cushing, Phillips, Church, and others who had been active before, hesitated or declined active service in the patriot cause. But there was one man among them who knew not despondency ; one who was reared up for the crisis, £yid who like all truly great men, was sure to rise with the occasion. Samuel Adams stood firm at his post. Seeing the crisis approaching, he was resolved to meet it. He saw in prospect the independence of the colonies, and knowing that great events could be brouglit about only by active and well concerted means, he conceived the plan of opening a correspondence with all the towns in the Province ; and by an organized system of town and county committees to form a sort of government by which the energies of the Colony might be directed, and so be prepared for any exigency which might arise. And though his plan at first was but feebly seconded in Boston, and some who had been active before, refused to act on the committee ; in a short time there came a response from the country, which infused new life into the people, confirming the wavering, and gaining new advocates for the cause of popular rights.

When the Legislature assembled in January, 1773, these responses from the towns were laid before them. The popular voice thus expressed, the firmness manifested, and the determination evinced by the people themselves in their primary meetings, strengthened the hands of the Assembly, and rekindled in their breasts those fires of pati-iotism, which were never more to expire. The Governor in his message to the two Houses, with the design of either bringing them to submission, or into a more direct conflict with the parent government, called upon them either to admit or disprove the supremacy of Parliament. The House, by its champion, Samuel Adams, took up the Governor's message, and in an able and artful manner, showed that, from the premises laid down by the Governor in that document, the power of Parliament could not be supreme over the colonies. Encouraged by the almost unanimous voice of the whole Province, and strengthened by the noble and patriotic response from Virginia, the leading patriots of Massachusetts saw that the issue was faii-ly made, and that a rupture between the colonies and Great Britain was inevitable, and that nothing but union and firmness were necessary to insure independence. Their future measures, therefore, must look to this result.

While these things were occurring, the feelings of the people of Massachusetts were further exasperated by the publication of sundry letters written by Governor Hut^'hinson to the ministry in England, urging the adoption of the most arbitrary and oppresij^ive measures against the Colony. By this (leveloj)ment, what had been suspected before, was now more than confirmed.

It appeared tliat the Governor had been guilty of tlie greatest liypocrisy and treachery, urging Great Britain to oppress the people over which he was ruling ; while to them he was making the most solemn protestations of friendship, and assuring them that he was doing everything in his power to lessen their burdens and secure their rights.

The East India Company, anticipating a profitable market in America, had purchased a large amount of tea, and to prevent a heavy loss, they prevailed upon the Council to allow them to ship it to America free of duty in England. The ministry probably thought that this would afford a good opportunity to test the principle, and obtain a concession from the colonists. A large quantity of tea was shipped to America. Three cargoes were destined to Boston. In the meantime, the Committee of Correspondence had succeeded in enlisting the sympathy of most of the towns in the Province ; and had obtained the assurance from the other colonies, that they would resist this new imposition, and would not suffer the tea to be landed. The amount of duty was small, but, as the payment of it would recognize the right of Parliament to tax them, they could not consistently with their oft repeated declarations, submit.

Besides the leading statesmen were fully sensible that an open rupture must inevitably take place at no very distant day ; and they did not intend that any act of concession should be cited against them, when the eventful period should arrive. They chose rather to meet the oppressor at the threshold, and admonish him of the danger of his measures, before it was too late. It was for Massachusetts in this case, as in all others, to take the lead. The people knew that the tea ships were on their passage, and that the Governor himself in the name of his sons, was among the consignees. A large assembly convened at the "Liberty Tree," where the consignees had been requested to meet the people. Adams, Hancock, and other distinguished patriots, were present, but the consignees failed to appear.

A committee was chosen to wait upon them at their warehouses, and request them not to land the tea, but to return it to England in the same vessels in which it had been shipped. The consignees without hesitation refused to hearken to their request. A town meeting was called, and a similar request made in the name of the town. In the meantime one of the ships arrived in the harbor, the owner of which promised the Committee of Correspondence, that the entry of the ship should be dcLiyed for several days. The citizens of Boston held a meeting the next morning, which was the largest ever known in the town. Adams, Hancock, Warren, and other prominent men were present, and took part in the pi'oceedings. It was voted unanimously, that the tea should not be landed, but should be sent back without the payment of the duty. The owners of this ship and others which were soon expected, finally agreed that they would not enter the tea, but would return it, agreeably to the request of the citizens. Meantime the people of Boston were receiving assurances of cooperation from all parts of the Province. Cambridge, Charlestown, Eoxbury, Dorchester, and many other towns in the immediate vicinity, acted with them through their committees. Towns more remote assured them of their aid. "We trust in God," \^Tote the people of Lexington, "that should the state of our affairs require it, we shall be ready to sacrifice our estates (znd everything dear in life, yea, and life itself, in support of the common cause." Such was- the pledge given ; and nobly was it redeemed.

lying, and having posted sentinels to keep off intruders, took possession of the vessels, and in about three hours the whole quantity on board, some three hundred and fifty chests of tea, was emptied into the dock, without any injury being done to the rest of the cargo. The work being accompHshed, the party went quietly to their respective homes. John Adams, in a letter wi'itten the next day, plaj^ully said, "All things were conducted with great ortler, decency, and a perfect submission to government." The destruction of the tea produced a general rejoicing throughout the colonies. The act was hailed with OTeat exultation everywhere, and served to bind the people together more closely than anything which had occurred.

The Legislature of Massachusetts took active measures to sustain the dignity and maintain the rights of the Province. Provision had been made in Great Britain for paying the judges of the Supreme Court by the crown. Knowing the tendency and design of this measure were to destroy the independence of the judiciary, and make it subservient to the king, the Legislature protested against it, and requested the judges to decline the corrupting donation, and at the same time voted them liberal salaries from the colonial treasury. Four of the judges yielded to the request of the Legislature ; but Oliver, the Chief Justice, refused. Whereupon the House found a bill of impeachment against him, and declared him suspended from office, till the issue could be tried by the Council.

The course pursued by Massachusetts from the first, had rendered her the special object of British displeasm-e ; and the destruction of the tea at Boston, filled up the measure of her iniquity in the estimation of the king and Parliament ; and this Province was marked as the victim on M^hich to pour out the vials of their wrath. And well did she merit this preeminence.

She was the first to assert the rights of the colonies, and the boldest in proclaiming them to the world. She was the most steadfast in her determination to resist British encroachments, and the most active in her ciforts to unite the colonies in the great cause of human freedom. Other colonies had taken high and patriotic grounds ; and if some of them had, at some particular juncture, stepped a little in advance of Massachusetts, they were soon seen falling in her rear ; and if they did not temporarily forsake her, they thought they had performed their whole duty, when they had resolved to follow where the Puritan Province should lead.

Freedom, with Massachusetts, was not a passion, but a principle - a deep religious conviction, which was not to be stifled by king or Parliament. Her people regarded civil government as a divine institution ; and their zeal for civil and for religious liberty being kindled at the same altar, they could no more desert the state than the church. With no disposition to invade the prerogatives of Great Britain, they were determined to maintain their own rights unimpaired. With such views and principles, resistance to British encroachment would follow as a matter of course. The people felt that they were acting under great responsibility - that they were acting, not for themselves alone, but also for posterity. They knew the insidious arts of despotism in stealing away one right after another, and they chose to repel the first aggression. Whether the tax were great or small, they regarded the encroachment as equally palpable ; and they esteemed it to be their duty to resist the threepenny tax on tea, rather than entail vassalage upon their children and their children's children. They disdained all freedom which they held at the mercy of foreign masters. Besides, their enlightened statesmanship, as well as their religious faith, taught them that this western continent was a field opened by the Supreme Kuler of the Universe, for the spread of civil and religious freedom, and that at no distant day it must be independent of the old world. Consequently when other colonies of less faith faltered, Massachusetts, animated by the zeal and faith of a pious ministry, warmed by the patriotism of the eloquent Otis, and guided and sustained by the wisdom and unflinching integrity of the far-seeing and incorruptible Adams, was ever ready to assert the

That Massachusetts stood first in what they denominated rebellious Provinces, the records of Parliament abundantly show. On the 7th of March, 1774, the Earl of Dartmouth laid before the House of Lords a great variety of papers in relation to the conduct of the American colonies with reference to the duty on tea. These papers were referred to a committee consisting of about fifty members, who at once selected Massachusetts as the head and front of the offending, not only with reference to the destruction of the tea, but also in relation to the whole subject of taxation, and the power of Parliament. In an elaborate report submitted to the House of Lords by the Earl of Buckinghamshu-e, April 20, 1774, they say, "that they have attentively read and considered the several papers relative to the proceedings of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, in opposition to the sovereignty of his Majesty in his Parliament of Great Britain, and have carefully inspected the journals of the House from the 1st of January, 1764, to the present time." They then proceed to give a detailed account of the doings of this Colony for the period of ten years - showing that Massachusetts had, during that period, not only denied the right of Parliament to tax the colonies, but had uniformly thrown every obstacle in the way of collecting a revenue in America - overawing the officers of the crown, and compelling them to resign ; refusing to quarter troops sent over to enforce the laws, and even denying the right of sending troops into the Province in times of peace, without their consent ; asserting for themselves an exemption from the laws of Parliament, and also claiming for themselves the right to legislate in all cases whatsoever. And whUe they had in this manner denied the power of Parliament, and resisted the execution of the laws, they had taken active measures to draw the other colonies into the same rebellious policy ; and that the destruction of the tea in the harbor of Boston was the crowning act of their insubordination and hostility to the British government.