THE AFFAIRS OF AMERICA DISCUSSED. 477 XIV. number of men, the Boston militia will immediately cut them CHAP. to pieces; if you send over a larger number, six or seven thousand, the Americans will debauch them; and by these 1774. means we shall only hurt ourselves. I would begin by an amercement." Lord North, in reply, declared that he was not an enemy to lenient measures, but that he had found resolutions of censure and warning to avail nothing. "We must, therefore," he added, "proceed to some immediate remedy. Now is our time to stand out, to defy them, to proceed with firmness, and without fear. They will never reform until we take a measure of this kind. I hope this act will not, in any shape, require a military force to put it into execution. Four or five frigates will do the business without any military force. But if the consequences of disobedience are likely to produce rebellion, that consequence belongs to them, and not to us. It is not what we have brought on, but what they alone have occasioned. We are only answerable that our measures are just and equitable. Let us, then, proceed with firmness, justice, and resolution." 2 Montagu, the second son of Lord Sandwich, as "a virgin orator," defended the bill. Byng, in reply, exclaimed, "You are not punishing the Bostonians; you are punishing the English merchants."4 Charles Jenkinson sided with the ministry, and eulogized Grenville; Charles Fox spoke on the opposite side. Van declared that "the town of Boston ought to be knocked about their ears, and destroyed;" Barré indignantly exclaimed, "Keep your hands out of the pockets of the Americans, and they will be obedient subjects. Parliament may fancy they have rights in theory, which I'll answer for they can never reduce to practice."5 Two days later, the discussion was resumed; and Dowdes- Mar. 25. well, Pownall, and Edmund Burke defended the Americans; 1 Debates in Parl. vii. 86. Debates in Parl. vii. 87, 88. 3 Debates in Parl. vii. 89, 90. • Debates in Parl. vii. 91. Debates in Parl. vii. 92-94. For a further sketch of this debate see 478 THE BOSTON PORT BILL. XIV. CHAP. but so strongly did the current set in favor of the bill, that remonstrances against it were viewed with disfavor, or listened 1774. to with impatience; it was passed without division, and was sent to the Lords as if it had been unanimously assented to by the Commons. In this body the bill was more fairly dis Mar. 29. cussed; and the amiable Dartmouth favored conciliation. But Mansfield exclaimed, "The sword is drawn, and you must throw away the scabbard. If you pass this act with tolerable unanimity, Boston will submit, and all will end in a victory without carnage." 2 This decided the question; no division was made; and the journal of the Lords declares that the bill "passed unanimously."3 Thus was the port of Boston closed. Apr. 19. At a subsequent date, to "prove that conciliation, not revenge, was predominant in Britain," an immediate repeal of the tax on tea was proposed; and in the debate which ensued, Edmund Burke, in a masterly speech, surveyed the whole course of the ministry for the past ten years, and declared in favor of the measure now proposed. "Let us," said he, “"act like men; let us act like statesmen. Let us hold some sort of consistent conduct. Leave the Americans as they anciently stood. Do not burden them by taxes. When you drive him hard, the boar will surely turn upon the hunters. If our sovereignty and their freedom cannot be reconciled, which will they take? They will cast your sovereignty in your face. Nobody will be argued into slavery."4 But splendid eloquence was of no avail. The opponents of America were more numerous 2 1 Debates in Parl. vii. 94–104. 3 Jour. H. of Lords for 1774. This for Boston or America in either house." Boston Post Boy for May 23, 1774. The bill was published in the colonies with a black border around it, as though it contained funeral news; and it was cried in the streets of many towns under the title of "A Barbarous, Cruel, Bloody, and Inhuman Murder." Andrews's Am. Rev. i. 134; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 10. Debates in Parl. vii. 123-174. OTHER MEASURES OF PARLIAMENT. than its friends. 479. Only forty-nine voted to repeal the tax, and CHAP. nearly four times that number voted against the repeal.1 XIV. April and May. Three other measures summed up the action of Parliament, 1774. so far as the old colonies were concerned. These were, a bill for "the better regulating the government of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay," which abrogated so much of the charter as gave to the legislature the election of the Council; abolished town meetings, except for the choice of town officers, or on the special permission of the governor; conferred on the executive the appointment and removal of sheriffs at pleasure; and intrusted to the sheriffs the returning of juries; — a bill "for the impartial administration of justice," &c., which transferred the place of trial of magistrates, revenue officers, or soldiers indicted for murder, or other capital offence, to Nova Scotia or Great Britain; - and a bill for legalizing the quartering of troops in Boston.2 All these bills were petitioned against and opposed by the friends of America; but they were triumphantly carried, and were approved by the king. In the mean time, Hutchinson was recalled, Thomas Gage was appointed in his stead, and four regiments were ordered to enforce submission.3 By his instructions the governor was to Mar.31. close the port of Boston, and to take measures for bringing to condign punishment those patriots who had led the people in the recent movements. Samuel Adams, in particular, was 1 Ayes, 49. Noes, 182. Debates in Parl. vii. 178; Andrews's Am. Rev. i. 119. Boston News Letter for June 9, 1774, and Boston Post Boy for June 6 and 13, 1774, where two of the bills are given, with the debates thereupon. Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 232–235; Bradford, i. 331; Andrews's Am. Rev. i. 120, 124; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. vi. 5, 6; Bancroft, vi. 517, 525, 526; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 8. Copies of these acts were received June 2, and were immediately circulated throughout the colonies. 3 Hutchinson, iii. 458; Bancroft, vi. 523. It is said that Dartmouth .480 ARRIVAL OF GAGE. CHAP. marked out for sacrifice, as "the chief of the revolution;" XIV. and against him and his associates proceedings were to be im1774. mediately and formally instituted.1 Pending the passage of the bills just alluded to, the citizens of Massachusetts were not idle; and as it was evident that the struggle must soon commence, throughout the province companies were organized, under officers of their own choosing; and arms were provided for them, in the use of which they were diligently trained.2 Nor was the proposal for a Congress overlooked; and John Hancock, in his oration on the anniMar. 5. versary of the "Boston Massacre," suggested a "Congress of deputies from the several houses of assembly on the continent, as the most effectual method of establishing a union for the security of the rights and liberties" of the country.3 As a preparatory step to the calling of such a Congress, a plan was May. formed for frequent and stated communications between the colonies; and as Franklin had been removed from his office of deputy postmaster general for America, private posts were established, which were found to be of great service in conveying intelligence from place to place.* May 17. General Gage reached Boston in May, and, on landing at Long Wharf, was received with great parade. The principal officers of the government, the selectmen of Boston, and "a number of other gentlemen," were in attendance, with the company of Cadets; and, amidst the discharge of cannon from the admiral's ship and from the north and south batteries, he was escorted through King Street, where the troop of horse, the artillery company, the grenadiers, and other military compa 'Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 5, note; Boston Post Boy for July 11, 1774; Bancroft, vi. 523. The letter of Dartmouth to Gage, with instructions, was dated April 9, 1774. 2 Hutchinson, iii. 455. The local histories of different towns prove that some such preparations were made in the latter part of 1773. Oration of March 5, 1774, in Lib. Mass. Hist. Soc. J. Adams, Diary, in Works, ii. 332, characterizes this as "an elegant, a pathetic, a spirited perform ance." "The composition, the pronunciation, the action," he adds, "all exceeded the expectations of every body. They exceeded even mine, which were very considerable." 4 Bradford, i. 320. EXCITEMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 481 XIV. nies, were drawn up to salute him as he passed. On his arri- CHAP. val at the council chamber his commission was read, and the oath of office was administered by the president of the Council. 1774. A proclamation was then issued, continuing all officers in their places; three volleys were fired; three cheers were given; and the governor was escorted to Faneuil Hall, where "an elegant dinner was provided for his welcome." 1 Already had the people been warned that the "ministry were determined to try their metal to the utmost." "The spoils of England," it was said, " are insufficient to support the luxury of the minions of power; they have fixed their voracious appetites upon the possessions of the Americans, and intend to make a prey of them." "Depend upon it," it was added, "every colony is to be subdued into a slavish obedience to the tyrannical impositions of Great Britain. Nothing less will suffice; nothing less is intended. After the subjection of Boston, and perhaps all the New England governments, New Jersey and New York are to be the next in course; and they talk of taking away Penn's charter." 2 True, the commandersin-chief were not authorized to fight, unless they could provoke the colonists to be the aggressors; nor were they to commence hostilities without further orders. But how soon such orders might come no one could tell; and the appeal for vigilance was not ill-timed. "Shall the Boston port bill be enforced?" was the question which first solicited the attention of Gage; and a consultation was held with Hutchinson, the admiral, and the commissioners of the customs as to what should be done. All agreed that the act should be enforced; and on the appointed day, as the clock struck twelve, it went into effect; the custom house was June 1. closed, and the courts were suspended. No opposition was made by the people; but the bells of the churches were sol 1 Boston Post Boy for May 23, 1774; Boston News Letter for May 19, 1774; Frothingham's Siege of Boston, 6. 31 VOL. II. 2 Letters from England, of April 7 and 8, 1774, in Boston Post Boy for May 23, 1774. |