A True state of the proceedings in the Parliament of Great Britain, and in the province of Massachusetts Bay, relative to the giving and granting the money of the people of that province, and of all America, in the House of Commons, in which they are not represented.

A True state of the proceedings in the Parliament of Great Britain, and in the province of Massachusetts Bay, relative to the giving and granting the money of the people of that province, and of all America, in the House of Commons, in which they are not represented.

Table of contents

Title page

A TRUE STATE OF THE PROCEEDINGS, &c.

[Page]

A TRUE STATE OF THE PROCEEDINGS, &c.

ON the 12th of November 1761, Governor Bernard made the following Speech to both Houses of Assembly, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay:

§

At the Opening of this General Court I had the Pleasure to observe upon the happy and propitious circumstances that had attended the Commencement of the present Reign, and particularly the Extinction of Parties, and the general Coalition of all Parties in Support of his Majesty's Government; and I could not but express my earnest Desire that the same patriotic Spirit which influenced Great Britain, might prevail throughout his Majesty's American Provinces, and especially in this most ancient and most loyal of them.

I was well persuaded, that while I was speaking to you on this Subject, your Sentiments and mine were the same. I have been fully confirmed in this, as well by your own Declarations, as by your Conduct consequent thereto; and I have now all the Assurance that I shall be assisted and supported by you.

F. BERNARD.

On the 24th of April 1762, his Excellency made the following Speech to the Two Houses:

§

The Unanimity and Dispatch with which you have complied with the Requisitions of his Majesty require my particular [Page] Acknowledgment, and it gives me additional Pleasure to observe, that you have therein acted under no other Influence than a due Sense of your Duty, both as Members of a general [...] and as the Body of a particular Province.

It will always be my Desire that Freedom and Independence should prevail in your Councils, and that the whole Credit of your Proceedings therein should be placed to your own Account. It will be a sufficient Honour for me to preside over a People whose Motives to Loyalty and Public Spirit arise from their own Breasts.

FRA. BERNARD.

His Excellency again spoke as follows to the Two Houses of Assembly on the 27th of May 1762:

§

Whatever shall be the Event of the War, it must be no small satisfaction to us, that this Province hath contributed its full Share to the Support of it. Every Thing that has been required of it hath been most readily complied with; and the Execution of the Powers committed to me, for raising the Provincial Troops, hath been as full and complete as the Grant of them was. Never before were Regiments so easily levied, so well composed, and so early in the Field, as they have been this Year; the common People seemed to be animated with the Spirit of the General Court, and to vie with them in their Readiness to serve the King.

The ample Provision which has been already made, leaves me nothing to ask for the immediate Service of the King.

FRA. BERNARD.

The following is a true Copy of the Message which his Majesty sent down to the House of Commons every Year, from 1759 till the Conclusion of the War:

GEORGE, Rex.

26o Dies Aprilis 1759o.

His Majesty being sensible of the Zeal and Vigour with which his faithful Subjects in North America have exerted themselves in Defence of his Majesty's just Rights and Possessions, recommends it to this House to take the same into Consideration, and to enable his Majesty to give them a proper Compensation for the Expences incurred by the respective Provinces, in the Levying, Clothing, and Pay of the Troops raised by the same, according as the active Vigour and strenuous Efforts of the respective Provinces shall appear to merit.

G. R.

[Page]Upon which the House resolved, April 30, ‘That a Sum not exceeding Two Hundred Thousand Pounds be granted to his Majesty upon Account, to enable his Majesty to give a proper Compensation to the respective Provinces in North America, for the Expences incurred by them in the Levying, Clothing and Pay of the Troops raised by the same, according as the active Vigour and strenuous Efforts of the respective Provinces shall be thought by his Majesty to merit.’

Similar Resolutions followed yearly every Message. And though this Compensation did not exceed One Fourth Part of what they expended, they were satisfied with these most honourable of all Testimonies, that they had not been backward in contributing their Share towards the general Defence of the Empire.

His Majesty's Surveyor General of the Northern District in America, transmitted to the Lords of the Treasury in 1764, a Charge of Corruption in his Office and Collusion with Smugglers, supported by the Oaths of credible Witnesses, against Governor Bernard; for which the Surveyor General received the Thanks of the Treasury Board, and Governor Bernard was suffered still to hold that Office he had abused, and has been admitted as the principal Accuser and Witness against the People of the Massachusetts Bay.

On the 10th of March 1764, the House of Commons resolved, ‘That it may be proper to charge certain Stamp Duties in the colonies and Plantations:’ but did not at that Time form any Bill for the Purpose.

On the 5th of April 1764, an Act passed for imposing Duties in America by the British Parliament, for the Purpose of raising a Revenue.

In consequence of these Proceedings, the House of Representatives of the Massachusetts Bay came to Resolutions, 'That the sole Right of giving and granting the Money of the People of that Province, was vested in them as their legal Representatives; and that the Imposition of Duties and Taxes, by the Parliament of Great Britain, upon a People who are not represented in the House of Commons, is absolutely irreconcilable with their Rights. That no Man can justly take the Property of another without his Consent, upon which original Principle the Right of Representation in the same Body which exercises the Power of making Laws for levying Taxes, one of the main Pillars of the British Constitution, is evidently founded: That the Extension of the Powers of the Court of Admiralty within this Province, is a most violent Infraction of the Right of Trial by Jury,—a Right which this House, upon the [Page] Principles of their British Ancestors, hold most dear and sacred, it being the only Security of the Lives, Liberties, and Property of his Majesty's Subjects. That this House owe the strictest Allegiance to his most Sacred Majesty King George the Third,—and that they have the greatest Veneration for the Parliament.

In February 1765, a Bill for raising a Revenue in America by Duties on Stamps, &c. received the Royal Assent. Petitious from the several Assemblies of America against the passing of this Act▪ were rejected by the Parliament, or not received, on the Pretence of a Rule, that Petitions should not be received against a Money Bill, and this was a Money Bill.

Upon the Arrival of this Act in America, every Assembly on the Continent came to Resolutions against the Right of [...] Taxes [...] them unrepresented and without their [...]. The House of Representatives of the Massachusetts [...], observing the little Attention paid to separate Petitions, [...]. That it was highly expedient there should be a Meeting as soon as might be, of Committees from the Houses of Representatives in the several Colonies on the American [...], to consult on the present Circumstances, and the Difficulties to [...] they were reduced by the Operation of the [...] Acts of Parliament for levying Duties on the Colonies, [...] consider of a general Address to his Majesty and the Parliament [...] Relief Letters were transmitted [...] of the other Assemblies and three [...] a Congress on the Part of [...] Province.

[...] some Disturbances arose in the Town of [...]. The Represent [...] of these Disturbances was instrument [...] in various Letters [...] of Trade, though he [...] and politely evaluated these Proceedings, as [...] of the Town:

§

[...] if [...] Hall, August [...], Anno Domini 17 [...]5.

[...] during [...] and various Proceedings of a Number of Persons [...] against [...], that the Spirit [...] Law, to [...] thing [...].

[Page] Voted, That the Inhabitants of this Town will be ready on all Occasions to assist the Select Men and Magistrates in the Suppression of all Disorders of a like Nature that may happen, when called upon for that Purpose.

Att. WILLIAM COOPER, Town Clerk.

In truth, the whole proved to be nothing more than some Injury offered to private Property, for which the Assembly afterwards voted a Compensation.

On the 25th of October 1765, there being no Stamp Papers, the Council and House of Representatives, to avoid the mischievous Consequences of a total Stop to all public Business, resolved, That it might be lawful to do Business without Stamps.

The Congress consisting of a Committee of Representatives from several Provinces, met at New York the 1st of October 1765. The Motives and Views with which the Congress was called, are thus stated by the House of Representatives of Massachusetts Bay:

§

Had the Colonies been fully heard by the Parliament, it is possible their Decisions with respect to the late Acts for levying Duties and Taxes on the Colonies, might have been different. However, the House of Representatives think it their Duty not to cease petitioning, and have accordingly, this present Sessions, wrote to the Speakers of the several Houses of Representatives of the several Colonies on the Continent, proposing a Meeting at New York on the first Tuesday of October next, of Committees of the Houses of Representatives of the several Colonies, to consult together on their present Circumstances, and the Difficulties to which they are and must be reduced by the Operation of the late Acts of Parliament, and to prepare a united, dutiful, humble, and loyal Representation of their Condition to his Majesty and his Parliament, imploring Relief. And it is humbly hoped, that decent and dutiful Applications for the preventing or even altering such Acts of Parliament as they apprehend can be made to appear to be grievous, will not be thought sufficient Grounds to charge us with the Want of the most profound Respect for that august Body. In confidence of having free Access to that Fountain of national Justice, the House rest assured that all necessary Relief will be afforded, and that the Liberties and Privileges their Constituents at present enjoy, will remain secure.

Signed. SAM. WHITE, Speaker.

[Page]The Congress summoned upon these Principles, met and acted upon them. They resolved, ‘That the only Representatives of the People of the Colonies are Persons chosen therein by themselves, and that no Taxes ever have been, or can be, constitutionally imposed upon them but by their respective Legislatures. That all Supplies to the Crown being free Gifts of the People, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the Principles and Spirit of the British Constitution, for the People of Great Britain to grant to his Majesty the Property of the Colonists. That it is the indispensable Duty of these Colonies to the best of Sovereigns, to the Mother Country, and themselves, to endeavour, by a loyal and dutiful Address to his Majesty, and humble Applications to both Houses of Parliament, to procure the Repeal of the Act for granting and applying certain Stamp Duties, of all Clauses of any other Act of Parliament whereby the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty is extended, and of the other late Acts for the Restriction of American Commerce.’

They also drew up a Petition to the King, in which they say, ‘Our Subordinate Legislatures are in Effect rendered useless by the late Acts of Parliament imposing Duties and Taxes on these Colonies, and extending the Jurisdiction of the Courts of Admiralty beyond its Antient Limit: Statutes by which your Majesty's Commons in Great Britain undertake absolutely to dispose of the Property of their Fellow Subjects in America without their Consent, and for the Inforcing whereof they are subjected to the Determination of a single Judge, in a Court unrestrained by the wise Rules of the common Law, Birthright of Englishmen, and the Safeguard of their Persons and Properties.’

‘The invaluable Rights of Taxing ourselves, and Trial by our Peers, of which we implore your Majesty's Protection, are not, we most humbly conceive, unconstitutional, but confirmed by the Great Charter of English Liberty. On the first of these Rights, the Honourable the House of Commons found their Practice of originating Money Bills—a Right enjoyed by the Kingdom of Ireland; by the Clergy of England, till relinquished by themselves—a Right, in fine, which all other your Majesty's English Subjects, both within and without the Realm, have hitherto enjoyed.’

So far were they from any Thought or Desire to draw into question, or to deny the Sovereignty of his Majesty in his Parliament, or to arrogate to themselves the sole Right of making Laws, that, in their Petition to the House of Commons, they declare the Reverse in these Words▪

[Page] ‘We most sincerely recognize our Allegiance to the Crown, and acknowledge all due Subordination to the Parliament of Great Britain, and shall always retain the most grateful Sense of their Assistance and Protection. We esteem our Dependence on, and Connection with Great Britain, as one of our greatest Blessings, and apprehend the former will appear to be sufficiently secure, when it is considered, that the Inhabitants in the Colonies have the most unbounded Affection for his Majesty's Person, Family, and Government, as well as for the Mother Country, and that their Subordination to the Parliament, is universally acknowledged.’

Those Petitions however were not received, on Pretence of their being from a Body not legally assembled, and unknown to the Constitution.

In January 1766, the House of Representatives were obliged to complain of Governor Bernard's having, together with his Council, assumed a Legislative Power, in ordering an Act of Parliament, or as he stiles it an Ordinance, to be registered among the Laws of the Province; which was never done before, but by Act of Assembly *. This just Complaint against the Usurpation of the Governor, has been invidiously represented as an Attack upon the Authority of Parliament †, whereas in truth it had no relation to the Authority.

In January 1766, Petitions were presented from the Merchants of London, Bristol, and Glasgow, to both Houses of Parliament, representing the great Injury that would accrue to their Property, and to the Commerce of this Kingdom, from the Operation of the Stamp Act, and praying for its Repeal.

The Repeal of it took place accordingly on the 19th March following.

The Assembly of Massachusetts Bay, upon the Repeal being known, formed and transmitted an humble Address of Thanks to his Majesty, and Letters of the most grateful Acknowledgment to their Illustrious Patrons and Friends in either House of Parliament. Soon after this they passed a Bill for granting Compensation to the Sufferers during the Disorders occasioned [Page] by the Stamp Act; agreeably to his Majesty's Recommendation, in consequence of the Address of both Houses of Parliament, his Majesty's Pleasure being signified to them by Mr. Secretary Conway.

The Assembly also conformed themselves to the Mutiny Act, though it touched the Privilege of granting freely their own Money, for which they had so strenuously contended. But they complied, as well from an Abhorrence of renewing the late Dispute which had given them so much Pain, as from a Confidence in his Majesty's then Servants, whom they regarded as friendly to their Liberties and Rights.

Their Satisfaction in, and Gratitude for the Repeal of the Stamp Act, produced a conduct so studiously void of Offence, that Governor Bernard could not avoid giving his Testimony of it in his Letters to the Earl of Shelburne, Secretary of State, as follows:

The House from the Time of opening the Session to this Day, has shewn a Disposition to avoid all Dispute with me; every Thing having passed with as much Good-humour as I could desire, except only their continuing to act in addressing the King, remonstrating to the Secretary of State, and employing a separate Agent *. It is the Importance of this Innovation, without any Willfulness of my own, which induces me to make this Remonstrance, at a Time when I have a fair Prospect of having, in all other Business, nothing but good to say of the Proceedings of this House.

They have acted in all Things, even in their Remonstrance, with Temper and Moderation; they have avoided some Subjects of Dispute, and have laid a Foundation for removing some Causes of former Altercation.

I shall make such a prudent and proper Use of this Letter, as I hope will perfectly restore the Peace and Tranquillity of this Province, for which Purpose considerable Steps have already been made by the House of Representatives.

Such was the Temper and Moderation with which the People were disposed to seek Relief from the Grievances they felt. We shall presently see what Steps were artfully taken to move them from that Moderation, and compel the Mob into Riots and Tumults, which were to be visited upon the Town, and made the Pretext for introducing a Military Force.

[Page]The new Revenue Act passed on the 29th of June, 1767; a little more than a Year after the Repeal of the Stamp Act.

The House of Representatives, in their Petition to the King, touching this Act, expressly acknowledge the Supreme Power of Parliament. ‘With great Sincerity, permit us, (say they) to assure your Majesty, that your Subjects of this Province ever have, and still continue to acknowledge your Majesty's High Court of Parliament the Supreme Legislative Power of the whole Empire.’

In their Letters to the Ministry, they say, 'The Subjects in this Province, and undoubtedly in all the Colonies, however they may have been otherwise represented to his Majesty's Ministers, are loyal; they are firmly attached to the Mother State; they always consider her Interest and their own as inseparably interwoven, and it is their fervent Wish that it may ever so remain. All they desire is, to be restored to the Standing upon which they were originally put, to have the Honour and Privilege of voluntarily contributing to the Aid of their Sovereign when required. They are free Subjects; and it is hoped the Nation will never consider them as in a Tributary State.' And again, ‘All they desire is to be placed on their Original Standing, that they may still be happy in the Enjoyment of their invaluable Privileges, and the Nation may still reap the Advantage of their Growth and Prosperity.’

That their Prayers might be more likely to obtain Success from being united with the Supplications of all the Colonies, they transmitted a circular Letter to the other Assemblies, informing them—'That the House had humbly represented to the Ministry their own Sentiments; that his Majesty's high Court of Parliament is the supreme Legislative Power over the whole Empire; that in all free States the Constitution is fixed; and as the Supreme Legislative derives its Power and Authority from the Constitution, it cannot overleap the Bounds of it, without destroying its own Foundation. That the Constitution ascertains and limits both Sovereignty and Allegiance, and, therefore, his Majesty's American Subjects, who acknowledge themselves bound by the Ties of Allegiance, have an equitable Claim to the full Enjoyment of the fundamental Rules of the English Constitution. That it is an essential, unalterable Right in Nature, ingrafted into the British Constitution as a fundamental Law, and ever held sacred and irrevocable by the Subjects within the Realm, that what a Man has honestly acquired is absolutely his own, which he may freely give, but which cannot be taken from him without his [Page] Consent. That the American Subjects may, therefore, exclusive of any Consideration of Charter Rights, with a decent Firmness adapted to the Character of Freemen and Subjects, assert this natural constitutional Right.' They add— ‘That as they have too much Reason to believe, that the Enemies of the Colonies have represented them to his Majesty's Ministers, and the Parliament, as factious, disloyal, and shewing a Disposition to make themselves independant of the Mother Country, they have taken Occasion, in the most humble Terms, to assure his Majesty and his Ministers, that, with regard to the People of this Province, and, as they doubt not, of all the Colonies, that Charge is unjust.’

In consequence of this, Governor Bernard laid before the House, on the 21st of June, 1768, the following Requisition:

It gives great Concern to his Majesty to find, that the same Moderation which appeared by your Letter to have been adopted at the Beginning of the Session, in a full Assembly, had not continued; and that instead of that Spirit of Prudence and Respect to the Constitution, which seemed at that Time to influence the Conduct of a large Majority of the Members, a thin House * at the End of the Session should have presumed to revert to, and resolve upon a Measure of so inflammatory a Nature as that of writing to the other Colonies, on the Subject of their intended Representations against some late Acts of Parliament. His Majesty considers this Step as evidently tending to create unwarrantable Combinations, to excite an unjustifiable Opposition to the constitutional Authority of Parliament, and to revive those unhappy Divisions and Distractions, which have operated so prejudicially to the true Interests of Great-Britain and the Colonies. It is the King's Pleasure, that so soon as the General Court is again assembled, at the Time prescribed by the Charter, you should require of the House of Representatives, in his Majesty's Name, to rescind the Resolution which gave Birth to the circular Letter from the Speaker, and to declare their Disapprobation of, and Dissent to that rash and hasty Proceeding. His Majesty has the fullest Reliance upon the Affection of his good Subjects in the Massachusetts Bay, and has observed with Satisfaction, that Spirit of Decency, and Love of Order, which has discovered itself in the Conduct of the most considerable of its Inhabitants.—If the new Assembly should refuse to comply with his Majesty's reasonable [Page] Expectation, it is the King's Pleasure that you should immediately dissolve them.

Whitehall, April 22, 1768.

HILLSBOROUGH.

*

The House was counted, and [...] Members were present. Votes of the House 1768.

↵

This Letter produced universal Apprehension and Discontent not only in the Massachusetts Bay, but in all America. A Demand, attended with a Penalty of Dissolution, seemed a Command, not a Requisition, leaving no deliberative or discretionary Power in the Assembly; and the Ground of it being a Petition to the King, guarded with a most explicit Declaration of the supreme Legislative Power of Parliament, it wore the severe and dreadful Appearance of a penal Prohibition against Petitioning. It was in Effect saying, you shall not even presume to complain; and reducing them below the common State of Slavery, in which, if Men complain with Decency, they are heard, unless their Masters happen to be Monsters. It warmed Moderation into Zeal, and inflamed Zeal into Rage. Yet still there appeared a Disposition to express their Grievances in humble Petitions. All the Assemblies on the Continent, in Answer to a Requisition of similar Import to that already mentioned, asserted the Right of the Subject to petition for Redress of Grievances. They joined in Petitions, stating the Impositions of Taxes upon them without their Consent, and the Abolition, of Juries in Revenue Causes, as intolerable Grievances, from which they prayed Relief.

The House of Representatives of Massachusetts Bay drew up a Letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, Secretary of State, in which they vindicate their Conduct from the Aspersions thrown upon it in the Governor's Letters; and add, ‘It is an inexpressible Grief to the People of this Province, to find repeated Censures falling upon them, not from Ministers of State alone, but from Majesty itself, grounded on Letters and Accusations from the Governor, a Sight of which, though repeatedly requested of his Excellency, is refused. There is no Evil of this Life, which they so sensibly feel, as the Displeasure of their Sovereign. It is a Punishment which they are sure his Majesty will never inflict, but upon a Representation of the Justice of it, from his Servants, in whom he confides. Your Lordship will allow the House to appeal to your own Candour, upon the Hardship of their being made to suffer so severe a Misfortune, without their ever being called to answer for themselves, or even made acquainted with the Matters of Charge alleged against them; a Right, to which, by the common Rules of Society, founded in the eternal Laws of Reason and Equity, they are justly entitled. [Page] The House of Representatives of this Province have more than once, during the Administration of Governor Bernard, been under the Necessity of entreating his Majesty's Ministers to suspend their further Judgment upon such Representations of the Temper of the People, and the Conduct of the Assembly, as they were able to make appear to be injurious. The same Indulgence this House now beg of your Lordship; and beseech your Lordship to patronize them so far as to make a favourable Representation of their Conduct to the King our Sovereign: it being the highest Ambition of this House, and of the People whom they represent, to stand before his Majesty in their just Character, of affectionate and loyal Subjects.’

On the 10th of June a Seizure was made of a Sloop fastened to the Wharf, with an armed Force, and the Seizure carried by Violence to the Man of War. That this Seizure was made with every Circumstance of Violence and Insult which could irritate a Mob, is proved by the Oaths of 13 Eye-Witnesses, whose Credibility has never been impeached. Unhappily the Irritation succeeded but too well. The Collector and Comptroller who made the Seizure in that Manner, were treated with great Indignity and personal Injury by the Mob*.

About the same Time the Captain of the Men of War lying in the Harbour at Boston, pressed some Seamen belonging to the Town, in Violation of an Act of Parliament for the Encouragement of Trade to America, which says, ‘No Mariner, or other Person, who shall serve on board, or be retained to serve on board, any Privateer, or Trading Ship or Vessel, that shall be employed in any Part of America, nor any Mariner, or Person, being on Shore in any Part thereof, shall be liable to be impressed or taken away, by any Officer or Officers of or belonging to her Majesty's Ships of War.’

The Inhabitants of Boston, to prevent the Tumults which might be apprehended from so dangerous an Infraction of Law, were assembled, and drew up a Petition to the Governor, praying his Interposition to prevent such alarming Outrages. [Page] The Governor, however, refused upon various Pretexts, to interfere.

The following Words of their Petition will shew to what a State of Alarm, Anxiety, and Despair, these Proceedings had reduced them. ‘Dutiful Petitions, say they, have been preferred to our most gracious Sovereign, to which (tho' to the great Consternation of the People, we now learn they have been cruelly and infidiously prevented from reaching the Royal Presence) we waited to receive a gracious Answer, with the greatest Attention to the Public Peace, until we find ourselves invaded with an armed Force, seizing, impressing, and imprisoning the Persons of our Fellow Subjects, contrary to express Acts of Parliament. Menaces have been thrown out fit only for Barbarians, which already affect us in the most sensible Manner, and threatens us with Famine and Desolation, as all Navigation is obstructed, upon which alone our whole Support depends, and the Town is at this Crisis in a Situation nearly such as if War were formally declared against it.’

‘To contend against our Parent State is, in our Idea, the most shocking and dreadful Extremity; but tamely to relinquish the only Security we and our Posterity retain of the Enjoyment of our Lives and Properties, without one Struggle, is so humiliating and base, that we cannot support the Reflection. We apprehend, Sir, that it is in your Option, in your Power, and we would hope in your Inclination, to prevent this distressed and justly incensed People from effecting too much, or from the Shame and Reproach of attempting too little.’

The Riot upon the Seizure of the Sloop was exaggerated into Treason and Rebellion. The Commissioners fled from the Town in pretended Fear of their Lives; Affidavits were taken in secret and ex parte, and the Comptroller Mr. Hollowell was dispatched Home, to give Administration the most horrible Idea of the People. Governor Bernard's Letters to the Secretary of State contained a direct Charge of Treason against Forty Persons, not one of whom was prosecuted, because the whole was a Forgery, calculated to meet the Change of System which Governor Bernard has since informed us, they then knew had taken place at London, and encourage the rigorous Measures which the new System was to pursue.

Unhappily it succeeded too well. Troops were sent to Boston, where they landed the 1st of October 1768. But a Difficulty now arose, about quartering the Troops in the Town contrary to an Act of Parliament. The Governor, [Page] however, soon determined to cut the Knot he could not untie. He therefore issued a Commission, to dispense with the Law and establish Quarters for the Troops in the Town. I speak from his own Letter.

Thus the People saw two Acts of Parliament, made for their Protection, wantonly and with Impunity violated; while those which were to their Feelings highly unjust and oppressive, were to be rigorously executed with a Military Force. Nothing could be devised more irritating, except the Manner in which the quartering the Soldiers was executed. They filled the General Assembly Room, the Court House, and Fanueil Hall, where the Town Meetings were assembled. When the General Assembly met, the main Guard was planted with a Number of Field Pieces at, and pointed into the very Door of the Assembly House. Every Species of Insult and Outrage was▪ as if purposely, practised to drive the People into some violent Acts, which should justify the letting loose the Military upon them.

In consequence of the various Violations of those Laws which should have protected them, the Minds of the People were in the most dangerous State of Alarm and Agitation. To prevent the destructive Commotions which might be apprehended from such a Disposition, the moderate and well disposed Inhabitants of Boston petitioned the Governor to call an Assembly, that the popular Turbulence might be quieted by their Confidence in and Respect for their own Legislature. The Governor, however, thought proper to refuse them this Relief; they therefore summoned a Convention of Deputies from the different Townships, as the only Means of composing the Agitation of Men's Minds, (from which they otherwise expected the worst Consequences,) by their Confidence in Persons deputed by themselves, to enter into a wise and cool Consideration of their Grievances, and the constitutional Means of obtaining Redress. The Select Men of Boston have expressed these Motives in the following Passage of their circular Letter:— ‘Deprived of the Counsels of a General Assembly in this dark and difficult Season, the loyal People of this Province will, we are persuaded, immediately perceive the Propriety and Utility of the proposed Committee of Convention, and the sound and wholesome Advice that may be expected from a Number of Gentlemen chosen by themselves, and in whom they may repose the greatest Confidence, must tend to the real Service of our most gracious Sovereign, and the Welfare of his Subjects in this Province, and may happily prevent any sudden and unconnected Measures, [Page] which, in their present Anxiety, and even Agony of Mind, they may be in Danger of falling into.’

The Convention met on the 22d of September 1768, and drew up an humble Petition to his Majesty, imploring Relief. ‘With great Sincerity say they, permit us to assure your Majesty, that your Subjects of this Province, of which we are a Part, ever have acknowledged and still continue to acknowledge your Majesty's High Court of Parliament the supreme Legislative Power of the whole Empire. The superintending Authority of which is clearly admitted in all Cases that can consist with the fundamental Rights of Nature, and the Constitution to which your Majesty's happy Subjects in all Parts of your Empire conceive they have a just and equitable Claim.’

‘It is therefore with the deepest Concern that your humble Suppliants would represent to your Majesty, that your Parliament, the Rectitude of whose Intentions is never to be questioned, has thought proper to pass divers Acts, imposing Taxes on your Majesty's Subjects in America, with the sole and express Purpose of raising a Revenue. If your Majesty's Subjects here shall be deprived of the Honour and Privilege of voluntarily contributing their Aid to you Majesty in supporting your Government and Authority in the Province, and defending and securing your Rights and Territories in America, which they have always hitherto done with the utmost Chearfulness: If these Acts of Parliament shall remain in Force; and your Majesty's Commons in Great Britain shall continue to exercise the Power of granting the Property of their Fellow Subjects in this Province, your People must then regret their unhappy Fate, in having only the Name left of free Subjects.’

The Troops which had landed at Boston without the least Opposition determined, as it was natural to expect, to make the Disturbance they were disappointed in not finding. They offered a Variety of Insults to the peaceable Inhabitants, and [...] their Officers was detected in attempting to excite the Negroes to rebel; till at last a Party of Soldiers under the Command of Captain Pre [...]on, fired upon the People on the 5th of March 1769, killing Six, and wounding many more. So intolerable an Outrage assembled the People, who were so much incensed, that it was thought prudent for the Troops to evacuate the Town.

The Removal of the Troops restored the Tranquillity of the Town and the Good-humour of the People, the principal of whom exerted themselves to palliate the Conduct of Captain [Page] Preston, and obtain for him a favourable Trial. To this End, he was tried separately from the Soldiers, and he was acquitted, because no Evidence could depose that they heard him give Orders to fire.—Indeed, the Noise of the Tumult was so great, that if he had given such Orders, which he denied, none could have heard him but the Soldiers among whom he stood.— When the Soldiers came to be tried, they pleaded the Orders of their Captain, which they durst not disobey. And on the Belief of this as a Truth, the humane Jury acquitted them also. An Instance of great Temper and Equity in a People so exasperated.

It was not however intended that the Quiet of the Town and Province should continue long. New Modes of Irritation were applied, to drive the People into Violence and Despair.

Mr. Robinson, one of the Commissioners who had attempted to assassinate Mr. Otis, was dispatched to England immediately after the Affair of the 5th of March, with a Case said to be that of Captain Preston, though directly repugnant to what he had published under his own Hand. This Case had been secretly drawn up, and was secretly transmitted. The Purpose of it was to throw the Charge of being the Aggressors upon the People, and that the Soldiers fired upon them in their own Defence, and to save the Custom House from being plundered. This Statement was accompanied by Minutes of Council framed by the Secretary himself, and secretly sworn to, in which one of his Majesty's Council was represented, as declaring that there had been a premeditated Design and Plan of a general Insurrection formed by the People, of which this Attack upon the Guard was the first Step. Absurd as it was to suppose that the People had planned and began to execute an Insurrection, and yet not a Man appear in Arms, for no such Thing was pretended, still the Example of the Success and Impunity with which Governor Bernard had accused them specifically of Treason, without being able to prove a Tittle of it, was enough to encourage Governor Hutchinson, and his Brother-in-law the Secretary, to repeat a similar Charge on this Occasion, which they knew would operate for the Time, and being made secretly, they trusted it would not be known, so as to meet a Refutation. Mr. Commissioner Robinson arrived In London, and his State. &c. was circulated through the Ministry and Members of Parliament, and, supported by his personal Applications, inflamed them against the Province. In the mean Time, the Town proceeded to draw up their Narrative of the Affair founded upon Affidavits taken openly, with Notice given to all Persons concerned to attend and cross-examine [Page] the Witnesses. Upon this open and fair Enquiry, it appeared by the Testimony of near an Hundred Persons, that the Soldiers were the Aggressors, having fired upon the People without sufficient Provocation, and without the Intervention of, or even application to the civil Magistrate.

It was not until October 1770, that the Representation and Affidavit of their Secretary, Mr. Oliver, reached his Majesty's Council at Boston, in a Pamphlet which had been published in London, to justify the Proceedings of the Military on the 5th of March 1769, and accuse the People. The Member to whom he had imputed the Words, which were calculated to convey the Idea of an Insurrection having been planned by the People, publicly made Oath, that the Secretary had misrepresented his Words, and that he never knew, or heard, or even thought of any such Plan. The other Members of Council who were present also made Oath, that Mr. Oliver's Account was a Misrepresentation; and the Council came unanimously to the following Resolutions: ‘That Andrew Oliver, Esq Secretary of this Province, by secretly taking Minutes at Council, of what was said by the Members of the Council, in their Debates, also by signing a Paper containing those Minutes, and further, by giving his Deposition to the Truth of it, has, in each and all those Instances, acted inconsistent with the Duty of his Office, and thereby is guilty of a Breach of Trust.’

Mr. Oliver, thus stigmatized, was soon after appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Province. Unhappily this wore the Appearance of rewarding for his Treachery to the Council and his Enmity to the People, which tended necessarily to diminish the Confidence and Respect due to Government, and to spread Discontent through the Province.

On the 13th of May 1770, Governor Hutchinson held the Assembly at Cambridge, obliging them to quit Boston, where all the public Records and Conveniences for carrying on Business, were lodged. The Two Houses remonstrated against this, not only as highly inconvenient and distressing to them, and an Embarrassment to public Business, but an Infringement of their chartered Rights, Notwithstanding this, the Assembly was continued there for Two Sessions without any Reason being given but mere Will and Pleasure (signified in Instructions from the Minister) and then it was adjourned to Boston, not as an Act of Graciousness, but of Caprice. It was impossible but that such Proceedings must have irritated [Page] Men's Minds, and raised among all Ranks of People a Spirit of Discontent and Distrust *.

The Proceedings in England were not more conciliating.

Governor Bernard had, by various false and inflammatory Representations, concentered upon the Province the whole Force of royal and parliamentary Indignation. He had expressly accused certain Persons of a treasonable Design, their Names, as he pretended, being enrolled for the Purpose, to seize the Castle and turn it against the King's Troops.

This Intelligence produced the following Address from the House of Lords to the King, on the 15th of December 1768, concurred in by the Commons on the 9th of February 1769.

‘As we conceive, that nothing can be more immediately necessary, either for the Maintenance of his Majesty's Authority in the said Province, or from guarding his Majesty's Subjects therein from being further deluded by the Arts of wicked designing Men, than to proceed in the most speedy and effectual Manner for bringing to condign Punishment the chief Authors and Instigators of the late Disorders, to beseech his Majesty, that he will be graciously pleased to direct his Majesty's Governor of Massachusetts Bay to take the most effectual Methods for procuring the fullest Information that can be obtained touching all Treasons, or Misp [...]ons of Treason, committed within his Government since the 30th Day of December last, and to transmit the same, together with the Names of the Persons who were the most active in the Commission of such Offences, to One of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, in order that his Majesty may issue a special Commission for enquiring of, hearing and determining the said Offences within this Realm, pursuant to the Provisions of the Statute of the 35th Year of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth, if his Majesty shall, upon receiving the said Information, see sufficient Ground for such a Proceeding.’

[Page]

His MAJESTY's Answer was:

I shall not fail to give those Orders which you recommend as the most effectual Method of bringing the Authors of the late unhappy Disorders in that Province to condign Punishment.

But Governor Bernard thus armed with all the Powers of Government, was unable to substantiate his Accusation against a single Person. The Purposes however for which the Accusation was devised were fully answered. An Odium had been fixed upon the People, a military Force had been sent, which promised to create the very Rebellion he had falsely declared to exist, for the Purpose of procuring that Force.

The Manner in which he proceeded in his Endeavours to stir up Resistance and create Disorders, is thus described in the Narrative of the Town, and which he has never been able to contradict.

‘Governor Bernard, without consulting the Council, having given up the State-House to the Troops at their Landing, they took Possession of the Chambers where the Representatives of the Province and the Courts of Law held their Meetings; and (except the Council Chamber) of all other Parts of that House; in which they continued a considerable Time, to the great Annoyance of those Courts while they sat and of the Merchants and Gentlemen of the Town, who had always made the lower Floor of it their Exchange. They had a Right so to do, as the Property of it was in the Town; but they were deprived of that Right by mere Power.—The said Governor soon after, by every Stratagem and Method, but a forcible Entry, endeavoured to get Possession of the Manufactory-House, to make a Barrack of it for the Troops; and for that Purpose caused it to be besieged by the Troops, and the People in it to be used very cruelly; which extraordinary Proceedings created universal Uneasiness, arising from the Apprehension that the Troops, under the Influence of such a Man, would be employed to effect the most dangerous Purposes; but failing of that, other Houses were procured, in which, contrary to Act of Parliament, he caused the Troops to be quartered. After their Quarters were thus settled, the Main Guard was posted at One of the said Houses, directly opposite to, and not Twelve Yards from the State-House, (where the General Court and all the Law Courts for the County were held) with two Field Pieces pointed to the State-House. This Situation of the Main Guard and Field Pieces seemed to indicate an Attack upon the Constitution, and a Defiance of Law; and to be intended [Page] to affront the legislative and executive Authority of the Province.’

The General Court, at the first Session after the Arrival of the Troops, viewed it in this Light, and applied to Governor Bernard to remove such an offence, but to no Purpose. Disgusted at such an Indignity, and at the Appearance of being under Duresse, they refused to do Business in such a Situation, and were removed to another Place to the great Inconvenience of the Members.

Besides this, the challenging the Inhabitants by Centinels posted in all Parts of the Town, occasioned many Quarrels and great Uneasiness. It was fully proved against Captain Wilson of the 59th Regiment, that he was exciting the Negroes of the Town to take away their Master's Lives and Property, and repair to the Army for Protection. To these were added various Outrages, such as the Soldiers attacking and insulting the Magistrates of the Town, rescuing their Fellows from the Peace Officers, firing loaded Muskets in the Streets to the great Alarm and Danger of the peaceable Inhabitants, and wounding Persons frequently and wantonly with their Bayonets and Cutlasses.

These Insults and Outrages did not, however, produce the Insurrection that was wished; but an humble Petition from the Representatives of the People to his Majesty against the Author of all those Evils, Governor Bernard.

This Petition was voted the 27th of June 1769. The Governor prorogued the Assembly to January 10th, 1770, and came over to England. On the 25th of October, he presented a Petition to bring the Charges against him to a Hearing. In the mean time Orders were sent to the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Hutchinson, to prorogue the Assembly to the 14th of March, which was done accordingly. Notwithstanding the Agent represented the Impossibility of the Assembly even knowing that their Petition was to be heard, much less transmitting Evidence in Support of the Allegations it contained, that this Impossibility was created by the very Person accused, and who, in the Face of that, called upon them to support their Charge, to which the Agent added an humble Prayer, that the Hearing might be deferred till convenient Time was given for the Meeting of the Assembly and Transmission of Evidence: Yet the Petition was ordered peremptorily to a Hearing on the 28th of February, when in Default of Evidence, the several Charges in it were declared groundless, vexatious, and scandalous; and that the petitioning could only be with a View of keeping up Spirit of Clamour and Discontent in the said Province.

[Page]Thus the People had the Grief and Mortification to find, that whether they were the Accusers or the Accused, they were sure of being censured and condemned. This Man had been instrumental in bringing upon them the Odium of Disaffection and Rebellion; he had shut the Ear of the King and Parliament against their Applications for Redress of Grievances; he had contributed to the having a military Force sent to dragoon them; he had, in Violation of an express Act of Parliament, quartered those Troops in their Town, with every Circumstance of Insolence and Outrage; he had subjected them to the intolerable Oppression of being dragged Three Thousand Miles, upon mere Suspicion, to struggle for their Lives and Property, without Friends and without Witnesses, against all the Force of ministerial Prosecution. Yet it was conceived that to petition against such a Man could only flow from factious Motives, and because his own Agency in proroguing the Assembly rendered it impossible they should even know it was required of them to support their Charges against him, those Charges were pronounced groundless and malicious. With the Feelings of Men they could not but be sensibly affected by these Proceedings, which, to speak in the Language of the Poet, preaching to Stones would make them capable.

To heighten the Colouring of these Transactions, Orders were sent in 1771 to the Governor, to refuse his Assent to any Tax Bill which should include the Commissioners of Customs. These Gentlemen, whose officious and incendiary Zeal against that Country had raised them to Office, were to be distinguished more than the first Men in this Country, by an Exemption from sharing in the common Burdens of the Community.

In 1772, the Judges' Salaries were ordered to be paid out of the extorted Revenue, and not by Grants from the Representatives of the People, as had been the constant Usage. Nothing could alarm the People more than this Establishment, as it struck at once at the very Root of the impartial Administration of Justice. The Inhabitants of Boston say, in their Address to the Governor, that ‘as the Judges hold their Places during Pleasure, this Establishment was big with the most fatal Evils.’

Both Governor Bernard and Governor Hutchinson had repeatedly represented the Discontent and Opposition, as arising from a factious Few in Boston; and that the Province in general were averse to their Measures, and satisfied with their Situation. To ascertain the general Sentiments of the People, a Committee was appointed at Boston, to represent their Sense of Grievances to the rest of the Townships, and take their [Page] Opinion upon them. This was accordingly done, the 2d of November 1772. The rest of the Towns concurred most unanimously in the same Sense of Grievances, and Desire of having them redressed.

On the 6th of January 1773, Governor Hutchinson, in his Speech to the Two Houses of Assembly, challenges them to a Controversy upon the supreme legislative Authority of Parliament. The Assembly, in their Answer, take up the Question as a Point of Argument and Speculation refuting his Arguments, and controverting his Conclusions. It was a Question, which, of themselves, they had never ventured to agitate, and they entered into it now when publicly provoked to it, with avowed Reluctance.—'We have the highest Respect,' say they, ‘for that august Body the Parliament, and do not presume to prescribe the exact Limits of its Authority. Yet, with the Deference that is due to it, we are humbly of Opinion, that as all human Authority, in the Nature of it, is and ought to be limited, it cannot constitutionally extend, for the Reasons we have above suggested, to the levying of Taxes in any Form on his Majesty's Subjects of this Province. These are great and profound Questions. It is the Grief of this House, that by the ill Policy of a late injudicious Administration, America has been driven into the Contemplation of them. And we cannot but express our Concern, that your Excellency by your Speech has reduced us to the unhappy Alternative, either of appearing by your Silence to acquiesce in your Excellency's Sentiments, or of thus freely discussing this Point.’

The most charitable Construction of this Conduct in the Governor is, that it was promoted by indiscreet Zeal; the most probable Conjecture is that it was a Snare laid for the Two Houses to draw them into such a Denial of the supreme legislative Authority of this Country, as might expose them to its utmost Indignation. Whether it arose from Malice or Indiscretion, most certainly it was courting the Discussion of a Question which Common Sense and Common Honesty would have wished to cover with a sacred and impenetrable Veil. But the Two Houses, though compelled into the Discussion of the Right as a speculative Point, had no Idea of drawing it into Question practically. For in March following, the House of Representatives transmitted a Letter to the Secretary of State, in which they thus state the Exercise of that Power, which was questionable as to the Right and grievous in its Operation.

[Page] ‘Your Lordship is well acquainted with the several Acts, by which the British Parliament have thought proper within a few Years past, to raise a Revenue in America, without our Consent. The many and weighty Reasons against, and Objections to those Acts, are so well known and understood by your Lordship, that we shall not take off your Attention to the great Affairs of the Nation, by particularly mentioning them at this Time: We only beg Leave to say that we apprehend they tend to injure our Commerce and subvert our Liberties, and therefore are unjust, impolitic, and destructive of the real Interest of the whole Empire.’

The same Temper and Moderation appears in the Letter addressed by both Houses to the Earl of Dartmouth.

Province of the Massachusetts Bay, June 29th, 1773.

My LORD *,

The Re-establishment of the Union and Harmony that formerly subsisted between Breat Britain and her Colonies is earnestly to be wished by the Friends of both. As your Lordship is one of them, the Two Houses of the Assembly of this Province beg leave to address you. The original Causes of the Interruption of that Union and Harmony may probably be found in the Letters sent from hence to Administration, and to other Gentlemen of Influence in Parliament, since the Appointment of Sir Francis Bernard to the Government of this Province; and there is great Reason to apprehend, that he and his Coadjutors originally recommended and laid the Plans for the establishing the American Revenue, out of which they expected large Stipends and Appointments for themselves, and which, through their Instrumentality, has been the Occasion of all the Evils that have since taken place.

When we had humbly addressed his Majesty, and petitioned both Houses of Parliament, representing our Grievances, and praying for the Repeal of the Revenue Acts, the like Instruments, and probably the same, exerted themselves to prevent those Petitions being laid before his Majesty and the Parliament, or to frustrate the Prayer of them. Of this we have just had some new and unexpected Evidence from original Letters of Governor Hutchinson and Lieutenant-Governor Oliver; in which the former particularly and expressly, by [Page] his Letter of the 10th of December 1768, endeavoured, in Co-operation with Governor, Bernard, to frustrate a Petition of a number of the Council for the Repealing those Acts, and to procure his Majesty's Censure on the Petitioners; and the Letters of the latter, by the disadvantageous Idea conveyed by them of the Two Houses of Assembly, manifestly tended to create a Prejudice against any Petitions coming from a Body of such a Character; and his Letter of the 11th of May 1768 in particular, mentions the Petition of the House of Representatives to his Majesty, and their Letters to divers noble Lords, with such Circumstances as had a Tendency to defeat the Petition, and render the Letters of no Effect.

It is now manifest, my Lord, what Practices and Arts have been used to mislead Administration, both in the first Proposal of American Revenue Acts, and in the Continuance of them: But when they had lost their Force, and there appeared, under the Influence of your Lordship, a Disposition in Parliament to repeal those Acts, his Excellency Governor Hutchinson, in his Speech at the Opening of the last Session of the General Court, was pleased to throw out new Matter for Contention and Debate, and to call on the Two Houses in such a pressing Manner as amounted to little short of a Challenge to answer him. In such a Dilemma were they brought by the Speech, that they were under a Necessity of giving such Answers to it as they did, or having their Conduct construed into an Acquiescence with the Doctrines contained in it, which would have been an implicit Acknowledgment that the Province was in a State of Subjection differing very little from Slavery. The Answers were the Effect of Necessity, and this Necessity occasioned great Grief to the Two Houses. The People of this Province, my Lord, are true and faithful Subjects of his Majesty, and think themselves happy in their Connection with Great Britain.

They would rejoice at the Restoration of the Harmony and Good Will that once subsisted between the Parent State and them: But it is in vain to expect this Happiness during the Continuance of their Grievances, and while their Charter Rights, one after another, are wrested from them. Among these Rights is the supporting of the Officers of the Crown by Grants from the Assembly; and in an especial Manner, the supporting of the Judges in the same Way, on whose Judgment the Province is dependent in the most important Cases, of Life, Liberties, and Property. If Warrants have [Page] not yet been, or if they already have been issued, we earnestly beg the Favour of your Lordship's Interposition to suppress or recal them. If your Lordship should condescend to ask what are the Means of restoring the Harmony so much desired, we should answer in a Word, that we are humbly of Opinion, if Things were brought to the general State in which they stood at the Conclusion of the late War, it would restore the happy Harmony which at that Time subsisted.

Your Lordship's Appointment to be Principal Secretary of State for the American Department has given the Colonies the highest Satisfaction. They think it a happy Omen, and that it will be productive of American Tranquillity, consistent with their Rights as British Subjects. The Two Houses humbly hope for your Lordship's Influence to bring about so happy an Event, and in the mean time they can with full Confidence rely on your Lordship, that the Machinations of Sir Francis Bernard, and other known Enemies of the Peace of Great Britain and her Colonies, will not be suffered to prevent or delay it.

This Letter which has been agreed on by both Houses, is in their Name, and by their Order, signed and transmitted to your Lordship, by, My LORD,

Your Lordship's most obedient, and very humble Servant, (COPY.) THOMAS FLUCKER, Secretary.

*

The Right Hon. the Earl of Dartmouth.

↵

In the mean time the Representatives of the People have omitted no Opportunity of laying their Griefs at the Foot of the Throne, with the most humble Supplications for Relief.

Their Petition to the King in 1772 speaks thus:— ‘The Inhabitants of this Province had long shared in the Blessings of good Government under the mild Administration of your Majesty and your royal Predecessors, until your British Parliament saw fit to pass divers Acts for the express Purpose of raising a Revenue in America, without the Consent of your Subjects inhabiting therein. It was this that filled the Minds of your Subjects of this Province with Discontent; being grieved that your Majesty's Council should advise to a Measure, which in a great Degree deprives them of the Rights and Liberties of free and natural Subjects granted to them by the Charter. The House of Representatives did, in the Year 1768, demonstrate to your Majesty this grievous Infraction of their dearest Rights of Englishmen. Our [Page] Hearts are too deeply impressed with Loyalty and Affection to your Majesty's Person and Family to imagine, that a Failure of the Redress then prayed for, can be imputed to any Want of paternal Regard in your royal Mind for all your Subjects. It becomes us rather to suppose, that the Petition and Complaint, unfortunately for us, did not reach the Throne.’

They repeat the same Subject of Complaint in their Petition of 1773, in these Words: ‘The Parliament of Great-Britain, in which your Subjects here are not and cannot be represented, hath exercised a Power of raising a Revenue within the Province, to the great Grief and Distress of your Majesty's People, and, we conceive, in Repugnance to the Royal Charter. Your Petitioners did, at the last Session of this Assembly, make their humble Supplication to your Majesty, praying the Interposition of your royal Clemency for the Redress of their Grievances; but we know not whether our Petition was ever laid before your Majesty.’

Besides the Causes of Uneasiness and Irritation already mentioned, sundry Instructions have been sent to the Governor of this Province, since the Year 1770, which tended to keep the People in continual Alarm and Discontent. The Nature of these Instructions is fully explained in the following Extract, from a Letter of the House of Representatives, to the Earl of Dartmouth.

We cannot refrain from expressing our strongest Apprehensions, that the Instructions which have of late been given to the Governor by the Ministry, if persisted in, will entirely destroy our Liberties, and subvert our happy Constitution. In pursuance of Instructions, the Garrison of our principal Fortress, Castle William, has been withdrawn, and a Garrison of his Majesty's regular Troops, over whom the Governor has declared he has no Controul, placed in their Stead. By this Means the Governor has no longer that Command of this Fortress, which he is vested with by the Royal Charter. Upon this Occasion we would refer it to your Lordship's Consideration, whether the Establishment of the Office, and Power of a Military Commander in Chief, not subordinate to, but independent of, uncontrouled by, and in some Instances superseding the Power and Authorities already granted to the Governors and Captains General of the Provinces, with a Jurisdiction extending over the whole Continent of America, is not repugnant to Law, and to the Principles of Prudence and sound Policy; and must not be very alarming to all those who have any Regard for the Liberties of the Constitution, either of Great-Britain or of the Colonies.

[Page] By virtue of Instructions, the Honourable his Majesty's Council are forbid to meet and transact Matters of a Public Concern, as a Council of Advice to the Governor, unless called by the Governor; and if they should so meet at any Time, the Governor is ordered to Negative them at the next Election.

Notwithstanding the Charter fully authorises and empowers the General Court to impose and levy proportionable and reasonable Rates and Taxes upon the Estates and Persons of all and every the Proprietors and Inhabitants of the Province, yet the Governor has been Instructed not to give his Consent to any Law or Laws, by which the Commissioners, or any Person employed in the King's Service, whose Offices have no peculiar Relation to this Province, shall be taxed. This we conceive is repugnant to the Privilege granted by Charter, which makes the general Court the only proper Judges, who are to be exempted from Taxes.—By Instruction also, the Governor is forbid to give his Consent, upon any Pretence whatever, to any Vote or Order for the Payment of any Salary or Allowance to any Person or Persons appointed to negotiate the Affairs of the Province in Great-Britain, other than such as shall be thereunto appointed by an Act of the whole Legislature, or by a Vote of the House of Representatives, to which the Governor and Council respectively have given their Concurrence. Of what Service can such an Agent be to the Province, especially while Matters which so nearly affect the very Fundamentals of the Constitution are in Dispute. For if he must receive his Instructions from all the Branches of the Legislature, as may, and undoubtedly will be insisted on, can it be expected they will agree in a Set of Instructions in our present critical Situation? If it should be said that either Branch would have a Right to instruct the Agent separately, yet it may happen, especially if the Agent be equally obliged to pursue his Instructions from each Branch, that in the most important Matters the Instructions will be various and contradictory, which must totally deprive us of any Benefit from his Agency, in all such Cases. In short, it is defeating us of every valuable Purpose, as we conceive, that might accrue to the Province by an Agent at the Court of Great-Britain. Moreover, with such an Agent, under the Direction of the three Branches, will it not be utterly impracticable for the Assembly ever to lay before their Sovereign their Complaints against the corrupt and arbitrary Administration of a Governor? Self-defence, my Lord, whether it regard Individuals or Bodies of Men, is the first Law of Nature. The [Page] Right of Defence includes all Means requisite and proper for that Defence, and consequently a Right to appoint and support their own Defender. It must therefore appear, that the House has, more especially when their dearest Rights are at Stake, a clear and just Right to appoint an Agent for themselves, without the Concurrence of the Governor.

It must be apparent to your Lordship, that while our Judges hold their Commissions during Pleasure only, if they are to receive their Support from the Crown, independent of the free Grants of the People, they will be dependent on the Crown both for their Places and Support; and we should submit it to your Lordship's Consideration, whether this be not a Situation in which no Man could wish to be, who is properly impressed with a Sense of human Depravity, or who has a due Regard for Justice. In such a Case, what Decisions must the People expect, when the Dispute lies between Prerogative and Privilege?

We beg your Lordships candid Attention to the unhappy Circumstances of the Province; and hope the Representation we have made of our Grievances will meet with a favourable Reception. The Colonies are far from being insensible of their Happiness, in being conducted with the Mother Country, and of the mutual Benefits derived from it; and shall at all Times esteem it our Glory to cultivate, as far as our Influence may extend, the warmest Sentiments of Loyalty and Affection to his Majesty, and to promote a happy Union and Harmony between the Subjects of Great Britain and those of the Colonies. We are greatly aggrieved. We think it our indispensable Duty to point out to your Lordship our Grievances; we have frequently done it heretofore to Administration. We have failed of Success. Instead of being relieved, our Grievances have been increased. Our Constituents are justly and universally alarmed, and filled with anxious Concern at the present Posture of Affairs.

It is proper to say a single Word about Agency, Mr. De Bardt was appointed by the House only, 7th November 1765; he was admitted, without the least Question, as Agent, at the Board of Trade, under different Administrations, and Governor Bernard gave his Assent to a Bill for paying his Salary so late as the Year 1768. It happened to be the Duty of the Agent soon after to convey the Complaints of his Constituents to the Throne, both against the Minister and the Governor. In this Business a faithful honest Agent was found exceedingly troublesome. Such Representations were therefore made by the Governor, and such Instructions sent by the Minister, as [Page] incapaciated the House from paying their Agent, unless they would have one approved of by the very Persons against whom it might be his Duty to act. This Measure needs no Comment. It is not in human Depravity to devise an Act of more gross Injustice, than that of debarring Men of the Means of desending themselves when accused, or of complaining when injured.

With all these repeated Disappointments and accumulated Grievances rankling in the Minds of the People, the House of Representatives received, through the Hands of their Agent, some original Letters written by their Governor and Lieutenant Governor to Persons of Influence in England. These Letters contained a most unfavourable Representation of the Principles and Proceedings of the People, and of their Representatives. They called for Punishment upon Individuals, and Restraints upon the whole by an Abridgment of their Liberties. The Means of altering the Charter, and of new modelling the Constitution of the Colony, so as to render the Crown absolute, were pointed out with a malignant Ability. Strong Injunctions were added of the Necessity of finding out some Way, 'to TAKE OFF the original Incendaries,' lest they should 'continue to instil their Poison into the Minds of the People.'

These Letters were read with Grief, Astonishment, and Indignation. The People viewed the Writers of them in the most criminal Light. They considered them as the intentional Authors of all their past Calamities, and the Enemies of their future Peace and Happiness. What aggravated the Crime was, that these Men were their Countrymen, had always professed the warmest Wishes for the Welfare of the Province and of the People; and in consequence of those Professions, had obtained their highest Confidence and Respect. This Character was peculiarly competent to one of the Letter Writers. He was the Strafford of his Time. The secret Manner in which the Letters had been conveyed, made the Treachery Tenfold more terrible and offensive.

The House of Representatives voted an humble Petition to the King for the Removal of these Governors, ‘who had rendered themselves justly obnoxious to the People, and entirely lost their Confidence.’ —His Majesty's Council in the Province resolved, at the same Time, That it would be for his Majesty's Service, and the Peace of the Province to remove them.

This Petition was heard before a Committee of the Lords of the Privy Council, where an illiberal Lawyer was hired and permitted to abuse the Petitioners and their Agent, in the [Page] grossest Terms Scurrility could invent; and the Lords reported ‘That the Petition was groundless, vexatious and scandalous, and calculated only for the seditious Purposes of keeping up a Spirit of Clamour and Discontent in the Province. That nothing had been laid before them which did or could, in their Opinion, in any Manner, or in any Degree impeach the Honour, Integrity or conduct of the Governor or Lieutenant Governor.’

It is curious to observe that Mr. Hutchinson, in his History, has described his own Situation in that of Governor Dudley, in the Year 1705. ‘The People (says he) in general, looked upon him as an Enemy, even to the Privileges of the new Charter. Sir Henry Ashurst procured an original Letter, wrote by the Governor's Son Paul, who was then Attorney General, to Mr. Floyd, and sent it to New England, in which were these Expressions, the Government and College are disposed of here in Chimney Corners, and private Meetings, as confidently as can be—This Country will never be worth living in, for Gentlemen and Lawyers, till the Charter is taken away. Copies were dispersed about the Province, and the Letter was soon after printed.’

Sir Henry Ashurst was Agent for the Province, and a Man of high Character, Credit, and Honour. Mr Hutchinson passes no Censure on this Action, neither does it appear to have been censured at the Time. Not that Wedderburns were wanting, but that the Times did not countenance their Scurrility.

In December 1773, a large Quantity of Tea, shipped by the East India Company, with the Duty imposed by Parliament to be paid in America, arrived at Boston. All the Colonies to which the Tea under the same Circumstances was destined, had publicly resolved that it should not be admitted. The Directors of the East India Company had been forewarned of its Fate, and an Offer made before it was shipped to pay the Duty here. But the Tea was destined to produce the Commotions it occasioned, and the Offer was rejected. The People met in Boston, and insisted on the Tea being sent back. The Governor refused to permit the Ship to return, upon which some Persons in Diguise destroyed it in the Night. It is manifest that the Governor intended to urge them to this Extremity or else he would have acted, as General Haldiman writes he expected Governor Tryon would do, ‘to prevent dangerous Extremities, rather chuse to permit the Teas should be sent back to England.’ The same was permitted at Philadelphia, and the Tea actually sent back on the 27th of December. [Page] General Haldiman declares this was the Determination of every Colony. ‘The several Governors (says he) of other Provinces, will undoubtedly make your Lordship acquainted with the Opposition intended, and made in their respective Governments against the landing the Tea; the whole proceeding from an almost unanimous Resolution not to pay any new Duties or Taxes laid by the Parliament of Great-Britain.’

Governor Hutchinson's Son and his near Relation were the Consignees of the Tea, and the Persons most interested in the Sale of it. As the Consignees had refused to resign the Tea, their Windows were broke by the Mob. Upon this they applied to his Majesty's Council for Protection, who came to the following Report upon the Application.

In Council Nov. 27, 1773, The Petition of Richard Clark, Esq and others (to whom the East-India Company have consigned a Quantity of their Tea) being referred to this Day, the same was taken up; and after long Debates, Mr. Danforth, Mr. Bowdoin, Mr. Dexter, and Mr. Winthrop, were appointed a Committee thereon, who reported, and the Report after Debate was referred for further Consideration to Monday next, at Ten o'Clock, A. M.

Monday, Nov. 29, 1773. The said Report was again considered, and after some Amendments unanimously agreed to.

It is as follows:

Previous to the Consideration of the Petition before the Board, they would make a few Observations occasioned by the Subject of it. The Situation of Things between Great-Britain and the Colonies has been for some Years past very unhappy. Parliament on the one hand has been taxing the Colonies, and they on the other have been petitioning and remonstrating against it; apprehending they have constitutionally an exclusive Right of taxing themselves, and that without such a Right their Condition would be but little better than Slavery. Possessed of these Sentiments, every new Measure of Parliament, tending to establish and confirm a Tax on them, renews and increases their Distress; and it is particularly increased by the Act lately made, empowering the East India Company to ship their Tea to America.

This Act in a commercial View they think introductive of Monopolies, and tending to bring on them the extensive Evils thence arising: But their great Objection to it is from its being manifestly intended (though that Intention is not expressed therein) more effectually to secure the Payment of [Page] the Duty on Tea, laid by an Act passed in the 7th Year of his present Majesty, intitled, ‘An Act for granting certain Duties in the British Colonies and Plantations in America;’ which Act in its Operation deprives the Colonists of the Right above-mentioned (the exclusive Right of taxing themselves) which they hold to be so essential an one, that it cannot be taken away, or given up, without their being degraded, or degrading themselves below the Character of Men. It not only deprives them of that Right, hut enacts that the Monies arising from the Duties granted by it may be applied ‘as his Majesty or his Successors shall think proper or necessary, for defraying the Charges of the Administration of Justice, and the Support of the Civil Government, within all or any of the said Colonies or Plantations.’

This Clause of the Act has already operated in some of the Colonies, and in this Colony in particular, with regard to the Support of Civil Government, and thereby has operated in Diminution of its Charter Rights, to the great Grief of the good People of it, who have been, and still are, greatly alarmed by repeated Reports, that it is to have a further Operation with respect to the defraying the Charge of the Administration of Justice, which would not only be a further Diminution of those Rights, but tend in all constitutional Questions, and in many other Cases of Importance, to bias the Judges against the Subject. They humbly rely on the Justice and Goodness of his Majesty for the Restitution and Preservation of those Rights.

This short State of Facts the Board thought necessary to be given, to shew the Cause of the present great Uneasiness, which is not confined to this Neighbourhood, but is general and extensive. The People think their exclusive Right of taxing themselves by their Representatives infringed and violated by the Act above-mentioned; that the new Act, empowering the East-India Company to import their Tea into America, confirms that Violation, and is a new Effort, not only more effectually to secure the Payment of the Tea Duty, but lay a Foundation for the enhancing it; and in a like Way, if this should succeed, to lay other Taxes on America; that it is in its Attendants and Consequences ruinous to the Liberties and Properties of themselves, and their Posterity; that as their numerous Petitions for Relief have been rejected, the said new Act demonstrates an Unwillingness in Ministry that Parliament should grant them Relief; that this is the Source of their Distress that borders on Despair; and that they know not where to apply for Relief.

[Page] These being the Sentiments of the People, it is become the indispensable Duty of the Board to mention them, that the Occasion of the late Demands on Mr. Clark and others (the Agents for the East-India Company) and of the consequent Disturbances, might appear: And we mention them, not to justify those Disturbances, the Authors of which we have advised should be prosecuted, but to give a just Idea of the Rise of them.

On this Occasion, Justice impels us to declare, that the People of this Town and Province, though they have a high Sense of Liberty, derived from the Manners, the Example and Constitution of the Mother Country, have, till the late Parliamentary Taxations of the Colonies, been as free from Disturbances as any People whatever.

This Representation the Board thought necessary to be made prior to their taking Notice of the Petition of the Agents above-mentioned; to the Consideration of which they now proceed.

The Petitioners ‘beg Leave to resign themselves, and the Property committed to their Care, to his Excellency and the Board, as Guardians and Protectors of the People, praying that Measures may be directed to for the landing and securing the Tea, &c.’ With regard to the personal Protection of the Petitioners, the Board have not been informed, that they have applied for it to any of the Justices of the Peace; within whose Department it is to take Cognizance of the Case of the Petitioners, and of all other Breaches of the Peace; they being vested by Law with all the Authority necessary for the Protection of his Majesty's Subjects. In the principal Instance of Abuse*, of which they complain, the Board have already advised, that the Authors should be prosecuted according to Law; and they do advise the same in the other Instances mentioned in their Petition.

With regard to the Tea committed to the Care of the Petitioners, the Board have no Authority to take either that or any other Merchandize out of their Care; and should they do it, or give any Order or Advice concerning it, and a Loss ensue, they apprehend they should make themselves responsible for it. With respect to the Prayer of the Petition, ‘that Measures may be directed to for landing and securing the Tea,’ the Board would observe on it, that the Duty on the Tea becomes payable, and must be paid, or secured to [Page] be paid, on its being landed. And should they direct or advise to any Measure for landing it, they would of course advise to a Measure for procuring the Payment of the Duty, and therefore be advising to a Measure inconsistent with the declared Sentiment of both Houses in the last Winter Session of the General Court, which they apprehend to be altogether inexpedient and improper.

The Board, however, on this Occasion assure your Excellency, that as they have seen, with Regret, some late Disturbances, and have advised to the prosecuting the Authors of them, so they will, in all legal Methods, endeavour, to the utmost of their Power, to prevent them in future.

Whereupon advised, That his Excellency renew his Orders to his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, and other Peace Officers, to exert themselves to the utmost for the Security of his Majesty's Subjects, the Preservation of Peace and good Order, and for preventing all Offences against the Law.

On the 18th of February 1774, the whole House of Representatives waited on the Governor with a second Petition, for the Removal of the Chief Justice, who had rendered himself incapable, by accepting a Salary from the Crown, at whose Will he also held his Place. They say, ‘Your Excellency will please to consider that this House is well acquainted with the general Sense of their Constituents in this Matter; and we can now assure you, that the Continuance of the Chief Justice in his Place, will increase the Uneasiness of the People without Doors, and endanger the public Tranquillity. We therefore earnestly intreat your Excellency, that while we are in this Instance employing the Powers with which we are entrusted in promoting the Tranquillity and good Order of Government, "we may," agreeably to your Declaration in your Speech to both Houses, ‘find that you are ready to give your Consent to a Request of the House intended for that and other great and important Purposes:’ And that your Excellency will immediately take every Step for the Removal of the Chief Justice from the superior Court.’

The Governor returned them a positive Denial, accompanied with a curious Piece of Equivocation. The House had prayed that he would take the Advice of his Majesty's Council upon their Petition, conformable to the Charter.—To which he answers, That though he was by Charter to act with the Advice and Assistance of his Council, yet the summoning of the Council was in his Discretion. Thus was the protective Provision of the Charter effectually evaded.

[Page]This is a full and fair State of the Proceedings in and respecting the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, from the Year 1762 to 1774.

The candid Reader will judge what Causes of Discontent have been given them, and whether they have operated beyond their natural Bounds. If they have been particularly unquiet, they have also been particularly irritated and injured. Imagining ourselves in their Situation, will, I believe, prevent us from severely censuring their Conduct.

It is manifest that they have constantly expressed their Complaints in Petitions conceived in the most measured Language of Subordination and Respect. That they have repeatedly acknowledged the supreme legislative Authority of Parliament. That the only Instance in which they seem to have questioned it, was in a mere speculative Dispute, purposely provoked by the Governor. That the constant Subject of their Complaint, has been the having their Money taken from them without their Consent; the substituting a dependent Judge, bribed by being paid out of the Forfeitures, to determine in all Causes of Revenue, by the Rules of the Civil Law, and without a Jury; and the Violation of their Security in the due Administration of Government and of Justice, by rendering the Governor and Judges totally dependent on the Crown. That their Wish has been to return to the State in which they were before the passing these Laws and sending these Instructions, and not to become independent of Great Britain. This appears not only from their repeated and authentic Declarations, but from Gogernor Hutchinson's Letters. ‘The Enemies of Government (so is he pleased to stile the Council, the House of Representatives, and the People) gave out, that their Friends in Parliament were increasing, and all Things would be soon on the old Footing; in other Words, that all Acts imposing Duties would be repealed, the Commissioners Board dissolved, the Customs put on their old Footing, and illicit Trade be carried on with little or no Hazard.’ The Malignity of this Reflection upon the People, will plainly appear from the following Declaration of Governor Bernard, whose Testimony in their favour will hardly be questioned. ‘I do not pretend, says he, that this Province is entirely free from the Breach of those Laws (of Trade), but only that such Breach, if discovered, is surely punished.’ What more can be said of the best Country upon Earth? Yet Governor Hutchinson does not scruple to charge them with having been all Smugglers, and throw an Odium upon their struggling for their Rights by the [Page] Imputation of their sole Object being to renew that illicit Trade with Impunity.

It must also appear from their Proceedings, that their great Crime has been their Constancy in petitioning for Redress of Grievances; which has been attempted to be repressed, even by the most unjustifiable Means of refusing them an Agent to vindicate them when misrepresented, and support their Complaints. While this common Right of Justice is denied them, Persons are notoriously hired here to load them in the Public Papers with every Species of Opprobrium, Falshood, and Abuse. There are two Things which deserve the most particular Attention: 1st, That whenever Affidavits were taken on the Part of the People, they were taken in public, with Summonses to all Persons concerned to attend, 2nd cross-examine the Witnesses: On the contrary, those which were obtained by the Governor and Commissioners, accusing the People, were made in secret, the Persons accused unapprized and totally ignorant of the Proceedings, they were transmitted in secret, and the injured Persons by mere Accidents, and after they had operated to their Hurt, had an Opportunity of seeing and [...]uting them. The Instances on both Sides will be found in the Affidavits taken on the Seizure of the Sloop Liberty, and the Riot, and in Mr. Oliver's Affidavit, and the Narrative of the Town, respecting the Massacre on the 5th of March. 2d, That the chief and almost only continual Witnesses against the People are, the Governors Bernard and Hutchinson: The former of whom has long laboured under an Accusation upon Oath of gross Corruption in his Office, the latter has been detected in the basest Plot against their Liberties; and both are at open Enmity with the People, having been petitioned against by their Representatives, as universally odious. How far the Representations of Men so circumstanced can be presumed fair and impartial, or deserve Credit, must be left to the candid to determine.

We have seen their Petitions either intercepted, or treated with a contemptuous Silence, or answered with the severest Censures. Seven Years Supplication has brought no Relief. And now, to fill up the Measure of their Misfortunes, their Port is stopt up, their Charter is to be subverted, and a lawless Army let loose upon them. They have been tried, condemned and punished, unheard and unapprized of the whole Proceedings. They are left to weep over their Apprehensions, realized in the utter Subversion of their Liberties. This Accumulation of Calamities is heaped upon them, because high and strong Resentments, as they naturally must, have followed [Page] severe and reiterated Injuries: Because Discontent has arisen from disappointed and despised Complaints; and Violence from insulted Discontent.

Whoever will take the Trouble of reading, in the History of this most meritorious and unhappy People, the unparalleled Hardships with which they purchased those Liberties we have now torn from them; and view the deplorable, the desperate Situation, to which they are now reduced—however obdurate, however prejudiced he may be, he must think, at least, ‘One human Tear may drop, and be forgiven.’

FINIS.

Notes

*

‘But the most interesting Objection, which is not avowed, and therefore cannot receive a formal Answer, is, that an American Representation will take away all Pretences for disputing the Ordinances of Parliament.’ Governor Bernard's Letter 1764, p. 59. And again, p. 72, and 54.

↵

†

See Extract of Governor Bernard's Letter in the Lords Report, p. [...].

↵

*

The House had employed a separate Agent some Years before, and Governor Bernard had given his Assent to a Bill for paying his Salary. What he calls addressing the King, was a Petition; and remonstrating, was writing a Letter.

↵

*

That the Seizure was unjust is plain from this, that they were obliged to restore the Vessel, after detaining her a long Time, not being able to find any Evidence to support a Prosecution. The Suits too for enormous Sums against a Number of Persons, brought in the Court of Admiralty, being found insupportable, were, after long Continuance, to the great Expence and Trouble of these Persons, dropt, by a Declaration of the King's Advocate that his Majesty would prosecute no farther;—but the prosecuted could obtain no Costs or Damages, for so is the Law.

↵

*

The Assembly of South Carolina was about the same Time removed from Charlestown to Port Royal, a remote Place unfit to accommodate them. This Method of harrassing Assemblies into the Measures of a Ministry, seems borrowed from the favourite Minister of Henry III. who, ‘to work his Ends (as Gascoign tells us) caused the Parliament to sit in villibus et remotis partibus regni, where few People, propter defectum hospitii et victualium, could attend, and by shifting that Assembly from Place to Place to enforce (in the Author's Words) illos paucos qui remanebunt de communitate regni, concedere regi qua [...]vis pessima.’

↵

*

Some of their Windows were broken.

↵

§

§

[Page]

[Page]

A TRUE STATE OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE PARLIAMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN, AND IN THE PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, RELATIVE TO The Giving and Granting the MONEY OF THE PEOPLE of that Province, and of all AMERICA, in the House of Commons, in which they are not represented.

LONDON, PRINTED: PHILADELPHIA: Re-printed by JOSEPH CRUKSHANK, in Market-Street, between Second and Third Streets. MDCCLXXIV.

Information about this book

Title statement

A True state of the proceedings in the Parliament of Great Britain, and in the province of Massachusetts Bay, relative to the giving and granting the money of the people of that province, and of all America, in the House of Commons, in which they are not represented.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2007-10.

ID [DLPS]

N10475

ID [TCP]

N10475

ID [STC]

Evans 13282

ID [NOTIS]

APW0653

ID [IMAGE-SET]

13282

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99006360

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 13282.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N10475)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 13282)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 13282)

Source

— A True state of the proceedings in the Parliament of Great Britain, and in the province of Massachusetts Bay, relative to the giving and granting the money of the people of that province, and of all America, in the House of Commons, in which they are not represented., Lee, Arthur, 1740-1792, comp..

Extent

39, [1] p. ; (8vo)

London, printed: Philadelphia: re-printed by Joseph Crukshank, in Market-Street, between Second and Third Streets.,. [Philadelphia] :: MDCCLXXIV. [1774]. (Compiled by Arthur Lee from material furnished by Benjamin Franklin. Cf. Crane, V.W. Benjamin Franklin's letters to the press, 1950, p. li and 236.)

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.