THE attentive gravity, the venerable appearance of this crouded audience, the dignity which I behold in the countenances of so many in this great Assembly, the solemnity of the occasion upon which we have met together, join'd to a consideration of the part I am to take in the important business of this day, fill me with an awe hitherto un­known; and heighten the sense which I have ever had, of my un­worthiness to fill this sacred desk; but, allur'd by the call of some of my respected fellow-citizens, with whose request it is always my greatest pleasure to comply, I almost forgot my want of ability to perform what they required. In this situation, I find my only sup­port, in assuring myself that a generous people will not severely censure what they know was well intended, though it's want of [Page 6] merit, should prevent their being able to applaud it. And I pray, that my sincere attachment to the interest of my country, and hearty detestation of every design formed against her liberties, may be ad­mitted as some apology for my appearance in this place.

I HAVE always from my earliest youth, rejoiced in the felicity of my Fellow-men, and have ever consider'd it as the indispensible duty of every member of society to promote, as far as in him lies, the prosperity of every individual, but more especially of the com­munity to which he belongs; and also, as a faithful subject of the state, to use his utmost endeavours to detect, and having detected, strenuously to oppose every traiterous plot which its enemies may devise for its destruction. Security to the persons and properties of the governed, is so obviously the design and end of civil govern­ment, that to attempt a logical proof of it, would be like burning tapers at noon-day, to assist the sun in enlightening the world; and it cannot be either virtuous or honorable, to attempt to support a government, of which this is not the great and principal basis; and it is to the last degree vicious and infamous to attempt to support a government which manifestly tends to render the persons and pro­perties of the governed insecure. Some boast of being friends to government; I am a friend to righteous government, to a govern­ment founded upon the principles of reason and justice; but I glory in publickly avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny. Is the present system which the British administration have adopted for the govern­ment of the colonies, a righteous government? Or is it tyranny?— Here suffer me to ask (and would to Heaven there could be an [Page 7] answer) What tenderness? What regard, respect or consideration has Great-Britain shewn in their late transactions for the security of the persons or properties of the inhabitants of the colonies? or rather, What have they omitted doing to destroy that security? They have declared that they have, ever had, and of right ought ever to have, full power to make laws of sufficient validity to bind the colonies in all cases whatever: They have exercised this pretended right by imposing a tax upon us without our consent; and lest we should shew some reluctance at parting with our property, her fleets and armies are sent to inforce their mad pretensions. The town of Boston, ever faithful to the British Crown, has been invested by a British fleet: The troops of George the Third have cross'd the wide atlantick, not to engage an enemy, but to assist a band of TRAITORS in trampling on the rights and liberties of his most loyal subjects in America,—those rights and liberties which as a father he ought ever to regard, and as a King he is bound in ho­nour to defend from violations, even at the risque of his own life.

LET not the history of the illustrious house of Brunswick inform posterity, that a King descended from that glorious monarch George the second, once sent his British subjects to conquer and enslave his subjects in America; but be perpetual infamy entail'd upon that villain who dared to advise his Master to such execrable measures; for it was easy to foresee the consequences which so naturally fol­lowed upon sending troops into America, to enforce obedience to acts of the British parliament, which neither God nor man ever empowered them to make. It was reasonable to expect that troops [Page 8] who knew the errand they were sent upon, would treat the people whom they were to subjugate, with a cruelty and haughtiness, which too often buries the honorable character of a soldier, in the disgrace­ful name of an unfeeling ruffian. The troops upon their first arri­val took possession of our Senate House, and pointed their cannon against the Judgment-hall, and even continued them there whilst the Supreme Court of Judicature for this Province was actually sitting to decide upon the lives and fortunes of the King's subjects.— Our streets nightly resounded with the noise of riot and debauchery; our peaceful citizens were hourly exposed to shameful insults, and often felt the effects of their violence and outrage. But this was not all: As though they thought it not enough to violate our civil Rights, they endeavoured to deprive us of the enjoyment of our religious privileges, to viciate our morals, and thereby render us de­serving of destruction. Hence the rude din of arms which broke in upon your solemn devotions in your temples, on that day hallow­ed by Heaven, and set apart by God himself for his peculiar wor­ship. Hence, impious oaths and blasphemies so often tortur'd your unaccustomed ear. Hence, all the arts which idleness and luxury could invent, were used, to betray our youth of one sex into extra­vagance and effeminacy, and of the other to infamy and ruin; and did they not succeed but too well? Did not a reverence for reli­gion sensibly decay? Did not our infants almost learn to lisp out curses before they knew their horrid import? Did not our youth forget they were Americans, and regardless of the admonitions of the wise and aged, servilely copy from their tyrants those vices which [...] must overthrow the empire of Great-Britain? And must I be [Page 9] compelled to acknowledge, that even the noblest, fairest part of all the lower creation did not entirely escape the cursed snare? When virtue has once erected her throne within the female breast, it is upon so solid a basis that nothing is able to expel the heavenly inhabitant. But have there not been some, few indeed, I hope, whose youth and inexperience have render'd them a prey to wretches, whom upon the least reflection, they would have despised and hated as foes to God and their country? I fear there have been some such unhappy instances; or why have I seen an honest father cloathed with shame? or why a virtuous mother drowned in tears?

BUT I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transactions of that dismal night, when in such quick succession we felt the extremes of grief, astonishment and rage; when Heaven in anger, for a dread­ful moment, suffer'd Hell to take the reins; when Satan with his chosen band open'd the sluices of New-England's blood, and sacri­legiously polluted our land with the dead bodies of her guiltless sons. Let this sad tale of death never be told without a tear; let not the heaving bosom cease to burn with a manly indignation at the barba­rous story, thro' the long tracts of future time: Let every parent tell the shameful story to his listening children till tears of pity glisten in their eyes, and boiling passion shakes their tender frames; and whilst the anniversary of that ill-fated night is kept a jubilee in the grim court of pandaemonium, let all America join in one com­mon prayer to Heaven, that, the inhuman, unprovok'd murders of the Fifth of March 1770, planned by Hillsborough, and a knot of treacherous knaves in Boston, and executed by the cruel hand of [Page 10] Preston and his sanguinary coadjutors, may ever stand on history without a parallel. But what, my countrymen, with-held the ready arm of vengeance from executing instant justice on the vile assassins? Perhaps you fear'd promiscuous carnage might ensue, and that the innocent might share the fate of those who had performed the in­fernal deed. But were not all guilty? Were you not too ten­der of the lives of those who came to fix a yoke on your necks? But I must not too severely blame a fault, which great souls only can commit. May that magnificence of spirit which scorns the low pursuits of malice, may that generous compas­sion which often preserves from ruin, even a guilty villain, fore­ver actuate the noble bosoms of Americans!—But let not the miscreant host vainly imagine that we fear'd their arms. No; them we despis'd; we dread nothing but slavery. Death is the creature of a Poltroon's brains; 'tis immortality, to sacrifice our­selves for the salvation of our country. We fear not death. That gloomy night, the pale fac'd moon, and the affrighted stars that hurried through the sky, can witness that we fear not death.— Our hearts, which at the recollection glow with a rage that four revolving years have scarcely taught us to restrain, can witness that we fear not death; and happy 'tis for those who dared to insult us, that their naked bones are not now piled up an everlasting monu­ment of Massachusett's bravery. But they retir'd, they fled, and in that flight they found their only safety. We then expected that the hand of publick justice would soon inflict that punishment upon the murderers, which by the laws of God and man they had incur­red. But let the unbiass'd pen of a Robinson, or perhaps of some [Page 11] equally fam'd American, conduct this trial before the great tribunal of succeeding generations. And though the murderers may escape the just resentment of an emaged people, though drowsy justice intoxicated by the poisonous draught prepared for her cup, still nods upon her rotten feat, yet be assured, such complicated crimes will meet their due reward. Tell me, ye bloody butchers, ye villains high and low, ye wretches who contrived, as well as you who executed the inhuman deed, do you not feel the goads and stings of conscious guilt pierce through your savage bosoms? Though some of you may think yourselves exalted to a heighth that bids defiance to the arms of human justice, and others shrowd your­selves beneath the mask of hypocrisy, and build your hopes of safe­ty on the low arts of cunning, chicanery and falshood; yet, do you not sometimes feel the gnawings of that worm which never dies? Do not the injured shades of Maverick, Gray, Caldwell, Attucks and Carr, attend you in your solitary walks, arrest you even in the midst of your debaucheries, and fill even your dreams with terror? But if the unappeased manes of the dead should not disturb their murderers, yet sorely even your obdurate hearts must shrink, and your guilty blood must chill within your rigid veins, when you behold the miserable Monk, the wretched victim of your savage cruelty. Observe his tottering knees which scarce sustain his wasted body, look on his haggard eyes, mark well the deathlike paleness on his fallen cheek, and tell me, does not the sight plant daggers in your souls? Unhappy Monk! Cut off in the gay morn of manhood from all the joys which sweeten life, doom'd to drag on a pitiful existence without even a hope to [Page 12] taste the pleasures of returning health! Yet Monk, thou livest not in vain; thou livest a warning to thy country which sympathises with thee in thy sufferings; thou livest an affecting, an alarming instance of the unbounded violence which lust of power, assisted by a standing army, can lead a traitor to commit.

FOR us he bled, and now languishes. The wounds by which he is tortur'd to a lingering death were aim'd at our country! surely the meek-eyed charity can never behold such sufferings with indif­ference. Nor can her lenient hand forbear to pour oil and wine into these wounds; and to assuage at least, what it cannot heal.

PATRIOTISM is ever united with humanity and compassion. This noble affection which impels us to sacrifice every thing [...], even life itself, to our country, involves in it a common sympathy and tenderness for every citizen, and must ever have a particular feeling for one who suffers in a publick cause. Thoroughly persua­ded of this, I need not add a word to engage your compassion and bounty towards a fellow citizen, who with long protracted anguish falls a victim to the relentless rage of our common enemies.

YE dark designing knaves, ye murderers, parricides! how dare you tread upon the earth, which has drank in the blood of slaughter'd innocents shed by your wicked hands? How dare you breathe that air which wafted to the ear of heaven the groans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed ambition? But if the labouring earth [Page 13] doth not expand her jaws, if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister of death; yet, hear it, and tremble! the eye of Heaven penetrates the darkest chambers of the soul, traces the leading clue through all the labyrinths which your industrious folly has devised; and you, however you may have screen'd yourselves from human eyes, must be arraigned, must lift your hands, red with the blood of those whose death you have procur'd, at the tremendous bar of God.

BUT I gladly quit the gloomy theme of death, and leave you to improve the thought of that important day, when our naked Souls must stand before that Being, from whom nothing can be hid.— I would not dwell too long upon the horrid effects which have already follow'd from quartering regular troops in this town; let our misfortunes teach posterity to guard against such evils for the future. Standing armies are sometimes, (I would by no means say generally, much less universally) composed of persons who have render'd themselves unfit to live in civil society; who have no other motives of conduct than those which a desire of the present gratification of their passions suggests; who have no property in any country;—Men who have lost or given up their own liberties, and envy those who enjoy liberty; who are equally indifferent to the glory of a GEORGE or a Lewis; who for the addition of one peny a day to their wages would desert from the christian cross, and fight under the crescent of the Turkish Sultan; from such men as these, what has not a state to fear? With such as these, usurping Caesar pass'd the Rubicon; with such as these he humbled mighty Rome, [Page 14] and forc'd the mistress of the world to own a master in a traitor. These are the men whom scepter'd robbers now employ to frustrate the designs of God, and render vain the bounties which his gracious hand pours indiscriminately upon his creatures. By these the miser­able slaves in Turkey, Persia, and many other extensive countries, are render'd truly wretched, though their air is salubrious, and their soil luxuriously fertile.—By these France and Spain, 'tho' blessed by nature with all that administers to the convenience of life, have been reduc'd to that contemptible state in which they now appear; and by these Britain — But if I was possess'd of the gift of prophecy, I dare not, except by divine command, unfold the leaves on which the destiny of that once powerful kingdom is inscrib'd.

BUT since standing armies are so hurtful to a state, perhaps, my countrymen may demand some substitute, some other means of ren­dering us secure against the incursions of a foreign enemy. But can you be one moment at a loss? Will not a well disciplin'd militia afford you ample security against foreign foes? We want not cou­rage; it is discipline alone in which we are exceeded by the most formidable troops that ever trod the earth. Surely our hearts flutter no more at the sound of war, than did those of the immortal band of Persia, the Macedonian phalanx, the invincible Roman legions, the Turkish Janissaries, the Gens des Armes of France, or the well known Grenadiers of Britain. A well disciplin'd militia is a safe, an honourable guard to a community like this, whose inhabitants are by nature brave, and are laudably tenacious of that freedom in which they were born. From a well regulated militia we have nothing to [Page 15] fear; their interest is the same with that of the state. When a country is invaded, the militia are ready to appear in it's defence; they march into the field with that fortitude which a consciousness of the justice of their cause inspires; they do not jeopard their lives for a master who considers them only as the instruments of his am­bition, and whom they regard only as the daily dispenser of the scanty pittance of bread and water. No, they fight for their houses, their lands, for their wives, their children, for all who claim the tenderest names, and are held dearest in their hearts, they fight pro aris & focis, for their liberty, and for themselves, and for their God. And let it not offend if I say, that no militia ever appear'd in more flourishing condition, than that of this province now doth; and par­don me if I say,—of this town in particular.—I mean not to boast; I would not excite envy, but manly emulation. We have all one common cause; let it therefore be our only contest, who shall most contribute to the security of the liberties of America. And may the same kind providence which has watched over this country from her infant state, still enable us to defeat our enemies. I cannot here forbear noticing the signal manner in which the designs of those who wish not well to us have been discovered. The dark deeds of a treacherous Cabal, have been brought to publick view. You now know the serpents who, whilst cherished in your bosoms, were darting their invenom'd stings into the vitals of the constitution. But the Representatives of the people have fixed a mark on those ungrateful monsters, which, though it may not make them so secure as Cain of old, yet renders them at least as infamous. Indeed it would be af­frontive to the tutelar deity of this country eve [...] to despair of saving it from all the snares which human policy can lay.

[Page 16]TRUE it is, that the British ministry have annexed a salary to the office of the Governor of this province, to be paid out of a revenue raised in America without our consent. They have attempted to render our Courts of Justice the instruments of extending the au­thority of acts of the British parliament over his colony, by making the Judges dependent on the British administration for their support. But this people will never be enslaved with their eyes open. The moment they knew that the Governor was not such a Governor as the charter of the province points out, he lost his power of hurting them. They were alarmed; they suspected him, have guarded a­gainst him, and he has found that a wise and a brave people, when they know their danger, are fruitful in expedients to escape it.

THE Courts of Judicature also so far lost their dignity by being supposed to be under an undue influence, that our Representatives thought it absolutely necessary to Resolve, that they were bound to declare that they would not receive any other salary besides that which the General Court should grant them; and if they did not make this declaration, that it would be the duty of the House to Impeach them.

GREAT expectations were also formed from the artful scheme of allowing the East India company to export Tea to America upon their own account. This certainly, had it succeeded, would have effected the purpose of the contrivers, and gratified the most sanguine wishes of our adversaries. We soon should have found our trade in the [Page 17] hands of foreigners, and taxes imposed on every thing which we consumed; nor would it have been strange, if in a few years a company in London should have purchased an exclusive right of trading to America.—But their plot was soon discovered.—The peo­ple soon were aware of the poison which with so much craft and subtilty had been concealed: Loss and disgrace ensued: and perhaps this long-concerted, master-piece of policy, may issue in the total disuse of TEA in this country, which will eventually be the saving of the lives and the estates of thousands—Yet while we rejoice that the adversary has not hitherto prevailed against us, let us by no means put off the harness. Restless malice, and disappointed ambi­tion will still suggest new measures to our inveterate enemies.—There­fore let Us also be ready to take the field whenever danger calls, let us be united and strengthen the hands of each other, by promoting a general union among us.—Much has been done by the Committtees of Correspondence for this and the other towns of this province to­wards uniting the inhabitants; let them still go on and prosper. Much has been done by the Committees of Correspondence for the Houses of Assembly in this and our Sister Colonies, for uniting the Inhabitants of the whole Continent for the security of their common interest. May success ever attend their generous endeavours. But permit me here to suggest a general Congress of Deputies from the several Houses of Assembly on the Continent, as the most effectual method of establishing such an Union as the present posture of our affairs requires. At such a Congress, a firm foundation may be laid for the security of our Rights and Liberties; a system may be form­ed for our common safety, by a strict adherence to which we shall [Page 18] be able to frustrate any attempts to overthrow our constitution; restore peace and harmony to America, and secure honor and wealth to Great-Britain, even against the inclinations of her ministers, whose duty it is to study her welfare; and we shall also free ourselves from those unmannerly pillagers who impudently tell us, that they are licenced by an act of the British parliament to thrust their dirty hands into the pockets of every American. But I trust, the happy time will come, when with the besom of destruction, these noxious vermin will be swept for ever from the streets of Boston.

SURELY you never will tamely suffer this country to be a den of thieves. Remember, my friends, from whom you sprang—Let not a meanness of spirit, unknown to those whom you boast of as your Fathers, excite a thought to the dishonour of your mothers. I conjure you by all that is dear, by all that is honoura­ble, by all that is sacred, not only that ye pray, but that you act; that, if necessary, ye fight, and even die for the prosperity of our Jerusalem. Break in sunder, with noble disdain, the bonds with which the Philistines have bound you. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed by the soft arts of luxury and effeminacy, into the Pit dig­ged for your destruction. Despise the glare of wealth. That peo­ple who pay greater respect to a wealthy villain, than to an honest up­right man in poverty, almost deserve to be enslaved; they plainly shew that wealth, however it may be acquired, is in their esteem, to be preferr'd to virtue.

[Page 19]BUT I thank GOD, that America abounds in men who are supe­rior to all temptation, whom nothing can divert from a steady pur­suit of the interest of their country; who are at once it's ornament and safe-guard. And sure I am, I should not incur your displea­sure, if I paid a respect so justly due to their much honoured cha­racters in this public place; but when I name an ADAMS, such a numerous host of Fellow-patriots rush upon my mind, that I fear it would take up too much of your time, should I attempt to call over the illustrious roll: But your grateful hearts will point you to the men; and their revered names, in all succeeding times, shall grace the annals of America. From them, let us, my friends, take example; from them let us catch the divine enthusiasm; and feel, each for himself, the God-like pleasure of diffusing happiness on all around us; of delivering the oppressed from the iron grasp of tyranny; of changing the hoarse complaints and bitter moans of wretched slaves, into those cheerful songs, which freedom and contentment must in­spire. There is a heart-felt satisfaction in reflecting on our exertions for the public weal, which all the sufferings an enraged tyrant can inflict, will never take away; which the ingratitude and reproaches of those whom we have sav'd from ruin cannot rob us of. The vir­tuous assertor of the Rights of mankind, merits a reward, which even a want of success in his endeavours to save his country, the heaviest misfortune which can befall a genuine Patriot, cannot en­tirely prevent him from receiving.

[Page 20]I HAVE the most animating confidence that the present noble struggle for liberty, will terminate gloriously for America. And let us play the man for our God, and for the cities of our God; while we are using the means in our power, let us humbly com­mit our righteous cause to the great Lord of the universe, who loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity.—And having secured the appro­bation of our hearts, by a faithful and unwearied discharge of our duty to our country, let us joyfully leave her important concerns in the hands of HIM who raiseth up and putteth down the empires and kingdoms of the world as HE pleases; and with cheerful submission to HIS sovereign will, devoutly say, ‘Although the Fig-Tree shall not Blossom, neither shall Fruit be in the Vines; the Labour of the Olive shall fail, and the Fields shall yield no Meat; the Flock shall be cut off from the Fold, and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls: Yet we will rejoice in the LORD, we will joy in the GOD of our Salvation.’