Being the King's
birthday, dined on the banks of the Schuylkill in company of about 380 persons.
Several healths were drunk, among them Dr. Franklin, which gave great
satisfaction to the company. A long boat was taken there on four wagon wheels,
and many great guns fired.
SOURCE: Jacob Cox
Parsons, Editor, Extracts from the Diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer, of
Philadelphia, 1765-1798, p. 11
This being the
birth-day of King George III., scarcely, if any, notice was taken of it in this
city, by way of rejoicing: not one of our bells suffered to ring, and but very
few colours were shown by the shipping in the harbour; no, nor not one bonfire
kindled.
SOURCE: William
Duane, Editor, Passages from the Diary of Christopher Marshall, Kept
in Philadelphia and Lancaster during the American Revolution, Vol. 1,
1774-1777, pp. 6-7
Omnes homines naturá Libertati student, et CONDITIONEM ser vitutis oderunt.
CÆS.
-Nunc ea petit, quæ dare nullo modo possumus, nisi priùs volumes nos bello victos confiteri.
CIC.
YOUR design in the appointment of this ceremony, my friends and fellow townsmen, cannot fail to be examined in quite different lights at this season of political dissension. From the principles I profess, and in the exercise of my common right to judge with others, I conclude it was decent, wise, and honourable.
The certainty of being favoured with your kindest partiality and candour, in a poor attempt to execute the part to which you have invited me, has overcome the objection of my inability to perform it in a proper manner; and I now beg the favour of your animating countenance.
The horrid bloody scene we here commemorate, whatever were the causes which concurred to bring it on that dreadful night, must lead the pious and humane, of every order, to some suitable reflections. The pious will adore the conduct of that BEING who is unsearchable in all his ways, and without whose knowledge not a single sparrow falls, in permitting an immortal soul to be hurried by the flying ball, the messenger of death, in the twinkling of an eye, to meet the awful Judge of all its secret actions. The humane, from having often thought, with pleasing rapture, on the endearing scenes of social life, in all its amiable relations, will lament, with heartfelt pangs, their sudden dissolution, by indiscretion, rage, and vengeance.
But let us leave that shocking close of one continued course of rancour and dispute, from the first moment that the troops arrived in town; that course will now be represented by your own reflections to much more solid, useful purpose, than by any artful language. I hope, however, that heaven has yet in store such happiness for this afflicted town and province, as will in time wear out the memory of all your former troubles.
I sincerely rejoice with you in the happy event of your steady and united effort to prevent a second tragedy.
Our fathers left their native land, risked all the dangers of the sea, and came to this then savage desert, with that true undaunted courage which is excited by a confidence in God. They came that they might here enjoy themselves, and leave to their posterity the best of earthly portions, full English liberty. You showed upon the alarming cause for trial, that their brave spirit still exists in vigour, though their legacy of right is much impaired. The sympathy and active friendship of some neighbouring towns, upon that sad occasion, commands the highest gratitude of this.
We have seen and felt the ill effects of placing standing forces in the midst of populous communities; but those are only what individuals suffer. Your vote directs me to point out the fatal tendency of placing such an order in free cities-fatal indeed! Athens once was free; a citizen, a favourite of the people, by an artful story, gained a trifling guard of fifty men; ambition taught him ways to enlarge that number; he destroyed the commonwealth, and made himself the tyrant of the Athenians. Cæsar, by the length of his command in Gaul, got the affections of his army, marched to Rome, overthrew the state, and made himself perpetual dictator. By the same instruments, many less republics have been made to fall a prey to the devouring jaws of tyrants. But this is a subject which should never be disguised with figures; it chooses the plain style of dissertation.
The true strength and safety of every commonwealth or limited monarchy, is the bravery of its freeholders, its militia. By brave militias they rise to grandeur, and they come to ruin by a mercenary army. This is founded on historical facts, and the same causes will, in similar circumstances, for ever produce the same effects. Justice Blackstone, in his inimitably clear commentaries, tells us, that "it is extremely dangerous in a land of liberty, to make a distinct order of the profession of arms; that such an order is an object of jealousy; and that the laws and constitution of England are strangers to it." One article of the Bill of Rights is, that the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in a time of peace, unless it be with consent of parliament, is against law. The present army, therefore, though called the peace establishment, is kept up by one act, and governed by another; both of which expire annually. This circumstance is valued as a sufficient check upon the army. A less body of troops than is now maintained, has, on a time, destroyed a king, and fought under a parliament with great success and glory; but, upon a motion to disband them, they turned their masters out of doors, and fixed others in their stead. Such wild things are not again to happen, because the parliament have power to stop payment once a year: But arma tenenti quis neget? which may be easily interpreted, "who will bind Sampson with his locks on?"1
The bill which regulates the army, the same fine author I have mentioned, says, is, in many respects, hastily penned, and reduces the soldier to a state of slavery, in the midst of a free nation. This is impolitic; for slaves envy the freedom of others, and take a malicious pleasure in contributing to destroy it."
By this scandalous bill a justice of peace is empowered to grant, without a previous oath from the military officer, a warrant to break open any (freeman's) house, upon pretence of searching for deserters.
I must not omit to mention one more bad tendency; it is this, a standing force leads to a total neglect of militias, or tends greatly to discourage them.
You see the danger of a standing army to the cause of freedom. If the British parliament consents from year to year to be exposed, it doubtless has good reasons. But when did our assembly pass an act to hazard all the property, the liberty and lives of their constituents? What check have we upon a British army? can we disband it? can we stop its pay?
Our own assemblies in America can raise an army; and our monarch, George the 3d, by our constitution, takes immediate command. This army can consent to leave their native provinces. Will the royal chief commander send them to find barracks at Brunswick, or Lunenburg, at Hanover, or the commodious hall of Westminster? suppose the last; suppose this army was informed, nay thought the parliament in actual rebellion, or only on the eve of one, against the king, or against those who paid and clothed them; for there it pinches:—we are rebels against parliament; we adore the king. Where, in the case I have stated, would be the value of the boasted English constitution?
Who are a free people? not those who do not suffer actual oppression; but those who have a constitutional check upon the power to oppress.
We are slaves or freemen: if, as we are called, the last, where is our check upon the following powers, France, Spain, the States of Holland, or the British parliaments? now if any one of these (and it is quite immaterial which) has a right to make the two acts in question operate within this province, they have a right to give us up to an unlimited army, under the sole direction of one Saracen commander.
Thus I have led your thoughts to that upon which I formed my conclusion, that the design of this ceremony was decent, wise, and honourable. Make the bloody 5th of March the era of the resurrection of your birthrights, which have been murdered by the very strength that nursed them in their infancy. I had an eye solely to parliamentary supremacy; and I hope you will think every other view beneath your notice, in our present most alarming situation.
Chatham, Camden, and others, gods among men, and the farmer, whom you have addressed as the friend of mankind; all these have owned that England has a right to exercise every power over us, but that of taking money out of our pockets, without our consent.2 Though it seems almost too bold therefore in us to say " we doubt in every single instance her legal right over this province,"3 yet we must assert it. Those I have named are mighty characters, but they wanted one advantage Providence has given us. The beam is carried off
from our eyes, by the flowing blood of our fellow citizens, and now we may be allowed to attempt to remove the mote from the eyes of our exalted patrons. That mote, we think, is nothing but our obligation to England first, and afterwards Great Briain, for constant kind protection of our lives and birthrights against foreign danger. We all acknowledge that protection.
Let us once more look into the early history of this province. We find that our English ancestors, disgusted in their native country at a Legislation, which they saw was sacrificing all their rights, left its jurisdiction,4 and sought, like wandering birds of passage, some happier climate. Here at length they settled down. The king of England was said to be the royal5 landlord of this territory; with him they entered into mutual, sacred compact, by which the price of tenure, and the rules of management, were fairly stated. It is in this compact that we find our only true legislative authority.
I might here enlarge upon the character of those first settlers, men of whom the world was little worthy; who, for a long course of years, assisted by no earthly power, defended their liberty, their religion, and their lives, against the greatest inland danger of the savage natives; but this falls not within my present purpose. They were secure by sea.
In our infancy, when not an over tempting jewel for the Bourbon crown, the very name of England saved us; afterwards her fleets and armies. We wish not to depreciate the worth of that protection. Of our gold, yea, of our most fine gold, we will freely give a part. Our fathers would have done the same. But must we fall down and cry "let not a stranger rob and kill me, O my father! let me rather die by the hand of my brother, and let him ravish all my portion!"6
It is said that disunited from Britain, “we should bleed at every vein." I cannot see the consequence. The states of Holland do not suffer thus. But grant it true, Seneca, would prefer the launcets of France, Spain, or any other power, to the bow string, though applied by the fair hand of Britannia.
The declarative vote of the British parliament is the death warrant of our birthrights, and wants only a Czarish king to put it into execution. Here then a door of salvation is open. Great Britain may raise her fleets and armies, but it is only our own king that can direct their fire down upon our heads. He is gracious, but not omniscient. He is ready to hear our appeals in their proper course; and knowing himself, though the most powerful prince on earth, yet, a subject under a divine constitution of law; that law he will ask and receive from the twelve judges of England. These will prove that the claim of the British parliament over us is not only illegal in itself, but a downright usurpation of his prerogative as king of America.
A brave nation is always generous. Let us appeal, therefore, at the same time, to the generosity of the people of Great Britain, before the tribunal7 of Europe, not to envy us the full enjoyment of the rights of brethren.
And now, my friends and fellow townsmen, having declared myself an American son of liberty of true charter principles; having shewn the critical and dangerous situation of our birthrights, and the true course for speedy redress; I shall take the freedom to recommend, with boldness, one previous step. Let us show we understand the true value of what we are claiming.
The patriotic farmer tells us, "the cause of liberty is a cause of too much dignity to be sullied by turbulence and tumult. Anger produces anger; and differences, that might be accommodated by kind and respectful behaviour, may, by imprudence, be enlarged to an incurable rage. In quarrels, risen to a certain height, the first cause of dissension is no longer remembered, the minds of the parties being wholly engaged in recollecting and resenting the mutual expressions of their dislike. When feuds have reached that fatal point, considerations of reason and equity vanish; and a blind fury governs, or rather confounds all things. A people no longer regard their interest, but a gratification of their wrath."
We know ourselves subjects of common law; to that and the worthy executors of it, let us pay a steady and conscientious regard. Past errors in this point have been written with gall, by the pen of malice. May our future conduct be such as to make even that vile imp lay her pen aside.
The right which imposes duties upon us, is in dispute; but whether they are managed by a Surveyor-General, a Board of Commissioners, Turkish Janizaries, or Russian Cossacks, let them enjoy during our time of fair trial, the common personal protection of the laws of our constitution. Let us shut our eyes, for the present, to their being executors of claims subversive of our rights.
Watchful, hawk eyed jealousy, ever guards the portal of the temple of the goddess Liberty. This is known to those who frequent her altars. Our whole conduct therefore, I am sure, will meet with the utmost candour of her votaries; but I am wishing we may be able to convert even her basest apostates.
We are slaves until we obtain such redress, through the justice of our king, as our happy constitution leads us to expect. In that condition, let us behave with the propriety and dignity of freemen; and thus exhibit to the world, a new character of a people, which no history describes.
May the all wise and beneficient ruler of the universe preserve our lives and health, and prosper all our lawful endeavours in the glorious cause of freedom.
_______________
1 Trenchard.
2 Taxation and representation are inseparable.
Chath. Camd. From what in our constitution is representation not inseparable! —multa a Crasso divinitùs dicta efferebantur, cùm sibi illum consulem esse negaret cui senator ipse non esset.
Cic.
3 I confine myself to this province, partly from ignorance of other charters; but more from a desire even to vex some abler pen to pursue the idea of check; which an unchartered freeman may do, as well as any other in America.
4 Hæc sunt enim fundamenta firmissima nostræ libertatis, sui quemque juris et retinendi et dimittendi esse dominum.
Cic.
5 I choose to bury a fruitful subject for any satyrical genius of the family of Penn.
6 —ita vitam corpusque servato, ita fortunas, ita rem familiarem, ut hæc posteriora libertati ducas-nec pro his libertatem sed pro libertati hæc projicias, tanquam pignora injuriæ.
7 I do not think the quo warranto against our first charter, was tried in a proper court.
SOURCE: William T. Clap, Publisher, Orations Delivered at the Request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston to Commemorate the Evening of the Fifth of March, 1770; When a Number of Citizens were Killed by a Party of British Troops, Quartered Among Them, In a Time of Peace, Second Edition, pp. 3-11
At the precise period when my medical studies and education are completed, under the patronage of Dr. Abner Hersey of Barnstable, and I am contemplating the commencement of a new career in life, I find our country about to be involved in all the horrors of a civil war. A series of arbitrary and oppressive measures, on the part of the mother country, has long been advancing to that awful crisis, when an appeal to the power of the sword becomes inevitable. The event of this mighty struggle i
s to decide an affair of infinite magnitude, not merely as it
respects the present generation, but as it will affect the welfare and
happiness of unborn millions. The great fundamental principle, in the present
controversy, is the right which is claimed by the Parliament of Great Britian,
to exercise dominion, as the only supreme, and uncontrollable legislative power
over all the American Colonies. "Can they make laws to bind the colonies
in all cases whatever; levy taxes on them without their consent; dispose of the
revenues, thus raised, without their control; multiply officers at pleasure,
and assign them fees, to be paid without, nay, contrary to and in direct
violation of acts of our Provincial Assemblies and approved by the crown? Can
they enlarge the power of admiralty courts; divert the usual channels of
justice; deprive the colonists of trial by a jury of their countrymen; in
short, break down the barriers which their forefathers have erected against
arbitrary power, and enforce their edicts by fleets and armies." Then
indeed are we reduced to a state of abject slavery; and all resistance to acts
of Parliament may justly be called by the name of treason and rebellion.
"The people of these colonies consider themselves as British subjects,
entitled to all the rights and privileges of Freemen. It is inseparably
essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen,
that no taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given personally
or by their representatives. From their local circumstances, the colonies
cannot be represented in the house of commons of Great Britain; the only
representatives of the people of the colonies are the persons chosen therein by
themselves; and no taxes ever can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by
their respective legislatures." All acts of Parliament therefore, for
raising a revenue in America, are considered as depriving us of our property,
without our consent, and consequently as a palpable infringement of our ancient
rights and privileges. They are unconstitutional and arbitrary laws, subversive
of the liberties and privileges secured to us by our royal charters. It is not
consistent with the principles which actuate the American people, ever tamely
to submit to such a degrading system of government; not however from a want of
loyalty to our king, nor from an undue impatience of subordination or legal
restraint; for in a quiet submission and demeanor to constitutional authority,
and in zeal and attachment to our king, we dare to vie with any of our fellow
subjects of Great Britain; but it is an innate love of liberty, and our just
rights, that impels us to the arduous struggle. In no country, it is asserted,
is the love of liberty more deeply rooted, or the knowledge of the rights
inherent to freemen more generally diffused, or better understood, than among
the British American Colonies. Our religious and political privileges are
derived from our virtuous fathers; they were inhaled with our earliest breath;
and are, and will I trust ever be, implanted and cherished in the bosom of the
present and future generations. These are the prevalent sentiments in New
England at this eventful crisis, and all the other provinces, Georgia excepted,
are known to be in unison with us in the resolution, to oppose with all our
power every violation of our just rights and privileges. We are not however
authorized, even in the most glorious of causes, to expect a perfect unanimity
among a people. Numerous are the springs of men's actions; and diversity of
sentiment and views are characteristic of human nature. Accordingly we find a
small minority in our country who are inimical to the common cause, and who are
continually opposing every proceeding of the majority. These people are
doubtless actuated by various motives; a few, comparatively, influenced by
principle; some by a spirit of timidity, or the absurd doctrine of passive
obedience and non-resistance; others, from the strength of their passions, and
weakness of judgment, are biassed and led astray by designing demagogues. There
are, however, those who are vile enough to prostrate all honor and principle
with the sordid view of office and preferment,
"For
'tis their duty, all the learned think,
T'espouse
that cause by which they eat and drink."
Those disaffected
individuals, who still adhere to the royal cause, have received the epithet of
Tories; the very name is extremely abhorrent to the people in general, and they
are subjected to such rigorous discipline as to prevent them from doing injury
to the great cause of our country. The great majority of the people are happily
united in the resolution to oppose, to the uttermost, the wicked attempts of
the English cabinet. This class of people have assumed the appellation of
Whigs; but by our enemies are stigmatized by the name of Rebels. If, as we
affirm, the British government have ceased to rule agreeably to the principles
of our constitution, and our royal charter, and have assumed to themselves the
high prerogative of despotic sway, then are we absolved from our allegiance and
duties as British subjects. A contract abrogated by one party can no longer be
binding on the other. If we are menaced with royal power and authority, we
justify ourselves in defending our indefeasible rights against despotism and
tyrannical oppression. Cowards alone will bend to unjust power, and slaves and
sycophants only will yield both soul and body to the disposal of tyrannical
masters. Should our efforts, under God, be crowned with the desired success, we
shall obtain the honor of rescuing ourselves and posterity from vassalage; but
if compelled to succumb under royal power, then will ours be the rebel's fate,
the scaffold and the gibbet will be glutted with their devoted victims. We
cannot justly be accused of a rash precipitance of proceeding; for petitions
and memorials, couched in the most loyal and humble language, have been at
various periods presented to our royal sovereign, and his parliament, praying
for a redress of grievances; but they are deaf to all our complaints and
supplications, and the coercive arm of power is suspended over us, threatening
implacable vengeance.
Among the odious
acts of the British Parliament they passed one which imposed a duty on the
article of tea, and several cargoes of this commodity were shipped to America
to obtain the duty and a market. On the arrival of the tea ships at Boston
great indignation was excited among the people; town meetings were called to
devise some legal measures to prohibit the landing of the odious article. It
was universally understood that if the tea was once landed, and stored, it
would by some means come to a market and the duty to the government would be
secured. In order to defeat this object a number of persons in disguise entered
the ships at the wharves, broke open 342 chests of tea, and discharged their
contents into the water at the dock. This was on the 16th December, 1773. When
intelligence of this summary proceeding reached England, it was condemned by
the government as enormously criminal. They menaced our Province with the most
exemplary vengeance, and Parliament soon passed the Boston Vindictive Port Bill
as a part of their coercive system, so that merely the name of tea is now
associated with ministerial grievances, and tea drinking is almost tantamount
to an open avowal of toryism. Those who are anxious to avoid the odious epithet
of enemies to their country, strictly prohibit the use of tea in their
families, and the most squeamish ladies are compelled to have recourse to
substitutes, or secretly steal indulgence in their favorite East India
beverage.
SOURCE: James
Thatcher, M.D., A Military Journal during the American Revolutionary War,
from 1775 to 1783, pp. 9-13
2 This was the common designation of a beau or
dandy at the time Miss Eve wrote, and, as it has crept into some versions of
the national song of Yankee Doodle, which read: "He stuck a feather in his
hat and called it Macaroni," it may be well to say something of its
origin. In Wright's Caricature History of the Georges it is said that in the
early part of the reign of George III a club was formed in London by a number
of young men, who had made the tour of the continent, and had returned from
Italy with all the vices and follies they had picked up there. The club was
called "The Macaroni," from the dish which peculiarly distinguished
their table and the members soon became distinguished by the title of Macoronis;
it was their pride to carry to the utmost excess every description of
dissipation, effeminacy of manners, and modish novelty of dress. Everything
that was fashionable was a la Macaroni. Even the clergy had their wigs combed,
their cloths cut, "their delivery refined a la Macaronis." Macaroni
articles abounded everywhere. There was Macaroni music, and there were Macaroni
songs set to it. The most popular of these latter was the following: —
THE MACARONI.
Ye belles and beaux of London town,
Come listen to my ditty;
The muse in prancing up and down
Has found out something pretty,
With little hat, and hair dress'd high,
And whip to ride a pony ;
If you but take a right survey,
Denotes a Macaroni.
Along the street to see them walk,
With tail of monstrous size, sir,
You'll often hear the graver ones talk,
And wish their sons were wiser.
With consequence they strut and grin,
And fool away their money;
Advice they care for not a pin
Ay— that's a Macaroni.
With boots, and spurs, and jockey-cap,
And breeches like a sack, O;
Like curs sometimes they'll bite and snap,
And give their whip a smack, O.
When this you see, then think of me,
My name is Merry Crony;
I'll swear the figure that you see
Is called a Macaroni.
Five pounds of hair they wear behind,
The ladies to delight, O;
Their senses give unto the wind,
To make themselves a fright, O;
This fashion who does e'er pursue,
I think a simple-tony;
For he's a fool, say what you will,
Who is a Macaroni.
SOURCE: “Extracts
from the Journal of Miss Sarah Eve,” The
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1881), p.
23-4
Oration Delivered At Boston, March 6, 1775 by
Dr. Joseph Warren
Tantæ molis erat, Romanam condere gentem.
VIRGIL'S Æne
Qui, metuens, vivit, liber mihi non erit unquam.
HOR. Epis
MY EVER HONOURED
FELLOW CITIZENS:
IT is not without
the most humiliating conviction of my want of ability that I now appear before
you: but the sense I have of the obligation I am under to obey the calls of my
country at all times, together with an animating recollection of your
indulgence, exhibited upon so many occasions, has induced me, once more, undeserving
as I am, to throw myself upon that candour which looks with kindness on the
feeblest efforts of an honest mind.
You will not now
expect the elegance, the learning, the fire, the enrapturing strains of
eloquence which charmed you when a LOVELL, A CHURCH, or a HANCOCK spake; but
you will permit me to say that with a sincerity, equal to theirs, I mourn over
my bleeding country: with them I weep at her distress, and with them deeply
resent the many injuries she has received from the hands of cruel and unreasonable
men.
That personal
freedom is the natural right of every man; and that property, or an exclusive
right to dispose of what he has honestly acquired by his own labour,
necessarily arises therefrom, are truths which common sense has placed beyond
the reach of contradiction. And no man, or body of men, can, without being
guilty of flagrant injustice, claim a right to dispose of the persons
or acquisitions of any other man, or body of men, unless it can be proved that
such a right has arisen from some compact between the parties in which it has
been explicitly and freely granted.
If I may be indulged
in taking a retrospective view of the first settlement of our country, it will
be easy to determine with what degree of justice the late parliament of Great
Britain have assumed the power of giving away that property which the Americans
have earned by their labour.
Our fathers having
nobly resolved never to wear the yoke of despotism, and seeing the European
world, at that time, through indolence and cowardice, falling a prey to
tyranny, bravely threw themselves upon the bosom of the ocean,
determined to find a place in which they might enjoy their freedom, or perish
in the glorious attempt. Approving heaven beheld the favourite ark dancing upon
the waves, and graciously preserved it until the chosen families were brought
in safety to these western regions. They found the land swarming with savages,
who threatened death with every kind of torture. But savages, and death with
torture, were far less terrible than slavery: nothing was so much the object of
their abhorrence as a tyrant's power: they knew that it was more safe to dwell
with man in his most unpolished state, than in a country where arbitrary power
prevails. Even anarchy itself, that bugbear held up by the tools of power
(though truly to be deprecated) is infinitely less dangerous to mankind than
arbitrary government. Anarchy can be but of short duration; for when men are at
liberty to pursue that course which is most conducive to their own happiness,
they will soon come into it, and from the rudest state of nature, order and
good government must soon arise. But tyranny, when once established, entails
its curses on a nation to the latest period of time; unless some daring genius,
inspired by heaven, shall, unappalled by danger, bravely form and execute the
arduous design of restoring liberty and life to his enslaved, murdered country.
The tools of power,
in every age, have racked their inventions to justify the few in sporting with
the happiness of the many; and, having found their sophistry too weak to hold
mankind in bondage, have impiously dared to force religion, the daughter of the
king of heaven, to become a prostitute in the service of hell. They taught that
princes, honoured with the name of christian, might bid defiance to the founder
of their faith, might pillage Pagan countries and deluge them with blood, only
because they boasted themselves to be the disciples of that teacher who
strictly charged his followers to do to others as they would that others should
do unto them.
This country, having
been discovered by an English subject, in the year 1620, was (according to the
system which the blind superstition of those times supported) deemed the
property of the crown of England. Our ancestors, when they resolved to quit
their native soil, obtained from king James, a grant of certain lands in North
America. This they probably did to silence the cavils of their enemies, for it
cannot be doubted, but they despised the pretended right which he claimed
thereto. Certain it is, that he might, with equal propriety and justice, have
made them a grant of the planet Jupiter. And their subsequent conduct plainly shews
that they were too well acquainted with humanity, and the principles of natural
equity, to suppose that the grant gave them any right to take possession; they
therefore entered into a treaty with the natives, and bought from them the
lands: nor have I ever yet obtained any information that our ancestors ever
pleaded, or that the natives ever regarded the grant from the English crown:
the business was transacted by the parties in the same independent manner that
it would have been, had neither of them ever known or heard of the island of
Great Britain.
Having become the
honest proprietors of the soil, they immediately applied themselves to the
cultivation of it; and they soon beheld the virgin earth teeming with richest
fruits, a grateful recompense for their unwearied toil. The fields began to
wave with ripening harvests, and the late barren wilderness was seen to blossom
like the rose. The savage natives saw with wonder the delightful change, and
quickly formed a scheme to obtain that by fraud or force, which nature meant as
the reward of industry alone. But the illustrious emigrants soon convinced the
rude invaders, that they were not less ready to take the field for battle than
for labour; and the insidious foe was driven from their borders as often as he
ventured to disturb them. The crown of England looked with indifference on the
contest; our ancestors were left alone to combat with the natives. Nor is there
any reason to believe, that it ever was intended by the one party, or expected
by the other, that the grantor should defend and maintain the grantees in the
peaceable possession of the lands named in the patents. And it appears plainly,
from the history of those times, that neither the prince, nor the people of
England, thought themselves much interested in the matter.
They had not then
any idea of a thousandth part of those advantages which they
since have, and we are most heartily willing they should still continue to reap
from us.
But when, at an
infinite expense of toil and blood, this widely extended continent had been
cultivated and defended: when the hardy adventurers justly expected that they
and their descendants should peaceably have enjoyed the harvest
of those fields which they had sown, and the fruit of those vineyards which
they had planted; this country was then thought worthy the attention of the
British ministry; and the only justifiable and only successful means of
rendering the colonies serviceable to Britain were adopted. By an intercourse
of friendly offices, the two countries became so united in affection, that they
thought not of any distinct or separate interests, they found both countries
flourishing and happy. Britain saw her commerce extended, and her wealth
increased; her lands raised to an immense value; her fleets riding triumphant
on the ocean; the terror of her arms spreading to every quarter of the globe.
The colonist found himself free, and thought himself secure; he dwelt under his
own vine, and under his own fig tree, and had none to make him afraid: he knew
indeed that by purchasing the manufactures of Great Britain, he contributed to
its greatness: he knew that all the wealth that his labour produced centered in
Great Britain: but that, far from exciting his envy, filled him with the
highest pleasure; that thought supported him in all his toils. When the
business of the day was past, he solaced himself with the contemplation, or
perhaps entertained his listening family with the recital of some great, some
glorious transaction which shines conspicuous in the history of Britain: or,
perhaps, his elevated fancy led him to foretel, with a kind of enthusiastic
confidence, the glory, power, and duration of an empire which should extend
from one end of the earth to the other: he saw, or thought he saw, the British
nation risen to a pitch of grandeur which cast a veil over the Roman glory,
and, ravished with the præview, boasted a race of British kings, whose names
should echo through those realms where Cyrus, Alexander, and the Cæsars were
unknown; princes for whom millions of grateful subjects redeemed from slavery
and Pagan ignorance, should, with thankful tongues, offer up their prayers and
praises to that transcendently great and beneficent Being, by whom kings reign,
and princes decree justice.
These pleasing
connections might have continued; these delightsome prospects might have been
every day extended; and even the reveries of the most warm imagination
might have been realized; but unhappily for us, unhappily for Britain,
the madness of an avaricious minister of state, has drawn a sable
curtain over the charming scene, and in its stead, has brought upon the stage,
discord, envy, hatred, and revenge, with civil war close in their rear.
Some demon, in an
evil hour, suggested to a short sighted financier, the hateful project of
transferring the whole property of the king's subjects in America, to his
subjects in Britain. The claim of the British parliament to tax the colonies,
can never be supported but by such a TRANSFER; for the right of the House of
Commons of Great Britain, to originate any tax, or grant money, is altogether
derived from their being elected by the people of Great
Britain to act for them; and the people of Great Britain cannot confer on their
representatives a right to give or grant any thing which they themselves have
not a right to give or grant personally. Therefore it follows, that if the
members chosen by the people of Great Britain, to represent them in parliament,
have, by virtue of their being so chosen, any right to give or grant American
property, or to lay any tax upon the lands or persons of the colonists, it is
because the lands and people in the colonies are bona fide, owned by, and
justly belonging to the people of Great Britain. But (as has been before
observed) every man has a right to personal freedom, consequently a right to
enjoy what is acquired by his own labour. And as it is evident that the
property in this country has been acquired by our own labour; it is the duty of
the people of Great Britain, to produce some compact in which we have explicity
given up to them a right to dispose of our persons or property. Until this is
done, every attempt of theirs, or of those whom they have deputed to act for
them, to give or grant any part of our property, is directly repugnant to every
principle of reason and natural justice. But I may boldly say, that such a
compact never existed, no, not even in imagination. Nevertheless, the
representatives of a nation, long famed for justice and the exercise of every
noble virtue, have been prevailed on to adopt the fatal scheme: and although
the dreadful consequences of this wicked policy have already shaken the empire
to its centre; yet still it is persisted in. Regardless of the voice of reason,
deaf to the prayers and supplications, and unaffected with the flowing tears of
suffering millions, the British ministry still hug the darling idol; and every
rolling year affords fresh instances of the absurd devotion with which they
worship it. Alas! how has the folly, the distraction of the British councils,
blasted our swelling hopes, and spread a gloom over this western hemisphere.
The hearts of
Britons and Americans, which lately felt the generous glow of mutual confidence
and love, now burn with jealously and rage. Though, but of yesterday, I
recollect (deeply affected at the ill boding change) the happy hours that past
whilst Britain and America rejoiced in the prosperity and greatness of each
other (heaven grant those halcyon days may soon return.) But now the Briton too
often looks on the American with an envious eye, taught to consider his just
plea for the enjoyment of his earnings, as the effect of pride and stubborn
opposition to the parent country. Whilst the American beholds the Briton as the
ruffian, ready first to take away his property, and next, what is still dearer
to every virtuous man, the liberty of his country.
When the measures of
administration had disgusted the colonies to the highest degree, and the people
of Great Britian had, by artifice and falsehood, been irritated against
America, an army was sent over to enforce submission to certain acts of the
British parliament, which reason scorned to countenance, and which placemen and
pensioners were found unable to support.
Martial law and the
government of a well regulated city, are so entirely different, that it has
always been considered as improper to quarter troops in populous cities;
frequent disputes must necessarily arise between the citizen and the soldier,
even if no previous animosities subsist. And it is further certain,
from a consideration of the nature of mankind, as well as from constant
experience, that standing armies always endanger the liberty of the subject.
But when the people on the one part, considered the army as sent to enslave
them, and the army on the other, were taught to look on the people as in a
state of rebellion, it was but just to fear the most disagreeable consequences.
Our fears, we have seen, were but too well grounded.
The many injuries
offered to the town, I pass over in silence. I cannot now mark out the path
which led to that unequalled scene of horror, the sad remembrance of which,
takes the full possession of my soul. The sanguinary theatre again opens itself
to view. The baleful images of terror crowd around me, and discontented ghosts,
with hollow groans, appear to solemnize the anniversary of the FIFTH OF MARCH.
Approach we then the
melancholy walk of death. Hither let me call the gay companion; here let him
drop a farewell tear upon that body which so late he saw vigorous and warm with
social mirth; hither let me lead the tender mother to weep over her beloved
son: come widowed mourner, here satiate thy grief; behold thy murdered husband
gasping on the ground, and to complete the pompous show of wretchedness, bring
in each hand thy infant children to bewail their father's fate: take heed, ye
orphan babes, lest, whilst your streaming eyes are fixed upon the ghastly
corpse, your feet slide on the stones bespattered with your father's brains.1
Enough! this tragedy need not be heightened by an infant weltering in the blood
of him that gave it birth. Nature, reluctant, shrinks already from the view,
and the chilled blood rolls slowly backward to its fountain. We wildly stare
about, and with amazement, ask, who spread this ruin round us? what wretch has
dared deface the image of his God? has haughty France, or cruel Spain, sent
forth her myrmidons? has the grim savage rushed again from the far distant
wilderness ? or does some fiend, fierce from the depth of hell, with all the
rancorous malice, which the apostate damned can feel, twang her destructive
bow, and hurl her deadly arrows at our breast? no, none of these; but, how
astonishing! it is the hand of Britain that inflicts the wound. The arms of
George, our rightful king, have been employed to shed that blood, when justice,
or the honour of his crown, had called his subjects to the field.
But pity, grief,
astonishment, with all the softer movements of the soul, must now give way to
stronger passions. Say, fellow citizens, what dreadful thought now swells your
heaving bosoms; you fly to arms, sharp indignation flashes from each eye,
revenge gnashes her iron teeth, death grins an hideous smile, secure to drench
his greedy jaws in human gore, whilst hovering furies darken all the air.
But stop, my bold
adventurous countrymen, stain not your weapons with the blood of Britons.
Attend to reason's voice, humanity puts in her claim, and sues to be again
admitted to her wonted seat, the bosom of the brave. Revenge
is far beneath the noble mind. Many perhaps, compelled to rank among the vile
assassins, do, from their inmost souls, detest the barbarous action. The winged
death, shot from your arms, may chance to pierce some breast that bleeds
already for your injured country.
The storm subsides;
a solemn pause ensues; you spare, upon condition they depart. They go; they
quit your city; they no more shall give offence. Thus closes the important
drama.
And could it have
been conceived that we again should have seen a British army in our land, sent
to enforce obedience to acts of parliament destructive of our liberty. But the
royal ear, far distant from this western world, has been assaulted by the
tongue of slander; and villains, traitorous alike to king and country, have
prevailed upon a gracious prince to clothe his countenance with wrath, and to
erect the hostile banner against a people ever affectionate and loyal to him
and his illustrious predecessors of the house of Hanover. Our streets are again
filled with armed men; our harbour is crowded with ships of war; but these
cannot intimidate us; our liberty must be preserved ; it is far dearer than
life, we hold it even dear as our allegiance; we must defend it against the
attacks of friends as well as enemies; we cannot suffer even Britons to ravish
it from us.
No longer could we
reflect, with generous pride, on the heroic actions of our American
forefathers, no longer boast our origin from that far famed island, whose
warlike sons have so often drawn their well tried swords to save her from the
ravages of tyranny; could we, but for a moment, entertain the thought of giving
up our liberty. The man who meanly will submit to wear a shackle, contemns the
noblest gift of heaven, and impiously affronts the God that made him free.
It was a maxim of
the Roman people, which eminently conduced to the greatness of that state,
never to despair of the commonwealth. The maxim may prove as salutary to us
now, as it did to them. Short sighted mortals see not the numerous links of
small and great events, which form the chain on which the fate of kings and
nations is suspended. Ease and prosperity (though pleasing for a day) have
often sunk a people into effeminacy and sloth. Hardships and dangers (though we
for ever strive to shun them) have frequently called forth such virtues, as
have commanded the applause and reverence of an admiring world. Our country
loudly calls you to be circumspect, vigilant, active, and brave. Perhaps (all
gracious Heaven avert it) perhaps, the power of Britain, a nation great in war,
by some malignant influence, may be employed to enslave you: but let not even
this discourage you. Her arms, it is true, have filled the world with terror:
her troops have reaped the laurels of the field: her fleets have rode
triumphant on the sea—and when, or where, did you, my countrymen, depart inglorious
from the field of fight?2 you too can shew the
trophies of your forefathers victories and your own; can name the fortresses
and battles you have won; and many of you count the honourable
scars or wounds received, whilst fighting for your king and country.
Where justice is the
standard, heaven is the warrior's shield: but conscious guilt unnerves the arm
that lifts the sword against the innocent. Britain, united with these colonies,
by commerce and affection, by interest and blood, may mock the threats of France
and Spain: may be the seat of universal empire. But should America, either by
force, or those more dangerous engines, luxury and corruption, ever be brought
into a state of vassalage, Britain must lose her freedom also. No longer shall
she sit the empress of the sea: her ships no more shall waft her thunders over
the wide ocean: the wreath shall wither on her temples: her weakened arm shall
be unable to defend. her coasts: and she, at last, must bow her venerable head
to some proud foreigner's despotic rule,
But if; from past
events, we may venture to form a judgment of the future, we justly may expect
that the devices of our enemies will but increase the triumphs of our country.
I must indulge a hope that Britain's liberty, as well as ours, will eventually be
preserved by the virtue of America.
The attempt of the
British parliament to raise a revenue from America, and our denial of their
right to do it, have excited an almost universal inquiry into the rights of
mankind in general, and of British subjects in particular; the necessary result
of which must be such a liberality of sentiment, and such a jealousy of those
in power, as will, better than an adamantine wall, secure us against the future
approaches of despotism.
The malice of the
Boston port bill has been defeated in a very considerable degree, by giving you
an opportunity of deserving, and our brethren in this and our sister colonies
an opportunity of bestowing, those benefactions which have delighted your
friends and astonished your enemies, not only in America, but in Europe also.
And what is more valuable still, the sympathetic feelings for a brother in
distress, and the grateful emotions excited in the breast of him who finds
relief, must for ever endear each to the other, and form those indissoluble
bonds of friendship and affection, on which the preservation of our
rights so evidently depend.
The mutilation of
our charter, has made every other colony jealous for its own; for this, if once
submitted to us, would set on float the property and government of every
British settlement upon the continent. If charters are not deemed sacred, how
miserably precarious is every thing founded upon them.
Even the sending
troops to put these acts in execution, is not without advantages to us. The
exactness and beauty of their discipline inspire our youth with ardour in the
pursuit of military knowledge. Charles the invincible, taught Peter the great,
the art of war. The battle of Pultowa [sic]
convinced Charles of the proficiency Peter had made.
Our country is in
danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but
we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the
resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the
important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet
unborn. Act worthy of yourselves. The faltering tongue of hoary age calls on
you to support your country. The lisping infant raises its suppliant hands,
imploring defence against the monster slavery. Your fathers look from their
celestial seats with smiling approbation on their sons, who boldly stand forth
in the cause of virtue; but sternly frown upon the inhuman miscreant, who, to
secure the loaves and fishes to himself, would breed a serpent to destroy his
children.
But, pardon me, my
fellow citizens, I know you want not zeal or fortitude. You will maintain your
rights or perish in the generous struggle. However difficult the combat, you
never will decline it when freedom is the prize. An independence on Great
Britain is not our aim. No, our wish is, that Britain and the colonies may,
like the oak and ivy, grow and increase in strength together. But whilst the
infatuated plan of making one part of the empire slaves to the
other, is persisted in; the interest and safety of Britain, as well as the
colonies, require that the wise measures, recommended by the honourable the
continental congress, be steadily pursued; whereby the unnatural contest
between a parent honoured, and a child beloved, may probably be brought to such
an issue, as that the peace and happiness of both may be established upon a
lasting basis. But if these pacific measures are ineffectual, and it appears
that the only way to safety, is through fields of blood, I know you will not
turn your faces from your foes, but will, undauntedly, press forward, until
tyranny is trodden under foot, and you have fixed your adored goddess Liberty,
fast by a Brunswick's side, on the American throne.
You then, who nobly
have espoused your country's cause, who generously have sacrificed wealth and
ease; who have despised the pomp and shew of tinseled greatness; refused the
summons to the festive board; been deaf to the alluring calls of luxury and
mirth; who have forsaken the downy pillow, to keep your vigils by the midnight
lamp, for the salvation of your invaded country, that you might break the
fowler's snare, and disappoint the vulture of his prey; you then will reap that
harvest of renown which you so justly have deserved. Your country shall pay her
grateful tribute of applause. Even the children of your most inveterate
enemies, ashamed to tell from whom they sprang, while they in secret, curse
their stupid, cruel parents, shall join the general voice of gratitude to those
who broke the fetters which their fathers forged.
1 After Mr. Gray had been shot through the
body, and had fallen dead on the ground, a bayonet was pushed through his
skull; part of the bone being broken, his brains fell out upon the pavement.
2 The patience with which this people have
borne the repeated injuries which have been heaped upon them, and their
unwillingness to take any sanguinary measures, has, very injudiciously, been
ascribed to cowardice, by persons both here and in Great Britain. I most
heartily wish, that an opinion, so erroneous in itself, and so fatal in its
consequences, might be utterly removed before it be too late; and I think,
nothing further necessary to convince every intelligent man, that the conduct
of this people is owing to the tender regard which they have for their fellow
men, and an utter abhorrence to the shedding of human blood, than a little
attention to their general temper and disposition, discovered when they cannot
be supposed to be under any apprehension of danger to themselves. I will only
mention the universal detestation which they shew to every act of cruelty, by
whom and upon whomsoever committed; the mild spirit of their laws; the very few
crimes to which capital penalties are annexed; and the very great backwardness
which both courts and juries discover, in condemning persons charged with
capital crimes. But if any should think this observation not to the purpose, I
readily appeal to those gentlemen of the army who have been in the camp, or in
the field, with the Americans.
SOURCE: William T.
Clap, Publisher, Orations Delivered at
the Request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston to Commemorate the Evening
of the Fifth of March, 1770; When a Number of Citizens were Killed by a Party
of British Troops, Quartered Among Them, In a Time of Peace, Second
Edition, pp. 55-70
An act act to allow a drawback of the duties of customs
on the exportation of tea to any of his Majesty’s colonies or plantations in
America; to increase the deposit on bohea tea to be sold at the India Company’s
sales; and to impower the commissioners of the treasury to grant licences to
the East India Company to export tea duty-free.
WHEREAS by an act,
made in the twelfth year of his present Majesty’s reign, (intituled, An act for
granting a drawback of part of the customs upon the exportation of tea to
Ireland, and the British dominions in America; for altering the drawback upon
foreign sugars exported from Great Britain to Ireland; for continuing the
bounty on the exportation of British-made cordage; for allowing the importation
of rice from the British plantations into the ports of Bristol, Liverpoole,
Lancaster, and Whitehaven, for immediate exportation to foreign parts; and to impower
the chief magistrate of any corporation to administer the oath, and grant the
certificate required by law, upon the removal of certain goods to London, which
have been sent into the country for sale;) it is amongst other things, enacted,
That for and during the space of five years, to be computed from and after the
fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two, there shall be
drawn back and allowed for all teas which shall be sold after the said fifth
day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two, at the publick sale of
the united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, or which
after that time shall be imported, by licence, in pursuance of the said therein
and hereinafter mentioned act, made in the eighteenth year of the reign of his
late majesty King George the Second, and which shall be exported from this
kingdom, as merchandise, to Ireland, or any of the British colonies or
plantations in America, three-fifth parts of the several duties of customs which
were paid upon the importation of such teas; which drawback or allowance, with
respect to such teas as shall be exported to Ireland, shall be made to the
exporter, in such manner, and under such rules, regulations, securities,
penalties, and forfeitures, as any drawback or allowance was then payable, out
of the duty of customs upon the exportation of foreign goods to Ireland; and
with respect to such teas as shall be exported to the British colonies and
plantations in America, the said drawback or allowance shall be made in such
manner, and under such rules, regulations, penalties, and forfeitures, as any
drawback or allowance payable out of the duty of customs upon foreign goods
exported to foreign parts, was could, or might be made, before the passing of the
said act of the twelfth year of his present Majesty’s reign, (except in such
cases as are otherwise therein provided for:) and whereas it may tend to the
benefit and advantage of the trade of the said united company of merchants of
England trading to the East Indies, if the allowance of the drawback of the
duties of customs upon all teas sold at the publick sales of the said united
company, after the tenth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and
seventy-three, and which shall be exported from this kingdom, as merchandise,
to any of the British colonies or plantations in America, were to extend to the
whole of the said duties of customs payable upon the importation of such teas;
may it therefore please your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted
by the King’s most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the
lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament
assembled, and by the authority of the same, That there shall be drawn back and
allowed for all teas, which, from and after the tenth day of May, one thousand
seven hundred and seventy-three, shall be sold at the publick sales of the said
united company, or which shall be imported by licence, in pursuance of the said
act made in the eighteenth year of the reign of his late majesty King George
the Second, and which shall, at any time hereafter, be exported from this
kingdom, as merchandise, to any of the British colonies or plantations in
America, the whole of the duties of customs payable upon the importation of
such teas; which drawback or allowance shall be made to the exporter in such
manner, and under such rules, regulations, and securities, and subject to the
like penalties and forfeitures, as the former drawback or allowance granted by
the said recited act of the twelfth year of his present Majesty’s reign, upon
tea exported to the said British colonies and plantations in America was,
might, or could be made, and was subject to by the said recited act, or any
other act of parliament now in force, in as full and ample manner, to all
intents and purposes, as if the several clauses relative thereto were again
repeated and re-enacted in this present act.
II. And whereas by
one other act made in the eighteenth year of the reign of his late majesty King
George the Second, (intituled, An act for repealing the present inland duty of
four shillings per pound weight upon all tea sold in Great Britain; and for
granting to his Majesty certain other inland duties in lieu thereof; and for
better securing the duty upon tea, and other duties of excise; and for pursuing
offenders out of one county into another,) it is, amongst other things,
enacted, That every person who shall, at any publick sale of tea made by the
united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, be declared
to be the best bidder for any lot or lots of tea, shall, within three days
after being so declared the best bidder or bidders for the same, deposit with
the said united company, or such clerk or officer as the said company shall
appoint to receive the same, forty shillings for every tub and for every chest
of tea; and in case any such person or persons shall refuse or neglect to make
such deposit within the time before limited, he, she, or they, shall forfeit
and lose six times the value of such deposit directed to be made as aforesaid,
to be recovered by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, in any of his
Majesty’s courts of record at Westminster, in which no essoin, protection, or
wager of law, or more than one imparlance, shall be allowed; one moiety of
which forfeiture shall go to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the
other moiety to such person as shall sue or prosecute for the same; and the
sale of all teas, for which such deposit shall be neglected to be made as
aforesaid, is thereby declared to be null and void, and such teas shall be
again put up by the said united company to publick sale, within fourteen days
after the end of the sale of teas at which such teas were sold; and all and
every buyer or buyers, who shall have neglected to make such deposit as
aforesaid, shall be, and is and are thereby rendered incapable of bidding for
or buying any teas at any future publick sale of the said united company: and
whereas it is found to be expedient and necessary to increase the deposit to be
made by any bidder or bidders for any lot or lots of bohea teas, at the publick
sales of teas to be made by the said united company; be it enacted by the
authority aforesaid, That every person who shall, after the tenth day of May,
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, at any publick sale of tea to be
made by the said united company of merchants of England trading to the East
Indies, be declared to be the best bidder or bidders for any lot or lots of
bohea tea, shall, within three days after being so declared the best bidder or
bidders for the same, deposit with the said united company, or such clerk or
officer as the said united company shall appoint to receive the same, four
pounds of lawful money of Great Britain for every tub and for every chest of
bohea tea, under the same terms and conditions, and subject to the same
forfeitures, penalties, and regulations, as are mentioned and contained in the
said recited act of the eighteenth year of the reign of his said late Majesty.
III. And be it
further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for
the commissioners of his Majesty’s treasury, or any three or more of them, or
for the high treasurer for the time being, upon application made to them by the
said united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies for that
purpose, to grant a licence or licences to the said united company, to take out
of their warehouses, without the same having been put up to sale, and to export
to any of the British plantations in America, or to any parts beyond the seas,
such quantity or quantities of tea as the said commissioners of his Majesty’s
treasury, or any three or more of them, or the high treasurer for the time
being, shall think proper and expedient, without incurring any penalty or forfeiture
for so doing; any thing in the said in part recited act, or any other law, to
the contrary notwithstanding.
IV. And whereas by
an act made in the ninth and tenth years of the reign of King William the
Third, (intituled, An act for raising a sum not exceeding two millions, upon a
fund, for payment of annuities, after the rate of eight pounds per centum per
annum; and for settling the trade to the East Indies,) and by several other
acts of parliament which are now in force, the said united company of merchants
of England trading to the East Indies are obliged to give security, under their
common seal, for payment of the duties of customs upon all unrated goods
imported by them, so soon as the same shall be sold; and for exposing such
goods to sale, openly and fairly, by way of auction, or by inch of candle,
within the space of three years from the importation thereof: and whereas it is
expedient that some provision should be made to permit the said company, in
certain cases, to export tea, on their own account, to the British plantations
in America, or to foreign parts, without exposing such tea, to sale here, or
being charged with the payment of any duty for the same; be it therefore
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the passing of this act,
it shall and may be lawful for the commissioners of his Majesty’s treasury, or
any three or more of them, or the high treasurer for the time being, to grant a
licence or quantity of licences to the said united company, to take out of
their warehouses such quantity or quantities of tea as the said commissioners
of the treasury, or any three or more of them, or the high treasurer for the
time being, shall think proper, without the same having been exposed to sale in
this kingdom; and to export such tea to any of the British colonies or
plantations in America, or to foreign parts, discharged from the payment of any
customs or duties whatsoever; any thing in the said recited act, or any other
act to the contrary notwithstanding.
V. Provided always,
and it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That a due entry
shall be made at the custom-house, of all such tea so exported by licence, as
aforesaid, expressing the quantities thereof, at what time imported, and by
what ship; and such tea shall be shipped for exportation by the proper officer
for that purpose, and shall, in all other respects, not altered by this act, be
liable to the same rules, regulations, restrictions, securities, penalties, and
forfeitures, as tea exported to the like places was liable to before the
passing this act: and upon the proper officer’s duty, certifying the shipping
of such tea to the collector and comptroller of his Majesty’s customs for the
port of London, upon the back of the licence, and the exportation thereof,
verified by the oath of the husband or agent for the said united company, to be
wrote at the bottom of such certificate, and sworn before the said collector
and comptroller of the customs, (which oath they are hereby impowered to
administer,) it shall and may be lawful for such collector and comptroller to
write off and discharge the quantity of tea so exported from the warrant of the
respective ship in which such tea was imported.
VI. Provided
nevertheless, That no such licence shall be granted, unless it shall first be
made to appear to the satisfaction of the commissioners of his Majesty’s
treasury, or any three or more of them, or the high treasurer for the time
being, that at the time of taking out such teas, for the exportation of which
licence or licences shall be granted, there will be left remaining in the
warehouses of the said united company, a quantity of tea not less than ten
millions of pounds weight; any thing herein, or in any other act of parliament,
contained to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.
SOURCE: Charles Eyer
and Andrew Strahan, Publishers, A Collection of Statutes Concerning the
Incorporation, Trade and Commerce of the East India Company, and the Government
of British Possessions in India with the Statues of Piracy, pp. 187-90
Whereas there was
this day read at the Board a Representation from the Lords Commisioners of His
Majesty’s Treasury dated the 2nd of this Instant in the words following vizt
“We the
Commissioners of your Majesty’s Treasury beg leave humbly to represent to your
Majesty, that whereas by an act passed in the last Session of the last
Parliament intituled An Act for the more easy and effectual recovery of the
Penalty’s and Forfeitures inflicted by the Acts of Parliament relating to the
Trade or Revenues of the British Colonies and plantations in America. It is
enacted that from and after the first day of September 1768. all forfeitures
and Penaltys inflicted by any Act or Acts of Parliament relating to the Trade
or Revenues of the British Colonies or Plantations in America may be prosecuted
sued for and recovered in any Court of Vice Admiralty appointed or to be
appointed and which shall have jurisdiction within the Colony Plantation or
Place where the cause of such prosecution or suit shall have arisen and that in
all cases where any Prosecution or suit shall be commenced and determined for
any penalty or forfeiture inflicted by any such Act or Acts of Parliament in
any Court of Admiralty in the respective Colony or Plantation where the Offence
shall be committed either party who shall think himself aggrieved by such
Determination may appeal from such Determination to any Court of Vice Admiralty
appointed or to be appointed and which shall have Jurisdiction within such
Colony or Plantation or Place—And whereas it will greatly contribute to the due
Collection of your Majesty’s Revenue and to the prevention and punishment of
Frauds committed against the same and will likewise tend to the more speedy and
effectual administration of Justice within the said Colonies and Plantations
and be agreable to the Intention of the Legislature in passing the said Act
that a sufficient number of such Courts of Vice Admiralty be consituted and
established at proper and convenient places within the said Colonies and
Plantations.
We humbly submit to
your Majesty whether it may not be expedient and necessary for the purposes
above mentioned to revoke the Commission appointing one only Court Vice
Admiralty over all America and in lieu thereof to establish four other Courts
of Vice Admiralty the first at Halifax in the province of Nova Scotia the
second at Boston in the Province of New England the third at Philadelphia in
the Colony of Pensylvania and the fourth at Charles Town in the Colony of South
Carolina: The said Courts to have Jurisdiction within certain Districts to be
allotted to them respectively by your Majesty And We humbly lay before your
Majesty the enclosed plan of Districts proper to be allotted to the said Courts
which we submit to your Majesty’s consideration each of the Judges of the said
Courts respectively to be allowed such Salary as your Majesty shall think proper
to be paid in the first place out of your Majesty’s Moiety of the money arising
from any Penalties and Forfeitures to be levied within the said Colonies and
Plantations and if this Fund shall not be sufficient out of the money arising
from the sale of old Naval Stores and the said Judges to be expressly enjoined
in their Commissions upon pain of loosing their Offices not to take any Fee or
Gratuity whatsoever for any Judgment given or “business done in their
respective Courts.”
His Majesty taking
the same into His Royal Consideration is pleased with the advice of His Privy
Council to approve thereof and accordingly to order as it is hereby ordered
that a Commission be passed under the Great Seal authorizing the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty to revoke the Commission appointing one only
Court of Vice Admiralty over all America and empowering them in the lieu
thereof to establish four other Courts of Vice Admiralty the first at Halifax
in the Province of Nova Scotia, the second at Boston in the Province of New
England, the third at Philadelphia in the Colony of Pensylvania and the fourth
at Charles Town in the Colony of South Carolina as proposed by the aforegoing
Representation of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury and the
plan of Districts to be allotted to such Courts hereunto annexed—And the Right
Honourable the Earl of Hillsborough one of His Majesty’s principal Secretarys
of State is to cause a Warrant to be prepared for His Majesty’s Royal Signature
in order to pass such Commission under the Great Seal accordingly.
W. BLAIR.
SOURCES: Walter
Clark, Editor, The State Records of North
Carolina, Vol. 11 1776, and Supplement 1730-1776, pp. 216-7; Townshend
Acts, Vice Admiralty Court Act Text, American History Central,
accessed June 2, 2026
An Act for Restraining and Prohibiting the Governor,
Council, and House of Representatives of the Province of New York, until
Provision Shall Have Been Made for Furnishing the King’s Troops with All the
Necessaries Required by Law, from Passing or Assenting to Any Act of Assembly,
Vote, or Resolution for Any Other Purpose.
Whereas an act of
Parliament was made in the fifth year of his present Majesty’s reign, entitled,
An act to amend and render more effectual, in his Majesty’s dominions in
America, an act passed in this present session of Parliament, entitled, An act
for punishing mutiny and desertion and for the better payment of the army and
their quarters; wherein several directions were given, and rules and
regulations established and appointed for the supplying his Majesty’s troops in
the British dominions in America with such necessaries as are in the said act
mentioned during the continuance thereof, from the twenty-fourth day of March,
one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, until the twenty-fourth day of
March, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven; and whereas the House of
Representatives of his Majesty’s province of New York in America have, in
direct disobedience of the authority of the British legislature, refused to
make provision for supplying the necessaries and in the manner required by the
said act; and an act of assembly hath been passed within the said province for
furnishing the barracks in the cities of New York and Albany with firewood and
candles, and the other necessaries therein mentioned, for his Majesty’s forces
inconsistent with the provisions and in opposition to the directions of the
said act of Parliament; and whereas by an act made in the last session,
entitled, An act to amend and render more effectual, in his Majesty’s dominions
in America, an act passed in this present session of Parliament entitled, An
act for punishing mutiny and desertion, and for the better payment of the army
and their quarters, the like directions, rules, and regulations were given and
established for supplying with necessaries his Majesty’s troops within the said
dominions during the continuance of such act, from the twenty-fourth day of
March, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, until the twenty-fourth day of
March, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight; which act was, by an act
made in this present session of Parliament, entitled, An act for further
continuing an act of the last session of Parliament entitled, An act to amend
and render more effectual, in his Majesty’s dominions in America, an act passed
in this present session of Parliament entitled, An act for punishing mutiny and
desertion, and for the better payment of the army and their quarters, further
continued until the twenty-fourth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-nine. In order therefore to enforce within the said province of New York
the supplying of his Majesty’s troops with the necessaries and in the manner
required by the said acts of Parliament, may it please your Majesty that it may
be enacted; and be it enacted by the King’s most excellent Majesty, by and with
the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, in this
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same that from and
after the first day of October, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven,
until provision shall have been made by the said assembly of New York for
furnishing his Majesty’s troops within the said province with all such
necessaries as are required by the said acts of Parliament, or any of them, to
be furnished for such troops, it shall not be lawful for the governor,
lieutenant governor, or person presiding or acting as governor or commander in
chief, or for the council for the time being, within the colony, plantation, or
province of New York in America, to pass, or give his or their assent to, or
concurrence in, the making or passing of any act of assembly; or his or their
assent to any order, resolution, or vote in concurrence with the House of
Representatives for the time being within the said colony, plantation, or
province; or for the said House of Representatives to pass or make any bill,
order, resolution, or vote (orders, resolutions, or votes for adjourning such
house only, excepted) of any kind, for any other purpose whatsoever; and that
all acts of assembly, orders, resolutions, and votes whatsoever, which shall or
may be passed, assented to, or made contrary to the tenor and meaning of this
act after the said first day of October, one thousand seven hundred and
sixty-seven, within the said colony, plantation, or province before and until
provision shall have been made for supplying his Majesty’s troops with necessaries
as aforesaid, shall be and are hereby declared to be null and void, and of no
force or effect whatsoever.
II. Provided
nevertheless, and it is hereby declared to be the true intent and meaning of
this act that nothing herein before contained shall extend, or be construed to
extend, to hinder, prevent, or invalidate the choice, election, or approbation
of a speaker of the House of Representatives for the time being within the said
colony, plantation, or province.
SOURCES: Townshend
Acts, New York Restraining Act Text, American History Central,
accessed June 2, 2026; William MacDonald, Editor, Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American History
1606-1775, pp. 317-20.
An Act to Enable His Majesty to Put the Customs, and Other Duties, in the British Dominions in America, and the Execution of the Laws Relating to Trade There, under the Management of Commissioners to be Appointed for that Purpose, and to be Resident in the Said Dominions.
WHEREAS in pursuance of an act of Parliament made in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of King Charles the Second, entitled, An act for the encouragement of the Greenland and Eastland trades, and for the better securing the plantation trade, the rates and duties imposed by that, and several subsequent acts of Parliament upon various goods imported into, or exported from the British colonies and plantations in America, have been put under the management of the commissioners of the customs in England for the time being, by and under the authority and directions of the high treasurer, or commissioners of the treasury for the time being; and whereas the officers appointed for the collection of the said rates and duties in America are obliged to apply to the said commissioners of the customs in England for their special instructions and directions, upon every particular doubt and difficulty which arises in relation to the payment of the said rates and duties, whereby all persons concerned in the commerce and trade of the said colonies and plantations are greatly obstructed and delayed in the carrying on and transacting of their business; and whereas the appointing of commissioners to be resident in some convenient part of his Majesty’s dominions in America, and to be invested with such powers as are now exercised by the commissioners of the customs in England by virtue of the laws in being, would relieve the said merchants and traders from the said inconveniences, tend to the encouragement of commerce and to the better securing of the said rates and duties, by the more speedy and effectual collection thereof; be it therefore enacted by the King’s most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same, that the customs and other duties imposed by any act or acts of Parliament upon any goods or merchandises brought or imported into, or exported or carried from any British colony or plantation in America, may from time to time be put under the management and direction of such commissioners to reside in the said plantations, as his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, by his or their commission or commissions under the great seal of Great Britain, shall judge to be most for the advantage of trade and security of the revenue of the said British colonies; any law, custom, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
II. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid that the said commissioners to be appointed, or any three or more of them, shall have the same powers and authorities for carrying into execution the several laws relating to the revenues and trade of the said British colonies in America, as were, before the passing of this act, exercised by the commissioners of the customs in England, by virtue of any act or acts of Parliament now in force, and it shall and may be lawful to and for his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, in such commission or commissions, to make provision for putting in execution the several laws relating to the customs and trade of the said British colonies; any law, custom, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
III. Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all deputations and other authorities granted by the commissioners of the customs in England before the passing of this act, or which may be granted by them before any commission or commissions shall issue in pursuance of this act, to any officer or as fully, to all intents and purposes, as if this act had not been made, until the deputation, or other authorities so granted to such officer or officers, respectively, shall be revoked, annulled, or made void by the high treasurer of Great Britain, or commissioners of the treasury for the time being.
SOURCES: John Raithby, Editor, The Statutes at Large of England and Great Britain: From Magna Carta to the Union of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 6: From 24 George II. A.D.1751 — to 7 George III. A.D.1767, pp. 754-5; Townshend Acts, Commissioners of Customs Act Text, American History Central: The Encyclopedia of American History, Accessed June 2, 2026.
