The Writings of Samuel Adams Volume III Part 5

The House are now considering the Independency of the Judges; A Matter which every day grows still more serious, and employs much of the Attention of the People without Doors, as well as of the Members of the House. I wish Lord Dartmouth & the rest of the Great officers of the Crown could be prevaild upon duly to consider that British Americans cannot long endure a State of Tyranny.

I expect the Genl a.s.sembly will be up in a few Days.1 I will then write you more particularly. In the mean time I remain

Your Friend,

_________________________________________________________________ 1The General Court was prorogued June 29, to meet September 15; but the next session did not begin until January 26, 1774.

THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF WOCESTER.

[MS., Committee of Correspondence Papers, Lenox Library.]

BOSTON, Septemr 11, 1773

GENTLEMEN

The happy fruit of the Appointment of Committees of Correspondence in almost every Town in this province, is the Advantage that Each has of communicating any Matter of common Concern & Importance to a chosen Number of Men zealous for the publick Liberty, in any particular Town or County, where it may be specially requisite that such Intelligence shd be given. In order to support our Cause, it is necessary that we attend to every part of the plan which our enemies have concerted against it. In making Laws & raising revenues from us without our Consent, a Design is evidently apparent to render an American Legislative of little Weight; and in appropriating such revenues to the support of Governor & Judges, it as evidently appears that there is a fixd Design to make our Executive dependent upon them & subservient to their own purposes. Every method is therefore to be usd that is practicable, in opposition to these two capital Grievances, which are the fountain from whence every other Grievance flows. All the Judges of the Superior Court, except the Chiefe Justice have receivd the Grants out of the province Treasury in full; but this by no means makes it certain whether they intend for the future to depend upon the Crown for Support or upon the Grants of the Genl a.s.sembly. Indeed one of them viz Mr Trowbridge has explicitly declared to the Speaker of the House of Representatives that he will receive his Salary from the province only, so long as he shall hold his Commission. The Chiefe Justice (Oliver) has been totally silent. So that neither of them except Mr Trowbridge has yet thought proper to comply with the just Expectation & Demand of the House of Representatives, upon which the Safety, & therefore we trust the Quiet of this people depends.

The Court is now sitting here; and the Grand Jury have presented a Memorial to them, setting forth as we are informd, the Contempt with which the Grand Juries of the province have been treated in the Letters of Govr Hutchinson & others; a.s.serting the Independence of Grand Juries as being accountable to none but G.o.d & their own Consciences for their Conduct; claiming to themselves equal protection with the Court, & expecting that effectual measures will be taken to secure that most valueable Branch of our civil Const.i.tution, from further Contempt. They have also represented to the Court, the great Uneasiness in the Minds of the people of this County & as they conceive of the whole province, by reason of the uncertainty that yet remains, respecting the Dependence of the Judges on the Crown for Support, & their own Doubts & Difficulties on this Account; & they pray that the Court wd come to an explicit & publick Declaration thereupon.

This is the Substance of the Matter. We shall endeavor to obtain a correct Copy, & in that Case you will see it publishd in the newspapers. In the mean time we would propose to you whether it would not be serving the Cause if every County would take similar Measures. And as the Court is to sit next in your County,1 & yours is the princ.i.p.al Town we have written to your Committee only on this Subject, leaving it to your Discretion & good Judgment to take such methods as shall be most proper.

_______________________________________________________________ 1Cf. Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, vol. vii., p. 58.

TO JOSEPH HAWLEY.1

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]

BOSTON Oct. 4th 1773

MY DEAR SIR/

I can not omit this Opportunity of submitting to your Judgment, the Ideas I have of the present Disposition of the British Administration towards this Country; and I the rather do it at this time, because as Matters seem to me to be drawing to a Crisis, it is of the greatest Importance that we should have a right Understanding of their Sentiments and Designs. The "wild and extravagant Notions" (as they have been lately called) of the supreme Authority of Parliament "flowing from the Pen of an House of Representatives" has greatly chagrind them; as they apprehend it has been the means of awakning that Spirit of Opposition to their Measures, which from the Information their Tools on this side of the Water had given them, and the Confidence they had placed in the Art and Address of Mr Hutchinson, they had flatterd themselves, had subsided, & would soon be extinguished. At the same time they are very sensible, that the impartial Part of the Nation, considering that the House were in a Manner forced to express their own Sentiments on the Subject, be they what they might, with Freedom are ready to exculpate them, and lay the whole Blame, if there be any, upon the Governor, for his Imprudent Zeal in bringing a Matter into open Controversy which the Ministry had hoped to have settled in a silent Way. It is my Opinion that the present Administration even though the very good Lord Darmouth is one of them, are as fixed in their Resolutions to carry this favorite point as any of their Predecessors have been; I mean to gain from us an implicit Acknowledgment of the Right of Parliament to make Laws binding upon us in all Cases whatever. The King who you know determines by their Advice, has expressd his Displeasure at our late pet.i.tions because they held up Rights repugnant to this Right. Some of our Politicians would have the People believe that Administration are disposd or determind to have all the Grievances which we complain of redressd, if we will only be quiet. But this I apprehend would be a fatal Delusion; for I have the best a.s.surances, that if the King himself should make any Concessions or take any Steps contrary to the Right of Parliamt to tax us, he would be in Danger of embroiling himself with the Ministry; and that under the present Prejudices of all about him, even the recalling an Instruction to the Governor is not yet likely to be advisd. Lord Dartmouth has indeed lately said in the House of Lords as I have it from a Gentleman in London who receivd the Information from a peer who was present, that "he had formd his plan of Redress, which he was determind to carry AT THE HAZARD OF HIS OFFICE." But his Lordship might very safely make this Promise; for from all that I have heard, his Plan of Redress is built very much upon the Hopes that we may be prevaild upon, at least implicitly to yield up the Right, of which his Lordship is as fixd in his Opinion, as any other Minister. This I conceive they have had in view from the year 1763; and we may well remember, that when the Stamp Act was repeald, our Friends in Parliamt submitted as a Condition of the Repeal, that the declaratory Act as it is called should be pa.s.sed, declaratory of the Right & Authority of Parliament to make Laws binding upon us in all Cases whatever.

Till that time the Dispute had been limitted to the Right of Taxation. By a.s.suming the Power of making Laws for America IN ALL CASES, at the time when the Stamp Act was repeald it was probably their Design to secure, as far as they could do it by an Act of their own, this particular Right of Taxation thinking at the same time that if they could once establish the Precedent in an Instance of so much importance to us, as that of taking our Money from us, they should thenceforward find it very easy to exercise their pretended Right in every other Case. For this Purpose in the very next Session if I mistake not, they pa.s.sed another revenue Act, for America; which they have been endeavoring to support by military parade, as well as by other Means, at an Expence to the Nation, as it is said of more than the revenue yielded. And yet, in order to induce us to acquiesce in or silently to submit to their Exercise of this Right, they have even condescended to meet us half way (as it was artfully given out) and lessened this Revenue by taking off the Duty on Gla.s.s & several other Articles. Mr George Grenville declared that he would be satisfied with a PEPER CORN, but that he must have THREE; which shows that he had a stronger Sense of the Importance of establishing the Power of Parliament, or as his own Words were, "of securing the Obedience of the Colonies" than barely of a Revenue. The Acknowledgment on our part of the Right of Parliament has been their invariable Object: And could they now gain this Acknowledgment from us, tho it were but implicitly, they would willingly sacrifice the PRESENT revenue by a repeal of the Acts, and FOR THE PRESENT redress all our Grievances. I have been a.s.sured that a Question has of late been privately put by one in Administration upon whom much Dependence is had by some persons, to a Gentleman well acquainted with the Sentiments of the People of this Province, Whether the present House of Representatives could not be prevaild on to rescind the Answers of the last House to the Governors Speeches relative to the supreme Authority of Parliament; which Answers have been lookd upon as a Bar in the Way of a Reconciliation and being informd that such a measure on our part could by no means be expected, I am apprehensive that Endeavors will be used to draw us into an incautious mode of Conduct which will be construed as in Effect receding from the Claim of Rights of which we have hitherto been justly so tenacious. It has been given out, I suspect from the Secrets of the Cabinet, that if we will now send home decent temperate & dutiful pet.i.tions, even our imaginary Grievances shall be redressd; but let us consider what Ideas Administration have of Decency Temperance & Dutifulness as applyd to this Case.

Our late pet.i.tions against the Independency of the Governor & Judges were deemd indecent intemperate & undutiful, not because they were expressd in exceptionable Words, but because it was therein said that by the Charter it plainly appeard to us to be intended by the Royal Grantors that the General a.s.sembly should be the const.i.tuted Judge of the adequate Support of the Government of the province and the Ways & Means of providing for the same; and further that this operation of an Act of parliament, by which the People are taxed & the money is appropriated & used for that purpose, derogates from one of the most sacred Rights granted in the Charter, & most essential to the Freedom of the Const.i.tuion, & divests the Genl a.s.sembly of a most important part of legislative Power and Authority expressly granted therein, and necessary for the Good and Welfare of the province & the Support and Government of the same. The Subject Matter of our Complaint was, not that a Burden greater than our proportion was laid upon us by Parliament; such a Complaint we might have made salva Authoritate parliamentaria: But that the Parliament had a.s.sumed & exercisd the power of taxing us & thus appropriating our money, when by Charter it was the exclusive right of the General a.s.sembly. We could not otherwise have explaind to his Majesty the Grievance which we meant to complain of; and yet he is pleasd in his answer to declare that he has well weighd the Subject Matter of the pet.i.tions--and is determined to support the Const.i.tution and to resist with firmness every Attempt to derogate from the Authority of the supreme Legislature. Does not this imply that the parliament is the supreme Legislature & its Authority over the Colonies of the Const.i.tution? And that until we frame our pet.i.tions so as that it may fairly be construed that we have at least tacitly conceded to it we may expect they will be still disregarded or frownd upon as being not decent temperate and dutifull? We may even be allowd to claim certain Rights and exercise subordinate powers of Legislation like the Corporations in England, subject to the universal Controul of Parliamt, and if we will implicitly acknowledge its Right to make Laws binding upon us in all Cases whatever, that is, its absolute Sovereignty over us the Acts we shall them complain of as burdensome to us, shall be repeald, all Grievances redressd, and Administration will flatter us that the right shall never be exercisd but in a Case of absolute necessity which shall be apparent to every judicious man in the Empire. To induce us to be thus submissive beyond the bounds of reason & Safety their Lordships will condescend to be familiar with us and treat us with Cakes & Sugar plumbs. But who is to determine when the necessity shall be thus apparent? Doubtless the Parliamt, which is supposd to be the supreme Legislature will claim that prerogative; and then they will for ever make Laws for us when they think proper. Or if the several Colony a.s.semblies are to signify that such necessity is apparent to every wise man within their respective Jurisdictions before the parliamt shall exercise the Right, the point will be given up to us in Effect, that the Parliamt shall not make a Law binding upon us in any Case until we shall consent to it, which their Lordships can in no wise be thought to intend.

But I must break off this abruptly. I intend to write you further. In the meantime I must beg to be indulgd with your Thots on these matters & remain with great regard,

Sir,

________________________________________________________________ 1The political leader of Northhampton, Ma.s.sachusetts. His "Broken Hints" is in Niles, Principles and Acts, p. 324.

TO JOSEPH HAWLEY.

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]

BOSTON Octob 13 1773

MY DEAR SIR/

I lately wrote you a long Epistle upon our political Affairs; and although I fear I have put your patience on the Tryal, I can not withstand a strong Inclination to communicate more of my mind to you on the same Subject. Perhaps it may be of Service to you, as it may afford you an opportunity of exercising that Charity or Candor which "beareth all things."

I have taken some pains to enquire into the true Character of the Minister in the American Department. And I find that all allow him to be a good man. Goodness has rarely I fear been of late the Chracteristick of his Majestys Ministers; for which reason his Lordship is to be sure the more highly to be prizd. But it seems very necessary that Men in such elevated Stations should be great as well as good. The Promotion of a n.o.bleman to this Department, who is famed in America for his Piety is easily accounted for on the principles of modern Policy. However illy we may deserve it, the great men in England have an opinion of us as being a mightily religious People. Surely than it must be supposd that we shall place an entire Confidence in a Minister of the same Character. We find it so in fact. How many were filled with the most sanguine Expectations, when they heard that the good Lord Dartmouth was entrusted with a Share in Administration? Little did they think that if his Lordship did not come in upon express terms, which however is doubted by some, yet without a Greatness of mind equal, perhaps superior to his Goodness, it will be impossible for him singly to stem the Torrent of Corruption. This requires much more Fort.i.tude than I yet believe he is possesd of.

Fain would I have him treated with great Decency & Respect, both for the Station he is in and the Character he sustains; but considering with whom he is connected, I confess that in regard to any power he will have substantially to serve us, I am an Infidel.

I do not agree with some of our Politicians who tell us that the Ministry are "sick of their Measures." I cannot but wonder that any prudent Man should believe this, while he sees not the least Relaxation of measures; but instead of it new Insult & Abuse. Is the Act of Parliament, made the last year, and the Appointment of Commissioners with Instructions to put it in full Execution in the Rhode Island Affair, a Ground of such a Beliefe? Can we think the East India Company are so satisfied that Administration are disposd to give up their Designs of establishing Arbitrary Power, when no longer ago than the last Session of Parliament they effected the Deprivation of their Charter Rights, whereby they have acquired so great an Addition of Power & Influence to the Crown? Or are such Hopes to be gatherd from the Treatment given to our own Pet.i.tions the last May, when they were discountenancd for no other Reason but because the Rights of our Charter were therein pleaded as a Reason against a measure which if a little while persisted in, will infallibly establish a Despotism in the End? Surely this is not a time for us to testify the least Confidence in the Spirit of the British Government, or from flattering Hopes that their designs are to alter measures, to trust to their Discretion or good Will.

I am apt to think that Ministry have two great Events in Contemplation both which in all probability will take place shortly. The one is a War & the other a new Election of Parliament Men. In order to improve these Events to their own purpose, it will become necessary to sooth & flatter the Americans with Hopes of Reliefe. In Case of a War, America if in good Humour will be no contemptible Ally. She will be able by her Exertions to annoy the Enemy much. Her aid will therefore be courted. And to bring her into this good Humour, the Ministry must be lavish in promises of great things to be done for her.

Perhaps some Concessions will be made; but these Concessions will flow from policy not from Justice. Should they recall their Troops from the Castle, or do twenty other seemingly kind things, we ought never to think their Designs are benevolent toward us, while they continue to exercise the pretended Right to tax us at their pleasure, and appropriate our money to their own purposes.

And this they have certainly no Thought at present of yielding up. With regard to the Election of another House of Commons, that will not take place within these Eighteen months unless a Dissolution of parliamt should happen before; which has indeed been hinted, & may be the movement in order suddenly to bring on the Election before the People are prepared for it. We are to suppose that an Attempt will be made to purchase the Votes of the whole Kingdom. This will require much Time and dexterous Management. The Ministry have in a great Measure lost the Influence of London and other great Corporations as well as that of the East India Company by their late Treatment of that powerful Body, whom Lord North now finds it necessary to coax and pascify. They will therefore be glad to sooth America into a State of Quietness, if they can do it without conceding to our Rights, that they may have the Aid of the Friends of America when the new Election comes on. And that America has many Friends among the Merchants & Manufacturers the Country Gentlemen & especially the Dissenters from the establishd Church I am so well informd that I cannot doubt. The last of these are so from generous the others from private & selfish Principles. Such Considerations as these will be strong Inducements [to] them to make us fair & flattering Promises for the present; but Nothing I think will be so dangerous as for the Americans to withdraw their Dependence upon themselves & place it upon those whose constant Endeavor for ten years past has been to enslave us, & who, if they can obtain a new Election of old Members, it is to be feard, unless we keep up a perpetual Watchfulness, will, in another seven years, effect their Designs. The Safety of the Americans in my humble opinion depends upon their pursuing their wise Plan of Union in Principle & Conduct. If we persevere in a.s.serting our Rights, the Time must come probably a Time of War, when our just Claims must be attended to & our Complaints regarded. But if we discoverd the least Disposition to submit our Claims to their Decision, it is my opinion that our Injuries will be increasd then fold. I conclude at present with a.s.suring you that I am with sincere regard

Sir your Friend & hbl servt,

THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF Ma.s.sACHUSETTS TO OTHER COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE.1

[MS., Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]

PRO OF Ma.s.sACHUSETTS BAY

BOSTON Octob 21 1773

GENTLEMEN

The Committee of Correspondence appointed by the House of Representatives of this Province have been not altogether inattentive to the Design of their Inst.i.tution. We have been waiting for Intelligence from Great Britain from whose injudicious Councils the common Grievances of the Colonies have sprang; in hopes that a Change in the American Department would have producd a happy Change in the measures of Administration; But we are sorry to say, that from the best Accounts that we have obtaind the Ministry have been hitherto so far from radically redressing American Grievances that even the least Relaxation has not been advisd if thought of. On the Contrary, the British Parliament have been prorogud without taking the least Notice of the Affairs of America; while they have been curtailing the Charter of the East India Company in such a Manner & in such a Degree, as to indicate that they are much more intent upon increasing the power & Influence of the Crown than securing Liberties of the Subject. At the same time, this Province has had a very recent Discovery of the unalterd Resolution of the Ministry to pursue their plan of arbitrary Power, in the Kings Answer to the Pet.i.tions of our a.s.sembly against the appropriation of the Revenue raisd from the Colonies, for the purpose of rendering our Governor & Judges dependent on the Crown. In his Majestys Answer, we have nothing explicit, but his Resolution to support the supreme Authority of the British parliamt to make Laws binding on the Colonies (altho the pet.i.tions were supported by the express Declarations of the Charter of the province) and his great Displeasure, that principles repugnant to that Right were therein held forth. Such an Answer to such a pet.i.tion affords the strongest Grounds to conclude, that the Ministry are as firmly resolvd as ever to continue the Revenue Acts & apply the tribute extorted by Virtue of them from the Colonies, to maintain the executive powers of the several Governments of America absolutely independent of their respective Legislatures; or rather absolutely dependent on the Crown, which will, if a little while persisted in, end in absolute Despotism.

Such being still the temper of the British Ministry, Such the Disposition of the parliament of Britain under their Direction & Influence, to consider themselves as THE SOVEREIGN of America, Is it not of the utmost Importance that our Vigilance should increase, that the Colonies should be united in their Sentiments of the Measures of Oppposition necessary to be taken by them, and that in whichsoever of the Colonies any Infringments are or shall be made on the common Rights of all, that Colony should have the united Efforts of all for its Support. This we take to be the true Design of the Establishment of our Committees of Correspondence.

There is one thing which appears to us to be an Object worthy of the immediate Attention of the Colonies. Should a War take place, which is thought by many to be near at hand, America will then be viewd by Administration in a Light of Importance to Great Britain. Her Aids will be deemd necessary; her Friendship therefore will perhaps be even courted. Would it not then be the highest Wisdom in the several American a.s.semblies, absolutely to withhold all kinds of Aid in a general War, untill the Rights & Liberties which THEY OUGHT TO ENJOY are restored, & secured to them upon the most permanent foundation? This has always been the Usage of a spirited House of Commons in Britain, and upon the best Grounds; for certainly protection & Security ought to be the unalterable Condition when Supplys are called for. With Regard to the Extent of Rights which the Colonies ought to insist upon, it is a Subject which requires the closest Attention & Deliberation; and this is a strong Reason why it should claim the earliest Consideration of, at least, every Committee; in order that we may be prepared when time & Circ.u.mstances shall give to our Claim the surest prospect of Success. And when we consider how one great Event has hurried on, upon the back of another, such a time may come & such Circ.u.mstances take place sooner than we are now aware of. There are certain Rights which every Colony has explicitly a.s.serted, & we trust they will never give up. THAT in particular, that they have the sole & unalienable Right to give & grant their own money & appropriate it to such purposes as they judge proper, is justly deemd to be of the last Importance. But whether even this Right, so essential to our Freedom & Happiness, can remain .

. . to us, while a Right is claimed by the British parliament to make Laws binding upon us in all Cases whatever, you will certainly consider with Seriousness. It would be debasing to us after so manly a Struggle for our Rights to be contented with a mere TEMPORARY reliefe. We take the Liberty to present you with the State of a Controversy upon that Subject, between the Governor of this province and the a.s.sembly. And as the a.s.sembly of this or some other Colony may possibly be called into further Consideration of it, we should think our selves happy in a Communication of such further Thoughts upon it, as we are perswaded will upon a . . . occur to your Minds. We are far from desiring that the Connection between Britain & America should be broken. ESTO PERPETUA, is our ardent wish; but upon the Terms only of Equal Liberty. If we cannot establish an Agreement upon these terms, let us leave it to another & wiser Generation. But it may be worth Consideration that the work is more likely to be well done, at a time when the Ideas of Liberty & its Importance are strong in Mens Minds. There is Danger that these Ideas will hereafter grow faint & languid. Our Posterity may be accustomd to bear the Yoke & being inured to Servility they may even bow the Shoulder to the Burden. It can never be expected that a people, however NUMEROUS, will form & execute a wise plan to perpetuate their Liberty, when they have lost the Spirit & feeling of it.

We cannot close without mentioning a fresh Instance of the temper & Design of the British Ministry; and that is in allowing the East India Company, with a View of pacifying them, to ship their Teas to America. It is easy to see how aptly this Scheme will serve both to destroy the Trade of the Colonies & increase the revenue. How necessary then is it that Each Colony should take effectual methods to prevent this measure from having its designd Effects.2

GENTLEMEN

The foregoing Letter was unanimously agreed to by the Committee of Correspondence, and is in their name and by their order Transmitted to you by your most respectfull friends and humble Servants,

T: CUSHING S: ADAMS W: HEATH

P.S. It is the request of the Committee that the Contents of this Letter be not made publick least our Common Enemies should counteract and prevent its design.

________________________________________________________________ 1The origin of this letter appears in the ma.n.u.script journal, preserved in the Boston Public Library, of the Committee of Correspondence, consisting of fifteen members, appointed by the House of Representatives of Ma.s.sachusetts. At a meeting of the committee on June 28, 1773, a sub-committee, consisting of Adams, Hanc.o.c.k, Cushing, Phillips, and Heath, was appointed, to write to the Connecticut Committee of Correspondence and also to the committee of each a.s.sembly. The letter to Connecticut appears to have been approved at a meeting of the sub-committee on July 4.