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of Representatives were generally re-elected, and brought with them the temper which had occasioned their dissolution. Discovering no disposition to enter on the business for which they were called together, they immediately engaged in a controversy with the governor*, concerning the removal of the ships of war from the harbour, and troops from the town, of Boston, which, as the representative of the crown, they insisted on his power to do.

In the expectation that, by removing the general

* This contest is thus stated by Mr. Gordon :-" The general court being called together according to charter, a committee from the House of Representatives remonstrated to his excellency, 'That an armament by sea and land investing this metropolis (Boston,) and a military guard with cannon pointed at the door of the State House, where the assembly is held, are inconsistent with that dignity and freedom with which they have a right to deliberate, consult, and determine. They expect that your excellency will, as his Majesty's representative, give effectual orders for the removal of the above mentioned-forces by sea and land out of this port, and the gates of this city, during the sessions of the said assembly.' The governor returned for answer-' Gentlemen, I have no authority over his Majesty's ships in this port, or his troops in this town.' A few days after receiving this answer, the house in a message to him, declared- The use of the military power to enforce the execution of the laws, is, in the opinion of this house, inconsistent with the spirit of a free constitution, and the very nature of government. The military force is uncontrollable by any authority in the province; it is then a power without any check here, and therefore it is so far absolute. What privilege, what security then is left to this house?'"

GORDON'S History of the American War, vol. i. p. 259.

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court from a place where the members were, by the great influence of the metropolis, excited to and supported in the system they had adopted, they 'might be induced to enter on the ordinary business of the country, the governor adjourned them to meet at Cambridge.

Far from producing the intended effect, this measure served to increase the existing irritation, The business recommended to them remained some time unnoticed; their altercations with the governor continued; and they entered into several warm resolutions*, enlarging the catalogue of grievances, and

* The following are the resolutions alluded to: The general assembly of this his Majesty's colony of Massachussetts Bay, convened by his Majesty's authority, by virtue of his writ, issued by his excellency the governor, under the great seal of the province, and this house, thinking it their duty at all times to testify their loyalty to his Majesty, as well as their regard to the rights, liberties, and privileges of themselves and their constituents do pass the following resolutions, to be entered on the records of the house:

Resolved, That this house do, and ever will, bear the firmest allegiance to our rightful sovereign King George III. and are ever ready with their lives and fortunes to defend his Majesty's person, family, crown, and dignity.

Resolved, That this house do concur in, and adhere to, the resolution of the House of Representatives in the year 1765, and particularly in that essential principle, that no man can be taxed, or bound in conscience to obey any law to which he has not given his consent in person or by his representative.

Resolved, as the opinion of this house, That it is the indubitable

right

and expressed in terms of infinitely greater exasperation than had heretofore appeared in, the official acts of any legislature on the continent.

Not

right of the subject in general, and consequently of the colonies. jointly or severally, to petition the king for redress of grievances; and that it is lawful, whenever they think it expedient, to confer with each other, in order to procure a joint concurrence in dutiful addresses for the relief of their common burthens.

Resolved, That Governor Bernard, in wantonly dissolving the last year's assembly, and in refusing to call another, though repeatedly requested by the people, acted against the spirit of a free con stitution; and if such procedure be lawful, it may be in his power, whenever he pleases, to make himself absolute.

Resolved, That at a time when there was a general discontent on account of the revenue acts, an expectation of the sudden arrival of a military power to enforce the execution of those acts, a dread of the troops being quartered upon the inhabitants, when our petitions were not permitted to reach the royal ear; the general court at such a juncture dissolved, and the governor's refusing to call a new one, and the people thereby reduced almost to a state of despair; at such a time it was innocent, if not highly expedient and necessary, for the people to convene by their committees, in order to associate, consult, and advise the best means to promote peace and order, and by all lawful ways to endeavour to have their united complaints laid before the throne, and jointly to pray for the royal interposition in favour of our violated rights; nor can this procedure possibly be conceived to be illegal, as they expressly disclaimed all governmental acts.

Resolved, as the opinion of this house, That Governor Bernard, in his letters to Lord Hillsborough, his Majesty's secretary of state, has given a false and highly injurious representation of the conduct of his Majesty's truly loyal and faithful council of this colony, and of the magistrates, overseers of the poor, and inhabitants of the

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Not long after the passing of these resolutions, the house explicitly refused to make the provision required

the town of Boston, tending to bring on these respectable bodies, and especially on some individuals, the unmerited displeasure of our gracious sovereign, to introduce a military government into the province, and to mislead both houses of parliament into such severe resolutions, as a true, just, and candid statement of facts must have prevented.

Resolved, That Governor Bernard, in the letters before mentioned, by falsely representing that it was become "necessary the king should have the council chamber in his own hands, and should be enabled by parliament to supersede, by order in his privy council, commissions granted in his name, and under his seal, throughout the colonies," has discovered his enmity to the true spirit of the British constitution, and to the liberties of the colonies, and particularly has meditated a blow at the root of some of the most invaluable constitutional and charter rights of this province; the perfidy of which, at the very time he was professing himself a warm friend of the charter, is altogether unparalleled by any person in his station, and ought never to be forgotten.

Resolved, That the establishing a standing army in this colony, in a time of peace, without the consent of the General Assembly of the same, is an invasion of the natural rights of the people, as well as those which they claim as free-born Englishmen, and which are confirmed by Magna Charta, and the Bill of Rights, as settled at the revolution, and by the charter of this province.

Resolved, That a standing army is not known as a part of the British constitution in any of the king's dominions; and every attempt to establish it as such has ever been deemed a dangerous innovation, and manifestly tending to enslave the people.

Resolved, That the sending an armed force into this colony, under a pretence of aiding and assisting the civil authority, is

an

required by the mutiny act for the troops stationed in Massachussetts; and this being the object for which

an endeavour to establish a standing army here without our consent, and highly dangerous to this people, as well as unprecedented and unconstitutional.

His Excellency General Gage, in his letter to Lord Hillsborough, October 31st, having, among other exceptionable things, expressed himself in the following words :-" From what has been said, your lordship will conclude that there has been no government in Boston; in truth, there is very little at present, and the constitution of this province leans so much to the side of democracy, that the governor has not the power to remedy the disorders that happen in it."

Resolved, as the opinion of this house, That his Excellency General Gage, in this and other assertions, has rashly and impertinently intermeddled in the civil affairs of this province, which are altogether out of his department; and in the internal police of which, by his letter, if not altogether his own, he has yet betrayed a degree of ignorance equal to the malice of the author.

With respect to the nature of our government, This house is of opinion that the wisdom of that great prince William III. who gave the charter, aided by an able ministry, men thoroughly versed in the English constitution and law, together with the happy effects that have been derived from it to the nation as well as this colony, did place it above the reprehension of the general, and should have led to inquire, whether the disorders complained of have not originated from an arbitrary disposition in the governor, rather than from too great a spirit of democracy in the people.

And this house cannot but express their concern, that too many in power, both at home and abroad, so clearly avow, not only in private conversation, but in their public conduct, the most rancorous enmity against the free part of the British constitution, and are indefatigable in their endeavours to render the monarchy absolute,

and

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