XLIX. 1773. แ as much or more may be brought into the revenue CHAP. by not allowing a full exemption from the duties paid here." But Lord North refused to discuss the right April. of Parliament to tax America; insisting that no difficulty could arise, that under the new regulation America would be able to buy tea from the Company at a lower price than from any other European Nation, and that men will always go to the cheapest market.1 The Ministry was still in its halcyon days; no opposition was made even by the Whigs; and the mea May. sure which was the King's own, and was designed to put America to the test, took effect as a law from the tenth day of May. It was immediately followed by a most carefully prepared answer from the King to Petitions from Massachusetts, announcing that he "considered his authority to make laws in Parliament of sufficient force and validity to bind his subjects in America in all cases whatsoever, as essential to the dignity of the Crown, and a right appertaining to the State, which it was his duty to preserve entire and inviolate;" that he, therefore, "could not but be greatly displeased with the Petitions and Remonstrance in which that right was drawn into question;" but that he "imputed the unwarrantable doctrines held forth in the said Petitions and Remonstrance, to the artifices of a few." All this while, Lord Dartmouth "had a true desire to see lenient measures adopted towards the Colonies," not being in 'Charles Garth to the Committee of Correspondence of South Carolina, London, 4 May, 1773. 2 B. Franklin to William Franklin, 14 July, 1773; Compare Anecdotes of Chatham, ii. 240, 241, 242. 13 Geo. III. Chap. xliv. Dartmouth to Dr. Franklin, Agent for the late Representatives of the Province of Massachusetts Bay; Whitehall, 2 June, 1778. Dartmouth to Hutchinson, same date. Grafton's Autobiography. CHAP. the least aware, that he was drifting with the Cabinet XLIX towards the very system of coercion against which the most public and the most explicit 1773. he June. In America men began to prepare for extreme measures. Charles Lee, a British Officer on half-pay, resolved to devote himself "to the cause of mankind and of liberty now attacked in their last and only asylum."1 "Glorious Virginia," cried the Legislature of Rhode Island, glowing with admiration for "its patriotic and illustrious House of Burgesses;" and this New England Province was the first to follow the example of the Old Dominion, by electing its Committees and sending its Circular through the land. In Massachusetts, so soon as the Government for the year was organized, the House on the motion of Samuel Adams, and by a vote of one hundred and nine to four, expressed its gratitude to the Burgesses of Virginia for their uniform vigilance, firmness and wisdom, and its hearty concurrence in their judicious and spirited Resolves. And then it elected its Committee of Correspondence, fifteen in number. New Hampshire and Connecticut did the same, so that all New England and Virginia were now one political body, with an organization inchoate, yet so perfect, that, on the first emergency, they could convene a Congress. Every other Colony on the Continent was sure to follow their example.3 While the patriot party was cheered by the hope of union, the letters of Hutchinson and Oliver which Franklin had sent over to the Speaker of the Massa 1Lee to H. Gates, 6 May, 1773. 'Letter of Massachusetts to the other Colonies, 3 June, 1773: Bradford, 401. XLIX. 1773. June. chusetts Assembly, destroyed their moral power by CHAP. exposing their duplicity. "Cool, thinking, deliberate villains; malicious and vindictive, as well as ambitious and avaricious," said John Adams, who this chosen into the Council but negatived by the governor. "Bone of our bone; flesh of our flesh; born and educated among us," cried others. Hancock, who was angry at being named in the correspondence, determined to lay bare their hypocrisy; and Cooper from the pulpit preached of "the old Serpent, which deceiveth the whole world; but was cast out into the earth and his angels with him." The letters had circulated privately in the Province for more than two months, when on Wednesday the second of June, Samuel Adams read them to the House in secret session. They were by no means among the worst which their authors had written, but they showed a thorough complicity with Bernard and the Commissioners of the Customs, to bring military sway into the Province, and to abridge Colonial liberties by the interposition of Parliament. The House, after a debate, voted by one hundred and one against five, "that the tendency and design of the letters was to subvert the Constitution of the Government, and to introduce arbitrary power into the Province." "I have never wrote any public or private letter that tends to subvert the Constitution," was Hutchinson's message the next day. The House, on the fourth, sent him a transcript of their proceedings, with the date of his letters that were before them; and asked for copies of these and such others, as he should think proper to communicate. "If you desire copies with a view to make them public," answered Hutchinson after five days' CHAP. reflection, "the originals are more proper for that XLIX. purpose, than the copies;" and he refused to com 1773. June. municate other letters, declaring that it had not been the design of them "to subvert the constitution of the Government, but, rather to preserve it entire.” 1 Then conscious of guilt, he by the very next packet sent word to his confidential friend in London, to burn such of his letters as might raise a clamor, for, said he, "I have wrote what ought not to be made public. 2 He had written against every part of the Constitution, the elective character of the Council, the annual choice of the Assembly, the New England organization of the towns; had advised and solicited the total dependence of the judiciary on the Crown, had hinted at making the experiment of declaring Martial Law, and of abrogating English liberty; had advised to the restraint of the commerce of Boston and the exclusion of the Province from the fisheries; had urged the immediate suppression of the Charter of Rhode Island; had for years "been begging for measures to maintain the supremacy of Parliament," by making the denial of that supremacy a capital felony; and all for the sake of places for his family and a salary and a pension for himself. To corrupt pure and good and free political institutions of a happy country, and infuse into its veins the slow poison of tyranny, is the highest crime against humanity. And how terribly was he punished! For 1 Message of the Governor to the 2 Hutchinson to Sir Francis BerHouse of Representatives, 9 June, nard, probably, 14 June, 1773. 1773; in the Representations, &c. 61. what is life without the esteem of one's fellow-men! CHAP. Had he been but honest, how New England would XLIX. 1773. have cherished his memory! Now his gray hairs, June. which should ever be kept purer than the ermine, were covered with shame; his ambition was defeated, and he suffered all the tortures of avarice trembling for the loss of place. It was Hancock,1 who, taking advantage of the implied permission of Hutchinson, produced to the House copies of the letters, which were then published and scattered throughout New England and the Continent. A series of Resolves was adopted, expressing their true intent, and was followed by a Petition to the King, that he would remove Hutchinson and Oliver for ever from the Government. The Council in like manner, after a thorough analysis of the real intent of the correspondence, joined in the same prayer. So great unanimity had never been known. Timid from nature, from age, and from an accus- July. ing conscience, Hutchinson bowed to the storm; and expressed his desire to resign. "I hope," he said, "I shall not be left destitute, to be insulted and triumphed over. I fall in the cause of Government; and whenever it shall be thought proper to supersede me, I hope for some appointment; " and calumniating Franklin as one who wished to supplant him in the Government of Massachusetts, he himself made interest for Franklin's desirable office of Deputy Postmaster General, 3 |