History of the American Revolution

Preface

. — ♦ — The present Volume completes the History of the American Revolution, considered in its causes. The series explains the rise of the union of the United States from the body of the people, the change in the colonial policy of France, and the consequences of the persever ing ambition of Great Britain to consolidate its power over America. The penal Acts of 1774 dissolved the moral connection between the two countries, and began the civil war. The importance of the subject justified comprehen sive research. Of printed works my own collection is not inconsiderable ; and whatever else is to be found in the largest public, or private libraries, particularly in those of Harvard College, the Boston Athenæum, which is very rich in pamphlets, and the British Museum, have been within my reach.

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. VI Still greater instruction was derived from manu scripts. The records of the State Paper Office of Great Britain best illustrate the colonial system of that country. The opportunity of consulting them was granted me by the Earl of Aberdeen, when Secretary of State, and continued by Viscount Palmerston, by Earl Grey, and by the Duke of Newcastle. They include the voluminous correspondence of all military and civil officers, and Indian agents, employed in America; memorials of the American Commissioners of Customs ; narratives, affidavits, informations, and answers of witnesses, illustrating the most important occurrences ; the journals of the Board of Trade ; its representations to the King ; its intercourse with the Secretary of State ; the instructions and letters, sent to America, whether from the King, the Secretary of State, or the Board of Trade ; the elaborate abstracts of documents prepared for the Council ; opinions of the Attorney and Solicitor-General ; and occasionally private letters.

I examined these masses of documents slowly and carefully ; I had access to everything that is preserved ; and of no paper, however secret it may have been in its day, or whatever its complexion, was a copy refused me. I owe to Lord John Russell permission to extend my 1'REFACE. VII inquiries to the records of the Treasury, of which he at the time was the head ; so that all the volumes of its minutes and its letter-books, which could throw light on the subject of my inquiries, came under my inspection. The proceedings in Parliament till 1774 had some thing of a confidential character ; from sources the most various, private letters, journals, and reports, preserved in France, or England, or in America, I have obtained full and trustworthy accounts of the delates on the days most nearly affecting America.

Many papers, interesting to Americans, are pre served in the British Museum, whore I have great reason to remember tho considcrato attention of Sir Henry Ellis. At tho London Institution in Albemarle Street also, tho Secretary, Mr. Barlow, obtained for me leave to make use of its great collection of American military correspondence. It was necossary to study tho character and conduct of tho English Ministers themselves. Of Chatham's private letters perhaps sow romain unpublished ; Mr. Disney imparted to me at the Hyde, two volumes of familiar notes, that passed between Chatham and Hollis, full of allusions to America. The Marquis of Lansdowne (■misruled to my request for permission to go through

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. VIII the papers of his father, the Earl of Shelburne, during the three periods of his connection with American affairs ; and allowed me to keep them, till by a continued examination and comparison they could be understood in all their aspects. Combined with manu scripts which I obtained in France, they give all the information that can be desired for illustrating Lord Shelburne's relations with America. My thanks are also due to the Duke of Grafton, for having communicated to me unreservedly the autobiography of the third duke of that name, who besides having himself been a Prime Minister, held office with Rockingham, Chatham, Lord North, and Shelburne. The late Earl of Dartmouth showed me parts of the journal of his grandfather, written while he occupied the highest place at the Board of Trade.

Of all persons in England, it was most desirable to have a just conception of the character of the King. Mr. Everett, when Minister at the Court of St. James, keeping up in his busiest hours the habit of doing kind offices, obtained for me from Lady Charlotte Lindsay, copies of several hundred notes, or abstracts of notes, from George III. to her father, Lord North. After wards I received from Lady Charlotte herself, communications of great interest, and her sanction to make

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. IX such use of the letters, as I might desire, even to the printing of them all. Others written by the King in his boyhood to his governor Lord Harcourt, Mr. Harcourt was so obliging as to allow me to peruse at Nuneham. The controversy between Great Britain and her colonies attracted the attention of all Europe, till at length it became universally the subject of leading interest. To give completeness to this branch of my inquiries, in so far as Great Britain was concerned either as a party or an observer, the necessary documents, after the most thorough and extensive search, were selected from the correspondence with ministers, agents, and others in France, Spain, Holland, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and several of the smaller German Courts, especially Hesse Cassel and Brunswick. The volumes examined for this purpose were very numerous, and the copies for my use reach to all questions directly or indirectly affecting America ; to alliances, treaties of subsidy, mediations, and war and peace.

The relations of France to America were of para mount importance. I requested of Mr. Guizot, then the Minister, authority to study them in the French archives. " You shall see everything that we have," was his instant answer, enhancing his consent by the manner

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. X in which it was given. The promise was most liberally interpreted and most fully redeemed by Mr. Mignet, whose good advice and friendly regard lightened my toils, and left me nothing to desire. Mr. Dumont, the assistant keeper of the archives, under whose immediate superintendence my investigations were conducted, aided them by his constant good will. The confidence reposed in me by Mr. Guizot was continued by Mr. Lamartine, Mr. Drouin de L'huys, and by Mr. de Tocqueville. As the Court of France was the centre of European diplomacy, the harvest from its archives was exceedingly great. There were found the reports of the several French agents sent secretly to the American colonies ; there were the papers tracing the' origin and progress of the French alliance, including opinions of the Ministers, read in the Cabinet Council to the King.

Many volumes illustrate the direct intercourse between France and the United States. But besides these, I had full opportunity to examine the subject in its complication with the relations of France to England, Spain, Holland, Prussia, Russia, and other powers ; and this I did so thoroughly, that when I took my leave, Mr. Dumont assured me, that I had seen everything, that nothing, not the smallest memorandum, had been withheld from me.

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. XI Besides this, I acquired papers from the Ministry of the Marine, and from that of War. The Duke de Broglie gave me a most pleasing journal of his father when in America ; Mr. Augustin Thierry favoured me with exact and interesting anecdotes, derived from Lafayette ; and my friend Count Circourt was never weary of furthering my inquiries. My friend Mr. J. Romeyn Brodhead was so kind as to make for me selections of papers in Holland, and I take leave to acknowledge, that Mr. J. A. de Zwaan of the royal archives at the Hague, was most zealous and unremitting in his efforts to render the researches undertaken for me, effective and complete. I have obtained so much of Spanish correspondence, as to have become accurately acquainted with the maxims by which the Court of Spain governed its conduct towards our part of America.

Accounts of the differences between America and England are to be sought, not only in the sources already referred to, but specially in the correspondence of the colony agents resident in London, with their respective constituents. I pursued the search for papers of this class, till I succeeded in securing letters official or private from Bollan ; Jasper Mauduit ; Richard' Jackson,— the same who was Grenville's secretary at

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. XII the Exchequer, a distinguished member of Parliament, and at one time agent for three colonies ; — Arthur Lee ; several unpublished ones of Franklin ; the copious and most interesting official and private correspondence of William Samuel Johnson, agent for Connecticut ; one letter and fragments of letters of Edmund Burke, agent for New York ; many and exceedingly valuable ones, of Garth, a member of Parliament and agent for South Carolina ; and specimens of the correspondence of Knox and Franklin as agents of Georgia. Analogous to these are the confidential communica tions which passed between Hutchinson and Israel Mauduit and Thomas Whately ; between one of the proprietaries of Pennsylvania and deputy-governor Hamilton ; between Cecil Calvert and Hugh Ham mersley, successive secretaries of Maryland, and lieu tenant-governor Sharpe ; between ex-governor Pownall and Dr. Cooper of Boston ; between Hollis and Mayhew and Andrew Eliot of Boston.

Of all these I have copies. Of the letter-books and drafts of letters of men in office, I had access to those of Bernard for a single year ; to those of Hutchinson for many years ; to that of Dr. Johnson, the patriarch of the American Episcopal Church, with Archbishop Seeker ; to those

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. XIII -of Colden ; to those of lieutenant-governor Sharpe. Many letters of their correspondents also fell within my reach. For the affairs of the colonies I have consulted their own archives, and to that end have visited in person more than half the old thirteen colonies. Long continued pursuit, favoured by a general good will, has brought into my possession papers, or copies of papers, from very many of the distinguished men of the country in every colony. Among those who have rendered me most valuable aid in this respect, I must name in an especial manner the late Mr. Colden of New York, who intrusted to me all the manuscripts of lieutenant-governor Colden, covering a period in New York history of nearly a quarter of a century ; the late Mr. Johnson of Stratford, Connecticut, who put into my hands those of his father, containing excellent contributions alike to English and American history ; my friend Dr. Potter, the present Bishop of Pennsyl vania, who furnished me numerous papers of equal interest and novelty, illustrating the history of New York and of the Union ; Mr. Force of Washington city, whose success in collecting materials for American history is exceeded only by his honest love of historic truth ; Mr. J. F. Eliot, of Boston ; Mr. William B.

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. XIV Reed, Mr. Langdon Elwyn, and Mr. Edward D. Ingra ham, of Philadelphia ; Mr. Tefft of Georgia, and Mr. Swaine of North Carolina, who show constant readiness to further my inquiries ; the Connecticut Historical Society ; the president and officers of Yale College, who sent me unique documents from the library of that institution ; Mr. William C. Preston of South Carolina, to whom I owe precious memorials of the spirit and the deeds of the south. The most valuable acquisition of all was the collec tion of the papers of Samuel Adams, which came to me through the late Samuel Adams Welles. They contain the manuscripts of Samuel Adams, especially drafts of his letters to his many correspondents, and drafts of public documents. They contain also the complete journals of the Boston committee of correspondence, drafts of the letters it sent out, and the letters it received, s^ far as they have been preserved.

The papers are very numerous ; taken together they unfold the manner in which resistance to Great Britain grew into a system, and they perfectly represent the senti ments and the reasonings of the time. They are the more to be prized, as much of the correspondence was secret, and has remained so to this day. If I have failed in giving a lucid narrative of the

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. XV events which led to the necessity of Independence, it is not for want of diligence in studying the materials, which I have brought together, or of laborious care in arranging them. The strictest attention has been paid to chronological sequence, which can best exhibit the simultaneous action of general causes. The abundance of my collection has enabled me, in some measure, to reproduce the very language of every one of the principal actors in the scenes which I describe, and to represent their conduct from their own point of view. I hope at least it will appear, that I have written with candour, neither exaggerating vices of character, nor reviving national animosities, but rendering a just tribute to virtue wherever found. Nkw York. May 13, 1854. CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

Chapter I. The Charter Of Massachusetts Bay In

PERIL— THE FALL OF THE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION, May— July, 1766. PAGE Dissatisfaction of the King and Parliament at the Repeal of the Stamp Act — Weakness of the Ministry — Views of Americans — Events in Massachusetts — Charles Townshend threatens a new System — Alter cation with Bernard — Mayhew and Union — Connecticut — South Carolina — New York — Bernard advises coercion . . . 1 — 16

Chapter II. Coalition Of The King And The Great Commoner Against The

ARISTOCRACY— THE ADMINISTRATION OF CHATHAM. July- October, 1766. Plans of the Rockingham Ministry — Pitt forms an Administration — Displeasure of Rockingham — Character of his Administration — Pitt becomes Earl of Chatham — Choiseul receives a report from his agent — Effect of Chatham's ill-health — Progress of Liberty . . . 17 — 31

Chapter III. Charles Townshend Usurps The Lead In

GOVERNMENT— CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. Octobeb, 1766-^Tanuap.y, 1767. Disputes in the Colonies — Paxton sails for England — Plan for Illinois — The West — North Carolina — The Regulators — Progress of the dispute in Massachusetts — Shelburne's candour — Gadsden and South Carolina — Rhode Island — New York — Chatham and the Aristocracy — Townshend proposes an American Civil list — He browbeats the Cabinet 32—54 vol. in. I> CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. The British Aristocracy Reduce Their Own Taxes

— DEFEAT OF CHATHAM'S ADMINISTRATION BY THE MOSAIC OPPOSITION. January — March, 1767. page Hutchinson usurps a seat in Council — Dispute on Billeting Troops — Shelburne's Colonial policy — Opposed by the King — By Factions — By Charles Townshend — Defeat of the Ministry — Earl of Chatham's Administration .......... 55—68

Chapter V. Parliament Will Have An American Army And An American

REVENUE— CHARLES TOWNSHEND'S SUPREMACY IN THE ADMINI- STRATION. March— July, 1767. Character of Townshend — He rules the Ministry — Bedford in the House of Lords — Choiseul sends De Kalb to America — The British Ministry are misinformed — Conciliation still possible — Townshend unfit to conciliate — He opens his system to Parliament — Strength of the Opposition — Chatham visited by Grafton — Grafton Prime Minister — Jonathan Trumbull — Townshend carries his measures — Tryon in North Carolina 69—97

Chapter VI. How Townshend's American Taxes Were Received By France And

AMERICA— COALITION OF THE KING AND THE ARISTOCRACT. July — November, 1767. The King governs— Rockingham negotiates with Bedford and Grenville Failure of the Coalition — Policy of Choiseul — Discontent in the Colonies — Death of Townshend — Lord North succeeds him The Colonies indignant at the new Taxes — Conduct of Boston The Farmer's Letters 93 jjg

Chapter VII. Massachusetts Consults Her Sister Colonies

- HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES. November, 1767-February, 1768. The Bedford Party coalesce with the Ministry— Hillsborough Colonial Secretary— His Colonial Policy— His interview with Johnson of Con- CONTENTS. XIX PAGE necticut — He pensions Hutchinson — The Massachusetts Assembly plan resistance — Their Letter of Instructions — Their Petition to the King — Their Circular to the Sister Colonies 120 — 142

Chapter VIII. An American Empire Is In The Divine

DECREES— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. February— March, 176S. Memorial from the Commissioners of the Revenue — Massachusetts discourages Importations — Du Chatelet goes to England as Ambassador from France — Altercations in Massachusetts — Bernard and the Commissioners wish the aid of Troops — State of the Question — Character ofthe Twelfth Parliament — Temper of the Colonies — Prophecies 143 — 158

Chapter IX. An Army And

A FLEET FOR BOSTON— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. April— June, 1768. Hillsborough orders Massachusetts to rescind its Resolves — Virginia approves the measures of Massachusetts — The Thirteenth Parliament — Progress of opinion in the Colonies — Fresh altercations in Massachusetts — Ships and Regiments ordered to Boston . . . 159 — 171

Chapter X. Does Massachusetts Rescind

?— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. June— July, 1768. The Romney in Boston Harbour — Riot of the 10th of June — The Commissioners of the Revenue withdraw from Boston — Boston Town Meeting and Bernard — The Crown Officers report an Insurrection — Instructions of the Town of Boston — The Massachusetts Assembly refuses to rescind — Is dissolved — Progress of Opinion — Choiseul's projects — Duplicity of Bernard and Hillsborough . . . 172 — 191

Chapter XI. The Regulators Of North

CAROLINA— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRA- TION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. July— September, 176S. The Ministry incensed — Intrigues with Corsica — Policy of the British Cabinet towards America — Boston celebrates the 14th of August — CONTENTS. XX PAGE Choiseul's inquisitiveness— Advice of Mansfield and Camden— Defects in the judicial system of South Carolina— The Regulators of North Carolina . I92-212

Chapter XII. The Towns Of Massachusetts Meet In

CONVENTION— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. September. 1768. Samuel Adams desires Independence — Massachusetts without a Legislature — The coming of troops announced — Boston Town Meeting — It summons a Convention— Bernard a3ks the Council to quarter Troops within the Town — Meeting of the Convention— Firmness of the Council — Prudence of the Convention .... 213 — 228

Chapter XIII. The Celtic-american Republic On The Banks Of The Mississippi

September — October, 1768. Regiments arrive at Boston — Their Landing — Disputes on Quartering them — Return of the Commissioners — Shelburne dismissed — Chatham resigns — Rochford as Secretary of State — Grenville advocates Reform — Affairs at New Orleans — The people expel the Spanish Government 229—244

Chapter XIV. The King And The British Parliament Against The Town Of

BOSTON —HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF_THE COLONIES CONTINUED. October — December, 1768. The West — Missouri and Illinois — Indiana and Michigan — Stuart negotiates a boundary with the Cherokees — Treaty with the Six Nations — Botetourt in Virginia — Meeting of Parliament — Lord North will have America at his feet — American petitions rejected — South Carolina sides with Massachusetts — Choiseul's watchfulness — The Ministry and Parliament resolve to enforce Authority — Character of Boston 245 — 269

Chapter XV

A WAY TO TAKE OFF THE INCENDIARIES— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRA- TION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. December, 1768— February, 1769. Choiseul foretells the new order of things — Hillsborough moves Resolves in the House of Lords — Bedford moves an Address — Firmness of CONTENTS. XXI PAGE Boston — New Election in New York — Letters of Bernard, Hutchin son, and Oliver — Information against Samuel Adams — Debate in the House of Commons — Speculations of the Statesmen of France — Another Debate in the Commons — Spain sides against the Colonies 270—288

Chapter XVI. Virginia Comes To The Aid Of

MASSACHUSETTS— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMI- NISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. March— May, 1769. Spain resolves to recover New Orleans — Du Chatelet and Choiseul wish its independence — Contrast of England and Spain — Firmness of the Colonies — The Ministry have no System — Choiseul warns England against the Ambition of Russia — The Colonies form Agreements for non-importation — Repeal of the Revenue Act refused — The affair of Wilkes — The Cabinet vote to retain the Duty on Tea — Meeting of the Legislature of Virginia — Its Resolves and Circular — Its non-importation covenant 289 — 312

Chapter XVII. Republicanism In The East And The

WEST— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMI- NISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. May— August, 1769. Discontent of Massachusetts at the presence of Troops — Strife of Bernard with the Legislature — He removes it to Cambridge — It refuses all supplies to the Troops — Agreement of the Merchants not to import — Bernard recalled — Affairs at New Orleans — Landing of O'Reilly and his Army — Arrests — Trials and Executions — Census of New Orleans — Pioneers of the West — Illinois — Colonies of Connecticut — Boon in Kentucky 313 — 334

Chapter XVIII. The Non-importation Agreement

ENFORCED— THE NEW TORY PARTY INSTALLED IN POWER. August, 1769— January, 1770. Hutchinson as Governor — New York enforces non-importation — Boston enforces the agreement; — Affray between Otis and Robinson — Boston stands to the agreement — Its Appeal to the World — Inactivity of the Troops — Botetourt in Virginia promises a partial Repeal of the Revenue Act —New York plan of Union — South Carolina — All parts of the British Empire have a common Cause — Voluntary Assemblies in England — A free Press — Debates on the popular discontent in the House of Commons — In the House of Lords — Fresh Attack on the Ministry — Camden dismissed — Death of Yorke — Grafton resigns — Lord North Prime Minister ....... 335 — CONTENTS.

Chapter XIX. The Boston Massacre

— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. January— March, 1770. PAGE Hutchinson prorogues the Assembly — He capitulates with the merchants — Troops supplied with ammunition — Conflict with the Troops in New York — Effect on Boston — Blood is shed — Disputes at Boston between the Soldiers and the Townsmen— The 5th of March— The Town Meeting on the 6th— Samuel Adams owerawes Hutchinson — The Troops ordered to leave the Town .... 362 — 385

Chapter XX. The Non-importation

"AGREEMENTS FAIL — HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINIS- TRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. March— July, 1770. Chatham recommends the Repeal of the Revenue Act— Lord North retains the Preamble and the Tax on Tea — By a small majority — Character of George the Third — State of Parties in England — Character of Thurlow — Hutchinson meets the Assembly at Cambridge — ■ Proceedings in Parliaments — Instructions of the Town of Boston — Hutchinson still calls the Legislature to Cambridge — Failure of the Non-importation Agreements 386 — 404

CHAPTER XXL MARTIAL LAW INTRODUCED INTO MASSACHUSETTS

— HILLSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. July— October, 1770. .... Dispute in Massachusetts on Prerogative — The Governor surrenders the Provincial Fortress to the British General — Ships in Boston Harbour — Protest of the Assembly — Trial of Preston — And of the Soldiers — Election of Franklin as Agent ...... 405 — 415

Chapter XXII. The Origin Of

TENNESSEE— HILSBOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. October, 1770— June, 1771. Virginia and the West — Washington on the Ohio — Robertson on the Watauga— The Regulators of North Carolina— Husbands expelled the Assembly— The Riot Act — Dunmore in New York — Edmund Burke chosen Agent for New York— South Carolina— Dispute of England and Spain on the Falkland Islands— Choiseul dismissed — CONTENTS. XXIII page Grenville's friends join the British Ministry— Grievances of the Regulators — They visit Salisbury — Tryon marches against them — Battle of the Alamance — Execution of Prisoners — The Republic on the Watauga . . 416—443

Chapter XXIII. Great Britain Centres In Itself Power Over Its Colonies

—HILLS- BOROUGH'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIES CONTINUED. June, 1771 — August, 1772. Samuel Adams stands alone — New altercation in Massachusetts — Samuel Adams plans Correspondence and Union — Conduct of Hutchinson — Jones of Georgia — Affairs in South Carolina — Discontent at the West — Virginia protests against the Slave Trade — Contested Election at Boston — Burning ofthe Gaspee — Protestof the Massachusetts Assembly on the Civil List — Hillsborough retires 444 — 465

Chapter XXIV. The Towns Of Massachusetts Hold Correspondence

August, 1772— January, 1773. The cordial understanding between England and France — Contrast with New England — Samuel Adams proposes Committees of Correspondence — His motion — Committee appointed — Warren — The Report of the Committee — Effects of Taxation by Parliament on the British Revenue — Discovery of Hutchinson's Secret Letters — Franklin sends them to the Speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly — Towns of Massachusetts meet and correspond — Case of the Gaspee . . 466 — 490

Chapter XXV. Virginia Consolidates Union

January— July, 1773. The proceedings of Boston sent to Virginia — Hutchinson challenges the Massachusetts Assembly to discuss the Supreme Power of Parliament — The Towns continue to meet — South Carolina — Answer of the Council of Massachusetts — Of the House — The Commissioners on the affair of the Gaspee — Dispute in Massachusetts on the dependence of the Judges — Virginia proposes Inter-Colonial Committees — Effect of the Proposition — The King in favour of Coercion — Leave given to the East India Company to export Teas duty free— The King rejects the Petitions of Massachusetts — Hutchinson and Oliver unmasked — Hutchinson's dejection ........ 491 — CONTENTS. XXIV pace -584

Chapter XXVI. The Boston' Tea Party

, August— December, 1773. The East India Company export Tea to America — Samuel Adams prepares resistance — He plans a Congress — Secret Circular — Resolves and Proceedings of Philadelphia— Spirit of South Carolina — Of the People of Illinois — The Public Meeting in Boston — Town Meeting — The Tea Consignees will not resign — Committees of Five Towns — A Tea Ship arrives— Great Public Meeting — Two more Tea Ships — The Boston Committee require the Tea Ships to be sent back — A clearance refused — Great Public Meeting — The Governor refuses a Pass for the Tea Ship — The Tea thrown overboard — The Tea Ship at Charleston —At Philadelphia— The cry for Union 514—541

Chapter XXVII. The King In Council Insults The Great American Plebeian

December, 1773— February, 1774. Franklin delivers the Address for the Removal of Hutchinson — Duel between Temple and Whately — State of feeling in England — in America — Franklin before the Privy Council — Speech of Dunning — Of Wedderburne — Franklin and Wedderburne — Franklin and the Lords of Council — Debate in the House of Lords — Franklin still seeks Conciliation — Franklin and the King ...... 542 — 555

Chapter XXVIII. The Crisis

February— May, 1774. Exasperation of the Government — The Bourbon Powers are soothed Fox goes into Opposition — Anarchy in the American Colonies — Spirit of Connecticut — Vermont — Massachusetts — Her ultimatum — British People with the Ministry— Debate of the 7th of March — Unanimous Address to the King — Penal Measures against Boston — Debate on the Boston Port Bill— Advice of Josiah Tucker— Of John Cartwright Of Lord George Germaine— The Boston Port Bill in the House of Lords— Debate on repealing the Duty ou Tea— Position of Edmund Burke— Gage sails for Boston— His Instructions— Public esteem for Samuel Adams— New York Tea Ship— The Second Penal Bill— The Third— Bill for quartering Troops— The Quebec Bill— Decline of Liberty in Europe — Freedom to be restored in America 556— i EPOCH THE THIRD. THE CRISIS. HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. THE CRISIS. — ♦ —

Chapter I. The Charter Of Massachusetts In Peril

— THE FALL OF THE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION. May — July, 1766. The satisfaction of America was not suffered to con tinue long. The King, regarding the repeal of the Stamp Act as a "a fatal compliance," ' which had for ever " wounded the majesty " of England, and " planted thorns " under his own pillow,2 preferred the hazard of losing the colonies 3 to tempering the British claim of absolute authority. Their denial of that claim and their union were ascribed by his friends to the hesitation of 1 George III. to Lord North, February 4, 1776. 2 A Short History, &c, 18, 19. 3 Considerations on the Present State of the Nation, &c, by a late Under secretary of State, 50. VOL. III. I! [1766. 2 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. his Ministers, whose measures, they insisted, had pre vailed by " artifices " against the real opinion of Par liament ; and " the coming hour " was foretold, " when the British Augustus would grieve for the obscuring of the glories of his reign by the loss, not of a province, but of an empire more extensive than that of Rome ; not of three legions, but of whole nations." 1 No party in England could prevent an instantaneous reaction.

Pitt had erected no stronger bulwark for America than the shadowy partition which divides internal taxation from imposts regulating commerce ; and Rockingham had leapt over this slight defence with scorn, declaring the power of Parliament to ex tend of right to all cases whatsoever. But they who give absolute power, give the abuse of absolute power ; — they who draw the bolts from the doors and win dows, let in the robber. When the opinions of Bed ford and Grenville became sanctioned as just principles of constitutional law, no question respecting their policy remained open but that of its expediency ; and country gentlemen, if they had a right to raise a revenue from America, were sure that it was expedient to ease themselves of one fourth of their land-tax by exercising the right.' The Administration were evidently without vitality ; " they are dead and only lying in state," was the common remark.

Conway avowed himself eager to resign ; 2 and Grafton not only threw 1 Lloyd's Conduct of the Late Administration, &c, &c. 2 Conway to Grafton, April 23, 1766, in Grafton's Autobiography. 1766.1 THE CHARTER OF MASSACHUSETTS IN PERIL. "> up his office, but, before the House of Lords, address ing the prime minister, who regarded the ascendency of the old whig aristocracy as almost a part of the British constitution, called on him to join in a willingness to be content with an inferior station, for the sake of accomplishing a junction of the ablest states men of the country.1 On the resignation of Grafton, Conway, with his accustomed indecision, remained in office, but escaped from the care of America2 to the Northern Depart ment. There appeared a general backwardness3 to embark with Rockingham.

Lord North 4 had hardly accepted a lucrative post, before he changed his mind and excused himself. Lord Howe would not serve unless under Pitt.5 Lord Hardwicke also refused the place left vacant by Grafton ; so did his brother, Charles Yorke ; and so did Egmont ; till at last it fell to the husband of Conway 's step-daughter, the liberal, self-confident Duke of Richmond ; who added grace and courtesy of manner's to firm affections, but was swayed by a violent and undiscerning ambition, that far outran his ability.6 He, too, shunned 7 the conduct 1 See Grafton's own account of the incident in his Autobiography. 2 De Guerchy, the French Ambassador at London, to Choiseul, May 22, 1766. 3 Grafton's Autobiography. 4 Lord North to Rockingham, May 24, 1766. 6 Lord Hardwicke's Memorial. Albemarle's Memoirs of Rockingham and his Contemporaries, i. 335. 6 Albemarle, i. 340.