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such as that the welfare of the empire depended upon the union of its parts, that the sovereign was well disposed towards us, and the body of this nation our friends and wellwishers; that it was the ministry only who were prejudiced against us; that the sentiments of ministers might in time be changed, or the ministers themselves be changed; or that if those chances failed, at least time would infallibly bring redress, since the strength, weight, and importance of America was continually and rapidly increasing, and its friendship of course daily becoming more valuable, and more likely to be cultivated by an attention to its rights. The newspapers have announced, that treason is found in some of my letters. It must then be of some new species. The invention of court lawyers has always been fruitful in the discovery of new treasons: and perhaps it is now become treason to censure the conduct of ministers. None of any other kind, I am sure, can be found in my correspondence.

The effect of the governor's letters on the minds of the people in New England, when they came to be read there, was precisely what had been expected, and proposed by sending them over. It was now seen that the grievances, which had been so deeply resented as measures of the mother country, were in fact the measures of two or three of their own people; of course all that resentment was withdrawn from her, and fell where it was proper it should fall, on the heads of those caitiffs, who were the authors of the mischief. Both houses took up the matter in this light. The council resolved that

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and the house of representatives agreed to the following resolves, reported by the committee appointed to consider the letters, viz.

"The Committee appointed to consider certain Letters laid before the House of Representatives, the following Resolves.

"Tuesday, June 15th, 1773.

"Resolved, That the letters signed Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver, now under the consideration of this house, appear to be the ge

nuine letters of the present governor and lieutenant-governor of this province, whose hand-writing and signatures are well known to many of the members of this house: and that they contain aggravated accounts of facts, and misrepresentations: and that one manifest design of them was to represent the matters they treat of in a light highly injurious to this province, and the persons against whom they were written.

"Resolved, That though the letters aforesaid, signed Thomas Hutchinson, are said by the governor in his message to this house of June 9th, to be 'private letters written to a gentleman in London, since deceased,' and 'that all except the last were written many months before he came to the chair; yet that they were written by the present governor, when he was lieutenant-governor and chief justice of this province; who has been represented abroad, as eminent for his abilities, as for his exalted station; and was under no official obligation to transmit private intelligence: and that they therefore must be considered by the person to whom they were sent, as documents of solid intelligence: and that this gentleman in London to whom they were written, was then a member of the British parlia ment, and one who was very active in American affairs; and therefore that these letters, however secretly written, must naturally be supposed to have, and really had, a public operation.

"Resolved, That these 'private letters' being written with express confidence of secrecy,' was only to prevent the contents of them being known here, as appears by said letters; and this rendered them the more injurious in their tendency, and really insidious.

"Resolved, That the letters signed Thomas Hutchinson, considering the person by whom they were written, the matters they expressly contain, the express reference in some of them for full intelligence' to Mr. Hallowell, a person deeply interested in the measures so much complained of, and recommendatory notices of divers other persons, whose emoluments arising from our public burdens must excite them to unfavorable representations of us, the measures they suggest, the temper in which they were written, the manner in which they were sent, and the person to whom they were addressed, had a natural and efficacious tendency to in. terrupt and alienate the affections of our most gracious sovereign King George the Third, from this his loyal and affectionate province; to destroy that harmony and good will between Great-Britain and this colony, which every friend to either would wish to establish; to excite the resentment of the British administration against this province; to defeat the endeavors of our agents and friends to serve us by a fair representation of our state of grievances; to prevent our humble and repeated petitions from reaching the royal ear of our common sovereign; and to produce the severe and destructive measures which have been taken against this province, and others still more so, which have been threatened.

"Resolved, As the opinion of this house, that it clearly appears from the letters aforesaid, signed Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver, that

it was the desire and endeavor of the writers of them, that certain acts of the British parliament, for raising a revenue in America, might be carried into effect by military force; and by întroducing a fleet and army into this his majesty's loyal province, to intimidate the minds of his subjects here, and to prevent every constitutional measure to obtain the repeal of those acts, so justly esteemed a grievance to us, and to suppress the very spirit of freedom.

"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this house, that as the salaries lately appointed for the governor, lieutenant-governor, and judges of this province, directly repugnant to the charter, and subversive of justice, are founded on this revenue; and as these letters were written with a design, and had a tendency to promote and support that revenue, therefore, there is great reason to suppose the writers of those letters were wellknowing to, suggested and promoted the enacting said revenue acts, and the establishments founded on the same.

"Resolved, That while the writer of these letters signed Thomas Hutchinson, has been thus exerting himself, by his 'secret confidential correspondence,' to introduce measures destructive of our constitutional liberty, he has been practising every method among the people of this province, to fix in their minds an exalted opinion of his warmest affec tion for them, and his unremitted endeavors to promote their best interests at the court of Great Britain.

"Resolved, as the opinion of this house, That by comparing these letters signed THO. HUTCHINSON, with those signed AND. OLIVER, CHAS. PAXTON, and NATH. ROGERS, and considering what has since in fact taken place conformable thereto, that there have been for many years past, measures contemplated, and a plan formed, by a set of men born and educated among us, to raise their own fortunes, and adrance themselves to posts of honor and profit, not only to the destruction of the charter and constitution of this province, but at the expense of the rights and liberties of the American colonies. And it is further the opinion of this house, that the said persons have been some of the chief instruments in the introduction of a military force into the province, to carry their plans into execution; and therefore they have been not only greatly instrumental in disturbing the peace and harmony of the government, and causing and promoting great discord and animosities, but are justly chargeable with the great corrup tion of morals, and all that confusion, misery, and bloodshed, which have been the natural effects of the introduction of troops.

"Whereas, for many years past, measures have been taken by the British administration, very grievous to the good people of this province; which this house have now reason to suppose, were promoted, if not originally suggested by the writers of these letters; and many efforts have been made by the people to obtain the redress of their grievances: Resolved,

"That it appears to this house, that the writers of these letters have availed themselves of disorders that naturally arise in a free government under such oppressions, as arguments to prove, that it was originally necessary such measures should have been taken, and that they should now be continued and increased.

“Whereas in the letter signed Cha. Paxton, dated Boston Harbor, June 20, 1768, it is expressly declared, that unless we have immediately two or three regiments, 'tis the opinion of all the friends of government, that Boston will be in open rebellion.'

"Resolved, That this is a most wicked and injurious representation, designed to inflame the minds of his majesty's ministers, and the nation; and to excite in the breast of our sovereign, a jealousy of his loyal subjects of said town, without the least grounds therefor, as enemies of his majesty's person and government.

"Whereas certain letters by two private persons, signed T. Moffat. and G. Rome, have been laid before the house, which letters contain many matters highly injurious to government, and to the national peace: Resolved, That it has been the misfortune of this government, from the earliest period of it, from time to time, to be secretly traduced and ma liciously represented to the British ministry, by persons who were neither friendly to this colony, nor to the English constitution.

"Resolved, That this house have just reason to complain of it as a very great grievance, that the humble petitions and remonstrances of the commons of this province are not allowed to reach the hands of our most gracious sovereign, merely because they are presented by an agent, to whose appointment the governor, with whom our chief dispute may subsist, doth not consent; while the partial and inflammatory letters of individuals who are greatly interested in the revenue acts, and the measures taken to carry them into execution, have been laid before administration, attended to, and determined upon, not only to the injury of the reputation of the people, but to the depriving them of their invaluable rights and liberties.

"Whereas this house are humbly of opinion, that his majesty will judge it to be incompatible with the interest of his crown, and the peace and safety of the good people of this his loyal province, that persons should be continued in places of high trust and authority in it, who are known to have with great industry, though secretly, endeavored to undermine, alter, and overthrow the constitution of the province.

"Therefore,

"Resolved, That this house is bound in duty to the king and their constituents, humbly to remonstrate to his majesty, the conduct of his excellency Thomas Hutchinson, esq. governor, and the honorable Andrew Oliver, esq. lieutenant-governor of this province; and to pray that his majesty would be pleased to remove them for ever from the government thereof." VOL. I.

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Upon these resolutions was founded a petition, transmitted to me to be presented to his majesty.

Lord Dartmouth, secretary of state for the colonies, being in the country when I received this petition, I transmitted it to his lordship, inclosed in a letter.b

No one who knows lord Dartmouth, can doubt of the sincerity of the good wishes expressed in his letter to me; and if his majesty's other servants had fortunately been possessed of the same benevolent dispositions, with as much of that attention to the public interest, and dexterity in managing it, as statesmen of this country generally show in obtaining and securing their places, here was a fine opportunity put into their hands of "re-establishing the union and harmony that formerly subsisted between Great Britain and her colonies," so necessary to the welfare of both, and upon the easy condition of only "restoring things to the state they were in at the conclusion of the late war." This was a solemn declaration sent over from the province most aggrieved, in which they acquitted Britain of their grievances, and charged them all upon a few individuals of their own country. Upon the heads of these very mischievous men they deprecated no vengeance, though that of the whole nation was justly merited; they considered it as a hard thing for an administration to punish a governor who had acted from orders, though the orders had been procured by his misrepresentations and calumnies; they therefore only petitioned, "that his majesty would be pleased to remove T. Hutchinson, esquire, and A. Oliver, esquire, from their posts in that government, and place good and faithful men in their stead." These men might have been placed or pensioned elsewhere, as others have been; or like the scape-goats of old, they might have carried away into the wilderness all the offences which had arisen between the two countries, with the burthen of which, they, having been the authors of these mischiefs, were most justly chargeable.

But this opportunity ministers had not the wisdom to embrace; they chose rather to reject it, and to abuse and

See Vol. IV. page 142, 3, 4, of this edition.

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