The Writings of Samuel Adams, volume II (1770 1773)

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Your assured Friend & very hbl Servt

1 Of Providence, R. I. Under date of December 25, 1772, Deputy
Governor Sessions, Chief Justice Stephen Hopkins, John Cole, and Moses
Brown had written to Adams with reference to the Gaspee affair and to
Lord Dartmouth's letter to the Governor of Rhode Island of September
4, 1772. A copy is in S. A. Wells, Samuel Adams and the American
Revolution, vol. i., pp. 363-365. A copy of a letter, under date of
February 15, 1773, from Sessions, Hopkins, Cole, and Brown to Adams,
acknowledging the receipt of three letters from Adams in response to
their letter of December 25, 1772, is in ibid., pp. 370, 371. In this
letter to Adams his correspondents comment as follows: "At or about
the time we wrote you, we transmitted copies of the same to several
gentlemen in North America, from the most of whom we have received
answers, agreeing nearly in sentiments, with those you were pleased to
communicate to us though no one has entered into a disquisition of the
subject so fully and satisfactorily as you have." The original letter
is also in the Lenox Library.

THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF CAMBRIDGE.1

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

BOSTON Decr 29 1772

GENTLEMEN

Your cordial Approbation2 of our sincere Endeavors for the Common
Safety, affords us great Encouragement to persevere with Alacrity in
the Execution of our Trust. Our hands have been abundantly strengthend
by the generous and manly Resolves of our worthy Brethren in the
several Towns who have hitherto acted.

Should such Sentiments, which we are convincd generally prevail
through the province, be as generally expressd, it must refute the
insidious misrepresentation so industriously propagated on both sides
of the Atlantick, that the people have not Virtue enough to resist the
Efforts made to enslave them! It affords us the greatest Satisfaction
to find the Opportunity offerd to our Fellow Countrymen to wipe off so
ignominious a Reproach so readily embraced. We trust in God, & in the
Smiles of Heaven on the Justice of our Cause, that a Day is hastening,
when the Efforts of the Colonists will be crownd with Success; and the
present Generation furnish an Example of publick Virtue, worthy the
Imitation of all Posterity. In this we are greatly encouraged, from
the thorough Understanding of our civil & Religious Rights Liberties &
Privileges, throughout this province: The Importance of which is so
obvious, that we are satisfied, nothing we can offer, would strengthen
your Sense of it.

It gives us Pleasure to be assured from you, that the meetings of the
Town of Cambridge on the Occasion have been so respectable; as, in our
Opinion, it is an Evidence of their virtuous Attachment to the Cause
of Liberty.

It shall be our constant Endeavor to collect and communicate to our
esteemed fellow Countrymen every Interresting Information we can
procure; in pursuance thereof we take the Liberty to inclose, a
material Extract of a Letter from the Right Honorable the Earl of
Dartmouth to his Honor the Governor of Rhode Island, Dated White Hall,
Sept. 7 1772; which we have good reason to assure you is genuine.3

1 Addressed to "Capt Ebenezer Stedman & others, a Committee of
Correspondence in
Cambridge."
2 Boston Gazette, December 28, 1772.
3 The form of signature is "Signd by order of the Committee for
Correspondence in Boston William Cooper, Clerk."

THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF BOSTON TO
THE COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE OF PLYMOUTH.1

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

BOSTON Decr 29 1772

MUCH RESPECTE'D GENTLEMEN

We the Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Boston, have
receivd your kind Letters inclosing the noble & patriotick Resolves of
the Metropolis of the ancient Colony of Plymouth.

It must give singular Pleasure to the friends of this Country to find
in all times of Difficulty & Danger, the worthy Inhabitants of
Plymouth, [are] ready to assert the natural religious & civil Rights
of the Colonists in general & of this by a new Charter united province
in particular.

Your thorough knowledge of those Rights the Sense you have of the many
late Infractions thereof, the manly & becoming Spirit with which you
have always expressd your selves on such Occasions, must best appear
without any Comment, from your Resolves for a number of years past;
more especially your last which are before the publick Eye.

We heartily congratulate you on the return of that great Anniversary,
the landing of the first Settlers at Plymouth, & on the religious &
respectful Manner, in which it has been celebrated.

You may say without Vanity, and surely we may affirm without any such
Imputation, that a handful of persecuted brave people, then made way
for the extensive Settlement of New England: That had it not been for
their Efforts, Virginia would have soon been abandoned: That the
French who were then settled at Quebec; & the Dutch interloping in
Hudsons River with the Assistance they might have derived from the
Natives, and the Aid at all times ready to be afforded, by the Crown
of Spain, then in possession of South America, against the Crown of
England, would have availd themselves of all the Continent of North
America. And that at this very period Great Britain might have thought
herself well off, with such trifling Islands as are now in the
possession of the Dane. In pursuance of our Instruction from this Town
to communicate any new Infractions of our Rights & Liberties we
inclose an Extract of a Letter from Lord Dartmouth to the Governor of
Rhode Island & shall take the earliest Opportunity to advise you of
every thing Important that may occur to us.

1 Addressed to "Joseph Warren Esq & others a Committee of Correspondence for the
Town of Plymouth."

TO DARIUS SESSIONS.

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

BOSTON Jan 2 1773.

SIR,

I wrote you on Monday last acknowledging the Receipt of a Letter
directed to me from your self & other worthy Gentlemen in Providence.
The Question proposed was in what manner your Colony had best behave
in this critical Situation & how the Shock that is coming upon it may
be best evaded or sustaind. It appears to me probable that the
Administration has a design to get your Charter vacated. The
Execution of so extraordinary a Commission, unknown in your Charter &
abhorrent to the principles of every free Government, wherein Persons
are appointed to enquire into Offences committed against a Law of
another Legislature, with the Power of transporting the persons they
shall suspect beyond the Seas to be tryed, would essentially change
your Constitution; and a Silence under such a Change would be
construed a Submission to it. At the same time it must be considerd
that an open declaration of the Assembly against the Appointment &
order of the King, in which he is supported by an Act of the British
Parliament, would be construed by the Law Servants of the Crown &
other ministers such a Defiance of the Royal Authority, as they would
advise proper to be recommended to the Consideration & Decision of
Parliament. Should your Governor refuse to call the Commissioners
together, or when called together, the civil magistrates
refuse to take measures for arresting & committing to Custody such
persons as upon Information made shall be chargd with being concernd
in burning the Gaspee, or if they should issue their precepts for that
purpose the Officers should refuse to execute them, the Event would be
perhaps the same as in the Case of an open Declaration before
mentiond, for in all these Cases it would be represented to the King &
the parliament that it was to be attributed to what they will call
the overbearing popularity of your Government, & the same pretence
would be urgd for the Necessity of an Alteration in order to support
the Kings Authority in the Colony. As the chiefe Object in the View of
Administration seems to be the vacating your Charter, I cannot think
the Commissioners in case they should meet together, would upon any of
the aforementiond Occasions, chuse to call upon General Gage for the
Aid of the Troops or make any more than the Shew of a Readiness to
execute their Commission; for they might think the grand purpose
would be sufficiently answerd without their Discussing such danger to
their Reputation, if not their persons. If the foregoing Hypotheses
are well grounded, I think it may be justly concluded that since the
Constitution is already destined to suffer unavoidable Dissolution, an
open & manly Determination of the Assembly not to consent to its ruin
would show to the World & posterity that the people were virtuous
though unfortunate, & sustaind the Shock with Dignity.

You will allow me to observe, that this is a Matter in which the whole
American Continent is deeply concernd and a Submission of the Colony
of Rhode Island to this enormous Claim of power would be made a
Precedent for all the rest; they ought indeed to consider deeply their
Interest in the Struggle of a single Colony & their Duty to afford her
all practicable Aid. This last is a Consideration which I shall not
fail to mention to my particular friends when our Assembly shall sit
the next Week.

Should it be the determination of a weak Administration to push this
Measure to the utmost at all Events, and the Commissioners call in the
Aid of troops for that purpose it would be impossible for me to say
what might be the Consequence, Perhaps a most violent political
Earthquake through the whole British Empire if not its total
Destruction.

I have long feard that this unhappy Contest between Britain & America
will end in Rivers of Blood; Should that be the Case, America I think
may wash her hands in Innocence; yet it is the highest prudence to
prevent if possible so dreadful a Calamity. Some such provocation as
is now offerd to Rhode Island will in all probability be the immediate
Occasion of it. Let us therefore consider whether in the present Case
the Shock that is coming upon you may not be evaded which is
a distinct part of the Question proposed. For this purpose, if your
Governor should omit to call the Commissioners together, in
Consequence of a representation made to him by the Assembly, that the
Innovation appears to them of a most dangerous Tendency; and
altogether needless, inasmuch as the same Enquiry might be made as
effectually (and doubtless would be) by a Grand Jury, as is proposed
to be made by the Commissioners; which would be agreable to the
Constitution & in the ordinary Course of Justice. A representation of
this kind made by the Assembly to the Governor, would afford him a
reasonable plea for suspending the Matter till he could fully state
the Matter to Lord Dartmouth & the odious light in which the
Commission is viewd by that & the other Colonies as a measure
incompatible with the English Constitution & the Rights of the
Colonists together with the fatal Consequences of which it might
probably be productive. This perhaps could not be done till the rising
of Parliament, & before the next Session a war or some other important
Event might take place which would bury this Affair in Oblivion. Or if
it should ever come before Parliament in this Manner, the Delay on the
part of the Governor would appear to be made upon motives of sound
prudence & the best Advice which would tend to soften their Spirits.
And besides, its appearing to be founded not directly on the
principles of Opposition to the Authority of Parliament, the sacred
Importance of Charters upon which many of the Members hold their
Seats, might be considerd without prejudice, & the Matter might
subside even in Parliament. Should that be the Case it would
disappoint the designs & naturally abate the Rigour of Administration
& so the Shock might be evaded.

If, without being called together by Governor Wanton who is first
named, the rest of the Commissioners should meet upon the Business of
their Commission, which I cannot suppose they will do, especially if
the Governor should acquaint them with the Reason of his not calling
them, it would show a forward Zeal to execute an order new arbitrary &
universally odious, & how far that might justly insence the people
against them personally, & lessen them in the Esteem of all
judicious Men, they would do well calmly to consider; and how far also
they would be answerable for the fatal Effects that might follow such
a forwardnesss all the world and Posterity will judge: For such an
Event as this will assuredly go down to future Ages in the page of
History, & the Colony & all concernd in it will be characterizd by the
part they shall act in the Tragedy. Upon the whole it is my humble
Opinion, that the grand Purpose of Administration is either to
intimidate the Colony into a Compliance with a Measure destructive of
the freedom of their Constitution, or to provoke them to such a Step
as shall give a pretext for the Vacation of their Charter which I
should think must sound like Thunder in the Ears of Connecticutt
especially. Whatever Measures the Wisdom of your Assembly may fix upon
to evade the impending Stroke, I hope nothing will be done which may
by the Invention of our Adversarys, be construed as even the
Appearance of an Acquiescence in so grasping an Act of Tyranny.

Thus I have freely given my Sentiments upon the Question proposed;
which I should not have venturd to do had it not been requested. I
have done it with the greatest Diffidence because I think I am fully
sensible of my Inability to enter into a Question of so delicate a
Nature & great Importance especially as I have not had that
opportunity to consult my friends which I promisd my self. I hope
the Assembly of Rhode Island will in their Conduct exhibit an Example
of true Wisdom Fortitude & Perseverance. And with the greatest Respect
to the Gentlemen to whose superior Understanding this and my former
Letter to you is submitted, I

remain
Sir
Your assured friend
& humble servant

P.S. I beg just to propose for Consideration whether a circular Letr
from your Assembly on this Occasion, to those of the other Colonies
might not tend to the Advantage of the General Cause & of R Island in
particular; I should think it would induce each of them, at least to
injoyn their Agents in Great Britain to represent the Severity of your
Case in the strongest terms.

To the Hon Darius Sessions Esqr
to be communicated

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF MASSACHUSETTS TO
THE GOVERNOR. JANUARY 26, I773.1

[Massachusetts State Papers, pp. 351-364; also printed in the Boston
Gazette, February 1, 1773, and in The Speeches of His Excellency
Governor Hutchinson (Boston, 1773), pp. 33-58.]

May it please your Excellency,

Your Excellency's speech to the General Assembly, at the opening of
this session,2 has been read with great attention in this House.

We fully agree with your Excellency, that our own happiness, as well
as his Majesty's service, very much depends upon peace and order; and
we shall at all times take such measures as are consistent with our
constitution, and the rights of the people, to promote and maintain
them. That the government at present is in a very disturbed state, is
apparent. But we cannot ascribe it to the people's having adopted
unconstitutional principles, which seems to be the cause assigned for
it by your Excellency. It appears to us, to have been occasioned
rather by the British House of Commons assuming and exercising a power
inconsistent with the freedom of the constitution, to give and grant
the property of the colonists, and appropriate the same without their
consent.

It is needless for us to inquire what were the principles that induced
the councils of the nation to so new and unprecedented a measure. But,
when the Parliament, by an act of their own, expressly declared, that
the King, Lords, and Commons, of the nation "have, and of right ought
to have full power and authority to make laws and statutes of
sufficient force and validity, to bind the colonies and people of
America, subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, in all cases
whatever," and in consequence hereof, another revenue act was made,
the minds of the people were filled with anxiety, and they were justly
alarmed with apprehensions of the total extinction of their liberties.

The result of the free inquiries of many persons, into the right of
the Parliament, to exercise such a power over the colonies, seems, in
your Excellency's opinion, to be the cause, of what you are pleased to
call the present "disturbed state of the government;" upon which, you
"may not any longer, consistent with your duty to the King, and your
regard to the interest of the province, delay communicating your
sentiments." But that the principles adopted in consequence hereof,
are unconstitutional, is a subject of inquiry. We know of no such
disorders arising therefrom, as are mentioned by your Excellency. If
Grand Jurors have not, on their oaths, found such offences, as
your Excellency, with the advice of his Majesty's Council, have
ordered to be prosecuted, it is to be presumed, they have followed the
dictates of good conscience. They are the constitutional judges of
these matters, and it is not to be supposed, that moved from corrupt
principles, they have suffered offenders to escape a prosecution, and
thus supported and encouraged them to go on offending. If any part of
authority shall, in an unconstitutional manner, interpose in any
matter, it will be no wonder if it be brought into contempt; to
the lessening or confounding of that subordination, which is necessary
to a well regulated state. Your Excellency's representation that the
bands of government are weakened, we humbly conceive to be without
good grounds; though we must own, the heavy burdens unconstitutionally
brought upon the people, have been, and still are universally, and
very justly complained of, as a grievance.

You are pleased to say, that, "when our predecessors first took
possession of this plantation, or colony, under a grant and charter
from the Crown of England, it was their sense, and it was the sense of
the kingdom, that they were to remain subject to the supreme authority
of Parliament;" whereby we understand your Excellency to mean, in the
sense of the declaratory act of Parliament afore mentioned, in all
cases whatever. And, indeed, it is difficult, if possible, to draw a
line of distinction between the universal authority of Parliament over
the colonies, and no authority at all. It is, therefore, necessary for
us to inquire how it appears, for your Excellency has not shown it to
us, that when, or at the time that our predecessors took possession of
this plantation, or colony, under a grant and charter from the Crown
of England, it was their sense, and the sense of the kingdom, that
they were to remain subject to the authority of Parliament. In making
this inquiry, we shall, according to your Excellency's recommendation,
treat the subject with calmness and candor, and also with a due regard
to truth.

Previous to a direct consideration of the charter granted to the
province or colony, and the better to elucidate the true sense and
meaning of it, we would take a view of the state of the English North
American continent at the time, when, and after possession was first
taken of any part of it, by the Europeans. It was then possessed by
heathen and barbarous people, who had, nevertheless, all that right to
the soil, and sovereignty in and over the lands they possessed, which
God had originally given to man. Whether their being heathen, inferred
any right or authority to christian princes, a right which had long
been assumed by the Pope, to dispose of their lands to others, we will
leave your Excellency, or any one of understanding and impartial
judgment, to consider. It is certain, they had in no other sense,
forfeited them to any power in Europe. Should the doctrine be
admitted, that the discovery of lands owned and possessed by pagan
people, gives to any christian prince a right and title to the
dominion and property, still it is vested in the Crown alone. It was
an acquisition of foreign territory, not annexed to the realm of
England, and, therefore, at the absolute disposal of the Crown. For we
take it to be a settled point, that the King has a constitutional
prerogative, to dispose of and alienate, any part of his territories
not annexed to the realm. In exercise of this prerogative, Queen
Elizabeth granted the first American charter; and, claiming a right by
virtue of discovery, then supposed to be valid, to the lands which are
now possessed by the colony of Virginia, she conveyed to Sir Walter
Rawleigh, the property, dominion, and sovereignty thereof, to be held
of the Crown, by homage, and a certain render, without any reservation
to herself, of any share in the Legislative and Executive authority.
After the attainder of Sir Walter, King James the I. created two
Virginian companies, to be governed each by laws, transmitted to them
by his Majesty, and not by the Parliament, with power to establish,
and cause to be made, a coin to pass current among them; and vested
with all liberties, franchises and immunities, within any of his other
dominions, to all intents and purposes, as if they had been abiding
and born within the realm. A declaration similar to this, is contained
in the first charter of this colony, and in those of other American
colonies, which shows that the colonies were not intended, or
considered to be within the realm of England, though within the
allegiance of the English Crown. After this, another charter was
granted by the same King James, to the Treasurer and Company of
Virginia, vesting them with full power and authority, to make, ordain,
and establish, all manner of orders, laws, directions, instructions,
forms and ceremonies of governments, and magistracy, fit and
necessary, and the same to abrogate, &c. without any reservation for
securing their subjection to Parliament, and future laws of England. A
third charter was afterwards granted by the same King, to the
Treasurer and Company of Virginia, vesting them with full power and
authority to make laws, with an addition of this clause, "so,
always, that the same be not contrary to the laws and statutes of this
our realm of England." The same clause was afterwards copied into the
charter of this and other colonies, with certain variations, such as,
that these laws should be "consonant to reason," "not repugnant to the
laws of England," "as nearly as conveniently may be to the laws,
statutes and rights of England," &c. These modes of expression, convey
the same meaning, and serve to show an intention, that the laws of the
colonies should be as much as possible, conformable in the spirit of
them, to the principles and fundamental laws of the English
constitution, its rights and statutes then in being, and by no means
to bind the colonies to a subjection to the supreme authority of the
English Parliament. And that this is the true intention, we think it
further evident from this consideration, that no acts of any colony
Legislative, are ever brought into Parliament for inspection there,
though the laws made in some of them, like the acts of the British
Parliament, are laid before the King for his dissent or allowance.

We have brought the first American charters into view, and the state
of the country when they were granted, to show, that the right of
disposing of the lands was, in the opinion of those times, vested
solely in the Crown; that the several charters conveyed to the
grantees, who should settle upon the territories therein granted, all
the powers necessary to constitute them free and distinct states; and
that the fundamental laws of the English constitution should be the
certain and established rule of legislation, to which, the laws to
be made in the several colonies, were to be, as nearly as conveniently
might be, conformable, or similar, which was the true intent and
import of the words, "not repugnant to the laws of England,"
"consonant to reason," and other variant expressions in the different
charters. And we would add, that the King, in some of the charters,
reserves the right to judge of the consonance and similarity of their
laws with the English constitution, to himself, and not to the
Parliament; and, in consequence thereof, to affirm, or within a
limited time, disallow them.

These charters, as well as that afterwards granted to Lord Baltimore,
and other charters, are repugnant to the idea of Parliamentary
authority; and, to suppose a Parliamentary authority over the
colonies, under such charters, would necessarily induce that solecism
in politics, imperium in imperio. And the King's repeatedly exercising
the prerogative of disposing of the American territory by such
charters, together with the silence of the nation thereupon, is an
evidence that it was an acknowledged prerogative.

But, further to show the sense of the English Crown and nation, that
the American colonists, and our predecessors in particular, when they
first took possession of this country, by a grant and charter from the
Crown, did not remain subject to the supreme authority of Parliament,
we beg leave to observe, that when a bill was offered by the two
Houses of Parliament to King Charles the I. granting to the subjects
of England, the free liberty of fishing on the coast of America, he
refused his royal assent, declaring as a reason, that "the colonies
were without the realm and jurisdiction of Parliament."

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