The Massachusetts spy, or, Thomas's Boston journal. [volume], November 26, 1772, Image 1

About The Massachusetts spy, or, Thomas's Boston journal. [volume] (Boston [Mass.]) 1772-1775

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Or, Thomas s Boston Journal.
A Weekly, Political, and Commercial Paper :-Open to all Parties, but Influenced by None,
'DO thou Great LIBERTY inspire gar Souls,-And make car Lives in th YPoffcffion happy,-Of, wrDcatlisg/ormn in thy jusrDclence.’
Vol. ll.]
Frmlbi Political Rtgi.tbr.
To the EARL of HILLSBOROUGH.
My Lord,
co oft ant attention I
iMlly have given to the measures
of your anninrftration,
* 88% Will speak the proprietv of
my pref nt purpose. Your
panegvifts have content
e<l themfehet with mo
destly mentioning in general terms, that
your country is indebted to you '<* very
important service. j and that the pub ic will
fuffer alarm and in the extreme, by
your being difm’fled* Taking it for gran
ted, «P*» ibeir authority* that you do P°L
fefs thia high place in the eitetrn and con
fidence of the public, it be my *>ufi
nefs to shew W you barre doftrvod it
Your Lordship wa. called into place to
conciliate the mind* Of the American! to
the exercise of an authority, which to them
seemed unconftitutwnaL and which they
feared would, in the event, be parental of
insult and oppression. The fierce fpmt
which prompted them to do mftant juntce
upon the inftrumenU of their oppression
before the repeal of the ftamp-ad,had
been by the example of that repeal fatten
ed down to the milder mode of petitions,
remonstrances, and refolyes. bo far there
appeared a disposition, on tbeir fide, to ail
at least With moderation. From Inch a
temper every conciliating consequence
might have been expeded, had any endea
vours been used to remove, in Read of rea-
Ifaing, their fear, of arbitrary treatment.
With what wisdom your Lordship culti
vated this favourable disposition will belt
appear from a detail of your meafures*
The firft dawn of your admmiftration|
opened with a circular letter, commanding
one aflembly to refeind a refaction of Wnt-1
ing a letter to the other affemblieh anc
forbidding the rest to pay any attention to
that letter, under pain of immediate d flo
iutton. You might not know that this or
der was unccnftitutional > but you ought
to have known that it was ridiculous: You
•ugbt to have known that it would bear
the impression of what produced it, a pue
rile and pefionatc spirit. I here Was no<
am aflembly on the continent which did
not treat it with instant and avowed con
tempt. There was not a man in America
who did not think the minister who pro
posed it waa destitute of common sense.
Uninftruded toy this, you entered into
a close and confidential correspondence with
the baftft, ««ft, •«» malevolent
of men, Sir French Bernmd. You en
couraged information* *o® every felf-m®-
rested partisan against the peoples fro® the
HutchinSon to Hallowell. • Upon the
intelligence and devices of such mtn as
theft you foemed your opinions and your
plans. They soon twit the measure of your
discernment, and the mold of your ■ tem
, per They framed the mo# incredible and
unvouched stories of associations to take
up arms, and of infurre&ions dangerous to
the penonal Safety of his M -rfty'» lervants.
They transmitted ex poSUa affidavits, Se
cretly and suspiciously taken, with forged
informations from anonymous correfpoe
deots and pretended Spies. All thcfe ope
rated on your Lord Ship like proofs of Holy
Writ The alarm of rebenion founded
kom the throne, fleet* and regiments were
udcrc4 toßofton, J** V° M* 1
‘ament were led to address hi* M4eßy,»
urfue the most violent and illegal matures
cainft the Supposed rebels.
, *TheSe addrcfies, founded wholly on four
1 <ion and mifreprefentadon, ftrved only
c diminish Rill more the refpta of Ame-
for the British parliament j they mam
tefted a precipitate judgment and vmdic
\ tive Spirit, which are both odious and con
THURSDAY, November 26, 1772.
The fate of your troop, in Boston is no
torious i they were compelled to relmquifh
the town in the perpetration of an execra
ble maflacre. The city in which they had
atfied like tyrants,they abandoned like cow
ard* ; fa congenial is the brutal with the
dastardly disposition.
In the mean time the aflembly and the
people came to every offenfive resolution
in the face and in despite of your arma
ment. Refoives were entered into through
out the whale continent to obftrud, by all
legal means, the operation of laws, which
were calculated to raise a revenue upon
them without the eonfent cf their represen
tatives. One method of effedmg this
was, by entering into si lociations against
the importation of British manufa&am
Now comes your Lordfhip*. triumph.
These allocation, soon gave way. . But
why, my Laid ? Wu it not that being
founded in fclf-demal, felf-intereft soon
began to weaken the band, till by degree,
it was entirely diflblvcd ? Was the wisdom
of the minister instrumental in this ? If,
indeed, as I strongly fufped, the influence
of bribery from hence accelerated that e
vent, whatever merit your pird&ip may
•flume from that, I am not diipofcd so dis
pute. But though the affociatio©* failed of
their purpose, other method* hauniM* In,
proof of this I will maintain against *ybtir
LorcJfhip, that, notwithftandmg ttai addi
tional duties nnpmed, the addrtionKrigour
in collc&ing them, and the infinite
of expence, the whole amount is less than
before these duties were imposed, or your
administration commenced ; but on the
contrary, the expense of the American cf
tiblifhment has increased tenfold. Where
then is the benefit of this dispute to the
mater country as you have conduced it?
The rest of your administration has been
filled up with the ddT>iutions of afLmbhes
tor opposition to preposterous government,
which thoy met again to continue with im
punity. Ahnoft every afLmbly has in its
turn experienced this irritating difeptine.
The great power of di& ving parliament,
which wa. put in the hand of prerogative
for the highest purpose. of national good,
na* been expreifed by you on every Itftk
and vexatious question, kw a that
more a&mblies have been diflblwd fmee
you were minister than since the difeovery
of America to the commencement of your
ofice. It n a fad too, that you never
have succeeded in any purpose of those dif
folutfona. It will hardly be believed that
aflembly of Georgia was lately diffolv
f 1 by your express order, for having pre
futned to choose the fame man (peaker
whom your governor had refufed, though
he was not presented, nor did he serve. It
is impoflib e a fcbool-boy could exercise the
frreateft powers of the crown with more
pleen or less prudence.
Hitherto, my Lord, I have traced you
00 the continent. You have left yet stron
ger of your disposition in the
flahds.
The levying a duty by pretence of pre
rogative, the encouraging the Roman Ca
tholic religion, and making the profeflors
of it iligible to places of trust in the judi
cial and legislative branches of government,
are pregnant proofs of your reverence for the
laws and the confutation.
What then are the merits of your Lord
fiiips administration f If we confider it in
detail, it hm been a pitiful and vexatious
•xetcht of power, without dignity, wis
dom or foccefs If we view it upoa the
whole, it has difgrsced the authority of go
vernment, diminished the Supplies from the
colonies, and augmented without any e
quhrafent our arpence in Supporting them.
Troops end (bps you idly thought would
answer every exigency of government in
America, it never occurred to you to con-
filer that a war, in which their aid would
be most requisite, would deprive you of the
only means you had p-opofed for securing
it. You will then feel the consequences
of having extinguished their affe&ions, and
kindled their enmity. Their opposition
now is more fiient than it was, but not less
fare. • Even in that fing’e instance, wher:
louI ou pretend to have Succeeded, the
ution of their aflbeiations, they followed
you step by step, receding only where you
had receded. The unconftitution.l duty
was withdrawn from every thing but tea ;
and against the importation of tea they
continued ai.d maintained their refactions.
Upon the whole then it will appear, that
your abilities are equal to your moderati
on, and your principles proportionable to
both.
But your advocate has thought proper
to join the resignation of Lorth North
With the difmiflion of your Lordship
Thar, indeed, would be a public calami
ty* No one exercise. more effc&ually the
arts of corruption j and the arts of corrup
tion are now the only sinews of govern
ment Yet wbat can have so closely at
tached Lord Noitb to you? Was it the
fate impofiiion you enabled Sir Francis
Bernard and other, to fix upon him, to
his fhatne, and the injury, of the revenue f
JsYour reasons against a new eftabhfh
mnt io America, which it follicited, as
ypur friend tell. us» by ■ few monied rm*,
ime, he convincing. 1 fbould be,
indeed, furprikd if any convincing argu
ment could be found against the proposi
tion in general. With rcfpeil to the per
sons Who are folliciting this grant, fame of
them are adventurer, of desperate fortunes,
bad chara&er, and worfc principle.* But
this was no part of your objedion.. In
de id it would be new to your Lordship,
even in idea, to objed to any man because
he was destitute of honesty or honour. The
baronet of Nettleham* will verify this.
The mintfttrral phalanx is, it seems, to
be irreparably weakened by your loss t If
you could convince them of this, you
might fit iecure. But the blindness, or
the ingratitude, as your advocate stiles it,
* Sir Francis Bernard is supposed to
have been the writer of the letter follow
ing thia, addrefled to the Lord preSi lent.
$ On the loth of August the Earl of
Hilliborough resigned the office of Secreta
ry of State for the colonies, and was Suc
ceeded by Lord Dartmouth, the cauSe ot
which was announced to the public in the
London PackMt in the foilowina para
graph : ° The projed of eftabhfhing a
new colony in the back part of North-A
mexica has proved aM* of mWm/sm among
the ministry, they have long been growl
ing at one another, and were very near
coming to an open rupture.— ’ Tia said the
plan of the new Sett ement was artfully
contrived hy the Bedferd fattier in order
to oust the Hibernian Secretary of State,
who had raffily declared that if such plan
was carried into execution he would cer
tainly rejig*. Thia was the very thing they
wanted, end accordingly they took him at
his word —The Bedfords next planned a
nother arrangement in their own favour,
as follows .• Lord Gower was to be Secre
tary of State for tba colonies in the room
of Lord Hilliborough ; the Duke of Graf
ton was to be president of the council in
the room of Lord Gower; and Lord Wey
mouth was to succeed the Duke of Graf
ton as privy teal- However, all this Bed
ftrdiM arrangement has been over-ruled
by the Superior influence of the Premier, i
who lias got his kinsman Lord Dartmouin,'
nominated to Aw department.—ln con
sequence of which nomination Lord Dart
m>uth willl certainly be (worn hl <n Fri
dty next.”
of the times is such, that no one can dis
cover that importance which your.Lord
fhip perceives in yourfelf. Not thinking
very highly of the present minifter*, I ztn
yet clear that a connexion with you would
disgrace the worst of them. It is your pe
culiar situation, that having taken the lead
in a dispute between two countries, you
have rendered yourfelf despicable in one,
and deufted in the other.
JUNIUS AMERICANUS.
Xo the LORD PRESIDEN T of hit Ma
jesty's Privy Council.
My Lord,
IT is very unuSual toaddreSs miniftars in
this pub ic manner but from Sadious
motives, i affine your Lordlhip they do
not prevail in the few ibkrvationt 1 wish
to Subnet to your confidvration. On the
contrary, the affedion I bear my moll a
miable fbvereign, and the regard 1 have for
the tranquility of my country, are my only
inducements.
One would imagine that his Majesty’s
mmifters, having withstood the virulent
attacks and buffets of opposition for these
five years, and by the experience of the
left leffions found themfdvee invincible,
might maintain a liability beyond the pow
er of petitions, remonftraecca, Bill of
Rights, or city mob to affed j but it be
comes a matter of anxiety to their friends,
that we are on the eve of a change which
must revive confufion. The fubjed of dis
cord is not generally known, and there
fore I take this method of making the pub
lic judges of your Lordfhip’a proceedings,
and the views of those who encourage and
Support them.
A few monied men having formed a
design of establishing a new Settlement and
government in America, petition his Ma
jesty for a grant of fame millions of acres
in the fineft part of that country. It is re
ferred to the Lords of the TreaSury to fet
tle the confideratioa, and to the Board of
Trade to confider the policy of such an
undertaking. After this most Serious deli
beration, they unanimuufly and repeated
ly report to his Majesty in council,” that
it is a plan by no means admiffibie, and
big with danger to th«t and the mother
country. Such a representation (Support
ed by most convincing reasons) Should
have demanded the deliberation of the yW
kjl council. Your Lord Ship will recoiled
now injignijicMi the number and how pro
cipit ate ths resolution in determining So
great a quiftion.—-Yourfdf, two Secre
taries of State, and Lord ViScount Fal
mouth, will have the credit of diSmiffing
one (if not more) of his Majefty’a best
Servants. I have always thought it the
pradice (I am litre it’s good policy) for
the different members of administration ne
ver to interfere with the bufmefs of eacl
other's departments ; but that the judg
ment and opinion of each were uncontro
verted and constantly acquiesced in by the
rest. Why then is Lord Hilliborough (juf—
tffied by the unanimous Sentiments of the
board where be preSides) to be oeunterac
ted in his exerciSe of the usual prerogative
of office ? Not because the meaSure be hat
opposed ia right, but from considerations
of a different nature. One would imagine
that the Services of that noble Lord deServe
better returns from his country; but nati
onal gratitude, like pe-fouai honour, is
very much out of fafhion Jxxd Htilfbi
rough ventured on the American Sea when,
it was So turbulent, that no one elSe would
brave the danger » by a manly resolution *
and prudent management of the helm, he
nai. weathered it, and is now to be diSauP
Scd as unfit for Service. My Lord Roch
| ford can give a better reaSon. Your Lord
lhip knows how ufelels he thinks an Ame-
I [ For the Remainder Jee the- la/l page.]
[Numb. 93.