The Massachusetts spy, or, Thomas's Boston journal. [volume], August 25, 1774, Image 1

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

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awlWw i
Or, Thomas’s Bolton Journal,
*D° THOU Great LIBERTY inspire our Souls—And make our Lives in thy Pofleflion happy—Or, our Deaths glorious in thy just Defence.
rase $ -VOL. IV.) THURSDAY, August 1774. (Numb. 186.
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from the CcwtTftvT Gasitti.
Tt tbt FARMERSe/the o/ CONNECTICUT.
Gintlimsn.
AS one of your order I take the liber
ty to address you upon a fubjed of
the last importance to you,and your posteri
ty ; the question isnolefsthan this,whether
you will quietly fubmitto the yoke of mer
citefs tyranny and usurpation—let a wretch
ed minister of state lay a tax of a dollar a
head on each of your polk, and tax your
cattle and lands at such an exhorbitant
rate you cannot pay, then take your
land for the rates, and make you and your
children flavestohim and his,—or whether
you will nobly and resolutely refufe a com
pliance, and honestly and chearfully make a
willing facrifice of some little part of your
property now, in deferice of your and your
children’s liberty.—Life and death, in a
political sense, are now set before you, and
you certainly have your choice; I am a
farmer, having a property of more than a
thousand acres of good land, and more than
two hundred head of horned cattle in this
colony, but what will all this avail me if
another may demand it from me whenever
he pleases, without giving any account. —
I’ll tell you what I am determined to do,
and what you must join with me in,or you
are all dead men, or what is worse, you are
slaves, without a foot of land or a penny
of money you can call your own.
In the firfl: place, I ahi determined to
treat all India-Tea aifojhua did the accurfsd
thing ; at least expel it from my house, and
neither my wife nor children shall tafteany,
till the a& for taking money out of my
pocket without my consent, to pay a duty
on tea, is repealed, and the declaratory ad
of parliament claiming a right to tax the
colonics in all cases whatsoever, is repealed.
In the next place, I am determined to sup
port, to the utmost of my property, the
honest merchant who will punctually and
rcligioufly observe such non-importation
and non-exportation agreement as may be
come into by a congress from the colonies
to meet at Philadelphia the firft of Septem
ber next : And on the other hand, I am
determined to withdraw my trade, and all
profits and advantages arising from it,
from the merchant or merchants who
either diredly or indirectly goes counter to
such agreement ; and will command my
children for ever to look on them as enemies
to their liberty, and treat them accordingly.
In the third place, as I look on the inhabi
tants of the town of Boston, now fuffering,
not for themselves alone, but under the im
mediate hand of a revengeful minister of
state, for being in the fore-front of the hot
test battle, and there fighting manfully in
the glorious cause of liberty, (ours as well
as theirs) ’tis therefore my duty and the
duty of every man to lend them all the aid
in our power that they may Rill be encou
raged to stand their ground and play the
man for the cities of our God, and I trust
that God who has been with them and
their fathers all their days, will not leave
them now. I have a large yoke of cattle
fatting for a present to the poor of that
town. , I understand that Windham, and
some towns upon or near the river, have
done very generously for Boston, and I
hope every town in the colony will follow
their laudable example.
I think the farmers can do more to
wards regaining and supporting the liberties
of this country than any other set of men
whatever, as they are the present Lords and
proprietors of the lands and produce thereof,
we must therefore inftft upon and resolute
ly urge a non-importation and a non -ik
portaricn agreement to England, and the
Weft-Indies : But methinks I hear feme
mercenary merchants fay, that won’t do
for either of us, we must have our naviga
tion go on,we must export lumber, horses,
&c. elfc what will you do with your pro-
vision ? and we must import fait, sugar,
Molafles, &c. And some farmers of the
like stamp, re-eccho, true, we must put off
our old horses, and we must haw fait, —
but let me tell you, without a total flop is
put to the Weit-India trade, nothing can
be done ; for I am well informed, and I
believe may venture to affirm it is true, that
there is no less than seventy-sour members
of parliament that are Weit-India planters
er proprietors ; and I also am credibly in
formed that they were the means of fomen
ting these difficulties, by firft getting a duty
laid on all sugars, molafles, coffee,lke. not
imported from the English Wcft-India
I (lands ; it will therefore be neceflary to
shew them of how much importance we
are, by distressing them for want of our
trade. I have several old horses and mares
that I am determined to knock in the head
the ensuing fall, if such agreement is come
into : And as to the neceflary article of fait,
I am well Informed there is more than can
be expended in the country in three years.:
And am told that between thirty and forty
years ago they made it in Boston, as
good and as cheap as they could bring it
from the Weft-Indies ; and our fait water
will produce good fait now, and our maple
trees will produce very good sugar and mo
lafles. But some mercenary taring will
fay, but there is a great lots in killing my
old horses and breeding mares, 1 can’t bear
that, —I answer but you can bear to be a
slave, like Iffachar’s ass, crouching down
between two burdens, and have your old
horses, mares and every thing else taken
from you, by them that have not half the
right to them that the aborigin Indians
have. If I can purchase this dear liberty,
or regain it with the loss of a dozen old
horses, a dozen fat cattle, and a few such
trifles, I have regained it at a cheap rate,
much cheaper than I fear we (hall : But kt
it cost what it will, I am determined not to
pan with it without my blood : For as our
pious anccftors purchased this land of liber
ty at thecxpenceof their precious blood and
treafurc, God forbid that we should part
with it at a cheaper rate.
lam fufficiently chagrined, and my in
dignation boils to hear some who call them
selves prudent or moderate men talk,—’tis.
best, fay they, to be moderate, to be well
advised, to a<st cautiously, and to do noth
ing rashly : ’Tis true, the caution is good,
but it is necdlefs ; for the temper of these
men is to do nothing at all but talmly sub
mit to every requisition of parliament.—
They fay, why the voice of parliament
makes all Europe to tremble ; but I an
fwtr, it never made America to wink.
These are what are called by some like
themselves prudent, moderate men.
Principles of true prudence and modera
tion, I like as well as they, and theft
principles have been aited upon heretofore
in our humble petitions to the king and
both houses of parliament, but with what
contempt have they been treated ?
thrown out without a hearing. We have
prayed and petitioned till we have been in
lultcd and abuled, and treated viler than
any slave had a right to expert : And alk
these prudent, moderate men, what shall
we do now ? why pray and petition still.
They mean, they can mean no more than
Elijah did when he told the prophets of Baal
“ Per adventure he is afeep and mull be
« atualed” I think our half-honeft mo
derate men do more mifehief to the cause of
liberty than the rankest profefled tories can
do, and I wish they may be treated with the
contempt they deserve, i. e. like lilachar’s
ass be obliged to crouch down between two
burdens, till a spirit of virtuous liberty be
enkindled in their fouls. I hope my bro
ther farmers will kindly receive the hints
given them, and act accordingly.
1 am a toncere rriend to hufbsndry, navigMion and trade.
A CONNECTICUT FARMEE.
Procrtdingt cf the 7own if Dai tmouth.
AT a town meeting legally warned and
held at Dartmouth, on the i Sth day of
July. A. D. 1774 : After choofiug a modera
tor, the town voted to aft on the articlts con
tained in the warrant. Alfq voted, that we
are grieved at being nccefliated, to aft a part
which at firft view, appears unfriendly with
refpeft to our manufacturing brethren and
friends in Great-Brhain and Ireland : But we
trust, we shall readily be excused by them,
when they confider, that this part of our con
duft is wholly ddigned, and m uui judgment
will have the greaieft tendency of any thing in
our power, to save both them and us from
bondage arid slavery. For upon mature con
sideration we judge the several late unconsti
tutional acts of the British parliament, have a
direst tendency to deiiroy the harmony which
has subsisted among all the British fubiefts,
and to entirely aboufh the English constitution
and form of government. And therefore as
the most probable means to prevent those de
ftrudive purposes, we unite with our Ameri
can brethren, AND RESOLVE, that
we will not purchase any goods manufactured
in Grcat-Britain, and Ireland which shall be
imported from thence, after this day—that we
will not purchase any English goods, of any
hawker or pedler; that we will not purchase
any foreign teas whatever; that we will not
export any flax-feed to any foreign market;
that we do acquiesce in the nature and neces
sity of raising our proportion of money, to pay
the Congreia, and to raise the sum by faLfcnp
tion; and that these rifolvei do remain in force
so long as the present grevioua afts of the Bri
tish parliament remain unrepealed, or until
this town (hall fee fit to alter, Or revoke the
laid resolves. And that die town clerk trans
cribe a fair copy of these proceedings, for the
committee of correspondence, this day chofcn
in order for a publication, Also
I'oted, That Benjamin Akin, Esq; Meflrs.
Jirch Willis, William Davis, William Tail
man, Seth Pope, H. Cornilh and Jireh
Swift, jun. be a committee to correspond with»
the other committees of correspondence in
America.
True Copy, attest,
BENJAMIN RUSSEL, Town-Clerk.
N. B. Immediately after the above votes
were pafled, this town’s proportion of the mo
ney to pay the committee of Congress, was
advanced. »
Dartmiutb, jtuly 18, 1774.
To the Committee of Correspondence for the
, Tovm of Bojlon.
Gentiembn,
THIS town has moved at last in the
common cause ; lut though moving
late, yet we trust with that firmnefs and liabi
lity, which will in some measure continue the
grand fyitem in motion ;thelaft spoke revolving
in the wheel, may be to continue
the motion, as the firft; tho’in no sense the
cause of it; and notwithstanding this town,
has heretofore been inadive, it has not been
inattentive to American affairs ; the unani
mous resolutions of which, we herewith tran
smit to you to be published as an other evidence
of a general American union. We affedion
atcly condole and fympachize with you under
your present atfledions, which we hope will
work out to you and all America, a far more
exceeding and durable weight of glory—Ame
rica we apprehend has been exposed to ruin, by
the exceflive use of foreign commodities, there
fore the late aftsofthe British Parliament, may
be considered as a loud call in providence, for
a faft from those excefles, and similar to the
preaching of Jonah to Nineveh ; who, as he
exprefled himlelf, cried out of the belly of hell,
yet his errand was designed by heaven, to pre
vent thedeftruftion of multitudes : and if Ame
ricans will proclaim, and keep a universal faft
from Englith and India goods, (which feteins
to be the terms and conditions regarded for their
salvation) no doubt their deliverance from the
threatnings annexed, will be compicat. The
gouard begins to wither ; and O how will the
authors doftrine, (who like Jonah, have fled
from the prefencc of the Lord) tewze, and fret,
and pine away, and die, when the ihadow,
ther/sf, under which they have reposed, shall
entirely fail to defend diem from the direst rays,
and scorching meridian heat of the people. T®
evade the malignant eflefts of the last unrighte
ous Parliamentary productions, for the present,
we propose, to cenfe afthigin any bufineft which
has relation to the executive part of those afts ;
they who are so diverted of every principle but
the bnfeft species of fclf love, as to take acom
miflion under such a । ifture of government,
may have nothing to do, as to the execution of
it, and be left to enjoy the uninterrupted plca
fureand honour arihng from their contemplat
ing their own power and importance.
We beg leave. Gentlemen, to aflame the
honourable and endearing appellation of your
brethren. i
By order of the committee of correfpondenoe
in Dartmouth, JiatH Clerk.
P. S. '1 his town is not unmindful of the
neceflities of many in Boston, and no doubt, in
due time will aflbrd them feme relief.
Per order, J. W.
To tbt Ctmmiittt
CIKTIIMIX,
IWTH our heart! deeply imputed with the frolinga
It of humanity towards our near and dear brethren of
Boston, who are now fuffering under a miniflcrial revenge
ful hand, and at the fame time full of gratitude to the pa
triotic inhabitants, for tha noble stand which they have
made against all oppteflivc mnovitiont; and with unfeigned
love for all British America, who must, if Boston is iub
jugated, alternately fall a prey to mini/teria) ambilibn ;
ftnd you T»5 sheep as a present from the inhabitants of the
parish of Biooklyn, hoping thereby you may be enabled to
ftan l more sum (if poffiblr) in the glurious cause, in which
you are embarked, notwithstanding the repeated unheard of
dating attacks, which the Britilh parliament are making up
on the right* which you ought to enjoy as English bon. fub
jefts; and if 10, we Ihall of conteouence contribute our mite
towards the faivauon of British America, which is all our
ambition.
Jn seai.for our country’s cause, we are exceeded by tone,
but our abilities and opportunities do not admit of our being
of that weight in tlur American fcalc, as we would to Oo»
we were.
We mean in the firft place to attempt to appease the ire
(railed by your committing the India tea to tlie watery ele
ment, as a merited oblation to Neptune) of an ambitious
and vindiftive minister, by tlx blood of Rams and of Lambs,
if that docs not answer the end, we are ready to inarch in
the van, and fprlnkle the American altars with our hearts
blood '.foccation should be.
'Jhe latest feeds of deftruAion, which are implanted In
the constitution of almost every state, orj have grown
in England in these last nine years, with anusing rapidity,
and now arc mature for harvest, and ere long we shall fee
reapers flocking from all parts of Europe who will sweep
their fields with the besom of deftnsEHon. Thia thought
occafwn . a cloud of melancholly to arise in the breast oi
every defendant from Britain, which is only diifipated by <be
pleai.rig profpcA every American has before him I Here
we have an unbounded fertile country, contending for with
Blood ! Hire bribery and corrutpion (which are eertsin
forebodings of a speedy dissolution) are as yet only known
by names. To us esc lung Britain’s glory will be transferred,
where it will (Line with accumulated brilliancy.
We ednnot but rqnicc with you on account of the uni
on and firmnefs of the continent. T’ie public virtue now
exhibited by the Americans exceeds aH ofiukirj, that can
be produced in the annals of the Greeks or Romans. Be
hold them from north to south, from cast to waft, ft riving to
comfort the tovwi of Bolton, both by publishing their And
merits in regard to the present tyrannical adminiftratHia.
and by lupporting their poor with provision, which other
wise in this present ftagn.it on '4 bukn ts, would have re
duced the opulent to a state of penury and del; air in a short
time.
You are held "p as a fpeHacle to the whole world. All
Chrifteßdom are longing to fee the event cf the American
contest : And do most noble citiwr.s play your part man
fully (of which we make no doulx.) Your names are either
to be held in eternal veneration, or execration. If you
stand out your names cannot be too much applauded by all
Europe and future generations ; which is the hearty d-ftw
nd wish of as, who are with utmost respect your most
obedient and humble fervanta,
ISRAEL PUTNAM, ?
JOSEPH HOLLAND, f
— — 1 ■■■■■■■■■■,■
TH E Proprietors of Silvester-Town,
lying on Androkugglng-River, in the County us
Cumberland, are hereby again notified, That £iid Proprie
tors, at their Meeting, legally held by Adjournment, on the
7th Day of October <771, voted a ’J ax of vos. no a
Right, to be paid to Mr. CaasilsTailhS,
Treasurer, on*w before the r <th Day <4 March 1773
And on the soth Day of May 1774, voted a further Ta*
of 20s. uK a Right, to be paid co the Treaiurer as eefaid,
on or before the roth Day of September 1774. Aad
whereas many of said Proprietors, are ddinouem in paying
the former of said Taxea, thercfore.unlefs said Taxes iMI
be pad to the Treasurer aforufeid, on or befufe the s ctk
Day cf OfLber 1774, so much us laid delinquent Praprierora
Lands, will be (old, at public Sale, on said Day, x shall
'be ftitflcient to pay said Taxes, and all neceflfery charges,
at the House of Mr. DAKitt Bake«, laaliekfer,
Pembroke, at 3 o’Clxk, P. M. said Vendacj to too ad
joumed, if Occasion require-
Per Order of the Committee,
William Tvaaaa, Pro. Ckric.
Stitwuty 7»d» >774*