CHAP. VI. afterwards Franklin was dismissed from his office of Deputy Postmaster General in America* (9th February, 1774). 48. Coercive Measures against Massachusetts.-The breach between England and her American dependencies now became irreparable, and measures were adopted on both sides, tending to precipitate the rupture. Acts of Parliament were passed which shut up the port of Boston and transferred the customs to Salem; which cancelled the charter of Massachusetts, and empowered the governor to remove prisoners for trial to any other colony, and even to Great Britain. Concurrently with the enactment of these laws, Hutchinson, whose removal at the request of the colony had been contemptuously rejected, was superseded by General Gage-a significant General Gage change, which pointed to a resolute policy of coercion; and appointed at the same time a Bill was passed for quartering and billeting troops throughout the North American colonies. All these measures were strongly opposed by the Whig leaders; but as the bulk of the party had, throughout, given a general support to the coercive policy of the Government, only a few distinguished statesmen, such as Chatham and Burke, commended more prudent counsels. Charles Fox also vehemently opposed these measures, and his conduct so much offended the King, that His Majesty summarily removed him from the Treasury.† Governor of 49. How the Americans received these Measures.-The cancelling of the charter of Massachusetts was so gross a violation of the liberties of the colonies, that even moderate men, like Washington, who had hitherto kept aloof from the violence of the Boston party, committed themselves heartily and unreservedly to measures of resistance. Among the first provinces which expressed their sympathy for the New England colony was Virginia, where the extreme popular party was still led by Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. of the Virginian Assembly. Following the example of the Puritans of the seventeenth Proceedings century, these men proposed that the 1st of June, when the Boston Port Bill was to come into operation, should be set apart for fasting and prayer. This proposal was adopted unanimously, and the Governor thereupon dissolved the Assembly. A large majority of the members then repaired to the Raleigh Tavern as before; the non-importation compact was revived; and a General Congress of the colonies was suggested. These proposals were readily adopted by the other provinces. A combination was formed with the ominous title of "The Solemn Massey II., 113-147; Stanhope's England, V., 320-342; Bancroft's United States, VI., chapter 51. Massey, II., 147-149; Stanhope, V., 330-331; and VI., 1-6. 1774 League and Covenant," pledging the people to renounce all commercial dealings with Great Britain, and all intercourse with their fellow countrymen who should act otherwise; the Boston Assembly addressed the Governor to appoint the 1st of June as a Massachu day of fasting, which he declined to do; they then voted And of the him a sarcastic address of congratulation on his appoint- setts Assemment; granted five hundred pounds for the expenses of the bly. General Congress; and were preparing an indignant manifesto against the English Government, when they were summarily dissolved (June, 1774). This dismissal only increased the agitation. Violent resolutions were passed in towns meetings throughout the province, and so bold was the spirit of defiance, that General Gage no longer hesitated to make active preparations for military defence. He drew together all the troops at his disposal, and fortified a narrow isthmus, called Boston Neck, by which alone the city was accessible on the land side.* 50. The First Revolution Congress at Philadelphia.-On the 4th of September, 1774, the great Congress of the States met in the Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, all the colonies, except Georgia, sending delegates. The great majority were men of moderate views, who were desirous of maintaining the connection with the mother country, while they were determined on the redress of certain grievances. Peyton Randolph of Virginia was chosen their President; and to secure the appearance of concord and unanimity, they conducted their deliberations with closed doors, resolving that none of their proceedings should be published except under their sanction and authority. The transactions which they put forth under these arrangements were 1. A Declaration of Rights, in which they claimed all the liberties of Englishmen, and asserted their right to representative institutions, selftaxation, free discussion, and local trial by jury. They maintained that the persistent attempts of the British Legislature to impose taxes upon them, the prohibition of public meetings to discuss grievances, the violation of charters, the removal of prisoners for trial, were all acts of oppression, to which they plainly declared the Americans would not submit. Resolutions were passed, to suspend all imports from Great Britain or Ireland after the 1st of December, and to discontinue all exports after the 10th of September, in the following year, unless these grievances were redressed. 2. Addresses to the people of Great Britain and Canada, and a Petition to the King, which was meant as a last appeal for relief.† These proceedings completed, the Congress resolved to convene * Stanhope's England, VI., 8-11; Massey's George the Third, II., 150-153: Bancroft's United States, Vol. VII., Chap. 4. + Bancroft's United States VII. 149-150. CHAP. VI. British were twice repulsed; but being rallied and reinforced by General Clinton, who pushed across the river with his brigade, the position was carried at the point of the bayonet, and the Americans fled in disorder. This affair made it sufficiently clear that the King's troops had not to disperse a number of cowards and an undisciplined rabble, as the Government had been led to believe by their agents in America; for the victory was dearly bought, the British having lost a thousand men in killed and wounded; while the Americans, fighting behind intrenchments, suffered a much smaller loss.* Proceedings of the Congress. 56. Second Congress at Philadelphia-Washington appointed Commander-in-Chief.- In the meantime, the delegates to the Continental Congress reassembled at Philadelphia (10th May), and at once assumed the functions of sovereignty. They chose for their President, first, Peyton Randolph; and on his retirement, soon afterwards, John Hancock, the owner of the Liberty sloop at Boston. They declared that the provinces which they represented should henceforth be styled the United Colonies of America, and they required all persons to abjure the British Government and swear allegiance to the Congress. Decrees were passed for raising an army and for the issue of a provisional paper currency; the export of provisions to the British fisheries, or to any colony which continued in its obedience to the Crown, was prohibited; all dealings with the civil or military agents of Great Britain were forbidden; and an army was raised and placed under Colonel George Washington as Commander-in-Chief (15th June, 1775). previons life and character. This illustrious man was born at Bridges Creek, in Virginia, on the 22nd of February, 1732; his family, which was descended from an old Washington's English stock, having settled in Virginia about eighty years before. In early life Washington followed the profession of a landsurveyor; he also served in the Virginian Militia, and was engaged in General Braddock's ill-fated expedition. A fortunate marriage enabled him to retire into private life about the close of 1758; and as a country gentleman, occupied in the cultivation of his own estate, he acquired the esteem of his neighbours, and a leading position in the affairs of his province, being a member of the Assembly, and latterly one of its representatives at the Congress. In person Washington was tall and strongly built; and of a grave and benign countenance. Integrity, prudence, perfect serenity and self-control, and an aptitude for affairs were among his most prominent characteristics. Though unwilling to provoke a conflict with Great Britain, he was determined to maintain the just claims of his country, and it was only when he found peaceable remonstrances unavailing that he dvised his countrymen to take up arms. Fonhope's England, VI., 54-59 ; Bancroft's United States, vol. 7, chaps. 38-40. 1775 Branch The officers appointed to act under Washington were Horatio Gates, Charles Lee, and Richard Montgomery, all of whom had served in the British army. On the 8th of July a second petition to the King, known as "the Olive Branch Petition," was drawn up, and Richard Penn, one of the proprietors of Pennsyl- The Olive vania, together with some colonial agents, was despatched Petition. to England to present it to the Sovereign. At the same time, two addresses to the people of Great Britain and Ireland respectively were prepared, and a third address, recapitulating all the grievances of which the colonies complained, and justifying resistance by force was drawn up, and ordered to be read aloud to the army, and to all public bodies. The Congress next applied itself to the organisation of the army, which was deficient in almost every military appointment. The men had neither tents, clothing, nor commissariat; they were without money, ammunition, or engineering equipments; and their discipline was so lax, that the American General declared they could not be depended upon in the event of an action.* Until these defects were repaired, the American General was in no condition to assume the offensive; he therefore occupied the remainder of the year in reducing the army to a state of steady discipline, in providing for its wants, and in the blockade of Boston. 57. Reception of "the Olive Branch Petition."-Public opinion in England had now decidedly set in against the Americans, and addresses were presented to the throne from all parts of the kingdom, urging a vigorous prosecution of coercive measures. The time was therefore very unfavourable to Penn's "Olive Branch" mission; and when he presented the petition to the Its reception Colonial Secretary, Lord Dartmouth (1st September) heter was informed that no reply would be given to it, since the Congress had no legal authority, and was indeed assembled in direct defiance of the royal proclamations. by the Minis Parliament met on the 26th of October, 1775, and the Royal Speech in answer to the addresses which had been received, inveighed in the strongest terms against the Americans, and promised that the most vigorous efforts should be made to suppress their rebellion. The Duke of Grafton, who had urged the necessity of reconciliation, thereupon resigned the Privy Seal, and was succeeded by Lord Dartmouth, the post of the latter being accepted by Lord George Germaine Sackville; the same who, sixteen years before, * Massey's George the Third, II., 180-181; Stanhope's England, VI., 64-80 Irving's ife of Washington, chapter 43. Important charges in CHAP. VI. had been ignominiously dismissed from the army for misconduct in the battle of Minden. At the same time, Lord Rochford was replaced by Lord Weymouth, one of the ablest of the the Cabinet. Bedford party, as Secretary of State; and Lord Lyttelton a notorious advocate of the policy of violence, was added to the Cabinet Council. Notwithstanding these Cabinet changes, and the existence of an immense ministerial majority in both Houses, the Opposition strove hard to prevent war. On the 7th of November, "the Olive Branch Petition" was taken into consideration in the House of Lords, and on the Richard Penn motion of the Duke of Richmond, Richard Penn was examined before them (10th Nov.). He stated emphatically that his countrymen had taken up arms solely for the defence of their liberties, and not for independency; that they would prefer freedom under the Crown of Great Britain to any other state of freedom; and that while they supported the measures of their Congress, they wished at the same time, a reconciliation with their mother country. before the House of Lords. The motion that this Petition afforded grounds for conciliation, was, however, rejected, and in spite of all the efforts of Shelburne and Grafton in the Lords, and of Burke, Fox and Barré in the Commons, the Government carried its measures with a high hand, and the only transaction which made any show of an attempt at conciliation was the passing of an Act empowering the King to send Commissioners to America, with full royal and unlimited authority to grant pardons, inquire into grievances, and remove restrictions of trade from those colonies that returned to their allegiance. Chatham was again incapable through sickness of taking part in the debates at this solemn period; but he emphatically showed his opinion by withdrawing his eldest son from the army in Canada, where he was aide-de-camp to the governor, General Carleton.† 58. The Americans fail to annex Canada.-Congress had repeatedly endeavoured by inflammatory addresses, to awaken the people of Canada to a sense of their wrongs; and openly solicited their co-operation. But the old French population had no interest or feeling in common with the Americans. In the Session of 1774 a wise and beneficial measure-the Quebec Bill The Quebec had been enacted for the better government of Canada, securing to the colonists the privilege to which they attached the highest importance, namely the free profession of their ancient faith. Yet because they did not receive those institutions, such as a Knight's Popular History, V., 361, quoting from the Parliamentary Debates. + Stanhope's England, V., 68-75; Knight's Popular History, VI., 363. |