298 VIRGINIA INSTRUCTIONS; EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY. was held at Williamsburg. They were in session six days, and after appointing delegates to the general congress, adopted a letter of instructions by which these delegates were to be guided.* The spirit of the convention is shown in the opening paragraphs: "The unhappy disputes between Great Britain and her American colonies, which began about the third year of the reign of his present majesty, and since, continually increasing, have proceeded to lengths so dangerous and alarming as to excite just apprehensions in the minds of his Majesty's faithful subjects of this colony, that they are in danger of being deprived of their natural, ancient, constitutional and chartered rights, have compelled them to take the same into their most serious consideration; and being deprived of their usual and accustomed mode of making known their grievances, have appointed us their representatives, to consider what is proper to be done in this dangerous crisis of American affairs. "It being our opinion that the united wisdom of North America should be collected in a general congress of all the colonies, we have appointed the honorable Peyton Randolph, Esquire, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, Esquires, deputies to represent this colony in the said Congress, to be held at Philadelphia on the first Monday in September next. And that they may be the better informed of our sentiments touching the conduct, we wish them to observe on this important occasion, we desire that they will express, in the first place, our faith and true allegiance to his majesty, King George the Third, our lawful and rightful sovereign; and that we are determined, with our lives and fortunes, to support him in the legal exercise of all his just rights and prerogatives; and however misrepresented, we sincerely approve of a constitutional connection with Great Britain, and wish most ardently a return of that intercourse of affection and commercial connection that formerly united both countries; which can only be effected by a removal of those causes of discontent which have of late unhappily divided us. See Ford's ed. of Jefferson's Writings, vol. i., pp. 12-14. The power assumed by the British parliament to bind America by their statutes, in all cases whatsoever, is unconstitutional, and the source of these unhappy differences. * * *”* Wherever the Boston Port Bill became known, strong expressions of determined opposition and assurances of support were made. At New York the sentiment was about evenly divided, as the Whig and Tory elements were almost equal, but the friends of liberty finally won the day. Expressions of sympathy were sent to Boston from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas and other colonies, assuring the people of support and declaring that the cause of the citizens of that city was the common cause.|| See *The complete instructions are given in Henry, Life of Patrick Henry, vol. i., pp. 198–202. also Parton, Life of Thomas Jefferson, p. 136 et seq.; The South in the Building of the Nation, vol. i., pp. 78–79; Sparks, p. 119; Irving, Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 418 et seq.; Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. i., pp. 689–690; Ty ler, Life of Patrick Henry, pp. 87-89. Christopher Gadsden sent word: Don't pay for an ounce of the damned tea."- Fiske, American Revolution, vol. i., p. 103. Roberts, New York, vol. iii., p. 389 et seq.; Lamb, City of New York, vol. i., p. 765 et seq.; Leake, Life of Joseph Lamb, p. 87 et seq. Governor Colden said: "The men who at that time called themselves the Committee, who dictated and acted in the name of the people, were many of them of the lower ranks, and all the warmest zealots of those called the Sons of Liberty. The more considerable merchants and citizens seldom or never appeared among them. The principal inhabitants, being now afraid that these hot-headed men might now run the city into dangerous measures, appeared in a considerable body at the first meeting of the people after the Boston Port Act was published here." -American Archives, 4th series, vol. i., p. 372. See also Pellew, Life of John Jay, p. 26 et seq. * * On the proceedings of these various bodies see Bancroft, vol. iv., pp. 5-14. See also Force, GAGE REJECTS COUNCILLORS; DELEGATES TO CONGRESS On May 25, 1774, the General Court of Massachusetts met with many forebodings as to what lay in store for them. General Gage's first official act went to the very limit of his authority "A comparison of these dates will at once show how strong was the instinct of union, which, at this period, pervaded the country, and how prompt the colonies were in adopting that principle of combination which served as a direct antagonist to the policy of the British ministry, designed, as it was, by confining its obnoxious measures to one colony, to diminish the probability of a united resistance. In looking to these dates, it should also be remembered that the colonial action, in some instances, was independent of that of an earlier date in other colonies. In Virginia, the recommendation of a Congress was adopted two days before the intelligence was received of a similar measure several days earlier, both in Philadelphia and in New York." 299 under the charter when he rejected 13 of the 28 councillors elected by the people, among whom were James Bowdoin, John Adams, Samuel Dexter and William Phillips.* The governor then adjourned the Court to Salem, an act considered highly offensive; but the representatives did not lose heart and persevered in the work. They adopted resolutions recommending that the Boston people remain steadfast in their principles, and also appealed to the people of the entire province, requesting that they assist their brethren at Boston by refraining from using British-made goods and all other foreign articles subject to a duty. This they thought would be the most effective method of manifesting their opposition to the parent government and of prevailing on the ministers to relax in their arbitrary and severe conduct toward the colonies. They requested that the governor appoint a day for prayer and fasting, but this he declined to do, whereupon they themselves recommended that a certain day be set apart for that observance. At this time, too, the people appointed a large committee to select five members of the House as delegates to the General Congress recommended by Virginia. The resolution for choosing delegates was adopted by a vote of 116 to 12, the preamble to the resolution being as follows: "This House, having duly considered, and being deeply affected with the unhappy differences which * Bancroft, vol. iv., p. 14; Hosmer, Samuel Adams, p. 290 et seq. 300 MASSACHUSETTS ASSEMBLY DISSOLVED. have long subsisted and are increasing between Great Britain and the American colonies, are of opinion, that a meeting of committees from the several colonies on this continent is highly expedient and necessary, to consult upon the present state of the country, and the miseries to which we are and must be reduced by the operation of certain acts of Parliament; and to deliberate and determine upon wise and proper measures, to be by them recommended to all the colonies, for the recovery and establishment of our just rights and liberties, civil and religious; and the restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain and America, which is most ardently desired by all good men." The delegates appointed were Thomas Cushing, John Adams, Samuel Adams, James Bowdoin, and Robert Treat Paine. When Gage ascertained what was taking place, he sent his secretary to dissolve the House, but, when the secretary reached his destination, he found the doors locked, and therefore read the governor's proclamation on the steps leading to the chamber. This was the last session of the House under royal authority. The members disregarded this proclamation of the governor, and continued in session until they had finished their business.‡ June 1 had been appointed as the day on which the Boston Port Bill should go into effect, at which time also Salem was to become the metropolis of the province. On that day all business was stopped at 12 o'clock and the harbor was closed to all vessels. Consequently, the bulk of the means of subsistence of the citizens was immediately cut off. The town was soon threatened with starvation; building material became scarce, thus stopping building operations; the rope-walks and ship-yards were forced to shut down for lack of orders, thus throwing a large number of men out of work, now hard to find; and the prices of food and fuel were rapidly becoming prohibitive. The Boston people, however, endured their suffering with great fortitude. In order to give employment to the poor, the citizens' committee opened a brick-yard on the neck, ordered the streets repaved, and hought cotton, wool and flax for the women to spin. To the shoemakers was given leather, and to the blacksmiths iron, their labor being accepted in payment. At this time also the non-importation agreement was re vived under the title "A Solemn League and Covenant."+ The Tories protested against this league as "a base, wicked, and illegal measure," saying that it would "distress and ruin many merchants and check industry by stopping the exportation of their oil, potash, flaxseed, lumber and codfish. It would, they concluded, involve rather than extricate the colonies from their difficulties." Two days later, Gage took a hand in the * Frothingham, Siege of Boston, p. 37 et seq. + Hosmer, Samuel Adams, p. 298 et seq. Van Tyne, Loyalists in the American Revolu tion, p 32. |