culty of conducting such an intercourse with the caution and propriety which were requisite, and without exposure to suspicion, he could not, in justice to his country and himself, decline an offer of so flattering a nature. In writing to Mr. De Berdt on the subject of Mr. Townshend's commercial restrictions, he says,

MR. REED TO MR. DE BERDT.

Philadelphia, January 4, 1772.

"Lord Dartmouth might make himself exceedingly popular in America, by removing these and other restrictions, which make the acts a mere nullity. I have often had thoughts of making his Lordship a tender of my services in pointing out some things which would be of mutual advantage to both countries, and tend to make his administration honourable and useful. But the difficulty of introducing it in a proper manner, and free from any suspicion of interested views, has hitherto prevented it. The intelligence from this country has generally flowed through such corrupt channels as would expose any Minister to danger and difficulty. I think I could procure his Lordship one or two correspondents in other Provinces, who would, if it was agreeable, render him any services in that way, and who have nothing to ask from him but his cheerful acceptance of their honest and disinterested endeavours to serve both the Mother Country and the Colonies."

The correspondence which ensued is valuable in every aspect. Mr. Reed's position gave him the best means of information; he shared in all the patriotic excitement of the community in which he lived, and was active in securing the adoption of many of the measures to which he refers in his letters. Mr. De Berdt informs us with how much apparent pleasure Mr. Reed's intelligence was received, and we know from history how little real influence any thing of the kind had in controlling the prejudices and passions of the anti-colonial administration of Lord North. I have thought it worth while to insert in parallel notes the different intelligence and opinions unhappily too much relied on-which were communicated by official advisers in this country, especially General Gage, Mr. Penn and Governor Tryon. But few of the former have been published, and for the rest the author is

indebted to the manuscript collections made by Mr. Brodhead for the State of New York in 1840. The complete letters of Governor Penn are no doubt in the State Paper office in London. The contrast of the tone, as well as the narrative of the young Philadelphia lawyer and that of the Royal Governors and military commandants is very curious.

CHAPTER II.

1773-1774.

Mr. Reed's Letters to the Earl of Dartmouth on public affairs-Letter of December 22d, 1773—Mr. Townshend's Revenue Bill-East India Company and tea duty Arrival of the tea-ships - Letters of 27th December, 1773, and 4th April, 1774-Post-office-Admiralty courts - Destruction of tea at Boston -Dr. Franklin's Examination before the Privy Council-Mr. Wedderburne― Letter to Mr. De Berdt, May, 1774-Effigies burned at Philadelphia.

MR. REED TO THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH.*

Philadelphia, December 22d, 1773.

MY LORD:

The present state of public affairs in this part of America, so nearly affects the ease and honour of your administration, that I cannot but think it my duty on this occasion to break through the common forms which your lordship's rank and my own respect would prescribe, and endeavour to inform you truly and faithfully of our present views and situation. Your lordship, I trust, cannot be ignorant of the principle which has given birth to the present commotion. The Act of 7 Geo. III. imposing duties on paper, glass, tea, &c., being expressly declared to be for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, has been generally considered as a law imposing a tax without the consent of the Americans, and therefore to be resisted. The reasoning upon which this inference is drawn is founded on the distinction between duties for the regulation of trade and raising a revenue and upon the obligation of the colonists to take those articles from Great Britain only. Not

*The drafts of the above letters only are in my possession. They are roughly made, and in some instances so much defaced by interlineations, &c. as to be scarcely intelligible, being evidently drafts and not copies. In some instances, (and these are not published) I have only abstracts. In 1846, Mr. M'Lane, then American Minister in London, at my instance, applied to the present Earl of Dartmouth for complete copies of the original letters. Lord Dartmouth, with prompt courtesy-which I am happy thus publicly to acknowledge-at once furnished them. They were mailed by Mr. John Miller, Henrietta Street, London, in the bag of the American Legation, in September last, and no trace of them has ever since been discovered.

withstanding the many objections to which these positions are liable among speculative men, they are too grateful to America not to be universally received and practised upon. The partial repeal of this act, instead of conciliating, has widened the breach; it has been thought hard that Government should give up the revenue and keep the tax. In this situation we have been gradually sliding into a clandestine trade, which has increased to a very alarming height. It has been deemed a species of patriotism to evade a law which we could not with safety oppose, or submit to, without giving up an essential principle of liberty. If the merchants had confined this illicit trade to the article of tea only, the injury to the Mother Country would not have been so great; but a variety of other articles, such as calicoes, spices, and other India commodities, have accompanied the tea to a very large annual amount. And upon a coast of such extent, all the vigilance and care of the custom-house cannot give it an effectual check. As a proof of this, your lordship may depend upon it that although no tea has been imported here from England, since 1767, there has been no scarcity, nor has the price been enhanced otherwise than by the ordinary course of trade. This is a short sketch of our situation in the Middle Colonies, when advices came that the India Company, under the countenance of Parliament, proposed shipping a quantity of tea to this part of America, to be sold at public sale by factors. The merchants, as might be expected, first expressed their uneasiness, but in a few days it became general. Some of the principal inhabitants and merchants, called a general meeting of the people, when a number of resolves were entered into, the substance of which was, that this measure tending to enforce the obnoxious act, should be opposed by all lawful and proper methods. A number of persons were appointed to desire the consignees to relinquish the consignment. At first they made some little hesitation, but finding the opposition to their acceptance of the trust so strong and general, they all complied, and have publicly renounced the commission. Some inconsiderate persons endeavoured to deter the pilots from taking any charge of the ship in the river, but this has been generally disapproved by the inhabitants, who have endeavoured to counteract it.

When the arrival of the ship was hourly expected, another meeting was held of the principal inhabitants only, when it was unanimously agreed to oppose the landing of the tea, and to compel the master of the ship to return with his cargo. The mode of executing this measure, as I am well informed, will be, that on the first intelligence of her arrival, a number of persons already appointed to that service, will go on board and represent to the captain the determination of the inhabitants on the subject, and the dangers and difficulties which may attend a refusal on his part. This, with the advice of the consignees, will, it is supposed, have the effect intended. If it should not, the consequences may prove very fatal to himself and his vessel.

The opposition to the Stamp Act was not so general, and I cannot but think any attempt at present to crush it would be attended with dreadful effects. Many reasons have concurred at this time, and upon this subject. Those

who are out of trade have been led to think it a point of constitutional liberty deserving a struggle. Those who are in trade, have the additional motive of interest, and dread a monopoly whose extent may destroy one-third of their business. For India goods compose one-third of our importations from England.

I cannot presume to suggest expedients to your Lordship's wisdom and prudence; some proper ones will, I doubt not, occur. Severities have been tried. If it can be thought consistent with the supremacy and dignity of the Mother Country to relax, and adopt lenient measures on this occasion, it would crown your Lordship's administration with unfading honour to be the instrument of closing this remaining source of civil discord. Notwithstanding any contrary representations, I cannot but be firmly persuaded that the repeal of this whole act would ensure the future submission of the inhabitants of this part of America, to any other act of the British Parliament now in force. That an all-wise and overruling Providence may bless and direct your Lordship in this critical occasion, is the ardent wish and prayer of

Your Lordship's most, &c., &c.*

The Colonial governors, with scarcely an exception, advised coercion and inflexi. ble adherence to the assumptions of Parliament. The student will find their letters or rather such extracts as were laid before Parliament, collected in the first volume of Almon's Debates, in Force's American Archives, and Sparks's Washington. The most temperate and judicious of the governors, appear to be Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire, and Colden of New York. It is in one of the letters of the latter that is to be found a solitary and rather apologetic hint of the expediency of accommodation. On 2d August, 1774, he thus writes to Lord Dartmouth, "From a few of the numerous resolves of the people, in all the Colonies, your Lordship might be led to believe that a stupid, fatal hardness intoxicated the whole. But there are every where many people who are seriously alarmed at the critical posture of the contention between Great Britain and her colonies; they look forward with the deepest anxiety, and would rejoice in any prudent plan for restoring harmony and security, could it be thought consistent with the wisdom of Parliament to lay aside the right of raising money on the subjects in America, and in lieu thereof, that the several American assemblies should grant and secure to the crown a sufficient and permanent supply to pay all the officers and ordinary expenses of government: they are of opinion this would be a ground-work upon which a happy reconciliation might be effected, the dependence of the colonies on Great Britain secured, government maintained, and this destructive contest amicably terminated. For this purpose, they hope an address to his Majesty will be formed at the General Congress." How far Mr. Colden's opinions concurred with those which he thus describes can only be conjectured, as Lord North in laying these papers before the House of Commons, took especial care to say, that “as to the papers containing all the intelligence from America, he would not undertake to say they did, as those he had brought were extracts containing only the facts in the original letters; that the authors' opinions were not mentioned, it having been frequently found that the private opinions of people in office being made public, had been attended with bad