The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1774-06-07 00:00:00, page 2

Now this-great hindrance to good government,as
Diocletain justly thought it, is almost, if not alto
gether, removed by the glorious privilege of the Bri
tilh conftittition, of which we are speaking, the li
berty of the press. By means of this, the lowest
fubjeft may find access to the throne ; and, by
means of this, the king has a key,' if I may so call
it, to all manner of intelligence : nor is there any
thing, of the least importance to government, of
which his inajefty can long remain uniformed and
ignorant. It is not meant, that he ihould suddenly
adopt as real truth and matter of fa£t every thing,
which may be read in the public prints t.^nd many
perhaps may tiiirik, that amidst io much miirepre
fentation and error, so much partiality and disguise
so much indiferimate feurrility and abuse, he can
hardly depend upon any thing at all, or take any
merfures from such a chaos of truth and falffiood.
But of this chaos, were it ten- times more so, it is
indilputably certain that very much use and very
many advantages may be made; The king may
be directed to find things, which he would never
have thought of looking for : more than glimmer
ings will ever and anon appear, which will enable
him to puffi his discoveries far, and to trace many
things to their source, which would otherwise have
lain hid from him. In Ihort, from these public in
telligencers, some things will be hinted, others Ipo
ken out more freely, and others presented in their
full gla^e : and thus, upon the whole, ail concerns
of moment, relating either to persons or things, will
be fufficiently unfolded, and laid open before him.
Wicked and lelfiffi ministers know ail this so
well, that we have often heard of great management
in corrupt courts, toftop up these channels of intel
ligence to the prince. They know that by them a
commerce, correspondence, and union as it were, are
maintained between the prince and his people. They
Know, that while these arc so maintained, they vain
ly attempt to caoal, and to impofc upon their maf
rr; ; and, if nctwithftanding they wili not tell him
^rom the London Ma gaz>n e > Fei. i 7 7±.
THOUGHTS on the LIBERTY of the PRESS.
TO LORD MANSFIELD.
to any formed dcfign against the li
jf. 'O., berry of the press, I cannon fuffermy-
A felf to be at all-apprehenfive‘ of it : it
j®. j®. is of more use and importance to a
king of Great-Britain, than (ifpeffi
ble) to any of his fubjeCls ; and this alone iudices
with me to ftifle ond keep down every riling jealou
sy. In absolute despotic governmehts, where the
will of the princeis the law of "the country, where
all thmgs are' administered by force and arms, and
where the glory of the grand monarque is the foie
end and objeft of the monarchy,it matters not much
for him to know, what the condition of his- (übjefts
is, and what they fay or think about him : but in
a qualified and limited monarchy, like ours, where
the king is no more than the firft magillrate appoint
ed by the people, where he is bound., to obey th?
laws as the mcaneft of his fubjeCts, and where the
well bemg of these fubjeCts is the foie end of his ap
pointment—surely to such a prince it must be of
the last consequence to know, as minutely as he can,
what is doing in every corner of his kingdom; what
the date and condition of his fubjeCts; whether they
enjoy plenty, proportioned to their industry ; and
whether, in Ihort, the end of his kingly government
be in every refpeft answered. All this, I fay, and
more, a king of Great-Britain mud know as he can:
but—how mud he know it ?—
A king, let his difeernment of spirits be what it
will, let him pry ever so acutely into the heads and
hearts of thole about him, will never be able to
pierce thiough the manifold disguises, which court
iers always know how to wrap themselves in. By
courtiers are not meant those gaudy painted images
which Hutter about a palace, and are really nothing
more than the moving - furniture of it; but those,
who are entrusted with the great offices, to whom
the adminillration of affairs is committed, and who
for the molt part manage and direst the reins of
government as they pleale. And as he cannot dif
coyer, by any natural sagacity in himfelf, the latent
principles of things, any more -than the real cha
racters of persons ; so he muff not expeCt to receive
any effectual information from others. For, J sup
pose, it will be no satire upon any particular court,
that now is, or ever was, to fay, that there never
was a prince, who was told by any of his servants
all those truths, which it concerned him to know..'
At least this is a proportion I take to be so well
grounded, that I do not think the severe-dealing of
a Clarendon or the honed bluntness of a Sully, luf
ficient to form an exception to it. .The emperor
Diocletian made the difficulty ofreigmug well, to
consist chiefly in the- difficulty of arriving at the
real knowledge of affairs. “ Four .or five courtiers,
fays he, form themselves into a cabal, and unite in
their counsels to deceive the emperor. They fay
what will please their maffer : who, being Ihut up
in his palace, is a perfect flranger to the real truth;
and is forced to know only, what they are pleased
to tell him/’
The argumentsion the other fide were, that it was
• not a proper time now, neither did they think that
tire repeal of the tax would antwer the end proposed.
After a warm debate, the House divided between
eleven and twelve o’clock, when she numbers were,
4g for the motion, 1.82 against it.
'The gallery doors, both at top and bottom, were
locked all day, and no ftfanger admitted.
April 21. Lord North preiented the Speaker seve
ral extrads of letters, and the third Boston Bill “ for
the impartial ad mini lira fam of justice in the cases of
persons questioned for any ads done by them in the
ex*, ution of the law, or fbr the suppression of riots
and tumults, in the province of Maffachuietts-Bay.”
The bill was read a firft time ; upon which Mr.
Sawbridge arose, and observed, that it breathed no
thmg but a spirit of despotism throughout ; that it
was but a part of that tyrannic system which accom
panied the whole of our condiid towards the Ame
ricans^ that they deserved every ad of injustice Ad
ministration had hitherto deviled to inflict on them,
if they were such creatures, such mean, abject wretch
es^ such tame, willingJlaves, to submit to the prefer.t
bill ; that the propoied mode of trial was the molt
extraordinary that was evei- heard of, for who were
the persons that could be prevailed on to come to
England to give evidence of a fad. which was com
mitted at Boston ; and fufe to force them to such at
voyage, would be cruelty in the extreme,.
Cord North uid, that the proposed bill was meam
no -other than a temporary one, to be solely depen
dent in its operation, on the eventual cohdud of the
Bostonians ; for he wiflied and hoped, there would
. be no occofion for enforcing it ; that though it was
aflerted, with .some degree of confidence, that there
were letters received from • Boston, of good credit,
which said that the town was ready to make repa
’tation to the East-India Company for the losses they
had luftamed ; . he was sorry to inform the House,
that there was authentic .information received yes
terday, that on the last d-iy of February, or a day or
two in the month of March, the Fortune had arriv
ed in the port of Boston with tea on board, and that
the mob had assembled in a tumultuous manner,
gone aboard this Ihip, apd destroyed the cargo.
L,ord Beauchamp faid,.that without some such law
as the present, the soldiery would be rendered in
tirely useless, and their'fituation must be terrible
indeed ; if they refufed to perform their duty, or
obey their superiors on one hand, or execute them
00 the other, they would be, in all probability, e
quall*'liable th fuffer. j
Previous to the queiuon being delivered to the
Chairman, Lord North explained the intentions of
the bill, traced its fevered outlines, and obviated
many of toe probable objections that might be made
to it; laid, in particular, the* the offenders should
be removed tor trial to other colonies, or, if govern
ment thought that juflice could not be had there,
that in that case, they should be brought to Great-
Britain, the expen,e to be paid by the public. He
informed the committee, that it was intended to fend
four regiments of foot to Boston ; that General Gage
An authentic .Account.or the Proceedings
irl the .Houses of Commons, April 18.
MR.Rofe Fuller made.a motion,that a Commits
tee be oppointed to inquire into the duty on
tea imported into America,, in order to fee whether
a repeal of that ait will not be neceflary before the
second Boston hill piaffes.——He prefaced his motion
with a long speech in favour of repealing the adt.
He was anlwered by Mr. Cornwall, who spoke a
considerable time against the motion.
The other speakers were Lord Beauchamp, Lord
North, Col. Barre, Mr. Edm..nd Burke, Solicitor
General,"Mr. Charles Fox, Mr. Dowdefwell, &c.
The chief arguments uled in favour of the motion
were, that a repeal of the tea duty would quiet ajl
the disturbances in America.
P ARIS, April 15.
A | HE following ships have actually received or
* ders to be fitted out with the' utmost expedition
at 1 oulon, viz. The Tonnant of 8| guns, the Lan
guedoc of 74 g uns > the Provence of 64. guns, the In
trepid of .54. guns, the Thefts of 32 guns, the Topaz
of 24 guns, and the Serene of 18 guns. This fleet
is t» be commanded by Admiral Count Eltaing,
Who is appointed Governor General and Comman
der in Caief of his Majefly’s colonies in the East-
Iridies ; and we have the greateff reason to thin.^
that this fleet is destined for that part of the world.
N E W - Y O R K, June 2.
Last Friday arrived here the Ship Robert, Captain
Russell, in 28 Days from CoRK.E ; and the Ship
John ^/Betsey, Capt. Durell, in 30 Days
fom Poole, by vjhom we have thefollowing Ad
vices ;
all the truth they should, yet they dare not abuse
him grossly with mifreprefentation.and lies. Why ?
becauie difeovery is instantly at hand, and likewise
becaufc disgrace and ruin will tread upon the heels
or it. So that, all things laid together, the advan
tage to the sovereign from the liberty of the press is
my great security for the continuance and preserva
tion of it.
was to be inveffed with tfie civil and militaiy com
mand of the province ; .and, in conformity to tins
arrangement, Governor Hutchinson had already ta
ken his passage for Europe.
Cd. Barre spoke very strongly against the .moti
on, condemning it with all imaginable freedom,
spirit and ability. He said he well knew the tem
per of the people there ; that they would not be
drove, but mig.it be easy led ; that they were te
nacious of their liberties, would not be dragooned
out of them, and scorned to be slaves ; that if the
General must -go, heJhould.carry die sword in one
hand, -and the olive-branch in the other ; but for
his part, he thought it extremely improper to re
move the prefeat Governor, who in his opinion, Was.
. a very capable and experienced mam
Mr. Solicitor General observed, that the objeflion
raised to the mode of trial would come to nothing
when properly considered ; that it was an eftablilh
ed antient mode pt proceeding, well warranted m
reason, policy and justice ; that in a recent instance,
the case of the Sussex smugglers, it had been found
necessary ; and that their crimes and that of the
Bostonians were m a great measure similar.
Cap*. Phipps expatiated laigely on the merits of'
General. Gage. .He urged many powerful reasons
against bringing the offenders to be- tried in Great-
Britain ; dealt pretty freely with the character of go
vernor Hutchinion, as a governor) a politician, and
a man ; and said the public were-very little indebt
ed to him on either fide of tin? Atlantic.
Mr. T. fowfhend agreed with Capt. Phipps in all
he advanced, except refpe&ing the personal charac
ter of governor Hutchinion, on whom he bestowed
very high encomiums.
Mr. Dowdefwell contended very warmly against
the .motion, and took it in several lights, with great
ability, and evinced if w,ords could evince, its perni
cious tendency. He by no means agreed with the
Captain relative pyeither.the integrity or abilities of"
Mr. Hutchinfofi. He meant not, he said, to reflet!
on General Gag^,. whom- he looked upon to be an
experienced officer ; but since he was to go, he
wimed he- had- been sent with- the fleet, nut before it.
Hon. Mr. Moa‘agu wets violent in favour of the bill,,
and was by no means fparing<of fimilies suited to an
vtmivernty education, hut whether on the banks of"
the Cam, the Isis,. or the neighbourhood of Leith*
we will not pretend to determine.
General Conway was not totally against thfe bill,
but walked that tender conciliating measures might
be adopted, and said, that'although the noble Lord
had given notice of his intentions, he was far from
being fuffi fiently prepared to decide with certainty
upon a queftron of so -much delicacy, and so great a
magnitude, and concluded by hoping that further
time might be given. - • ,
Mr. Van contended, that to adopt lenient measures
woijld be the summit of folly, if not pufilanimity ;
that the inhabitants of Boston were in a ftite of actu
al rebellion, and delerved punishments. suited to the
enormity of their .crimes.
The bill is to be read a second time on Monday
next, and to.be printed for the use of the members.
At four o’clock the order for the second reading
of the bill for regulating the government of theMaf
fachufetts-B.ay came oil, which produced a warm,
debate, that continued till about seven o’clock ;
when a motion being made for committing the said
, bill, it passed in the affirmative without a division.
: B O S T O N, May 30.
On Saturday last Mr. Paul Revere returned
-.from Philadelphia, having been sent express to the
. Southern Colonies with Intelligence of the late ralh,
impqlitick and vindictive Measures of the Britifli
Parliament, who by the execrable Port-Bill have
held out to us a most incontejlible Argument why we
ought to submit to their JurifdiCtion ; and what
rich Blessings we may secure to Ourselves andPofte
r^X» by an absolute Acquiescence in their Lenily,
Wisdom, and "Jujiice. Nothing can exceed the In
dignation with which our Brethren inßhode-Ifland*
Connecticut, New-York and Philadelphia have re*
ceived this proof of Ministerial Madness.—They
universally declare their Resolution to stand by us
to the last extremity ; they esteem the Cause to be
their own, and highly applaud the Resolution of’
this People, not to be awed into Acquiescence by a,
mad exertion of mere Power on the Part of our E
nemies ; —they adjure us for their fake as well as;
our own to persevere ; much approve the Plan of an
entire suspension of Trade with Great-Britain, and
advise to a Committee of Merchants from all the
trading Towns to convene at New-York to form a
reftriCtive Plan for their Trade to the Weft-Indies— ’
Expresses are gone from Philadelphia for this Pur
pole to the Colonies Southward of. them, who no
doubt will concur in the fame Measure, and view
the Subjugation .of Boston, as in Fail it is, the en
slaving the whole Continent.
From New-York, they write,
85 7 our Port-Bill has given us inf nite Trouble and
Concern. A Pack of Jefjh, prejudiced Wretches would
have jacrifcedyou and all America to their sordid Views
and uncharitable Defgns. But thanks to an on. er-ruling
Hand, they have not been able to efedt their Maibinations.