The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1775-06-19 00:00:00, page 2

to express your sentiments of the expedience of iny
meeting the general court at Cambrige, to obviate
fray objection on account of the troops, and to ffiew a
proper resentment of the behaviour of the inhabitants
hf Ballon, unless I/ball think there are reasons to the con
tirary cf such a nature as to outweigh theje conf derations*
apprehend my lord, that when the main guard is
removed from the court houfe,l shall meet with little
or no trouble on account of the troops, and the dif
contenc which fitting at Cambridge at this season of
the year will occasion in the minds of the members,
must l think outweigh advantage from the resent
ment shewn at the behaviour of the town of Bolton.
Had I received his Majcfty's commands to carry the
court out of Bolton as a mark of the royal resentment
I for the undutiful and disloyal behaviour of the inha
bitants, this would have fallen with weight upon
them ; but any thinglhort of that in these licentious
times will have but little efttl As your lordfoipis
,leafed to leave it to my diferetton I have thought it mos
, prudent not to alter the place of the general court's meeting.
The other part of your lordihip's direction not to
concur in the election of any councellors who shall
have been active parties in the illegal combination I
shall carefully observe. If your lordlhip had exten
ded yojir direction to all who are favourers of them,
as I doubt whether I shall ever have any but such
offer'd to me for my consent, I must be without a
council if I Ihould ftridly confirm to them.
The Letter was not Jent, as Mr. Hutchin/on by the 2d of
March alter'd bis opinion ; but a true copy of what
was sent wrote in his own band is annexed to his letter
book with wafers, and begins,
My Lord, (No. 4.) Boston 28 Feb. 1770.
By the December mail—feW/o on as above tillyou
come to] on account of the troops, [when it pro
ceeds] ind 1 am sensible Ihat removing the court out of
town will be disagreeable to most of themembers.
_I doubt notwithstanding after mature deliberation,
whether I can be juftitied in not conforming to a
measure which appears to your lordlhip to be highly
expedient, and therefore I have issued a proclamation
proroguing the court to the 1 yh infant at Cambridge,
I ihall also govern myfelf by your lordihip's opinion
in giving my consent to the choice of councellors,
who have been active parties in the illegal combina
tions. If I should refufe all who are concerned or
are favoureres of them I thinkl shall have no council,
• for in the present temper of the people I have no rea
son to think that any other will be offered to me for
my consent. I am very sorry that I must acquaint
your lordlhip with the continuance of disorders in
the town of Button, by exhibitions of pageantry be
fore the doors of the few persons who venture to fell
the goods they have imported contrary to the agree
ment of the merchants. Lads and children are em
ployed upon thele occasions who collect in great
numbers, and the civil magistrate will not oppose
the popular prejudice and attempt to difperle them.
A person offer'd to remove one of these shews, and
being obtruded by those who had the charge of it,
and at length pelted and drove into his house, and
then having his house surrounded, and as he fays his
windows broke and his perlon in danger, he fired
upon the multitude, & killed one lad and wounded
another. He was soon fetched out of his house and
committed to prison. The lad was buried a day or
two after and his funeral the largett perhaps ever
known in America. All this tends to increase the
difeentent wnich before was very great in the town,
& I thought it necessary to convene the council and
to propose to them the issuing a proclamation against
these disorders, but it did not appear to them neces
sary, and after two days confideiation, they advise
me to lend for the justices and Iheriff and exhort then!
to do ther duty. This was done and had repeatedly
been done before to no purpose. Some of the justices
openly juftified the proceedings. All this disorder
is owing to a general disposition not in the body of the
people o^ly, but in those to whom the administration
of government by the constitution is intruded to favor
the measures of the merchants as the only means to
preserve the rights of the people, and to bring about
the repeal of the revenue adh and other afts called
unconflitutional. In other matters which have no
relation to this dispute between the kingdom and the
colonies government retains its vigour, and the ad
ministration of it is attended with no unusual difficul
ty. I nave the honor to be,
with the greatest refpeft, My Lord,
Your Lordfllip's most humble,
and mod obedient Servant,
THO. HUTCHINSON.
Although is 'his dated 28 Feb.'tis plain from the
internal mirk of the court's being prorogued to the
I r,tb infant, that it was not wrote till the beginning
of firch, which is corroborated by what follows to
fir Francis Barnard.
[Hutchinion's Letters continued from cur las.)
The following will Jerque as collateral evidence in proof
of the late Gow Hutcbin)on's having been under no pof
tive inf ruction for ordering theGen.Court toCambridge.
In bis letter book be writes thus to Lord Hilljborougb.
My Lord; (No. 4) 2^ Feb. 1770.
By the December mail I have the honor of your
Lordihip's letterNo 30, in which you are pleased
No. 6. 28 Feb. 1770.
My dear Sir,
^Y the December mail I have your favor No. 13.
No. 9, 10, 11, 12, not yet received. I must be
sanguine notwithflandirtg your difeouragement. Par
liament cannot leave America in this state. Whilst
thele combinations are tolerated government can
never be rellored. They never will be suppressed
by any power within themselves, for both the legis
lative and executive power join with the body of the
people in the combination.
Every week we have a mob before the Here or
house of some or other of the importers. . Last week
Richardson, whose name you must remember as an
informer, attempted to remove a piece of pageantry.
He was drove into his ho ife, and attacked there by
stones thro' his windows. He £recfon the boys,
perhaps too soon, and killed one and wounded another
The boy was buried with as much refped as
young Allen (killed in George's fields, London, as
I suppose the governor intended.) It is said the
procession reached from the town-house to liberty
tree. I could not avoid meeting the council and
urging them to advise me to a proclamation. I will
enclole'T s and E g's speeches as near as I can
recoiled them.
I exped to meet the general court at the time
propoled. Dear Sir,
Your faithful and affectionate Friend.
On a federate paper.
March 1.
J Shall cover a printed piece designed for
Edes and Gill's paper. It came to one of
my sons by accident, he supposes from Pitts's fami
ly. Burch fays that from what in it relates to the
Board it must come from T eor he must have
been privy .0 it. I suppose some of the charges
against me were so incredible that the supervisors of
the press did not think proper to publilh it.
March i. Just as I am sealing my letters your fa
vors No. 10,11, and 12 aie brought me by Capt.
Paddock. Lord Hillfborough recommends meeting
the assembly at Cambridge, unless other considera
tions shall in my judgment outweigh the reasons his
lordlhip gives for it— IwiJb for more express orders in
every case which is fully underfood. Where lam left
to my discretion 1 will Co the best I can ; but I am
sensible of my delicate situation, and that do what I
will I shall be charged with want of resolution, or
with rashness and want of discretion. At New-
York, Pennsylvania and Carolina there does not
seem to be the least effort against the combined mer
chants, but they have the ball at their teet. The
council here aft me what occasion there is for my
worrying them to distinguish this government from
all the rest. In those governments the governor has
power to remove or suspend his council and other
magistrates who neglect their duty, here I can do
nothing without my counsel and have no authority
to remove them, or any magistrate without their
cor fcnt.---I will nevertbelefs omit nothing that can
be done to support government and to distinguish
the friends ofit, but the restoration of the authority
of government, where the disputes between the king
dom and the colonies is concerned, can't be effected
by a governor let his talents be ever so great. Par
liament alone must effect it, by giving up the points
in controversy, or by a vigorous exertion of power in
maintaining and J^porting them. I am, &c.
March 2d.— PON more mature deliberation I
have determined to prorogue the
court to the 15th at Cambridge. There will be in
conveniences either way, but I have the opinion of
the ministry in favor of the one fide, which outweighs
with me the opinion of such as dislike the measure
here, and I am convinced this particular opportunity
of doing it ought not to be loft, and perhaps it may
serve the measures ofparli ament, which mult take
notice of the town of Bolton ; and I think cannot pos
sibly differve them. I have issued the proclamati
on.
Notwithstanding all appearances in the above of
deliberation and action upon his own diferetion, his
faying,in the faret and confidential of March 25,1770,
" for I have followed,^, advice," (whether that
was wrote to fir Francis Bernard or secretary Pow
nall, with each of whom he carried on a private cor
respondence to be communicated to those in higher
departments as they might judge expedient) Ihews,
that he had under advisers and go betweens at home
to direct and influence, and ripen every measure
that might be concerted by him and his adherents.
N E W-Y O R K, June 15.
From a Dublin paper of the 14th of April, we
have the following paragraph, " The Spaniards
" have in Carthagena harbour, 14 . fail of the line,
" 15 fail of frigates, and 14000 men embarked.
" This hath caused a memorial to be dispatched to
" Madrid, which departed last Monday."
Last Monday morning a quantity of military
fores were taken from what are called the King's
stores, at Turtle Bay, and carried clear off.
Yelterday one M'Donald, who it is said had been
privately inlifting men to serve under General Gage,
against their country, was taken into custody, and
conducted by a party of the city Grenadiers, before
the PrcviscHl Congress then fitting, where he was
examined,& returned into custody.---We hear feme
important difeoveries were made.
A letter from the Cove of Cork, dated May 1,
1775, fays, " Last Thursday, twenty-five fail of
" transports with three regiments of foot, and one
" of light horse, failed for Boston : there are fix
" teen transports for the fame purpose."
CAMBRIDGE, June 25, 1775.
The following is a Copy of an infamous Lhing hand
ed about here last Tuesday Evening, and now
reprinted to fatisfy the Curiosity of the Public.
As it is replete with consummate Impudence, this
most abominable Lies, and fluffed with daring
Expressions of Tyranny, as well as Rebellion a~
gainft the established, constitutional Authority,
both of GREAT-BRITAIN and of the AME
RICAN SPATES, no one will hesitate in pro
nouncing it to be the genuine Production of that
perfidious, petty Tyrant, Thomas Gage.
By his Excellency
The Hon. THOMAS GA G E, Esq;
Governor and Commander in Chief, in and over hi#
Majesty's Province of Maffachuftts-Bay, and Vice
admiral of the fame.
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS the infatuated Multitudes, who
have long fuffered themselves to be conduc
ed by certain well known Incendiaries and Traitors,
in a fatal Progreflion of Crimes, against the conllitu
tional Authority of the State, have at length pro
ceeded to avowed Rebellion ; and the good Effects
which were expected to arise from the Patience and
Lenity of the King's Government, have been often
fruitrated, and are now rendered hopeless, by the
Influence of the fame evil Counsels ; it only remains
for those who are entrusted with supreme Rule, as
well for the Punilhment of the guilty, as the Pro
tection of the well-affected, to prove they do not
bear the Sword in vain.
The Infringements which have been committed
upon the molt sacred Rights of the Crown and Peo
ple of Great Britain, are too many to enumerate on
one Side, and are all too attrocious to be palliated
on the other. All unprejudiced People who have
been Witnesses of the late Tranlaftions, in this and
the neighbouring Provinces, will find upon a transi
ent Review, Marks of Premeditation and Conspiracy
that would juftify the Fulnefs of Chastisement: And
even those who are least acquainted with Fads, can
not fail to receive a just Impression of their Enormi
ty, in Proportion as they difeover the Arts and Assi
duity by which they have been falfified or conceal
ed. The Authors of the present unnatural Revolt
never daring to trust their Cause or their Actions, to
the Judgment of an impartial Public, or even to the
dispassionate Reflection of their Followers, have uni-'
formly placed their chief Confidence in the Suppres
sion ofTruth: And while indefatigable and shame
less Pains have been taken to obHruftevery Appeal
to the real Interest of the People of America ; the
groffi ft Forgeries, Calumnies and Absurdities that
ever insulted human Undei flanding, have been im
posed upon their Credulity. The Press, that dif-'
tinguifhed Appendage of public Liberty, and when
fairly and impartially employed its belt Support, has
been invariably prostituted to the most contrary Pur
poses; The animated Language of ancient and vir
tuous Times, calculated to vindicate and promote
the just Rights, and Inteieft of Mankind, have been
applied to countenance the most abandoned Viola
tion of those sacred Blessings ; and not only from
the flagitious Prints, but from the popular Har
rangues of the Times, M^n have been taught to de
pend upon Activity in Treason, for the Security of
their Persons, and Properties ; till to compleat the
horrid Profanation ofTerms, and of Ideas, the Name
of God, has been introduced in the Pulpits to ex
cite and juftify Devaluation and Massacre.
The Minds of Men having been thus gradually
prepared for the worst Extremities, a number of aim
ed Persons, to the Amount of many Thousands, af
fembied on the 19th of April last, and from behind
Walls, and linking Holes, attacked a Detachment
of the King's Troops who not expelling so confum-'
mate an A& of Phrenzy, unprepared for Vengeance,
and willing to decline it, made use of their arpas on
ly in their own defence. Since that Period the Re
bels, deriving Confidence from Impunity, have ad
ded Insult to Outrage ; have repeatedly fired upon
the King's Ships and Subjects, with Cannon and.
small Arms, have poffiffed the Reads, and other
Communications by which the Town of Befton was
supplied with Provisions; and with a prepollerou*
Parade of Military Arrangement, they affe& to hold
the Army besieged ; while Part of their Body make
daily and indiferiminate Invasions upon private Pro
perty, and with a Wantonness of Cruelty ever inci
dent to lawless Tumult, carry Depredation and Dis
tress wherever they turn their Steps. The Afiions
of the 19th of April are of such Notoriety, as must
baffle all Attempts to contradid them, and the
Flames of Buildings and other Property from the 1-
flands, and adjacent Country, for some Weeks pals,
fproad ^melancholy Confirmation of the subsequent
Assertions.