The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1775-07-17 00:00:00, page 1

QA Genuine Copy of General LEE's Letter to Ge
^ neral BURGOYNE, upon his arrival in Bolton.
[General Lee served in Portugal under General
'Burgoyne last War.]
'Philadelphia, fune ^th, 1775.
Mx Dea<Sir,
have had twenty different accounts of your
/V, arrival at Bolton, which have been regular
fly contradicted the next morning; but as 1 now
/ find it certain that you are arrived, I shall not de
/ lay a single instant addressing myfelfto you. Itis a
duty I owe to the friendship 1 have long and sincere
ly profeffed for you; a friendfhip to which you
have the strongest claims from the firft moments of
our acquaintance. There is no man from whom I
have received so many testimonies of esteem and af
fection ; t^ere is no man whose esteem and affection,
could in myopinion have done me greater honour.
I entreat and conjure you therefore, my dear Sir, to
impute these linesnot to a petulent itchof fcribhng,
but to the molt unfeigned solicitude for the future
tranquility of your mind, and for your reputation.
I sincerely lament the infatuation of the times,when
men of such a stamp as Mr. Burgoyne and Mr.
Howe can be seduced into so impious and nefari
ous service by the artifice of a wicked and insidious
court and cabinet. You, Sir, mud be sensible that
these epithets are not unjuLy severe. You have
yourfelf experienced the wickedness and treachery
of this court and cabinet. You cannot but recollect
their manoeuvres in your own feleft committee, and
the treatment your^lf as president received from
these abandoned men. You cannot but recolleft
the black business of St. Vincents, by an opposition
. to which you acquired the highest and molt deserv
ed- honour. I Shall not trouble you with my opini
on of the right of taxing America without her own
confent,as I am afraid,from what I have seen of your
Speeches, that you have already formed your creed
upon this article ; but I will boldly affirm, had this
right been eftabliffied by a thousand llatutes, had
America admitted it from time immemorial, it
would be the duty of every good Englilhman to
exert his utmost to divest Parliament of this right, as
it must inevitably work the subversion of the whole
empire. The malady under which the state labours
is indisputably derived from the inadequate repre
sentation of the fubjed, and the valt pecuniary in
fluence And incompetency of representation, is to
infers and precipitate our deftrudlion. To wilh
any addition can scarcely enter the heart of a citizen
who has the lead spark of public virtue, and who is
at the fame time capable of feeing consequences the
most immediate. I appeal, Sir, to your own con
science, to your experience and knowledge of our
court and our pailTment; and I request you to lay
your hand upon your heart, and then answer with
your usual integrity and fianknefs, whether, on the
supposition America should be abjeX enough tp sub
mit to the terms imposed, you think a single guinea
raised upon her would be applied to the purpose (as
itis often tatiotifly held out to deceive the people at
home) of easing the mother country ? Or whether
you are not convinced that the whole they could ex
tract would be applied solely to heap up kill further
the enormous fund for corruption which the crowri
already possesses, and of which a most diabolical use
is made. On these principles I fay, Sir, every good
Englilhman, abftrafted of all regard for America,
must oppose her being taxed by the British Parlia
ment ; for my own part I am convinced that no ar
gument (not totally abhorrent from the spirit ofli
berty and the Britifn confutation) can be produced
in support of this right. But it would be imperti
nent to trouble you upon a fubjed which has been
so amply, and, in my opinion, so fully difeuffed. 1
find by a speech given as year's in the public pa
pers, that it was by the King's positive command
you embarked in this service. 1 am somewhat pleaf
cd that it is not an office of your own seeking, tho",
at the fame time, I muff confcis it is very alarming
to every virtuous citizen, when he fees men of sense
and integrity, (because of a certain profeftion) lay it
down as a rule implicitly th obey the mandates of a
^urt be they ever so flagitious. It furnifhes, in
MONDAY, July 173'1775;
CONNECT) CUT
^^/
1 A N) , /
^iw,^^ K wraL
^Containing the Freiheit ADVICES,
my opinion, the bed arguments for the tstal reduc
tion of the army. But lam running into a tedious
eflay, whereas I ought to confine myfelf to the main
design & purpose of this letter,which is to guard you
and your colleagues from those prejudices which the
fame mifereants, who have ipfatuatedGeneralGdge,
and hill forround him, will labour to inliil into
you against a brave, loyal, and most deserving peo
ple. The avenues of truth will be shut up to you.
I assert, Sir, that even General Gage will deceive
you as he has deceived himfclf: I do not fay he will
do so designedly. I <|o not think him capable;
buthis mind is so totally poisoned, and his under
handing so totally blinded by the society of fools
and knaves, that he no longer is capable ofdifeern
ing fads as manifeft as the noon day fun. I assert,
Sir, that he is ignorant, that he has from the begin
ing been confumately ignorant of the principles,
temper, disposition, and force of the colonies. I
assert, Sir, that his letters to the ministry, at least
such as the public have feen,are one continued tissue
of misrepresentation, injustice, and tortured infer
ences from mis-stated fads. I affirm, Sir, that he
has taken no pains to inform himfelf of the truth ;
that he has never conversed with a man who has had
the courage or honesty to tell him the truth.
lam apprehensive that you and your colleagues
may fall into the fame trap, and it is the apprehen
sion that you may be. considerately hurried by the
vigour and activity you possess, into measures which
may be fatal to many innocent individuals, may
hereafter wound your own feelings, and which can
not possibly serve the cause of those who sent you,
that has prompted me to address these lines to you.
---Imoll devoutly wilh, that your industry, valour,
and military talents, may be r efeived for a more
honourable and virtuous service against the natural
enemies of your country (to whom our court arc so
basely complacent) and not be wafted in ineffectual
attempts to reduce to the wretchedest state of servi
tude, the molt meritorious part of your fellow-fub
jeds, I fay, Sir, that any attempts to accomplish
this'purpofe must be ineffectual. You cannot possibly
succeed. No man is better acquainted with the state
of this continent than myfelf. I have ran through
almost the whole colonies, from the north to the
south, and from the south to the north. I have
convei fed with all orders of men, from the firft esta
ted gentlemen to the lowed planters and farmers, &
can assure you that the fume spirit animates the
whole. Not less than a hundred and fifty thousand
gentlemen, yeomen and farmers, are now in arms,
determined to preserve their liberties or perish. As
to the idea that the Americans are deficient in cou
rage, itis too ridiculous and glaringly falfe to de
serve a serious refutation. I never could conceive
upon what this notion was founded. I served seve
ral campaigns in America last war, and cannot re
collect a single instance of ill behaviour in the pro
vincials, where the regulars acquitted themselves
well. Indeed we well remember some inßances of
the reverse, particularly where the late Col. Grant,
(he who lately pledged himfelf for the general cow
ardice of America) ran away with a large body of
his own regiment, and was saved from deftrudion
by the valour of a few Virginians. Such preposter
ous arguments rre only proper for the Rigby's and
Sandwich's, from whose mouths never issued, and
to whose breast, truth and decency are utter Gran
gers. You will much oblidge me in communicating
this letter to General Howe, to whom I could wilh
it would be in some measure addressed, as well as to
yourfelf. Mr. Howe is a man for whom I have e
ver had the^higheft love& reverence. I have honour
ed him for his own connexions, butabove all for his
admirable talents and good qualities. I have court
ed his acquaintance and friendship, not only as a
pleasure, but as an ornament: I flattered myfelf
that I bad obtained it. Gracious God! is it possi
ble that Mr. Howe fliould be prevailed upon to ac
cept of such an office ! The brother of him, to whose
memory the injured people of Bolton eroded
a monument, should be employed as one of the in
struments of their deftruXiori ! But the falhion of
the tithes it fecths is such, as tenders it impossible
W/, run
jK^^ I^^^!
CAWW WS&OU
^^^
both FOREIGN and DOMESTIC.
Moderator.
THE Moderator informed the town that the
present meeting was in corifequence of an in
terview between his Excellency General Gage and
the Selectmen, at his desire, and mentioned the sub,
fiance of the conversation that pafs'd ; and also that
the Selectmen, with the advice and assistance of a
number of gentlemen had prepared several votes,
whicu they thought it might be proper for the town
to pass.---And which, in conjunction with the as
surances that had been given to his Excellency by
the Selectmen, they apprehend from the interview
aforefaid, would be fatisfaXory to his Excellency—
Whereupon, ,
The Hon. James Bowdbin, Esq; Ezekiel Goldth
wait, Esq; Mr. Henderson Inches, Mr. Edward
Paine, Mr. Alexander Hill, together with the Se
lectmen, viz. John Scollay, Esq; Mr. Timothy
Newell, Mr. Samuel Austin, Thomas Marlhall,Efq;
and Mr. John Pitts, were appointed a Committee
to confider cf this important matter, and were de
sired to report as Son as may be.
The said Committee made report, and after some
debate, the two following votes passed unanimously,
viz.
[NUMBER. 551.]
COURA N T,
HARTFORD
Intelligencer.
that he should avoid it. The commands of ou'
molt gracious Sovereign, are to cancel all moral ob
ligations, to fanclify every action, even those that
the Satarp of an eastern despot would flart at. I
fnall now beg leave to fay a few words with refpeX
to myfelf and the part I aft. I was bred up from
my infancy in the highest veneration for the liberties
of mankind in general. What I have seen of courts
and Princes convinces me, that, power cannot be
lodged in worse hands than in theirs; and of all
courtslam purfuaded that ours is the moll corrupt
and hoflile to the rights of humanity, lam con
vinced that a regular plan has been laid (indeed e
very a& since the present accession, evinces it) to a
bolish even the Ihadow of liberty from amongst us.
It was not the demolition of the tea, it was not any
other particular act of the Bostonians, or of the other
provinces which constituted their crimes, Butit is
the noble spirit of liberty manifeftly pervading the/
whole continent, which has rendered them the ob
jects of ministerial and royal vengeance. Had they
been netorioufly of another disposition, had they
been homines ad JerDitudinem paratos, they might have
made as fiee with the property of the Eatl-India
company as the felonious North himfelf with impu
nity. # But the Lords ofSt. James's and their mer
cenaries of St. Stephen's well know, that as long as
the free spirit of this great continent remains unsub
dued, the progress they,can make in there scheme of
universal despotism, will be but trifling. Hence it #
is they wage inexpiable war against America. In
short this is the last affylum of persecuted liberty.
Here should the machinations and fury of her ene
mies prevail ; that bright geddefs mult fly eff from
the face of the earth, and leave not a trace behind!
These, Sir, are my principles; this is my persuasion,
& con fequentiallyl am determined toa&.lhavenow,
Sir, only to intreat that whatever measures you pur
sue,whether those which your real friends (myfelfa
mong them) would wish or unfortunately those which
our accursed mifrulers shall dilate, you will believe
me to be personally, with the greatest sincerity and
affection, Your's. &c.
W aTERTO W N, June 26.
Having obtained an authenticated cop, of the agreement
between General Gage and the ‘To^n ojßofon, where
'" he Jolemnl, engages that the inhabitants ^ that an
happy town Jhouid have liberty to dtpart from the farces
with their families and efePts, upon their placing their
arms under the care of the heledimen, we preJ&t it ^
the public---How far he has complied with his engage
ment, we leave to the decifan of the impartial world.,
Bolton, ff. At a meeting of the freeholders and
other inhabitants of the town of Boston, legally
warned, on Saturday the 22d day of April, A.D.
'77fr
The Hon. JAMES BOWDOIN, Esq; was clioferi
His Excellency General Gage in an interview
[See the last Page.)
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