The Massachusetts spy, or, Thomas's Boston journal — Boston [Mass.], 1773-03-11 00:00:00, page 2

for **wboJ!jr depend* upon very d Hie rest prin*;
c'ples, and upon what ynu hope 1 do not mean
to introduce, viz. the feudal fyllem in us per*
(edion. if .hufuppon tails, the *is but little
cccili n so- me to iem*rlc upon the other pert*
of >i>ur intlfige and I (halt pals them over,
except such as may tend to make wrong i«-
prHft jns upon any unwnry readers.
You canno conceive “ why the King ha*
not tn« l»me right to alienate and difpfTe of
ct urt. irs acquired by the discovery of hia fub
je.‘(» j* he has to rcftore upon a treaty of peace
counti its acqui ed in war carried on at the
charge of the nation,or to fell and deliver up a
ny part of hi* dominions againlt the general,
sense cf the cadcn.’* I will venture to conjec
tures re fan. By the Eng ilh constitution the
foie power of mikrag wn and peace ia in the
Kir g It often happens that the retiming and
ceding atquifiicns made in war is absolutely
neerffary to the re-eftabiifhment of peace, and
if the King was rellraii.ed from such reftorationa
or ccilims. no onfucctfsful w«r might be perpe
tua.ea to the deft-udron of the kingdom. Thia
po-'er thertfoie seems occtfTtrily to result from
this prerogative of the crown. And for feHing
any part of the dominion* afainft the general
fade of ihe nation 1 never fuppt fed it to be a
part of the prerogative, but have called it an
ad of p.wer, by which I thought no candid rea
der would uoucrlUnd any thing but mar
power. • *
Your attempt to shew that new difeo
vered countries do not become part of the
ft*te, from the autbori y of Puffendorf, ire.
vv.ll fail, bccrufe the intlance given by him of
a colony erefttd imo a leper ate common wealth
plainly appears by the context to be by the
leave or confem of the parent llate, and itdo.s
nut appear th»t ti.e other cases were not so.
Your remarks upon the authority I bring to
shew that the colony, being feudatory, is un
der the government of the King's laws, is very
fir gular. You fuppoie it mult mean the King’s
laws ebiolately, or as you explain i; f not the
laws of parliament. D • any of you remember
ever to rave feeo ii.ecxprtfli;r,the Kind's Uvu,
meeting tne King of England,uied in any other
lenfe than tbe laws oj tot rte.m t You fay I have
not named the authority. The case I refer, to
is the King agailt Crowle, in the xd voi. Bur
row s reports, and, for the authority which
you will find mtntioned .here, I am not able to
name « greater.
I would pa ft over in ftlenc: your attempt to
(hew that aiicgi«nce i» due to the oaturai per*
(on and not to the b -dy politick of the Kiog. if
I had u t been well informed that the artificial
reafotiirg of Lord Chief j uftice Coke upon t£e
dodtrii.e of al.egunce, iu the noted case of Cal
vin. as you have recited it. had great weight
with fme of r e mem be; a of the house. But
have you recited this case truly f After all
the refinement* on this fobjsft doca it appear
that they can amount to any thing more than
./hat al egiaoce is not due to the politic capaci*
x n/y ( And ia it not exprefaly said that the
,i pe.fon cf the King, ia ever accompani
ed wi*h the politick capacity, and the politick
•übC ty A* •* we,e *P°*’op r >a re;l ‘he natural
f' t y fOr have you any clear idea of allrgi
cap- ~ King in his natural capacity without
once k t(J K is political capacity / From
anyrelat. . mi f u odsrltood you infer that 1
this author. j up ., u 'fmg your allegiance to be
am milt-ikcu . E ngland. Without any
due to the c own th(k - it waa one conditi
. refinememi, it is P>- wht re of the firft char
on, on the performaoc Jhould be borne
te. depended, ‘hat allegu refers. Wher*
to King paries hi* heir» t , o wn /hall
#ver the efore the fucceflion o condi
go there allegtance ia to follow
ftoe in the second charter .. the fame . £
is enough for ray purpose. which wa. V It. »
that in whatever person the regal
/hall b-, 'here your allegtaice ia due. * w . I
you had omit ei a 1 you have Ltd upon cuts'|
Vurjea. fo' neither the reifontng of Lord Coke
iKr the declaration of the Judges, in any m:a
fuie tend to the purpose tor which you pro
duce them . , .
Your assertion that parhararnt m regulating
the filhery t»«d nothing in view but to prevent a
(noKOpOtyof thefea, »nd claimed no authority
over the ptsi.tations or lands in America, ha*
only your own authority to fjpport it. ic ap
pears from he debates u» parliament, thu it
• the icfulal of the patentees to fuller fifh to
be d ied upon the land within their patent, by
any pe son who hid not licence from them,
this w*s complained of as a grievance, and the
hill was btough: ia to remove this grievance ;
Th: King might very wel refofe his tffent,, not
becaofe parliament had no jur.fdiaon, but fcw
caufe be did not tbii k fit to join with the Lords
apd Commons in an est whtch invs idstedcra
bridged, those p ivileges in a patent of lands,
winch by his royal prerogative he hid a right
to graot.
1 will mike no particular remarks upon those
parts of r.our null" ge which relate to the fenle
the ne pie have lud of their conftituuou, as
there can be no end to dilutes upon Lt.s, which
by f.ti*H devta ions bom the true lUte of
th m mry be made to serve one Hue or the
01 //is evident that the lift feitlers of this colo
ny left Eng and with a juH sense of thetr dr
pe dame — hat this f;nle conti utd until tee
princ’ple* of toarchf in Englirid tpre.xl « A
merica, and it is concededuhat these principles
were svowvd br many ol the inhabitant* here
toi near twenty yesrs after they were exploded
ia E-gliad. It »• «<l u * II J «•»*■*■» * ****
MONDAY, March 8.
BOSTON.
In COUNCIL, Mjl'cH 5, 1773.
Ordered , that the ftllowWg oddrtfi be ptf
ft hi id te hii Excellency the 6 over nor.— —
“ May it please yeur Excellency,
i< IN your tneflage to both of the
23d o. f February last, you were pb*afed to
mention J*OU had accquainted the Honl* of
Reprefentat.’ves with the information you
had received, that his Majesty had be.cn
pleased to allow .Glaries to the Justices of tht’
Superior Court so long as they (hall reGde
in the province, or be absent with his Ma
jerty’s leave—which falariesyour Excellency
tells us you have ** n.*> doubt were intended
to commerce before the firft of January last.”
We humbly apprehend we should be
guilty of an unpardonable negledf, if, on this
occafioo,we omitted freely expteffing to your
Excellency our sentiments, tefpeftmg the
proviftoti we have the utmost reatfon to fear
is made for the support of the justices of that
court, independent of the grants of the gene
ral aflembly of this province, in consequence
of the order of his Majesty for that purpose.
* « We conftder the full power and au
thority granted by rhe royal charter, to the
General Couit, to levy taxes for the support
of the government of this province, as ne
ceilhrtiy and constitutionally including tbe
right of supporting ■ those justices, and all
ocher officers of the government who are
eutitled to salaries from the public : Arul we
are constrained to fay that such fwovifton
for the .fuppoit of the said J uftice* as your
Excellency’s meftage leads us to conceive
,is intended shortly to take place, as it ren-
time of the ♦V'o’uiton tbeprople returned to a
juts (rnfe of the iupremacy of psilLment, and 1
think l rasy very falely fay ihat the »-Jde*t per
son ia the province hat never hra d this supre
macy Called in qucUion until w thin a few years
paiL
You again express yoor concern shat I Ihould
thus repeatedly infill upon your giving ycur free
fen .intents on so delicate* fubjed aa the autho
rity of parliament. In (he beginning of your
m\(Tigi you vindicate the town of Holton and
the other towna in the province which Have
met together and determined ufon the fame fub
jed, and made their proceedings matter of re
cord and published them in news papers; and
yet in the close of it yon ass. rt that the fubjed
ia too delicate and of too gieat importance for
you toconfider. Certainly then it must have
been extremely irregular in the towns to wke
upon them fcperately to determine points which
they had no authority to determine and in thia
way to ii ftueuce if not determine the alls and
doings of their represen tatives in General AT
fembly, who cannot have the Time fretd m of
thinking and afting, after their conllituents
have determined and rtfolved as they had
before.
G tmiltmtn of tbe Cotenril ,
and HtU/t ts Rtpte/ifttati'ufr,
I am sensible that nice dillindiona of civil
rights and legal conllitutions are far above the
reach of the bulk of mankind to compre
hend. There are however, a few p'ain fun
damental principles of government which
carry within themfelvea such evidence as
cannot be refilled, and are no fooncr propo
: fed than aflented to—such as thefc—-That
j in every government there must be fume
where a supreme uncontroulable power, an
absolute auihoi ty to decide and determine.
That two such powers cannot coexist, but
necefl'arily will make two diftind dates.
That in a state of society we give up patt of
our natural liberty in order to secure that )e
---j gal freedom which it is the great end of go
i vernment to maintain and preserve.—-That
I a right in individuals or parts of a government
| to judge of the decisions of the fupteme au
| thoriiy and to submit or not submit aa they
i think proper, cannot conftft with a state of
government and must work the diftblution of
it. W hiift these principles had their due in
fluence we enjoyed all that freedom and all
those other bldfings which a state of govern
ment will admit of. Our connexion with
our parent state secured these bleftings to us,
and by means of a nominal dependance we
poflefied as great a (hare of real freydjm as
the parent state itfeif upon whic/ mc are
said to depend. w
I have laid before you, gentlemetvwhiL
appeared to me to be the true constitution of
the province, and recommended an adher
ence to it bccaufe I believed it would restore
us to and continue us in that happy state in
which we fburilhed so long a course of
years.
Certainly it is of the utmost importance
to you that these points should be fettled, for I
I know of no maxim in the law of greater
truth than this, Where tbt conjluution is!
contefedand tbs laws are‘vague and uncertain ,
tbtre will bt tht greatejl Jluvery.
f. HU TCHINSON.
Council Chamber , bth ts March, 1773.
TUESDAY, March 9.
ft O.s TON.
Friday last being the anniversary of the
sth of March, when, agreeable to a vote
of the town a meeting was called, at which
the committee appointed last year for that
purpose, reported that they had engaged
Dr. Benjamin Church, to deliver an O
RATION, on the dangerous tendency of
standing armies being placed in free and
populous cities, and to perpetuate the me
mory of the horrid maftacre perpetrated on
the evening of the sth of March, 1770.—
The oration was accordingly delivered at
the Old South meeting, where the people
crowded in such numbers, that it was with
difficulty the Orator reached the pulpit,
which was coveted with black cloth T he
Oration took up about half an hour, and was
received with univcrfal applaufip : And his
fellow citizens unanimously voted him their
thanks, and requested a copy of his oration
for the press.—At night a fc!e£l number of
£lhe friends of constitutional liberty, met at
Mrs. Ciapham’s in King-ftreet,and exhibit
■yU on the balcony a lanthorn of transparent
paintings, having in front a lively represen
tation of the bloody mafficre which was
perpettated near that spot on.the sth of
March 1770, over their heads was infeitbed,
the fatal ffieCti ts a Jlanding army being ptjled
in a fret city. On the right, America fitting
in a mourning posture, looking down on the
(fpe&ators, with this labe’, Behold my Sent. On
the lefr, a monument, sacred to the memory of
Mcflrs. Samuel Gray,
Samuel Maverick,
James Caldwell,
Patrick Carr, and
Crispus Attacks,
b itlntfouiifmjbrdercd by a party
tnf*SS|lh .jtg’iuMfnt, on the sth of
At a nke, the time of the
evening whcnqwy|fof A deed was ailed,
the and ot the
Wnare deftr-dto inform the public, that
the Superior Court which was by law to be
held at CharJeftown in and for the County
of Middiefex, the second Tuesday of April
next, is by order of the General Court to be
held there (for this year) on the firft Tues
day of the fame month.
American 'lnk-Powder,
Experienced and found to be equal, if not
superior to any imported.
/ T'HE excellent qualities of this
A Powder are, that it make* tbe bell buck
writing-ink and ia very convenient for gentle
men, merchants, attornies and others that travel,
it being nut cumbnrfome nod liable to those
mifchanccs that other ink i*. The ink may be
I made in large or frnall quaoti ies, as is m ilt
convenient. At f eexing is pjejudicisl to ink,
wbca the whether is cJJ thi' may be ma-e *
with a little brandy or other fpint. rot I able to
freeze. One quality peculiar to this ink i*
that though the writing be exposed to extreme
tvet, it altera not. but wil’ remain ai long aa the
paper endures. decayeth not by
keeping. Note, the above p wder has an in
gredient in it that preven.s ink from becoming
thick and mouldy.
Any person by applying to ANN NOR
TON, nearly oppofiteihe PoR-cflice in B’fton,
or S AMUEL. NORTON, the maker in Hins
ham, may be (applied with any qusrt ty of (aid
powder, as low by the gtofs, as c«n be import
ed, and the (mailed (avour ia thia way will be
mod g-atehdly received, - -
dera them altogether dependant on the
Crown, will white the tenor of their com
millions continues the fame as at present,
have a tendency to produce confluences
the most fatal to his Mjjefty's fubjeds of
this province. 1
** As the happiness of a community so
much depends on an impartial adminftiation
of justice, this board cannot but be deeply
affeded with the thought, that by this in
novation in government, a foundation may
be laid for rendering the rights, lioerties and
properties of this people, in many refpeds,
precarious and in secure.
“ Our most gracious sovereign we regard
as the tender father of his people, however
distant from his illustrious pet son ; while
therefore we can by no meant attribute this
measure to a difpofttion in him to dimintfh
the felicity of his faithful fubjeds of this pro
vince, wft still entertain a degree of hope
that the warrant’s for the payment of such
salaries to tjjie justices may not have been
iffiied. But although we (houid soon receive
such difagreeablc intelligence —difsgreeable
not only to this board, but to the whole
body of the people, we (hall nevertheless
firmly depend an the benignity of his royal
mind for relief, under this and every other
grievance.
DIED.] M.s. Sarah Blanch '*d, widow of
:he late Mr. J.»fl ua ft anebard, &'*ck'syer.
—At Roxbun, Mr. riuiipbcarics, B#v
— What is remaikable ic this good oio uv,
he never was ten miles from the place wlic.%
he firft drew his breath.
’wTd'n E k S D A Mat** 10. J
BOSTON.
On Friday last the House of Representa
tives ordered the following meftage to b«
presented to the Governor, by Capr. Heath,
Mr. Hancock, Mr* Ellis, Col. Gilbert and
Capt. Greenleaf, viz.
** May it please your Excellency ,
“ IN your mtflage of the nineteenth of
January, your Excellency was pleased to ac*
quaint the House of Reptefentaiives, that the
reputation which a company of the traia
under the command of Major Paddock, in
Colonel Erving’s regiment, had very justly
acquired,had encouraged your Excellency to
form several other like companies inihe reej
menti near the sea j and recommended tw i
the house to make such provifii.n for luck
companies, as his Majesty’s service and the
in ter est of the province should requite. lit
consequence of your Excellency’s meflage
the two houses pafied a bill for the betier
regulating of the militia,’‘in which among
other things, p.ovifion is made for providing
such companies with cannon and gun houf*
es; which bill the house cannor but slitter
themselves, will obtain your Excellency’* as
sent. he heufe still d;fpofed to promote
and encourage a military spirit, so eflcntfe! to
his Majesty’s feivice in the fafety of this i
province, (being apprehensive that the uni- I
forming and arming of such companies will |
be attended with confiderabie expence to !
the privates) take the liberty to address your j
Excellency, and to deftre that you would be
pleased to give order,that such Arti lery com- ;
panies as your Excellency shall think fit to
raise, may be furnifhed with so many of the
province arn:s, on condition that the officeri
of such companies become accountable that
said arms (hall be kept in good order at all
times, and to return them when called for by
the Captain General.
His Excellency’s ANSWER.
“ jfLL the miltitary fares under my cart
art properly the King't /lores , and le be applied!
for his service in the protection and defence of
the province as the Captain GeneralJfsall think
proper or as hit Majofly shall think ft (f
direct.
1 have not in my pojfejjitn a greater number
of frnall arms than may bt necejjary for hit
Majejlyt service. IVbil/l they art there un
der the immediate charge as the fort-keeper , t
know that they are are always kept in good or-,
dtr and fit for service. If delivered out and
left in the hands of the officers of the /
Jhall be uncertain what condition they ore in.
For these rtojtns / mujl define complying with
your dtfirt.
T. HUTCHINSON.
Province-House, sth, March , 1773.
THURSDAY, March 11.
BOSTON.
AT a meeting of the freeholders and o
ther inhabitants of this town at Faneuil hall,
on Monday last, the Hon. JOHN HAN
COCK, Esq; was unanimously chosen Mo
derator j and the following TOWN OF
FICERS for the year enfumg, viz, , ,
Town-CUrk. Mr. William Gtfopef.*
StleC? Men. John Scoliay, Esq; Hon*
John Hancock, Esq DcaconTimothy New
all, Thomas Mar shall, Esq; Mr. Samuel
Austin, Mr. Oliver Wendell, and Mr, John
Pitta.
Town Trtafurer. Mr. David JetFriei.
Overfters of the Poor . John Barret, Esq;
William Phillips, Mr. Benjamin Do 1-
beare, Mr. William Whitwell, Mr. William
Greenleaf,William White, Esq; John Leve
ret!, Esq; John Gore, Esq; Capt. Samuel*
Partridge, Mr. Samuel Whitwell, Mr. Sa
muel Abbot, and Mr. Daniel Waldo.
Forewords. John Scoilay, Eiq; Newman
Greencugh, Esq; Mr. William Cooper, Mr.-
John Mico Wendell, Thomas Marflull,
Eq; Mr. Joseph Tyler, Major Adino Pad
dock, Mr. James Richardfoo, Capt. Benja
min Waldo, Hon. John Hancock, Esq; Mr.
Samuel Adams, Captain Martin Gay, Mr.
Alexander Hill, Francis Shaw, Eft]; Capt.
Job Prince, and Capt. Edward Prc&or..
Wardens. Mr. Edward Payne, Ezekiel
Cheevers,' Esq; Mr. Samuel Hewes, Mr.
John Copely, ArnoldWel!s,Efq; Mr. James
Twing, Mr. Nathaniel Cary, Cape. Caleb
Hopkins, CaDt. Edward Prodtor, Mr.Gib
bins Sharp, Mr. Peter Boyer, and Capt. Be
njamin Cobb. .j
Committee for pttrchaftng Grain. Joseph
Jackfan, Esq; John Lcvereit, E‘q; and Mr,
John SwctUcr, j'jiw