The Massachusetts spy, or, Thomas's Boston journal. [volume] (Boston [Mass.]) 1772-1775, 1773-03-25

!; Their town, had certainly an ur con!rovesti.
be fieh. to meet together, either in the
mannS the law has p'eicrbed, or in any
other orderly manner, jointly TO confult the
necefary means, Of their own preIervation
and fafety. The petitioners wiely chole
the rule of The Proyince law, by applying to
the Sclecimcn for meeting and they, as
it was their duty to do, followed the fame
fule and called meeting accordingly. We
are therefore not little iurprizcd, that his
Excellency, fpeaking of this and other prin-
cipal towns, ihou!d defend to fuch an art
full ufe of words that " number ofinhab-
tants have aiiembled together, and having
aDamsd the nai.le Of a kgai town meeting,"
&C. Thereby appearing to have deGgu,
to lead an inattentive reader to believe, that
no regard was had to the laws of the pro.
vince, in calling theie meetings, and confe-
quently to conGder them as illegal and dior
DERBY.
/" The inhabitants being met, and for
the purpofe aforelaid, the points determined,
hisExcellency fays, T" were fuch as the law
gives the inhabitants of towns in their corpo-
rate capacity no power to ACT upon" II would
be fuficient publication of the town to fay,
that no law forbidt the inhabitants of towns
in their corporate cspacity,to determine fuch
points as were then determined. And ifthere
was no pofitive legal reRraint upon their
conduct it was doing them an eflential inju-
~, TO repreient it to the world as illegal.
Where the law makes no fpecial proyifion
for the common fafety, the people have a
right to conlult their own preiervation and
the neceilary means to wihRand moft
dangerous attack of arbitrary power.
AT fuch time, il is but pitful objec-
ton to their thus doing, that the lay has not
expressly given them power to a6t upon
iuch points. This is the very language of
tyranny And when luch objections are Of
fered, to prevent the peoples meeting toge-
therin time of public danger, it affords of
itielf juit grounds of jealouiy, that plan is
laid for their flavery.
he town entered upon an enquiry
into the grounds of report, in which the
common faiety was very greatly jafEsltodS
They made their application 70 9be CO. I
vernon, fflocO citizen as well asthe 6IG
maglltrate of the province: But sheE w. e
informed by his Excellency, that T" il was
BY no means proper for him" SC to acquaint
them whether he had or had not received
any advices relating to the public affairs of
the government of the province" Their
next determination was, to petition the GO
vernon, that the General AfIembly might be
allowed to meet at the time to which It then
food prorogued: But his ExceIlency refuf.
ed to grant this requef, left il fhould be
" encouraging the inhabitants of other towns
to ahemble," I" to confder of the necsfli,y
or expediency of felton, of the General
Ahembly." Hitherto the town had deter
mined upon no point but only that Of petit
tloning the Governor: And will his Ex-
cellency or any one ellie affirm, thar the in-
habitants of this or any other town, have
not right in their corparate capacity to
petition for fefiion of the General AGem-
bly,, merely becauGe the law of this pro
vince, that authorizes towns to aacmble,
does not expressly make that the buineis of
town meetingi Its the declaration of the
Bill of Rights, founded in reafon, that it
is the right of the fubjees to petition the
King: But it is apparent in his Excellency's
anlwer. that the inhabitants of this town
were in efea, denied, in one inRance at
leaf, the right Of petitioning his MajeRy's
Representative. Which was the more griev.
Gus to them, becaufe the prayer of their petit
ton was nothing more, than thar the &C.
neral Ahenbly might have the opportunity
of enqu;ring of the Governor into the grounds
of the report of an intolerable grievance,
which bis Excellency had before Arongly
:o,;r,a,eA eo then, iP uae nne In HE or.,a.