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Chapter 38:
The
King and the British Parliament against the
Town of Boston.—Hillsborough's Administration of the Colo-
Nies continued.
October—December, 1768.
Spain valued
Louisiana as a screen for
Mexico;
Chap. XXXVIII.} 1768. Oct. |
and
England, in her turn, held the
valley of the Mississippi from jealousy of
France, not to colonize it. To the great joy of
Spain,
1 and in conformity to a policy,
2 against which the advice
3 of
Shelburne could not prevail, every idea of settling the country was opposed; and every post between
Mobile and Fort Chartres was abandoned;
John Finley, a backwoodsman of
North Carolina, who this year passed through
Kentucky,
4 found not one white man's cabin in all the enchanting wilderness.
Gage would have even given up Fort Chartres, and as a consequence the intermediate
Pittsburg.
5
It was
Hillsborough's purpose to prevent colonization,
6 and to hold the territory through the
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Oct. |
friendship of the savages.
But this design was obstructed by the actual settlements in
Illinois and on the
Wabash; the roving disposition of the
Americans; and the avarice of British officers who coveted profit from concessions of lands.
In this conflict of interests, the office of the Colonial
Secretary was swayed by wavering opinions,
7 producing only inconclusive correspondence, references, and reports on the questions, how to regulate trade with the Indians; how to ‘reform’ the excess in expenses; how to keep off settlers; how to restrain the cupidity of British Governors and agents.
The Spanish town of
Saint Louis, on the west of the
Mississippi, was fast rising into importance,
8 as the centre of the fur trade with the
Indian nations on the
Missouri; but the population of
Illinois had declined, and scarcely amounted to more than one thousand three hundred and fifty-eight, of whom rather more than three hundred were Africans.
Kaskaskias counted six hundred white persons, and three hundred and three negroes.
At Kahokia there were about three hundred persons; at Prairie
Du Rocher, one hundred and twenty-five; at
St. Philip fifteen; and not more at Fort Chartres,
9 which the floods of Spring
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were threatening to wear away.
10 To Hillsbo-
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Oct. |
rough's great alarm,
11 the adult men had been formed into military companies.
12 Vincennes, the only settlement in
Indiana, claimed to be within a year as old as
Detroit,
13 and had rapidly and surprisingly increased.
14 Its own population, consisting of two hundred and thirty-two white persons, ten negro and seventeen Indian slaves, was recruited by one hundred and sixty-eight ‘strangers.’
15 Detroit had now about six hundred souls.
16 All the western villages abounded in wheat, Indian corn, and swine; of beeves there was more than one to each human being; and more than one horse to every two, counting slaves and children.
The course of the rivers inclined the
French inhabitants of the
West, in disregard of the
British Navigation Acts, to send their furs to New Orleans;
17 or across the river by night to
St. Louis where they could be exchanged for French goods.
All English merchandise came burdened with the cost of land carriage from
Philadelphia to
Fort Pitt.
18 The British Navigation Acts spread their baleful influence over the western Prairies.
In November,
Wilkins, the new Commandant in
Illinois, following suggestions from
Gage, appointed seven
civil Judges to decide local controversies;
19 yet without abdicating his own overrul-
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Oct. |
ing authority.
20 This plan which could be but temporary, led the people under his rule themselves to refleet on the best forms of Government.
But
Wilkins was chiefly intent on enriching some
Philadelphia fur traders, who were notorious for their willingness to bribe;
21 he reported favorably of their zeal for British commerce,
22 and, in less than a year after his arrival, executed at their request inchoate grants of large tracts of land, of which one sixth part was reserved for himself.
The procedure contravened the explicit orders of Hillsborough, who wished to diminish, and, if possible, to extirpate the
Western Settlements, and extend an unbroken line of Indian frontier from
Georgia to
Canada, as an impassable barrier to emigration.
Repeated instructions
23 had been issued for the completion of this boundary; and they were imperatively renewed.
24 At the
South,
Stuart, who desired to fulfil his trust with fidelity, had already carried the line to the northern limit of
North Carolina, and was now to continue it from Chiswell's mine to the mouth of the
Kanawha.
In this manner all
Kentucky, as well as the entire Territory North West of the
Ohio, would
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be severed from the jurisdiction of
Virginia and con-
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Oct. |
firmed to the savages by solemn treaties.
This purpose was strenuously opposed by the Province which was to be curtailed.
From its ancient Charter, the discoveries of its people, the authorized grants of its Governors since 1746, the encouragement of its Legislature to settlers in 1752 and 1753, the promise of lands as Bounty to officers and soldiers who served in the
French war, the continued emigration of its inhabitants,—the
Ancient Dominion derived its title to occupy the Great West.
Carolina stopped at the line of 36° 30′; on the
North,
New-York could at most extend to
Lake Erie;
Maryland and
Pennsylvania were each limited by definitive boundaries.
None but
Virginia claimed the
valley of the Ohio.
But in spite of her objections
25 Stuart was not only ordered to complete the demarkation with the Indians, but he was expressly enjoined not to accept any new cession of territory from the Cherokees.
26
The honest Agent, without regarding the discontent of
Virginia, which, though notified,
27 declined cooperating with him, met the Chiefs of the
Upper and Lower Cherokees in Council at Hard Labor in
Western South Carolina; and on the fourteenth of October, concluded a treaty conforming to the instructions
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of the Board of Trade.
28 The
Cherokees ratified all
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Oct. |
their former grants of lands, and established as the western boundary of
Virginia, a straight line drawn from Chiswell's mine, on the
Eastern Bank of the
Great Kanawha, in a northerly course to the confluence of that river with the
Ohio.
29
To thwart the negotiation of
Stuart,
Virginia had appointed
Thomas Walker its
Commissioner to the
Congress held at
Fort Stanwix with the Six Nations.
Sir William Johnson, who, as the
Indian Agent for the Northern District, had the management of the business, was thoroughly versed in the methods of making profit by his office.
William Franklin of
New Jersey was present also, ready to assist in obtaining the largest cessions of lands, which might become the foundation for new provincial grants.
The number
30 of Indians present was but little short of three thousand.
Every art was used to conciliate the chiefs of the Six Nations; and gifts were lavished on them with unusual generosity.
They, in turn, complied with the solicitations of the several agents.
The line that was established began at the
North, where
Canada Creek joins
Wood Creek;
31 on leaving
New-York, it passed from the nearest fork of the
West Branch of the
Susquehannah to Kittaning on the
Alleghany, whence it followed that river and the
Ohio.
At the mouth of the
Kanawha, it met the line
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of
Stuart's treaty.
Had it stopped there, the
Indian
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
frontier would have been marked all the way from northern
New-York to
Florida.
But instead of following his instructions,
Sir William Johnson, pretending to recognise a right of the Six Nations to the largest part of
Kentucky, continued the line down the
Ohio to the
Tennessee River, which was this constituted the western boundary of
Virginia.
32
While the
Congress of
Fort Stanwix was in session, Botetourt, the new
Governor of
Virginia, arrived on the
James River, just in the delicious season of the
Fall of the
Leaf, when that region enjoys a clear but many-tinted sky, and a soft but invigorating air. Bringing a love of rural life, he was charmed with the scenes on which he entered; his house seemed admirable; the grounds around it, well planted and watered by beautiful rills.
Every thing was just as he could have wished.
33 Hospitality is the hereditary common law of
Virginia; the new Governor, who came up without state to an unprovided residence, was asked abroad every day; and being welcomed as a guest, gave pleasure and was pleased.
He thought nothing could be better than the present disposition of the Colony; and he augured well of every thing that was to happen.
Received with frankness, he dealt frankly with the people to whom he was deputed.
He did not flatter
Hillsborough that they would ever willingly submit to being taxed by the mother country; the reverse he
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said, was their creed; but he justified them by
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Oct. |
reporting the universal avowal of a most ardentdesire to assist upon every occasion, if they might do it as formerly in consequence of requisition.
34 Yet the laws were obeyed, and the duties complained of were collected in every part of the Colony, without a shadow of resistance.
He was persuaded that the new Assembly would come together in good humor,
35 which he was resolved not wantonly to disturb.
His letters to the Ministry, written with candor, required no concealment.
The Western Boundary was the engrossing subject, which invited the immediate attention of the new Governor.
Botetourt entered heartily into the wishes of
Virginia, and exerted all his influence, and even put in pledge his life and fortune,
36 to carry its jurisdiction to the
Tennessee River on the parallel of thirty-six and a half degrees.
‘This boundary,’ it was said, ‘will give some room to extend our settlements for ten or twelve years.’
37
While
Virginia was engaged in stretching its
dominion over the
West,
England began to think reconciliation with
Massachusetts hopeless, and to prepare for desolating war.
38 Such was the public temper, when news arrived that the troops had landed at
Boston without opposition, that the
Convention had dissolved, and that all thoughts of resistance were at an end. A very few perceived, that the power of moderation which the people of
Boston had displayed,
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was like the fortitude of veteran troops, who
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
wait unmoved by danger, till the word is given.
‘They act with highest wisdom and spirit,’ said
Thomas Hollis;
39 ‘they will extricate themselves with firmness and magnanimity.’
But most men ex pressed contempt for them, as having made a vain bluster.
The apparent success, of which the account reached
London just four days before the meeting of Parliament, was regarded as a victory.
Americans in
London were told with a sneer that they should soon have the company of
Otis and others.
40 No one doubted but that, on the arrival of the additional regiments sent from
Ireland, he and
Cushing, and sixteen other members of the late political assemblies, would be arrested.
41 Hillsborough hastened to send
Bernard's dispatches to the
Attorney and
Solicitor General, asking what crimes had been committed, and if the guilty were to be impeached by Parliament.
42
The
King, in his Speech
43 on the eighth of November, railed at ‘the spirit of faction breaking out afresh in some of the Colonies.’
‘
Boston,’ said he, ‘appears to be in a state of disobedience to all law and government, and has proceeded to measures subversive of the constitution, and attended with circumstances that might manifest a disposition to throw off its dependence on
Great Britain.
With your concurrence and support, I shall be able to defeat the mis chievous designs of those turbulent and seditious per
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sons, who, under false pretences, have but too success-
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
fully deluded numbers of my subjects in
America.’
In the House of Commons Lord Henly,
44 son of
Northington, in moving the Address, signalized the people of
Boston for their ‘defiance of all legal authority.’
‘I gave my vote to the revenue Act of
Charles Townshend,’ thus he was seconded by
Hans Stanley, ‘that we might test the obedience of the
Americans to the
Declaratory Law of 1766.
Troops have been drawn together in
America to enforce it, and have commenced the operation in
Boston.
Men so unsusceptible of all middle terms of accommodation, call loudly for our correction.
What, Sir, will become of this insolent town when we deprive its inhabitants of the power of sending out their rums and molasses to the coast of
Africa?
For they must be treated like aliens, as they have treated us upon this occasion.
The difficulties in governing
Massachusetts are insurmountable, unless its Charter and laws shall be so changed as to give to the
King the appointment of the Council, and to the Sheriffs the sole power of returning juries.’
Samuel Adams at
Boston, weighed well the meaning of these words,
45 uttered by an organ of the Ministry; but
England hardly noticed the presumptuous menace of a violation of chartered rights and the subversion of the independence of juries.
Edmund Burke poured out a torrent of invective against Camden, for the inconsistency of his former
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opposition to the
Declaratory Act with his present sup-
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
port of the plan of the Ministry.
‘My astonishment at the folly of his opinions,’ he said, ‘is lost in indignation at the baseness of his conduct.’
46 The order, he insisted, requiring the Massachusetts Assembly to rescind a vote under a penalty, was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional; and in this
Grenville agreed with him. ‘I wish the Stamp Act had never been passed,’ said
Barrington in reply; ‘but the
Americans are traitors; worse than traitors against the Crown; they are traitors against the Legislature.
The troops are to bring rioters to justice.’
Wedderburne, who at that moment belonged to himself and spoke in opposition to enhance his price, declaimed against governing by files of musketeers and terror; and he, too, condemned the Ministerial mandate as illegal.
47 ‘Though it were considered wiser,’ said
Rigby, ‘to alter the
American tax, than to continue it, I would not alter it, so long as the Colony of the
Massachusetts Bay continues in its present state.’
‘Let the nation return to its old good nature and its old good humor,’ were the words of
Alderman Beckford,
48 whom nobody minded, and who spoke more wisely than they all; ‘it were best to repeal the late act, and conciliate the Colonies by moderation and kindness.’
Lord North, the recognised leader of the Ministry and the Friend of the
King, made reply: ‘America must fear you, before she can love you. If
America
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is to be the judge, you may tax in no instance; you
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
may regulate in no instance.
Punishment will not be extended beyond the really guilty; and if rewards shall be found necessary, rewards shall be given.
But what we do, we will do firmly; we shall go through our plan, now that we have brought it so near success.
49 I am against repealing the last Act of Parliament, securing to us a revenue out of
America; I will never think of repealing it, until I see
America prostrate at my feet.’
50 The irrevocable words spoke the feeling of Parliament.
The Address was carried in the Commons without a division; the Peers seemed unanimous; and though some judged the conduct of the Ministry unwise, there were scarcely more than five or six in both Houses, who defended the
Americans from principle.
Every body expected ‘that
Boston would meet with chastisement.’
But now came the difficulty.
There were on the tenth of November more than four regiments in
Boston; what could be given them to do?
They had been sent over to bring ‘to justice’ those, whom
Barrington called ‘rioters,’ whom the
King had solemnly described as ‘turbulent and mischievous persons.’
But after long consideration,
De Grey and
Dunning, the
Attorney and
Solicitor General, joined in the opinion,
51 that the Statute of the Thirty-fifth of Henry the Eighth, was the only one by which criminals could be tried in
England for offences committed
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in
America; that its provisions extended only to trea-
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
sons; and that there was no sufficient ground to fix the charge of high treason upon any persons named in the papers laid before them.
The law in
England was more humane and just than the Colonial Office.
The troops found no rebellion at
Boston; could they make one?
They found a town of which the merchants refused to import goods of British manufacture, or to buy tea brought by way of
Great Britain.
How could armed men change this disposition?
Massachusetts would not even pay for their quarters, because they had not been quartered according to law; so that they were left to make a useless parade up and down the streets of
Boston at the cost of the
British Exchequer; sharpening the sullen discontent of the townsmen.
The employment of soldiery failed from the beginning.
‘No force on earth,’ wrote the
Governor of
New Jersey, ‘is sufficient to make the Assemblies acknowledge, by any act of theirs, that the Parliament has a right to impose taxes on
America.’
52
Each American Assembly, as it came together, denied that right, and embodied its denial in Petitions to the
King.
Yet the Ministry were pledged to enforce the absolute supremacy of the
British Legislature; the
King, therefore, instead of hearing the Petitions, disapproved and rejected them;
Virginia was soothingly reprimanded;
Pennsylvania, whose loyalty had but a fortnight before been confidently extolled by Hillsborough,
Rhode Island, whose reverence for the laws he had officially set
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forth,
Connecticut, which had combined loyalty
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
with love of its liberties,
Maryland, which acted strictly in conformity to law in refusing to be overawed by a
Secretary's letter,
53 received, as their answer, copies of the Addresses of the two Houses of Parliament, and assurances that the
King would not listen to ‘the views of wicked men,’ who questioned the supreme authority of that body.
While Hillsborough was setting his name to these papers,
Montagu, the
Governor of
South Carolina,
54 invited its Assembly to treat the letters of
Massachusetts and
Virginia ‘with the contempt they deserved;’ a committee, composed of
Parsons,
Gadsden,
Pinkney,
Lloyd,
Lynch,
Laurens,
Rutledge,
Elliott and Dart, reported them to be ‘founded upon undeniable, constitutional principles;’
55 and the
House, sitting with its doors locked, unanimously directed its Speaker to signify to both Provinces its entire approbation.
56 Provoked at what he had had no means to prevent, the
Governor, that same evening, dissolved the Assembly by beat of drum; while the general toast at
Charleston remained, ‘The unanimous twenty-six, who would not rescind from the
Massachusetts Circular.’
The Assembly of New-York was also in session, fully resolved to follow and to go beyond the common example;
57 and
Hillsborough, who expressed his confideuce
[
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that his letters and the
King's firmness would
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
bring back the misled colonists to a just sense of their duty,
58 only opened the way to a new complaint, that the
King would not even receive from the Colonies their Petitions.
Meantime as the refusal of
America to draw supplies from
England, was an invitation to other Powers
59 to devise the means of sharing her commerce, the three
60 Secretaries of State were called upon to issue orders to the ministers, consuls, and agents of the
British Government in the ports of
Europe,
Madeira and the
Azores, to watch the coming in of an American ship, or the sailing of any ship for the continent of
America.
The Navigation Acts of which the total repeal would only have increased the trade of the Colonies with their mother country, reduced
England to playing the humble and helpless part of a spy in the harbors of independent nations;
61 while the maritime powers of
Europe were eagerly watching the progress of the contest, and speculating on its conclusion.
‘Can the Ministry reduce the Colonies’ asked
Du Chatelet?
‘Of what avail is an army in so vast a country?
The
Americans have made these reflections, and they will not give way.’
62
‘To the menace of rigor’ replied
Choiseul, ‘they will never give way, except in appearance and for a time.
The fire will be but imperfectly extinguished,
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unless other means than those of force conciliate the
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
interests of the
Metropolis and its Colonies.
The
Americans will not lose out of their view their rights and their privileges; and next to fanaticism for religion, the fanaticism for liberty is the most daring in its measures and the most dangerous in its consequences.’
63
It was obvious that the simplest mode of taking part with the colonists would be by a commerce between the
French and Spanish Colonies and the
British Colonies on the continent of
North America; and on this subject
Choiseul sent to
Du Chatelet64 an elaborate digest of all the materials he had collected.
But the simple-hearted
King of
Spain, though he enjoyed the perplexity of
England, ‘because it created embarrassments to the natural enemy
65 of the two Crowns, and secured to
France and
Spain more time to prepare for contingent events,’ showed no disposition to interfere.
‘What a pity,’ resumed
Du Chatelet to
Choiseul, ‘that neither
Spain nor
France is in a condition to take advantage of so critical a conjuncture; and that we must regard it as a passive benefit.
The moment is not yet come; and precipitate measures on our part might reconcile the Colonies to the metropolis.
But if the quarrel goes on as far as it seems likely to do, a thousand opportunities cannot fail to offer of which decisive advantage may be taken.
The objects presented to you, to the
King, and to his Council, demand the most profound combinations, the most
[
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inviolable secrecy.
A plan which shall be applicable
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Nov. |
to every circumstance of change, should be concerted in advance with
Spain.’
66
At the same time
Du Chatelet gave the utmost attention to the subject of intercolonial commerce; and succeeded in obtaining the opinions of all the
American Agents, particularly of
Franklin.
And
Franklin, whom he described as ‘one of the most upright and enlightened men that ever came from that part of the world, one of the wisest and most sagacious that could be found in any country,’ agreed in the exact correctness of the memoir which had been prepared under the eye of
Choiseul.
67
The Agents had repeatedly but separately waited
on Lord Hillsborough.
On the sixth of December, he met them in a body, to communicate the result of a Cabinet Council. ‘Administration,’ said he, ‘will enforce the authority of the Legislature of
Great Britain over the Colonies in the most effectual manner, but with moderation and lenity.
68 All the Petitions we have received are very offensive, for they contain a denial of the authority of Parliament.
We have no fondness for the acts complained of; particularly, the late Duty Act is so anti-commercial, that I wish it had never existed; and it would certainly have been repealed, had the Colonies said nothing about it, or petitioned against it only on the ground of its expediency; but the principle you proceed upon extends to all laws; and we cannot, therefore, think of repealing it at least this session of Parliament,
[
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or until the Colonies shall have dropped the
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Dec. |
point of right.
Nor can the conduct of the people of Boston pass without a severe censure.’
A very long discussion ensued; but he was inflexible.
It became evident that the attention of Parliament was to be confined to the Colony of the
Massachuetts Bay; for the Memorial and the Remonstrance from
Virginia were kept back; and a Petition from the Assembly of Pennsylvania to the House of Commons was put aside.
The next day
Beckford69 and Trecothick, as friends to
America, demanded rather such general inquiry, as might lead to measures of relief.
‘The question of taxation is not before us;’ interposed Lord North; ‘but the question is, whether we are to lay a tax one year, when
America is at peace, and take it off the next, when
America is in arms against us. I am against the repeal of the Act; it would spread an alarm, as if we did it from fear.
The extraordinary appearance this would have in
America, the encouragement it would give our enemies and the discouragement it would give our friends, the impossibility of acting with authority, if our authority should receive another wound,—all bind us not to take that question into consideration again.’
He, therefore, demanded the expression of the united opinion of
Great Britain, so that
Boston might be awed into obedience.
‘The
Americans believe,’ rejoined
Beckford, ‘that there is a settled design in this country to rule them
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with a military force.’
‘I never wish for dominion,
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Dec. |
unless accompanied by the affection of the people governed;’ said
Lord John Cavendish. ‘Want of knowledge, as well as want of temper,’ said Lord Beauchamp, ‘has gradually led us to the brink of a precipice, on which we look down with horror.’—
Phipps, a captain in the army, added, ‘My heart will bleed for every drop of American blood that shall be shed, whilst their grievances are unredressed.
I wish to see the
Americans in our arms as friends — not to meet them as enemies.’
‘Dare you not trust yourselves with a general inquiry?’
asked
Grenville.
‘How do we know, parliamentarily, that
Boston is the most guilty of the Colonies?’
‘I would have the
Americans obey the laws of the country whether they like them or no;’ said Lord Barrington.
The house divided, and out of two hundred who were present, one hundred and twenty-seven voted with the
Government to confine the inquiry.
The
King set himself, and his Ministry, and Parliament, and all
Great Britain, to subdue to his will one stubborn little town on the sterile coast of the
Massachusetts Bay.
The odds against it were fearful; but it showed a life inextinguishable, and had been chosen to keep guard over the liberties of mankind.
The old world had not its parallel.
It counted about sixteen thousand inhabitants of
European origin, all of whom learned to read and write.
Good public schools were the foundation of its political system; and
Benjamin Franklin, one of their pupils, in his youth apprenticed to the art which makes knowledge the common property of mankind, had gone forth from them to stand before the nations as the representative of the modern plebeian class.
[
241]
As its schools were for all its children, so the great
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Dec. |
body of its male inhabitants of twenty-one years of age, when assembled in a Hall which
Faneuil, of
Huguenot ancestry, had built for them, was the source of all municipal authority.
In the Meeting of the
Town, its taxes were voted, its affairs discussed and settled; its agents and public servants annually elected by ballot; and abstract political principles freely debated.
A small property qualification was attached to the right of suffrage, but did not exclude enough to change the character of the institution.
There had never existed a considerable municipality, approaching so nearly to a pure democracy; and, for so populous a place, it was undoubtedly the most orderly and best governed in the world.
Its ecclesiastical polity was in like manner republican.
The great mass were congregationalists; each church was an assembly formed by voluntary agreement; self-constituted, self-supported and independent.
They were clear that no person or church had power over another church.
There was not a
Roman Catholic altar in the place; the usages of ‘papists’ were looked upon as worn-out superstitions, fit only for the ignorant.
But the people were not merely the fiercest enemies of ‘popery and slavery;’ they were Protestants even against Protestantism; and though the English church was tolerated,
Boston kept up its exasperation against prelacy.
Its Ministers were still its prophets and its guides; its pulpit, in which, now that
Mayhew was no more,
Cooper was admired above all others for eloquence and patriotism, by weekly appeals inflamed alike the fervor of piety and of liberty.
In the
Boston Gazette, it enjoyed a free Press, which gave currency
[
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to its conclusions on the natural right of man
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Dec. |
to self-government.
Its citizens were inquisitive; seeking to know the causes of things, and to search for the reason of existing institutions in the laws of nature.
Yet they controlled their speculative turn by practical judgment; exhibiting the seeming contradiction of susceptibility to enthusiasm, and calculating shrewdness.
They were fond of gain, and adventurous, penetrating and keen in their pursuit of it; yet their avidity was tempered by a well-considered and continuing liberality.
Nearly every man was struggling to make his own way in the world and his own fortune; and yet individually and as a body they were publicspirited.
In the seventeenth century the community had been distracted by those who were thought to pursue the great truth of justification by faith to Antinomian absurdities; the philosophy of the eighteenth century had not been without an influence on theological opinion; and though the larger number still acknowledged the fixedness of the divine decrees, and the resistless certainty from all eternity of election and of reprobation, there were not wanting, even among the clergy, some who had modified the sternness of the ancient doctrine by making the self-direction of the active powers of man with freedom of inquiry and private judgment the central idea of a protest against Calvinism.
Still more were they boldly speculative on questions respecting their constitution.
Every house was a school of politics; every man was a little statesman, discussed the affairs of the world, studied more or less the laws of his own land, and was sure of his ability to ascertain and to make good his rights.
The ministers, whose prayers,
[
243]
being from no book, were colored with the hue of
Chap. XXXVIII} 1768. Dec. |
the times; the merchants, cramped in their enterprise by legal restrictions; the mechanics, who, by their skill in ship-building bore away the palm from all other nations, and by their numbers were the rulers of the town; all alike, clergy and laity, in the pulpit or closet, on the wharf or in the counting-room, at their ship-yards or in their social gatherings, reasoned upon government.
They had not acquired estates by a feudal tenure, nor had lived under feudal institutions; and as the true descendants of the Puritans of
England, they had not much more of superstitious veneration for monarchy than for priestcraft.
Such was their power of analysis, that they almost unconsciously developed the theory of an independent representative commonwealth; and such their instinctive capacity for organization, that they had actually seen a Convention of the people of the Province start into life at their bidding.
While the earth was still wrapt in gloom, they welcomed the daybreak of popular freedom, and like the young eagle in his upward soarings, looked undazzled into the beams of the morning.
