Chap. XLII.} 1769. Aug. |
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Charter of the Province,1 as well as those of Rhode
Island and Connecticut; the dismemberment of Massachusetts2 the diminution of the liberties of New England Towns;3 the establishment of a citadel4 within the town of Boston; the stationing of a fleet in its harbor;5 the experiment of martial law;6
1 Hutchinson to R. Jackson, 14 June, 1768. ‘This annual election of the Council spoils the Constitution;’ to R. Jackson, 28 January, 1769, acting simultaneously with Bernard, and inclosing a list of persons to be appointed Mandamus Councillors. To John Pownall, 25 July, 1769, ‘I have lived in perfect harmony with Governor Bernard,’ which is an avowal of complicity. To Hillsborough, 9 Oct. 1770, compared with the letter to Sir Francis Bernard, 26 Dec. 1770; very strong and decided, as well as artful; and compare the letter to I. Mauduit, Dec. 1770. ‘Improvements in the Constitution.’ ‘It will be best that I should not be suspected by the people here of having suggested any alteration.’ And again to Sir F. Bernard, 23 January, 1771; ‘I wished for a delay, rather than to lay the design aside,’ &c. &c.
2 Besides earlier letters; see for example, Hutchinson to Secretary Pownall, 5 Dec. 1770; to Sir Francis Bernard, Jan. 1771; to Secretary Pownall, 24 Jan. 1771; to——, 5 June, 1771; to Secretary Pownall, July, 1773, &c. &c.
3 Hutchinson to——, 9 Jan. 1770; a mere hint for a close corporation for Boston. Again to Sec. Pownall, 21 March, 1770; to Hillsborough, 26 July, 1770; a hint, ‘If the town were a corporation as New-York;’ to Sec. Pownall, 20 Nov. 1770; ‘Endeavor that the letter to which you refer, hinting advantages from the constitution of the City of New-York, may not be laid before the House of Commons,’ &c. To Secretary Pownall, 3 April, 1771; ‘It must show to Parliament the necessity of such an alteration in the constitution of the town, as some time ago you gave me a hint of, and will be sufficient to render an act for that purpose unexceptionable.’ Again 18 April, 1771, to Sec. Pownall, and so on, till the Act of Parliament for the change. Hutchinson liked to make his correspondent seem to have originated the advice. So Feb. 1773, to Sec. Pownall, ‘In some way or other towns must be restrained.’
4 Hutchinson to Sir Francis Bernard, 12 April, 1770, a hint; to——, 22 October, 1770, open advice; and other letters.
5 Many letters.
6 Hutchinson to T. Whately, 24 August, 1769. To person unnamed, 8 Sept. 1769, and other letters—for example, to Sir F. Bernard, 20 Oct. 1770.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1859.
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