During the session of the Massachusetts' assembly in the summer of 1773, a discovery was made, which added fresh fuel to the flame, long since kindled in that province. The celebrated Dr Franklin, agent of the House of Representatives in England, had acquired possession of certain letters, written in confidence by Governor Hutchinson and others to their friends in England, in which they spoke of•coercive measures; of taking of incendiaries; and of altering charters, with the utmost freedom. Franklin immediately transmitted these letters to his constituents. They excited exces sive indignation, and produced a petition from the Mas sachusetts' assembly to the king, to remove their go vernor. The petition was transmitted to Dr Franklin, presented to the king, and by his majesty laid before the privy council. Dr Franklin was summoned to support the petition before the same meeting, where he received from the lord chancellor Loughborough the grossest abuse. He was pronounced a forger of the letters ; and the Massachusetts' petition was rejected as scandalous and seditious.
The duty of tea, as we have already remarked, had been left as a token of legislative supremacy. The East India company, reduced almost to bankruptcy by the accumulation of their teas, were urgent with the minister to repeal the American duty of 3d. a pound, offering in lieu of it, to pay double the sum on exportation. At length, in 1773, an act passed for permitting the expor tation of teas duty free. The East India company hoped, by this measure, to regain the American market, and the government still exulted in upholding the principle of taxation, since the company, instead of America, had paid the duty ; but in this they were both disappointed. When the tea was attempted to be landed, the mob arose in Boston harbour, boarded the ships, and threw their cargoes into the sea, retiring peaceably afterwards, without giving or receiving any personal violence. Other places followed the example, and in no places was the delivery of the tea to its consignees permitted by the Americans. Such resistance could not long be concealed, and it reached England, heightened by many exagger ations. The tidings were communicated by the minis ter to parliament, at their next session, and a plan of coercion and punishment destined to be tried in Ameri ca, was received and voted with almost universal en thusiasm. A remonstrance, indeed, was presented by the Americans resident in London, concluding with a bold avowal, that the attachment of America could not survive the justice of Great Britain ; and the voice of the minority was also raised, though ineffectually, to advise conciliation. A bill for removing the custom house and seat of government from Boston to Salem, and another for depriving the Massachusetts state of its charter, were passed during the session, the former without a division, the latter by a great majority. Lord
Chatham, at this early stage of the dispute, declared his unalterable opinion, that Britain had no right to tax America. " As an Englishman, (said that venerable statesman,) I recognize to the Americans their supreme unalterable right of property. As an American, I would equally recognize to England her supreme right of re gulating commerce and navigation. This distinction is involved in the abstract nature of things. Property is private, individual, absolute—the touch of another an nihilates it. Trade is an extended and complicated con sideration—it reaches as far as ships can sail or winds can blow ; it is a vast and various machine, which re quires the superintending candour and energy of the supreme power of the empire. Taxation is theirs, com mercial regulation is ours." But the language of the lords in administration was high and decisive ; it was declared that the mother country should never relax till America acknowledged the supremacy of Britain. The Americans, on the other hand, as soon as they heard of the bill for shutting up the harbour of Boston, for abo lishing the charter of Massachusetts, for quartering troops in America, and for other coercive measures that were in preparation, testified a determined spirit of resistance. Yet this determination, though firmly, seemed not to be willingly adopted ; so many of them were connected with Britain by commercial ties, that the prospect of a civil war presented the most terrific ideas.
When general Gage arrived with fresh forces at Boston, they addressed him in strong, but respectful terms ; and declared that they were ready to promote a reconciliation on any terms consistent with their rights as British subjects. Their remonstrance was, however, disregarded. A general congress of deputies from all the states was now loudly demanded by the Americans ; and, in the mean time, the committee of correspondence at Boston, bound themselves by a solemn agreement, to suspend all commercial correspondence with Britain. It was in vain that general Gage protested against these proceedings. The congress of deputies was appointed to be held at Philadelphia, and the American magis trates informed the several governors, that their power was no more. The congress consisted of 51 delegates, and commenced with an address to the governor-gene ral, in which they set at defiance his endeavours to overawe their proceedings. His authority was in fact gone ; he could not even procure the lowest mechanics to erect barracks for his soldiers. The resolutions of the congress, on the other hand, had all the validity of laws. They proceeded to draw up a petition to his majesty, a memorial to the people of Great Britain, and an address to the colonies in general. Having finished these addresses, they adjourned, after a session of 52 days.