Gaspee
Virtual Archives
Correspondence
to and from
Samuel Adams on the Gaspee
Incident
Portrait of Samuel Adams
by Copley
Click on image to enlarge
Webmaster
note: The following
series of letters to and from Samuel Adams establish the great respect
for this patriot in that others of importance turned to him for advice
during times of great urgency. The letters
are part
of the Ms. Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library., and may be found also
in S. A.
Wells, Samuel Adams and the American
Revolution, vol. i., p363-365 and p370-371. Do not use spell check on these documents if you
wish to
retain the original context and grammar.
We are
indebted to Miguel and Regina
Azucena for this e-contribution, originally published in The
Writings of Samuel Adams, Vol II and Vol III, edited by H. A.
Cushing c1904
- 1908.
For more Sam
Adams (the orations,
not the beer!) follow this link to his more famous work, The
Rights of Colonists
The first
writing is extracted from Samuel Adams' resolves for the Boston City
Council on the subject of the rights of colonists, and includes a list
of specific grievances. Of these greivances, number 10 addresses
the Dockyards Act, which was the specific law that the British used as
cause to send any found Gaspee attackers to England for trial. List
of Infringements 20 Nov 1772
The next
letter is a tirade
of Adams about the Gaspee commission of inquiry, published under
his editorial pen name of "Americanus." It was published widely,
at least in the Newport Mercury,
December 21st, 1772, and reprinted in the Providence Gazette, December 26th,
1772, and in the Virginia
(Jamestown) Gazette on
Thursday, January 28, 1773.. It should be stated that historian Charles
Rappleye in Sons of Providence: The
Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution
(Simon & Schuster, 2006) believes Americanus to be Stephen Hopkins.
The letter
to Adams is from RI Deputy Governor Darius Sessions, RI Chief Justice
Stephen Hopkins, John Cole, Esq, and the influential Moses Brown.
It was a plea for advice on how the Colony of Rhode Island should
respond to Britain convening a special commission of inquiry to
discover the people involved in the Burning of the Gaspee. This
commission had been instructed by King George III to deliver any
persons so indicted to the Royal Navy for transport to England for
trial and later execution. Note the the letter was important
enough to have been written on Christmas Day. Sessions
et al to Adams 25 Dec 1772
The first
hurried response from Adams is dispatched only three days later and
attests to the importance Adams paid to the matter. Adams
to Sessions 28 Dec 1772
The more
extensive response from Adams is of the utmost historical importance,
for in it, one can see Adams evolve the idea of resurrecting the
Committees of Correspondence, which will ultimately lead to the
unification of the Colonies on the road to independence. It is true
that Boston had established an intra-colony Committee of Correspondence
on Nov 2, 1772, but this writing here expressly promoted the idea of
Committees to correspond between the individual Colonies. Adams
to Sessions 2 Jan 1773
Adams later wrote to Sessions
counseling against Governor Wanton sitting on the Royally appointed
commission of inquiry into the Burning of the Gaspee. He also suggests
that the Rhode Island Assembly formally object to these
proceedings. Adams to Sessions -- Feb 1773
Adams then corresponded about the Gaspee Affair with Richard Henry
Lee, a Virginia statesman and revolutionary of like ilk to Samuel Adams
himself. Richard Henry Lee is generally credited with initiating
the concept of the intercolonial Committees of Correpondence by
advocating for its formation within the Virginia House of Burgess,
which was done March 12, 1773 <see The
Committees of Correspndence> In this letter Lee expresses to
Adams the alarm felt by Virginia colonists over the Gaspee matter and asking for
further details and analysis. There is not, however, any mention
of Committees of Correspondence.. Lee to Adams 4 Feb
1772
Finally, we present Adams'
response to Lee, in which Adams invites the reestablishment of formal
Committees of Correspondence between the Colonies to assess such
threats to liberty. This letter was penned a month after the initial
passage by the Virginia House of Burgess establishing such a Committee
of Correspondence, so we cannot credit Sam Adams with the first
sembence of the idea, although it is clear that he and Richard Henry
Lee thought alike. It is also possible that some triangular
correspondence was going on between Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and Lee's
brother and close friend of Adams, Arthur Lee, or others, that
transmitted the idea. Adams to Lee 10 April 1773
Since we have opened the can of worms related to which Colony actually
called first for the establishment of the intercolonial Committees of
Correspondence, we will
answer that question here by citing the writings of Thomas Jefferson. From:
The Works of Thomas
Jefferson in Twelve Volumes. Federal Edition. Collected and
Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. Found online at Library of Congress, American Memories Collection, [<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mdbquery.html>
Type in "Gaspee" in search field] Thomas Jefferson Papers, Thomas Jefferson, July 27, 1821,
Autobiography Draft Fragment, January 6 through July 27. Original Images at pages 521-522 of
1302.
1821.
Jan. 6. ...The origination of these commees of correspondence between
the colonies has been since claimed for Massachusetts, and Marshall II.
151, has given into this error, altho' the very note of his appendix to
which he refers, shows that their establmt was confined to their own
towns. This matter will be seen dearly stated in a letter of Samuel
Adams Wells to me of Apr. 2, 1819, and my answer of May 12. I was
corrected by the letter of Mr. Wells in the information I had given Mr.
Wirt, as stated in his note, pa. 87, that the messengers of Massach.
& Virga crossed each other on the way bearing similar propositions,
for Mr. Wells shows that Mass. did not adopt the measure but on the
receipt of our proposn delivered at their next session. Their message
therefore which passed ours, must have related to something else, for I
well remember P. Randolph's informing me of the crossing of our
messengers.
THE RIGHTS OF THE COLONISTS, A LIST OF VIOLATIONS OF RIGHTS AND A
LETTER OF CORRESPONDENCE.
Adopted by the Town of Boston, November 20, 1772.
A List of Infringements & Violations of Rights
10th - The Act passed in the last Session of the British Parliament, intitled, An Act for the better
preserving his Majestys Dock Yards, Magizines, Ships, Ammunition and Stores, is, as we
apprehend a violent infringement of our Rights. By this Actany one of us may be taken from his
Family, and carried to any part of Great Britain, there to be tried whenever it shall be pretended
that he has been concerned in burning or otherwise destroying any Boat or Vessel, or any Materials
for building &c.any Naval or Victualling Store &c. belonging to his Majesty. For by this Act all
Persons in the Realm, or in any of the places thereto belonging (under which denomination we
know the Colonies are meant to be included) may be indicted and tryed either in any County or
Shire within this Realm, in like manner and form as if the offence had been committed in said County,
as his Majesty and his Successors may deem Most expedient. Thus we are not only deprived of our
grand right to tryal by our Peers in the Vicinity, but any Person suspected, or pretended to be
suspected, may be hurried to Great Britain, to take his tryal in any County the King or his Successors
shall please to direct; where, innocent or guilty he is in great danger of being condemned; and whether
condemned or acquitted he will probably be ruined by the expense attending the tryal, and his long
absence from his Family and business; and we have the strongest reason to apprehend that we shall
soon experience the fatal effects of this Act, as about the year 1769 the British Parliament passed
Resolves for taking up a number of Persons in the Colonies and carrying them to Great Britain for
tryal, pretending that they were authorised so to do, by a Statute passed in the Reign of Henry the
Eighth, in which they say the Colonies were included, although the Act was passed long before any
Colonies were settled, or even in contemplation. -
Extract from the Providence Gazette, of Saturday, December 26, 1772:
"To be, or not to be, that's the question ; whether our
unalienable
rights and privileges are any longer worth contending for, is now to be
determined. Permit me, my countrymen, to beseech you to attend to
your alarming situation.
The stamp act you opposed with a spirit and resolution becoming
those
who were truly solicitous to transmit to posterity those blessings
which our forefathers purchased for us in the wilds of America, at an
immense expense of blood and treasure.
But behold, an evil infinitely worse, in its consequences, than
all the
revenue laws which have been passed from the reign of Charles the
First, to this time, now threatens this distressed, piratically plundered country.
A court of inquisition, more horrid than that of Spain or
Portugal, in
established within this colony, to inquire into the circumstances of
destroying the Gaspee schooner; and the persons who are the
commissioners of this new-fangled court, are vested with most
exorbitant and unconstitutional power. They are directed to summon
witnesses, apprehend persons not only impeached, but even
suspected! and them, and every of them, to deliver them to
Admiral Montagu, who is ordered to have a ship in readiness to carry
them to England, where they are to be tried.
Three of the commissioners are a quorum, who are directed to
apply to
General Gage, for troops to protect them in their offices, and preserve
the colony from riots and disturbances. The royal commission for these
gentlemen, together with their instructions, transmitted to Admiral
Montagu, who, upon being notified that they are convened in conformity
to their appointment, is to attend them, and then deliver their
commission and instructions, and to be aiding with his sage counsel and
advice, whenever necessary.
So much has transpired, respecting this alarming star-chamber
inquisition. And who among the natives of America, can hear it
without emotion? Is there an American, in whose breast there glows the
smallest spark of public virtue, but who must be fired with indignation
and resentment, against a measure so replete with the ruin of our free
constitution? To be tried by one's peers, is the greatest privilege a
subject can wish for; and so excellent is our constitution, that no
subject shall be tried, but by his peers.
Tina establishment is the grand barrier of our lives, liberties
and
estates; and whoever attempts to alter or invade this fundamental
principle, by which the liberties of the people have been secured from
time immemorial, is a declared enemy to the welfare and happiness of
the King and state. The tools of despotism and arbitrary power,
have long wished that this important bulwark might be destroyed, and
now have the impudence to triumph in our faces, because such of
their fellow subjects in America, as are suspected of being guilty of a
crime, are ordered to be transported to Great Britain for trial, in
open violation of Magna Charta.
Thus are we robbed of our birth-rights, and treated with every
mark of
indignity, insult and contempt; and can we possibly be so supine, as
not to feel ourselves firmly disposed to treat, the advocates for such
horrid measures with a detestation and scorn, proportionate to
their perfidy and baseness?
Luxury and avarice, a more fatal and cruel scourge than war,
will ere
long ravage Britain and ultimately bring on the dissolution of that
once happy kingdom. Ambition, and a thirst for arbitrary sway,
have already banished integrity, probity and every other virtue, from
those who are entrusted with the government of our mother
country. Her colonies loudly complain of the violences and
vexations they suffer by having their moneys taken from them, without
their consent by measures more unjustifiable than highway
robbery; and applied to the basest purposes,—those of supporting
tyrants and debauchees. No private house is inaccessible to the
avarice of custom-house officers , no place so remote whither the
injustice and extortion of those miscreant tools in power, have not
penetrated.
Upon the whole, it is more than probable, it is an almost
absolute
certainty, that, according to the present appearances, the state of an
American subject, instead of enjoying the privileges of an Englishman,
will soon be infinitely worse than that of a subject of France, Spain,
Portugal, or any other the most despotic power on earth; so that, my
countrymen, it behooves you, it is your indespensable duty to stand
forth in the glorious cause of freedom, the dearest of all your earthly
enjoyments; and, with a truly Roman spirit of liberty, either prevent
the fastening of the infernal chains now
forging for you, and your posterity, or nobly perish in the attempt.
To live
a life of rational beings, is to live free; to live a life of slaves is
to die by inches. Ten thousand deaths by the halter, or the axe,
are infinitely preferable to a miserable life of slavery in chains,
under a puck of worse than Egyptian tyrants, whose avarice nothing less
than your whole substance and income, will satisfy; and who, if they
can't extort that, will glory in making a sacrifice of you and your
posterity, to gratify their master the devil, who is a tyrant, and the
father of tyrants and of
liars.
AMERICANUS.
Providence
Dec 25, 1772
We doubt not you have before this heard of the difficulties this
Colony labors under, on account of the destruction of the Gaspee, they
being such as becomes the attention of the Colonies in general (though
immediately to be executed on this only). As they affect in the
tenderest point the liberties, lives, and properties of all America, we
are induced to address you upon the occasion, whom we consider as a
principal in the assertion and defence of those rightful and natural
blessings; and in order to give you the most authentic intelligence
into these matters, we shall recite the most material paragraphs of a
letter from the Earl of Dartmouth to the Governor of this Province,
dated Whitehall, Sept. 4th, 1772. [Then follows the extract from the
Secretary's letter.] You will consider how natural it is for those who
are oppressed, and in the greatest danger of being totally crushed, to
look around every way for assistance and advice. This has occasioned
the present troubles we give you. We therefore ask that you would
seriously consider of this whole matter, and consult such of your
friends and acquaintance as you may think fit upon it, and give us your
opinion in what manner this Colony had best behave in this critical
situation, and how the shock that is coming upon us may be best evaded
or sustained. We beg you, answer as soon as may be, especially before
the 11th of January, the time of the sitting of the General Assembly.
Darius Sessions
Stephen Hopkins
John Cole
Moses Brown
TO DARIUS SESSIONS.1
BOSTON Decr 28 1772
SIR
This day I had the Honor of receiving a Letter signd by yourself and
other Gentlemen of Note in Providence. The Subject is weighty, &
requires
more of my Attention than a few Hours, to give you my digested
Sentiments
of it; neither have I yet had an Opportunity of advising with the few
among
my Acquaintances, whom I would chuse to consult upon a Matter, which in
my Opinion may involve the Fate of America. This, I intend soon to do;
and shall then, I hope, be able to communicate to you (before the Time
you have set shall expire) such Thoughts, as in your Judgment, may
perhaps
be wise and salutary on so pressing an Occasion. Thus much however
seems
to me to be obvious at first View; that the whole Act of Parliament so
far as it relates to the Colonies, & consequently the Commission
which
is founded upon it, is against the first Principles of Government and
the
English Constitution, Magna Charta & many other Acts of Parliament,
declaratory of the Rights of the Subject; & therefore the Guardians
of the Rights of the Subject will consider whether it be not their
Duty,
so far from giving the least Countenance to the Execution of it, to
declare
it, ipso Facto null & Void. This Commission seems to be substituted
in the Room of a Grand Jury, which is one of the greatest Bulwarks of
the
Liberty of the Subject; instituted for the very Purpose of preventing
Mischeife
being done by false Accusers. By the Act of Parliament of the 25th of
Ed.
3d (in the true Sense of the Words the best of Kings) it is establishd,
that none shall be taken by Suggestion made to the King or his Council
(which seems to me to be the present Point) unless it be by Indictment
or Presentment of good & lawful People of the same Neighbourhood,
where
such Deeds be done - And, "if any thing be done against the same it
shall
be redressd & holden for none." But certain Persons proscribd in
the
Colony of Rhode Island, are to be taken without such Indictment or
Presentment,
& carried away from the Neighborhood where Deeds unlawful are
suggested
to the King to have been committed, & there put to answer contrary
to that Law, which even so long ago was held to be the old Law of the
Land.
- One Reason given in the Act for taking away that accursed Court
called
the Star Chamber was, because all Matters examinable & determinable
before that Court might have their due Punishment and Correction by the
Common Law of the Land and in the ordinary Course of Justice elsewhere.
But here seems to be a stopping of the ordinary Course of Justice;
&
by setting up a Court of Enquiry founded upon a Suggestion of evil
Deeds
made to the King & of certain Persons supposd to be concernd
therein,
Jurisdiction is given to others than the constituted ordinary Courts of
Justice, & in a Way other than the ordinary Course of the Law, that
is, an arbitrary Way to examine & draw into Question Matters &
things which, by the Act for regulating the privy Council it is
declared,
that neither his Majesty nor his privy Council have or ought to have
any
Jurisdiction Power or Authority to do. In short, this Measure appears
to
me to be repugnant to the first Principles of natural Justice. The
interrested
Servants of the Crown, and some of them pensiond, perhaps byassd &
corrupted being the constituted Judges, whether this or that Subject
shall
be put to answer for a supposd Offence against the Crown, & that in
a distant Country, to their great Detriment & Danger of Life &
Fortune, even if their Innocence shd be made to appear. What Man is
safe
from the malicious Prosecution of such Persons, unless it be the
cringing
Sycophant, and even he holds his Life and Property at their Mercy. It
should
awaken the American Colonies, which have been too long dozing upon the
Brink of Ruin. It should again unite them in one Band. Had that Union
which
once happily subsisted been preservd, the Conspirators against our
Common
Rights would never have venturd such bold Attempts. It has ever been my
Opinion, that an Attack upon the Liberties of one Colony is an Attack
upon
the Liberties of all; and therefore in this Instance all should be
ready
to yield Assistance to Rhode Island. But an Answer to the most material
Part of your Letter must be referd, for the Reasons I have given, to
another
Opportunity. In the mean time I am with due Regards to the Gentlemen
who
have honord me with their Letter
Your assured Friend & very hbl Servt
Samuel Adams
Editor's Note: 1 Of
Providence,
R. I. Under date of December 25, 1772, Deputy Governor Sessions, Chief
Justice Stephen Hopkins, John Cole, and Moses Brown had written to
Adams
with reference to the Gaspee affair and to Lord Dartmouth's
letter
to the Governor of Rhode Island of September 4, 1772. A copy is in S.
A.
Wells, Samuel Adams and the American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 363-365.
A copy of a letter, under date of February 15, 1773, from Sessions,
Hopkins,
Cole, and Brown to Adams, acknowledging the receipt of three letters
from
Adams in response to their letter of December 25, 1772, is in ibid.,
pp.
370, 371. In this letter to Adams his correspondents comment as
follows:
"At or about the time we wrote you, we transmitted copies of the same
to
several gentlemen in North America, from the most of whom we have
received
answers, agreeing nearly in sentiments, with those you were pleased to
communicate to us though no one has entered into a disquisition of the
subject so fully and satisfactorily as you have." The original letter
is
also in the Lenox Library.
TO DARIUS
SESSIONS.
BOSTON Jan 2 1773.
SIR,
I wrote you on Monday last acknowledging the Receipt of a Letter
directed
to me from your self & other worthy Gentlemen in Providence. The
Question
proposed was in what manner your Colony had best behave in this
critical
Situation & how the Shock that is coming upon it may be best evaded
or sustaind. It appears to me probable that the Administration has a
design
to get your Charter vacated. The Execution of so extraordinary a
Commission,
unknown in your Charter & abhorrent to the principles of every free
Government, wherein Persons are appointed to enquire into Offences
committed
against a Law of another Legislature, with the Power of transporting
the
persons they shall suspect beyond the Seas to be tryed, would
essentially
change your Constitution; and a Silence under such a Change would be
construed
a Submission to it. At the same time it must be considerd that an open
declaration of the Assembly against the Appointment & order of the
King, in which he is supported by an Act of the British Parliament,
would
be construed by the Law Servants of the Crown & other ministers
such
a Defiance of the Royal Authority, as they would advise proper to be
recommended
to the Consideration & Decision of Parliament. Should your Governor
refuse to call the Commissioners together, or when called together, the
civil magistrates refuse to take measures for arresting &
committing
to Custody such persons as upon Information made shall be chargd with
being
concernd in burning the Gaspee, or if they should issue their precepts
for that purpose the Officers should refuse to execute them, the Event
would be perhaps the same as in the Case of an open Declaration before
mentiond, for in all these Cases it would be represented to the King
&
the parliament that it was to be attributed to what they will call the
overbearing popularity of your Government, & the same pretence
would
be urgd for the Necessity of an Alteration in order to support the
Kings
Authority in the Colony. As the chiefe Object in the View of
Administration
seems to be the vacating your Charter, I cannot think the Commissioners
in case they should meet together, would upon any of the aforementiond
Occasions, chuse to call upon General Gage for the Aid of the Troops or
make any more than the Shew of a Readiness to execute their Commission;
for they might think the grand purpose would be sufficiently answerd
without
their Discussing such danger to their Reputation, if not their persons.
If the foregoing Hypotheses are well grounded, I think it may be justly
concluded that since the Constitution is already destined to suffer
unavoidable
Dissolution, an open & manly Determination of the Assembly not to
consent
to its ruin would show to the World & posterity that the people
were
virtuous though unfortunate, & sustaind the Shock with Dignity.
You will allow me to observe, that this is a Matter in which the
whole
American Continent is deeply concernd and a Submission of the Colony of
Rhode Island to this enormous Claim of power would be made a Precedent
for all the rest; they ought indeed to consider deeply their Interest
in
the Struggle of a single Colony & their Duty to afford her all
practicable
Aid. This last is a Consideration which I shall not fail to mention to
my particular friends when our Assembly shall sit the next Week.
Should it be the determination of a weak Administration to push this
Measure to the utmost at all Events, and the Commissioners call in the
Aid of troops for that purpose it would be impossible for me to say
what
might be the Consequence, Perhaps a most violent political Earthquake
through
the whole British Empire if not its total Destruction.
I have long feard that this unhappy Contest between Britain &
America
will end in Rivers of Blood; Should that be the Case, America I think
may
wash her hands in Innocence; yet it is the highest prudence to prevent
if possible so dreadful a Calamity. Some such provocation as is now
offerd
to Rhode Island will in all probability be the immediate Occasion of
it.
Let us therefore consider whether in the present Case the Shock that is
coming
upon you may not be evaded which is a distinct part of the Question
proposed.
For this purpose, if your Governor should omit to call the
Commissioners
together, in Consequence of a representation made to him by the
Assembly,
that the Innovation appears to them of a most dangerous Tendency; and
altogether
needless, inasmuch as the same Enquiry might be made as effectually
(and
doubtless would be) by a Grand Jury, as is proposed to be made by the
Commissioners;
which would be agreable to the Constitution & in the ordinary
Course
of Justice. A representation of this kind made by the Assembly to the
Governor,
would afford him a reasonable plea for suspending the Matter till he
could
fully state the Matter to Lord Dartmouth & the odious light in
which
the Commission is viewd by that & the other Colonies as a measure
incompatible
with the English Constitution & the Rights of the Colonists
together
with the fatal Consequences of which it might probably be productive.
This
perhaps could not be done till the rising of Parliament, & before
the
next Session a war or some other important Event might take place which
would bury this Affair in Oblivion. Or if it should ever come before
Parliament
in this Manner, the Delay on the part of the Governor would appear to
be
made upon motives of sound prudence & the best Advice which would
tend
to soften their Spirits. And besides, its appearing to be founded not
directly
on the principles of Opposition to the Authority of Parliament, the
sacred
Importance of Charters upon which many of the Members hold their Seats,
might be considerd without prejudice, & the Matter might subside
even
in Parliament. Should that be the Case it would disappoint the designs
& naturally abate the Rigour of Administration & so the Shock
might
be evaded.
If, without being called together by Governor Wanton who is first
named,
the rest of the Commissioners should meet upon the Business of their
Commission,
which I cannot suppose they will do, especially if the Governor should
acquaint them with the Reason of his not calling them, it would show a
forward Zeal to execute an order new arbitrary & universally
odious,
& how far that might justly insence the people against them
personally,
& lessen them in the Esteem of all judicious Men, they would do
well
calmly to consider; and how far also they would be answerable for the
fatal
Effects that might follow such a forwardnesss all the world and
Posterity
will judge: For such an Event as this will assuredly go down to future
Ages in the page of History, & the Colony & all concernd in it
will be characterizd by the part they shall act in the Tragedy. Upon
the
whole it is my humble Opinion, that the grand Purpose of Administration
is either to intimidate the Colony into a Compliance with a Measure
destructive
of the freedom of their Constitution, or to provoke them to such a Step
as shall give a pretext for the Vacation of their Charter which I
should
think must sound like Thunder in the Ears of Connecticutt especially.
Whatever
Measures the Wisdom of your Assembly may fix upon to evade the
impending
Stroke, I hope nothing will be done which may by the Invention of our
Adversarys,
be construed as even the Appearance of an Acquiescence in so grasping
an
Act of Tyranny.
Thus I have freely given my Sentiments upon the Question proposed;
which
I should not have venturd to do had it not been requested. I have done
it with the greatest Diffidence because I think I am fully sensible of
my Inability to enter into a Question of so delicate a Nature &
great
Importance especially as I have not had that opportunity to consult my
friends which I promisd my self. I hope the Assembly of Rhode Island
will
in their Conduct exhibit an Example of true Wisdom Fortitude &
Perseverance.
And with the greatest Respect to the Gentlemen to whose superior
Understanding
this and my former Letter to you is submitted, I remain, Sir
Your assured friend & humble servant
Samuel Adams
P.S. I beg just to propose for Consideration whether a circular Letr
from
your Assembly on this Occasion, to those of the other Colonies might
not
tend to the Advantage of the General Cause & of R Island in
particular;
I should think it would induce each of them, at least to injoyn their
Agents
in Great Britain to represent the Severity of your Case in the
strongest
terms.
To the Hon Darius Sessions Esqr
to be communicated
To DARIUS SESSIONS.
[February --, 1773.]
SIR
As I am informd the Commissioners are all now in Newport, and your Assembly is to meet this day I
am anxious to know precisely the Steps that are or shall be taken by each. I hope your Governor will
not think it proper for him to act in the Commission if the others should determine so to do. Will it not
be construed as conceding on his part to the Legality of it? Every Movement on the Side of the
Commissioners & the Assembly must be important. I trust no Concessions will be made on your part
which shall have the remotest tendency to fix a precedent; for if it is once establishd, a thousand
Commissions of the like arbitrary kind may be introducd to the utter ruin of your free Constitution.
The promoters of ministerial measures in this Town are pleasd to hear from one of the
Commissioners that they are treated with great respect: Even common Civility will be thus colourd to
serve the great purpose. Will it not be necessary at all Events for the Assembly to enter a protest on
their Journal against so unconstitutional a proceeding. This is the Sentiment of a Gentleman here
whose Judgment I very much regard. Such has been the constant practice of the Assembly of this
province in like Cases, for some years past. You will see by our Governors Speech what Use is made
of Mistakes of this Sort; they are even Improved as Arguments of our having voluntarily consented to
be the Vassals of the British Parliament. Indeed the Doctrine he has advancd strikes at the root of
every civil Constitution in America. If it be admissible, you have no just Cause to complain of the
present Measure for it is founded upon the Authority of that parliament, to the Jurisdiction of which
notwithstanding your Charter, you remain subject.
I shall receive a Letter from you by the return of the post if your Attention to the publick Affairs will
admit of it, as a great favor. In the mean time I beg you to excuse this hasty Scrawl & believe me to
be &c
Samuel Adams
Feb. 4, 1773
Sir,
From a person quite unknown to you some apology may be necessary
for this letter. The name of my brother, Dr. Arthur Lee of London, may
perhaps furnish me with this apology. To be firmly attached to the
cause of liberty on virtuous principles is a powerful cause of union,
and renders proper the most easy communication of sentiment, however
artfully disunion may be promoted and encouraged by tyrants and their
abettors. If this be true in general, how more certainly is it so in
that particular state of affairs in which every scheme that cunning can
form, or power execute, is practised to reduce to slavery so
considerable a portion of the human species as North America does and
may contain. Every day's experience proves this to an attentive
observer.
Among other instances in proof, if I mistake not, the manner of
resenting the loss of the Gaspee is one. At this distance, and through
the uncertain medium of newspapers, we may never perhaps have received
a just account of this affair. I should be extremely glad, sir, when
your leisure permits, to have as true a state of the matter as the
public with you has been furnished with. At all events, this military
parade appears extraordinary, unless the intention be to violate all
law and legal forms, in order to establish the ministerial favorite,
but fatal precedent of removing Americans beyond the water, to be tried
for supposed offences committed here. This is so unreasonable and so
unconstitutional a stretch of power, that I hope it will never be
permitted to take place while a spark of virtue or one manly sentiment
remains in America. The primary end of government seems to be the
security of life and property; but this ministerial law would, if
acquiesced in, totally defeat every idea of social security and
happiness. You may easily, sir, perceive that I understand myself
writing to a firm and worthy friend of the just rights and liberty of
America, by the freedom with which this letter is penned. Captain Snow,
of your town, who comes frequently here, and who takes care of this,
will bring me any letter you may be pleased to favor me with.
Richard Henry Lee
To
R. H. Lee
Boston, April 10, 1773
SIR---
Your Letter to me of the 4th Feb last, I receivd with singular Pleasure; not only because I had long
wishd for a Correspondence with some Gentleman in Virginia, but more particularly because I had
frequently heard of your Character and Merit, as a warm Advocate for Virtue and Liberty.
I have often thought it a Misfortune, or rather a Fault in the Friends of American Independence and
Freedom, their not taking Care to open every Channel of Communication. The Colonies are all
embarkd in the same bottom. The Liberties of all are alike invaded by the same haughty Power:
The Conspirators against their common Rights have indeed exerted their brutal Force, or applied
their insidious Arts, differently in the several Colonies, as they thought would best serve their
Purpose of Oppression and Tyranny. How necessary then is it; that ALL should be early
acquainted with the particular Circumstances of EACH, in Order that the Wisdom & Strength of
the whole may be employd upon every proper Occasion. We have heard of Bloodshed & even civil
War in our Sister Colony North Carolina; And how strange is it, that the best Intelligence we have
had of that tragical Scene, has been brought to us from England!
This Province, and this Town especially, have sufferd a great Share of Ministerial Wrath and
Insolence: But God be thanked, there is, I trust, a Spirit prevailing, which will never submit to
Slavery. The Compliance of New York in making annual Provision for a military Force designed to
carry Acts of Tyranny into Execution: The Timidity of some Colonies and the Silence of others is
discouraging: But the active Vigilance, the manly Generosity and the Steady Perseverance of Virginia
and South Carolina, gives us Reason to hope, that the Fire of true Patriotism will at length spread
throughout the Continent; the Consequence of which must be the Acquisition of all we wish for.
The Friends of Liberty in this Town have lately made a successful Attempt to obtain the explicit
political Sentiments of a great Number of the Towns in this Province; and the Number is daily
increasing. The very Attempt was alarming to the Adversaries; and the happy Effects of it are
mortifying to them. I would propose it for your Consideration, Whether the Establishment of
Committees of Correspondence among the several Towns in every Colony, would not tend to
promote that General Union, upon which the Security of the whole depends.
The Reception of the truly patriotick Resolves of the House of Burgesses of Virginia gladdens the
Hearts of all who are Friends to Liberty. Our Committee of Correspondence had a special Meeting
upon this Occasion, and determined immediately to circulate printed Copies in every Town in this
Province, in order to make them as extensively useful as possible. I am desired by them to assure
you of their Veneration for your most ancient Colony, and their unfeigned Esteem for the Gentlemen
of your Committee. This indeed is a small Return; I hope you will have the hearty Concurence of
every Assembly on the Continent. It is a Measure that I think must be attended with great and good
Consequences.
Our General Assembly is dissolved; and Writs will soon be issued according to the Charter for a
new Assembly to be held on the last Wednesday in May next. I think I may almost assure you that
there will be a Return of such Members as will heartily cooperate with you in your spirited Measures.
The most enormous Stride in erecting what may properly be called a Court of Inquisition in America,
is sufficient to excite Indignation even in the Breast the least capable of feeling. I am expecting an
authentick Copy of that Commission, which I shall send to you by the first opportunity after I shall
have receivd it. The Letter from the new Secretary of State to the Governor of Rhode Island, which
possibly you may have seen in the News papers, may be depended upon as genuine. I receivd it
from a Gentleman of the Council in that Colony, who took it from the Original. I wish the Assembly
of that little Colony had acted with more firmness than they have done; but as the Court of Enquiry
is adjournd, they may possibly have another Tryal.
I have a thousand things to say to you, but am prevented by Want of Time; having had but an hours
Notice of this Vessels sailing. I cannot however conclude without assuring you, that a Letter from
you as often as your Leisure will permit of it, will lay me under great Obligations.---
I am in strict Truth
Sir
Your most humble servt
Samuel
Adams
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