Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/370

346 under very heavy debts contracted in the last war. So far were they from sparing their money when their sovereign constitutionally asked their aids, that during the course of that war Parliament repeatedly made them compensations for the expenses of those strenuous efforts which, consulting their zeal rather than their strength, they had cheerfully incurred.

Severe as the acts of Parliament before mentioned are, yet the conduct of administration hath been equally injurious and irritating to this devoted country.

Under pretence of governing them, so many new institutions uniformly rigid and dangerous have been introduced, as could only be expected from incensed masters for collecting the tribute or rather the plunder of conquered provinces.

By an order of the king, the authority of the commander-in-chief, and under him of the brigadier-generals, in time of peace, is rendered supreme in all civil governments in America, and thus an uncontrollable military power is vested in officers not known to the constitutions of these colonies.

A large body of troops, and a considerable armament of ships of war, have been sent to assist in taking their money without their consent.

Expensive and oppressive offices have been multiplied, and the acts of corruption industriously practised to divide and destroy.

The judges of the admiralty and vice-admiralty courts are empowered to receive their salaries and fees from the effects to be condemned by themselves.

The commissioners of the customs are empowered to break open and enter houses without the authority of any civil magistrate, founded on legal information.

Judges of courts of common law have been made entirely dependent on the crown for their commissions and salaries. A court has been established at Rhode Island for the purpose of taking colonists to England to be tried. Humble and reasonable petitions from the representatives of the people have been frequently treated with contempt, and assemblies have been repeatedly and arbitrarily dissolved.

From some few instances it will sufficiently appear on what pretences of justice those dissolutions have been founded.

The tranquillity of the colonies having been again disturbed, as has been mentioned, by the statutes of the year 1767, the Earl of Hillsborough, Secretary of State, in a letter to Governor Bernard, dated April 22, 1768, censures the "presumption" of the House of Representatives for "resolving upon a measure of so inflammatory a nature, as that of writing to the other colonies on the subject of their intended representations against some late acts of Parliament," then declares that "his Majesty considers this step as evidently tending to create unwarranable combinations, to excite an unjustifiable opposition to the constitutional authority of Parliament," and afterwards adds, " It is the king's pleasure, that as soon as the general court is again assembled at the time prescribed by the charter, you should require of the House of Representatives, in His Majesty's name, to rescind the resolutions which gave birth to the circular letter from the speaker, and to declare their disapprobation of and dissent to that rash and hasty proceeding."

"If the new assembly should refuse to comply with his majesty's reasonable expectation, it is the king's pleasure that you should immediately dissolve them."

This letter being laid before the House, and the resolution not being rescinded, according to order the assembly was dissolved. A letter of a similar nature was sent to other governors to procure resolutions approving the conduct of the Representatives of Massachusets Bay, to be rescinded also; and the Houses of Representatives in other colonies refusing to comply, assemblies were dissolved.

These mandates spoke a language to which the ears of English subjects had for several generations been strangers. The nature of assemblies implies a power and right of deliberation; but these commands proscribing the exercise of judgment on the propriety of the requisitions made, left to the assemblies only the election between dictated submission and threatened punishment: a punishment, toe, founded on no other act than such as is deemed innocent even in slaves, of agreeing in petitions for redress of grievances that equally affect all.

The hostile and unjustifiable invasion of the town of Boston soon followed these events in the same year; though that town, the province in which it is situated, and all the colonies, from