Part 22
This bill spread a general alarm through the metropolis; and a petition was presented by the city against it, condemning the measures proposed in it, as violent and unconstitutional, subversive of the sacred and fundamental rights of the people, subjecting them to the most cruel oppression and bondage, and introductive of every species of mischief and confusion. The petition was ordered to lie upon the table; but probably made way for the introduction of a provisional clause, enacting “that no offences shall be construed to be piracy within the meaning of the act, except acts of felony committed on the ships and goods of his majesty’s subjects, by persons on the high seas.”
The bill however, did not pass without opposition and severe animadversion. It was said, that it armed ministers with an unconstitutional and dangerous power. A mere pretended suspicion or foolish credulity in a mercenary tool of a ministerial magistrate, might render the inhabitants of above half the empire liable to imprisonment without bail or mainprise. It did not require an oath, nor that the parties should be heard in their own justification, nor confronted with the witnesses, nor that two witnesses should be deemed necessary for the colourable ground of a commitment. The few who opposed it, contended that no lawful or obvious reason subsisted for investing the crown with so unusual a power. Such an extraordinary measure could only be tolerated in cases of great domestic danger, when the realm or constitution were immediately threatened; but neither of these could be pleaded in the present instance. After a long debate, the bill passed by a majority of 195 to 43. The oppostion would have been stronger, but the seceding party would not afford their assistance.
“Before this act, every man putting his foot on English ground, every stranger, even a negro slave, became as free as every other man who breathed the same air with him. As things now stand, every man in the West-Indies, every inhabitant or these unoffending provinces on the American continent, every person coming from the East-Indies, every gentleman who has travelled for his health or education, every mariner who has navigated the seas, is, for no other offence, under a temporary proscription.”[46]
The two bills received the royal assent on the third of March.
Toward the close of the last year, and in the beginning of the present, much confusion, apprehension and suspicion, was excited by the machinery of a wretched enthusiast and incendiary, since well known by the appellation of _John the Painter_, but whose real name was James Aitkin, born at Edinburgh, and bred a painter——a most profligate and abandoned villain.
After having committed the most attrocious crimes, he shipped himself off for America, where he continued about two years, and from whence he returned in March 1775. The violence of the language and sentiments then held in political matters, by the people among whom he lived, gave birth to that enthusiastic madness which afterward became so dangerous.——Under its baneful influence he returned to England with the most dreadful antipathy to the government and nation; and adopted the design of subverting, in his own single person, that power which he so much abhorred, by setting fire to the dock-yards, and burning the principal trading cities and towns, with their shipping, of whatsoever sort, so far as it could possibly be done. He constructed fire-works, machines and combustibles for the purpose, but was strangely unsuccessful in all his attempts.——Owing to this failure in his machines, the nation was providentially saved from receiving some dreadful or irretrievable shock. He however succeeded in setting fire to the rope-house in the yard at Portsmouth, the beginning of last December. The next month, while party and political disunion prevailed among the inhabitants of Bristol, he attempted, first to burn the shipping, and afterward the city. He succeeded only so far as to set fire to some ware-houses near the quay, six or seven of which were consumed. He was soon after his departure from Bristol, taken up on some suspicious circumstances; and being circumvented by one Baldwin, another painter, the whole scene of iniquity was brought to light. Baldwin pretended to sympathize with him under his misfortunes, and to hold principles similar to his own; and often visited him, till he at length obtained his confidence, and drew from him the history of his crimes. He told Baldwin that he had been in France, and seen Mr. Silas Deane, who had given him some money, and encouraged him to set fire to the dock-yards at Portsmouth, Plymouth, &c. as the best means of distressing Great-Britain, and had promised to reward him according to the service he should do to the American cause. He said that Deane, as an earnest of what should follow, had given him a recommendation to, and bills upon a merchant in London, to the amount of £.300, which however, he had found it necessary to burn, to prevent a discovery; and that in consequence of this encouragement he procured a passport from the French king. He was condemned at Winchester assizes, and executed at Portsmouth dock gate, the tenth of March, and then hung in chains. While he lay at Winchester, after condemnation, and before taken away to execution, he denied his having recommendations and bills, and burning the same. It was while working at Titchfield, in Hampshire, that he conceived the idea of setting fire to the dock-yards. He then went, as he said, to France, and applied to Mr. Deane, who told him that when the work was done he should be rewarded. He added, that on his return, and after setting fire to the ropeyard at Portsmouth, he went to London, and waited on Dr. Bancroft, to whom he had a verbal recommendation from Mr. Deane, but that the doctor gave him no countenance, and did not approve of his conduct.
When general Lee’s capture came to be known by the gazette of February the 25th, the rejoicing in Great-Britain on the occasion, was great. Personal animosities contributed not a little to the triumph and exultation it produced. But the same gazette furnished more than a counterpoise to the joy, in the accounts it contained of general Washington’s successes at Trenton and Princeton.
The name of Lee reminds me of Mr. Arthur Lee. The latter received timely notice of the acts of congress, so as to withdraw and get to Paris a few days after Dr. Franklin’s arrival. While in England he was particularly commissioned by a certain body, and that under every sacred promise of secrecy, to make discoveries and transmit them to America; he was also personally consulted by Monsieur _Caron de Beaumarchais_, upon a project which the latter had formed, of establishing a commercial house, sufficiently powerful and spirited to hazard the risks of the sea and enemy in carrying stores and merchandise for the American troops. A correspondence was afterward opened between them; and on the 21st of June, 1776, Mr. Lee, under the name of Mary Johnson, wrote in cyphers to Mr. Beaumarchais, that the army of Great-Britain in America, would consist of forty thousand men, and their fleet of a hundred ships, and but two only of seventy-four guns. He advised the dispatching secretly ten large ships of war to the Cape or Martinico; and their joining the American fleet, scouring the American coast, and destroyiag the whole British fleet, dispersed as it would be, upon which success the land army could be easily defeated. “By this stroke,” says he “the English fleet will be mortally wounded. Do you fear that this will kindle a war between the two nations? But how will England be able to support a war without fleets, without colonies, without seamen, without resources? On the contrary, if you suffer America to fall again under the dominion of England, the latter will be forever invincible.” If this proposal was communicated to the French minister, it was adjudged too venturous to be prosecuted. Though France must, for her own interest, wish to have the American states perpetually separated from Great-Britain, yet the court will be cautious of risking a war with this country till the prospects of success are extremely encouraging. This accounts for the French king’s issuing out, about the month of February, a proclamation, prohibiting the sale of English prizes taken by American privateers, in any of the ports of France; but as the purchase of them is not prohibited, and the sale of them only in the ports, the Americans will find no difficulty in disposing of them to Frenchmen. The police of France is so well constructed, that they can easily convey to the extremities of the kingdom, the views and sentiments of the court, and secure a ready compliance with them. It is only for the minister to give the farmers-general his instructions, and for them, through their lines of connection with every province, city, town and village, to distribute their directions; on which the inhabitants of the most distant parts will think, speak and act mechanically, in unison with their betters at Versailles.
On the 20th of February, the British ambassador at the Hague, presented a memorial to their high mightinesses, containing various complaints; and closing with an express demand of a formal disavowal of the salute by Fort George at St. Eustatia, to the American flag, and of the dismission and immediate recal of the governor; followed by a further declaration, that till that satisfaction was given, they were not to expect that his majesty would suffer himself to be amused by mere assurances, or would delay one instant to take such measures as he should think due to the interests and dignity of his crown. Their high mightinesses disdaining the spirit and manner of the complaint, passed by the ambassador (Sir Joseph Yorke) and slso the secretary of state, and commanded their minister at London, the count de Walderen, to address himself directly to the king, and to deliver their answer into his own hands; which was done March the 26th. They complained of the reproaches contained in the ambassador’s memorial, and the menacing tone which reigns in it, strained beyond what ought to take place between two sovereign and independent powers. They did not disguise the poignant sensation with which it had impressed them. They afterward mentioned their having ordered the governor home to give the necessary information of what had passed, and their resolution to disavow every act or mark of honor that actually tended in the least degree to recognise the independence of the North-American colonies. On the 10th of April, lord Suffolk, by letter, assured the court, that his majesty accepted with satisfaction, the memorial he had addressed to him; but that his majesty could not perceive in Sir Joseph Yorke’s memorial, any thing contrary to what ought to take place between sovereigns and independent powers in the weighty circumstances in question.
In February and April, Messrs. Franklin and Deane sent to lord Stormont, two letters on the subject of an exchange of British seamen, prisoners in the hands of the captain of an American frigate, for an equal number of American seamen, prisoners in England; and of the cruel treatment the American prisoners meet with in Europe, in being ether compelled by chains, stripes and famine, to fight against their friends and relations, or sent to Africa and Asia, remote from all probability of exchange. They had for answer—“The king’s ambassador receives no applications from rebels, unless they come to implore his majesty’s mercy.” They pronounced it an _indecent_ paper, and returned it for his lordship’s more mature consideration. The news of gen. Clinton’s being created a Knight of the Bath, will be no otherwise important to the Americans, than as a direction how to address him in future.
A fresh effort was made in the house of lords, to bring about a reconciliation between Great-Britain and her colonies, as they are here still called. The earl of Chatham had been prevented of late, by his advanced age and infirm state of health, from taking an active part in the disputes of the house. But viewing with concern the dangers which menaced the kingdom, he determined again to come forth from his retreat, and endeavor to influence the contending parties to listen to terms of accommodation. On the 30th of May he entered the house, wrapped in flannel, and bearing a crutch in each hand. His lordship, sitting in his place and with his head covered, delivered a speech, herein he explained the grounds of the motion he was about to make. He recapitulated and reprobated the measures which had been taken with the Americans, from the voting away of their property without their consent, to the attempting of their conquest by the aid of German mercenaries. He endeavored to show the absurdity of relying longer on the force of arms, and very pathetically pressed the necessity of a speedy conciliation. After speaking for fifty minutes, he moved for an address to the throne, “most humbly to advise his majesty to take the most speedy and effectual measures, for putting a stop to hostilities, upon the only just and solid foundation, namely, the removal of accumulated grievances; and to assure his majesty, that the house will enter upon this great and necessary work with cheerfulness and dispatch, in order to open to his majesty the only means of regaining the affection of the British colonies, and of securing to Great-Britain the commercial advantages of those invaluable possessions; fully persuaded that to heal and redress will be more prevalent over the hearts of generous and free born subjects, than the rigors of chastisement and the horrors of civil war, which have hitherto served only to sharpen resentments and consolidate union, and if continued, must end finally in dissolving all ties between Great-Britain and the colonies.”
This brought on an interesting and animating debate, which terminated in the question’s being put, when lord Chatham’s motion was rejected by a majority of 99 to 28. The ministry had obtained all they wanted from parliament; were confident in their own conceit and in the success of their measures; and would attend to no remonstrances of reason.
The general assembly of the church of Scotland, in an address to his majesty, among many expressions of loyalty, declared that, sensible of their own felicity, they observed with concern, the first appearance of a turbulent and ungovernable spirit among the people of North-America; that they had with astonishment contemplated its alarming progress, and beheld fellow-subjects, who enjoyed in common with them, the blessings of his majesty’s mild administration, take up arms in opposition to lawful authority, disclaim the supremacy of the British legislature, reject with disdain the means of reconciliation, and labour to erect their unlawful confederacy into separate states. They then, with reverence and gratitude to Divine Providence, offer their congratulations for the success which has attended the fleets and armies, that have been employed to oppose the violence of rebellious, subjects, and to reclaim them to a sense of their duty: and conclude with acknowledging it their immediate duty, in the present situation of public affairs, to increase their diligence, not only in confirming the people under their care in sentiments of loyalty, but by inciting them to such reformation in their hearts and lives, as will avert from their country those judgments which their iniquities justly deserve.
[June 6.] His majesty went to the house of peers, and after giving his royal assent to a number of bills, closed the session with a speech which finished with saying, “My lords and gentlemen, I trust in Divine Providence, that by a well-concerted and vigorous exertion of the great force you have put into my hands, the opperations of this campaign, by sea and land, will be blessed with such success as may most effectually tend to the suppression of the rebellion in America, and to the re-establishment of that constitutional obedience which all the subjects of a free state owe to the authority of the law.”
In the beginning of May, a captain Cunningham, in a privateer fitted out from Dunkirk, took and carried into that port the British packet going to Holland. Not understanding thoroughly the business on which he was sent, and being hurried, he was not careful to secure insantly, upon the capture of the vessel, the packet intrusted with the king’s messenger, which he therefore missed of; but the mail was taken and forwarded to the American commissioners at Paris. Adieu.
LETTER VIII.
_Roxbury, October 30, 1777._
Be not surprised at reading that there is in the United States, one enemy more formidable than famine, pestilence and the sword—a prevailing corruption in American hearts, a depravity more incompatible with their republican governments than darkness with light. Such languor and supineness reigns every where, that they seem unable to effect any point, though ever so important and interesting. In the military department, it looks as if all public spirit was sunk into the means of making money by the service, or quarrelling upon the most trivial points of rank. Did you know the pullings and haulings, the jealousies and emulations of the military and other gentlemen, which come before congress, you would be greatly confirmed in your ideas of the sameness of human nature in Britain, here, and every where.
[April 8.] Congress concluded upon the erection of a monument to the memory of gen. Warren, in the town of Boston; and another to the memory of gen. Mercer, in Fredericksburgh in Virginia; and that the eldest son of gen. Warren, and the youngest son of gen. Mercer, be educated from henceforward at the expence of the United States. They conveyed in a few words the highest eulogium on the characters and merits of the deceased. As Mercer had a good landed estate, the propriety of adopting his youngest as the child of the public was obvious.—Through inattention, gen. Warren, who fell on Breed’s Hill, had not been properly noted when congress passed their resolve respecting gen. Montgomery the prososal for paying due respect to the memory of Mercer, led to the like in regard to Warren.
But to advert to military operations. Gen. Lincoln was posted with only 500 men fit for duty at Boundbrook, to guard an extent of five or six miles, which occasioned their flanks being exposed. Lord Cornwallis formed the design of attacking this post, and chose the morning of the 13th for his execution. The plan was exceedingly well laid, and nearly as well executed.—Gen. Lincoln had expected a manœuvre of this kind, and been particularly cautious against a surprise. The enemy however, through the neglect of the patroles, crossed the Rariton just above the general’s quarters, undiscovered till they had advanced within 200 yards of him. At the head of this party, consisting of about 1000 men, were generals Cornwallis and Grant. About 1000 were advanced up each side of the Rariton to Boundbrook, to attack the Americans in front, where the action began nearly at the same time the others were surrounding Lincoln’s quarters.—This happened between day break and sun rise. The general and one of his aids had just time to mount and leave the house before it was surrounded. The other aid, with the general’s papers and their bagage, fell into the hands of the enemy. The artillery consisting of one six pounder, and two three pounders, were also taken. Gen. Lincoln went immediately to give directions to those engaged in front;—while lord Cornwallis flung a party into the rear of the right of the Americans. Another party, from their reserve body of about 2000, was flung over Boundbrook in the rear of the left, with the design of encircling the Americans and preventing their retiring to the neighbouring mountain. Lincoln was hereby reduced to the necessity of being either imprisoned with the whole party in front, or of passing between the two columns of the enemy, which had nearly closed. But he effected his passage with the small lass of not more than 60 killed, wounded and taken.—The enemy soon evacuated the place after destroying twenty barrels of flour, a few casks of rum, and some other articles.
Congress are well assured that Sir William Howe had the last year instructions from ministry, to secure the North-River, and thereby to separate the northern from the southern states.—The general’s successes carried him into the Jerseys, and led him to believe that the business with the Americans was at a close, so that the North-River was neglected. Under a persuasion that Philadelphia was the object this year, congress resolved upon forming a camp immediately on the western side of the Delaware.
[April 15.] The following prudential act was passed——“Whereas the continental battalions are all on footing, liable to the same kind of services, and entitled to equal privileges; Resolved, That the appellations—congress’s own regiment—gen. Whashington’s life guards, &c. given to some of them, are improper and ought not to be kept up; and the officers of the said battalions are required to take notice hereof, and to conform themselves accordingly.”
[April 17.] “Resolved, that the stile of the committee of secret correspondence be altered, and that for the future it be stiled—the committee of foreign affairs; that a secretary be appointed to the said committee. Congress proceeded to the election of the said secretary, and the ballots being taken, Thomas Paine was elected,”—the author of _Common Sense_.
“The committee appointed to inquire into the conduct of the enemy, reported [April 18.]
“That in every place where the enemy has been, there are heavy complaints of oppressions, injury and insults suffered by the inhabitants from officers, soldiers and Americans disaffected to their country’s cause. The committee found these complaints so greatly diversified, that it was impossible to enumerate them, so it appeared difficult to give a distinct and comprehensive view of them, or such an account as would not if published, appear extremely defective, when read by the unhappy sufferers or the country in general.”
“In order however, in some degree, to answer the design of their appointment, they determined to divide the object of their inquiry into four parts—First, the wanton and oppressive devastation of the country and destruction of property.—Second, the inhuman treatment of those who were so unhappy as to become prisoners.—Third, the savage butchery of many who had submitted or were incapable of resistance.——Fourth, the lust and brutality of the soldiers in the abusing of women.”
“They will therefore now briefly state what they found to be the truth upon each of these heads separately, and subjoin to the whole, affidavits and other evidence to support their assertions.”
“1. The wanton and oppressive devastation of the country and destruction of property.”