prepare something for the public rather to meet, and to take necessary care for
than for the sake of propriety in the coun- the preservation of the peace; which ad-
cil records, and the governor doubted vice being complied with, the people, in a
whether he ought to consent; but, find- few hours after, passed a vote, which they
ing his instructions countenanced such a caused to be printed, declaring that " the
proceeding, he suffered the appointment of conduct of Governor Hutchinson, in re-
a committee, which withdrew into the quiring the justices of peace in the town
lobby, where they had not remained long to meet and use their endeavors to sup-
enough to write a paper of one-half the press routs, riots, &c, carried a designed
length of their report before they returned reflection upon the people there met to-
with it in form. There was no room to gether and was solely calculated to serve
doubt of its being the paper intended to the views of administration." The coun-
be read by Mr. Bowdoin, with such pref- cil, declining any further advice, were dis-
ace or other addition as was proper for missed; the people continued together, in
the report of a committee. Upon hear- possession of all the power of government,
ing it read, the governor immediately for any purpose they thought fit.
warned them of the consequences of it; The consignees of the tea, when they
that it would be highly resented in
England, and would be urged there to * " Fr ' en< ? s ! brethren! countrymen !-That
, & ' & .... worst or plagues, the detested tea. shipped
show the necessity of a change in their f or this port by the East India Company, is
constitution. He pointed out one very now arrived in this harbor — the hour of
exceptionable part, which struck many of destruction of manly opposition to the mach-
,, - £, ,, , ,, . , , ,, inations of tyranny stare you n
the face.
Every friend to his country, to himself, and
them so forcibly that they wished the
governor would give them more time for posterity, Is now called upon to meet at
consideration, to which desire he readilv Faneuil Hall, at nine o'clock this day, at
acceded, and ordered an adjournment from -ft *£ 2Z£2A £L£S S S£%£
baturday to Monday following. worst, and most destructive measure of ad-
On Sunday one of the ships with the tea ministration."
473
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS
saw no prospects of protection from gov- erment thus taken out of the hands of the
ernment, made proposals to Mr. Adams, legally established authority, could not
and others, a standing committee of the justify a total silence, though he knew he
town, for securing the tea, and forbearing could say nothing which would check the
to make sale of any part of it, until they usurpers. He sent the sheriff with a
could receive directions from their prin- proclamation, to be read in the meeting,
cipals; but no proposals were hearkened Oearing testimony against it as an unlaw-
to. And, as soon as the master of the ful assembly, and requiring the moderator
ship which brought the tea came on shore, and the people present forthwith to sep-
he was sent for by this committee; and, arate at their peril. The sheriff desired
after examination, both the master and leave to read the directions he had received
owner were required, at their peril, to from the governor, which was granted ; but
cause the ship to be brought up to town, the reading of the proclamation was op-
and to a particular wharf, where it had posed, until Mr. Adams signified his acqui-
not been customary for ships from London escence. Being read, a general hiss fol-
to unlade. The consignees of the tea, lowed, and then a question whether they
judging themselves no longer in a place would surcease all further proceedings, as
of safety, withdrew to the castle. the governor required, which was deter-
The people assembled in Boston took mined in the negative, nemine contra-
the name of "the body" instead of a dicente.
" legal town-meeting," and began with The consignees, in a letter to the select-
that spirit with which all established pow- men of Boston, which was read to the
ers ought to act in the exercise of their meeting, signified that it was utterly out
legal constitutional authority. They re- of their power to send the tea back to
solved that, " at all events," the tea arrived England, but they would engage to keep
in charge of Captain Hall should be re- it in a store until they could receive fur-
turned to the place from whence it came, ther directions from England, to which
and that no duty should be paid upon it. they afterwards added that they would
They then adjourned to the afternoon, to be content to have it under the constant
give time for the consignees to deliberate, inspection of a committee, to be appointed
As soon as they reassembled, they resolved by the town. But all was declared not
that the tea should be sent back in the in the least degree satisfactory, and that
same bottom in which it came. To this nothing short of sending back the tea
resolve the owner of the vessel, who was would be so. The owner and master of
present in the meeting, said he must enter the ship were directed to attend the
a protest. It was thereupon resolved that " body " ; and a vote passed, while they
Mr. Rotcb, the owner, be directed not to were present, without a negative, " that
enter the tea, and Captain Hall, the mas- it is the firm resolution of the body that
ter, not to suffer any of it to be landed, the owner shall return the tea in the same
at their peril. They did not stop at mere vessel in which it came, and that they
declaratory acts or naked resolves This, now require it of him." The owner prom-
tbey knew, would render future acts and ised to comply, but intimated that it was
resolves contemptible. They established by compulsion, and that he should be
a watch of twenty - five inhabitants for obliged to protest, to save himself from
securing the ship and cargo, and appointed damage. The master also promised to
a captain for the night. carry it back. The factors for the two
It being intimated that the consignees, other vessels expected were sent for, and,
if they had time, would make their pro- being informed of the engagements made
posa 7 s to the body, "out of grpat tender- by the owner and master of the ship ar-
ness to them, and from a strong desire to rived, they also made such engagements
bring this matter to a conclusion, not- as were satisfactory; and, after making
withstanding the time they had hitherto provision for the continuance of a watch,
expended on them, to no purpose." the so long as the tea continued in the har-
meeting was prevailed with to adjourn to bor, and for an alarm to the inhabitants
the next morning. upon any molestation, they passed a re-
The governor, seeing the powers of gov- solve " that if any person, or persons^
474
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS
shall hereafter import tea from Great
Britain, or if any master, or masters, of
any vessel, or vessels, in Great Britain,
shall take the same on board to be im-
ported to this place, until the unrighteous
act (mentioned in the preamble to the re-
solve) shall be repealed, he, or they, shall
be deemed, by this body, an enemy to his
country; and we will prevent the landing
and sale of the same, and the payment
of any duty thereon, and will effect the
return thereof to the place from whence
it shall come." Copies of this resolve
were ordered to be sent to England and
to the seaport towns in the province.
A resolve passed to carry the votes and
resolves into execution at the risk of their
lives and properties; and the meeting was
dissolved.
A more determined spirit was conspicu-
ous in this body than in any of the for-
mer assemblies of the people. It was
composed of the lowest as well, and prob-
ably in as great proportion, as of the
superior ranks and orders, and all had an
equal voice. No eccentric or irregular
motions, however, were suffered to take
place. All seemed to have been the plan
of but few, it may be of a single person.
The " form " of a town-meeting was as-
sumed, the selectmen of Boston, town
clerk, &c, taking their usual places; but,
the inhabitants of any other towns being
admitted, it could not assume the name
of a " legal " meeting of any town.
Immediately after the dissolution of
this body the committees of correspond-
ence of the towns of Boston, Roxbury,
Dorchester, Brookline, and Cambridge
united, and held their meetings daily, or
by short adjournments, in Faneuil Hall,
or one of the rooms belonging to it, and
gave such directions as they thought
proper. Two of the other vessels with
tea arriving from London, they were
ordered by this new body to the same
wharf where the first ship lay, under pre-
tence of the conveniency of having the
whole under one guard. It soon after
appeared that a further conveniency ac-
companied it.*
* Two days after the dissolution of the
body the following publication was posted
ir different parts of the town, and printed
in the newspapers. It might be the act of a
single person unknown, but in such a time
As a permit or pass was always re-
quired at the castle, for all vessels ex-
cept small coasters, and there were sev-
eral men - of - war in the harbor, which
it was supposed would stop the ship
from proceeding any other way, the de-
struction of the tea was considered as
necessary to prevent payment of the duty.
A demand was made from the collector,
in form, of a clearance for the ship, which
he could not grant until the goods which
were imported, and regularly entered,
were landed, and the duties paid, or se-
cured; and the like demand of a permit
was made of the naval officer, with whom
blank permits were intrusted by the
governor, to be filled tip, and delivered to
such vessels only as had been cleared at
the custom-house, and, therefore, in this
case was refused. It was expected that
in twenty days after the arrival of the
tea a demand of the duty would be made
by the collector, and the ship or goods
be seized; which would occasion addi-
tional difficulties. Another meeting of
the body was, therefore, called, in order
to inquire the reason of the delay in
sending the ship back to England. The
people came into Boston from the ad-
jacent towns within 20 miles, from
some, more, from others, less, as they
were affected; and, as soon as they were
assembled, enjoined the owner of the ship,
at his peril, to demand of the collector
it carried terror with it, which probably was
the principal design of it : " Whereas it has
been reported that a permit will be given, by
the custom-house, for landing the tea now
on board a vessel lying in this harbor, com-
manded by Captain Hall : This is to remind
the public that it was solemnly voted, by
the body of the people of this and the neigh-
boring towns, assembled at the Old South
Meeting-house, on Tuesday, the 30th of
November, that the said tea never should be
landed in this province, or pay one farthing
of duty. And, as the aiding, or assisting, in
procuring, or granting, any such permit for
landing the safd tea, or any other tea so cir-
cumstanced, or in offering any permit, when
obtained, to the master or commander of the
said ship, or any other ship in the same
situation, must betray ' an inhuman thirst
for blood," and will also, in a great measure,
accelerate confusion and civil war, this is to
assure such public enemies of this country
that they will be considered and treated as
wretches unworthy to live, and will be made
the first victims of our resentment.
" The People."
475
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS
of the customs a clearance for the ship,
and appointed ten of their number a
committee to accompany him; and ad-
journed for two days to receive the
report. Being reassembled and informed
by the owner that a clearance was refused,
he was then enjoined immediately to ap-
ply to the governor for a pass by the cas-
tle. He made an apology to the governor
for coming upon such an errand, having
been compelled to it; and received an an-
swer that no pass ever had been, or lawfully
could be, given to any vessel which had
not first been cleared at the custom-house,
and that, upon his producing a clearance,
such pass would immediately be given by
the naval officer. The governor inquired
of him whether he did not apprehend his
ship in danger from the people, and of-
fered him a letter to Admiral Montagu,
desiring him to afford all necessary pro-
tection. He said he had been advised to
remove his vessel under the stern of the
admiral's ship, but, among other reasons
for not doing it, mentioned his fears of the
rage of the people; that his concern was
not for his ship, which he did not believe
was in danger, but he could not tell what
would be the fate of the tea on board.
He declined taking any letter to the ad-
miral, and returned to the people. The
governor was unable to judge what would
be the next step. The secretary had in-
formed him that a principal leader of the
people had declared, in the hearing of the
deputy secretary, that, if the governor
should refuse a pass, he would demand
it himself, at the head of 150 men, &c. ;
and he was not without apprehensions of
a further application. But he was re-
lieved from his suspense, the same even-
ing, by intelligence from town of the total
destruction of the tea.
It was not expected that the governor
would comply with the demand; and, be-
fore it was possible for the owner of the
ship to return from the country with
an answer, about fifty men had prepared
themselves, and passed by the house where
the people were assembled to the wharf
where the vessels lay, being covered with
blankets, and making the appearance of
Indians. The body of the people remain-
ed until they had received the governor's
answer; and then, after it had been
observed to them that, everything else
in their power having been done, it now
remained to proceed in the only way
left, and that, the owner of the ship hav-
ing behaved like a man of honor, no in-
jury ought to be offered to his person
or property, the meeting was declared to
be dissolved, and the body of the people
repaired to the wharf, and surrounded
the immediate actors, as a guard and
security, until they had finished their
work. In two or three hours they hoisted
out of the holds of the ships 342 chests
of tea, and emptied them into the sea.
The governor was unjustly censured by
many people in the province, and much
abused by the pamphlet and newspaper
writers in England for refusing his pass,
which, it was said, would have saved the
property thus destroyed; but he would
have been justly censured if he had grant-
ed it. He was bound, as all the King's
governors were, by oath, faithfully to ob-
serve the acts of trade, and to do his
endeavor that the statute of King Will-
iam, which establishes a custom-house,
and is particularly mentioned in the oath,
be carried into execution. His granting
a pass to a vessel which had not cleared
at the custom-house would have been a
direct violation of his oath, by making
himself an accessory in the breach of those
laws which he had sworn to observe. It
was out of his power to have prevented
this mischief without the most imminent
hazard of much greater mischief. The
tea could have been secured in the town
in no other way than by landing marines
from the men-of-war, or bringing to town
the regiment which was at the castle,
to remove the guards from the ships, and
to take their places. This would have
brought on a greater convulsion than
there was any danger of in 1770, and it
would not have been possible, when two
regiments were forced out of town, for
so small a body of troops to have kept
possession of the place. Such a measure
the governor had no reason to suppose
would have been approved of in England.
He was not sure of support from any
one person in authority. The House of
Representatives openly avowed principles
which implied complete independency.
The council, appointed by charter to be
assisting to him, declared against f»nv
advice from which might be inferred
476
HUTCHINSON, THOMAS
an acknowledgment of the authority of lodged that night at the castle, under
Parliament in imposing taxes. pretence of a visit to his sons, who were
The superior judges were intimidated confined there with the other consignees
from acting upon their own judgments by of the tea. Failing in an attempt for a
the censure of the House of Representa- council the next day at Milton, he met
tives, and by the threats of impeachment them, three days after, at Cambridge,
of all who shall receive their salaries un- where they were much divided in their
der the authority of an act of Parliament, opinion. One of them declared against
which had enabled the King to grant them, any step whatever. The people, he said,
There was not a justice of peace, sheriff, had taken the powers of government into
constable, or peace officer in the province their hands — any attempt to restrain
who would venture to take cognizance of them would only enrage them, and ren-
any breach of law, against the general der them more desperate; while another
bent of the people. observed that, having done everything else
The military authority, which by char- in their power to prevent the tea from
ter wa3 given to the governor, had been being landed, and all to no purpose, they
assumed by this body of the people, who had been driven to the necessity of de-
appointed guards and officers, which ap- stroying it, as a less evil than submission
peared sometimes with fire-arms, though to the duty. So many of the actors and
generally without them. And, when he abettors were universally known that a
required the colonel of the regiment of proclamation, with a reward for discov-
militia in the town to use the powers ery, would have been ridiculed. The at-
with which by law he was intrusted, he torney-general, therefore, was ordered to
excused himself by urging the hazard to lay the matter before the grand jury,
which he should be exposed and the in- who, there was no room to expect, would
efficacy of any attempt. ever find a bill for what they did not con-
Even the declarations of the governor sider as an offence,
against the unlawful invasions of the This was the boldest stroke which had
people upon the authority of government yet been struck in America. The people
were charged against him as officious, un- in all parts of the province showed more
necessary acts, and were made to serve to or less concern at the expected conse-
inflame the people and increase disorders, quences. They were, however, at a dis-
He considered the intimations given him tance; something might intervene to di-
of personal danger as part of the general vert them. Besides, the thing was done:
plan for discouraging him from perse- there was no way of nullifying it. Their
vering in his duty; but, in some instances leaders feared no consequences. To en-
of a serious appearance, he could not take gage the people in some desperate measure
any measures for his security, without had long been their plan. They never
the charge of needless precaution, in order discovered more concern than when the
to bring an odium against the people, people were quiet upon the repeal of an
when they meant him no harm. act of Parliament, or upon concessions
Notwithstanding the forlorn state he made, or assurances given; and never
was in, he thought it necessary to keep more satisfaction than when government
up some show of authority, and caused a had taken any new measures, or appeared
council to be summoned to meet at Boston to be inclined to them, tending, or which
the day after the destruction of the tea, might be improved, to irritate and disturb
and went to town himself to be present the people. They had nothing to fear for
at it; but a quorum did not attend. The themselves. They had gone too far to re-
people had not fully recovered from the cede. If the colonies were subject to the
state of mind which they were in the pre- supreme authority and laws of Great Brit-
ceding night. Great pains had been ain, their offences, long since, had been of
taken to persuade them that the obstruc- the highest nature. Their all depended
tions they had met with, which finally upon attaining to the object which first
brought on the loss of the tea, were owing engaged them. There was no way of at-
to his influence; and, being urged to it taining to it but by involving the body of
by his friends, he left the town, and the people in the same circumstances
477
HTJTCHINSONIAEf CONTROVERSY
they were in themselves. And it is cer-
tain that ever after this time an opinion
was easily instilled, and was continually
increasing, that the body of the people
had also gone too far to recede, and that
an open and general revolt must be the
consequence; and it was not long before
actual preparations were visibly making
for it in most parts of the province.
Hutchinsonian Controversy, The. The
Massachusetts theocracy, actuated by the
spirit of the English persecuting bishops
and of the Court of High Commission,
persecuted relentlessly, as heretics and
schismatics, the persons who occupied tow-
ards them the position which they had
held towards their own persecutors. With
the influx of new-comers from England,
new opinions flowed into Massachusetts
from the seething caldron of disputations
in the mother-country. Among the new-
comers was Anne Hutchinson (q. v.),
who was independent in thought and bold
in the expression of opinion — a religious
enthusiast, whose care of a numerous
family did not prevent her taking a
prominent part in the Church, and, at
meetings of the women, which she insti-
tuted, freely discussing religious doctrines
and criticising sermons. She maintained
the leading tenet of the Reformation (jus-
tification by faith alone), involuntary
faith, and the free grace of God. She
declared that it was this faith, and
not the repetition of acts of devotion
or acts of morality, that made the true
religious person. This doctrine of justifi-
cation by faith was accepted by the the-
ocracy as sound orthodoxy, but, as Mrs.
Hutchinson put it, it struck a vital blow
at the constitution of the Church in Massa-
chusetts, for it mercilessly smote the self-
esteem and influence of the leaders. Their
" sanctification," this smart woman al-
leged, in which they prided themselves — â–
their sanctimonious carriage and austere
lives — furnished no evidence whatever of
their " justification " — their change of
heart and acceptance witlrGod. The only
evidence of justification, she said, was an
internal evidence and consciousness on
the part of believers that the Holy Ghost
dwelt within them. The clergy were em-
barrassed, for they preached justification
by faith and the internal and supernatural
assurance of election to salvation, but
they also held that such assurances were
false and deceptive unless accompanied
by outward evidence of sanctity in life
and conversation. Hence their austerity.
While the Boston churches, under the
influence of Mrs. Hutchinson, inclined to
embrace her doctrines, ex-Governor Win-
throp and most of the clergy throughout
the colony denounced her as antinomian,
and the pretended personal union with
the Holy Ghost as no better than blasphe-
my. The governor and Cotton and Wheel-
wright supported her views, while most of
the magistrates, ex-Governor Winthrop, and
the clergy of the colony were her stern
and active opponents. They were cau-
tious, however, how they condemned their
favorite doctrine of faith and free grace;
but they zealously upheld the necessity
of a system of worship and austere self-
denial which they had crossed the Atlantic
to establish. Mrs. Hutchinson irritated
them by classifying the two parties — her
friends as " under the covenant of grace,"
and her opponents " under the covenant
of works " ; and because Mr. Wheel-
wright made the distinction in a ser-
mon, he was arraigned for sedition, and
found guilty. The governor and a few
others offered a protest, but the gen-
eral court refused to receive it. Dis-
putes ran high, and the whole colony
was ablaze with excitement. Men of
opposite opinions sometimes came to
blows; families were divided, and society
was fearfully rent. In the midst of the
turmoil, Winthrop was elected (1637)
governor, and the orthodox party claimed
a triumph. The Hutchinsonians were beat-
en, but not subdued. The theological ques-
tions raised by Mrs. Hutchinson were
referred to a synod — a conference of dele-