“A Sullen Discontent”

    897. To Thomas Pownall, 20 September 1771

    898. To Lord Sandwich, 23 September 1771

    899. To Corbyn Morris, 24 September 1771

    900. To William Palmer, [27 September 1771]

    901. To Unknown, 30 September 1771

    Although Hutchinson seemed to be enjoying a respite from what he called “the spirit of disorder,” he was under no illusions that the lull would last. The General Court was not in session. The only item the merchants still refused to import was English tea. But as long as the issue remained unresolved whether Parliament or the colonial assemblies were supreme, there could be no lasting peace. Indeed, Hutchinson feared patriot claims might logically end in a demand for some form of independence for the colonies.

    897. To Thomas Pownall

    Boston 20 Sep 1771

    Davis

    Dear Sir, I thank you for your obliging letter of 11 June1 & for your kindly interesting your self in anything which concerns me. I wish to serve my Countrymen but until the loose absurd principles the seeds of which have been scatterd thro the Continent and have taken deeper root & had greater produce in this than any other Province are eradicated I can do no more than use my negative power & restrain from acts which would accelerate their destruction. What can be more absurd than to admit that G Brit. & the Colonies are all one & the same Empire & yet to insist that each have distinct independent supreme legal Authorities? This notwithstanding is the avowed Doctrine of those Men who influence the measures of the House of Representatives & who have so much influence in Council as to prevent a nonconcurrence with the House. Until the people see this absurdity or until they feel that Parliament will no longer tolerate a denial of its supreme authority by any part of the Subjects of Brit. irregularities in our publick proceedings as a Government & disorders & sometimes tumults among the people are to be expected. I think they might be happy bona si sua norint2 & that the danger of Slavery or any greater abridgment of their natural liberty than is necessary to secure to them the Benefit of Government is imaginary & not real. At present we are quiet & have a prospect of continuing so at least until the General Court meets our political Heroes being of but little Importance in any other Character than that of Representatives. One of the chief of them O——s3 is as great a Disturber of the particular Neighbourhood in which he lives by his drunken distracted frolicks every day or two as he has been of the whole Province & Continent by his inconsistent publications & confused frantick harangues for 6 or 7 years past. I will as you desire let you know from time to time how we go on & shall be obliged to you for the continuation of your Correspondance. I am Dear Sir Your faithful & most obedient Servant,

    AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:231); at head of letter, “Gov Pownall.”

    898. To Lord Sandwich

    Mass Bay Boston 23. Sep 1771

    Davis

    My Lord, There being no person within the Province authorized to act as Marshall of the Court of Vice Admiralty pursuant to the powers given to me in such cases by His Majesty’s Commission I appointed one Wm Sheppard to act in that Office but intimated to him that his continuance in it would probably be short & that he would be superseded by some person commissioned by the Lords of the Admiralty.1 The business & emoluments of the Office are so very small that no person will come from Engd for the sake of that Office only. For more than 30 years it was held by Mr Paxton who enjoyed another place in the Government at the same time. If your Lordship shall think proper to appoint any person in the Province I beg leave to recommend Mr John Cotton who for several years past has been Deputy Secretary & has behavd well in the late disorderly times.2 I have My Lord some self interest in this recommendation Mr Cotton being half brother to my late wife. This would not induce me to name an unfit person to your Lordship. Mr Cotton stood well with Sr Francis Bernard & I have heard him express a desire to give him some additional Office what he has not affording him necessary support. There are district Registers for the Provincial Courts & for the Superior Court of Vice Admiralty to which appeals ly from the Provincial Courts. There does not seem to be the same reason for distinct Marshals. The Courts of Common Law have distinct Clerks but the same Sheriff is the Officer of all the Common Law Courts in the County. In this Province there is at present no Provincial Court of Vice Admiralty. Mr Auchmuty the last Judge being appointed Judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty for all NEngland the powers given him by his former Commission must be determined seeing he cannot be the person both appealed to & appealed from.3 Mr Wentworth has appointed a Provincial Judge for New Hamshire. I have not appointed any one for this Province. The late appointment of a Register for the Provincial Courts, who has been sworn into Office is an evidence that such Courts are supposed to exist & if your Lordship approves of it I will appoint an inferior Judge.

    The Inducement to Council for the Crown in the Courts of Civil Law or Comon Law to asert themselves in the execution of the Laws have been very small. The discouragements from popular resentment & rage against all who do their duty have been very great. If an Establishment be made for the Attorney & Sollicitor General or either of them & none be made for the Advocate General this distinction will be an additional discouragement to him.4 The Profits of his Office are next to nothing his fee being no more than two dollars for a libel & but very few of them are filed in a year. But this with the other matters which I have taken the liberty to mention I humbly submit & have the honour to be with very great respect My Lord Your Lordships most humble & most obedient Servant,

    AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:232–33); at foot of letter, “Rt Hon the Earl of Sandwich.”

    Sylvester Gardiner, c. 1772. By John Singleton Copley. A skilled physician, Sylvester Gardiner made his first fortune importing medicine, but it was his investment in Maine lands as one of the Kennebec Proprietors that made him one of the richest parishioners of King’s Chapel. Seattle Art Museum, Gift of Ann and Tom Barwick, Barney A. Ebsworth, Maggie and Douglas Walker, Virginia and Bagley Wright, and Ann P. Wyckoff; and gift, by exchange, of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Gerber; Mr. and Mrs. Louis Brechemin; Mrs. Reginald H. Parsons Memorial; Anne Parsons Frame, in memory of Lt. Col. Jasper Ewing Brady, Jr., and Maud B. Parsons; Estate of Louise Raymond Owens; Anonymous donors; and Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection; with additional funds from the American Art Support Fund and the American Art Acquisition Fund, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum. Photo credit: Susan Cole

    899. To Corbyn Morris

    Boston 24 Sep 1771

    Davis

    Sir, You do me honour by your obliging present which I have perusd with pleasure & think the principle which influenced you to the publication of it very laudable.1 Give me leave to suggest to you one large article of Imports, from the Colonies of Massa. & NHamp. in time of war especially, I mean the Ships which we build & sell in Engd & I suppose escape notice. The principles of the Colonists are not much changd. There is at least a temporary reformation in their Practice & we have been for some time without any open opposition to the execution of Acts of Parliament. Some further provision seems necessary for carrying the Acts of Trade into execution which in NYork & Pensilv so far as respects the importation of Tea from Holland are wholly disregarded & it is a common practice for the people in the Western part of this Province to go into those Government & bring the Dutch Tea into this in Bags & sometimes it is bought for 2 pistareens or 21d sterling the pound. The most effectual way would be the exportation of Teas from Engd at a price not much greater than those from Holld.

    If there is any thing in my power in which I may oblige you I shall very willingly approve myself Sir Your most humble & most Obedient Servant,

    AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:233); at foot of letter, “Corbyn Morris Eq.”

    900. To William Palmer

    [27 September 1771]

    Hood

    Sir, Being at the 27 Sep I have given an order upon you for £40—to Mr James Fisher which please to honour.1 If you think Teas will fall before our Spring Ships come away it will be best that all you send to compleat the 100 Chests should leave England in November least any should remain on hand after the arrival of the Spring Supply. The Vessel the foregoing Letter went by [Davis]2 is owned by C\R [most noted smugglers] & it is now supposed that she is to go [from England to Holland] or in some way or other to return with a [cargo of Dutch tea]. Its pity she cant by some means or other be intercepted. Let it not be known that this information come from me. I am Sir Your most humble & Obedient Servant,

    AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:234); at head of letter, “Mr Wm Palmer.”

    901. To Unknown

    Boston 30 Sept. 1771

    Hood

    My Dear Sir, I may not any longer omit thanking you for your kind favour of 9 June.1 I wish I could agree to both parts of the Intelligence which you had from Mr Gambier. The spirit of disorder having spent itself in repeated fruitless efforts it is very certain that we are & have been for months past remarkably quiet but I doubt whether there is much more of a disposition to good humour than at anytime since the memorable Stamp Act. A sullen discontent has succeeded to furious rage. The Adamss Otis Hancock Molineux & twenty more of the same cast who have the greatest influence among the people are alike Enemies to every Administration in which they themselves are not sharers. Most of the Council who were offended with Mr Bernard have changed their Temper & behaviour but they dare not openly oppose the leaders of the Faction & I imagine that it is from Mr Gambiers observation of good humour in some of these Gentlemen where he did not expect it that he inferred a general disposition. I must do him the justice to say that he always endeavoured to encourage & cultivate it.

    I join with you most sincerely in wishing for a Harmony between the Kingdom & the Colonies but it cannot be expected until the Colonies relinquish the principles which at present they avow & which are directly repugnant to their being a part of the same Government with the Kingdom, for our Heroes openly assert the Supremacy of the Colony Legislatures & deny the controul of Parliament over them and their influence over the Assemblies is so great that they have repeatedly brought them to pass Votes or Resolves, sometimes implicitly & sometimes more expressly asserting such Doctrine. With people so illiberal I will have no further dispute than what I cannot avoid. The worse their cause is the more they rail at all who oppose it. I will endeavour to defeat them in carrying their false Theory into Practice & I shall never think a person fit for a Judge in the Executive Courts who will shew any countenance to this Doctrine of the Legislative Courts.2 I have, for a long time, thought this to be the Test by which Union or Disunion between Britain & her Colonies is to be determined. Let the Colonies cease to dispute the supreme Authority of Parliament. I think Parliament will never pass any acts which we shall have any reason to think grievous and the late Plan of Taxation will never be reassumed. Suffer the Colonies to deny this Authority & to submit to such acts only as they think fit to adopt & to reject such as they do not approve of discord will continue for a time & a total Separation will follow.

    There cannot be a greater Solecism than two Supreme Authorities in one Government & yet our people have been encouraged in it by some of their Correspondents in England because they say we are not represented. This Subject cant be properly handled in a short Letter. It is more than can be answerd to say that if we are not represented it is our own fault who by voluntarily removing to so remote a part of the British Dominions have brought ourselves into such a state that we cannot be represented but this voluntary removal is no reason for Parliaments losing any part of the Authority which it had over us. I am glad that it has not been thought proper to alter the Place of Rendezvous for His Majestys Ships principally because the Opposers of Government are humbled by their continuance. From a short acquaintance I have Reason to think you have done no more than justice to Admiral Montague & his most agreeable family. I will do all in my power to make his residence here easy & pleasant & doubt not I shall cooperate with him in measures for His Majestys Service with the like harmony & good understanding as I have always maintained with his predecessors. You are happy in the prospect of your family after you. I wish you may live many years & see it constantly inlarging. I am with sincere regard & esteem Dear Sir Your faithful & most obedient humble Servant,

    AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:236–37).

    902. To Lord Hillsborough

    Boston 1st. October 1771

    (No 12)

    My Lord, I received from the Committee of Council their Report of the State of the Eastern Country and covered it with my last Letter to your Lordship but too late to make any Remarks.1 It is evidently calculated to excuse or justifie the two Houses in their Refusal or Neglect to take any measures to remove Intruders and it will tend to encourage further Intrusions. Notwithstanding the favorable account of the Improvements made by the Settlers upon the Lands there I have no doubt that by far the greater part of the Inhabitants are employed in felling Trees, hewing Timber & sawing Boards and Plank with which I am informd more than 20 sail of Ships have been laden every year for several years past. There is in that Country great plenty of fine Beech Trees many hundred cords whereof are annually brought to Boston and consumed for fewel. The value of it for plank and timber for Ships is not known here. I have heard that it has been found as serviceable as the best Oak.

    If the State of this Country should come under consideration I think this Report may be of some use and this was my chief motive in obtaining a Copy of it to transmit to your Lordship.2

    I expect nothing from the General Court. In private Conversation the Members excuse themselves by alledging that the Settlement of all parts of the Province ought to be encouraged, that they are obstructed in the regular way of doing it by the disallowance of the Grants which are to originate with them and that it is better Settlements should be made in this irregular way than not made at all. I have done every thing in my power by declaring in my publick Speeches and Messages that I considered them as Intruders3 and that Parliament would first or last interpose. I am informed that the settlers were much alarmed with this declaration, but have been since encouraged that it will have no consequences. I have the honour to be most Respectfully My Lord Your Lordship’s most humble & most obedient Servant,

    Mr Story who was one of the persons that felt the resentment of the populace in 1765 being a passenger in this Vessel desired to be the Bearer of my Dispatches to your Lordship.

    RC (National Archives UK, CO 5/760, ff. 283–84); at foot of letter, “Rt. Honble. the Earl of Hillsborough”; docketed, “Boston 1st. October 1771. Govr. Hutchinson. (No. 12) D——18.” AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:237–38); at head of letter, “by Hood—to Mr Storys care.” SC (National Archives UK, CO 5/768, ff. 216–17); docketed, “Boston 1st. October 1771. Governor Hutchinson. (No. 12) Rx.”

    903. To [Sir Francis Bernard]1

    Boston 2d Octo. 1771

    Hood—to Storys care

    Dear Sir, Mr Story has no occasion for a Letter from me to you for any other purpose than to acquaint you that in the time of the Stamp Act there were a great number of attachments upon Wheelwrights Estate which were continued by order of the Superior Court because the Judges could not go on with business conformable to the Act of Parlt. no Stamp paper being [able] to be obtaind if the Judges had been possessed of fortitutde sufficient to have made use of them. There was therefore a necessity of continuing all the business to another Term. Among the other Attachments Mr Story says & I do not doubt it he had made one to the value of a debt which Wheelwright owed him for the Kings part of the Free Mason & Cargo forfeited for illicit trade. Before the Actions were determined Wheelwright died & of course they were all dismissed. He says he did all he could to recover this mony & that it will be very hard if he or his Bondsman are forced to finally pay it. There is 1/3d of 290£ lawful mony for private information which he says the Comissioners will not allow. This appears to me so reasonable that I think I can convince them that they ought to allow it if Mr. Story actually paid it. Capt Bishop must remember receiving it.

    The L. G has been always subject to a bilious disorder which seems to increase with age & some late turns have brought him very low. I should not be surprized if one of them should suddenly carry him off. In the intervals he recruits & is in a tolerable state of health. I do not know that there will be any necessity of the like of any Salary for his Successor. Whether the probability of this Salary ceasing will facilitate any of the new Salary proposed you will best judge.

    I have wrote to you a few days ago upon other Subjects by Davis a Vessel belonging to _____ & others which inter nos has been for a number of years past employed in running Dutch Tea & it is supposed will now return with a Cargo of it.2

    It is proper this should be known but it should not be known that the information comes by me & I depend upon your keeping it secret. I am Dear Sir Your faithful humble Servant,

    AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:238–39). Contemporary printing: Boston Gazette, 4 December 1775 (final two paragraphs only).

    904. To Sir Francis Bernard

    Boston 4. Oct 1771

    Hood to Story

    Dear Sir, After delivering my Letters to Mr Story I received your Letter No. 60.1 Excuse my not continuing to number my Letters. By writing sometimes in Town & sometimes in the Country I am often without my Letter Book & must guess at my last number and perhaps number wrong.

    I had wrote to Ld Sandwich. I cant help considering the place as vacant. No body will come here for the sake of it & no Deputy will be able to allow the principal anything worth regarding.2

    I thank you for your attention to the affair of removing the Assembly. Had I received express leave to carry it to Boston in consequence of their past Message to me I should have waited for an answer to my Letter which coverd the foolish protest before I took any step. They may thank themselves. I am not much concernd about it any farther than the difficulty it will bring me under of passing backwards & forwards at a bad time of year from Camb. to Boston. I am more concernd about the Tax Act and the resentment it will bring against the Commissioners.3 I will do the best I can. I am most sincerely Dear Sir Your obliged & most obedient servant,

    AC (Massachusetts Archives, SC1/series 45X, 27:239); at foot of letter, “Sr F Bernard.”