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Chapter 12 Part 2- Massachusetts and The General Congress - September 1774 to January 1775 · Life and Times of Joseph Warren

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Chapter twelve, Part two of Life and Times of Joseph Warne by Richard Frothingham.
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This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Samuel Adams now wrote to
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doctor Young, I think our countrymen discover the spirit of Rome or Sparta.
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I admire in them that patience which you have often heard me say is characteristic
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of the patriot enter arma, silent leges. I have written to our friends
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to provide themselves without delay with arms and ammunition, get well instructed into military
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art, embody themselves, and prepare a complete set of rules that they may
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be ready in case they are called to defend themselves against the violent acts of
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despotism. Surely the laws of self preservation will warrant it in this time of
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danger and doubtful expectation. On the afternoon of the day of the publication of
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these resolves, the provincial Congress appointed a committee to consider what was necessary to
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do for the defense and safety of the province. I need not present in
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detail the proceedings on this report or the doings of the Congress. The debates
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for several days were long in earnest, but there is no report of the
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speeches. The deliberations resulted in the adoption on the twenty sixth of a series
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of resolves which provided for the creation of a Committee of Public Safety as a
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sort of directory to take care of the Commonwealth, which may be summed up
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as an authority, to organize the militia, and to provide military stores when
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they should take the field. The resolves also provided for officers to command this
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force. On the next day, the Congress elected by ballot nine of its
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members to compose the committee, choosing first three from Boston and then nine from
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the country. They elected Hancock, Warren and Church from the town, Richard
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Devins of Charlestown, Benjamin White of Brookline, Joseph Palmer of Braintree, Norton
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Quincy who declined, Abraham Watson of Cambridge, Azor Orne of Marblehead. Subsequently,
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John Pidgeon of Newton, William Heath of Roxbury, and Jabez Fisher of
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Wrentham were added. The Congress next elected five commissaries, who were called a
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Committee of Supplies, David Cheever, Moses Gill, Jeremiah Lee, Benjamin Lincoln
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and Benjamin Hall. Three general officers were then chosen Jedediah Prebble, Artemus Ward
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and Seth Palmeroy. On the twenty eighth Congress passed the resolve inviting the constitutional
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members of His Majesty's Council of this Colony by the Royal Charter, chose in
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last May to meet with the Congress at their adjournment, and on the twenty
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ninth appointed Henry Gardner, Receiver General, to receive the usual revenue for the
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use of the province at the of the constables, collectors and other persons.
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The Congress appointed a day of public thanksgiving, in particular from a consideration of
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the union which so remarkably prevailed not only in the province but throughout the continent.
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At dis alarming crisis, the Congress on the twenty ninth adjourned until the
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twenty third of November. It declined to take action on the formation of a
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new government and adhered strictly to the recommendations of the Continental Congress. Warren's name
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occurs on committees from the commencement to the close of the session. He now
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began a great service as a member of the Committee of Public Safety, the
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executive of the Colony. It met on the second of November at Cambridge and
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organized by the choice of John Hancock as chairman, but he did not attend
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the next session, and Warren's name stands on its journal at the head of
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the list of members present. At this meeting, the committee voted to purchase
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provisions for an army, and at the second meeting on the eighth, they
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voted to procure all the arms and ammunition which they could of the neighboring provinces.
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On the evening of the next day, Cushing and the two Adamses came
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into the town from Congress, where the people testified their joy at their safe
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arrival by ringing the bells, some of them till midnight. Hancock did not
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attend the next meeting of the Committee of Safety on the fifteenth, when it
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was voted to have seven large pieces of cannon carried out of Boston. Warren,
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in behalf of the Committee of Donations, now replied to a letter from
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the Committee of Middletown, Connecticut, which enumerated things that roused their attention and
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zeal and induced them to unite with their brethren throughout the continent. They said
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the claim of Parliament was enforced by the grossest violation of royal faith in tearing
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up by the roots the ancient Charter of Massachusetts, and by all the evils
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of Pandora's box, let loose in the new form of government imposed upon the
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people. The reply to this spirited letter is as follows. Reply to Middletown,
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Boston, November seventeenth, seventeen seventy four. Gentlemen, your kind letter
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of the seventeenth of October came safe to hand when we reflect on the great
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importance of the controversy in which we are engaged. When we consider that America
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will be free and happy or severely wretched according as we conduct ourselves, we
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tremble. But that we are contending for our rights. That the continent supports
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us makes us confident and determined. The plan which has been so long concerted
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to deprive America of her rights seems now to be executing. And that the
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ministry have chosen the town of Boston as their first victim. That we are
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sequestered from all America for a criterion by which they shall determine how far the
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idea of despotic government is compatible with the sentiments of freeborn Americans, gives us
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no concern, because the spirit which is discovered in Middletown has diffused itself through
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the continent. Many have been the devices, subtle have been the schemes,
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and low the artifices made use of to so distension and division. But the
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virtue of our country has risen superior to them all. And we see a
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band now formed which will encourage our friends and confound our enemies. The ministry
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have hitherto kept the people of Great Britain ignorant of the true state of America.
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They have, by bribes and falsehoods, deceived the nation. Truth and
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justice were never so effectually enveloped in the thick clouds of calumny and detraction.
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The mercenary writers they have employed to misrepresent, vilify, and abuse the Bostonians
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afford us a striking instance of the base methods they pursue to ruin us.
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We have, however, the best grounds to think that the tide is turning
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in our favor. The eyes of the people of Britain begin to be opened.
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The coolness, temper, and firmness of the Americans proceedings, the unanimity
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of all the colonies in the same sentiments of their rights and of the injustice
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offered to Boston and the patients with which those injuries are at present born,
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without the least appearance of submission, have a good deal surprised and disappointed our
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enemies, and the tone of public conversation, which has been so violently against
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us, begins evidently to turn. This is the language of as good a
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friend as America has in England, and whose authority we can rely on.
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And if this most desirable change had taken place before the proceedings of the American
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Congress were known in England, what may we expect upon their being known?
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Had not the present ministry discovered such rancor and such malice in their proceedings in
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respect to America America, we should expect everything to our wishes. But we
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have had such full demonstration of their diabolical designs against us that we can look
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for nothing from them but what our own virtue and spirit can extort. The
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regular, firm and spirited conduct of the continent. If they should even fail
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of success, will eternally redound to their honor. And should they meet that
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success which there cause merits, they must be the happiest people on whom the
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sun shines. The propriety and zeal with which the Town of Middletown have treated
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the indignity which is offered to their country seems to be a renewing that glorious
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ardor which warmed the breasts of their progenitors. It is a disposition which has
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heretofore been attended with prosperity. The support which they have formerly so liberally affwarded
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the Town of Boston in their sufferings, demands our warmest gratitude. This recent
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instance of their good wishes for our success, and the readiness and forwardness which
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they discover to do everything in their power for maintaining and preserving the rights of
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their country, and for supporting and feeding any who are immediate sufferers by the
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vengeance of their enemies, cannot fail to excite gratitude from every friend to the
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rights of mankind, and from the Town of Boston in particular. We are
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not insensible, although there is a probability that our grievances will be redressed,
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that everything yet depends on our own virtue and resolution. Great patience, vigilance,
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and public spirit are still necessary. The point has been so long and
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so strenuously contended for that our enemies will never give it up till they are
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compelled by the last and most unavoidable necessity. Our cause is so just,
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and we are so sensible, how necessary it is to defend it that we
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have no doubt. But with the blessing of Heaven upon us and upon the
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many good friends engaged for us, we shall be able to hold on and
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hold out until oppression, in justice and tyranny shall be superseded by freedom,
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justice, and good government. And we cannot but flatter ourselves that while we
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are contending for justice for ourselves, we shall be instrumental in calling back that
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virtue which of late years has fled from the councils of our parent country.
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We are gentlemen, your friends, and obliged humble servants, Joseph Warrene,
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per order of the Committee of Donations PS. We have just now by Captain
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Shepherd from London, received His Majesty's proclamation for dissolving the late Parliament of Great
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Britain, whose conduct respecting America will be remembered with horror through all succeeding generations,
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to the Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Middletown. Warren, four
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days after penning this magnetic utterance, sent a remarkable letter to Hasiaquin's, who
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was in London. He was a kindred spirit, and closed his observations on
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the port Bill in the following strain America hath in store her brute and Cassi
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her Hampton's and Sydney's patriots and heroes, who will form a band of brothers,
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men who will have memories and feelings, courage and swords, courage that
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shall inflame their ardent bosoms till their hands cleave to their swords, and their
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swords to their enemies, hearts. His biographer, in printing Warren's letter,
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remarks that it is peculiarly interesting because few similar records of his mind remained,
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and as it evidences that the life he sacrificed on Bunker Hill was offered not
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under the excitement of the moment, but with a fixed and deliberate purpose.
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No language can be more decisive of the spirit which predominated in his bosom.
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It is the united voice of America to preserve their freedom or lose their lives
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in defense of it. The passages I have put in italics are placed by
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Bancroft at the beginning of one of the chapters of his history. To Hosiah
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Quincy Junior, Boston, November twenty first, seventeen seventy four. Dear sir,
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as, nothing interesting which I am at liberty to communicate has taken place
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since your departure from home. Accept such matters as you could not fail of
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being informed of by the public papers. I have deferred writing to you,
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knowing that upon your first arrival in London, you would be greatly engaged in
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forming your connections with the friends of this country, to whom you have been
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recommended. Our friends who have been at the Continental Congress are in high spirits
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on account of the union which prevails throughout the colonies. It is the united
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voice of America to preserve their freedom or lose their lives in defense of it.
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Their resolutions are not the effect of inconsiderate rashness, but the sound result
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of sober inquiry and deliberation. I am convinced that the true spirit of liberty
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was never so universally diffused through all ranks and orders of people in any country
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on the face of the earth, as it now is through all North America.
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The Provincial Congress met and conquered at the time appointed, about two hundred
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and sixty members were present. You would have thought yourself in an assembly of
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Spartans or ancient Romans, had you been a witness to the ardor which inspired
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those who spoke upon the important business they were transacting. An injunction of secrecy
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prevents my giving any particulars of their transactions, except such as by their express
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order were published in the papers. But in general you may be assured that
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they approved themselves the true representatives of a wise and brave people, determined at
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all events to be free. I know I might be indulged in giving you
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an account of our transactions, were I sure this would get safe to you.
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But I dare not, as the times are risks so important intelligence.
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Next Wednesday, the twenty third Instant, we shall meet again. According to
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a German. All that I can safely communicate to you shall be speedily transmitted.
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I am of opinion that the dissolution of the British Parliament, which we
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were acquainted with last week, together with some favorable letters received from England,
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will induce us to bear the inconvenience of living without government until we have some
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farther intelligence of what may be expected from England. It will require, however,
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a very masterly policy to keep the province for any considerable time longer.
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In its present state, the town of Boston is by far the most moderate
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part of the province. They are silent and inflexible. They hope for relief,
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but they have found from experience that they can bear to suffer more than
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their oppressors or themselves thought possible. They feel the injuries they receive. They
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are the frequent subject of conversation, but they take an honest pride in being
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singled out by a tyrannical administration as the most determined enemies to an arbitrary power.
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They know that their merits, not their crimes, have made them the
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objects of ministerial vengeance. We endeavor to live as peaceably as possible with the
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soldiery, but disputes and quarrels often arise between the troops and the inhabitants.
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General Gage has made very few new maneuvers since you left us. He has
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indeed rendered the entrenchments at the entrance of the town as formidable as he possibly
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could. I have frequently been sent to him on committees, and have several
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times had private conversations with him. I have thought him a man of honest,
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upright principles, and one desirous of accommodating the difference between Great Britain and
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her colonies in a just and honorable way. He did not appear to be
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desirous of continuing the quarrel in order to make himself necessary, which is too
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often the case with persons employed in public affairs. But a copy of a
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letter via Philadelphia said to be written from him to Lord North gives a very
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different cast to his character. His answer to the Provincial Congress, which was
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certainly ill judged, I suppose, was the work of some of that malicious
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group of harpies, whose disappointments make them desirous to urge the governor to drive
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everything to extremes. But in this letter, if it be genuine, he
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seems to court the office of a destroyer of the liberties and murderer of the
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people of this province. But you have doubtless read the paper and thought with
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indignation on its contents. I wish to know of you how affairs stand in
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Great Britain, and what was the principal motive of the dissolution of Parliament?
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If the late Acts of Parliament are not to be repealed. The why esis
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step for both countries is fairly to separate and not spend their blood and treasure
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in destroying each other. It is barely possible that Britain may depopulate North America,
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but I trust in God she can never conquer the inhabitants. And if
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the cruel experiment is made, I am sure, whatever fortunes may attend America,
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that Britain will curse the wretch who, to stop the mouths of his
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ravenous pack of dependence, bartered away the wealth and glory of her empire.
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I have not time to say more at present than to assure you that from
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this time you may expect to hear from me news or no news, by
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every vessel, and that my earnest wish is that your abilities and integrity may
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be of eminent service to your country. I am, dear, Sir,
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your most obedient servant, Joseph Warren. General Gage's letters now show that he
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realized the import of the political unity which had been reached by the Patriots,
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on informing Lord Dartmouth on the fifteenth that he had issued a proclamation declaring the
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Provincial Congress an unlawful body and tending to riot and rebellion. He said that
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it had been encouraged to go to the lengths it had gone by the General
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Union and the readiness of the New England provinces to appear in arms, and
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that the proceedings of the Continental Congress astonished and terrified all considerate men. A
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few days after Gage had issued his proclamation, and when according to his representation,
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all considerate men were in terror, of the Provincial Congress, on the
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twenty third of November reviewed its session. It invited John Adams and Robert treat
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Payne to attend the meetings, the other delegates to the General Congress, Cushing
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and Samuel Adams being members. It is not necessary to relate here in detail
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the proceedings of this body. The political center was now the Grand American Congress,
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and the Chief Committee of the See Ession was the one appointed to consider
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its doings. Joseph Hawley was the chairman, and the other members were Samuel
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Dexter, Joseph Warren, Jeremia Lee, James Warren, Elbridge Jerry, and
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Benjamin Church. Their report was a grateful endorsement of the proceedings of the General
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Congress and an adoption of the Association and recommending the people to observe it.
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This body continued the preparatory work of defense, but went no farther. On
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the last day of the session, December tenth, a report which had been
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made on the question of assuming civil government was taken up, considered, and
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ordered to lie on the table. This Congress issued and addressed to the inhabitants,
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briefly explaining and urging the measures that had been adopted. It presented the
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general intelligence from England, together with the increase of the army and Navy,
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as exciting the strongest jealousy, that the system of colony administration destructive to American
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liber was to be pursued and to be attempted with force, to be carried
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into execution. In a tone alike Solomon elevated, it said, you are
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placed by providence in the post of honor, because it is the post of
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danger. And while struggling for the noblest objects, the liberties of your country,
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the happiness of posterity, and the rights of human nature, the eyes
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not only of North America and the whole British Empire, but of all Europe
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are upon you. It is added, let us therefore altogether solicitous that no
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disorderly behavior, nothing unbecoming our characters as Americans, as citizens, as Christians,
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be justly chargeable to us. Warren was now serving in the Committee of
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Correspondents, which continued its vigilant watch of passing events. The following note is
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copied from the original in his handwriting, dated two days after the adjournment of
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Congress, Boston, December twelfth, seventeen seventy four. Gentlemen, we think
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it our duty to inform you that one of the transports sailed from this port
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yesterday in the afternoon, with several hundred soldiers on board. There are various
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conjectures concerning her destination, but it is generally believed she is designed for Newport,
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and that the troops are to take possession of the fortress there. The
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vigilance of our enemies is well known. They doubt not the bravery of our
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countrymen. But if they can get our fortresses, our arms, and ammunition
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into their custody, they will despise all our attempts to shake off their fetters.
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We are convinced that you will do what prudence directs upon this important occasion,
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and are with great esteem your friends and humble servants several town meetings were
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held in December in Boston. On political affairs, Warren was placed on the
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Inspection Committee created to carry into effect the Association of the Continental Camps, on
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a committee to prepare a vote of thanks to the colonies for the contributions made
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for the poor of the town, and on another to frame an answer to
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general gage. On the thirtieth of December, he was chosen a delegate to
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the Second Provincial Congress. In the records of the Committee of Safety, he
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is named on a committee to inspect the Commissary stores in Boston. Warren was
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now engaged in the various duties town, provincial, and national by which the
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Patriots as a party were carrying on their work. Though there was strictly speaking
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neither local nor general government, yet the majority of people in most of the
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colonies was so decisively arrayed in support of the measures of the Patriots that the
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recommendations, both local and general were obeyed as rigidly as though they had the
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authority of law. The Tory Party was now uncommonly active in Boston and elsewhere.
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Its organs denounced the Patriots as hypocrites, independents, Republicans, sewers of
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sedition and rebels. It had long been said in Boston by adherents of this
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party that the local charter or constitution was based on principles much too democratic and
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subversive of all peace, good order and government, and ought to be annihilated.
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It was said in the British House of Commons by Lord George Germain that
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there could not be a better thing than to do away with town meetings,
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and he would bring the Constitution of America as similar to the Constitution of England
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as possible. He said that the Massachusetts was governed by a tumultuous and riotous
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rabble, and he would not have men of a mercantile caste every day collecting
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themselves together and debating about political matters, for they ought to follow their mercantile
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employment and not trouble themselves with politics and government which they do not understand.
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A divine said from his pulpit in Charleston, South Carolina, that mechanics and
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cuny clowns had no right to dispute about politics or what kings, lords and
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commons had done or might do. These citations show the spirit of the party
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which now ruled England. Which had sympathizers in the colonies, and claimed the
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right of legislating in all cases whatsoever for America, and the Regulating Act was
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the assertion of this right. But the United Colonies demanded a repeal of this
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Act, as well as of other acts conceived in a similar spirit. Warren
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wrote that if this were not done, the wisest step for both countries was
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to separate and not spend their blood and treasure in destroying each other. And
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Franklin said to the Ministry that the colonies must risk life and everything rather than
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submit to the claim of altering the local laws and charters at will. The
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United Voice of America urged and even commanded the people of Massachusetts to resist to
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the bitter end the new law. It was the vote of Congress on the
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eighth of October pledging the fate of the colonies to Massachusetts that hardened George the
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Third to listen to no terms. The tone of the Whigs on the adjournment
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of the Continental Congress was exultant in the extreme. The Union's step of instituting
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committees of correspondence had grown into the national measure of the Association for Non Importation
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Non exportation and non consumption. It is not necessary to discuss the question whether
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these were sound or wise measures to carry out on the eve of a war.
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It was a great statemanship to attain the result of United Councils. It
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was soon related in the journals that committees were appointed in almost every seaport from
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Georgia to New Hampshire to observe that the Continental Association be complied with in every
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article therein recommended. At this time the Congress aimed neither at independence nor at
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civil war, but for redress of grievances and a restoration of harmony with the
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mother country. The point fairly reached was that of a party supporting a real
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American union. The feeling of the hour was nowhere more earnestly expressed than in
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the utterances from South Carolina. Be comforted, ye oppressed Bostonians, and exalt
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ye northern votaries of liberty, that the sacred rays of freedom which used to
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be from you on us, are now reverberated with double efficacy back upon yourselves,
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from your weaker sister Carolina, who stands foremost in her resolution to sacrifice
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her all in your defense. Again, many thanks to the worthy Congress re
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echoes from the generous breasts of grateful thousands. Oh glorious day, Oh happy
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union, from Nova Scotia to Georgia. One mighty mind inspires the whole.
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When I consider the unanimity, the firmness, the wisdom of our late representatives,
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I feel a joy unutterable, and an exultation never felt before. It
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would be easy to fill pages with similar citations from the newspapers of other colonies.
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The following is extracted from a glowing communication in the Pennsylvania Packet. The
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American Congress derives all its power, wisdom, and action not from scrawled parchments
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signed by kings, but from the people. A freeman, in honoring and
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obeying the Congress, honors and obeys himself. I almost wish to hear the
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triumphs of the Jubilee of the year eighteen seventy four, to see the medals,
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pictures, fragments of writings, etc. That shall be displayed to revive
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the memory of the proceedings of Congress in the year seventeen seventy four. If
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any adventitious circumstances shall give precedency on that day, it shall be to inherit
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the blood, or even to possess the name of a member of that glorious
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assembly. This language marks the hour of an outburst of genuine Americanism, when
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a great party were inspired with the purpose of freeing their country by a change
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of administration from the control of a party who claimed the right not merely to
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mold their forms of government, but to monopolize the fruits of their labor.
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For what purpose, Lord Carmathan asked in the debate on the Regulating Act,
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were they the colonists suffered to go to that country unless the profits of their
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labor should return to their masters. Here union meant resistance to this arrogance and
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mastership. It meant more, it meant action in behalf of rights common to
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humanity. The great utterances of Congress are pervaded by the spirit of universal liberty.
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The words of the representative patriots of that time, whether they came from
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a Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina and Alexander Hamilton of New York, a John
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Dickinson of Pennsylvania, or a se Emuel Adams of Massachusetts, were broad and
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decisive. All are summed up in the words of Washington, who was soon
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to be the representative of his country. He pronounced the issue to involve the
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most essential and valuable rights of mankind. The hour had its symbol. On
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the first American flag was inscribed the motto Liberty and Union. In this spirit,
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Warren and other popular leaders were conducting affairs in Massachusetts. Neither this province,
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Washington now said, nor any other province, desired separately or collectively to
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set up for independence. But he added, none of them will ever submit
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to the loss of those rights and privileges without which life, liberty, and
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property were insecure. In this spirit of self preservation, and by the advice
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of a body whose voice was as the voice of American law, the local
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popular leaders went on during the winter with the work of military preparation. Meantime,
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the donations flowed into Boston, and the letters which accompanied them continued to
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be on the rising. Tenor one of them from Durham, New Hampshire,
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addressed to the Boston Committee, was printed, what you receive, the Durham
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Committee say, comes not from the opulent, but mostly from the industrious yeomanry.
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In this parish we have but few persons of affluence, but they cheerfully
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contributed This is considered by us not as a gift or an act of charity,
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but of justice to those who are bravely standing in the gap between us
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and slavery, defending the common interest of the whole continent. We can with
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truth assure you, gentlemen, that in this quarter we are engaged to a
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man in your defense and in defense of the common cause. We are ready
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to communicate of our substance largely as your necessities require, and with our states,
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to give our life lives, and mingle our blood with yours in the
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common sacrifice to liberty. Throughout the province, ordinary minds gave way to the
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duty which engrossed all minds and stirred all hearts. For the great business of
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the hour was organization. In compliance with the recommendations of the Continental and the
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provincial Congresses. The inhabitants in their several towns now signed agreements to meet from
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military drill elected officers, and entered it into pledges to obey at a minute's
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warning a summons to take the field. These bands of citizen soldiers on parade
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days repaired to the churches, where the village pastor prayed for strength from on
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high and the village Hampdens uttered the exhortation to fight to the last, if
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need be for the ancient liberties. The national spirit of the time is embodied
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in the following song, which is ascribed to Warren and was printed this year
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in the newspapers, A song Liberty, to the tune of the British Grenadier.
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That seed of science haths and Earth's proud ministress Rome, where now are
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all their glories? We scarce can find their tomb, then guard you write,
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some Americans, no stoop to lawless way, A posa posa posa post
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for North America, proud albion bowed to seizeer and numerous hosts before, two
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picks to Danes, to Normans, and many masters more. But we can
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boast Americans have never fallen a prey. Hazahazahasahasa for free America. We let
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fear freeedom. Hither and lo the desert smiled, A parade of pleasure now
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opened in the wild. Your harvest full, Americans, no power shall snatch
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away, preserve freezer, preserve your rights in a free America, torn from
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a world of tyrants. Being eat this western sky, we formed a new
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domain in a lend of liberty the world shown. We're freemen here and such
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will ever be huzahasahasahaza for love and liberty. God bless this maiden climb and
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through her vast domain may hosts of heroes cluster that'scorn to wear a chain,
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and blast of anal sink events who dare our rights betray, Assert yourselves,
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yourselves, yourself for a brave America. Lift up your heart's my heroes,
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and swear with proud disdain the wretch that would in stare you shall spread his
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net in vain, should your re empty or her force wod meet them in
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array and shout huzzahaz A, huzza for a brave a man. America,
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the land where freedom rain shall still be masters of the main in giving laws
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and freedom to subject. France and Spain, and all thus are ocean spreads,
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shall tremble and obey the prince who rules my freedom's law in North America.
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End of Chapter twelve, Part two,