1774] WEDDERBURN'S ATTACK. 341 which at this period was so unmistakably manifested towards every opponent of the court, and which exercised so disastrous an influence on the policy of the empire. The conduct of the members of the privy council was doubtless conceived with a view to the discomfiture of Franklin. He listened to the attack with the impassibility he could assume, and if the obloquy poured forth against him caused the least discomfiture in his mind, there was no sign of the fact. Whatever the misconduct of Franklin in the circumstance, the extravagance of the conduct of the placemen at the council turned public sympathy in his favour. In America the insults were regarded as directed against the provinces. Franklin's power became intensified by this persecution. Even in England, the men prepared to blame him for his dishonourable conduct could not withhold their condemnation of the bitterness of Wedderburn's attack. From that hour it may be said that Franklin became the determined opponent of reconciliation with the mother country, however carefully he concealed his opinion. Although Franklin listened passively to Wedderburn's invective, he must have acutely felt what was urged against him, for he subsequently took an oath in chancery "that at the time that he transmitted the letters he was ignorant of the party to whom they had been addressed, having himself received them from a third person and for the express purpose of being conveyed to America."* The words of Benjamin Franklin, LL. D. Longman, no date, Vol. III., P. 331. The following is the passage from Wedderburn's address containing his accusation against Franklin: "The letters could not have come to Dr. Franklin by fair means. The writers did not give them to him nor did the deceased correspondent, who, from our intimacy, would otherwise have told me of it: nothing then will acquit Dr. Franklin of the charge of obtaining them by fraudulent or corrupt means, for the most malignant of purposes, unless he stole them from the person who stole them. This argument is irrefragable.” "I hope, my lords, you will mark (and brand) the man for the honour of this country, of Europe, and of mankind. Private correspondence has hitherto been held sacred in times of the greatest party rage, not only in politics but religion." "He has forfeited all respect of societies and of men. Into what companies will he hereafter go with an unembarrassed face, or the honest intrepidity of virtue. Men will watch him with a jealous eye; they will hide their papers from him and In order that there should be no misunderstanding with regard to the determined attitude which Great Britain had assumed, in the enforcement of the parliamentary right of imposing taxes for the support of the colonial government, it was resolved to replace the civil governor of Massachusetts by an officer holding military command. General Gage, commanding in chief the troops in America, was nominated to the office. He was a man of unblemished personal character, of pure honour and great amiability. The second son of viscount Gage, he had early joined the army, and had been engaged in high command in America for twenty years. He was present at Braddock's defeat as colonel of the 44th regiment. I have related his successful government of Montreal, and his appointment to the command of the forces in North America, on the retirement of Amherst. * He had married in New York Margaret, the daughter of Peter Kemble, the president of the council of New Jersey. He was at this date nearly sixty years of age. In the best days of his youth and strength he had not been remarkable for energy and enterprise. He was now placed in a most difficult position, in lock up their escritoires. He will henceforth esteem it a libel to be called a man of letters, homo trium literarum." As I shall have no occasion again to allude to Franklin in connection with the events of this date I append his letter to Mr. Strachan, with whom he had lived in the most friendly relations, unaffected by any personal quarrel or misunderstanding, written within eighteen months of the scene at the council. It was Mr. Strachan who in 1769 published "Queries to Dr. Franklin about his disputes in North America," establishing the intimate connection between the two men. The letter was as follows: "Mr. Strachan : "Philadelphia, July 5, 1775. You are a member of that parliament and have formed a part of that majority which has condemned my native country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns and to destroy their inhabitants! Look at your hands! they are stained with the blood of your relations and your acquaintances. You and I were long friends; you are at present my enemy and I am yours. B. Franklin." 1774] THE FEELING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 343 which vigour of action, tempered by forbearance and prudence, was indispensable for the successful performance of duty. The circumstances called for a man, fertile in expedients, undaunted in resolution and secure of support at home. Gage's conduct was vacillating, injudicious, totally wanting in that calm determination by which great generals are able to shape events, under the most unfavourable circumstances. The greatest tumult prevailed throughout Massachusetts. Violence was practised in all directions; those known to be attached to the mother country became victims of persecution; many were tarred and feathered;, every obstruction was offered to the government. The greatest difficulty, against which Gage had to contend, was the almost universal bitterness of feeling called forth by the Boston port act. He was unable to complete his council under the new law; he could prevail on few to act, and those who accepted the position were forced to resign, by the pressure of opinion, and the fear of personal violence. Had the one act, remodelling the constitution, alone been passed, the probability is that there would have been no immediate violent demonstrations against it, at least none that defied control. The mob rule, which had gained such remorseless power, must have been displeasing to many, who sided with the defenders of what were described as provincial rights. Tarring and feathering, shooting bullets through houses and inflicting personal injuries are dangerous adjuncts to liberty. It was a different consideration with regard to the closing of the port, for it took away from many the means of living. The city was dependent for its existence upon its commerce;, and the suppression of the trade, by which the large number of the people gained their daily bread, was to introduce want into many a household: so that numbers, who might otherwise have been quiescent, took an active part against the government from a sense of their own wrongs and privations. It was against this powerful sentiment of savage discontent that Gage had to combat; and, at the same. time, he was made to feel that the main line of public opinion was adverse to him as representative of a rule of force. Gage arrived at Boston on the 13th of May and was courteously received. In a few days he summoned the legislation for the election of councillors: on the names of twentyeight being presented to him, he rejected thirteen. The legislation was then adjourrfed to meet at Salem. The address voted on the re-assembly contained such offensive criticisms on the policy of his two predecessors, that he would not listen further to it. Votes were passed in the house, recommending patience, calling upon the inhabitants of the county districts to assist the distressed people of Boston. The discontinuance of the use of all British importations, subject to duty, was advocated. The governor was requested to appoint a day for a general fast; as he declined to do so, the members themselves named the date. A resolution was carried, calling for a meeting of the several colonies to consult upon the condition of the country, to take measures for the recovery and re-establishment of their just rights and liberties, civil and religious," and the restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain and America, which is most ardently desired by all good men." Gage, learning what was taking place, sent his secretary to dissolve the assembly, but he found the door closed and locked, and his messenger had to read the proclamation on the door step. A public meeting held at Boston on June the 8th adopted the non-importation agreement; it received the name of a "solemn league and covenant," to come into operation on the 1st of October. This example was followed by the different towns, and not only in New England but in other provinces ; the cause of Massachusetts was embraced in all directions. The opinions which were expressed at Boston were generally entertained throughout Massachusetts, and unflinchingly acted upon. Gage prohibited all such meetings as seditious. They were nevertheless continued, and the government denounced for its interference. There was so evident an intention to abandon mere verbal protest for an armed resistance to authority, that early in 1774] GAGE AT BOSTON. 345 September Gage sent a party to Charlestown to take possession of some powder which had been stored there, the property of the province. This proceeding was followed by a convention held at Milton, in the county of Suffolk, in which the city of Boston is situated. It was there resolved that "no obedience was due to either, or any part of the recent acts of parliament,' and the recommendation was voted that all taxes should be paid into the hands of congress. The antagonism was now so openly expressed, that, in August, 1774, Gage took steps to fortify, by intrenchment, the narrow neck which connects Boston with the main land. In itself it was an assertion of armed force, and could be regarded, in a minor degree, as a declaration of war against the agitation which was unceasingly threatening the rule he represented. If the act had been followed up by vigorous measures in the employment of troops under his command, it might have exercised great influence in repressing the excitement of political feeling. By the loyalists, who were able to seek safety within its limits, Boston was called "the city of refuge,” and a large number of this class flocked within its precincts. But there was a considerable number holding these opinions, whose narrow means denied them this resource, who had patiently to remain where they were dwelling, forced to suppress their opinions from the fear of personal violence, and who were too isolated and unorganized to attempt any act of self-assertion. Gage proved entirely unequal to the discharge of his difficult duty. He totally misunderstood the strength of the force hourly increasing, against which he might have foreseen he would so soon have to contend. The only explanation possible for his inactivity is, that he allowed himself to be duped into the belief that the violent discontent would pass away, and that he hesitated to take any false step to complicate the situation. When action was forced upon him, his conduct was weak in the extreme, shewing his unfortunate misconception of the resistance he would experience. In no way did he contemplate the loss and discredit which would fall upon the force under his command, and the extent |