It was on the 29th of January that the subject of the Bostonian petition was brought before the privy council. On that day, Franklin, with Mr. Dunning as council, attended to support the petition, and Mr. Wedderburne, the solicitor-general, attended as counsel for the governor. The counsel for the Assembly of Boston was first heard, and he endeavoured to substantiate their complaints, by exhibiting the letters which had been published, and drawing an inference from them, that the writers were unworthy of confidence, either from the government or the province of Massachusets. He called for the instant dismissal of an officer so hostile to the rights and liberties of his countrymen. He argued that the man who declared that “there must be an abridgment of English liberty in the colonies,” was justly charged with making wicked and injurious representations, designed to influence the ministry and the nation, and to excite jealousies in the breast of the king against his faithful subjects.
Mr. Dunning was replied to by Mr. Wedderburne, whose naturally sharp tongue was on this occasion rendered still sharper by his friendship for Mr. Whately who was lying between life and death. After reviewing the arguments of the opposite counsel, Wedderburne directed himself to an inculpation of the assembly and people of Massachusets; in the course of which he attacked Dr. Franklin in a strain of bitter invective, on the ground of having violated private confidence in the disclosure of the letters. He observed, “These could not have come to Dr. Franklin by fair means; the writers did not give them to him, nor yet 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.... 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 the 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 lock up their escrutoires; he will henceforth esteem it a libel to be called a man of letters; homo trium literarum! He not only took away the letters from one brother, but kept himself concealed till he nearly occasioned the murder of the other. It is impossible to read his account, expressive of the coolest and most deliberate malice, without horror.” Wedderburne concluded with this indignant burst of feeling:—“Amidst tranquil events, here is a man who, with the utmost insensibility of remorse, stands up and avows himself the author of all. I can compare him only to Zanga, in Dr. Young’s Revenge:—
‘Know, then, ’twas I. I forged the letter—I disposed the picture—I hated—I despised—and I destroy’
I ask, my lords, whether the revengeful temper attributed to the bloody African, is not surpassed by the coolness and apathy of the wily American?”
It is said that during this celebrated invective the members of the council laughed with exultation; none preserving a decent gravity, except Lord North. On the other hand, Franklin is said to have heard it all with composure, standing erect in one corner of the room, and not suffering the slightest alteration of his countenance to be visible. The words of Wedderburne, however, coupled with the derisive and exulting laugh of the council, sank deep into the soul of Franklin. He appeared in a full dress of spotted Manchester velvet, and it is said that, when he returned to his lodgings he took off this dress, and vowed he would never wear it again until he should sign the degradation of England and the independence of America. After proceedings against him tended to perpetuate that feeling. Hitherto he had been allowed to retain the profitable place of post-master general for America, but three days after the meeting of the council, he was dismissed by letter from that office. The report of the council also, on the subject of the petition, tended to confirm him in feelings of hostility toward the British government. It stated “that the petition was founded on resolutions which were formed on false and erroneous allegations: that it was groundless, vexatious, scandalous, and calculated only for the seditious purpose of keeping up a spirit of clamour and discontent in the province: that nothing had appeared to impeach in any degree the honour, integrity, and conduct of the governor or deputy-governor; and that their lordships were humbly of opinion that the said petition ought to be dismissed.” Moreover, the sympathy which Franklin met with from some of the leading members of the opposition, tended still further to embitter the passions which had been roused in the mind of the philosopher. That boastful patriot himself—the great Earl of Chatham—hastened to express his sympathy with Franklin, and his detestation of the treatment he had received from Wedderburne and the government. It is due to the character of Chatham, however, to say that had he been aware of Franklin’s extreme intentions, he would, instead of affording him his sympathy, have joined with Wedderburne in holding him up to public contempt. That great orator, indeed, at all times, whether in office or out of office, whether in favour of the measures of government or banding against them, invariably held that the dependence of the colonies was absolutely and vitally essential, not merely to the honour and greatness and wealth of the mother country, but also to her safety and existence. He had, in truth, asserted that the moment America should be free, wholly independent of, and separated from Great Britain, the sun of England would set for ever. It cannot be, therefore, supposed for one moment, that he would willingly and knowingly have aided in lopping this fair and fruitful branch from the parent tree. In point of fact, Franklin endeavoured, to conceal his extreme views from the public eye; for while in private life, and to bosom friends, he stated his unalterable resolution of procuring the independence of America, he was openly professing to his best advocates, the leaders of the opposition in both houses of parliament, that the wish dearest to his heart—in common with the hearts of all honest Americans—was a continuance of the connexion with his dear old mother country!
GEORGE III. 1773-1775
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST AMERICA.
At length intelligence arrived in England concerning the alarming transactions in America. The news excited strong national resentment, so that when the subject was brought before parliament, ministers had not to encounter any formidable opposition to the measures they proposed in order to meet the case. It was on the 7th of March that Lord North introduced this subject to the house. On that day he delivered a message to the members from the king, in which a design was intimated of correcting and preventing such disorders, and submitted a vast mass of documents from the governor of Boston, and other persons in authority for their inspection. In reply to this message, a motion was made for an address to the throne, to return thanks for it, and the gracious communication of the papers, with an assurance that they would not fail to exert every means in their power of effectually providing for objects so important to the general welfare as maintaining the due execution of the laws, and securing the just dependence of the colonies upon the crown and parliament of Great Britain. Some few opposed this address, although they admitted that the conduct of the Bostonians and Rhode Islanders was exasperating in the highest degree; but the motion was nevertheless carried without a division. Following up this address, on the 14th of March, Lord North moved for leave to bring in a bill “for the immediate removal of all officers concerned in the collection and management of his majesty’s duties and customs from the town of Boston; and to discontinue the landing and discharging, lading and shipping, of goods, wares, and merchandize at the said town of Boston, or within the harbour thereof.” This bill encountered scarcely more opposition than the address had met with. On its first introduction it was received with general applause, and it was pushed on with such vigour that it passed through both houses within fourteen days, and on the 31st of March it received the royal assent: the trade of Boston was annihilated.
While the Boston Port Bill was before the lords, North, in a committee of the whole house, brought in a bill “for better regulating the government of Massachusets Bay.” The object of this bill was to alter the constitution of that province as it stood upon the charter of William III.; to do away with the popular elections, which decided everything in that colony; to take the executive power out of the hands of the democratic party; and to vest the nomination of the members of the council, of the judges, and of magistrates, including sheriffs, in the crown, and in the king’s governor. In support of this bill, Lord North said, that the province of Massachusets Bay had been turbulent beyond all bearing, and had set an ill example to all the colonies; that an executive power was required in that province, inasmuch as the force of the civil power consisted solely in the posse comitatus: that is, in the very people by whom the tumults were excited. He asked if the democratic party exhibits a contempt for the laws, how any governor was to enforce them, if he had not the power either of appointing or removing magistrates? He could now, he said, give no order without the assent of seven members of the popularly elected council; and he urged that it was in vain laws and regulations were made in England, when there were none found to execute them in America. In conclusion, he expressed a hope that the present bill would create an executive power, and give strength and spirit to the civil magistracy; and professed himself open to discussion and a change of opinion, if his views were proved to be erroneous.