The vessel wherein the tea was shipped was not arrived when the last letters were dispatched from thence, consequently no precise judgment can be formed whether or not it would be permitted to be landed; but I flatter myself from the disposition of the principal gentlen of New York, who are men of moderation, candour and prudence, and as firmly attached to the Government and laws of this Kingdom as any of his Majesty's subjects; that they will, by their example and influence, be able to suppress every riot and disturbance occasioned by the opposers of this measure.
I expect a ship from New York, which was to depart about the 26th Novemr, by which I shall receive some fresh intelligence relative to this business, and if I should be furnished with any advices that regard the interest of the Company, I shall not fail to wait on the Directors immediately. I have the honor to be, sir,
Your most obedt & hum. sert
John Blackburn.
Scots Yard, 22nd Decr, 1773.
Mr. Wm. Settle.
Extract of a Letter from a merchant in New York, to Wm. Kelly, of London, dated 5th Novr, 1773:
"The introduction of the East India Company's tea is violently opposed here, by a set of men who shamefully live by monopolizing tea in the smuggling way."
Extract of a Letter from Abraham Lott, Esqr., of New York, to Wm. Kelly,[40] of London, dated New York, 5th Novr., 1773, & received with the above mentioned Extract of Mr. Kelly, 22d Decr., 1773:
"Herewith you will receive several papers relating to the importation of the India Comy's tea. If it comes out free of a duty here on importation, things I believe may go quiet enough, tho' you will observe much is said against it even on that supposition. But if it should be subject to a duty here, I am much in doubt whether it will be safe, as almost every body in that case speaks against the admission of it, so that, altho' I am well assured that the Governor will not suffer the laws to be trampled on, yet there will be no such thing as selling it, as the people would rather buy so much poison, than the tea with the duty thereon, calculated (they say) to enslave them and their posterity, and therefore are determined not to take what they call the nauseous draft. A little time will determine how matters will terminate, that is, if the tea comes out. If it does, I hope it may come free of duty, as by that means much trouble and anxiety will be saved by the agents. I do assure you they have all been very uneasy, tho' at the same time determined to do their duty, but in the most prudent & quiet manner. It is now two o'clock, p.m., when I received the paper signed Cassius, in which you will find Mr. L—— R——de handsomely complimented, and yourself severely handled, on a supposition that you should have spoken words to the import, as asserted in the paper. Mr. R——e's name is not mentioned, but there is no doubt but he is the person alluded to, as upon the arrival of the London ships, who refused to bring the tea. It was currently reported that he had wrote his partner nearly in the same words as mentioned in the paper. You are the best judge of the truth of the assertion, but whether true or not, his conduct is ungenerous and mean. If the paper speaks truth, that he was offered part of the consignment of tea, he must be a man of great influence to have so great an offer made him, when so many other people of weight were applying for it and could not obtain it."