[39] These two letters following each other so closely, plainly manifest the anxiety of the Company, in reference to their shipments of tea to Boston.
[40] William Kelly is, I suppose, the person referred to in the following paragraph in Leake's "Life of John Lamb," pp. 75, 76. "A certain Mr. Kelly, former resident of the city, (New York,) then in London, and canvassing some one of the Ministerial Boroughs for an election to Parliament, ridiculed the apprehensions of those who refused to insure the cargoes of tea from destruction, and declared that if animosities should rise as high as during the time of the Stamp Act, the tea might safely be shipped and securely landed. That then the Colony had an old man to deal with (Colden); but now they would have to contend with a vigorous military governor, (Tryon,) one who had shown his energy in putting down insurrectionary movements in North Carolina. The Committee of Vigilance took note of these offensive declarations, and on November 5, called a meeting at the Coffee House. The people assembled, denounced Kelly, and burnt his effigy, and after the representative was consumed, a gentleman observed that it was matter of regret that the principal could not be dealt with in the same summary and exemplary manner."
[41] Thomas Wharton was a wealthy and influential merchant of Philadelphia, and of the sect called Quakers. In the enterprise of Galloway and Goddard to establish the "Chronicle," a leading newspaper, he was their partner, and the parties supposed that Franklin, who was a correspondent of Wharton's, on his return from England, would join them. In 1777, he was apprehended, and sent prisoner to Virginia, and at a later period was proscribed as an enemy to his country, and lost his estate, under the Confiscation Acts of Pennsylvania. His son, Thomas Wharton, Jr., was a distinguished Whig, and President of Pennsylvania. In the early part of the Revolution, and indeed until the time when blood was shed, father and son acted together, and were members of the same deliberative assemblies and committees.
[42] A portion of this article, which fairly represents the views of the consignees on the vexed tea question, is as follows:
"The objectors say the tea duty will be a means of supporting the Parliament of Great Britain in raising money from us. How it can affect this matter I am utterly at a loss to comprehend. Have not large quantities of tea for some years past been imported into this Province from England, both on account of the dealers in tea there and the merchants here, all which have paid the American duty? How in the name of common sense does it differ, unless it be in favor of America, for a New England merchant to have his tea shipped from Great Britain, on his own account, or receive it on commission from the grocers there, and on its arrival, paying the customary duty, than if it had been shipped by the East India Company, who were the original importers? What consistency is there in making a clamour about this small branch of the revenue, whilst we silently pass over the articles of sugar, molasses and rum, from which more than three-fourths of the American revenue has and always will arise, and when the Act of Parliament imposing duties on these articles stands on the same footing as that respecting tea, and the moneys collected from them are applied to the same purposes? Many of us complain of the Tea Act, not only as it affects our liberties, but as it affects our purses, by draining us annually of a large sum of money. But if it be considered that by this step the East India Company have taken of sending their tea to market themselves at their own cost, and the saving that is thereby made to the merchants here of commissions, freight and charges of importing it, which will be equal to the whole annual tax that has yet been paid, it must silence that complaint." "Z."
[43] Nathaniel Hatch, of Dorchester, graduated at Harvard University, in 1742, and subsequently held the office of Clerk of the Courts. He accompanied the British troops to Halifax, in 1776; was proscribed and banished in 1778, and in 1779 was included in the Conspiracy Act, by which his estate was confiscated. He died in 1780.
[44] The proposition to burn the tea is referred to by Wyeth. See ante p. [lxxi].
[45] This letter, with all its extravagance and exaggeration, undoubtedly expresses the popular feeling, the public sentiment of the time. It is easy to see from its style, as well as from the sentiments it contains, that it could have emanated from none of the popular leaders. These, however strongly they felt in relation to ministerial aggression, were, though direct and forcible in their utterances, invariably discreet and temperate in their tone and language.
[46] Benjamin Faneuil, Jr., was the son of Benjamin, a merchant of Boston, (born, 1701; died, 1785. †) and a nephew of Peter Faneuil, to whom Boston is indebted for her "Cradle of Liberty." His place of business was in Butler's Row, and he resided in the Faneuil mansion, on Tremont Street. Before the building of Quincy Market and South Market Street, Butler's Row entered Merchants Row, between Chatham and State Streets. With the other tea consignees, Faneuil fled to the Castle, in Boston harbor, November 30, 1773, and being a loyalist, went to Halifax, when Boston was evacuated, in March, 1776. In the following spring he was in London, and subsequently resided in Bristol, Eng., where he died. His wife was Jane, daughter of Addington Davenport. While in London, in lodgings in the Strand, almost opposite Somerset House, he wrote as follows to a friend: "As soon as the Xmas holidays were over, the tea consignees presented a petition to the Lords of the Treasury, praying a support until the affairs in America were settled. We are told we shall be allowed £150 a year. This is a fine affair, and we can by no means live upon it, but there are such a confounded parcel of us to be provided for, that I am told no more will be allowed....
When we shall be able to return to Boston I cannot say, but hope and believe it will not exceed one year, for sooner or later America will be conquered, that you may depend on."