This day I have the pleasure of receiving yours of the 25 of Jany.3 Your putting me in mind of the Honor done me by the Society of the Bill of Rights is very kind. I ought sooner to have acknowledgd it. My omitting it was owing to being in a Hurry when I last wrote to you. I am sensible I am not one of the most regular Correspondents; perhaps not so as I should be. I duly recd tho I think not by Mr Storey, the Letter which inclosed the Answer to the Resolution of the Govr & Council against Junius Americanus, which I immediately publishd in the Boston Gazette. It was read with great Satisfaction by Men of Sense & Virtue. I am heartily glad to find that the proceedings of this Town are so pleasing to you. I have heard that Ld Dartmouth recd one of our pamphlets with Coolness & expressd his Concern that the Town had come into such Measures. His Lordship probably will be much surprizd to find a very great Number of the Towns in this province(& the Number is daily increasing)concurring fully in Sentiments with this Metropolis; expressing Loyalty to the King & Affection to the Mother Country but at the same time a firm Resolution to maintain their constitutional Rights & Liberties. I send you the proceedings of one town, which if you think proper you may publish as a Specimen of the whole, for the Inspection of an Administration either misinformd & credulous to the greatest Degree of human Weakness, or Obstinate in wilfull Error. They have lately employd Eight Regiments of British Troops to bring an handful of unfortunate Carribs to a Treaty dishonorable to the Nation. How many Regiments will be thought necessary to penetrate the Heart of a populus Country & subdue a sensible enlightned & brave people to the ignominious Terms of Slavery? Or will his Lordships superior Wisdom direct to more salutory Measures, and by establishing Freedom in every part of the Kings extensive Dominions, restore that mutual Harmony & Affection which alone is wanting to build up the greatest Empire the World has ever yet seen.
Mr. Wilkes was certainly misinformd when he was told that Mr H. had deserted the Cause of Liberty. Great pains had been taken to have it thought to be so; and by a scurvy Trick of lying the Adversaries effected a Coolness between that Gentn & some others who were zealous in that Cause. But it was of short Continuance, for their falsehood was soon detected. Lord Hillsbro I suppose was early informd of this imaginary Conquest; for I have it upon such Grounds as I can rely upon, that he wrote to the Govr telling him that he had it in Command from the HIGHEST AUTHORITY to enjoyn him to promote Mr H. upon every Occasion. Accordingly, tho he had been before frownd upon & often negativd both by Bernard & Hutchinson the latter, who can smile sweetly even upon the Man he hates, when he is instructed or it is his Interest so to do, fawnd & flatterd one of the HEADS OF THE FACTION, & at length approvd of him when he was elected a Councellor last May. To palliate this inconsistent Conduct it was previously given out that Mr H had deserted the faction, & became as they term each other, a Friend to Governmt. But he had Spirit enough to refuse a Seat at the Board, & continue a Member of the House, where he has in every Instance joyned with the friends of the Constituion in Opposition to the Measures of a Corrupt Administration; & in particular no one has discoverd more firmness against the Independency of the Govr & the Judges than he.
I have mentiond to Mr Cushing the Hint in your last concerning his not answering your Letter. I believe he will write to you soon. The Gratitude of the friends to Liberty towards Mr Otis for his eminent Services in times past induces them to take all Occasions to show him Respect. I am much obligd to you for the friendship you have discoverd for him, in holding up to the View of the Publick his Generosity to Robinson.
Your Brother in Virginia has lately honord me with a Letter; & I intend to Cultivate a Correspondence with him, which I am sure will be much to my Advantage.
As you have confided in me to recommend one or more Gentlemen of this place as Candidates for the Society of the Bill of Rights, I my two worthy & intimate Friends J Adams & J Warren Esqrs; the one eminent in the profession of the Law & the other equally so in that of physick. Both of them men of an unblemishd moral Character & Zealous Advocates for the Common Rights of Mankind. _________________________________________________________________
1An original print of this circular letter, dated April 9, 1773, is in the Lenox Library. 2R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. i., pp. 224-226. 3R. H. Lee, Life of Arthur Lee, vol. i., pp. 226-228. _______________________________________________________________
TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.
[MS., American Philosophical Society; a text is in R. H. Lee, Life of Richard Henry Lee, vol. I., pp. 88-90, and a draft in in the Samuel Adams Papers, Lenox Library.]
BOSTON, April 10 1773