The two last of the coercive enactments of the British legislature did not reach Boston till July. By one, the governor alone was authorized to appoint all civil officers; and by the other, the counsellors were to be selected by the king and his ministers in England. A list of those appointed was soon made known, and gave great dissatisfaction, as they were the most unpopular characters in the province. To add to the anxiety which now pervaded every breast, a large military force was ordered into the province, an act of parliament having been passed, which directed the governor to provide quarters for them in any town he might choose.
It had been agreed by the delegates which had now been appointed by most of the colonies, that they should meet in general congress in September; and the desire to await the result of its determinations prevented any violent proceedings during the interim; while, however, great attention was given by the inhabitants to military discipline. Independent companies were formed, who elected their own officers, many of whom had served during the French war, and were well able to instruct their pupils in military tactics. On the other hand, general Gage was no less active in adopting measures calculated, in his estimation, to overawe the inhabitants, and to deter them from having recourse to force. With this view, although ostensibly for the purpose of preventing desertion, he fortified the isthmus which connects Boston with the main land, called Boston neck, the only entrance by land into the town of Boston, and therefore the only route by which, according to the port bill, the merchants and traders could carry on their business. This measure, however, served only the more to exasperate the people, and the subsequent seizure of the gunpowder at Charlestown added to their alarm.
Before daybreak, on the 1st of September, general Gage despatched a party of soldiers to bring into his own custody a quantity of provincial powder from the arsenal at Charlestown. Immediately this transaction became generally known, the inhabitants of the neighboring towns flew to arms, and agreed on Cambridge as a general rendezvous; and it was with great difficulty that they were dissuaded, by their more prudent leaders, from marching at once to Boston to require the restoration of the powder, or, in case of refusal, to attack the garrison.
It was under the excitement of these circumstances that, in defiance of the act of parliament, and the governor’s proclamation founded upon itprohibiting public assemblies, the county of Suffolk, of which Boston was the capital, elected delegates to meet for the purpose of taking into consideration the most proper course to be adopted in the present state of affairs. With a boldness and decision surpassing that of any former assembly, they passed resolutions declaring themselves constitutionally exempt from all obedience to the late measures of the British parliament, that the government of the province was in fact dissolved, and that they should consider all persons who dared to act in any official capacity under the new regulations as open enemies of their country. They sent a copy of their resolutions, and of their letter to the governor, with his answer, to the general congress, upon whose judgment they rested the decision of their future conduct.
This congress, which will ever be celebrated in the page of history, and held sacred in the annals of liberty, met at Philadelphia, on the 5th of September. Representatives from eleven of the colonies were present at the opening, and those from North Carolina arrived shortly after; Georgia alone having demurred to send delegates. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was elected president, and Charles Thompson, of Philadelphia, secretary; and after a brief controversy on the mode of voting, which resulted in the determination that each province should have only one vote, whatever number of delegates might be present, the assembly proceeded to business with all the solemnity of an organized legislature.
‘The most eminent men of the various colonies were now, for the first time, brought together. They were known to each other by fame, but they were personally strangers. The meeting was awfully solemn. The object which had called them together was of incalculable magnitude. The liberties of no less than three millions of people, with that of all their posterity, were staked on the wisdom and energy of their councils. No wonder, then, at the long and deep silence which is said to have followed upon their organization; at the anxiety with which the members looked round upon each other, and the reluctance which every individual felt to open a business so fearfully momentous. In the midst of this deep and death-like silence, and just when it was beginning to become painfully embarrassing, Mr. Henry arose slowly, as if borne down by the weight of the subject. After faltering, according to his habit, through a most impressive exordium, in which he merely echoed back the consciousness of every other heart, in deploring his inability to do justice to the occasion, he launched gradually into a recital of the colonial wrongs. Rising, as he advanced, with the grandeur of his subject, and glowing at length with all the majesty of the occasion,his speech seemed more than that of mortal man.’[109] Mr. Henry was followed by Mr. Richard Henry Lee, in a speech scarcely less powerful, and still more replete with classic eloquence. One spirit of ardent love of liberty pervaded every breast, and produced a unanimity as advantageous to the cause they advocated, as it was unexpected and appalling to their adversaries.
One of the first acts of this assembly was the appointment of a committee, consisting of two from each colony, to state the rights of the colonists in general, the several instances in which those rights had been violated, and the means most proper to be pursued for obtaining a restoration ofthem. The congress proceeded with great deliberation; its debates were held with closed doors, and it was not till the 14th of October that they published a series of resolutions, embodying in spirited language their opinions on the chief subjects of difference between the colonies and the mother country. An agreement was also signed by all the members to abstain from commercial intercourse with Great Britain.
Upon the principles and in the spirit of the preceding resolutions, was composed an address to the people of Great Britain, as also one to the king; a statement to the aggrieved colonies, and an address to the inhabitants of Canada. These documents were drawn up with great ability. The gentlemen selected from the several colonies for this memorable congress were no less distinguished for their talents than their patriotism; and when perusing these state papers, no one can fail to regret that the speeches delivered on that occasion by such distinguished statesmen and orators as John Adams, John Jay, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, John Dickinson, Samuel Chase, John Rutledge, and many others of that illustrious band of patriots, are lost to the world.
During the session of the congress most of the colonies had adopted the plan of instituting provincial assemblies, regardless of their old form of government. In Massachusetts, general Gage had convoked a general court, to assemble at Salem, on the 5th of October; but events which subsequently transpired, induced him to issue a proclamation dissolving the assembly. The members, however, regarded that proclamation as illegal, and met at Salem on the day appointed. After waiting in vain the whole day for the governor’s appearance to administer the oaths, they resolved themselves into a provincial congress, and adjourned to Concord. After appointing John Hancock president, and addressing a communication to the governor, they again adjourned, to meet at Cambridge on the 17th. Here they appointed a committee of safety, and a committee of supplies. They also voted to enlist one-fourth of the militia as minute men, to be frequently drilled, and held in readiness for service at a minute’s warning; and after appointing three general officers, they adjourned to the 23d of November.
Before the close of the year the busy note of preparation resounded through almost every colony. The Massachusetts committees were indefatigable in providing for the most vigorous defence in the spring. They had procured all sorts of military supplies for the service of twelve thousand men, and had engaged the assistance of the three neighboring provinces of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.