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their evidence would be fatal to fome perfons, whom they were determined to protect. Otherwise, I doubt not, the lives of these unhappy, friendlefs foldiers would long fince have been facrinced without fcruple to the fecurity of their guilty officers.

I have been accufed of endeavouring to enflame the paffions of the people.-Let me now appeal to their understanding. If there be any tool of administration daring enough to deny thefe facts, or fhameless enough to defend the conduct of the miniftry, let him come forward. I care not under what title he appears. He fhall find me ready to maintain the truth of my narrative, and the juftice of my obfervations upon it, at the hazard of my utmost credit with the public.

Under the moft arbitrary governments, the common adminiftration of juftice is fuffered to take its courfe. The fubject, though robbed of his fhare in the legislature, is ftill protected by the laws. The political freedom of the English conftitution was once the pride and honour of an Englishman. The civil equality of the laws preferved the property, and defended the fafety of the fubject. Are thefe glorious privileges the birthright of the people, or are we only tenants at the will of the miniftry ?-But that I know there is a fpirit of refiftance in the hearts of my countrymen, that they value life, not by its conveniencies, but by the independence and dignity of their condition, I fhould, at this moment, appeal only. to their difcretion. I fhould perfwade them to banish from their minds all memory of what we were; I fhould tell them this is not a time to remember that we were Englishmen; and give it as my laft advice, to make fome early agreement with the minifter, that fince it has pleafed him to rob us of thofe political rights, which once diftinguished the inhabitants of a country, where honour was happiness, he would leave us at least the humble, obedient fecurity of citizens, and graciously condescend to protect us in our fubmiffion.

JUNIUS.

The following petition to the King was delivered into his Majesty's own hands, the 5th of last month, by Mr. Allen.

To his MAJESTY.

The humble Petition of William Allen, the difconfolate father of William Allen, who was barbarously murdered on the 10th of May, 1768.

Moft gracious Sovereign,

YOUR petitioner thinks it his duty to lay before your Majefty,

YOUR with great humility, a fhort account of the unprovoked and

outrageous murder committed by a Scotch officer, and three foldier's of the fame regiment, upon the innocent body of your petitioner's only fon; a youth, that all who knew him are ready to atteft, was perfectly fober, temperate, humane, dutiful to his parents, and a fincere lover and worshipper of his God. It was a murder of fo complicated a dye, and attended by fo many barbarous and cruel, circumftances as can hardly be paralelled in any former age, and complicated

is a difgrace to the prefent, which was proved to a demonstration, before an honeft impartial jury fummoned by the coroner, and the officer and foldiers brought in guilty of wilful murder; yet, by the powerful interpofition of the great, and the artful and finifter means of fome of your Majefty's juftices, who ordered the foldiers to fire, and fuffered one of the murderers to make his efcape, and the others have been screened from the punishment they fo juftly deferved; and as your petitioner has been informed, fome of them rewarded for committing this most execrable crime.

That if your moft gracious Majefty, the father of your people, would permit your unhappy petitioner to lay the whole ftate of his cafe, before you, he is well perfwaded your majefty's fatherly heart would fympathife with the ftill bleeding agonies of the dif confolate parents of fo amiable a child, fnatched from them by the hands of ruffians, in the bloom of youth and innocence; of a daughter who did not long furvive the untimely death of her beloved brother, and of a moft afflicted mother, who, (tho' ftill alive) inceffantly moans and weeps over the cruel death of the best of children, and cannot be comforted. Your Majesty can never be offended with your moft afflicted petitioner for applying to your Majefty for juftice against the cruel murderers of his beloved child, whofe blood cries aloud for vengeance.

Your Majefty's petitioner has fpent a very large fum of money in the profecution of the perpetrators of this moft horrid crime, and though this profecution was carried on in your Majefty's name, yet it is a notoricus fact, that your Majefty's counfel, folicitor, and agents for the treafury were employed against me, appeared publickly at the affizes, and by all other arbitrary acts, rendered every effort of your poor petitioner vain and infignificant, to the aftonishment of all unbiaffed hearers who attended that trial. Your petitioner, therefore, has no hopes of justice but from your majefty he has, indeed, this confolation left, that he proved by inconteftable evidence that his fon was innocent, and that he was not in the fields that fatal day; neither had he given the leaft offence to any perfon whatsoever; that he was employed in his own business to the very minute of his being killed adjoining his father's own premifes; that neither his natural temper nor inoffenfive behaviour ever tempted him to mix with ill-difpofed perfons in any private or public disturbance of any kind, and was fo remarkably harmless and mild, that he hach in thefe particulars hardly left his equal; for the truth of which facts, your petitioner appeals to all that knew him.

It is humbly hoped, your Majefty will pardon the length of this petition, laid before you by the most difconfolate father of a murdered child, who now, with tears in his eyes, and a bleeding heart, lies proftrate at your Majesty's feet, meekly and humbly imploring your compaflion and juftice, equally due to the meanett of your fubjects.

Your petitioner, therefore most humbly befeeches your Majefty, to take the premises into your royal confideration, and to iffue out

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your proclamation for apprehending the perpetrators of this horrid crime, which may ftill be useful, though it is a year and three months fince the commiffion of the fact, that they may be brought to a fair trial, when your petitioner will be ready to prove what he has afferted, or in any other way or method that your Majefty in your great wisdom and juftice fhall think moft proper, and your petitioner fhall for ever pray for the eafe, happiness, and profperity of your Majefty's royal perfon and pofterity.

WILLIAM ALLEN.

AN IMPARTIAL REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS. Letters to the Right Honourable the Earl of Hilfborough, from Governor Bernard, General Gage, and the honourable his Majesty's Council for the Province of Maffachufett' sBay, with an Appendix containing divers Proceedings referred to in the faid Letters.

Boston: Printed by Edes and Gill, Printers to the Honourable House of Reprefentatives 1769, and London, Reprinted for J. Almon.

TH

HIS collection of authentic letters and papers is a moft valuable acquifition to the public in general; but more particularly, to all the friends of liberty, and to fuch of the British fubjects as with well to their brethren in New England, or are connected with them in commerce. It gives a ftriking picture on the one hand of the forcible, but unfuccefsful efforts of defpotifm, to fubjugate a virtuous, fober, induftrious, trading people to its arbitrary will; and on the other, of the happy confequences of union, intrepidity and manly perfeverance exerted in defence of the rights and priveleges of a free-born people. After the moft candid and diligent perufal of this performance, the author of this review, thinks himself juftifiable in afferting, that the council and the houfe of reprefentatives for the province of Maffachufett's-bay, have fully acquitted themselves of all the ill-grounded charges maliciously brought against them by their adverfaries; and that unless any further mifreprefentations of their conduct are credited, we have all the reason in the world to imagine, that the most conciliating measures must speedily be teken to restore that harmony between the government and the people of New England, which fubfitted before the fatal introduction of acts of the British parliament into our colonies, impofing taxes for the fole purpose of raising a revenue.

That the people of New England may not be thought too fevere in their behaviour to Governor ternard, it is necellary to premife, that however convinced they may have been that he acted latterly by fuperior order, it was not their bufinefs to look further than to their governor, from whom they had a right to expect fuch a reprefentation of their grievances, as would induce adminiftration, at home to relax in their favour, and to fend him inftructions to govern them with lenity, on the principles of freedom and equity. So far from acting in this gracious manner, his letters are here exhibited as fo many proofs of his mifreprefentation and partial accounts of the fituation of affairs at Bolton.

VOL. V.

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The

The best method of stating the merits of the caufe between the Bostonians and their governor, will be, to extract fuch paffages from the governor's letters as were deemed by them highly exceptionable -and then to give their objections, as they arife in their order, to the feveral paffages extracted.

November 1, 1768. Governor Bernard writes to Lord Hillsborough, "That he now proceeds to conclude his narrative of his endeavours to get quarters for the King's troops untill he found himself at the end of his firing and could do nothing more. account of the endeavours he made before he came to the end of his ftring, runs thus;

His

On Saturday October 15, General Gage arrived here with his officers to look to the quartering the troops himself. On Monday I called a council in the morning and introduced the general. He told them that he was refolved to quarter the two regiments now here in the town, and demanded quarters; and that he should reserve the barracks at the caftle for the Irifh regiments or fuch part of them as they would contain, which has fince been deter mined to be only one regiment. After the general had left the board I fat at it till eight o'clock at night, (two hours after dinner only excepted.) The whole was a scene of perverfion, to avoid their doing any thing towards quartering the troops, unworthy of fuch a body. In the courfe of the queftions I put to them, they denied that they knew of any building belonging to the province in the town of Bofton that was proper to be fitted up for barracks, and they denied that the manufactory houfe was fuch a building. This was fo notoriously contrary to truth, that fome gentlemen expreffed their concern that it should remain upon the minutes, and to induce me to confent to its been expunged, a motion was made in writing that the governor be defired to order the manufactory houfe to be cleared of its prefent inhabitants, that it might be fitted up for the reception of fuch part of the two Irish regiments as could not be accommodated at the caftle barracks. This was violently oppofed, but was carried in the affirmative, fix to five. Upon this, I ordered the former answers to be expunged. This refolution amounting to an affignment of the caftle barracks for the Irish regiments effectually put an end to the objection before made, that no quarters were due in town until the caftle barracks were filled. The next thing to be done was, to clear the manufactory house, the preventing of which was a great object of the fons of liberty. For this purpose, about fix or feven weeks before, when the report of troops coming here was firft confirmed, all kinds of people were thrust into this building, and the workhouse itself was opened, and the people confined there were permitted to go into the manufactory houfe. This was admitted to be true, in council, by one of the board who is an overfeer of the poor and a principal therein. And after the order of council was known, feveral of the chiefs of the faction went into the manufactory house, advised the people there to keep poffeffion against the governor's order, and promifed them fupport. And when fome of them fignified their intention

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to quit the houfe, they were told that if they quitted the houfe they muft quit the town, for they would be killed if they ftaid in it. I had the advice of the beft lawyers that according to the law and ufuage of this country, the owners of an houfe occupied by tenants at fufferance, or wrongful poffeffors might enter by any means they could, and turn them out of poffeffinos, without bringing an ac tion. It was alfo certain that the governor and council when the affembly was not fitting, were perfect owners of the eftates belonging to the province, except for alienation. Upon thefe two principles I appointed the fheriff and two of his deputies, bailiffs of the governor, and council, for the purpofe of removing the people out of the manufactory houfe. The fheriff was refufed admittance; upon which the chief juftice went with him and advised them to give up the houfe, he was answered that they had the opinion of the best lawyer in the province to keep poffeffion. Upon a third attempt, the fheriff finding a window open, entered; upon which the people gathered about him, aud fhut him up; he then made a fignal to an officer without, who brought a party of foldiers, who took poffeffion of the yard of the building and relieved the theriff from his confinement. This occafioned a great mob to assemble, with fome of the chiefs of the faction, they were very abusive against the foldiers, but no mifchief was done. They kept the house Blockaded all that day, and beft part of the next day. When fome of the couneil declaring it was not intended to use force, though they knew it could not be done without, and the building not being immediately wanted, the foldiers were withdrawn on the evening of the fecond day. Thus the building belonging to the government, and affigned by the governor and council for his Majefty's ufe, is kept filled with the outcafts of the workhoufe and the fcum of the town, to prevent its being used for the accommodation of the King's troops." The remainder of this letter contains an account of the governor's proceedings independent of the council, with whom he fays he found nothing could be done, till he had billetted the foldiers in the public houfes as far as they would go; the council he obferves, left this business to him alone without offering their affiftance." Indeed I did not ask them, as I did not think the bufinefs would be forwarded by affociating them." The juftices of the peace having in the next place refused to billet the troops, the governor was at length reduced to the neceffity of acting under a special commiffion received from his Majesty, commanding him to take every neceffary ftep for the accommodation of the King's troops, and in virtue thereof he appointed a perfon to place the faid two regiments in fuch buildings and houses as could be procured at the expence of the crown with the confent of the owners, Thus ended the bufinefs of quartering the two regiments.

The council of the province of Maffachusetts-Bay in vindication of themselves and the province, against the calumnies and mifreprefentations of their governor, make the following obfervations on this letter, in their's to Lord Hilsborough dated April 15, 1769.

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