The Virginia Gazette

His Majesty's Council of that Province directed a Committee of their Board to wait upon his Excellency General Gage with the following Address in Answer to his Speech at the Opening of the General Court, which was presented to him, in Part, on the 13th: "That they congratulated him on his Appointment to the Command over them;

express their Concern that his Station, though elevated, must needs be rendered less agreeable to him than it would have been, owing to the Interruption of the Harmony between Great Britain and the Colonies; that, however, if he should be the happy Instrument of restoring the same, in any Measure, and extricating the Province from their present Embarrassments, they made no Doubt but he would consider those happy Effects as more than a Compensation for any Inconveniencies arising to him from the peculiar Circumstances of the Times; and assured his Excellency that they would cheerfully co-operate, on all Occasions, in every Attempt to accomplish those desirable Ends. They express their Wish, that the Principles and general Conduct of his Excellency's Administration may be a happy Contrast to that of his two immediate Predecessors; that although it was irksome to them to censure any One, yet they were constrained to say there was the greatest Reason to apprehend that, from their Machinations, both in Concert and apart, are derived the Origin and Progress of the Disunion between Britain and the Colonies, and the present distressed State of their Province, a Province to which the latter of them, in an essential Manner, owed his best Services. That the People of Massachusetts Bay claim no more than the Rights of Englishmen, without Diminution or Abridgment; and that, as it is their indispensable Duty, so it will be their constant Endeavour, to maintain those Rights, to the utmost of their Power, in perfect Consistency, however, with the truest Loyalty to the Crown,

They express their Confidence, that, under their present Grievances, the People under his Care would not look up to him in vain for his paternal Aid and Assistance; and that, as the great End of Government is the Good of the People, that his Experience and Abilities will be applied to attain that End, which, at the Same Time that it ensures their Confidence and Esteem, is a Source of the truest Enjoyment, Self Approbation.—

But when the Committee appointed to present the Address had read as far as that Part which reflects on the Administration of his Excellency's two immediate Predecessors; his desired the Chairman not to proceed, and that he would assign his Reasons for refusing to receive it, in a Message to the Council, and on the same Day sent by the Secretary the following: "Gentlemen of the Council, I cannot receive an Address which contains indecent Reflections on my Predecessors, who have been tried, and honourably acquitted, by the Lords of the Privy Council, and their Conduct approved by the King, I consider this Address as an Insult upon his Majesty and the Lords of the Privy Council, and an Affront to me."

The Address of the House of Representatives, presented to his Excellency the same Day, was much to the like Import; and they express their "Concern at being informed by his Excellency that he had the King's Command for holding the General Court at Salem, instead of Boston, its ancient and only convenient Seat. Misrepresentation from Persons residing in the Province, they conceive, must have induced the Ministry to advise his Majesty to lay his Excellency under such an Injunction, so very disagreeable to the good People of the Province, as it deprives them of the Benefit of that discretionary Power vested in the Governour by Charter (and exercised by former Governours) of determining in such Case for the Good of the Province. They hope, however, that when his Majesty, through him, is acquainted with the true State of the Province, and the Character of his faithful Subjects in it, that his Excellency may be the happy Instrument of removing the King's Displeasure, and restoring Harmony, which has been too long interrupted, by the Artifices of interested and designing Men."

June 17th, the Honourable House of Representatives having finished all the ordinary publick Business of Importance that had been before them, came into the following Resolutions, present 129 Members, and only 12 Dissenters, viz. "This House having duly considered, and being deeply affected with the unhappy Differences which have long subsisted, and are increasing, between Great Britain and the American Colonies, do resolve that a Meeting of Committees from the several Colonies on this Continent is highly expedient and necessary, to consult upon the present State of the Colonies, and the Miseries to which they are and must be reduced, by the Operation of certain Acts of Parliament respecting America; and to deliberate and determine upon wise and proper Measures to be by them recommended to all the Colonies for the Recovery and Establishment of their just Rights and Liberties, civil and religious, and the Restoration of Union and Harmony between Great Britain and the Colonies, most ardently desired by all good Men: Therefore resolved, that the Honourable James Bowdoin, Esq; the Honourable Thomas Cushing, Esq; Mr. Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, Esqrs; be, and they are hereby appointed a Committee on the Part of this Province for the Purposes aforesaid, any three of them to be a Quorum, to meet such Committees or Delegates from the other Colonies as have been or may be appointed, either by their respective Houses of Burgesses or Representatives, or by Convention, or by the Committees of Correspondence, appointed by the respective Houses of Assembly, to meet in the City of Philadelphia, or any other Place that shall be judged most suitable by the Committee, on the first Day of September next; and that the Speaker of the House be directed, in a Letter to the Speaker of the Houses of Burgesses or Representatives in the several Colonies, to inform them of the Substance of these Resolves. And whereas this House did resolve that there be paid to said Committee, out of the publick Treasury, the Sum of 500l. to enable them to discharge the important Trust to which they are appointed (they upon their Return to be accountable for the same) and said Resolve was sent up to the Honourable Board for their Concurrence, who accordingly concurred in the Resolve of the House, but his Excellency the Governour declined his Consent to the same, this House would therefore recommend, and they do accordingly hereby recommend, to the several Towns and Districts within this Province, that each Town and District raise, collect, and pay to the Honourable Thomas Cushing, Esq; of Boston, the Sum of 200l. by the 15th Day of August next, agreeable to a List herewith exhibited, being each Town and District's Proportion of said Sum, according to the last Province Tax, to enable them to discharge the important Trust to which they are appointed, they upon their Return to be accountable for the same.'

The same Day they came to the following Resolutions, viz. "Whereas the Towns of Boston and Charlestown are at this Time suffering under the Hand of Power, by the shutting up the Harbour by an armed Force, which, in the Opinion of this House, is an Invasion of the said Towns, evidently designed to compel the Inhabitants thereof to a Submission to Taxes imposed upon them without their Consent; and whereas it appears to this House that this Attack upon the said Towns, for the Purpose aforesaid, is an Attack made upon this whole Province and Continent, which threatens the total Destruction of the Liberties of all British America: It is therefore resolved, as the clear Opinion of this House, that the Inhabitants of the said Towns ought to be relieved; and this House do recommend to all, and more especially to the Inhabitants of this Province, to afford them speedy and constant Relief, in such Way and Manner as shall be most suitable to their Circumstances, till the Sense and Advice of our Sister Colonies shall be known, in full Confidence that they will exhibit Examples of Patience, Fortitude, and Perseverance, while they are thus called to endure this Oppression, for the Preservation of the Liberties of their Country."

They then proceeded to the following Resolutions, viz. "Whereas this, and his Majesty's other Colonies in North America, have long been struggling under the heavy Hand of Power, and our dutiful Petitions for the Redress of our intolerable Grievances have not only been disregarded and frowned upon, but the Design totally to alter the free Constitution of civil Government in British America, establish arbitrary Governments, and reduce the Inhabitants to Slavery, appears more and more to be fixed and determined: It is therefore strongly recommended, by this House, to the Inhabitants of the Province, that they renounce altogether the Consumption of India Teas, and as far as in them lies discontinue the Use of all Goods and Manufactures whatever that shall be imported from the East Indies, and Great Britain, until the publick Grievances of America shall be radically and totally redressed; and it is also farther recommended, to all, that they give all possible Encouragement to the Manufactures of America."

The same Day his Excellency the Governour having directed the Secretary to acquaint the two Houses that it was his Pleasure the General Assembly should be dissolved, and to declare the same dissolved accordingly, the Secretary accordingly went to the Courthouse; but finding the Door of the Representatives Chamber locked, directed the Messenger to go in and acquaint the Speaker that the Secretary had a Message from his Excellency to the Honourable House, and desired he might be admitted to deliver it. The Message returned, and said he had acquainted the Speaker therewith, who mentioned it to the House; and that their Orders were, to keep the Door fast. Upon which the following Proclamation was published, on the Stairs leading to the Representatives Chamber, in Presence of several Members of the House, and a great Number of other Persons, and immediately after in Council: "Whereas the Proceedings of the House of Representatives, in the present Session of the General Court, makes it necessary, for his Majesty's Service, that the said General Court be dissolved, I have therefore thought fit to dissolve the said General Court, and the same is hereby dissolved accordingly; and the Members thereof are discharged from any farther Attendance. God save the King."

The same Day, at a legal and very full Meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, at Faneuil Hall, by Adjournment, they again proceeded to consider and determine what Measures are proper to be taken upon the present Exigency of their publick Affairs, more especially relative to the late Edict of a British Parliament for blocking up the Harbour of Boston, and annihilating the Trade of that Town; and, after serious Debates thereon, it was voted (only one dissenting Voice) that the Committee of Correspondence be enjoined forthwith to write to all the other Colonies, acquainting them that they were not idle; that they were deliberating upon the Steps to be taken on the present Exigencies of their publick Affairs; that their Brethren, the landed Interest of the Province, with an unexampled Spirit and Unanimity, are entering into a Non-Consumption Agreement; and that they are waiting, with anxious Expectation, for the Result of a continental Congress, whose Meeting they impatiently desire, in whose Wisdom and Firmness they can confide, and in whose Determinations they shall cheerfully acquiesce. They voted, unanimously, that their warmest Thanks be transmitted to their Brethren on the Continent, for that Humanity, Sympathy, and Affection, with which they have been inspired, and which they have expressed towards that distressed Town at this important Season; and that all Grants and Donations to the Town, and the Poor thereof, be paid into the Hands of the Overseers of the Poor, and by them appropriated and distributed in Concert with the Committee lately appointed by the Town for the Consideration of Ways and Means of employing the Poor.