The New York Packet

UNITED STATES.

B O S T O N. Jan. 18.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

By his Excellency James Bowdoin, Esq. Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

A Proclamation, to the good People of the Commonwealth.

A spirit of discontent, originating in supposed grievances, having, in the course of the last fall, stimulated many of the citizens in several of the counties of this Commonwealth, to the commission of acts subversive of government, and of the peace and security derived from it, I thought it expedient to assemble, & accordingly did assemble, the General Court for the special purpose of considering those grievances, & all complaints whatever, & if possible, removing the causes of them. A patient and candid attention was paid to the business of the Session, and every relief given, consistent with the existence of government, and the principles of equal justice.

These the Legislature could not infringe, without bringing upon themselves the detestation of mankind, and the frowns of Heaven.

But relief was not the only object, upon which the General Court bestowed their attention. In tenderness to the misguided, and in hopes of reclaiming the obstinate, an act of indemnity was passed for all the outrages, which had been committed against law, and the officers of it, upon this mild condition alone, that the perpetrators should return to a due submission to lawful authority; and, as a test of their sincerity, should, before the first day of January following, take and subscribe the oaths of allegiance, required by the constitution.

In addition to these measures, the state of the treasury, the expenditure of monies received, the situation of our foreign and domestic debt, and other important matters, were, in particular detail, communicated to the people, by an address from the Legislature. In that address they were also informed, of the dangerous and destructive tendency of popular insurrections; and the insurgents were conjured, in the most serious and persuasive manner, to desist from their lawless conduct, lest they should involve themselves and their country in ruin. But, what have been the consequences?—The measures intended for giving them satisfaction and indemnity have been spurned at: And since the publication of those measures, the same insurgents have frequently embodied, and with a military force, repeatedly interrupted the Judicial Courts in the counties of Hampshire and Worcester; which demonstrates, that the government is held by them at open defiance; and that the laws are, in those counties, laid prostrate.

By a resolve of the 24th of October, the Legislature expressed their full confidence, that the Governor would persevere in the exercise of the powers, vested in him by the constitution, for enforcing due obedience to the authority and laws of government; and for preventing any attempts to interrupt the administration of law and justice; upon which the peace and safety of the Commonwealth so essentially depend.

In the present dangerous and critical situation of affairs; I feel myself constrained by the most sacred obligations of duty, and for the purposes intended by the Legislature, to call those powers into immediate exercise, for the protection of the Commonwealth, against the attempts of all persons who shall enterprise its destruction, invasion, detriment or annoyance: And I have accordingly, pursuant to my own ideas of duty, as well as the expectations of the General Court, ordered a part of the militia to assemble in arms, for the purpose of protecting the Judicial Courts next to be holden in the county of Worcester; of aiding the civil magistrate to execute the laws; of repelling all insurgents against the government; and of apprehending all disturbers of the public peace.

It is now become evident, that the object of the insurgents is to annihilate our present happy constitution, or to force the General Court into measures repugnant to every idea of justice, good faith, and national policy: And those who encourage, or in any way assist them, either individually, or in a corporate capacity, do partake of their guilt; and will be legally responsible for it.

Success, on the part of the insurgents, in either of those views, must be destructive of civil liberty, and of the important blessings derived from it: and as it would be the result of force, undirected by any moral principle, it must finally terminate in despotism—despotism in the worst of its forms.

Is then the goodly fabric of freedom, which cost us so much blood and treasure, so soon to be thrown into ruins?—Is it to stand but just long enough, and for no other purpose than, to flatter the tyrants of the earth in their darling maxim, that mankind are not made to be free?

The present is certainly a most interesting period; and if we wish to support that goodly fabric and to avoid domestic slavery, men of principle, the friends of justice and the constitution, must now take their stations, and unite under the government in every effort for suppressing the present commotions and all insurrections whatever, or be infamously accessory to their own and their country's ruin. But in such an union, should they prove as firm in the support of justice and the constitution, as the insurgents have been obstinate in trampling them under their feet, the force of government will have so decided a superiority as to put an end to the present convulsions, and restore a regular administration of law, without the horrors of bloodshed, and a civil war: which I most ardently deprecate; and will strenuously endeavour to prevent.

But unless such a force appears, those, which indeed are the greatest of national evils, seem inevitable.

If the constitution is to be destroyed, and insurrection left unopposed by authority, individuals, as they regard their own happiness and freedom, will, from necessity, combine for defence, and meet force with force; or voluntarily and ingloriously relinquish the blessings, without which life would cease to be desirable; and which, by the laws of God and nature ought never to be tamely surrendered.

What would be the end of such events, is known only to Him, who can open the volume and read the pages of futurity.

Strongly impressed with the truth of these ideas, I must conjure the good people of the Commonwealth, as they value life and the enjoyments of it, as they regard their own characters, and the dignity of human nature, to summon up every virtuous principle within them, and to co-operate with government in every necessary exertion, for restoring to the Commonwealth that order, harmony and peace, upon which its happiness and character do essentially depend.

Given at the Council Chamber, in Boston, the 12th day of January, 1787, and in the 11th year of the Independence of the Confederated States of America.

JAMES BOWDOIN.

By His Excellency's command,

JOHN AVERY, jun. Sec'ry.