the present disordered and unhappy state of the province, it appears to me highly inexpedient that a great and general court should be convened at the time aforesaid; but that a session at some more distant day will best tend to promote his majesty's service and the good of the province; I have, therefore, thought fit to declare my intention not to meet the said general court, at Salem, on the said fifth day of October next. And I do hereby excuse and discharge all such persons as have been, or may be elected and deputed representatives to serve at the same, from giving their attendance: any thing in the aforesaid writs contained to the contrary notwithstanding: whereof all concerned are to take notice and govern themselves accordingly. And the sheriffs of the several counties, their under sheriffs, or deputies, and the constables of the several towns within the same, are commanded to cause this proclamation to be forthwith published and posted within their precincts. Given at Boston, the twenty-eighth day of September, 1774, in the fourteenth year of the reign of our sovereign lord, George the third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &c. By His Excellency's command. THOMAS FLUCKER, Secretary. GOD SAVE THE KING. Notwithstanding the executive prohibition, ninety1 of the representatives elected in pursuance of the writs for calling the general assembly, met at Salem, on Wednesday, October, 5, 1774. With cautious courtesy they awaited during that day the attendance of the governor, or other constitutional officer, to administer the usual oaths. When it had become certain, by the lapse of time, that the presence of the chief magistrate could no longer be expected, a convention was organized, on Thursday. The Hon. John Hancock was chosen chairman, and Benjamin Lincoln, Esq., clerk. A committee was appointed to consider the proclamation, and consult on the measures proper to be adopted. Their report was presented on Friday, and the following resolutions submitted, which were accepted, and afterwards published in the newspapers of the time. (1.) The number of those in attendance is thus stated by Gordon, History of the American Revolution, vol. 1, page 280; and in the Essex Gazette, Massachusetts Spy, Boston Gazette, Boston Evening Post, and other cotemporary prints. Some historians have supposed the members were 208 or 288; probably counting those who met at Concord, instead of those who assembled at Salem. Many of the towns refused to obey the governor's precept, and declined electing representatives to the general court, but sent delegates to the Provincial Congress. PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY. In the Court House at Salem, October 7, 1774. WHEREAS, his excellency Thomas Gage, Esq., did issue writs bearing date the first of September last, for the election of members to serve as representatives in a great and general court, which he did. "think fit and appoint" to be convened and holden the fifth day of October instant, at the court house in this place: And whereas, a majority of members duly elected in consequence of said writs, did attend at said court house the time appointed, there to be qualified according to charter for taking seats and acting as representatives in said great and general court; but were not met by the governor, or other constitutional officer or officers by him appointed for administering the usual oaths, and qualifying them thereto: And whereas, a proclamation, bearing date the 28th day of September last, and published in sundry newspapers, with the signature of his excellency, contains many reflections on this province, as being in a tumultuous and disorderly state; and appears to have been considered by his excellency as a constitutional discharge of all such persons as have been elected in consequence of his excellency's said writs: The members aforesaid so attending, having considered the measures which his excellency has been pleased to take by his said proclamation, and finding them to be unconstitutional, unjust, and disrespectful to the province, think it their duty to pass the following resolves : Therefore, Resolved, as the opinion of said members: 1st. That by the royal charter of the province, the governor, for the time being, is expressly obliged to convene, "upon every last Wednesday in the month of May, every year forever, and at such other times as he shall think fit, and appoint a great and general court." And, therefore, that as his excellency had thought fit, and by his writ appointed a great and general court to be convened on the fifth day of October instant, his conduct in preventing the same is against the express words, as well as true sense and meaning of the charter, and unconstitutional; more especially as, by charter, his excellency's power "to adjourn, prorogue and dissolve all great and general courts," doth not take place after said courts shall be appointed, until they have first "met and convened." 2dly. That the constitutional government of the inhabitants of this province, being, by a considerable military force at this time attempted to be superseded and annulled; and the people, under the most alarm ing and just apprehensions of slavery, having, in their laudable endeavors to preserve themselves therefrom, discovered, upon all occasions, the greatest aversion to disorder and tumult, it must be evident to all attending to his excellency's said proclamation, that his representations of the province as being in a tumultuous and disordered state, are reflections the inhabitants have by no means merited; and, therefore, that they are highly injurious and unkind. 3dly. That, as the pretended cause of his excellency's proclamation for discharging the members elected by the province in pursuance of his writs, has for a considerable time existed, his excellency's conduct in choosing to issue said proclamation, (had it been in other respects unexceptionable,) but a few days before the court was to have been convened, and thereby unavoidably putting to unnecessary expense and trouble a great majority of members from the extremities of the province, is a measure by no means consistent with the dignity of the province; and, therefore, it ought to be considered as a disrespectful treatment of the province, and as an opposition to that reconciliation between Great Britain and the colonies so ardently wished for by all the friends of both. 4thly. That some of the causes assigned as aforesaid for this unconstitutional and wanton prevention of the general court, have, in all good governments, been considered among the greatest reasons for convening a parliament or assembly; and, therefore, the proclamation is considered as a further proof, not only of his excellency's disaffection towards the province, but of the necessity of its most vigorous and immediate exertions for preserving the freedom and constitution thereof. Upon a motion made and seconded, Voted, That the members aforesaid do now resolve themselves into a Provincial Congress, to be joined by such other persons as have been or shall be chosen for that purpose, to take into consideration the dangerous and alarming situation of public affairs in this province, and to consult and determine on such measures as they shall judge will tend to promote the true interest of his majesty, and the peace, welfare and prosperity of the province. BENJAMIN LINCOLN, Clerk. The subsequent proceedings of the Congress thus formed are detailed in the following journal. JOURNAL. ||*MINUTES of the proceedings of a Provincial Congress of Deputies of the several towns and districts in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, convened at Salem, on Friday the seventh day of October, A. D., 1774; with a list of persons chosen to represent them in the same. COUNTY OF SUFFOLK. Boston.-Hon. Thomas Cushing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams, Hon. John Hancock, Esq., Doct. Joseph Warren, Doct. Benjamin Church, Mr. Nathaniel Appleton. Roxbury-Capt. William Heath, Mr. Aaron Davis. Dorchester.-Capt. ||'Lemuel Robinson. Milton.-Capt. David Rawson, Mr. James Boice. ams, Esq. Weymouth. Mr. Nathaniel Bailey. Hingham.-Benjamin Lincoln, Esq. Cohasset.-Mr. Isaac Lincoln. Dedham.-Hon. Samuel Dexter, Esq., Mr. Abner Ellis. Medfield. Mr. Moses Bullen, Capt. Seth Clark. Wrentham.—Mr. Jabez Fisher, Mr. Lemuel Kollock. Brookline.-Capt. Benjamin White, William Thompson, Esq., Mr. John Goddard. Stoughton and 2Stoughtonham.-Mr. Thomas Crane, Mr. John Withington, Mr. Job Swift. (1.) The southern part of the county of Worcester and the whole of the county of Norfolk were originally included within the territorial limits of Suffolk. The former was separated by the act of incorporation, passed April 2, 1731. By the statute of March 26, 1793, all the towns mentioned in the text as belonging to the county of Suffolk, except Boston and Chelsea, were united to form the county of Norfolk. This act was repealed June 20, 1793, so far as it related to Hingham and Hull, which were annexed to the county of Plymouth, June 18, 1803. (2.) The name of Stoughtonham was changed to Sharon, by the Legislature, February 25, 1783. Walpole.-Mr. Enoch Ellis. Medway. Capt. Jonathan Adams. Bellingham.-Mr. Luke Holbrook. Hull.-[None.] Chelsea.-Mr. Samuel Watts. COUNTY OF ESSEX. Salem.-Mr. John Pickering, Jun., Mr. Jonathan Ropes, Jun. Danvers.-Doct. Samuel Holten. Ipswich.-Capt. Michael Farley, Mr. Daniel Noyes. Newbury.-Hon. Joseph Gerrish, Esq. Newburyport.-Capt. Jonathan Greenleaf. Marblehead.--Jeremiah Lee, Esq., Azor Orne, Esq., Mr. Elbridge Gerry. Lynn.-Ebenezer Burrill, Esq., Capt. John Mansfield. Andover.-Mr. Moody Bridges. Beverly-Capt. Josiah Batchelder. Rowley. Mr. Nathaniel Mighill. Salisbury. Mr. Samuel Smith. Haverhill.-Samuel White, Esq., Mr. Joseph Haynes. Gloucester.-Capt. Peter Coffin. Topsfield.-Capt. Samuel Smith. Boxford.-Aaron Wood, Esq. Amesbury.-Isaac Merrill, Esq. Bradford.-Capt. Daniel Thurston. COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX. Cambridge.-Hon. John Winthrop, Esq., Capt. Thomas Gardner, Mr. Abraham Watson, [Mr. Francis Dana.] Charlestown. Mr. Nathaniel Gorham, Mr. Richard Devens, Doct. Isaac Foster, David Cheever, Esq. Watertown.-Capt. Jonathan Brown, Mr. John Remington, Mr. Samuel Fisk. Woburn. Mr. Samuel Wyman. |