Beschreibung:

BOSTON MASSACRE]. WARREN, Joseph (1741-1775). Letter signed ("Joseph Warren"), also signed by Justice Samuel Pemberton ("Sam. Pemberon") and James Bowdoin ("James Bowdoin"), TO GEORGE GRENVILLE (1712-1770), Boston, New England, 23 March 1770. 2½ pages, folio, marked "Duplicate" at end, docketed "Boston Committee." THREE WEEKS AFTER THE BOSTON MASSACRE ("THIS EXECRABLE DEED"), A COMMITTEE OF BOSTONIANS APPEALS TO GRENVILLE ABOUT THOSE "PLOTTING THE RUIN OF OUR CONSTITUTION AND LIBERTIES" An important remonstrance by a Committee of leading Bostonians, to the influential former Premier (largely responsible for the Stamp Act of 1765), in the uproar over the clash between Bostonians and soldiers of the British garrison on the night of 5 March, culminating in a volley of musket fire which killed three and wounded two civilians. The incident became fuel for potent anti-British propaganda (such as the well-known Revere engraving), and exerted a profound effect on public opinion in the colonies. All three members of this Committee were involved in the radical anti-British faction: Pemberton was a Boston Justice; Bowdoin (1726-1790), a successful merchant, was the compiler of the inflammatory Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston (Boston, 1770), a copy of which was enclosed with this letter in an attempt to influence the British view of the incident. The letter reads: "It is in consequence of an appointment of the Town of Boston that we have the honor of writing to you, and of communicating the enclosed Narrative, relative to the Massacre in the Town on the 5th Instant After that execrable deed, perpetrated by Soldiers of the 29th Regiment, the Town thought it highly expedient, that a full and just representation of it should be made to Persons of Character in order to frustrate the designs of certain Men who, as they have heretofore been plotting the ruin of our Constitution and Liberties [who] are now said to have procured depositions in a private manner, relative to the said Massacre, to bring an Odium upon the Town as the Aggressors in that Affair. [A]fter examining the said Narrative, and the Depositions, you will be fully satisfied of the Falsehood of such a Suggestion: and we take it upon ourselves to declare, upon our honor and Consciences, that there does not appear to be the least ground for it." The depositions, they assert, were taken without notifying the "Selectmen of the Town" to attend. The town of Boston, on the other hand, had the "Justices with a Committee to assist them made their examinations publickly: most of them at Faneuil Hall," and the Commissioners of the Customs attended many of the hearings. One Commissioner, Mr. Robinson, has secretly embarked for London, while others have retired from the town, which "gives reason to apprehend they have planned or are executing a Scheme of misrepresentation," and "their Safety is in no way dependant upon troops." In conclusion, they argue that "it was so apparently incompatible with the Safety of the Town for the Troops to continue any longer in it, that His Majesty's Council were unanimous that they should be removed to the Barracks at Castle Island. And it is the humble and fervent Prayer of the Province, that his Majesty will graciously be pleased, in his great Wisdom and Goodness, to order the said Troops out of the Province; and that his dutiful and loyal subjects in this Town and Province-dutiful and loyal notwithstanding any representations to the contrary-may not again be distressed and destroyed by Troops." The soldiers responsible for the lethal gunfire and their commander, Captain Preston, were indicted for murder and defended by John Adams and Josiah Quincy; most were ultimately acquitted. Warren, a surgeon, played a very important role in the patriot cause. He was responsible for the drafting of the Suffolk Resolves and on the first two anniversaries of the "Boston Massacre" he delivered commemorative addresses. Remaining in Boston in spite of