forces of Britain and the colonies, the latter having nearly an equal number of men in that service with the former, it follows that the colonies have an equitable and just right to participate in the advantage of those fisheries; I do, therefore, in the behalf of the colony of the Massachusetts Bay, protest against the act now under consideration in Parliament, for depriving that province, with others, of that fishery (on pretence of their refusing to purchase British commodities), as an act highly unjust and injurious; and I give notice, that satisfaction will probably one day be demanded for all the injury that may be done and suffered in the execution of such act; and that the injustice of the proceeding is likely to give such umbrage to all the colonies, that in no future war, wherein other conquests may be meditated, either a man or a shilling will be obtained from any of them to aid such conquests, till full satisfaction be made as aforesaid.
B. Franklin.
Given in London, this 16th day of March, 1775.”
“Dear Sir:—
I return you the memorial, which it is thought might be attended with dangerous consequences to your person, and contribute to exasperate the nation.
I heartily wish you a prosperous voyage, and long health, and am, with the sincerest regard, your most faithful and obedient servant,
Thomas Walpole.
Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 16th March, 1775.”
Mr. Walpole called at my house the next day, and, hearing I was gone to the House of Lords, came there to me, and repeated more fully what was in his note; adding, that it was thought my having no instructions directing me to deliver such a protest, would make it appear still more unjustifiable, and be deemed a national affront. I had no desire to make matters worse, and, being grown cooler, took the advice so kindly given me.
The evening before I left London, I received a note from Dr. Fothergill, with some letters to his friends in Philadelphia. In that note he desires me to get those friends “and two or three more together, and inform them that, whatever specious pretences are offered, they are all hollow; and that to get a larger field on which to fatten a herd of worthless parasites is all that is regarded. Perhaps it may be proper to acquaint them with David Barclay’s and our united endeavors, and the effects. They will stun at least, if not convince, the most worthy, that nothing very favorable is intended, if more unfavorable articles cannot be obtained.” The Doctor, in the course of his daily visits among the great, in the practice of his profession, had full opportunity of being acquainted with their sentiments, the conversation everywhere turning upon the subject of America.
DXCIX. TO JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
Philadelphia, 16 May, 1775.
Dear Friend:—
You will have heard, before this reaches you, of a march stolen by the regulars into the country by night, and of their expedition back again. They retreated twenty miles in six hours. Ref. 010 The governor had called the Assembly to propose Lord North’s pacific plan, but, before the time of their meeting, began cutting of throats. You know it was said he carried the sword in one hand and the olive branch in the other; and it seems he chose to give them a taste of the sword first.
He is doubling his fortifications at Boston, and hopes to secure his troops till succor arrives. The place indeed is naturally so defensible that I think them in no danger. All America is exasperated by his conduct, and more firmly united than ever. The breach between the two countries is grown wider, and in danger of becoming irreparable.
I had a passage of six weeks, the weather constantly so moderate that a London wherry might have accompanied us all the way. I got home in the evening, and the next morning was unanimously chosen by the Assembly of Pennsylvania a delegate to the Congress now sitting.
In coming over I made a valuable philosophical discovery, which I shall communicate to you when I can get a little time. Ref. 011 At present I am extremely hurried. Yours most affectionately,
B. Franklin.
DC. TO MRS. JANE MECOM
Philadelphia, 26 May, 1775.
Dear Sister:—
I have just now heard, by Mr. Adams, that you are come out of Boston, and are at Warwick, in Rhode Island. I suppose it must be at good Mr. and Mrs. Greene’s, to whom present my affectionate respects. I write this line just to let you know that I am returned well from England, and that I found my family well; but have not found the repose I wished for, being the next morning after my arrival delegated to the Congress by our Assembly.
I wish to hear from you, and to know how you have left your affairs in Boston; and whether it would be inconvenient for you to come hither; or you wish rather that I should come to see you, if the business I am engaged in will permit. Let me know if you want any assistance, and what is become of cousin Williams and his family, and other friends. Jonathan was at Paris when I left England, but to return in a week or two. I am ever, my dear sister, your very loving brother,
B. Franklin.
DCI. TO MR. STRAHAN Ref. 012
Philadelphia, 5 July, 1775.
Mr. Strahan:—
You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands; they are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and I am,
Yours,
B. Franklin.
DCII. TO JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
Philadelphia, 7 July, 1775.
Dear Friend:—
The Congress met at a time when all minds were so exasperated by the perfidy of General Gage, and his attack on the country people, that propositions for attempting an accommodation were not much relished; and it has been with difficulty that we have carried another humble petition to the crown, to give Britain one more chance, one opportunity more, of recovering the friendship of the colonies; which, however, I think she has not sense enough to embrace, and so I conclude she has lost them forever.
She has begun to burn our seaport towns; secure, I suppose, that we shall never be able to return the outrage in kind. She may doubtless destroy them all; but, if she wishes to recover our commerce, are these the probable means? She must certainly be distracted; for no tradesman out of Bedlam ever thought of increasing the number of his customers, by knocking them on the head; or of enabling them to pay their debts, by burning their houses. If she wishes to have us subjects, and that we should submit to her as our compound sovereign, she is now giving us such miserable specimens of her government, that we shall ever detest and avoid it, as a complication of robbery, murder, famine, fire, and pestilence.
You
