they did not understand, and ought to abandon. The impolicy of this discussion and the discomfiture which he met with in the undertaking, were no recommendation to him in England.

When he was accused before the privy council of mal-conduct, by order of the legislature, it was, perhaps a fortunate circumstance for him, that Dr. Franklin was the organ of the accusers; since the government seemed so anxious to humble the agent, that they were quite ready to support the Governor. When the whole vengeance of parliament was directed against the town of Boston, after the destruction of the tea, and the two countries were rapidly approaching to the beginning of a civil war, the extraordinary delusion of Hutchinson as to the disposition of his countrymen, and the degree of resistance that might be expected from them, were too congenial to the obstinate purpose of the ministry not to be received with cordiality, and to procure him their countenance. He was rewarded for his services by a pension; and he stimulated the government to perseverance by his advice and information, which for a time had great weight.

After the first events of the war had shewn that the Americans were not to be easily overcome, and its further progress increased the probability of their eventual success, he began to be disregarded by the ministry; and treated with neglect at Court.*

"When I agreed with you in your opinion of Mr. Hutchinson's repentance, I should have added, he had very great reason for repentance. Fled n his old age from the detestation of a country where he had been beloved,

He now saw all his ambitious dreams dissolved, his country mercilessly ravaged, and himself an exile forever. Although he used, as other Americans did, the term home, in speaking of England, yet the home of his affection was in Massachusetts. He had there obtained a degree of consideration and influence, which his devotion to the arbitrary designs of the administration, and zeal to bring his country under the yoke, had not entirely destroyed. He had been gradually enticed by his avidity for rank and fortune, to aid in destroying the rights of the colonies, and making them completely subordinate to the usurpation of parliament. Still, his attachments were local, and it was only in his native land that he could have enjoyed the distinction and power, which he so ruinously sought, had he succeeded in their attainment. As it resulted, he saw himself and his adherents irreversibly banished, his country on the road to triumph over his counsels, and the cause which he had supported too deeply disgraced,

esteemed, admired and applauded with exaggeration, in short, where he had been every thing from his infancy, to a country where he was nothing: pinched by a pension, which, though ample in Boston, would barely keep a house in London; throwing round his baleful eyes on the exiled companions of his folly, hearing daily of the slaughter of his countrymen and conflagration of their cities, abhorred by the greatest men and soundest part of the nation, and neglected if not despised by the rest: hardened as had been my heart against him, I assure you, I was melted at the accounts I heard of his condition. Lord Townsend told me that he put an end to his own life. Though I did not believe this, I knew he was ridiculed by the courtiers. They laughed at his manners at the levee, at his perpetual quotation of his brother Foster, (Foster Hutchinson brother of Governor H. was a Judge of the Supreme Court in Massachusetts,) searching his pockets for letters to read to the King, and the King's turning away from him with his nose up, &c. &c."-Extract of a MS. letter of President Adams to the late W. Tudor, Esq.

to leave him any hope of reward for having promoted it. To these political reverses and withered expectations, were added domestic afflictions. He lost a most amiable daughter before leaving America, whose death occasioned him a deep and lasting regret; and in February 1780, his youngest son died of a pulmonary complaint. He was himself attacked early in the spring of that year, by the illness of which he died on the 3d of June, at Brompton, in his 69th year.

Governor Hutchinson was dazzled by the vast patronage in the power of the crown. Imposing titles and unbounded wealth might be the prize of successful service. The hopes inspired by these, corrupted his principles; and to secure his own fortune, he was willing to impair that of his country. The only excuse that can be offered for his political errors was, his thorough conviction, that the power of England was overwhelming. He and many others appeared stupified at the aspect of that power, and always treated the idea of the colonists defending themselves by an appeal to arms, as the suggestion of ignorance or insanity. He thought, as the colonies must be prostrated by the first blow of the parent country, that the only safe course to be pursued was to yield to its will, and endeavour by petitions to make its regulations as little onerous as possible. In this way he reconciled himself to the course which he adopted. In the progress of it, he omitted no exertion. Argument, persuasion, flattery, threats, perpetual watchfulness

If

and intrigues, all were brought into action. he had succeeded in placing the country in the power of the British parliament, it would not have been worth inhabiting. He and his arrogant superiors were utterly confounded by the event, and the colonies which they intended to crush, expanded from that very compression into a prosperous nation. Apart from politics, the character of Hutchinson was highly estimable. He was temperate, industrious, indefatigable, affable and polite in his intercourse with society, a friend to literature, and rendering invaluable service in that branch of it connected with American history. He was upright in his private transactions, and condescending to those below him. Without being possessed of what is called genius, his incessant application and steady perseverance usefully supplied its deficiency. His natural position, and many of his inclinations, called him to the side of his native land, where he would have reached very high distinction; his ambition led him astray, and he died a pensioned, broken hearted exile.

Chapter XXTH.

Termination of the British authority in Massachusetts in May 1774-Vindictive Measures against that Province-Mandamus Counsellors-Boston Port Bill and Acts in Connection with it— State of Public Feeling at this Epoch.

THE termination of the British government in Massachusetts, was very distinct and abrupt. General Gage, the commander of the military forces, met the new legislature on the 26th, of May 1774, and delivered them a short speech, in which he announced his appointment as governor, and added that he had the king's particular commands to hold the general court at Salem, from the first of June. After the court was adjourned to that place, the council presented an answer to the speech, which began with congratulating him on his appointment, and offering their assurance of a cheerful co-operation in every thing, that could tend to restore harmony, and extricate, the province from its present embarrassments. They proceeded to say "we wish your excellency every felicity. The greatest, of a political nature, both to yourself and the province, is, that your administration, in the principles and general conduct of it, may be a happy contrast to that of your two immediate predecessors." The governor here interrupted the chairman, and desired him to proceed no further, as he could not receive an address which reflected so highly on his predeces