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decisive and final renunciation of the scheme of oppression. The colonies were satisfied and happy, and John Hart was one of the most contented and unambitious farmers to be found in all his majesty's dominions.

It was a period of great simplicity in manners and very general purity of life, yet even then he had so conducted himself in his dealings among the people of New Jersey, as to have acquired the familiar designation of "honest John Hart." A distinction of which his descendants may be more reasonably proud than if his lot had been cast where he might have acquired all the stars, crosses and garters, that royalty could bestow upon its favourites.

The even tenor of his life was interrupted by few incidents that would not appear trivial in narration. His farm grew yearly better in value and improvement, his stock increased, his family was augmented by a biennial addition of a son or a daughter, until he was surrounded by thirteen children; in whose education, together with the care of his farm, the exercise of friendly acts of assistance to his neighbours, and serving brief tours of duty as a member of the colonial legislature, he found occupation of that enviable kind, which at once useful and tranquil, brings old age with no wrinkles but those which time has traced, and preserves for advanced years the cheerfulness of youth.

A course of life so peaceful and happy is not often destined to remain free from interruption. While

every thing was proceeding in its regular course in the domestic circle of "honest John Hart," great events were occurring on the other side of the Atlantic, which were to reach, with a malignant influence, even to the calm retirement of the New Jersey farmer.

In 1767, Charles Townshend being elevated, unfortunately for the British empire, to the place of chancellor of the exchequer, brought forward his plan of revenue, including duties on glass, paper, pasteboard, painter's colours and tea, imported into the colonies.

The generous confidence with which the colonists had reposed since the repeal of the stamp act, was now dispelled; they had trusted that the hateful project of imposing a badge of slavery upon them would not be revived, but the adoption by parliament of this new and aggravated imposition, excited the most serious alarm and the gloomiest apprehensions.

John Hart, in the midst of his quiet comforts, appreciated the extent of the evil that impended. Valuing all the blessings which were his own, he felt that they might all be rendered valueless if he were to possess them but as the slave of a despotic master. The amount of tax that he would have to pay was not worth a thought; he had little occasion for English paper, pasteboard, glass or paint; and tea was a luxury that hardly found its way to the tables of such plain country families as his.

But the sense of personal security and unalienable rights, the consciousness of being something more than a slave, the sturdy pride of freedom, which every Englishman of that day, and every inhabitant of the British colonies was accustomed to cherish as his birth-right-these were indispensable to him. Without these, all the advantages that he possessed were of no avail-his riches might increase, his friends might multiply, his honours thicken upon him, his children might be all that his parental wishes could suggest-still if he might be taxed, to the value of a straw, by a parliament in which he had no share of actual or virtual representation, he could be no more than a slave. It was a noble sentiment which actuated such men, to join in the plans of resistance-a sentiment alloyed by no hope of personal aggrandizement, excited by no restlessness of temper, fomented by no artful demagogues-but pure and disinterested, founded on a sincere belief of rights invaded, and leading to the most unbounded sacrifices.

It is known that the mode of opposition first adopted was an agreement to abstain from importing the articles which were made the subject of the duty; thus endeavouring to prevail on the British rulers to abandon the whole scheme of taxation, by convincing them of its being practically useless.

In this system Mr. Hart cordially joined, and gave it all the support and encouragement in his power. This agreement was well observed in the colonies, and the duties, as a revenue measure, became entirely

VOL. IX.-0

nugatory. Still, however, the ministers of the king did not take the hint from the spirit and determination shown by the colonies, until the year 1770, when lord North, having become premier by the death of the duke of Grafton, rescinded the duties on paper, glass and paint, retaining only that upon tea.

This, to be sure, was but a half way measure; it served to convince the Americans that their non-importation agreement had been useful and expedient, but it did not conciliate them in any great degree, because the right to impose such taxes was still asserted by continuing the impost on tea. It was an abortive and very short-sighted attempt to buy off the colonies from their opposition to the principle, by making the actual amount of the tax very trivial-an attempt founded apparently on the old errors, which no evidence nor experience could do away, of supposing that it was the money which the colonists dreaded to lose, instead of the right which they considered to be invaded.

Then came the determination, on the part of the Americans, to prevent the importation of any tea; followed by the large shipments of that article by the East India company, with the export duty taken off, attended by the well remembered reception of the tea, at Boston and Charleston, where it was thrown into the sea, and at New York, where it was placed in damp stores, for the purpose of being spoiled and rotted.

This decided conduct brought matters to a crisis very shortly. The act of parliament, closing the port of Boston, and an act providing that offenders should be sent from Massachusetts to England for trial, made apparent the necessity for deliberation and consultation among the colonists.

The Congress of 1774 was called, and assembled. Of this body the members were variously constituted. Hart was elected in July, by a conference of committees from different parts of the colony, and was a fit representation of the moderation, disinterestedness and firmness that then characterized the people who elected him.

Of that august and venerable body nothing can be said in commendation, that would be beyond the truth. It was above all praise. To that body will future statesmen look, and learn what it is to be a patriot. There was no selfish intrigue for power, no aim at personal distinction or aggrandizement, no factious striving for individual honours. Of the members of that Congress it may emphatically be asserted, as was said of the Romans in their most virtuous age," with them the republic was all in all; for that alone they consulted; the only faction they formed was against the common enemy; their minds, their bodies were exerted sincerely and greatly and nobly, not for personal power, but for the liberties, the rights, and the honour of their country."

The eloquent addresses prepared by this congress, to the king and the people of Great Britain, are well

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