YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Letter to Hon. Luther' Bradish.
Henry B.Dawson.
Declaration oi\ Independence by
Colony of Mass. Bf-y. May 1.1776.
Morrisania,!'' 62.

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Declaration of Independence

COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.

MAT 1, 17T6.

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LETTER TO HON. LUTHER BRADISH.

Moeeisania, K Y., Jan. 7, 1862.
Hon. Luther Beadish,
JPresident ofthe New Yorh Historical Society.
My Deae See : I beg leave, through you, to invite the
attention of the Society* to a subject which seems to me to
possess unusual interest to every student of American his
tory. In the course of my investigations concerning the Con
stitution of the United States, preparatory to the writing
of a history of that instrument, my attention was arrested
by the very important series of papers — generally unno
ticed by commentators and historians — which, in the early
part of 1776, had emanated . from several of the colonial
governments de facto, and had conveyed to the delegations
from those colonies, severally, the Instructions under which
their respective delegations in the Congress had been ex
pected to act on the question of independence.
Among the ¦ colonies from which, apparently, no such
Instructions had proceeded, — notwithstanding the fact has
been well established that three-fourths of her towns, in
regularly convened town-meetings, had particularly in
structed their several representatives in the General Court
to prepare and transmit such Instructions to the delegates
from the colony to the General Congress, — was Massachu
setts, whose fearless and eloquent representatives, in case

2 LETTER TO HON. LTJTHER BEADISH.
no such Instructions had been issued to them by the Gen
eral Court, must have acted on their own responsibility,
when, on the second of July, 1776, they jointly cast the
vote of Massachusetts in favor of the resolution of Ameri
can independence.
Notwithstanding the, apparently, well- settled opinion
among historical students, that no such Instructions had
been adopted and issued by the General Court ; and with
a respectful disregard of the reasons which were assigned,
by one of the most distinguished of our number, for the
supposed backwardness of Massachusetts, in thus promot
ing the cause of American independence, I ventured to
doubt that that colony had really so far forgotten herself,
as to allow her delegation to support and urge the adop
tion of the resolution of independence, with no other au
thority than the implied approval of its constituency ; and
to entertain an abiding confidence, that if it were reallj
true, that the delegation from Massachusetts had received
no such Instructions when it cast the vote of that colony
in favor of the resolution of the second of July, it possessed,
at least, a full equivalent of authority in some other form.
I could readily understand why our own ISTew York —
at that time controlled by the great landed interests ; rep
resented in the Congress by delegates whose fidelity to the
cause of America was, generally, of a questionable charac
ter ; and whose Provincial Congress, at that time, was led
by an avowed and untiring opponent of independence and
a repubhcan form of government — had refused to grant
authority to her delegation in the Congress to support the
resolution of independence ; and the consequent silence of
that delegation on the second of July, — when the United
Colonies, in Congress assembled, "without a dissenting

LETTEE TO HON. LUTHEE BEADISH. 3
vote," solemnly resolved " that these United Colonies are,
and of right ought to be, free and independent States ;
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the- British
crown; and that all political connection between them
and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally
dissolved," — is not more of a mystery. All this I could
readily understand ; but I was not equally favored con
cerning the alleged silence of Massachusetts, the desecra
tion of whose capital town, by the discomfited ministerial
troops, was still fresh in the memory of all her inhabitants ;
whose press, under the patriotic influence of Edes and
Gill, was constantly true to its mission; whose people
were not a whit the less determined, notwithstanding the
enemy had evacuated her territory; whose sentiments
were fitly represented in the Congress by the fearlessness
and the unanswerable arguments of the two Adamses.
Entertaining these varied opinions, during a recent visit
to Boston, I visited the State House for the purpose of
searching, among the well-culled treasures of the Secre
tary's office, for a solution of the question. The kind co
operation of my valued friend, Geoege Liveemoee, Esq.,
secured for me a cordial reception ; and, after a short ex
amination of the manuscript minutes of the commonwealth,
I found an instrument which sets the subject at rest.
After the royal governor of the colony had abandoned
his post of duty, and had retired to a more genial climate,
the administration of the colonial government was con
tinued by the Council, without changing the style of the
government ; and all commissions, civil and military, were
issued by that body, in the name, and under the authority,
of the king of Great Britain, as had been usual in former,
and more peaceful days.

4 LETTEE TO HON. LUTHER BEADISH.
It was not long, however, before the inconsistency of
such a course became very apparent ; and the tendency it
had to keep up ideas which were inconsistent with the
safety of the government, soon gave the good people of
the colony great uneasiness ; and a remedy was sought by
means of which the officers and people of the colony might
not, themselves, be forced to become their own accusers,
in a charge of rebellion and treason against a monarch in
whose name, and under whose authority they professed to
act. Accordingly, in the spring, of 1776, the General Court
applied a remedy, — the Council, on the first of May, in
that year consummating the enactment of " An Act for
Establishing the stile of Commissions which shall hereafter
le Issued, and for altering the stile of Writs, Processes,
and all Law proceedings within this Colony ; and for
directing how Recognizances to the Use of this Government,
shall for the future be taken and prosecuted."
In that act, after declaring, in a preamble, the causes
which had induced it to do so, the General Court solemnly
enacted that on and after the first day of June next ensu
ing, all the officers of the colony, civil and military, should
receive their authority from, and perform the duties of
their several offices in the name of " The Goveenment and
People of the Massachusetts Bat, in New England ;"
that on and after that date, the king of Great Britain
should no longer be recognized as the source of political
authority within that colony ; that all commissions which
had been issued by the Council, in his name and under
"his authority, before that date, should cease and determine
within a few weeks from that time— on the nineteenth of
September, 1776; that all recognizances should thence-

LETTEE TO HON. LUTHER BEADISH. 5
forth be taken and prosecuted in the name of the newly
organized sovereign power; and that all actions which
had been commenced in the name of the king, should,
thenceforth, be prosecuted in the name and for the benefit
of " The Government and People of the Massachusetts
Bay in New England," in whom, thenceforth, the sover
eign authority, de facto and de jure, was, by the operations
of that Act, vested.
On the evening of the same day, while examining the
manuscript treasures in the private collection of my friend,
J. Wlngate Thoenton, Esq., of Brookline, I also found
three commissions which, prior to the passage of the Act
to which I have referred, had been issued by the Council of
the colony, in the name and by authority of the king.
These commissions, of course, had been affected by the pro
visions of that Act ; and their bearers, in accordance with
its requirements, had presented them to the Council for re
authorization under the authority of the newly established
sovereignty of "The Goveenment and People of the
Massachusetts Bay in New England," which, under the
provisions of the Act referred to, had succeeded to the
former authority of the king. This had been done by the
erasure of the usual words " GEORGE the THIRD, By
the Grace of GOD, of' Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c," at the
head of the commission, and the substitution in their stead
by interlineation, of " The GOVERNMENT and PEO
PLE of the MASSACHUSETTS BAY in NEW ENG
LAND;" and by the erasure of the words of the date oi
the commission, at its foot, as " In the [sixteenth] year of
his reign" and the substitution in their stead, by inter
lineation, of the year of the Christian era, in which the

O LETTER TO HON. LUTHER BEADISH.
commission had been issued by the Council. ¦ A certifi
cate, over the official signature of the clerk of the Council,
verified the change which had been made in the language
of the instrument ; and continued its authority, in the
name of " The Government and People of the Massachu
setts Bay in New England," which, after the nineteenth
of September succeeding, it would not otherwise have
possessed, notwithstanding the impression of the authority
of George III. was borne on the face of the instrument.*
I may have attributed a greater degree of importance
to these instruments than they really merit, yet I cannot
forbear suggesting to the Society that therein we have a
formal renunciation of the authority of the king, within
the territorial limits of Massachusetts, and as formal an
assumption of the prerogatives of sovereignty, by "The
Government and People of the Massachusetts Bay in
New England," on the first day of May, 1776, — two
months and two days before the adoption of the resolution
of independence, by the United Colonies, in Congress as
sembled ; and that, as Massachusetts was, thenceforth, de
facto, an independent and sovereign State, the delegation
which she had sent to the Congress of the Confederation,
needed no special authority to reiterate, in her name, the
Act of Independence and assumption of sovereignty, which,
through her legally constituted government, she had,
already and directly, adopted and promulgated.
° My antiquarian friend, George Adlard, Esq., to whom I have sub
mitted the original commissions, here referred to, has suggested the prob
ability that the royal colonial seal which, originally, had been attached to
them, was also taken off, by the same authority, in order the more com
pletely to destroy every appearance of royal authority ; and the appearance
of the mutilated papers gives weight to his view.

LETTER TO HON. LUTHER BEADISH. /
I had expected to have placed before you, with this, a
carefully prepared and certified copy of the Act to which
I have referred, but it has not come to hand. It will be
forwarded to you, to be filed with this letter, at an early
day. I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant,
HENRY B. DAWSON.

THE ACT OF MAY 1, 1776,
Referred to in the preceding Letter to the
Hon. Luther Bradish.

, In the Year of our Lord One Thousand seven hun-
Tl s 1
L ' dred and Seventy six, —
An Act for Establishing the stile of Commissions which
shall hereafter be Issued and for altering the stile of
writs Processes, and all Law proceedings within this
Colony and for directing how Recognizances to the Use
of this Government shall for the future be taken and
prosecuted.
Wheeeas the Petitions of the United Colonies to George
the Third King of Great Brittain for the redress of Great
and manifest Greveances have not only been rejected but
treated with scorn And Contempt And their Opposition
to designs evidently formed to reduce them to a state of
servile Subjection and their necessary defence against hos
tile forces Actually Employed to subdue have been declar'd
Rebellion. And whereas an unjust war has been Com-
menc'd Against them which the Commanders of Brittish
fleets and Armies have prosecuted and still Continue to
prosecute with their utmost Yigour in Cruel manners &

ACT OF MAY 1, 1776. 9
have directed their Yengance principally against this
Colony wasting spoiling and destroying the Country burn
ing Houses and defenceless Towns and Exposing the help
less Inhabitants to every misery; — by which Inhumane
and Barbarous treatment by the Commandment of George
the Third King of Great Brittain &c— the People of this
Colony consider themselves greatly Injur'd and have been
oblidged to have recourse to arms to repel such Injuries.
And whereas under such Circumstances the absurdity of
Issuing Commissions, Writs Processes and other proceed
ings in Law and in the Courts of Justice within this
Colony in the name and stile of the King of Great Brit
tain is very apparent, And the Tendency it has to keep
up Ideas inconsistant with the safty of this Government
has given the Good People of this Colony Great Un
easiness. BE IT THEREFORE enacted by the Council and House
of Representitives in General Court Assemble'd and by
the Authority of the same that all Civil Commissions
Writs and Precepts for Conveneing the General Court or
Assembly which shall hereafter be made out in this Colo
ny shall be in the Stile and name of the Government &
People of the Massechusetts Bay in New England And
all Commissions both Civil & Military shall be Dated in
the Year of the Christian era and shall not bear the date
of the Year of the Reign of any King or Queen of Great
Brittain. And that all writs Processes and Proceedings in Law,
And in any of the Courts of Justice in this Colony which
have been used & Accustumed or by any of the Laws of
this Colony are Required to be Issued used or Practiced
in Law and in Any of the Courts of Justice in this Colony

10 ACT OF MAY 1, 1776.
in the name and stile of the King of Great Brittain France
and Ireland Defender of the faith &c or in any other
words Implying or Intending the same shall from and
after the first Day of June One thousand seven hundred
and seventy six be made Issued Used & Practiced in the
name and stile of the Government & People of the Mas-
sechusetts Bay in New England and no other and shall
bear Date of the Year of the Christian iEra and shall not
bear the Date of the Year of the Reign of any King or
Queen of Great Brittain Untill some recommendation of
the American Congress or Act order or Resolve of a Gen
eral American Legislature or of the Legislature of this
Colony shall be made and passed otherwise directing and
Prescribing. And be it Enacted that all Commissions Civil and Mil
itary which have been Issued by the major part of the
Council of this Colony sence the nineteenth day of Sep
tember One Thousand seven hundred and seventy five
shall have the same force and Effect as if this Act had not
been made the stile and Date therein notwithstanding Un
till the nineteenth day of September One Thousand seven
hundred & seventy six & no longer.
Peovtded neveetheless that when any such Commis
sions shall be brought to the Council of this Colony to be
made Conformable to the Stile and Date by this Act Re
quired for Isuing Commissions hereafter the Council are
hereby Impowered & Directed to Cause the same to be
done. And be it fuethee Enacted that all Recognisances that
heretofore have been used and Accustomed to be taken to
the King of Great Brittain by the Stile and Title of our
Sovereign Lord the King shall from and after the first day

ACT. OF MAY 1, 1776. 11
of June One thousand seven hundred and seventy six be
taken to the Government & People of the Massechusetts
Bay in New England and when a scire facias or other
Legal Process shall be Issued thereon Against the Recog
nizor or Recognisors they shall be in the name and behalf
of the said Government and People. And when Judg
ment shall be rendered thereon the money Recovered &
Levied shall be paid into the treasury of this Colony for
the use of the same.
And be it further Enacted that all Suits upon Recogn-
zanes which have been heretofore taken within this Colo
ny to the King of Great Brittain under any name Char
acter or form of words whatsoever that have been or that
may be hereafter forfeited (if any Suits should be brought
thereon) shall from and after the said first day of June be
Commenced & prosecuted in the name and behalf of the
Government & People of the Massechusetts Bay in New
England and not in the name of the said King And the
Money Recovered and Levied on such Suits shall be like
wise paid into the Treasury of this Colony for the use and
Benefit of the said People.
In the house of Representative's May 1, 1776 This
engrossed bill having had three several readings
passed to be Enacted Sam1; Feeeman, Speak. P. T.
In Council May let 1776.
This Engrossed Bill having had two several Readings
passed to be enacted Perez Morton D Sec'r1:

12

ACT OF MAY 1, ,1776.

WE consent to the enacting of this Bill

James Otis
W Sever
B Greenleaf
W Spooner
Caleb Cushing
J Winthrop
B Chadbourn

T Cushing
Jedh Foster
Eldad Taylor
Moses Gill
S Holten
B Lincoln

James Prescott
Michael Farley

Secretary's Office, Boston,
January 31, 1862.
A true copy of the original.
Witness the Seal of the Commonwealth.
[l. s.J Oliver Warner,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.