[ Autographs ] COLONIAL THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION (FRANCIS BERNARD) (1714 - 1779) Tory Governor of Massachusetts who resisted the State Assembly's attempts to ban British troops and vessels, which action led to his recall to England and the gift of a baronetcy. Printed broadside signed in type, 1p. folio, Boston, Nov. 3, 1768, a Thanksgiving proclamation issued one month after the arrival of the first British troops in Boston to enforce customs regulations. Almost immediately these troops attracted the ire of Boston radicals who harassed them daily and eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. Bernard most likely used this proclamation to stress the great generosity of Great Britain toward the colonies reminding them that the King "...hath been pleased to favour the People of this Province with healthy and kindly Season, and to bless the Labour of their Handswith a Sufficiency of the Produce of the Earth and of the Sea..." Thisparticular copy, which was to be read aloud by ministers to their congregation, was issued to the Rev. Smith of Weymouth, Mass. Margins slightly uneven, one small hole at upper right not affecting text, otherwise in very good to fine condition.