Lot 906
ENGLISH MAGAZINE REPORTS ON THE BOSTON TEA PARTY
Good pair of weekly English magazines, each containing reports of the destruction of tea in Boston harbor by American patriots in protest against unfair taxation, known to history as the ''Boston Tea Party", as well as recording the reaction to these events in the English government. Includes: the Friday, April 1, 1774 edition of "The Gentleman and Lady''s Weekly Magazine", 32pp. 8vo., most notably featuring an extract of a letter from a Boston citizen to a correspondent in England, containing an account of the Boston Tea Party, in part: "... It is an act of justice due to the people to mention what they say in justification of themselves. They say that their rights and liberties were at stake; that parliament had no constitutional authority to tax them; that since the first parliamentary taxation they have by their representatives repeatedly petitioned and remonstrated against it; that their petitions are disregarded; that the act made in the last session of parliament, empowering the East India Company to ship their tea to America, demonstrates that the ministry do, and intend to persevere in their taxation system: that their said submission to the said act would be the establishing and perpetuating that system, and riveting eternal shackles on themselves and their property... that these proceedings of theirs were no assumption of government, but flowed from the great law of nature, self-preservation; and that, notwithstanding any representations to the contrary, they are faithful and loyal subjects of his majesty; of which in the late wars they have given the highest evidence by co-operating with his late Majesty''s British subjects in distressing and subduing his and the nation''s enemies..." The magazine continues by reporting on the debate in the House of Commons over which consequences should befall Boston; a bill is proposed which would remove all customs officials from Boston and forbid any goods to be landed there. The bill is debated, with the chamber refusing to first levy a fine against Boston to repay the damages caused to the East India Company and the king, with the halting of shipping to Boston agreed upon as a consequence of any failure to pay that fine. The House of Commons also reads into the record a number of inflammatory anti-British publications, followed by an official account of the destruction of the tea, as recounted in letters from Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson, in part: "... the people of the town, or the faction, obliged Mr. Rotch the owner of Capt. Hall''s vessel, to demand a clearance outwards from the custom-house, in order that the tea might be carried back. Mr. Rotch refused a long time, but his person being threatened, nay, his life, at last made him comply... The governor was then applied to for a pass... but this was also refused to Mr. Rotch , because it was totally inconsistent with the duty of a governor to grant a pass to a vessel that had not been regularly cleared at the custom-house... The faction, sitting in town meeting, heard the account of the refusals above-mentioned... It appears they expected such answers, and were prepared for the event; for, immediately after Mr. Rotch''s account, signals were given both from within and without the meeting. A number of men, disguised, boarded the vessels containing the tea, and, as is said, threw the whole into the sea, though some unbelievers may think that not a little of it might be purloined..." WITH: The Friday, April 8, 1774 edition of ''The Gentleman and Lady''s Weekly Magazine", 32pp. 8vo., reporting on the passage of the above-mentioned bill banning any goods from being unloaded at Boston, and printing the entire text of a petition made by representatives of the American colonies against the bill. Both editions of the magazine have been disbound from a compendium, and show scattered foxing throughout, with some pages loose from the second edition, else very good.
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