and others of the town of Boston; and whereas the merchants and traders, duly notified and met, having been refused a copy of said paper, although requested by their Committee, and apprehending said Address is intended to justify the administration of Mr. Hutchinson, when Governour of this Province, we hereby utterly disclaim said Address, and disavow a measure so clandestinely conducted, and so injurious in its tendency.

ADDRESS PRESENTED BY SEVERAL GENTLEMEN OF THE LAW TO GOVERNOUR HUTCHINSON.

To his Excellency Governour Hutchinson:

Sir: A firm of your inviolable attachment to the real interests of this your native country, and of your constant readiness, by every service in your power, to promote its true welfare and prosperity, will, we flatter ourselves, render it not improper in us, Barristers and Attorneys at Law in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, to address your Excellency upon your removal from us, with this testimonial of our sincere respect and esteem.

The various Important characters of Legislator, Judge, and First Magistrate, over tins Province, in which, by the suffrages of your fellow-subjects, and by the royal favour of the best of Kings, your great abilities, adorned with a uniform purity of principle and integrity of conduct, have been eminently distinguished, must excite the esteem, and demand the grateful acknowledgments of every true lover of his country and friend to virtue.

The present perplexed state of our public affairs, we are sensible, must render your departure, far less disagreeable to you than it is to us. We assure you, sir, we feel the loss but when, in the amiable character of your successor, We view a fresh Instance of the paternal goodness of our most gracious Sovereign—when we reflect on the probability that your presence at the Court of Great Britain win afford you an opportunity of employing your interest more successfully for the relief of this Province, and particularly of the town of Boston, under their present distresses, we find a consolation which no other human source court afford. Permit us, sir, most earnestly to solicit the exertion of all your distinguished abilities in favour of your native town and country, upon this truly unhappy and distressing occasion.

We sincerely wish you a prosperous voyage, a long continuation of health and felicity, and the highest rewards of the good and faithful.

We are, sir, with the most cordial affection, esteem and respect, your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servants,

Boston, May 29, 1774.

To which Ms Excellency was pleased to return the following Answer:

Gentlemen: The relation to the Bar which I stood in for many years together makes this mark of your affection and esteem peculiarly acceptable. I feel the distress coming upon the town of Boston. I am confident nothing will be wanting on your part which may tend to promote the fire course of law and that peace and good order in government which seems to have been made the conditions of obtaining relief from this distress. You may be assured that nothing shall be wanting on my part which may tend to procure this relief as speedily and effectually as may be. You certainly may be happy under the administration of his Excellency the present Governour, and I have great reason to join with you in a testimony to his amiable disposition and character.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER RECEIVED IN PHILADELPHIA

Bedford, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1774.

I suppose you have heard of the Indians being killed at Whaling. Since that time, Indian White Eyes, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Saunderson, who were sent down the river from Fort Pitt, in order to accommodate matters with the Shawanese, are returned, but had hard work to get back. The Delawares, who at present seem to be friends, had enough to do to save their lives, and as to the poor traders down among the Shawanese, no person can tell whether they are dead or alive.

White Eyes, on his return to Fort Pitt, said the Shawanese were for war, and that forty odd of them are at present gut, intending a stroke, as is supposed, at some part of Virginia. The Delawares say they will not go to war; but there, is, no dependence on them. We expect every day to hear of their striking in some quarter.

It is lamentable to see the multitudes of poor people that are hourly running down the country; such of them as stay are building forts. God knows how it will turn out with them. We intend, as soon as we hear of any damage being done, to erect fortifications here. The Shawanese themselves say, that they have nothing against Pennsylvania, but only Virginia; though we may depend, as soon as they strike Virginia, they will also fall on us.

"JOIN OR DIE !"

The Act of Parliament for blocking up the harbour of Boston, in order to reduce its spirited inhabitants to the most servile and mean compliances ever attempted to be imposed on a free people, is allowed to be infinitely more alarming and dangerous to our common liberties, than even that hydra the Stamp Act, (which was defeated by our firmness and union.) and must be read with a glowing indignation by every real friend of freedom in Europe and America. Though the town of Boston is now intended to be made a victim to Ministerial wrath, yet the insult and indignity offered to our virtuous brethren in that capital, who have so nobly stood as a barrier against slavery, ought to be viewed in the same odious light as a direct hostile invasion of every Province on the Continent, whose inhabitants are now loudly called upon, by interest, honour and humanity, to stand forth, with firmness and unanimity, for the relief, support and animation of our brethren in the insulted, besieged capital of Massachusetts Bay. The generals of despotism are now drawing the lines of circumvallation around our bulwarks of liberty, and nothing but unity, resolution and perseverance, can save ourselves and posterity from what is worse than death—slavery!

Newport, Rhode Island, May 30, 1774.

ADDRESS FROM THE MEGISTRATES OF THE COUNTRY OF MIDDLESEX TO HUTCHINSON, LATE GOVERNOUR

To his Excellency Governour Hutchinson:

Sir: The Magistrates of the county of Middlesex, impressed with a deep sense of the miseries and calamities in which the town of Boston and this county will, especially, be involved, by the operation of a late Act of the British Parliament, prohibiting imports and exports to and from the port of Boston, beg leave to address your Excellency on this most interesting occasion, and to beseech the exertion of those powers and talents for its relief, of which we have so long and so often experienced the great and beneficial effects; and we assure you, sir that notwithstanding the popular delusion, which prevails in some parts of this Province, your Excellency's administration of the Government has ever appeared to us so replete with evidence of your sincere and uniform desire to promote its best interests, as leaves us no room to doubt your willingness to employ your great abilities, For extricate the Province from those calamities in which, notwithstanding your utmost endeavours to prevent them, it is now unhappily plunged. We can assure you, sir, that the Magistrates of this county have long beheld, with an Indignant eye, those riotous and tumultuous proceedings which have, in so great a measure destroyed public peace and order, rendered the safety of persons and proper the resentment of Parliament on this Province; and that none of his Majesty's subject more ardently wish for the restoration and establishment of order and good Government, than we of this loyal county. We hope and trust that the future conduct of this whole Province will be