themselves
independent of the mother country, they have taken occasion, in the most
humble terms, to assure his Majesty and his Ministers that, with regard
to the people of this province, and, as they doubt not, of all the
colonies, the charge is unjust.

"The House is fully satisfied that your Assembly is too generous and
enlarged in sentiment to believe that this letter proceeds from an
ambition of taking the lead, or dictating to other Assemblies; they
freely submit their opinion to the judgment of others, and shall take it
kind in your House to point out to them anything further that may be
thought necessary.

"This House cannot conclude without expressing their firm confidence in
the King, our common Head and Father, that the united and dutiful
supplications of his distressed American subjects will meet with his
Royal and favourable acceptance.

"SIGNED BY THE SPEAKER."

This circular letter of the Massachusetts Assembly was exceedingly
displeasing to the British Ministry, and called forth two letters from
the Earl of Hillsborough, who had succeeded the Earl of Shelburne as
Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.

One of these letters was a circular addressed through the Governor to
the General Assemblies of each of the several colonies. This letter is
dated "Whitehall, April 21, 1768." The first paragraph is as follows:

"GENTLEMEN,--I have his Majesty's commands to transmit to you the
enclosed copy of a letter from the Speaker of the House of
Representatives of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, addressed by order
of that House to the Speaker of the Assembly of each colony upon the
continent of North America; as his Majesty considers this measure to be
of a most dangerous and factious tendency, calculated to inflame the
minds of his good subjects in the colonies, to promote an unwarrantable
combination, and to excite and encourage an open opposition to and
denial of the authority of Parliament, and to subvert the true
principles of the constitution, it is his Majesty's pleasure that you
should, immediately upon the receipt hereof, exert your utmost influence
to defeat this flagitious attempt to disturb the public peace, by
prevailing upon the Assembly of your province to take no notice of it,
which will be treating it with the contempt it deserves."

This most ill-advised letter of Lord Hillsborough had the very opposite
effect from that which he had hoped and intended. It increased the
importance o