Primary tabs
Mr˙ Thomas Smith moved, and was seconded by Mr˙ James Beekman, that this Congress immediately take into consideration his Excellency Govemour Tryon' s Letter of the 4th instant, addressed to the inhabitants of this Colony, and express the sense of their constituents by the following Resolves, viz:
Resolved, first, That the disturbed state of this Colony owes its origin to the misconduct of the Commander-in-chief of His Majesty' s Forces in America, in proceeding to acts of open hostility against the inhabitants of the Massachusetts-Bay, at a time when he and all the other Governours on the Continent were possessed of the Parliamentary Resolution of the 20th February last, and before the same had been tendered for the consideration of the Colonies; that as that resolution was designed "to compose the present ferments in the Provinces, and intended for the basis of an accomodation," it was but reasonable to expect that all hostilities would cease, till the result of their determinations were known; that the news of the attack at Lexington immediately threw this Colony into convulsions, inflamed the minds of the inhabitants, led them to distrust the justice and candour of Government, and filled them with alarming apprehensions, that it was the design of Administration to force their assent to a requisition of the last importance to them and their posterity, with the point of the bayonet; that the inhabitants of this Colony considered General Gage' s conduct in this instance as not only reflecting the highest dishonour on Government, and injurious to the character of the British nation, but highly insulting and disgraceful to a free people, and, therefore,
Resolved, secondly, That the inhabitants of this Colony justly boast the most unshaken loyalty to their Sovereign, the warmest attachment to the succession of the Crown in the illustrious House of Hanover, the highest veneration for the principles of the Revolution, the most tender affection for their brethren in Great Britain and Ireland, and an ardent desire to maintain the ancient union of the two Countries on constitutional principles, notwithstanding the unexampled severities of the present Administration; that, retaining the principle of their ancestors, that allegiance and protection are so inseparably connected that the former cannot exist where the latter is withheld, if any thing has appeared in the conduct of any that would countenance a charge of withholding their allegiance from their Sovereign, it must be attributed to an apprehension that all protection was withdrawn from them; that when the present unhappy controversy is settled on equitable principles, which is the sincere wish of every good man, His Majesty will find his American subjects as ready to afford him every mark of their affection and loyalty as they manifested before the commencement of the present troubles, unless, by the long continuance of this unnatural war, their affection should be stifled by acts of oppression, and drowned in blood.
Resolved, thirdly. That this Congress conceive it highly necessary and expedient that His Majesty should know the sense of this Colony on the Parliamentary Resolution of the 24th February, in such a way as his Excellency may conceive to be most constitutional, and they cannot but consider the Governour' s address to the inhabitants, as a mark of his affection to them, and as proceeding from an anxious desire for a re-establishment of that harmony that has been so long interrupted by the misrepresentations and artifices of evil and designing men.
Resolved, fourthly. That this Congress cannot but express their concern that his Excellency has thought it expedient for his personal safety to withdraw for some time past from the usual place of his residence; that should he think proper to return to this city, which is the sincere wish of the people, this Congress conceive it to be the bounden duty of the inhabitants to protect him both in his person and property.
After many debates on the said motion, and the Resolutions thereto annexed, in pursuance of one of the rules of this Congress, at the request of the Members of Albany, Ulster, and Dutchess Counties,
Ordered, That the further consideration thereof be postponed till next Monday.
Resolutions on Governour Tryon' s Letter of The 4th instant to the Inhabitants of New-York, reported, debated, and postponed till Monday next
v4:394
v4:395
justly alarmed and incensed by the slaughter of their fellow-subjects, they naturally fled to arms for their defence.