"It would seem to have been equally the object of governor Hutchinson, and his coadjutors, to furnish excuses for the ministry, already sufficiently disposed to adopt every measure of severity towards the colonists, through the prejudiced representations of Bernard and his commissioners; and to poison the minds of the opposition, who had, on most occasions, proved themselves their warm advocates. "Dr. Franklin lost no time in transmitting these letters to his constituents at Boston. The indignation and animosity which were excited, on their perusal, knew no bounds. The House of Representatives agreed on a petition, and remonstrance to his majesty, in which they charged their governor and lieutenant-governor with being betrayers of their trust, and of the people they governed; and of giving private, partial, and false information. They also declared them enemies to the colonies, and prayed for justice against them, and for their speedy removal from their places.' 66 The petition and the remonstrance of the people of Massachusetts were communicated to his majesty's privycouncil by Dr. Franklin in person, and after a hearing by the board, the governor and lieutenant-governor were acquitted. It was on this occasion, that Mr. Wedderburn (afterwards lord Loughborough), who was employed as counsel on the part of the governor, pronounced his famous philippic against Dr. Franklin; which has always been considered among the most finished specimens of oratory in the English language. In this speech, he charged that venerable character with having procured the letters by unfair means. The letters could not have come to Dr. Franklin (said Mr. Wedderburn) by fair means—the writers did not give them to him, nor yet did the deceased correspondent (Mr. Whately), who, from our intimacy, would have told me of it; nothing then will acquit Dr. Franklin of the charge of obtaining them by fraudulent or corrupt means, for the most malignant of purposes; unless he stole them from the person who stole them. This argument is irrefragable. 66 'I hope, my lords, you will mark and brand the man, for the honour of this country, of Europe, and of mankind. Private correspondence has hitherto been held sacred in times of the greatest party rage; not only in politics but religion. He has forfeited all the respect of societies and of men. Into what companies will he hereafter go with an unembarrassed face, or the honest intrepidity of virtue? Men will watch him with a jealous eye-they will hide their papers from him, and lock up their escrutoires. He will henceforth esteem it a libel to be called a man of letters, HOMO TRIUM LITERARUM.' "A controversy having taken place in the public prints, between Mr. William Whately (the brother of the secretary to whom the letters had been addressed, and who was now dead) and Mr. afterwards Sir John Temple, arising out of the manner in which the letters of governor Hutchinson had been procured and transmitted to Boston, and which dispute was followed by a duel between these two gentlemen, Dr. Franklin, in order to prevent any further mischief, published a letter in the newspapers, in which he assumed the entire responsibility of sending the papers to America. Alluding to this letter of Dr. Franklin, Mr. Wedderburn continued: "But he not only took away the letters from one brother, but kept himself concealed till he had nearly occasioned the murder of the other. It is impossible to read his account, expressive of the coolest and most deliberate malice, without horror. Amid these tragical events, of one person nearly murdered, of another answerable for the issue; of a worthy governor hurt in his dearest interest; the fate of America is in suspense. Here is a man, who with the utmost insensibility of remorse, stands up and avows himself the author of all. I can compare it only to Zanga, in Dr. Young's Revenge Know then 'twas I I forged the letter-I disposed the picture— I hated-I despised-and I destroy. "I ask, my lords, whether the revengeful temper, attributed by poetic fiction only to the bloody African, is not surpassed by the coolness and apathy of the wily American.' "The speeches of Mr. Dunning (afterwards lord Ashburton) and Mr. Lee, who appeared as council in behalf of the assembly of Massachusetts, were never reported at length; but they chiefly insisted upon the noxious parts of the letters of Hutchinson and Oliver. 66 By the preceding extracts from the speech of Mr. Wedderburn, it will be seen, that the chief subject of his vehement invective was the disclosure, by Dr. Franklin, of what was termed by the parliamentary orator, a private correspondence. But the truth is, these letters could not be considered in any wise as private, but were as public as letters could be. To use the emphatic language of Dr. Franklin himself, They were not of the nature of private letters between friends; they were written by public officers to persons in public stations, on public affairs, and intended to procure public measures: they were therefore handed to other public persons who might be influenced by them to produce those measures. Their tendency was to incense the mother-country against her colonies, and, by the steps recommended, to widen the breach, which they effected. The chief caution expressed with regard to privacy, was, to keep their contents from the colony agents, who, the writers apprehended, might return them, or copies of them, to America. That apprehension was, it seems, well founded; for the first agent who laid his hands on them thought it his duty to transmit them to his constituents.' In a letter on this subject, addressed to a friend, he also observes: On this occasion, I think fit to acquaint you, that there has lately fallen into my hands, part of a correspondence, that, I have reason to believe, laid the foundation of most, if not all, of our present grievances. I am not at liberty to tell through what channel I received it; and I have engaged that it shall not be printed, nor any copies taken of the whole, or any part of it; but I am allowed to let it be seen by some men of worth in the province, for their satisfaction only. In confidence of your preserving inviolably my engagement, I send you inclosed the original letters, to obviate every pretence of unfairness in copying, interpolation, or omission. 66 Thus, Dr. Franklin performed a service which his situation as a public agent required of him. But, notwithstanding the secrecy with which it had been conducted, the letters were soon after published by the assembly of Massachusetts; not, however, until after the appearance of other copies in Boston, produced by a member, who, it was reported, had just received them from England. "But it is time that I should declare to you, that this third person, from whom Dr. Franklin received these famous letters (and, permit me to add, that this is the first time the fact has been publicly disclosed), was Dr. Hugh Williamson. "I have before stated his mission in behalf of the academy of Newark, in the state of Delaware. Dr. Williamson had now arrived in London. Feeling a lively interest in the momentous question then agitated, and suspecting that a clandestine correspondence, hostile to the interest of the colonies, was carried on between Hutchinson and certain leading members of the British cabinet, he determined to ascertain the truth by a bold experiment. 66 He had learned that governor Hutchinson's letters were deposited in an office different from that in which they ought regularly to have been placed; and having understood that there was little exactness in the transactions of the business of that office, (it is believed it was the office of a particular department of the Treasury,) he immediately repaired to it, and addressed himself to the chief clerk, not finding the prin cipal within. Assuming the demeanour of official importance, he peremptorily stated, that he had come for the last letters that had been received from governor Hutchinson and Mr. Oliver, noticing the office in which they ought regularly to have been placed. Without a question being asked, the letters were delivered. The clerk, doubtless, supposed him to be an authorised person from some other public office. Dr. Williamson immediately carried them to Dr. Franklin, and the next day left London for Holland. "I received this important fact from a gentleman of high respectability, now living; with whom, as the companion and friend of his early days, Dr. Williamson had intrusted the secret." STEELE'S DOMESTIC LIFE. THE amiable qualities of Sir Richard Steele are universally acknowledged by his contemporaries; yet they failed to procure him that greatest of all personal enjoyments,-comfort at home. He had for his wife (his second wife) a lady difficult to please, or rather, whom there was no pleasing; beautiful, yet cold, proud of his devotedness to her service, yet without that tender consideration for his happiness, which respect for his genius ought, and real affection for him would have inspired. She appears to have been of that sort of wives who love for their own sakes alone, and who can be very angels as long as every thing is heavenly around them, but who are no sooner touched by the shafts of adversity, than they become angry with their lot, and, instead of dividing griefs with their husbands, which Cicero takes to be the quintessence of connubial friendship, grow as angry with them as if it were in their power to ordain them a life of perpetual sunshine. What a helpmate for a man of such variable fortunes as Steele! alternately the most flourishing and the most needy of men, now rolling in abundance, and the next day paying with a pamphlet for his tavern score! Steele strove not however with his destiny, and submitted to become what is vulgarly called a very hen-pecked husband. The following specimens of the sort of letters which he was in the habit of dispatching to his imperious beauty, whenever business or pleasure detained him from home, must induce at once pity for the writer, and admiration of that genius which could give so much grace to so contemptible a thraldom. Dearest Being on Earth, Oct. 16th, 1707. Pardon me if you do not see me till eleven o'clock; having met a schoolfellow from India, by whom I am to be informed in things this night which immediately concern your obedient husband, RICH. STEELE. Dear Ruler, December 8th, 1707. I cannot wait upon you to-day at Hampton Court. I have the West Indian business on my hands,* and find very much to be done before Thursday's post. I shall dine at our table at court, where the bearer knows how to come to me with any orders for your obedient husband, and most humble servant, RICH. STEELE. To Mrs. Steele. December 22a, 1707. My dear, dear Wife, I write to let you know I do not come home to dinner, being obliged to attend some business abroad, of which I shall give you an account (when I see you in the evening), as becomes your dutiful and obedient husband, RICH. STEELE. Dear Prue, Devil Tavern, Temple-bar, I have partly succeeded in my business to-day, and inclose two guineas as earnest of more. Dear Prue, I cannot come home to dinner. I languish after your welfare, and will never be a moment careless more. Your faithful husband, RICH. STEele. Send me word you have received this Dear Prue, Eleven at night-Jan. 5th, 1707-8. I was going home two hours ago, but was met by Mr. Griffith, who has kept me ever since, meeting me as he came from Mr. Lambert's. I will come within a pint of wine. We drink your health, and Mr. Griffith is your servant, * The plantation in Barbadoes, left to Steele by his first wife. |