Part 22
“First: Because Boston is not, and has not been, shut up by order of General Gage, and all people pass out of and into Boston as usual, and the citizens want not our charitable help; of consequence, Governor Trumbull’s letter was premature, occasioned, perhaps, by false information from some friend to the destroyers of the teas, or an enemy to America.
“Secondly: Governor Trumbull, in his letter, has not assigned any proof of the fact that Boston is, or has been, shut up by General Gage.
“Thirdly: The teas destroyed in the harbour of Boston ought to be paid for by the author of that horrible crime; for which deed the King and Parliament have ordered Admiral Graves to blockade the harbour of Boston, until the teas wickedly destroyed are paid for; when the blockade will cease, or I will give my last shilling to help the poor of Boston.”
The question was then called for.
The Moderator commanded silence, and said: “Will not more of this Assembly speak on the subject?”
The answer was a general cry of “No! no!”
The Moderator then put the question: “Will you vote for the general collection for the support of the poor, said to be shut up in Boston to perish with hunger, by the order of General Gage? You that are for the affirmative, hold up your right hands.”
Only four hands were held up.
The Moderator said: “You that are for the negative, hold up your right hands.”
Every hand but the four was held up.
The Moderator proclaimed that the negatives, by a vast majority, had determined the question. “Therefore, I dissolve this town-meeting.”
Hertford, the capital of Connecticut colony, held the next town-meeting, and, after due consideration of Governor Trumbull’s letter, unanimously negatived to vote for a general collection, and the Moderator dissolved the town-meeting.
The doings of Hertford and Hebron were soon spread, and put a stop to all other town-meetings in Connecticut, to the disappointment and mortification of Governor Trumbull, who laid the blame on the influence of Dr. Peters, the episcopal clergyman of these two towns.
Hence the Governor spread the report that Dr. Peters was a dangerous enemy to America, by his correspondence with Lord North and the bishops of England, and ought to be driven out of his native country for the safety of it. Governor Trumbull began and effected this by his Windham mobs, and the mobs of the tea-destroyers in Boston harbour.
This is the true cause of Dr. Peters leaving America, and not because he was an enemy; for he was never an enemy to any man in his life.
This statement Governor Trumbull spread by his letters to the ministers in Windham, where he resided, and added that it could be proved by copies of letters in the Doctor’s house, if sought for suddenly. This letter was read at the meeting on Sunday, the 14th of August, 1774, which caused a large number of the hearers to unite in the afternoon and ride to Hebron, and, after midnight, to surround the house of Dr. Peters, awaking him and his family in great surprise.
Dr. Peters opened the window, and desired to be informed what was the occasion of such a multitude assembling? The answer was, “To search your house! Open your doors!”
Dr. Peters said: “I know you not, but will open my doors very soon.”
Having put on his clothes, he opened his doors and gate, when ten men came into his house. Dr. Peters begged them to be seated, and they sat down. They then said: “We have waited upon you, sir, to search your house from top to bottom, to find your correspondence with the English bishops, Lord North, and other people in Great Britain.”
Dr. Peters replied: “Your demand is new and extraordinary; but here are my keys and library, and you can search my house, but I hope you will not destroy my papers.”
They searched, and read all his correspondence with the bishops and people in England and Europe, and on Monday, before noon, reported to the multitude that they had “seen and read the correspondence held by Dr. Peters with the people of England, and found nothing against the liberty and rights of America; and, as we have been misinformed, let us return home;” and off they went.
This did not satisfy Governor Trumbull. He therefore sent another mob from Windham, armed with guns, swords, and staves, to visit Dr. Peters, and require his signature to eighteen articles which he (the Governor) had written, and his son David, one of the commanders of the mob, presented to Dr. Peters, who read and returned it, saying: “Sir, I cannot sign it without violating my conscience, the laws of my God, and my oath to my King.”
David Trumbull replied: “My father told me you might sign it with safety, and it would save you and your house.”
Dr. Peters replied he would not sign it to save his life, and all the world, from destruction.
David Trumbull said: “Then you must take the consequences.”
His mob then fired balls into the house, and with stones, bricks, and clubs broke the doors, windows, and furniture, wounding his mother, the nurse of his infant son, and his two brothers, and seizing him, tore off his hat, wig, gown, and cassock, stripping off his shirt, made him naked, (except his breeches, stockings, and shoes,) struck him with their staves and spat in his face, and then placed him upon a horse and carried him more than a mile to their liberty-pole, where they threatened to tar and feather him, and hang him up by the hands, unless he would sign the eighteen articles.
Dr. Peters said: “I am in your power; you can soon finish my mortal existence, but you cannot destroy my immortal soul; and, to save it, I refuse to sign any one of those articles.”
The mob now cried: “Send for the Rev. Dr. Pomeroy to pray for this stubborn old tory, before we send him to his own place.”
A sergeant and twelve men were ordered to call on Dr. Pomeroy and desire him to attend and pray for this wicked old tory Peters.
Dr. Pomeroy answered: “I will not attend, nor give any countenance in murdering the best man in Hebron.”
The sergeant reported Dr. Pomeroy’s answer. Then an order was given to the mob to go and bring Dr. Pomeroy to the liberty-pole, to be dealt with according to his demerits. The mob went, but could not find Dr. Pomeroy.
By this time the mob had drunk sufficiently, and the two commanders (David Trumbull and Major Wright) stood near Dr. Peters. The Hebron people had now collected, and were prepared to take Dr. Peters out of the hands of the mob. Three bold troopers rode up to the commander, and said: “We have come to kill you, or deliver Dr. Peters. Resign him, or die!”--placing their pistols at the commanders’ breasts. They said: “Take him away, and be silent.” They then instantly led him away.
Major Wright mounted his horse, and cried to his mob, “Silence! We have done enough to this old tory priest for one day, and in four days we will return and subdue his obstinate temper and finish this day’s work. Make ready and follow me to Lebanon.”
The mob obeyed, and on their way they saw the wife of John Manee, Esq. sister to Dr. Peters, at whom they discharged three musket-balls, which missed her. The mob huzzaed, and cried out, “We are dam’d sorry!”
The troopers carried Dr. Peters into the house of David Barber, Esq. where they put on his clothes, and conducted him home to his half-ruined house.
The next day Dr. Peters went in his carriage and called on Governor Trumbull, and demanded his protection against the Windham mobs.
The Governor replied: “I was once Governor of the people, but they have taken all power out of my hands into their own; and you must apply to them for protection, and it is in your power to gain it.”
Dr. Peters asked his Honour to tell him by what means.
The Governor said: “By signing the paper they presented to you yesterday, which you refused to sign, and so brought on you their just resentment.”
Dr. Peters replied: “Sir, do you think it my duty to sign the eighteen articles your son David, at the head of a mob, demanded me to sign?”
The Governor answered: “Yes, by all means.”
Dr. Peters: “Do you wish to have me justify the outrageous action of casting into the sea the teas, the property of English merchants?”
The Governor replied: “Yes; and all friends of America will do it.”
Dr. Peters: “Did your Honour mean to have me guilty of perjury and high treason, by signing those eighteen articles, which you wrote and gave to your son David for me to sign?”
The Governor replied: “Why do you say I wrote those eighteen articles?”
Dr. Peters answered: “Because I read them, and well know your handwriting; and your son David, Major Wright, and Mr. Croker, told me so, and that you had sent them to demand my signature to the paper. I told them I dare not and could not sign them without committing perjury and high treason, and violating my own conscience and God’s laws.”
The Governor replied: “There is no treason in saying that George the Third, King of England, is a ‘Roman Catholic,’ a ‘tyrant,’ and an ‘idiot,’ and has forfeited the crown; that no true friend of America ought to obey him, or any of his laws.”
Dr. Peters here arose and took leave of the Governor, with the Hon. William Hillhouse and Capt. David Tarbox, who had been present during the interview, and, when out of the house, declared they were astonished at the words and conduct of the Governor.
Dr. Peters then rode to the Judges of the Supreme Court sitting at Hertford, Col. Eliphalet Dyer being one of the Judges, and desired the Court to protect him from the mob at Windham, who had ill-used him, and threatened to take his life in four days if he did not sign his name to a paper containing eighteen treasonable articles.
The Court replied: “We are ready to do our duty, when the King’s Attorney shall exhibit an indictment against the rioters.”
The Attorney arose, and told the Court that it was the duty of the Grand Jury to exhibit the indictment, and not his.
Thus ended the protection of the Supreme Court of Connecticut.
From thence Dr. Peters drove in his carriage to Newhaven, forty miles west from Hertford, and so shunned a third visit of the Windham mob. Here the Doctor applied to the Hon. James Hillhouse for protection, who said: “My house is your protection; yet I want protection myself against the mobs of Colonel Wooster and Dr. Benedict Arnold, who are mobbing the Sandemanians for having spoken against the outrageous conduct of the destroyers of the teas in Boston harbour. But as you decline my offer, I advise you to put up at the house of the Rev. Dr. Hubbard, and, if any disturb you, warn them to keep out of the yard and house upon pain of death; and if they break the gate, shoot them, and kill as many as enter the yard. I will raise men, and come to your assistance.”
The Rev. Dr. Hubbard gave up his house to Dr. Peters, and, on hearing that Arnold and Wooster had said they would visit Peters and Hubbard as soon as they had finished with the Sandemanians, Dr. Hubbard removed his wife and children to a neighbour’s house, and Dr. Peters told him he would pay for all the damage that might be done to his house. Dr. Peters fastened the gate, and obtained twenty muskets, powder, and balls, and, loading the muskets, with his servants and a friend waited for the mob’s coming.
At ten o’clock in the evening Dr. Arnold and his mob came to the gate, and found it shut and barred. He called out to open the gate, and Dr. Peters answered: “The gate shall not be opened this night but on pain of death!”--holding a musket in his hand.
The mob cried: “Dr. Arnold, break down the gate, and we will follow you, and punish that tory Peters!”
Arnold replied: “Bring an axe, and split down the gate!”
Dr. Peters said: “Arnold, so sure as you split the gate, I will blow your brains out, and all that enter this yard to-night!”
Arnold retired from the gate, and told one of his fellows to go forward and split the gate. The mob then cried out: “Dr. Arnold is a coward!”
Arnold replied: “I am no coward; but I know Dr. Peters’ disposition and temper, and he will fulfill every promise he makes; and I have no wish for death at present.”
The mob then cried: “Let us depart from this tory house!”
In half an hour after appeared another mob, under the command of Col. David Wooster, and ordered the gate to be opened.
Dr. Peters told Wooster not to open that gate unless he was ready to die, and whoever came this night into the yard, or house, he would shoot, at the same time showing his musket.
Wooster then said to his mob: “Let us go on, and leave this episcopal tory, who has madness enough to kill any man, and we will see him to-morrow.”
The mobs raised a liberty-pole, and kept watch all night over Dr. Peters; but some friends took his horses over the water to Branford, where Dr. Peters and his servant went the next day in disguise, and from there to Saybrook, and thence to Hebron, where they arrived at midnight on Saturday, and found ten men watching his return; who soon informed the Windham mobs, who prepared on Sunday to pay a visit to Dr. Peters on Sunday night.
The Doctor preached in the church to a numerous congregation in the morning. At 11 o’clock a friend arrived from Windham and informed the Doctor that a large mob would be at his house by midnight, and advised him to abscond, and not attend church in the afternoon.
Dr. Peters desired him to be silent, and attended church in the afternoon, when the assembly was much increased, and the Doctor preached an affectionate sermon from these words: “O that my head was water, and my eyes fountains of tears. I would weep day and night for the transgressions of my people.” The discourse drew tears from every eye, and the congregation was dismissed, after a most excellent prayer. Many people attended the Doctor to his house, and quietness remained till darkness came on, when several persons were observed around the house as spies.
The Doctor then ordered a servant to take a valuable horse and ride to the west two miles, and then turn and ride to the east until he reached Carter’s tree, and there abide until the Doctor came to him.
Dr. Peters then told his mother, to prevent a civil war between the Windham mob coming and the people of Hebron, he must leave her, and go to Boston for protection. He then walked out into his garden in the dark, and thence, unsuspected, across the fields to his servant and horse. Mounting, he told his servant to go home, and tell no person where he saw him last. He then rode off for Boston, 100 miles, and reached there at 5 P. M. the next day, and had an interview with General Gage and Admiral Graves, who gave him ample protection.
The Windham mob went to the east border of Hebron, and three spies met them, and told them Dr. Peters had gone off to the west--likely to New-York. The mob therefore returned home.
Dr. Peters remained in Boston some weeks, and hearing that the ship Fox was soon to sail for England, he went off in the night and walked ten miles, when the stage-coach overtook him and carried him to Portsmouth.
Sir John Wentworth, Governor of Newhampshire, and the Hon. Col. Atkinson, called upon him and invited him to dine, and begged him to preach on Sunday, as their church was vacant by the death of Dr. Browne. Dr. Peters replied: “I would readily comply with your request, but for fear of letting the tea-destroyers of Boston know where I am; and you know their malice against me by the newspapers.”
Sir John replied: “They have no influence in Portsmouth, and we can and will protect you against those public enemies.”
Dr. Peters consented, and preached in their church on the following Sunday.
All was quiet till Wednesday, at noon, when a man rode up to the door and called the hostler to take his horse and feed him. He then came in and called for dinner. He saw Dr. Peters, but did not know him, and asked him if he belonged to the house.
The Doctor said “Yes.” He then gave him a Boston newspaper, in which was an advertisement, signed John Hancock, promising 200_l._ to any person taking up the Rev. Samuel Peters and delivering him to a Committee of Safety, he having “retreated from Boston in the night, and will do mischief wherever he goes, being a most bitter enemy to the rights and liberty of America.”
The man asked the Doctor: “Have you seen that wicked old priest?”
The Doctor replied: “The landlord was at church, and a stranger preached last Sunday; perhaps he can tell his name. I will go and call him.”
The Doctor went and told the landlord what the stranger was in pursuit of, and wished to see him.
The landlord told his servant to run and tell the ferryman to say to any one inquiring after a clergyman, that he had carried over a man in black clothes last Monday, who looked like a clergyman, and who said he was going to Casco Bay, and from thence to London in a mast-ship. The servant soon did his errand, and the landlord went with the Doctor to the stranger at dinner, who wished to know if he could inform him whether Priest Peters had been in Portsmouth.
The landlord replied: “Yes; he preached in our church last Sunday, and it was said he was going to Casco Bay, to take passage to London in a mast-ship.”
The stranger said: “I am in pursuit of him, and four other men coming from Boston will be here soon, and we will have him in custody. I will follow him to Casco Bay, or hell, to take him. Tell my friends so when they arrive.”
He then mounted his horse and rode to the ferry. Asking the ferryman if he had carried over Priest Peters, he answered: “I cannot tell. I carried over a man in black clothes last Monday, who was going to Casco Bay.”
The stranger said: “Mr. Ferryman, shoot me over quick, and I will give you five shillings.” The ferryman soon got his five shillings, and the stranger rode off with speed seventy miles, and returned without his prize.
His four companions arrived in the evening, and caused the bells to be rung and the mobs to assemble, who searched the Governor’s house and the town to find Dr. Peters, and gain Hancock’s reward of 200_l._, but found not the Doctor, who was well secured in a cave on the seashore, where he remained fourteen days.
The Casco Bay news enraged the mob, and they again searched the Governor’s house, the town, and Captain Norman’s ship, the Fox, placing a guard on board to prevent him taking passengers or sailing for London. They searched the fort three times for the Doctor, but found him not, and placed sentinels in every part of the town, by day and night, to discover him.
The news of the situation of Dr. Peters reached Boston. General Gage and Admiral Graves sent an armed ship of sixteen guns to take him from the cave and carry him to Boston, or any other place he might select. The ship arrived in the night, and took the Doctor on board.
The captain asked him if he should carry him to Boston, or Halifax?
The Doctor said he preferred London, in the ship Fox, Commander Norman, lying in the river Piscataqua, but that the mob would not permit him, or the ship, to sail.
The captain replied: “I will see to that!” and sailed into the river, hailed the ship Fox, and asked if she was ready to sail. The answer was, “Yes.” The captain then said: “Let down a chair.” It was done, and he and his men went on board the ship Fox, and called for the master. He appeared, and the captain asked: “What men are those on your decks?”
The master replied: “The committee of safety sent on board by the mob of the town of Portsmouth.”
The captain said: “I commit to your care this worthy and venerable clergyman, Dr. Samuel Peters; conduct him to your cabin, and carry him safe to England;” and then, turning to the Committee of Safety, he ordered them to quit the ship in five minutes, or he would throw them overboard into the river. “Your company is not wanted here. I will guard the ship.”
The committee of safety instantly fled into their boats, and went on shore.
The captain ordered the master to hoist his anchors and sails and go to sea. The master obeyed the order, and, October 27, 1774, sailed down the river, the captain following with his ship. The mob on shore, behind some rocks, fired three cannon at the war-ship, who returned their shots, which silenced the mob, and they ran away.
The captain guarded the ship Fox out to sea, clear of the land, and then took leave of her and returned to Boston.
Captain Norman arrived in Portsmouth, December 21, 1774, and carefully executed his orders--put Dr. Peters on shore, who next day reached London, where he was graciously received by the Lord-Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Cornwallis, and the Lord-Bishop of London, Dr. Terrick, and the Ministry. He had also the honour of kissing the hand of his Majesty, King George the Third.
General Gage and Admiral Graves, two years after, sent, in the Somerset man-of-war, the only daughter of Dr. Peters to England, who was at boarding-school at Boston, (she having seen the battle of Bunker’s Hill,) to save her from future evils, and comfort her father in his retreat from the tyranny of the mobs in his native country.
Thus suffered the venerable and exemplary Dr. Samuel Peters, only for obeying his conscience, his God, his king, and the laws of his native country, by censuring the rioters and destroyers of the teas, the property of the East-India Company.
He was highly respected, in England as well as in America, by all pious, benevolent, scientific, and moral christians of all denominations; and he never knew he had an enemy, (until Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut, vouchsafed to support the atrocities of the mobs,) as appears by his benevolent conduct in England to his enemies of New-England, who had ill-treated him two years before the rebellion was commenced.
After the war began many of the Windham mob, who spat in the Doctor’s face and grossly insulted him otherwise, were brought prisoners into England, and were in great distress. They then applied to the Doctor for help, (knowing his character in America,) and they never applied in vain; he always helped them, and in many instances obtained their release. They returned home and reported that Dr. Peters was like Joseph in Egypt, and had delivered them out of all their troubles. “Dr. Peters,” they said, “fed us when we were hungry, clothed us when naked, visited us in prison, and delivered us out of our distress. He never reproached us for what we had done to him and his family. When we confessed to having abused him, he replied, ‘God hath sent me here before you to save your lives; it was not you that sent me here. Haste ye; go home, and sin no more.’”
Notwithstanding such reports were spread through New-England by the redeemed captives, the destroyers of the teas, and their mobs, continued their malicious and false sayings in the newspapers against the Doctor, of whom no man in New or Old-England ever knew one crime of his from his birth; but, on the contrary, was known for his actions of charity, goodwill, and kindness, to all of the human family.
In June, 1806, the Doctor paid a visit to Hebron, his native town, and was received with acclamations of great joy by the inhabitants, the children of his contemporaries, who were all dead in thirty-one years during his absence (except ten persons). He remained in Hebron six weeks, and then paid a visit to Hertford, the capital of Connecticut State, once his faithful parish, and now the seat of bishops. He was kindly and joyfully received by the inhabitants, with whom he spent some time with great pleasure, and from thence returned to New-York, which he made his home.