Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses,
In answer to your joint address, presented by your deputies yesterday, I acquaint you, that it appears to me the commotions among the people, and their menances and threats (an enumeration of which I forbear, out of tenderness) have been of such public notoriety, that you must suppose many of his Majesty's subjectsin this colony, whether they meditated or not, have at least manifested, such an inveteracy as justifies my suspicion that they would not hesitate to commit a crime, which, horrid and atrocious as it is, I had just ground to apprehend. And when the disposition which the House of Burgesses have shewn towards me, the returns they have made to the respect and civility which I have been forward to offer to them, the countenance they have given to the violent and disorderly proceedings of the people, his Majesty's magazine having been forced and rifled in the presence of some of the members of the House of Burgesses, and, by the information of the committee the House appointed to inspect the magazine, no other endeavours have been used than to prevail on the people to return the arms takenout, but not to commit the persons in whose possession they were found, in order that they might be brought to the punishment due to so heinous an offence, no less against the peace and good order of the country than the dignity and authority of the King; when a body of men assembled in the city of Williamsburg, not only to the knowledge, but with the approbation of every body, for the avowed purpose of attacking a party of the King's forces, which, without the least foundation, it was reported were marching to my protection, and which, if true, ought to have been approved and aided, not opposed and insulted, by all good and loyal subjects; when especially the House of Burgesses, or a committee of the House (which is the same) has ventured upon a step fraught with the most alarming consequences, in ordering and appointing guards, without even consulting me, to mount in the city of Williamsburg, as is pretended, to protect the magazine, but which may well be doubted, as there then remained nothing therein which required being guarded; but if otherwise, this step nevertheless shows a design to usurp the executive power, which, if it be persisted in, subverts the constitution: I say, when these circumstances are duly considered, I may submit it to your own judgment whether I could reasonably expect any good effect from communicating the ground of my uneasiness to you.
But as you are pleased, Gentlemen, now to assure me, that you will cheerfully concur in any measure that may be proposed proper for the security of myself and family, I leave to your own consideration whether that can be effected any otherwise than by reinstating me in the full powers of my office, as his Majesty's representative, by opening the courts of justice, and restoring the energy of the laws, which is all the security requisite for all parties; by disarming all independent companies, or other bodies of men raised and acting in defiance of lawful authority, and by obliging those who have taken any of his Majesty's publick store of arms to deliver them up immediately; and, what is not less essential than any thing, by your own example, and every means, in your power, abolishing that spirit of persecution, which, to the disgrace of humanity, now reigns, and pursues with menaces and acts of oppression, all persons who differ from the multitude in political opinion, or are attached from principles and duty to the service of their King and government; by which means the deluded people never hearing but the disfigured side of a story, their minds are continually kept in that ferment which subjects them for ever to be imposed upon, and leads to the commission of any desperate act, and endangers the general safety. For the more speedy accomplishment of these ends, and the great object and necessary business of the sessions, I shall have no objection to your adjourning to the town of York, where I will meet you, and remain with you till your business be finished.
With respect to your entreaty that I should return to the palace, as the most likely means of quieting the minds of the people, I must represent to you, that, unless there be among you a sincere and active desire to seize this opportunity, now offered to you by Parliament, of establishing the freedom of your country upon a fixed and known foundation, and of uniting yourselves with your fellow subjects of Great Britain in one common bond of interest, and mutual assistance, my return to Williamsburg would be as fruitless to the people, as, possibly, it might be dangerous to myself. But if your proceedings manifest that happy disposition, which is to be desired ardently by every good friend to this as well as the mother country, I assure you, in the warmth of my heart, that I will return, with the greatest joy, and shall consider it as the most fortunate event of my life if you give me an opportunity to be an instrument of promoting your happiness, and a mediator between you and the supreme authority, to obtain for you every explanation of your doubts, and the fullest conviction of the sincerity of their desire to confirm to you the undisturbed enjoyment of your rights and liberty; and I shall be well pleased, by bringing my family back again, that you should have such a pledge of my attachment to this country, and of my wishes to cultivate a close and lasting intimacy with the inhabitants.
June 10, 1775.
