Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note; obsolete and inconsistent spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and capitalization have been preserved as they appear in the original. Errors that appear in the original Errata list are noted as [Errata: text]. Less obvious errors are marked with a [Transcriber's Note].

This e-book was created from a presentation copy from the printers to John Adams, now in the John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library, and available in digitized form at the Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/novanglusmassach00adam.]

NOVANGLUS,

AND

MASSACHUSETTENSIS;

OR

POLITICAL ESSAYS,

PUBLISHED

IN THE YEARS 1774 AND 1775,

ON THE PRINCIPAL POINTS OF CONTROVERSY, BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES.

THE FORMER BY

JOHN ADAMS,

LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES;

THE LATTER BY

JONATHAN SEWALL,

THEN KING'S ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.

_TO WHICH ARE ADDED_

A NUMBER OF LETTERS, LATELY WRITTEN BY

PRESIDENT ADAMS,

TO

THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM TUDOR;

SOME OF WHICH WERE NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

BOSTON:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY HEWS & GOSS,
1819.

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT,

_District Clerk's Office._

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirtieth day of March, A. D. 1819, and of the Forty-fourth Year of the Independence of the United States of America, HEWS & GOSS, of the said District, have deposited in this Office, the title of a Book, the Right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words following, to wit:--"Novanglus and Massachusettensis; or Political Essays, published in the years 1774 and 1775, on the principal points of controversy, between Great Britain and her colonies. The former by John Adams, late President of the United States; the latter by Jonathan Sewall, then king's Attorney General of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. To which are added a number of letters, lately written by President Adams, to the Hon. William Tudor; some of which were never before published."

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the times therein mentioned;" and also to an Act, entitled "An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching Historical and other Prints."

JOHN W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.

TO THE PUBLIC.

For the last twenty years, our political opinions have partaken so much of feeling, in the contest between the two great European rivals, that the happiness, the interests, and even the character of America seem to have been almost forgotten. But the spirit of party has now most happily so far subsided, that a disposition to look into, and examine the history of our own dear country, and its concerns, very generally prevails. Perhaps there is no part of that history, that is more interesting, than the controversy between Great Britain and her colonies, which produced the war of the revolution, and their final separation.

It is important, that the rising generation should be well acquainted with the principles and justice of that cause, which eventuated in our Independence, and to which we are indebted for our present envied state of prosperity and happiness.

The principles of that controversy were ably discussed by various writers, both in England and America; but it has been supposed, that the sentiments and conduct of each party were more elaborately displayed, in certain essays published in Boston, a short time previous to the commencement of hostilities, over the signatures of _Novanglus_ and _Massachusettensis_, than in any other productions whatever.

The former were written by JOHN ADAMS, then a distinguished citizen of Boston, one of the noblest assertors of the rights and privileges of the colonies, and who has since been elected to the most important and honourable offices in the gift of the nation.

The latter were written by JONATHAN SEWALL, then king's Attorney General of the province of Massachusetts; a gentleman of education and talents--the champion--and possessing the confidence of what were then called the government party.

By an attentive perusal of these essays, a correct judgment may be formed of all the principal and leading points of the controversy, between the colonies and the mother country.

Confiding in the correctness of these sentiments, and the patronage of an enlightened public, we have re-published the above mentioned essays; to which are added, all those interesting letters, written by President ADAMS, and addressed to the Hon. WILLIAM TUDOR, lately printed in the Boston Daily Advertiser, together with others never before published.

The venerable and patriotic author of _Novanglus_, now lives to behold and enjoy the blessed fruits of his labours, and that of his compatriots, and possesses, in the highest degree, the intellect of his most intellectual days.

In offering this volume to the public, we please ourselves with the hope, that it will be a valuable acquisition to all classes of citizens, who wish to become acquainted with those principles of civil liberty, for which our ancestors so nobly, and so successfully contended. To the gentlemen of the bar, to legislators, and to politicians generally, we conceive it will be an inestimable treasure.

We are forcibly impressed with the wonderful effect the essays of Novanglus must have produced, in the times in which they were published, by convincing the great body of the people, that the _parliament_ of Great Britain had no right to tax the colonies in America. But in reflecting on the CONSEQUENCES of that glorious revolution which these essays greatly tended to produce, the mind is imperatively drawn to a contemplation of the present political condition of Europe. Representative governments are gradually introducing themselves into every part of that country; and we hope the day is not far distant, when the whole world shall be emancipated from tyranny. As AMERICANS we feel a _conscious_ pride, that the resistance which our ancestors made to the arbitrary machinations of an Hutchinson, a Bute, a Mansfield and a North, will terminate in the civil and political freedom of ALL MANKIND.

HEWS & GOSS.

BOSTON, JULY 1, 1819.

_ERRATA._

PAGE. LINE.

24 26 from the top, for _procreations_, read _procurations_.
32 14 from the top, for _terms_ read _terrors_.
18 from the bottom, read _more_ after _much_.
44 9 from the top, for _their_ read _these_.
55 20 from the top, for _shewing_ read _knowing_.
69 1 from the bottom, for _articles_ read _artifices_
[Transcriber's Note: original already reads 'artifices'].
100 12 from the top, for _knew_ read _know_, and for _know_ read _knew_.
100 2 from the bottom, for _amity_ read _anxiety_.
120 7 from the bottom [Transcriber's Note: top], _dele-suo_.
120 6 from the bottom, for _compact_ read _conquest_.
240 8 from the bottom, for _expected_ read _respected_.