lxii Introduction.

On June 22nd, a short time before the Assembly was ready to adjourn the
Lower House notified the Governor that it wished to present an address to
him (p. 412). This address had on June 2Oth been ordered prepared by a
committee headed by Matthew Tilghman, and associated with him Johnson,
Hall, Chase, Jenings, Ringgold, and Gresham (pp. 405-406). The address
declared that "it is very alarming to find, that at a time when the people of
America think themselves aggrieved by the late acts of Parliament, imposing
taxes on them, for the sole and express purpose of raising a revenue, and in a
most dutiful manner, are seeking redress from the throne, any endeavors to
unite in laying before their Sovereign what is apprehended to be their just
complaint should be looked upon 'as a measure of most dangerous and factious
tendency, calculated to inflame the minds of his Majesty's good subjects in the
colonies, to promote an unwarrantable combination, excite and encourage an
open opposition to, and denial of, the authority of parliament, and to subvert
the true principles of the constituion.' " The orders from Hillsborough to the
Governor to dissolve the Assembly if any attention were paid to the Massa-
chusetts letter, it was said, cannot but be viewed "as an attempt, in some of
his Majesty's ministers, to suppress all communication of sentiments between
the colonies and to prevent the united supplications of America, from reaching
the royal ear." As regards the Massachusetts letter, the house said, "what we
shall do upon this occasion, or whether ... we shall do anything is not our
present business to communicate to your excellency, but we cannot be pre-
vailed on, to take no notice of, or to treat with the least degree of contempt,
a letter so expressive of duty and loyalty to the Sovereign, and so replete with
just principles of liberty", and that when these are threatened, "we shall not
fail boldly to assert, and steadily endeavor to maintain and support" them.
The address contained the usual protestations of affectionate attachment to
the King (pp. 413-414). Just before this address was presented to the Gov-
ernor, the Lower House ordered that it and the Governor's reply, which of
course had not yet been received, be printed in the Maryland Gazette, where
both appeared in the July 28, 1768, issue.

The reply to the letter from the Massachusetts House, dated June 24, 1768,
was signed by Robert Lloyd, the Speaker, and it is to be noted that it is not
recorded in the journal of the Lower House, nor as far as is known, has it
been reprinted since it appeared at the time in the Maryland Gazette (July 28,
1768) and in the Boston Gazette (July 11, 1768). It is, therefore, reproduced
in the Appendix of this volume (pp. 518-519). It is addressed to Thomas
Cushing, Speaker of the Massachusetts House. It acknowledges the obligations
of the delegates to "a candid and free Communication of Sentiments of a Sister
Colony, on a Point so interesting to the whole; and that their Opinion of the
Consequences to the Colonies, of the Operation of the several Acts of Parlia-
ment you allude to, coincide exactly with yours, and that they are persuaded
of the Necessity of harmonizing as much as possible, in proper Measures for
Redress." Then follows the usual protest against taxation of the colonies by
the British Parliament. The letter concludes by saying that the petition of the
Lower House to the King is being transmitted to Charles Garth, "special agent