Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies

43.The Liberty of the Press.

44. Spartan, Roman, British Virtue, and Christian Graces joined.

45. Every man under his own Vine! under his own Fig-Tree! None to make us afraid! And let all the People say, Amen!

45. See page 51.

Upon this happy occasion, the whole company with the approbation of their brethren in Roxbury, consecrated a tree in the vicinity; under the shade of which, on some future anniversary, they say they shall commemorate the day, which shall liberate America from her present oppression! Then making an agreeable excursion round Jamaica Pond, in which excursion they received the kind salutation of a Friend to the cause by the discharge of cannon at six o'clock they returned to Town; and passing in slow and orderly procession through the principal streets, and the State-House, they retired to their respective dwellings. It is allowed that this cavalcade surpassed all that has ever been seen in America. The joy of the day was manly, and an uninterrupted regularity presided through the whole.

The two illustrations in this volume were selected for the purpose of recording prevalent contemporary opinions of Dickinson.

The frontispiece is a reproduction (slightly reduced in size)[5 - Reproduced through the courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia. I wish also to express my obligation to my friends Messrs. Wilberforce Eames of the Lenox Library and Robert H. Kelby of the New York Historical Society for repeated access to the volumes of Colonial Newspapers, etc., in the collections under their charge.] of the very scarce print in which John Dickinson is crudely portrayed as the author of the "Farmer's Letters." It was first advertised for sale in the Pennsylvania "Chronicle" under date of October 12-17, 1768, as follows:

Lately published and sold by R. Bell

at James Emerson's, in Market-street,

near the river, and at John

Hart's vendue store, in Southward

(Price One Shilling)

an elegant engraved COPPER PLATE PRINT

of the Patriotic American Farmer;

The same glazed and framed, price Five Shillings

This specimen of early American engraving, the work of some unknown artist and engraver, was undoubtedly inspired by the following article which appeared in the Pennsylvania "Chronicle" for May, 9-16, 1768, as well as the many other newspapers in the colonies, so eager was the press to publish any information concerning the author of the "Farmer's Letters." The inscription is thus explained as well as the elimination of the vowels from Dickinson's name.

PHILADELPHIA

On Tuesday last, by order of the Governor and Society of Fort St. David's, fourteen Gentlemen, members of that Company, waited upon J-n D-ck-nson Esq; and presented the following address, in a Box of Heart of Oak.

Respected Sir,

When a Man of Abilities, prompted by Love of his Country, exerts them in her Cause, and renders her the most eminent Services, not to be sensible, of the Benefits received, is Stupidity; not to be grateful for them, is Baseness.

Influenced by this Sentiment, we, the Governor and Company of Fort St. David's, who among other Inhabitants of British America, are indebted to you for your most excellent and generous Vindication of Liberties dearer to us than our Lives, beg Leave to return you our heartiest Thanks, and offer to you the greatest Mark of Esteem, that, as a Body, it is in our Power to bestow, by admitting you, as we hereby do, a Member of our Society.

When that destructive Project of Taxation, which your Integrity and Knowledge so signally contributed to baffle about two years ago, was lately renewed under a Disguise so artfully contrived as to delude Millions, You, sir, watchful for the Interests of Your Country, perfectly acquainted with them, and undaunted in asserting them, Alone detected the Monster concealed from others by an altered Appearance, exposed it, stripped of its insidious covering, in its own horrid Shape, and, we firmly trust by the Blessing of God on Your Wisdom and Virtue, will again extricate the British Colonies on this Continent from the cruel Snares of Oppression; for we already perceive these Colonies ROUSED by your strong and seasonable Call, pursuing the salutary Measures advised by You for obtaining Redress.

Nor is this all that you have performed for Your native Land. Animated by a sacred Zeal, guided by Truth and supported by Justice, You have penetrated to the Foundations of the Constitution, have poured the clearest Light on the important Points, hitherto involved in a Darkness bewildering even the Learned, and have established with an amazing Force and Plainness of Argument, the TRUE DISTINCTIONS and GRAND PRINCIPLES, that will fully instruct Ages YET UNBORN, what Rights belong to them, and the best Methods of defending them.

To Merit far less distinguished, ancient Greece or Rome would have decreed Statues and Honours without Number: But it is Your Fortune and your Glory, Sir, that You live in such Times, and possess such exalted Worth, that the Envy of those, whose Duty it is to applaud You, can conceive no other Consolation, than by withholding those Praises in Public, which all honest Men acknowledge in Private that you have deserved.

We present to you, sir, a small gift of a Society not dignified by any legal authority; But when you consider this gift as expressive of the sincere Affection of many of your Fellow Citizens for Your Person, and of their unlimited Approbation of the noble Principles maintained in your unequalled Labours, we hope this Testimony of our Sentiments will be acceptable to you.

May that all-gracious Being, which in kindness to these colonies gave your valuable Life Existence at the critical Period when it will be most wanted, grant it a long Continuance, filled with every Felicity; and when your Country sustains its dreadful loss, may you enjoy the Happiness of Heaven, and on Earth may your Memory be cherished, as we doubt not it will be, to the latest Posterity.

Signed by the Order of the Society,

    John Bayard, Secretary.

The box was finely decorated, and the Inscription neatly done in Letters of Gold. On the Top was represented the Cap of Liberty on a Spear, resting on a Cypher of the Letters I. D. Underneath the Cypher in a semicircular Label – Pro Patria – Around the whole the following words:

The Gift of the Governor and Society of Fort St. David's to the Author of the Farmer's Letters, in grateful Testimony of the very eminent Services thereby rendered to this Country, 1768.

On the Inside of the Top —

The Liberties of

The British Colonies in America

Asserted

With Attic Eloquence,

And Roman Spirit,byJ-n D-k-ns-n[6 - The Name at length.] Esqr.;

Barrister at Law

On the Inside of the Bottom —

Ita Cuique Eveniat

ut de Republica Meruit

On the Outside of the Bottom – A sketch of Fort St. David's.

To which the following Answer was returned

Gentlemen,

I very gratefully receive the Favour you have been pleased to bestow upon me, in admitting me a Member of your Company; and I return you my heartiest Thanks for your Kindness.

The "Esteem" of worthy Fellow Citizens is a Treasure of greatest Price; and as no man can more highly value it than I do, Your Society in "expressing the Affection" of so many respectable Persons for me, affords Me the sincerest Pleasure.

Nor will this Pleasure be lessened by reflecting, that you may have regarded with a generous Partiality my Attempts to promote the Welfare of our Country; for the Warmth of your Praises in commending a Conduct you suppose to deserve them, gives Worth to these Praises, by proving your Merit, while you attribute Merit to another.

Your Characters, gentlemen, did not need this Evidence to convince Me, how much I ought to prize Your "Esteem" or how much You deserved Mine.

I think myself extremely fortunate, in having obtained your favorable Opinion, which I shall constantly and carefully endeavor to preserve.

I most heartily wish you every Kind of Happiness, and particularly that you may enjoy the comfortable Prospect of transmitting to your Posterity those "Liberties" dearer to You than your Lives, "which God gave to you, and which no inferior Power has a Right to take away."

The potter's art, which from time immemorial has been the means of transmitting history, furnishes the other illustration and also perpetuates the estimate of Dickinson's character held by William Duesbury, England's greatest manufacturer of porcelain. It pictures a porcelain statuette of Mrs. Catherine Macaulay, a well-known historian, whose "History of England from the Accession of James the First to that of the Brunswick Line" and other historical writings met with great approval among the Whig party in England and whose decided approval of the stand taken by the colonies, gave her great popularity in America. This statuette, measuring 131⁄2 inches in height, is modeled to a certain extent after the statue of this lady which was erected in 1777 in the Church of St. Stephen, Walbrook, London. Mrs. Macaulay appears leaning upon her "Histories of England," which rest on the top of a pedestal, on the front of which is the inscription, "Government a Power Delegated for the Happiness of Mankind conducted by Wisdom, Justice and Mercy." Beneath are the words, "American Congress." On the side of the pedestal the name of Dickinson appears, preceded by the names of those noble writers, England's great advocates and expounders of Constitutional liberty, Sydney, Hampden, Milton, Locke, Harrington, Ludlow and Marvel. This beautiful porcelain statuette was moulded at the Chelsea factory in 1777, the same year in which Boswell chronicles Dr. Johnson's visit there, noting, "The china was beautiful, but Dr. Johnson justly observed it was too dear, for he could have vessels of silver as cheap as were here made of porcelain."