| Citation |
BG.766.062
22 Sep 1766:21-43 (599)
New-York, September 11. A gentleman from Philadelphia
informs, that the copies of the letters of Mr. Hughes'
correspondence, with the ministry, &c. in England, relating
to the Stamp act, which were communicated by a noble Lord,
and alientated the affection of Mr. Hughes's best friends,
and lost him the whole interest of the Friends or Quakers,
and that he had sued Mr. Bradford for publishing the
letters, in an action of 1400 L. The letters are as
follows,. . . [1 para]
A letter from John Hughes, Esq; to the commissioners of
the Stamp-Office in London. Philadelphia, October 12, 1765.
. . [2d para., 15 lines up from bottom:]
and here matters rested until Saturday the 5th of October,
when I received information that the ship with the stamps
was to come up to town that day, and that a mob would be
collected by beating muffled drums through the streets, and
ringing the state house and church bells muffled, which was
accordingly done all the afternoon, but at 2 o'clock the
post arrived with the mail and packet, and among other thing
my commission, this the party ventured to alledge, because
there was a large packet for me: accordingly the mob
collected, chiefly Presbyterians and proprietary emissaries,
with the chief justice's, Mr. William Allen's son at their
head, animating and encouraging the lower class. . .
[41, letter from John Hughes, 5 November 1766:]
Gentlemen,
"I received yours of the 4th instant, and cannot but infer
from the content that you are strangers in Pennsylvania,
since by the tenor of your letter you seem to be
unacquainted with the things that are come to pass in our
days. Therefore I think it necessary, before I proceed in
answer to it to give you a brief detail of what has
happened. First then, I am to inform you, that on Saturday
the 5th of October last, the State house and Christ church
bells were rung muffled, and two Negro drummers, one of whom
belonged to Alderman Samuel Mifflin, beat through all parts
of the city with muffled drums, thereby alarming the
inhabitants, in consequence whereof a large number of people
was raised and assembled at the State-house, where it was
publicly declared, as I am informed, that if I did not
immediately resign my office, my house should be pulled down
and my substance destroyed; but before the convention broke
up, the gentlemen assembled there, in part, changed their
resolution,. . .
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