Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/361

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HUTCHINSON
HUTCHINSON
333

of Massachusetts, while still retaining the office of lieutenant-governor. During the following year he presided in the famous case of the writs of as- sistance, when James Otis made the speech that heralded the Revolution. The enforcement of the navigation acts was now making much trouble in Boston, and Gov. Bernard became very unpopular through his zeal in promoting seizures for illicit trade, he having a share in the forfeitures. There is no good evidence that Hutchinson was concerned in these affairs, but sundry deposi- tions attested by him as chief justice were placed on file at the Plantation office in London, and there were seen by Briggs Hallowell, a Boston merchant. In these depositions, John Rowe and other merchants of Boston were named as smug- glers. Reports of this came to Boston in the sum- mer of 1765, just as the people were riotous over the stamp-act. On the night of 26 Aug., Hutchin- son's house at the North End was sacked by a drunken mob. The money, plate, and wearing- apparel were carried off, the handsome furniture was shattered, and, worst of all, the valuable li- brary, with its manuscripts and priceless docu- ments, which Hutchinson had been thirty years in collecting, was almost completely destroyed. To the student of American history the damage was ir- reparable, as many of the lost manuscripts can never be replaced. In town-meeting next day at Faneuil Hall the riot was emphatically condemned by the people. Several of the perpetrators of the outrage were arrested and sent to jail, but were rescued by a mob before the day of trial. Mr. Hutchinson ultimately received indemnification in the sum of £3,194 17s. 6d. As in most instances of mob vio- lence the villainy of the assault upon the chief justice's house was fully equalled by its stupidity, for Hutchinson had done his best to dissuade the Grenville ministry from passing the obnoxious stamp-act. Here, as before, much trouble might have been avoided if his advice had been heeded. In August, 1769, Gov. Bernard returned to England, leaving Hutchinson, as lieutenant-gov- ernor, at the head of affairs. On the occasion of the so-called " Boston massacre," 5 March, 1770, he showed vigor and discretion, and but for his prompt arrest of Capt. Preston and his men there would probably have been much bloodshed. In October, 1770, he was appointed governor of Massa- chusetts, and for the next two years his adminis- tration was comparatively quiet. In the summer of 1772 the excitement in Massachusetts again rose to fever heat over the royal order that the salaries of the judges should henceforth be paid by the crown. This measure, which struck directly at the independence of the judiciary, led Samuel Adams to the revolutionary step of organizing the famous committees of correspondence. In the following January, Hutchinson sent a message to the legislature, containing a very learned and masterly statement of the Tory position, which is well worth the study of historians. It was care- fully and successfully answered by Samuel Adams. In the spring Hutchinson met the governor of New York at Hartford, and adjusted the long-dis- puted boundary-line between New York and Massa- chusetts to the entire satisfaction of the latter colony. On his return he was greeted with the furious excitement occasioned by the publication of the letters sent over from England by Franklin. (See Franklix, Bexjamin.) These letters created the impression that Hutchinson had advised, and was chiefly responsible for, the most odious meas- ures of the ministry. The impression was incor- rect and unjust to Hutchinson, but was natural enough at the time. It led to a petition from the general court that Hutchinson and the lieutenant- governor, Oliver, should be removed, and it was on the hearing of this petition before the privy council that Franklin was insulted by the rascally Wedderburn. The petition was refused. In June, 1774, Hutchinson was superseded by Gen. Gage, and sailed for England, followed by the execra- tions of the people. His house at Milton, with all the rest of his property, was confiscated, and his best coach was next year carried over to Cambridge for the use of Gen. Washington. The town of Hutchinson, in Worcester co., on its incorpora- tion in 1774, dropped the name of the Tory gov- ernor and took instead that of Col. Barre, who defended the American cause in parliament. Mr. Hutchinson was received with distinguished favor by the king, who offered him a baronetcy, which he refused. He cared little for such honors or emoluments as England could give him. Al- though a Tory on principle, because he could see no alternative between anarchy and the universal supremacy of parliament, he was not the less ani- mated by an intense love for New England. Un- til after Burgoyne's surrender, he cherished the hope of returning thither, and regarded his stay in the mother country as little better than exile. His diary of events then occurring has been re- cently published by his great-grandson, Peter Orlando Hutchinson, " Diarv and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson" (2 vols., Boston, 1884-'6), and has done much to confirm historical students in the more favorable view that has recently been taken of his character and motives. For intel- lectual gifts and accomplishments. Hutchinson stood far above all the other colonial governors. His " History of Massachusetts Bay" (vols, i.-ii., Boston, 1764-'7; vol. hi.. London, 1828, posthu- mous) is a work of rare merit, alike for careful re- search, for philosophic acuteness, and for literary charm. For thorough grasp of the subject of finance, he stands nearly on a level with Hamilton and Gallatin. In 1809 John Adams said of him : "He understood the subject of coin and commerce better than any man I ever knew in this country.*' In his private life Mr. Hutchinson was genial and refined ; in religion he was a strict Puritan, like his great antagonist, Samuel Adams, whom he resem- bled in purity, integrity, and unswerving devotion to principle. His life has never been properly writ- ten. The best accounts of its incidents are to be found in his own diary, and the most intelligent general view is presented in James K. Hosmer's " Samuel Adams " (Boston, 1885). The portrait on page 332 is from the painting by Copley, an ex- cellent photograph of which is prefixed to the second volume of the " Diary."


HUTCHINSON, Israel, soldier, b. in Danvers, Mass., in 1728; d. there, 16 March, 1811. He participated in the battles of Ticonderoga and Lake George in the French war of 1757-'9, and led a detachment at the Plains of Abraham. During the Revolution he commanded a company at Lexington, was lieutenant-colonel in 1775, commanded the 27th regiment at the siege of Boston and in the campaign of 1776, and was with Washington in the retreat through New Jersey.


HUTCHINSON, James, physician. b. in Wakefield, Pa., 29 Jan., 1752; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 6 Sept., 1793. He received his medical education in London, and, at the prospect of the Revolution, warmly espoused the patriot cause. Returning home by way of France, he bore important despatches from Benjamin Franklin to congress. He joined the American army, and served throughout