BENJ^N FANEUIL, FOR SELF & JOSHUA WINSLOW, Esq^r.

Hon'ble John Hancock, Esq^r.,
Moderator of a Town Meeting
at Faneuil Hall."

[Illustration: Signature, John Hancock

JOHN HANCOCK'S REPLY TO WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO CONGRESS, RECOMMENDING
THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON.

"It is true, sir, nearly all the property I have in the world is in
houses and other real estate in Boston; but if the expulsion of the
British army from it and the liberties of our country require their
being burnt to ashes, issue the order for the purpose immediately."]

This answer, you'll see by the enclosed news paper, was unanimously
voted to be not satisfactory to the Town, and the next day, on Mr.
Hutchinson's sending into the Town Meeting an answer of the same
purport, both his and ours were voted to be daringly affrontive to the
Town, but upon what reasons this vote was founded they have not been
pleased to declare. You may observe that the Town has resolved that they
will, by all means in their power, prevent the sale of the teas exported
by the East India Company, and in the preamble to this vote it is
asserted that the quantities of teas imported into this place since a
certain agreement, which we presume they designed should be understood
to commence in the fall of 1770, at which time the non-importation
agreement ceased, had been very small in proportion to what had been
usual before said agreement, and that by a few persons only. In order to
set those facts in a clear light, we obtained from the custom house an
account of teas imported into this place from the beginning of the year
1768, at which time the first teas that paid the American duty arrived
to this time, and got the same printed in the enclosed news paper, by
which it appears that the fact has been grossly misrepresented,
especially considering that this year's importation would probably be
encreased at the end of the year two or three hundred chests, if the
expected exportation on account of the East India Company had not
prevented it. Besides the public transactions relative to this affair,
before recited, we have repeated accounts of the continual nocturnal
meetings of the leaders of the mob, and we are informed that they are
determined to make the utmost efforts to prevent the sale of the teas;
that their present scheme, or part of it, is to endeavor, by all
methods, even the most brutal, to force the consignees to give up their
trust, and if th