American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Complete text of letters III and IV from John Dickinson's "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to Inhabitants of British Colonies" published in the Boston Chronicle. Vol. 1, Number 3. 28 December - 4 January 1768. [With:] Boston Chronicle Extraordinary. 7 January 1768. 

8pp, folio, 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (disbound, toning, creasing especially at bottom right corner, scattered spotting). 

Complete text of letters III and IV of John Dickinson's "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the INhabitants of the british Colonies." Dickinson writes of the reaction to his previous submissions: “Sorry to learn that there are some few persons who…wondered ‘what can be the meaning of these letters. Great Britain they say is too powerful to contend with; she is determined to oppress us; it is in vain to speak of right on one side, when there is power on the other…’ I will now tell the gentlemen what is the meaning of these letters. The meaning of them is to convince the people of these colonies that they are at this moment exposed to the most imminent dangers; and to persuade them...to exert themselves in the most firm, ut most peaceful manner for obtaining relief...." Dickinson continues to comment on the obligations between governors and the governed, and concludes that "If however it shall happen by an unfortunate course of affairs, that our applications to his Majesty and the Parliament for redress are ineffectual, let us then take another step, by withholding from Great Britain, all the advantages she has been used to receive from us." Letter IV then advances this idea with discussion of the right of taxation. Complete text of both letters runs 2 1/2 pages.

John Dickinson was a Pennsylvania lawyer and landowner who penned his series of essays to protest the Townshend Duties. The essays, all signed "The Farmer," were widely circulated in serialized newspapers, and helped push the colonists toward a general rejection of Parliamentary legislative authority.

[With:] The Boston Chronicle Extraordinary. 7 January 1768.  4pp, 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (discbound, toning, scattered spotting). Reporting on news carried by his Majesty’s ship “Senegal” arriving in Halifax from Plymouth, and announcement on the death of His Late Royal Highness Edward Augustus, the Duke of York as the royal court goes into mourning.