History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

500 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [1786.
ventions had lost their hold upon the community. They
had become the mouthpiece of the mob, and many towns
in the county refused to send delegates to this one. All
that had been accomplished by them seems to have been by
the rule of contraries. Each one of them advocated the
a,bolition of the courts, but voted against armed opposition
to them. It is a fact that only in the counties in which
conventions had been held, had open rebellion and outrage
actually taken place. Now on the eve of the greatest con-
flict between the rebels and the government, it was proposed
to lay down arms and petition. The same rule of
contraries still applied.
The Rebels State Emboldened by their success in breaking up
their Case. ^he courts in Worccster County, the insur-
gents next turned their attention to those of
Hampshire. Their first demonstration was an address to
the people, issued by Daniel Gray, chairman of a committee
appointed for that purpose. It was dated at Worcester,
and in it were cited the "principal causes of the late risings
of the people, and also of their present movement."
They were in brief :—the " present expensive mode of collecting
debts, which by reason of the great scarcity of cash,
will fill the jails, and thereby render a reputable body of
people incapable of being serviceable either to themselves
or the community ;" the money " raised by impost and excise
being appropriated to discharge the interest of government
securities and not the foreign debt when these securi-
ties are not subject to taxation;" "a suspension of the
writ of habeas corpus ;" " the unlimited power granted to
civil officers by the riot act," and " indemnifying them in
the prosecution thereof," when they are actuated by mo-
tives of "revenge, hatred and envy." Following this list
of grievances was a communication from Thomas Grover,
dated at Worcester, in which "in defence of the rights and
l^rivileges of the yjeople " he demands — : the removal of the
General Court from Boston ; a revision of the constitution ;
stopping the payment of interest on government securities
that had been purchased by speculators at a discount ; the
.sale of the public lands in the eastern part of the state, and
the payment of the proceeds towards the domestic debt
;