Joseph Galloway | "in Vindication of my Character"

Joseph Galloway

Advertisement. Philadelphia, December 20, 1765. To the Publick. Whereas a Report has been propagated, That at a Meeting of the Gentlemen of the Bar of this City, I gave Opposition to the Opening of the Offices of Justice, and that such Opposition is the Cause of publick Business not being transacted in the usual Manner, without Stampt Paper. I have repeatedly, and in various Companies, denied the Truth of this Report, and fully explained my Conduct at this Meeting, in Hopes thereby to put a Stop to the further Progress of this Calumny, but in vain. I am therefore obliged, in Vindication of my Character, to undeceive the Publick, by the following Explanation. … Joseph Galloway. [Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1765]

Letterpress broadside (387 x 245 mm) on a half-sheet of laid paper (unwatermarked). Some wear and repair at left margin, remnants of two hinges on verso.

In the midst of the Stamp Act crisis, Galloway—an able lawyer, wealthy merchant, and member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly—vigorously refutes the “calumny” circulating that he opposed the transaction of the transaction of judicial business except on “stampt paper.” The Stamp Act, which took effect 1 November 1765, sought new revenues from the North American colonies by taxing newspapers and legal documents. Galloway was sympathetic to the colonist’s protests against Parliamentary taxation, but he was also disdainful and then angered by the radical element, believing that the difficulties were basically constitutional. He attempts in this broadside to prudently walk that narrow line between loyalty to the King and desire for independence.

He writes that when the special meeting of the Philadelphia bar was opened, a proposal was made “that the Attornies should proceed in the Duties of their Profession, in the usual Manner, without Stampt Paper. Against this there was no absolute Objection made by any, save one, who said he thought it would be imprudent in the Officers of this Province to take the Lead, and that he had rather see the Officers of the other Governments first begin the Measure. A provisional Objection I made myself. I repeatedly declared, that I would proceed in my Office as usual, provided it was previously settled, and known, that the Judges would suffer the Proceedings and Practice of the Law to be carried on in the Courts, without Stampt Paper. But that unless this was done, I did not think it would be prudent in any Person to incur the Penalties of the Statute, nor hazard the Safety of his Person and Property, while those very Men, who must superintend the Recovery and Execution of the Penalties, were to remain free from any Risque, though equally interested in the Measure, and equally bound to join in it.”

Galloway urges a conservative approach to the matter, in keeping with his general political principles: “It indeed appears to me a difficult Matter to reconcile the Warmth with which these Gentlemen urge the Opening the Publick Offices, with their steady and constant Opposition to the proposed Meeting of the Judges. If they are as desirous as they pretend to be, that publick Justice should be administered in the common Mode, and that cannot be done to Purpose, without the Assent of the Judges, why are they so averse to the obtaining that Assent?”

In concluding, Galloway passionately defends his own honor and principles, as well as his position on the Stamp Act. “But what renders this Report still more ungenerous and dishonourable is, a Proposol that was made by one of the Gentlemen, and, as I thought, agreed to by all, for none objected to it. It was this, That as it would not be proper to mention the Sentiments of any particular Person, it would be prudent to inform the People, who should enquire after the Result of the Meeting, that there were various Opinions among us, and therefore nothing conclusive was agreed on. To which I answered, That I had delivered my Opinion on the Subject with Candour, and as it was founded on cool Reflection, it would give me no Concern should it be published from the Court-House Steps, and in every Street in the City, and yet I should chearfully comply with the Proposal, since it had been made. After this, I was not a little surprized, to find my Conduct so basely misrepresented, and that great Pains had been taken to throw the Odium, arising from the not opening the Publick Offices, on Mr. [George] Ross and myself, who were of the fame Opinion. I have taken some Pains to discover the Authors, but without Succes, I shall therefore leave them to reconcile their Conduct, in this Respect, if they can, to the Principles of Honour and Truth, if they cannot, to the Checks of their own Consciences.” George Ross served with Galloway in the Pennsylvania legislature and the Continental Congress. Initially a Tory and crown prosecutor, his allegiance to the colonial assemblies grew as they rebelled against perceived Parliamentary overreach like the Stamp Act.

Galloway was able for a time to swing public sentiment to his side, and he was elected speaker of the Pennsylvania House from 1766 to 1774, the latter being the year he led the Pennsylvania delegation in the First Continental Congress, where he proposed a union—which received little support—between the thirteen colonies and Great Britain. By 1776 his loyalties had turned British and he fled, first to the countryside and then to England, where he was a spokesman for the American Loyalists and continued to work for accommodation. The 1783 peace treaty was to leave him disliked on both sides of the Atlantic.

Issued without imprint, Miller ascribed the present broadside to the Franklin and Hall press because of an entry in their 1765 Workbook: “Joseph Galloway, Esq., For printing 400 Copies of his Vindication relating to opening the Publick Offices, £1.5.0.” Despite this print run, Galloway’s advertisement-answer “To the Publick” is exceptionally rare. Only a single copy is recorded in Rare Book Hub, a duplicate from either the Library Company of Pennsylvania or the Historical Society of Pennsylvania sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, 20 January 1970, lot 7 (the sale was titled “The American Revolution: Books & Pamphlets, Broadsides, Maps, Newspapers from the Collections of the Library Company of Pennsylvania and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,” but individual lots were not specifically designated.) These two Philadelphia institutions account for two of the three copies located by ESTC, the other being held by the American Antiquarian Society.

REFERENCES

Miller 838; ESTC W1354; Evans 9977; Hildeburn 2127; Campbell 714