The 250th anniversary of a momentous meeting passed in January, a meeting that may very well have altered the outcome of the war for independence.
On Jan. 29, 1774, a Scot named Alexander Wedderburn summoned a fellow British subject to a meeting. This Privy Council meeting was well attended by lots of folks, most of whom sided with Wedderburn, who was solicitor general at that time.
The meeting’s purpose was to decide whether the government would approve a petition from the Colony of Massachusetts to replace the current royal governor and his assistant. The two men had been writing to each other about how to keep the lid on the unrest in the colony, even suggesting that some of the colonists’ liberties be taken away to keep the peace.
Some of these letters ended up in the hands of our friend, who shared them with a friend, and as we say today, the letters were “leaked.” It was an embarrassment to our friend, who never intended them to be seen by the public.
Instead of addressing the petition, Wedderburn took his pompous time excoriating his target for more than an hour. He “has forfeited all the respect of societies and men,” he bellowed. “He will henceforth call it a libel to be called a man of letters.” (This was a pun on our friend’s job as postmaster for the colonies.)
“(He) stands in the light of the first mover and prime conductor of this whole contrivance against his Majesty’s two governors.” Yes, another pun, this time referring to our friend’s experiments with electricity.
Benjamin Franklin stood there, not flinching, speaking or showing any emotion. He was wearing an impressive brown suit, and his left arm rested placidly on the hearth’s mantle as he remained silent.
Once finished, Wedderburn declared he was ready to examine the witness. Franklin replied that he did not wish to be examined. The council denied the petition and they all called it a day.
At the time of this meeting, Franklin had spent years in England trying to play peacemaker between the government and its rebellious colonies. He wasn’t quite ready to give up, but this was the beginning of the end for him - the start of his journey from loyal subject to patriot. Franklin returned to Philadelphia the following year, arriving just a few days before the second Continental Congress.
It’s likely that this meeting did more to turn Franklin against the idea of reconciliation with Britain than any other single event. Franklin became a key founding father who was also responsible for obtaining the financial help of the French, without which it is doubtful America would have won the war for independence.
Side note: Franklin retired the brown suit. In 1783, at the Treaty of Paris, where he met with others to discuss England’s terms of surrender, he took it out and wore that old suit one final time.
Paula Podgurski
Stanhope