Copy of Letters Sent to Great-Britain by His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, the Hon. Andrew Oliver, and Several Other Persons

These pages collect a series of urgent letters sent from Boston’s most prominent officials to their counterparts across the Atlantic. In vivid, first‑hand detail they recount the dramatic night when a customs sloop owned by a well‑known merchant was seized, sparking a furious mob that battered officials’ homes and set a government boat ablaze. The correspondence reveals how the commissioners of the customs, feeling threatened, fled aboard a naval vessel and sought refuge in a castle, while the city’s council and citizens debated the legitimacy of their authority.

The writers strive to explain the roots of the unrest, arguing that misinformation and exaggeration have inflamed public opinion. They describe the council’s reluctance to intervene, the fear of British retaliation, and the growing suspicion that the custom‑house board operates beyond constitutional bounds. Together, the letters paint a vivid portrait of a colony on the brink of crisis, offering modern listeners a window into the heated debates and personal anxieties that preceded the larger conflict.