List of GRIEVANCES.

O^F grievances great and pond'rous weight,
The one we have thought fitting first on;
To give a slight touch, which troubles as much,
Is that the Court should set in Boston.

The second is worse, for, hang the poor curse,
Of this ragged rabble, alack!
That has got a groat to pay off his shot,
But hungry and dry must go back.

We further advise, the impost and excise,
Should into the public chest come;
We further suppose our constituents choose,
It should lie there to purchase them rum.

The mode of taxation is, fourthly, vexation,
So heavily laid on the poll;
For each leaden pate has as much of dead weight,
As he knows how to bear for his soul.

Moreover, likewise, we are full of surprise,
That taxes we rogues must force shun;
When all things are forsooth with the merchants go smooth,
Who pays not one half his proportion.

We further, fifthly, have discernment to spy,
And discernment full keen we're sure it is;
In the present method the people are mad,
To pay governmental securities.

Insurgents, grow bolder such burdens won't shoulder,
If you push them we sure they will bawl;
A much surer way we unitedly say,
Is never to pay them at all.

We sixthly conceive and firmly believe,
(For our noddles are big with conception)
Some officers fees by many degrees
Are too high, and we'd use no deception.

Ninth, as for your Latin, thought may some pat in,
We never will hang in suspension,
From gallows nor tree, so there do not see?
'Tis the voice of this learned convention.

You act against riot we boldly defy it,
And call on the mob for protection:
With rabble and rout they quickly turn out:
We share in their warmest affection.

Feb. 6, 1787.

* Suspension of Habeas Corpus.
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This list of grievances for which the rebels sought redress is in the form of a poem or song. They include complaints about the legislature being in Boston, and the amounts of taxes and the general lack of money. The "groat" mentioned in the second stanza is a British coin that was worth 4 pence.
William Butler began publication of the Hampshire Gazette on September 6, 1786, in Northampton, Massachusetts, 18 days after the Regulators prevented the Court of Common Pleas from convening there. The newspaper often urged support of the government and was generally against the activities of the Regulators. The paper came out on Wednesdays and consisted primarily of articles reprinted from other newspapers.

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