The Committee for Tarring and Feathering

To the Delaware Pilots. ... To Capt. Ayres, of the Ship Polly, on a Voyage from London to Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 27 November 1773



Broadside on paper (13 1/8 x 7 7/8 in.; 333 x 200 mm). 49 lines, including headlines; rebacked, with marginal chipping, closed fold separations, and closed tears, but no loss of text. Matted and framed.

Evans 12941; Hildeburn 2942; Library Company of Philadelphia, Quarter of a Millenium 46

"The Pennsylvanians are, to a Man, passionately fond of Freedom; the Birthright of Americans; and at all Events are determined to enjoy it. ... they sincerely believe, no Power on the Face of the Earth has a Right to tax them without their Consent."

A scarce survival from "The most successful 'Tea Party'" of the American Revolution. "As early as October 1773, a group of respectable radicals began to arouse the populace of Philadelphia against the latest scheme of Parliamentary tyranny. The East India Company had been granted a monopoly to export tea to America where it was subject to an import duty. ... Philadelphians reacted quickly and effectively to this threat of 'oppression and slavery.' At a town meeting on October 16, they determined to prevent the tea from landing" (Quarter of a Millenium).

Among the many broadsides and handbills that were produced in support of the tea boycott was the present dual open letter. The first portion of the text is directed to Delaware River pilots: "We took the Pleasure, some Days since, of kindly admonishing you to do your Duty; if perchance you should meet with the (Tea,) Ship Polly, Captain Ayres; a Three Decker which is hourly expected. We have now to add, that Matters ripen fast here; and that much is expected of those Lads who meet with the Tea Ship. ... Tar and Fetahers will be his Portion, who pilots her into this Harbour. And we will answer for ourselves, that, whoever is committed to us, as an Offender against the Rights of America, will experience the utmost Exertion of our Abilities. ..."

The second part of the broadside is addressed, in somewhat more colorful language, to Captain Ayres, commanding the merchant ship Polly, which carried 697 chests of tea consigned to the Philadelphia firm of James & Drinker. "Now, as your Cargo, on your Arrival here, will most assuredly bring you into hot water; and as you are perhaps a Stranger to these Parts, we have concluded to advise you of the present Situation of Affairs in Philadelphia—that, taking Time by the Forelock, you may stop short in your dangerous Errand—secure your Ship against the Rafts of combustible Matter which may be set on Fire, and turned loose against her; and, more than all this, that you may preserve your own Person, from Pitch and Feathers that are prepared for you. ... You are sent out on a diabolical Service; and if you are so foolish and obstinate as to compleat your Voyage; by bringing your Ship to anchor in this Port; you may run such a Gauntlet, as will induce you, in your last Moments, most heartily to curse those who have made you the Dupe of their Avarice and Ambition. What think you Captain, of a Halter around your Neck—ten Gallons of liquid Tar decanted on your Pate—with the Feathers of a dozen wild Geese laid over that to enliven your Appearance?" The Committee concludes by admonishing Ayres to "fly to the Place from whence you came," urging him to fly quickly so that he is able to "fly without the wild Geese Feathers." Captain Ayres heeded the warning and the Polly returned to England without attempting to land her cargo.

The Philadelphia Tea Party may not be as celebrated as the one orgainzed by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, but it may have been more important. As Benjamin Rush reminded John Adams in an 1809 letter, "I once heard you say the active business of the American Revolution began in Philadelphia in the act of her citizens in sending back the tea ship, and that Massachusetts would have received her portion of the tea had not our example encouraged her to expect union and support in destroying it. ...The flame kindled on that day soon extended to Boston and gradually spread throughout the whole continent. It was the first throe of that convulsion which delivered Great Britain of the United States."

Rare: this is evidently the first copy to appear at auction since the Parke-Bernet sale of duplicates from the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 20 January 1970, lot 82.