"To the Inhabitants of the Province of Massachusetts Bay."

Daniel Leonard (1740-1829) was a lawyer and devoted loyalist. He lived in Taunton, Massachusetts, and was a member of one of the leading and wealthiest families in the commonwealth. In 1774, he was forced to flee his home by his Whig neighbors. He found refuge in Boston and eventually Nova Scotia and England.

In 1774 and 1775, Leonard wrote a series of seventeen articles, published in the Boston Tory newspaper Massachusetts Gazette; and the Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser, under the pseudonym Massachusettensis, defending the policies of the British monarchy. The articles were reprinted in pamphlet form in England and in Ireland and are among the most articulate expressions of the loyalist point of view.

In this specific article, Leonard questions the concept that people have the right to govern themselves. He claims that this will lead to social disorder and mob rule and that individuals proclaiming liberty are often the first to become tyrants. The article in this issue is also followed by letters to the editors, retorts to Massachusettensis’s previous arguments.

These articles, along with those written in reply by John Adams (1735-1826) under the penname Novanglus, show the spirited dialogue that occurred among various parties in the press during the crisis with Britain. The different meanings of Leonard’s and Adams’s pseudonyms were also indicative of expanding colonial unity: “Massachusettensis” literally means “of Massachusetts,” while “Novanglus” stands for New England, signifying a unified voice among the colonies.

Leonard was eventually appointed chief justice of Bermuda and served from 1782 to 1806. He died in England of a gunshot, either an accident or a suicide.