On this day 250 years ago in Boston, the Massachusetts General Assembly petitioned the Royal Governor to remove Peter Oliver, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court from his post. Oliver had accepted payment from the British government to supplement the salary approved by the Massachusetts Assembly, even though his fellow justices had refused the supplement. The Assembly stated that Oliver had “proved himself an Enemy to the Constitution of this Province; and has placed himself under an undue Byass; detached himself totally from his Connection with this People and lost their Confidence. And that he hath rendered himself altogether disqualified to hold and act any longer in the office of a Justice of the said Superior Court.”
Source: https://www.masshist.org/dorr/volume/4/sequence/533
Note: This post originally stated that the Massachusetts Assembly “passed articles of impeachment” on February 21, 1774, however I was misinterpreting the source document. The Massachusetts Assembly was considering impeachment on February 21, but the actual Articles of Impeachment were not completed and presented in the Assembly until February 24. See my post for February 24, 1774.
On This Day In The Revolution 
2 responses to “On this day 250 years ago in the Revolution — February 21, 1774”
Hi Ron, The money was not under the table. It was publicly offered to all the Massachusetts judges. The Massachusetts Assembly objected that the court system should be funded by the colony and not London so the judges would not be subject to influence by London. All the other judges rejected the supplemental pay because they did not want their fellow Massachusetts citizens to suspect that they were pawns of Parliament and the British Cabinet.
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Thanks for the correction!
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