{"value"=>"<p>Manuscripts of Joseph Hawley’s letters to the Boston Evening Post, [1767] and 1767 December 8, concern the so-called “Berkshire Affair.” Several men from Lanesborough, Berkshire County, were arrested for violent interference in the arrest of two men in late 1765 for non-payment of debt, and found guilty at the court of General Sessions in April 1766. The dispute arose in part out of difficulties in conducting legal transactions due to the recently imposed Stamp Act. Joseph Hawley undertook the appeal of one man, Seth Warren, before the Superior Court in Springfield later that year. In response to the writings of “Philanthrop” [Jonathan Sewall] in the Boston Evening Post, Hawley wrote a detailed description of the incident and criticism of the court rulings, published in the Boston Evening Post on July 6 and 13, 1767. His letter of December 8, 1767, published in the same paper over the course of several issues (1768 January 11, 18, 25 and February 2) responded to subsequent attacks by Philanthrop with a vindication of his own conduct and further legal arguments.</p>"}