In the fall of 1772, Boston Whigs learned of a development that they viewed as precipitating a serious political crisis: British imperial administrators in Whitehall had secretly decided to pay the salaries of the justices of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts and other legal officals in the province. This opened a political agon between the Governor, who refused to acknowledge this new policy, and the town meeting, who had learned of this new policy through back channels. If change is often borne of conflict, then the words and deeds performed within that conflict often shape the change that results from conflict. It is therefore important to examine the means used by Boston Whigs to initiate new forms of political communications. This involved 1) the calling of a town meeting to request information from the Governor, which the leaders of the town meeting expected to be turned aside; 2) followed by a formal petition to the Governor for a convening of the General Court, which the town leaders expected to be rejected; and finally, 3) the formation of a committee of correspondence to draft a pamphlet that can serve as the opening communication upon the political crisis with the 260 other towns and districts of Massachusetts. To be successful this initiative would need to appear fair and reasonable to the public who would follow the resulting political agon in the newspapers.