"Boston, November 3, 1773.

==> "Show me the man that dare take this down!"

The following hand-bill was also circulated about the same time:

"The true Sons of Liberty and supporters of the non-importation

agreement are determined to resent any or the least insult or menace

offered to any one or more of the several committees appointed by the

body at Faneuil Hall, and chastise any one or more of them as they

deserve; and will also support the printers in any thing the committee

shall desire them to print.

"==>As a warning to any one that shall affront as aforesaid, upon sure

information given, one of these advertisements will be posted up at the

door of the dwelling-house of the offender."

These placards, and others given in connection with the tea excitement,

I copied from originals preserved by the Massachusetts Historical

Society, in tome marked Proclamations.

** On the 12th the captain general of the province issued an order for

the Governor's Cadets (Bostonians) to stand ready to be called out for

the purpose of aiding the civil magistrates in keeping the peace. John

Hancock was colonel of this regiment.

Arrival of Tea Ships.---Proceedings in Boston.--Monster Meeting at the

"Old South."--Speech of Josiah Quincy

497and Council, and praying them to take measures for the safe landing

of the teas. The prayer was refused on the part of the Council, and the

consignees, for safety, withdrew to the castle..

While the Council was thus declining to interfere, one of the ships (the

Dartmouth. Cap tain Hall) came to anchor near the castle. A meeting of

the people of Boston and the neighboring towns was convened at Faneuil

Hall, * which being too small for the assembly, it adjourned to the Old

South Meeting-house. They resolved "that the tea shall November 29, 1773

not be landed; that no duty shall be paid; and that it shall be sent

back in the same bottom." They also voted "that Mr. Roch, the owner of

the vessel, be directed not to enter the tea at his peril; and that

Captain Hall be informed, and at his peril, not to suffer any of the tea

to be landed." The ship was ordered to be moored at Griffin's Wharf, **

and a guard of twenty-five men was appointed to watch her. The meeting

received a letter from the consignees, offering to store the teas until

they could write to England and receive instructions, but the people

were determined that the pernicious weed should not be landed. The offer

was rejected with disdain. The sheriff then read a proclamation by the

governor, ordering the meeting to disperse; it was received with hisses.

A resolution was then passed, ordering the vessels of Captains Coffin

and Bruce, then hourly expected with cargoes of tea, to be moored at

Griffin's Wharf; and, after solemnly agreeing to carry their resolves

into execution at any risk, and thanking their brethren from the

neighboring towns, the meeting was dissolved.

From that time until the 14th every movement on the part of the people

relating to the tea was in charge of the Boston Committee of

Correspondence. The December, 1773two vessels alluded to arrived, and

were moored at Griffin's Wharf, under charge of the volunteer guard, and

public order was well observed. On the 14th another meeting was held in

the Old South, *** when it was resolved to order Mr. Roch to apply

immediately for a clearance for his ship, and send her to sea. The

governor, in the mean while, had taken measures to prevent her sailing

out of the harbor. Under his direction, Admiral Montague fitted out two

armed vessels, which he stationed at the entrance of the harbor; and

Colonel Leslie, in command of the castle, received Hutchinson's written

orders not to allow any vessel to pass the guns of the fortress outward,

without a permission signed by himself.

On the 16th several thousand people (the largest meeting ever to that

time December, 1773 known in Boston) collected in the Old South and

vicinity. Samuel Phillips Savage, of Weston, presided. The youthful

Josiah Quincy was the principal speaker, and, with words almost of

prophecy, harangued-the multitude of eager and excited listeners. "It is

not, Mr. Moderator," he said, "the spirit that vapors within these walls

that must stand us in stead. The exertions of this day will call forth

events which will make a very different spirit necessary for our

salvation. Whoever supposes that shouts and hosannas will terminate the

trials of this day entertains a childish fancy. He must be grossly

ignorant of the importance and value of the prize for which we contend;

we must be equally ignorant of the power of those who have combined

against us; we must be blind to that malice, inveteracy, and insatiable

revenge which actuate our enemies, public and private, abroad and in

* The following is a copy of the hand-bill announcing the meeting. The

Dartmouth arrived on Sunday, and this placard was posted all over Boston

early on Monday morning:

* "Friends! Brethren! Countrymen!--That worst of plagues, the detested

Tea shipped for this port by the East India Company, is now arrived in

the Harbor; the Hour of Destruction, or manly opposition to the

Machinations of Tyranny, stares you in the Face; every Friend to his

Country, to himself, and to Posterity is now called upon to meet at

Faneuil Hall, at nino o'clock This Day (at which time the bells will

ring), in make united and successful resistance to this last, worst, and

most destructive measure of administration.

* "Boston, November 29,1773."

** This was a little south of Fort Hill, near the present Liverpool

Dock.

** The notice for the meeting was as follows: "Friends! Brethren!

Countrymen!--The perfidious arts of your restless enemies to render

ineffectual the resolutions of the body of the people, demand your

assembling at the Old South Meeting-house precisely at two o'clock this

day, at which time the bells will ring."

Close of Quincy's Speech.--Breaking up of the Meeting.--Destruction of

Tea in the Harbor.--Apathy of Government Officials.

498our bosoms, to hope that we shall end this controversy without the

sharpest, the sharpest conflicts--to flatter ourselves that popular

resolves, popular harangues, popular acclamations, and popular vapor

will vanquish our foes. Let us consider the issue. Let us look to the

end. Let us weigh and consider before we advance to those measures which

must bring on the most trying and terrible struggle this country ever

saw." *

When Mr. Quincy closed his harangue (about three o'clock in the

afternoon), the question was put, "Will you abide by your former

resolutions with respect to not suffering the tea to be landed?" The

vast assembly, as with one voice, gave an affirmative reply. Mr. Roch,

in the mean while, had been sent to the governor, who was at his country

house at Milton, a few miles from Boston, to request a permit for his

vessel to leave the harbor. A demand was also made upon the collector

for a clearance, but he refused until the tea should be landed. Roch

returned late in the afternoon with information that the governor

refused to grant a permit until a clearance should be exhibited. The

meeting was greatly excited; and, as twilight was approaching, a call

was made for candles. At that moment a person disguised like a Mohawk

Indian raised the war-whoop in the gallery of the Old South, which was

answered from without. Another voice in the gallery shouted, "Boston

Harbor a tea-pot tonight! Hurra for Griffin's Wharf!" A motion was

instantly made to adjourn, and the people, in great confusion, crowded

into the streets. Several persons in disguise were seen crossing Fort

Hill in the direction of Griffin's Wharf, and thitherward the populace

pressed.

Concert of action marked the operations at the wharf; a general system

of proceedings had doubtless been previously arranged. The number of

persons disguised as Indians was fifteen or twenty, but about sixty went

on board the vessels containing the tea. Before the work was over, it

was estimated that one hundred and forty were engaged. A man named

Lendall Pitts seems to have been recognized by the party as a sort of

commander-in-chief, and under his directions the Dartmouth was first

boarded, the hatches were taken up, and her cargo, consisting of one

hundred and fourteen chests of tea, was brought on deck, where the boxes

were broken open and their contents cast into the water. The other two

vessels (the _Eleanor_, Captain James Bruce, and the _Beaver_, Captain

Hezekiah Coffin) were next boarded, and all the tea they contained was

thrown into the harbor. The whole quantity thus destroyed within the

space of two hours was three hundred and forty-two chests.

It was an early hour on a clear, moonlight evening when this transaction

took place, and the British squadron was not more than a quarter of a

mile distant. British troops, too, were near, yet the whole proceeding

was uninterrupted. This apparent apathy on the part of government

officers can be accounted for only by the fact alluded to by the papers

of the time, that something far more serious was expected on the

occasion of an attempt to land the tea, and that the owners of the

vessels, as well as the public authorities, felt themselves

* Josiah Quincy was born in Boston, February 23d, 1744. As a student he

was remarkably persevering, and with unblemished reputation he graduated

at Harvard in 1763. He pursued legal studies under the celebrated

Oxenbridge Thacher, of Boston. The circumstances of the times turned his

thoughts to political topics, and he took sides with Otis, Adams, and

others, against the aggressive policy of Britain. As early as 1768 he

used this bold language: "Did the blood of the ancient Britons swell our

veins, did the spirit of our forefathers inhabit our breasts, should we

hesitate a moment in preferring death to a miserable existence in

bondage?" In 1770 be declared, "I wish to see my countrymen break off--

off forever! all social intercourse with those whose commerce

contaminates, whose luxuries poison, whose avarice is insatiable, and

whose unnatural oppressions are not to be borne." Mr. Quincy was

associated with John Adams in the defense of the perpetrators of the

"Boston massacre" in 1770, and did not by that defense alienate the good

opinion of the people. In February, 1771, he was obliged to go to the

south on account of a pulmonary complaint. At Charleston he formed an

acquaintance with Pinckney, Rutledge, and other patriots, and, returning

by land, conferred with other leading Whigs in the several colonies.

Continued ill health, and a desire to make himself acquainted with

English statesmen, induced him to make a voyage to England in 1774,

where he had personal interviews with most of the leading men. He

asserts that, while there, Colonel Barré, who had traveled in America,

assured him that such was the ignorance of the English people, two

thirds of them thought the Americans were all negroes! Becoming fully

acquainted with the feelings and intentions of the king and his

ministers, and hopeless of reconciliation, Mr. Quincy determined to

return and arouse his countrymen to action. He embarked for Boston, with

declining health, in March, and died when the vessel was in sight of

land, April 26th, 1775, aged thirty-one years.

East India Company the only Losers.--Quiet in Boston.--A Smuggler

punished.--Names of Members of the "Tea Party."

499placed under lasting obligations to the _rioters_ for extricating

them from a serious dilemma. * They certainly would have been worsted in

an attempt forcibly to land the tea. In the actual result the vessels

and other property were spared from injury; the people of Boston, having

carried their resolution into effect, were satisfied; the courage of the

civil and military officers was unimpeached, and the "national honor"

was not compromised.

None but the East India Company, whose property was destroyed, had

reason for complaint. As soon as the work of destruction was completed,

the active party marched in perfect order into the town, preceded by

drum and fife, dispersed to their homes, and t Boston, untarnished by

actual mob or riot, was never more tranquil than on that bright and

frosty December night.

A large proportion of those who were engaged in the destruction of the

tea were disguised, either by a sort of Indian costume or by blacking

their faces. Many, however, were fearless of consequences, and boldly

employed their hands without concealing their faces from the bright

light of the moon. The names of fifty-nine of the participators in the

act have been preserved, ***& but only one of the men, so far as is

known, is still living. This is David Kinnison, of Chicago, Illinois,

whose portrait and sign manual are here given. The engraving is from a

Daguerreotype from life, taken in August, 1848, when

* A "Bostonian," in his "Traits of the Tea Party," on the authority of

G. R. T. Hewes, one of the survivors, says that Admiral Montague was at

the house of a Tory named Coffin during the transaction, and that, when

the party marched from the wharf, he raised the window and said, "Well,

boys, you've had a fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven't

you? But mind, you have got to pay the fiddler yet!" "Oh, never mind!"

shouted Pitts, the leader; "never mind, squire! just come out here, if

you please, and we'll settle the bill in two minutes." The populace

raised a shout, the fifer struck up a lively air, and the admiral shut

the window in a hurry.

** Some, whose acquisitiveness overmatched their patriotism, were pretty

severely handled during the destruction of the cargoes. One Charles

O'Connor was detected filling his pockets and "the lining of his

doublet" with tea while assisting to throw the broken chests overboard.

He was completely stripped of his clothes and kicked ashore. A man was

found at South Boston a few days afterward, with part of a chest of tea,

which he had carried away from the harbor. He had sold some. They made

him give up the money, and then, taking the remainder of the chest, they

made a bonfire of it on the common, in front of Mr. Hancock's house.

Some of the tea is preserved at Harvard College.

*** The following is a list of those known to have been engaged in

destroying the tea: George R. T. Hewes,* Joseph Shed, John Crane, Josiah

Wheeler, Thomas Uranu, Adam Colson, Thomas Chase, S. Cooledge, Joseph

Payson, James Brewer, Thomas Bolter, Edward Proctor, Samuel Sloper,

Thomas Gerrish, Nathaniel Green, Thomas Mellville, Henry Purkett, *

Edward C. How, Ebenezer Stevens, Nicholas Campbell, John Russell, Thomas

Porter, William Hurdley, Benjamin Rice, Samuel Gore, Nathaniel Froth-

ingham, Moses Grant, Peter Slater.* James Starr, Abraham Tower, Isaac

Simpson,* Joseph Eayres, Joseph Lee, William Molineux, Paul Revere, John

Spurr, Thomas Moore, S. Howard, Mathew Loring, Thomas Spear, Daniel

Ingollson, Jonathan Hunnewell,* John Hooten,* Richard Hunnewell, William

Pierce,* William Russell, T. Gammell, Mr. M'Intosh,* Dr. Young, Mr.

Wyeth, Edward Dolbier, Mr. Martin, Samuel Peck, Lendall Pitts, Samuel

Sprague,* Benjamin Clarke, John Prince,* Richard Hunnewell, Jr., David

Kirnison.* Many of these were merely lads at the time.

* These were living in 1836. All are now in the grave. Mr. Kinnison died

in 1851, at the age of 115 years

Age of Mr. Kinnison.--Events of his Life.--Escape from Wounds during the

Wars.--Subsequent personal Injuries.

500the veteran was one hundred and eleven years and nine months old. He

was alive a few weeks since (January, 1850), in his one hundred and

fourteenth year. Through the kindness of a friend at Chicago, I procured

the Daguerreotype, and the following sketch of his life from his own

lips. The signature was written by the patriot upon the manuscript.

David Kinnison was born the 17th of November, 1736, in Old Kingston,

near Portsmouth, province of Maine. Soon afterward his parents removed

to Brentwood, and thence in a few years to Lebanon (Maine), at which

place he followed the business of farming until the commencement of the

Revolutionary war. He is descended from a long-lived race. His great-

grandfather, who came from England at an early day, and settled in

Maine, lived to a very advanced age; his grandfather attained the age of

one hundred and twelve years and ten days; his father died at the age of

one hundred and three years and nine months; his mother died while he

was young.

He has had four wives, neither of whom is now living; he had four

children by his first wife and eighteen by his second; none by the last

two. He was taught to read after he was sixty years of age, by his

granddaughter, and learned' to sign his name while a soldier of the

Revolution, which is all the writing he has ever accomplished.

He was one of seventeen inhabitants of Lebanon who, some time previous

to the "Tea Party," formed a club which held _secret_ meetings to

deliberate upon the grievances offered by the mother country. These

meetings were held at the tavern of one "Colonel Gooding," in a private

room hired for the occasion. The landlord, though a true American, was

not enlightened as to the object of their meeting. Similar clubs were

formed in Philadelphia, Boston, and the towns around. With these the

Lebanon Club kept up a correspondence. They (the Lebanon Club)

determined, whether assisted or not, to destroy the tea at all hazards.

They repaired to Boston, where they were joined by others; and twenty-

four, disguised as Indians, hastened on board, twelve armed with muskets

and bayonets, the rest with tomahawks and clubs, having first agreed,

whatever might be the result, to stand by each other to the last, and

that the first man who faltered should be knocked on the head and thrown

over with the tea. They expected to have a fight, and did not doubt that

an effort would be made for their arrest. "But" (in the language of the

old man) "we cared no more for our lives than three straws, and

determined to throw the tea overboard. We were all captains, and every

one commanded himself." They pledged themselves in no event, while it

should be dangerous to do so, to reveal the names of the party--a pledge

which was faithfully observed until the war of the Revolution was

brought to a successful issue.

Mr. Kinnison was in active service during the whole war, only returning

home once from the time of the destruction of the tea until peace had

been declared. He participated in the affair at Lexington, and, with his

father and two brothers, was at the battle of Bunker Hill, all four

escaping unhurt. He was within a few feet of Warren when that officer

fell. He was also engaged in the siege of Boston; the battles of Long

Island, White Plains, and Fort Washington; skirmishes on Staten Island,

the battles of Brandywine, Red Bank, and Germantown; and, lastly, in a

skirmish at Saratoga Springs, in which his company (scouts) were

surrounded and captured by about three hundred Mohawk Indians. He

remained a prisoner with them one year and seven months, about the end

of which time peace was declared. After the war he settled at Danville,

Vermont, and engaged in his old occupation of farming. He resided there

eight years, and then removed to Wells, in the state of Maine, where he

remained until the commencement of the last war with Great Britain. He

was in service during the whole of that war, and was in the battles of

Sackett's Harbor and Williamsburg. In the latter conflict he was badly

wounded in the hand by a grape-shot, the only injury which he received

in all his engagements.

Since the war he has lived at Lyme and at Sackett's Harbor, New York. At

Lyme, while engaged in felling a tree, he was struck down by a limb,

which fractured his skull and broke his collar-bone and two of his ribs.

While attending a "training" at Sackett's Harbor, one of the cannon,

having been loaded (as he says) "with rotten wood," was discharged. The

contents struck the end of a rail close by him with such force as to

carry it

No Knowledge of his Children.--His Person and Circumstances.--Speech at

a "Free Soil" Meeting.--G. R. T. Hewes.

501around, breaking and badly shattering both his legs midway between

his ankles and knees He was confined a long time by this wound, and,

when able again to walk, both legs had contracted permanent "fever

sores." His right hip has been drawn out of joint by rheumatism. A large

scar upon his forehead bears conclusive testimony of its having come in

contact with the heels of a horse. In his own language, he "has been

completely bunged up and stove in."

When last he heard of his children there were but seven of the twenty-

two living. These were scattered abroad, from Canada to the Rocky

Mountains. He has entirely lost all traces of them, and knows not that

any are still living.

Nearly five years ago he went to Chicago with the family of William

Mack, with whom he is now living. He is reduced to extreme poverty, and

depends solely upon his pension of ninety-six dollars per annum for

subsistence, most of which he pays for his board. Occasionally he is

assisted by private donations. Up to 1848 he has always made something

by labor. "The last season," says my informant, "he told me he gathered

one hundred bushels of corn, dug potatoes, made hay, and harvested oats.

But now he finds himself too infirm to labor, though he thinks he could

walk twenty miles in a day by '_starting early'_."

He has evidently been a very muscular man. Although not large, his frame

is one of great power. He boasts of "the strength of former years." Nine

years ago, he says, he lifted a barrel of rum into a wagon with ease.

His height is about five feet ten inches, with an expansive chest and

broad shoulders. He walks somewhat bent, but with as much vigor as many

almost half a century younger. His eye is usually somewhat dim, but,

when excited by the recollection of his past eventful life, it twinkles

and rolls in its socket with remarkable activity. His memory of recent

events is not retentive, while the stirring scenes through which he

passed in his youth appear to be mapped out upon his mind in unfading

colors. He is fond of martial music. The drum and fife of the recruiting

service, he says, "daily put new life into him."

"In fact," he says, "it's the sweetest music in the world. There's some

sense in the drum, and fife, and bugle, but these pianos and other such

trash I can't stand at all."

Many years ago he was troubled with partial deafness; his sight also

failed him somewhat, and he was compelled to use glasses. Of late years

both hearing and sight have returned to him as perfectly as he ever

possessed them. He is playful and cheerful in his disposition. "I have

seen him," says my informant, "for hours upon the side-walk with the

little children, entering with uncommon zest into their childish

pastimes. He relishes a joke, and often indulges in 'cracking one

himself.'"

At a public meeting, in the summer of 1848, of those opposed to the

extension of slavery, Mr. Ivinnison took the stand and addressed the

audience with marked effect. He declared that he fought for the "freedom

of all," that freedom ought to be given to the "black boys," and closed

by exhorting his audience to do all in their power to

ABOLISH SLAVERY.

The portrait of another member of the "Boston Tea Party," George Robert

Twelve Hewes, is preserved. I have copied it, by permission, from the

"Traits of the Tea Party, and Memoir of Hewes." He was born in Boston,

on the 5th of September, 1742. His early opportunities for acquiring

education were very small. To Mrs. Tin-

Character and Patriotism of Hewes.--His Death.--Excitement in Parliament

in Consequence of the Boston Tea Riot

502kum, wife of the town-crier, he was indebted for his knowledge of

reading and writing. Farming, fishing, and shoe-making seem to have been

the chief employment of his earlier years. In 1758 he attempted to

enlist in the army to serve against the French, but did not "pass muster

he was equally unsuccessful in attempts to join the navy, and then

resumed shoemaking. In the various disturbances in Boston from the time

of the passage of the Stamp Act, Hewes, who was both excitable and

patriotic, was generally concerned. He was among the foremost in the

destruction of the tea at Boston. When the Americans invested the city,

and many patriots were shut up under the vigilant eyes of the British

officers, Hewes was among them. He managed to escape, and entered the

naval service of the colonies as a privateer, in which he was somewhat

successful. Afterward he joined the army, and was stationed for a time

at West Point, under General M'Dougal. He was never in any land battle,

except with the _Cow Boys and Skinners_, as they were called, of the

_neutral ground_ of West Chester. After the Revolution he returned to

Boston, and again engaged in business upon the sea. He, like Kinnison,

was one of the thousands of that time utterly unknown to the world,

except within the small love-circle of family relationship and

neighborly regard; and even this present slight embalming of their

memory would not have occurred, had not the contingency of great

longevity distinguished them from other men. Although personally

unknown, their _deeds_ are felt in the political blessings we enjoy.

When the Bunker Hill Monument was completed and was dedicated, on the

17th of June, 1843, Mr. Hewes, then one hundred and one years old, was

there, and honored by all. Returning to the residence of his son, at

Richfield, in Otsego county, New York, some sixty miles west of the

Hudson, he soon went down into the grave, when more than a century old,

"a shock of corn fully ripe." The events of the 16th of December

produced a deep sensation throughout the British realm. They struck a

sympathetic chord in every colony, and even Canada, Halifax, and the

West Indies had no serious voice of censure for the Bostonians. But the

ministerial party here and the public in England were amazed at the

audacity of the American people; and the friends of the colonists in

Parliament were, for a moment, silent, for they had no excuse to make in

behalf of their transatlantic friends for destroying private property.

But with the intelligence of the event went an intimation that the town

of Boston was ready to pay the East India Company for the tea, and so

the question rested at once upon its original basis--the right of Great

Britain to tax the colonies. Ministers were bitterly indignant, and the

House of Lords was like a "seething caldron of impotent rage." The

alleged honesty of the Americans was entirely overlooked, and ministers

and their friends saw nothing but open rebellion in the Massachusetts

colony. Strange as it may appear, the king did not send a message to

Parliament on the subject until the 7th of March, several weeks after

the disturbances at Boston were known to government. Then he detailed

the proceedings, and his message was accompanied by a variety of papers,

consisting of letters from Hutchinson, Admiral Montague, and the

consignees of the tea; the dispatches of several colonial governors (for

menaces of similar violent measures had been uttered in other colonies);

and some of the most exciting manifestoes, hand-bills, and pamphlets put

forth by the Americans. The king, in his message, called upon Parliament

to devise means immediately to suppress these tumultuous proceedings in

the colonies.

On the receipt of the message and the accompanying papers in the House

of Commons, an address of thanks to the king, and of assurances that he

should be sustained in his efforts to preserve order in America, was

proposed. This proposition, with the message and papers, produced great

excitement, and the House became, according to Burke, "as hot as Faneuil

Hall or the Old South Meeting-house at Boston." The debate that ensued

was excessively stormy. Ministers and their supporters charged open

rebellion upon the colonies, while the opposition denounced, in the

strongest language which common courtesy could tolerate, the foolish,

unjust, and wicked course of the government. They reviewed the past; but

ministers, tacitly acknowledging past errors, objected to retrospection,

and earnestly pleaded for strict attention to the momentous present.

They asked whether the colonies were or were not longer to be considered

dependent upon Great Britain, and, if so, how far and in what

The Boston Port Bill proposed and adopted.--Debates in Parliament.--

Apparent Defection of Conway and Barré.--Burke

503manner. If it was decided not to give them up to independence, then

ministers were ready to act efficiently. This question they wished

settled as preliminary to further action. The appeal struck upon a

tender chord, and awakened national sympathies; the address was adopted

by an overwhelming majority, without a division.

Feeling his position strengthened by this vote, Lord North brought forth

the first of his vigorous schemes for subjugating the colonics and

punishing the town of Boston. On the 14th of March he offered a bill

which provided for the removal of customs, courts of justice, and

government officers of every kind from Boston to Salem; and that "the

1774 landing, discharging, and shipping of wares and merchandise at

Boston, or within the harbor thereof," should be discontinued. It

provided, also, that when the Bostonians should fully submit, the king

should have the power to open the port. * This was the famous _Boston

Port Bill_, an act which crushed the trade of the city, and brought the

greatest distress upon its inhabitants.

Lord North justified the harsh measure, by asserting that Boston was the

center of rebellious commotion in America, "the ringleader in every

riot, and set always the example which others followed." He thought that

to inflict a signal penalty upon that city would strike at the root of

the evil, and he referred to precedents where whole communities had been

punished for the crimes of some of their members. The most violent

language was used, by some of the supporters of the ministers, against

the Americans. "They are never actuated by decency or reason; they

always choose tarring and feathering as an argument," said Mr. Herbert.

Mr. Van, another ministerial supporter, denounced the people of Boston

as utterly unworthy of civilized forbearance. "They ought to have their

town knocked about their ears and destroyed!" he exclaimed, and

concluded his tirade of abuse by quoting the factious cry of old Roman

orators, "Delenda est Carthage." ** Mr. Rose Fuller proposed the

imposition of a fine; and even Barré and Conway, the undaunted friends

of America, approved of the measure as lenient, and affecting only a

single town. They voted for the bill, and for this apparent disaffection

the people of Boston removed their portraits from Faneuil Hall. But

Burke, who at that time began his series of splendid orations in favor

of American liberty, denounced the whole scheme as essentially unjust,

by confounding and pun-

* The celebrated Charles James Fox, son of Lord Holland, made his first

speech in Parliament on this bill. It was a strange beginning of his

brilliant career. He objected to the power vested in the British crown

to reopen the port of Boston. Neither party supported his suggestion.

** "Carthage must be destroyed." This phrase was often used by Roman

orators to excite the people to the utter destruction of Carthage, then

the rival of the great city. During the revolutionary mania among the

French this sentiment was often quoted as a threat against England.

*** Edmund Burke, one of England's greatest statesmen, was born in

Carlow, in Ireland, January 1st, 1730. He was educated at Dublin, and

took his bachelor's degree in 1749. In 1753, having been unsuccessful in

his application for the logic professorship at Glasgow, he went to

London and entered at the Middle Temple. He early employed his pen in

literature and his eloquence in politics. His first literary production

of note was an essay on the Vindication of Natural Society, in imitation

of Bolingbroke's style. In 1757 he published his essay on the Sublime

and Beautiful. In 1758 he and Dodswell commenced the Annual Register,

which acquired great celebrity. He accompanied Gerard (or Single Speech)

Hamilton to Ireland in 1761, and, by the interposition of that

gentleman, obtained a pension of fifteen hundred dollars on the Irish

Establishment. On his return he was introduced to the Marquis of

Rockingham, who made him his secretary, and procured his election to a

seat in the House of Commons. There he eloquently and efficiently

pleaded the cause of the Americans. On the downfall of North's

administration he became pay-master general, and obtained a seat in the

Council. His great speeches against Warren Hastings, when on trial

before the House of Commons, were such as the British Legislature had

never before heard. He retired from Parliament in 1794, on a pension of

six thousand dollars. During his political career he wrote much, and his

compositions rank among the purest of the British classics. He died on

the 8th of July, 1797, in the seventieth year of his age.

*** Goldsmith, in his Retaliation, * wrote the following epitaph for

Burke. It was written in 1776, when Burke was in the midst of his

career.

"Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such, We scarcely can

praise it or blame it too much; Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his

mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind. Though fraught

with all learning, yet straining his throat To persuade Tommy Townshendt

to lend him a vote; Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on

refining, And thought of convincing while they thought of dining. Though

equal to all things, for all things unfit: Too nice for a statesman, too

proud for a wit; For a patriot too cool; for a drudge, disobedient, And

too fond of the right to pursue the expedient. In short, 'twas his fate,

unemploy'd or in place, sir, To eat mutton cold and cut blocks with a

razor."

*** The history of this poem is a "curiosity of literature." Goldsmith

had peculiarities which attracted attention, and it was proposed, at a

club of literary men, of which he was a member, to write characters of

him in the shape of epitaphs. Dean Barnard, Cumberland, Garrick, and

others complied. Garrick wrote the following couplet:

"Here lies poor Goldsmith, for shortness call'd Noll; Who wrote like

Apollo, and talk'd like poor poll."

*** Goldsmith felt called upon for retaliation, and at the next meeting

produced the poem from which the following is an extract. It contained

epitaphs for several of the club, and he paid off his friend Garrick

with compound interest. These lines occur in Garrick's epitaph:

"Of praise a mere glutton, he swallow'd what came And the puff of a

dunce he mistook it for fame, Till his relish grew callous, almost to

disease; Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please." But he

generously added, "But let us be candid, and speak out our mind--If

dunces applauded, he paid them in kind."

* Afterward Lord Sydney.

Opposition in Parliament to the Boston Port Bill.--Passage of the Bill.-

-Goldsmith's "Retaliation."--Epitaph for Burke.

504ishing the innocent with the guilty. "It is wished, then," he said,

"to condemn the accused without a hearing, to punish indiscriminately

the innocent with the guilty! You will thus irrevocably alienate the

hearts of the colonies from the mother country. Before the adoption of

so violent a measure, the principal merchants of the kingdom should at

least be consulted. The bill is unjust, since it bears only upon the

city of Boston, while it is notorious that all America is in flames;

that the cities of Philadelphia, of New York, and all the maritime towns

of the continent, have exhibited the same disobedience. You are

contending for a matter which the Bostonians will not give up quietly.

They can not, by such means, be made to bow to the authority of

ministers; on the contrary, you will find their obstinacy confirmed and

their fury exasperated. The acts of resistance in their city have not

been confined to the populace alone, but men of the first rank and

opulent fortune in the place have openly countenanced them. One city in

proscription and the rest in rebellion can never be a remedial measure

for general disturbances. Have you considered whether you have troops

and ships sufficient to reduce the people of the whole American

continent to your devotion? It was the duty of your governor, and not of

men without arms, to suppress the tumults. If this officer has not

demanded the proper assistance from the military commanders, why punish

the innocent for the fault and the negligence of the officers of the

crown? The resistance is general in all parts of America; you must,

therefore, let it govern itself by its own internal policy, or make it

subservient to all your laws, by an exertion of all the forces of the

kingdom. These partial counsels are well suited to irritate, not

subjugate." Pownall, Johnstone (late Governor of Florida), Dodsworth,

Fox, and others followed Burke on the same side, but argument was of no

avail. Without a division, the bill passed by an almost unanimous vote,

and on the 31st of March it became a law by the royal assent.

Other oppressive Acts of Parliament--Madness of Ministers.--Warnings of

the Opposition unheeded.--The "Quebec Act"

505Another bill soon followed, "for better regulating the government of

Massachusetts Bay." It was tantamount to an abrogation of the charter of

that colony. It gave to the crown the appointment of counselors and

judges of the Supreme Court, and the nomination of all other officers,

military, executive, and judicial, was given to the governors,

independently of any approval by the Council. The sheriffs were

empowered to select jurors, a duty before performed by the select-men of

the towns. All town meetings, except for elections, were prohibited.

This bill, so manifestly hostile to the freedom of British subjects,

elicited a warm debate, and Burke and Barré opposed it with all their

might. "What can the Americans believe," said Burke, "but that England

wishes to despoil them of all liberty, of all franchise, and, by the

destruction of their charters, to reduce them to a state of the most

abject slavery?.... As the Americans are no less ardently attached to

liberty than the English themselves, can it ever be hoped that they will

submit to such exorbitant usurpation, to such portentous resolutions?"

Pownall warned ministers to pause. He alluded to that powerful engine,

the Committees of Correspondence, then unceasingly working in the

colonies, and assured ministers that their harsh measure would drive the

people to the calling of a general Congress, and perhaps a resort to

arms. All opposition was fruitless, and the bill passed the House by the

overwhelming majority of two hundred and thirty-nine against sixty-four.

Lord Shelburne and others vehemently denounced it in the Upper House,

and eleven peers signed a protest in seven long articles.

North had begun to work the lever of oppression so forcibly that it

seemed not easy for him to desist. A third bill was introduced, intended

to protect the servants of royApril 21, 1774alty in America against the

verdicts of colonial juries. It provided for the trial in England of all

persons charged in the colonies with murders committed in support of

government. It was suggested by a retrospect of the "Boston massacre,"

and was a most unjust and insulting comment upon the verdict in favor of

Captain Preston and his soldiers. It was more--it guarantied comparative

safety to those who might shoot a _rebel_ in the name of the king. This

measure was bitterly denounced by the opposition leaders. "This," said

Colonel Barré, "is, indeed, the most extraordinary resolution ever heard

in the Parliament of England. It offers new encouragement to military

insolence, already so insupportable.... By this law Americans are

deprived of a right which belongs to every human creature--that of

demanding justice before a tribunal of impartial judges. Even Captain

Preston, who, in their own city of Boston, had shed the blood of

citizens, found among them a fair trial and equitable judges." Alderman

Sawbridge was more bold and recriminating in his denunciations of the

measure. He called it "ridiculous and cruel asserted that it was meant

to enslave the Americans, and expressed an ardent hope that they would

not admit the execution of any of these destructive bills, but nobly

refuse them all. "If they do not," he said, "they are the most abject

slaves upon earth, and nothing the ministers can do is base enough for

them." Again remonstrance was vain, and the bill passed the House by a

majority of one hundred and twenty-seven to forty-four; in the Lords, by

forty-nine to twelve. Eight peers entered a strong protest against it.

It became a law by royal assent on the 20 th of May.

A fourth bill, for quartering troops in America, was also brought in,

and took the course of others. Rose Fuller, who generally supported

ministers, attempted to break the severity of the several enactments,

and produce a reconciliation with the colonics, by proposing a repeal of

the act imposing the duty on tea. His proposition was negatived by a

large majority. On the annunciation of the result, Mr. Fuller uttered

these remarkable words: "I will now take my leave of the whole plan; you

will commence your ruin from this day! I am sorry to say that not only

the House has fallen into this error, but the people approve of the

measure. The people, I am sorry to say, are misled. But a short time

will prove the evil tendency of this bill. If ever there was a nation

rushing headlong to ruin, it is this."

Evidently anticipating rebellion in America, and distrustful of the

loyalty of the newly-acquired colony of Quebec, or Canada, a fifth act

was brought forward by ministers, making great concessions to the Roman

Catholic population of that province. This law, known as

Proceedings in Massachusetts on Account of the Port Bill.--Recall of

Hutchinson.--Division of Sentiment. Quebec Act

506the Quebec Act, has already been noticed in detail on pages 156--7. *

Let us now turn our eyes back to the colonies, and observe the spirit of

the people of Boston on hearing of the plans maturing for their

enslavement and ruin.

Intelligence of the passage of the Boston Port Bill reached

Massachusetts in May. May 13 Already the Assembly had taken high, but

correct ground on the subject of the salaries of crown officers in the

colonies. In January that body resolved that it was incumbent upon the

judges to determine at once whether they would receive their salaries

direct from the crown, or depend therefor upon the votes of the

Assembly. Chief-justice Oliver was questioned upon this point, and

replied that he should hereafter look to the crown for the emoluments of

office. The Assembly then resolved, by a majority of sixty-nine to nine,

"That Peter Oliver hath, by his conduct, proved himself an enemy to the

Constitution of the province, and is become greatly obnoxious to the

good people of it; that he ought to be removed from the office of chief

justice; and that a remonstrance and petition to the governor and

Council, for his immediate removal, be prepared." They also resolved to

impeach the chief justice. The governor not only refused to remove him,

but declared the acts of the Assembly unconstitutional. **

Fortunately for Hutchinson's personal safety, but much to his chagrin,

his recall accompanied the Port Bill, and General Gage was appointed his

successor. Thus far, in all matters relative to the agitations in the

colonies, Gage had behaved so discreetly that he enjoyed a considerable

share of public confidence and esteem, and in proportion as the people

of Boston detested Hutchinson they were disposed to respect the new

governor. Hutchinson, deprived of the shield of delegated power, so much

feared the resentment of the Boston populace, that he retired to his

country house at Milton, where he remained in seclusion until a June l,

1774 favorable opportunity offered for him to leave the province. It is

an erroneous belief that the people were unanimous in opposition to

government and in support of republican views. For a while, when the

issue came, the parties were very nearly balanced in Boston; and during

the whole time of its occupancy by the British troops, until the

evacuation in 1776, a large portion of the inhabitants were loyal.

Before Hutchinson departed, one hundred and twenty merchants of Boston,

and many lawyers, magistrates, and principal gentlemen of that town, and

Salem, and Marblehead, signed an address to him, in which they expressed

entire approbation of his public conduct, and affectionate wishes for

his prosperity. These "addressors" were afterward obliged to recant.

Some who would not left the province, and were the earliest of the

_refugee Loyalists._

General Gage, doubtful what reception he should meet at Boston,

proceeded with great caution. Four additional regiments were ordered to

the rebellious town, but he went thither from New York unattended by any

military except his staff. On the day when he

* A fact not noticed in the former consideration of the Quebec Act is

worthy of record, as showing the actual despotic tendency of

Parliamentary enactments at that time. By a provision of the act in

question, the total revenue of the province of Canada was consigned, in

the first instance, to a warrant from the Lord of the Treasury, for the

purpose of pensioning judges during pleasure, and the support of a civil

list, totally unlimited. This first Lord of the Treasury, or prime

minister, was thus in actual possession of the whole revenue of the

province, and unrestrained in its expenditure, except by general

instructions to use it "to defray the expenses of the administration of

justice, and to support civil government in the colonies." Similar

despotic ingredients were profusely sprinkled throughout the whole batch

of measures brought forward by Lord North to rule the Americans. The

superficial observer is apt to consider the zeal of the Americans

against Parliamentary measures highly intemperate and sometimes

censurable, for apparently trifling causes aroused the most violent

action. But the colonists clearly perceived the huge monster of

despotism artfully covered under a fair guise, and what seemed but an

insect, magnified by the microscope of prejudice, they knew to be the

germ of a monster reality. The three per cent, duty on tea, considered

alone, was but a grain of sand as an obstacle to friendly feelings, but

the principle that slept there was a towering Alp.

** Peter Oliver, brother of Andrew Oliver, the stamp-master already

noticed, was born in 1713, and graduated at Harvard in 1730. He was

appointed judge of the Superior Court in 1756, and became chief justice

when his brother-in-law, Hutchinson, was appointed governor. He was

impeached by the Massachusetts Assembly in 1774. Judge Oliver soon

afterward went to England. He died at Birmingham in October, 1791, aged

nearly seventy-nine years.

Arrival of General Gage in Boston.--Meeting In Faneuil Hall.--Excitement

among the People--. Newspaper Devices.

507entered the harbor the town was greatly excited, news of the Port

Bill having just May 13, 1774 arrived. He landed at Long Wharf, and was

received with much respect by the immense crowd of people that met him.

He was entertained by the magistrates and others at a public dinner, and

on that evening Hutchinson was burned in effigy on the Common, in front

of John Hancock's mansion.

The next day a numerously attended town meeting, at which Samuel Adams

presided, was held in Faneuil Hall to consider the Port Bill. The people

were, indeed, at their "wits' end." The decree had gone forth to blight

the town; a governor, commissioned to execute the ministerial will, was

present, and soldiers were on their way to support his authority.

The meeting voted "That it is the opinion of the town that, if the other

colonies come into a joint resolution to stop all importation from, and

exportation to, Great Britain, and every part of the East Indies, till

the act be repealed, the same will prove the salvation of North America

and her liberties; and that the impolicy, injustice, inhumanity, and

cruelty of the act exceed all our powers of expression; we, therefore,

leave it to the just censure of others, and appeal to God and the

world." Paul Revere, an artist and mechanic of Boston, and one of the

most active patriots, was sent to New York and Philadelphia to invoke

sympathy and co-operation. A vast number of copies of the act, printed

with heavy black lines around it, and some of them having the sepulchral

device of skull and cross-bones rudely engraved as a head-piece, were

scattered over the country, and cried in cities and villages as the

"Barbarous, cruel, bloody, and inhuman murder!" ** The whole country was

inflamed, and every where the most lively sympathy for the people of

Boston was awakened. Orators at public gatherings, ministers in the

pulpits, and the newspaper press throughout the land, denounced the

oppression laid upon Boston as a type of what was in store for the whole

country Some of the newspapers placed at their head the significant

device used during the Stamp Act excitement, a serpent cut in ten

pieces, with the inscription "_Join or die! or "Unite or die!"_*** The

cause of Boston became the

* This is a substantial stone building, situated upon Beacon Street,

fronting the Common. It was erected by Thomas Hancock, an uncle of

Governor Hancock, in 1737. The present proprietor is a nephew of the

governor.

** The engraving is a fac-simile, one fourth the size of the original,

of a device upon one of these papers. Over the skull is a rude

resemblance of a crown, and beneath the bones that of the Cup of

Liberty, denoting that all was death and destruction between the crown

and liberty. This device is supposed to be the work of Paul Revere, who

engraved the pictures of the naval investment of Boston in 1768, and the

Boston Massacre in 1770. Revere was a very ingenious man, an active

patriot, and, as grand master of the Masonic fraternity in

Massachusetts, had extensive influence. Ho was a co-worker with Samuel

Adams, Joseph Warren, and other compatriots in setting the ball of the

Revolution in motion.

*** The cut upon the next page is a fac-simile of one of those

illustrations. I copied it from the Pennsylvania Journal, 1774, where it

appeared for nearly a year, or until the colonics were fairly united by

a Continental Congress. The loyal papers loudly condemned the use of the

device. A writer in Rivington's Royal Gazette, * who called it a

"scandalous and saucy reflection," was answered as follows by a

correspondent of the Journal:

*** "To the Author of the Lines in Mr. Rivington's Paper, on the Snake

depicted in some of the American Newspapers.

"That New England's abused, and by sons of sedition, Is granted without

either prayer or petition; And that is a scandalous, saucy reflection,

That merits the soundest, severest correction,' Is readily granted. 'How

came it to pass?' Because she is pester'd by snakes in the grass, Who,

by lying and cringing, and such like pretensions, Get places once

honor'd disgraced with pensions. And you, Mr. Pensioner, instead of

repentance (If I don't mistake you), have wrote your own sentence; For

by such snakes as this New England's abused, And the head of the

serpents, 'you know, must be bruised."

*** "New Jersey." Rivington was the "king's printer" in New York city.

His office was at the southeast corner of Pearl and Wall Streets. He had

the entire confidence of the British authorities, and held the "rebels"

in great contempt. He was a caustic writer, and his remarks were often

remembered with bitterness for years. The following anecdote is

illustrative of this fact:

*** Among those who cherished very hostile feelings toward Rivington was

that dare-devil, General Ethan Allen, of Vermont, who swore he would

"lick Rivington the very first opportunity he had." Rivington himself,

aware of his intentions, gave a most humorous description of his

interview with Allen, showing, at the same time, his exceeding

cleverness and tact, which may even at this day be profitable to his

editorial brethren. Rivington was a fine, portly-looking man, dressed in

the extreme of fashion--curled and powdered hair, claret-colored coat,

scarlet waistcoat trimmed with gold lace, buckskin breeches, and top

boots--and kept the very best society.

*** The clerk below stairs saw Allen coming at a distance. "I was

sitting," said Rivington, "after a good dinner, alone, with my bottle of

Madeira before me, when I heard an unusual noise in the street, and a

huzza from the boys. I was in the second story, and, stepping to the

window, saw a tall figure in tarnished regimentals, with a large cocked

hat and an enormous long sword, followed by a crowd of boys, who

occasionally cheered him with huzzas, of which he seemed insensible. He

came up to my door and stopped. I could see no more. My heart told me it

was Ethan Allen. I shut down my window, and retired behind my table and

bottle. 1 was certain the hour of reckoning had come. There was no

retreat. Mr. Staples, my clerk, came in paler than ever, and clasping

his hands, said, 'Master, he is come I' 'I know it.' 'He entered the

store, and asked "if James Rivington lived there." I answered, "Yes,

sir." "Is he at home?" "I will go and see, sir," I said; and now,

master, what is to be done? There he is in the store, and the boys

peeping at him from the street.' I had made up my mind. I looked at the

bottle of Madeira--possibly took a glass. 'Show him up,' said I; ' and

if such Madeira can not mollify him, he must be harder than adamant.'

There was a fearful moment of suspense. I heard him on the stairs, his

long sword clanking at every step. In he stalked. 'Is your name James

Rivington?' 'It is, sir, and no man could be more happy than I am to see

Colonel Ethan Allen.' 'Sir, I have come--' 'Not another word, my dear

colonel, until you have taken a seat and a glass of old Madeira.' 'But,

sir, I don't think it proper--' 'Not another word, colonel. Taste this

wine; I have had it in glass for ten years. Old wine, you know, unless

it is originally sound, never improves by age.' He took the glass,

swallowed the wine, smacked his lips, and shook his head approvingly.

'Sir, I come--' 'Not another word until you have taken another glass,

and then, my dear colonel, we will talk of old affairs, and I have some

droll events to detail.' In short, we finished two bottles of Madeira,

and parted as good friends as if we never had cause to be otherwise."

Real Weakness of the British Ministry.--Newspaper Poetry.--The Snake

Device.

508cause of all the colonies, and never were the British ministry really

weaker in their government relations to America than when Lord North was

forging, as he vainly thought, the fetters of majestic law to bind the

colonies indissolubly to the throne.

In honorable concession alone lay his real strength, but of these

precious locks the Delilah of haughty ambition had shorn him, and when

he attempted to put forth his power, he found himself "like other men,"

weak indeed!

General Gage at Boston.--Proceedings of the Massachusetts Assembly.--

Proposition for a General Congress

509

CHAPTER XXII.

Scene IV. In Boston, while the Regulars were flying from Lexington.

Lord Boston, surrounded by his Guards and a few Officers.

Lord Boston. If Colonel Smith succeeds in his embassy, and I think

there's no doubt of it, I shall have the pleasure this evening, I

expect, of having my friends Hancock and Adams's good company; I'll make

each of them a present of a pair of handsome iron ruffles, and Major

Provost shall provide a suitable entertainment for them in his

apartment.

Officer. Sure they'll not be so unpolite as to refuse your excellency's

kind invitation.

Lord Boston. Should they, Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn have my

orders to make use of all their rhetoric and the persuasive eloquence of

British thunder.

Enters a messenger in haste.

I bring your excellency unwelcome tidings--

Lord Boston. For Heaven's sake! from what quarter?

Messenger. From Lexington plains.

Lord Boston. 'Tis impossible!

Messenger. Too true, sir.

Lord Boston. Say--what is it? Speak what you know.

Messenger. Colonel Smith is defeated and fast retreating.

Lord Boston. Good God! what does he say? Mercy on me!

Messenger. They're flying before the enemy.

Lord Boston. Britons turn their backs before the Rebels! the Rebels put

Britons to flight! Said you not so?

Messenger. They are routed, sir; they are flying this instant; the

provincials are numerous, and hourly gaining strength; they have nearly

surrounded our troops. A re-enforcement, sir, a timely succor, may save

the shattered remnant. Speedily! speedily, sir! or they're irretrievably

lost.

"The Fall of British Tyranny, or American Liberty triumphant." *

ENERAL GAGE soon became a tyrant in the eyes of the people of Boston.

However humane were his intentions, the execution of his commission

necessarily involved harsh and oppressive measures. Pursuant to the

provisions of the Port Bill, he proceeded, after the appointment of the

members of the Council (see note 1, next page), to transfer the

government June, 1774offices to Salem, and on the 31st of May the

Assembly held its final session in Boston. By proclamation, Gage

adjourned the House until the 7th of June, and ordered the next meeting

at Salem. Anticipating this measure, the House appointed two members of

the Assembly--Samuel Adams and James Warren--to act in the interim, as

the exigencies of the case might require. These, with a few others

already named, held private conferences, and arranged plans for the

public good. On the third evening after the adjournment of the Assembly,

their plans were matured. The suggestions of New York and other places,

as well as the hints thrown out by Pownall in the House of Commons

respecting a general Congress, were favorably considered. A plan was

arranged for a Continental Congress; they also matured measures for

making provisions for supplying funds and munitions of war, prepared an

address to the other colonies, inviting their co-operation in the

measure of a general Congress, and drew up a non-importation agreement.

If:

* This is a well-written drama, published by Styner and Cist,

Philadelphia, in 1776. Its sub-title is, "A tragi-Comedy of Five Acts,

as lately planned at the Royal Theatrum Pandemonium at St. James's. The

principal place of action, in America." It is dedicated "To Lord Boston

[General Gage], Lord Kidnapper [Dunmore, governor of Virginia], and the

innumerable and never-ending class of Macs and Donalds upon Donalds, and

the remnant of the gentlemen Officers, Actors, Merry Andrews, Strolling

Players, Pirates, and Buccaneers in America."

Boldness of the Patriots.--Attempt to Dissolve the Assembly.--The

"League."

June 17. 510These several propositions and plans were boldly laid before

the General Court when it June 7, 1774 reopened at Salem. The few

partisans of the crown in that Assembly were filled with amazement and

alarm at the boldness of the popular leaders; and as rank treason was

developed in the first acts of the majority, a partisan of government

determined, if possible, to put a stop to further rebellious

proceedings.

Feigning sudden illness, he was allowed to leave the Assembly. He went

immediately to the governor and acquainted him with the proceedings in

progress. ** Gage sent his secretary to dissolve the Assembly by

proclamation, but the patriots were too vigilant for him. The doors of

the Assembly were locked, and the keys were safely deposited in Samuel

Adams's pocket. The secretary read the proclamation on the stairs, but

it was unheeded by the patriots within.

They proceeded to adopt and sign a "Solemn League and Covenant," in

which all former non-importation agreements and cognate undertakings

were concentrated, and a committee was appointed to send the covenant,

as a circular, to every colony in America. *** They also adopted the

other plans matured by Adams and others, and a resolution that "a

meeting of committees, from the several colonies on this continent, is

highly expedient and necessary, to consult upon the present state of the

country, and the miseries to which we are and must be reduced by the

operation of certain acts of Parliament, and to deliberate and determine

on wise and proper measures to be recom-

* The political complexion of the new Council did not please Gage. He

exercised the prerogative given to him by the charter to the fullest

extent in rejecting thirteen of the elected counselors. The remainder

were not much more agreeable to him.

** General Gage was then residing at the house of Robert Hooper, Esq.,

in Danvers, about four miles from Salem.

***All who felt an attachment to the American cause were called upon to

sign it; and the covenanters were required to obligate themselves, in

the presence of God, to cease all commerce with England, dating from the

last of the ensuing month of August, until the late wicked acts of

Parliament should be repealed and the Massachusetts colony reinstated in

all its rights and privileges; to abstain from the use of any British

goods whatsoever; and to avoid all commerce or traffic with those who

refused to sign the League. Finally, it was covenanted that those who

refused to sign the League should be held up to public scorn and

indignation by the publication of their names. The articles of the

League were transmitted by circulars to all the other provinces, with

invitations to the inhabitants to affix their names thereto.

Philadelphia alone, as a city, did not accept the invitation to join in

such a measure, preferring to refer the matter to a general Congress,

and agreeing to execute faithfully all measures therein agreed upon.

**** A biographical sketch of this distinguished patriot will be found

among those of the signers of the Declaration of Independence printed in

the Supplement.

Appointment of Delegates to a Continental Congress.--Denunciation of the

"League."--Closing of the Port of Boston.

511mended to all the colonies for the recovery and re-establishment of

our just rights and liberties, civil and religious, and the restoration

of union and harmony between Great Britain and America, which is most

ardently desired by all good men." They designated the 1st of September

as the time, and Philadelphia as the place of meeting. Thomas Cushing,

the Speaker of the Assembly, James Bowdoin, many years a member of the

Council, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, were chosen

delegates. A treasurer was appointed, and the towns were called upon to

pay their respective shares of the sum of two thousand five hundred

dollars, voted to the delegates in payment of their expenses. The whole

business being ended, the Assembly adjourned indefinitely, and thus

ended the last session of the Assembly of Massachusetts Bay, under a

royal governor.

Gage was greatly irritated by the proceedings of the Assembly, and the

acts of the people of Boston in sustaining these traitorous measures. He

refused to receive the answer of the General Court to his address, and

issued a strong proclamation in denunciation of the _League_ as an

unlawful combination, hostile to the crown and Parliament, and ordering

the magistrates to apprehend and bring to trial all who should be guilty

of signing it. The people laughed at his proclamation, defied the pliant

magistrates, and signed the League by thousands. Uncompromising

hostility was aroused, and the arm of bold defiance was uplifted, even

in the midst of distress and the menaces of foreign bayonets.

At noon on the 1st of June the port of Boston was closed to all vessels

that wished to enter, and, after the 14th, all that remained were not

allowed to depart. The two 1774 regiments ordered to Boston by Gage had

arrived, and were encamped on the Common. Soon afterward, these being

re-enforced by several regiments from Halifax, Quebec, New York, and

Ireland, the town became an immense garrison. The utter prostration of

all business soon produced great distress in the city. The rich,

deprived of their rents, became straitened, and the poor, denied the

privilege of labor, were reduced to beggary. All classes felt the

scourge of the oppressor, yet the fortitude and forbearance of the

inhabitants were most remarkable. The sympathy of the people abroad was

commensurate with the sufferings of the patriots, and from every quarter

came expressions of friendship and substantial tokens of attachment to

the sufferers. The people of Georgia sent the Bostonians sixty-three

barrels of rice, and seven hundred and twenty dollars in specie. Wheat

and other grain were forwarded to them from different points; Schoharie,

in New York, alone sending five hundred and twenty-five bushels of

wheat. The city of London, in its corporate capacity, subscribed one

hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the relief of the poor of Boston.

The people of Marblehead and Salem offered the Boston merchants the free

use of wharves and stores, for they scorned to enrich themselves at the

expense of their oppressed neighbors. A committee was appointed in

Boston to receive and distribute donations, and, in the midst of martial

law, the suffering patriots were bold and unyielding.

General Gage was warned to relax the rigor of his military rule, or open

rebellion would ensue. He affected to disregard these warnings, yet he

employed precautionary measures. Boston is situated upon a peninsula, at

that time connected with the continent by a narrow strip of land called

the Neck. Convinced that hostilities must ensue unless the home

government should recede, and relying more upon soldiers than upon

conciliatory deeds, Gage moved in subserviency to this reliance, and

stationed a strong guard of armed men upon the Neck. He gave as a reason

for this measure the shallow pretext that he wished to prevent

desertions from his ranks. The people readily interpreted the meaning of

his movement, and saw at once that the patriots of Boston were to be cut

off from free communication with those in the country, and that arms and

ammunition were not to be transported from the city to the interior. For

the first time the free intercourse of New Englanders was interrupted,

and the lightning of rebellion, that had for years been curbed within

the hearts of the people, leaped forth in manifestations which alarmed

the hitherto haughty hirelings of royalty. The members of the new

Council, appointed by the governor under the act which changed, and

indeed abrogated, the charter of Massachusetts, who had accepted office,

were treated with disdain at every step, and a large proportion of them

were forced to resign.

Peaceable Resistance of the People.--Preparations for War.--Recantation

of the Hutchinson Addressors

512

The courts of justice were suspended; the attorneys who had issued writs

of citation were compelled to ask pardon in the public journals, and

promise not to expedite others until the laws should be revoked and the

charter re-established. The people occupied the seats of justice, that

no room might be left for judges. When invited to withdraw, they

answered that they recognized no other tribunals and no other

magistrates than such as were established by ancient laws and usage. **

Persuaded that war was inevitable, the people, throughout the province,

began to arm themselves and practice military tactics daily. Every where

the fife and drum were heard, and fathers and sons, encouraged by the

gentler sex, took lessons together in the art of war. The forge and

hammer were busy in making guns and swords, and every thing bore the

animated but gloomy impress of impending hostility. The zeal of true

patriots waxed warmer; the fears of the timid and lukewarm assumed the

features of courage; the avowed friends of government became alarmed,

and those _Addressors_, as they were called, who signed an address to

Hutchinson on his departure, were obliged to make public recantations in

the newspapers. *** Some of the Boston clergy (particularly Dr. Cooper,

the person who

* This picture is from an English print of the time. Then the principal

portion of the town was upon the eastern slope and flats. There were a

few houses upon the higher ground in the vicinity of Beacon Hill, around

the Common, among which was that of John Hancock. In this picture,

Beacon Hill is designated by the pole, which, with its barrel, is

noticed in a preceding chapter. The peninsula originally contained about

seven hundred acres. The hills have been razed and the earth carried

into the water, by which means the peninsula is so enlarged that it now

comprises about fourteen hundred acres.

** Otis's Botta, i., 124.

*** There were many persons of some significance who were willing, at

this stage of the controversy, to offer conciliatory measures, and they

even gave encouragement to General Gage and his government. One hundred

and twenty merchants and others of Boston signed an address to General

Gage, expressing a willingness to pay for the tea destroyed. It is

averred, also, that some of the wealthiest people of Boston actually

endeavored to raise money to pay the East India Company for the tea, but

the attempt failed. There were some others who protested against the

course of the Committee of Correspondence and the action of a large

portion of the ministers of the Gospel, who, they averred, were unduly

exciting the people, and urging them headlong toward ruin. But these

movements were productive only of mischief. They made the colonists more

determined, and deluded the home government with the false idea that the

most respectable portion of the people were averse to change or

revolution. The following is a copy of the recantation, signed by a

large number of the addressors: "Whereas we, the subscribers, did some

time since sign an address to Governor Hutchinson, which, though

prompted to by the best intentions, has, nevertheless, given great,

offense to our country; We do now declare, that we desire, so far from

designing, by that action, to show our acquiescence in those acts of

Parliament so universally and justly odious to all America, that, on the

contrary, we hoped we might, in that way, contribute to their repeal;

though now, to our sorrow, we find ourselves mistaken. And we do now

further declare, that we never intended the offense which this address

has occasioned; that, if we had foreseen such an event, we should never

have signed it; as it always has been and now is our wish to live in

harmony with our neighbors, and our serious determination is to promote,

to the utmost of our power, the liberty, the welfare, and happiness of

our country, which Is inseparably connected with our own." The Committee

of Correspondence declared the recantation satisfactory, and recommended

the signers of it as true friends to America.

Spirit of the American Press.--Zeal of the Committees of

Correspondence.--Their importance.--Fortification of Boston Neck.

513first received Hutchinson's letters from Franklin) were very active

in promoting hostility to the rulers, and the press exerted its power

with great industry and effect. *

The _Massachusetts Spy_ and the _Boston Gazette_ were the principal Whig

journals, and through the latter, Otis, Adams, Quincy, Warren, and

others communed with the public, in articles suited to the comprehension

of all. Epigrams, parables, sonnets, dialogues, and every form of

literary expression remarkable for point and terseness, filled these

journals. The following is a fair specimen of logic in rhyme, so

frequently employed at that day. I copied it from Anderson's

_Constitutional Gazette_, ** published in New York in 1775. That paper

was the uncompromising opponent of Rivington's (Tory) Gazette, published

in the same city.

"The Quarrel with America fairly Stated.

"Rudely forced to drink tea, Massachusetts in anger

Spills the tea on John Bull--John falls on to bang her;

Massachusetts, enraged, calls her neighbors to aid,

And give Master John a severe bastinade.

Now, good men of the law! pray, who is in fault,

The one who begun, or resents the assault?'

The Boston Committee of Correspondence were busy night and day preparing

the people of the province for energetic action, and it needed but a

slight offense to sound the battle cry and invoke the sword of rebellion

from its scabbard. **

Alarmed at the rebellious spirit manifested on all sides, Gage removed

the seat August, 1774 of government from Salem back to Boston, and began

to fortify the Neck. The work went on slowly at first, for British gold

could not buy Boston carpenters, and workmen had to be procured from

other places. The people viewed these warlike preparations with

indignation, which was heightened by an injudicious act of Gage in

sending a detach-

* There were five newspapers printed in Boston in 1774, as follows: the

Boston Past, on Monday morning, by Thomas and John Fleet; the Boston

News-Letter, by Margaret Draper (widow of Richard Draper) and Robert

Boyle; the Massachusetts Gazette awl Boston Post Boy and Advertiser, by

Mills and Hicks; the Boston Gazette and Country Journal, by Edes and

Gill; and the Massachusetts Spy, by Isaiah Thomas.--See Thomas's History

of Printing.

** Anderson was the father of Dr. Alexander Anderson of New York, the

earliest wood-engraver, as a distinct art, in America. Now (1855), at

the age of eighty years, he uses the graver with all the skill and vigor

of earlier manhood.

*** The committee of 1774 consisted of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, James

Bowdoin, John Adams, William Phillips, Joseph Warren, and Josiah Quincy.

The importance of these committees of correspondence may be understood

by the estimate placed upon them by a Tory writer over the signature of

Massachusettensis. "This," he said, "is the foulest, subtlest, and most

venomous serpent ever issued from the egg of sedition. It is the source

of the rebellion. I saw the small seed when it was implanted; it was a

grain of mustard. I have watched the plant until it has become a great

tree. The vilest reptiles that crawl upon the earth are concealed at the

root; the foulest birds of the air rest upon its branches. I now would

induce you to go to work immediately with axes and hatchets and cut it

down, for a two-fold reason: because it is a pest to society, and lest

it be felled suddenly by a stronger arm, and crush its thousands in its

fall."

Attempted Seizure of Arms and Ammunition at Cambridge.--Alarm concerning

Boston.--Convention in Boston

September l, 1774 ment 514of troops to seize a quantity of gunpowder

belonging to the province, stored at Charlestown and Cambridge. This act

greatly exasperated the people, and large numbers assembled at

Cambridge, determined upon attacking the troops in Boston. About the

same time, intelligence went abroad that the ships of war in Boston

harbor were bombarding the town and the regular troops were massacring

the people, sparing neither September 3. age nor sex. The news spread

rapidly, and the thrill of horror produced by the report was succeeded

by a cry of vengeance. In less than thirty-six hours the country for

more than one hundred and seventy miles in extent was aroused. From the

shores of Long Island to the green hills of Berkshire, "To arms! to

arms!" was the universal shout. Instantly, on every side, men of all

ages were seen cleansing and burnishing their weapons, furnishing

themselves with provisions and warlike stores, and preparing for an

immediate march; gentlemen of rank and fortune exhorting and encouraging

others by voice and example. The roads were soon crowded with armed men,

marching for Boston with great rapidity, but without noise or tumult.

Full thirty thousand men were under arms and speeding toward the town;

nor did they halt until well assured that the report was untrue. *

At a convention of delegates from the several towns in Suffolk county,

to which Boston belonged, held on the 6th of September, it was resolved

that no obedience was due to 1774 any part of the late acts of

Parliament. Collectors of taxes, and other officers holding public

money, were recommended to retain the funds in their hands until the old

charter was restored; that persons who had accepted seats in the Council

had violated the duty they owed to their country; that those who did not

resign by the 20th of September should be considered public enemies;

that the Quebec Act, establishing Romanism in Canada, was dangerous to

Protestantism and liberty, and that they were determined to act on the

defensive only so long as just reason required. They also recommended

the people to seize and keep as a hostage any servant of the crown who

might fall in their way, when they should hear of a patriot being

arrested for any political offense. They drew up an address to General

Gage, telling him frankly that they did not desire to commence

hostilities, but that they were determined not to submit to any of the

late acts of Parliament; they also complained loudly of the

fortifications upon the Neck.

Gage denounced the convention as treasonable, and, in reply to their

address, declared that he should take such measures for the safety of

his troops and the friends of government as he thought proper, at the

same time assuring them that the cannon placed in battery on the Neck

should not be used except to repel hostile proceedings. Unlike Governor

Carleton of Canada, he had no word of kindness or act of conciliation

for the patriots, ** and they, in turn, reviled the governor and set his

power at naught. Tarring and feathering and other violent acts became

common, and the Tories or friends of government in the surrounding

country were obliged to seek refuge in Boston. The eight military

companies in the town, composed of citizens, were mostly broken up. John

Hancock had been commander of a corps called the Governor's Independent

Cadets. General Gage had dismissed him, and the company, indignant at

the affront, appointed a committee, on the 14 th of August, to

* See Hinman's Historical Collections from Official Records, &c., of

Connecticut.

It was believed by some, that the rumor of the bombardment at Boston was

set afloat by some of the leading patriots, to show General Gage what

multitudes of people would rise up to crush his troops if he dared to

abuse his power by committing the least act of violence.

** The kindness which Governor Carleton manifested toward the American

prisoners captured at Quebec and the Cedars in 1776, did more to keep

down rebellion in that province than any severe measures could have

effected. Lamb says, that "in the spring of 1776. Governor Carleton

addressed the prisoners with such sweetness and good-humor as was

sufficient to melt every heart. 'My lads,' he said, 'why did you come to

disturb an honest man in his government that never did any harm to you

in his life? I never invaded your property, nor sent a single soldier to

disturb you. Come, my hoys, you are in a very distressing situation, and

not able to go home with any comfort. I must provide you with shoes,

stockings, and warm waistcoats. I must give you some victuals to carry

you home. Take care, my lads, that you do not come here again, lest I

should not treat you so kindly."--Lamb's Journal of the American War, p.

89, Dublin, 1809.

Revolutionary Town Meetings.--Order for Convening the Assembly

countermanded.--Meeting of the Assembly

515wait on the governor at Salem, and return him their standard,

disbanded themselves." *

The day before the meeting of the Suffolk convention, the general

Continental September, 1774 Congress met in Philadelphia, and as soon as

information of its firm proceedings reached Massachusetts, the patriots

assumed a bolder tone. Gage summoned the House of Representatives to

meet at Salem, to proceed to business according to the new order of

things under the late act of Parliament. Town meetings were held, but so

revolutionary were their proceedings, that Gage countermanded his order

for the Assembly. His right to countermand was denied, and most of the

members elect, to the number of ninety, met at Salem on the day

appointed. Gage, of course, was not there, and as nobody appeared to

open the court or administer the oaths, they resolved themselves into a

provincial Congress, adjourned to Concord, and there organized by

choosing John Hancock president, and

* I copy from the Massachusetts Spy of September, 1774, the following

lampoon in rhyme:

"A sample of gubernatorial eloquence, So lately exhibited to the company

of cadets of Your Colonel H--n--k, by neglect Has been deficient in

respect; As he my sovereign toe ne'er kissed, 'Twas proper he should be

dismissed; I never was and never will By mortal man be treated ill. I

never was nor ever can Be treated ill by mortal man. Oh had I but have

known before That temper of your factious corps, It should have been my

greatest pleasure To have prevented that bold measure. To meet with such

severe disgrace--My standard flung into my face! Disband yourselves I so

cursed stout! Oh had I, had I, turned you out!"

** This is given as a specimen of the fearlessness of the press at that

time, for it must be remembered that the Spy was printed in Boston, then

filled with armed troops employed to put down rising rebellion. Gage's

proclamations were paraphrased in rhyme, and otherwise ridiculed. One of

these, now before me, commences,

"Tom Gage's Proclamation, Or blustering Denunciation (Replete with

Defamation), Threatening Devastation And speedy Jugulation Of the New

English Nation, Who shall his pious ways shun." It closes with "Thus

graciously the war I wage, As witnesseth my hand--TOM GAGE. "By command

of Mother Carey. "Thomas Flucker, Secretary." *

*** A biographical sketch of Mr. Hancock will be found among those of

the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in the Supplement.

Flucker was Secretary of Massachusetts under Gage. Henry (afterward

general) Knox, of the Revolution.

Appointment of Committees of Safety and Supplies.--Appointment of

military Officers.--Spiking of Cannons

516Benjamin Lincoln, afterward a revolutionary general, secretary. A

committee, appointed to consider the state of the province, prepared an

address to Gage, which the Congress adopted, and then adjourned to

Cambridge, where another committee was sent to present the address to

the governor. In that address they protested against the fortification

of the Neck, and complained of the recent acts of Parliament, while they

expressed the warmest loyalty to the king and the government. Gage

replied, as he did to the Suffolk committee, that his military

preparations were made only in self-defense, and were justified by the

warlike demonstrations on every hand. He concluded by pronouncing their

Assembly illegal, and in contravention of the charter of the province,

and warned them to desist.

The denunciations of Gage had no other effect than to increase the zeal

of the patriots. The Provincial Congress proceeded to appoint a

Committee of Safety, at the head of which was John Hancock, giving it

power to call out the militia. A committee was appointed to provide

ammunition and stores, and the sum of sixty-six thousand dollars was

appropriOctober 26, 1774ated for the purpose. Provision was also made

for arming the people of the province. They appointed Henry Gardner

treasurer of the colony, under the title of _receiver general_, into

whose hands the constables and tax-collectors were directed to pay all

public moneys which they received. Jedediah Preble, Artemus Ward, and

Seth Pomeroy, were appointed general officers of the militia. * The

first did not accept the appointment, and Ward and Pomeroy alone entered

upon the duty of organizing the military. Ammunition and stores were

speedily collected at Concord, Woburn, and other places. Mills were

erected for making gunpowder; manufactories were set up for making arms,

and great encouragement was given to the production of saltpeter.

The Provincial Congress disavowed any intention to attack the British

troops, yet took measures to cut off their supplies from the country.

Gage issued a proclamaNovember 10tion, denouncing their proceedings, to

which no attention was paid; and as the recommendations of the

Provincial Congress had all the authority of law, he was unsupported

except by his troops, and a few officials and their friends in the city.

Apprehending that the people of Boston might point the cannons upon the

fortifications about the town upon himself and troops, he caused a party

of sailors to be landed by night from a ship of war in the harbor, who

spiked all the guns upon the battery at Fort Hill.

At a session of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, convened on

the 23d of November, it was voted to enrol twelve thousand minute men--

volunteers pledged to be ready to enter the field at a minute's notice--

and an invitation was sent to Connecticut and Rhode Island to follow

this example, and increase the number of minute men to twenty thousand.

They elected the same delegates to the general Congress, to meet again

in May, 1775; appointed Colonel Thomas and Colonel Heath additional

generals; and adopted measures for the formation of a new Provincial

Congress, to meet early in the ensuing year. They then adjourned to

attend the general thanksgiving, held according to their own

appointment. ** When the year 1774 closed, the colonies were on the

verge of open insurrection. Let us turn for a moment to view the

progress of events in England.

When the colonial agents there observed the manifest improbability of a

reconciliation and the certainty of an appeal to arms, they were

exceedingly active in their efforts to mold the popular opinion in favor

of the colonies. The various addresses put forth by the

* For a sketeh of the life of General Ward, see ante, page 190. Pomeroy

was in the battle of Lake George, in 1755, and was the soldier of that

name whom Everett supposes to have shot Baron Dieskau. See page 109.

** This appointment was always made by the governor, as at the present

day, but the patriots had absolutely discarded his authority.

*.....daughter Lucy, in opposition to the wishes of her father, who

desired a more advantageous match for her. Knox was a young bookseller

in Boston, and Miss Flucker, who possessed considerable literary taste,

became acquainted with him while visiting his store to purchase articles

in his line. A sympathy of taste, feeling, and views produced mutual

esteem, which soon ripened into love. Her friends looked upon her as one

ruined in prospects of future social esteem and personal happiness, in

wedding one who had espoused the cause of rebellion; but many of those

very friends, when the great political change took place, were outcasts

and in poverty, while Lucy Knox was the center of tbe first social

circle in America.

Efforts of Franklin and others.--Counteraction by Adam Smith and

others.--Proceedings in Parliament

517Continental Congress were printed and industriously circulated. Dr.

Franklin and other friends of America traversed the manufacturing towns

in the north of England, and by personal communications enlightened the

people upon the important questions at issue. The inhabitants of those

districts were mostly Dissenters, looking upon the Church of England as

an oppressor; and, by parity of simple reasoning, its main pillar, the

throne, was regarded equally as an instrument of oppression. They were,

therefore, eager listeners to the truths respecting human rights which

the friends of republicanism uttered, and throughout Yorkshire,

Lancashire, Durham, and Northumberland, the people became much excited.

Ministers were alarmed, and concerted measures to counteract the effects

produced by these itinerant republicans. Adam Smith, the author of "The

Wealth of Nations," Wedderburne, the solicitor general, and other

friends of the ministry, wielded their pens vigorously; and, at their

solicitation, Dr. Roebuck, of Birmingham, a very popular man among the

manufacturing population, followed in the wake of Franklin and his

friends, and endeavored to apply a ministerial antidote to their

republican poison. In this he was measurably successful, and the

districts were quieted.

Parliament assembled on the 30th of November. The king informed them

that America was on the verge of open rebellion. When the usual address

to the king was proposed in the House of Commons, the opposition offered

an amendment, asking his majesty to lay before Parliament all letters,

orders, and instructions relating to American affairs, as well as all

the intelligence received from the colonies. Lord North opposed the

amendment, because it made the first advances toward a reconciliation,

and therefore was inconsistent with the dignity of the government! The

address was replete with assurances of support for the king and

ministers in all measures deemed necessary to maintain government in the

colonics, or, in other words, in drawing the sword, if necessary, to

bring the Americans to the feet of royal authority. A debate,

characterized by considerable bitterness, ensued, but the amendment was

rejected, and the loyal address was adopted by a vote of two hundred and

sixty-four against seventy-three. Similar action was had in the House of

Lords, and an address was carried by a vote of sixty-three to thirteen.

Nine peers signed a sensible protest, which concluded with these words:

"Whatever may be the mischievous designs or inconsiderate temerity which

leads others to this desperate course, we wish to be known as persons

who have ever disapproved of measures so pernicious in their past

effects and future tendencies; and who are not in haste, without inquiry

and information, to commit ourselves in declarations which may

precipitate our country into all the calamities of a civil war."

Franklin and his associates caused strong remonstrances and petitions to

be sent in from the northern manufacturing districts; and respectful

petitions were also sent in from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol,

and other large towns, praying for a just and conciliatory course toward

America. These petitions were referred to an inactive committee--"a

committee of oblivion," Burke called it--while a few counter petitions,

procured by Roebuck, were acted upon immediately. Petitions from

Americans, and even one from Ja-

* Adam Smith was born at Kirkaldy, in Scotland, in 1723. At the age of

three years he was carried off by some gipsies, but soon afterward was

recovered. He was educated at Oxford, and was designed for the Church.

He became an infidel in religious views, and of course turned his

attention to other than clerical duties. He was the friend of Hume,

Gibbon, and several of the most distinguished infidel writers of France.

He wrote much, but the work on which his reputation rests is his

"Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations," published

in 1771. It was for a long time the ablest work on political economy in

the English language. He died in 1790, as he had lived, a contemner of

Christianity.

Appearance of Pitt in Parliament.--His Speech on American Affairs.--His

conciliatory Proposition.

518maica, in favor of the colonies, were treated with disdain, and the

Americans had every reason to believe that government was anxious to

light up the flame of war, with the expectation of at once crushing the

spirit of independence in the West by a single tread of its iron heel of

power.

Parliament, which adjourned until after the Christmas holidays,

reassembled on the1775 20th of January. Greatly to the astonishment of

every one, Lord Chatham (Pitt) was in his place in the Upper House on

the following day. It was understood that he had washed his hands of

American affairs, and that he would probably not be seen in Parliament

during the session. It was a mistake, and the great statesman opened the

business of the session by proposing an address to the king, asking him

to "immediately dispatch orders to General Gage to remove his forces

from Boston as soon as the rigors of the season would permit."

"I wish, my lords," he said, "not to lose a day in this urgent, pressing

crisis. An hour now lost may produce years of calamity. For my part, I

will not desert, for a single moment, the conduct of this weighty

business. Unless nailed to my bed by extremity of sickness, I will give

it my unremitted attention. I will knock at the door of this sleeping

and confounded ministry, and will rouse them to a sense of their

impending danger. When I state the importance of the colonies to this

country, and the magnitude of danger from the present plan of

misadministration practiced against them, I desire not to be understood

to argue for a reciprocity of indulgence between England and America. I

contend not for indulgence, but justice to America; and I shall ever

contend that the Americans owe obedience to us in a limited degree."

After stating the points on which the supremacy of the mother country

was justly predicated, the great orator continued: "Resistance to your

acts was necessary as it was just; and your vain declarations of the

omnipotence of Parliament, and your imperious doctrines of the necessity

of submission, will be found equally incompetent to convince or to

enslave your fellow-subjects in America, who feel that tyranny, whether

ambitioned by an individual part of the Legislature or the bodies who

compose it, is equally intolerable to British subjects." He then drew a

picture of the condition of the troops in Boston, suffering from the

inclemencies of winter, insulted by the inhabitants, wasting away with

sickness and pining for action; and finally, after alluding to the

wisdom of the late Congress and the approval of their acts by the

people, he exclaimed, "I trust it is obvious to your lordships that all

attempts to impose servitude upon such men, to establish despotism over

such a mighty continental nation, must be vain--must be fatal. We shall

be forced ultimately to retract; let us retract while we can, not when

we must.... To conclude, my lords, if the ministers thus persevere in

misadvising and misleading the king, I will not say that they _can_

alienate the affections of his subjects from his crown, but I will

affirm that they will make the crown not worth his wearing. I will not

say that the king is betrayed, but I will pronounce that the kingdom is

undone."

Chatham's motion was negatived by a vote of sixty-eight to eighteen. Not

at all discouraged, he immediately presented a bill, in which it was

proposed to renounce the power of taxation, demand of the Americans an

acknowledgment of the supreme authority of Great Britain, and invite

them to contribute, voluntarily, a specified sum annually, to be

employed in meeting the charge on the national debt. This accomplished,

it proposed an immediate repeal of all the objectionable acts of

Parliament passed during the current reign, and then in force. * This,

of course, ministers regarded as a concession to the colonies quite as

injurious to national honor as any thing yet proposed, and more

humiliating, even, than Dr. Tucker's propositions, then attracting much

attention, that Parliament should, by solemn act, separate the colonies

from the parent government, and disallow any application for restoration

to the rights and privileges of British subjects, until, by humble

petition, they should

* These were ten in number: the Sugar Act, the two Quartering Acts, the

Tea Act, the Act suspending the New York Legislature (hereafter to be

noticed), the two Acts for the Trial in Great Britain of Offenses

committed in America, the Boston Port Bill, the Act for Regulating the

General Government of Massachusetts, and the Quebec Act

Virtual Declaration of War against the Colonists.--Warm Debates in

Parliament--Chatham and Franklin.--Gibbon and Fox.

519ask for pardon and reinstatement. * Chatham's proposition received

very little favor in the House of Lords, though loudly applauded by the

more intelligent people without, ** and it was negatived, on the motion

of the Earl of Sandwich to "reject the bill now and forever," by a vote

of sixty-one against thirty-two.

The ministry, governed by the ethics of the lion (without his

magnanimity), "might makes right," followed up their foolish rejection

of the olive branch, by proposing measures tantamount to an actual

declaration of war upon the American colonists, as rebels. On the 2d of

February, North proposed the first of a series of coercive measures. He

moved, in the Commons, for an address to the king, affirming that the

province of Massachusetts was in a state of rebellion; that Great

Britain would not relinquish an iota of her sovereign rule in the

colonies, and urging his majesty to take effectual measures for

enforcing obedience to the laws. The address concluded with the usual

resolution to support him with their "lives and fortunes."

On introducing the motion, North intimated that a part of his plan was

to materially increase the military forces in America, and to restrain

the entire commerce of New England with Great Britain, Ireland, and the

West Indies. Fox moved an amendment, censuring the ministry and praying

for their removal. Dunning and the great Thurlow engaged in the debate

on the side of the opposition, which became very warm. Fox's amendment

was negatived by a vote of three hundred and four against one hundred

and five, and North's motion prevailed by a majority of two hundred and

ninety-six to one hundred and six in the Commons, and in the Upper House

by eighty-seven to twenty-seven; nine peers protesting. ***

* Josiah Tucker, D.D., dean of Gloucester, was an able English divine,

and son of Abraham Tucker, author of The Light of Nature Pursued, a work

in nine octavo volumes. Dr. Tucker was a famous pamphleteer at the time

of our Revolution. He was the only friend of the British ministry who

wrote in favor of the independence of the colonics.

** The corporation of the city of London passed a vote of thanks to him,

and Franklin (to whom Chatham submitted the bill before offering it in

the Senate) sent forth an address to the people of England, and to his

own countrymen there, in which he portrayed the wickedness of rejecting

this plan of reconciliation, the only feasible one that had been offered

for years. Franklin and other agents asked to be examined at the bar of

the House of Commons touching the demands of the general Congress; but

even this courtesy, for it could be called nothing more, was roughly

denied.

*** Gibbon the historian, author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman

Empire, who had then a seat in Parliament, writing to his friend

Sheffield, said, "We voted an address of 'lives and fortunes,' declaring

Massachusetts Bay in a state of rebellion; more troops, but, I fear, not

enough, to go to America, to make an army of ten thousand men at Boston;

three generals, Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne! In a few days we stop the

ports of New England. I can not write volumes, but I am more and more

convinced that, with firmness, all may go well; yet I something doubt.'"

*** Gibbon was very much disposed to take sides with the Americans, and

it is said that he publicly declared at Brooke's Coffee-house, that

"there was no salvation for England, unless six of the heads of the

cabinet council were cut off and laid upon the tables of the houses of

Parliament as examples." Gibbon had his price, and, within a fortnight

after the above expression was uttered, took office under that same

cabinet council, with a liberal salary and promise of a pension. His

mouth was thus stopped by the sugar-plums of patronage. So says Bailey,

author of "Records of Patriotism and Love of Country," page 169. Bailey

also gives the following poem, which he asserts was written by Fox:

"King George, in a fright, lest Gibbon should write The story of

Britain's disgrace, Thought no means more sure his pen to secure Than to

give the historian a place. But his caution is vain, 'tis the curse of

his reign That his projects should never succeed. Though he write not a

line, yet a cause of decline In the author's example we read. His book

well describes, how corruption and bribes Overthrew the great empire of

Rome; And his writings declare a degen'racy there, Which his conduct

exhibits at home."

The first volume of Gibbon's Rome was published in 1776, and the sixth

and last on his fifty-first birthday, in 1788. His bookseller, Mr.

Cadell, on that day gave him forty thousand dollars. Gibbon died in

January, 1794.

John Wilkes in Parliament His Character and Career.--Bill for destroying

the New England Fisheries.--A conciliatory Bill

520In the debate on this bill the celebrated John Wilkes, then a member

of Parliament, fora radical paper, who had given the government a world

of trouble during a portion of the first eight years of the reign of

George III., took a conspicuous part in favor of the Americans.

He declared that a proper resistance to wrong was _revolution_, and not

_rebellion,_ and intimated that if the Americans were successful, they

might, in after times, celebrate the revolution of 1775 as the English

did that of 1688. Earnest recommendations to pursue milder measures were

offered by the opposition, but without effect. It was voted that two

thousand additional sea men and one thousand four hundred soldiers

should be sent to America.

A few days afterward Lord North brought February 10, 1775 forth another

bill, providing for the destruction of the entire trade of the New

England colonies, and of their fisheries. ** It had a clause, excepting

those individuals from the curse who should produce a certificate from

their respective governors testifying to their general good conduct, and

who should acknowledge the supremacy of the British Parliament. In

addition to the opposition which the bill received in the Commons, the

merchants of London presented an earnest remonstrance against it, ***

and so did the Quakers in behalf of their brethren in Nantucket, but

without effect. It passed by a majority of one hundred and eighty to

fifty-eight. Fresh intelligence from America, represent-March 8,

adhesion to the Continental Congress, arrived at this juncture, and

another bill was speedily passed, in the form of an amendment, including

all the colonies in the Restraining Act, except New York and North

Carolina, where loyalty seemed to predominate.

While the Restraining Act was under consideration, North astonished all

parties by offering what he pretended to be a conciliatory bill. It

proposed that when the proper authorities, in any colony, should offer,

besides maintaining its own civil government, to raise

* This fearless political writer was born in 1727. He became a member of

Parliament in 1757. In the forty-fifth number of the "North Briton,"

published in 1763, he made a severe attack on government, for which he

was sent to the Tower. On account of a licentious essay on woman he was

afterward expelled from the House of Commons. Acquitted of the charge

for which he was committed to the Tower, he prosecuted Mr. Wood, the

Under Secretary, received five thousand dollars damages, and then went

to Paris. He returned to England in 1768, sent a letter of submission to

the king, and was soon afterward elected to a seat in Parliament for

Middlesex. The seat was successfully contested by another. He was then

elected alderman of London, and the same year obtained a verdict of

twenty thousand dollars against the Secretary of State for seizing his

papers. He was sheriff in 1771, and in 1774 was elected lord mayor, and

took his seat in Parliament for Middlesex. He was made Chamberlain of

London in 1779, and soon afterward retired from the field of party

polities. He died at his scat in the Isle of Wight in 1797, aged seventy

years. The likeness here given is copied from a medal struck in his

honor. The obverse side has a pyramid upon a pedestal, beside which

stands a figure of Time inscribing upon the pyramid the number 45. On

the pedestal are the words Magna Charta, and beneath, In memory of the

year MDCCLXVIII. Wilkes had a most forbidding countenance, but his

manners were pleasing. In his private character he was licentious, yet

his talents and energy employed upon the popular side made him the idol

of the people.

** According to testimony produced in Parliament, about 400 ships, 2000

fishing shallops, and 20,000 men were thus employed in the British

Newfoundland fisheries.

*** The people of New England were, at that time, indebted to the

merchants of London nearly five million dollars. With the destruction of

the trade of the colonists, all hope of collecting even a small share of

this sum would be lost.

Singular Position of Lord North.--His Triumph.--Action of the London

Merchants.--The moral Spectacle in the Colony

521a certain revenue and place it at the disposition of Parliament, it

would be proper to forbear imposing any tax, except for the regulation

of commerce. The ministerial party opposed it because it was

conciliatory, and the opposition were dissatisfied with it because it

proposed to abate but a single grievance, and was not specific. To his

great astonishment, the minister found himself in the midst of a cross-

fire from both parties; yet he stood his ground well, and adroitly

carried the proposition through. Although he acknowledged that it was

really a cheat with a fair exterior of honesty, and intended to sow

division in the councils of the colonies, heedless members of Parliament

gave it support, and the bill was passed by a vote of two hundred and

seventy-four to eighty-eight

On the heel of this bill Burke proposed a conciliatory plan, and five

days afterward Mr. Hartley offered a mild scheme, similar to Chatham's;

but they were March 22 negatived by large majorities. The "lord mayor,

aldermen, and livery of London," urged by the merchants, who were

smarting under the effects of the lash applied to the Americans,

addressed the king in condemnation of the late measures toward the

colonies. April 10, 1775 They were sternly rebuked by his majesty, who

expressed his astonishment that any of his subjects presumed to be

abettors of the rebels. It was obvious that

"King, Commons, and Lords were uniting amain

To cut down this guardian of ours,"

and Franklin, abandoning all hope of reconciliation, sailed for America.

For more than ten years the colonies had complained of wrongs,

petitioned for redress, and suffered insults. Forbearance was no longer

a virtue, and, turning their backs upon Great Britain, they prepared for

war. In this movement Massachusetts took the lead. The Provincial

Congress ordered the purchase of ammunition and stores for an army of

fifteen thousand men. They called upon the Congregational clergy to

preach liberty from their pulpits, and hearty responses were given. "The

towns, which had done so fearlessly and so thoroughly the preparatory

work of forming and concentrating political sentiment, came forward now

to complete their patriotic actions by voting money freely to arm,

equip, and discipline 'Alarm List Companies;' citizens of every calling

appeared in their ranks, to be a private in them was proclaimed by the

journals an honor; to be chosen to office in them, a mark of the highest

distinction. In Danvers, the deacon of the parish was elected captain of

the minute men, and the minister his lieutenant. The minute men were

trained often, the towns paying the expense; and the company, after its

field exercises, would sometimes repair to the meeting-house to hear a

patriotic sermon, or partake of an entertainment at the town-house,

where zealous sons of liberty would exhort them to prepare to fight

bravely for God and their country. Such was the discipline--so free from

a mercenary spirit, so full of inspiring influences--of the early

American soldiery. And thus an army, in fact, was in existence, ready at

a moment's call, for defensive purposes, to wheel its isolated platoons

into solid phalanxes, while it presented to an enemy only opportunity

for an inglorious foray upon its stores." *

Had the counsels of inflamed zeal and passion--inflamed by the most

cruel and insulting oppression--prevailed, blood would have been shed

before the close of 1774. Troops continued to arrive at Boston, ** and

the insolence of the soldiery increased with their numbers

* Frothingham's Siege of Boston, p. 42.

** In November, 1774, there were eleven regiments of British troops,

besides the artillery, in Boston. In December, 500 marines landed from

the Asia man-of-war, and, at the close of the month, all the troops

ordered from the Jerseys, New York, and Quebec had arrived. A guard of

150 men was stationed at the lines upon the Neck. The army was brigaded.

The first brigadier general was Earl Percy, Moncrief his brigade major;

the second general was Pigott, his major, Small; third general, Jones,

his major, Hutchinson, son of the late governor. The soldiers were in

high spirits, and the officers looked with contempt upon the martial

preparations of the people. "As to what you hear of their taking arms to

resist the force of England," wrote an officer, in November, 1774, "it

is mere bullying, and will go no further than words, whenever it comes

to blows, he that can run the fastest will think himself best off".

Believe me, any two regiments here ought to be decimated, if they did

not beat, in the field, the whole force of the Massachusetts province."

Carrying Ammunition out of the City.--Detection.--Hostile Movements of

Gage.--Counteraction of the Whigs

522and strength; but the Americans were determined that when collision,

which was inevitable, should take place, the first blow should be struck

by the British troops, and thus make government the aggressor. The

occasion was not long delayed. General Gage discovered that the patriots

were secretly conveying arms and ammunition out of Boston. In carts,

beneath loads of manure, cannon balls and muskets were carried out; and

powder, concealed in the panniers of the market-women, and cartridges in

candle-boxes, passed unsuspected by the guard upon the Neck. * On

discovering these movements, and learning that some brass cannon and

field-pieces were at Salem, Gage sent a detachment of troops to seize

them. They were repelled by the people under Colonel Timothy Pickering,

without bloodshed, as we have noticed on page 374. This movement aroused

the utmost vigilance throughout March, 1775 the country. At a special

session of the Connecticut Assembly, Colonel Wooster was commissioned a

major general, and Joseph Spencer and Israel Putnam were appointed

brigadiers. Elbridge Gerry, a merchant of Marblehead, and afterward a

signer of the Declaration of Independence, was at the head of the

Massachusetts Committee of Supply, and under his directions munitions of

war were rapidly accumulated, the chief deposit of which was at Concord,

about twenty miles from Boston. Meanwhile, Sewall, the attorney general

of the province, wrote a series of powerful articles, calling upon the

people to cease resistance; and, greatly to the alarm of the patriots

lest there should be defection in their strong-hold, Governor Trumbull,

of Connecticut, soon afterward offered to mediate between General Gage

and the people of Boston, for the sake of preventing hostilities.

Timothy Ruggles, president of the "Stamp Act Congress," got up counter

associations against those of the patriots, and a small number at

Marshfield and other places signed the agreement, calling themselves the

"Associated Loyalists." But John Adams promptly replied to Judge Sewall;

Governor Trumbull's apparent conservatism was soon understood to be but

a testimony against government, to prove that offers of reconciliation

had been made and rejected; the patriots made the "Associated Loyalists"

recant, and the republicans assumed a bolder tone than ever of defiance

and contempt.

When spring opened, Gage's force amounted to about three thousand five

hundred effective men. He determined, with this force, to nip the

rebellion in the bud, and his first active movement was an attempt to

seize or destroy the stores of the patriots at Concord, which were under

the charge of Colonel James Barrett. Officers in disguise were sent to

make sketches of the roads, and to ascertain the state of the towns.

Bodies of troops were occasionally marched into the country, and a

general system of reconnoissance around Boston was established. The

ever-vigilant patriots were awake to all these movements. A night-watch

was established at Concord, and every where the minute men were ready

with burnished muskets, fixed bayonets, and filled cartouches.

Early in April, many who had taken a prominent part in the revolutionary

proceedings at Boston, apprehending arrest, and probable transportation

to England for trial, left the town. ** Among those who remained was Dr.

Joseph Warren, and he kept the patriots continually advised of the

movements of Gage and his troops. Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who

were members of the Provincial Congress, were particularly obnoxious to

General Gage, and, as it appeared afterward, he had resolved to arrest

them on their return to the

* On the 18th of March the discovery was made, and the guard at the Neck

seized 13,425 musket cartridges and a quantity of balls. In doing this,

a teamster was severely handled. This circumstance, the oration of Dr.

Joseph Warren, in the "Old South," on the anniversary of the Massacre

(March 5th), the tarring and feathering of a citizen of Billerica,

charged with tempting a soldier to desert, and an assault upon the house

of John Hancock, greatly excited the people.

** "A daughter of liberty, unequally yoked in point of politics, sent

word by a trusty hand to Mr. Samuel Adams, residing, in company with Mr.

Hancock, at Lexington, that the troops were coming out in a few days.

Upon this, their friends in Boston were advised to move out their plate,

&e., and the Committee of Safety voted that all the ammunition be

deposited in nine different towns, and that other articles be lodged,

some in one place and some in another; so, as to the 15 medicine-chests,

2000 iron pots, 2000 bowls, 15,000 canteens, and 1000 tents; and that

the six companies of matrosses be stationed in different towns."--

Gordon, i., 309.

British Expedition to Concord.--Its Discovery by the Americans.--

Lexington aroused.--Midnight March of the Enemy.

1775 523city. Fortunately, they were persuaded to remain at Lexington,

at the house of the Reverend Jonas Clark.

On Tuesday night, the 18th of April, Gage sent eight hundred British

troops, light infantry and grenadiers, under Lieutenant-colonel Smith,

aided by Major Pitcairn, to destroy the stores at Concord. They embarked

at the Common, and, landing at Phipps's Farm, marched with great

secrecy, arresting every person they met on the way, to prevent

intelligence of their expedition being given.

They left Boston at about midnight, Gage supposing the movement to be a

profound secret; but the patriots had become aware of the expedition

early in the evening. As Lord Percy was crossing the Common, about nine

o'clock, he joined a group of persons, one of whom said, "The British

troops will miss their aim."

"What aim?" inquired Percy, who was Gage's confidant in the matter. "The

cannon at Concord," replied the man.

Percy hastened to inform Gage, and guards were immediately set at every

avenue leading from the town, to prevent persons from leaving it. Warren

and his friends had anticipated this, and left. Paul Revere and William

Dawes had just rowed across the river to Charlestown, with a message

from Warren to Hancock and Adams at Lexington. They were almost captured

at Charlestown Neck by the guard, but escaped, and reached Lexington,

thirteen miles northward of Boston, a little after midnight. A guard of

eight minute men was placed around Mr. Clark's house to protect Adams

and Hancock. The messengers made themselves known to these, but were

refused admission to the house, as orders had been not to allow the

inmates to be disturbed by noise. Noise!" said Revere; "you'll have

noise enough before long; the regulars are coming!" Hancock and Adams

were aroused, and their safety being regarded as of the utmost

importance, they were persuaded to retire to Woburn. Revere and Dawes

pushed on toward Concord to give the alarm there. One hundred and thirty

of the Lexington militia were collected at the meeting-house upon the

green by two o'clock in the morning, when the roll was called, and, the

air being chilly, they were dismissed with orders to remain within drum-

beat.

The midnight march of the British regulars was performed in silence,

and, as they supposed, in secret. But vigilant eyes were upon them.

Messrs. Gerry, Orne, and Lee, members of the Provincial Congress, were

at Menotomy (West Cambridge), and saw them passing; and, as they

approached Lexington, the sound of bells and guns warned them that their

expedition was known. **

Colonel Smith detached six companies under Major Pitcairn, with orders

to press on to

* This building was standing when I visited Lexington in 1848. It was

built by Thomas Hancock, Esq., of Boston, as a parsonage for his father,

the Reverend John Hancock, of Lexington, about 130 years ago. Mr.

Hancock was a minister at Lexington fifty-two years, and was succeeded

by the Reverend Jonas Clark, the occupant of the house at the time of

the skirmish at Lexington. Mr. Clark lived in the house fifty-two years.

The room in which the two patriots, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, were

sleeping on the night before the skirmish at Lexington, is retained in

its original condition. The wainscoting is of Carolina pine, and the

sides of the room are covered with a heavy paper, with dark figures,

pasted upon the boards in rectangular pieces about fourteen inches

square. In an adjoining room is one of those ancient fire-places,

ornamented with pictorial tiles, so rarely found in New England.

*** These three patriots had a narrow escape. They saw the head of the

column pass by. Just before the rear-guard had come up, a detachment was

sent to search the house where they were staying. They escaped to the

fields by a back door, where they kept in concealment until the house

was searched and the troops moved on.

The British Troops and Minute Men at Lexington.--Conduct of Major

Pitcairn.--Battle on Lexington Common

524Concord and secure the two bridges; at the same time he sent a

messenger to Boston for re-enforcements. Pitcairn advanced rapidly

toward Lexington by the light of a waning moon, capturing several

persons on the way. One, named Bowman, escaped, and, hasten ing on

horseback to Lexington, notified Captain Parker, commander of the minute

men, of the approach of the enemy. It was now between four and five

o'clock in the morning. The bells were rung, guns were fired, and the

drums were beaten. About one hundred of the militia were speedily

collected upon the green, armed with loaded muskets, but in much

confusion and alarm, for the number of the approaching regulars was

unknown.

In the gray of the early morning the scarlet uniforms of the troops

appeared, and an overwhelming force halted, within a few rods of the

meeting-house, and loaded their pieces. The militia, undismayed, stood

firm. They had been ordered not to draw a trigger until fired upon by

the enemy, and for a moment silence and hesitation prevailed, for

neither party seemed willing to become the aggressor. The parley with

judgment was but for a moment. Pitcairn and other officers galloped

forward, waving their swords over their heads, and followed by their

troops in double-quick time. They shouted, "Disperse, you villains! lay

down your arms! Why don't you disperse, you rebels? disperse!" In

rushing forward the troops became confused. As the patriots did not

instantly obey the command to lay down their arms, Pitcairn wheeled his

horse, and, waving his sword, gave orders to press forward and surround

the militia. At the same moment some random shots were fired by the

British, but without effect, which were promptly returned by the

Americans. Pitcairn then drew his pistol and discharged it, at the same

moment giving the word _fire!_ A general discharge of musketry ensued;

four patriots were killed, and the remainder were dispersed. Finding

themselves fired upon while retreating, several of them halted, and

returned the shots, and then secured themselves behind stone walls and

buildings. Three British soldiers, and Pitcairn's horse, were wounded,

while eight Americans were killed: four on the

* This is the picture alluded to on page 421, from the one drawn by

Earl, and engraved hy Doolittle in 1775. The largest building in the

picture is the meeting-house, and the officer on horseback in front of

it is Major Pitcairn. The figures in the foreground are the provincial

militia. The dwelling with the two chimneys, on the left (which is still

standing), was Buckman's Tavern. The position of the monument since

erected upon Lexington Green, is about where the provincials on the left

are seen dispersing. The merit of this picture consists in its

truthfulness in depicting the appearance of the spot at the time of the

engagement.

The Concord People aroused.--Assembling of the Militia.--Concord taken

Possession of by the Enemy.--Colonel Barrett.