IV. 1774. rator. When he had taken the chair, the friends CHAP. to the scheme of indemnifying the East India company for their loss, were invited to "speak freely," June. that a matter of such importance might be fairly discussed in the presence of the general body of the people; but not a man rose in defence of the proposition. The blockade, the fleets, the army, could not bring out a symptom of compliance. A month before, John Adams had said, "I have very little connection with public affairs, and I hope to have less." For many years he had refused to attend town meetings; he had kept aloof from the committee of correspondence, even in the time when it concerted the destruction of the tea. The morning of that day dawned on him in private life; the evening saw him a representative of Massachusetts to the general congress. That summer he followed the circuit for the last time. "Great Britain," thus Sewall, his friend and associate at the bar, expostulated with him, as they strolled together on the hill that overhangs Casco Bay, with its thousand isles, "Great Britain is determined on her system; and her power is irresistible." "That very determination of Great Britain in her system, determines mine," answered Adams; "swim or sink, live or die, survive or perish with my country, is my unalterable determination." The White Mountains on the one side, and the ocean on the other, were witnesses to the patriot's vow "I see we must part," rejoined Sewall; "but this adieu is the sharpest thorn on which I ever set my foot." Two days in advance of Massachusetts, the assembly of Rhode Island unanimously chose delegates to VOL VII. 6* CHAP. the general congress, which they desired to see annually renewed. IV. June. 1774. The promptness of Maryland was still more remarkable; for it could proceed only by a convention of its people. But so universal was their zeal, so rapid their organization, that their provincial convention met at Annapolis on the twenty-second of June, and before any message had been received from Salem, they elected delegates to the congress. With a modesty worthy of their courage, they apologized to Virginia for moving in advance; pleading as their excuse the inferiority of their province in extent and numbers, so that less time was needed to ascertain its sentiments. CHAPTER V. BOSTON MINISTERED TO BY THE CONTINENT. JUNE, JULY, 1774. V. June. THE martyr town was borne up in its agony by mes- CHAP. sages of sympathy. From Marblehead came offers to the Boston merchants of the gratuitons use of its har- 1774. bor, its wharfs, its warehouses, and of all necessary personal attendance in lading and unlading goods. Forty-eight persons were found in Salem, willing to entreat of Gage his "patronage for the trade of that place;" but a hundred and twenty-five of its merchants and freeholders addressed him in a spirit of disinterestedness, repelling the ungenerous thought of turning the course of trade from Boston. "Nature," said they nobly, "in the formation of our harbor, forbids our becoming rivals in commerce to that convenient mart. And were it otherwise, we must be lost to all the feelings of humanity, could we indulge one thought to seize on wealth and raise our fortunes on the ruin of our suffering neighbors." The governor, in his answer, threw all blame on Boston, for refusing to indemnify the East India CHAP. company, and he employed every device to produce V. compliance. It was published at the corners of the 1774. streets that Pennsylvania would refuse to suspend June. commerce; that the society of Friends would arrest every step towards war; that New York had not named, and would never name, deputies to congress; that the power of Great Britain could not fail to crush resistance. The exasperation of the selfish at their losses, which they attributed to the committee of correspondence, the innate reverence for order, the habitual feeling of loyalty, the deeply-seated love for England, the terror inspired by regiments, artillery, and ships of war, the allurements of official favor, the confidence that the king must prevail, disposed a considerable body of men to seek the recovery of prosperity by concession. "The act," wrote Gage on the twenty-sixth, "must certainly sooner or later work its own way; a congress of some sort may be obtained; but, after all, Boston may get little more than fair words." The day after this was written, a town meeting was held. As Faneuil Hall could not contain the thronging inhabitants, they adjourned to the Old South Meeting-house. There the opposition mustered their utmost strength, in the hope of carrying a vote of censure on the committee of correspondence. The question of paying for the tea was artfully evaded, while "the league and covenant," which in truth was questionable both in policy and form, was chosen as the object of cavil. New York had superseded the old committee by a more moderate one; it was proposed that Boston should do the same. The patriot, Samuel Adams, finding himself not only pro V. scribed by the king, but on trial in a Boston town CHAP. meeting, left the chair, and took his place on the floor. His enemies summoned hardihood to engage 1774. with him in debate, in which they were allowed the utmost freedom. Through the midsummer-day they were heard patiently till dark, and at their own request were indulged with an adjournment. On the next day, notwithstanding the utmost exertion of the influence of the government, the motion of censure was negatived by a vast majority. The town then, by a deliberate vote, bore open testimony "to the upright intentions and honest zeal of their committee of correspondence," and desired them "to continue steadfast in the way of well-doing." After this result, one hundred and twenty-nine, chiefly the addressers to Hutchinson, confident of a speedy triumph through the power of Britain, ostentatiously set their names to a protest which, under the appearance of anxiety for the prosperity of the town, recommended unqualified submission. They would have robbed Boston of its great name, and made it a byword of reproach in the annals of the world. The governor hurried to the aid of his partisans, and on the following day, without the consent of the council, issued the proclamation, from which British influence never recovered. He called the combination" not to purchase articles imported from Great Britain "unwarrantable, hostile, and traitorous;" its subscribers "open and declared enemies of the king and parliament of Great Britain; " and he "enjoined and commanded all magistrates and other officers within the several counties of the province, to appre |