George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 6, 10th edition.

‘ [407] Great Britain, for which this country was once so

Chap. XLVII.} 1771. Sept.

Remarkable.’¹

Hutchinson, too, reported ‘a disposition in all the Colonies to let the controversy with the kingdom subside.’² The King sent word to tempt Hancock by marks of favor. ‘Hancock and most of the party,’ said the Governor, ‘are quiet; and all of them, except Adams, abate of their virulence. Adams would push the Continent into a rebellion to-morrow, if it was in his power.’³ While America generally was so tranquil, Samuel Adams continued musing till the fire within him burned; and the thought of correspondence and union among the friends of liberty flashed upon his mind. ‘It would be an arduous task,’ he said, meditating a project which required a year's reflection for its maturity, ‘to awaken a sufficient number in the colonies to so grand an undertaking. Nothing, however, should be despaired of. We have nothing,’ he continued, ‘to rely upon but the interposition of our friends in Britain, of which I have no expectation, or the last Appeal.⁴ The tragedy of American freedom is

Oct.

nearly completed. A tyranny seems to be at the very door. They who lie under oppression deserve what they suffer; let them perish with their oppressors. Could millions be enslaved if all possessed the independent spirit of Brutus, who to his immortal ’