that night, and the following morning declared his intention
of setting off immediately to Boston, and there accusing the General
Assembly of their unlawful intention, and daring them to put it into
execution.

'I will upbraid them with their injustice, and charge them with their
purposed crime!' he exclaimed; and his fine eyes flashed with
excitement, that almost made Edith fear that the fever had affected his
mind. 'I will appeal to God and man against their lawless cruelty,' he
continued; 'and rouse the whole colony to defend my right to liberty of
thought and action.'

Oh, Roger!' cried his wife--and she caught his burning hand, and
pressed it to her throbbing heart--'cease such wild and desperate
words! Would you drive me to distraction, by thus throwing yourself
into the power of your bitter and relentless enemies? Who in Boston
would stand up to defend your cause? Who could deliver you from the
evil intentions of these cruel men? It is true that the Governor has
shown himself your friend--I should rather say, my friend--by giving me
this secret information; but he would not openly espouse your cause, or
resist the will of the Assembly. Why, then, should you spurn from you
the means of safety that have been so mercifully afforded, and tempt
Providence to leave you to your fate'?

'Edith,' he replied--and the bright flush faded from his cheek, and the
fire in his eye died away, and he sank again upon his couch--'Edith,
you have subdued my spirit; or perhaps,' he added, smiling up in her
face, 'weakness has subdued it. I feel that I have no strength to
accomplish what I desire, and to show my persecutors that liberty of
thought and feeling is my birthright, and that I will never relinquish
the privilege. I must, therefore, submit to the will of One who is
wiser and mightier than I am; and believe me, my Edith,' he continued--
as he saw the tears falling from her gentle eyes--'believe me, I do to
with perfect contentment now. The passion--the sinful passion--that
stirred me so mightily just now, is gone; and I feel the goodness of my
God in holding me back from the rash act I contemplated, and from
rushing upon dangers that I might indeed defy, but could not hope to
conquer. I will be calm, my love; and you shall devise some means for
my escape. I feel assured that still more violent measures will be
adopted by the Assembly to get me into their power; and now that I can
quietly reflect on the consequences of suc