ee of
Correspondence, by the hand of Joseph Warren, invited eight neighbouring
towns to a conference 'on the critical state of public affairs.' On the
12th, at noon, Metcalf Bowler, the Speaker of the Assembly of Rhode
Island, came before them with the cheering news that, in answer to a
recent circular letter from the body over which he presided, all the
thirteen Governments were pledged to union. Punctually at the hour of
three in the afternoon of that day, the committees from the eight
villages joined them in Faneuil Hall, the cradle of American liberty,
where for ten years the freemen of the town had debated the great
question of justifiable resistance. Placing Samuel Adams at their head,
and guided by a report prepared by Joseph Warren of Boston, Gardener of
Cambridge, and others, they agreed unanimously on the injustice and
cruelty of the Act by which Parliament, without competent jurisdiction,
and contrary as well to natural right as to the laws of all civilized
states, had, without a hearing, set apart, accused, tried and condemmed
the town of Boston." (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol.
VII., Chap, i., pp. 35, 36.)]

[Footnote 335: History of the United States, Vol. VII., Chap, x., pp.
38, 39.

Referring to General Gage's arrival at Boston, as Commander-in-Chief of
the continent as well as successor to Hutchinson as Governor of
Massachusetts, Mr. Bancroft says:

"On the 17th of May, Gage, who had remained four days with Hutchinson at
Castle William, landed at Long Wharf amidst salutes from ships and
batteries. Received by the Council and civil officers, he was escorted
by the Boston cadets, under Hancock, to the State House, where the
Council presented a loyal address, and his commission was proclaimed
with three volleys of musketry and as many cheers. He then partook of a
public dinner in Faneuil Hall. A hope still lingered that relief might
come through his intercession. But Gage was neither fit to reconcile nor
to subdue. By his mild temper and love of society, he gained the
good-will of his boon companions, and escaped personal enmities; but in
earnest business he inspired neither confidence nor fear. Though his
disposition was far from being malignant, he was so poor in spirit and
so weak of will, so dull in his perceptions and so unsettled in his
opinions, that he was sure to follow the worst advice, and vacillate
between smooth words of concession and merciless severity. He had
promised the