King that with four regiments he would play the lion, and
troops beyond his requisition were hourly expected. His instructions
enjoined upon him the seizure and condign punishment of Samuel Adams,
Hancock, Joseph Warren, and other leading patriots; but he stood in such
dread of them that he never so much as attempted their arrest."--_Ib._,
pp. 37, 38.]

[Footnote 336: But before the prorogation, which took place the 28th of
May, the Assembly desired the Governor to appoint the 1st day of June as
a day of fasting and prayer; but he refused, assigning as a reason, in a
letter to Lord Dartmouth, that "the request was only to give an
opportunity for sedition to flow from the pulpit."]

[Footnote 337: "The people of Massachusetts were almost exclusively of
English origin. Beyond any other colony they loved the land of their
ancestors; but their fond attachment made them only the more sensitive
to its tyranny. To subject them to taxation without their consent was
robbing them of their birthright; they scorned the British Parliament as
a 'Junta of the servants of the Crown rather than the representatives of
England.' Not disguising to themselves their danger, but confident of
victory, they were resolved to stand together as brothers for a life of
liberty." (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. VII., Chap. i.,
p. 38).]

[Footnote 338: History of the War with America, France and Spain, and
Holland, commencing in 1775, and ending in 1783. By John Andrews, LL.D.,
in four volumes, with Maps and Charts. London: Published by his
Majesty's Royal Licence and Authority, 1788. Vol. I., pp. 137, 138.

A more minute and graphic account of the close of this session of the
Massachusetts Court or Legislature is as follows:

"On the appointed day the doors were closed and the subject was
broached; but before any action could be taken in the premises, a
loyalist member obtained leave of absence and immediately dispatched a
messenger to Gage, to inform him of what was passing. The Governor, in
great haste, sent the Secretary to dissolve the Court. Finding the door
locked, he knocked for admission, but was answered, that 'The House was
upon very important business, which when they had finished, they would
let him in.' Failing to obtain an entrance, he stood upon the steps and
read the proclamation in the hearing of several members and others, and
after reading it in the Council Chamber, returned. The House took no
notice of this me