mous saying, that "Talent forms itself in solitude;
character, in the stream of life,"[G] has often found striking
exemplification both in the narrow sphere of individual existence, and
on the broader and more conspicuous stage of national affairs; but
perhaps the truth it contains has seldom been more amply illustrated
than during the stormy days of the American Revolution. Great political
convulsions sift peoples as the wind sifts the wheat on the summer
threshing-floor, bringing into prominence their best as well as their
worst features. They furnish occasion for the development and display of
all that is noblest in mankind, and they offer equal scope and
opportunity to all the baser susceptibilities and passions of our
nature. They furnish a broader platform on which to act, and originate
more exciting topics to occupy and elevate the mind, than are afforded
by an orderly and undisturbed condition of society; and they are
certainly better fitted to create that energy of will and heroism of
purpose without which nothing noble, beneficent, and lasting can ever be
accomplished.

[G] "Es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille,
Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt."

Never, perhaps, has this effect been produced in a more impressive
manner, or to a fuller extent, than during the anxious years when the
American colonies were slowly feeling and fighting their way to the
status of an independent nation. A new order of manhood appeared, shaped
by the dangers and difficulties of the time. The crisis called for men
of courage and capacity, of wise council, of prompt and decisive action,
and these men were forthcoming, as if providentially prepared for the
hour and the occasion. Of these, one of the earliest on the scene, and,
for a time, one of the most eloquent and able of the popular leaders,
was James Otis, Junior. Though, in consequence of the sad affliction
that darkened and distressed his later days, his labors in the cause of
American independence were prematurely closed, and he was not permitted
to share in the consummation of the conflict in which he had played so
prominent, and spirited, and successful a part, he still deserves to be
remembered with gratitude and affection by the nation, now grown big, at
whose birth he so nobly played the part of midwife. James Otis was born
at Great Marshes, now known as West Barnstable, February 5, 1725 (old
style, February 5, 1724). His ancestor, John Otis, came f