ins that they were not so much
regarded in England as he expected they would be, and that he was left
to act on his own judgment. He soon saw pilloried in the newspapers the
names of a son of Governor Bernard and two of his own sons, in a list of
Boston merchants who "audaciously counteracted the united sentiments of
the body of merchants throughout North America by importing British
goods contrary to agreement."

The Lieutenant-Governor again kept quiet, as a town-meeting went on,
which he watched with the keenest interest, freely commented on in his
letters, and which is far too important to be overlooked in any review
of these times. William Bollan, the Colonial Agent in London, sent to
the popular leaders a selection from the letters of Governor Bernard,
General Gage, Commodore Hood, and others, bearing on the introduction of
the troops, which were judged to have aspersed the character, affected
the rights, and injured the interests of the town. Their publication
made a profound impression on the public mind, and they became the theme
of every circle. At one of the political clubs, in which the Adamses,
the Coopers, Warren, and others were wont to discuss public affairs,
Otis, in a blaze of indignation, charged the crown officials with
haughtiness, arbitrary dispositions, and the insolence of office, and
vehemently urged a town-meeting. One was soon summoned by the Selectmen,
which deliberated with dignity and order, and made answer to the
official indictment in a strong, conclusive, and grand "Appeal to the
World," and appointed, as a committee to circulate it, Thomas Cushing,
Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren, Richard Dana, Joshua Henshaw, Joseph
Jackson, and Benjamin Kent,--men of sterling character, and bearing
names that have shed lustre on the whole country. Reason and truth,
thus put forth, exerted an influence. Hutchinson felt the force of this.
"We find, my Lord, by experience," he advised Lord Hillsborough, October
19, 1769, "that associations and assemblies pretending to be legal and
constitutional, assuming powers that belong only to established
authority, prove more fatal to this authority than mobs, riots, or the
most tumultuous disorders; for such assemblies, from erroneous or
imperfect notions of the nature of government, very often meet with the
approbation of the body of the people, and in such case there is no
internal power which can be exerted to suppress them. Such case we are
in at present, and shal