ays carefully and zealously
endeavor to support and maintain."

Despite this the oppressions increased, and the persistent roughness
of the British troops continued unchecked. In March an inhabitant of
Billerica, Massachusetts, was tarred and feathered by a party of his
majesty's soldiers. A remonstrance was sent to General Gage, the
king's chosen representative in the colony, in which was this clause:

"We beg, Your Excellency that the breach, now too wide, between Great
Britain and this province may not, by such brutality of the troops,
still be increased.... If it continues, we shall hereafter use a
different style from that of petition and complaint."

In reply from London came the news that seventy-eight thousand guns
and bayonets were on their way to America. Also came a report that
orders had gone out to arrest John Hancock, William Otis, and six
other head men of Boston. The informant, a friend of Hancock's,
added: "My heart aches for Mr. Hancock. Send off expresses immediately
to tell him that they intend to seize his estate, and have his fine
house for General...."

April of 1775 came, and the Provincial Congress met at Concord,
Massachusetts, and took upon itself the power to make and carry out
laws. Immediately General Gage issued a proclamation stating that the
Congress was "an unlawful assembly, tending to subvert government and
to lead directly to sedition, treason, and rebellion.

"And yet even in the face of such an ominous outlook the indefatigable
Massachusetts patriots continued to struggle for their ideal of
independence. John Adams, himself a patriot of the highest class,
asserted that Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and James Otis were the
three most important characters of the day, and Great Britain knew it.
Certainly all four men were feared in the mother country, and
Hancock's independence of the government brought several suits against
him." Like those of his co-workers for freedom from tyranny, his
nerves were now strung to the highest tension, and he spent many a
sleepless night planning how best to achieve his high purposes and
grim resolves, while his love for pretty Dorothy was the one green
spot in the arid desert of colonial strife.

Boston was no longer a safe place for those who could change it for a
more peaceful place of residence. Judge Quincy, who had been keeping a
close watch over his own business affairs, now decided to leave for
Lancaster, where his married daughter, Mrs. G