Warren sent these resolves, with a letter dated the 11th of September, to the Massachusetts delegates in congress in Philadelphia; and Paul Revere was the messenger, who carried also the addresses delivered to Governor Gage. These papers, as they were listened to in congress on the 18th, elicited great applause. "The esteem," John Adams says, "the affection, the admiration for the people of Boston and the Massachusetts which were expressed, and the fixed determination that they should be supported, were enough to melt a heart of stone. I saw the tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave, pacific Quakers of Pennsylvania." The sympathy which the members expressed for their suffering countrymen was in character with the constituency, who, by their flow of contributions, were making Boston the granary of America. In a resolve, which was unanimously passed, the congress denounced the late Acts, "most thoroughly approved the wisdom and fortitude with which opposition to these ministerial measures had hitherto been conducted; earnestly recommended to their brethren a perseverance in the same firm and temperate conduct" that was indicated in the Suffolk resolves; and expressed the hope that the effect of the united efforts of North America in behalf of Massachusetts "would carry such conviction to the British nation of the unwise, unjust, and ruinous policy of the present Administration as quickly to introduce better men and wiser measures." Another resolve recommended a continuation of contributions from all the colonies to alleviate the distresses of their brethren of Boston. "These resolves," Samuel Adams wrote to Dr.

1 John Adams's Letter, Sept. 18, 1774.

Chauncy, "give a faint idea of the spirit of congress. I think I may assure you, that America will make a point of supporting Boston to the utmost."1

It is always difficult to harmonize the views of earnest men; and it is not strange, that, when unity of action was vital, the patriots of other colonies should have feared that the Massachusetts patriots might break the line of opposition by advancing too hastily before the rest,2 or that the Boston popular leaders should have been anxious to hear from congress. The great news of the indorsement by the colonies of the Suffolk resolves was brought by Paul Revere, and was printed in the journals of the 26th, in the form of brief letters, addressed to Warren by Peyton Randolph, the president, Thomas Cushing, one of the Massachusetts delegates, and a copy of the resolutions passed by congress, attested by Charles Thomson. It was, with the exception of the rule adopted in that body in voting, the first account of what had been done in their secret session. "It was," a letter says, "the only thing which the members of congress were at liberty to mention to the people out of doors here. The congress will support Boston and the Massachusetts, or perish with them; but they wish that blood may be spared if possible, and all ruptures with the troops avoided." The patriots were now in high spirits.

Governor Gage was surprised and astonished to see the union of the colonies. Like his predecessor, he watched and reported signs of its formation; and he confessed that the movements were beyond all con

1 Letter, Sept. 18, 1774.

2 See Clymer's Letter in Quincy's Life, 172. 3 Letter in newspapers, Sept. 26, 1774.

ception. He now informed Lord Dartmouth of the approval by congress of the Suffolk resolves. The comments by the Tories on these resolves were voluminous and uncommonly severe. They said it was a mystery which filled their minds with surprise and astonishment, that the gentlemen of congress were disposed to enter into a league, offensive and defensive, with the New-England and other Presbyterian republicans; but the fact was notorious to the world: it could neither be denied nor palliated; for they hastily and eagerly published (and it was the first thing they did publish) their cordial approbation of the Suffolk resolves for erecting an independent government in New England. They said that a rebellion was evidently commenced in New England, in the county of Suffolk, without room for retreating. They pronounced the resolves "nothing short of a declaration of independency." They said that the men who had occasioned the political troubles in Massachusetts, having become desperate themselves, had no other card to play but to involve the whole country in their rebellion. They wrote that they had persuaded themselves "that congress would open the door for a settlement, by advising Boston to pay for the tea. But, alas! how have we been disappointed! As soon as they (congress) received by express an authentic copy of the Suffolk resolves, they broke through all these rules of secrecy, and at once gave such a blast from the trumpet of sedition as made one half of America shudder."1

1 The citations are from Tory pamphlets of the time, entitled, “What Think Ye of the Congress now?" and "A Few Remarks upon some of the Votes and Resolutions of the Continental Congress." The last pamphlet, "printed for the purchasers," which was called "The Grey Maggot," asserted that the only

In due time, there appeared in the newspapers quotations from the British press of similar tenor. It was the union that gave joy to the heart of the Whig, and supplied venom to the pen of the Tory. "The friends of America," an editorial in a Boston journal says, "have the satisfaction to learn, that the resolve of the late Continental Congress, respecting the votes of the county of Suffolk, published in the late English papers, have not only surprised but quite confounded the ministry, as by it they perceive the union of the colonies to be complete, and that their present menaces only mark their despair."

apology which could be made for the conduct of the Continental Congress in adopting the Suffolk resolves was, that they came into this vote immediately after drinking thirty-two bumpers of Madeira. It was replied, in the "Pennsylvania Journal," that the Suffolk resolves were acted upon in the forenoon.

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CHAPTER XII.

MASSACHUSETTS AND THE GENERAL CONGRESS.

THE STATE OF THE PROVINCE. THE QUESTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT. LETTERS OF WARREN AND ADAMS.-A PROVINCIAL CONCOMMITTEE OF SAFETY. - PREPARATION for War.

GRESS.

SEPTEMBER, 1774, TO JANUARY, 1775.

WARREN, soon after the adoption of the Suffolk resolves, was required by the progress of events to take a prominent part in the organization and administration of a provisional government for the colony. His agency in the process by which Massachusetts passed from allegiance to the British Crown to become a part of an American nationality, renders this portion of his life not only of deep interest, but of much importance.

The province of the Massachusetts Bay included the territory which is now the State of Maine, and comprised an area of about thirty-nine thousand square miles. It was divided into fourteen counties, and over two hundred towns. The population was not far from three hundred and fifty thousand. There

1 The "London Chronicle" of the 27th of August, 1774, has the following description of Massachusetts. It is not quite accurate. The population is stated at too low a figure. The council was elected by the old council and the House :

"The province of Massachusetts is divided into fourteen counties, and is generally thought to contain nearly 250,000 inhabitants.

"The council is composed of twenty-eight members, chosen by the House of Representatives.