remedies to be tried, can now be only matter of speculation, but the course adopted by the British statesmen, left their opponents the choice of only this alternative, entire separation or political servitude. The crisis had been too long foreseen to deter by its magnitude, and too well understood to permit hesitation. Respectful, and even imploring petitions, were followed by angry discussions and stern protests: to these succeeded the scenes of actual warfare. The whole action advanced with a slowness of movement, and progressive increase of interest, that were suited to the grandeur of a drama, whose spectators were all the nations of Europe, and the consequences of which were to have a wider bearing on the welfare of mankind, than any event in modern, or perhaps in ancient times.

For a war of this nature every species of exertion was required. The most profound and earnest discussion of all the principles of government, the prerogative of the crown, the jurisdiction of the Parliament, and the rights of the colonies, naturally preceded and for a time accompanied, the struggle in the field. Talents of all kinds were put in requisition, and as the effort on the part of the colonists was not made for territory or plunder, but for principle, the knowledge, the zeal, the firmness of the citizens in their civil capacity, were no less necessary to their success, than bravery and skill in arms. The features of civil and foreign warfare were blended. It was a civil war, as it was carried on against subjects who renounced their allegiance;-it was foreign in some

of its aspects, because it was waged by the mother country, amongst distant settlements, to whose inhabitants the invading troops appeared like foreign mercenaries, who came to spoil them without re

morse.

In the ordinary disputes of party, or the quarrels between nations, it little affects reputation, on which side men may happen to be. The objects in dispute are then narrow and transient; the party which is in the shade, at one moment, may bask in the sunshine at the next; the fortress or province that is lost in one war may be regained in another; while the statesmen and commanders who are at the head of operations cause no peculiar result by their efforts, and their names being connected with no great era in the affairs of mankind, merely serve to swell the common annals of the world, without attracting any strong interest or lasting remembrance.

The American revolution furnishes an impressive lesson, to shew how different are the consequences, when the contest is one, that forms an epoch in history, by its permanent influence on the interests of the human race. The choice between parties at such a crisis is of vast moment; it involves home, fame and country-Oblivion may be mercy to the vanquished; and magnanimous minds will grant an amnesty to all who were honest though misled; while their fortunate rivals are borne in triumph through the nation they have saved. By this mighty event, one party became the citizens of the

freest nation upon earth: while the unfortunate fragments of the other, were doomed to exile from the place of their nativity, forming a sort of political extravasation, and were rewarded for all their sacrifices by an eleemosynary pension, or by a grant of lands in some bleak region of colonial subserviency. The talents of the individuals may have been equal; yet in this case, the names on one side are already forgotten, while those on the other are daily acquiring renown, by the wider experience of the advantages they obtained for their country. The characters of the great leaders in the American revolution, are gradually emerging from the jealous level of their own times. As this sinks away, they will become daily more conspicuous, and when their contemporary age shall be enrolled among the past; these founders of a nation will remain the lofty land-marks of history, sublime as the mountains of the globe appeared in all their majestic elevation, after the waters of the deluge had subsided.

The philosophical observer will not often believe in prodigies, nor imagine that the powers of human intellect greatly vary at different periods. While the envious detract from all merit, he will render justice to great services without being impelled by a blind admiration. No age perhaps has been wholly deficient in men, who were capable of reaching the highest attainments, or performing the noblest actions, yet it is only some congenial seasons that call these faculties into exercise, and afford to superior minds the opportunity of connecting their

names with enduring recollections. It is eminent good fortune for such minds to exist in those times, when some lasting improvement is taking place in human affairs; when principles are to be established, that will spread and develope themselves through a long succession of ages. The American revolution constitutes one of the epochs from which will be dated a vast amelioration in the destiny of man: and the fame of many illustrious men who were enengaged in its cause, will continually increase as the operation of its consequences is extended. Their talents and virtues were exhibited in the senate or the camp, in the forum or the field, with undaunted zeal and heroic constancy. One of the most eminent of these patriots for his civil services, and one of the earliest and boldest asserters of the great principles which led to our national existence, was JAMES OTIS, of Massachusetts, to whose life and character this volume is devoted.

The family of Otis has produced some eminent persons, and its several branches are now widely extended. They all derived their origin from John Otis, who came over from England with his family, at a very early period of the Colony, and was one of the first inhabitants of Hingham. His grandson John Otis* was born A. D. 1657 and removed when a young man to Barnstable, where his talents soon made him the most respectable individual in the

See Appendix B.

county: He was eighteen years at the head of its militia, twenty years a representative, and for twenty one years in the Council of the Province. He was also for thirteen years chief Judge of the Common Pleas, and also Judge of Probate; a combination of offices sometimes enjoyed by the same individual in the early stages of our settlements, before the population became crowded, and when the functions of office did not require incessant labour. The successful discharge of such various employments is an evidence of his capacity and integrity, which joined to his wit and affability secured him great influence: he died November 30th, 1727. Two of his sons were known in public life, John and James. John Otis was a representative for Barnstable; and afterwards of the Council till his death in 1756. James Otis, born in 1702, was a man of great distinction and influence, but more indebted to the native energy of his mind, than to a regular education, for the acquirements he possessed. He became eminent at the bar, and was at one period a candidate for the bench of the Supreme Court, a circumstance which it will be necessary to notice more particularly hereafter.

He married Mary Allyne in Connecticut, and had thirteen children, five sons and eight daughters, several of whom died in infancy. The second son, Joseph, remained at Barnstable, where his children held different public offices, and one of them now mhabits the family mansion at Great Marshes.