233. The Massachusetts Provincial Congress. A few months later, the House again met in Salem and resolved itself into a Provincial Congress to be joined by such other members as should be chosen. They then adjourned to Concord, and there elected John Hancock president. After transacting what business was necessary, they

In

The Massachusetts Seal shows the figure of an Anglo-American holding a drawn sword, with the motto "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem." (With the sword she seeks calm peace under liberty.) The story of this motto is an interesting one. Algernon Sidney was a famous patriot in Cromwell's time. In 1659 he was one of the council of State, and he was sent to Denmark on a political mission. While there he wrote his name in the king's autograph book, and added this motto in Latin. The minister from France felt that this was an insult to the monarchs of Europe, and cut out the motto from the king's book. 1772 Sidney's works, having been out of print for a long time, were republished in a fine edition by that other famous lover of liberty, Thomas Hollis. The frontispiece was a profile likeness of Sidney, and underneath it was told this story of the Latin motto. Hollis was a great friend and benefactor of Harvard College, and he sent over a copy of this book, and presented it to the Harvard Library. There it fell under the eyes of the Massachusetts patriots. Its sentiment so neatly expressed their own thought, and was so applicable to the time and the conditions surrounding them, that they promptly adopted it for the motto of this new Commonwealth. It has never been changed, and will doubtless go down to the centuries to come, perpetuating the sentiment so dear to the heart of that famous liberty-loving patriot of Cromwell's time.

adjourned to Cambridge, and there, October 21st, 1774, a committee drew up a plan for the immediate defence of the colony. A committee of safety was appointed to attend to all military matters, and a committee of supplies to furnish resources for the committee of safety.

234. Massachusetts raises an Army. In November, this Congress decided to raise an army of twelve thousand men, and appointed proper officers for it. Thus a revolutionary government was in full operation in Massachusetts. The drift toward revolution was apparent in every colony. The Provincial Congress remained the government of the people in Massachusetts until the 19th of July, 1775, when it dissolved itself, and a new House of Representatives, whose members had been chosen by the several towns, according to their usage and their charter, organized, by choosing James Warren as speaker. James Bowdoin was made president. The present seal of the Commonwealth was adopted.

235. The First Congress. The firstContinental Congress met in Carpenters'

Hall, Philadelphia, on the 5th of September, 1774. This Congress resulted from an almost universal and simultaneous demand from the various colonies. The first call came from Virginia.

236. Proposed by Massachusetts. The Massachusetts General Court, at Salem, on June 17th, appointed five delegates to a Congress

"That might be convened the first of September at Philadelphia." All the colonies except Georgia appointed delegates. This Congress included many sagacious men,

well versed in governmental affairs. Among them may be named George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Peyton Randolph, Patrick Henry, and Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia; Samuel Adams and John Adams, of Massachusetts; John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania; Christopher Gadsden and John Rutledge, of South Carolina; Dr. John Witherspoon, President of the College of New Jersey; Stephen Hopkins, of Rhode Island; Roger Sherman, of Connecticut; and John Jay, of New York.

237. What it Did.- All votes taken by this Congress were by States, every State having one vote.

John Hancock.

(After a painting by J. Singleton Copley in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.)

The important action was as follows:

1. A declaration of rights.

2. An agreement to stop exports to Great Britain and imports from there, and to discontinue the slave trade after the first of December.

3. An address to the British people.

4. A petition to the king.

5. The formation of the "American Association."

6. An address to the people of Canada, Nova Scotia, and the Floridas. 7. A provision for another Congress, to be held in May, 1775.

238. How it was Done. The business of this Congress was executed with remarkable skill. William Pitt said: "For solidity of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion under a combination of difficult circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia. The histories of Greece and Rome give us nothing equal to it, and all attempts to impose servitude upon such a mighty continental nation. must be in vain."

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE FIRST ARMED RESISTANCE.

239. Resistance. The king and his prime minister were bent on subduing the colonies. They thought the task would be an easy The appeal of the Continental Congress to the king was as idle as the wind. But all the colonies were solid in their determina

one.

Patrick Henry in Virginia, and Samuel Adams in Massachusetts, lighted the torch of liberty for the South and the North, preceding the American Revolution. Henry was born in 1736, and died in 1799. He was a good Latin scholar, and acquired some proficiency in mathematics before he was fifteen years of age. He was admitted to the bar at the age of twentyfour years. His famous speech against the Stamp Act gave him a great reputation throughout the country. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774, of which he was the first speaker. His eloquence astonished all, and he soon took rank as the greatest American orator. He caused the colony of Virginia to be put in a thorough state of defence. He was the first Republican governor of his State, serving from 1776 to 1779. After the close of the war he was again governor until 1786. In 1788 he was a member of the State Convention which ratified the National Constitution, which he opposed with all his eloquence and strength. He declined high offices under the Federal government, offered him by Washington and by Adams.

(See his "Life and Times," in two volumes, by his grandson, William Wirt Henry.)

tion that they would never submit to the king's arbitrary measures.

240. Independence foreseen. Here and there one among the leaders was able to see that a revolution was inevitable. James Otis, Samuel Adams, and Joseph Hawley, in Massachusetts, and Patrick Henry in Virginia, were probably the first men who clearly saw that independence was the only solution of the problem. Washington foresaw that these parchment measures of the Congress would prove of no avail. Hawley of Massachusetts wrote, "After all, we must fight." When Patrick Henry heard his letter read, he replied, "I am of that man's opinion."

241. Leslie at Salem. Gage had fortified Boston Neck, and determined to prevent the people from arming themselves. He sent Colonel Leslie with three hundred of the king's troops from Castle Island to Salem, to capture a number of cannon secreted there. On Sunday morning, February 26th, 1775, this force sailed out of Boston Harbor, and by noon anchored at Marblehead. The good people of that town at once suspected the object of this Sunday excursion. Major John Pedrick mounted his horse, and, riding

rapidly to Salem, gave notice to the people assembled in their several churches of the approach of Leslie and the troops. The services were instantly suspended. All repaired to the North

Bridge.

242. At Salem North Bridge. The draw of the bridge was raised, and Colonel Timothy Pickering, commanding the militia, prepared to resist the crossing of Leslie. A parley ensued. Leslie threatened to fire. He was instantly warned that should his men fire, not a man of them would leave Salem alive. Rev. Thomas Barnard, pastor of the North Church, finally effected a compromise. It was that the bridge should be lowered and Leslie allowed to cross it and proceed thirty rods beyond, on his promise as a man and a soldier that he would then countermarch his forces and return to Boston. This was done; but in the mean time the cannon had been spirited away under cover of the buildings, and concealed under leaves in the woods beyond. This was the first armed resistance to British soldiers, and but for the prompt sagacity and skill of Mr. Barnard, would doubtless have resulted in the first bloodshed of the Revolution. As it was, however, the affair was bloodless; the colonists. saved their cannon, and Leslie returned crestfallen to report his illsuccess to his general.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.

243. The Expedition.- Gage was alert. He was determined that the "rebels," as he called them, should not gather military supplies. The committee of the Provincial Congress were as constantly active. They had caused military stores to be deposited at Concord and Worcester. Concord was twenty miles from Boston, and Worcester was forty. Gage turned his attention to Concord. At eleven o'clock on the evening of April 18th, eight hundred regulars, the flower of the king's army in Boston, embarked upon the Charles River, from behind the Common, proceeded up the river, and landed at Phipps' farm; from whence they marched to Concord, under command of

Lieutenant-Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn. The major led the advanced troops. News of the expedition had preceded them.

244. At Lexington. - A considerable body of minute-men from the surrounding country had gathered upon the green near the meetinghouse in Lexington. About five o'clock in the morning of April 19th, 1775, Major Pitcairn at the head of his troops arrived at Lexington. He rode around the meeting-house, and with drawn sword in one hand and a pistol in the other, called out, "Disperse, you

Yankee. -"You may wish to know the origin of the term Yankee. It was a cant, favorite word with farmer Jonathan Hastings, of Cambridge, about 1713. Two aged ministers, who were at the college in that town, have told me they remembered it to have been then in use among the students, but had no recollection of it before that period. The inventor used it to express excellency. A Yankee good horse, or Yankee cider, and the like, were an excellent good horse, and excellent cider. The students used to hire horses of him; their intercourse with him, and his use of the term upon all occasions, led them to adopt it, and they gave him the name of Yankee Jon. He was a worthy, honest man, but no conjurer. This could not escape the notice of the collegiates. Yankee probably became a by-word among them to express a weak, simple, awkward person; was carried from the college with them when they left it, and was in that way circulated and established through the country, till from its currency in New England, it was at length taken up and unjustly applied to the New Englanders in common, as a term of reproach." (Gordon's American War, pp. 324-5.)

rebels! Throw down your arms, and disperse!" A solemn silence ensued. He rode a little further, fired his pistol, flourished his sword, and ordered his soldiers to fire. The patriots scattered, concealed themselves here and there under cover, and continued to annoy the enemy with desultory firing.

245. On to Concord. — The detachment marched on to Concord. The provincials, finding that the regulars were too numerous to warrant attacking them, retired across the North Bridge, and waited for reinforcements. The British disabled several cannon, threw five hundred pounds of ball into the river, and destroyed sixty barrels of flour. The militia were now reinforced, and advanced upon the regulars. The British fired first, and at this first fire, Captain Isaac Davis of Acton and one private soldier were killed. The fire was returned; a skirmish ensued; and the British retreated, having lost several men, killed and wounded, and some prisoners. Meantime Gage had despatched Lord Percy with nearly one thousand men and two pieces of cannon to support his advanced forces. The brigade marched out, playing "Yankee Doodle."

246. The Retreat from Lexington to Boston. Lord Percy came up with the retreating column at Lexington, and gave the troops under Colonel Smith a breathing time, especially as they now had cannon