"Sam": or The history of mystery./ By C. W. Webber.

324 "SAM:" OR, TIlE HISTORY OF IMYSTERY.
to the governor. The Congress, in -this address, protested
their attachment to Great Britain, their loyalty to the king,
and their love of peace and order, but complained of the recent
arts of Paliament, the employment of the powers of govern ment to harass and enslave them, the military force concen trated in Boston, and the fortifications erecting there. The
people, they declared, would never be satisfied till these mili tary preparations were discontinued and those fortifications
demolished.
Gage replied that his military preparations were only in
self-defense, and justified by threats everywhere uttered.
He disavowed, on behalf of Great Britain, any design to
harass or enslave; expressed a wish for harmony; begged
them to consider, while complaining of Violations of their
charter, whether their present assembly was not a violation
of it; and required them, in conclusion, to desist from their
illegal proceedings.
So far from desisting, the Congress appointed a Committee
of Safety, at the head of which was John Hancock, with power to call out the militia. A committee was also raised to
take measures for the defense of the province, and another
to procure military stores and provisions, towards which the
sum of ~20,000, $66,666, was appropriated. Constables and
other collectors of taxes were ordered to pay no more money
to the late Treasurer of the province, but to hand over all
future collections to a new Treasurer appointed by the Congress. Preble, of Falmouth, an old militia officer, Artemus
Ward, a colleague of Ruggles on the bench of the Worcester
Common Pleas, and Pomeroy, who led a regiment at the
battle of Lake George, were commissioned as generals. The
militia were called upon to choose company and regimental
officers of their own, and to perfect themselves in military
discipline. The Congress disavowed any intention to attack
the British troops; but, as their Capital was occupied by a
large force, as the military stores of the province had been
seized, and as there was too much reason to apprehend a still
more direct invasion of their rights, they declared these
measures necessary for defense. Gage issued a proclamation
denouncing their proceedings, to which no attention was paid,
while the recommendations of the Provincial Congress had
all the force of law. Gage had no support except in his