[Pamphlets. American history]

CAMBRIDGE REVOLUTIONARY MEMORIAL. 21
to the mother-land it should be remembered that it
was only a portion of the ministerial party in England who'projected the measures which oppressed
the Colonies and led to their revolution. There were
men in high places in England who deserve our admiration and gratitude for their bold assertion of our
colonial rights. But baser counsels prevailed.* In
1774 the Boston Port Bill went into operation, with
fasting and prayer on the part of the people, with
the tolling of bells and prevailing signs of mourning.
Other acts were passed in Parliament which deprived
the colonists of privileges which they had enjoyed.
The interests of the people were protected by the
Committees of Correspondence which they had chosen,
under whose direction a meeting of delegates was
held in Faneuil Hall in August, 1774. " The result
was a Provincial Congress, hostile preparation, a clash
of arms, and a general rising of the people. To the
people of Middlesex County belongs the honor of
taking the lead in carrying out the bold plan resolved
upon." Four days after the meeting in Faneuil Hall
another was held at Concord. The resolves of that
meeting ended in this declaration, " No danger shall
affright, no difficulties shall intimidate us; and if, in
support of our rights, we are called to encounter even
death, we are yet undaunted, sensible that he can
never die too soon who lays down his life in support
* For historical information I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Frothingham's "History of the Siege of Boston," and to the
Address of Rev. Samuel Abbot Smith, entitled "West Cambridge on the
Nineteenth of April, 1775."