This song was written by John Dickinson, with some assistance from Dr. Arthur Lee, and was sent (printed in the _Penna. Chronicle_, July 4, 1768) by Dickinson from Philadelphia to Otis, accompanied by a letter dated July 4, 1768. It was sung to the tune "Hearts of Oak", and was made conspicuous in Boston by being sung at Liberty Hall and the Greyhound Tavern in Aug., 1768. It had been reprinted in the _Boston Gazette_, July 18th. An amended copy, "the first being rather too bold", was given in the _Penna. Chronicle_ July 11th. In September it appeared as a broadside, with the music. Edes and Gill's _Almanac_, in reprinting it in 1770, says it is "now much in vogue in North America." (Cf. Tudor's _Life of Otis_, pp. 322, 501; Moore's _Songs and Ballads of the Rev._, p. 37; Drake's _Town of Roxbury_, p. 166; _Mem. Hist. of Boston_, iii. p. 131.)
A parody appeared in the _Boston Gazette_, Sept. 26, 1768 (Moore, p. 41). This parody gave rise to the "Massachusetts Song of Liberty", which is given in Edes and Gill's _Almanac_ (1770), as well as in Bickerstaff, under the full title of _The Parody parodized, or the Massachusetts Liberty Song_. It has been ascribed to Mrs. Mercy Warren. (Cf. Moore, p. 44; Lossing, _Field-Book of the Rev._, i. 487.) The _Almanac_ (Edes and Gill) of 1770 also contains "A new Song composed by a Son of Liberty and sung by Mr. Flagg at Concert Hall, Boston, Feb. 13, 1770."]
A stenographic report was made of the trial of Preston, and sent to England, but it has never been published.[222]
The trial of eight of the soldiers took place Nov. 27, 1770, and John Hodgson,[223] the stenographer of the earlier trial, made a Report, _The trial of William Wemms, ... published by permission of the Court_ (Boston, 1770),[224] which gives the evidence and pleas of counsel, and a report of the trial of Edward Manwaring and others, accused of firing on the crowd from the windows of the custom-house. They were acquitted.[225] [Illustration: FROM BICKERSTAFF'S BOSTON ALMANAC, 1770.]
[Illustration: PART OF INSTRUCTIONS TO BOSTON REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 15, 1770.
The original draft of these instructions, in the handwriting of Josiah Quincy, Jr., is among the Quincy MSS. in the cabinet of the Mass. Hist. Society. This is a reproduction of the last page, showing the signatures of Richard Dana and of Cooper, the town clerk.]