As the Captain told them, the Boston Massacre occurred in the street before it; and there, during the excitement in regard to the Stamp Act, the stamped clearances were burned by the mob. From the balcony the Declaration of Independence was read. Many town-meetings were held there, and many patriotic speeches made,--among them those of Otis, who foretold probable war, and urged resistance to tyranny "even unto blood" if necessary.
"A Boston lawyer of that time, a patriot,--as evidenced by even the few words of his I have just quoted. He was advocate-general with a good salary at the time when the revenue officers in Boston took out search-warrants to look for smuggled goods, and called upon him to defend their cause; but he at once resigned his office and took the other side,--that of the merchants of Boston, who were protesting against the writs. They offered him a large fee, but he refused it, saying, 'In such a cause I despise all fees.'"
"That case was tried in this old State House; and Otis made a grand speech of such length that it took him five hours to deliver it."
"What was it all about, Papa?" asked Gracie.
"It was on the question whether Americans were bound to obey laws which they had no share in making, and all the arguments in the wonderful speech answered doggedly, 'No.'
"John Adams, who heard the speech, afterward said that on that day 'the child Independence was born;' and no doubt the argument assisted the popular leaders very much in furnishing them with weapons for their work."
"Weapons, Papa?" Grace asked with a puzzled look.
"Yes, daughter; arguments with which to show the people what the English Government was doing to take away our liberties.
"Otis afterward, when Governor Bernard called upon the General Assembly of Massachusetts to rescind the resolution it had passed against the right of the English Parliament to tax the colonies without their consent,--which they boldly disregarded,--made a powerful speech in which he said, 'When Lord Hillsborough knows that we will not rescind _our_ acts, he should apply to Parliament to rescind _theirs_. _Let Britons rescind their measures, or they are lost forever!_' He went on speaking in that way for nearly an hour, till even the Sons of Liberty began to tremble lest he should go too far, and be charged with treason."