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ber of the Senate and of the Council under the Constitu- 

 tion, and was for many years the Judge of Probate for 

 the County of Suffolk. He was residing, January 1, 

 1775, on the corner of School Street opposite the King's 

 Chapel. 



The shutting up of the port of Boston by the Boston 

 Port Bill, June 1, 1774, produced the greatest suffering 

 and distress, and aroused the intensest indignation through- 

 out the whole country. The people could not submit ; 

 there was a feeling that the evils of war were imminent : 

 "and a gloom settled upon the inhabitants of Boston and 

 the surrounding towns which is reflected from the corres- 

 pondence and journals of the time." On the 19th of 

 April, 1775, all intercourse between the people of Boston 

 and the country was cut off by order of Gen. Gage ; but 

 on the 2 2d an agreement was made that the inhabitants 

 might, upon surrendering their arms, "leave the toAvu 

 with their families and effects, and those who remained 

 might depend upon the protection of the Governor." 

 Gage subsequently violated this agreement, at first ob- 

 structing such removals and finally denying passes for 

 that purpose. 



A century has passed since the occurrence of the facts 

 which were here recited, and although our country, dur- 

 ing that interval, has several times been engaged in war, 

 especially in the recent civil conflict (1861-65), yet the 

 scenes have been so far removed from our hearth and 

 homes that we know but little of its direful effects, and 

 consequently can scarcely realize the trying events that 

 our ancestors were encountering at the opening of the 

 Revolutionary struggle, the centennial anniversaries of 

 the leading events of which are now in process of a due 

 commemoration by a grateful posterity. Much has been 

 written on these subjects, and the admirable work of 



