" Tliere was scncttiii^." sav5 Br. Ellis. " eieeedicrT^ ""'■ -tz"- — '- - az.1 



degrading fe:) a iniiii of aiii inder^ndeni and self-rt>r . . — _ - - ihe 



condinons imr'-: sei i,: tizirs tv iiie * Ssi'iis of T.rr^7*~ ' in ' . ss of 

 cleansing oneself ii^jzr the lain; of Toryism- The . : ies c»f Cor- 



resix)ndenee and of Safetv. who^e services s^aztd slonned lo iis tiiroTiii 

 their most ezi::;nt agency in a snoc-essfnl strnggle, d/ _ d tneir 



authority to every witness or agent who might be a sel:- siiturcd 



gnardian of patnotie interests, or a spy. or an ciivesv \ :3 catch 



reports of suspected pers Z5.'" Human nature is . ;re the 



same, and to protect a c_=--;:_fd c-aose these ~ sons of ii>- ,. : . some- 

 times adopted the taetic-s of the papal in>^nisition. On. the Ssh of 

 November, 1771, for example, one Nicholas A-st-n had to go down 

 npon his kne^ aad i^^ the following c :— -.: "Be: ore this 

 company I confess I h:ive been aiding and assisting in - i; men 



to Boston to build barracks for the soldiers to live in, as . you 



have jnstly reaison to be olfriidel, which I ^^ sorry for, and - ' 'y 

 ask your forgiveness : and I do afimi, that for the future I i.. . iX 

 will be acting or as>:-'"r.g in any wise whatever, in act or deed, 

 contrary to the cx—^i-i-idon of the country: as witness my 

 hand." 



Public feeling irre^ dav bv dav more exasrerare^l aiTiinst 

 Thompson, and in the summer of 1774, he was sum re a 



committee to answer to the charj^e of bein:i unfriendlv to me caase of 

 liberty. *• He denied the cliarge, and challenged proof. The evidence, 

 if any such was ouered — and no trace of testimony, or even of 

 imputation of that kind is on record — was not of a sort to warrant 

 any proceeding against him, and he was discharged." The discharge, 

 however, gave him but little relief! and extra-judicial plots were 

 formed against him. The Concxvrd mob resolved to take the matter 

 into their own hands. One dav thev collected round Ms house, and 

 with hoots and yells demanded that Thompson should be deliverevl 

 up to them. Having got wind of the matter, he escaped in time ; 

 and on the assurance of Mrs. Thompson and her brother Colonel 

 Walker that he had quitted Concord, the mob dispersed. 



In a letter addressevl to his father-in-law at this time from 

 Charlestown near Bcvston, he gives his reasons for quitting home, 

 '• To have tarried at Concord and have stocvl another trial at the bar 

 of the populacv would doubtless have been attended with, unhappy 

 consequences, as my innocence would have stood me in no stead 

 against the prejudices of an enraged infatuatevl multitude — and much 

 less airainst the determined viilauv of mv inveterate e >, who 



strive to raise their popularity on the ruins of my char:. : :, :■. 



He returnovl to his mother s house in Wobi:- ''^ ^ ^'.s 



joined by his wife and child. While they were wi ? 



exchanged and bKxKl was shed at Concv>rvl and Lexington. J. - : 



was at length arrested, and Cv>nnned in Wobum. A ** Committee of 

 Correspondence" was formoil to inquire into his conduct. They 

 inviteil every one who could give evidence in the alMr to appesur at 



