1 6 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



injure the true interests of this my native country." It is quite 

 conceivable, however, that his definition of " true interests" may 

 have differed even at this time, from that of the ardent bands of 

 Tory-hunters then scouring the country. 



On May 16, 1775, he was again arrested "upon suspicion of 

 being inimical to the liberties of this country" and was kept in 

 prison for two weeks, when he was formally acquitted by the 

 " Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Woburn" with 

 the verdict that they "do not find that the said Thompson in any 

 one instance has shown a Disposition unfriendly to American 

 Liberty, but that his general behavior has evinced the direct 

 contrary." 



He tried to get an appointment in the Continental Army and 

 secured an interview with Washington, but the New Hampshire 

 officers over whom he had been promoted exerted too powerful 

 an influence against him. Nevertheless, during his stay at Wo- 

 burn he made himself as useful as he was allowed to in the organi- 

 zation of the army. In company with Major Baldwin he inspected 

 the fortifications on Bunker Hill and he spent some time drilling 

 the troops and designing uniforms. 



But finding it impossible to secure a position in the American 

 army, and equally impossible, at least for one of his adventurous 

 disposition, to remain neutral and idle in such stirring times, he 

 decided to seek in the British army the military career he coveted 

 and, nearly a year after he had been driven from his home in 

 Concord, he left Woburn for Boston. Here he was received with 

 a welcome from the British very strongly in contrast to the cold- 

 ness of his countrymen, and, in spite of his youth and inexperi- 

 ence, he soon rose into the confidence of the authorities. Upon 

 the evacuation of Boston he was sent to England to convey the 

 news, and so severed his connection with his native land. He 

 never saw his wife again; the daughter whom he left as an infant 

 twice visited him in Europe when a grown woman. 



His early biographers put themselves to much trouble to ex- 

 plain and apologize for his action in thus siding with the enemies 

 of his country, but now, when the descendants of the Loyalists 



