8 THE KOYAL INSTITUTION. [CHAP. I. 



have pretended to curb the fury or calm the rage of this 

 popular whirlwind ; but I must have been cast, and con- 

 demned to suffer punishments equal to the blackness of my 

 supposed transgressions. 



The plan against me was deeply laid, and the people of 

 Concord were not the only ones that were engaged in it. 

 But others to the distance of twenty miles were extremely 

 officious on this occasion. My persecution was determined 

 on, and my flight unavoidable. And had I not taken the 

 opportunity to leave the town the moment I did, another 

 morning had effectually cut off my retreat. 



In May his wife and her infant joined him at his 

 mother's home at Woburn. When there, skirmishes 

 took place between the people and troops at Concord, 

 Massachusetts, and Lexington, and in this last fight 

 Major Thompson is said to have taken part with the 

 people ; but he was soon the object of ill-feeling, and, 

 although he was saved from immediate arrest by his 

 friend Major Baldwin, a short time afterwards he was 

 arrested, and then he appealed from the Committee 

 of Correspondence of Woburn to the Committee of 

 Safety of the Provincial Congress. When he was 

 acquitted at Woburn and set free, he withdrew his 

 petition from the Committee of Safety. Soon after he 

 was with Major Baldwin at Charlestown, and pro- 

 bably he took part in the battle of Bunker's Hill. He 

 certainly helped to pack up the library at Cambridge, 

 and was only prevented by the officers of the New 

 Hampshire Militia from obtaining a commission from 

 Greneral Washington. When epaulets were ordered 

 for the non-commissioned officers, he had samples 

 made and sent them with the price to his friend, 



