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JAMES OTIS THE PRE-REVOLUTIONIST
JAMES OTIS THE PRE-REVOLUTIONIST
BY JOHN CLARK RIDPATH, LL.D. AUTHOR OF A "Cyclopaedia of Universal History," "Great Races of Mankind," "Life and Times of William E. Gladstone," etc., etc. THE CHARACTER OF JAMES OTIS BY CHARLES K. EDMUNDS, Ph.D. WITH AN ESSAY ON THE PATRIOT BY G. MERCER ADAM Late Editor "Self-Culture" Magazine, Etc., Etc. Near the northeast corner of the old Common of Boston a section of ground was put apart long before the beginning of the eighteenth century to be a burying ground for some of the heroic dead o
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THE CHARACTER OF JAMES OTIS BY CHARLES K. EDMUNDS, PH. D.
THE CHARACTER OF JAMES OTIS BY CHARLES K. EDMUNDS, PH. D.
In viewing Washington as the "Father" of our country, as he certainly was in a sense which we of to-day are coming more and more to appreciate, in classing Hamilton and Jefferson as brothers of Washington in his great work, and in ascribing to Franklin even a greater share in establishing "The United States of America" than to any of these three, we are apt to forget those patriots who did so much to keep alive the spirit of liberty and justice in our land during the troublesome times preceding
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RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT A TOWN MEETING IN BOSTON, MAY 8, 1770.
RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT A TOWN MEETING IN BOSTON, MAY 8, 1770.
"The Honorable James Otis having, by advice of his physician, retired into the country for the recovery of his health; Voted, That thanks of the town be given to the Honorable James Otis for the great and important services, which, as a representative in the General Assembly through a course of years, he has rendered to this town and province, particularly for his undaunted exertions in the common cause of the Colonies, from the beginning of the present glorious struggle for the rights of the Br
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JOSEPH WARREN'S OPINION OF GOVERNOR BERNARD, OTIS'S PRINCIPAL ENEMY.
JOSEPH WARREN'S OPINION OF GOVERNOR BERNARD, OTIS'S PRINCIPAL ENEMY.
Governor Bernard's bad temper and bad taste in dealing with the legislature may justly be ranked among the principal causes which gradually, but effectually, alienated the affections of the people of Massachusetts, first from the persons immediately charged with the government of the province, and finally, from the royal authority and whole English dominion. "With an arrogant and self-sufficient manner, constantly identifying himself with the authority of which he was merely the representative,
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OTIS AS A PROPHET.
OTIS AS A PROPHET.
Otis was not much given to general speculations upon the future; but there is something very striking in the following language, taken from his pamphlet "The Rights of the Colonies," if we consider how soon after there occurred the two great crises in the world's affairs, the American and French revolutions. "I pretend neither to the spirit of prophecy, nor to any uncommon skill in predicting a crisis; much less to tell when it begins to be nascent, or is fairly midwived into the world. But I sh
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ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF OTIS, ETC. OTIS AND HIS FELLOW PATRIOTS.
ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF OTIS, ETC. OTIS AND HIS FELLOW PATRIOTS.
Professor Hosmer draws the following pictures of Otis and his contemporaries: "The splendid Otis, whose leadership was at first unquestioned, was like the huge cannon on the man-of-war, in Victor Hugo's story, that had broken from its moorings in the storm, and become a terror to those whom it formerly defended. He was indeed a great gun, from whom in the time of the Stamp Act had been sent the most powerful bolts against unconstitutional oppression. With lashings parted, however, as the storm g
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OTIS AND ADAMS.
OTIS AND ADAMS.
Professor Hosmer thus compares Otis and Adams: "Otis' power was so magnetic that a Boston town meeting, upon his mere entering, would break out into shouts and clapping, and if he spoke he produced effects which may be compared with the sway exercised by Chatham, whom as an orator he much resembled. Long after disease had made him utterly untrustworthy, his spell remained. He brought the American cause to the brink of ruin, because the people would follow him, though he was shattered. "Of this g
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OTIS AS AN AUTHOR.
OTIS AS AN AUTHOR.
In 1762, a pamphlet appeared, bearing the following title: "A Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay: more particularly in the last session of the General Assembly. By James Otis, Esq., a Member of said House. "Let such, such only, tread this sacred floor, Who dare to love their country and be poor. Or good though rich, humane and wise though great, Jove give but these, we've naught to fear from fate. Boston, printed by Edes and Gill.
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THE TOWN MEETING.
THE TOWN MEETING.
Another important feature in the unfolding of our free institutions, was the system of town meetings which began to be held as early as 1767. "The chief arena of James Otis' and Sam Adams' influence," as Governor Hutchinson wrote to Lord Dartmouth, "was the town meeting, that Olympian race-course of the Yankee athlete." Writing to Samuel Adams in 1790 John Adams, looking back to the effect of these events, says: "Your Boston town meetings and our Harvard College have set the universe in motion."
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JAMES OTIS AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
JAMES OTIS AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
In the sketch of the life of James Otis, as presented in Appleton's "Cyclopedia of American Biography," an interesting account is given of the part James Otis played in the noted battle of Bunker Hill, in June, 1775. The minute men who, hastening to the front, passed by the house of the sister of James Otis, with whom he was living, at Watertown, Mass. At this time he was harmlessly insane, and did not need special watching. But, as he saw the patriotic farmers hurrying by and heard of the rumor
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INFLUENCE OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL
INFLUENCE OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL
Two days before the battle of Bunker Hill Washington had been appointed by the Continental Congress Commander in Chief. The news of the battle was brought. Foreseeing the significance of the result he said, "The liberties of the country are safe." Four days afterward Thomas Jefferson entered Congress and the next day news was brought of the Charlestown conflict. "This put fire into his ideal statesmanship." Patrick Henry hearing of it said, "I am glad of it; a breach of our affections was needed
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THE ANCESTORS OF JAMES OTIS.
THE ANCESTORS OF JAMES OTIS.
Carlyle says: "I never knew a clever man who came out of entirely stupid people." James Otis's great qualities "were an inheritance, not an accident, and inheritance from the best blood of old England." Many years ago, when George Ticknor of Boston was a guest of Lady Holland, at the famous Holland House, in London, her ladyship remarked to him, in her not very engaging way: "I understand, Mr. Ticknor, that Massachusetts was settled by convicts." "Indeed," said Mr. Ticknor, "I thought I was some
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COL. BARRE ON JAMES OTIS.
COL. BARRE ON JAMES OTIS.
In the debate on the Boston Port Bill in Parliament, April 15th, 1774, Colonel Barre referred to the ruffianly attack made on Mr. Otis, and his treatment of the injury, in a manner that reflects honor on both of the orators. "Is this the return you make them?" inquired the British statesman. "When a commissioner of the customs, aided by a number of ruffians, assaulted the celebrated Mr. Otis, in the midst of the town of Boston, and with the most barbarous violence almost murdered him, did the mo
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THE GENEROSITY OF OTIS.
THE GENEROSITY OF OTIS.
He was distinguished for generosity to both friends and foes. Governor Hutchinson said of him: "that he never knew fairer or more noble conduct in a speaker, than in Otis; that he always disdained to take advantage of any clerical error, or similar inadvertence, but passed over minor points, and defended his causes solely on their broad and substantial foundations."...
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JOHN ADAMS ON OTIS.
JOHN ADAMS ON OTIS.
But in that contest over the "Writs of Assistance," there was something nobler exhibited than superiority to mercenary consideration. "It was," says the Venerable President, John Adams, "a moral spectacle more affecting to me than any I have since seen upon the stage, to observe a pupil treating his master with all the deference, respect, esteem, and affection of a son to a father, and that without the least affectation; while he baffled and confounded all his authorities, confuted all his argum
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OTIS COMPARED WITH RANDOLPH.
OTIS COMPARED WITH RANDOLPH.
"The wit exemplified by Mr. Otis in debate," says Dr. Magoon, "was often keen but never malignant, as in John Randolph. The attacks of the latter were often fierce and virulent, not unfrequently in an inverse proportion to the necessity of the case. "He would yield himself up to a blind and passionate obstinacy, and lacerate his victims for no apparent reason but the mere pleasure of inflicting pangs. "In this respect, the orator of Roanoke resembled the Sicilian tyrant whose taste for cruelty l
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ORATORICAL POWERS
ORATORICAL POWERS
Many of the most effective orators, of all ages, have not been most successful in long and formal efforts. Nor have they always been close and ready debaters. "Sudden bursts which seemed to be the effect of inspiration—short sentences which came like lightning, dazzling, burning, striking down everything before them—sentences which, spoken at critical moments, decided the fate of great questions—sentences which at once became proverbs —sentences which everybody still knows by heart"—in these chi
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THE ELOQUENCE OF OTIS.
THE ELOQUENCE OF OTIS.
Otis was naturally elevated in thought, and dwelt with greatest delight in the calm contemplation of the lofty principles which should govern political and moral conduct. And yet he was keenly suspectible to excitement. His intellect explored the wilderness of the universe only to increase the discontent of those noble aspirations of his soul which were never at rest. In early manhood he was a close student, but as he advanced in age he became more and more absorbed in public action. As ominous
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OTIS COMPARED WITH AMERICAN ORATORS.
OTIS COMPARED WITH AMERICAN ORATORS.
"His eloquence, like that of his distinguished successors, was marked by a striking individuality. "It did not partake largely of the placid firmness of Samuel Adams; or of the intense brilliancy and exquisite taste of the younger Quincy; or the subdued and elaborate beauty of Lee; or the philosophical depth of John Adams; or the rugged and overwhelming energy of Patrick Henry; though he, most of all Americans, resembled the latter."—E. L. Magoon....
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OTIS COMPARED WITH ENGLISH ORATORS.
OTIS COMPARED WITH ENGLISH ORATORS.
"Compared with English orators," Dr. Magoon says, "our great countryman was not unlike Sheridan in natural endowment. "Like him, he was unequaled in impassioned appeals to the general heart of mankind. "He swayed all by his electric fire; charmed the timid, and inspired the weak; subdued the haughty, and enthralled the prejudiced. "He traversed the field of argument and invective as a Scythian warrior scours the plain, shooting most deadly arrows when at the greatest speed. "He rushed into foren
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PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.
In respect to physical ability, Otis was happily endowed. One who knew him well has recorded, that "he was finely formed, and had an intelligent countenance: his eye, voice, and manner were very impressive. "The elevation of his mind, and the known integrity of his purposes, enabled him to speak with decision and dignity, and commanded the respect as well as the admiration of his audience. "His eloquence showed but little imagination, yet it was instinct with the fire of passion." "It may be not
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PORTRAIT OF OTIS.
PORTRAIT OF OTIS.
The portrait of James Otis, Jr., published as a frontispiece to this sketch, is from the oil-painting loaned to the Bostonian Society, by Harrison Gray Otis, of Winthrop, Massachusetts. The painting from which it is taken, now hanging in the Old State House of Boston, is a reproduction of the original portrait by I. Blackburn, to whom Mr. Otis sat for his portrait in 1755. The original in possession of Mrs. Rogers, a descendant of James Otis, may be seen at her residence, No. 8 Otis Place, Bosto
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THE SOURCE AND OCCASION OF THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
THE SOURCE AND OCCASION OF THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
"The question is, perhaps more curious than profitable, that relates to the source and occasion of the first of that series of events which produced the war of the Revolution. Men have often asked, what was its original cause, and who struck the first blow? This inquiry was well answered by President Jefferson, in a letter to Dr. Waterhouse of Cambridge, written March 3rd, 1818. "'I suppose it would be difficult to trace our Revolution to its first embryo. We do not know how long it was hatching
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STAMPS AND THE STAMP ACT.
STAMPS AND THE STAMP ACT.
During Robert Walpole's administration [1732], a stamp duty was proposed. He said "I will leave the taxation of America to some of my successors, who have more courage than I have." Sir William Keith, governor of Pennsylvania, proposed a tax in 1739. Franklin thought it just, when a delegate in the Colonial Congress at Albany, in 1754. But when it was proposed to Pitt in 1759 the great English statesman said: "I will never burn my fingers with the American stamp act."...
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THE STAMPS.
THE STAMPS.
The stamps were upon blue paper, and were to be attached to every piece of paper or parchment, on which a legal instrument was written. For these stamps the Government charged specific prices, for example, for a common property deed, one shilling and sixpence....
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THE MINUTE-MAN OF THE REVOLUTION.
THE MINUTE-MAN OF THE REVOLUTION.
The Minute-man of the Revolution! He was the old, the middle-aged, and the young. He was Capt. Miles, of Concord, who said that he went to battle as he went to church. He was Capt. Davis, of Acton, who reproved his men for jesting on the march. He was Deacon Josiah Haynes, of Sudbury, 80 years old, who marched with his company to the South Bridge at Concord, then joined in the hot pursuit to Lexington, and fell as gloriously as Warren at Bunker Hill. He was James Hayward, of Acton, 22 years old,
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THE BOSTON COMMON SCHOOLS.
THE BOSTON COMMON SCHOOLS.
The Boston Common Schools were the pride of the town. They were most jealously guarded, and were opened each day with public prayer. They were the nurseries of a true democracy. In them the men who played the most important part in the Revolutionary period received their early education. The Adamses, Chancey, Cooper, Cushing, Hancock, Mayhew, Warren, and the rest breathed their bracing atmosphere....
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ENGLAND AND AMERICA.
ENGLAND AND AMERICA.
I have already dwelt on the significance of the way in which the Pilgrim Fathers, driven out of England, begin this compact, with which they begin their life in this new world, with warm professions of allegiance to England's King. Old England, whose King and bishops drove them out, is proud of them to-day, and counts them as truly her children as Shakespeare and Milton and Vane. As the American walks the corridors and halls of the Parliament House at Westminster, he pays no great heed to the pa
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THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE MEN OF THE REVOLUTION.
THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE MEN OF THE REVOLUTION.
You may perhaps remember how Wendell Phillips, in his great Harvard address on "The Scholar and the Republic" reproached some men of learning for their conservatism and timidity, their backwardness in reform. And it is true that conservatism and timidity are never so hateful and harmful as in the scholar. "Be bold, be bold, and evermore be bold," those words which Emerson liked to quote, are words which should ever ring in the scholar's ear. But you must remember that Roger Williams and Sir Harr
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EARL PERCY AND YANKEE DOODLE.
EARL PERCY AND YANKEE DOODLE.
Earl Percy was the son of the Duke of Northumberland. When he was marching out of Boston, his band struck up the tune of Yankee Doodle, in derision. He saw a boy in Roxbury making himself very merry as he passed. Percy inquired why he was so merry. "To think," said the lad, "how you will dance by and by to Chevy Chase." Percy was much influenced by presentiments, and the words of the boy made him moody. Percy was a lineal descendant of the Earl Percy who was slain in the battle of Chevy Chase, a
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STORY OF JAMES OTIS. FOR A SCHOOL OR CLUB PROGRAMME.
STORY OF JAMES OTIS. FOR A SCHOOL OR CLUB PROGRAMME.
Each numbered paragraph is to be given to a pupil or member to read, or to recite in a clear, distinct tone. If the school or club is small, each person may take three or four paragraphs, but should not be required to recite them in succession. 1. James Otis was born in West Barnstable, near the center of Massachusetts, February 5, 1725. 2. His ancestors were of English descent. The founder of the family in America, John Otis, came from Hingham, in Norfolk, England, and settled in Hingham, Massa
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PROGRAMME FOR A JAMES OTIS EVENING.
PROGRAMME FOR A JAMES OTIS EVENING.
1. Music 2. Vocal Music—"Remember the Maine." 3. Essay— "The True Relation of England as a Nation to the Colonies." 4. Vocal or Instrumental Music. 5. Essay—"Writs of Assistance, and Otis' Relation to Them." 6. Music. 7. A Stereopticon Lecture, illustrating the Famous Buildings and noted features of Boston—The Old North Church, The Old South, Copp's Hill, Bunker Hill, North Square, House of Paul Revere, Site of the Old Dragon Inn, The Old State House, Faneuil Hall, etc. 8. Singing— "America."...
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QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW.
Where is the Granary Burying Ground? Why so named? What distinguishes it? Can you give the names of some eminent persons buried there? In what tomb was James Otis interred? What interesting particular was noted when his body was disinterred? What names are given to the pre-revolutionists, the revolutionists, and the post-revolutionists? Who is assigned the first place among the protagonists of freedom? Who the second? What is the remarkable thing about the lives of many great men? Will you expan
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BIBLIOGRAPHY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
For those who wish to read extensively, the following works are especially commended: Library of American Biography. Jared Sparks. Vol. 2. Boston Charles C. Little and James Brown. 1846. Life of James Otis. By William Tudor. Orators of the American Revolution. E. L. Magoon. "Otis Papers." In Collection of Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, 1897. "Life of James Otis." By Francis Bowen, in Sparks' American Biography. Vol. XII Boston. 1846. Cyclopedia of American Biography. D. Appleton &
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