CHAPTER VI.

JOSEPH WARREN,

TYPE OF OUR MARTIAL ELOQUENCE.

BEFORE proceeding to the main object of the present sketch, let us briefly review the circumstances which compelled our fathers to the employment of military force in the conquest of personal and national freedom.

The British cabinet attempted to tax the Colonies, under the pretence of providing for their protection, but in reality to relieve the nation from the enormous debt under which Great Britain was oppressed. In March, 1764, as a prelude to the Stamp-Act, the House of Commons resolved, "That towards further defraying the necessary expenses of protecting the Colonies, it may be necessary to charge certain stamp duties upon them;" and this resolution was followed by what was commonly called the Sugar Act, passed on the 5th of April, prefaced by the following obnoxious preamble: "Whereas it is JUST and necessary that a revenue be raised in America, for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same; we, the commons, &c., towards raising the same, give and grant unto your Majesty, after the 29th day of September, 1764, on clay

ed sugar, indigo, and coffee, &c., &c., the sum of," &c. This measure, declared by parliament to be so just, was regarded by its subjects here as oppressive and tyrannical, and as such they treated it. It is literally true that they waged war against a preamble.

Having passed both Houses of Parliament, on the 22d of March, the Stamp-Act received the royal assent. Dr. Franklin, then in England, as agent for Pennsylvania, wrote to Charles Thompson, afterwards Secretary of Congress" The sun of liberty is set; you must light up the lamps of industry and economy." Mr. Thompson significantly replied, “That he thought other lights would be lighted up to resist these unconstitutional measures."

The Colonies were immediately and deeply aroused. The pulpit, especially, in New England, labored in the patriotic cause with great zeal and effect. The fires of liberty were kindled in every vale and on every hill, spreading their heat and light from province to province, unti! the conflagration embraced the whole land.

In Virginia the cry of resistance resounded in tones of thunder. In New York, ten boxes of stamps were seized by the populace, and destroyed. In Massachusetts, the strife was sterner still, and there, under the violence of hired ruffians, the first martyrs to American liberty fell. Otis, the invincible advocate, was mutilated by the bludgeons and dirks of assassins, Gray and other worthy citizens were shot down in the streets, and, in the great battle which these and other outrages had hastened, Warren expired.

Joseph Warren was born in Roxbury, in 1774. When

fourteen years old, he entered Harvard college, where he bore a high character, and graduated with distinction. Under the direction of Dr. Lloyd, he studied medicine, and in the course of a few years became a distinguished practitioner in the town of Boston.

But he soon became absorbed in the great questions of the day, and sacrificed the fairest prospects for wealth and luxurious ease to perpetual toil in behalf of his country. In 1768, Dr. Warren addressed a letter to Governor Bernard, which the minions of royalty regarded as libellous, and an attempt was made to silence the author by an indictment, but the grand jury refused to find a bill. Nothing daunted, our hero became more busy than ever with both pen and tongue, and as the affection with which he was regarded, especially by the industrious classes, was universal and sincere, his influence upon all ranks was very great.

In the most open scenes and in the presence of the most envenomed foes, he was explicit in the assertion of republican sentiments and fearless in opposition to regal arrogance. A memorable instance illustrative of his character occurred in 1775. Several years before he had delivered the annual oration, commemorative of the massacre of the 5th of March, 1760, and when the time arrived for the appointment of an orator for 1775, he solicited the honor of appearing on that occasion in consequence of a threat uttered by some of the British officers, that they would take the life of any man who should dare to speak of the massacre on that anniversary. The day arrived, and the "Old South" was filled

to overflowing; the aisles, the stairs, and even the pulpit, were occupied by a foreign military. The intrepid orator made his entrance by a ladder at the pulpit window, and with cool, collected mein, addressed the immense auditory. An awful stillness preceded the exordium. Each man felt the palpitations of his own heart, and saw the pale but determined face of his neighbor. The speaker began his oration in a firm tone of voice, and proceeded with great energy and pathos. Warren and his friends were prepared to chastise contumely, and avenge an attempt at assassination.

"The scene was sublime. A patriot, in whom the flush of youth and the grace and dignity of manhood were combined, stood armed in the sanctuary of God, to animate and encourage the sons of liberty, and to hurl defiance at their oppressors. The orator commenced with the early history of the country, described the tenure by which we held our liberties and property, the affection we had constantly shown the parent country, boldly told them how, and by whom these blessings of life had been violated. There was in this appeal to Britain in this description of suffering, agony, and horror, a calm and high-souled defiance which must have chilled the blood of every sensible foe. Such another hour has seldom happened in the history of man, and is not surpassed in the records of nations. The thunder of Demosthenes rolled at a distance from Philip and his host-and Tully poured the fiercest torrent of his invective when Cataline was at a distance, and his dagger no longer to be feared; but Warren's speech