James Otis, the pre-revolutionist Part 13

47. "He took an active part in that battle, and after it was over made his way home again after midnight."

48. The last years of his life were spent at the residence of Mr. Osgood in Andover. For a brief season it seemed as though his reason was restored. He even undertook a case in the Court of Common Pleas in Boston, but found himself unequal to the exertion demanded of him.

49. He had been persuaded to dine with Governor Hanc.o.c.k and some other friends. "But the presence of his former friends and the revived memories of previous events, gave a great shock to his broken mind." He was persuaded to go back at once to the residence of Mr. Osgood.

50. After his mind had become unsettled he said to Mrs. Warren, "My dear sister, I hope, when G.o.d Almighty in his righteous providence shall take me out of time into eternity, that it will be by a flash of lightning," and this wish he often repeated.

51. Six weeks exactly after his return, on May 23, 1783, while standing in the side doorway during a thunder-shower, with his cane in his hand, and telling the a.s.sembled family a story, he was struck by lightning and instantly killed. Not one of the seven or eight persons in the room was injured. "No mark of any kind could be found on Otis, nor was there the slightest change or convulsion on his features."

52. His remains were brought to Boston and interred in the Granary Burying Ground with every mark of respect, a great number of the citizens attending his funeral.

53. James Otis sowed the seeds of liberty in this new world without living to see the harvest, and probably without ever dreaming what magnificent crops would be produced.

54. When the usurpations of un-English parliamentarians and their allies at home, became as burdensome, as they were unjust he defended his countrymen, in whose veins flowed the best of English blood, with an eloquence whose ultimate influence transcended his own sublime aspirations.

55. He taught, in the ominous words, which King James's first House of Commons addressed to the House of Lords, immediately after the monarch had been lecturing them on his own prerogative, that "There may be a People without a king;, but there can be no king without a people."

56. "Fortunately for civil liberty in England and America, in all countries and in all times," as Edward Everett Hale says, "none of the Stuarts ever learned in time what this ominous sentence means--ot James I, the most foolish of them, nor Charles I, the most false; nor Charles II, the most worthless; nor James II, the most obstinate."

57. It could be said of Otis as Coleridge said of O'Connell, "See how triumphant in debate and action he is. And why? Because he a.s.serts a broad principle, acts up to it, rests his body upon it, and has faith in it."

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 a.s.sistance, and Otis' Relation to Them." 6. Music. 7. A Stereopticon Lecture, ill.u.s.trating 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."

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 a.s.signed 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 expand the thought?

When and where was James Otis born? What offices did he fill?

When was James Otis, Jr. born? What did he inherit from his father and grandfather? What were transmitted to other members of the family? Give the name of one of these members and her peculiar gifts. What was the name of one of the brothers, and what is said of him?

By whom was James Otis prepared for College? When did he enter College? What is the tradition concerning him? What is said of his College course? What of his excitable temperament? What anecdote is recorded of him? When, and under what distinguished lawyer did he begin his legal studies? What is said of his preceptor?

When and where did he begin to practice law? What are some of the incidents of his early legal career? What is said of the defense by Otis of citizens in connection with the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot? What is the history of the Gunpowder Plot?

When was the first period of his Boston practice? What is said of the non-preservation of the legal pleas and addresses of James Otis? What does tradition say of him as an orator?

When and whom did Otis marry? What is said of the Cunnningham family? What is said of Mrs. Otis? Who comprised the family of Mr. and Mrs. Otis? What is said of the marriage of the elder daughter? What of the younger daughter?

When was the second period in James Otis's life? What is said of him as a rising man? What is said of his scholastic and literary pursuits, etc.? What works did he compose? What did James Otis say about the bad literary tastes of the boys of his time?

Of what is every man the joint product? What were the conditions under which the colonial settlements were formed? What were the feelings of the colonists towards England?

What specific conditions in the development of the colonies may be noted? What were the immediate and forceful causes towards revolution? What is said of the Navigation Act? of the Importation Act? What kind of a question was that at issue?

Why?

What is said of the seaboard towns? of the traffic with the West Indies? What period did the epoch of evasion cover? What is said of the iron and steel industry? of ship building?

What did Hutchinson say of his own Appointment? What were some of the personal forces at work? What is said of Hutchinson and others? What slander of James Otis was current? In what language was the case regarding the Writs of a.s.sistance made up?

What is said of the trial of the case? Who was one of the eminent spectators? What was the relation of Otis to it?

What did Chief Justice Hutchinson advise in the case of the Writs of a.s.sistance? What is the story narrated of Otis regarding his want of self-control?

What is said of the controversy between Hutchinson and Otis?

What resolution did Otis offer in 1762? What is said of his pamphlet on "The Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives," etc.? What is said of the Treaty of Paris?

What of the feelings of Americans towards the mother country?

What of the utterances of Otis?

What did the Americans claim? What was the reply of Parliament?

What is said of the Sugar Act? What of Otis' relations to Lieut.-Governor Hutchinson? Of his relations to the Sugar Act and Stamp Act? Of his relation to an Intercolonial conference?

What was Franklin's opinion of this conference? What is the substance of Mr. Otis' letter to the provincial agent? Of Lord Mansfield's view of it?

SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL STUDY. 1. The French and Indian War. 2.

James Otis as an Orator. 3. The English Colonies in America.

4. The Influence of College Men in Public Life. 5. How the American Colonies Grew Together. 6. The Commercial Causes of the Revolution. 7. The Political Causes of the Revolution. 8.

Otis Compared with Samuel Adams. 9. The Repeal of the Stamp Act.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE IN THE LIFE OF JAMES OTIS.

1725 Born in West Barnstable, Ma.s.sachusetts, Feb. 5.

1739 Entered Harvard College, June.

1743 Was graduated from Harvard.

1745 Begins the study of law.

1748 Begins the practice of law at Plymouth, Ma.s.sachusetts.

1750 Removes to Boston.

1755 Marries Miss Ruth Cunningham.

1760 Publishes "Rudiments of Latin Prosody."

1761 Opposes the "Writs of a.s.sistance."

1762 Publishes "The Rights of the Colonies Vindicated."

1765 Moves resolution for Congress of Delegates to consider "The Stamp Act," June.

Attends the Congress called to consider "The Stamp Act" in New York, and appointed on the committee to prepare address to Parliament, October.

1767 Elected Speaker of the Ma.s.sachusetts a.s.sembly.

1769 Attacked and severely injured by Robinson.

1771 Elected to the legislature of Ma.s.sachusetts.

1775 Partic.i.p.ates in the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17.

1778 Pleads case before court in Boston 1783 Killed by stroke of lightning at Andover, Ma.s.s., May 23.