These were of the order of events that take fast hold of the public mind.  Far and wide and profound was the sensation; and the unity of the response from abroad, made known to the people through the press, was truly inspiring.  “We all rejoice,” says a letter, “in what your Assembly has done, and join in acclamations to the glorious Ninety-Two.  ’Twas certainly the most important case an American assembly ever acted upon.”  This brief narrative is uncommonly suggestive.  The letter of Bernard is a testimony to the kindly disposition of the people, who were ready to return much gratitude for little service, and who only asked to be left to the measure of freedom that was enjoyed by their brethren in England; the magnificent No which the House gave to the royal command shows how they could maintain their self-respect, and stand by their local government; and the general indorsement of the action of the House in other Colonies indicates a community of interest in each other’s destiny.

The replies of local legislatures, as they were printed from time to time in the journals, filled the hearts of the Boston patriots with joy.  Hutchinson, who kept constant watch of these things, and who rightly estimated the importance of the formation of public opinion, wrote,—­“The action of the other Colonies keeps up the spirit of our demagogues.  I am told Adams and Cooper say it is the most glorious day they ever saw.”  They saw a general manifestation of a spirit of unity in the support of common rights.  Without union they knew they were nothing; with union they felt equal to all things.  Thus here were working two of the elements of our political system, local self-government and American nationality.

The June mob, the public meetings, the vote of the House of Representatives, and the union feeling supplied zealous Loyalists with rich material to pervert into fresh argument for the necessity of troops to keep the people in order.  It was promptly seized upon.  The Commissioners set out the Boston tumults as the heralds of a rebellion that had begun its course over the continent.  They not only sent a batch of falsehoods to England by Hallowell, but they also sent letters to General Gage, the Commander-in-Chief, whose head-quarters were in New York, with a request for troops, and to Commodore Hood at Halifax asking for more ships.  General Gage was surprised at not receiving letters from the Governor, but with a soldier’s promptness he at once (June 24) tendered to Governor Bernard all the force he might need to preserve the public peace; yet regarding it as improper to order the King’s forces into a Province to quell a riot without a requisition from the Executive, he frankly advised the Governor to this effect.  But the Governor did not want troops to quell a riot, and said so; and in answer to the tender, returned a long and heavy disquisition, showing why, though he considered troops essential to the promotion of the good of his country, he did not and would not