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“ Adams, when Hutchinson refused to convene the legislature to decide the question of the judges' salaries, proposed "committees of correspondence" in each town to consult as to the common welfare. This legally a proper act, was virtually an act of revolution, as the governor had no power over such an organization. Within a month eighty towns had chosen committees, and the system, that afterwards extended to all the colonies, was in operation. It was by such stages that the revolutionary government was formed, with Samuel Adams as the leading spirit. ”

“ She realized that the American colonies could not be brought under subjection so long as such fearless advocates of liberty were throwing down the gauntlet. He was a leading spirit in the first Continental Congress, and the first man to publicly advocate independence. His eloquence hastened the Declaration of Independence in Congress, and induced Massachusetts to adopt the constitution of the United States.
All the energies of the man were poured out in the cause he loved ”

“ A tory member, feigning sickness, was let out, and informed Governor Hutchinson; who, however, could not gain admission to serve a writ to dissolve the assembly, and when the business at hand was finished the last Massachusetts legislature under sovereign authority had adjourned sine die. James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine were elected to meet the delegates from other colonial assemblies in Philadelphia, and £500 was appropriated to pay their expenses, each town being assessed according to the tax list. ”