nd
Otis especially relations were of a very unfriendly character, and it
must have been exceedingly difficult for the partisans on either side to
keep cool when the leaders were so apt to catch fire. Still, when the
Revenue Act of 1767 fell like a firebrand among the colonists, Otis,
singularly enough, was almost alone in advising moderation and caution.
In the following year his action and attitude were more consistent; he
was once more the advocate of resistance, and was appointed to draft
letters to the King, to De Berdt, the agent of the Province in London,
and a circular-letter, addressed to the colonial assemblies, requesting
them "to unite in some suitable measures of redress."[I] Governor
Bernard demanded the rescinding of the letters; and Otis replied in a
speech which the Governor described as "the most violent, abusive, and
treasonable declaration that perhaps ever was delivered." It is a very
significant indication of the state of popular feeling in Massachusetts
at the time that, while only seventeen members of the House were ready
to say "Yes" to the Governor's demand, nintey-two were resolved to say
"No." In the summer of 1769 a violent and disgraceful affray took place
between Otis and Robinson, the Commissioner of Customs, in a
coffee-house, in which Otis received a severe blow on the head. From
that moment his public career was practically at an end. He became the
victim of insanity. From 1771 to 1783 he lived aloof from the excitement
of public affairs. His death was singularly tragic and fearfully sudden.
As he stood at the door of his home in Andover, during a storm, a flash
of lightning struck him lifeless to the ground; so that he may almost be
said to have been carried to his rest in a chariot of fire.

[H] Edmund Burke had previously warned the British Parliament
against the futile attempt to tax the American colonies, and had
said, "You will never get a shilling from them."

[I] Tudor and Bowen hold that these letters, which are found in the
Massachusetts State Paper Collection, are from the pen of Otis.
Bancroft gives strong reasons for believing Samuel Adams to be their
author.

As to the place of Otis in the early colonial history of America it is
somewhat difficult to state it. His influence as the leader and exponent
of popular opinion was undoubtedly very great so long as it lasted, and
in the main it was beneficial. If, like many another great moral and
pol