d this was in the face of a situation the like of which had never been
known in America. "Notwithstanding which," wrote John Andrews, "there
seems to be ease, contentment, and perfect composure in the countenance
of almost every person you meet in the streets, which conduct very much
perplexes the Governor and others, our lords and masters, that they are
greatly puzzled, and know not what to do or how to act, as they expected
very different behaviour from us."

There is but one explanation of such a state of mind in the Whigs, in
the face of the evidently approaching trial. Their consciences were
clear. This revolution, when finally it came about, was quite within the
spirit of the British Constitution. The Whigs believed they were right,
and had no fear of the consequences. No testimony to their virtues, as
the backbone of a new nation, will speak louder than their present
attitude. External testimony is not hard to quote. "The people of Boston
and Massachusetts Bay," wrote Thomas Hollis but a few weeks before this
time, "are, I suppose, take them as a body, the soberest, most knowing,
virtuous people at this time upon earth." Other English opinion to the
same effect, and French admiration by the chapter, might be quoted. Yet
a truer proof of the quality of the people is to be found in the calm
self-confidence which "very much perplexed" the governor.

One more comment may safely be ventured here. Before two years were over
it was known that Gage, and perhaps even Hutchinson during his
administration, had had the most complete information of the secret
doings of the Whig leaders. In fact, even the deliberations of the
workmen's caucuses must have been known to Gage. That no arrests were
made can mean but one thing: that the Whigs were honest in their
endeavor to work their ends by legal means. Samuel Adams may have
foreseen the eventual outcome, and knowing it to be inevitable may have
striven to make it speedy and complete. But there was no general scheme
for independence, no plot for a revolt. "The Father of the Revolution"
laid his plans in silence, and waited for the ripening of the times.

Gage and his advisers, "greatly puzzled," also watched the crystallizing
of opinion. Of the temper of the Bostonians, although oppressed by the
Port Bill, there could presently be no doubt. Emboldened by the presence
of troops in the town, the Tories called town meetings, first to resolve
to pay for the tea, and then to dismiss