f it,--boldly taking the ground that the stamp act was null and void,
Parliament having no right to tax the colonies. Nothing, however, came
of this application; the Governor and Council declining to act, on the
ground that it belonged to the Judges, not to them, to decide.

But Adams had put himself on record, and this record established his
reputation. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the
flood, leads on to fortune." The time came to Adams to distinguish
himself, and he was not found wanting. It was at this same period that
Mr. Adams first appeared as a writer in the _Boston Gazette_. He never
allowed his opportunities to pass unheeded; in fact, he made his
opportunities. Among other papers which appeared at this time from his
pen, was a series of four articles which were republished in a London
newspaper, and subsequently published in a collection of documents
relating to the taxation controversy, printed in a large volume. At
first the papers had no title in the printed volume, being known as
"Essays on the Canon and Feudal Law." Well they might have been called
so, but, it seems to us, that it would have been much more consistent to
have entitled them "Essays on the Government and Rights of New England."
His style was formed from the first, as is evident from the articles.

His law business continued to increase and in 1768 he removed to Boston
where he would have a larger field in which to develop his intellect. He
served on various committees during the next two years, and in 1770 was
chosen a Representative to the general Court, notwithstanding he had
just before accepted a retainer to defend Captain Preston and his
soldiers for their share in what had passed into history as the Boston
massacre. His ability as a practitioner at the bar can be judged from
the successful result of their case, as managed by him, against great
public prejudice. Adams' duties as a Representative interfered much
with his business as a lawyer, on which he depended for support, and
which had grown to be larger than that of any other practitioner at the
provincial bar.

He entered upon the duties of his new office with his customary energy,
becoming the chief legal advisor of the Patriot party, and now for the
first time an active and conspicuous leader of the same. Mr. Adams' keen
foresight enabled him to wisely judge that it would be a good policy not
to push too vigorously to the front as a politician until his