501.]
In such feelings Samuel Adams had no share. In each renewed aggression he
saw the error of his natural enemy, which brought ever nearer the
realization of the dream of independence he had inherited from the past;
for the same fierce passion burned within him that had made Endicott
mutilate his flag, and Leverett read his king's letter with his hat on;
and the guns of Lexington were music in his ears.
He was not a lawyer, nor a statesman, in the true meaning of the word, but
he was a consummate agitator; and if this be remembered, his career
becomes clear. When he conceived the idea of the possibility of
independence is uncertain; probably soon after the passage of the Stamp
Act, but the evidence is strong that so early as 1768 he had deliberately
resolved to precipitate some catastrophe which would make reconciliation
impossible, and obviously an armed collision would have suited his purpose
best.
Troops were then first ordered to Boston, and at one moment he was tempted
to cause their landing to be resisted. An old affidavit is still extant,
presumably truthful enough, which brings him vividly before the mind as he
went about the town lashing up the people.
"Mr. Samuel Adams ... happened to join the same party ... trembling and in
great agitation.... The informant heard the said Samuel Adams then say .
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