Page:Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs (Volume One).djvu/189

Rh votion superior to that manifested by all when Boston was the special object of ministerial wrath. Her injuries were felt by each town as though the blow were aimed at its own independence and integrity. And so in fact it was. But had Boston even fallen there were still strongholds of rebellion throughout the province, and the principles of the revolution would have survived.

Nor did the towns cease their efforts when they had voted supplies for the prosecution of the war. They took part early in favor of independence. In every town men sprung up equal to the crisis which existed. Our local histories will bear to posterity resolutions as immortal in sentiment and principle as the Declaration of Independence itself. The resolutions of the neighboring town of Concord express the views of Massachusetts towns. They say? “As men we have a right to life, liberty and property; as Christians, we in this land, (blessed be God for it) have a right to worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences; and as subjects we have a right to personal security, personal liberty, and private property. These principal rights we have as subjects of Great Britain; and no power on earth can agreeably to our constitution take them from us, or any part of them without our consent.” Where such principles existed the Declaration of Independence was a necessity; therefore when it came, most of our towns were prepared not only to accept it but to sustain it. They readily affirmed in their own names the principles which had been declared, and assumed the responsibilities which had been taken by their representatives in the Continental Congress.

Nor did their active agency in the cause of liberty and government cease here. They declared the principles on which the State government ought to be based and the manner of framing it. The resolutions of Acton and Concord are full and explicit on this point. They deny the authority of the