He was among those who took the deepest interest
in the controversy with England and whether in or out of the
legislature, his time and talents were alike devoted to the cause. In
the years 1773 and 1774 he was chosen a councilor by the members of the
general court, but rejected by Governor Hutchinson in the former of
those years, and by Governor Gage in the latter.
The time was now at hand, however, when the affairs of the colonies
urgently demanded united counsels. An open rupture with the parent state
appeared inevitable, and it was but the dictate of prudence that those
who were united by a common interest and a common danger, should protect
that interest and guard against that danger, by united efforts. A
general congress of delegates from all the colonies having been proposed
and agreed to, the house of representatives, on the 17th of June, 1774,
elected James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and
Robert Treat Paine, delegates from Massachusetts. This appointment was
made at Salem, where the general court had been convened by Governor
Gage, in the last hour of the existence of a house of representatives
under the provincial charter. While engaged in this important business,
the governor, having been informed of what was passing, sent his
secretary with a message dissolving the general court.
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