Excerpt from An Address Commemorative of Seven Young Men of Danvers, Who Were Slain in the Battle of Lexington: Delivered in the Old South Meeting House, in Danvers Although Gov. Gage, in his proclamation, had declared it treason to hold town meetings, except for the choice Of town Officers, they were held in defiance of his authority. (a.) (in Salem he ordered the Regular troops to disperse them at the point Of the bayonet.) At these meetings, committees Of cor respondence and vigilance were chosen, and delegates to a Provincial Congress, which was convened, first at Salem and afterwards at Concord and Watertown. John Hancock was President, and (b) Samuel Holten a member from this town. The day Of the organization Of this Congress was the day of the dissolution Of the royal power in Massachusetts. Among Other measures Of precaution, it was recommended, (and their recommendation had all the force Of a law, ) to train the mili tia, to enrol companies Of minute men, to collect and prepare arms and the munitions of war. But the supply was inade quate and imperfect. Their arms were principally fowling pieces, and dull lead was the metal most in demand. Grains Of gunpowder were worth more than grains Of glittering gold so scarce was it, that the country could not afford the Com mander in Chief on his arrival at Head Quarters the honor of a salute, though he was then the pride and hope, as he has since been, and ever will be esteemed, the Father and the Glory Of his country. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.