"The Possessor of this Bill shall be paid by the Treasurer of this colony, Twenty Four Shillings, Lawful Money, by the 18th day of August, 1778, which Bill shall be received for the aforesaid sum in all payments at the Treasury and in all other Payments by order of the General Assembly.
"Committee,
Gage's Restrictions.—Gloomy Prospects of the People of Boston.—Arrangements with the Selectmen.—Perfidy of Gage.
bearing an interest of six per cent. They also forwarded dispatches to the general May 3, 1775 Congress which was to assemble on the 10th, suggesting the necessity for making provision for a large army, to oppose the expected troops from Great Britain.
While these transactions were taking place without Boston, General Gage was pursuing a course of rigorous surveillance over the people within the city. By his orders all April 19, 1775
intercourse with the country was cut off, and none were allowed to leave the town without his permission first obtained. This measure exposed the people to great distress, for their accustomed supply of provisions and fuel was thus cut off. They at once felt all the horrors of civil war gathering around them—visions of famine, rapine, and blood clouded their thoughts, and all the miseries which gloomy anticipation delineate began to be felt. Gage himself became uneasy. Boston was surrounded by an exasperated multitude, armed and ready for combat at the least provocation; and he was justly apprehensive that, should an assault commence from without, the patriots within would rise upon his troops. In this exigency he so far receded from his haughty demeanor toward the municipal authorities as to seek an interview with the selectmen. It was obtained, and he assured them that no violence should be done to the town, provided the people would behave peaceably. A town meeting was held on the 22d, and an agreement was entered into between the selectmen and Gage, "That, upon the inhabitants in general lodging their arms in Faneuil Hall, or any other convenient place, under the care of the selectmen, marked with the names of the respective owners, all such inhabitants that are inclined might leave the town, with their families and effects, and those who remained might depend upon the protection of the governor; and that the arms aforesaid, at a suitable time, should be returned to the owners." * This measure was sanctioned by the Committee of Safety sitting at Cambridge, and the arrangement was carried out in good faith for a short time, until the removal became so general as to alarm the Tories and the governor himself. ** The Tories, about this time, were excessively loyal. Two hundred of them were enrolled as a military corps under Timothy Ruggles, and, offering their services to General Gage, were put on duty. They thought the arrangement Gage had agreed to was unwise, for they apprehended that, when the patriots had all left the town with their effects, they would not scruple to burn it. They remonstrated with Gage, and their importunities and his own fears became more potent than his sense of honor. Obstructions were thrown in the way of removals, until, finally, passes were denied, or so framed that families would have to be separated, and property left behind. Gage, finally, would not allow women and children to leave Boston, but kept them there as a sort of hostages, or pledges of good behavior on the part of the patriots. This exhibition of bad faith disgusted and exasperated the people as much as any of his previous acts.
* The following is a copy of one of the passes granted to the inhabitants who left. It is copied from one preserved in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
"Boston, May, 1775.
"Permit————————-, together with his family, consisting of—-persons, and———-effects, to pass———————-, between sunrise and sunset.
By order of his Excellency the Governor.