Josiah Quincy
Josiah Quincy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1745. In childhood, he manifested unusual talents, highly cultivated at Harvard College, where he graduated with high honors. He then read law and became an ornament to the Boston Bar. His eloquence was of that commanding kind that once rivets an audience's attention. His logic was forcible, his demonstrations clear, his arguments convincing, his conclusions happy, and his actions captivating. A bright career was before him, which gave promise of extensive usefulness to his country and honor to himself. He was among the first to espouse the cause of the oppressed. He was one of the boldest champions of the people. He had their confidence, esteem, and admiration. Although surrounded and threatened by the myrmidons of the crown, he fearlessly and publicly opposed the unrighteous pretensions of the British ministry. He lucidly pointed out the various innovations upon chartered rights that had become sacred by long enjoyment and repeatedly sanctioned by declaratory Acts of Parliament.Had the colonists tamely surrendered them, they would have been unworthy of the rights of freemen. Thank God that they did not abandon them. To maintain them peaceably, they sent Mr. Quincy to England in 1774 to reconcile existing difficulties. Among the people, he found many who deprecated the course of ministers, a respectable minority of the eminent British politicians considered the advisers of the king visionary in their plans and unreasonable in their demands. Finding that Mother Britain was madly bent on ruin, Mr. Quincy left for his native land. He reached Cape Ann Harbor on April 25, 1775, and died the same day.