A committee was appointed to wait upon the governor, urging him in the present critical state of affairs to issue precepts for a general assembly of the province, to take suitable measures for the preservation of their rights and privileges; and that he should be requested to favor the town with an immediate answer. In October several ship-loads of troops arrive. The storm thickens. Another town meeting is called, and it is voted that the several ministers of the Gospel be requested to appoint the next Tuesday as a day of fasting and prayer. The day arrives, and the place of meeting is crowded by committees from sixty-two towns. They petition the governor to call a General Court. Otis appeared in behalf of the people, under circumstances that strongly, attest his heroism. Cannon were planted at the entrance of the building, and a body of troops were quartered in the representatives' chamber. After the court was opened, Otis rose, and moved that they should adjourn to Faneuil Hall. With a significant expression of loathing and scorn, he observed, "that the stench occasioned by the troops in the hall of legislation might prove infectious, and that it was utterly derogatory to the court to administer justice at the points of bayonets and mouths of cannon." JAMES OTIS AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. In the sketch of the life of James Otis, as presented in Appleton's "Cyclopedia of American Biography," an interesting account is given of the part James Otis played in the noted battle of Bunker Hill, in June, 1775. The minute men who, hastening to the front, passed by the house of the sister of James Otis, with whom he was living, at Watertown, Mass. At this time he was harmlessly insane, and did not need special watching. But, as he saw the patriotic farmers hurrying by and heard of the rumor of the impending conflict, he was suddenly seized with a martial spirit. Without saying a word to a single soul, he slipped away unobserved and hurried on towards Boston. On the roadside he stopped at a farmhouse and borrowed a musket, there being nothing seemingly in his manner to suggest mental derangement. Throwing the musket upon his shoulder he hastened on, and was soon joined by the minute men coming from various directions. "Falling in" with them, he took an active part in that eventful contest until darkness closed in upon the combatants. Then, wearied beyond description, though he was, he set out for home after midnight. He afterwards pursued his sad and aimless life, as though nothing unusual had occurred. INFLUENCE OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL Two days before the battle of Bunker Hill Washington had been appointed by the Continental Congress Commander in Chief. The news of the battle was brought. Foreseeing the significance of the result he said, "The liberties of the country are safe."