From the Intolerable Acts unrest to the Stamp Act riots, Boston has for 250 years epitomized spirited uprisings against authority and for liberty.
Consider this: A Cause Most Splendid begins with the rowdy and dangerous Guy Fawkes Day with Boston’s North Enders and South Enders battling over who will burn the Pope in effigy. But the city’s fascinating history is rife with instances when “like a pot of steam, if you keep the lid on long enough and the thing’ll blow,” says my character Calum.
He continues to tell Elsie, a young French woman, “Young miss, you find yourself in a city that is a nursery for dangerous tumults. We’ve had twenty-eight protests here since 1700.
“Pick a reason and Bostonians have protested against it. Besides the Tea Party and Stamp Act, there’ve been grain prices, price-fixing by butchers, merchant hoarding, riots for not enforcing laws against brothels and, most of all, the Brits impressing colonists into military service.”
The young American Alec chuckles ruefully and adds, “Ours is a recreational rowdiness. Violent sometimes, yes. Protests are a political tool for us commoners…”
Yes, protests as a political tool.
So, true patriots, on this Patriots Day — after two years of being “terrorized” in other ways by lawmakers, bureaucrats and woke-masters of other sorts — you might consider the history of the great city of Boston where New England commemorates the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy.
Thrill of the Quill 
And, lest we forget, the one battle I trained for and never got to fight…that from Hopkinton to Boston called the Boston Marathon. Boston Strong. Happy Patriots Day, Mark.
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