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(1744-1775), of Boston, attained high rank as a lawyer. He denounced the Stamp Act and other oppressive measures of Parliament in a series of articles in the Boston Gazette, signed "Hyperion." In 1770 he defended Captain Preston and the British soldiers implicated in the Boston Massacre. In 1774 he published an able work entitled "Observations on the Boston Port Bill," which clearly indicated war and American independence as the final result of the controversies. In 1774 he went to England as a confidential agent of the colonial patriots, and was active in strengthening the American cause, but died on his return.

(1772-1864), was the son of the Revolutionary patriot of the same name, and graduated at Harvard. Very early in life he began a political career, was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and after a defeat entered Congress in 1805. He was a Federalist and in sympathy with the Essex Junto. During his Congressional service, which lasted until 1813, he made many notable speeches, particularly against the Embargo, on the Louisiana question, and in support of the navy. From 1823 to 1828, Mr. Quincy was mayor of Boston, and from 1829 to 1845, president of Harvard College, where he favored the elective system, introduced marking regulations, and acquired the great telescope. He wrote histories of Harvard College and of Boston.