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| Governor Hutchinson showing displeasure on his published personal letters |
In London, the blame and gossip even produced a clumsy sword duel between gentlemen arguing over who was responsible, the kind of spectacle that would be funny if it weren’t tied to real power. Hutchinson calls it private correspondence turned into public punishment, his words “set in type like a public hanging.” Gage agrees it’s theft, but he keeps his response controlled. The letters weren’t pulled from a Boston drawer; they were obtained in London, and forwarded to Massachusetts. Now Boston has done what Boston does best: printed them and dared everyone to react.
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| London's famous duel when the bark was bigger than bite |
Hutchinson wants force. “Then we crush the press. Edes and Gill, tonight.” Gage stops him with a simple consequence: soldiers at a print shop becomes the next headline. Hutchinson doesn’t care. He wants the source. He wants a name he can drag into daylight and blame for the whole thing. And when he says it's tied to “Revere” you can feel the scene tighten. Revere is visible. Revere has friends. Revere makes noise. Hutchinson wants to treat that as proof.
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| General Gage consoles Governor Hutchinson on his personal letters |
Gage won’t give him a public show. He grants permission to question Paul Revere, but only with conditions: no public arrest, no roughing him up, questions only. Hutchinson agrees because he wants action more than he wants restraint. Gage ends the exchange with the line that explains the whole strategy: they’re after information, not a martyr. In Boston, the wrong kind of crackdown doesn’t end a scandal, it gives it a face.
