T H E   F R E E D O M   T R A I L

Boston, Massachusetts

Case in point. James Otis, patriot, lawyer, politician, and writer. His career suddenly ends with a hit on the head in a tavern brawl. 14 years later, having once proclaimed "I hope when God shall take me out of time into eternity, that it will be by a flash of lightening", he gets his wish and dies as a result of a lightening strike.

Here's a parting shot of the cemetery. Well, enough of the dead, it's time to move along.

My next stop, King's Chapel. Completed in 1754, the church was designed to compete with the best, most opulent churches that England had to offer. Possessing one of the most elegant interiors of the colonial era, it does well in the competition of architectural one-upmanship. The last two pictures are from later this evening.

Next to the chapel you'll find the burial ground where Nathaniel Hawthorne found his inspiration to write The Scarlet Letter. Legend says his inspiration came in the form of the gravestone of Elizabeth Pain, who he used as the prototype for Hester Prynne, the main female character in his celebrated American Classic.

Next to King's Chapel I pass by Boston's Old City Hall. Now a restaurant and first class office building, in its political heyday, Old City Hall saw the comings and goings of 38 Boston Mayors over a period of 128 years.