Browsing: Legal Papers of John Adams, Volume 2

23. Francis Bernard in 1765 said that the argument lasted three days, but it is unclear whether he referred to the Feb. or Nov. argument. Quincy, Reports (Appendix) 416. JA, in his Autobiography, characterized the argument as “several days” and in a letter in 1818 said that Otis' speech against the Acts of Trade alone lasted four or five hours. 3 JA, Diary and Autobiography   276; JA to William Tudor, 1 June 1818, 2 JA, Works 314. The argument has been dated by virtue of the fact that it was held on the second Tuesday of the term. See note 2 104 below. The term began on the third Tuesday of the month, 17 Feb. 1761.