OTIS, JAMES, 1725-83; b. Great Marshes, now West Barnstable, Mass.: graduated at Ilarvard college in 1743; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1748. He at first practiced at Plymouth, but settled in Boston in 1743. In 1761, when he was advo cate general, the point came up for argument, whether persons engaged in carrying out the acts of trade were entitled to receive assistance from the executive departments of the colony. Otis was convinced of the illegality of the writs of assistance, and 1eM4nyd rather than argue in their defense. He was immediately engaged to argue ag Oust them, which he did in an argument of great force and eloquence: the judges reserved their decision, but no more writs were enforced, though some were, issued. The resignation of Otis, and his plea in behalf of the popular side of the writs of-assi.t ance controversy, gave him a high reputation for ability and eloquence, which he more than maintained in the legislature, to which he was elected next year. He soon came to be regarded the ablest leader of the popular party in Massachusetts. June 6, 1765, he made a motion which was carried, that a congress of representatives from the various colonies should be convened pursuance of this measure a circular letter was sent, inviting the colonies to join in a congress, and the stamp act congress. which met in New York, in the fall of 1765, was the result. Otis took part in the proceedings of this body, and served on the committee which framed an address to the house of commons. He was chosen speaker of the legislature in 1767, but the governor'interposed his nega tive. In 1763, after the passage through parliament of Charles Townsliend's bill for the taxation of the colonies, the Massachusetts house of representatives sent a second circu lar letter to the other colonies, calling on them to join in some common plan for protection.
It was in answer to the message of Bernard, the royal governor, that the circular be recalled, that Otis made a notable speech, condemned by the partisans of the crown, as "the most violent, insolent, abusive, and treasonable declaration that perhaps was ever delivered." Only 17 members voted to recall the circular. In 1 769 the cus toms commissioners accused him in England, of treason, This coming to the notice of Otis, in the summer of 1769, he publicly denounced the commissioners, in the Boston G,Ifetb3. Meeting Robinson, one of the commissioners. in a coffee-room the next night, bccaine involved in a dispute with him. An affray was' the result, in which Otis was severely handled, and received a cut on the head, which is supposed to have been the cause of his subsequent insanity. He sued Robinson. and recovered ,t2,000 'damages. He relinquished this stun, however, in consideration of a written apology from Robin son. After a short residence in the for the benefit of his health, lie returned to the legislature in 1771. He was insane for the greater part of his life subsequently, with the exception of a short interval, when he went hack to Boston and resumed the practice of his profession. The last two years of his life were spent at Andover, and there he was killed by lightning, while standing at the door of his house. He published in 1760, a treatise on Rudiments of Latin Prosody: A Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatiees, 1762; The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted, 1764; and Consider ations on Behalf if the 1765.