Note 522 — Chapter II · (continued 2)
Reading edition
Sparks says (Sparks MSS., no. xxxii., vol. ii.): "In the public offices in London, I saw several papers respecting [Lexington], and particularly about the arrival of Captain Derby and the intelligence he brought. He was examined by order of the ministers, and he seems to have acted a bold part in circulating the intelligence.... In the first dispatch to General Gage he was censured for not sending the particulars immediately, and ordered to keep a packet in constant readiness."