The actual words of Paul Revere about that night in his 8-page letter to American Revolutionary War historian Jeremy Belknap, circa 1798.

“In the Fall of 1774 & Winter of 1775 I was one of upwards of thirty, cheifly mechanics, who formed our selves in to a Committee for the purpose of watching the Movements of the British Soldiers, and gaining every intelegence of the movements of the Tories. We held our meetings at the Green-Dragon Tavern. We were so carefull that our meetings should be kept Secret; that every time we met, every person swore upon the Bible, that they would not discover any of our transactions.”

http://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=99&img_step=1&mode=dual#page1