goods or merchandise from Great Britain, except a few articles which they specified; nor to purchase British articles of the same kind from other colonies or nations which had procured them from England.

12. But there was trouble springing up of another kind. The government laws of trade had been hitherto greatly eluded, but the board of commissioners now determined they should be executed. A sloop, laden with wine, from Madeira [ma-dee'-ra], came into port. During the night, all the wine, except a few pipes, was unladen by government officers, and put into the public stores. The vessel was also seized, and put under a guard.

13. These acts roused the indignation of the Bostonians more than ever. A mob collected and proceeded to the houses of the collector and comptroller of customs, broke the windows, dragged the collector's boat through the streets, and finally burned it on the common; and some of the custom-house officers narrowly escaped with their lives.

CHAPTER LXXX.

British Troops in Boston.-Great Excitement among the Colonists.-Proposal of the British Parliament to send Americans to England for trial.-Resolutions of North Carolina and Virginia.

1. THE existing excitement was much heightened by the arrival in

the harbor, a few days afterwards, of two regiments of British troops, sent to assist the

governor and the other civil magistrates of Boston, in preserving peace, and to aid the custom-house officers in performing their duty. What added still more to the public indig

11. What did the merchants and traders of Boston now do? 12. What other trouble was there? What of the sloop laden with wine? 13. What was done by the mob in Boston ? CHAP. LXXX.-1. What of the British troops?

INDIGNATION IN THE COLONIES.

175

nation was the fact that the troops marched through the city, to the common, with muskets charged and with fixed bayonets.

2. The selectmen of the town at first refused to give the soldiers any quarters, though they finally consented to admit one regiment of them into Faneuil Hall. The next day, as if in direct defiance of the public feeling, the governor opened the state-house to them, and they not only occupied it, but stationed a guard with two field-pieces in front of it.

3. This was new to the Bostonians. It was quite as muc' as they could bear to have a royal governor and foreign collectors of customs among them; but to have the king's soldiers and cannon about the state-house, and fill the streets, even on Sunday, with the noise of drums and fifes, was more than their independent spirits could calmly endure.

4. It was not, however, till the beginning of the year 1769 that an universal indignation was roused throughout the colonies. The feeling of opposition had hitherto been somewhat local, but the spirit of resistance had now extended to every part of the country.

5. The British parliament, in February, 1769, had requested the king to give orders to the governor of Massachusetts to take notice of such persons, in his province, as might be guilty of treason, and have them sent to England to be tried. These orders were, doubtless, to have been extended afterward to the governors of the other colonies.

6. No measure could have been adopted by the parent country, more likely to alienate the feelings of her American subjects than this. To be liable to be torn from their own land to be tried by a jury of strangers, was as repugnant to their feelings as it was to the spirit of the British constitution.

7. The house of burgesses of Virginia, and the general assembly of North Carolina, having met a few days after the arrival of this odious intelligence, passed a series of resolutions, which greatly offended their governors—who, like the governor of Massachusetts, were royal favorites--and they forthwith broke up their deliberations. But it was too late to silence the people, and especially the representatives of the people in general assembly.

8. Affairs proceeded no better in Massachusetts. When their legis lature met, in May, they refused to transact business as long as the state-house was surrounded by an armed force. As the governor was unwilling to remove the troops, they adjourned to Cambridge, where,

2. What of the selectmen? The governor? 3. What was the effect of these move. ments upon the Bostonians? 4. What was the feeling in 1769? 5. What of the British parliament in February, 1769? 6. How were the Americans affected by this measure 7 What of Virginia and North Carolina? 8. Massachusetts ?

after passing some resolutions which were offensive to the governor, they were dismissed by him, and sent home, as their southern brethren had been.

CHAPTER LXXXI.

Repeal of obnoxious Duties.-The Boston Massacre.

1 DURING the session of the British parliament in the spring of 1770, an act was passed for repealing all the duties which caused sc much complaint, except that on tea. This was continued, to show that they had not yielded the right to impose taxes, if they chose to exercise it. As might have been expected, however, the colonists were still dissatisfied.

2. The British troops remained in Boston, and seemed determined to remain there, notwithstanding the known disgust of the citizens at the idea of having a foreign force stationed among them. There was, it is true, for some time, no open quarrel, but the citizens and soldiers were continually insulting each other.

3. Things could not long remain thus. On the 2d of March, 1770, as a soldier was going by the shop of a rope-maker, he was attacked and severely beaten. He ran off, but soon returned with a number of his comrades, and attacked and beat some of the rope-makers.

4. The people were now excited to the highest pitch. Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening of March 5, a mob collected, armed with clubs, and proceeded toward King-street, now State-street, crying, "Let us drive out these rascals-they have no business heredrive them out! Drive out the rascals!" Meanwhile, there was a cry that the town had been set on fire.

5. The bells rang, and the throng became still greater, and more tumultuous. They rushed furiously to the custom-house, and seeing an English sentinel there, shouted, “Kill him! kill him!"—at the same time attacking him with pieces of ice and whatever they could find. The sentinel called for the rest of the guard, and a few of them came forward.

6. The guard now marched out with their guns loaded. They met a great crowd of people, led on by a gigantic negro, named Attucks. They brandished their clubs and pelted the soldiers with snowballs, abusing them with harsh words, shouting in their faces, and even challenging

CHAP. LXXXI.-1. What act was passed in 1770? 2. What of the British troops? 3. What took place in March, 1770? 4. What of a mob on March 5? 5-8. Describe the fight between the people and the soldiers.

THE BOSTON MASSACRE.

177

them to fire. They even rushed close upon the very points of their bayonets.

7. The soldiers stood awhile like statues, the bells ringing and the mob pressing upon them. At last, Attucks, with twelve of his men, began to strike upon their muskets with clubs, and to cry out to the mob, "Don't be afraid-they dare not fire-the miserable cowardskill the rascals-crush them underfoot!"

8. Attucks now lifted his arm against the captain of the guard, and seized hold of a bayonet. They dare not fire!" shouted the mob again. At this instant the firing began. Attucks dropped dead immediately. The soldiers fired twice more, and two others were killed and others still wounded. The mob dispersed, but soon returned to carry off the bodies.

9. The whole town was now in an uproar. Thousands of men, women, and children rushed through the streets. The sound of drums, and cries of "To arms! to arms!" were heard from all quarters. The soldiers who had fired on the people were arrested, and the governor at last persuaded the mob to disperse and go quietly to their homes.

10. The next morning, the troops in the city were ordered off to Castle William, one of the city fortifications. On the 8th of March, the three slain citizens were buried. The shops were all closed during the ceremony, and the bells in Boston and the adjoining towns were all the while tolling. An immense procession followed to the churchyard.

11. The soldiers were soon afterward tried. Two of them were condemned and imprisoned, and six of them were acquitted. John Adams and Josiah Quincy, eminent lawyers, pleaded their cause. The mob would have torn them in pieces if they could have had their own way, for mobs are seldom just or reasonable.

12. There is no doubt that in most of these transactions the mob were in the wrong; the source of the mischief lay, however, in the fact that the British government insisted upon keeping an army among a people outraged by a series of unjust and irritating laws. This conduct showed that the king and parliament of Great Britain intended to compel the colonists to submission by force of arms, and not to govern them by fair and proper legislation.

9. What was the state of the town? What of the governor? 10. What was done the next day? Describe the funeral. 11. What of the soldiers? Who pleaded for them! 12. Were the mobs in these affairs right or wrong? What was the real source of the diffi culty?

8*

CHAPTER LXXXII.

Continuation of Difficulties.-The Regulators of North Carolina.-Burning of the Gaspee.-Appointment of Committees of Correspondence.

1. For a year or two, things went on somewhat better than before, though not by any means quietly. The merchants began again to buy English goods, except tea, which they would have nothing to do with. Associations were even formed in many parts of the country, the parties pledging themselves not to use it.

2. The revenue officers continued to be despised, and, as much as possible, treated with contempt. In the year 1771, one of them, in Boston, had undertaken to seize a vessel for some violation of the law, when he was taken by the mob, stripped naked, carted through the city, and tarred and feathered.

3. There was, the same year, an insurrection in North Carolina. A body of the inhabitants, to the number of fifteen hundred, under the name of Regulators, rose against law, order, and government, and against all lawyers and officers of government. Governor Tryon marched against them, killed three hundred, and took some prisoners. A number of them were tried for high treason and executed.

4. But one of the most startling events of this period took place at Rhode Island, in the year 1772. The Gaspee, a British armed schooner, had been lying for some time at Providence, to sustain the laws respecting trade. The Rhode Island people, many of them, hated her, and only waited for a favorable opportunity for giving vent to their indignation.

5. Such an opportunity soon occurred. The Gaspee was accustomed to require the Providence vessels to take down their colors on their arrival, and to fire on them and chase them into port, if they refused. One day, as a packet was coming in with passengers, she refused to lower her colors; upon which the Gaspee gave chase to her, and in the chase ran aground.

6. This was just what the packet desired, and she had, in fact, manoeuvred for this purpose. On arriving at the city, a plan was laid to destroy the schooner. A volunteer company of soldiers was soon enlisted under Captain Wipple, and several boats, with armed men, prepared for the service.

CHAP. LXXXII.-1. What of the merchants in America? 2. What of the revenue officers? 3. What of the Regulators of North Carolina ? 4, 5. Relate what took place between the Gaspee and the packet. 6. What plan was laid?