goods sent them upon commission, that were not shipped before that day; or if they consented to any relaxation from these engagements, it was not to take place till the stamp act, sugar act, and paper money acts were repealed. The people of Philadelphia, also, resolved that,

till such a repeal should happen, no lawyer should commence any

suit for a demand for money, owing by a resident in America, however indebted in England, or make any remittances thither. This

resolution was adopted by the shopkeepers, who unanimously agreed not to buy any more English goods shipped contrary to these resolutions. Ages to come will be amazed, that separate governments, and so many colonies distinct from each other, should have united so speedily in one interest, notwithstanding the influence of government agents among them, who endeavored to frustrate all their designs.

In Boston, the effigy of Mr. Oliver, the stamp master, was burnt, and his house assailed, partly demolished, and his furniture destroyed; and, soon after, the house of William Storer, deputy-register of the court of admiralty, was attacked, and the books and files of the court destroyed; and the house of Benjamin Hallowell, comptroller of the customs, shared the same fate. These outrages were followed by a more bold and daring attack upon the dwelling of Mr. Hutchinson, lieutenant-governor of the province; he was obliged to flee to save his life, and his house was entirely demolished, except the walls, and every thing in it destroyed or carried off. Similar outrages were committed in other places. In Connecticut, Mr. Ingersoll, the stamp officer, was burnt in effigy in many towns; and while he was proceeding from New Haven to Hartford, where the assembly was in session, he was pursued and overtaken by a large concourse of people, some from more than thirty miles, and compelled to resign his office, which was followed by three hearty cheers of liberty and prop

4

erty. This took place at Wethersfield, from whence the people, who were headed by militia officers, proceeded to Hartford, where Mr.

Ingersoll was compelled to read his resignation in the hearing of the assembly, which was succeeded by loud acclamations of liberty and property. In New York, the stamp officer was compelled to resign, and Lieutenant-Governor Colden was burnt in effigy, with a stamp bill in his hand, suspended from his own coach, and the whole was consumed together.

CHAPTER LVI.

Repeal of the stamp act. New laws passed for taxing the colonies. Their failure of success. Early efforts of the colonists for the promotion of domestic manufactures. British troops quartered upon the Americans. Opposition of the legislature of New York. Dissensions between the legislature of Massachusetts and the governor. Seizure of the sloop Liberty at Boston. Troubles at that place. British troops ordered to Boston. Consternation of the inhabitants. General convention of the people of Massachusetts. Arrival of the troops at Boston. Proceedings of the British ministry and parliament. Troubles occasioned by the troops. The Boston Massacre.

THE British ministry were at length convinced of the impossibil ity of enforcing the stamp act, and it was repealed by parliament, March 8th, 1766. But the satisfaction which this measure gave the colonists, did not remove their apprehensions concerning the designs of the ministry. New laws were passed, in 1767, for the purpose of raising a revenue in the colonies, by duties on the importation of glass and paper, and other commodities from Great Britain. It appears somewhat surprising, after the recent example of the mischiefs that attended the stamp act, and the consequent repeal of it from a knowledge of those evils, that a measure of a like tendency should have been so speedily adopted, before the chagrin, on account of the former irritation, was worn off the minds of the colonists. Much the

same arguments were used in defense of those measures, that were made in support of the stamp act.

These laws met with the same fate that attended the stamp act. The first visible instance of opposition shown to them, happened at Boston, October 27th, 1767, when the inhabitants, at a general meeting, agreed to several resolutions for the encouragement of manufactures, promoting frugality and economy, and for lessening and restraining the use of all superfluities. These resolutions, which were all, in the first instance, prejudicial to the commerce of Great Britain, contained an enumeration of articles which it was determined not to use at all, or in as low a degree as possible. At the same time, a subscription was opened, and a committee appointed for the encouragement of their old manufactures, and the establishment of new ones. Among these, it was agreed to give particular encouragement to the making of paper and glass, and the other taxed commodities. It was also resolved to restrain the expenses of funerals, and to reduce dress to a degree of primitive simplicity and plainness, and, in general, not to purchase from the mother country any thing which could be procured in America. These resolutions were adopted, or similar ones agreed upon, by nearly all the old colonies of the continent. The British ministry might, by this time, have perceived that a people of such Spartan spirit were not to be easily frightened into compliance with arbitrary acts of a legislature, where they had none to represent them. A people that have so much public virtue as to become unfashionable for the sake of preserving their political rights, and can restrain their appetites and passions, for the sake of their country, are not easily to be enslaved.

What had lately irritated both parties in this dispute, was the law quartering troops on the Americans. It had been ordered, by an act of parliament in the last session, that the people of New York should provide for the king's troops, according to a method expressed in the act; but the assembly of that province, instead of complying, pursued a measure of their own in disposing of the soldiers. This was so offensive to the ministry, that they retorted with a new law, whereby the governor, council and assembly of New York were prohibited from passing any act of assembly whatever, till they had complied with the terms of the above act of parliament in every particular. This was designed as a lesson to the other colonies, to teach them more reverence to the acts of the British legislature; but it did not produce the intended effect; for the colonists, who had begun to question the right of the parliament to make laws for them, were not disposed to obey a statute that was specially designed to inform them that they were in a state of vassalage. By these measures, the leading