conduct of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in maintaining Episcopal missionaries in New England-preached a warm sermon against the Stamp Act, taking for his text, "I would they were even cut off which trouble you!" The Monday evening after this sermon the riots were renewed. The mob attacked the house of Story, registrar of the Admiralty, and destroyed not only the public files and records, but his private papers also. Next they entered and plundered the house of the controller of customs; and, maddened with liquor and excitement, proceeded to the mansion of Hutchinson, in North Square. The lieutenant-governor and his family fled for their lives. The house was completely gutted, and the contents burned in bonfires, kindled in the square. Along with Hutchinson's furniture and private papers, perished many invaluable manuscripts relating to the history of the province, which Hutchinson had been thirty years in collecting, and which it was impossible to replace.

As commonly happens on such occasions, the immediate actors in these scenes were persons of no note, the dregs of the population. Mayhew sent the next day a special apology and disclaimer to Hutchinson. The inhabitants of Boston, at a town meeting, unanimously expressed their "abhorrence" of these proceedings; and a "civic guard" was organized to prevent their repetition. Yet the rioters, though well known, went unpunished-a sure sign of the secret concurrence and good-will of the mass of the community. It is only in reliance on such encouragement, that mobs ever venture to commit deeds of violence. Those now committed were revolutionary acts, designed to intimidate-melancholy forerunners of civil war.

Throughout the northern colonies, associations on the basis of forcible resistance to the Stamp Act, under the name of "Sons of Liberty"-a title borrowed from Barre's famous speech-sprung suddenly into existence. Persons of influence and consideration, though they might favor the object, kept aloof, however, from so dangerous a combination, which consisted of the young, the ardent, those who loved excitement, and had nothing to lose. The history of these "Sons of Liberty" is very obscure; but they seem to have spread rapidly from Connecticut and New York into Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and to have taken up, as

their special business, the intimidation of the stamp officers. In all the colonies, those officers were persuaded or compelled to resign; and such stamps as arrived either remained unpacked, or else were seized and burned. The Assembly of Pennsylvania unanimously adopted a series of resolutions, denouncing the Stamp Act as "unconstitutional, and subversive of their dearest rights." Public meetings to protest against it, were held throughout the colonies. The holding of such meetings was quite a new incident, and formed a new era in colonial history.

In the midst of this universal excitement, at the day appointed by Massachusetts, committees from nine colonies met in New York. The Assemblies of Virginia and North Carolina not having been in session since the issue of the Massachusetts circular, no opportunity had occurred of appointing committees. New York was in the same predicament; but a committee of correspondence, appointed at a previous session, saw fit to attend. In Georgia, Governor Wright refused to call the Assembly together; but the speaker of the House of Representatives, after consulting with a majority of the members, sent a letter to New York approving the proposed congress, and promising to support its measures. The New Hampshire House of Representatives gave their sanction to the congress, and offered to join in any suitable memorial; but, "owing to the particular state of their affairs" by which may be understood the predominant influence of Governor Wentworth, they sent no delegates. Dr. Franklin, about the close of his first agency in England, had obtained the post of Governor of New Jersey, vacated by Hardy, for his natural and only son, William Franklin. The new governor, who inherited all the prudence, with none of the patriotic ardor of his father, had prevailed upon the Assembly of that province to return a negative answer to the Massachusetts letter; but this proved so unsatisfactory to the people, that the speaker called the members together by circular, and delegates were appointed.

The Congress was organized by the appointment of Ruggles as president. There were present, among other members, beside Otis, of Massachusetts, William Johnson, of Connecticut; Philip Livingston, of New York; John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania; Thomas M'Kean, of Delaware, and

Christopher Gadsden and John Rutledge, of South Carolina, all subsequently distinguished in the history of the Revolution. A rule was adopted, giving to each colony represented,

one vote.

In the course of a three weeks' session, a Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonies was agreed to. All the privileges of Englishmen were claimed by this declation, as the birthright of the colonists-among the rest, the right of being taxed only by their own consent. Since distance and local circumstances made a representation in the British Parliament impossible, these representatives, it was maintained, could be no other than the several colonial Legislatures. Thus was given a flat negative to a scheme lately broached in England by Pownall and others, for allowing to the colonies a representation in Parliament, a project to which both Otis and Franklin seem at first to have leaned.

A petition to the king, and memorials to each House of Parliament were also prepared, in which the cause of the colonies was eloquently pleaded. Ruggles refused to sign these papers, on the ground that they ought first to be approved by the several Assemblies, and should be forwarded to England as their acts. Ogden, one of the New Jersey delegates, withheld his signature on the same plea. The delegates from New York did not sign because they had no special authority for their attendance; nor did those of Connecticut or South Carolina, their commission restricting them to a report to their respective Assemblies. The petition and memorials, signed by the other delegates, were transmitted to England for presentation.

The several colonial Assemblies, at their earliest sessions, gave to the proceedings a cordial approval. The conduct of Ruggles, in refusing his signature, was severely censured by the Massachusetts representatives. Ogden was burned in effigy by the people of New Jersey.

The first day of November, appointed for the Stamp act to go into operation, came and went, but not a stamp was anywhere to be seen. Two companies of rioters paraded that evening the streets of New York, demanding the delivery of the stamps, which Colden, on the resignation of the stamp distributor, and his refusal to receive them, had taken into the fort. Colden was hung in effigy. His carriage was

seized, and made a bonfire of, under the muzzles of the guns; after which the mob proceeded to a house in the outskirts, then occupied by Major James, of the Royal artillery, who had made himself obnoxious by his free comments on the conduct of the colonists. James' furniture and property were destroyed, as Hutchinson's had been. General Gage, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, was at New York, but the regular garrison in the fort was very small. Alarmed for the safety of the city, and not willing to take any responsibility, as Sir Henry Moore, the recently appointed governor, was every day expected, Colden agreed by Gage's advice, the captain of a British ship of war in the harbor having refused to receive them, to give up the stamps to the mayor and corporation. They were accordingly deposited in the City Hall, under a receipt given by the Mayor.

These proceedings had been under the control of the inferior class of people, of whom Isaac Sears, formerly a shipmaster, and now inspector of potashes, was a conspicuous leader. The next day a meeting was called of the wealthier inhabitants, and a committee was appointed, of which Sears was a member, with four colleagues, to correspond with the other colonies. This committee soon brought forward an agreement to import no more goods from Great Britain till the Stamp Act was repealed-the commencement of a system of retaliation on the mother country repeatedly resorted to in the course of the struggle. This non-importation agreement, to which a non-consumption agreement was presently added, beside being extensively signed in New York, was adopted also in Philadelphia and Boston. At the same time, and as part of the same plan, a combination was entered into for the support of American manufactures, the wearing of American cloths, and the increase of sheep, by ceasing to eat lamb or mutton.

Business, suspended for a while, was presently resumed. Stamped papers were required in judicial proceedings, but by continuing the cases before them, or going on without notice of the deficiency, even the judges, after some hesitation, concurred in nullifying the act.

A change in the English ministry, which took place in July, and the news of which reached America in September,

encouraged the colonists in the stand they had taken. This change originated in domestic reasons, wholly unconnected with colonial polity; it was regarded, however, as favorable to the general cause of freedom. The old Whig aristocracy, which had governed the kingdom since the accession of the house of Hanover, had split up, of late, into several bitter and hostile factions, chiefly founded on mere personal considerations. Pitt's repeated attacks on former ministries, and, at last, his forcing himself into power, had contributed not a little to this result. The accession of George III, had given rise to a new party, by which Pitt himself had been superseded a party which called themselves "king's friends," composed partly of political adventurers from among the Whigs, such as Grenville, the late minister, but partly also of the representatives of the old Tory families, for half a century previous excluded by the Whigs from office. These "king's friends" were regarded as hostile to popular rights, and were looked upon by the great body of the middle class with very jealous eyes. It was their distinguishing doctrine, that the authority of the king had been usurped and encroached upon by the House of Commons. The Marquis of Rockingham, the new minister, leader of one of the fragments of the old Whig party, was liberally disposed; but as yet, there hardly existed in England a popular party, in our American sense. The interests of trade and manufac tures were not, indeed, without their representatives, chosen from some of the large towns, but a great part of the boroughs were "rotten"-the property, that is, of one or more individuals, who, in fact, named the representatives; while money, in the shape of bribes, decided the choice in many of the rest. The House of Commons represented a narrow aristocracy, the majority of the members being substantially nominated by the great landholders. The House, thus chosen, debated with closed doors, only a few spectators being admitted, as a special favor. To publish an account of their proceedings was a breach of privilege, and only brief and imperfect sketches, even of the principal debates, found their way into print. Faint signs were but just beginning to appear, of that social revolution which has created the modern popular party of Great Britain and Europe, giving complete publicity to legislative proceedings, and