The merchants made another compact to import no British goods; the newspapers contained fierce and patriotic articles. The assembly of Massachusetts, in February, 1768, called on the other colonies for cooperation and consultation. The ministers demanded that their action be repealed; the assembly reaffirmed it with an almost unanimous vote. The governor dissolved their body, but before they separated they drew up charges against the governor and asked the king to remove him.

In June of this year, 1768, a sloop was seized by the custom-house officers on a charge of having evaded the payment of duties. The people rose and drove the officers to the fort in Boston harbor. The governor now asked the government for aid, and 700 regular soldiers were brought from Halifax to overawe the inhabitants of Boston. The authorities of that city, highly incensed at this action, refused pointblank to provide quarters for the soldiers, and General Gage, commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, was obliged to dispose of them as best he could.

In February, 1769, Parliament declared the people of Massachusetts to be rebels, and instructed the governor to make arrests and send those charged with treason to England for trial. The assembly passed defiant resolutions. In Virginia and North Carolina the people became violent. An insurrection broke out in the latter province, which, however, was put down by Governor Tryon. The insurgents—" Regulators," as they were called-crossed the mountains and laid the foundations of Tennessee.

In the early part of 1770 the inhabitants of New York had a dispute with the soldiers regarding a liberty-pole, in which the people gained their point. On March 5th a serious difficulty arose in Boston. The people were bitterly opposed to the presence of

soldiers among them and did not hesitate to make taunting and harsh remarks. This ill-feeling culminated at last on this day, when a guard of the soldiers, under Captain Preston, provoked by the jeers of the crowd, fired a volley that killed three citizens and wounded eleven, two of these mortally.

This Boston Massacre, as it was called, roused the city to a state of fury. The people assembled in arms, and Samuel Adams spoke for them and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the troops. Governor Hutchinson was forced to yield. The troops were withdrawn, and Captain Preston and his guard were arrested and tried. Two were convicted of manslaughter and the rest acquitted.

Lord North was now prime minister, and on this very 5th of March he carried through Parliament an act removing the duty on all American imports except tea. Duty was retained on that article, only to show the right of Parliament to tax the colonies. The Americans saw at once what it meant, and they indorsed the action of their merchants, who now maintained their non-importation compact on tea alone.

In 1772 another obnoxious act was passed, requiring the salaries of the governor and judges of Massachusetts to be paid out of the colonial treasury, without the permission of the assembly. The assembly declared that this act was void because a violation of their chartered rights. About the same time, in Narragansett Bay, a party from Providence boarded and burned a royal schooner, the Gaspé, which had been. annoying them.

In 1773 the ministers attempted to get the better of the colonists by strategy. The export duty which had heretofore been exacted on tea when it left the English ports was abolished. It was thought that by this means the price of tea would be so much lowered, even with the import duty into America, that the col

onists would buy. It was principle, not price, ho... ever, for which the colonists contended. New York and Philadelphia prevented the tea from being landed. In Charleston it was stored in damp cellars and spoiled.

In Boston the people took a dramatic means to accomplish their purpose. On the night of December 16th a party of about fifty men, disguised as Indians, boarded the three vessels in the harbor which had brought cargoes of tea, broke open every chest, and poured the contents into the sea. To this event is given the humorous name of the "Boston Teaparty."

In revenge for this act Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill on March 31, 1774, by the provisions of which the harbor of Boston was closed to trade and the custom-house was removed to Salem, which was made the port of entry. But Salem and Marblehead offered the use of their wharves and warehouses to the merchants of Boston. On May 20th the old charter of Massachusetts was revoked, the people were proclaimed to be rebels, and the governor was ordered to arrest and send abroad for trial all who should resist the king's officers.

The Second Colonial Congress met at Philadelphia in September, with delegates from eleven colonies. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was president. A resolution was unanimously adopted to sustain Massachusetts in her struggle with tyranny, and addresses were sent to the king, to the English nation, and to the inhabitants of Canada. It was also recommended that commercial intercourse with Great Britain should be suspended till justice be done. The Congress then adjourned to meet again on May 10, 1775

Parliament answered by ordering General Gage, now governor of Massachusetts, to bring the colonists into submission by force, and for this purpose a fleet

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and 10,000 soldiers were sent to America. Boston Neck, the only approach to the town by land, was fortified, and the military stores at Charlestown and Cambridge were brought to the city.

The general assembly of Massachusetts was prevented from assembling But the members-elect organized themselves into a provincial congress and voted about $90,000 for defense and appointed officers to muster the militia of the province. One-fourth of this militia were ordered to be ready at a minute's notice, and hence were called "Minute men."

So affairs stood in the spring of 1775. Argument and entreaty expostulation and defiance, have been tried in vain. The contest for liberty must be decided by arms and the priceless gift sealed with blood.

Paul Revere's ride-The battles of Lexington and Concord-Ef. fect on the country-Israel Putnam-Ethan Allen captures Ticonderoga-The battle of Bunker Hill-The Americans retreat-Congress-Washington elected commander-in-chiefSketch of his life-Assumes command-The Virginia patriots-Northern expeditions-Montgomery captures MontrealBenedict Arnold's march-Assault on Quebec-Montgomery killed-Arnold is wounded and withdraws-The Americans driven from Canada.

General Gage, learning that some of the colony's

TO PAUL REVERE,

ammunition was concealed at Concord, sixteen miles from Boston, on the night of April 18, 1775, dispatched a force of 800 men, under Colonel Smith, to destroy the stores. The patriots discovered his intention. From the tower of the Old North church shone the signallight that had been agreed on. Paul Revere and William Dawes set off

by different routes to alarm the militia. By hard rid