There was no violence elsewhere to equal this in Boston. There was tumult everywhere, but in most places the mobs contented themselves with burning the stamp agents in effigy and frightening them into the instant relinquishment of their offices. Not until the autumn came, and the day for the application of the Act, did they show a serious temper again. Then New York also saw a house sacked and its furniture used to feed a bonfire. The people insisted upon having the stamps handed over to their own city officers; and when more came they seized and burned them. At Philadelphia many Quakers and Church of England men, and some Baptists, made as if they would have obeyed the Act; but the mobs saw to it that they should not have the chance. The stamp distributer was compelled to resign, and there was no one from whom stamps could be obtained. Stamp distributers who would not resign found it best to seek safety in flight. There was no one in all the colonies, north or south, who had authority to distribute the hated pieces of stamped paper which the ministers had expected would so conveniently yield them a modest revenue for their colonial expenses. There was a little confusion and inconvenience for a time. The courts hesitated to transact business without affixing the stamps required to their written pleadings; it seemed imprudent to send ships out without stamps on their clearance papers; business men doubted what would come of using no stamps in their transactions. But the hesitation did not last long. Business was presently going forward, in court and out, as before, and never a stamp used!