"That infamous foreign scoundrel, Thompson, will hold forth this afternoon at 46 Washington Street. The present is a fair opportunity for the friends of the Union to snake Thompson out. It will be a contest between the Abolitionists and the friends of the Union. A purse of _one hundred dollars_ has been raised by a number of patriotic citizens to reward the individual who shall first lay violent hands on Thompson, so that he may be brought to the tar-kettle before dark. Friends of the Union, be vigilant!" [Sidenote: Wendell Phillips] These events inspired Wendell Phillips, who was present at a meeting in Faneuil Hall, Boston, called to approve these outrages, to take an open stand in favor of the rights of the people, which were threatened, and gave to the cause for thirty years his active brain and eloquent tongue. [Sidenote: Compromise tariff] As a counterpart to the popular excesses in behalf of slavery, the Catholics of New England had to suffer persecution. At Charlestown, in Massachusetts, a mob burned the Ursuline Convent. Another indignation meeting was held at Faneuil Hall in Boston to denounce this outrage. As a concession to the Southern agitators, the American Congress, on February 26, adopted a so-called "Compromise tariff." The new bill cut down all duties of over twenty per cent by one-tenth of the surplus of each year, so as to bring about a uniform rate of twenty per cent within a decade. On the other hand, Congress passed a "force bill," which empowered the President to execute the revenue laws in South Carolina by force of arms. A State Convention in South Carolina for its part repealed the ordinance of nullification, but proceeded to declare the new Federal force bill null and void. [Sidenote: Death of Randolph] On May 24, John Randolph of Roanoke, Virginia, a descendant of Pocahontas, died at the age of sixty. He commenced public life in 1799, and served thirty years in Congress. There he became distinguished for his eccentric conduct, his sharpness of wit, and his galling sarcasm, which made him feared by all parties. He had to resign from the Cabinet under odious charges. In 1830, Jackson appointed him Minister to Russia. Randolph's speeches are still widely read. [Sidenote: Texas filibusters] In the extreme South the American settlers of Texas, aided by Davy Crockett's filibusters from the United States, began a war for independence against Mexico. [Sidenote: English abolition movement] [Sidenote: Gladstone's first speech in Parliament] [Sidenote: Misgovernment in Ireland] [Sidenote: Irish resentment]