Tea Leaves: Being a Collection of Letters and Documents relating to; the shipment of Tea to the American Colonies in the year; 1773, by the East India Tea Company. (With an introduction,; notes, and biographical notices of the Boston Tea Party)Drake, Francis S. (Francis Samuel)
History
Tea Leaves: Being a Collection of Letters and Documents relating to; the shipment of Tea to the American Colonies in the year; 1773, by the East India Tea Company. (With an introduction,; notes, and biographical notices of the Boston Tea Party)
Drake, Francis S. (Francis Samuel)
Boston Tea Party, 1773; Tea tax (American colonies)
first appearance, the utmost weight of the people's resentment, upon
which he and the rest of the Com^tee left our counting-room and
warehouse, and went to and mixed with the multitude that continued
before our warehouse. Soon after this, the mob having made one or two
reverse motions to some distance, we perceived them hastening their pace
towards the store, on which we ordered our servant to shut the outward
door; but this he could not effect, although assisted by some other
persons, amongst whom was Nathaniel Hatch,[43] Esq^r., one of the
Justices of the inferior Court for this country, and a Justice of the
Peace for the county. This gen^m made all possible exertions to stem the
current of the mob, not only by declaring repeatedly, and with a loud
voice, that he was a magistrate, and commanded the people, by virtue of
his office, and in his Majesty's name, to desist from all riotous
proceedings, and to disperse, but also by assisting in person; but the
people not only made him a return of insulting & reproachful words, but
prevented his endeavors, by force and blows, to get our doors shut,
upon which Mr. Hatch, with some other of our friends, retreated to our
counting-room. Soon after this, the outward doors of the store were
taken off their hinges by the mob, and carried to some distance;
immediately a number of the mob rushed into the warehouse, and
endeavored to force into the counting-room, but as this was in another
story, and the stair-case leading to it narrow, we, with our
friends--about twenty in number--by some vigorous efforts, prevented
their accomplishing their design. The mob appeared in a short time to be
dispersed, and after a few more faint attacks, they contented themselves
with blocking us up in the store for the space of about an hour and a
half, at which time, perceiving that much the greatest part of them were
drawn off, and those that remained not formidable, we, with our friends,
left the warehouse, walked up the length of King Street together, and
then went to our respective houses, without any molestation, saving some
insulting behavior from a few despicable persons. The night following, a
menacing letter was thrust under Mr. Faneuil's door, to be communicated
to the other consignees, with a design to intimidate them from executing
their trust, and other methods have since been made use of in the public
papers and otherwise, for the same purpose. The next day, being the 4^th
inst., a notification was sent thro' the town, by order of the
selectmen, for the inhabitants of the town to meet on this affair the
next day, a transcript of which, and the proceedings of the town
thereon, at their meetings on the 5^th and 6^th inst., you have a full
account of in the enclosed newspapers, which, being long, we shall only
copy the message of the town to us, and our answer, which are as
follows:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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