Intelligence of the Boston proceedings with regard to the tea, reached Britain while parliament was sitting, and was communicated to both houses by messages from the crown. The ministers had long watched for an opportunity of crushing Boston, and now they thought that the time had come. The leading part taken by that town, brought down upon its inhabitants the whole weight of parliamentary displeasure. A bill was passed through, which received the royal assent on the 31st of March, 1774, prohibiting the lading or unlading of any goods or merchandise, excepting stores for his majesty's service, and provisions and fuel for the use of the inhabitants, at any place within the port of Boston, after the 1st day of June, until the king was satisfied that good order and obedience to the laws were restored, and until the East India Company and others should be indemnified for the loss they had sustained in the riots. Then, and not till then, might the king, by proclamation, open the harbour of Boston. In order to enforce obedience to the

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cnactments of this bill, four ships of war were ordered to sail for the proscribed town. General Gage, commander-in-chief in America, was appointed Governor of Massachusetts Bay, in the room of Mr. Hutchinson; and he was authorized to remit forfeitures and grant pardons.

The British ministry, however, were not satisfied with cutting off all the commerce of the inhabitants of Boston; they resolved not only to punish them for past offences, but to prevent future misconduct. A bill was passed in parliament, by which the constitution and charter of the province were completely subverted, all power taken out of the hands of the people, and placed in those of the servants of the crown. Another act was added to these two, for the "impartial administration of justice in Massachusetts." By its provision, persons informed against or indicted for any act done for the support of the laws of the revenue, or for the suppression of riots in Massachusetts, might, by the governor, with the advice of council, be sent for trial to any other colony, or to Great Britain; an enactment which conferred impunity upon the crown officers, however they might violate the law.

Meanwhile the people of Boston had been occupied with the dispute concerning salaries; but on the 10th of May, intelligence of the Port Bill reached the town. Such a rigorous measure was totally unexpected, and excited the liveliest indignation against its authors. The three acts were passed in such quick succession as to produce the most inflammatory effects in America, where they were considered as forming a complete system of tyranny.

"By the first," said the colonists, "the property of unof fending thousands is arbitrarily taken away, for the act of a few individuals; by the second, our chartered liberties are annihilated; and by the third, our lives may be destroyed with impunity."

On the 13th of May, General Gage arrived at Boston, and seemed apprehensive of an ungracious reception; but the people, notwithstanding their exasperation at the Port Bill, behaved with decency and suitable respect.

The Port Bill arriving in different parts of the colonies excited universal indignation. In Philadelphia and other places, collections were taken up in aid of the sufferers in Boston. This example was everywhere soon followed; and the great distress occasioned by the bill was speedily relieved.

The Virginia assembly, moved by the eloquence of Patrick Henry, espoused the cause of Massachusetts, and resolved to observe the first day of the operation of the bill as a fast; for which act, Governor Dunmore, who had succeeded Lord Botetourt as governor, dissolved them. Previous to their

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ASSEMBLY REMOVED TO SALEM.

separation, however, they proposed a general congress to deliberate on those measures which the common interest of America might require.

On the 1st of June, the day designated by the Port Bill, business was suspended in Boston at noon, and the harbour shut against all vessels. At some places in Virginia, it was kept as a day of fasting and humiliation; in Philadelphia, the deepest distress appeared to pervade the city, and in other places it was observed as a day of mourning. The people of Salem manifested a patriotic and disinterested spirit on this occasion, by nobly rejecting any advantages which might now accrue to them by the distress of their commercial rival. The people of the sea-port towns of Massachusetts generally offered to the Bostonians the use of their wharves and warehouses for carrying on their trade.

According to custom, the assembly met soon after the arrival of the governor in Massachusetts, who, in his set speech, at the opening of the session, informed the members that they were to remove, on the first of June, to Salem, which from that time was to be the seat of government. The assembly petitioned the governor to appoint a day of fasting and prayer; he refused, and soon after adjourned the meeting to the 7th of June, then to be convened at Salem. Before that time, the people of Massachusetts had received assurances of sympathy and aid from nearly all the other colonies. Emboldened by such support, they determined to act with unabated vigour; and when they met at Salem on the appointed day, they resolved on a general congress, to meet on the 1st of September, at Philadelphia; nominated five of their members to attend it; voted the sum of £500 for defraying their expenses; and recommended to the several towns and districts of the province to raise this sum, according to their proportion of the last provincial tax; which requisition. was readily complied with. On being informed of these proceedings, the governor dissolved the assembly.

The cause of the people of Boston gained ground everywhere, and at length, the Boston committee of correspondence,

satisfied that they enjoyed the good opinion and confidence of the public, ventured to frame and publish an agreement, entitled a Solemn League and Covenant. This was couched in such very strong terms, that it met with but little favour, and soon sunk into oblivion. It was succeeded by a compact of a less exceptionable nature, which was efficacious in preventing commercial intercourse with Great Britain.

The necessity of a general congress was soon universally perceived, and the measure was gradually adopted by every colony, from New Hampshire to South Carolina. On the 4th of September, delegates from eleven colonies appeared at Philadelphia; and, the next day, the first continental congress was organized at Carpenter's Hall, in Carpenter's Court. On the 14th, members from North Carolina arrived, making twelve colonies that were represented. It was resolved that