would have happened ere many years had elapsed. As it was, Parliament
agreed to let the stamp-tax drop, and in its place established some
import duties on goods entering the American ports.

The colonists, however, were determined that they would submit to no
taxation whatever. The English government, in its desire for peace,
abandoned all the duties with the exception of that on tea; but even
this concession was not sufficient to satisfy the colonists. These
entered into a bond to use no English goods. A riot took place at
Boston, and the revenue officers were forced to withdraw from their
posts. Troops were dispatched from England and the House of Commons
declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion.

It must not be supposed that the colonists were by any means
unanimous in their resistance to England. There were throughout the
country a large number of gentlemen, like Captain Wilson, wholly
opposed to the general feeling. New York refused to send members to
the Congress, and in many other provinces the adhesion given to the
disaffected movement was but lukewarm. It was in the New England
provinces that the spirit of rebellion was hottest. These States had
been peopled for the most part by Puritans--men who had left England
voluntarily, exiling themselves rather than submit to the laws and
religion of the country, and among them, as among a portion of the
Irish population of America at the present time, the feeling of
hatred against the government of England was, in a way, hereditary.

So far but few acts of violence had taken place. Nothing could be
more virulent than the language of the newspapers of both parties
against their opponents, but beyond a few isolated tumults the peace
had not been broken. It was the lull before the storm. The great