"To the Freemen of this and the neighboring Towns.
"Gentlemen—You are desired to meet at the Liberty Tree this
day at twelve o'clock at noon, then and there to hear the
persons to whom the tea shipped by the East India Company is
consigned, make a public resignation of their offices as
consignees, upon oath; and also swear that they will reship
any teas that may be consigned to them by the said company,
by the first vessel sailing to London. O. C., Sec'y.
"Boston, November 3, 1773.
==> "Show me the man that dare take this down!"
The following hand-bill was also circulated about the same
time:
"The true Sons of Liberty and supporters of the non-
importation agreement are determined to resent any or the
least insult or menace offered to any one or more of the
several committees appointed by the body at Faneuil Hall,
and chastise any one or more of them as they deserve; and
will also support the printers in any thing the committee
shall desire them to print.
"==>As a warning to any one that shall affront as aforesaid,
upon sure information given, one of these advertisements
will be posted up at the door of the dwelling-house of the
offender."
These placards, and others given in connection with the tea
excitement, I copied from originals preserved by the
Massachusetts Historical Society, in tome marked
Proclamations.
** On the 12th the captain general of the province issued an order for the Governor's Cadets (Bostonians) to stand ready to be called out for the purpose of aiding the civil magistrates in keeping the peace. John Hancock was colonel of this regiment.
Arrival of Tea Ships.—-Proceedings in Boston.—Monster Meeting at the "Old South."—Speech of Josiah Quincy
and Council, and praying them to take measures for the safe landing of the teas. The prayer was refused on the part of the Council, and the consignees, for safety, withdrew to the castle..
While the Council was thus declining to interfere, one of the ships (the Dartmouth. Cap tain Hall) came to anchor near the castle. A meeting of the people of Boston and the neighboring towns was convened at Faneuil Hall, * which being too small for the assembly, it adjourned to the Old South Meeting-house. They resolved "that the tea shall November 29, 1773 not be landed; that no duty shall be paid; and that it shall be sent back in the same bottom." They also voted "that Mr. Roch, the owner of the vessel, be directed not to enter the tea at his peril; and that Captain Hall be informed, and at his peril, not to suffer any of the tea to be landed." The ship was ordered to be moored at Griffin's Wharf, ** and a guard of twenty-five men was appointed to watch her. The meeting received a letter from the consignees, offering to store the teas until they could write to England and receive instructions, but the people were determined that the pernicious weed should not be landed. The offer was rejected with disdain. The sheriff then read a proclamation by the governor, ordering the meeting to disperse; it was received with hisses. A resolution was then passed, ordering the vessels of Captains Coffin and Bruce, then hourly expected with cargoes of tea, to be moored at Griffin's Wharf; and, after solemnly agreeing to carry their resolves into execution at any risk, and thanking their brethren from the neighboring towns, the meeting was dissolved.
From that time until the 14th every movement on the part of the people relating to the tea was in charge of the Boston Committee of Correspondence. The December, 1773two vessels alluded to arrived, and were moored at Griffin's Wharf, under charge of the volunteer guard, and public order was well observed. On the 14th another meeting was held in the Old South, *** when it was resolved to order Mr. Roch to apply immediately for a clearance for his ship, and send her to sea. The governor, in the mean while, had taken measures to prevent her sailing out of the harbor. Under his direction, Admiral Montague fitted out two armed vessels, which he stationed at the entrance of the harbor; and Colonel Leslie, in command of the castle, received Hutchinson's written orders not to allow any vessel to pass the guns of the fortress outward, without a permission signed by himself.
On the 16th several thousand people (the largest meeting ever to that time December, 1773 known in Boston) collected in the Old South and vicinity. Samuel Phillips Savage, of Weston, presided. The youthful Josiah Quincy was the principal speaker, and, with words almost of prophecy, harangued-the multitude of eager and excited listeners. "It is not, Mr. Moderator," he said, "the spirit that vapors within these walls that must stand us in stead. The exertions of this day will call forth events which will make a very different spirit necessary for our salvation. Whoever supposes that shouts and hosannas will terminate the trials of this day entertains a childish fancy. He must be grossly ignorant of the importance and value of the prize for which we contend; we must be equally ignorant of the power of those who have combined against us; we must be blind to that malice, inveteracy, and insatiable revenge which actuate our enemies, public and private, abroad and in
* The following is a copy of the hand-bill announcing the meeting. The Dartmouth arrived on Sunday, and this placard was posted all over Boston early on Monday morning:
* "Friends! Brethren! Countrymen!—That worst of plagues, the detested Tea shipped for this port by the East India Company, is now arrived in the Harbor; the Hour of Destruction, or manly opposition to the Machinations of Tyranny, stares you in the Face; every Friend to his Country, to himself, and to Posterity is now called upon to meet at Faneuil Hall, at nino o'clock This Day (at which time the bells will ring), in make united and successful resistance to this last, worst, and most destructive measure of administration.
* "Boston, November 29,1773."