mayor. A large concourse of people from the neighboring counties were assembled, and in the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated.
Robert Eden was the last royal governor of Maryland. He arrived at Annapolis on the 5th of June, 1769, and continued in office during the stormy period preceding the actual hostilities of the Revolution, and until the colonies had declared themselves independent, when he returned to England. Governor Eden was respected by all for his urbanity and kindness of heart, but his duty to his king brought him into collision with the leading minds in the colony as the Revolution advanced, and at length, in consequence of several intercepted letters, Congress recommended the Council of Safety of Maryland to put him under arrest, and to take possession of his papers. * (a) The Baltimore committee a April 16, 1776 volunteered to carry out the recommendation of Congress, and, in consequence, became involved in difficulty with the Maryland convention. ** A committee of the convention, before whom Eden's letters were laid, reported that, in such correspondence as the governor had carried on with the ministry, he did not evince hostility to the colonists; and the matter ended by signifying to Eden that the public safety and quiet required him to leave the province.
Annapolis was a scene of great excitement in the autumn of 1774. Already public sentiment had been expressed against the Boston Port Bill at a general meeting, (b) and | b May 12, 1774 the people were ripe for rebellion. On Saturday, the 15th of October, the ship Peggy, Captain Stewart, arrived from London, bringing, among other things, seventeen packages of tea, consigned to T. C. Williams & Co., of Annapolis. This was the first arrival of the proscribed article at that port. As soon as the fact was known, the citizens were summoned to a general meeting. It was ascertained that the consignees had imported the tea, and that Anthony Stewart, proprietor of the vessel, had paid the duty upon it. This was deemed an acquiescence in the justice of the claim of Great Britain to tax the colonies, and it was resolved that the tea should not be landed. The people of the surrounding country were summoned to a public meeting in Annapolis the following Wednesday. Mr. Stewart issued a handbill explaining the transaction, and disclaiming all intention to violate the non-importation pledge; and expressed his regret that the article had been placed on board his ship. But the people, too often cajoled by the whining of men when their bad conduct had brought them into trouble, were more disposed to punish than to forgive, and they resolved, at the Wednesday meeting, to destroy the vessel, with its packages of tea. To prevent raising a tempest that might not be allayed by the simple destruction of the vessel, and to soften the asperity of public feeling toward him, Mr. Stewart, under the advice of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and others, consented to burn the vessel himself. Accompanied by some friends, he ran her aground near Windmill Point, and set her on fire. The people were satisfied, and the crowd dispersed. "The tea burning at Boston," says M'Mahon, "has acquired renown, as an act of unexampled daring at that day in the defense of American liberties; but the tea burning of Annapolis, which occurred in the ensuing fall, far surpasses it, in the apparent deliberation, and utter carelessness of concealment, attending the bold measures which led to its accomplishment." ***
* These letters, which fell into the hands of the Baltimore committee, and were by them transmitted to Congress, were addressed to the colonial secretary and other members of the British cabinet, and were considered "highly dangerous to the liberties of America."—Journals of Congress, ii., 130.
** General Charles Lee, who was then at Williamsburg, in Virginia, wrote to Samuel Purviance, chairman of the Baltimore committee, advising particular military action in respect to the seizure of Eden and his papers. For this the Council of Safety blamed him, and he was charged with unwarrantable interference. In an explanatory letter to Mr. Jenifer, chairman of the council, Lee fully justified himself, and uttered the noblest sentiments of patriotism.
*** History of Maryland
Treatment of John Parks.—Maryland and Independence.—The State House and its Associations.
At Elizabethtown (now Hagerstown, in Washington county) the committee of vigilance of the district caused one John Parks to go with his hat off, with a lighted torch, and set fire to a chest of tea in his possession. The committee recommended entire non-intercourse with Parks; but the populace, thinking the committee too lenient, satisfied themselves by breaking the doors and windows of his dwelling. Tar and feathers were freely used in various places, and the town committees exercised supreme authority in all local matters having a relation to the great subject which engrossed the public mind.
a May 10, 1776 When Congress recommended (a) the several colonies to establish provisional governments, where it had not already been done, the Maryland convention, as we have noticed (page 282), did not at first concur with the resolution. On the contrary, they voted that it was not necessary to suppress every exercise of authority under the b May 20. crown (b) Through the efforts of Samuel Chase and others in calling county conventions, a change of public sentiment was speedily brought in Maryland, and on the 28th of June the convention empowered its delegates in Congress to vote for a resolution declaring the colonies "free and independent." Her representatives, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, and Charles Carroll, were among the most active of those who signed the great Declaration.