they sailed up the Thames to proclaim to all the nation
that New York and Pennsylvania would not be enslaved.' The inhabitants
of Charleston unloaded the tea and stored it in cellars, where it could
not be used, and where it finally perished.

"The inhabitants of Boston tried every measure to send back the three
tea ships which had arrived there, but without success. The captains of
the ships had consented, if permitted, to return with their cargoes to
England; but the consignees refused to discharge them from their
obligations, the Custom-house to give them a clearance for their return,
and the Governor refused to grant them a passport for clearing the fort.
It was easily seen that the tea would be gradually landed from the ships
lying so near the town, and that if landed it would be disposed of, and
the purpose of establishing the monopoly and raising a revenue effected.
To prevent this dreaded consequence, a number of armed men, disguised
like Indians, boarded the ships and threw their whole cargoes of tea
into the dock."[320]

A more circumstantial and graphic account of this affair is given by Mr.
J.S. Barry, in his History of Massachusetts, in the following words:

"On Sunday, November 28, 1773, one of the ships arrived, bringing one
hundred and fourteen chests of tea. Immediately the Select Men held a
meeting; and the Committee of Correspondence obtained from Rotch, the
owner of the vessel, a promise not to enter it until Tuesday. The towns
around Boston were summoned to meet on Monday; 'and every friend to his
country, to himself, and to posterity,' was desired to attend, 'to make
a united and successful resistance to this last, worst, and most
destructive measure of administration.'

"At an early hour (Monday, November 29) the people gathered, and by nine
o'clock the concourse was so great that Faneuil Hall was filled to
overflowing. A motion to adjourn to the Old South Meeting-house, the
'Sanctuary of Freedom,' was made and carried; and on reaching that
place, Jonathan Williams was chosen Moderator, and Hancock, Adams,
Young, Molineux, and Warren, fearlessly conducted the business of the
meeting. At least five thousand persons were in and around the building,
and but one spirit animated all. Samuel Adams offered a resolution,
which was unanimously adopted, 'That the tea should be sent back to the
place from whence it came, at all events, and that no duty should be
paid on it.' The consignees asked time for