he good of the majority, with little
left of the self-seeking spirit which had animated his earlier
efforts. Occupied as he now was with the many duties incident on a
public life, it is said he was never too busy to redress a wrong, and
never unwilling to give lavishly where there was need, and Dorothy
Quincy rejoiced as she noted that many measures for the good of the
country were stamped with her lover's name.

On the very day of the so-called "Boston Massacre" Great Britain
repealed an Act recently passed which had placed a heavy duty on many
articles of import. That tax was now lifted from all articles except
tea, on which it was retained, to maintain the right of Parliament to
tax the colonies, and to show the King's determination to have his
way.

"In resistance of this tax the Massachusetts colonists gave up
drinking their favorite beverage and drank coffee in its place. The
King, angry at this rebellion against the dictates of Parliament,
refused to lift the tax, and tea was shipped to America as if there
were no feeling against its acceptance. In New York, Philadelphia, and
Charleston mass-meetings of the people voted that the agents to whom
it had been shipped should be ordered to resign their offices. At
Philadelphia the tea-ship was met and sent back to England without
being allowed to come to anchor. At Charleston the tea was landed, but
as there was no one there to receive it, or pay the duty, it was
thrown into a damp cellar and left there to spoil. In Boston things
were managed differently. When the _Dartmouth_, tea-laden, sailed into
the harbor, the ship, with two others which soon arrived and anchored
near the _Dartmouth_, was not allowed to dock."

A meeting of citizens was hastily called, and a resolution adopted
that "tea on no account should be allowed to land." The tea-ships were
guarded by a committee of Boston patriots who refused to give permits
for the vessels to return to England with their cargoes. Then came
what has been called Boston's "picturesque refusal to pay the tax." As
night fell Samuel Adams rose in a mass-meeting and said, "This
meeting can do nothing more to save the country." As the words fell
from his lips there was a shout in the street and a group of forty men
disguised as "Mohawks" darted past the door and down to the wharves,
followed by the people. Rushing on board the tea-ships, the disguised
citizens set themselves to cleaning the vessels of their cargoes. As
one of