s answered by the men who sounded the
war-whoop at the church door. The cry was re-echoed from the gallery,
where a voice cried out, "Boston harbor a tea-pot to-night; hurrah for
Griffin's wharf!" and the "Mohawks" passed on to cut the Gordian knot
with their hatchets.

Silence was again commanded, when the people, after "manifesting a most
exemplary patience and caution in the methods they had pursued to
preserve the property of the East India Company, and to return it safe
and untouched to its owners," perceiving that at every step they had
been thwarted by the consignees and their coadjutors, then dissolved the
meeting, giving three cheers as they dispersed.

Meanwhile a number of persons, variously estimated at from twenty to
eighty, (their number increasing as they advanced,) some of them
disguised as Indians, and armed with hatchets or axes, hurried to
Griffin's (now Liverpool) wharf, boarded the ships, and, warning their
crews and the customs officers to keep out of the way, in less than
three hours time had broken and emptied into the dock three hundred and
forty-two chests of tea, valued at L18,000. The deed was not that of a
lawless mob, but the deliberate and well-considered act of intelligent,
as well as determined, men. So careful were they not to destroy or
injure private property, that they even replaced a padlock they had
broken. There was no noise nor confusion. They worked so quietly and
systematically that those on shore could distinctly hear the strokes of
the hatchets. As soon as the people learned what was going forward, they
made their way to the scene of operations, covering the wharves in the
vicinity, whence they looked on in silence during the performance. The
night was clear, the moon shone brilliantly, no one was harmed, and the
town was never more quiet. Next day, the Dorchester shore was lined with
tea, carried thither by the wind and tide. The serious spirit in which
this deed was regarded by the leaders, is illustrated by the act of one
who, after assisting his apprentice to disguise himself, dropped upon
his knees and prayed fervently for his safety, and the success of the
enterprise.

Among the spectators of the scene were Dr. John Prince, of Salem; John
Andrews, and Dr. Hugh Williamson, who afterwards underwent an
examination respecting the affair before the British House of Commons.

Where is now the wide Atlantic Avenue, the old footpath under Fort Hill,
known as Flounder Lane,