Chapter I: Front Matter (1)

HARPER'S

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

VOLUME IV.

DECEMBER, 1851, TO MAY, 1852.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

329 & 331 PEARL STREET,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.

1852.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The Fourth Volume of HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE is completed by the issue of the present number. The Publishers embrace the opportunity of renewing the expression of their thanks to the public and the press, for the extraordinary degree of favor with which its successive Numbers have been received. Although it has but just reached the close of its second year, its regular circulation is believed to be at least twice as great as that of any similar work ever issued in any part of the world.

The Magazine will be continued in the same general style, and upon the same plan, as heretofore. Its leading purpose is to furnish, at the lowest price, and in the best form, the greatest possible amount of the useful and entertaining literary productions of the present age. While it is by no means indifferent to the highest departments of culture, it seeks primarily to place before the great masses of the people, in every section of the country, and in every walk of life, the most attractive and instructive selections from the current literature of the day. No degree of labor or expense will be spared upon any department. The most gifted and popular authors of the country write constantly for its pages; the pictorial illustrations by which every Number is embellished are of the best style, and by the most distinguished artists; the selections for its pages are made from the widest range and with the greatest care; and nothing will be left undone, either in providing material, or in its outward dress, which will tend in any degree to make it more worthy the remarkable favor with which it has been received.

The Magazine will contain regularly as hitherto:

_First._--One or more original articles upon some topic of general interest, written by some popular writer, and illustrated by from fifteen to thirty wood engravings, executed in the highest style of art:

_Second._--Copious selections from the current periodical literature of the day, with tales of the most distinguished authors, such as DICKENS, BULWER, LEVER, and others--chosen always for their literary merit, popular interest, and general utility:

_Third._--A Monthly Record of the events of the day, foreign and domestic, prepared with care, and with entire freedom from prejudice and partiality of every kind:

_Fourth._--Critical Notices of the Books of the day, written with ability, candor, and spirit, and designed to give the public a clear and reliable estimate of the important works constantly issuing from the press:

_Fifth._--A Monthly Summary of European Intelligence concerning Books, Authors, and whatever else has interest and importance for the cultivated reader:

_Sixth._--An Editor's Table, in which some of the leading topics of the day will be discussed with ability and independence:

_Seventh._--An Editor's Easy Chair, or Drawer, which will be devoted to literary and general gossip, memoranda of the topics talked about in social circles, graphic sketches of the most interesting minor matters of the day, anecdotes of literary men, sentences of interest from papers not worth reprinting at length, and generally an agreeable and entertaining collection of literary miscellany.

The Publishers trust that it is not necessary for them to reiterate their assurances that nothing shall ever be admitted to the pages of the Magazine in the slightest degree offensive to delicacy or to any moral sentiment. They will seek steadily to exert upon the public a healthy moral influence, and to improve the character, as well as please the taste, of their readers. They will aim to make their Magazine the most complete repertory of whatever is both useful and agreeable in the current literary productions of the day.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV.

Amalie de Bourblanc, the Lost Child 202
American Arctic Expedition 11
Anecdotes and Aphorisms 348
Anecdotes of Leopards and Jaguars 227
Anecdotes of Monkeys 464
Artist's Sacrifice 624
Ass of La Marca 354
Benjamin Franklin. By JACOB ABBOTT 145, 289
Bird-hunting Spider 78
Black Eagle in a Bad Way 217
Bleak House. By CHARLES DICKENS 649, 809
Blighted Flowers 549
Boston Tea-Party. By B. J. LOSSING 1
Bow Window 50
Brace of Blunders 540
Chewing the Buyo 408
Child's Toy 476
Christmas as we grow Older. By CHARLES DICKENS 390
Christmas in Company of John Doe. By CHARLES DICKENS 386
Christmas in Germany 499
Clara Corsini--a Tale of Naples 68
Conspiracy of the Clocks 185
Crime Detected 768
Curious Page of Family History 351
Curse of Gold--A Dream 335
Czar of Russia at a Ball 828
Difficulty 56
Diligence in doing Good 781
Dream of the Weary Heart 511

EDITOR'S DRAWER.

Tailing on; The John Jones Party; How many Times did the
Hedge-pig mew? Touching the Tin, 134. The Deformed's Hope;
Looking out for Number One--Abroad and at Home; Leaves and Coats;
The Mathematical Monomaniac, 135. A puzzled Doctor, 136. A Text
for a Sermon; The entombed Racer; Cause and Effect; Vagaries of
the Insane, 268. Munchausenism; Love and Mammon; Professional
Enthusiasm, 269. Mind your P's and Q's; Sympathy thrown away;
Winter Duties, 270. Experiments in Flying; Affair of
Honor--almost, 271. Takin' Notes; Having One's Faculties; Great
Talkers, 421. Witnesses and Counsel--with an Example; Physiognomy
at Fault; Mercantile Drummers, 422. On Discontentment;
Omnipresence of the Deity; To Snuffers and Chewers; The French
and Death, 412. Rat and Owl Fight; Moralizing on Climbing a
greased Pole; Inquisitiveness, with an Instance thereof, 565.
Street Thoughts by a Surgeon; The Millionaire without a Sou; The
Deaf-and-Dumb Boy; Workers in Worsted, 566. Subscribing
Something; Bad Spelling; Lending Umbrellas, 567. Something about
Music; The Workhouse Clock, 568. Sweets in Paris; Something about
China, 569. Difference of Opinion; a Tale of other Times, 704.
Stealing Sermons; About Snuff; Laughter; Looking-glass
Reflections; Something from Sam Slick, 705. Turning the Tables:
Youthful Age; Fools and Madmen; Under Canvas, 706. Joking in
Letters; Welsh Card of Invitation; Chiffoniers in Paris, 707.
Harrowing Lines, 708. Eating cooked Rain; Patent Medicine Toast;
New Language of Flowers, 847. Song of the Turkey; Marks of
Affection; Tired of Nothing to do; Lame and impotent Conclusion,
848. Orders is Orders; The Sleeping Child; Dickens's Denouements;
Statistical Fellows, 849. Keep your Receipts; Giving a Look;
About Dandies; Chawls Yellowplush on Lit'ry Men; Deep-blue
Stockings, 850. A Climax; Some Love-Verses; A Criminal
Curiosity-hunter; a Skate-vender on Thaws, 851.

EDITOR'S EASY CHAIR.

Kossuth; Louis Napoleon; A Workingman for President, 131. Musical
Chit-chat; Lumley and Rossini; America in the Exhibition, 132. A
very French Story of Love and Devotion; Another of Devotion and
Smuggling, 133. Kossuth and our Enthusiasm for him, 265. On Lola
Montez; Dumas and the French Censorship; Signor Braschi; Female
Stock-brokers; The consoled Disconsolates, 266. An Italian
Romance, 267. Louis Napoleon's Coup d'etat; Kossuth Talk, 418.
Paris Gossip; Cavaignac and his Bride elect; The Lottery of Gold,
419. Home Gossip; How Mr. Coper sold a horse, 420. The Hard
Winter; The Forrest Trial, 563. The French Usurpation;
President-making and Morals in the Metropolis; A Bit of Paris
Life; Legacies to Litterateurs, 564. Now; Close of the Carnival;
the Cooper Testimonial; Lectures; Exemplary Damages, 702.
Congressional Manners; The Maine Liquor Law; Reminiscence of
Maffit; French Writers, 703. The Chevalier's Stroke for a Wife,
704. More about the Weather, 843. Sir John Franklin; Free Speech;
Lola in Boston; Jenny Goldschmidt, 844. Marriage Associations;
About Punch; Magisterial Beards; An equine Passport, 845.
Matrimonial Confidence; Dancing in the Beau Monde; Major M'Gowd's
Story, 846.

EDITOR'S TABLE.

Time and Space, 128. Testimony of Geology to the Supernatural,
130. The Year, 262. The Pulpit and the Press, 265. The Value of
the Union, 415. The Seventh Census, 557. The Immensity of the
Universe, 562. The Spiritual Telegraph, 699. History the World's
Memory, 700. Mental Alchemy:--Credulity and Skepticism, 839.

Episode of the Italian Revolution 771
Esther Hammond's Wedding Day 520
Eyes made to Order 91
Fashionable Forger 231
Fashions for December 143
Fashions for January 287
Fashions for February 431
Fashions for March 575
Fashions for April 719
Fashions for May 863
Forgotten Celebrity 778
French Flower Girl 54
Gold--What, and Where from 87
Good Old Times in Paris 395
Great Objects attained by Little Things 330
Habits and Character of the Dog-Rib Indians 690
Helen Corrie 391
High Life in the Olden Time 254
How Gunpowder is Made 643
How Men Rise in the World 211
Hunting the Alligator 668
Impressions of England in 1851. By FREDRIKA BREMER 616
Indian Pet 38
Insane Philosopher 647
Introduction of the Potato into France 622
Keep Him Out 515
Knights of the Cross. By CAROLINE CHESEBRO' 221
Kossuth--A Biographical Sketch 40

LEAVES FROM PUNCH.

Better Luck next Time; Doing one a Special Favor; Etymological
Inventions, 141. Off Point Judith; Singular Phenomenon; A Slight
Mistake; New Biographies, 142. Arrant Extortion; Mr. Booby in the
New Costume, 285. A Bloomer in Leap Year; Strong-minded Bloomer,
286. A Horrible Business; Rather too much of a Good Thing, 429.
Mrs. Baker's Pet, 430. Signs of the Times; France is Tranquil,
573. The Road to Ruin; New Street-sweeping Machines, 574. Going
to Cover, 173. Revolution on Bayonets; Thoughts on French
Affairs; Early Publication in Paris, 714. Scene from the
President's Progress, 715. Touching Sympathy; Sound Advice, 716.
Effects of a Strike, 717. Perfect Identification; Calling the
Police; The Seven Wonders of a Young Lady, 718. Butcher Boys of
the Upper Ten, 857. The Inquisitive Omnibus Driver; The Flunky's
Idea of Beauty, 858. A Competent Adviser; Scrupulous Regard for
Truth, 859. Awful Effects of an Eye-glass; Penalties; Rather
Severe, 860. What I heard about Myself in the Exhibition; The
Peer on the Press, 861. The Interior of a French Court of Justice
in 1851, 862.

Legend of the Lost Well 47
Legend of the Weeping Chamber 358
Life and Death. By the Author of _Alton Locke_ 216

LITERARY NOTICES.

BOOKS NOTICED.

Melville's Moby Dick; Putnam's Hand-books; Rural Homes;
Hawthorne's Wonder-Book, 137. Greeley's Glances at Europe;
Stoddard's Poems; Neander on Philippians; Heavenly Recognition;
Lindsay and Blackiston's Gift-Books; Bishop McIlvaine's Charge,
138. Taylor's Wesley and Methodism, 272. Boyd's Young's Night
Thoughts; Mrs. Lee's Florence; Words in Earnest; Herbert's
Captains of the Old World; Ida Pfeiffer's Voyage Round the World,
273. Reveries of a Bachelor; James's Aims and Obstacles; Simm's
Norman Maurice; Richard's Claims of Science; Greenwood Leaves;
Winter in Spitzbergen; Dream-land by Daylight, 274. Memoir of
Mary Lyon; Woods's Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings;
Wainwright's Land of Bondage; Mrs. Kirkland's Evening Book; The
Tutor's Ward; Thompson's Hints to Employers, 275. Layard's
Nineveh; Saunders's Great Metropolis; Ik. Marvel's Dream-life;
Florence Sackville; Clovernook, 424. Salander and the Dragon;
Spring's First Woman; Edwards's Select Poetry; Sovereigns of the
Bible; Hawthorne's Snow Image; Summerfield; The Podesta's
Daughter; Ross's What I saw in New York; Curtis's Western
Portraiture; Stephen's Lectures on the History of France, 425.
Chambers's Life and Works of Burns, 569. Abbott's Corner Stone;
Browne's History of Classical Literature; Dickson's Life, Sleep,
and Pain; Head's Faggot of French Sticks; Hudson's Shakspeare;
Simmon's Greek Girl; House on the Rock; Companions of my
Solitude; Wright's Sorcery and Magic; Ravenscliffe; Mitford's
Recollections of a Literary Life, 570. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller
Ossoli; Edwards's Charity and its Fruits, 708. Richardson's
Arctic Searching Expedition; Bonynge's Future Wealth of America;
Copland's Dictionary of Medicine; Cheever's Reel in the Bottle;
The Head of the Family; Neander's Exposition of James; Men and
Women of the Eighteenth Century; Bon Gaultier's Book of Ballads;
Walker's Rhyming Dictionary, 709. Stiles's Austria in 1848-49,
852. Forester's Field Sports; Simms's Golden Christmas;
Falkenburg; Isa; The Howadji in Syria, 853. Stuart's Commentary
on Proverbs; Parker's Story of a Soul; Arthur and Carpenter's
Cabinet Histories; Mosheim's Christianity before Constantine;
Pulszky's Tales and Traditions of Hungary; Aytoun's Lays of the
Scottish Cavaliers; Barnes's Notes on Revelation, 854. Kirwan's
Romanism at Home, 855.

PERSONAL AND LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

Hawthorne; _Literary Gazette_ on Hitchcock; The _News_ on
Vestiges of Civilization; Westminster Review; New Works
announced; Assyrian Sculptures; Pension to Reid; Christopher
North; Map of France; Manuscripts of Lalande; Dumas's Memoirs,
139. Documents on the Thirty Years' War; Douglas Jerrold's Works,
275. Lady Bulwer; Rise of Bunsen; New College, Edinburgh; Madame
Pfeiffer; Richardson's Arctic Expedition, 276. Plays by Jerrold
and Marston; Stephen's Lectures; Critique on Hildreth; On Moby
Dick; Shakspeare for Kossuth; Landor on Kossuth; Critique on
Springer's Forest Life; On Layard's Nineveh, 277. Alison; Works
denounced; Brougham; Translations of Scott; New Works in France,
278. M. Vattemare; The Elzevirs; Daguerre; Heine; Leipzig Easter
Fair; Papers in Germany; Japanese Dictionary; Excavations at
Athens; Ximenes; Spanish Classics; Ida Hahn-Hahn; Professor
Nuylz; Oriental MSS.; Proscription in Italy; Discovery of Old
Paintings in Muenster; Jeffrey; Mr. Jerdan; Brougham; Gutzlaff,
425. Carlyle's Sterling; Yeast; Blake; Dickens in Danish; Delta;
Stephen: M'Cosh; Hahn-Hahn; Junius; Kossuth's Eloquence;
Beresford, 426. Guizot; Revolutionary Walls; Migne's Book
Establishment; French Works; Bonaparte and Literature; Silvio
Pellico; German Novels; Oersted; Oehlenschlaeger; Menzel; Heine,
427. Schiller Festival; Zahn; Kosmos; Servian Poetry; Shakspeare
in Swedish; Italian Book on America; Chinese Geography; Turkish
Grammar and Dictionary; Ticknor in Spanish, 428. Westminster
Review; New Books; Benedict; Macaulay, 570. Browning's Shelley;
Junius; Budhist Monuments; Freund's German-English Lexicon;
Bulwer's Works; The Head of the Family; Lossing's Field-Book;
Hawthorne; Eliot Warburton, 571. French Literary Exiles;
Lamartine; Count Ficquelmont; Works on the Coup d'Etat; Louis
Philippe and Letters; George Sand; Humboldt; Schiller's Library;
Hagberg; Translations into Spanish, 572. Theological
Translations; Bohn's New Publications; Greek Professorship in
Edinburgh; Dr. Robinson; Talvi, 710. Moby Dick; Tests in Scottish
Universities; Montalembert; Cavaignac; The Press in Paris;
Posthumous Work by Meinhold, 711; Lamartine's Civilisateur;
Eugene Sue; Neuman's English Empire in Asia; English Literature
in Germany; Nitzsch on Hahn-Hahn; Gutzkow; The Rhenish Times;
Hebrew Books; Literature of Hungary; Monument to Oken, 712.
Cockburn's Life of Jeffrey; Grote's History of Greece; Farini's
History of the Roman State; The Shelley Forgeries; James R.
Lowell; Papers of Margaret Fuller, 855. Life of Fox; Sale of rare
Books; Greek Professor at Edinburgh; Bleak House in German;
Macaulay in German; Barante's Histoire de la Convention
Nationale; Pierre Leroux; Chamfort; George Sand; Stuart of
Dunleath in French; Epistolary Forgeries; Anselm Feuerbach; Bust
of Schelling; Goethe and Schiller Literature; Count
Platen-Hallermuende; Lives of the Sovereigns of Russia, 856.

OBITUARIES.

Archibald Alexander, D. D.; J. Kearney Rodgers, M. D.; Granville
Sharp Pattison, M. D.; Gardner G. Howland, 122. Dr. Wingard;
Byron's Sister; H. P. Borrell; Dr. Gutzlaff; Mrs. Sherwood, 140.
King of Hanover, 261. Professors Wolff and Humbert, 280. Joel R.
Poinsett; Moses Stuart, 411. Marshal Soult, 414. William Wyon;
Rev. J. H. Caunter; Chevalier Lavy; M. de St. Priest; Paul Erman;
Professor Dunbar; Dr. Sadleir; Basil Montague, 426. T. H. Turner,
570. Baron D'Ohsen; Robert Blackwood; Serangelli, 712. Hon.
Jeremiah Morrow, 836. Thomas Moore; Archbishop Murray; Sir
Herbert Jenner Fust, 837. Marshal Marmont; Armand Marrast, 838.

Louis Napoleon and his Nose 833
Love Affair at Cranford 457
Masked Ball at Vienna 469
Maurice Tiernay, the Soldier of Fortune. By CHARLES
LEVER 57, 187, 339
Mazzini, the Italian Liberal 404
Miracle of Life 500

MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS.

UNITED STATES.

The November Elections: success of the Union Party in Georgia,
South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama, 120. Adoption of the
New Constitution in Virginia, 120. Election in Pennsylvania, 120.
Return of the Arctic Expedition, 121. Dinner to Mr. Grinnell,
121. Imprisonment of John S. Thrasher in Havana, 121, 258, 553.
Appeal of Mr. Tyler in behalf of the Cuban prisoners, 121.
Inauguration of Gov. Campbell of Tennessee, 121. Convention of
Cotton-planters in Macon, 121. Decision in favor of Morse's
Telegraph, 122. Decision of the Methodist Book-fund case, 122.
Letter of Mr. Clay on the Compromise, 122. Elections in
California, 122. General Intelligence from California, 122, 258,
411, 553, 693, 835. General Intelligence from Oregon, 122, 411,
693. Volcanic Eruption in the Sandwich Islands, 123. General
Intelligence from New Mexico, 123, 259, 411, 553, 693,835.
Arrival of Kossuth, and reception in New York, 255. Speech of
Kossuth at the Corporation banquet in New York, 255. At the Press
dinner, 256. Opening of the Thirty-second Congress, 256. Abstract
of the President's Message, 256. Correspondence with foreign
Powers respecting Cuba, 258. Official vote in New York, 258.
Speech of Kossuth at the Bar dinner in New York, 410. Kossuth at
Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, 410. Opening
of the New York Legislature and Message of Governor Hunt, 410.
Opening of the Pennsylvania Legislature, 411. Mr. Clay resigns
his seat in the Senate, 411. Destruction of the Congressional
Library, 411. American expedition to the Sandwich Islands, 411.
Kossuth at the West, 551. Esterhazy, Batthyanyi, Pulszky, and
Szemere on Kossuth, 551. Speeches in Congress on Intervention,
552. Outrage at Greytown disavowed by the English government,
553. Legislative nominations for the Presidency, 553. Message of
Gov. Farwell of Wisconsin, 553. The U.S. Indemnity in Texas, 553.
Letter of Mr. Buchanan, 553. Of Mr. Benton, 553. General
proceedings in Congress, 692. Correspondence respecting Kossuth,
692. Mr. Webster's discourse before the Historical Society, 693.
Commemorative meeting to J. Fenimore Cooper. 693. Archbishop
Hughes's lecture on Catholicism in the United States, 693. Whig
State Convention in Kentucky, 693. In Indiana, 693. Webster
meeting in New York, 693. Washington's birthday at the Capital,
693. Mormon disturbances in Utah, 694. Debates in the Senate on
Intervention; speech of Mr. Soule, 834. Abstraction of public
papers, 834. Mr. Cass on the Wilmot Proviso, 834. Presidential
speeches in the House, 834. Political Conventions in various
States, and nominations for the Presidency, 834. Proceedings in
the Legislature of Mississippi, 834. State debt of Pennsylvania,
835. Mr. Webster at Trenton, 835. Accident at Hell-gate, 835.
Return of Cuban prisoners, 835. Letter of Mr. Clay on the
Presidency, 835. Expedition to Japan, 835. Loss of steamer North
America, 835. Col. Berzenczey's expedition to Tartary, 835.

SOUTHERN AMERICA.

Election of Montt as President of Chili, 123. Attempt at
insurrection, 123, 412. Contest against Rosas in Buenos Ayres,
124, 694, 835. Difficulties growing out of the Tehuantepec right
of way in Mexico, 124. Insurrection in the northern departments
under Caravajal, 124, 412, 553, 694, 835. Letters to the
Governors of the departments, 124. General Intelligence from
Mexico, 124, 412, 553, 835. Message of the President of
Venezuela, 694. Disturbance in Chili penal settlements, 694, 835.
Mexican claims for Indian depredations, 835. Defeat and flight of
Rosas, 836. Peruvian expedition against Ecuador, 836. Gold in New
Grenada, 836.

GREAT BRITAIN.

Arrival of Kossuth at Southampton, 124. Speech of Kossuth at
Winchester, 125. Close of the Great Exhibition, 126. Disturbances
in Ireland, 126. War at the Cape of Good Hope, 126, 554, 696.
Opposition of the Sultan of Turkey to the Suez Railway, 126.
Kossuth at Birmingham, Manchester, London, and Southampton, 259.
Embarkation for America, 259. Resignation of Lord Palmerston and
appointment of Earl Granville as Foreign Secretary, 412.
Deputation of merchants to Lord John Russell, 412. Dinner to Mr.
Walker, 412. From Ireland, 412. Petitions from Scotland against
the Maynooth grant, 413. Burning of the steamer Amazon, 554. The
national defenses, 554. Controversy between workmen and
employers, 554. Movements of the Reformers, 554. Gold in
Australia, 554. Destruction of Lagos in Africa by the British,
554, 696. Meeting of Parliament and the Queen's Speech, 694.
Explanations as to the retirement of Lord Palmerston, 694. Defeat
and resignation of the Russell Ministry, 695. Appointment of a
Protectionist Ministry, 696. Correspondence with Austria
respecting political refugees, 696. Disaster from water, 696. New
expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 697. Attitude of the
Derby Ministry, 836. Position of Lord John Russell, 837. Mr.
Disraeli's address to his constituents, 837. Revival of the Anti
Corn-Law League, 837. Mr. Layard declines to continue in office,
837.

FRANCE.

The President demands the repeal of the election law of May 31;
the Ministers refuse their assent and resign, 126. Formation of a
new Ministry, 127. Insults to the Republican members of Assembly,
127. Meeting of the Assembly, Message of the President, demanding
the restoration of universal suffrage, and its rejection by the
Assembly, 260. Progress of the struggle between the President and
Assembly, 261. President's speech on distributing prizes to
exhibitors, 261. The President dissolves the Assembly and assumes
the sole powers of government, 413. His decree, 413. Arrest of
members of Assembly, 413. Unsuccessful attempts at resistance,
413. Great majorities returned in favor of the President, 414,
554. Correspondence between the English and French Governments,
414. Celebration at the result of the election, 554. Speech of M.
Baroche, 555. Proceedings of the President, 555. The new
Constitution decreed by the President, 555. Formation of a
Ministry of Police and of State, 556. Seizure of the property of
the Orleans family, 556. Measures limiting discussion, 556. New
Legislative law, 697. Letter of the Orleans princes, 697. The
Ministry of Police, 697. Dinner by the President to English
residents, 697. Decree regulating the press, 697. Correspondence
between the government and the Emperor of Russia, 697.
Proceedings in relation to Belgium, 698. Success of the
government in the elections, 837. Presidential decree for
mortgage banks, 837. Decree respecting the College of France,
837. Judges superannuated at seventy years, 837. Prize for
adaptation of Voltaic pile, 838. Donation to M. Foucauld, 838.
New military medal and pension, 838. French demands upon Belgium
refused, 838. Correspondence between Austria, Prussia, and Russia
respecting France, 838. French demands upon Switzerland, 839.

SOUTHERN EUROPE.

Neapolitan answer to Mr. Gladstone's letter, 127. New Colonial
Council in Spain for Cuba, 127. Austrian rigor in Italy, 261.
Pardon of the American prisoners in Spain, 414. Attempt to
assassinate the Queen of Spain, 698. Change in the government of
the Spanish colonies, 839.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE.

Preparations in Prussia, 127. Telegraphic arrangements in
Germany, 127. The Polish provinces of Prussia excluded from the
Confederation, 127. The Emperor of Austria declares himself
absolute, 127. Elections in Switzerland, 261. Critical state of
affairs in Austria, 261, 414. Austria and France, 414. Annulling
of the Constitution of 1849 in Austria, 556. General
Intelligence, 556. Attitude assumed by the European powers toward
France, 678. Demands of France upon Switzerland in relation to
political refugees, 698. Transferrence of Holstein to Denmark,
698. Switzerland menaced by a commercial blockade, 839.

THE EAST.

General Intelligence, 127. Negotiations in Turkey respecting the
Holy Sepulchre, 414. Hostilities in India, 415. Changes of
Ministry in Greece and Turkey, 698. Generosity of the Porte
toward rebels, 839. High interest forbidden in Turkey, 839. Death
of the Persian Vizier, 839. Hostilities between the English and
Burmese, 839.

Mr. Potts's New Years Adventures 281
My First Place 489
My Novel; or, Varieties in English Life. By SIR EDWARD BULWER
LYTTON 105, 239, 371, 525, 673, 793
Mysteries 65
My Traveling Companion 636
Napoleon Bonaparte. By JOHN S. C. ABBOTT 22, 166, 310, 592, 736
New Discoveries in Ghosts 512
Old Maid's First Love 360
Orphan's Dream of Christmas 385
Our School. By CHARLES DICKENS 75
Paradise Lost 611
Personal Sketches and Reminiscences. By MARY RUSSELL MITFORD 503
Pipe Clay and Clay Pipes 688
Pleasures and Perils of Ballooning 96
Poison Eaters 364
Potter of Tours 219
Promise Unfulfilled 80
Public Executions in England 542
Recollections of St. Petersburg 447
Rising Generationism 478
Rodolphus.--A Franconia Story. By JACOB ABBOTT 433, 577, 721
Short Chapter on Frogs 791
Sicilian Vespers 790
Sleep to Startle us 830
Stolen Bank Notes 627
Story of a Bear 786
Story of Oriental Love 75
Story of Rembrandt 516
Street Scenes of the French Usurpation 399
Suwarrow--Sketch of 409
Talk about the Spider 200
Taste of French Dungeons 670
Taste of Austrian Jails 481
The Bedoueen, Mahomad Alee, and the Bazaars. By GEORGE WILLIAM
CURTIS 755
The Brothers 212
The Expectant--A Tale of Life 93
The Game of Chess 205
The German Emigrants. By JOHN DOGGETT, Jr. 183
The Little Sisters 641
The Lost Ages 547
The Mighty Magician 772
The Moor's Revenge. By EPES SARGENT 669
The Mountain Torrent 466
The Night Train 783
The Opera. By THOMAS CARLYLE 252
The Ornithologist 470
The Point of Honor 494
The Sublime Porte 332
The Tub School 85
Thiers--Sketch of his Life 214
Thy Will be Done. By GEORGE P. MORRIS 119
Tiger Roche.--An Irish Character 760
To be Read at Dusk. By CHARLES DICKENS 235
True Courage 620
Two Kinds of Honesty 773
Vagaries of the Imagination 63
Vatteville Ruby 613
Vision of Charles XI. 397
What becomes of the Rind? 402
What to do in the Mean Time 545
Who knew Best 485
Wives of Great Lawyers 764
Wonderful Toys 634
You're Another 105
Zoological Stories 769

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
1. Casting the Tea over in Boston Harbor 1
2. Boston in 1770-74 3
3. Faneuil Hall 4
4. Portrait of Governor Hutchinson 5
5. Portrait of the Earl of Dartmouth 5
6. House of John Hancock 6
7. Province House 7
8. The Old South Church, Boston 7
9. Portrait of David Kinnison 9
10. Portrait of George R. T. Hewes 10
11. Pouring Tea down the Throat of America 10
12. Route of the Arctic Expedition (Map) 12
13. Vessels beating to Windward of Iceberg 12
14. Perilous Situation of the Advance and Rescue 13
15. Discovery Ships near the Devil's Thumb 14
16. The Advance leading the Prince Albert 15
17. The Advance stranded at Cape Riley 16
18. Anvil-Block, and Guide-Board 17
19. Three Graves at Beechy 17
20. The Advance and Rescue at Barlow's Inlet 18
21. The Advance in Barrow's Straits 19
22. The Advance and Rescue drifting 19
23. The Advance and Rescue in the Winter 20
24. The Advance in Davis's Straits 20
25. The Advance among Hummocks 21
26. Stern of the Rescue in the Ice 21
27. The Passage of the Tagliamento 24
28. The Gorge of Neumarkt 26
29. The Venetian Envoys 27
30. The Conference dissolved 30
31. The Court at Milan 31
32. The Triumphal Journey 33
33. The Delivery of the Treaty 34
34. Portrait of Kossuth 40
35. Better Luck next Time 141
36. Doing One a Special Favor 141
37. Off Point Judith 142
38. Singular Phenomenon 142
39. A Slight Mistake 142
40. Costumes for December 143
41. Parisian, Frileuse, and Camara Cloaks 144
41. Child's Costume 144
43. Portrait of Franklin 145
44. The Franklin Smithy 145
45. Franklin at Ten Years of Age 146
46. Building the Pier at the Mill-pond 146
47. Franklin reading in his Chamber 147
48. The Franklin Family 147
49. Franklin studying in the Printing-office 147
50. Franklin's First Literary Essay 148
51. Franklin ill-used by his Brother 149
52. Franklin plans to escape 149
53. The Sloop at Sea 149
54. Franklin traveling through the Storm 150
55. The old Woman's Hospitality 150
56. Franklin with his Penny Rolls 150
57. Franklin gives the Bread to a poor Woman 151
58. Franklin asleep in the Meeting-house 152
59. Franklin with Bradford and Keimer 152
60. The Quakeress's Counsel 153
61. Franklin showing his Money 153
62. Franklin and the Governor of New York 154
63. Collins flung overboard 154
64. Reading on the Banks of the River 155
65. Franklin's Courtship 155
66. Franklin takes Leave of Miss Read 155
67. Franklin delivers his Letter 156
68. Franklin at the Book-store 156
69. Franklin carrying Type Forms 157
70. The Widow Lady of Duke-street 157
71. The Recluse Lodger 157
72. Franklin looking out of the Window 158
73. The Copper-plate Press 158
74. Franklin's First Job 159
75. The Junto Club 160
76. Meredith on a Spree 160
77. Grief of Miss Read 161
78. Franklin with the Wheelbarrow 161
79. The Library 162
80. Industry of Mrs. Franklin 162
81. The China Bowl and Silver Spoon 162
82. The Gardener at work 163
83. Grinding the Ax 163
84. The Widow carrying on Business 164
85. Franklin playing Chess 164
86. Franklin takes Charge of his Nephew 165
87. Portrait of Whitefield 165
88. The Expedition to Egypt 166
89. Napoleon embarking for Egypt 169
90. Napoleon looking at the distant Alps 170
91. The Disembarkation in Egypt 173
92. The March through the Desert 175
93. The Battle of the Pyramids 178
94. The Egyptian Ruins 183
95. Mr. Potts makes his Toilet 281
96. Mr. Potts suffers--Inexpressibly 281
97. Mr. Potts is discomposed 281
98. Mr. Potts in the wrong Apartment 282
99. Mr. Potts enchanted 283
100. Mr. Potts assumes a striking Attitude 283
101. Mr. Potts makes a Sensation 283
102. Mr. Potts tears himself away 284
103. Mr. Potts receives a Lecture 284
104. Arrant Extortion 285
105. Mr. Booby in the New Costume 285
106. A Bloomer in Leap Year 286
107. The Strong-minded Bloomer 286
108. Winter Costumes 287
109. Walking Dress 288
110. Hood and Head-dress 288
111. Preparing the Regimental Colors 290
112. Franklin on Military Duty 290
113. Franklin's Colloquy with the Quaker 291
114. The Indian Pow-wow 291
115. The Female Street-sweeper 292
116. The Horse and Packages for Camp 293
117. The precipitous Flight 293
118. March to Gnadenhuetten 294
119. Franklin's military Escort 295
120. Portrait of Buffon 296
121. Franklin and the new Governor 296
122. Sign of St. George and the Dragon 297
123. The Ship in Peril of the Rocks 297
124. Franklin writing to his Wife 298
125. The Old Man from the Desert 298
126. Portrait of Mrs. Franklin 299
127. Franklin on his Tour of Inspection 300
128. Bees swarming 301
129. Franklin's Departure from Chester 301
130. Reception of the Satin 302
131. Franklin transformed by his new Dress 302
132. Franklin repulsed from Lord Hillsborough's 303
133. The Boston Riot 304
134. Portrait of Lord Chatham 304
135. Portrait of Lord Camden 304
136. Franklin at Chess with the Lady 305
137. Drafting the Declaration of Independence 306
138. Old Age 307
139. Feeling toward Franklin in Paris 308
140. Portrait of Lafayette 309
141. Franklin's Amusement in Age 309
142. Napoleon's Escape from the Red Sea 310
143. The Dromedary Regiment 312
144. The Plague Hospital at Acre 317
145. The Bomb-shell exploding 320
146. Arrival of the Courier 326
147. Napoleon and Kleber 328
148. The Return from Egypt 329
149. A Horrible Business 429
150. Mrs. Baker's Pet 430
151. Costumes for February 431
152. Evening Dress 432
153. Full Dress for Home 432
154. The Rabbit House 433
155. The Pursuit 437
156. The Raft 439
157. Up the Ladder 441
158. The Yard at Mr. Randon's 442
159. Plan of Mr. Randon's House 444
160. The Great Room 444
161. Inundation at St. Petersburg 449
162. Russian Ice Mountains 452
163. Punishment for Drunkenness 454
164. Russian Isvoshtshiks 455
165. The Easter Kiss--agreeable 456
166. The Easter Kiss--as matter of Duty 456
167. The Easter Kiss--under Difficulties 456
168. The Easter Kiss--disagreeable 456
169. France is tranquil 573
170. The President's Road to Ruin 574
171. New Parisian Street-sweeping Machine 574
172. Costumes for March 575
173. Young Lady's Toilet 576
174. Morning Toilet 576
175. Ellen Asleep 578
176. The Snow-shoes 579
177. The Funeral 583
178. The Boys and the Boat 585
179. The Evasion 587
180. Raising the Hasp 591
181. The Corn-barn 591
182. Napoleon's Return from Egypt 595
183. Napoleon and the Atheists 596
184. Napoleon's Landing at Frejus 598
185. Napoleon's Reconciliation with Josephine 602
186. Napoleon on the Way to St. Cloud 608
187. Napoleon in the Council of Five Hundred 609
188. The Little Old Lady 662
189. Miss Jellyby 667
190. Going to Cover 711
191. Revolutionary Inquiries 714
192. Early Publication of a Paper in Paris 714
193. Scene from the President's Progress 715
194. Touching Sympathy 716
195. Sound Advice 716
196. Effects of a Strike 717
197. Perfect Identification 718
198. Calling the Police 718
199. Fashions for April 719
200. Dress Toilet 720
201. Child's Fancy Costume 720
202. The Drag Ride 722
203. The Well 724
204. The Conflagration 726
205. The barred Window 727
206. Antonio's Picture 728
207. The Court Room 729
208. The Arrest 732
209. The Governor 735
210. The Consuls and the Gold 737
211. Napoleon in the Temple 739
212. Napoleon's Entrance into the Tuileries 742
213. Napoleon and the Vendeean Chief 746
214. Napoleon and the Duchess of Guiche 750
215. Napoleon and Bourrienne 751
216. Unavailing Intercession of Josephine 753
217. The Lord Chancellor copies from Memory 814
218. Coavinses 821
219. Butcher-Boys of the Upper Ten 857
220. The Inquiring Omnibus Driver 857
221. Flunky's Idea of Beauty 858
222. A Competent Adviser 859
223. Regard for the Truth 859
224. Awful Effect of Eye-glasses 860
225. Rather Severe 860
226. Portrait of a Gentleman 861
227. The Peer on the Press 861
228. Interior of a French Court of Justice 862
229. Fashions for May 863
230. Visiting Dress 864
231. Home Toilet 864

HARPER'S

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

No. XIX.--DECEMBER, 1851.--VOL. IV.

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.[1]

BY BENSON J. LOSSING.

Revolutions which dismember and overturn empires, disrupt political systems, and change not only the forms of civil government, but frequently the entire character of society, are often incited by causes so remote, and apparently inconsiderable and inadequate, that the superficial observer would never detect them, or would laugh incredulously if presented to his consideration as things of moment. Yet, like the little spring of a watch, coiled unseen within the dark recess of its chamber, the influences of such remote causes operating upon certain combinations, give motion, power, and value to latent energies, and form the _primum mobile_ of the whole machinery of wonderful events which produce revolutions.

As a general rule, revolutions in states are the results of isolated rebellions; and rebellions have their birth in desires to cast off evils inflicted by actual oppressions. These evils generally consist of the interferences of rulers with the physical well-being of the governed; and very few of the political changes in empires which so prominently mark the course of human history, have had a higher incentive to resistance than the maintenance of creature comforts. Abridgment of personal liberty in the exercise of natural rights, excessive taxation, and extortion of public officers, whereby individual competence and consequent ease have not been attainable, these have generally been the chief counts in the indictment, when the people have arisen in their might and arraigned their rulers at the bar of the world's judgment.

The American Revolution, which succeeded local rebellions in the various provinces, was an exception to a general rule. History furnishes no parallel example of a people free, prosperous, and happy, rising from the couch of ease to gird on the panoply of war, with a certainty of encountering perhaps years of privation and distress, to combat the intangible _principle_ of despotism. The taxes of which the English colonies in America complained, and which were the ostensible cause of dissatisfaction, were almost nominal, and only in the smallest degree affected the general prosperity of the people. But the method employed in levying those slight taxes, and the prerogatives assumed by the king and his ministers, plainly revealed the _principles_ of tyranny, and were the causes which produced the quarrel. In these assumptions the kernel of despotism was very apparent, and the sagacious Americans, accustomed to vigorous and independent thought, and a free interchange of opinions, foresaw the speedy springing of that germ into the bulk and vigor of an umbrageous tree, that would overshadow the land and bear the bitter fruit of tyrannous misrule. Foreseeing this, they resolved neither to water it kindly, nor generously dig about its roots and open them to the genial influences of the blessed sun and the dews; but, on the contrary, to eradicate it. Tyranny had no abiding-place in America when the quarrel with the imperial government began, and the War of the Revolution, in its inception and progress, was eminently a war of principle.

How little could the wisest political seer have perceived of an elemental cause of a revolution in America, and the dismemberment of the British Empire, in two pounds and two ounces of TEA, which, a little less than two centuries ago, the East India Company sent as a present to Charles the Second of England! Little did the "merrie monarch" think, while sitting with Nell Gwynn, the Earl of Rochester, and a few other favorites, in his private parlor at Whitehall, and that new beverage gave pleasure to his sated taste, that events connected with the use of the herb would shake the throne of England, albeit a Guelph, a wiser and more virtuous monarch than any Stuart, should sit thereon. Yet it was even so; and TEA, within a hundred years after that viceregal corporation made its gift to royalty, became one of the causes which led to rebellion and revolution, resulting in the independence of the Anglo-American colonies, and the founding of our Republic.

When the first exuberant feelings of joy, which filled the hearts of the Americans when intelligence of the repeal of the Stamp Act reached them, had subsided, and sober judgment analyzed the Declaratory act of William Pitt which accompanied the Repeal Bill, they perceived small cause for congratulation. They knew Pitt to be a friend--an earnest and sincere friend of the colonists. He had labored shoulder to shoulder with Barre, Conway, Burke, and others, to effect the repeal, and had recently declared boldly in the House of Commons, "I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of people, so dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest." Yet he saw hesitation; he saw _pride_ standing in the place of _righteousness_, and he allowed _expediency_ to usurp the place of _principle_, in order to accomplish a great good. He introduced the Declaratory Act, which was a sort of salvo to the national honor, that a majority of votes might be secured for the Repeal Bill. That act affirmed that Parliament possessed the power _to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever_; clearly implying the right to impose taxes to any extent, and in any manner that ministers might think proper. That temporizing measure was unworthy of the great statesman, and had not the colonists possessed too many proofs of his friendship to doubt his constancy, they would now have placed him in the category of the enemies of America. They plainly perceived that no actual concession had been made, and that the passage of the Repeal Bill was only a truce in the systematic endeavors of ministers to hold absolute control over the Americans. The loud acclamations of joy and the glad expressions of loyalty to the king, which rung throughout America in the spring and early summer of 1766, died away into low whispers before autumn, and as winter approached, and other schemes for taxation, such as a new clause in the mutiny act developed, were evolved from the ministerial laboratory, loud murmurings went over the sea from every English colony in the New World.

Much good was anticipated by the exercise of the enlightened policy of the Rockingham ministry, under whose auspices the Stamp Act had been repealed, when it was suddenly dissolved, and William Pitt, who was now elevated to the peerage, became prime minister. Had not physical infirmities borne heavily upon Lord Chatham, all would have been well; but while he was tortured by gout, and lay swathed in flannels at his country-seat at Hayes, weaker heads controlled the affairs of state. Charles Townshend, Pitt's Chancellor of the Exchequer, a vain, truckling statesman, coalesced with Grenville, the father of the Stamp Act, in the production of another scheme for deriving a revenue from America. Too honest to be governed by expediency, Grenville had already proposed levying a direct tax upon the Americans of two millions of dollars per annum, allowing them to raise that sum in their own way. Townshend had the sagacity to perceive that such a measure would meet with no favor; but in May, 1767, he attempted to accomplish the same result by introducing a bill providing for the imposition of a duty upon glass, paper, painters' colors, and TEA imported from Great Britain into America. This was only another form of taxation, and judicious men in Parliament viewed the proposition with deep concern. Burke and others denounced it in the Commons; and Shelburne in the House of Lords warned ministers to have a care how they proceeded in the matter, for he clearly foresaw insurrection, perhaps a revolution as a consequence. But the voice of prudence, uttering words of prophecy, was disregarded; Townshend's bill was passed, and became a law at the close of June, by receiving the royal signature. Other acts, equally obnoxious to the Americans, soon became laws by the sanction of the king, and the principles of despotism, concealed behind the honest-featured Declaratory Act, were displayed in all their deformity.

During the summer and autumn, John Dickenson sent forth his powerful _Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer_. Written in a simple manner, they were easily understood. They laid bare the evident designs of the ministry; proved the unconstitutionality of the late acts of Parliament, and taught the people the necessity of united resistance to the slow but certain approaches of oppression.

Boston, "the ringleader in rebellion," soon took the initiative step in revolutionary movements, and during 1768, tumults occurred, which caused Governor Bernard to call for troops to awe the people. General Thomas Gage, then commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, ordered two regiments from Halifax. Borne by a fleet which blockaded the harbor in September, they landed upon Long Wharf, in Boston, on Sunday morning, and while the people were desirous of worshiping quietly in their meeting-houses, these soldiers marched to the Common with charged muskets, fixed bayonets, drums beating, and colors flying, with all the pomp and insolence of victorious troops entering a vanquished city. It was a great blunder, and Governor Bernard soon perceived it.

A convention of delegates from every town but one in Massachusetts was in session, when the fleet arrived in Nantasket roads. They were not alarmed by the approach of cannon and bayonets, but deliberated coolly, and denounced firmly the current measures of government. Guided by their advice, the select-men of Boston refused to furnish quarters for the troops, and they were obliged to encamp on the open Common, where insults were daily bandied between the military hirelings and the people. The inhabitants of Boston, and of the whole province felt insulted--ay, degraded--and every feeling of patriotism and manhood rebelled. The alternative was plain before them--_submission or the bayonet!_

Great indignation prevailed from the Penobscot to the St. Mary's, and the cause of Boston became the common cause of all the colonists. They resented the insult as if offered to themselves; and hatred of royal rule became a fixed emotion in the hearts of thousands. Legislative assemblies spoke out freely, and for the crime of being thus independent, royal governors dissolved them. Delegates returned to their constituents, each an eloquent crusader against oppression; and in every village and hamlet men congregated to consult upon the public good, and to determine upon a remedy for the monster evil now sitting like an incubus upon the peace and prosperity of the land.

As a countervailing measure, merchants in the various coast towns entered into an agreement to cease importing from Great Britain, every thing but a few articles of common necessity (and especially those things enumerated in the impost bill), from the first of January, 1769, to the first of January, 1770, unless the obnoxious act should be sooner repealed. The people every where seconded this movement by earnest co-operation, and Provincial legislatures commended the scheme. An agreement, presented in the Virginia House of Burgesses by Washington, was signed by every member; and in all the colonies the people entered at once upon a course of self-denial. For more than a year this powerful engine of retaliation waged war upon British commerce in a constitutional way, before ministers would listen to petitions and remonstrances; and it was not until virtual rebellion in the British capital, born of commercial distress, menaced the ministry, that the expostulations of the Americans were noticed, except with sneers.

In America meetings were frequently held, and men thus encouraged each other by mutual conference. Nor did _men_, alone, preach and practice self-denial; American _women_, the wives and daughters of patriots, cast their influence into the scale of patriotism, and by cheering voices and noble examples, became efficient co-workers. And when, in Boston, cupidity overcame patriotism, and the defection of a few merchants who loved gold more than liberty, aroused the friends of the non-importation leagues, and assembled them in general council in Faneuil Hall, there to declare that they would "totally abstain from the use of TEA," and other proscribed articles, the women of that city, fired with zeal for the general good, spoke out publicly and decidedly upon the subject. Early in February, 1770, the mistresses of three hundred families subscribed their names to a league, binding themselves not to use any more TEA until the impost clause in the Revenue Act should be repealed. Their daughters speedily followed their patriotic example, and three days afterward, a multitude of young ladies in Boston and vicinity, signed the following pledge:

"We, the daughters of those patriots who have, and do now appear for the public interest, and in that principally regard their posterity--as such, do with pleasure engage with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign TEA, in hopes to frustrate a plan which tends to deprive a whole community of all that is valuable in life."

From that time, TEA was a proscribed article in Boston, and opposition to the form of oppression was strongly manifested by the unanimity with which the pleasant beverage was discarded. Nor did the ladies of Boston bear this honor alone, but in Salem, Newport, Norwich, New York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Williamsburg, Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah, the women sipped "the balsamic hyperion," made from the dried leaves of the raspberry plant, and discarded "the poisonous bohea." The newspapers of the day abound with notices of social gatherings where foreign tea was entirely discarded.

About this time Lord North succeeded Townshend as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was an honest man, a statesman of good parts, and a sincere friend to English liberty. He doubtless desired to discharge his duty faithfully, yet in dealing with the Americans, he utterly misunderstood their character and temper, and could not perceive the justice of their demands. This was the minister who mismanaged the affairs of Great Britain throughout the whole of our war for independence, and by his pertinacity in attempts to tax the colonies, and in opposing them in their efforts to maintain their rights, he finally drove them to rebellion, and protracted the war until reconciliation was out of the question.

Early in 1770, the British merchants, the most influential class in the realm, were driven by the non-importation agreements to become the friends of the colonists, and to join with them in petitions and remonstrances. The London merchants suffered more from the operations of the new Revenue Laws, than the Americans. They had early foreseen the consequences of an attempt to tax the colonists; and when Townshend's scheme was first proposed, they offered to pay an equivalent sum into the Treasury, rather than risk the loss of the rapidly-increasing American trade. Now, that anticipated loss was actual, and was bearing heavily upon them. It also affected the national exchequer. In one year, exports to America had decreased in amount to the value of almost four millions of dollars; and within three years (1767 to 1770), the government revenue from America decreased from five hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum, to one hundred and fifty thousand. These facts awakened the people; these figures alarmed the government; and early in March, Lord North asked leave to bring in a bill, in the House of Commons, for repealing the duties upon glass, paper, and painters' colors, but retaining the duty of three-pence upon TEA. This impost was very small--avowedly a "pepper-corn rent," retained to save the national honor, about which ministers prated so loudly. The friends of America--the _true_ friends of English liberty and "national honor"--asked for a repeal of the whole act; the stubborn king, and the short-sighted ministry would not consent to make the concession. North's bill became a law in April, and he fondly imagined that the insignificant three-pence a pound, upon a single article of luxury, would now be overlooked by the colonists. How egregiously he misapprehended their character!

When intelligence of this act reached America, the scheme found no admirers. The people had never complained of the _amount_ of the taxes levied by impost; it was trifling. They asserted that Great Britain had _no right to tax them at all_, without their consent. It was for a great _principle_ they were contending; and they regarded the retention of the duty of three-pence upon the single article of TEA, as much a violation of the constitutional rights of the colonists, as if there had been laid an impost a hundred-fold greater, upon a score of articles. This was the issue, and no partial concessions would be considered.

The non-importation agreements began to be disregarded by many merchants, and six months before this repeal bill became a law, they had agreed, in several places, to import every thing but TEA, and that powerful lever of opposition had now almost ceased to work. TEA being an article of luxury, the resolutions to discard that were generally adhered to, and concerning TEA, alone, the quarrel was continued.

For two years very little occurred to disturb the tranquillity of New England. Thomas Hutchinson, a man of fair abilities, but possessed of very little prudence or sound judgment, succeeded Bernard as Governor of Massachusetts. New men, zealous and capable, were coming forth from among the people, to do battle for right and freedom. Poor Otis, whose eloquent voice had often stirred up the fires of rebellion in the hearts of the Bostonians, when _Writs of Assistance_, and the _Stamp Act_, elicited his denunciations, and who, with prophetic voice, had told his brethren in Great Britain, "Our fathers were a _good_ people, we have been a _free_ people, and if you will not let us be so any longer, we shall be a _great_ people," was now under a cloud. But his colleagues, some of them very young, were growing strong and experienced. John Adams, then six-and-thirty, and rapidly rising in public estimation, occupied the seat of Otis in the General Assembly. John Hancock, one of the wealthiest merchants of Boston; Samuel Adams, a Puritan of great experience and tried integrity; Joseph Warren, a young physician, full of energy and hope, who afterward fell on Breed's Hill; Josiah Quincy, a polished orator, though almost a stripling; Thomas Cushing, James Warren, Dr. Samuel Church, Robert Treat Paine--these became the popular leaders, and fostered "the child independence," which John Adams said, was born when Otis denounced the Writs of Assistance, and the populace sympathized. These were the men who, at private meetings, concerted plans for public action; and with them, Hutchinson soon quarreled. They issued a circular, declaring the rights of the colonies, and enumerating their grievances. Hutchinson denounced it as seditious and traitorous; and while the public mind was excited by the quarrel, Dr. Franklin, who was agent for the colony in England, transmitted to the Speaker of the Assembly several private letters, written by the governor to members of Parliament, in which he spoke disrespectfully of the Americans, and recommended the adoption of coercive measures to abridge "what are called English liberties." These revelations raised a furious storm, and the people were with difficulty restrained from inflicting personal violence upon the governor. All classes, from the men in legislative council to the plainest citizen, felt a disgust that could not be concealed, and a breach was opened between ruler and people that grew wider every day.

The Earl of Hillsborough, who had been Secretary of State for the Colonies during the past few years of excitement, was now succeeded by Lord Dartmouth, a personal friend to Dr. Franklin, a sagacious statesman, and a man sincerely disposed to do justice to the colonies. Had his councils prevailed, the duty upon tea would have been taken off, and all cause for discontent on the part of the colonies, removed. But North's blindness, countenanced by ignorant or wicked advisers, prevailed in the cabinet, and the olive-branch of peace and reconciliation, constantly held out by the Americans while declaring their rights, was spurned.

At the beginning of 1773, the East India Company, feeling the effects of the non-importation agreements and the colonial contraband trade, opened the way for reconciliation, while endeavoring to benefit themselves. Already seventeen millions of pounds of tea had accumulated in their warehouses in England, and the demand for it in America was daily diminishing. To open anew an extensive market so suddenly closed, the Company offered to allow government to retain six-pence upon the pound as an exportation tariff, if they would take off the duty of three-pence. Ministers had now a fair opportunity, not only to conciliate the colonies in an honorable way, but to procure, without expense, double the amount of revenue. But the ministry, deluded by false views of national honor, would not listen to the proposition, but stupidly favored the East India Company, while persisting in unrighteousness toward the Americans. A bill was passed in May, to allow the Company to export tea to America on their own account, without paying export duty, while the impost of three-pence was continued. The mother country thus taught the colonists to regard her as a voluntary oppressor.