1765 2. Then arose the famous quarrel with the American Colonies. The English Government claimed the right of taxing them, although they sent no members to the House of Commons; and accordingly it passed the Stamp Act. This raised such a storm of anger that the Act had to be A.D. withdrawn. But the right to tax was still claimed; and in spite of the loud warnings of Pitt, Fox, and Burke, taxes were laid on tea and other articles 'imported into America. 3. The Americans, however, refused to pay them; and several cargoes of taxed tea, sent from England to Boston,1 were turned overboard in Boston harbour by some of the inhabitants disguised as Red Indians. England resolved to subdue the colonists by the sword. Large bodies of troops were sent out. 4. The Americans raised an army in their own defence, under the command of George WashThen they drew up a Declaration ington. 1776 A.D. teen States, under the name of the United States of America. 6. Another English army, under General Burgoyne, had surrendered at Saratoga3 some time previously; and then England decided to give up the strife. A treaty was drawn up, by which the independence of the States was acknowledged. A general peace soon followed, embracing not A.D. only America, but also France, Spain, and Holland, which, during the struggle with the States, had been united against England. 1783 7. The United States of America then set up a Republic, the head of which is a President, who is elected for a term of four years. George Washington was the first President. After his first term of office, he was re-elected for other four years. 8. England, once more at rest from war, was 'prosperous at home, and was following the arts of peace; but a fresh source of trouble arose 1789 when a terrible Revolution broke out in A. D. France, which threw Europe into the deepest gloom. At Paris, a mob, excited by poverty and bad government, rose against King Louis the Sixteenth, whom, with his Queen, they beheaded. 9. France was declared a Republic, the law was set at nought, and a number of fearful events followed during twenty-two years, by which nations were shaken, thrones were overturned, and fertile districts were drenched in blood. dis-guised', made to appear. fer-tile, fruitful. im-port-ed, brought. pros-per-ous, successful. re-pub-lic, country ruled by the people. 1 Bos/ton.-Capital of Massachusetts. 2 York'town.-In Virginia; 50 miles south-east of Richmond. source, cause. [stamps. Stamp Act, Act putting a tax on states, provinces; divisions. tax-ing them, deciding the amount 3 Saratoga.-In New York State; 32 miles north of Albany, and the same distance from Lake Champlain. 40. THE TEA CHESTS OF BOSTON. 1. A ship once sailed into Boston Harbour, on the North American shore, having a 'cargo of one hundred chests of tea. It came to anchor close to a place called Griffin's Wharf. The people of the town, angry at taxation which the British Government was trying to impose on them, 'determined that they would allow no tea, which was one of the things taxed, to be landed. They placed a guard on the wharf, with orders to ring the alarum-bell if any attempt should be made by night to bring the chests ashore. Two other ships laden with tea also arrived, and were moored close by. 2. As the intention of the people was to send all the tea back to England, the merchant to whom these cargoes had been sent asked the Governor of the castle for a certificate of clearance,1 without which the ships could not leave the harbour. This demand was rejected by the Governor, who said that it would be dishonouring to the laws and to the King to grant such a certificate. Dec., 1773 A. D. 3. When this reply was announced in the public assembly of the citizens, a man in the gallery, who was dressed and painted like an Indian, gave a war-whoop, which brought the whole mass of people to their feet in an instant. They rushed down to the wharf; and then about twenty other men, who were in fact either sailors or carpenters, but who had disguised themselves in the 'costume of the red men, went on board the tea-ships with hammers and chisels in their hands, and in less than two hours broke open and emptied into the sea three hundred and forty chests. 4. There was little noise, and no injury whatever was done to the ships or to their crews. A great crowd stood on the wharf, "watching the harbour grow black;" and, when all was over, each man went home to think of the results likely to spring from a step so daring and decided. April, 1775 5. One evening in April, a party of British officers left the city of Boston, which was then held for King George the Third, by General Gage, for the purpose, to all appearance, of dining at the town of Cambridge, and passing a pleasant evening there. Their real object was to A.D. guard the roads leading to Concord,3 lest any messengers from Boston might give warning that a British force would advance that very night to seize and destroy the arms and ammunition which had been collected there by the colonists. The pre caution, however, was unavailing; for men who knew the country reached Lexington, and there bells |