As for the Indians, fearing an attack from
the near-by garrison, they hastened away with
the booty they had collected, and left General
Schuyler and his family unharmed.
THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY
BY JOHN ANDREWS (ADAPTED)[5]
[5] From a letter written to a friend in 1773.
On November 29, 1773, there arrived in Boston
Harbor a ship carrying an hundred and odd chests
of the detested tea. The people in the country
roundabout, as well as the town's folk, were
unanimous against allowing the landing of it; but
the agents in charge of the consignment persisted
in their refusal to take the tea back to London.
The town bells were rung, for a general muster of
the citizens. Handbills were stuck up calling on
``Friends! Citizens! Countrymen!''
Mr. Rotch, the owner of the ship, found himself
exposed not only to the loss of his ship, but
to the loss of the money-value of the tea itself,
if he should attempt to send her back without
clearance papers from the custom-house; for the
admiral kept a vessel in readiness to seize any
ship which might leave without those papers.
Therefore, Mr. Rotch declared that his ship
should not carry back the tea without either the
proper clearance or the promise of full indemnity
for any losses he might incur.
Matters continued thus for some days, when
a general muster was called of the people of Boston
and of all the neighboring towns.
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