PROCEEDINGS AT BOSTON.
During the deliberations of the British parliament, the Bostonians and
people of Massachusets Bay had continued their outrages. The assembly
and populace alike showed their utter aversion to the British government
in language and actions which could not be misunderstood. The mob
destroyed every cargo of tea that arrived in the port, and the
assembly showed its hostility by petitioning for the removal of the
chief-justice, Peter Oliver, Esq., because he had taken his majesty's
grant. The house further resolved to impeach the chief-justice in their
own name, and in the name of all the inhabitants of the province; and
when the governor denounced their proceedings as unconstitutional, they
drew up articles according to this resolution, charging him with high
crimes and misdemeanors. The governor, however, refused to take any step
in the matter, and this only tended to exasperate them still more. At
this moment, indeed, some of the leaders, at the head of whom was Mr.
Samuel Adams, were publicly proclaiming that America must and should
become independent of Great Britain. Their sentiments were also made
known by their unbounded admiration of Benjamin Franklin. His name was
mentioned everywhere with enthusiasm, and before their dissolution the
assembly resolved to continue him their agent in England, although the
governor refused to ratify the appointment, or to sanction their act for
paying him his salary.
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