OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 173 
except Franklin, was then chief justice of Massachu- 
setts. Some people believed him to have instigated 
the Stamp Act, which he had really opposed ; others, 
without due foundation, suspected him of having in- 
formed against sundry respectable citizens as smug- 
glers. So one night in August, 1765, a drunken mob 
sacked his house, destroyed his furniture and pictures, 
and ruined his splendid library. This affair was typi- 
cal of riots in general. It started at the suggestion of 
some unknown ruffian, its fury fell chiefly upon an 
innocent person, and its sole achievement was the 
wanton destruction of valuable property. It was an 
event in the history of crime, and belongs among such 
incidents as fill the Newgate Calendar. How did the 
people of Massachusetts treat this affair? Town- 
meetings all over the province condemned it in the 
strongest terms; the leaders of the mob were thrown 
into prison, and the legislature promptly indemnified 
Hutchinson for his losses so far as money could repair 
them. The whole story shows that Massachusetts had 
no fondness for riots and rioters. 
Besides such cases of mob violence there was the 
sober appeal to reason, and the American case was for 
the first time distinctly and fully stated. The princi- 
ple of “no taxation without representation ” was clearly 
set forth by Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, and 
was incorporated in the resolutions adopted by the 
congress at New York. This was the formal answer 
of the Americans to Parliament. When it reached 
that body, it found George Grenville in opposition. 
Lord Rockingham had become Prime Minister, and a 
bill was brought in for the repeal of the Stamp Act. 
That measure had been passed almost without ques- 
