OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 195 
former was no more’ the act of a mob than the latter. 
It was the deliberate and coolly reasoned act of the 
people of Massachusetts, cordially approved and 
stoutly defended by the people of the thirteen colo- 
nies. The contemporary British historian Gordon 
saw clearly that the crisis was one in which no com- 
promise was possible, and the only alternative, the 
surrender of Boston, would have imperilled the whole 
future of America. As Dr. Ramsay said, you could 
not condemn the Tea Party without condemning the 
Revolution altogether, for in no other way could the 
men of Boston discharge the duty which they owed 
to the country. But a more fitting comment will 
never be uttered than that of the enthusiastic John 
Adams, the day after the event: “This is the most 
magnificent movement of all. There is a dignity, a 
majesty, a sublimity, in this last effort of the patriots, 
that I greatly admire.... This destruction of the 
tea . . . must have so important consequences and so 
lasting, that I cannot but consider it an epoch in 
history.” 
Yes, this is the true judgment. If there is any- 
thing in human life that is dignified and grand, it is 
the self-restraint of masses of men under extreme 
provocation, and the steady guidance of their actions 
by the light of sober reason; and from this point of 
view the Boston Tea Party will always remain a typi- 
cal instance of what is majestic and sublime. 
