The Boston Liberty Tree 225 



like two men. One of them was made of wood 

 and straw and old clothing. This represented 

 Andrew Oliver, the stamp agent of the king. 

 The other effigy was in the form of a large boot, 

 with a devil's head and horns peeping from the 

 top. This boot stood for Lord Bute, an English 

 nobleman and a great favorite with King George. 

 The colonists did not like their king and they 

 did not care for Bute, his favorite, who was a 

 weak and unjust man. 



There, on the tree, these effigies hung all day. 

 At night a great many colonists came out on the 

 streets of the city. They formed a parade, and 

 the effigies were cut down from the Liberty Tree. 

 Some of the paraders carried torchlights, others 

 the figures of Oliver and Lord Bute. And as they 

 marched, the patriots shouted "Liberty forever! 

 No taxation without our consent! And no 

 stamps!" 



Six months later the law was repealed in 

 London. The American colonists had no more 

 English stamps. But the old tree, their cradle of 

 Liberty, did not have much longer to stand as a 

 reminder of those stirring times. English troops 

 held the city of Boston in the summer of 1775. 



STORY OF THE FOREST - 15 



