As the flames blazed high, the fury of the mob increased. They rushed
away toward Vauxhall on the outskirts of the town (where Greenwich and
Warren Streets now cross). Vauxhall at this time was occupied by a major
of the British army named James. He had said that the stamps ought to be
crammed down the throats of the people with the point of a sword. In
revenge for this his house was broken into, his handsome furniture, his
pictures and treasures of every sort dragged out, and kindled into a
bonfire around which the mob danced and howled.
The people were quite determined to take the law into their own hands
and destroy every trace of the hated stamps. You shall know presently
what prevented them.
CHAPTER XXI
THE BEGINNING of REVOLUTION
On the morning after the night of rioting--dark and dreary day that was
quite in keeping with the gloomy feelings of the people--Cadwallader
Colden, the Lieutenant-Governor, decided that he would do away with the
stamps that had caused so much trouble. So he had them delivered to the
Mayor, who was in accord with the citizens, and the Mayor put them in
the City Hall amid many cheers. A few days after this Sir Henry Moore
(who had been appointed Governor of the province) arrived from England,
and immediately won the hearts of the citizens by saying that he would
have nothing to do with the stamps.
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