from this state of things, and it seemed that a commercial crisis was hastening upon the colonies. Still, there was a large stock of foreign goods in the country, and as the Americans had of late indulged quite freely in overtrading, the real distress inflicted was much less than so considerable a suspension of outward trade might be supposed to have occasioned. Indeed, it was, on some accounts, rather an advantage than otherwise, that commercial operations should come to a temporary stand still.

The explosion which the course of circumstances rendered inevitable, occurred upon the landing at Boston of the first cargo of stamped paper. It was a part of the new arrangement that the paper used should be all of British manufacture, and that the stamps should be affixed in England. An immense quantity had accordingly been prepared at great expense to the royal treasury. The first cargo arrived at Boston about the middle of August, and like supplies were soon received at the ports of the other colonies. At Boston a resistless mob assembled on the 15th, hung Oliver, the stamp distributor, in effigy, and sacked his house, whereupon that functionary concluded it was best to yield to the popular demand, and resign his office. On the 26th another such assemblage destroyed the houses of the Registrar-deputy and the Controller of the Customs. "The little turbulent colony of Rhode Island," as some one said, "raised their mob likewise." In New York, the paper being deposited at once in the fort, the mob advanced to assail that stronghold, upon which it was removed and consigned to the care of the municipal authorities of the town, who would receive it only on condition that it should not be used. In other places it was destroyed or reshipped to England, and popular indignation compelled the stamp distributors everywhere to resign.

The Colonial Congress convened at New York on the 7th of October; nine colonies-Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the three lower counties (now State) of Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina-being represented by twenty-eight delegates. The majority was in favor of a decided course, but there were a number who were quite timid, and felt as if engaged in a traitorous conspiracy. There was much less fortitude, as a whole, than in the Congress of 1774, and the tone of the meeting was quite below the spirit of the people. The members thus selected from the masses felt that in merely reflecting the evident will of the colonies, they became, from their position, individually responsible for their acts and utterances, and in case their counsels led to a rebellion, would be the first objects of punishment.

There was some expectation, it seems, on the part of the English government, that this body, seeing no other escape from compulsory taxation, would recommend to the colonies a voluntary contribution equivalent to the amount which it was designed to raise. But the colonies believed they were taxed in their full proportion, without affording direct aid to the home government in any shape. The ministry was at this time anxious to compromise the quarrel upon the above principle, and inquired of the agents the prospect of such accommodation. The latter replied simply that they were instructed to oppose any impost whatever by Parliament. The Congress entertained the same view with the people and their agents on this point. In their Statement of Grievances, they affirmed that the monopoly of colonial trade, and the duties levied in the colonies on imports, caused in themselves the payment of a very fair proportion to the general exchequer. Beside the Declaration of Rights and of Grievances,

the Congress adopted a petition to the king, and a memorial to each house of Parliament. The right of exclusive taxation by the colonial legislatures was firmly insisted upon in these documents. These proceedings were approved of by all the members, though somewhat doubtingly by a part, excepting only Ruggles, of Massachusetts, the President of the body, and Ogden, of New Jersey.

The first of November arrived, and the stamp act became a nominal law. But out of all the cargoes of stamped paper sent over, not a sheet was to be found, it all having been burned by the mobs, or sent back to England, excepting the small parcel deposited with the magistrates of New York, in whose hands the condition of its being unused was the only pledge of its safety. But as no business could be legally transacted without the use of stamped paper, the usual avocations of the public were in great part suspended. The warehouses, the courts, and places of business generally, were closed up; the wharves were deserted, and the streets occupied only by a few solemn groups. As no vessels sailed, the rivers and harbors partook the barren and lifeless aspect of the towns. The flags of the shipping were displayed at half-mast, and everywhere, by preconcerted arrangement, appeared the signs of universal mourning.

For a while the general stagnation continued. The doors of the courts remained closed; contracts, charters, conveyances, and agreements of all sorts, even marriages, ceased; the vessels laid idle at the wharves; and the people lounged about in a humor growing daily more sullen and discontented. Such unnatural quiet could not long endure. There must soon have been a popular upheaving, but that as a diversion to this gathering spirit, some little adventure was made in the transaction of business upon the old illegal system of using unstamped paper. It was deemed better to incur the risk of whatever penalty of confiscation, imprisonment, or other pains might be involved, than to endure this oppressive inaction. People were timorous at first, but by degrees, the wheels of society were again set in motion, and business resumed its old course, as if there had been nothing to interrupt it. The stamp act was an utter nullity.

The renewal of commercial operations did not, of course, extend to the intercourse with Great Britain. The continued suspension of trade with that quarter was a matter of necessity, to a considerable extent, rather than of mere choice, as our historians represent it. No American vessel, with shipping articles, invoices, and other customary documents, executed upon unstamped paper, could dare appear in any port of Great Britain; nor, on the other hand, would any British vessel dare co-operate with the Americans in the violation of a statute of the realm. Had the Americans been free to mark out the channels of their trade, they would hardly have admitted the policy of an effort so inconveniencing themselves merely to retaliate upon England for a law that had been already nullified.

There were, indeed, avenues sufficient for maintaining nearly in full the old extent of intercourse with England, by the use, in part, of British vessels, and partly by combining clandestinely with foreign traders-the Dutch, Danes, French, &c. In the voluntary suspension of such Commerce, the Americans refused to participate in a trade that was not fair, open, and reciprocal. Although England might suffer some loss from the irregularity of a Commerce under the present state of things, the great burden of disadvantage would rest upon the colonies, whose shipping must in great part be superseded.

The policy of home manufactures had a secondary and incidental influence only, instead of being that prime consideration which it is usually made to have been. Commerce was always, in those days, regarded as next to the cultivation of the soil, the permanently leading interest of the colonies, and its protection and encouragement were ever the great aims of colonial policy. There had been, indeed, some complaint regarding the restrictions imposed upon certain available branches of manufacture, and it was well understood how eminently favorable were the natural resources of the country to that species of industry. Yet there was in regard to the general policy of manufacturing, a diffidence of present ability, and a disinclination to disturb that settled division of occupation and interest which, so far as internal affairs were concerned, was considered in both countries a leading element of their mutual prosperity. The scheme of ceasing to buy from Great Britain was too sudden and violent a measure, and one of too temporary a nature, to be adopted with the slightest original reference to the subject of home manufactures, although when determined upon, the matter of supplying the deficiency thus occasioned from their own industry, in a partial degree, and of providing means to give efficacy to future retaliative acts of this sort, by lessening their pressure upon themselves, and heightening that upon England, was very naturally suggested. The entire aspect of the measure was, therefore, commercial. It was simply a scheme to force England to re-establish a fair and reciprocal Commerce -a device for rescuing the colonial marine from destruction, For this object only was it of any concern to force the repeal of an act of which the legitimate operation had been already completely defeated.

A new and general combination of the merchants in an agreement of Non-Importation, with regard to Great Britain, was under these circumstances very readily formed, and quite effectively executed for a measure of that nature. The measure was first set in force in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, whose example was speedily followed by the lesser seaports. There were a number of merchants and others who believed the colonies must suffer infinitely more than England in any test of endurance with her, such as this scheme seemed to propose; and that trade with England, under whatever embarrassments, was preferable to a political experiment so desperate one that seemed to them calculated only to aggravate the difficulties on both sides. But these people were obliged to succumb to the determined purpose of the great majority; for even commercial inhibitions, ordinarily the most futile of all attempted restraints, when supported by the full force of government, may yet be made effective without any sanction of law in those cases, seldom occurring, when they happen to accord with the public inclination.

The substance of the interdict was, that no new orders should be sent to Great Britain; that all orders hitherto issued, for whatever kind of goods, should be countermanded in regard to all goods not shipped before the first day of January, 1766; and that no goods should be received on commission which were consigned after that day. The measure was to continue in force until the repeal of the stamp act should occur. Not entirely satisfied with the cessation of import, it was proposed also to prohibit the exportation of tobacco to England-a measure which if adopted would have added vastly to the efficacy of the general scheme by its decided effect upon the Commerce, shipping, and revenue of the kingdom. But the act would also have inflicted great distress upon the Southern

colonies, and in the fear of estranging them from a cause which was yet essentially that of the North, the Northern people forbore to press this

measure.

The effect of the non-importation agreement was so complete as to almost totally suspend intercourse with Great Britain. The prohibition did not, however, extend to any of the British colonies, or to the important dependency of Ireland. From the latter were imported such articles as they could not well do without or obtain elsewhere, the return for which was in flaxseed and hempseed mainly. The American troubles, therefore, proved of some utility to Ireland.

The spirit of manufacturing necessary for any civilized people who abjure Commerce, was excited to great energy. Associations were formed for its encouragement in the leading towns, one of the most prominent in New York being modeled after the "London Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce." The articles to which attention was principally directed were Woolen and Linen Cloths, manufactures of Iron, Spirits, &c. In the scarcity of Sheep's wool, the wool of the Beaver was considerably used for cloths; and the more zealous adopted a resolution against the eating of lamb, agreeing not to buy any sort of meat from a butcher who should kill lambs. Liberal encouragement was also held out for the emigration to the colonies of skillful mechanics and manufacturers from England and other countries, of whom a number came over, although the state of things was too unsettled, and the prospect too dubious, to allure many.

A very respectable success attended the attempts in the production of cloths; and the public were offered American Scythes, Hoes, Spades, Axes, Culinary utensils, and other necessary articles of Ironware; also, Malt Spirits as a substitute for Rum, and Wines; Paper-hangings, and various other articles of common use. All these fabrics were eagerly bought, every one being desirous to wear only American clothes, and use, as far as possible, only American productions.

But respectable as was the success of an experiment owing its origin to so unusual and temporary an excitement of the public mind, the new manufactures of America, combined with their new, and what remained of their old Commerce, could not supply all those wants which England had provisioned. There was really an amount of self-denial endured by the colonies which only an unnatural elevation of feeling, through the strong stimulus of politics, enabled them to sustain.

This denial, however, extended only to articles of luxury, or to such conveniences as there might be found some passable substitute for. There was little or no real distress. The denial itself was, even under the rigid enforcement of the non-importation resolve, in a very great degree optional. Those very British manufactures cut off from further import still existed plentifully in the country. "The warehouses of the merchants," says Macpherson, "were full of goods for which no payment was made, and for which, considering the condition of the colonies with respect to money, from the suppression of those branches of trade [the foreign West India trade] which used to supply the means of making remittances, in cash or bills of exchange, there was very little prospect could be made." Nor does Macpherson deem it likely to be any great inconvenience to the colonies that when this stock should be exhausted, no more would come to replace it, the country itself producing all the necessaries, with a large

share of the comforts of life, and the people being now seized not with "the ostentation of extravagance, but with the ostentation of parsimony." That the condition of the colonies was very tolerable, and that they were rather pleased with the tendencies of things altogether, is evident from the fact that upon the ill success of their first petitions and remonstrances, they sat down quietly to wait the issue of their own measures, with very little farther thought of solicitation or argument. From the close of 1765 no petitions against the stamp act were forwarded by any of the colonial legislatures hitherto acting in the matter, except that of Virginia. Neither was there much popular movement in that direction; the chief petition of the latter sort was from Philadelphia, being signed by 280 merchants of that place.

Art III-MERCANTILE BIOGRAPHY:

ALEXANDER HENRY.

ALEXANDER HENRY, born in the north of Ireland, 1766; died in Philadelphia, 1847.

The record of the lives of those who have attained eminence by usefulness in the private walks of life, is of peculiar value to society. An example of philanthropic zeal, steadily pursuing its benevolent designs, amidst the prevailing selfishness of business competition and languor of slothful indulgence, will be productive of incalculable benefit to the community. The old and the middle-aged will be incited to, at least, occasional deeds of beneficence, and the young will earnestly covet the benedictions which follow the steps of him who proves himself a lover of his kind. The indolent will be shamed from his slothful indifference to the woes of his race, and the hard-hearted creditor find a strange pleasure in the unwonted exercise of mercy.

Such was the beneficial, we may say, the holy, influence exerted by the example of the merchant and philanthropist who forms the subject of this brief memoir. Of him it may be truly said that, "when the ear heard him, then it blessed him; and when the eye saw him, it gave witness to him. Because he delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him, and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy."

Alexander Henry was born in the north of Ireland in June, 1766. Deprived by death, at the early age of two years, of paternal guidance and example, the care of his education devolved upon a brother, (Alexander was the youngest of five brothers,) who sent him to school, and directed his studies with a view to his entering the University, designing him for a professional life. The death of his tutor caused an interruption of his studies, and reflection upon his future course of life determined him to devote his attention to mercantile pursuits. But difficulties here presented themselves of no trifling character.

In a long settled neighborhood, especially in a community where the natural increase of population is more than counterbalanced by emigration to the New World, no considerable augmentation of trade can be expected; and that which is already established generally flows in hereditary