CHAPTER XXIII.

TRANSIT OF VENUS.--A STRONG DISLIKE TO ENGLAND MORE OPENLY EXPRESSED.--NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT.--INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES PROHIBITED.--CAPTURE OF THE GASPEE.

Collision between British officers and citizens, 199

Dedication of liberty trees, 199

Laws concerning domestic interests, 199

Transit of Venus, 200

Armed resistance to England more openly talked of, 201

Scuttling of the sloop-of-war Liberty, 202

Non-importation of tea agreed to, 203

Prosperity of Newport, 203

First Commencement at Rhode Island College, 204

1770. Further introduction of slaves prohibited, 204

Governor Hutchinson advanced a claim for the command of the Rhode Island militia, 205

Evidence of justice in Rhode Island, 206

Capture and destruction of the schooner Gaspee, 207