serious damage as a result. Confrontation at the Governor's mansion On the morning of 17 November, a mob of about 300 locals, wielding cutlasses and clubs, captured a lieutenant of the Lark in retaliation for what they considered an illegal press. Attempting to free the officers, the sheriff of Suffolk County, Benjamin Pollard, arrested two of the rioters. The sheriff and his deputies often assisted the navy's press-gangs, which did little to endear them to the townspeople. The mob attacked the sheriff, forcing him to release his two prisoners, and taking one of his deputies as a hostage. One witness wrote later that the sheriff "was glad to get off with a Broken Head, tho' he was in danger of losing it." Thomas Hutchinson, then the Speaker of the House and an outspoken critic of impressment, managed to persuade the mob to release the lieutenant, who had not been part of the press-gang, and brought him to the governor's mansion for safekeeping. Upon hearing what had happened, Governor Shirley called for the militia to "suppress the Mob by force, and, if need was, to fire upon 'em with Ball." No sooner had he given this order than the angry mob appeared at his front door with three more naval officers and Knowles's servant as hostages. Armed with a cutlass, a spokesman for the mob accused Shirley of having issued an illegal impressment warrant. Shirley denied the charge and called the man an "Impudent Rascal"; his son-in-law, William Bollen, knocked the man's hat off. Shirley claimed there were seven or eight armed officers in the house who were "ready to stand upon their Defence, in case the Mob should be so outrageous, as to attempt to break into the House." He then escorted the officers into the house while Hutchinson calmed the crowd and persuaded them not to follow. The rioters still had one hostage: the sheriff's deputy, whom they beat in the governor's courtyard, and put in stocks. After the mob left, the governor headed to the Town House at the corner of King and Cornhill Streets, which was home to the Massachusetts General Court. Upstairs in the Council chamber, he spoke with members about his plans for dispersing the mob and offering rewards for informants. Storming of the Town House The House of Representatives, which met on the first floor of the Town House, assembled that day to discuss