There was no motive for such a course. But they reasonably complained of an unjust and illiberal policy, which accomplished all the purposes of absolute tyranny. The rod of iron was often covered with velvet, and was wielded as often by ignorant, rather than by wicked, hands. Yet the ignorant hand, with

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the concealed rod, smote as lustily and offensively, as if it had been a wicked one, and the rod bare. The first form of governmental and proprietary oppression' was in the appointment of local rulers. The people were not represented in the appointing power. Then came commercial restrictions, prohibitions to manufacture, imposts upon exchanges, and direct taxation, by enactments of parliament, in which the colonists were not represented. At the beginning, they had asserted, and during their whole progress they had maintained, that important political maxim, that TAXATION without REPRESENTATION, is tyranny. This was the fundamental doctrine of their political creed-this was the test of all parliamentary measures-this was the strong rock upon which the patriots of the Revolution anchored their faith and hope.

When the French and Indian War was closed by the treaty of Paris,

1 Three forms of government had existed, namely, charter, proprietary, and royal. The New England governments were based upon royal charters; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas, were owned and governed by individuals or companies, and the remainder were immediately subject to the crown. Notwithstanding this diversity in the source of government, the anti-monarchical spirit pervaded the people of all, from the beginning, and gave birth to popular legislative assemblies.

2 Note 3, page 177.

Page 178.

in 1763, the colonists looked forward to long years of prosperity and repose. A young monarch,' virtuous and of upright intentions, had been recently [1761] seated upon the British throne. Having confidence in his integrity, and having lately felt the justice of the government, under the direction of Pitt, they were disposed to forget past grievances; and being identified with the glory of England, now become one of the first powers on the earth, they were fond of their connection. But the serenity of the political sky soon disappeared, and it was not long before violent tempests were raging there. Even before the treaty at Paris, a cloud had arisen which portended future trouble. The war had exhausted the British treasury, and ministers devised various schemes for replenishing it. They had observed the resources of the colonists, as manifested by their efforts during the recent struggle, and as they were relieved from further hostilities by the subjugation of Canada' [1759], the government looked to them for aid. Instead of asking it as a favor, it was demanded as a right; instead of inviting the colonial Assemblies to levy taxes and make appropriations, government assumed the right to tax their expanding commerce; and then commenced a vigorous enforcement of existing revenue laws, which had hitherto been only nominally oppressive.

One of the first acts which revealed the intentions of Parliament to tax the colonies by enforcing the revenue laws, was the authorization, in 1761, of Writs of Assistance. These were general search-warrants, which not only allowed the king's officers who held them, to break open any citizen's store or dwelling, to search for and seize foreign merchandise, on which a duty had not been paid, but compelled sheriffs and others to assist in the work. The people could not brook such a system of petty oppression. The sanctities of private life might be invaded, at any time, by hirelings, and the assertion, based upon the guaranties of the British Constitution, that "every Englishman's house is his castle," would not be true. These writs were first issued in Massachusetts, and immediately great excitement prevailed. Their legality was questioned, and the matter was brought before a court held in the old town hall in Boston. The advocate for the Crown (Mr. Gridley) argued, that as Parliament was the supreme legislature for the whole British nation, and had authorized these writs, no subject had a right to complain. He was answered by James Otis,'

1 George the Third. He was crowned in 1761, at the age of twenty years. He reigned almost sixty years, and died in 1820. 2 Page 195. Note 4. page 204. Page 204.

French and Indian War. Commercial restrictions were imposed upon the colonies as early as 1651 [note 4, page 109]. In 1660, 1672, 1676, 1691, and 1692, attempts were made by parliament to derive a revenue by a tariff-taxation upon the colonies. In 1696 a proposition was made to levy a direct tax upon the colonies. Then, not only in Britain, but in America, the power of parliament (wherein the colonists were not represented), to tax those colonies, was strenuously denied.

James Otis was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1725, and became the leader of the Revolutionary party in that province, at the beginning. He was wounded by a blow from a cudgel, in the hands of a British official in 1769, and never fairly recovered. For years he was afflicted with occasional lunacy, and presented but a wreck of the orator and scholar. The following ane dote is related of Mr. Otis, as illustrative of his ready use of Latin, even during moments of mental aberration. Men and boys, heartless or thoughtless, would sometimes make themselves merry at his expense, when he was seen in the streets afflicted with lunacy. On one occasion he was pass ing a crockery store, when a young man, who had a knowledge of Latin, sprinkled some water

the younger, then advocate-general of the province. On that occasion, the intense fire of his patriotism beamed forth with inexpressible brilliancy, and his eloquence was like lightning, far-felt and consuming. On that day the trumpet of the Revolution was sounded. John Adams afterward said, "The seeds of patriots and heroes were then and there sown ;"and when the orator exclaimed, "To my dying day I will oppose, with all the power and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on one hand, and villany on the other," the independence of the colonies was proclaimed.' From that day began the triumphs of the popular will. Very few writs were issued, and these were ineffectual.

Young King George unwisely turned his back upon Pitt,' and listened to the councils of Bute,' an unprincipled Scotch adventurer, who had been his tutor. Disastrous consequences ensued. Weak and corrupt men controlled his cabinet, and the pliant Parliament approved of illiberal and unjust measures toward the colonists. The Sugar bill,' which had produced a great deal of illfeeling in the colonies, was re-enacted; and at the same time, George Grenville, then prime minister, proposed "certain stamp duties on the colonies." The subject was left open for consideration almost a year, when, in the spring of 1765, in defiance of the universal opposition of the Americans, the famous Stamp Act, which declared that no legal instrument of writing should be valid, unless it bore a government stamp, became a law. Now was executed, without hesitation, a measure which no former ministry had possessed courage or recklessness enough to attempt."

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upon him from a sprinkling-pot with which he was wetting the floor of the second story, at the same time saying, Pluit tantum, nescio quantum. Scis ne tu? "It rains so much, I know not how much. Do you know?" Otis immediately picked up a missile, and, hurling it through the window of the crockery store, it smashing every thing in its way, exclaimed, Fregi tot, nescio quot. Scis ne tu? "I have broken so many, I know not how many. Do you know?" Mr. Otis, according to his expressed desire, was killed by lightning in 1782. See portrait at the head of this chapter.

Later than this [1768], Otis wrote to a friend in London, and said: "Our fathers were a good people; we have been a free people, and if you will not let us remain so any longer, we shall be a great people, and the present measures can have no tendency but to hasten with great rapidity, events which every good and honest man would wish delayed for ages." He evidently alluded to the future independence of the colonies.

Pitt, disgusted by the ignorance and assurance of Bute and the misplaced confidence of the king, resigned his office, and retired to his country seat at Hayes. The king esteemed him highly, but was too much controlled by Bute to follow his own inclinations. It was not long, however, before public affairs became so complicated, that the king was compelled to call upon the great commoner to untangle them.

3 Bute was a gay Scotch earl, poor and proud. He became a favorite with the mother of George the Third, was appointed his tutor, and acquired such influence over the mind of the prince, that on his accession to the throne, he made him his chief minister and adviser. The English people were much incensed; and the unwise measures of the early years of George's reign, were properly laid to the charge of Bute. A placard was put up in London, with the words, "No Scotch ministerno petticoat government." The last clause referred to the influence of the queen mother.

A bill which imposed a duty upon sugar, coffee, indigo, &c., imported into the colonies from the West Indies.

The stamps were upon blue paper, in the form seen in the engraving on page 213, and were to be attached to every piece of paper or parchment, on which a legal instrument was written. For these stamps government charged specific prices: for example, for a common property deed, one shilling and sixpence; for a diploma or certificate of a college degree, two pounds, &c., &c.

During Robert Walpole's administration [1732], a stamp duty was proposed. He said, “I will leave the taxation of America to some of my successors, who have more courage than I have." Sir William Keith, governor of Pennsylvania, proposed such a tax in 1739. Franklin thought it just, when a delegate in the Colonial Congress at Albany, in 1754 [page 183]. But when it was proposed to Pitt in 1759, he said, "I will never burn my fingers with an American Stamp Act."

The colonists had watched with anxiety the growth of this new germ of oppression; and the intelligence of the passage of the Act produced general and intense indignation in America. The hearts of the people were yet thrilled by the eloquent denunciations of Otis; and soon Patrick Henry sent forth a

response equally eloquent from the heaving bosom of the Virginia Assembly.' The people, in cities and villages, gathered in excited groups, and boldly expressed their indignation. The pulpit denounced the wicked scheme, and

1 Patrick Henry was a very Boanerges at the opening of the Revolution. He was born in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1736. In youth and manhood he was exceedingly indolent and dull. At the age of twenty-seven, his eloquence suddenly beamed forth in a speech in court, in his native county, and he soon became a leading man in Virginia. He was elected the first Republican governor of his State, in 1776, and held that office again in 1784. He died in 1799, at the age of almost sixty-three years. At the time alluded to in the text, Henry introduced a series of resolutions, highly tinctured with rebellious doctrines. He asserted the general rights of all the colonies; then the exclusive right of the Virginia Assembly to tax the people of that province, and boldly declared that the people were not bound to obey any law relative to taxation, which did not proceed from their representatives. The last resolution declared that whoever should dissent from the doctrines inculcated in the others, should be considered an "enemy of the colonies." The introduc tion of these resolutions produced great excitement and alarm. Henry supported them with all the power of his wonderful eloquence. Some rose from their seats, and others sat in breathless silence. At length, when alluding to tyrants, he exclaimed, "Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third"-there was a cry of "Treason! Treason!" He paused a moment, and said "may profit by their example. If that be treason, make the most of it." [See picture at the head of this chapter.] A part of his resolutions were adopted, and these formed the first gauntlet of defiance cast at the feet of the British monarch. Their power was felt throughout the land.

associations of Sons of Liberty' in every colony put forth their energies in defense of popular freedom. The press, then assuming great power, spoke out like an oracle of Truth. In several cities popular excitement created mobs, and violence ensued. The Stamps were seized on their arrival, and secreted or burned. Stamp distributors were insulted and despised; and on the first of November, 1765, when the law was to take effect, there were no officials courageous enough to enforce it.

A STAMP.

The people did not confine their opposition to expressions at indignation meetings, and acts of violence. The public sentiment took a more dignified form, and assumed an aspect of nationality. There was a prevailing desire for a general Congress, and several colonies, in the midst of the great excitement, appointed delegates for that purpose. They met in the city of New York, on the 7th of October, 1765, continued in session fourteen days, and in three well-written documents, they ably set forth the grievances and the rights of the colonists, and petitioned the king and parliament for a redress of the former, and acknowledgment of the latter. The proceedings of this Second Colonial Congress' were applauded by all the provincial Assemblies, and the people of America were as firmly united in heart and purpose then, as they were after the Declaration of Independence, more than ten years later.

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At length the momentous day-the first of November-arrived. It was observed as a day of fasting and mourning. Funeral processions paraded the streets of cities, and bells tolled funeral knells. The colors of sailing vessels were placed at half-mast, and the newspapers exhibited the black-line tokens of public grief. The courts were now closed, legal marriages ceased, ships remained in port, and for some time all business was suspended. But the lull in the storm was of brief duration. The people were only gathering strength for more vigorous achievements in defense of their rights. The Sons of Liberty put forth new efforts; mobs began to assail the residences of officials, and burn distinguished royalists, in effigy. Merchants entered into agreements

These associations were composed of popular leaders and others, who leagued with the avowed determination to resist oppression to the uttermost. After their organization in the different colonies, they formed a sort of national league, and by continual correspondence, aided effectually in preparing the way for the Revolution.

Men appointed by the crown to sell the government stamps, or stamped paper.

* Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina, were represented. The Assemblies of those not represented, declared their readiness to agree to whatever measures the Congress might adopt. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts (who afterward commanded a corps of Tories) [note 4, page 224], presided.

A Declaration of Rights, written by John Cruger, of New York; a Memorial to both Houses of Parliament, by Robert R. Livingston, of New York; and a Petition to the king, by James Otis, of Massachusetts. Page 183.

Public indignation is thus sometimes manifested. A figure of a man intended to represent the obnoxious individual, is paraded, and then hung upon a scaffold, or burned at a stake, as an intimation of the deserved fate of the person thus represented. It was a common practice in England at the time in question, and has been often done in our own country since. Nowhere was popular indignation so warmly manifested as in New York. Cadwallader Colden, a venerable Scotchman of eighty years, was acting-governor of New York. He refused to deliver up the