CH. X.] PROCEEDINGS OF THE COLONIAL CONGRESS. be distributed; but on receiving assurance that there was no such intention, they quietly returned. All the bells in Portsmouth, Newcastle, and Greenland, were tolled, to denote the decease of Liberty; and in the course of the day, notice was given to her friends to attend her funeral. A coffin, neatly ornamented, and inscribed with "LIBERTY, aged CXLV. years," was prepared for the funeral procession, which began from the state house, attended with two unbraced drums; minute guns were fired until the corpse arrived at the grave, when an oration was pronounced in honor of the deceased; but scarcely was the oration concluded, when, some remains of life having been discovered, the corpse was taken up; and the inscription on the lid of the coffin was immediately altered to "LIBERTY REVIVED;" the bells suddenly struck a cheerful sound, and joy appeared again in every countenance. In Connecticut, Mr. Ingersoll, the constituted distributer of stamps, was exhibited and burnt in effigy in the month of August; and the resentment at length became so general and alarming, that he resigned his office. In the midst of this wide-spread excitement, on the 7th of October, com Revolution. 265 "In the course of a three weeks' session," says Mr. Hildreth, "a Declaration of the rights and grievances of the colonies was agreed to. All the privileges of Englishmen were claimed by this declaration, as the birthright of the colonists-among the rest, the right of being taxed only by their own consent. Since distance and local circumstances made a representation in the British Parliament impossible, these representatives, it was maintained, could be no other than the several colonial legislatures. Thus was given a flat negative to a scheme lately broached in England by Pownall and others, for allowing to the colonies a representation in Parliament, a project to which both Otis and Franklin seemed at first to have leaned. A petition to the king, and memorials to each house of Parliament was also prepared, in which the cause of the colonies was eloquently pleaded. Ruggles refused to sign these papers, on the ground that they ought first to be approved by the several Assemblies, and should be forwarded to England as their acts. Ogden, one of the New Jersey delegates, withheld his signature on the same plea. The delegates from New York did not sign, because they had no special authority for their attendance; nor did those of Connecticut or South Carolina, their commissions restricting them to a report to their respective Assemblies. The petition and memorials, signed by the other delegates, were transmitted, early in November, to England for presentation. The several colonial Assemblies, at their earliest sessions, gave to the proceedings a cordial approval. The conduct of Ruggles, in refusing his signature, was severely censured by the Massachusetts representatives. Ogden was burned in effigy by the people of New Jersey. should be delivered to the corporation, and they were deposited in the city hall. Ten boxes of stamps, which arrived subsequently, were committed to the flames. Satirical pamphlets and cutting articles in the journals, con One of those published at Boston bore Sim The first of November was the day appointed for the Stamp Act to go instantly added fresh fuel to the flame. operation; but no stamps were anywhere to be seen on that day. The stamp distributer in New York had resigned, and the obnoxious act was contemptuously cried about the streets, labelled, "The Folly of England and Ruin of America!" Lieut.-Governor Colden took every precaution to secure the stamp papers, but many of the inhabitants of the city, offended at the conduct and disliking the political sentiments of the governor, having assembled on the evening of November 1st, broke open his stable, and took out his coach; and after carrying it through the principal streets of the city, marched to the common, where a gallows was erected, on one end of which they suspended his effigy, with a stamped bill of lading in one hand, and a figure of the devil in the other. When the effigy had hung a considerable time, they carried it in procession, suspended to the gallows, to the gate of the fort, whence it was removed to the bowling green, under the very muzzles of the guns, and a bonfire made, in which everything, including the coach, was consumed, amidst the acclamations of several thousand spectators. The next day, the people insisting upon having the stamps, it was agreed that they Notwithstanding the Stamp Act was to go into operation on the first of November, yet legal proceedings were carried on in the courts just the same as before. Vessels entered and left the ports without stamped papers. The printers boldly issued their newspapers, and found a sufficient number of readers, though they used common paper, in defiance of the act of Parliament. In most departments, by common consent, business was carried on as though no Stamp Act had existed. This was accompanied by spirited resolutions to risk all consequences, rather than submit to use the paper required by law. While these matters were in Hildreth's "History of the United States," vol. agitation, the colonists entered into associations against importing British ii., p. 530. CH. X.] OPPOSITION TO THE STAMP TAX. manufactures till the Stamp Act should be repealed. In this manner British liberty was made to operate against British tyranny. Agreeably to the free constitution of Great Britain, the subject was at liberty to buy, or not to buy, as he pleased. By suspending their future purchases till the repeal of the Stamp Act, the colonists made it the interest of merchants and manufacturers to solicit for that repeal. They had usually purchased so great a proportion of British manufactures, that the sudden stoppage of all their orders, amounting annually to several millions sterling, threw some thousands in England out of employment, and induced them, from a regard to their own interest, to advocate the measures wished for by America. The petitions from the colonies were seconded by petitions from the merchants and manufacturers of Great Britain. What the former prayed for as a matter of right, the latter solicited from motives of interest. The colonists showed their spirit by encouraging domestic manufactures. Coarse, common cloths came into use in preference to those imported from the mother country. Foreign elegancies were dispensed with. The zeal of the women surpassed that of the men, and they agreed to forego ornaments and luxuries to support the good cause. This was bringing the question to a point; the English artisans and others felt the effect immediately, and many of them were reduced to great distress by there being no work for them to do. The Sons of Liberty entered into an agreement by which they bound themselves "to 267 march with the utmost expedition, at their own proper cost and expense, with their whole force, to the relief of those that should be in danger from the Stamp Act, or its promoters and abettors, or anything relative to it, on account of anything that may have been done in opposition to its obtaining." 1766. A change in the English ministry took place in July of this year, the news of which encouraged the 1765. Americans in the stand they had taken. The Marquis of Rockingham became the new prime minister, and was liberally disposed. Parliament met in January, 1766, and the colonial affairs at once occupied its attention. In the speech from the throne the king declared "his firm confidence in the wisdom and zeal of the members, which would, he doubted not, guide them to such sound and prudent resolutions as might tend at once to preserve the constitutional rights of the British legislature over the colonies, and to restore to them that harmony and tranquillity which had lately been interrupted by disorders of the most dangerous nature." The correspondence of the colonial governors, and other papers, were produced. Numerous petitions also from British merchants were presented to the two Houses. The ex-ministers, who were now in the opposition, defended their line of policy and their acts. Pitt, who was not connected with either the Grenville or the Rockingham ministry, and who had taken but little part of late in public affairs, owing to ill health, now appeared in his place in the House and strongly advocated the repeal of have been slaves if they had not enthe Stamp Act. joyed it. At the same time this kingdom has ever possessed the power of legislative and commercial control. The colonies acknowledge your authority in all things, with the sole exception that you shall not take their money out of their pockets without their consent. Here would I draw the line-quam ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum." "It is a long time, Mr. Speaker," he said, "since I have attended in Parliament: when the resolution was taken in this House to tax America, I was ill in bed. If I could have endured to have been carried in my bed, so great was the agitation of my mind for the consequences, I would have solicited some kind hand to have laid me down on this floor to have borne my testimony against it. It is my opinion that this kingdom has no right to lay a tax upon the colonies. At the same time, I assert the authority of this kingdom to be sovereign and supreme in every circumstance of government and legislature whatsoever. Taxation is no part of the governing or legislative power; and taxes are a voluntary gift and grant of the commons alone. The concurrence of the peers and of the crown is necessary only as a form of law. This House represents the commons of Great Britain. When in this House we give and grant, therefore, we give and grant what is our own; but can we give and grant the property of the commons of America? It is an absurdity in terms. There is an idea in some, that the colonies are virtually represented in this House. I would fain know by whom? The idea of virtual representation is the most contemptible that ever entered into the head of man; it does not deserve a serious refutation. The commons in America, represented in their several Assemblies, have invariably exercised this constitutional right of giving and granting their own money; they would him, and it was long before it was forgotten. A profound silence succeeded these words, and for a time no one seemed disposed to advocate the cause of the late ministry. At length, Grenville* himself, a man of no mean powers, rose and said: "protection and obedience are reciprocal; Great Britain protects America, America is therefore bound to yield obedience. If not, tell me when were the Americans emancipated?" Looking significantly at Mr. Pitt, he exclaimed, "The seditious spirit of the colonies owes its birth to the factions in this house! Gentlemen are careless what they say, provided it serves the purposes of opposition. We were told we trod on tender ground; we were bid to expect disobedience: what is this but telling America to *Grenville was the brother-in-law of Pitt, and received at his hands a soubriquet that annoyed him not a little. On one occasion, in the course of debate, he had called on the gentleman opposite to him to say where an additional tax could be laid. "Let them tell me where,” he repeated, fretfully. "I say, sir, let them tell me where. I repeat it, sir, I am entitled to say to them, tell me where." Pitt, who was in the House that evening, in a whining tone, resembling Grenville's, hummed a line of a wellknown song, "Gentle shepherd, tell me where.” Grenville was in a rage, but the House laughed heartily. The nickname, Gentle Shepherd, stuck to CH. X.] PITT'S REPLY TO GRENVILLE. stand out against the law? to encourage their obstinacy with the expectation of support here? Ungrateful people of America! The nation has run itself into an immense debt to give them protection; bounties have been extended to them; in their favor the Act of Navigation, that palladium of British commerce, has been relaxed; and now that they are called upon to contribute a small share towards the public expense, they renounce your authority, insult your officers, and break out, I might almost say, into open rebellion!" The insinuation was not to be borne for an instant. Every one yielded at once to Pitt, who repelled the attack with characteristic intrepidity. "Sir, 269 erty upon a general constitutional principle, it is a ground on which I dare meet any man. I will not debate points of law; but what, after all, do the cases of Chester and Durham prove, but that under the most arbitrary reigns Parliament were ashamed of taxing a people without their consent, and allowed them representatives? A higher and better example might have been taken from Wales; that principality was never taxed by Parliament till it was incorporated with England. We are told of many classes of persons in this kingdom not represented in Parliament; but are they not all virtually represented as Englishmen within the realm? Have they not the option, a charge is brought against gentlemen many of them at least, of becoming sitting in this House of giving birth to themselves electors? Every inhabitant sedition in America. The freedom of this kingdom is necessarily included with which they have spoken their in the general system of representation. sentiments against this unhappy Act is It is a misfortune that more are not imputed to them as a crime; but the actually represented. The honorable imputation shall not discourage me. It gentleman boasts of his bounties to is a liberty which I hope no gentleman America. Are not these bounties inwill be afraid to exercise; it is a liberty tended finally for the benefit of this by which the gentleman who calumni- kingdom? If they are not, he has ates it might have profited. He ought misapplied the national treasures. I to have desisted from his project. We am no courtier of America. Imaintain are told America is obstinate-America that Parliament has a right to bind, is almost in open rebellion. Sir, I re- to restrain America. Our legislative joice America has resisted; three mil- power over the colonies is sovereign lions of people so dead to all the feel- and supreme. The honorable gentleings of liberty, as voluntarily to sub- man tells us he understands not the mit to be slaves, would have been fit difference between internal and external instruments to make slaves of all the taxation; but surely there is a plain rest. I came not here armed at all distinction between taxes levied for the points with law cases and acts of Par- purpose of raising a revenue and duties liament, with the statute book doubled imposed for the regulation of commerce. down in dogs-ears, to defend the cause When,' said the honorable gentleman, of liberty; but for the defence of lib- | 'were the colonies emancipated? At |