The joyous feelings, which had followed the repeal of the Stamp Act, was of not long continuance. Hardly had the first gratulations of victory passed, and sober reflection taken its place, when the Declaratory Act, in all its ominous proportions, loomed up, overshadowing the public mind with gloomy forebodings. The persistent attempt, moreover, to force the province into a compliance with the Mutiny Act-an act, which, to thinking men, seemed intended to provide the nucleus of a standing army-alarmed all classes; and secret leagues were at once formed in most of the colonies, the object of which was to further union of council in resisting oppression. The partial compliance of the Assembly to the requisition of the Governor for quarters, had been exceedingly distasteful to the Sons of Liberty, who, upon the arrival of the troops, made no disguise of their feelings. Mutual animosities accordingly arose between the citizens and soldiery, which soon culminated in open acts of hostility. On the 10th of August, 1766, some of the troops, exasperated at the people, to whose influence they attributed the action of the Assembly in depriving them of liquor, cut down the flag-staff, which, with so much apparent unanimity, had been dedicated to "Pitt and Liberty.” The following evening, while the citizens were preparing to re-erect the pole, they were assaulted by the soldiers with drawn bayonets, and several of them, among whom was Isaac Sears, were wounded. Governor Moore, who heartly wished the troops away, attempted, with General Gage, to restrain these outrages, and, to some extent, succeeded; but the officers, intent upon gratifying their private malice, winked at the conduct of their men, who, thus encouraged, became more violent than ever. Several dwellings of the poorer class, situated in the suburbs of the city were broken into on the 23d of October; and, on he 3d day of November, the domestic sanctuary of an honest drayman was entered by a soldier, who, while he wounded its occupant, hesitated not to hamstring his horse, upon which he relied for his daily bread.

These licentious proceedings were not calculated to dispose the Assembly any more favorably to the attempt to quarter the oboxious redcoats at their expense. Accordingly, when, on the 17th of November, Governor Moore laid before that body instructions from the Minister, informing them of the King's displeasure at their conduct; their absolute duty to obey the Acts of Parliament; and of his wish that provision for the troops should be immediately made, they refused outright to make further provision, choosing to interpret the Act as referring solely "to soldiers on the march." On this refusal, Governor Moore waited upon House, and endeavored to prevail upon them to alter their determination. His efforts, however, were unavailing; and having, by the defiant attitude thus assumed, no other alternative left, he prorogued the Assembly on the 19th of December.

the

Already the British Cabinet regretted the repeal of the Stamp Act;

and the project of taxing America was again resumed. The extravagant demonstrations of delight, manifested by the colonists at the repeal, had been regarded by British statesmen with ill-concealed disgust; and when, in May, 1767, the news was received that Georgia, following the example of New York, had also declined obedience to the Mutiny Act, the chagrin at having yielded became open and undisguised. Accordingly, in the same month, Tounshend introduced a bill into the House of Commons, imposing a duty on all paper, glass, tea, and painters' colors imported into the colonies. In its passage through Parliament the bill met with scarcely any opposition, and on the 28th of June it received the cordial assent and signature of the King. This was shortly followed by another, "to establish Commissioners of Customs in America," and also by one "to compensate the stamp officers who had been deprived by the people." But by far the most important in its consequences was another, which received the royal assent on the 29th, and which declared that the functions of the Assembly of New York were henceforth annulled-the Governor and Council being forbidden to give their assent to any act passed by that body, "until the Mutiny Act was unequivocally acknowledged and submitted to." The rebellious people of the colonies, said the authors of this Act, must be brought to unqualified submission, and the supremacy of Parliament be maintained.

This latter Act, by far the deadliest blow that had yet been struck at their liberties, excited the utmost consternation throughout the American provinces. It was at once seen that if Parliament could, at pleasure, disfranchise a sister colony, the same fate might, at any time, overtake the others. "This Act," wrote Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, "hangs like a flaming sword over our heads, and requires, by all means, to be removed." The citizens of Boston, sympathizing deeply with the people of New York, expressed, in no measured terms, their indignation at what they styled ministerial tyranny. Tyranny it indeed was, and of the most inexcusable kind, inasmuch as it was not, as some have supposed, a tyranny into which the British Ministry were led blindly, or through ignorance of the consequences. "It is strange," says an elegant English writer,*"that the British Goverment should not have been apprehensive of the great and increasing danger in which its colonial dominion was involved." It is not, however, strange. The British government did it with open eyes, and clearly foresaw the results toward which its colonial policy was fast tending; for while, in the spring of this year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was pushing forward his schemes of taxation, General Gage was putting Fort George, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point on a thorough war footing, and Carleton, the Lieutenant-Governor of Canada, was adding new defenses to Quebec. "These measures," wrote the latter to the Commander-in-Chief, "will link these two provinces-New York and

* Graham.

Quebec-so strongly together, as will add great security to both, and will facilitate the transfer of ten or fifteen thousand men, in the beginning of a war, from one to another, as circumstances may require;" and in the same letter the writer suggests that a "place of arms" should be immediately established in New York, "for," he adds, "no pains, address, nor expense is too great, that will give security to the King's magazines ; divide the Northern and Southern colonies; and afford an opportunity of transporting our forces into any part of the continent."

The Assembly having expired by its septennial limitation on the 6th of February, 1768, writs were issued for a new election, returnable on the 22d of the following month. Owing, however, to the Governor having no special business to lay before the House, the new Assembly was not convened until the 27th of October. The opening speech of the Governor related chiefly to the Indian trade, which his Majesty had been pleased henceforward to confide to the colonies. "The advantages," said the Governor, "arising, not only from the intercourse of trade with the Indians, but from the maintenance of that tranquility among them which subsists at present, are so obvious, as to require no arguments to enforce them. I shall, therefore, only recommend to you, that, to avoid any future cause of dissatisfaction or jealousy being given, you will, by the most effectual laws, prevent any settlements being made beyond the line which shall be agreed on by the Indians." In their reply, on the 3d of November, the House expressed its willingness to co-operate with the Governor in any measures for the better regulation of the Indian trade; and, indeed, for the first two weeks of the session, nothing occurred to ruffle the general harmony of its proceedings. The critical posture of the province to the mother country, however, forbade that this state of quiescence should be lasting; and it was not long before a direct issue arose between the Governor and his Assembly.

The right of Parliament to tax America was still discussed with great freedom in all the colonies, but in none with more vigor than in Massachusetts. In February, the Assembly of that province had addressed a circular letter, drafted by Samuel Adams, to her sister colonies, in which the "great evils to which the inhabitants of America were subjected from the operation of several acts of Parliament imposing taxes upon them," were set forth, and their co-operation solicited in obtaining redress. This proceeding, as may readily be imagined, gave great offense to the Ministry; and Lord Hillsborough forthwith addressed a letter upon the subject to the several colonial Governors, requesting that their Assemblies should treat the circular letter with silent contempt. But the resentment of the mother country toward Massachusetts was not satisfied. It was determined to still further disgrace her, by detaching a strong military force to occupy her capital. The rumor that such a step was meditated by the Crown caused considerable comment, and

when, on the 28th of September, two British regiments, accompanied by seven men-of-war, arrived at Boston from Halifax, the indignation, not only in Massachusetts, but in those colonies that sympathized with her, became intense. In Connecticut numerous town-meetings were held, in which it was resolved, first," to seek the Lord, by general fasting, prayer, and humiliation, and then to call a convention of ninety-two persons to determine what was to be done in the present difficulties and distress." In New York City, especially, the Sons of Liberty felt deeply the indignity offered to their sister colony; and in their first ebullition of anger, indignation meetings were held, and Governor Bernard and his Sheriff burned in effigy.

Such was the state of public sentiment, when, on the 14th of November, Sir Henry Moore laid before the House the Earl of Hillsborough's letter, forbidding correspondence with Massachusetts, and called upon it to render a cheerful obedience to the wishes of the Secretary. This action of the Governor was met by a warm remonstrance from the Assembly; and when, a few days after, the former threatened to dissolve it in case of its not complying, it unhesitatingly refused obedience. The bold stand thus assumed was warmly seconded by public opinion, as appears conspicuously in the newspapers and private correspondence of the day. A series of articles, which had recently appeared under the title of "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies," had paved the way for a fearless utterance against ministerial oppression. "Let these truths," said the leaders of the people in New York, “be indelibly impressed upon our minds, that we cannot be free without being secure in our property; that we cannot be secure in our property if, without our consent, others may, as by right, take it away; that taxes imposed by Parliament do thus take it away; that duties, laid for the sole purpose of raising money, are taxes; and that attempts to lay such should be instantly and firmly opposed."

While, however, the Assembly were thus firm in maintaining its constitutional rights and privileges, it evinced no disposition to countenance acts of lawless violence; and in reply to a message from the Governor on the 23d, asking its aid in bringing to punishment the ringleaders in a recent riot, it reported a series of resolutions which distinctly set forth, that although it felt deeply the course of Parliament toward them, yet, so far from approving of any violent proceedings, it would on all occasions endeavor to support the dignity and authority of governThe riot, to which allusion is here made, had occurred on the 14th of November, and had been the result of new exactions, by way of imposts, of the Parliament upon the colonies; and while the reply of the House, as intimated, strongly censured the rioters, yet it also condemned the new duties in terms equally severe. This address gave little satisfaction to the representative of the Crown; and on the last day of the year it was fol

ment.

lowed by a series of strong constitutional resolutions, among which was one declaring that it was the opinion of the Committee "that the House had an undoubted right to correspond and consult with any of the neighboring colonies on any matter, subject, or thing whatever, whereby they should conceive the rights and liberties of the House to be in any way affected."

These resolutions gave high displeasure; and Sir Henry Moore, having convened the Assembly in the City Hall on the afternoon of the 3d of January, 1769, dissolved it by a speech of evident irritation, yet of affected regret and sorrow at the occasion demanding the summary measure. Writs for a new election were immediately issued, returnable on the 14th of February. The people, however, sustained the action of their representatives, and all the former members, with the exception of six, were returned by overwhelming majorities. Such was the result of the first direct appeal of the Crown to the people on the subject of the great constitutional principles of liberty, which were now beginning to agitate the political waters to their deepest fountains.

Notwithstanding, however, the fact that most of the old members were returned, the election was hotly contested. "I hear," wrote Sir William Johnson, jocularly, to a friend in New York, " that you are likely to have a hot election, and probably there will be work for shillalahs." Nor was the writer far out in his conjecture. At no time for many years had the excitement been more intense, and every means and device was made use of to secure votes. In New York City, especially, the contest was between the church-party and the dissenters*—the former being led by the De Lanceys and the latter by the Livingstons. "It is surprising," writes Peter Van Schaak to his brother Henry, under date of January 27, 1769, "what trifles can be turned to the greatest advantage in elections and be made to captivate the passions of the vulgar. A straw, a fire-brand, have severally answered this purpose in a recent instance. It was said during the last election, that T. Smith had said that the Irish were poor beggars, and had come over here upon a bunch of straw. The whole body of Irishmen immediately joined and appeared with straws in their hats. Mr. Kissam, who summed up the evidence for Mr. Scott in the late charge against Mr. Jauncey, happened to say that the passions of the Germans were fire-brands. A whole congregation were, in consequence of that, resolved to vote with them in their hands, but being dissuaded, they however distinguished themselves by the name of the Firebrands. These gentlemen have also made them

* And not between the lawyers and the merchants as such, as stated by Miss Booth. This writer also makes the prorogation of the Assembly, by Governor Moore, occur in 1768, a year previous. This is, however, probably a typographical error.