DEBATE ON THE REPEAL. 317 X. Feb. 7. ued inflexible, and, watching every opportunity to accomplish CHAP. their purpose, when Grenville, to test the temper of the Commons, introduced a resolution tending to enforce the execution 1766. of all acts, meaning specially the stamp act, - Pitt sprang to his feet, and called on the House not to order the enforcement of the stamp act before they had decided the question of repeal. Grenville replied, and denounced bitter curses on the ministers who should sacrifice the sovereignty of England over her colonies; but when the question was taken on his motion to enforce the act, it was rejected in a full House by more than two to one. This triumph paved the way for further measures; and, two weeks later, the crisis came. Every seat Feb. 21. in the House was occupied. Between four and five hundred members were present. Pitt was there, notwithstanding his illness. Merchants from all parts thronged the gallery, the lobby, and the stairs. Many Americans were likewise in attendance. Conway led the debate; and, in the name of the government, moved for leave to bring in a bill to repeal the stamp act. If the act was not repealed, he predicted both France and Spain would declare war, and protect the malcontents. Jenkinson, on the other side, moved a modification of the act, and insisted that its repeal would be the overthrow of the authority of Great Britain in America. Burke replied in his happiest manner; and a visible impression was made by his speech. At length, about eleven, Pitt rose; and his speech was at once both fervid and winning. Avoiding expressions which might give offence, and candidly acknowledg ing the perplexity of his own mind in choosing between two ineligible alternatives, he yet pleaded for the repeal of the act as due to the people of America, and as a measure of leniency which would tend to conciliate. The reply of Grenville was in his customary strain. "America must learn," said he, in conclusion, "that prayers are not to be brought to Cæsar through riot and sedition."2 318 CHAP. X. Feb. 22. THE STAMP ACT REPEALED. At half past one on the ensuing morning the division took place, and Conway's motion was triumphantly carried. The 1766. votes against it were one hundred and sixty-seven; those in its favor were two hundred and seventy-five.1 As Pitt stepped forth from the House that night, the huzzas of the crowd greeted his appearance. Every head was uncovered; and many, in token of their respect and gratitude, followed his chair home. But Grenville was saluted with scorn and hisses. Swelling with rage and mortification, he seized the man nearest to him roughly by the collar. "If I may not hiss," said he, "at least I may laugh;" and he laughed aloud in Grenville's face. The jest caught, and the multitude applauded.3 The last division on the repeal of the act was still more deciMar. 4. sive; and at midnight, on the fourth of March, the question, in the House of Commons, was disposed of by a vote of two hundred and fifty in favor of the repeal, and one hundred and twenty-two in opposition. In the House of Lords the bill Mar. 17. was debated; but even there it was carried by a majority of thirty-four.5 Mar. 18. On the eighteenth of March the repeal of the stamp act was sanctioned by the king. For the names of the members voting against the repeal, see Debates in Parl. iv. 346–350. 2 Bancroft, v. 3 Lord Orford's Mems. ii. 299; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 141, note. H. Lyman, of Connecticut, in a letter to Governor Fitch, dated February 26, gives an account of the repeal of the act. "This act," says he, "had taken so strong hold of the people's minds by the artifice of the late administration and their tools, that but very few here thought it in the power of this wise administration to procure a repeal. Yet, sensible of the justice of the cause, they undertook it, though they knew it would cost them their posts if it failed. The merchants of London, and mechanics throughout the kingdom, gave all the assistance The friends of America were in their power, and the Americans who are here have contributed every thing they could to the same purpose. The Grenvillian party did all they could to defeat the design; but in spite of their efforts, a committee of the whole House of Commons came into the total repeal of the act, by 275 against 167; and after reporting to the House, the dispute was revived by a thinner House, and was carried, 240 against 133. Every inch of ground was disputed." Trumbull MSS. in Lib. Mass. Hist. Soc. ii. 78. See also R. Jackson, in ibid. ii. 78, under date Feb. 27; and Conway to Fitch, March 1, in ibid. ii. 79. 4 Bancroft, v. 445. 5 Debates in Parl. iv. 367; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 142; Bancroft, v. 453. REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 319 X. transported with joy; Bow Bells merrily clanged the peal of CHAP. triumph; the ships on the Thames displayed all their colors; bonfires blazed as night set in; and houses were illuminated all 1766. over the city. It is an honor to the English nation that the people at large entered so fully into the spirit of the occasion. Grenville was defeated; but liberty had triumphed.' 1 For particulars relative to these proceedings, see Mass. Gazette for April 3 and 25, 1766; and comp. Bancroft, v. 454. On the 3d of April a preliminary meeting was held in CHAPTER XI. THE REVENUE ACT. TROOPS IN BOSTON. CHAP. THE repeal of the stamp act awakened in America the liveXI. liest joy. The declaratory act with which it was accompa1766. nied, which asserted the authority of Parliament to "bind the May 16. colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever," was less acceptable.2 Intelligent patriots saw in this act enough to excite serious alarm; and the display of lenity on the part of the ministry was viewed as a politic stroke - a sort of spe cific to close over the wound which was far from being healed. The statesmen of England, at least the advocates of arbitrary measures, could brook no acknowledgment that they had fallen into an error. A majority, indeed, of the House of Commons, and of the House of Lords, chose to temporize rather than resort to open violence. Yet, sincere in their conviction that the power of Parliament was indisputable and absolute, the only questions seriously discussed were the expediency of exercising that power, and how far it should be pushed. To assert without maintaining the supremacy of Parliament, it was ac knowledged, would be a dereliction of the honor and dignity of government. Hence the declaratory act was intended to be significant. True, in one sense it was a "salvo to the wounded pride of England," — that "bridge of gold" which, "It hushed into silence almost every popular clamor, and composed every wave of popular disorder into a smooth and peaceful calm." J. Adams's Diary, in Works, ii. 203. 2 The repeal and the declaratory act were published in the Mass. Gazette for May 22, 1766. See also Conway to the Governor of Connecticut, March 31, 1766, in MS. Letters and Papers, 1761-1776. CELEBRATION OF THE REPEAL. 321 according to the French saying, should always be allowed to a CHAP. retreating assailant,' — but, at the same time, it was designed XI. to preserve the form of authority; and it was well understood 1766. that, if it had not been for this, the stamp act would never have been repealed.2 But if the declaratory act was unacceptable to America, it did not prevent the colonies from acknowledging the relief afforded by the repeal of the stamp act. Hence, at the session of the General Court, an address to the king was prepared Jun. 19. by a committee, of which Cushing was chairman; 3 a vote of thanks to William Pitt was unanimously passed, "for his noble and generous efforts in behalf of the common rights of mankind and the liberties of Great Britain and her colonies; " 4 and the grateful acknowledgments of the province were tendered to other distinguished gentlemen.5 For the rejoicings of the people a day had been previously appointed and observed. Liberty Tree was the centre of attraction; and thither May 19. the multitude was called at an early hour by the ringing of bells and the booming of cannon. Vast crowds paraded the streets; pendants waved in every direction; and the steeples of churches were hung with banners. In the evening the whole town was brilliantly illuminated; images of the king, of Pitt, of Camden, and of Barré were exhibited in the houses; and Liberty Tree was loaded with lanterns.6 1 Belsham's George III. i. 147; Grahame, ii. 413; Lord Mahon's Hist. Eng. v. 144. Comp. Hutchinson, iii. 147, and Bradford, i. 81. 2 The merchants of London entreated their brethren in America to take no offence at this act, but could give no assurance that it would not be enforced. See Hutchinson, iii. 147; Bancroft, v. 456. For the address, see Bradford's State Papers, 91. For this vote, and the reply of Pitt, see Mass. Gazette for April 16, 1767; and comp. Bradford, i. 84, and State Papers, 92. 21 VOL. II. 5 To the Dukes of Newcastle, of Grafton, and of Richmond, Lord Stanhope, the lord high chancellor, General Conway, the Marquis of Rockingham, Lord Edgcomb, the Earls of Dartmouth, Powlett, Shelburne, Camden, and Egmont, the Hons. George Onslow, Arther Onslow, George Howard, Charles Townshend, William Dowdeswell, and Isaac Barré, Sir William Meredith, Sir William Baker, Sir George Saville, and George Cooke, Esq. Bradford, i. 84; State Papers, 92. For the answers of these gentlemen, see Bradford, i. 395–398. • On the 21st of April, in anticipa |