XXX. 1767. times spoke with boldness; but at heart he was as CHAP. timid as he was versatile. He had clear conceptions, depth of understanding, great knowledge of every Sept. branch of administration,1 and indefatigable assiduity in business. During the last session of Parliament, his career had been splendid and successful. He had just obtained the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland for his brother, and a Peerage for his wife, to descend to his children; and with power, fortune, affection, and honors clustering around him, he fell in the bloom of manhood, the most celebrated statesman who has left nothing but errors to account for his fame. 2 The choice of his successor would decide on the continuance of the Ministry, of which his death seemed to presage the overthrow. Choiseul, a good judge, esteemed Grenville by far the ablest financier in England, and greatly feared his return to office. It was believed, that on the day of Townshend's death, Grafton advised the recall of Grenville; and that the King replied with strong emotion, "Never speak to me again of that man; for I never, my life long, will see him."-"The King himself has the greatest distrust of those who would rule him, so that he never will let any one prevail," said the Princess Amelia; "were Bute and the Princess of Wales no more, Ministers would not be more stable."5 Following his 'Durand to Choiseul, 8 Sept. 1767. 2 Grafton's Autobiography. See many of his letters to the embassy at London. Durand to Choiseul, 11 Sept. 1767. That the King spoke very civilly to Lord Suffolk respecting his enemy Grenville after Grenville's death only illustrates a proverb of two thousand years ago. The let ter of Durand is not conclusive, but Durand to Choiseul, 16 Sept. 1767. 44421A XXX. 1767. Sept. CHAP. own sure instinct, he directed that the vacant place should be offered to Lord North. Receiving the summons, North hastened to London, declined the office from fear of his inability to cope with Grenville on questions of finance, returned to the country, and changed his mind just in season to accept1 before the appointment of another. At that time Lord North was thirty-five years old, having seen the light in the same year with Washington. While the great Virginian employed himself as a careful planter, or fulfilled his trust as a colonial legislator, or, in his hour of leisure, leaning against the primeval oaks on the lawn at Mount Vernon, in full view of the thickly forested hill which now bears the Capitol, mused on the destinies of his country and resolved to preserve its liberty, Lord North entered the cabinet, in which he was to remain for fifteen of the most eventful years in the history of Britain. He was a Minister after the King's own heart; not brilliant, but of varied and extensive knowledge; good-humored and able; opposed to republicanism, to reform, and to every popular measure. He had voted for the Stamp Act, and against its repeal; and had been foremost in the pursuit of Wilkes. Though choleric, he was of an easy temperament; a friend to peace, yet not fearing war; of great personal courage, which however partook something of apathy; rarely violent; never enterprising; of such moderation in his ambition, his 2 North to Grafton, 10 Sept. 1767. Charles Lloyd to Lord Lyttelton, 17 Sept. 1767; Lyttelton's Life, 733, 734. 2 Compare W.S. Johnson to Gov. Pitkin, 1767. XXX. 1767. wishes and his demands, that he seemed even disin- CHAP. terested. His judgment was clear and his perceptions quick; but his power of will was feeble; a weakness Sept. which only endeared him the more to his royal master, making his presence soothing, not by arts of flattery, but by the qualities of his nature. He took a leading part in the conduct of affairs, just as the people of America were discussing the character of the new Revenue Act, which the King had not suggested; which no living member of the cabinet would own; which Grafton, the Prime Minister, described as "absurd;" but which was left as the fatal bequest of Charles Townshend to his successors and his country.1 The new taxes were not to be collected till the twentieth of November; and should the Sons of Liberty effect a universal agreement to send for no more goods from Britain, no customs would, even then, fall due. "But such a confederacy," said Bernard," will be impracticable without violence;" and he advised a regiment of soldiers as the surest way of "inspiring notions of acquiescence and submission." "Ships of war and a regiment,” said Paxton in England," are needed to ensure tranquillity." Never was a community more distressed or divided by fear and hope, than that of Boston. There the American Board of the Commissioners of the Customs was to be established; and to that town the continent was looking for an example. Rash Oct. 'Grafton's Autobiography; Compare speeches of Camden, of Grafton, of Shelburne, in the House of Lords, 7 Feb. 1775, and of Camden and Grafton, 5 March, 1776. 9 Bernard to Shelburne, 31 August, 7 September, 1767. 3 Compare Bollan to Hutchinson, 11 August, 1767. XXX. 1767. Oct. CHAP. words were spoken,1 rash counsels conceived. "The Commissioners," said the more hasty, "must not be allowed to land."-"Paxton must, like Oliver, be taken to Liberty Tree or the gallows, and obliged to resign."-"Should we be told to perceive our inability to oppose the mother country," cried the youthful Quincy, "we boldly answer, that in defence of our civil and religious rights, with the God of armies on our side, we fear not the hour of trial; though the host of our enemies should cover the field like locusts, yet the sword of the Lord and Gideon shall prevail." " 8 As the lawyers of England all now decided, that American taxation by Parliament was legal and constitutional, the press of Boston sought support in something more firm than human opinion, and more obligatory than the acts of irresponsible legislation. “The law of nature," said they, "is the law of God, irreversible itself and superseding all human law. It perfectly reconciles the true interest and happiness of every individual, with the true interest and happiness of the universal whole. The laws and constitution of the English Government are the best in the world, because they approach nearest to the laws God has established in our nature. Those who have attempted this barbarous violation of the most sacred rights of their country, deserve the name of rebels and traitors, not only against the laws of their country and their King, but against Heaven itself.” 1 Bernard to Shelburne, 21 Sept. 1767. 'Boston Gazette of 5 Oct. 1767, 653, 1, 2, Hyperion, by Josiah Quincy. 3 G. in Boston Gazette of 5 Oct. 1767. 653, 2, 2, Compare N. Rogers to Hutchinson, London, 30 Dec. 1767. XXX. Province called to province. "A revolution must CHAP. inevitably ensue," said a great student of scripture prophecies,1 in a village of Connecticut. "We have discouraging tidings from a mother country," thought Trumbull." "The Americans have been firmly attached to Great Britain; nothing but severity will dissolve the union." At Boston, revolution was rapidly advancing. Faith in the integrity of Parliament was undermined; men were convinced that arbitrary will might be made the sole rule of government by a concert with Parliament; and they called to mind the words of Locke, that when the constitution is broken by the obstinacy of the Prince, "the people must appeal to Heaven." The nation had the right to resist; and they who deserved to enjoy liberty would find the means. 4 6 A petition to the Governor to convene the Legislature having been rejected with "contempt," the inhabitants of Boston, ever sensitive to "the sound of Liberty," assembled on the twenty-eighth of October, in Town Meeting, and voted to forbear the importation and use of a great number of articles of British produce and manufacture. They appointed a committee for obtaining a general subscription to such an agreement, and, to extend the confederacy, ordered 1767. Oct. 1 1 B. Gale of Killingworth to Ezra 655, 1, 1 and 2. Locke on Civil GovStiles, 15 Oct. 1767. ." The L. Governor of Connecticut to the Agent of Connecticut in London, 17 November, 1767. From the Craftsman, in the Boston Gazette, 12 October, 1767. 654, 2, 2. 'Boston Gazette, 19 Oct. 1767 ; ernment, c. xiv. |