Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/161

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PERSONAL INFLUENCE OF THE KING.
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to better newspapers being published, and more interest in public affairs being taken, and it helped to put a stop to the practice of bribing members of Parliament. Wilkes was allowed to take his seat in 1774, and in 1782 the House of Commons admitted that it was wrong in seating Colonel Luttrell in 1769.


7. The American Colonies Win Their Independence.—In 1770, George III. succeeded in getting a Prime Minister to his



taste. This was Lord North, an easy-going, good-natured Tory, who was quite content to take his orders from the king. Now that George was “king” as he wished to be, he resolved to make his American subjects feel his authority. In 1770, Lord North took off all the obnoxious taxes, except that on tea, and this George III.