they must submit to his good pleasure; and, consequently, his complaisance was but that of an accomplished robber. It was known that he would not be satisfied with less than £300,000 sterling a year, the sum considered necessary for the support of the army it was resolved to maintain in the colonies for their defence. No one of the agents was authorized to comply. Two only alleged they were commissioned to declare that their provinces were ready to bear their proportion of the duty upon stamps, when it should be established according to ancient usages. The minister, therefore, having heard no proposal that appeared to him acceptable, resolved to pursue the design of a stamp tax. Meanwhile, the fermentation in America was violent, not only among private citizens, but also among the members of public and corporate bodies; and all were of one mind, in asserting that the Parliament had no right to tax the colonies. In all places, political circles and clubs were formed; the subject of all conversations was the fatal tax. Every day, every hour, diminished the respect and affection of the Americans towards the British nation, and increased their disposition to resist. Supported, too, as they knew, by some of the purest patriots of the mother country, they earnestly declaimed against the injustice of any such proceeding, as laying a tax upon them for the purpose of supporting a standing army in America. The murmurs which had arisen from every quarter against this proposal were alarming, and ought to have proved a note of warning to the ministry. But none of these complaints were of any avail The course to be pursued was decided upon, and the ministry went forward with their plan. The memorials, the remonstrances, the petitions, the resolutions of the Americans, were rejected, and the bill for imposing a stamp duty was submitted to Parliament, at its session, in 1765.
It is not difficult to imagine the kind of discussion which then took place. Few of the members of the House knew or cared aught for America, save as it seemed to open a new source whence revenue could be drawn; and were it not a well-established fact, it would seem incredible, that there could have been so remarkable a state of ignorance and blindness as to the actual position and importance of the colonies, and their power of asserting and defending their rights, On the one side, it was contended that taxation and representation are inseparable, and that the imposition of this tax would be as impolitic as it was unjust, for the Americans would not submit to it. On the part of the ministry, it was claimed that the colonies were in fact virtually as much represented by the actual members, as were the great proportion of the English, who themselves enjoyed no vote; that the right of taxing the colonists was derived from the responsibility and expense of defending them; that the colonists must either be entirely dependent upon England, or entirely separated from her. The inconsistency of allowing a duty to be placed upon .heir exports, while they refused to submit to one upon stamps, was artfully
