standing his trial. Nevertheless, no more ‘‘general warrants” have been issued since his time.
4. Stamp Act, 1765.—And now Grenville’s meddlesome disposition led to a more serious difficulty than that with Wilkes. The English colonies in America had long felt that the Mother Country, by her trade policy, was injuring them for her own benefit. The colonies were not allowed to trade freely with other countries, but were expected to buy the manufactures they needed from England, and in return were given special privileges in the sale of their raw produce in England. The colonists had found it profitable to evade this law, and to carry on a trade with the Spanish colonies in America. This Grenville now tried to stop, and at the same time put a tax on the colonies to lessen the burden of the British taxpayers. The British Parliament said that much of the expense of the war in America was for the benefit of the colonies and, therefore, they should help to bear the burden. The tax was to be levied by making the colonists use stamped paper for notes, leases, and other legal documents. These stamps had to be bought from the British Government, which got a profit from their sale, although the money thus raised was spent in the colonies. The colonies were angry at this attempt to tax them without their own consent, and said that while they were willing to tax themselves for the good of the Mother Country, they were not willing that a Parliament in which they had no representatives should force them to pay taxes. They sent a petition against the ‘‘Stamp Act,” but at first their remonstrance met with no attention. They then refused to buy any English manufactures, and this caused the English merchants and manufacturers to ask for the repeal of the Act. Meanwhile Grenville had displeased George III., and had been forced to give way to Lord Rockingham, the leader of the other section of the Whigs. Rockingham, aided by Pitt, did away with the Stamp Act, but Parliament, while removing it, took the opportunity of asserting its right to tax the colonies at pleasure.
A short time after this there was another change in the Government, and Pitt, with the title of ‘‘Earl of Chatham,” came back as chief member of the Grafton Ministry. But ill-health forced him to leave the management of colonial affairs in other hands, and
