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that the American resistance was not altogether carried on in a constitutional manner. In Massachusetts, especially, all who were concerned in the collection of the import duties were treated with contumely. Soldiers were insulted in the streets. An informer was tarred and feathered. Lord North was, indeed, sensible enough to perceive that Townshend's import duties roused unnecessary irritation, especially as the net income derived from them was less than 300/. He induced Parliament to repeal all the duties except that of 3d. a pound on tea; but he openly acknowledged that he kept on the tea-duty, not because anything was to be gained by it, but simply to assert the right of England to tax the colonies. América a sullen resistance continued to be offered to this claim, becoming more and more defiant as time passed on.

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3. The Freedom of Reporting. 1771.-In Parliament Lord North gathered strength. George Grenville having died in 1770 and Bedford early in 1771, the followers of these two leaders resolved to support the Ministry. So, too, did Grafton, who had lately resigned office rather than oppose Chatham, and Wedderburn, an unscrupulous lawyer who had professed the strongest opposition principles, but who now sold himself for the office of SolicitorGeneral. The combined Opposition was reduced to a hopeless minority. Yet, even thus, though unable to influence the American policy of the Ministry, it was, on one occasion, able to bring about a valuable reform at home. The House of Commons had long been jealous of the reporting of its debates and of the comments of newspapers on its members. In February, 1771, Colonel Onslow, a member of the House, complained that a newspaper had called him 'little cocking George,' and a 'paltry, insignificant insect.' The proposal to summon the printers to the bar was resisted by obstructive motions from both the followers of Rockingham and the followers of Chatham, and when it was at last carried time had slipped by, and it was found difficult to catch all the printers. One of them, named Miller, was arrested in the city by a messenger of the House, but the messenger, in turn, was arrested and brought before the Lord Mayor and two aldermen-one of whom was Wilkes --who put the messenger in prison for infringing the city charter by making an arrest in the city without the authority of its magistrates. The House of Commons, prudently leaving Wilkes alone, sent the Lord Mayor and the other alderman to the Tower, where they were royally feasted by the city till the end of the session, after which time no imprisonment, by order of either House, can be enforced. The Opposition had gained its point, as since that time no attempt

has been made to stop the reporting of debates. It was the freedom of reporting which ultimately enabled Parliamentary reform to be effected without danger. Only a people which is allowed to have knowledge of the actions and words of its representatives can be trusted to control them.

4. Continued Resistance in America. 1770-1772.—In America resistance to the British Government rose and fell from year to year. In 1770 some soldiers at Boston fired, with deadly effect, on a crowd which threatened them, and this Boston massacre,' as it was called, so exasperated the townsmen that the governor had to withdraw the troops. Lawlessness spread, as is usually the case when a government has lost the support of public opinion. The revenue officers were subjected to outrage, and, in 1772, a small vessel of war, the 'Gaspee,' was captured and burnt.

5. The Boston Tea Ships. 1773.--The people of New England, though they had agreed to avoid the use of tea, found it difficult to abstain from so pleasant a beverage, and in 1773 Lord North struck a bargain with the East India Company to carry a large quantity to Boston. When the tea ships arrived, a meeting of the townsmen was held, and, after a vain attempt to persuade the governor to send them away, a number of young men, disguised as Red Indians, rushed on board in the dark, broke open the chests with tomahawks, and flung the whole of the tea into the harbour.

6. Repressive Measures. 1774.- When the news of this violence reached England, it was evident to all that either the British Parliament must abandon its claim to enforce the payment of the tea duty or it would have to maintain its authority by force. Burke pleaded for a return to the older system under which Great Britain had been respected for so many years. "Revert,” he said, "to your old principles . . . leave America, if she have taxable matter in her, to tax herself. I am not here going into a distinction of rights, nor attempting to mark their boundaries. I do not enter into these metaphysical distinctions. I hate the very sound of them. Leave the Americans as they anciently stood. Be content to bind America by laws of trade; you have always done it. Let this be your reason for binding her trade. Do not burden them with taxes; you were not used to do so from the beginning. Let his be your reason for not taxing. These are the arguments of states and kingdoms. Leave the rest to the schools, for there only they may be discussed with safety." The king, Lord North, and Parliament, thought otherwise. They saw that there was anarchy in America, as far as English law was concerned, and they con

ceived it to be their duty and their right to bring it to an end. In 1774 was passed the Boston Port Act, prohibiting the landing or shipping of goods at Boston; the Massachusetts Government Act, transferring the appointment of the Council, or Upper House, together with that of all judges and administrative officers, from a popular electorate to the Crown; and another Act forbidding public meetings without the leave of the governor. In order to keep down resistance, a soldier, General Gage, was sent to be governor of Massachusetts.

7. The Congress of Philadelphia and the British Parliament. 1774. The American colonies had always been divided amongst themselves. The four which made up what was popularly called New England Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island-had been founded by the Puritans in the seventeenth century, and still retained the democratic character then impressed upon them. It was expected in England that the other nine colonies, where different habits prevailed--New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia--would take no part in the struggle, if one there was to be. These colonies, however, were frightened lest the British Parliament should alter their constitutions as it had just altered that of Massachusetts, and, in September, 1774, a congress, attended by deputies of all the colonies except Georgia, met at Philadelphia under the name of the Continental Congress. Though this Assembly had no legal powers, it had popular support, and it directed the stoppage of all importation from and exportation to Great Britain till the grievances of the colonies had been redressed. There was no sign of any wish for separation, and there is reason to believe that those amongst the colonists who called themselves Loyalists, and would have clung to the connection with Great Britain in spite of all that was happening, formed at least a third of the population. The majority, however, including all the most active spirits, was determined to resist unless concessions were granted. In the meanwhile, preparations for resistance were made, especially in New England; officers were selected, and 'minute men'-so called because they offered to fly to arms at a minute's notice-were enrolled in great numbers.

8. Lexington and Bunker's Hill. 1775. Both in America and in England illusions prevailed. The Americans thought that the British Parliament would repeal its obnoxious measures, if only the American case were fairly represented to it, whilst the British

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Parliament continued to regard the power of resistance in America as altogether contemptible. Hostilities began without any de liberate purpose on either side. On April 18, 1775, a small British force, sent from Boston to seize some arms at Concord, drove off on its way a small party of American volunteers at Lexington. On its return, on the 19th, it found the hedges and walls by the roadside lined with a superior number of volunteers, and only effected its retreat with heavy loss. After this all New England sprang to arms. On May 10 Ticonderoga was seized, and the command of Lake Champlain gained, whilst on June 16 about 1,500 insurgents entrenched themselves at the top of Breed's Hill, a height divided from Boston by the Charles river. On June 17, an English force was twice repulsed in an attempt to gain the position, and only succeeded on the third attempt after the ammunition of the Americans had been exhausted. The fight is usually known as the Battle of Bunker's Hill, a neighbouring height on which no fighting actually took place. The affair, taken by itself, was not of great importance, but it showed how well Americans could fight behind entrenchments, and how capable they were of developing military qualities unsuspected by the British generals.

9. Conciliatory Efforts. 1775. After blood had been shed conciliatory efforts were less likely to be successful. An offer to abandon the British claim to tax any American colony which would provide for its own defence and its civil government had been made in March by Lord North, but it was not known in America till after the conflict at Lexington, and was then summarily rejected. On May 10 a second congress was held, at Philadelphia, and as it was attended by delegates from all the thirteen colonies, it assumed the style of 'The Congress of the United Colonies.' On July 8, the Congress set forth terms of reconciliation in a petition known as "The Olive Branch Petition,' but its offers proved as unacceptable in England as Lord North's had been in America.

10. George Washington in Command. 1775. - Congress, whilst offering peace, prepared for war, and commenced raising an army in its own service, to replace the troops which had hitherto been raised by the separate colonies, and, on June 15, two days before the capture of Breed's Hill, appointed George Washington commander of this so-called Continental army. Washington was a good soldier, who had fought with distinction in the Seven Years' War, and was especially skilled in military organisation. His