ADDENDA TO CHAP. VII. 273 (C. p. 260.) His (Pitt's) opinion about the power of Colonial taxes. taxing the colonies seems to be peculiar to himself and Lord Camden.'-LADY HERVEY'S Letters. tion of Par beth. (D. p. 261.) In the reign of Elizabeth, the House of Popular noCommons was considered in no other light than as a means liament in the of supply; insomuch that the Queen made a merit to her reign of Elizapeople of seldom summoning a Parliament. No redress of grievances was expected from these assemblies. They were supposed to meet for no other purposes than to impose taxes.' -HUME'S History. liament as to (E. p. 269.) That the said colonies and plantations in Act of ParAmerica have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordi- colonial taxanate unto and dependent upon the Imperial Crown and Par- tion. liament of Great Britain; and that the King's Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.'6 Geo. III., c. 12, sec. I. statement. (F. p. 270.) Through Lord Strange, one of the Tory Lord Strange's placemen. The ministers had intimated that His Majesty approved of their plan; and when Rockingham, who had certainly so understood the King, heard that Strange had been making a contrary statement, he instantly demanded an audience; and Strange, being present at his desire, reminded His Majesty of having sanctioned the measure of repeal. The King, however, asserted that Rockingham omitted a very important qualification, and made a memorandum of what he had said,―The question asked me by my ministers was, whether I was for enforcing the act by the sword, or for the repeal? Of the two extremes, I was for the repeal, but most certainly preferred modification to either.'-WALPOLE'S History, vol. ii. p. 281.—GRENVILLE's Diary. Ch. 8. 1766 measures towards the colonies. CHAPTER VIII. MEASURES OF THE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION— THE repeal of the Stamp Duty was followed by another healing measure freeing the commerce Conciliatory of the colonies from many of the vexatious restrictions to which it had been subjected by the former administration. At the same time the trade in bullion and cattle, formerly carried on with the Spanish colonists, and the suppression of which by the custom-house cruisers had been one of the most substantial grievances of which the Americans complained, was restored to them by an Act constituting Dominica and Jamaica free ports for live stock and unmanufactured commodities. While they pursued this course of just and reasonable conciliation towards the colonies, the government sought to strengthen themselves at home by other popular measures. The ill-advised Cider Act, the principal financial measure of Bute's CHANGE OF MEASURES. 275 Ch. 8. administration, was materially altered. The duty of four shillings in the hogshead, which the most 1766 ignorant of Chancellors of the Exchequer had im- Cider duty posed upon the manufacturer, with no other effect, re-arranged. prohibited. as might have been anticipated, than to check the trade, was transferred with an additional duty of two shillings to the retailer, who was much better fitted to deal with it; and the differential duty of forty shillings upon the foreign article was, by way of compensation, increased to a prohibitory duty of three pounds. Upon the short-sighted Foreign silks principles of political economy which then obtained, an Act was passed for the exclusion of foreign-wrought silks, in order that the distress of the weavers might be relieved by forcing the inferior domestic production. This measure was of course received with clamorous joy by the poor people, whose untaught resistance to Parliament the year before thus received the same consideration as the just revolt of the injured Americans. The House of Commons also, at the instance of the Various administration, passed a just though tardy condem- measures. nation on the proceeding of arrest by general warrant, and the arbitrary seizure of private papers. The government are likewise entitled to the praise of having discredited the practice of dismissing military officers for insubordination in their political capacity. The law of England still recognises in the soldier his indelible character of a citizen, im a See Addenda A, p. 328. domestic 276 Ch. 8. 1766 Weakness of the govern ment. WANT OF STRENGTH IN paired though it be for the time by the rigour of military discipline; and though standing armies, in this country at least, are perhaps no longer dangerous to liberty, it must ever be of importance in a free state that the absolute obedience of the soldier should be limited to his military commission. Since this period the distinction between the civil and military character in the same individual has been respected; and General Conway himself was the last officer deprived of professional employment for his vote in Parliament. b But notwithstanding that the government had succeeded in carrying through all these as well as other useful measures during a single year, they acquired no strength nor stability. Their short tenure of office was almost from the first but a lingering existence protracted from day to day, contrary to public expectation. A few noblemen and gentlemen of little or no official experience, of moderate personal ability, hardly known to the public, and with a slender parliamentary connection had undertaken to carry on the government in opposition to the most powerful section of the Whig party, disparaged by the highest parliamentary authority, and thwarted by the courtiers at every turn. The country had endured, with one brilliant exception, a succession of weak and short-lived administrations during the twelve years which had elapsed since the death of Pelham; but the b See Addenda B, p. 328. THE ROCKINGHAM MINISTRY. Rockingham administration was the weakest and most transitory of them all. They had little, indeed, beyond integrity and singleness of purpose to recommend them; and for these qualities they hardly obtained any credit, so little had the nation been accustomed to look for public spirit and disinterestedness in those who directed its affairs.c Ch. 8. 1766 277 tion of state The exact discipline which has been long estab- Insubordinalished throughout the administration from the officers. highest to the lowest offices, was but imperfectly exercised during the first century after the Revolution. The principal ministers frequently opposed each other in Parliament; and the inferior tenants of office followed their example. Sometimes, indeed, the first minister enraged at such insolence, would dismiss all the delinquents, including even their kinsmen and friends who had given no offence. Walpole, Fox and Grenville had each inflicted a cruel vengeance upon insubordination. insubordination. But never had this mutinous spirit reached such a pitch as under Rockingham. Not only did the whole tribe of courtiers, but several men holding political office go against him. On one occasion, after he had complained to the King, and obtained a promise of support, he was run to a narrow majority of eight in the House of Commons the same evening, the Tory placemen voting in a body against the government; and when he asked for the dismissal of c See Addenda C, p. 328. d See Addenda D, p. 328. |