favor of the measure delivered on February 7, 1765, exclaimed, "And now these Americans, planted by our care, nourished up by our indulgence, until they are grown to a degree of strength and importance, and protected by our arms-will they grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy burden we lie under?" To this Col. Barré, in a style and manner peculiar to himself, instantly replied:

They planted by your care! No; your oppressions planted them in America! They fled from your tyranny to a then uncultivated and inhospitable country, where they exposed themselves to almost all the hardships to which human nature is liable; and, among others, to the cruelties of a savage foe, the most subtle, and I will take upon me to say the most formidable, of any people upon the face of the earth; and yet, actuated by principles of true English liberty, our American brethren met all the hardships with pleasure, compared with those they suffered in their own country from the hands of those that should have been their friends.

They nourished by your indulgence! They grew by your neglect of them. As soon as you began to take care about them; that care was exercised in sending persons to rule them in one department and another, who were deputies of deputies to some members of this house, sent to prey upon them; men whose behavior, on many occasions, has caused the blood of those sons of liberty to recoil within them; men promoted to the highest seats of justice, some [who], to my knowledge, were glad, by going to a foreign country, to escape being brought to a bar of justice in their own.

They protected by your arms! They have nobly taken up arms in your defence, have exerted their valor, amidst their constant and laborious industry, for the defence of a country whose frontier was drenched in blood, while its interior parts yielded all its little savings to your emolument.

And, believe me, that same spirit of freedom which actuated that people at first will accompany them still. But prudence forbids me to explain myself further.

God knows, I do not at this time speak from party heat. However superior to me in general knowledge and experience the respectable body of this house may be, yet I claim to know more of America than most of you, having seen and been conversant with that country. The people, I believe, are as truly loyal as any subjects the King has; but [they are] a people jealous

of their liberties, and who will vindicate them if ever they should be violated-but the subject is too delicate, I will say no more.

REJECTION OF PETITIONS

The House was very forcibly struck with these sentiments, thrown out without premeditation, and for a while sat amazed and without answering a word. But when the petitions from Virginia, Connecticut, and South Carolina were offered in opposition to the bill, the House refused to receive them; in the first place because they questioned or denied the right of Parliament to pass the bill; and in the second place because it was contrary to an old standing rule of the House, "that no petition should be received against a money bill." The majority against receiving the petitions was very large, and those from the other colonies were not offered. The petition from New York was expressed in such strong language that no member of the House could be prevailed upon to present it. The bill passed the House 250 to 50; was adopted in the House of Lords with great unanimity, and on the 22d of March, 1765, received the royal sanction.

The act imposed duties on most of the instruments used in judicial and commercial proceedings, and, indeed, in almost all the ordinary transactions in the colonies; nor were pamphlets, newspapers and almanacs excepted. The literature of the colonists did not escape the notice of the ministers. A duty of two pounds sterling was required for every degree conferred by seminaries of learning. The ministry affected to believe, and indeed declared, that the act embraced so many objects that it would "execute itself." Apprehensive, however, of opposition, the government passed a bill during the same session authorizing the quartering of the troops in the colonies, and directing the assemblies to furnish them with certain articles of provisions not before usually required. During the pendency of this bill it was proposed that the troops might be quartered in private houses. This, however, was too palpable and flagrant a violation of the sacred rights of individuals to be

adopted, and the proposition was finally given up. No act of the parent country ever excited such universal alarm in the colonies as this. The colonists saw and felt that the act was not only a violation of their rights, but a fatal blow aimed at the future peace and prosperity of their country.

AMERICAN OPPOSITION TO THE ACT

The assembly of Virginia was the first public body that met after the news of the Stamp Act reached America. Those who had heretofore taken the lead in the popular branch of that body, the House of Burgesses, seemed unwilling to approach the subject. It was not until near the close of the session, about the first of May, that an action was taken regarding the act.

Then it was that a young lawyer from Hanover County, who had taken into his confidence only one or two of his colleagues, arose and introduced a set of resolutions, the boldness of which struck the timid assembly with consternation, although at the same time it excited their awe and admiration.

The speaker was Patrick Henry, who, though he was reputed the most eloquent speaker in the colony, had hitherto not distinguished himself in the assembly.

RESOLUTIONS OF PATRICK HENRY

The following are the resolutions which Mr. Henry introduced in the House of Burgesses on the Stamp Act:

Whereas the honorable House of Commons in England have of late drawn into question how far the General Assembly of this colony hath power to make laws for laying taxes and imposing duties, payable by the people of this His Majesty's most ancient colony; for settling and ascertaining the same to all future times, the House of Burgesses of the present General Assembly have come to the following resolutions.

Resolved, that the first adventurers and settlers of this, His Majesty's colony and dominion, brought with them, and transmitted to their posterity and all other His Majesty's subjects since inhabiting in this His Majesty's said colony, all the privi

leges, franchises, and immunities that have, at any time, been held, enjoyed, and possessed by the people of Great Britain.

Resolved, that by two royal charters granted by King James I, the colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all the privileges, liberties, and immunities of denizens and natural born subjects, to all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born within the realm of England.

Resolved, that the taxation of the people by themselves, or by persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who can only know what taxes the people are able to bear, and the easiest mode of raising them, and are equally affected by such taxes themselves, is the distinguishing characteristic of British freedom, and without which the ancient constitution cannot subsist.

Resolved, that His Majesty's liege people of this most ancient colony have uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of being thus governed by their own Assembly, in the article of their taxes and internal police; and that the same hath never been forfeited, or any other way given up, but hath been recognized by the King and people of Great Britain.

Resolved, therefore, that the General Assembly of this colony have the sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony; and that every attempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatever, other than the General Assembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom.

The above resolutions were found among the papers of Patrick Henry, after his death, sealed up, and with the following indorsement, "Inclosed are the resolutions of the Virginia assembly, concerning the Stamp Act. Let my executors open this paper."1

Chief Justice John Marshall, in his "Life of Washington," gives the resolutions which received the sanction of the Assembly with the third resolution omitted, and with slight differences in the phraseology of the others.

Judge Marshall adds, "Such were the resolutions as agreed to by that part of the Assembly which was most timid. The following resolutions were also introduced by Mr. Henry, and passed the committee, but were disagreed to in the House:

"Resolved, that His Majesty's liege people, the inhabitants 'Life of Patrick Henry, by William Wirt, p. 50.