in the state. Otis's argument, however weak in poi was in harmony with the ideas then prevalent in Some months later, the writs were granted by the were seldom, if ever, used. In 1767 their issue was to be legal by a special act of Parliament. The on in the hands of the colonists was resistance by arm and for that few colonists as yet were prepared. 117. Otis's Rights of the Colonies, 1764. - A later Otis embodied his ideas of the rights of the in two essays, entitled: A Vindication of the Hous resentatives and The Rights of the Colonies Ass Proved. His arguments in these papers are main restatement of the ground assumed by Locke in on Government. Otis asserted that "God made naturally equal," and that government was insti the benefit of the governed: it followed that if ment were harmful to the people, it should be and destroyed; the colonists were on a footing plete equality with the subjects of the king living in Great Britain. In conclusion, however, Otis admitted the supremacy of the British Parliament, and thus denied the logical conclusion of his argument. Patrick Henry, of Virginia, had no such scruples, and in his speech on the Parson's Cause he stated the theory of colonial rights in its complete form. The Parson's ries, II, No. 37. Patrick Henry 118. The Parson's Cause, 1763. - This celebrated case arose out of the exercise by the king of the power to veto acts of the Virginia Assembly. The salaries of the clergymen of that province were estimated and paid in tobacco, which was the ordinary currency of the Old Dominion. The price of tobacco varied greatly from year to year, with the result that payments which were agreed upon in years of plenty, when tobacco was cheap, were made with had been several acts permitting this arrangement it must be understood, equally affected all classe clergy felt aggrieved, however, and appealed to the government. On their representations the king a a law passed in 1758, when tobacco was very high effect that debts estimated in tobacco might be sati a money payment at so many pence per pound, representing the average price of that commodity preceding years. The dispute was further complic the demand of the British government that no law ing or modifying a law then in force should be without a clause suspending its operation until the pleasure were known. This requirement undo worked great hardship, as the British governmen very slowly in colonial matters: oftentimes the ev a law was designed to remedy would produce its il before the consent of the home authorities could tained. Many church authorities did not heed the king's the act of 1758, and paid their ministers in money ing to the provisions of the annulled law. The cle brought the matter before the courts, and the case of their number, Maury by name, was selected a case. The court decided that the action of the authorities was illegal, and that Maury could reco only question about which there was any further was in regard to the amount to be recovered. The reached this point, and everything indicated the of the clergymen, when the parish authorities er Patrick Henry to address the jury. Henry was industrious young lawyer; he had received a good Henry's speech. Tyler's Patrick Henry (S. S.), ch. iv. Pontiac's Rebellion. America, tion, was well read, and had been allowed to practice law because of his knowledge of English legal history. Putting aside the legalities of the case, Henry at once entered into a discussion of theories of government and their application to the matter in hand. Government, he declared, was a conditional compact between the king, stipulating protection on the one hand, and the people, stipulating obedience and support on the other. The act in question was passed for the good of the people of Virginia, and its veto by the king was a violation of the conditional compact and an instance of misrule and neglect, which made it necessary for the people of Virginia to provide for their own safety. The king had "degenerated into a tyrant and forfeited all right to his subjects' obedience." Nevertheless, under the ruling of the court, the jury must award damages to the parson, but they would satisfy the law by the smallest possible award. They assessed the damages at one penny. In this case, and in that of writs of assistance, Henry and Otis merely uttered what many men thought; they had said nothing new, but they had Indian War ended with the capture of Montreal in 1760, VI, 688-701. although the Treaty of Paris was not signed until 1763. But the Indians living south of the Great Lakes found it difficult to believe that their friends, the French, had really been beaten. They rose, and under the leadership of Pontiac, one of the ablest of their race, besieged the English in their fort at Detroit. large force of regular soldiers in the northern color in Canada. The British government determined t a portion of the expenditure incurred in their main on the colonists. William Pitt was no longer in Undoubtedly he would have taken a statesmanlike the situation and have recognized the inexpediency ing contributions from the colonists. George Grenville, Pitt's brother-in-law, was now head of the government. To him the law was the 1 should be enforced whenever and wherever it was He saw that the colonists refused to obey the Na Acts and the trade laws, and that they also declined their part in carrying out measures which his advisers declared to be necessary for the safety empire. He lowered the duties on sugar and m and then proceeded to enforce the modified laws the resources at his command, even using the naval as revenue cutters. These measures seriously affec commercial interests of New England and account fo of the hatred of the colonists of that section tow British government. Grenville also decided to revenue from the colonies and aroused the resent all the colonists from the Penobscot to the Altamaha 120. Passage of the Stamp Act, 1765. – In March Grenville stated in the House of Commons that it be thought necessary for the colonists to contribute the support of the troops stationed amongst them f protection. He moved a resolution to this effect was passed without debate or opposition. He d bringing in a bill based on this resolution, in the e tion that the colonial assemblies might propose som મ |