of Sandwich and Halifax, were transferred to the BOOK XIV. duke of Grafton (a young nobleman distinguished by his parliamentary talents, and who had 1765. early attained to an high degree of political eminence), and general Conway, a name of unsullied honor, upon whom the task of conducting the business of government in the house of commons chiefly devolved. The earl of Hertford, brother to the general, superseding the earl of Bristol, who had been nominated successor to the duke of Northumberland in the government of Ireland. Lord Temple condemned in terms of bitterness and acrimony, and Mr. Pitt with more decorum and reserve, the acceptance of the new ministers. Had the duke of Newcastle and his friends been proof against the temptations and allurements of office, it was said that an effectual termination must have been put to the secret reign of the Favorite; whereas now his influence was at the most but suspended until a more suitable opportunity offered for making another display of his power and versatility. And the nation at large, though not unwilling to acknowledge the merits of the present ministers, were astonished and displeased to see a new arrangement of administration formed on whig principles, from which lord Temple and Mr. Pitt were excluded. On the other hand, the ministers complained of XIV. BOOK the inflexibility of men who, when great constitutional points might be with certainty secured, 1765. would not scruple to put all to the hazard rather than accede to the terms of reasonable accommodation. Death of the duke of Cumberland. 1766. The duke of Cumberland, who had been for some time in a declining state of health, died of a fit of apoplexy on the last day of October, 1765, in the 45th year of his age. This prince being the youngest of the numerous family of king George II. Louisa queen of Denmark excepted, and not born till some years after the accession of the house of Hanover, and happily not being sent to Germany for education, might boast that his heart was truly English. His personal and public virtues rendered him highly respectable, and by his victory at Culloden, he rendered his name memorable to future times. On the 14th of January, 1766, the parliament Session of was convened for the dispatch of business, and parliament. their attention was immediately excited and engrossed by the disturbances and tumults which had taken place in almost all parts of the continent of America, in consequence of the STAMP ACT passed in the last session. As the question relative to this famous act was chiefly a contest of principle, it is scarcely worth while to remark the absurdity and oppression arising from the nature and regulations of the act itself, and which XIV. afforded a most striking and hideous specimen of BOOK the despotism which would be eventually exercised when the new system should be fully esta- 1766, blished. Such was the difficulty, in a country so thinly peopled, in proportion to its extent, as America, to procure the necessary stamps, that the cost of obtaining them from the distributors was in many parts said to be tenfold the amount of the duty. By the provisions of the act, the prosecutor might bring his action against the supposed delinquent in a court situated at one extremity of the continent, though the trespass were committed, more than fifteen hundred miles dis-tant, at the other; yet the defendant, should the plaintiff be cast, could obtain no damages, if the judge should certify that there was a probable foundation for the prosecution. The judge moreover had an evident interest in procuring a verdict for the plaintiff, being allowed a large proportion of the penalty in case of conviction. Well might it be asked, "whether the most abject vassals of the most tyrannic government would passively submit to so humiliating a yoke ?" An execrable clause offered by the minister, to enable the American governors to quarter the soldiery in private houses, for the purpose of enforcing this act, was, greatly to the honor of the house, unanimously rejected; but it serves to shew what culpable means an honest man, for XIV. BOOK the inflexibility of men who, when great constitutional points might be with certainty secured, 1765. would not scruple to put all to the hazard rather than accede to the terms of reasonable accommodation. Death of the duke of Cumberland. 1766. Session of The duke of Cumberland, who had been for some time in a declining state of health, died of a fit of apoplexy on the last day of October, 1765, in the 45th year of his age. This prince being the youngest of the numerous family of king George II. Louisa queen of Denmark excepted, and not born till some years after the accession of the house of Hanover, and happily not being sent to Germany for education, might boast that his heart was truly English. His personal and public virtues rendered him highly respectable, and by his victory at Culloden, he rendered his name memorable to future times. On the 14th of January, 1766, the parliament Parliament, was convened for the dispatch of business, and their attention was immediately excited and engrossed by the disturbances and tumults which had taken place in almost all parts of the continent of America, in consequence of the STAMP ACT passed in the last session. As the question relative to this famous act was chiefly a contest of principle, it is scarcely worth while to remark the absurdity and oppression arising from the nature and regulations of the act itself, and which XIV. meet with much opposition in most parts of BOOK America. It was QUITE NEW to the people, and had no visible bounds set to it." After stating 1766. the critical situation of affairs in the colonies at that period, he exclaims, "Was this a time to introduce so great a novelty as a parliamentary inland tax in America!" To the disadvantages attending this commercial monopoly, America had submitted, not merely with patience, but cheerfulness. It was doubtless a system of oppression, but it was oppression blended and softened by every species of protection and favor that could render their connexion with Britain desirable. They possessed the powers of internal taxation and legislation; their civil constitutions were framed on the freest and happiest models. Great Britain, by a noble negligence, seemed in fact desirous of devolving upon themselves the care of providing for their own welfare. Under this system, the colonies flourished - and prospered with such rapidity, as to mock all calculations founded on abstract speculation or historic experience. Rather did they present the image of nations established on the continent of America for centuries, than the colonies of yesterday; "than the descendants of a set of miserable outcasts, not so much sent as thrown out, a few years ago, on the bleak and barren shores of a desolate wilderness, 3000 miles from all civi |