that had withstood the despotism of the
Stuarts in England (S436), and established the principle once for all
that the King cannot take his subject's money without that subject's
consent (S436). So, too, Fox ardently defended the American
colonists, and boldly maintained that the stand they had taken helped
"to preserve the liberties of mankind."[1]

[1] See Bancroft's "United States," III, 107-108; "Columbia University
Studies," III, No. 2, "The Commercial Policy of England toward the
American Colonies"; Lecky's "American Revolution"; and C. K. Adams's
"British Orations."

Against such opposition the law could not stand. The act was
accordingly repealed (1766), amid great rejoicing in London; the
church bells rang out in triumph, and the shipping in the Thames was
illuminated. But the good effect on America was lost by the passage
of another act which maintained the unconditional right of Parliament
to legislate for the colonies, and to tax them, if it saw fit, without
their consent.

551. The Tea Tax and the "Boston Tea Party," 1773, with its Results.

Another plan was now devised for getting money from the colonies.
Parliament enacted a law (1767) compelling the Americans to pay taxes
on a number of imports, such as glass, paper, and tea. In opposition
to this law, the colonists formed leagues refusing to use these taxed
articles, while at the same time they encouraged smugglers to land
them secretly, and the regular trade suffered accordingly.

Parliament, finding that this was bad both for the government and for
commerce, now abolished all of these duties except that on tea
(1770). That duty was retained for a double purpose: first, and
chiefly, to maintain the principle of the right of Great Britain to
tax the colonies; and, next, to aid the East India Company, which was
pleading piteeously for help.

In consequence mainly of the refusal of the American colonies to buy
tea, the London warehouses of the East India Company were full to
overflowing with surplus stock, and the company itself was in a
half-bankrupt condition. The custom had been for the company to bring
the tea to England, pay a tax on it, and then sell it to be reshipped
to America. To aid the company in its embarrassment, the Government
now agreed to remit this first duty altogether, and to impose a tax of
only threepence (six cents) a pound on the consumers in America.

In itself the threepenny tax was a trifle, as the ship-money tax