money too, to get Canada for King George?"

"True, they did," said Grandfather; "and they told the English rulers so.
But the king and his ministers would not listen to good advice. In 1765,
the British Parliament passed a Stamp Act."

"What was that?" inquired Charley.

"The Stamp Act," replied Grandfather, "was a law by which all deeds,
bonds, and other papers of the same kind, were ordered to be marked with
the king's stamp; and without this mark, they were declared illegal and
void. Now, in order to get a blank sheet of paper, with the king's stamp
upon it, people were obliged to pay three pence more than the actual value
of the paper. And this extra sum of three pence was a tax, and was to be
paid into the king's treasury."

"I am sure three pence was not worth quarrelling about!" remarked Clara.

"It was not for three pence, nor for any amount of money, that America
quarrelled with England," replied Grandfather; "it was for a great
principle. The colonists were determined not to be taxed, except by their
own representatives. They said that neither the king and Parliament nor
any other power on earth, had a right to take their money out of their
pockets, unless they freely gave it. And, rather than pay three pence when
it was unjustly demanded, they resolved to sacrifice all the wealth of the
country, and their lives along with it. They therefore made a most
stubborn resistance to the Stamp Act."

"That was noble!" exclaimed Laurence. "I understand how it was. If they
had quietly paid this tax of three pence, they would have ceased to be
freemen, and would have become tributaries of England. And so they
contended about a great question of right and wrong, and put every thing
at stake for it."

"You are right, Laurence," said Grandfather; "and it was really amazing
and terrible to see what a change came over the aspect of the people, the
moment the English Parliament had passed this oppressive act. The former
history of our chair, my children, has given you some idea of what a
harsh, unyielding, stern set of men the old Puritans were. For a good many
years back, however, it had seemed as if these characteristics were
disappearing. But no sooner did England offer wrong to the colonies, than
the descendants of the early settlers proved that they had the same kind
of temper as their forefathers. The moment before, New England appeared
like an humble and loyal subject of the crown; the next instant, she
showed t