s of
Parliament imposing these prohibitions and restrictions had at various
times produced sore discontent and opposition on the part of the
colonies. There was nothing, however, to which the jealous
sensibilities of the colonies were more alive than to any attempt of
the mother country to draw a revenue from them by taxation. From the
earliest period of their existence they had maintained the principle
that they could only be taxed by a Legislature in which they were
represented.

In 1760 there was an attempt in Boston to collect duties on foreign
sugar and molasses imported into the colonies. Writs of assistance
were applied for by the custom-house officers, authorizing them to
break open ships, stores and private dwellings, in quest of articles
that had paid no duty; and to call the assistance of others in the
discharge of their odious task. The merchants opposed the execution of
the writ on constitutional grounds. The question was argued in court,
where James Otis spoke so eloquently in vindication of American rights
that all his hearers went away ready to take arms against writs of
assistance. Another ministerial measure was to instruct the provincial
governors to commission judges. Not as theretofore "during good
behavior," but "during the king's pleasure." New York was the first to
resent this blow at the independence of the judiciary. The lawyers
appealed to the public through the press against an act which
subjected the halls of justice to the prerogative. Their appeals were
felt beyond the bounds of the province, and awakened a general spirit
of resistance.

Thus matters stood at the conclusion of the war. One of the first
measures of ministers, on the return of peace, was to enjoin on all
naval officers stationed on the coasts of the American colonies the
performance, under oath, of the duties of custom-house officers, for
the suppression of smuggling. This fell ruinously upon a clandestine
trade which had long been connived at between the English and Spanish
colonies, profitable to both, but especially to the former, and
beneficial to the mother country, opening a market to her
manufactures. As a measure of retaliation the colonists resolved not
to purchase British fabrics, but to clothe themselves as much as
possible in home manufactures. The demand for British goods in Boston
alone was diminished upwards of 10,000 pounds sterling in the course
of a year.

In 1764 George Grenville, now at the head of g