ment was to select his
ministers from different parties, so that they might be unable to work
harmoniously together. Owing to the peculiar divisions of parties in
Parliament he was for some years able to carry out this policy, and
while his cabinets were thus weak and divided, he was able to use his
control of patronage with telling effect. In July, 1766, he got rid of
Lord Rockingham and his Old Whigs, and formed a new ministry made up
from all parties. It contained Pitt, who had now, as Earl of Chatham,
gone into the House of Lords, and at the same time Charles Townshend, as
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Townshend, a brilliant young man, without
any political principles worth mentioning, was the most conspicuous
among a group of wire-pullers who were coming to be known as "the king's
friends." Serious illness soon kept Chatham at home, and left Townshend
all-powerful in the cabinet, because he was bold and utterly
unscrupulous and had the king to back him. His audacity knew no limits,
and he made up his mind that the time had come for gathering all the
disputed American questions, as far as possible, into one bundle, and
disposing of them once for all. So in May, 1767, he brought forward in
Parliament a series of acts for raising and applying a revenue in
America. The colonists, he said, had objected to a direct tax, but they
had often submitted to port duties, and could not reasonably refuse to
do so again. Duties were accordingly to be laid on glass, paper, lead,
and painter's colours; on wine, oil, and fruits, if carried directly to
America from Spain and Portugal; and especially on tea. A board of
commissioners was to be established at Boston, to superintend the
collection of revenue throughout the colonies, and writs of assistance
were to be expressly legalized. The salaries of these commissioners were
to be paid out of the revenue thus collected. Governors, judges, and
crown-attorneys were to be made independent of the colonial legislatures
by having their salaries paid by the crown out of this same fund. A
small army was also to be kept up; and if after providing for these
various expenses, any surplus remained, it could be used by the crown in
giving pensions to Americans and thus be made to serve as a
corruption-fund. These measures were adopted on the 29th of June, and as
if to refute anybody who might be inclined to think that rashness could
no further go, Townshend accompanied them with a special act directed