cult for the Northern and Middle
colonies to trade directly with England. Yet the ministers had no
intention of yielding on the main point: the theoretical right of
Parliament to bind the colonies in all matters whatever was formally
asserted in the Declaratory Act; while the reenactment of the Mutiny Law
indicated that the practical policy of establishing British troops in
America for defense was to be continued.

III

The repeal of the Stamp Act was the occasion for general rejoicing in
America. Loyal addresses were voted to the king, and statues erected to
commemorate the virtues and achievements of Pitt. Imperfectly aware of
the conditions in England that had contributed to the happy event, it
was taken by the colonists to mean that their theory of the constitution
had been accepted. The Declaratory Act was thought to be no more than a
formal concession to the dignity of government; and although the Mutiny
Act was causing trouble in New York, and merchants were petitioning for
a further modification of the Trade Laws, most men looked forward to the
speedy reestablishment of the old-time cordial relations between the two
countries. The Sons of Liberty no longer assembled; rioting ceased; the
noise of incessant debate was stilled. "The repeal of the Stamp Act,"
John Adams wrote in November, 1766, "has hushed into silence almost
every popular clamor, and composed every wave of popular disorder into a
smooth and peaceful calm."

And no doubt most Englishmen would willingly have let the question rest.
But an unwise king, stubbornly bent on having his way; precise
administrators of the Grenville type, concerned for the loss of a
farthing due; egoists like Wedderburne, profoundly ignorant of colonial
affairs, convulsed and readily convinced by the light sarcasms with
which Soame Jenyns disposed of the pretensions of "our American
colonies": such men waited only the opportune moment for retrieving a
humiliating defeat. That moment came with the mischance that clouded the
mind of Pitt and withdrew him from the direction of a government of all
the factions. The responsibility relinquished by the Great Commoner was
assumed by Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, a man well
fitted to foster the spirit of discord which then reigned, to the king's
great content, in that "mosaic" ministry. In January, 1767, without the
knowledge of the Cabinet, this "director of the revels" pledged himself
in the House of Commons t