“CHARLEY, my boy,” said Grandfather, “do you remember who was the last
occupant of the chair?”
“It was Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson,” answered Charley. “Sir Francis
Bernard, the new governor, had given him the chair, instead of putting
it away in the garret of the Province House. And when we took leave
of Hutchinson he was sitting by his fireside, and thinking of the past
adventures of the chair and of what was to come.”
“Very well,” said Grandfather; “and you recollect that this was in 1763,
or thereabouts, at the close of the old French War. Now, that you may
fully comprehend the remaining adventures of the chair, I must make some
brief remarks on the situation and character of the New England colonies
at this period.”
So Grandfather spoke of the earnest loyalty of our fathers during the
old French War, and after the conquest of Canada had brought that war to
a triumphant close.
The people loved and reverenced the King of England even more than if
the ocean had not rolled its waves between him and them; for, at the
distance of three thousand miles, they could not discover his bad
qualities and imperfections. Their love was increased by the dangers
which they had encountered in order to heighten his glory and extend his
dominion. Throughout the war the American colonists had fought side by
side with the soldiers of Old England; and nearly thirty thousand young
men had laid down their lives for the honor of King George. And the
survivors loved him the better because they had done and suffered so
much for his sake.
But there were some circumstances that caused America to feel more
independent of England than at an earlier period. Canada and Acadia had
now become British provinces; and our fathers were no longer afraid of
the bands of French and Indians who used to assault them in old times.
For a century and a half this had been the great terror of New England.
Now the old French soldier was driven from the North forever. And even
had it been otherwise, the English colonies were growing so populous
and powerful that they might have felt fully able to protect themselves
without any help from England.
There were thoughtful and sagacious men, who began to doubt whether a
great country like America would always be content to remain under the
government of an island three thousand miles away. This was the more
doubtful, because the English Parliament had long ago made laws which
were intended to be very beneficial to England at the expense of
America. By these laws the colonists were forbidden to manufacture
articles for their own use, or to carry on trade with any nation but the
English.
“Now,” continued Grandfather, “if King George III. and his counsellors
had considered these things wisely, they would have taken another course
than they did. But when they saw how rich and populous the colonies had
grown, their first thought was how they might make more profit out of
them than heretofore. England was enormously in debt at the close of the
old French War; and it was pretended that this debt had been contracted
for the defence of the American colonies, and that, therefore, a part of
it ought to be paid by them.”
“Why, this was nonsense!” exclaimed Charley. “Did not our fathers spend
their lives, and their 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 threepence more than the actual
value of the paper. And this extra sum of threepence was a tax, and was
to be paid into the king’s treasury.”
“I am sure threepence was not worth quarrelling about!” remarked Clara.
“It was not for threepence, 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 threepence 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 the tax of threepence, 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 everything
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 a humble and loyal subject of the crown; the next instant, she
showed the grim, dark features of an old king-resisting Puritan.”
Grandfather spoke briefly of the public measures that were taken in
opposition to the Stamp Act. As this law affected all the American
colonies alike, it naturally led them to think of consulting together
is order to procure its repeal. For this purpose the Legislature of
Massachusetts proposed that delegates from every colony should meet in
Congress. Accordingly nine colonies, both Northern and Southern, sent
delegates to the city of New York.
“And did they consult about going to war with England?” asked Charley.
“No, Charley,” answered Grandfather; “a great deal of talking was yet
to be done before England and America could come to blows. The Congress
stated the rights and grievances of the colonists. They sent a humble
petition to the king, and a memorial to the Parliament, beseeching that
the Stamp Act might be repealed. This was all that the delegates had it
in their power to do.”
“They might as well have stayed at home, then,” said Charley.
“By no means,” replied Grandfather. “It was a most important and
memorable event, this first coming together of the American people by
their representatives from the North and South. If England had been
wise, she would have trembled at the first word that was spoken in such
an assembly.”
These remonstrances and petitions, as Grandfather observed, were the
work of grave, thoughtful, and prudent men. Meantime the young and
hot-headed people went to work in their own way. It is probable that the
petitions of Congress would have had little or no effect on the British
statesmen if the violent deeds of the American people had not shown how
much excited the people were. LIBERTY TREE was soon heard of in England.
“What was Liberty Tree?” inquired Clara.
“It was an old elm-tree,” answered Grandfather, “which stood near
the corner of Essex Street, opposite the Boylston Market. Under the
spreading branches of this great tree the people used to assemble
whenever they wished to express their feelings and opinions. Thus, after
a while, it seemed as if the liberty of the country was connected with
Liberty Tree.”
“It was glorious fruit for a tree to bear,” remarked Laurence.
“It bore strange fruit, sometimes,” said Grandfather. “One morning in
August, 1765, two figures were found hanging on the sturdy branches
of Liberty Tree. They were dressed in square-skirted coats and
small-clothes; and, as their wigs hung down over their faces, they
looked like real men. One was intended to represent the Earl of Bute,
who was supposed to have advised the king to tax America. The other was
meant for the effigy of Andrew Oliver, a gentleman belonging to one of
the most respectable families in Massachusetts.”
“What harm had he done?” inquired Charley.
“The king had appointed him to be distributor of the stamps,” answered
Grandfather. “Mr. Oliver would have made a great deal of money by
this business. But the people frightened him so much by hanging him in
effigy, and afterwards by breaking into his house, that he promised
to have nothing to do with the stamps. And all the king’s friends
throughout America were compelled to make the same promise.”