The making of the American nation; a history for elementary schools . -gress were laid before the BritishParliament and discussed in bothhouses. In the House of Lords,William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham,urged liberal measures for the colo-nies, saying: The way must beimmediately opened for reconcilia-tion, or it will soon be too late. HisMajesty may indeed wear his crown;but the American jewel out of it, itwill not be worth the wearing. Butall the attempts made by Chathamand the other friends of the coloniesto repeal the obnoxious acts wereunsuccessful. The Parliament alsodeclared that the colon
The making of the American nation; a history for elementary schools . -gress were laid before the BritishParliament and discussed in bothhouses. In the House of Lords,William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham,urged liberal measures for the colo-nies, saying: The way must beimmediately opened for reconcilia-tion, or it will soon be too late. HisMajesty may indeed wear his crown;but the American jewel out of it, itwill not be worth the wearing. Butall the attempts made by Chathamand the other friends of the coloniesto repeal the obnoxious acts wereunsuccessful. The Parliament alsodeclared that the colonists had long de-sired to become independent of GreatBritain, and had only waited for op-portunity to accomplish their it was the duty of everyEnglishman to crush the revolt, andthis must be done at any price. It was pointed out that the colonists were as much representedin the Parliament as were Englishmen living in Eng- Representa-land. This was true, inasmuch as the great mass of tioncolonists, being regarded as commoners, were represented as a. 136 THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN NATION class in the House of Commons.^ Therefore they ought to besatisfied to pay the Crowu tax imposed in tlie same manneras it was in England. The question of trial by jury was a more serious one, and wasthe outcome of the smuggling that had been going on in the colonies for more than a century. From the time theTrial by navigation laws had been passed, smuggling had been practiced in every colony, and, although a crime, itwas not considered either a sin or a vice. When the Crownofficers began in earnest to put a stop to it, they found it almostimpossible to do so. Violators of the law were arrested andtried ; but it was not often that a jury would convict, no matterhow clear the evidence. Even when revenue officers were killedor wounded by smugglers, it was always difficult and sometimesimpossible to secure a conviction. It was for this reason, there-fore, that the Parliament gave t
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