xxv A TRENCHANT PAMPHLET 319 



Stamp Act ; and that the colonists shall not be driven 

 " to unite in their common defence, and to build up a 

 potent and formidable confederacy." " Colonies sprung 

 from Britain," he says, " will bear much ; but it is to be 

 remembered that they are the sons of freedom, and what 

 they have been taught to look upon as. virtue in their 

 ancestors, will not soon be forgotten by them. Nay, 

 they will be the sooner apt to vindicate their rights." 

 He looks forward to their possible independence, if the 

 colonists think themselves hardly dealt with, for " the 

 genius of America seems to favour freedom." He con- 

 cludes by suggesting so long before the day of Cecil 

 Rhodes that scholarships for Americans should be 

 instituted at the British universities. 



The loss to British trade due to the Stamp Act aroused 

 the merchants, and induced the government to hold an 

 enquiry early in 1766, in the course of which Franklin's 

 memorable examination before the House of Commons 

 in Committee took place " a schoolmaster catechised 

 by his pupils," as Burke termed it. Fothergill was present, 

 and wrote to Philadelphia to defend his friend's conduct, 

 which was there sharply criticised. " He gave," such 

 was Fothergill's account, " distinct, clear and satisfactory 

 answers to every interrogatory, and spoke his sentiments 

 with such perspicuity and firmness as did him the highest 

 honour." He had done " all in his power to prevent the 

 Stamp Act from passing, and asserted the rights and privi- 

 leges of America with the utmost resolution and capacity." 

 Fothergill's reports of Franklin's examination were 

 received with great satisfaction in America, and extracts 

 from his letters were printed in the Philadelphia news- 

 papers. 1 The upholders of liberty received the powerful 

 aid of Pitt, who threw himself into the fight as a champion 

 of the American cause, and the Stamp Act was repealed 

 in March 1766. Great was the joy in England, whilst 

 in the colonies confidence was restored, the boycott was 



1 Letter to W. Logan, in Sparks' Franklin, vii. 311 ; MS. Letter to J. 

 Pemberton, 27.11.1766, in Perm. MSS. Official Correspondence, Hist. Soc. 

 Penna. 



