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148 Introduction of the Stamp Act. [i764-5 when, in 1764, George Grenville, acting as Chancellor of the Exchequer, put such a project into definite form. He gave notice of a bill to be introduced in the following year, requiring that a stamp, for which duty must be paid in England, should be imposed on all written agreements which were to have legal validity. As a concession to the colonies he promised that, if they would suggest some alternative scheme of taxation equally effective, the measure should be abandoned. Unfortunately at the very same time Grenville was exasperating the colonists by a sudden increase of severity in administering the revenue laws, and by an instruction that officers in the royal navy should give assistance to the collectors of customs. Moreover the Molasses Act, already referred to, which had been only passed as a provisional measure, was about to expire ; and the probability of its renewal was agitating the minds of the colonists. The disapproval of Grenville's scheme in the colonies was general. None of them showed the least inclination to comply with his offer and bring in an alternative scheme. At the same time the form in which their disapproval was expressed revealed differences of opinion. Some regarded self-taxation as a natural and inalienable right attaching to the colonies ; others ignored the question of abstract right and were content to treat the Act as unwise and inexpedient. This was the view taken in a formal remonstrance sent to Parliament by the Assembly of Massachusetts. It is noteworthy that Hutchinson, the Lieutenant- Governor, afterwards fiercely assailed as a traitor to his country, was actually the man who drafted this address ; and he never at any later time withdrew or deviated from the position then taken up. Another view, held, as we are told, by many in America, but not formally expressed in any resolution or protest, was that the colonists might acquiesce in the right of Parliament to tax them if only they were granted some share of Parliamentary representation. Most persons will consider that without facilities for communication better than those which then existed such a scheme was impracticable. No heed was paid to the remonstrances of the colonists ; and in March, 1765, the Stamp Act was introduced and passed. Since it was carried by a majority of nearly two hundred and fifty and only opposed by one or two irresponsible and irreconcilable opponents of the govern- ment, Parliament as a whole must share whatever blame attaches to the Ministry. Apart from the expediency of its introduction at such a time, the Stamp Act has been defended on the ground that it was easy of collection and uniform in its operation. The soundness of this conten- tion may, however, be doubted. The schedule of purposes, for each of which a different form of stamp was required, contained no less than forty -three heads; and the prices of the stamped sheets varied from two pence to ten pounds. The Stamp Act, which came into force on November 1, 1765, was