r governor of Virginia and
replace him with Norbonne Berkeley, Baron de Boutetourt.[26] Actually,
Chatham's policies in Europe and America had been repudiated and
"hardliners" were regaining power. Grafton managed to hold on and to do
nothing until February 1770 when the Whig majority completely fell
apart and the king turned to Lord North and the Tories to run the
country.

[26] Ibid. (From 1710 to 1768 the governor for Virginia did not
reside in the colony, choosing instead to accept a fixed salary
and agreeing to send in his stead a lieutenant-governor who
actually exercised all the power. This system ended with Amherst
and his lieutenant-governor, Francis Fauquier, who died in March
1768.)

One result of this political infighting and personality conflict was
support for the king. Amidst the factionalism, corruption, and greed,
independent members of parliament saw the crown as the only means for
creative, effective leadership. For that reason George, after 1770, not
only had a minister he could work with, he had a more tractable
parliament aided by the complete disintegration of the Whigs and a
hardening attitude toward the Americans whose actions bordered on
disloyalty, if not treason.

Virginia Politics, 1766-1768

Political leadership in Virginia also underwent a change after 1766.
Unlike Britain, the changes in Virginia broadened political leadership
to include the new elements which emerged during the Stamp Act debates,
the Lee-Henry group. It also brought into power those who were less
likely to be satisfied with political addresses and constitutional
niceties should parliament pass into law the powers it claimed in the
Declaratory Act.

In May 1766 Speaker-Treasurer John Robinson died. His death coincided
with the murder by his son-in-law, Colonel John Chiswell, of Robert
Routledge of Cumberland County in a tavern fight. Although his
father-in-law and his Randolph relatives managed to gain his release
from jail pending trial, Chiswell believed he was going to be convicted
if the case came to trial and chose suicide to jail. Both events shook
the Robinson-Randolph leadership and the gentry everywhere. Robinson's
death brought into the open the extent of his financial problems and
persons to whom he had loaned money.

In 1766 Virginians were treated to another new phenomenon--an open and
free press. From 1732 when William Parks set up the Virginia Gazette
until 176