had avoided them by refusing to import from
England. A thorough test of nearly two years showed that from north to
south the colonies were almost a unit in rejecting English and foreign
goods, and in relying on home manufactures. From importations of more
than a million and a quarter pounds, two-thirds fell clean away,[28] and
the merchants of England felt the pinch. There was but one thing to do,
and England grudgingly did it. The withdrawal of the troops from Boston
was acquiesced in, and the revenue acts, the cause of all the trouble,
were repealed, except for a duty still maintained upon tea.

The response was such that England was relieved. New York began to
import those articles which had been made free of duty. The
non-importation agreement was broken, as the colonies perceived. "You
had better send us your old liberty pole," wrote Philadelphia scornfully
to New York, "since you clearly have no further use for it."[29] Whigs
and Tories both saw that, the agreement thus broken, other colonies
would follow the example of New York.

The advantage was now clearly with the king, and he endeavored to make
the most of it, not by abiding in peace, but by taking a further step.
He ordered that colonial judges should in future be paid from the
English treasury. No one in the colonies could fail to see that the blow
was aimed directly at the independence of the judiciary.

Massachusetts was alarmed. Boston sent resolutions to the governor, but
Hutchinson, now at last in the chair, refused to listen to the town
meeting. In this moment of indignation, Samuel Adams conceived a scheme
which was the longest step yet taken toward independence.

This was the idea of Committees of Correspondence, to be permanently
maintained by each town and even by each colony. The idea of such
committees was not novel. It had been suggested years before by Jonathan
Mayhew, and had more than once been used in emergencies. But permanent
committees, watching affairs and at any time ready to act, were new.
Naturally composed of the best men in each town, they would at all times
be ready to speak, and to speak vigorously. The plan, when perfected,
eventually enabled the colonies to act as a unit. From the first it gave
strength to the Americans; in the present instance it spread the news of
the king's action and roused indignation, and before long it brought
about an act which startled the English-speaking world.

This was the Boston Tea-Party. T