The commercial trips taken by Lewis gave him an enlarged view of men and things. In Europe he had witnessed the aggressions of the rich landed proprietors upon the poorer classes, and the untold wrongs perpetrated upon the white slaves of the mines and manufacturing towns. His natural, inherent sense of right led him to endorse and freely proclaim the doctrine, "that all men are born free and equal." Wherever he went he beheld the outrages which the assumed leaders imposed upon the common people. He saw how utterly powerless they were to remove the burdens and restrictions which stood in the way of their advancement. Everywhere he found power trampling upon human rights. In him the downtrodden and oppressed ever found a faithful friend and helper. As he always kept his eyes and ears open, he was prepared with force and vigor to oppose the encroachments of the British Crown upon the rights of the people. Looking upon America as the home of the oppressed, with whom he always sympathized, he at once became greatly attached to his adopted country. Watching with close scrutiny every act of the mother country, he early foresaw that the demands of Great Britain would eventually result in a rupture. George II. died October 25, 1760, and was succeeded by his grandson, George III., a young man of twenty-two years of age. Shortly after his accession, and on the 18th of November, 1761, Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden assumed control of affairs in the colony of New York, during the temporary absence of Governor Monckton. Governor Monckton returned after capturing the island of Martinique in June, 1762, and remained in office until June, 1763, when he returned to his native land, again leaving the management of affairs in the hands of Lieutenant-Governor Colden. During Monckton's career, it may be said that the principles of liberty were first invaded by an assault upon the independence of the judiciary by the board of trade. Justice Pratt was appointed chief justice in the place of De Lancey. The board of trade declared that he should hold office during the pleasure of the King, and not during good behavior, as had always been the rule. Such a declaration and assumption gave the King power to remove for political reasons any judge in the land, thus making the judge but a tool of the King, and depriving him of that independence which could alone render his decisions entitled to respect. The people naturally looked upon this action as an invasion of their civil rights, and calculated to destroy the confidence of the community in the expounders of the law. To their credit be it said that both Monckton and Colden boldly opposed the measure.