It was late in May, 1766, that a vessel arrived in Virginia waters bearing the news that the Stamp Act had been repealed. As horsemen galloped along the roads and boatsmen in their shallops ascended the great rivers, the word was passed from mouth to mouth. Everywhere there was joyous celebration. At Great Bridge the people listened to a patriotic sermon in St. Giles Church, and then went to the Banqueting Room, where they raised their glasses in a series of toasts--to the King and Queen, Colonel Barre, and others. At Hampton there was a banquet at the Bunch of Grapes, followed by a ball at the King's Arms Tavern, while outside there was a great bonfire.[52] The people of Williamsburg waited for their celebration until the convening of the court when the town was crowded. Then every house was illuminated, and there was "a ball and elegant entertainment at the Capitol," marked by "much mirth" and the drinking of toasts.[53] With the French and Indian War brought to a successful conclusion, with the problem of currency inflation settled, with the Stamp Act repealed, it seemed that Fauquier might look forward to a period of harmony and prosperity. But fate soon struck a cruel blow. In the summer of 1767 the Governor became ill with a very painful disorder. And though, under the care of Dr. Matthew Pope, of York, he became better, he never fully recovered his health.[54] He died in the early hours of March 3, 1768. In his will he directed that if the nature of his illness should not be understood by his physicians, an autopsy be held on his body, so that he might become more useful to his fellow creatures in death than he had been in life. He desired, also, that he be buried "without any vain funeral pomp."[55] Francis Fauquier was an able, just, tactful Governor, who tried to do his duty both to the King and to the colony. His was an extremely difficult task. His sympathies seem to have been with the people. Living among them, knowing their views, he must have deplored the policy of the Ministry in trying to deprive them of the cherished right of self-government. Great Britain's strongest link with America was not the link of government, not even the economic link, but the link of affection. And nothing tended more to strengthen it than the appointment of such a man as Fauquier to be Lieutenant Governor of the largest of the colonies. It would have been a lasting grief to Fauquier had he lived to see the final separation of mother country and colonies. FOOTNOTES: [1] _The writings of Thomas Jefferson_, ed. A. A. Lipscomb, 14:231. [2] CO5-1329, June 11, 1758. [3] CO5-1329, Blair to Lords of Trade, June 20, 1758. [4] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_ 1: 375. [5] CO5-1329, June 28, 1758. [6] Charles Campbell, _History of Virginia_, 508. [7] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1761-1765: xlii-xlvi. [8] _William and Mary Quarterly_, First Ser. 19: 16. [9] CO5-1329, Jan. 5, 1759. [10] CO5-1329. Read May 23, 1759.