Soon after the repeal of the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts were passed in 1767. They were called the Townshend Acts because the British Chancellor of the Exchequer (a position similar to the present-day United States Secretary of the Treasury) who originated them was Charles Townshend. The acts placed a duty (an external tax) upon glass, paper, painters' colors, white lead and tea. The revenue collected from these duties was to be used for the payment of salaries of judges and other colonial officials in the attempt to make such positions less influenced by the colonial legislature. The colonists objected strongly to the Townshend Acts, again stating that the taxes so collected were for the purpose of revenue and not for protection. The merchant class of the large cities in the colonies and the Virginia planters in particular were so strongly affected by these acts that they formed a retaliatory organization called the Non-Importation Association. Although Lord Botetourt, the royal Governor of Virginia at this time, dissolved the Virginia Assembly, and individual members met privately at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg and agreed to enter into such a non-importation agreement. This group agreed not to import slaves, wines or goods from Great Britain unless the objectionable taxes were abolished. This agreement caused a great reduction in the number of imports from Great Britain to these colonies. Since Virginia had the largest amount of commerce trade in England at this time, this method proved effective. Acts of violence even occured in some of the colonies--for example, the Boston Massacre. Finally, on March 5, 1770, the Townshend Acts were repealed with the exception of the tax on tea: three pence per pound. This tax was retained supposedly to assert the right of Parliament to tax the colonists whenever it so desired. In spite of this repeal, friction between colonial legislatures and royal Governors continued. Under the leadership of Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Committees of Correspondence were appointed in 1773 whose chief objective was to keep the various colonies informed by correspondence of the events occurring within their colony which were contrary to the rights and privileges of the colonists. The Virginia General Assembly appointed a Committee of Correspondence under the leadership of Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and George Mason. The condition which caused this permanent committee to be organized at this time was the continuous threat of England to force Americans to be tried in England for offenses against the law. These committees within the various colonies became very active and persuasive. The British soon abandoned their idea of sending Americans to England to be tried. However, these committees increased rapidly in number as the grievances of the colonists increased, and they gradually created a feeling of unity in the colonies as a result of a better understanding of common problems.