"Whereas I am informed that a Roman Catholic priest is at this time in Harbour Grace, and that he publicly read Mass, which is contrary to law, and against the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King; you are hereby required and directed, on the receipt of this, to cause the said priest to be taken into custody, and sent round to this place. In this you are not to fail." Mr Pedley quotes a letter from Governor Bonfoy to certain justices, which grimly illustrates the prevalence of crime in the eighteenth century: "Whereas I think, for the good of this island in general, that gallows should be erected in the several districts, in order to deter from their robberies a parcel of villains, who think that they can do what they please with impunity.... You are, therefore, hereby required and directed to cause gallows to be erected in the most public places in your several districts, and cause all such persons as are guilty of robbery, felony, or the like crimes, to be sent round to this place in order to take their trial at the annual assizes held here, as I am determined to proceed against all such with the utmost severity of the law. Given under my hand at St. John's, the 12th of October, 1754." Newfoundland was naturally affected by the rebellion of the American colonies. Of these Montcalm, in 1758, had written with rare insight: "The several advices I daily receive assure me England will one day lose her colonies. As to the English colonies, one essential point should be known: it is, that they are never taxed. The Mother Country should have taxed them from the foundation; I have certain advice that all the colonies would take fire at being taxed now."[30] The expulsion of the French from America had already lessened the dependence of the colonies upon the home country, when the House of Commons directed its corrupt and blighting attention to the English colonial system. The Stamp Act was passed in 1764, and repealed in 1766. In 1768 came Charles Townshend's mischievous duty on tea; and the American Congress met at Lexington in 1774. At this time the resident population of Newfoundland amounted to over 12,000[31] and it was soon realized that the colony would be gravely affected by the outbreak of war. Congress at once prohibited all trade with the English colonies. The seriousness of this blow was extreme, for Newfoundland was largely dependent upon the American trade for the necessaries of life. Want and tempest worked together for ill, and the year 1775 is one of the blackest in the history of the colony. The treaty with France in 1778 brought to the American colonists a success which their resources and, it must be added, their resolution could hardly have won alone, and once more exposed Newfoundland to European attacks. It was protected by the energy and resource of Governor Montague.