Pownall was opposed to Lord North 's partial repeal in 1770 of the hated Townshend Acts , in which the tax on tea was retained as a symbol of Parliamentary power . In debate on the act , Pownall pointed out that retention of the tax would be a " millstone " around English necks rather than a yoke on American ones , and that it would lead to civil war . His speech was delivered March 5 , 1770 , the day of the Boston Massacre . Dispirited by his view that Parliament failed to understand the American colonial issues , he urged his colonial correspondents to continue to press constitutional issues and avoid violence
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
Thomas Pownall