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the prejudice of British sovereignty: and, therefore, notwithstanding the imminent peril of a foreign war against a powerful enemy, the articles of the confederation were not approved.

But the ministers of England were not disposed to let this occasion escape them, of increasing, if it was possible, the authority of the government in America, and especially that of imposing taxes; a thing most of all desired on the one side of the ocean, and detested on the other. Instead, therefore, of the plan proposed by the Americans, the ministers drew up another, which they addressed to the governors of the colonies, to be offered by them to the colonial assemblies. It was proposed by the ministers; That the governors of all the colonies, assisted by one or two members of the councils, should assemble, to concert measures, for the organisation of a general system of defence, to construct fortresses, to levy troops, with authority to draw upon the British treasury for all sums that might be requisite; the treasure to be reimbursed by way of a tax, which should be laid upon the colonies, by an act of parliament.'

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The drift of this ministerial expedient is not difficult to be understood, if it be considered that the governors, and members of the council, were almost all appointed by the king. Accordingly, the scheme had no success in America; its motives were ably developed, in a letter of Benjamin Franklin to governor Shirley, who had sent him the plan of the ministers. In this letter, the seeds of the discord which followed soon after, begin to make their appearance.*

The general court of Massachusetts wrote to their agent in London, to oppose every measure which should have for its object the establishment of taxes in America, under any pretext of utility whatOn the contrary, the governors, and particularly Shirley, insisted continually, in their letters to the ministers, that the thing was just, possible, and expedient.

ever.

These suspicions, this jealous inquietude, which agitated the minds of the Americans, ever apprehensive of a parliamentary tax, obtained with the more facility, as they found them already imbittered by ancient resentments. They had never been able to accustom themselves to certain laws of parliament, which, though not tending to impose contributions, yet greatly restricted the internal commerce of the colonies, impeded their manufactures, or wounded, in a thousand shapes, the self-love of the Americans, by treating them as if they were not men of the same nature with the English, or as if, by clipping the wings of American genius, it was intended to retain them in a state of inferiority and degradation. Such was the act prohibiting the felling of pitch and white pine trees, not comprehended within enclosures; such was that which interdicted the exportation from the colonies, and also the introduction from one colony

* See Note I.

into another, of hats, and woollens, of domestic manufacture, and forbade hatters to have at one time, more than two apprentices; also that passed to facilitate the collection of debts in the colonies, by which houses, lands, slaves, and other real effects, were made liable for the payment of debts; and finally, that which was passed in 1733, at the instance of the sugar colonies, which prohibited the importation of sugar, rum, and molasses, from the French and Dutch colonies in North America, without paying an exorbitant duty. To these should be added another act of parliament, passed in 1750, according to which, after the 24th of June of the same year, certain works in iron could not be executed in the American colonies; by a clause of the same act, the manufacture of steel was forbidden. Nor should we omit another, which regulated and restricted the bills of credit issued by the government of New England, and by which it was declared, that they should not have legal currency in the payment of debts, that English creditors might not be injured by the necessity of receiving a depreciated paper, instead of money. This regulation, though just, the Americans received with displeasure, as tending to discredit their currency. Hence originated the first discontents on the part of the colonists, and the first sentiments of distrust on the part of the English.

At the same time, it was pretended, in England, that if the colonists, on account of the commercial restrictions, so beneficial to the mother country, had merely demanded to be treated with tenderness and equity in the imposition of taxes, nothing would have been more just and reasonable; but that it could not be at all endured, that they should refuse the European country every species of ulterior succour; that England, in reserving to herself the commerce of her colonies, had acted according to the practice of all modern nations; that she bad imitated the example of the Spaniards and of the Portuguese, and that she had done so with a moderation unknown to the governments of these nations. In founding these distant colonies, it was said, England had caused them to participate in all the rights and privileges that are enjoyed by English subjects themselves in their own country; leaving the colonists at liberty to govern themselves, according to such local laws as the wisdom and prudence of their assemblies had deemed expedient; in a word, she had granted the colonies the most ample authority to pursue their respective interests, only reserving to herself the benefit of their commerce, and a political connexion under the same sovereign. The French and Dutch colonies, and particularly those of Spain and Portugal, were far from being treated with the same indulgence; and also, notwithstanding these restrictions, the subject of so much complaint, the English colonies had immense capitals in their commerce, or in their funds; for besides the rich cargoes of the products of their lands, exported in British ships which came to trade in their ports, the

Americans had their own ships, which served to transport with an incredible profit, their productions and merchandise, not only to the mother country, but also, thanks to her maternal indulgence, to almost all parts of the world, and to carry home the commodities and luxuries of Europe, at will. And thus, in the English colonies, the enormous prices at which European merchandise is sold in the Spanish and Portuguese establishments, were not only unusual, but absolutely unheard of; it was even remarkable that many of these articles were sold in the American colonies at the same, or even at a lower price than in England itself. The restrictions imposed by Great Britain upon the American commerce, tended rather to a just and prudent distribution of this traffic, between all the parts of its vast dominions, than to a real prohibition; if English subjects were allowed to trade in all parts of the world, the same permission was granted to American subjects, with the exception of the north of Europe, and the East Indies. In Portugal, in Spain, in Italy, in all the Mediterranean, upon the coasts of Africa, in all the American hemisphere, the ships of the English colonies might freely carry on commerce. The English laws, for the protection of this commerce, were wise and well conceived, since they were calculated to increase the exportation of their own produce from the American ports, and to facilitate, for the colonists, the means of clearing their forests and cultivating their soil, by the certain vent of an immense quantity of timber, with which their country is covered. They could not, it was admitted, procure themselves certain articles, except in the ports of England; but it was just to consider, that the American lands, from their nature and vast extent, must offer sufficient occupation both for the minds and the hands of the inhabitants, without its being necessary that they should ramble abroad in search of gain, like the inhabitants of other countries, already cultivated to perfection.

Besides, if England reserved to herself an exclusive commerce, in certain kinds of merchandise, how did this concern, or how injure, the Americans? These objects appertaining for the most part to the refined luxury of social life, in what country could they procure them in greater perfection, or at a more moderate price, than in England? The affection and liberality of the British government towards its colonies, had gone so far, as not only to abstain from imposing duties upon English manufactures destined for their ports, but even had induced it to exempt foreign merchandise from all duties, when exported by England to America; thus causing it to become so common in some colonies, as to be sold at a lower price than in certain countries of Europe.

It should not be forgotten, that the most entire liberty was granted for the exchange of productions between North America and the islands of the West Indies, a trade from which the English colonists derived immense advantages. And in fact, notwithstanding the re

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strictions laid upon the commerce of the Americans, did there not remain amply sufficient to render them a rich, happy, and enterprising people? Was not their prosperity known, and even envied, by the whole world? Assuredly, if there was any part of the globe where man enjoyed a sweet and pleasant life, it was especially in English America. Was not this an irrefragable proof, a striking example, of the maternal indulgence of England towards her colonies? Let the Americans compare their condition with that of foreign colonists, and they would soon confess, not without gratitude towards the mother country, both their real felicity, and the futility of their complaints.

But all these and other considerations that were alleged by England, had not the effect to satisfy the Americans, and many discontents remained. The French, animated by the spirit of rivalship, which has so long existed between their nation and the British, neglected no means of inflaming the wounds which the Americans had received, or thought they had received, from their fellow citizens in England. The flourishing state of the English colonies, was a spectacle which the French had long been unable to observe with indifference. They had at first the design of establishing others for themselves, in some part of this immense continent, hoping to reap from them the same benefits which the English derived from theirs; and to be able, at length, to give another direction to the commerce of America, and of Europe. They intended, by good laws, or by the employment of their arms, to repair the disadvantages of soil and of climate, observable in the countries which had falien to their share. But the French government being more inclined for arms than for commerce, and the nation itself having a natural bias much stronger in favor of the one than towards the other of these professions, their resolutions were soon taken accordingly. And as their character, also, disposes them to form vast designs, and renders. them impatient to enjoy without delay, they began immediately to fortify themselves, and to enlarge their limits. Bastions, redoubts, arsenals, and magazines, were established at every point, and in a short time a line of French posts was seen to extend from one extremity of the continent to the other; but military power can neither supply population nor commerce, nor develop the advantages of either. These fortresses, these arms, these garrisons, occupied desert or steril regions. An immense solitude, impenetrable forests, surrounded them on all sides.

The conduct of the English was very different; they advanced only step by step, restricting themselves to the cultivation of what they possessed, and not seeking to extend themselves, until urged by the exigencies of an increased population. Their progress was therefore slow, but sure; they occupied no new lands, until those they had occupied at first were carried to the highest degree of cul

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tivation, and inhabited by a sufficient number of individuals. A method so different, could not fail to produce effects totally contrary; and in effect, a century after the foundation of the English and French colonies, the former presented the image of fertility and abundance, while the latter exhibited but a steril and scarcely inhabited region.

Meanwhile the French reflecting that either from the rigor of the climate, or the sterility of the soil, or from defect of industry, or of suitable laws, they could not hope to direct towards their establishment the commerce of the English colonies, or at least to share its benefits; convinced, on the other hand, that these colonies were an inexhaustable source of riches and power for a rival nation, they resolved to resort to arms, and to obtain by force what they had failed to acquire by their industry. They hoped that the discontent of the Americans would manifest itself, and produce favorable events; or at least, that they would be less prompt to engage in the contest. They well knew that in the American arms, men, munitions, and treasure, must consist all the nerve and substance of the war.

Proceeding with their accustomed impatience, without waiting till their preparations were completed, they provoked the enemy, sometimes complaining that he had occupied lands appertaining to them, sometimes themselves invading or disturbing his possessions. This the British government deeply resented; and war between the two nations broke out, in the year 1755. But the effects little corresponded with such confident hopes; the councils of England being directed by William Pitt, afterwards earl of Chatham, a man, for the power of his genius, and the purity of his manners, rather single, than rare; the affairs of Great Britain succeeded so prosperously, and her arms acquired so decided a superiority, by land and sea, that her enemies, wearied, worsted, and having lost all hopes of victory, accepted the conditions of the peace of Paris, which was concluded in 1763. It guarantied to the English the possession of the vast continent of North America, from the banks of the Mississippi to the shores of Greenland; but the most important point for them, was the cession made them, by France, of Canada.

England also gained, by this treaty, many valuable islands in the West Indies; and so greatly was her power extended in the east, and so solid were the foundations on which it reposed, that her commerce and her arms soon reigned there almost without a competitor.

The Americans, on their part, displayed so much zeal in sustaining, with their arms and resources, the efforts of the common country, that, besides the glory they acquired, they were deemed worthy to participate in the advantages which resulted to England from so many successes.

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