THE FRENCH WAR AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.*
As time goes on, juster, because more philosophical, views of the American Revolution, as Americans call the revolt of the thirteen Colonies, are superseding the passionate and partial judgments that prevailed on both sides of the sea during the century following the Declaration of Independence. The Statesmen, whose ill-advised measures provoked the British to rebellion, are no longer regarded as a compound of tyranny and imbecility, nor the Colonists as single-minded patriots, whose sole motive was hatred of oppression, and whose prowess alone secured them the victory. As Professor Sloane in his in work shows, there are two sides to the question, as there were two parties to the quarrel, neither of whom was wholly right nor wholly wrong. Though the Colonists had grounds of complaint against England, they had to thank her for their free institutions as well as for the expulsion of the French from America,—an event that indirectly caused and rendered possible the revolution that afterwards came to pass. This is the principal theme of the book. It begins with the old French War—the war of 1756—and ends with the conversion of the English Commonwealths into the United States of America. When that conflict arose, the English settlers occupied only a relatively small portion of the Northern Continent. Georgia was their most southern, Maine their most northern possession, and the average width of their- territories was less than ten degrees of longitude. France, on the other hand, owned the whole of Canada, all the great lakes and the valley of the St. Lawrence, besides laying claim to the valley of the Mississippi, and the vast region on which they conferred the name /A New France. In addition to Mexico, Spain held Florida and New Spain, a domain reaching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Moreover, the English, though forming part of the British Empire and loyal subjects of the Crown, were split up into separate com- munities, having little in common politically save allegiance to the Mother-country, which, for the most part, left them te work out their destinies after their own fashion. Neverthe- less, Professor Sloane holds that union and independence were even then in the air,—a consummation which the War of 1756 brought within measurable distance. While the French, held so large a part of the continent, and the West swarmed with hostile Indians, it would have been out of the question for the Englishmen of the New World to dispense with the protection of Britain ; and without her aid the French had never been expelled from the continent. They took an active- part in the contest, and potently contributed to its successful results, thereby, as Professor Sloane observes, learning the necessity of union, and becoming conscious of a common des- tiny. But the war cost England "millions of money," and as- it had been waged quite as much on behalf of the Colonies as. the Mother-country, it did not seem unreasonable to ask them to provide some part of the outlay. Unfortunately, however, the Government went the wrong way to work. Instead of asking the Colonial Legislatures to vote grants-in-aid, they proposed to tax the Colonists by the sole authority of the British Parliament. To this proceeding the Colonists offered, a strenuous resistance on the principle of "No taxation, no re- presentation,"—a principle which presently became "No repre- sentation, no legislation." This was practically a demand for separation, since, if the Mother-country could neither tax the Colonies, even for their own benefit, nor legislate for them, and
were to be allowed no other privilege than that of defending them from their enemies, the connection was hardly worth maintaining. Yet it was quite within their right, and as everybody can see now, the Home Government had done well to concede the point. But everybody could not see it then, and while visiting the weakness of Lord North and the narrow-mindedness of George III. with reprobation, it is only fair to give them the benefit of extenuating circumstances. In the end, the British Government did make important con- cessions; but they came too late, the Colonists were too much exasperated to abate an iota of their demands. The Boston Tea affair was rather the occasion than the cause of the strife. The Home Government proposed that the East India Com- pany should export its tea direct to America free of any English tax, and subject only to the old threepenny-duty in the ports of entry. The right of Parliament to tax imports into the Colonies being thus admitted, the importers were to have a drawback equal to the amount collected. In effect, therefore, the tea would have been untaxed. But the 'proposed compromise was indignantly declined, the tea was thrown into Boston harbour, and the war began. American historians call this "resistance to oppression," though it is difficult to see where the oppression comes in. Other oppression there was none, the restrictions imposed on American trade being quite in accordance with the ideas of the age, and not regarded as a grievance even by the -colonists themselves.
Of the events that befell during the period in question, Professor Sloane gives a narrative which, besides being clear, is singularly impartial. True, it is a more than thrice-told tale, but he tells it well, and holds the scales so evenly, that some of his countrymen are likely to complain that he favours the wrong side. He frankly admits that as the revolutionary war neared its end, the Americans became heartily sick of it. "The rejoicings over the surrender at Yorktown," he observes, "were general and hearty, but they were not followed by any preparations for the active continuance of operations. There was a universal reliance on some hoped- 'for turn of affairs in English politics,—a settled determination to raise no further funds or men, and a stolid persistence in sectional self-assertion, with no care for the public interests except among the patriotic few." From which it may be inferred that, had England persevered, the colonies might have been reduced to submission. Fortunately for all parties
concerned, wiser counsels prevailed. The Englishmen in America would never have forgiven their subjuga- tion or been reconciled to their conquerors, and a Trans- atlantic Ireland would have haiftpered the Mother-country in peace, and paralysed her in war. The hoped-for turn in English politics occurred=a change to which quite as much as to American constancy and valour, the final cessation of hostilities, and the emancipation of the Colonies were due. "The war was over," writes Professor Sloane, ." but Americans could not know it a certitude, while, in fact, the revolution was far from being accomplished. The rest of the straggle was to be fought in the English Par- liament. The truth, unpalatable perhaps to the self-sufficient, but comforting to the patriot, is that the stars in their courses had been fighting for American Independence." A reflection which should surely make some American writers a little less self-sufficient and a little more modest than they are wont to be.
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