xxvin WAS THE WAR NECESSARY ? 365 



leaders of political thought in Britain were on the side 

 of freedom. Chatham was passing, but his spirit survived 

 him, and was clothed with a wider vision than his in 

 the eloquence of Burke, the unrivalled powers of Fox, 

 and the legal acumen of Camden. Would not the Ameri- 

 can cause have triumphed in the end without the rude 

 arbitrament of war ? It was Franklin's own belief 

 before the war that the rise of the Whig and the trading 

 interests would infallibly overthrow all the enemies of 

 America, and produce an acknowledgment of her rights. 1 

 Too much stress must not be laid upon Whig convictions, 

 for the party, though popular, was an oligarchy, and 

 united only when in opposition. But liberty was in the 

 air : the teachings of Price and the reforming spirit of 

 Wyvill evoked a deep response. The short ministry of 

 Rockingham in 1782 took some important steps towards 

 reform, and the movement that was destined to lead on 

 to democratic institutions in the future could not have 

 withheld its sympathies from the cause of colonial freedom. 

 Some justification then had Fothergill, a lover of liberty 

 and of peace, for the position he took in this crisis. The 

 government of the world might be founded on force, but 

 of all the potencies those of right and truth and love 

 would be found in the end the strongest. 



The negotiations in 'which Fothergill bore a part were 

 amply vindicated, when the British ministry offered to 

 the Americans three years later much the same terms as 

 they had themselves rejected when proposed by him and 

 his friends. Theirs was a courageous effort, and its 

 failure left an enduring regret on the mind of one who 

 knew better than most men what was worth doing. 

 Looking back across the waste of war upon his work 

 with Fothergill, Franklin wrote thus to Barclay : " How 

 much might have been done, and how much mischief 

 prevented, if his, your and my joint endeavours in a 

 certain melancholy affair had been attended to." 2 



1 Feb. 1775, Smyth, vi. 309. 



* Letter cited, Feb. 12, 1781 ; Letter, D. Barclay to B. F., Dec. 27, 1782, 

 Amer. Phil. Soc. Calendar, vii. 84. The sources of this chapter other than 

 those of a general historical character are indicated in the footnotes. 



