54 



DISCOVERY 



a no less successful fight for self-government in the 

 American Colonics. 



" By 1765," says Mr. Dickerson in his recent book, 

 the nominated Councils " had been robbed of their 

 chief legislative powers, judges and other oflicers had 

 become dependent upon the Lower House ; the 

 (iovemors had been reduced to inefficient figureheads, 

 dependent upon the Assemblies for their daily bread, 

 and impotent to obey the orders they received from 

 England. There are few stories more fascinating than 

 the account of this gradual subversion of the old colonial 

 constitution by our stubborn forefathers, and the 

 substitution in its place of a Government which could 

 be controlled independent of the Mother-Count rj'." 

 A Governor depended for his own salarj', and for those 

 of his various officials, on the popular Assembly ; he 

 had to consult the Speaker of that Assembly upon 

 nearly all measures, and had to take his advice if he 

 wished things to go smoothly. The Speaker became, 

 in fact, almost the local Prime Minister. No doubt 

 there were grievances. The power of veto was one ; 

 the deficiency and corruptness of some of the Governors 

 sent from England was another ; the slowness of 

 communications and the dilatoriness of the Home 

 Government was another. But when all is said, the 

 Colonies were, as regards Government, in a far more 

 favourable position than any other Colonies at that 

 time in the world ; and far more independent than 

 the territories — or colonies — which the United States 

 themselves controlled in later years ! 



The situation, then, in 1765 was a system of Defence 

 which left too much to the Mother-Country ; a system 

 of Trade regulations which, from its very nature, was 

 difficult to work fairly; and a system of government in 

 which the American Colonies hadobtained, through their 

 own efforts, a position of independence which they were 

 not at all likely under any circumstances to surrender. 



The third feature which made matters difficult was 

 the Seven Years' War.' That war had, owing to the 

 genius of the elder Pitt, seen magnificent successes — 

 Hawke and Boscawen had won two memorable sea 

 victories at Quiberon and Lagos ; Wolfe had won 

 Canada on the Heights of Abraham ; the Engfish in- 

 fantry had won the Battle of Mindcn on the plains of 

 Germany. The Battle of Plassey had made us king- 

 makers in Bengal, that of \\'andewash had ruined 

 the French ambitions in Southern India. But never- 

 theless that war was largely responsible for the loss of 

 the United States. In the first place, by giving us 

 Canada it had freed the English Colonies from the 

 French danger; as Mr. J. R. Green put it years ago, 



' The Seven Years' War (1756-63) was fought, it will be 

 remembered, between Great Britain and Prussia on the one 

 side, and France, Austria, and Russia on the other ; and 

 towards the close of the war Spain joined France and her 

 allies. 



" With the victory of Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham 

 began the history of the United States." It is quite 

 unfair, of course, to suggest that the Colonies were 

 conscious that they could now rebel in safety ; but 

 the point of importance is that, when the difficulties 

 did arise, they were able to take a far stronger position 

 because they no longer required the help of the Mother- 

 Country against the French. Secondly, the war had 

 left England burdened with an enormous debt, vcr>' 

 heavy taxation, and no security for the future, as it 

 was known that France and Spain were preparing for 

 revenge. And at the end of every war, as at the end 

 of the Great War we have just been engaged on, comes 

 the cry for economy. The largeness of the national 

 debt makes people talk of national bankruptcy, and 

 there is an unwillingness to incur fresh obligations. 

 That was the situation of England in 1765, as in 1920. 

 And then came the fourth circumstance which 

 brought matters to a head. There was a great rising 

 of the Indians under the formidable Pontiac along 

 the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The 

 country for twenty miles inside the frontier over a long 

 distance was completely desolated and several forts 

 were lost. The position was very critical. Eventu- 

 ally, after a long conflict of fourteen months, the revolt 

 was put down, chiefly by British forces. The Colonies, 

 owing to their want of unity and various jealousies, 

 had done badly. Massachusetts, for instance, had 

 refused to help at all ; Connecticut with great reluc- 

 tance had sent but 250 men. The failure of the Colonies 

 to combine, and the possibilities of future difficulties 

 with the Indians, forced the British Government 

 to the conclusion that they must keep an army of 

 10,000 men in America. But the question at once 

 arose who was to pay for that army ? Would Great 

 Britain, with her heavy debt and her prospect of futiu"e 

 wars and her already undue burdens in the way of 

 defence, undertake the whole cost of an army designed 

 solely for the defence of the American Colonies ? Could 

 the Colonies, disunited as they were, be got to agree 

 on some system whereby they should be responsible 

 for part of the expense ? If the answer to both 

 these questions was in the negative, would the Colonies, 

 flushed %vith success in the struggle for self-government 

 and now free from the French menace, submit to ta.xa- 

 tion imposed from outside ? Obviously the problem 

 was a difficult one — how George Gren\-ille dealt with 

 it and how he ought to have dealt with it will be the 

 subject of discussion in a second article. 



Some Wonders oj Mailer. By the Rt. Rev. J. E. 

 Mercer. (S.P.C.K., 5s. net.) 

 A popular introduction to the study of the atom, 

 radium, electrons, etc., written clearly, in a friendly and 

 enthusiastic style not usually associated with scientific 

 books. A first introduction to Science. 



