Chapter XII: Front Matter (12)

Nothing less than “a vast continent” seems to him the sphere of this remarkable development, and he revolts at the idea of this being held “at the discretion of a handful of people on the other side of the Atlantic.”[507] In the measures which brought on the war he saw “the hand of Providence _working to bring about some great ends_.”[508] And the vast continent was to be dedicated to Liberty. The excellent man saw even the end of Slavery. Speaking of “the negroes of the Southern Colonies,” he said that they “probably will now either soon become extinct or _have their condition changed into that of freemen_.”[509] Years and battle intervened before this precious result.

This production was followed in 1777 by “Additional Observations on the Nature and Value of Civil Liberty, and the War with America,”--to which was added “Observations on Public Loans, the National Debt, and the Debts and Resources of France.” In all this variety of topics, his concern for America breaks forth in the inquiry, “Must not humanity shudder at such a war?”[510] And he sees untold loss to England, which, with the Colonies, “might be the greatest and happiest nation that ever existed”; but without them “we are no more a people; … our existence depends on keeping them.”[511] This patriotic gloom is checked by another vision:--

“These measures have, in all probability, hastened that
disruption of the New from the Old World, _which will begin a
new era in the annals of mankind_, and produce a revolution
more important, perhaps, than any that has happened in human
affairs.”[512]

Thus was American Independence heralded, and its influence foretold.

Constantly sympathizing with America, and impressed by the magnitude of the issue, his soul found another utterance, in 1778, in what he called “The General Introduction and Supplement to the Two Tracts on Civil Liberty, the War with America, and the Finances of the Kingdom.” Here again he sees a vision:--

“A great people, likely to be formed, in spite of all our
efforts, into free communities, under governments which have no
religious tests and establishments. A new era in future annals,
and a new opening in human affairs, beginning, among the
descendants of Englishmen, in a new world. _A rising empire,
extended over an immense continent, without bishops, without
nobles, and without kings._”[513]

After the recognition of Independence and the establishment of peace, Dr. Price appeared with another tract: “Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution and the Means of making it a Benefit to the World.” This was in 1784. And here he repeated the exultation of an earlier day:--

“With heartfelt satisfaction I see the revolution in favor
of universal liberty which has taken place in America,--_a
revolution which opens a new prospect in human affairs_, and
begins a new era in the history of mankind.… Perhaps I do not
go too far, when I say, that, next to the introduction of
Christianity among mankind, the American Revolution may prove
the most important step in the progressive course of human
improvement.”[514]

Thus announcing the grandeur of the epoch, he states that it “may produce a general diffusion of the principles of humanity,” and may lead mankind to see and know “that all legitimate government consists in the dominion of _equal laws_, made with common consent,” which is another expression of the primal truth of the Declaration of Independence. Then, referring to the “community or confederacy” of States, he says, “I can almost imagine that it is not impossible but that by such means _universal peace_ may be produced, and all war excluded from the world”; and he asks, “Why may we not hope to see this begun in America?”[515] May America be true to this aspiration! There is also a longing for Equality, and a warning against Slavery, with the ejaculation, in harmony with earlier words, “Let the United States continue forever what it is now their glory to be, a confederation of States, prosperous and happy, _without lords, without bishops, and without kings_.”[516] In the midst of the bloody conflict this vision had appeared, and he had sought to make it a reality.

His true friendship for our country and his devotion to humanity, with the modesty of his nature, appear in a letter to Franklin, 12th July, 1784, communicating a copy of the last production. After saying that “it is intended entirely for America,” the excellent counsellor proceeds:--

“I hope the United States will forgive my presumption in
supposing myself qualified to advise them.… The consciousness
which I have that it is well intended, and that my address
to them is the effusion of a heart that wishes to serve the
best interests of society, helps to reconcile me to myself
in this instance, and it will, I hope, engage the candor of
others.”[517]

The same sentiments which proved his sympathies with our country reappeared with fresh fires at the outbreak of the French Revolution, arousing, in opposition, the immortal eloquence of Burke. A discourse “On the Love of our Country,” preached at the Old Jewry, 4th November, 1789, in commemoration of the English Revolution, with friendly glances at what was then passing across the Channel, prompted the “Reflections on the Revolution in France.” The personal denunciation which is the beginning of that remarkable performance is the perpetual witness to the position of the preacher, whose prophetic soul did not hesitate to accept the French Revolution side by side with ours in glory and in promise.

GOVERNOR POWNALL, 1777, 1780, 1783.

Among the best friends of our country abroad during the trials of the Revolution was Thomas Pownall, called by one biographer “a learned antiquary and politician,” and by another “an English statesman and author.” Latterly he has so far dropped out of sight that there are few who recognize in him either of these characters. He was born 1722, and died at Bath 1805. During this long period he held several offices. As early as 1745 he became secretary to the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. In 1753 he crossed the ocean. In 1755, as Commissioner for Massachusetts Bay, he had a share in the negotiations with New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, in union with New England, which resulted in the confederated expedition against Crown Point. He was afterwards Governor of Massachusetts Bay, New Jersey, and South Carolina, successively. Returning to England, he was appointed, in 1762, Comptroller-General of the army in Germany, with the military rank of colonel. He sat in two successive Parliaments until 1780, when he passed into private life. Hildreth gives a glimpse of his personal character, when, admitting his frank manners and liberal politics, he describes his habits as “rather freer than suited the New England standard.”[518]

Pownall stands forth conspicuous for championship of our national independence, and especially for foresight with regard to our national future. In both these respects his writings are unique. Other Englishmen were in favor of independence, and saw our future also; but I doubt if any one can be named who was his equal in strenuous action, or in minuteness of foresight. While the war was still proceeding, as early as 1780, he openly announced, not only that independence was inevitable, but that the new nation, “founded in Nature and built up in truth,” would continually expand; that its population would increase and multiply; that a civilizing activity beyond what Europe could ever know would animate it; and that its commercial and naval power would be found in every quarter of the globe.[519] All this he set forth at length with argument and illustration, and he called his prophetic words “the _stating of the simple fact_, so little understood in the Old World.” Treated at first as “unintelligible speculation” and as “unfashionable,” the truth he announced was “neglected where it was not rejected, but in general rejected as inadmissible,” and the author, according to his own language, “was called by the wise men of the British Cabinet _a Wild Man_, unfit to be employed.”[520] But these writings are a better title now than any office. In manner they are diffuse and pedantic; but they hardly deserve the cold judgment of John Adams, who in his old age said of them that “a reader who has patience to search for good sense in an uncouth and disgusting style will find in those writings proofs of a thinking mind.”[521]

He seems to have written a good deal. But the works which will be remembered the longest are not even mentioned by several of his biographers. Rose, in his Biographical Dictionary, records works by him, entitled “Antiquities of the Provincia Romana of Gaul”; “Roman Antiquities dug up at Bath”; “Observations on the Currents in the Atlantic Ocean”; “Intellectual Physics”; and contributions to the “Archæologia”: nothing more. To this list Gorton, in his Biographical Dictionary, adds briefly, “besides many political tracts,” but without particular reference to the works on America. This is another instance where the stone rejected by the builders becomes the head of the corner.

At an early date Pownall comprehended the position of our country, geographically. He saw the wonderful means of internal communication supplied by its inland waters, and also the opportunities of external commerce afforded by the Atlantic Ocean. On the former he dwells, in a Memorial drawn up in 1756 for the Duke of Cumberland.[522] Nobody in our own day, after the experience of more than a century, has portrayed more vividly the two vast aqueous masses,--one composed of the Great Lakes and their dependencies, and the other of the Mississippi and its tributaries. The Great Lakes are described as “a wilderness of waters, spreading over the country by an infinite number and variety of branchings, bays, straits, &c.”[523] The Mississippi, with its eastern branch, called the Ohio, is described as having, “as far as we know, but two falls,--one at a place called by the French St. Antoine, high up on the west or main branch”; and all its waters “run to the ocean with a still, easy, and gentle current.”[524] The picture is completed by exhibiting the two masses in combination:--

“The waters of each respective mass--not only the lesser
streams, but the main general body of each going through
this continent in every course and direction--have, by their
approach to each other, by their interlacing with each other,
by their communication to every quarter and in every direction,
an alliance and unity, and form one mass, a one whole.”[525]

And he remarks, that it is thus seen

“how the watery element claims and holds dominion over this
extent of land: that the great lakes which lie upon its bosom
on one hand, and the great river Mississippi and the multitude
of waters which run into it, form there a communication,--an
alliance or dominion of the watery element, that commands
throughout the whole; that these great lakes appear to be
_the throne_, the _centre of a dominion_, whose influence,
by an infinite number of rivers, creeks, and streams, extends
itself through all and every part of the continent, supported
by the communication of, and alliance with, the waters of
Mississippi.”[526]

If these means of internal commerce were vast, those afforded by the Atlantic Ocean were not less extensive. The latter were developed in the treatise on “The Administration of the Colonies,” the fourth edition of which, published in 1768, is now before me. This was after the differences between the Colonies and the mother country had begun, but before the idea of independence had shown itself. Pownall insisted that the Colonies ought to be considered as parts of the realm, entitled to representation in Parliament. This was a constitutional unity. But he portrayed a commercial unity also, which he represented in attractive forms. The British Isles, and the British possessions in the Atlantic and in America, were, according to him, “a grand marine dominion,” and ought, therefore, by policy, to be united into one empire, with one centre. On this he dwells at length, and the picture is presented repeatedly.[527] It was incident to the crisis in the world produced by the predominance of the commercial spirit already beginning to rule the powers of Europe. It was the duty of England to place herself at the head of this great movement:--

“As the rising of this crisis above described forms precisely
the _object_ on which Government should be employed, so the
taking leading measures towards the forming all those Atlantic
and American possessions into one empire, of which Great
Britain should be the commercial and political centre, is the
_precise duty_ of Government at this crisis.”[528]

This was his desire. But he saw clearly the resources as well as the rights of the Colonies, and was satisfied, that, if power were not consolidated under the constitutional auspices of England, it would be transferred to the other side of the Atlantic. Here his words are prophetic:--

“The whole train of events, the whole course of business, must
perpetually bring forward into practice, and necessarily in
the end into establishment, _either an American or a British
union_. There is no other alternative.”[529]

The necessity for union is enforced in a manner which foreshadows our National Union:--

“The Colonial Legislature does certainly not answer all
purposes,--is incompetent and inadequate to many purposes.
Something, therefore, more is necessary,--_either a
common union amongst themselves_, or a one common union
of subordination under the one general legislature of the
state.”[530]

Then, again, in another place of the same work, after representing the declarations of power over the Colonies as little better than mockery, he prophesies:--

“Such is the actual state of the really existing system of our
dominions, that _neither the power of government over these
various parts can long continue under the present mode of
administration_, nor the great interest of commerce extended
throughout the whole long subsist under the present system of
the laws of trade.”[531]

Recent events may give present interest to his views, in this same work, on the nature and necessity of a paper currency, where he follows Franklin. The principal points of his plan were: That bills of credit, to a certain amount, should be printed in England for the use of the Colonies; that a loan-office should be established in each Colony, to issue bills, take securities, and receive the payments; that the bills should be issued for ten years, bearing interest at five per cent.,--one tenth part of the sum borrowed to be paid annually, with the interest; and that they should be a legal tender.[532]

When the differences had flamed forth in war, then the prophet became more earnest. His utterances deserve to be rescued from oblivion. He was open, almost defiant. As early as 2d December, 1777, some months before our treaty with France, he declared, from his place in Parliament, that “the sovereignty of this country over America is abolished and gone forever”; that “they are determined at all events to be independent, _and they will be so_”; and that “all the treaty that this country can ever expect with America is federal, and that, probably, only commercial.” In this spirit he said to the House:--

“Until you shall be convinced that you are no longer sovereigns
over America, but that the United States are an independent,
sovereign people,--until you are prepared to treat with them as
such,--it is of no consequence at all what schemes or plans of
conciliation this side the House or that may adopt.”[533]

The position taken in Parliament he maintained by writings; and here he depicted the great destinies of our country. He began with “A Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe,” published early in 1780, and afterwards, through the influence of John Adams, while at the Hague, abridged and translated into French. In this remarkable production independence was the least that he claimed for us. Thus he foretells our future:--

“North America is become a new primary planet in the system of
the world, which, while it takes its own course, in its own
orbit, must have effect on the orbit of every other planet,
and shift the common centre of gravity of the whole system of
the European world. North America is _de facto_ an independent
power, which has taken its equal station with other powers, and
must be so _de jure_.… The independence of America is fixed as
Fate. She is mistress of her own fortune, knows that she is
so, and will actuate that power which she feels she hath, so
as to establish her own system _and to change the system of
Europe_.”[534]

Not only is the new power to take an independent place, but it is “to change the system of Europe.” For all this its people are amply prepared. “Standing on that high ground of improvement up to which the most enlightened parts of Europe have advanced, like eaglets they commence the first efforts of their pinions from a towering advantage.”[535] This same conviction appears in another form:--

“North America has advanced and is every day advancing to
growth of state with a steady and continually accelerating
motion, of which there has never yet been any example in
Europe.”[536] “It is a vitality, liable indeed to many
disorders, many dangerous diseases; but it is young and strong,
and will struggle, by the vigor of internal healing principles
of life, against those evils, and surmount them.… Its strength
will grow with its years.”[537]

He then dwells in detail on “the progressive population” of the country; on its advantage in lying “on another side of the globe, where it has no enemy”; on the products of the soil, among which is “bread-corn to a degree that has wrought it to a staple export for the supply of the Old World”; on the fisheries, which he calls “mines producing more solid riches to those who work them than all the silver of Potosi”; on the inventive spirit of the people; and on their commercial activity.[538] Of such a people it is easy to predict great things; and our prophet announces,--

1. That the new state will be “a great naval power,” exercising a peculiar influence on commerce, and, through commerce, on the political system of the Old World,--becoming the arbitress of commerce, and perhaps the mediatrix of peace.[539]

2. That ship-building and the science and art of navigation have made such progress in America that her people will be able to build and navigate cheaper than any country in Europe, even Holland, with all her economy.[540]

3. That the peculiar articles to be had from America only, and so much sought in Europe, must give Americans a preference in those markets.[541]

4. That a people “whose empire stands singly predominant in a great continent” can hardly “suffer in their borders the establishment of such a monopoly as the European Hudson’s Bay Company”; that it cannot be stopped by Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope; that before long “they will be found trading in the South Sea and in China”; and that “the Dutch will hear of them in Spice Islands.”[542]

5. That by constant intercommunion of business and correspondence, and by increased knowledge with regard to the ocean, “America will seem every day to approach nearer and nearer to Europe”; that “a thousand attractive motives will … become the irresistible cause of _an almost general emigration to that New World_”; and that “many of the most useful, enterprising spirits, and much of the active property, will go there also.”[543]

6. That “North America will become a _free port_ to all the nations of the world indiscriminately, and will expect, insist on, and demand, in fair reciprocity, a _free market_ in all those nations with whom she trades”; and that, adhering to this principle, she must be, “in the course of time, the chief carrier of the commerce of the whole world.”[544]

7. That America must avoid complication with European politics, or “the entanglement of alliances,” having no connections with Europe “other than merely commercial”;[545]--all of which at a later day was put forth by Washington in his Farewell Address, when he said: “The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible”; and also when he asked: “Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?”[546]

8. That “the similar modes of living and thinking, the same manners and same fashions, the same language, and old habits of national love, impressed in the heart and not yet effaced, _the very indentings of the fracture whereat North America stands broken off from England, all conspire naturally to a rejuncture by alliance_.”[547]

9. That the sovereigns of Europe, who “have despised the unfashioned, awkward youth of America,” and have neglected to interweave their interests with the rising States, when they find the system of the new empire not only obstructing, but superseding, the old system of Europe, and crossing all their settled maxims, will call upon their ministers and wise men, “Come, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me.”[548]

This remarkable appeal was followed by two Memorials, “drawn up solely for the King’s use, and designed solely for his eye,”[549] dated at Richmond, January 2, 1782, where the author most persuasively urges his Majesty to “treat with the Americans as with free states _de facto_, under a truce.”[550] And on the signature of the treaty of peace he wrote a private letter to Franklin, dated at Richmond, 28th February, 1783, where he testifies to the magnitude of the event:--

“MY OLD FRIEND,--I write this to congratulate you on the
establishment of your country as a free and sovereign power,
taking its equal station amongst the powers of this world.
I congratulate you, in particular, as chosen by Providence
to be a principal instrument of this great Revolution,--_a
Revolution that has stronger marks of Divine interposition,
superseding the ordinary course of human affairs, than any
other event which this world has experienced_.”[551]

The prophet closes his letter by allusion to a proposed tour of America, adding, that, “if there ever was an object worth the travelling to see, and worthy of the contemplation of a philosopher, it is that in which he may see the beginnings of a great empire at its foundation.” He communicated this purpose also to John Adams, who answered him, that “he would be received respectfully in every part of America, that he had always been considered as friendly to America, and that his writings had been useful to our cause.”[552]

Then came another work, first published in 1783, entitled “A Memorial addressed to the Sovereigns of America,” of which he gave the mistaken judgment to a private friend, that it was “the best thing he ever wrote.”[553] Here for the first time American citizens are called “sovereigns.” At the beginning he explains, and indicates the simplicity with which he addresses them:--

“Having presumed to address to the Sovereigns of Europe a
Memorial, … permit me now to address this Memorial to you
Sovereigns of America. I shall not address you with the court
titles of Gothic Europe, nor with those of servile Asia. I
will neither address your Sublimity or Majesty, your Grace or
Holiness, your Eminence or Highmightiness, your Excellence or
Honors. What are titles, where things themselves are known and
understood? What title did the Republic of Rome take? The
state was known to be sovereign, and the citizens to be free.
What could add to this glory? Therefore, United States and
Citizens of America, I address you as you are.”[554]

Here again are the same constant sympathy with Liberty, the same confidence in our national destinies, and the same aspirations for our prosperity, mingled with warnings against disturbing influences. He exhorts that all our foundations should be “laid in Nature”; that there should be “no contention for, nor acquisition of, unequal domination in men”; and that union should be established on the attractive principle by which all are drawn to a common centre.[555] He fears difficulty in making the line of frontier between us and the British Provinces “a line of peace,” as it ought to be; he is anxious lest something may break out between us and Spain; and he suggests that possibly, “in the cool hours of unimpassioned reflection,” we may learn the danger of our “alliances,”[556]--referring plainly to that original alliance with France which at a later day was the occasion of such trouble. Two other warnings occur. One is against Slavery,[557] which is more memorable, because in an earlier Memorial he enumerates among articles of commerce “African slaves, carried by a circuitous trade in American shipping to the West India markets.”[558] The other warning is thus strongly expressed:--

“Every inhabitant of America is, _de facto_ as well as _de
jure_, equal, in his essential, inseparable rights of the
individual, to any other individual,--is, in these rights,
independent of any power that any other can assume over him,
over his labor, or his property. This is a principle in act and
deed, and not a mere speculative theorem.”[559]

This strange and striking testimony, all from one man, is enhanced by his farewell words to Franklin. As Pownall heard that the great philosopher and negotiator was about to embark for the United States, he wrote to him from Lausanne, 3d July, 1785:--

“Adieu, my dear friend. You are going to a New World, formed to
exhibit a scene which the Old World never yet saw. You leave me
here in the Old World, which, like myself, begins to feel, as
Asia hath felt, that it is wearing out apace. We shall never
meet again on this earth; but there is another world where we
shall meet, and _where we shall be understood_.”[560]

The correspondence was continued across the intervening ocean. In a letter to Franklin, dated at Bristol, 8th April, 1788, the same devoted reformer refers to the Congress at Albany in 1754, “when the events which have since come into fact first began to develop themselves, as ready to burst into bloom, and to bring forth the fruits of Liberty which you in America at present enjoy.” He is cheered in his old age by the proceedings in the Convention to frame a Constitution, with Franklin’s “report of a system of sovereignty founded in law, and above which law only was sovereign”; and he begins “to entertain hopes for the liberties of America, and for what will be an asylum one day or other to a remnant of mankind who wish and deserve to live with political liberty.” His disturbance at the Presidential term breaks out: “I have some fears of mischief from _the orbit of four years’ period_ which you give to the rotation of the office of President. It may become the ground of intrigue.”[561] Here friendly anxiety is elevated by hope, where America appears as the asylum of Liberty.

Clearly Pownall was not understood in his time; but it is evident that he understood our country as few Englishmen since have been able to understand it.

How few of his contemporaries saw America with his insight and courage! The prevailing sentiment was typified in the conduct of George the Third, so boldly arraigned in the Declaration of Independence. Individual opinions also attest the contrast, and help to glorify Pownall. Thus, Shirley, like himself a Massachusetts governor, in advising the King to strengthen Louisburg, wrote, under date of July 10, 1745:--

“It would, by its vicinity to the British Colonies, and being
the key of ’em, give the Crown of Great Britain a most absolute
hold and command of ’em, if ever there should come a time
when they should go restiff and disposed to shake off their
dependency upon their mother country, _the possibility of which
seems some centuries further off than it does to some gentlemen
at home_.”[562]

Nothing of the prophet here. Nor was Hume more penetrating in his History first published, although he commemorates properly the early settlement of the country:--

“What chiefly renders the reign of James memorable is the
commencement of the English colonies in America, colonies
established on the noblest footing that has been known in any
age or nation.…

“Speculative reasoners during that age raised many objections
to the planting those remote colonies, and foretold, that,
after draining their mother country of inhabitants, they would
soon shake off her yoke, and erect an independent government
in America; but time has shown that the views entertained by
those who encouraged such generous undertakings were more
just and solid. _A mild government and great naval force have
preserved, and may long preserve, the dominion of England over
her colonies._”[563]

In making the reign of James chiefly memorable by the Colonies, the eminent historian shows a just appreciation of events; but he seems to have written hastily, and rather from imagination than evidence, when he announces contemporary prophecy, “that, after draining their mother country of inhabitants, they would soon shake off her yoke, and erect an independent government in America,” and is plainly without prophetic instinct with regard to “the dominion of England over her colonies.”

CÉRISIER, 1778, 1780.

Again a Frenchman appears on our list, Antoine Marie Cérisier, who was born at Châtillon-les-Dombes, 1749, and died 1st July, 1828, after a checkered existence. Being Secretary of the French Legation at the Hague, he early became interested in the history of Holland and her heroic struggle for independence. An elaborate work in ten volumes on the “General History of the United Provinces,”[564] appearing first in French and afterwards translated into Dutch, attests his industry and zeal, and down to this day is accepted as the best in French literature on this interesting subject. Naturally the historian of the mighty effort to overthrow the domination of Spain sympathized with the kindred effort in America. In a series of works he bore his testimony to our cause.

John Adams was received at the Hague as American Minister, 19th April, 1782. In his despatch to Secretary Livingston, 16th May, 1782, he wrote: “How shall I mention another gentleman, whose name, perhaps, Congress never heard, but who, in my opinion, has done more decided and essential service to the American cause and reputation, within these last eighteen months, than any other man in Europe?” Then, after describing him as “beyond all contradiction one of the greatest historians and political characters in Europe, … possessed of the most genuine principles and sentiments of liberty, and exceedingly devoted by principle and affection to the American cause,” our minister announces: “His pen has erected a monument to the American cause more glorious and more durable than brass or marble. His writings have been read like oracles, and his sentiments weekly echoed and reëchoed in gazettes and pamphlets.”[565] And yet these have passed out of sight.

First in time was an elaborate work in French, purporting to be translated from the English, which appeared at Utrecht in 1778, entitled, “History of the Founding of the Colonies of the Ancient Republics, adapted to the present Dispute of Great Britain with her American Colonies.”[566] Learning and philosophy were elevated by visions of the future. With the representation of the Colonies in Parliament, he foresees the time when “the influence of America will become preponderant in Parliament, and _able, perhaps, to transfer the seat of empire_ to their country, and so, without danger and without convulsive agitation, render this immense continent, already so favorably disposed by Nature to that end, the theatre of one of the greatest and freest governments that have ever existed.”[567] Then indulging in another vision, where French emigrants and Canadians, already invited to enter the Confederacy, mingle with English colonists, he beholds at the head of the happy settlements “men known for their superior genius, their politics friendly to humanity, and their enthusiasm for liberty,” and he catches the strains of ancient dramatists, “whose masterpieces would breathe and inspire a hatred of tyrants and despots.” Then touching a practical point in government, he exclaims: “The human species there would not be debased, outraged by that odious and barbarous distinction of nobles and plebeians, as if anybody could be more or less than a man.” And then again: “Could not that admirable democracy which I have so often pleased myself in tracing be established there?”[568]

This was followed in the same year by another publication, also in French, entitled “Impartial Observations of a True Hollander, in Answer to the Address of a self-styled Good Hollander to his Countrymen.”[569] Here there is no longer question of Colonial representation in Parliament, or of British empire transferred to America, but of separation, with its lofty future:--

“This revolution is, then, the most fortunate event which could
happen to the human species in general and to all the States
in particular. In short, tender souls see with transport that
reparation at last is to be made for the crime of those who
discovered and devastated this immense continent, and recognize
the United States of North America as replacing the numerous
nations which European cruelty has caused to disappear from
South America.”[570]

Addressing Englishmen directly, the Frenchman thus counsels:--

“Englishmen! you must needs submit to your destiny, and
renounce a people who do not wish longer to recognize you. To
avoid giving them any uneasiness, and to prevent all dispute
in the future, _have the courage to abandon to them all the
neighboring countries which have not yet shaken off your
yoke_.”[571]

Then turning to his own countrymen:--

“_Let Canada make a fourteenth confederate State._ What glory
for you to have labored first for this interesting revolution!
What glory for you that these settlements, sprung from your
bosom, should be associated with a powerful confederation, and
govern themselves as a Republic!”[572]

The idea of Canada as “a fourteenth confederate State” was in unison with the aspiration and invitation of the Continental Congress.

Another friendly work in French, pretending to be from the English, saw the light in 1780, and is entitled “The Destiny of America; or, Picturesque Dialogues.”[573] Among the parties to the colloquies are Lord North, with other English personages, and a Philosopher, who must be the author. Among the topics considered are the causes of current events, the policy of European powers relative to the war, and the influence it must have on the happiness of mankind. In answer to Lord North, who asks, “What are these precious means [of saving our honor and interests]?” the Philosopher replies: “Commence by proclaiming the independence of the thirteen revolted Colonies, of Florida, _and of Canada_; … then, in a manner not less solemn, renounce Jamaica, Barbadoes, and all your Windward Islands.”[574] This is to be followed by the freedom of the Spanish and French colonies,--also of the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the Danish. Then, rising in aspiration, the Philosopher, exalting the good of humanity over that of any nation, proclaims that the root of future wars must be destroyed, that the ocean may not be reddened with blood; but this destiny will be postponed, “if America does not become entirely free.”[575] Then, looking forward to the time when nations will contend on the ocean only in commercial activity, and man will cease to be the greatest enemy of man, he declares: “If Perpetual Peace could be more than the dream of honest men, what event could accelerate it more than the independence of the two Americas?”[576] Confessing that he does not expect the applause of the present age, he concludes, “My heart tells me that I shall have the acknowledgment of all free and tender souls, and the suffrage of posterity.”[577] Most surely he has mine. Nothing can be happier than the thought that Perpetual Peace would be accelerated by American freedom, thus enhancing even this great boon.

SIR WILLIAM JONES, 1781.

I am glad to enter upon our list the name of this illustrious scholar, who was born in London, 28th September, 1746, and died in Calcutta, 27th April, 1794.

If others have excelled Sir William Jones in different departments of human activity, no Englishman has attained equal eminence in so many, and at the same time borne the priceless crown of character. His wonderful attainments and his various genius excite admiration, but his goodness awakens love. It is pleasant to know that his benediction rests upon our country.

From boyhood to his last breath he was always industrious, thus helping the generous gifts of Nature,--and it is not easy to say where he was most eminent. As a jurist, he is memorable for the “Essay on the Law of Bailments,” undoubtedly at the time it appeared the most complete and beautiful contribution to the science of jurisprudence in the English language. As a judge, he was the voice of the law and of justice, so that his appointment to a high judicial station in India was called “the greatest blessing ever conferred by the British Government on the inhabitants of the East.”[578] As a linguist, knowing no less than twenty-eight languages, he was the predecessor of Baron William Humboldt, and the less scholarly prodigy, Mezzofanti, while as a philologist he will find a parallel in the former rather than the latter. As an Orientalist, he was not only the first of his time, but the pioneer through whom the literature of the East was opened to European study and curiosity. As a poet, he is enshrined forever by his Ode modestly called “An Ode in Imitation of Alcæus,”[579] and doubtless inspired by sympathy with the American cause:--

“What constitutes a State?
Not high-raised battlement or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned;
Not bays and broad-armed ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not starred and spangled courts,
Where low-browed Baseness wafts perfume to Pride:
No; MEN, high-minded MEN,
…
Men, who their _duties_ know,
But know their _rights_, and, knowing, dare maintain;
_Prevent the long-aimed blow,_
_And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain_:
_These_ constitute a State.”[580]

To all these accomplishments add the glowing emotions of his noble nature, his love of virtue, his devotion to freedom, his sympathy for the poor and downtrodden. His biographer records as “a favorite opinion of Sir William Jones, that all men are born with _an equal capacity for improvement_,”[581] and also reports him as saying: “I see chiefly under the sun the two classes of men whom Solomon describes, the oppressor and the oppressed.… I shall cultivate my fields and gardens, and think as little as possible of monarchs or oligarchs.”[582] With these declarations it is easy to credit Dr. Paley, who said of him, “He was a great republican when I knew him.”[583] Like seeks like, and a long intimacy in the family of the good Bishop of St. Asaph,[584] ending in a happy marriage with his eldest daughter, shows how he must have sympathized with the American cause and with the future of our country.

Our author had been the tutor of Lord Althorp, the same who, as Earl Spencer, became so famous a bibliophile and a patron of Dibdin, and on the marriage of his pupil with Miss Lavinia Bingham, he was moved to commemorate it in a poem, entitled “The Muse Recalled: an Ode on the Nuptials of Lord Viscount Althorp and Miss Lavinia Bingham, eldest Daughter of Charles Lord Lucan, March 6, 1781,”[585] which his critic, Wraxall, calls “one of the most beautiful lyric productions in the English language, … emulating at once the fame of Milton and of Gray.”[586] But beyond the strain of personal sympathy, congenial to the occasion, was a passion for America, and the prophetic spirit which belongs to the poet. Lamenting that Freedom and Concord are repudiated by the sons of Albion, all the Virtues disappear,--

“Truth, Justice, Reason, Valor, with them fly
To seek a purer soil, a more congenial sky.”

But the soil and sky which they seek are of the Delaware:--

“Beyond the vast Atlantic deep
A dome by viewless genii shall be raised,
The walls of adamant, compact and steep,
The portals with sky-tinctured gems emblazed:
There on a lofty throne shall Virtue stand;
To her the youth of Delaware shall kneel;
And when her smiles reign plenty o’er the land,
Bow, tyrants, bow beneath the avenging steel!
_Commerce with fleets shall mock the waves,_
_And Arts, that flourish not with slaves,_
_Dancing with every Grace and every Muse,_
_Shall bid the valleys laugh and heavenly beams diffuse._”

Wraxall remarks, that “here, in a fine frenzy of inspiration,” the poet “seems to behold, as in a vision, the modern Washington and the Congress met, after successfully throwing off all subjection to Great Britain,” while “George the Third is pretty clearly designated in the line apostrophizing tyrants.”[587] But to an American the most captivating verses are those which open the vista of peaceful triumphs, where Commerce and the Arts unite with every Grace and every Muse.

Kindred in sentiment were other contemporary verses by the anonymous author of the “Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers,” now understood to be the poet Mason,[588] which Wraxall praises for their beauty, but condemns for their politics.[589] After describing the corruption of the House of Commons under Lord North, the poet declares that it will augment in enormity and profligacy,--

“Till, mocked and jaded with the puppet play,
Old England’s genius turns with scorn away,
Ascends his sacred bark, the sails unfurled,
_And steers his state to the wide Western World_.
High on the helm majestic Freedom stands;
In act of cold contempt she waves her hands:
‘Take, slaves,’ she cries, ‘the realms that I disown,
Renounce your birthright, and destroy my throne!’”[590]

The two poets united in a common cause. One transported to the other side of the Atlantic the virtues which had been the glory of Britain, and the other carried there nothing less than the sovereign genius of the great nation itself.

COUNT ARANDA, 1783.

The Count Aranda was one of the first of Spanish statesmen and diplomatists, and one of the richest subjects of Spain in his day; born at Saragossa, 1718, and died 1799. He, too, is one of our prophets. Originally a soldier, he became ambassador, governor of a province, and prime-minister. In this last post he displayed character as well as ability, and was the benefactor of his country. He drove the Jesuits from Spain, and dared to oppose the Inquisition. He was a philosopher, and, like Pope Benedict the Fourteenth, corresponded with Voltaire. Such a liberal spirit was out of place in Spain. Compelled to resign in 1773, he found a retreat at Paris as ambassador, where he came into communication with Franklin, Adams, and Jay, and finally signed the Treaty of 1783, by which Spain recognized our independence. Shortly afterwards he returned to Spain, and in 1792 took the place of Florida Blanca as prime-minister for the second time. He was emphatically a statesman, and as such did not hesitate to take responsibility even contrary to express orders. An instance of this civic courage was when, for the sake of peace between Spain and England, he accepted the Floridas instead of Gibraltar, on which the eminent French publicist, M. Rayneval, remarks that “history furnishes few examples of such a character and such self-devotion.”[591]

Franklin, on meeting him, records, in his letter to the Secret Committee of Correspondence, that he seemed “well disposed towards us.”[592] Some years afterwards he had another interview with him, which he thus chronicles in his journal:--

“_Saturday, June 29th_ [1782].--We went together to the
Spanish Ambassador’s, who received us with great civility and
politeness. He spoke with Mr. Jay on the subject of the treaty
they were to make together.… On our going out, he took pains
himself to open the folding-doors for us, which is a high
compliment here, and told us he would return our visit (_rendre
son devoir_), and then fix a day with us for dining with
him.”[593]

Adams, in his Diary,[594] describes a Sunday dinner at his house, then a new building in “the finest situation in Paris,” being part of the incomparable palace, with its columnar front, still admired as it looks on the Place de la Concorde. Jay also describes a dinner with the Count, who was living “in great splendor,” with an “assortment of wines perhaps the finest in Europe,” and was “the ablest Spaniard he had ever known”; showing by his conversation “that his court is in earnest,” and appearing “frank and candid, as well as sagacious.”[595] These hospitalities have a peculiar interest, when it is known, as it now is, that Count Aranda regarded the acknowledgment of our independence with “grief and dread.” But these sentiments were disguised from our ministers.

After signing the Treaty of Paris, by which Spain recognized our independence, Aranda addressed a Memoir secretly to King Charles the Third, in which his opinions on this event are set forth. This prophetic document slumbered for a long time in the confidential archives of the Spanish crown. Coxe, in his “Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon,” which are founded on a rare collection of original documents, makes no allusion to it. It was first brought to light in a French translation of Coxe’s work by Don Andres Muriel, published at Paris in 1827.[596] An abstract of the Memoir appears in one of the historical dissertations of the Mexican authority, Alaman, who said of it that it has “a just celebrity, because results have made it pass for a prophecy.”[597] I give the material portions, translated from the French of Muriel.

“_Memoir communicated secretly to the King by his Excellency
the Count Aranda, on the Independence of the English Colonies,
after having signed the Treaty of Paris of 1783._

“The independence of the English Colonies has been
acknowledged. This is for me an occasion of grief and dread.
France has few possessions in America; but she should have
considered that Spain, her intimate ally, has many, and
that she is left to-day exposed to terrible shocks. From the
beginning, France has acted contrary to her true interests in
encouraging and seconding this independence: I have often so
declared to the ministers of this nation. What could happen
better for France than to see the English and the Colonists
destroy each other in a party warfare which could only augment
her power and favor her interests? The antipathy which reigns
between France and England blinded the French Cabinet; it
forgot that its interest consisted in remaining a tranquil
spectator of this conflict; and, once launched in the arena,
it dragged us, unhappily, and by virtue of the Family Compact,
into a war entirely contrary to our proper interest.

“I will not stop here to examine the opinions of some
statesmen, our own countrymen as well as foreigners, which I
share, on _the difficulty of preserving our power in America.
Never have so extensive possessions, placed at a great distance
from the metropolis, been long preserved._ To this cause,
applicable to all colonies, must be added others peculiar to
the Spanish possessions: namely, the difficulty of succoring
them, in case of need; the vexations to which the unhappy
inhabitants have been exposed from some of the governors; the
distance of the supreme authority to which they must have
recourse for the redress of grievances, which causes years to
pass before justice is done to their complaints; the vengeance
of the local authorities to which they continue exposed while
waiting; the difficulty of knowing the truth at so great a
distance; finally, the means which the viceroys and governors,
from being Spaniards, cannot fail to have for obtaining
favorable judgments in Spain: all these different circumstances
will render the inhabitants of America discontented, and make
them attempt efforts to obtain independence as soon as they
shall have a propitious occasion.

“Without entering into any of these considerations, I shall
confine myself now to that which occupies us from the dread of
seeing ourselves exposed to dangers from the new power which
we have just recognized in a country where there is no other
in condition to arrest its progress. _This Federal Republic is
born a pygmy_, so to speak. It required the support and the
forces of two powers as great as Spain and France in order to
attain independence. _A day will come when it will be a giant,
even a colossus, formidable in these countries._ It will then
forget the benefits which it has received from the two powers,
and will dream of nothing but to aggrandize itself. _Liberty of
conscience, the facility for establishing a new population on
immense lands, as well as the advantages of the new government,
will draw thither agriculturists and artisans from all the
nations: for men always run after Fortune. And in a few years
we shall see with true grief the tyrannical existence of this
same colossus of which I speak._

“The first movement of this power, when it has arrived at its
aggrandizement, will be to obtain possession of the Floridas,
in order to dominate the Gulf of Mexico. After having rendered
commerce with New Spain difficult for us, it will aspire to the
conquest of this vast empire, which it will not be possible
for us to defend against a formidable power established on
the same continent, and in its neighborhood. These fears are
well founded, Sire; they will be changed into reality in a
few years, if, indeed, there are not other disorders in our
Americas still more fatal. This observation is justified by
what has happened in all ages, and with all nations which have
begun to rise. Man is the same everywhere; the difference of
climate does not change the nature of our sentiments; he who
finds the opportunity of acquiring power and of aggrandizing
himself profits by it always. How, then, can we expect the
Americans to respect the kingdom of New Spain, when they
shall have the facility of possessing themselves of this rich
and beautiful country? A wise policy counsels us to take
precautions against evils which may happen. This thought has
occupied my whole mind, since, as Minister Plenipotentiary
of your Majesty, and conformably to your royal will and
instructions, I signed the Peace of Paris. I have considered
this important affair with all the attention of which I am
capable, and, after much reflection, drawn from the knowledge,
military as well as political, which I have been able to
acquire in my long career, I think, that, in order to escape
the great losses with which we are threatened, there remains
nothing but the means which I am about to have the honor of
exhibiting to your Majesty.

“Your Majesty must relieve yourself of all your possessions on
the continent of the two Americas, _preserving only the islands
of Cuba and Porto Rico_ in the northern part, and some other
convenient one in the southern part, to serve as a seaport or
trading-place for Spanish commerce.

“In order to accomplish this great thought in a manner becoming
to Spain, three Infantes must be placed in America,--one as
king of Mexico, another as king of Peru, and the third as
king of the Terra Firma. Your Majesty will take the title of
Emperor.”

I have sometimes heard this remarkable Memoir called apocryphal, but without reason, except because its foresight is so remarkable. The Mexican historian Alaman treats it as genuine, and, after praising it, informs us that the project of Count Aranda was not taken into consideration, but that “the results have shown how advantageous it would have been to all, and especially to the people of America, who in this way would have obtained independence without revolution and enjoyed it without anarchy.”[598] Meanwhile all the American possessions of the Spanish crown, except Cuba and Porto Rico, have become independent, as predicted, and the new power, known as the United States, which at that time was a “pygmy,” is a “colossus.”

In proposing a throne for Spanish America, Aranda was preceded by no less a person than the great French engineer and fort-builder, Marshal Vauban, who, during the reverses of the War of the Spanish Succession, submitted to the court of France that Philip the Fifth should be sent to reign in America; and that prince is said to have consented.[599]

Aranda was not alone in surprise at the course of Spain. The English traveller Burnaby, in his edition of 1798, mentions this as one of the reasons for the success of the Colonists, and declares that he had not supposed, originally, “that Spain would join in a plan inevitably leading, though by slow and imperceptible steps, to the final loss of all her rich possessions in South America.”[600] This was not an uncommon idea. The same anxieties appeared in one of Mr. Adams’s Dutch correspondents, whose report of fearful prophecies has been already mentioned.[601] John Adams also records in his Diary, under date of 14th December, 1779, on landing at Ferrol in Spain, that, according to the report of various persons, “the Spanish nation in general have been of opinion that the Revolution in America was of bad example to the Spanish colonies, and dangerous to the interests of Spain, as the United States, if they should become ambitious, and be seized with the spirit of conquest, might aim at Mexico and Peru.”[602] All this is entirely in harmony with the Memoir of the Spanish statesman.

WILLIAM PALEY, 1785.