od classical
scholar, but suspected rightly of Tory leanings during the Revolution,
learning of the large minority against the repeal of laws in conflict
with the treaty of 1783 (i. e., especially the laws as to the collection
of debts by foreigners) caustically remarked that some of the members
of the House had voted against paying for the coats on their backs. The
story goes that he was summoned before the House in full session,
and was compelled to beg their pardon on his knees; but as he rose,
pretending to brush the dust from his knees, he pointed to the House and
said audibly, with evident double meaning, 'Upon my word, a dommed dirty
house it is indeed.' The Journal of the House, however, shows that the
honor of the delegates was satisfied by a written assurance from Mr.
Warden that he meant in no way to affront the dignity of the House or to
insult any of its members."

The other question, that of compensating the Loyalists for the loss of
their property, was not so simple a matter, for the whole story of the
Revolution was involved. There is a tendency among many scholars of
the present day to regard the policy of the British toward their
North American colonies as possibly unwise and blundering but as being
entirely in accordance with the legal and constitutional rights of the
mother country, and to believe that the Americans, while they may have
been practically and therefore morally justified in asserting their
independence, were still technically and legally in the wrong. It is
immaterial whether or not that point of view is accepted, for its mere
recognition is sufficient to explain the existence of a large number of
Americans who were steadfast in their support of the British side of the
controversy. Indeed, it has been estimated that as large a proportion
as one-third of the population remained loyal to the Crown. Numbers must
remain more or less uncertain, but probably the majority of the people
in the United States, whatever their feelings may have been, tried to
remain neutral or at least to appear so; and it is undoubtedly true
that the Revolution was accomplished by an aggressive minority and that
perhaps as great a number were actively loyal to Great Britain.

These Loyalists comprised at least two groups. One of these was a
wealthy, property-owning class, representing the best social element in
the colonies, extremely conservative, believing in privilege and
fearing the rise of democracy. The oth