y
desired is a better organization of the Navy. 'Let there be one Navy,'
Mr. Dalley said, 'under the rule of a single Admiralty--a Navy in which
the colonies should be as much interested as the mother country, which
should be theirs as well as ours, and on which they might all rely in
time of danger.' In these respects, the ideas of modern colonists differ
widely from those held in the last century. The great grievance of the
American colonists was that they were not represented in the British
Parliament. Had that demand been conceded, Mr. Froude is of opinion that
'Franklin and Washington would have been satisfied.' We do not quite
agree with him, for the party of Independence, though small at first,
was never likely to remain long contented with any compromise.
Originally, indeed, as we all remember, the leaders of the Revolution
disclaimed any intention of bringing about a separation. Franklin to the
last protested his desire to keep the colonies united to the mother
country; but Franklin was not the most sincere or straightforward of
men. Undoubtedly, however, the American colonists did not begin the
Revolution with the least desire to create a separate nationality, any
more than in the great civil war of 1861-65 there was at first, or for a
long time, any intention of effecting the abolition of slavery. Both
ideas were acquired by the people by slow degrees. Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Virginia, and other States gave emphatic instructions to
their delegates in 1774 to 'restore union and harmony between Great
Britain and her Colonies,' and the party of independence was thoroughly
unpopular down even to the close of the struggle. One of its leading
spirits gave emphatic testimony on this point. 'For my own part,' wrote
John Adams, 'there was not a moment in the Revolution when I would not
have given everything I possessed for a restoration to the state of
things before the contest began, provided we could have a sufficient
security for its continuance.' This feeling had no small share in
misleading George III. on the American question, and in deepening his
determination not to let the colonies go--a fact which was brought out
for the first time, we believe, by one of the ablest and most judicious
of modern historians--Mr. Lecky. He also was the first to show, in a
very striking manner, that the American Revolution was practically the
work of a small minority, who, as he remarks--and the remark has no
slight applicat