THE AWAKENING.

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quence, they magnified its worth, we have now no means of judg ing. There is, however, no mistaking its effect. The judge appointed for the purpose of sanctioning the writ was dumb before the orator, the bar hung upon every word, the audience was still to catch every breath, and his very opponent, once his master in the law, could not conceal his delight in meeting a foeman so worthy of his steel, nor restrain his generous exultation at the glory and triumph of his pupil.

But it was upon the people throughout the colonies that this speech wrought its greatest effect; an effect which deepened its channel as it made its way. The patience which had taken apart, analyzed and compared the different statutes, and then had gathered them together into one system, had not been wasted. The clearness with which the facts were stated and the inferences drawn, had not been in vain. The passionate appeal to justice fell not to the ground, nor did the scorn which lashed the evil-wishers of his country lie dead in the ears of its friends. Although the question was one which arose in Massachusetts only, its importance was felt to the uttermost bounds of the colonies. Attention was at once turned upon the subject of colonial relations with the mother-country; a subject which nearly all had slept upon, until Otis broke this dangerous slumber, and bade them awake. Then all awoke: those who were not of the mercantile interest as well as those who were; and these relations, what they were, what their nature, were they proper, and, if not, what the remedies readiest for their restoration, but, if they were, what the defences best for their protection, these, and a hundred questions more, became the subjects of universal comment and reflection. Henceforth it will be seen not only that the colonists acted as those who had studied their ground, but that the indifference or ignorance of the old world concerning their attainments, or even their existence, gave way to admiration for the extent of their researches and the depth of their learning. This resuit, especially in the northern colonies, where the illustration stood ready for the argument, was due to the eloquence and logic of James Otis. When he sat down the Ameri- ? can Revolution had been inaugurated. Doubtless neither he, his hearers, the people, nor the government, suspected such a thing: but we now know it to be the fact. The war which, in securing

our independence, gained the name of Revolution, was but the last expression of that mighty change of which Otis' was the first. That terminated what this began,' but this was what foretold the coming storm, and the last words of the orator had hardly died away, before the real American Revolution had set in.'

Les révolutions que conforme la liberté ne sont qu'une confirmation de la liberté." Esprit des Lois," liv. xix, chap. xxvii.

2 "I shall only say, and I do say in the most solemn manner, that Mr. Otis' oration against the Writs of Assistance breathed into this nation the breath of life." "Life and Works of John Adams," x, 276.

A

CHAPTER X.

The Conflict with Absolutism.

T the next term the court decided, that, inasmuch as it appeared that such writs issued from the Exchequer when applied for, the like practice in the province was warranted'; yet the government found no advantage in a decision robbed beforehand of its effect. It, accordingly, desisted from this attempt, and, while there may have been applications, no such writ ever issued.

The government held the position, but could make no use of it further than as a ground on which to parade the rights adjudicated in their favor by judges, whom the irritated people regarded as commissioned for the purpose of deciding as they did. This half-way course of action was the most ill-judged one that could be adopted. One only of two things should have been done : either to enforce the writ now that the court had decided they were in the right, or openly to abandon a policy which had been proved to be odious. If the former had been adopted, the colonists would have at once been driven to submission or resistance. Resistance was out of the question, for the cause of Massachusetts not being a common one, except in sentiment not yet fully formed, she would have had to stand alone, and, incapable of resisting singly, submission would have been her fate, and the power of the government would have been established. If the latter course had been pursued, Massachusetts would have had nothing to oppose, but on the contrary there would have been every consideration of gratitude to bind her with hooks of steel to a parent who, with the right to pursue her course solemnly adjudicated, had 'Hutchinson's "Hist. of Mass.," iii, 94.

generously renounced a policy distasteful to her offspring. But, the truth is, that the government did not fully appreciate the importance of the occasion and the need of discretion. Three thousand miles of ocean and the lapse of a month's duration so deadened the waves of colonial excitement, that, when they fell upon the ear in Whitehall, they hardly created a sensation. The government was continually seeking increase of revenue in one quarter or another, and disappointment was a common affair. This Boston matter was one of a dozen such cases, and no more. "The people do not like this way of raising revenue, though the courts say we are right! Well, we are constantly humoring others, and we suppose we must humor these. Do not act on this decision of the court, then, but hold it in reserve, and, in the meantime, let us try something else." Such was, in effect, the way the matter was regarded and acted upon, and, like all half-measures, this indefinite way of settling a question produced bitter fruit. To the Bostonians, this pigeon-holing what to them was of the greatest interest and of the highest importance, was either incomprehensible or offensive. Was the government irresolute? was it indifferent? Was it letting I would, wait upon I dare not? Had it abandoned the offensive policy? or was it holding it like a sword over their heads in case future exactions brought no favorable answers?

During this state of uncertainty a general sense of uneasiness spread over the colonies. For the first time something had really come between the mother and her children, and distrust had taken root. The attempt to enforce the Sugar Acts as revenue laws could not be forgotten in a day; indeed, there was nothing to hinder its repetition, and it was but too apparent, that, instead of being one and the same with that of England, the spirit of the colonies was now something different. Dissension had entered the camp, and, though there was no conflict, there were, without contradiction, two parties whose leaders, while on their faces friends, mistrusted each other in their hearts, and sulked in their tents. Confidence was gone. What will the government do next? was the apprehensive whisper throughout America. What next step toward revenue from the colonies shall we take? was the question asked at Westminster.

George Grenville, at that time the leader of the ministry, was

narrow.

GEORGE GRENVILLE.

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the man who answered these questions. He was intelligent, educated, well-meaning, honest, and of official experience, but he was He was ambitious, but lacking in judgment, and was more disposed to found the acts of his administration on legislation, than on the qualities of human nature. Indeed, his great fault seems to have been his over-weening faith in legislation being the do-all of government; for he was of those, says Burke, who are apt to believe regulation to be commerce, and taxes to be revenue,' and, he might have added, who believe legislation to be government. Among regulations, none stood so high in Grenville's estimation as the Navigation Act, and, confounding causes with effects, like many of his countrymen, he considered those elements of prosperity which gave efficacy to the Navigation Act, the legitimate results of the Act itself.

Mr. Grenville's idea seems to have been, that the late war between England and France had been undertaken as much for the benefit of the colonies as for that of Great Britain, and that it was nothing more than just, that they who shared the benefits 'should also bear a part of the burdens it had brought. No position could be more substantial than this, and, had he confined himself to it, no fault could have been found; for their sense of oneness with Great Britain, as we can see for ourselves, did impress them with the belief, that what was done for the mother-country was done, too, for them, and that, consequently, the burden must be shared as well as the benefit. But when he took the ground, that the colonies had not done their share, but were reaping the benefit without dividing. the burden, he went further than the facts warranted his going, and his position became untenable. For, in the prosecution of that war, as well as others, the Americans had not only suffered great losses of men and property, but they had incurred debts, the greater part of which fell on the northern colonies, who had promptly met them, and who, even at that time, were steadily paying them off. This very colony of Massachusetts, for instance, at the time of the Port Duty act, was annually raising what, for the time and place, was the large sum of £37,500 sterling for sinking her debt, and this she expected and intended to do for four years longer, or until it was entirely cleared off. Thus Mr. Grenville acted on premises that were radically 'Speech "On American Taxation."