176 Ch. 17. 1772 USAGES OF THE GREAT POWERS. sitions then made, as well as the motives of the high contracting Powers, have been freely criticised; but since the Treaty of Westphalia, the right or usage of the great Powers to assemble in Congress from time to time, or on fitting occasions, to adjust the balance of Europe, has been fully recognized. It may be argued, that the partition of Poland in 1772 was a very different thing from the partition of Saxony, and the annexation of Norway and Sweden, by the Treaty of Vienna. I will not pause to examine the soundness of such a distinction; my only object has been to shew, that whatever opprobrium may attach to the parties immediately engaged in the Treaty of 1772, England would not have been justified by any consideration of policy in departing from the rule of non-intervention on that occasion; and that she cannot consistently either with the policy to which she has been a party in conjunction with the other leading Powers, or with the policy which she has independently pursued up to the present time, pronounce an unqualified censure on the transaction of 1772. CHAPTER XVIII. PROCEED THE TEA ACT-SUCCESSFUL RESISTANCE OF THE PEOPLE THE Ch. 18. 1773 with the Colonies. The party opposed to the imperial pretensions Differences of the parent state, had, by their courage and con- American stancy, as well as by the vigilance and address with which they took advantage of the mistakes of the home government, converted a partial remonstrance against a particular grievance into a patriotic demonstration against foreign rule. It was entirely owing to the incessant and skilful agitation of the popular leaders that the faint idea of national independence, which existed at the commencement of the quarrel, was fostered and developed until it became irresistible. 178 Ch. 18. 1773 Imprudent conduct of the DISSATISFIED STATE OF It is not my intention to follow in detail the infatuated policy of the English government, by which the object of the Colonial patriots was mainly Government. promoted. After the bloodshed at Boston in 1770, nothing occurred for nearly three years to increase the quarrel between England and her Colonies. Commercial intercourse being suspended, the obnoxious Customs Laws were dormant, and political agitation had consequently subsided throughout the disturbed provinces. An administration capable of learning a lesson from experience, and endowed with any forecast or wisdom, would have taken advantage of an interval so propitious for the settlement of this painful question. Had North been a real minister, his natural moderation and good sense would probably have dictated the policy of withdrawing at once and absolutely from a conflict which threatened to dismember the empire, and in which neither the interests nor the honour of the country were involved. But, with all his ability and knowledge of affairs, in which he far surpassed his contemporaries excepting, of course, Chatham, who stands aloft beyond the sphere of comparison-Lord North, from his fatal indolence and facility of disposition, became the mere agent of the King, who was the real head of the responsible government, and the sole dictator of its policy. To compel the submission of his American subjects, by any means, was the fixed determination of George the Third; and, unhappily, in this instance, the obstinate pride of the 1 the t, by ainly 770, ease ies. ob tical hout apa | en have s for Torth and olicy con pire, nour 1 his e far of the atal the d of ator his xed ap the 1 THE AMERICAN COLONIES. English people coincided with that of their Sove reign. 179 Ch. 18. 1773 revive the duties. An occasion for the renewal of the old quarrel Attempt to between England and America was supplied by Customs an attempt on the part of the Imperial Parliament to revive the operation of the Colonial Customs Duties. This was done by a measure beneficial in itself to the Colonies; but when was a people engaged in a generous struggle for freedom diverted by an insidious attempt to practice on their selfish interests? Such a design was calculated still more to inflame their zeal, and, accordingly, it was defeated with scorn and indignation by the American patriots. Tea to Boston. The East India Company (on whose affairs I Exports of will not at present enlarge), having laboured for several years under financial difficulties, had at length been obliged to appeal to the Government for aid. One expedient for the relief of the Company was to force a market for their principal commodity, tea, of which they had a great quantity in stock, by repealing the export duty; and, as the Colonial Customs duty was much less than that which was levied at the British port, it was thought that such a reduction in the price of this important article as would be effected by the drawback must prove at once acceptable to the American consumer and beneficial to the Company. The proposal, however, touching as it immediately did, the tender point in the relations between Great Britain and her dependencies, was received with 180 1773 TEA THROWN OVERBOARD AT BOSTON. Ch. 18. renewed demonstrations of hostility and resentment. The people on the sea-board took measures to prevent the landing of a commodity which was to be branded with the obnoxious impost; and the arrival of the ships bearing these odious cargoes was eagerly expected. Three of the tea ships entered the port of Boston; they were boarded by the insurgents, and the cargoes were thrown into the sea; but no other damage was done, nor was any violence offered to the ships' companies. No further attempt was made to land any portion of the large consignment of tea which had been shipped under the recent Act of Parliament. The The question of taxation was virtually settled by this signal failure to enforce the law, or rather by the absence of any attempt to protect the property of merchants, who had made their ventures by the express authority, if not at the instance of the English government. But the dispute was no longer a mere matter of Customs duties. vigilance and address of the party which was bent on achieving the independence of their country, readily took advantage of any cause of offence, real or imaginary, accidental or designed, to inflame the irritation of the provinces. While the English tea ships were being expelled from the ports of North America, a proceeding was taking place in England calculated to exasperate the colonists even more than the attempt to tax them without their consent. Hutchinson and Oliver, the Governor and Lieu |