who, by an impartial verdict, lay a noble foundation for securing to ourselves, our posterity, and our neighbors, that to which nature and the honor of our country have given us a right-the liberty of opposing arbitrary power by speaking and writing truth." 68. Sense of Future Greatness.It is not strange that the future greatness of America began to dawn upon the minds of men. The world had never before witnessed such a rapid increase of prosperity and power. In contemplating the rising glory of America an Italian poet sang that the spirit of ancient Rome, immortal and undecayed, was spreading towards the New World. Bishop Berkeley, in prophetic vision, foretold a "golden age," when the arts would flourish, and when the race of "wisest heads and noblest hearts" would be born: "Not such as Europe breeds in her decay, Such as she bred when fresh and young, Westward the course of empire takes its way; A fifth shall close the drama with the day; 69. Growing National Feeling.-In England it was believed that the colonial leaders were secretly meditating and planning independence. Though this was undoubtedly a mistake, yet a growing national feeling is clearly discernible in the utterances and relations of the colonies. It could not well be otherwise in the presence of their increasing prosperity and promising future, and of the strengthening ties that bound them together. The colonists were chiefly of Teutonic origin. They came to this country as voluntary exiles in order to escape religious or political oppression, and were thus united by the sympathy of suffering and sacrifice. For the most part they used the English language; and though there were Puritans, Episcopalians, Quakers, Huguenots, and Presbyterians, they were nearly all warm adherents of Protestantism. Yet, in spite of these strong affinities, the colonies were for a long time jealous and distrustful of one another. Their interests were not regarded as common; and without the pressure of external circumstances they would probably have remained a long time separated. 70. Mistaken Policy of England. This external pressure, which was necessary to bring the colonies into closer relationship, was not lacking. It came from two opposite sources. In the first place the policy of England was admirably adapted to develop a spirit of freedom, and to unite the colonies in a common resistance of oppression. At that time it was the prevailing view abroad that the colonies existed solely for the benefit of the mother country. Consequently, the measures of government were adopted, not for the welfare of the colonies, but for the profit of England. This unjust policy naturally provoked opposition in a people who had abandoned home and country for the sake of freedom. 71. Purpose of France. The other influence impelling the colonies to confederation came from the ambitious schemes of France. As will have been noticed, the English colonies extended along the Atlantic seaboard from Maine to Florida. Though their territory theoretically extended across the continent, their settlements did not reach inland more than a hundred miles. To prevent the further extension of the English colonies, the French formed the magnificent plan of occupying the interior of the continent, and thus of confining their enemies to a narrow belt on the Atlantic coast. They already had possession of Canada; and ascending the St. Lawrence, they established forts and trading-posts along the southern shores of the Great Lakes, and thence down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Having discovered the Mississippi, they laid claim to all the territory drained by its waters; that is to say, to the magnificent empire lying between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains. "If the French," wrote the governor of New York in 1687, "have all that they pretend to have discovered in these parts, the king of England will not have a hundred miles from the sea anywhere." A conflict between the English and the French thus became inevitable; and the stake involved was nothing less than the life of the English colonies, and the possession of the American continent. In the presence of this conflict, the instinct of self-preservation drew the colonies into closer sympathy and union. 72. A Long Struggle. The struggle between England and France for the possession of America-a struggle that lasted with intermissions for more than seventy years-began in 1689, the dividing-point between the two colonial periods. First came King William's War, when Louis XIV. espoused the cause of James II., and Count Frontenac was sent to be governor of Canada, with orders to conquer New York. Then followed in quick succession Queen Anne's War, or the War of the Spanish succession; King George's War, or the War of the Austrian Succession; and lastly, the Seven Years' War, or the French and Indian War. These various wars as their names generally indicate, grew out of conflicting European interests; but since England and France, as hostile nations, were invariably opposed to each other, their colonies in America were always drawn into the conflict. The course of these successive wars, with their varying fortunes and sickening massacres, cannot here be followed in detail. With the Treaty of Paris in 1763 the conflict in America finally came to an end by the cession of Canada and the Mississippi Valley to England. At one blow the French possessions in America and French schemes for a great western empire were forever swept away. 73. Results of French Success.-Had the issue of this protracted struggle been in favor of France, the course of American history and of American literature would have been very different. French colonization in America represented three distinct tendencies, from all of which the English colonists had broken away. First of all, in direct antagonism against popular govern- ̈ ment, Louis XIV. stood for despotism. His attitude toward France is indicated in his famous saying, "L'Etat c'est moi." In the second place, the colonization undertaken by the French carried with it the feudal system. Instead of the political and social equality recognized and encouraged in the English colonies, it meant the class system of nobles and inferiors. In the third place, the success of the French meant the establishment of a wholly different form of belief and worship. The most enterprising and devoted of the French explorers were Jesuits, whose self-sacrificing work among the Indians sometimes reached the highest point of heroism. In short, if the French schemes had been successful, the result would have been, as was contemplated, a new medieval France, which in its development, having possession of the largest and fairest part of the continent, would have driven the English colonies into the Atlantic Ocean. 74. First Steps towards Union.-The first step towards a general union of the American colonies was taken in 1684. The French had encroached upon the territory of the Five Nations in New York; and in preparation for the inevitable conflict, the Indians desired to form a treaty of peace with the English. Accordingly, a convention composed of delegates from Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts, met at Albany. For the first time, the northern and the southern colonies came together to consider the common welfare. The conference resulted in a treaty; and the Mohawk chief at its conclusion spoke better than he knew when he said: "We now plant a tree whose top will reach the sun, and its branches spread far abroad, so that it shall be seen afar off, and we shall shelter ourselves under it, and live in peace without molestation." 75. Attempts at Federation.-The necessity of a closer general union gradually became more apparent. In 1698 William Penn proposed a plan of federation. In 1754 the Convention of Albany, composed of representatives from six of the colonies, resolved that a union ought to be formed, and accordingly recommended the adoption of a constitution, the outlines of which had been drawn up by Franklin. But this constitution was disapproved in England, because it allowed too much freedom to the colonies; and it was rejected by the |