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 nee] The views of Franklin. 151 an admission that the tax was only designed to lay on the colonies a fair share of the charges of the late war. These he answered by declaring that the war was fought to secure the Indian trade, which was a British rather than a colonial interest; and that "the people of America made no scruple of contributing their utmost towards carrying it on." No one knew better than Franklin that it had proved impossible to induce the provincial assemblies, notably that of his own State, Pennsylvania, to bear anything like a due share in the cost of the war ; while the frequency of border raids and the imminent danger of an invasion by French and Indians combined was a sufficient answer to the contention that the colonists themselves were not directly interested in the issue of the conflict. But through his whole public career it was characteristic of Franklin to be at once temperate in the tone and unscrupulous in the substance of his arguments. One may doubt too whether he was thoroughly convinced of what he asserted with full confidence, namely the capacity of the colonists to manufacture for themselves and so to become independent of British imports. That might be possible as a temporary measure of retaliation: it was almost certain that, if it were attempted for any length of time, the force of natural conditions would reassert itself. One significant statement was made by Franklin. He was asked whether the repeal of the Stamp Act would induce the colonists to acknowledge the right of Parliament to tax them and to erase their resolutions of protest. His answer was that nothing could change their opinions, and that only force could induce them to rescind their resolutions. That answer really expressed the truth that the repeal of the Act, though in itself a wise measure, could not put things back where they were before the Act passed. The colonists had been led to formulate definitely views which hitherto they had held but vaguely ; and behind the resistance to taxation, which was gradually taking shape, if there was not as yet a conscious desire for independence, there were the elements out of which such a desire would quickly and easily spring Young men like James Warren of Boston were coming under the dominion of those abstract theories of human rights which were soon to convulse and transform Europe. And this sentiment was neither allowed to evaporate in mere rhetoric or in childish mock-treason, nor left to smoulder beneath the surface, inactive and unemployed. In such men as Patrick Henry and John Adams we find that abstract theories, lending themselves to rhetorical treatment, were combined with a clear grasp of facts and a sound practical judgment as to the details of policy. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the whole history of the relations between the mother-country and the colonies, from the repeal of the Stamp Act to the Declaration of Independence, was one series of disputes, often insignificant in themselves, but rendered dangerous by CH. V.