Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/750

 714 FRANKLIN when first printed. Soon after the capture of Quebec, Frankliu wrote a more elaborate paper, entitled, The Interests of Great Britain considered with regard to her Colonies and the Acquisitions of Canada and Guadeloupe. Its purpose was to show that, while Canada remained French, the English colonies of North America could never be safe nor peace in Europe permanent. Tradition reports that this pamphlet had great weight in determining the ministry to retain Canada, which, thanks in a large degree to his foresight and activity, is to-day one of the brightest jewels iu the English crown. &quot; I have long been of opinion,&quot; hs wrote about this time to Lord Kames, &quot; that the foundations of the future grandeur and stability of the British empire lie in America ; and though, like other foundations, they are low and little now, they are nevertheless broad and strong enough to support the greatest political structure that human wisdom ever erected. I am, therefore, by no means for restoring Canada. If we keep it, all the country from the St Lawrence to the Mississippi will in another century be filled with British. Britain will become vastly more populous by the immense increase of its commerce. The Atlantic sea will be covered with your trading ships ; and your naval power, thence continually increasing, will extend your influence round the whole globe arid awe the world.&quot; What Englishman can read these papers to-day without a feeling of regret that Franklin was not permitted to occupy a seat in parliament as one of the representatives of the British colonies, so that England and the world might have had the advantage in a larger measure of his rare wisdom, sagacity, and patriotism 1 ? Franklin sailed again for America in August 1762, after an absence of five years, during which he had found an opportunity of visiting large portions of the Continent, and of acquiring information about European affairs both in and out of England, which made him more than ever an en lightened and trustworthy authority in America upon all foreign questions affecting the interests of the colonists. The peace with the proprietary government was only temporary. The question of taxing their estates had come up in a new form, and finally resulted in a petition from the assembly drawn by Franklin himself for a change of govern ment for Pennsylvania. The election which took place in the fall of 1764 turned upon the issue raised in this petition, and the proprietary party succeeded, by a majority of 28 votes out of 4000, in depriving Franklin of the seat to which he had been chosen for fourteen successive years in the provincial assembly. The victory, however, was a barren one, for no sooner did the assembly convene than it resolved again to send Franklin as its special agent to England to take charge of their petition for a change of government, and to look after the interests of the province abroad. On the 7th of November following his defeat, he was again on his way across the Atlantic. We may as well here say at once that the petition which he brought with him for a change of government came to nothing. Franklin presented it, and the Penns opposed it; but matters of so much graver consequence continually arose between 1765, when it was presented, and 1775, when the revolution began, that it was left to the final disposition of time. The Penns at last had the sagacity to sell betimes what they were not wise enough to keep. The State of Pennsylvania gave them .130,000 for their interest in its soil, and the British Government settled upon the head of the family a pension of 4000 a year. Early in the year of 1764 Grenville, the prime minister, had sent for the agents of the American colonies resident in London, and told them that the war with France which had just terminated had left upon England a debt of .73,000,000 sterling, and that he proposed to lay a portion of this burthen upon the shoulders of the colonists by means of a stamp duty, unless the colonists could propose some other tax equally productive and less inconvenient. He directed the agents to write to their several assemblies for instructions upon this point. The assembly of Pennsylvania, which expressed the sentiment of all the colonies, was decidedly of the opinion that to tax the colonies, which were already taxed beyond their strength, and which were surrounded by aboriginal enemies and ex posed to constant expenditures for defence, was cruel, but to tax them by a parliament in which they were not repre sented was an indignity. While such was their feeling, they allowed it to be understood that they would not reject any requisition of their king for aid, and if he would only signify his needs in the usual way, the assembly would do their utmost for him. These views were summed up in a &quot; resolution &quot; thus expressed : &quot; that, as the assembly always had, so they always should think it their duty to grant aid to the crown, according to their abilities, whenever required of them in the usual manner.&quot; To prevent the introduction of such a bill as the ministry proposed, and which Franklin characterized as &quot; the mother of mischief,&quot; he left no stone unturned, by personal intercession, by private correspondence, and through the press. At last, in despair, he, with his associate agents, sought an interview with the] minister. They found him inexorable. The Government wanted the money, and it did not wish to recognize the principle upon which the colonists resisted the Government method of obtaining it. The bill was intro duced, and was promptly passed, only 50 voting against it in the Commons, and the Lords not dividing upon it. The sum expected from this tax being only 100,000, it was thought the colonists would soon be reconciled to it. This was evidently Franklin s hope, which he did his utmost to realize. Writing home to a friend shortly after the passage of the Act he said, &quot; The tide was too strong for us. We might as well have hindered the sun s setting ; but since it is down, my. friend, and it maybe long before it rises again, let us make as good a night of it as we can. We may still light candles. Frugality and industry will go a great way towards indemnifying us. Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and parliament.&quot; Bukwhen the news of the passage of the Stamp Act reached the colonies, and its provisions came to be scanned, 1 the indiscretion of those who advised it was manifest. Meetings were held in all the colonies, where resolves were passed unanimously to consume no more British manufactures until the hateful Act was repealed. For simply recommending a trusty person to collect the tax, Franklin himself was denounced, and his family in Philadelphia was in danger of being mobbed. The Act not only failed of its purpose in producing a revenue, but before it went into operation a formidable agitation for its repeal had already commenced. The succeeding session of parliament, which began in December 1765, is specially memorable for Franklin s ex amination before a committee of the House on the effects of the Stamp Act ; for the magnificent parliamentary debut of Edmund Burke, whose speeches for the repeal, said Dr Johnson, &quot; filled the town with wonder ;&quot; and for the repeal of the offensive Act by a majority of 108. The first six weeks of this session were devoted to taking testimony at the bar of the house on American affairs, and especially upon the probable advantages and disadvantages of the Stamp Act. Franklin was the only one of the witnesses who lifted a voice that could be heard by pos- 1 One clause of the Act provided that the Americans shall have no commerce, make no exchange of property with each other, neither purchase, nor grant, nor recover debts ; they shall neither marry nor make their wills unless they pay such and such sums in specie for the stamps which are to give validity to the proceedings. Franklin tcstilied under oath before a committee of parliament that such a tax would drain the Government of all their specie in a single year.