CHAP.
XXIV.

Much of this sentiment may be traced to the influence exerted by the opinions of one man, John. Calvin. “We 1760. boast of our common schools, Calvin was the father of popular education, the inventor of free schools. The pilgrims of Plymouth were Calvinists; the best influence of South Carolina came from the Calvinists of France. William Penn was the disciple of the Huguenots; the ships from Holland that first brought colonists to Manhattan were filled with Calvinists. He that will not honor the memory and respect the influence of Calvin, knows but little of the origin of American liberty. He bequeathed to the world a republican spirit in religion, with the kindred principles of republican liberty."

There were slight differences of character between the people of the several colonies. In the eastern, the difficulties arising from a sterile soil had made the people industrious and frugal. There, labor was always honorable, and when the day came "which tried men's souls," great numbers of the prominent men came from the ranks of manual labor. The Anglo-Saxon element greatly predominated among the colonists of New England. As simple in manners as rigid in morals, a truly democratic spirit and love of liberty pervaded their minds, and hence political constitutions of whose benefits all were participants. The Norman element prevailed more in the South, especially in Virginia. Here the wealthy colonists were more aristocratic in spirit and feeling; were more refined and elegant in manners. This aristocratic spirit was fostered, in time, by the system of slavery, while the distinctions in society arising from the possession of wealth were greatly increased. In all the southern colonies, the mildness of the climate, the labor of slaves, and the ready sale of their tobacco, rice, and indigo, made the acquisition of wealth comparatively easy. The planter, "having

'Bancroft's Miscellanies, pp. 405-6.

INFLUENCES IN PENNSYLVANIA.

279

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more leisure, was more given to pleasures and amuse- CHAP. ments to the sports of the turf, the cock-pit, the chase, and the gaming-table. His social habits often made him 1760. profuse, and plunged him in debt to the English or Scotch merchant, who sold his exported products and furnished him his foreign supplies. He was often improvident, and sometimes not punctual in his pecuniary engagements." The planters were hospitable. Living upon isolated plantations, they were in a measure deprived of social intercourse; but when opportunity served, they enjoyed it with a relish. As the Southerner was hospitable, so the Northerner was charitable. From the hard earnings of the farmer, of the mechanic, of the merchant, of the seafaring man, funds were cheerfully given to support schools, to endow colleges, or to sustain the ordinances of the gospel. In the South, colleges were principally endowed by royal grants.

In Pennsylvania was felt the benign influence of the disciples of George Fox, and its benevolent founder. The friends of suffering humanity, the enemies of war, the opponents of classes and ranks in society founded on mere birth, they recognized merit wherever found. There the human mind was untrammelled-conscious of a right derived from a higher authority than conventional law; there public posts were open to all-no tests intervened as a barrier. At this time the ardent aspirations of Benjamin Franklin in the pursuit of science received the sympathy of the people. In Philadelphia he was the means of founding an academy and free school, which grew into a university. Here was founded the first medical college in the colonies, the first public library, and the first hospital. Here, Bartram, the botanist, founded the first botanic garden; and here was formed the American Philosophical Society. Here lived Godfrey, the inventor of the quadrant, which bears the name of Hadley.

'Tucker's History of the United States, vol. 1, p. 97.

CHAP

XXIV.

In New York, "the key of Canada and the lakes," were blended many elements of character. Here com1760. merce began to prevail, and here the arbitrary laws of the Board of Trade were vigorously opposed, and so often eluded, that Holland derived more benefit from the trade than England herself. It cost nearly as much as the amount of the import duties to maintain the cruisers and the Commissioners of Customs." The "Dutch Republicans" had been for nearly a century pupils in the school where the "rights of Englishmen" were taught; they profited so much by the instruction, that they paid very little attention to the king's prerogative, and thought their own Legislature quite as respectable as the House of Commons.

66

Although the great majority of the Americans were the descendants of Englishmen, yet there were representatives from Scotland, from Ireland, from Wales, from France, from Holland, from Germany, from Sweden, and from Denmark. In religion, there were Churchmen and Dissenters, Quakers and Catholics. Though they differed in many minor points, and indulged in those little animosities which unfortunately too often arise between people of different nations and religions, yet they cherished a sympathy for each other. They were all attached to the mother country-the South, perhaps, more than the North; the former had not experienced so severely the iron hand of royal rule. Some strong external pressure was required to bind them more closely together, if ever they were to become an independent nation. That external pressure was not long wanting.

CHAPTER XXV.

CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE REVOLUTION.

Restrictions of Trade and Manufactures.-Taxes imposed by Parliament.Writs of Assistance.-James Otis.-Samuel Adams.-The "Parsons"" Case in Virginia.-Patrick Henry.-A Stamp Tax threatened.-Colonel Barre's Speech.-The Stamp Act.-Excitement in the Colouies.-Henry in the House of Burgesses.-Resolutions not to use Stamps.-"Sons of Liberty."-A Call for a Congress; it meets, and the Colonial Assemblies approve its Measures.-Merchants refuse to purchase English Merchandise.-Self-denial of the Colonists.-Pits defends them.Franklin at the Bar of the House of Commons.-Stamp Act repealed.Rejoicings. Dartmouth College.

XXV.

THE industrious habits of the colonists were no less wor- CHAP. thy of notice than their moral traits. The contest with the mother country had its origin in her attempts to de- 1750. prive them, by means of unjust laws, of the fruits of their labor. For one hundred years she had been imposing restrictions on their trade and domestic manufactures. They were treated as dependants, and inferiors who occupied "settlements established in distant parts of the world for the benefit of trade." They could purchase from England alone, and only to her market could they send their products. That English merchants might grow rich at their expense, the products of Europe and Asia were first to be landed in England, and then reshipped to America in British vessels. The only trade not thus taxed, was that of negroes, they being shipped directly from Africa-a trade against which all the colonies earnestly, but in vain, protested. Even the trees

XXV.

1750.

CHAP. in the forest suitable for masts were claimed by the king, and marked by his "Surveyor-General of Woods." "Rolling mills, forges, or tilt-hammers for making iron," were prohibited as "nuisances." The House of Commons said "that the erection of manufactories in the colonies tended to lessen their dependency upon Great Britain;" and the English ship-carpenters complained "that their trade was hurt, and their workmen emigrated, since so many vessels were built in New England." The hatter, because he could obtain his fur from the Indians without sending to England, was not permitted to sell hats out of his own colony. No manufacturer was permitted to have more than two apprentices. The government was unwilling that the colonists should make for themselves a single article which the English could supply.

1763.

These measures aroused a spirit of opposition, more especially among the frugal and industrious inhabitants of New England, whose manufactures, fisheries, and trade were almost ruined. There the people mutually agreed to buy of British manufacturers only what was absolutely necessary; rather than pay the English merchant exorbitant prices, they would deprive themselves of every luxury. Families determined to make their own linens and woollens, and to abstain from eating mutton, and preserve the sheep to furnish wool. It became fashionable, as well as honorable, to wear homesp.n. Associations were formed to promote domestic manufactures. On the anniversary of one of these, more than three hundred young women met on Boston Common, and devoted the day to spinning flax. The graduating class of Harvard College, not to be outdone in patriotism, made it a point on Commencement Day to be clad in homespun. Restrictions on trade did not affect the interests of the people of the South so much, as England could not dispense with their tobacco, rice, and indigo, and they had scarcely any manufactories.

Before the close of the French war, it was intimated