difference, when it was plain, from the very beginning, that there was no medium between coercion and abandonment. If the Ministry were before right, they conceded by far too much; if wrong, too little. This fluctuation of counsels, this mixture of soothing and irritating measures, had uniformly marked the administration of Lord North, and as uniformly been unsuccessful. Burke's comprehensive wisdom objected to the present resolution as insufficient, and his sagacity foresaw that it would be ineffectual. The event justified his predictions: the Congress rejected the proposition as only a proffered suspension of the mode, not a renunciation of the right, of levying taxes.

That venerable statesman, who, in the vigour of his age, had carried the glory of his country to a height unknown in the annals of British history, now, in the decline of life, and oppressed with distemper, made an effort to prevent a war between the parent state and her colonies. The piercing eye of Chatham saw the danger, with all the

probable circumstances which would accompany it, and the consequences that would follow: in dissensions with America he perceived the seeds of foreign war. France and Spain,' said he, are watching your conduct, and waiting for the maturity of your errors. To ward off such evils, the wise patriot proposed to cut up the root from which they were likely to spring, and to conciliate America, by placing her on exactly the same footing on which she had stood before the introduction of the new system.

He supported his motion by a force of reasoning and eloquence not unworthy of the days of his own greatest energy. His attempt was unavailing: his motion was rejected by a great majority.

Burke was, meanwhile, employed in making the most minute and extensive inquiries into the physical and moral state of America, from all those who, from situation and ability, were qualified to give him the

most complete information and justest views. He had been some, years before appointed agent for New York, and maintained a close intercourse with many of the colonists, and also with the American agents in London, especially with Dr. Franklin. From all that he could learn or judge, he formed the conclusion, that an attempt to subjugate the colonies would be impracticable: conciliation, therefore, he still persisted to recom mend.

March 22, 1775, he laid before the House thirteen resolutions for reconcilement. Waying the discussion of right, he confined himself to expediency. He proceeded upon a principle admitted by the wisest legislators, that government must be adapted to the nature and situation of the people for whose benefit it is exercised. Instead of recurring to abstract ideas of the rights of man, he considered the circumstances, modes of thinking, dispositions, and principles of action of those inen in particular, the treatment of whom was the subject of deliberation,

He proposed that the Americans should tax themselves by their own representatives, in their own assemblies, agreeably to the former usage, and to the analogy of the British constitution; and that all acts imposing duties should be repealed. 'Peace,' he observes, implies reconciliation ; and where there has been a mutual dispute, reconciliation always implies concession on some side.' He considers first whether Britain ought to concede; and after establishing, by the strongest arguments, the wisdom of concession, he next proceeds to inquire what concession she ought to make. On the first question, guided by the rule of legislative policy that I have above stated, he takes one of those wide ranges in which his expansive understanding so much excelled. As, in the speech on American taxation, he had presented a complete history of the policy of this country respecting the colonies; in this he considers the internal state of America, physical, moral, religious, and political. His reasoning for conciliation, even at the expence of concession, is taken

from two great sources, the advantages which had accrued, and would continue to accrue, to this country from their rapidly increasing prosperity, if we were on amicable terms: and, from their power of resistance, if we should attempt force, he surveys the population of the colonies, their agriculture, and commerce.

Here he shews the amazing versatility of his powers, and the industry with which he mastered the most minute and intricate details. To display the great increase of the commerce of America, he gave a comparative statement of the export trade to the colonies in 1704 and in 1772; and a comparative statement of the export trade to the colonies in 1772, and to the whole world in 1704 : demonstrating, from acknowledged vouchers, that the trade to America in 1772 amounted to 6,024,171 l. and in 1704, to 569,930l. and consequently had risen in the proportion of eleven to one. He also shews that the trade to the colonies in 1772 was in the proportion of twelve to thirteen of the trade to the whole world in