fully and manfully
contended. What the old colonies contended for during that eventful
period was substantially the same as that which has been demanded and
obtained during the present century by the colonies of the Canadian
Dominion, under the names of "local self-government" or "responsible
government," and which is now so fully enjoyed by them. Had Queen
Victoria reigned in England instead of George the Third, there would
have been no Declaration of Independence, no civil war in America, but
the thirteen American provinces would have remained as affectionately
united to the mother country, and as free as are the provinces of the
Canadian Dominion at this day.

George the Third seems to me to have been, before and during the
American Revolution, the worst Sovereign for the colonies that ever
occupied the throne of England; but after and since that revolution he
was the best of Sovereigns for the remaining British colonies of North
America. He learned lessons during that revolution which essentially
changed his character as the ruler of colonies, though I am not aware
that he ever formally confessed the change through which he had passed.
It is therefore quite reconcilable that he should be regarded by the old
American colonies, now the United States, as a tyrant, while his name is
revered and loved by the colonists of the Canadian Dominion as the
Father of his people.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 359: "Each of the three divisions by which the colonies were
usually designated--the New England, the Middle, and the Southern
Colonies--had on the floor of Congress men of a positive character. _New
England_ presented in John Sullivan, vigour; in Roger Sherman, sterling
sense and integrity; in Thomas Cushing, commercial knowledge; in John
Adams (afterwards President of the United States), large capacity for
public affairs; in Samuel Adams (no relation to John Adams), a great
character with influence and power to organize. The _Middle_ Colonies
presented in Philip Livingston, the merchant prince of enterprise and
liberality; in John Jay, rare public virtue, juridical learning, and
classic taste; in William Livingston, progressive ideas tempered by
conservatism; in John Dickenson, "The Immortal Farmer," erudition and
literary ability; in Caesar Rodney and Thomas McKean, working power; in
James Duane, timid Whigism, halting, but keeping true to the cause; in
Joseph Galloway, downright Toryism, seeking control, and at length goin