ves to be so jealous.

"Such, in the English colonies, was the happy condition of man and of
society, when England, by an arrogant piece of aggression, attempted to
dispose, without their consent, of their fortunes and their destiny."

The uneasiness in the relations between the mother-country and the
colonies was of old date; and the danger which England ran of seeing her
great settlements beyond the sea separating from her had for some time
past struck the more clear-sighted. "Colonies are like fruits which
remain on the tree only until they are ripe," said M. Turgot in 1750;
"when they have become self-sufficing, they do as Carthage did, as
America will one day do." It was in the war between England and France
for the possession of Canada that the Americans made the first trial of
their strength.

Alliance was concluded between the different colonies; Virginia marched
in tune with Massachusetts; the pride of a new power, young and already
victorious, animated the troops which marched to the conquest of Canada.
"If we manage to remove from Canada these turbulent Gauls," exclaimed
John Adams, "our territory, in a century, will be more populous than
England herself. Then all Europe will be powerless to subjugate us."
"I am astounded," said the Duke of Choiseul to the English negotiator who
arrived at Paris in 1761, "I am astounded that your great Pitt should
attach so much importance to the acquisition of Canada, a territory too
scantily peopled to ever become dangerous for you, and one which, in our
hands, would serve to keep your colonies in a state of dependence from
which they will not fail to free themselves the moment Canada is ceded to
you." A pamphlet attributed to Burke proposed to leave Canada to France
with the avowed aim of maintaining on the border of the American
provinces an object of anxiety and an everthreatening enemy.

America protested its loyalty and rejected with indignation all idea of
separation. "It is said that the development of the strength of the
colonies may render them more dangerous and bring them to declare their
independence," wrote Franklin in 1760; "such fears are chimerical. So
many causes are against their union, that I do not hesitate to declare it
not only improbable but impossible; I say impossible--without the most
provoking tyranny and oppression. As long as the government is mild and
just, as long as there is security for civil and religious interests, the
Americans