a time, but it is doubtful that it could have been
averted for many years, even if the utter incapacity of an obstinate
sovereign, and the childish vindictiveness of a minister, had not
precipitated the conclusion.

The master intellect of Burke at once grasped the whole question, and
his innate sense of justice suggested the remedy. Unfortunately for
England, but happily for America, Burke was beyond his age in breadth of
policy and in height of honour. Englishmen of the nineteenth century
have very freely abused Englishmen of the eighteenth century for their
conduct on this occasion; and more than one writer has set down the
whole question as one in which "right" was on the side of England, but
he argues that there are circumstances under which right should be
sacrificed to policy. I cannot agree with this very able writer.[564]
The question was not one of right, but of justice; and the English
nation, in the reign of George III., failed to see that to do justice
was both morally and politically the wisest course. The question of
right too often develops itself into the question of might. A man easily
persuades himself that he has a right to do what he has the power and
the inclination to do; and when his inclination and his opportunities
are on the same side, his moral consciousness becomes too frequently
blinded, and the question of justice is altogether overlooked.

It was in vain that Burke thundered forth denunciations of the childish
policy of the Treasury benches, and asked men to look to first
principles, who could hardly be made comprehend what first principles
were. He altogether abandoned the question of right, in which men had so
puzzled themselves as almost to lose sight of the question of policy.
The King would tax the colony, because his nature was obstinate, and
what he had determined to do he would do. To such natures reasoning is
much like hammering on iron--it only hardens the metal. The minister
would tax the colony because the King wished it; and he had neither the
strength of mind nor the conscientiousness to resist his sovereign. The
Lords stood on their dignity, and would impose the tax if only to show
their power. The people considered the whole affair one of pounds
shillings, and pence, and could not at all see why they should not wring
out the last farthing from a distant colony--could not be taught to
discern that the sacrifice of a few pounds at the present moment, might
result in the acq