ich had
been founded entirely for the sake of profit), stretched a thin line of
sparsely populated territory. But the men who lived in this new land of
fresh air and high skies were very different from their brethren of
the mother country. In the wilderness they had learned independence and
self-reliance. They were the sons of hardy and energetic ancestors. Lazy
and timourous people did not cross the ocean in those days. The American
colonists hated the restraint and the lack of breathing space which had
made their lives in the old country so very unhappy. They meant to be
their own masters. This the ruling classes of England did not seem to
understand. The government annoyed the colonists and the colonists, who
hated to be bothered in this way, began to annoy the British government.

Bad feeling caused more bad feeling. It is not necessary to repeat here
in detail what actually happened and what might have been avoided if the
British king had been more intelligent than George III or less given to
drowsiness and indifference than his minister, Lord North. The British
colonists, when they understood that peaceful arguments would not settle
the difficulties, took to arms. From being loyal subjects, they turned
rebels, who exposed themselves to the punishment of death when they were
captured by the German soldiers, whom George hired to do his fighting
after the pleasant custom of that day, when Teutonic princes sold whole
regiments to the highest bidder.

The war between England and her American colonies lasted seven years.
During most of that time, the final success of the rebels seemed very
doubtful. A great number of the people, especially in the cities, had
remained loyal to their king. They were in favour of a compromise,
and would have been willing to sue for peace. But the great figure of
Washington stood guard over the cause of the colonists.

Ably assisted by a handful of brave men, he used his steadfast but badly
equipped armies to weaken the forces of the king. Time and again when
defeat seemed unavoidable, his strategy turned the tide of battle. Often
his men were ill-fed. During the winter they lacked shoes and coats
and were forced to live in unhealthy dug-outs. But their trust in their
great leader was absolute and they stuck it out until the final hour of
victory.

But more interesting than the campaigns of Washington or the diplomatic
triumphs of Benjamin Franklin who was in Europe getting money from th