“how the watery element claims and holds dominion over this
extent of land: that the great lakes which lie upon its bosom
on one hand, and the great river Mississippi and the multitude
of waters which run into it, form there a communication,--an
alliance or dominion of the watery element, that commands
throughout the whole; that these great lakes appear to be
_the throne_, the _centre of a dominion_, whose influence,
by an infinite number of rivers, creeks, and streams, extends
itself through all and every part of the continent, supported
by the communication of, and alliance with, the waters of
Mississippi.”[526]
If these means of internal commerce were vast, those afforded by the
Atlantic Ocean were not less extensive. The latter were developed
in the treatise on “The Administration of the Colonies,” the fourth
edition of which, published in 1768, is now before me. This was after
the differences between the Colonies and the mother country had begun,
but before the idea of independence had shown itself. Pownall insisted
that the Colonies ought to be considered as parts of the realm,
entitled to representation in Parliament. This was a constitutional
unity. But he portrayed a commercial unity also, which he represented
in attractive forms. The British Isles, and the British possessions in
the Atlantic and in America, were, according to him, “a grand marine
dominion,” and ought, therefore, by policy, to be united into one
empire, with one centre. On this he dwells at length, and the picture
is presented repeatedly.[527] It was incident to the crisis in the
world produced by the predominance of the commercial spirit already
beginning to rule the powers of Europe. It was the duty of England to
place herself at the head of this great movement:--
“As the rising of this crisis above described forms precisely
the _object_ on which Government should be employed, so the
taking leading measures towards the forming all those Atlantic
and American possessions into one empire, of which Great
Britain should be the commercial and political centre, is the
_precise duty_ of Government at this crisis.”[528]
This was his desire. But he saw clearly the resources as well as the
rights of the Colonies, and was satisfied, that, if power were not
consolidated under the constitutional auspices of England, it would
be transferred to the other side of the Atlantic. Here his words are
prophetic:--
“The whole train of events, the whole course of business, must
perpetually bring forward into practice, and necessarily in
the end into establishment, _either an American or a British
union_. There is no other alternative.”[529]
The necessity for union is enforced in a manner which foreshadows our
National Union:--
“The Colonial Legislature does certainly not answer all
purposes,--is incompetent and inadequate to many purposes.
Something, therefore, more is necessary,--_either a
common union amongst themselves_, or a one common union
of subordination under the one general legislature of the
state.”[530]
Then, again, in another place of the same work, after representing the
declarations of power over the Colonies as little better than mockery,
he prophesies:--
“Such is the actual state of the really existing system of our
dominions, that _neither the power of government over these
various parts can long continue under the present mode of
administration_, nor the great interest of commerce extended
throughout the whole long subsist under the present system of
the laws of trade.”[531]
Recent events may give present interest to his views, in this same
work, on the nature and necessity of a paper currency, where he follows
Franklin. The principal points of his plan were: That bills of credit,
to a certain amount, should be printed in England for the use of the
Colonies; that a loan-office should be established in each Colony,
to issue bills, take securities, and receive the payments; that the
bills should be issued for ten years, bearing interest at five per
cent.,--one tenth part of the sum borrowed to be paid annually, with
the interest; and that they should be a legal tender.[532]
When the differences had flamed forth in war, then the prophet became
more earnest. His utterances deserve to be rescued from oblivion.
He was open, almost defiant. As early as 2d December, 1777, some
months before our treaty with France, he declared, from his place in
Parliament, that “the sovereignty of this country over America is
abolished and gone forever”; that “they are determined at all events
to be independent, _and they will be so_”; and that “all the treaty
that this country can ever expect with America is federal, and that,
probably, only commercial.” In this spirit he said to the House:--
“Until you shall be convinced that you are no longer sovereigns
over America, but that the United States are an independent,
sovereign people,--until you are prepared to treat with them as
such,--it is of no consequence at all what schemes or plans of
conciliation this side the House or that may adopt.”[533]
The position taken in Parliament he maintained by writings; and here he
depicted the great destinies of our country. He began with “A Memorial
to the Sovereigns of Europe,” published early in 1780, and afterwards,
through the influence of John Adams, while at the Hague, abridged and
translated into French. In this remarkable production independence was
the least that he claimed for us. Thus he foretells our future:--
“North America is become a new primary planet in the system of
the world, which, while it takes its own course, in its own
orbit, must have effect on the orbit of every other planet,
and shift the common centre of gravity of the whole system of
the European world. North America is _de facto_ an independent
power, which has taken its equal station with other powers, and
must be so _de jure_.… The independence of America is fixed as
Fate. She is mistress of her own fortune, knows that she is
so, and will actuate that power which she feels she hath, so
as to establish her own system _and to change the system of
Europe_.”[534]
Not only is the new power to take an independent place, but it is
“to change the system of Europe.” For all this its people are amply
prepared. “Standing on that high ground of improvement up to which
the most enlightened parts of Europe have advanced, like eaglets
they commence the first efforts of their pinions from a towering
advantage.”[535] This same conviction appears in another form:--
“North America has advanced and is every day advancing to
growth of state with a steady and continually accelerating
motion, of which there has never yet been any example in
Europe.”[536] “It is a vitality, liable indeed to many
disorders, many dangerous diseases; but it is young and strong,
and will struggle, by the vigor of internal healing principles
of life, against those evils, and surmount them.… Its strength
will grow with its years.”[537]
He then dwells in detail on “the progressive population” of the
country; on its advantage in lying “on another side of the globe,
where it has no enemy”; on the products of the soil, among which is
“bread-corn to a degree that has wrought it to a staple export for
the supply of the Old World”; on the fisheries, which he calls “mines
producing more solid riches to those who work them than all the silver
of Potosi”; on the inventive spirit of the people; and on their
commercial activity.[538] Of such a people it is easy to predict great
things; and our prophet announces,--
1. That the new state will be “a great naval power,” exercising a
peculiar influence on commerce, and, through commerce, on the political
system of the Old World,--becoming the arbitress of commerce, and
perhaps the mediatrix of peace.[539]
2. That ship-building and the science and art of navigation have made
such progress in America that her people will be able to build and
navigate cheaper than any country in Europe, even Holland, with all her
economy.[540]
3. That the peculiar articles to be had from America only, and so
much sought in Europe, must give Americans a preference in those
markets.[541]
4. That a people “whose empire stands singly predominant in a great
continent” can hardly “suffer in their borders the establishment of
such a monopoly as the European Hudson’s Bay Company”; that it cannot
be stopped by Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope; that before long
“they will be found trading in the South Sea and in China”; and that
“the Dutch will hear of them in Spice Islands.”[542]
5. That by constant intercommunion of business and correspondence, and
by increased knowledge with regard to the ocean, “America will seem
every day to approach nearer and nearer to Europe”; that “a thousand
attractive motives will … become the irresistible cause of _an almost
general emigration to that New World_”; and that “many of the most
useful, enterprising spirits, and much of the active property, will go
there also.”[543]
6. That “North America will become a _free port_ to all the nations of
the world indiscriminately, and will expect, insist on, and demand,
in fair reciprocity, a _free market_ in all those nations with whom
she trades”; and that, adhering to this principle, she must be, “in
the course of time, the chief carrier of the commerce of the whole
world.”[544]
7. That America must avoid complication with European politics, or “the
entanglement of alliances,” having no connections with Europe “other
than merely commercial”;[545]--all of which at a later day was put
forth by Washington in his Farewell Address, when he said: “The great
rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending
our commercial relations, to have with them as little political
connection as possible”; and also when he asked: “Why, by interweaving
our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and
prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest,
humor, or caprice?”[546]
8. That “the similar modes of living and thinking, the same manners
and same fashions, the same language, and old habits of national love,
impressed in the heart and not yet effaced, _the very indentings of
the fracture whereat North America stands broken off from England, all
conspire naturally to a rejuncture by alliance_.”[547]
9. That the sovereigns of Europe, who “have despised the unfashioned,
awkward youth of America,” and have neglected to interweave their
interests with the rising States, when they find the system of the new
empire not only obstructing, but superseding, the old system of Europe,
and crossing all their settled maxims, will call upon their ministers
and wise men, “Come, curse me this people, for they are too mighty for
me.”[548]
This remarkable appeal was followed by two Memorials, “drawn up solely
for the King’s use, and designed solely for his eye,”[549] dated at
Richmond, January 2, 1782, where the author most persuasively urges his
Majesty to “treat with the Americans as with free states _de facto_,
under a truce.”[550] And on the signature of the treaty of peace he
wrote a private letter to Franklin, dated at Richmond, 28th February,
1783, where he testifies to the magnitude of the event:--
“MY OLD FRIEND,--I write this to congratulate you on the
establishment of your country as a free and sovereign power,
taking its equal station amongst the powers of this world.
I congratulate you, in particular, as chosen by Providence
to be a principal instrument of this great Revolution,--_a
Revolution that has stronger marks of Divine interposition,
superseding the ordinary course of human affairs, than any
other event which this world has experienced_.”[551]
The prophet closes his letter by allusion to a proposed tour of
America, adding, that, “if there ever was an object worth the
travelling to see, and worthy of the contemplation of a philosopher,
it is that in which he may see the beginnings of a great empire at
its foundation.” He communicated this purpose also to John Adams, who
answered him, that “he would be received respectfully in every part of
America, that he had always been considered as friendly to America, and
that his writings had been useful to our cause.”[552]
Then came another work, first published in 1783, entitled “A Memorial
addressed to the Sovereigns of America,” of which he gave the
mistaken judgment to a private friend, that it was “the best thing
he ever wrote.”[553] Here for the first time American citizens are
called “sovereigns.” At the beginning he explains, and indicates the
simplicity with which he addresses them:--
“Having presumed to address to the Sovereigns of Europe a
Memorial, … permit me now to address this Memorial to you
Sovereigns of America. I shall not address you with the court
titles of Gothic Europe, nor with those of servile Asia. I
will neither address your Sublimity or Majesty, your Grace or
Holiness, your Eminence or Highmightiness, your Excellence or
Honors. What are titles, where things themselves are known and
understood? What title did the Republic of Rome take? The
state was known to be sovereign, and the citizens to be free.
What could add to this glory? Therefore, United States and
Citizens of America, I address you as you are.”[554]
Here again are the same constant sympathy with Liberty, the same
confidence in our national destinies, and the same aspirations for our
prosperity, mingled with warnings against disturbing influences. He
exhorts that all our foundations should be “laid in Nature”; that there
should be “no contention for, nor acquisition of, unequal domination in
men”; and that union should be established on the attractive principle
by which all are drawn to a common centre.[555] He fears difficulty in
making the line of frontier between us and the British Provinces “a
line of peace,” as it ought to be; he is anxious lest something may
break out between us and Spain; and he suggests that possibly, “in the
cool hours of unimpassioned reflection,” we may learn the danger of our
“alliances,”[556]--referring plainly to that original alliance with
France which at a later day was the occasion of such trouble. Two other
warnings occur. One is against Slavery,[557] which is more memorable,
because in an earlier Memorial he enumerates among articles of commerce
“African slaves, carried by a circuitous trade in American shipping
to the West India markets.”[558] The other warning is thus strongly
expressed:--
“Every inhabitant of America is, _de facto_ as well as _de
jure_, equal, in his essential, inseparable rights of the
individual, to any other individual,--is, in these rights,
independent of any power that any other can assume over him,
over his labor, or his property. This is a principle in act and
deed, and not a mere speculative theorem.”[559]
This strange and striking testimony, all from one man, is enhanced
by his farewell words to Franklin. As Pownall heard that the great
philosopher and negotiator was about to embark for the United States,
he wrote to him from Lausanne, 3d July, 1785:--
“Adieu, my dear friend. You are going to a New World, formed to
exhibit a scene which the Old World never yet saw. You leave me
here in the Old World, which, like myself, begins to feel, as
Asia hath felt, that it is wearing out apace. We shall never
meet again on this earth; but there is another world where we
shall meet, and _where we shall be understood_.”[560]
The correspondence was continued across the intervening ocean. In a
letter to Franklin, dated at Bristol, 8th April, 1788, the same devoted
reformer refers to the Congress at Albany in 1754, “when the events
which have since come into fact first began to develop themselves, as
ready to burst into bloom, and to bring forth the fruits of Liberty
which you in America at present enjoy.” He is cheered in his old age
by the proceedings in the Convention to frame a Constitution, with
Franklin’s “report of a system of sovereignty founded in law, and
above which law only was sovereign”; and he begins “to entertain hopes
for the liberties of America, and for what will be an asylum one day
or other to a remnant of mankind who wish and deserve to live with
political liberty.” His disturbance at the Presidential term breaks
out: “I have some fears of mischief from _the orbit of four years’
period_ which you give to the rotation of the office of President.
It may become the ground of intrigue.”[561] Here friendly anxiety is
elevated by hope, where America appears as the asylum of Liberty.
Clearly Pownall was not understood in his time; but it is evident that
he understood our country as few Englishmen since have been able to
understand it.
How few of his contemporaries saw America with his insight and courage!
The prevailing sentiment was typified in the conduct of George the
Third, so boldly arraigned in the Declaration of Independence.
Individual opinions also attest the contrast, and help to glorify
Pownall. Thus, Shirley, like himself a Massachusetts governor, in
advising the King to strengthen Louisburg, wrote, under date of July
10, 1745:--
“It would, by its vicinity to the British Colonies, and being
the key of ’em, give the Crown of Great Britain a most absolute
hold and command of ’em, if ever there should come a time
when they should go restiff and disposed to shake off their
dependency upon their mother country, _the possibility of which
seems some centuries further off than it does to some gentlemen
at home_.”[562]
Nothing of the prophet here. Nor was Hume more penetrating in his
History first published, although he commemorates properly the early
settlement of the country:--
“What chiefly renders the reign of James memorable is the
commencement of the English colonies in America, colonies
established on the noblest footing that has been known in any
age or nation.…
“Speculative reasoners during that age raised many objections
to the planting those remote colonies, and foretold, that,
after draining their mother country of inhabitants, they would
soon shake off her yoke, and erect an independent government
in America; but time has shown that the views entertained by
those who encouraged such generous undertakings were more
just and solid. _A mild government and great naval force have
preserved, and may long preserve, the dominion of England over
her colonies._”[563]
In making the reign of James chiefly memorable by the Colonies, the
eminent historian shows a just appreciation of events; but he seems to
have written hastily, and rather from imagination than evidence, when
he announces contemporary prophecy, “that, after draining their mother
country of inhabitants, they would soon shake off her yoke, and erect
an independent government in America,” and is plainly without prophetic
instinct with regard to “the dominion of England over her colonies.”