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George Bancroft, History of the Colonization of the United States, Vol. 1, 17th edition., Chapter 5: (search)
istaken compassion, established the slave trade, which had nearly received its development before the voice of charity was heard in defence of the Indians. Reason, Inter dominum et servum nulla amicitia est; etiam in pace belli tamen jura servantur. Quintus Curtius, l. VII. c. VIII. John Locke, who sanctioned slavery in Carolina, gives a similar definition of it. The perfect condition of slavery is the state of war continued between a lawful conqueror and a captive. Compare, also, Montesquieu de l'esprit des Lois, l. XV. c. v., on negro slavery. policy, and religion, alike condemned the traffic. A series of papal bulls had indeed secured to Chap. V.} the Portuguese the exclusive commerce with Western Africa; but the slave-trade between Africa and America was, I believe, never expressly sanctioned by the see of Rome. The spirit of the Roman church was against it. Even Leo X., though his voluptuous life, making of his pontificate a continued carnival, might have deadened th
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 2, 17th edition., Colonial history. (search)
, an unmitigated evil; for the prohibition 12 Car. Il c. XXXIV. Comm. Chalmers, 243. of planting tobacco in England and Ireland, was a useless Chap XI.} mockery. As a mode of taxing the colonies, the monopoly was a failure; the contribution was made to the pocket of the merchant, not to the treasury of the metropolis. The usual excuse for colonial restrictions is founded on the principle that colonies were established at the cost of the mother country for that very purpose. Montesquieu, l. XXI. c. XXI. In the case of the American colonies, the apology cannot be urged. The state founded none of them. The colonists escaped from the mother country, and had, at their own cost, and by their own toil, made for themselves dwellings in the New World. Virginia was founded by a private company; New England was the home of exiles. England first thrust them out; and she owned them as her children only to oppress them! Again, it was said that the commercial losses of the col
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 3, 15th edition., Colonial history. (search)
m; preserved the ascendency of the aristocracy, yet increased the weight and the numbers of the middling class. It mitigated the evils which it did not absolutely abolish, increasing the securities of personal liberty, of opinion, of the press, and of the responsibility of the executive. England became the star of constitutional liberty, shining brilliantly as a beacon on the horizon of Europe. Her institutions won respect in the heart of despotic coun tries, compelling the eulogies of Montesquieu and the homage of Voltaire. Never in the history of man had so large a state been blessed with institutions so favorable to public happiness, to the arts of peace, to Chap. XIX.} the development of the natural resources. Of old, Greece, in collision with the East, had spread the civilization of Hellas through Asia Minor and the regions that encircle the Levant; Rome, entering into relations with Greece, as the conqueror of her soil, became imbued with her civilization, and by its swor
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 4, 15th edition., The American Revolution. (search)
The American Revolution. Epoch first. The Overthrow of the European colonial system. 1748-1763. The Overthrow of the European colonial system. Chapter 1: America claims legislative independence of England. Pelham's administration. 1748. in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hun- chap I.} 1748. dred and forty-eight, Montesquieu, wisest in his age of the reflecting statesmen of France, apprized the cultivated world, that a free, prosperous and great people was forming in the forests of America, which England had sent forth her sons to inhabit. De l'esprit des Lois. LIV. XIX. chap. XXVII. Elle [une nation libre] donneroit aux peuples de ses colonies la forme de son gouvernement propre: et ce gouvernement portant avec lui la prosperite, on verroit se former de grands peoples dans les forces memes qu'elle enverroit habiter. The hereditary dynasties of Europe, all unconscious of the rapid growth of the rising power, which was soon to involve them in its new
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 4, 15th edition., Chapter 18: (search)
e representative of Westmoreland. Descended from one of the oldest families in Virginia, he had been educated in England, and had returned to his native land familiar with the spirit of chap. XVIII.} 1761. Grotius and Cudworth, of Locke and Montesquieu; his first recorded speech was against negro slavery, in behalf of human freedom. In the continued importation of slaves, he foreboded danger to the political and moral interests of the Old Dominion; an increase of the free Anglo-Saxons, he ae, in defiance of the plain principles of law, should lend himself to the schemes of the crown officers, began to perceive how many offices he had selfishly accumulated in his own hands. Otis, whose mind was deeply imbued with the writings of Montesquieu, pointed out the mischief of uniting in the same person executive, legislative, and judicial powers; but four or five years passed away before the distinction was much heeded; and in the mean time the judges were punished by a reduction of the
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 5, 13th edition., Chapter 2: (search)
ever kindled with the disinterested love of man. The age could have learnt, from the school of Voltaire, to scoff at its past; but the studious and observing Montesquieu discovered the title deeds of humanity, as they lay buried under the rubbish of privileges, conventional charters, and statutes. His was a generous nature thatappy than those of Italy, may save themselves from the passionate tyranny of a single senate. That free commerce would benefit every nation, is a truth which Montesquieu Montesquieu: Esprit des Lois. livre XX. chap. XXIII. is thought to have but imperfectly perceived. The moment was come when the languishing agriculture ofMontesquieu: Esprit des Lois. livre XX. chap. XXIII. is thought to have but imperfectly perceived. The moment was come when the languishing agriculture of his country would invoke science to rescue it from oppression by entreating the liberty of industry and trade. The great employment of France was the tillage of land, than which no method of gain is more grateful in itself, or more worthy of freemen, Cicero de Officiis. or more happy in rendering service to the whole human rac
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 5, 13th edition., Chapter 3: (search)
free-thinkers had led the way in the reaction of Protestant Europe against the blind adoration of the letter of the Bible. English Deists, tracing Christianity to reason and teaching that it was as old as creation, were the forerunners of the German Rationalists. English treatises on the human understanding were the sources of the materialism of France. In the atmosphere of England Voltaire ripened the speculative views which he pub- chap. III.} 1763. lished as English Letters; there Montesquieu sketched a government which should make liberty its end; and from English writings and example Rousseau derived the idea of a social compact. Every Englishman discussed public affairs; busy politicians thronged the coffee-houses; petitions were sent to parliament from popular assemblies; cities, boroughs, and counties framed addresses to the king: and yet, such was the stability of the institutions of England amidst the factious conflicts of parties, such her loyalty to law even in her c
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 6, 10th edition., Chapter 48: (search)
never so insulted an emblem of the Catholic faith, as did the most Christian King of France, when he withdrew an attractive woman from public licentiousness, consecrated her by the sacrament of marriage as the wife of a French nobleman, and then installed her in his own palace as his mistress. In return, she adored royalty and sided against the philosophers. The power which had been snatched from those to whom by the constitution it belonged, was bestowed on her; and, in the country of Montesquieu and Turgot, an abandoned female who pleased the lewd fancies of an intemperate old man, became the symbol and the support of absolute monarchy. The king of England likewise had no higher ob- Sept. ject than to confirm his authority. The ministers ot Prussia, Austria, and Russia, were signing at St. Petersburg the treaty for the first partition of Poland; he neither questioned its justice nor inquired into its motives. Towards European affairs the British policy, like that of France,
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 7, 4th edition., Chapter 14: (search)
us equality and freedom. In the masterly address to the inhabitants of the province of Quebec, drawn by Dickinson, all old religious jealousies were condemned as low-minded infirmities; and the Swiss cantons were cited as examples of a union composed of Catholic and Protestant states. Appeals were also made to the vanity and the pride of the French population. After a clear and precise analysis of the Quebec act, and the contrast of its provisions with English liberties, the shade of Montesquieu was evoked, as himself saying to the Canadians: Seize the opportunity presented to you by Providence itself. You have been conquered into Chap. XIV.} 1774. Oct. liberty, if you act as you ought. This work is not of man. You are a small people, compared to those who with open arms invite you into a fellowship. The injuries of Boston have roused and associated every colony from Nova Scotia to Georgia. Your province is the only link wanting to complete the bright and strong chain of un
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 8, Chapter 49: (search)
ad so soon been vindicated by events, rose with the approach of danger; he dared to present to himself the problem of the system, best suited to the colonies in the sudden emergency; and guided by nature and experience, looked for the essential elements of government behind its forms. He studied the principles of the British constitution not merely in the history of England, but as purified and reproduced in the governments of New England, and as analyzed and reflected in the writings of Montesquieu. A legislative, an executive, and a judicial power comprehended the whole of what he meant and understood by government; and as the only secret to be discovered was how to derive these powers directly from the people, he persuaded himself and succeeded in persuading others, that, by the aid of a convention, a single month was sufficient, without the least convulsion or even animosity, to accomplish a total revolution in the government of a colony. The continental congress perceived th
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