=Burke Offers the Doctrine of Conciliation.=--The flooding tide of American sentiment was correctly measured by one Englishman at least, Edmund Burke, who quickly saw that attempts to restrain the rise of American democracy were efforts to reverse the processes of nature. He saw how fixed and rooted in the nature of things was the American spirit--how inevitable, how irresistible. He warned his countrymen that there were three ways of handling the delicate situation--and only three. One was to remove the cause of friction by changing the spirit of the colonists--an utter impossibility because that spirit was grounded in the essential circumstances of American life. The second was to prosecute American leaders as criminals; of this he begged his countrymen to beware lest the colonists declare that "a government against which a claim of liberty is tantamount to high treason is a government to which submission is equivalent to slavery." The third and right way to meet the problem, Burke concluded, was to accept the American spirit, repeal the obnoxious measures, and receive the colonies into equal partnership. =Events Produce the Great Decision.=--The right way, indicated by Burke, was equally impossible to George III and the majority in Parliament. To their narrow minds, American opinion was contemptible and American resistance unlawful, riotous, and treasonable. The correct way, in their view, was to dispatch more troops to crush the "rebels"; and that very act took the contest from the realm of opinion. As John Adams said: "Facts are stubborn things." Opinions were unseen, but marching soldiers were visible to the veriest street urchin. "Now," said Gouverneur Morris, "the sheep, simple as they are, cannot be gulled as heretofore." It was too late to talk about the excellence of the British constitution. If any one is bewildered by the controversies of modern historians as to why the crisis came at last, he can clarify his understanding by reading again Edmund Burke's stately oration, _On Conciliation with America_. =References= G.L. Beer, _British Colonial Policy_ (1754-63). E. Channing, _History of the United States_, Vol. III. R. Frothingham, _Rise of the Republic_. G.E. Howard, _Preliminaries of the Revolution_ (American Nation Series). J.K. Hosmer, _Samuel Adams_. J.T. Morse, _Benjamin Franklin_. M.C. Tyler, _Patrick Henry_. J.A. Woodburn (editor), _The American Revolution_ (Selections from the English work by Lecky). =Questions= 1. Show how the character of George III made for trouble with the colonies. 2. Explain why the party and parliamentary systems of England favored the plans of George III. 3. How did the state of English finances affect English policy? 4. Enumerate five important measures of the English government affecting the colonies between 1763 and 1765. Explain each in detail. 5. Describe American resistance to the Stamp Act. What was the outcome?