GATHERING OF POLITICAL FORCES--GENERAL REVOLUTION--CIVIL REFORMS--DECAY OF OLD INSTITUTIONS--ROSSEAU AND HIS WRITINGS--VOLTAIRE--HOLLAND, A POLITICAL REFUGE--AMERICAN SETTLERS--LINES OF ALBERT B. STREET--GROWTH OF THE COLONIES--LOVE FOR ENGLAND--CAUSES OF REVOLUTION--MANUFACTURES FORBIDDEN--STAMP ACT--TAX ON TEA--PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION--ADDRESS TO THE KING--APPEAL TO ENGLAND--TO CANADA--INCIDENT IN OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON--PAUL REVERE'S RIDE. "Freedom, thy brow, Glorious in beauty though it be, is scarred With tokens of old wars; thy massive limbs Are strong with struggling. Power at thee has launched His bolts, and with his lightnings smitten thee. They could not quench the light thou hast from heaven." Who has failed to observe on a calm summer day the elements of a storm collecting silently, and gradually, until the whole heavens grew dark, and the light of the sun was hid? The calm was changed into a tempest, the lightning flashed, the thunder roared, the clouds piled up {162} thicker and heavier until at length the storm burst, the rain fell in torrents deluging the earth and in some cases uprooting the plants it was designed to nourish and strengthen. So, too, in the political world the forces gather gradually, until they have attained sufficient power, and then burst upon the affrighted nations in all the tumult of a terrible revolution. There are few intelligent people in this age but what have a general idea of the history of the world; yet how comparatively few are there who realize the fact, that in the seventy-five years which elapsed between 1775 and 1850 the great majority of civilized nations passed through a great social and political change. Among the nations so affected may be mentioned the United States, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Mexico, Central America and nearly all the South American states. To this may be added the great commotions in Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland and the states of the German empire caused by the wars of Napoleon. In England, Ireland and Canada, wars were only averted by civil reforms and concessions to popular rights. For Europe this epoch was the result of the struggles of generations. At the close of the seven years' war in 1763 the representatives of even the Catholic powers admitted the decay of old institutions. The Catholic monarchies headed by the pope, in their struggle against Protestantism and free thought had encountered defeat. From this great struggle came forth a principle of all-pervading energy. The life-giving truth of the Reformation was the right of private judgment. The world was rising up against superstition; the oppression of industry was passing away. The use of reason was no longer considered a crime, but was on the other hand, considered a duty. Ideas of the brotherhood of man were flashing across the minds of leading men.