Adams_, ii. 5.]
Such men became lawyers, doctors, or merchants; theology ceased to occupy
their minds; and gradually the secular thought of New England grew to be
coincident with that of the other colonies.
Throughout America the institutions favored individuality. No privileged
class existed among the whites. Under the careless rule of Great Britain
habits of personal liberty had taken root, which showed themselves in the
tenacity wherewith the people clung to their customs of self-government;
and so long as these usages were respected, under which they had always
lived, and which they believed to be as well established as Magna Charta,
there were not in all the king's broad dominions more loyal subjects than
men like Washington, Jefferson, and Jay.
The generation now living can read the history of the Revolution
dispassionately, and to them it is growing clear that our ancestors were
technically in the wrong. For centuries Parliament has been theoretically
absolute; therefore it might constitutionally tax the colonies, or do
whatsoever else with them it pleased. Practically, however, it is self-
evident that the most perfect despotism must be limited by the extent to
which subjects will obey, and this is a matter of habit; rebellions,
therefore, are usually caused by the conservative instinct, represented by
the will of the sovereign, attempting to enforce obedience to customs
which a people have outgrown.
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