ON THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE ANONYMOUS PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN LONDON IN 1760 ENTITLED "THE INTEREST OF GREAT BRITAIN CONSIDERED WITH REGARD TO HER COLONIES AND THE ACQUISITION OF CANADA AND GUADALOUPE."

BY I. MINIS HAYS.

(Read April 24, 1924.)

The Seven Years' War-the conflict maintained by Frederick the Great of Prussia against Austria, Russia and France-began in 1756; England allied herself with Prussia and undertook to curb the power of France in America and especially in Canada, where her arms met with marked success. In July, 1758, Louisburg, with its strong fortress commanding the mouth of the St. Lawrence, was captured by General Amherst; in September of the following year Quebec fell to Gen. Wolfe and the War in this country was ended in September, 1760, by the surrender at Montreal of the French Army in Canada.

In England the terms of the coming peace had been actively discussed for some time previous thereto. Two anonymous pamphlets on this subject, which appeared in the beginning of 1760, attracted marked attention. The first was entitled "A Letter Addressed to Two Great Men on the Prospect of Peace; and on the Terms Necessary to be Insisted Upon in the Negotiation" (London, 1760), which is supposed to have been inspired by William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, and to have been written by John Douglas, afterward Bishop of Salisbury; and the two great men to whom it was addressed were William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and the Duke of Newcastle, both influential members of the Government. Among other points it strongly urged were the acquisition by Great Britain of Canada rather than territory in the West Indies.

This pamphlet was promptly answered by another entitled "Remarks on the Letter Addressed to Two Great Men" (London, 1760),

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which ran through three editions in Great Britain, and was reprinted in Boston in the same year. In it opposite views were urged and the retention of Guadaloupe, captured by the English in 1759, was strongly advocated, and it was claimed that its sugar trade was more important to Great Britain than was the fur trade of Canada. It was probably written by William Burke, the supposed author of the Letters of Junius," but it has also been ascribed to Rt. Hon. Charles Townshend.

These anonymous pamphlets were promptly followed by another, entitled "The Interest of Great Britain Considered with Regard to Her Colonies and the Acquisition of Canada and Guadaloupe " (London, 1760), which immediately attracted marked attention and was reprinted in the same year in Dublin, in Philadelphia and in Boston in two editions, and a second edition was issued in the following year in London, so great and widespread was the interest it excited. It summarized the arguments of both the preceding pamphlets and strongly supported the views advanced by Douglas. The authorship of this pamphlet has been attributed by some bibliographers to Franklin and by others to Richard Jackson.

The American colonies were becoming alarmed by the proposals concerning the restoration to France of Canada and the Island of Guadaloupe and they felt that the outcome was of vital interest to them. There was no abler advocate for the retention of Canada than Dr. Franklin, who was then in London, whither he had been sent in 1757 by the Assembly of Pennsylvania to secure its right to tax the estates of the Proprietaries in common with the other lands in the Colony. In this, his first diplomatic mission, he had been eminently successful and thereby acquired considerable prestige. He remained abroad until 1762 and in all matters relating to the American Colonies his opinion was eagerly sought.

That he was deeply interested in the terms of the coming Treaty and was endeavoring to influence British opinion in relation thereto is shown by his letter to John Hughes, of Pennsylvania, under date of London, January 7, 1760, in which he says:

"There has been for some time a Talk of Peace, and probably we should have had one this winter, if the King of Prussia's late

Misfortunes had not given the Enemy fresh Spirits, and encourag'd them to try their Luck another Campaign and exert all their remaining strength that if possible they might treat with Hanover in their Hands. If this should be the Case, possibly most of our Advantages may be given up again at the Treaty, and some among our great Men begin already to prepare the Minds of People for this, by discoursing, that to keep Canada would draw on us the Envy of other Powers, and occasion a Confederacy against us; that the Country is too large for us to people, not worth possessing, and the like. These Notions. I am every day and every where combating, and I think not without some Success. The Event God only knows. The Argument that seems to have a principal Weight is, that in Case of another War, if we keep Possession of Canada, the Nation will save two or three Millions a Year, now spent in Defending the American Colonies, and be so much the stronger in Europe, by the Addition of the Troops now employ'd on that side of the Water. To this I add, that The Colonies would thrive and increase in a much greater Degree, and a vast additional Demand arise for British Manufacturers, to supply so great an Extent of Indian Country, etc., with many other Topics, which I urge occasionally, according to the Company I happen into, or the Person I address." (Franklin Mss. in American Philosophical

Society, XLV., 19a).

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Richard Jackson, to whom the authorship of this last pamphlet has also been and is still not infrequently attributed, was an English lawyer interested in politics and from his extraordinary stores of knowledge was commonly known as "Omniscient Jackson." At the time of its appearance he was Agent in London for the Colony of Pennsylvania and Franklin rated him as one of the best authorities for everything related to America" (Smyth, loc. cit., V., 67). So learned an authority as Hildeburn says in his " Issues of the Pennsylvania Press" (Philadelphia, 1885, I., 350) that this pamphlet was "commonly attributed to Franklin when first published, but is now known to have been written at his instance by Richard Jackson," but he does not give his proof for this statement. Sabin (" Dictionary of Books Relating to America," New York, 1877, IX., 184) and Cushing ("Anonyms," Cambridge, 1890) follow him. On the other hand, Evans (" American Bibliography," Chicago, 1905, III., 254), Halkett and Laing (" Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain," Edinburgh, 1885, II., 1241) and Rich ("Bibliotheca Americana Nova," London, 1835, I., 133) ascribe it to

Dr. Franklin. In the Catalogue of one of our largest historical libraries the writer has found the author-entry for this pamphlet under Jackson and no reference whatsoever to it under Franklin.

After diligent search and with every desire to do justice to Richard Jackson, the facts upon which Hildeburn based his conclusion have not been found-indeed, the available data regarding Jackson are very meagre. "The Encyclopedia Britannica" does not mention him, and the "Dictionary of National Biography" (London, 1892, XXIX., 104) accords to him less than a half page and makes no reference to his having been in any way connected with the authorship of "The Interest of Great Britain Considered."

Contemporary writers with considerable unanimity ascribed the authorship to Dr. Franklin. Chief Justice Edward Shippen in a letter, quoted by Hildeburn, dated October 2, 1760, says: "I have seen B. Franklin's Pamphlet, and think it the best book that has been published in England concerning American Affairs. He appears to have thoroughly understood his subject and has done justice to the cause he espouses. Certainly we should be dupes to give up Canada" (loc. cit., I., 350). In a letter to Lord Kames, under date of London, May 3, 1760, Dr. Franklin says: "I have endeavoured to comply with your request in writing something on the present situation of our affairs in America, in order to give more correct notions of the British interest with regard to the colonies, than those I found many sensible men possessed of. Inclosed you have the production, such as it is. I wish it may in any degree be of service to the public. I shall at least hope this from it, for my own part, that you will consider it as a letter from me to you, and take its length as some excuse for its being so long a-coming" ("Memoirs of Hon. Henry Home of Kames," Edinburgh, 1807, I., 268, consult also Franklin's letter to Lord Kames, of Jan. 3, 1760, Smyth, loc. cit., IV., 4). The enclosure was clearly a printed copy of the pamphlet in question.

Dr. Franklin evidently sent copies of this pamphlet to some of his friends. William Thomson, in a letter to him from Worcester, England, under date of November 18, 1760, says: "I take this Opportunity to return you my sincere thanks not only for the pleasure of your Company afforded me during your short stay in Worcester,

but also for the Entertainment I am confident I owe to you after your Departure The Interest of Great Britain with Respect to Her Colonies gave me a more distinct view than I ever had before of our Connexions wt our fellow Subjects in distant parts of the Globe." (Franklin Papers in Amer. Philos. Soc., I., 60). The conclusion to be drawn from this note is that, in evidence of appreciation of his hospitality, Dr. Franklin sent to Mr. Thomson a copy of his pamphlet, and had it not been written by him he, at the time, certainly would have disclaimed its authorship which under the circumstances Thomson would be sure to attribute to him.

Benjamin Vaughan, who was an intimate friend of Franklin and in frequent correspondence with him, in his edition of Franklin's "Political, Miscellaneous and Philosophical Pieces" (London, 1779) included this pamphlet, and in an “Addenda” stated that "Dr. Franklin has often been heard to say that in writing this pamphlet he received considerable assistance from a learned friend who was not willing to be named." Franklin, under date of Passy, November 9, 1779 (Smyth, loc. cit., VII., 410), thanked Vaughan "for the great Care and Pains " he had taken in preparing this edition of his writings and says that he has "noted some Faults of Impression that hurt the Sense, and some other little Matters which you will find all in a Sheet under the title of Errata," but he in no way disclaimed the authorship of this pamphlet which had been set down to him. In the Italian translation of Vaughan's Collection, which appeared four years later, this essay was still included (Padua, 1783).

Paul Ford in his "Franklin Bibliography" (Brooklyn, 1889, page 117) states that Francis Maseres wrote to Vaughan claiming that nearly two thirds of the pamphlet was written by Jackson, but failed to satisfy him as to the accuracy of the statement.

Appended to the pamphlet on "The Interest of Great Britain " is an essay entitled "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.," which reinforces the argument in reply to the contention that "if we had Canada we could not people it without draining Britain of its inhabitants."

In 1754, Dr. William Clarke, of Boston, was corresponding with Dr. Franklin in regard to measures for the protection of the English