The stress laid by the colonials upon their rights as Britons met the administration's emphasis upon the duty of all British subjects to obey British laws.

This countering of pleas of exemption with pronouncements of authority drove the complainants at length from proposals of reform to projects of revolution.

For this the solidarity of the continent was essential, and that was to be gained only by the most vigorous agitation with the aid of the most effective campaign cries.

The claim of historic immunities was largely discarded in favor of the more glittering doctrines current in the philosophy of the time.

The demands for local self-government or for national independence, one or both of which were the genuine issues at stake, were subordinated to the claim of the inherent and inalienable rights of man.