Page:Cambridge Modern History Volume 7.djvu/138

106 Colonial offices and officials. [IGOS- sense of central unity which their form of government brought home to them, and perceived in it a source of strength against the disunited British colonies, some of which were known to be also disaffected. The French colonies were constituent parts of the empire, and no single colony was permitted to detach itself from its neighbour. Louisiana and Acadia were parts of New France, and the islands were attached to Martinique as a centre. The French had a further advantage in the union of the Marine and Colonial Offices at home, which forced into recognition the depend- ence of the colonies upon the protection of the navy, contrasting in this respect favourably with the British Board of Trade and Plantations. A Conseil de Commerce was added to the Conseil de Marine, at the beginning of Louis XVs reign, consisting of deputies from some of the chief French towns an administrative department much admired by Burke. But it does not appear that its influence was by any means so great as he had been led to suppose. The bureaucratic system enforced by the Minister of Marine required the colonial officials to keep constantly in correspondence with him, and it is from their memoirs, censuses, and reports, that the history of the colonies may be built up in extraordinary detail. But there are indications of weakness in the spirit of subserviency which marks the colonial reports; and it is clear that the colonial leaders suggested urgent reforms only in a timid, hesitating manner. A further indication of weakness is to be found in the government's persistent repetition of courses of action that had already failed. That at times indecision and ignorance prevailed in high quarters is clear from several cases in which an official was recalled, only to return again soon afterwards as obviously the right man for the post. That the system of dual authority that of a military governor and an intendant of police, justice and finance, with functions not clearly delimited should have worked well with few exceptions, can only be ascribed to the strong spirit of loyalty and sincere co-operation which was zealously inculcated. The cases of friction, though salient enough, are comparatively few in number. This dual system may fairly be described as a French constitutional invention ; it is the only constitutional experiment of any sort tried by the French in their colonies, whereas the experiments tried by the English were most diverse. The very small salaries of the highest officials contrast unfavourably with those of the English ; the poverty of the French governors exposed them to great temptations ; and, although the government repeatedly forbade them to engage in trade lest this should influence their judgments, they were driven to more or less clandestine methods of raising an income. Fortunately their tenure of office was not ultimately fixed at the short term of three years, which was tried at first, after the example of the Spanish colonies. Materials for the history of the French