] oldest, and strongest of her possessions, and likewise
Senegal, Florida, Tobago, and Minorca, but it had necessitated a
terrible expenditure of men, money, and ships. More bitter than the
disastrous results of the war, however, was the reflection that
possibly all might have been avoided by a policy of conciliation and
concession. Still it was not too late to learn, and in its treatment of
the remaining colonies, the British government showed that the lesson
had not been lost.
[Sidenote: Quebec Act, 1774]
[Sidenote: Board of Control in India, 1784]
[Sidenote: Separate Parliament for Ireland, 1782]
On the eve of the revolt of the English-speaking colonies in America, a
wise measure of toleration was accorded to the French inhabitants of
Canada by the Quebec Act of 1774, which allowed them freely to profess
their Roman Catholic religion, and to enjoy the continuance of the
French civil law. To these advantages was added in 1791 the privilege
of a representative assembly. India, too, felt the influence of the new
policy, when in 1784 Parliament created a Board of Control to see that
the East India Company did not abuse its political functions.
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