more praise to one than the other. But above all it will be useful to make clear
that the first concern of the French Admiral . . . was to run to the aid of the three
United States which were in danger." Cooper's article appeared in the
Connecticut Courant at the end of November. The minister precisely conveyed
the message the ambassador had wanted. ⁷¹

Cooper's most famous propaganda effort was his defense of Boston's
celebration for the birth of the Dauphin. On June 12, 1782, Bostonians
extravagantly saluted the birth of Louis XVI's heir. In a widely reprinted
account of the celebration, Cooper described how "every order of men, in its
own way, shouted benediction to the Dauphin." When they did so, they showed
the "good sense of the people who realized the importance in an hereditary
Kingdom of such an event." The Dauphin's birth meant that a bloody contest for
the crown would be avoided which, according to Cooper, was why "even
republicans, as far as they are friends to mankind, may rejoice when the heir to
a great empire is born." ⁷² Placed in the context of Cooper's defense, the
celebration, complete with fireworks, banquets, and public illuminations, takes
on the aspect of yet another elite display of theatrical power in defense of the
French alliance. That Samuel Cooper needed to justify the celebration indicates
that the intellectual problem posed by an alliance between Protestant
republicans and a Catholic monarchy had not been completely resolved even
after four years of such demonstrations. It further emphasizes the important role
played by the minister as the chief defender of the alliance.

The movement against anti-popery was very much an elite-directed cultural
change. The Whig elite concluded that anti-popery had lost its utility and
viability They demonstrated this in their public actions. They beseeched and,
at times, cajoled the common people to accept their view. In general, this
campaign was successful as the constitutions of the New England states
adopted during the revolutionary era reveal.

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