most bitter and inveterate enemies of our ally, the King of Prussia. She
was succeeded in her empire by Peter III., who, by the month of March,
had concluded a close alliance with Frederick, placing an army of 20,000
men, which had hitherto fought against him, entirely at his disposal to
fight against Austria. This had no sooner become known to the English
cabinet, than Bute and his party proposed that no further subsidies
should be paid to Frederick; at the same time, they reminded his
Prussian majesty, that he had himself declared that if he were once
secured by the neutrality of Russia, he should have little need of
further assistance from England. But the old Duke of Newcastle would
not admit the validity of this reasoning of his colleagues. He waited
on Bute, and declared his intention to resign, unless a subsidy of
£2,000,000 was paid, and the continental war continued. Bute answered
drily, “that if the money were granted, peace might be retarded;” but he
never requested him to continue in office, nor said a civil word to the
aged politician. Accordingly, the Duke repaired from the minister to his
master, and resigned his office, refusing a pension which was offered
as a reward for his services, and for the large sacrifices which he had
made since he had been minister, out of his private fortunes. “If he
could no longer be permitted to serve his country,” he said, “he was at
least determined not to be a burden on it: that if his private fortune
had suffered by his loyalty, it was his pleasure, his glory, and his
pride; and that he desired no reward but his majesty’s approbation.”
Horace Walpole says, that he retired from the royal presence
comparatively a poor man, to find how solitary and deserted could be the
mansion of an ex-minister. Newcastle had been more than forty-five years
in the cabinet, and this utter disregard to money-making exhibits his
patriotism in a strong light: few would have served their country so
long without well replenishing their coffers, especially at that age,
when the virtues of disinterestedness and self-abnegation were exotic
rather than indigenous to the human heart.
Bute had his reasons for answering the Duke of Newcastle coldly, and the
result answered his expectations. He succeeded the ex-minister at the
head of the treasury, “taking the reins of government with almost as
little experience as Phaeton, and meeting with a fall almost as soon.”
Mr. George Grenville was appointed secretary of state; but he afterwards
exchanged posts with Lord Halifax, who had recently been appointed head
of the admiralty. Lord Barrington was removed from the Exchequer in
which office he was succeeded by Sir Francis Dashwood, and he was
appointed treasurer of the navy. Soon after the Duke of Devonshire
resigned his post of lord high chamberlain, and the Earl of Hardwicke
retired from public life altogether. Many of the friends of the duke
retained their places or accepted others; but several noblemen and
commoners of distinction before the end of the year ranged themselves in
the ranks of opposition. Amongst these was the Duke of Newcastle,
who, although during the summer he had abstained from opposing the
government, at length formed a political connexion with the Duke of
Cumberland, whom he had before invariably opposed.
EVENTS IN GERMANY, ETC.
Frederick of Prussia had not only entered into an alliance with Russia,
but towards the end of May he had concluded a peace with Sweden.
Backed by these two powers he boasted that he was in possession of
more advantages than he could have derived from gaining three pitched
battles, and without waiting for the English subsidy he took the field.
He began operations in Silesia, and directed his attention to the
recovery of Schweidnitz. He was aided in his designs by his brother,
Prince Henry, who had gained an important battle near Freyburg, and thus
changed the aspect of affairs in Saxony; but while he was intent on his
plans, he was threatened with a sudden reverse of fortune. This was the
death of his new ally, the Czar Peter.
After making peace with Frederick, and sending 20,000 of his troops
to serve under him, Peter, from a spirit of admiration of the Prussian
monarch, and of enthusiasm in his cause, insisted upon introducing the
Prussian discipline, and even the Prussian uniform into his army. He
set the example by appearing in the dress of a Prussian general, and he
often observed that, if he had remained Duke of Holstein, he would have
commanded a regiment in the Prussian service, and have become personally
acquainted with Frederick. This naturally offended the national
prejudices; but he took a more fatal step for his own welfare, by
building or dedicating Protestant chapels, by ordering the removal
of painted images of saints from the churches, and by checking the
entrances of novices into convents. By these measures he therefore
gained himself many enemies both among the military and the priesthood.
Every third man he admitted into his councils or his presence, it has
been said, was a traitor. His fall, however, might have been far distant
but for the wife of his bosom. Catherine, Princess of Anhalt Zerbst,
charmed the Russians as much as Peter disgusted them, and she was,
moreover, induced to believe that he had discovered her guilty connexion
with Count Gregory Orloff, and entertained a design of divorcing her and
casting her into prison, that he might raise his own favourite mistress,
Elizabeth Countess of Woronzow, to the throne. Hence—and being also
inflamed with ambition—Catherine lent a willing ear to the complaints
of the army, clergy, and nobility, and, aided by them, she effected
another revolution in Russia. Habited in the garb of a man, and
surrounded by some of the military and nobility, she proceeded to
the church of the Virgin Mary of Casan, where a vast concourse of the
clergy, the nobles, and the soldiery hailed her on her arrival as their
deliverer. She was crowned sole empress by the Archbishop of Novogorod,
and all present took the oath of allegiance to her. From the church,
Catherine proceeded to the senate, which at once acknowledged her right,
and swore fidelity to her cause. All the adherents of her husband were
then arrested, and Peter himself was thrown into prison, where, after a
few days, he died, as some say by disease, but more probably as others
assert, by assassination.
No one was more interested in these proceedings than Frederick of
Prussia. He conceived that he might find an enemy as implacable in
Catherine as he had found in her predecessor, Elizabeth. His forebodings
were not fully realized, for while the empress recalled the Russian
troops serving under him, she restored the Prussian territories which
had been occupied by Elizabeth, and promised to observe a strict
neutrality. Thus set free from his fears, Frederick proceeded in his
campaign with his accustomed vigour. Schweidnitz and Silesia were
recovered, and the Austrians were driven into Bohemia, one part of the
Prussian army advancing to the very gates of Prague. At the same time,
the allied armies, under Prince Ferdinand and the Marquis of Granby,
reduced Cassel, expelled the French from Hesse, and effected the
salvation of Hanover—events which created alarm and despondency in the
French cabinet.
NEGOCIATIONS FOR PEACE.
Notwithstanding the uninterrupted success of the British arms, Lord Bute
was still anxious for peace. And his views at this time were seconded by
the voice of the people, who loudly complained of the increased taxation
and the expenses and burdens consequent upon this protracted war.
Accordingly, having indirectly sounded some of the French cabinet, Bute
engaged the neutral King of Sardinia to propose that it should resume
négociations for peace. Both France and Spain, taught experience by
their reverses, were eager for such a consummation; and Louis XV. had no
sooner received the hint, than he acted upon it with all his heart and
soul. Notes were interchanged, and it was agreed that a minister
should be appointed on either side forthwith. In compliance with this
agreement, the Duke of Bedford went as plenipotentiary and ambassador
extraordinary to Paris, and the Duke de Nivernois came over to London in
the same capacity. Preliminaries for peace were signed at Fontainbleau,
on the third of November, by the ministers of Great Britain, France,
Spain, and Portugal; and the sanction of the British parliament only was
wanting to carry them into effect.
The terms of the preliminaries signed at Fontainbleau were as
follow:—France consented to restore Minorca; to evacuate Hanover,
Cleves, Wesel, Gueldres, the territories of the Landgrave of Hesse, the
Duke of Brunswick, and the Count de la Lippe Bucke-burg, and every place
taken from his Prussian majesty. France, also, renounced all pretensions
to Nova Scotia, and ceded the islands of Cape Breton and St. John, with
the entire province of Canada, including the islands in the Gulf and
River of St. Lawrence; that part of Louisiana which is situate east of
the Mississippi, and the tract between the Ohio and St. Lawrence, on
which French forts had been erected, and which had been the proximate
cause of the war. On her part Spain resigned East and West Florida, with
all pretensions to fish on the coast of Newfoundland; and conceded the
full right of cutting logwood in the Bay of Honduras. France and Spain
promised full restitution to Portugal, and the fortifications of Dunkirk
were to be demolished, according to the tenor of previous treaties. For
these advantages, England agreed to restore Pondicherry, in the East
Indies, Goree, in Africa, and Martinique, Guadaloupe, Marigalante,
Desirade, and St. Lucie, in the West Indies, to France, together with
Belleisle, in Europe. To Spain she was to give up the Havannah, with all
other conquests in Cuba, The conquests England retained, beside those
specified in the preliminaries, were Senegal, in Africa, and St.
Vincent, Dominique, Tobago, Grenada, and the Grenadines, in the West
Indies. On the whole, England would evidently become a great gainer; but
the terms gave rise to great contention, and a struggle of party on the
meeting of Parliament.
THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT AND THE CONCLUSION OF PEACE.
Although the great body of the people of England desired peace,
yet there was a section of the community equally desirous for the
continuance of the war. The citizens of London had largely profited by
it; and during the negociations of last year they had instructed their
representatives to oppose any peace which did not reserve to England
all, or the greater part, of their conquests. This feeling was
heightened by the successes of the last campaign, and while the whole
glory of the war was assigned by them to Pitt, the very name of peace
was considered as a sacrifice of the national honour. Encouraged by
these feelings, Pitt organised a party in opposition to the cabinet, and
he was aided in this by many of the Whigs, who, irritated by the removal
of so many of their adherents from office, looked with jealousy upon the
actions of the favourite minister, Bute. The premier, likewise, was very
unpopular with the people, for although his views of peace coincided
with their own, yet he lacked the genius which could alone command
their admiration; and his cold, formal manners, and known lust of power,
subjected him to their scorn and contempt.
Parliament met on the 25th of November, and the preliminaries of peace
were then laid before both houses for their decision. In his opening
speech, his majesty remarked upon this subject:—“It was impossible to
execute what this nation has so gloriously performed in all parts of the
world, without the loss of great numbers of men. When you consider this
loss, whether on the principles of policy or humanity, you will see one
of the many reasons which induced me to enter early into negociation,
so as to make considerable progress in it before the fate of many
operations was determined; and now, to hasten the conclusion of it, to
prevent the necessity of making preparations for another campaign. As by
this peace my territories are greatly augmented, and new sources opened
for trades and manufactures, it is my earnest desire that you would
consider of such methods, in the settlements of our new acquisitions, as
shall most effectually tend to the security of those countries, and
to the improvement of the commerce and navigation of Great Britain. I
cannot mention our acquisitions without earnestly recommending to your
care and attention my gallant subjects, by whose valour they were made.
We could never have carried on this extensive war without the greatest
union at home. You will find the same union peculiarly necessary in
order to make the best use of the great advantages acquired by the
peace, and to lay the foundation of that economy which we owe to
ourselves and to our posterity, and which can alone relieve this nation
from the heavy burdens brought on it by the necessities of this long and
expensive war.”
There were points in this pacific speech of his majesty which were
perfectly unanswerable. Humanity, and the burdens of the country
demanded that the sword should be sheathed, and the demand was
eloquently seconded by the great advantages which England would secure
by the peace. Notwithstanding, opposition was not disarmed, and a fierce
war of words ensued. The motion for an address in the house of commons,
approving of the terms of the treaty, was moved by Mr. Fox, Pitt’s
ancient rival, who still retained the lucrative place of paymaster of
the forces. Pitt followed on the opposite side. He came to the house,
suffering from gout and wrapped up in flannel; but, nevertheless,
supported by two members, in an elaborate argument of more than three
hours, he advanced every objection that could be urged against the
negociations. The whole tenor of the treaty was denounced by him as
unsound and impolitic, and as derogatory to the honour of England. He
came, he said, at the hazard of his life to the house that day, to lift
up his voice, his hand, and his arm against the preliminary articles of
a treaty which obscured all the glories of the war, surrendered up
the interests of the nation, and sacrificed the public faith by the
abandonment of long-tried and faithful allies. Fox, supported by George
Grenville, replied in a less eloquent; tone, but with more cogent
arguments, and the ministers obtained a large majority. In the house of
lords, Bute undertook the defence of the measure, and in his speech,
the clauses of which fell from his lips like so many minute-guns, he
detailed the rise and progress of the negociations at large, and set
forth the advantages which England would derive from the treaty in
the best manner his talents for oratory—which were very mean—would
permit. He concluded his speech with declaring, that he desired no other
epitaph to be inscribed on his tomb, than that he was the adviser of
such a peace. He was opposed by Lord Temple, and supported by the Earl
of Halifax; and notwithstanding all the arguments of the opposing peers,
the address was carried by a large majority. The treaty was therefore
signed, and commercial communications, which had been stopped during the
war, were reopened with France.
Pitt had declared in his speech, that the desertion of the King of
Prussia, England’s most magnanimous ally, was insidious, base, and
treacherous. A glance at the preliminaries will suffice to prove that
Frederick’s interests were not forgotten. Frederick, moreover, was now
in a condition to defend himself. At this very time, in fact, he had
induced all the princes and states in Germany to sign a declaration of
neutrality, which led first to a truce between Austria and Prussia,
then to a congress, and finally, in that congress, to a treaty of peace
between Austria, Prussia, Saxony, and Poland. This treaty was not signed
till the 15th of February, 1763, but its terms were agreed upon before
the close of the present year. Frederick retained Silesia, and all the
territories that belonged to him before the war, and the other powers
were compelled to rest satisfied with their legitimate possessions,
without the slightest reparation for the damages they had endured, and
the sums they had spent, during this dream of their ambition. Thus ended
this Seven Years’ War—a war which had cost millions of lives, and in
which a large portion of Europe was devastated, and carnage was earned
into every quarter of the globe. England was a gainer by it, but her
acquisitions cost so much blood, and treasures, that it may fairly be
questioned whether her advantages were commensurate with the price she
paid for them.
THE RESIGNATION OF BUTE.
Notwithstanding the large majority ministers had obtained in both houses
of parliament on the subject of the newly-signed treaty, causes were at
work which soon effected their overthrow. Pitt was resolutely bent on
driving Bute from office; his stern opposition being ostensibly founded
on an assertion that he had thrown away the best advantages in the
treaty of peace. He was joined in his opposition by the old Duke of
Newcastle, whose halls again became the resort of politicians. Meetings
were held at his residence, in which nobles and commons alike concerted
together the means of making the peace unpopular, and bringing Bute into
still greater contempt with the public. Pens, dipped in gall, were set
to work to demonstrate to the people that Martinique, Guadaloupe, St.
Lucie, Pondicherry, and the Havannah ought to have been retained in the
treaty of Fontainebleau; that compensation in money ought to have been
obtained from both France and Spain; that, by demolishing the forts
in Honduras, English subjects were deprived of the logwood trade, and
subjected to the jealous rage of the Spaniards; and that an opportunity
of humbling the house of Bourbon had been completely thrown away. In
maintaining these propositions, dark insinuations were thrown out,
reflecting upon the characters of Bute, the king’s mother, and the Duke
of Bedford. They had all, it was said, touched French gold. Epigrams,
scandals, and stories, also, concerning Bute and the princess dowager,
rang from one end of the country to the other. And the conduct of the
princess and Bute seemed to justify the scandal, although it does not
appear to have rested on sure grounds. Thus they precluded, as much as
possible, all access to the king, except to Bute’s relatives connexions,
and dependents; and when Bute visited the princess it was generally
in the evening, and then in a sedan-chair belonging to a lady of the
household of the princess, and with close-drawn curtains. His enemies
did not fail to take advantage of his imprudent conduct, and they soon
succeeded in making him the most unpopular man in the three kingdoms.
This soon became manifest to the royal favourite; for addresses on
occasion of this peace were refused by the counties of York and Surrey,
and they came in slowly and ill-supported from other quarters. Bute,
however, was too proud and unconciliating to make any attempt to set
himself right in public opinion, and he suffered his enemies to work on,
till his character became unredeemable, and his downfall was effected.
Still Bute might possibly have enjoyed his high station for some time
longer had there not existed at this time a necessity for an increase
of taxation, and for a loan of three millions and a half, to enable
government to pay debts contracted during the war. This necessity could
not be fairly imputed to Bute, but he was unfortunate in his plan of
raising the loan, and in his choice of new taxes. Instead of throwing
the loan open to competition, he disposed of the shares privately, and
they immediately rose to eleven per cent, premium; whence he was charged
with gratifying himself or his dependents with £350,000 at the public
expense. His new tax was produced in the shape of ten shillings duty
per hogshead on cider and perry, which was to be paid by the first
purchaser, while an additional duty of eight pounds per ton was proposed
to be laid on French wines, and half that sum on other wines. The tax
on cider raised such a storm of opposition from the country members
generally, without reference to party, that Bute was induced to alter
both the sum and the mode of levying it—four shillings per hogshead was
to be paid, and it was to be levied upon the grower, through the medium
of the exciseman. This was not an unreasonable tax, for ale and porter
were already taxed both directly and indirectly, and no argument could
show that while a liquor produced from malt contributed to the public
exigencies, a liquor produced from apples should be exempt. Englishmen,
however, were always averse to the visits of the excisemen; and the
city of London, the cities of Exeter and Worcester, and the counties of
Devonshire and Herefordshire, the interests of which were concerned
in the matter more nearly than the citizens of London, petitioned the
commons, the lords, and the throne, against the bill. A general threat
was made, that the apples should rot upon the ground rather than be made
into a beverage subject to such a duty and such annoyances. In the
house of commons, also, Pitt spoke long and eloquently against the bill;
inveighing bitterly against the intrusion of officers into the private
dwellings of Englishmen; quoting the well-known maxim that in England
“every man’s house is his castle.” Stern opposition was, moreover, made
in the house of lords; and, had Bute been wise, he would have bowed
deferentially to the public feeling, and have adopted some other mode
of raising the money less repugnant to the temper and disposition of the
people. Bute, however, to use a figurative expression, proudly bared his
head to the tempest which was playing around him. He was determined
that the bill should pass, and he carried his point despite the fierce
opposition of the whole country. The bill passed into a law, and
although there were four different kinds of cider, varying in price from
five to fifty shillings per hogshead, they were all taxed alike.
Yet Bute was not made of such stern material that he could defy the
people with impunity. He had gained this victory over them, but he
evidently felt that their voice was omnipotent, and that if he longer
resisted it, he might possibly one day, and that soon, be doomed to
suffer disgrace by defeat. Under these circumstances, almost as soon
as the bill passed into a law, he surprised his friends and his enemies
alike, by suddenly tendering his resignation. Opinions varied as to his
motives for taking such a step. Some of his enemies said that he had
retired from the rising storm of national indignation, and that Pitt
had politically killed him; others that the king and queen, whose strict
morality of conduct was well known, had at length taken umbrage at his
intimacy with the queen dowager; while others asserted that he abandoned
his post from a consciousness of guilt, and a dread of impeachment for
certain acts not yet made known to the public. On the other hand,
his friends asserted that his retirement arose from his hatred of the
intrigues of a public life, and represented him as panting in the midst
of the toils of his office for literary and rural retirement. His own
reason, as expressed to a friend, was, that he found himself powerless
in his own cabinet. “Single in a cabinet of my own forming,” he
observed, “no aid in the house of lords to support me, except two peers,
[Denbigh and Pomfret]; both the secretaries of state silent, and the
lord chief justice, whom I myself brought into office, voting for me,
yet speaking against me; the ground I tread upon is so hollow, that I am
afraid, not only of falling myself, but of involving my royal master in
my ruin. It is time for me to retire.” Bute retired as proudly as he had
exercised his office, for he neither asked for pension nor sinecure, and
his retirement was followed by that of Sir Francis Dashwood, chancellor
of the exchequer, and of Fox, who were elevated to the peerage: the
former as Baron le Despencer, and the latter as Baron Holland. Mr.
George Grenville succeeded to the premiership, and also to the place
which had been occupied by Dashwood, uniting in himself the offices of
chancellor of the exchequer and first lord of the treasury. But Bute
still acted behind the scenes. He pulled the strings, and Grenville and
the rest of the cabinet answered his motions, as mechanically as though
they had been so many puppets. Grenville, indeed, seems to have been
chosen by the king and Bute, as a willing instrument for carrying their
plans into ready execution.
THE CHARACTER AND IMPEACHMENT OF WILKES.
One of the most sturdy opponents of Bute and his administration had been
the celebrated John Wilkes, member of parliament for Aylesbury, and a
lieutenant-colonel in the Buckinghamshire militia. On first entering
into office, Bute, by the advice of Bubb Doddington, had established a
newspaper, styled “The Briton,” the ostensible object of which was,
to advocate the measures of Bute’s administration. Many writers were
employed to write for this paper; and while they exalted the premier,
they did not fail to vilify his opponents. To oppose this organ of the
ministers, another paper was set on foot, and conducted by Wilkes, under
the title of “The North Briton.” Wilkes was a man of ruined fortune
and of dissolute habits; but he was active, enterprising, and daring,
and possessed a considerable fund of wit and repartee. In the beginning
of this reign, he had solicited a lucrative post under government,
but had been disappointed. His failure was attributed by him to the
influence which Bute held over the monarch, and he began to vent his
spleen against the minister and his coadjutors in scandalizing and
calumniating their actions and private characters. Both in conversation
and in the “North Briton,” they were ever made the butts of his ready
wit. He even reviled, stigmatized, and heaped curses upon Bute’s country
and countrymen. According to his showing, the river Tweed was the line
of demarcation between all that was honourable and noble, and all that
was dishonourable and servile—south of that river, honour, virtue,
and patriotism flourished; north of it, malice, meanness, and slavery
prevailed. Every Scotchman was painted by him as a hungry beggar,
time-server, and traitor. Wilkes was, perhaps, not singular in his
antipathies at this time against the Scotch, for wiser men than him
exhibited them in their writings and in their conversation, arising in a
great measure from the circumstance of the introduction of large numbers
of them into the offices of government. But in this, Bute acted as any
other man would have done under similar circumstances, as every one
possesses by nature a predilection for their own country and countrymen.
This conduct, therefore, of Wilkes was as unwise as it was unjust and
impolitic. Still no danger would have occurred to himself from the
display of such bitter feelings, had he confined his malevolence to the
subjects of Great Britain. Grown bold by impunity, however, Wilkes at
length pointed his pen at the royal family, and even at the monarch
himself; and, by so doing, he raised a persecution against himself,
which has rendered him a prominent object in the annals of his country.
On the 19th of April his majesty prorogued parliament, and in the next
number of the “North Briton,” the celebrated 45th, Wilkes accused the
monarch of uttering a direct falsehood in his speech on that occasion.
Whether Grenville was more sensitive than his predecessor had shown
himself, or whether Bute instigated him to take notice of this attack,
in order to revenge himself upon Wilkes, is not clear, but it is certain
that on the 26th a general warrant was issued from the secretary of
state’s office, signed and sealed by Lord Halifax, for the arrest of the
authors, printers, and publishers of the seditious paper, and for the
seizure of their papers. No names were specified in this warrant, and
within three days, no less than forty-nine persons were taken upon mere
suspicion. These were innocent, but on the 29th, Kearsley, the
avowed publisher, and Balfe, the printer, were taken into custody, who
confessed that Wilkes was the author of the paper. Accordingly, the
crown lawyers having been consulted, the messengers were directed to
seize Wilkes, and bring him forthwith before the secretary of state.
It was in vain that the offender asserted that they were acting upon an
illegal warrant: his papers were seized, and he was carried before Lord
Halifax. At the request of Wilkes, his friend, Lord Temple, applied to
the court of common pleas for a writ of habeas corpus, and the motion
was granted; but before it could be prepared, he was committed to the
Tower in close custody, and his friends, his counsel, and his solicitor
were denied access to him. The confinement of Wilkes, however, was
of short duration, for on the 3rd of May, a writ of habeas corpus was
directed to the constable of the Tower, by which he was brought before
the court in Westminster Hall. In that court he made a virulent speech
against the existing administration, broadly asserting that there was a
plot among its members for destroying the liberties of the nation, and
that he was selected as their victim, because they could not corrupt him
with their gold. The court took time to consider the matter, and on the
6th, Lord Chief Justice Pratt proceeded to deliver the joint opinion of
the judges. This opinion was, that though the commitment of Wilkes
and the general warrant were not in themselves illegal, as they were
justified by numerous precedents, yet he was entitled to his discharge
by virtue of his privilege as a member of parliament; that privilege
being only forfeited by members who were guilty either of treason,
felony, or a breach of the peace. Wilkes was therefore discharged, but
the attorney-general immediately instituted a prosecution against him
for the libel in question, and the king deprived him of his commission
as colonel in the Buckinghamshire militia, and dismissed his friend Lord
Temple from the lord-lieutenancy of Buckinghamshire, and struck his
name out of the roll of privy councillors. The liberation of Wilkes was
followed by a long inky war. Upon regaining the use of his pen, he wrote
a letter to the secretaries of state, in which he complained of the
treatment he had received, and accused them of holding in their hands,
goods of which his house had been robbed by their messengers. This
letter, to which government replied, was printed and distributed by
thousands, and considerable numbers of the opposition in parliament
rallied round the author of the “North Briton,” while the populace began
to hail him throughout the country, as the noblest patriot England had
known since the days of Algernon Sidney and Hampden. Taking advantage
of his popularity, when he found publishers averse to the hazard of
publishing his works, he established a printing-press in his own house,
where he struck off copies of the proceedings against him, which were
sold at one guinea each; a blasphemous and obscene poem entitled, “An
Essay on Woman,” with annotations; and the forty-five first numbers of
the “North Briton,” with notes and emendations. His pen was seconded by
hundreds of newspaper writers and pamphleteers who wrote on his behalf,
and John Wilkes thereby became one of the most popular men in all
England. Men, even of talents and probity, though they detested his
immoralities, associated his name with the idea of liberty, and the
proceedings against him were designated as the tyrannical efforts of
arbitrary power.
{GEORGE III. 1760–1765}
CHANGES IN THE CABINET.
Mr. George Grenville had been first brought into notice by his connexion
with Mr. Pitt. He was a man of integrity and of understanding, but he
lacked the personal influence, and the abilities which could alone
give stability to a political party. His proceedings against Wilkes,
moreover, had brought his cabinet into public contempt, and in the month
of August he was deprived of the best supporter of his administration,
by the death of Lord Egremont. The loss of this nobleman brought his
cabinet, indeed, to the verge of dissolution, and a coalition of parties
was hence deemed desirable. To this end Bute waited, at his majesty’s
commands, on his stern rival, Pitt, to whom he stated the king’s wish of
employing political talent and integrity without respect of persons
or parties. This was done without the knowledge of the members of
the existing cabinet, and Pitt consented to wait upon his majesty at
Buckingham House. He was received graciously, and in a conference which
lasted three hours, he expatiated on the infirmities of the peace, and
the disorders of the state; and the remedy he proposed to adopt, was the
restoration of the Whigs to office; they only, he asserted, having the
public confidence. This was on Saturday, the 27th of August, and at this
time his majesty made no objection to his proposals, and he appointed a
second interview on the following Monday. On Sunday, Pitt was closeted
with the Duke of Newcastle, in arranging the new administration, in full
confidence that the king was acquiescent. Pitt, however, did not find
his majesty so pliant on the Monday, as he expected, and he was doomed
to experience a complete disappointment of his views and hopes. The king
wished to provide for Grenville, by allotting him the profitable place
of paymaster of the forces, and to restore Lord Temple to favour, by
placing him at the head of the treasury; but although both Grenville and
Temple were Pitt’s relatives, he would not consent. “The alliance of the
great Whig interests which had supported the revolution government,”
he said, “was indispensable.” The whole project, therefore, fell to the
ground. His majesty broke up the conference by observing, “This will not
do; my honour is concerned, and I must support it.”
Negociation with Pitt having failed, overtures were made to the Duke of
Bedford, who, it was thought, possessed sufficient influence—though he
was little less unpopular than Bute himself—to support the tottering
cabinet. His grace accepted the post of lord president of the council,
Lord Sandwich was made secretary of state, and Lord Egmont was placed at
the head of the admiralty. Grenville still retained his post, though the
Duke of Bedford gave his name to the ministry.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT, AND FURTHER PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WILKES.
Parliament met on the 15th of November, when his majesty exhorted both
houses to cultivate the blessings of peace; to improve the commercial
acquisitions of the country; to attend to the reduction of the debts
contracted in the late war; to improve the navy; and to promote domestic
union, and discourage the licentious spirit which prevailed, to the
utter subversion of the true principles of liberty.
The allusion in his Majesty’s speech to the licentious spirit prevalent
at that time in England, had reference to Wilkes and his associates.
Many men of fashion and dissipation had lived with him and upon him
recently as boon companions and partners in debauchery. Together with
him, they formed the Dilettanti Club in Palace Yard, and they also
revived the Hell-Fire Club of the days of the Duke of Wharton, at
Medmenham Abbey, Bucks, where they revelled in obscenity, and made
everything that was moral or religious, a subject of their scorn and
derision. Over the grand entrance of this abbey was inscribed, _Fays ce
que voudras_, “Do what you like;” and the jokes of the members of the
club consisted principally in wearing monkish dresses, and drinking wine
out of a communion cup to a pagan divinity. For the entertainment of
these men, some of whom were even more conspicuous in their profligacy
than Wilkes himself, he took a house at the court end of the town, by
which he incurred expenses his fortune could not support, and which they
were not willing to discharge. They could feast at his table, and drink
his claret; but his entertainments and his wit, which they equally
enjoyed, must be set down to his own account. Nay, one of his
companions, the new secretary of state, Lord Sandwich, one of the most
notorious of the whole club, now suddenly turned round upon him, and
accused him of leading a profligate and debauched life!
On the return of the commons to their own house, Grenville, aware of the
intention of Wilkes to make a formal complaint respecting the breach of
privilege, anticipated him by relating what had passed in the arrest
and liberation of that member, and by laying the libel on the table.
The house by a large majority-resolved, that the 45th No. of the “North
Briton” was a false, scandalous, and seditious libel, and ordered that
the said paper should be burned by the hands of the common hangman.
In reply, Wilkes declared that the rights of all the members had been
violated in his person, and he requested that the question of privilege
should be at once taken into consideration. The house adjourned this
question for one week, but on the same night, Lord Sandwich produced in
the house of lords, a copy of the “Essay on Woman,” and loudly exclaimed
against the profaneness and indecency of this poetical production of
Wilkes. His attack on Wilkes surprised most men who heard him, but he
was followed by one who had a right to complain. Dr. Warburton, now
Bishop of Gloucester, inveighed bitterly on the use which had been made
of his name in the annotations, and commented in severe language on the
outrageous infidelity of the production, declaring that when the author
of it arrived in hell, he would not find one companion there among its
“blackest fiends.” A day was appointed for bringing John Wilkes to their
lordship’s bar, to answer to a charge of a breach of privilege; but in
the meantime, an event occurred which rendered it impossible for him
to appear. In the course of the debate in the lower house, Mr. Martin,
member for Camelford, who had been secretary to the treasury during
Bute’s administration, and had been attacked in the “North Briton,”
stigmatized Wilkes as a “cowardly, malignant, and scandalous scoundrel.”
His words were twice repeated, as he looked across the house at the
object of his attack, with rage flashing from his eyes. Wilkes seemed
to hear with cool indifference, but on leaving the house, he addressed a
note to Martin, and a meeting in Hyde Park was the consequence, in which
the former was dangerously wounded. It was reported the next day that
he was delirious, and crowds of people surrounded his house, hooting
and shouting at his murderers: had he died, the populace would have
considered him a martyr in the cause of liberty; but he recovered.
The question of privilege came on in the house of commons on the 23rd of
November, and it lasted two whole days. Wilkes was defended by Pitt, who
came to the house again enveloped in flannel, and this time supported by
crutches. While Pitt defended him, however, he was careful to maintain
his own character. He condemned the whole series of “North Britons,”
as illiberal, unmanly, and detestable; declaimed against all national
reflections, as having a tendency to promote disloyal feelings and
disunity: asserted that his majesty’s complaint was well founded, just,
and necessary; and declared that the author did not deserve to rank
among the human species, as he was the blasphemer of his God, and the
libeller of his sovereign. He was not connected with Wilkes, he said,
nor had he any connexion with writers of his stamp. At the same time, he
reprobated the facility with which parliament was surrendering its own
privileges, carefully impressing on the house, that in so doing, he
was simply delivering a constitutional opinion, and not vindicating the
character of John Wilkes. The speech of Pitt was characterised by great
eloquence and acuteness, but the measure was warmly defended by other
members, and at the conclusion, a resolution was carried by a large
majority, to the effect, “That the privilege of parliament does not
extend to the case of writing and publishing seditious libels, nor ought
to be allowed to obstruct the ordinary course of the laws in the speedy
and effectual prosecution of so heinous and dangerous an offence.”
The concurrence of the lords was not obtained without considerable
difficulty, and when it was obtained, a spirited protest was signed
by seventeen peers, affirming it to be “incompatible with the dignity,
gravity, and justice of the house, thus to explain away a parliamentary
privilege of such magnitude and importance, founded in the wisdom of
ages, declared with precision in their standing orders, repeatedly
confirmed, and hitherto preserved inviolable by the spirit of their
ancestors; called to it only by the other house on a particular
occasion, and to serve a particular purpose, _ex post facto, ex
parte, et pendente lite_, the courts below.” On the 1st of December, a
conference of both houses took place, when both lords and commons agreed
in a loyal address to the king, expressive of their detestation of the
libels against him; and Wilkes was ordered to attend at the bar of the
commons in a week, should his health permit.
In the meantime—on the 3rd of the month—there was a terrible riot in
London occasioned, by the burning of the “North Briton” in Cheapside.
The execution of this sentence was entrusted to Alderman Harley,
sheriff of London, and he assembled the city officers and the common
hangman at the Royal Exchange, to put it into effect. The people,
however, manifested a very different spirit from that of their
representatives. So violent were they, that Harley was compelled
to retreat to the Mansion House, where the lord mayor was sitting,
surrounded by members of the common council, who were almost to a man
the friends and admirers of Wilkes, and therefore not disposed to take
part in the matter. The hangman was compelled to follow the sheriff. He
had succeeded in partially burning the paper with a link, when cheered
on by some gentlemen standing at the windows of houses near the spot,
the mob rushed upon him, and rescued the fragments, carrying them in
triumph to Temple Bar, where a fire was kindled and a large jack-boot
was committed to the flames, in derision of the Earl of Bute. The city
was restored to its usual tranquillity in about an hour and a half,
the mob dispersing of their own accord; but the affair occupied the
attention of parliament four days, during which time nothing else was
done, except voting a pension of £80,000 as a dowry to the Princess
Augusta, the king’s sister, who was about to be married to the Duke
of Brunswick. In the debate on the subject of the riot, it was fully
manifested that the populace of London was generally in favour of
Wilkes; but both houses concurred in voting that the rioters were
disturbers of the public peace, dangerous to the liberties of the
country, and obstructors of national justice. Thanks were also voted to
the sheriffs, and an address was presented to his majesty, praying that
measures might be taken to discover and punish the offenders.
By their proceedings against Wilkes ministers had surrounded themselves
with a maze of perplexity. Actions were brought by the printers, and
others arrested under the general warrant, to recover damages for false
imprisonment, and a verdict was universally given in their favour. These
actions were brought against the messengers: Wilkes had nobler game
in view. He brought actions against the two secretaries of state,
Lord Egremont and Lord Halifax, and against Robert Wood, Esq., late
under-secretary. Egremont was now dead, Halifax stood upon his privilege
and defied the court, till relieved by the sentence of outlawry that was
passed upon Wilkes, but Wood was condemned to pay £1000 damages to the
plaintiff. At this trial, the lord chief justice Pratt was bold enough
to declare that general warrants were unconstitutional, illegal, and
absolutely void, and to challenge a reference of this opinion to the
twelve judges. This was not deemed expedient, and Pratt’s judgment
respecting the illegality of warrants was shortly afterwards confirmed
by the court of king’s bench. The boldness of Pratt secured for him
great popularity. He was presented with the freedom of the cities of
London and Dublin, and others; and in addition to this mark of respect,
the corporation of London requested that he would sit for his picture,
which was to be placed in Guildhall, as a memorial of their gratitude.
The popularity of Wilkes was at this time increased by an attempt made
upon his life by one Alexander Dun, a Scotchman, who sought admission
into the patriot’s house, and who publicly declared that he and ten
others were determined to cut him off. A new penknife was found in his
pocket, and for this alleged attempt against the life of a member of
parliament, Dun was carried before the commons, who voted him insane,
and ordered his dismissal. The court of king’s bench, however, committed
Dun to prison for want of bail and securities, and looking upon facts
only in a cursory light, the people believed that the government was
determined to make away with the defender of their liberties. All this
tended to render the cabinet so obnoxious, that Horace Walpole was
apprehensive that there would have been some violent commotion.
When the day arrived for the attendance of Wilkes at the bar of the
house of commons, two medical gentlemen, Dr. Brocklesby and Mr. Graves
appeared, and made a declaration that he was unable, from the state of
his health, to obey the summons. The house granted a week’s delay, and
the excuse being repeated, the grant was extended beyond the Christmas
recess. At the same time it was ordered that a physician and surgeon of
their own appointing should see Wilkes, and report their opinion on his
case. These were refused admittance into his house; but to vindicate the
character of his own medical attendants, and to have the laugh at the
ministry, he called in two Scotch doctors, observing that as the house
wished him to be watched, two Scotchmen would prove the most proper
spies.
The Christmas recess arrived, and the Christmas festivities afforded a
short truce to this war of politicians. Wilkes, who could not have been
so ill as represented, went to Paris, where he obtained great admiration
by his wit in the salons and soirées of that gay city. He was thus
employed when the parliament met on the 19th of January, 1764. This was
the day fixed for his appearance, but the speaker produced a letter from
him, enclosing a certificate signed by a French physician and a French
surgeon, testifying that he could not quit Paris without danger to his
life. This certificate wanted the signature of a notary public to give
it authenticity, and the house, therefore, resolved to proceed against
Wilkes as though he were present. Witnesses and papers were examined,
and it was resolved, that No. 45 of the “North Briton,” which had been
voted a seditious libel, contained expressions of unexampled insolence
and contumely toward his majesty, the grossest aspersions upon both
houses of parliament, and the most audacious defiance of the whole
legislative authority. It was also denounced as having a manifest
tendency to alienate the affections of the people from their king,
to withdraw them from obedience to the laws, and to excite them to
insurrection. On the next day it was further resolved, that Wilkes
should be expelled the house, and a new writ was issued for the borough
of Aylesbury; a measure which ultimately had the effect of rendering him
a popular champion in the struggle between the house of commons and the
electors of Middlesex, which defined the power of the representative
body in relation to its constituency. Even now it greatly increased
the popularity of Wilkes among the great body of the people. On every
opportune occasion they loudly expressed their sentiments in his favour.
The king and his ministers were compelled to hear whenever they
appeared in public the grating and unwelcome exclamation of, “Wilkes and
liberty!”
Although ministers had triumphed over Wilkes personally, by obtaining
his expulsion from the house, yet they were doomed to suffer a check
from a motion naturally arising out of his prosecution. On the 13th
of February, it was moved by the opposition, that Wilkes’ complaint of
breach of privilege should be heard. On this subject they obtained a
large majority; his complaint being thrown out, after a stormy debate
which lasted three days and one whole night. This, however, was followed
by a resolution moved by Sir William Meredith, in which they were not
so successful, namely, “That a general warrant for apprehending and
securing the authors, printers, and publishers of a seditious libel,
together with their papers, is not warranted by law.” An adjournment was
proposed, but Pitt and others made speeches upon the subject, and when
the house divided, ministers had only the small majority of fourteen
upon the question of adjournment. This was virtually a defeat, and the
illegality of general warrants was so effectually established by the
numbers who voted on the side of the opposition, and by the sentiments
of the orators, that henceforth the use of them was wholly discontinued.
If, therefore, this prosecution of Wilkes was impolitic, it had at least
the effect of settling a great constitutional principle; nor was it long
before the measures taken against him effected other alterations in the
constitution equally important.
Wilkes having entered an appearance in Westminster Hall, was at length
tried and convicted on two indictments, for publishing the 45th Number
of the North Briton, and the “Essay on Woman.” He was afterwards
outlawed for not appearing in court to receive his sentence, whence
the suit he had instituted against Lord Halifax fell to the ground.
The cause of Wilkes, however, being identified with that of the
constitution, his popularity remained undiminished, and the spirit
excited by the proceedings against him was still as rife with bitterness
as ever.
PROPOSITION TO TAX THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
It was at this troubled season that George Grenville brought forward a
motion for extracting a direct revenue from the colonies. The idea was
not altogether new, for such a scheme had been hinted at during Sir
Robert Walpole’s administration. At this time it seems to have been
revived, by the general complaint heard among the people of England, of
the burden of taxation which they were called upon to bear. His majesty
proposed such a step, as a just, as well as advantageous measure for
relieving the country from the financial difficulties which had been
occasioned by a war undertaken for the protection and security of the
colonies themselves. Accordingly, a series of resolutions, respecting
new duties to be laid on goods imported by the Americans, was brought
into the House by Grenville on the 10th of March. These resolutions
passed with little notice; General Conway, it is said, being the only
member who protested against them; and they received the royal assent on
the 5th of April. The minister, also, proposed raising a direct revenue
from the colonies in the shape of a stamp-tax, but this was objected
to by the opposition, and it was postponed to another session. Certain
restrictions, however, were at the same time laid upon the profitable
contraband trade carried on by the Americans with the Spanish colonies;
a trade alike advantageous to England and the North American colonists,
but of which the Spanish government was constantly and bitterly
complaining to the court of Great Britain.
OPPOSITION OF THE AMERICANS.
It seems probable that ministers undertook this scheme of taxation, in
order to gain popularity. It had that effect in some slight degree. The
country gentlemen, in particular, were well pleased with the prospect of
the non-increase on the diminution of the land-tax, and other sections
of the community hoped eventually to have their burdens lightened by
such a measure. In proroguing parliament the king expressed his hearty
approbation of it, auguring the augmentation of the public revenues, a
unity of the interests of his most distant possessions, and an increase
of commerce, as its natural results. Like the Greek fisherman in
Theocritus, all dreamed of gold; but in the course of a few months this
pleasant dream was swept away by a strong wind across the Atlantic.
The inhabitants of New England received these “wise regulations” of the
British parliament “like knives put to their throats.” Perceiving that
the claim made by their mother-country to tax the colonies for her own
benefit, and at her own discretion, might possibly introduce a system of
oppression, they boldly denied the authority of parliament to levy any
direct tax on the colonies, and declared that it was a violation of
their rights as colonists, possessing by charter the privilege of taxing
themselves for their own support; and as British subjects, who ought not
to be taxed without their legitimate representatives. The disaffection
of the northern provinces extended to those of the south, and, as a
strong measure of resistance, all engaged to abstain from the use of
those luxuries which had hitherto been imported from Great Britain. They
also made colonial taxation a subject of their petitions to king, lords,
and commons, and thus firmly established the principle of resistance to
such a measure. Their resistance was confirmed by an unwise measure of
Grenville, who determined to intrust the execution of his prohibitory
orders to military and naval officers, who were disposed to act with
rigour. Government, also, had increased the salaries of judges, which
gave rise to an opinion that it was desirous of diminishing their
independence; and the governors had recently acted very arbitrarily, and
when complaints were made no attention was paid to them, or if a reply
was given, it was accompanied with rebuke. The colonists, moreover, were
encouraged in their spirit of resistance by the emigration of numbers
who had lately left England, and who being disaffected persons, diffused
republican sentiments in all the provinces. The seeds of discontent
were, in fact, sown far and wide before this new system of taxation
was projected, and it had the effect of causing them to germinate and
flourish.
WAR WITH THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
It unfortunately happened, that the news of colonial taxation arrived in
America when the colonists were in no very pleasant humour. On quitting
Canada, the French government still retained some slight connexion with
the native Indians, and partly by their agents, and in part through
encroachments made by the British on their hunting-grounds, they
were incited to war. The tribes flew to arms, designing to make a
simultaneous attack on all the English back-settlements in harvest-time,
and though their secret was made known, and their intentions prevented
in some places, yet the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
Virginia were mercilessly ravaged by them, and the inhabitants in those
parts utterly destroyed. The Indians also captured several forts in
Canada, and massacred the garrisons; and their flying parties frequently
intercepted and butchered the troops that were marching from place to
place, and plundered and murdered the traders in the upper part of the
country. Success made them more bold, and it seems probable, from the
display of courage and of military talent which they manifested, that
French officers were among them. They even resolved to advance on the
principal force stationed at Fort Pitt, and they marched forward in full
confidence of victory. In their route they defeated a detachment under
Captain Dalzel, and killed that unfortunate officer, and the soldiers
escaped with difficulty into Fort Detroit. Fort Pitt was now surrounded
by them, but they soon abandoned it, in order to attack Colonel Bouquet,
who was advancing with a strong corps under his command for its relief.
Fearful struggles took place between Colonel Bouquet and the Indians,
in which a great number was killed on both sides, but they were finally
routed, and as their bravest chiefs had perished, it was supposed that
their loss was irreparable. The Indians, however, in the other parts
of the country were not discouraged, and they surrounded an escort,
and slew about eighty officers and men near the falls of Niagara. Thus
disheartened, General Amherst used the powerful influence of Sir William
Johnstone, who was enabled to detach the Indians of the Six Nations
from the confederacy, and to engage them on the side of the British,
and after various skirmishes and surprises, the rest submitted on
conditions, or retired into the depths of their native wilds and
forests. In the treaty concluded with them all occasions of future
quarrels were guarded against; the limits of their territories were
accurately defined; their past offences forgiven; and they were
re-admitted to the friendship of Great Britain: the Indians on their
part solemnly engaging to commit no more acts of violence.
These occurrences had for the most part happened in the summer and
autumn of the year 1763. But the recollection of them was, from their
very nature, strongly impressed upon the minds of the colonists, when
they heard of the system proposed for their taxation. Moreover, every
one was armed for the defence of his home and property against the
Indians, and being now freed from their terrors in that quarter, they
were bold to think that they might be used against their mother-country,
should the scheme of colonial taxation not be abandoned. Hence the
colonists made a show of resistance by passing strong resolutions
against the measure, which were transmitted to their agents in London,
to be laid before government. The province of Pennsylvania appointed a
new agent to London, in the person of the celebrated Benjamin Franklin,
who was instructed to oppose the stamp-act to the very utmost, and
indeed every other act that might be proposed to the British parliament
to tax the Americans without their consent. A more efficient agent
than Franklin could not have been chosen by the Pennsylvanians. Born in
humble life, he had, nevertheless, raised himself by genius and steady
perseverance, to be a man of property and science, a leading magistrate,
a high functionary in their state, a powerful writer, a statesman, and a
philosopher.
DOMESTIC OCCURRENCES.
The measures of the new administration were generally approved of in the
house of commons, and on dismissing the parliament the king thanked
the members of both houses for their wise and spirited exertions,
and exhorted them all to employ the present season of tranquillity in
perfecting the peace so happily commenced. There was occasion for this
exhortation. The cider-tax occasioned many turbulent meetings, which
frequently ended in riot, and a great scarcity of provisions caused
an increase of robberies and crime to a large amount. These evils were
augmented by the discharge of large bodies of soldiers and sailors,
who either could not find employment, or from their previous occupation
could not settle down into habits of industry. Moreover, country
gentlemen and landed proprietors from all parts of the United Kingdom
came to the metropolis, in order to gain posts under government, leaving
their estates to be managed by stewards and bailiffs, the results of
which were that they involved themselves in debt, and that they
raised their rents for the purpose of relieving themselves. Discontent
everywhere prevailed, and especially in Scotland and Ireland, and many
thousands emigrated to the North American provinces, that they might be
able to obtain a subsistence for their families, and at the same time
preserve their religion and the customs of their fathers.
This year was marked by many maritime discoveries. A spirit of
enterprize, fostered by the munificence of the king, was displayed,
indeed, equal to that which distinguished the 15th and 16th centuries,
and which produced advantages to the country of equal importance to
those produced by the recent war. Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Cook, and
Mulgrave, all set sail during this year, and in a few years discoveries
were made which outrivalled all which had occurred since the expeditions
of Columbus.
During this autumn Pitt broke his recently-formed league with the old
Duke of Newcastle, telling him in a letter that he resolved henceforward
to act for himself, to keep himself free from all stipulations, and to
oppose or support measures in parliament upon his own responsibility. It
is not clear why Pitt came to this resolution; but perhaps it may
have arisen from his growing infirmity of body and temper, and of his
overbearing pride. From his letter, in fact, it is made very manifest
that his pride was offended, because the system of war which he had so
long and eloquently defended was given up “by silence” in a full house.
Hence it was, probably, that he was induced to stand single, and dare to
appeal to his country solely upon the merits—real or supposed—of his
principles. At all events, it seems certain that his resolution did
not arise, as some have imagined, from dark and inexplicable intrigue,
though it may wear that imposing aspect. But after all, as it has been
well observed, it is next to impossible to understand the extraordinary
alternations of alliance, neutrality, and opposition, between Pitt and
the old Duke of Newcastle.
In the course of this year, the treaty of Fontainbleau was somewhat
shaken by a French ship of the line having seized Turk’s Island, in the
West Indies, and making the English inhabitants prisoners. The Spaniards
also annoyed and interrupted the English logwood-cutters at Honduras,
and were supposed to have seized a ship in the Mediterranean. These
occurrences happened during the recess of parliament, but before the
houses met, both the court of France and Spain disavowed all hostile
proceedings, and gave explanations to the English cabinet, which were
deemed satisfactory. It was evident, however, that the Bourbon courts
were not satisfied with the terms of the recent peace, and that their
weakness alone prevented them from renewing the struggle: their chagrin
and enmity were but ill-concealed under the mask of friendship, which
defeat in the field of battle had compelled them to wear.