REIGN OF GEORGE III. (_continued_).
Meeting of Parliament--Lord Chatham's Amendment to the Address--The
News of Saratoga--Treaty between France and America--Washington
in Valley Forge--Intrigues against him--Violation of Burgoyne's
Convention--Debates in Parliament--Attempt to bring Chatham
into the Ministry--Lord North's Conciliation Bills--The French
Note--Patriotism of the Nation--The King refuses to send for
Chatham--His last Speech and Death--Honours to his Memory--Burke's
Measure of Irish Relief--Repeal of Laws against Roman
Catholics--Explosion of Scottish Bigotry--Turgot's Warnings--Naval
Engagement off Ushant--Failure of Lafayette's Canadian
Expedition--Clinton compelled to evacuate Philadelphia--Failure of
Lord North's Commissioners--D'Estaing and Sullivan attempt to take
Rhode Island--Subsequent Proceedings of D'Estaing--Courts-martial
of Keppel and Palliser--The Irish Volunteers--Spain declares
War--Military Preparations--Junction of the French and Spanish
Fleets--They retire from the Channel--D'Estaing in the West
Indies--His Attempt on Savannah--Weakness of Lord North's
Ministry--Meeting of Parliament--Lord North's Irish Bill--Richmond,
Shelburne, and Burke attempt Economic Reforms--The Meeting
at York petitions for Reform of Parliament--Burke's Economic
Scheme--North's Manœuvre--Further Attempts at Reform--The
Westminster Meeting--Dunning's Motion--Defeat of his later
Resolutions--"No Popery" in Scotland--Lord George Gordon's
Agitation--The Riots and their Progress--Their Suppression--Trial
of the Prisoners--Rodney relieves Gibraltar--Destruction of English
Merchantmen--Disputes with Holland--The Armed Neutrality of the
North--Capture of Charleston--Declaration of South Carolina--Battle
of Camden--Expedition into North Carolina--Arrival of the French
Squadron--Rodney in the West Indies--Arnold's Treachery--Trial
and Death of André--Breach with Holland--Attacks on Jersey and
Gibraltar--Mutiny in the Army of Washington--Arnold's Raids in
Virginia--Cornwallis in North Carolina--His Engagements with
Greene--His March into Virginia--Rawdon and Greene--Battle of
Eutaw Springs--Siege of York Town--The American Armies close round
him--Cornwallis compelled to Surrender.
The American disasters had now to be criticised in Parliament. On the
20th of November the two Houses met, and Lord Chatham rose instantly
to reply, and to move an amendment on the Address. He attacked the
Ministry with a still more personal and sweeping censure than he had
done once before. "Can Ministers," he asked, "presume to expect a
continuance of support in their career of ruinous infatuation? Can
Parliament be so dead to its dignity and its duty as to be deluded into
the loss of the one and the violation of the other? Will they continue
to give an unlimited credit and support to Government in measures
which are reducing this flourishing empire to ruin and contempt?
But yesterday, and England might have stood against the world; now,
none so poor to do her reverence! I use the words of a poet; but,
though it be poetry, it is no fiction. It is a shameful truth, that
not only the power and strength of this country are wasting away and
expiring, but her well-earned glories, her true honour and substantial
dignity, are sacrificed. France, my lords, has insulted you; she has
encouraged and sustained America; and, whether America be wrong or
right, the dignity of this country ought to spurn at the officious
insult of French interference!" It is certain that Chatham would not
have tolerated the presence of Franklin and Deane in Paris for a single
day; they must have quitted France, or France would have been instantly
compelled to throw off the mask. At this time, when the news neither
of Howe's success in the south nor of Burgoyne's fall in the north had
arrived, Chatham seemed to see in prophetic vision the disasters of
the latter general. "The desperate state of our army," he said, "is,
in part, known. No man thinks more highly of our troops than I do.
I love and honour the English troops. I know that they can achieve
anything but impossibilities; and I know that the conquest of English
America is an impossibility. You cannot--I venture to say it--you
cannot conquer America! You may swell every expense and every effort
still more extravagantly; pile and accumulate every assistance that
you can buy or borrow; traffic and barter with every little, pitiful
German prince that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a
foreign prince; your efforts are for ever vain and impotent--doubly
so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates to
an incurable resentment the minds of your enemies, to overrun them
with the mercenary sons of rapine and plunder, devoting them and
their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an
American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in
my country, I would never lay down my arms--never--never--never!" On
the subject of employing Indians in the war against the Americans,
willing to forget that he had done the same thing in Canada, he burst
forth most indignantly: "But, my lords, who is the man that, in
addition to these disgraces and mischiefs of our army, has dared to
authorise and associate to our arms the scalping-knife and tomahawk
of the savage? to call into civilised alliance the wild and inhuman
savage of the woods? to delegate to the merciless Indian the defence
of disputed rights, and to wage the horrors of this barbarous war
against our brethren? My lord, these enormities cry aloud for redress
and punishment. Unless done away, it will be a stain on the national
character--it is a violation of the Constitution; I believe it is
against the law. It is not the least of our national misfortunes, that
the strength and character of our army are thus impaired; infected
with the mercenary spirit of robbery and rapine--familiarised to the
horrid scenes of savage cruelty, it can no longer boast of the noble
and generous principles which dignify a soldier!" He then proceeded to
give the Americans credit still for a natural leaning towards England;
believed that they might be drawn from their alliance with France; and
recommended, by his amendment, an immediate cessation of arms, and a
treaty between the countries, by which he hoped that America would yet
be retained in affectionate dependence.
Affairs had now assumed such an aspect that the different sections of
the Opposition saw the necessity of coalescing more, and attending
zealously; but still they were divided as to the means to be pursued.
A great meeting was held on the 27th of November at the Marquis of
Rockingham's, to decide on a plan of action. It was concluded to move
for a committee on the state of the nation, and Chatham being applied
to, advised that the very next day notice should be given that such a
motion should be made on Tuesday next, the 2nd of December. The motion
was made, the committee granted, and in it the Duke of Richmond moved
for the production of the returns of the army and navy in America and
Ireland. Whilst Lord North--who, if he had been his own master, would
have resigned--was refusing to produce the necessary papers, the Lords
consented to this measure; and at this very moment came news of the
surrender at Saratoga, which was speedily confirmed.
The news had the most instant effect across the Channel. All hesitation
on the part of the French Court to enter into the treaty with the
United States disappeared. The American Commissioners, Franklin,
Deane, and Lee, were informed that the King of France was ready to
make a treaty, claiming no advantage whatever, except that of trade
with the States. It was intimated that this proceeding would, in all
probability, involve France in a war with Great Britain, but that
she would claim no indemnity on that score. The only condition for
which she positively stipulated was, that America should, under no
temptations, give up its independence, or return under the dominion of
England. The two kingdoms were to make common cause, and assist each
other against the common enemy. The Americans were to endeavour to make
themselves masters of all the British territories that they could,
and retain them as their rightful acquisition; the French to obtain
whatever islands they could in the West Indies, and retain them. France
did not venture to seek back the Canadas or Nova Scotia, well knowing
that the Americans would not consent to have them there as neighbours.
Neither country was to make peace with England without the other. Lee
was to continue at Paris as the first American Ambassador there, and
the treaty was to continue some weeks a secret, in order to obtain, if
possible, the accession of Spain to it, which, however, they could not
do then.
In America, such was the state of things, that a British commander
there, of the slightest pretence to activity and observation, would
have concluded the war by suddenly issuing from his winter quarters,
and dispersing the shoeless, shirtless, blanketless, and often almost
foodless, army of Washington. His soldiers, amounting to about eleven
thousand, were living in huts at Valley Forge, arranged in streets like
a town, each hut containing fourteen men. Such was the destitution of
shoes, that all the late marches had been tracked in blood--an evil
which Washington had endeavoured to mitigate by offering a premium for
the best pattern of shoes made of untanned hides. For want of blankets,
many of the men were obliged to sit up all night before the camp fires.
More than a quarter of the troops were reported unfit for duty, because
they were barefoot and otherwise naked. Provisions failed, and on more
than one occasion there was an absolute famine in the camp. It was
in vain that Washington sent repeated and earnest remonstrances to
Congress; its credit was at the lowest ebb. The system of establishing
fixed prices for everything had totally failed, as it was certain to
do; and Washington, to prevent the total dispersion of his army, was
obliged to send out foraging parties, and seize provisions wherever
they could be found. He gave certificates for these seizures, but
their payment was long delayed, and, when it came, it was only in the
Continental bills, which were fearfully depreciated, and contrasted
most disadvantageously with the gold in which the British paid for
their supplies.
Nor was this the whole extent of that wretched condition of the United
States which would have attracted the vigilant attention of an able
English commander, and have roused him into successful action. The
greatest discontent prevailed in Congress against Washington. Gates
and the northern army had triumphed over the entire British army
there; but what had been the fate of Washington hitherto? Want of
success had evoked a party in Congress against Schuyler, Sullivan,
and himself: In this party Henry Lee and Samuel Adams were violent
against him. They accused him of want of vigour and promptitude, and
of a system of favouritism. Congress was wearied of his constant
importunities and remonstrances. Gates, since the capture of Burgoyne,
had assumed a particular _hauteur_ and distance, and, there could
be little doubt, was aspiring to the office of Commander-in-Chief.
A new Board of War was formed, in which the opponents of Washington
became the leading members. Gates and Mifflin were at its head, and
Conway was made Major-General over the heads of all the brigadiers,
and Inspector-General of the army. A system of anonymous letters was
in action depreciating the character and services of Washington. But,
whilst these elements of disunion and weakness were in full play, Howe
slumbered on in Philadelphia, unobservant and, probably, ignorant of it
all. The opportunity passed away. The intrigues against Washington were
defeated as soon as they became known to his own army and the people
at large, through the influence of the real esteem that he enjoyed in
the public heart, especially as news had just arrived that friends and
forces were on the way from France.
At this juncture, when the eyes of all Europe were turned on the new
Republic of America, Congress gave a proof of its utter contempt of
those principles of honour which are regarded as the distinguishing
characteristics of civilised nations. The convention on which General
Burgoyne's army had surrendered was deliberately violated. It had been
stipulated that his troops should be conveyed to Boston, and there
suffered to embark for England in British transports to be admitted
to the port for that purpose. But no sooner did Congress learn this
stipulation than it showed the utmost reluctance to comply with it.
It was contended that these five thousand men would liberate other
five thousand in England to proceed to America. It was therefore
determined to find some plea for evading the convention. An article of
the convention provided that the English officers should be quartered
according to their rank; but they complained that six or seven of
them were crowded into one small room, without regard either to rank
or comfort. But Burgoyne, finding remonstrance useless at Boston,
wrote to Gates reminding him of his engagements in the convention, and
declaring such treatment a breach of public faith. This was just one of
those expressions that Congress was watching for, and they seized upon
it with avidity. "Here," they said, "is a deep and crafty scheme--a
previous notice put in by the British General to justify his future
conduct; for, beyond all doubt, he will think himself absolved from
his obligation whenever released from his captivity, and go with all
his troops to reinforce the army of Howe." Burgoyne offered at once to
give Congress any security against such imagined perfidy. But this did
not suit Congress--its only object was to fasten some imputation on the
English as an excuse for detaining them contrary to the convention, and
they went on to raise fresh obstacles.
The shameful length to which Congress carried this dishonourable
shuffling astonished Europe. They insisted that Great Britain should
give a formal ratification of the convention before they gave up the
troops, though they allowed Burgoyne and a few of his officers to go
home. The British Commissioners, who had arrived with full powers to
settle any affair, offered immediately such ratification; but this
did not arrest the slippery chicane of Congress. It declared that it
would not be satisfied without ratification directly from the highest
authority at home. In short, Congress, in open violation of the
convention, detained the British troops for several years prisoners of
war.
When Parliament opened on the 20th of January, 1778, the Opposition
fell, as it were, in a mass upon the Ministry on this question.
There was much dissatisfaction expressed at the Government allowing
Liverpool, Manchester, and other places, to raise troops without
consulting Parliament. It was declared to be a practice contrary to the
Constitution and to the Coronation Oath. Sir Philip Jennings Clerke, on
the 22nd of January, moved for an account of the numbers of troops so
raised, with the names of the commanding officers. Lord North, whilst
observing that this mode of raising troops showed the popularity
of the war, and that the country was by no means in that helpless
condition which a jealous and impatient faction represented it to be,
readily granted the return. In the House of Lords the Earl of Abingdon
moved to consult the judges on the legality of raising troops without
authority of Parliament; but this motion was not pressed to a division.
But, on the 4th of February, Sir Philip Jennings Clerke returned to his
charge in the Commons. Lord North replied that this now hotly-decried
practice was one which had been not only adopted, but highly approved
of, in 1745, and again in 1759, when Lord Chatham was Minister, and
that he had then thanked publicly those who had raised the troops for
the honour and glory of their country. A motion was negatived by the
Lords on the same day, to declare this practice unconstitutional, and a
similar one later in the Session, introduced by Wilkes and supported by
Burke.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE, BY THE CAMP FIRE. (_See p._
247.)]
The spirit of the country appeared to be running in a strong current
for the return of Lord Chatham to the helm, as the only man who could
save the sinking state, and bring the American difficulty to a happy
issue. But the great obstacle to this was the still continued assertion
of Lord Chatham--that the full independence of America could not be
for a moment listened to, whilst to almost every other man of the
Opposition that independence was already an accomplished fact. Lord
Rockingham, who was looked up to as a necessary part of any Cabinet
at the head of which Chatham should be placed, had, in the previous
Session, asserted his opinion that the time had now passed for hoping
to preserve the dependence of these colonies; and, now he saw France
coming into the field against us, he was the more confirmed in this
view. This was a fatal circumstance in the way of the establishment of
a strong co-operative Cabinet, formed out of the present Opposition.
But a still greater obstacle was the iron determination of the king.
In vain did Lord North express his desire to resign and declare
the necessity of conciliatory measures. George reproached him with
intending to desert him. On further pressure he gave him leave to apply
to Chatham and the Whigs, but only on the absurd condition that they
should join the present Ministry, serve under Lord North, and carry on
the policy of the existing Government. As usual, Lord North gave way,
and consented to stay in office, and to bring in a plan of conciliation
opposed to his former declarations.
On the 17th of February he introduced this plan in two Bills. He
declared that his policy had always been pacific; that he had never
proposed any tax on the Americans--when he came into office he had
found them taxed already; that he had tried conciliatory means before
the sword was drawn, and would still gladly try them. He had thought
the former propositions to the Americans very reasonable, and he
thought so still. Forgetful of the hopes that he had held out, of
assisting the revenues of Great Britain by the taxation of Americans,
he now surprised his auditors by asserting that he had never expected
to derive much revenue from America, and that, in reality, the taxes
imposed had not paid the expenses of the attempt to collect them.
The first of his Bills, therefore, he entitled one "For removing all
doubts and apprehensions concerning taxation by the Parliament of Great
Britain in any of the colonies." It repealed entirely the tea duty in
America, and declared "that from and after the passing of this Act, the
king and Parliament of Great Britain will not impose any duty, tax, or
assessment whatever, in any of his Majesty's colonies, except only such
duties as it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce,
the nett produce of such duty to be always paid and applied to and for
the use of the colony in which the same shall be levied." The second
Bill removed some otherwise insuperable obstacles to a treaty. The
Commissioners--five in number--were to raise no difficulties as to the
legal ranks or titles of those with whom they would have to negotiate.
They were empowered to proclaim a cessation of hostilities on the part
of the king's forces by sea or land for any necessary term and on any
necessary conditions. They might suspend all the Acts of Parliament
respecting America passed since 1763, yet the Bill excepted the repeal
of the Massachusetts Charter, and introduced that into a separate
Act--another weak measure, for on such an occasion the only wisdom
was to wipe away all Acts, or repeal of Acts, which had arisen out of
these unhappy differences. The effect of this statement has been well
described in the _Annual Register_ of that year, in an article supposed
to be from the hand of Burke:--"A dull, melancholy silence for some
time succeeded this speech. It had been heard with profound attention,
but without a single mark of approbation of any part, from any
description of men, or any particular man in the House. Astonishment,
dejection, and fear overclouded the whole assembly. Although the
Minister had declared that the sentiments he had expressed that day
had been those which he always entertained, it is certain that few or
none had understood him in that manner, and he had been represented to
the nation at large as the person in it the most tenacious of those
Parliamentary rights which he now proposed to resign, and the most
adverse to the submissions which he now proposed to make."
These unfortunate affairs precipitated the resignation of Lord George
Germaine. His proud and impetuous temper had occasioned the resignation
already of Sir Guy Carleton and of the two Howes. All complained that
they could not obtain the necessary reinforcements and supplies from
him as the Colonial Minister; and his tart and insolent replies to
their complaints produced the retirement of these three commanders.
He was already charged with having been the luckless projector of
Burgoyne's disastrous expedition. Sir Henry Clinton was named the
successor to the command of the forces in America, in the place of Sir
William Howe. The punishment of North for the policy which had thus
virtually lost America, was every day falling more crushingly upon him.
On the 13th of March the Marquis de Noailles, the French Ambassador in
London, and the uncle of Lafayette's wife, handed to Lord Weymouth a
note formally announcing the treaty of friendship and commerce between
France and America. On the 17th it was the bitter duty of Lord North
to read this remarkable document to the House of Commons. The affected
right to make such a treaty with the colonies of another nation, and
the professions of goodwill, notwithstanding such an interference,
amounted to the keenest irony, if not downright insult.
The reading of this French note aroused at once the old feeling of
enmity between France and England. If there was a strong resentment
against the Americans before, it now grew tenfold. The war became
popular with all, except the extreme Opposition. Lord North moved an
appropriate address to the king; the Opposition moved as an amendment
to it that his Majesty should dismiss the Ministers. Loyal addresses
from both Houses were, however, carried by large majorities. In
consequence of the French note, the king ordered Lord Stormont to quit
Paris, and the Marquis de Noailles took his departure from London,
where, in spite of his official character, he was no longer safe from
popular insult. Orders were also sent to the Lord-Lieutenants of the
several counties to call out the militia.
Through all these arrangements Lord North continued to persist in his
resignation. If the king had had any glimmering of what was necessary
to save the colonies, he would himself have removed North long ago. But
the only man who could take the place with any probability of success,
or with any of the confidence of the public, was Lord Chatham, whom the
king regarded with increasing aversion. Chatham's pride, which would
not stoop an inch to mere outside royalty, feeling the higher royalty
of his own mind, so far from seeking office, must himself be sought,
and this deeply offended the monarch. Lord North could point to no
other efficient successor, and George angrily replied that, as regarded
"Lord Chatham and his crew," he would not condescend to send for "that
perfidious man" as Prime Minister; he would only do it to offer him and
his friends places in the Ministry of Lord North.
The days of Chatham were far nearer their close than was suspected.
One more sudden blaze of his high intellect, and he was gone. Whilst
the subject of America continued to be discussed in both Houses with
much acrimony and little result, the Duke of Richmond, seeing that
Chatham did not come forward, took a decided step. He gave notice,
on the 7th of April, of an address to the king, entreating him to
withdraw both his fleets and armies from the United States, and make
peace with them on such terms as should secure their goodwill. Chatham
was roused effectually by this notice. Wrapped in flannel, pale and
emaciated, he was supported into the House by his son William, and his
son-in-law, Lord Mahon. His large wig seemed to bury his worn, shrunken
face, except the still piercing eye and the aquiline nose. When the
Duke of Richmond had made his motion, and Lord Weymouth, one of the
Secretaries of State, had replied to it, Chatham arose. Lord Camden
says that in speaking "he was not like himself: his speech faltered,
his sentences were broken, and his mind not master of itself. His words
were shreds of unconnected eloquence; and flashes of the same fire,
which he, Prometheus-like, had stolen from heaven, were then returning
to the place whence they were taken." All was deep attention, and
even in bosoms antagonistic in principle were profound interest and
respect. His words, weak and halting at first, grew, as he warmed with
his subject, into much of the power and harmony of former days, and
battling with his feebleness of frame he put forth, in one last great
effort, the power of his spirit.
"My lords," he said, "I rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me;
that I am still alive to lift up my voice against the dismemberment
of this ancient and most noble monarchy. Pressed down as I am by the
hand of infirmity, I am little able to assist my country in this most
perilous conjuncture; but, my lords, whilst I have sense and memory,
I will never consent to deprive the royal offspring of the House of
Brunswick, the heirs of----" here he faltered for some moments, whilst
striving to recall the name--"of the Princess Sophia, of their fairest
inheritance. My lords, his Majesty succeeded to an empire as great in
extent as its reputation was unsullied. Shall we tarnish the lustre
of that empire by an ignominious surrender of its rights and fairest
possessions? Shall this great kingdom, which has survived whole and
entire the Danish depredations the Scotch inroads, and the Norman
conquest--that has stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada,
now fall prostrate before the House of Bourbon? Surely, my lords, this
nation is no longer what it was! Shall a people that fifteen years
ago were the terror of the world now stoop so low as to tell this
ancient, inveterate enemy--'Take all we have, only give us peace'? It
is impossible! I wage war with no man or set of men; I wish for none
of their employments; nor would I co-operate with men who persist in
unretracted error--who, instead of acting on a firm, decisive line of
conduct, halt between two opinions where there is no middle path. In
God's name, if it is absolutely necessary to declare either for peace
or war, and the former cannot be preserved with honour, why is not the
latter commenced without hesitation? I am not, I confess, well informed
of the resources of this kingdom; but I trust it has still sufficient
to maintain its just rights, though I know them not. But, my lords, any
state is better than despair. Let us, at least, make one effort, and if
we must fall, let us fall like men!"
The Duke of Richmond made a feeble reply, and then Chatham rose, in
the deepest indignation, to answer the Duke, but the violence of his
feelings overcame him; he staggered and fell in a swoon, and would have
been prostrated on the floor but for the assistance of some friendly
hands. He lay apparently in the agonies of death. The whole House was
agitated; the Peers crowded round him in the greatest commotion; all
except the Earl of Mansfield, who beheld the fall of his ancient rival
almost as unmoved, says Lord Camden, "as the senseless body itself."
His youngest son, John Charles Pitt, was there, and exerted himself to
render all possible assistance. The insensible orator was carried in
the arms of his friends to the house of Mr. Sargent, in Downing Street.
By the prompt aid of a physician, he was in some degree recalled to
consciousness, and within a few days was conveyed to his own dwelling
at Hayes. There he lingered till the morning of May 11th, when he died
in the seventieth year of his age.
On the day of Chatham's death, his friend and disciple, Colonel
Barré, announced the melancholy event in the House of Commons, and
moved that his funeral should be conducted at the public charge, and
his remains be deposited in Westminster Abbey. This was seconded by
Thomas Townshend, afterwards Secretary of State, and Lord Sydney.
All parties consented, with many praises, to this suggestion; and
two days afterwards, Lord John Cavendish introduced the subject of
a further testimony of public regard for the departed. It was well
known that Chatham, notwithstanding the ten thousand pounds left him
by the Duchess of Marlborough, notwithstanding the emoluments of his
places and pensions, and the noble estate bequeathed to him by Sir
William Pynsent, was still in debt. Lord John Cavendish put to the
score of disinterestedness what ought probably to have been placed to
the account of free living and little care of money, and called on
Parliament to reward the descendants of the Earl for the great addition
which he had made to the empire as well as to its glory. Lord North
cordially assented.
An address, founded on this resolution, was carried to the king, who
faithfully kept the word he had given nearly three years before.
Chatham had then, through Lord North, sought to get his own pension
continued to his second son, William Pitt, afterwards the celebrated
Minister. On that occasion, George III. had declared that the conduct
of Chatham of late had totally obliterated any sense of gratitude
for his former merits; but that, when decrepitude or death should
put an end to him as a trumpet of sedition, he would not punish the
children for the father's sins, but would place the second son's name
where Chatham's had been. He now consented to that; an annuity bill
settled four thousand pounds a-year on the heirs of Chatham to whom
the title should descend, which received the sanction of Parliament;
and the Commons, moreover, voted twenty thousand pounds to pay the
deceased Earl's debts. Both these motions passed the House of Commons
unanimously; but, in the Upper House, the Duke of Chandos attacked the
grants, and condemned severely the custom of loading the country with
annuities in perpetuity. The bill was, however, carried by forty-two
votes to eleven, though four noble Lords entered a protest against it,
namely, Lord Chancellor Bathurst, the Duke of Chandos, Lord Paget, and
Markham, Archbishop of York.
The funeral was but poorly attended. Few members of either House were
there, except those of the Opposition. Gibbon says that "the Government
ingeniously contrived to secure the double odium of suffering the thing
to be done, and of doing it with an ill grace." Burke and Savile,
Thomas Townshend, and Dunning, were pall-bearers; Colonel Barré carried
the banner of the barony of Chatham, supported by the Marquis of
Rockingham and the Dukes of Richmond, Northumberland, and Manchester;
William Pitt, in the place of his elder brother, who was gone to
Gibraltar, was the chief mourner, followed by eight Peers, as assistant
mourners, amongst whom were Lord Shelburne and Lord Camden. The tomb
of Chatham is in the north transept of the Abbey, distinguished by the
monument soon afterwards erected to his honour.
[Illustration: DEATH OF THE EARL OF CHATHAM. (_From the Painting by J.
S. Copley, R.A., in the National Gallery, London._)]
On the 6th of May Burke had brought forward a measure for the benefit
of his long-oppressed country, to the effect that Ireland should
enjoy the privilege of exporting its manufactures, woollen cloths and
woollens excepted, and of importing from the coast of Africa and other
foreign settlements all goods that it required, except indigo and
tobacco. The Irish were to have the additional privilege of sending to
England duty-free, cotton-yarns, sail-cloth, and cordage. Parliament,
for once, looked on these demands with favour. They recollected that
the Americans had endeavoured to excite disaffection amongst the Irish
by reference to the unjust restrictions on their commerce by the
selfishness of England, and they felt the loss of the American trade,
and were willing to encourage commerce in some other direction. Lord
Nugent co-operated with Burke in this endeavour. But the lynx-eyed
avarice of the English merchants was instantly up in arms. During the
Easter recess, a host of petitions was got up against this just
concession. The city of Bristol, which was represented by Burke,
threatened to dismiss him at the next election, if he persisted in
this attempt to extend commercial justice to Ireland; but Burke told
them that he must leave that to them; for himself, he must advocate
free trade, which, if they once tried it, they would find far more
advantageous than monopoly. They kept their word, and threw him out
for his independence. At the same time, the English merchants, as they
had always done before by Ireland, triumphed to a great extent. They
demanded to be heard in Committee by counsel, and the Bills were shorn
down to the least possible degree of benefit.
During the discussion of this question, Sir George Savile brought
forward another. This was a Bill for relieving Catholics, by repealing
the penalties and disabilities imposed by the 10th and 11th of King
William III. The hardships sought to be removed were these:--The
prohibition of Catholic priests or Jesuits teaching their own doctrines
in their own churches, such an act being high treason in natives and
felony in foreigners; the forfeitures by Popish heirs of their property
who received their education abroad, in such cases the estates going
to the nearest Protestant heir; the power given to a Protestant to
take the estate of his father, or next kinsman, who was a Catholic,
during his lifetime; and the debarring all Catholics from acquiring
legal property by any other means than descent. Dunning declared the
restrictions a disgrace to humanity, and perfectly useless, as they
were never enforced; but Sir George Savile said that was not really
the fact, for that he himself knew Catholics who lived in daily
terror of informers and of the infliction of the law. Thurlow, still
Attorney-General, but about to ascend the woolsack, promptly supported
the Bill; and Henry Dundas, the Lord Advocate of Scotland, lamented
that it would afford no relief to his own country. These Acts did not
affect Scotland, as they had been passed before the Union; but Scotland
had a similar Act passed by its own Parliament, and he promised to move
for the repeal of this Scottish Act in the next Session. In the Commons
there was an almost total unanimity on the subject; and in the Lords,
the Bishop of Peterborough was nearly the only person who strongly
opposed it. He asked that if, as it was argued, these Acts were a dead
letter, why disturb the dead?
But smoothly as this transaction had passed, there was a hurricane
behind. The threatened extension of the measure to Scotland roused
all the Presbyterian bigotry of the North. The synod of Glasgow and
other synods passed resolutions vowing to oppose any interference with
the Scottish Act for the suppression of Popery. Press and pulpit were
speedily inflamed; associations were formed in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and
most of the towns, for the defence of the Protestant interest. All the
old persecutions and insults of Catholics were renewed; they could not
safely appear in the streets, or remain safely in their houses. Not
even those liberal enough to advocate the just rights of Catholics were
secure, at least from rude treatment. Dr. Robertson, the historian,
was hooted, when he went abroad, as a favourer of the Papists. There
was as yet no more toleration in Scotland than if a William III. had
never appeared in England. From Scotland the intolerant leaven spread
southwards. It grew fiercer and fiercer, and in a while found a proper
champion in the hot-headed Lord George Gordon, whose exploits as the
ringleader of riot, and fire, and confusion, culminated two years later
in the scenes of destruction and terror for ever memorable as the
Gordon riots.
In Europe war was about to break forth, in consequence of war in
America. Yet the Court of France did not lack solemn warnings
of the fatal path on which they were entering. The honest and
far-sighted financier, Turgot, who had been employed by Louis XVI.,
as Comptroller-General, to endeavour to bring the terribly disordered
revenue of France into order, said, "I must remind you, sire, of these
three words--'No bankruptcy, no augmentation of imposts, no loans.' To
fulfil these three conditions there is but one means--to reduce the
expenditure below the receipt, and sufficiently below it to be able
to economise, every year, twenty millions, in order to clear off the
old debts. Without that, the first cannon fired will force the State
to bankruptcy." He assured the king that all colonies, on arriving at
a condition of maturity, would as naturally abandon the control of
the mother country as children, arriving at majority, do the control
of their parents; that the independence of America would, therefore,
come of itself, without France ruining herself to accelerate the
event; that, as to France wishing Spain to join in this attempt, Spain
must remember her own colonies, for, by assisting to free the British
colonies, she would assuredly assist to liberate her own.
Before there was any declaration of war, the King of France, on the
18th of March, issued an order to seize all British ships in the ports
of that kingdom; and, nine days afterwards, a similar order was issued
by the British Government as to all French ships in their harbours. The
first act of hostility was perpetrated by Admiral Keppel. He had been
appointed first Admiral on the earliest news of the treaty of France
with America; and, being now in the Channel with twenty ships of the
line, he discovered two French frigates, _La Licorne_ and _La Belle
Poule_, reconnoitring his fleet. Not troubling himself that there had
been no declaration of war, Keppel ordered some of his vessels to give
chase; and, on coming up with the _Licorne_, a gun was fired over her,
to call her to surrender; and the Frenchman struck his colours, but not
before he had poured a broadside into the _America_, commanded by Lord
Longford, and wounded four of his men. The "saucy" _Arethusa_, famed in
song and story, in the meantime, had come up with the _Belle Poule_,
and, after a desperate action, drove her in amongst the rocks, whilst
the _Arethusa_ herself was so disabled as to require towing back to the
fleet. A schooner and a French frigate were soon afterwards taken; and,
finding on board these vessels papers stating that the fleet in Brest
harbour consisted of thirty-two sail of the line and ten or twelve
frigates, Keppel returned to Portsmouth for reinforcements.
For this Keppel was much blamed, as it was considered that the papers
might have been made out in order to deceive him. The number of
the French fleet, however, soon proved to be correct, for, during
Keppel's absence, it sailed out of Brest, under the command of Admiral
D'Orvilliers. Keppel, returning with his squadron augmented to thirty
vessels of the line, found D'Orvilliers out at sea, and the _Lively_,
twenty-gun brig, which he had left to watch the motions of the French,
surprised by them in a fog, and captured. On the 27th of July Keppel
came up with D'Orvilliers off Ushant, and instantly gave battle. The
two fleets passed each other on different tacks, keeping up a furious
cannonade for two hours. Keppel then signalled his second in command,
Sir Hugh Palliser, to wear round and renew the attack; but Palliser had
received so much injury, that he could not or did not obey the signal.
Keppel, therefore, bore down to join Palliser's division, and formed
afresh for the fight. But by this time D'Orvilliers was making for
Brest as fast as he could, claiming a victory. Night came down, and the
next morning the French fleet was nearly out of sight. On this, Keppel
returned to England to refit, much out of humour with Palliser.
Meanwhile, in America military intrigues were on foot against
Washington. Amongst these endeavours was one for alienating from him
Lafayette. For this purpose an expedition was planned against Canada,
and Lafayette, as a Frenchman, was appointed to the command, hoping
thus to draw to him the Frenchmen of Canada. Not a word was to be
breathed of it to Washington; and Conway and Starke, two of the most
malicious members of the cabal, were to take command under Lafayette.
On the 24th of January, 1778, Washington received a letter from Gates,
the President of the Board of War, commanding him to send one of his
best regiments to Albany, on the Hudson, for a particular service, and
enclosing another to Lafayette, requiring his immediate attendance
on Gates. Gates found, however, that Lafayette was not to be seduced
from his attachment to Washington. He would not accept the command,
otherwise than as acting in subordination to his Commander-in-Chief;
and he should send all his despatches and bulletins to him, at the same
time that he furnished copies to Congress. The vain Frenchman verily
believed that he was going to restore Canada, not to America, but to
the French Crown--a fear which began to haunt Congress after he had set
out; but the fear was needless. When Lafayette reached his invading
army, instead of two thousand five hundred men, it amounted to about
one thousand two hundred, and the militia were nowhere to be heard of.
Clothes, provisions, sledges, were all wanting, and, instead of leading
his troops, as he was directed, to Lake Champlain, whence he was to
proceed to Île-aux-Noix to blow up the English flotilla, and thence,
crossing the Sorel, to descend the St. Lawrence to Montreal, he gave up
the expedition with a sigh, and returned to the camp of Washington.
In the month of April arrived the permission for Sir William Howe to
retire, and, although he was one of the five Commissioners named for
carrying into effect the proposals in Lord North's Bill, he determined
to leave at the earliest day for England. Lord Howe, the Admiral,
was equally impatient to return, but Lord Sandwich had informed him
that it would be considered a great misfortune for him to quit his
command in the present circumstances. This was, in fact, an order for
his remaining, which the breaking out of the war with France, and the
expected arrival of a French fleet, rendered doubly imperative. Sir
Henry Clinton was appointed to succeed Sir William Howe, and, the
former having arrived in Philadelphia, Howe departed. Scarcely had
Clinton assumed the command, when an order arrived from the Government
at home to abandon Philadelphia, and concentrate his forces at New
York. The French fleet under D'Estaing was on its way, and it was
considered that we had not a fleet of sufficient strength to beat them
back from the mouth of the Delaware.
On the 6th of June--only a fortnight after Howe's departure--the
three Commissioners, Lord Carlisle, Mr. Eden, and Governor Johnstone,
arrived. They learned with consternation and unspeakable chagrin this
order for the evacuation of Philadelphia, and, still more, that so
important a dispatch had been kept concealed from them. There was not
a single circumstance in favour of the Commissioners. At the same
moment that we were making this disastrous retreat from the hardly-won
Philadelphia, publishing our weakness to the world, Congress had just
received the mighty news of French alliance, French aid, and French
ships and troops steering towards their coasts. The Commissioners
came furnished with propositions the most honourable and favours the
most absolute. They were authorised to offer to the Americans that
no military forces should be maintained in the Colonies without the
consent of the General Congress or of the Assembly of a particular
State; that England would take measures to discharge the debts of
America, and to give full value to its paper money; would admit an
agent or agents from the States into the British Parliament, and
send, if they wished it, agents to sit with them in their Assemblies;
that each State should have the sole power of settling its revenue,
and perfect freedom of internal legislation and government--in fact,
everything except total severance from the parent country. Such terms,
conceded at the proper time, would have made war impossible; but the
proper time was long past, and they were now useless. The Commissioners
applied to Washington for a passport to Congress, in order to lay the
proposals brought by the Commissioners before them. But Washington
bluntly refused the passport; and only consented to forward the
letter through the common post. Congress took time to deliberate on
the contents of the letter, and then returned an answer through their
President, that the Act of Parliament and the forms of the Commission
all supposed the American States to be still subject to Great Britain,
which had long ceased to be fact; and that Congress could listen to
no overtures from the King of England until he had withdrawn his fleet
and armies, and was prepared to treat with them as independent States.
The Commissioners could only retire, leaving behind them a manifesto
threatening the utmost severities of war.
Clinton, having now united his forces at New York, directed his
attention to the approach of the fleet of D'Estaing. This had sailed
for the Delaware, expecting to find Lord Howe there; but, finding that
he had sailed for New York, it followed him, and arrived there six days
after him. The fleet of D'Estaing consisted of twelve sail-of-the-line
and six frigates. Howe had only ten sail-of-the-line, and some of them
of only forty or fifty guns, and a few frigates. Besides, D'Estaing
had heavier metal, and ships in much better condition, for those of
Howe were old and out of repair, and their crews were considerably
deficient. Altogether, D'Estaing had eight hundred and fifty-four guns;
Howe, only six hundred and fourteen. From D'Estaing's superiority of
force it was quite expected that he would attack Howe; but he was
dissuaded by the pilots from entering the harbour, and lay outside
eleven days, during which time he landed the Ambassador. Lord Howe
showed much spirit in preparing for an encounter, though he was daily
in expectation of Admiral Byron with some additional ships, the Admiral
coming to supersede him. He put his ships in the best order he could,
and the English seamen hurried in from all quarters to man his vessels.
A thousand volunteers came from the transports, and masters and mates
of merchantmen offered their services. Just, however, when it was
expected that D'Estaing would avail himself of the tide, on the 22nd of
July, to enter the harbour, he sailed away for Rhode Island, and up the
Newport river. In a few days Howe sailed in quest of D'Estaing. They
found D'Estaing joined by Lafayette with two thousand American troops,
and by General Sullivan with ten thousand more, and D'Estaing proposed
to land four thousand from his fleet. The English garrison in Newport
amounted to only five thousand men. But here a contest arose between
D'Estaing and Sullivan for the supreme command, and this was not abated
till Howe with his fleet hove in sight. Then D'Estaing stood out to
sea, in spite of the remonstrances of Sullivan, Greene, and the other
American officers. Lord Howe endeavoured to bring him to action, at
the same time manœuvring to obtain the weather-gauge of him. In these
mutual endeavours to obtain the advantage of the wind, the two fleets
stood away quite out of sight of Rhode Island, and Sullivan commenced
in their absence the siege of Newport. Howe, at length, seeing that he
could not obtain the weather-gauge, determined to attack the French
to leeward, but at this moment a terrible storm arose, and completely
parted the hostile fleets, doing both of them great damage. D'Estaing
returned into the harbour of Newport, but only to inform the Americans
that he was too much damaged to remain, but must make for Boston to
refit. Sullivan and the other officers remonstrated vehemently against
his departure; but in vain. Scarcely had D'Estaing disappeared, when
Sir Henry Clinton himself, leading four thousand men, arrived in Rhode
Island, and Sullivan crossed to the mainland in haste. He blamed the
French for the failure of the enterprise.
[Illustration: GIBRALTAR.
FROM A DRAWING BY BIRKET FOSTER, R.W.S.]
[Illustration: THE SAUCY "ARETHUSA" AND THE "BELLE POULE." (_See p._
255.)]
Lord Howe, when he had collected his ships after the storm which
separated him from D'Estaing, again made for Boston, in the hope of
being able to attack the French Admiral in the harbour; but he found
him too well protected by the batteries to be able to reach him. He
therefore returned to New York, and, as his leave of absence had
arrived, he surrendered the command to Admiral Byron, and took his
leave of America on the 26th of September, and reached Portsmouth on
the 25th of October. Byron now had a very good fleet, consisting of
ships of one size or other to the number of ninety-one sail. Such a
fleet assembled on the American coast at a proper time would have
intercepted and destroyed the fleet of D'Estaing, and have cleared all
those waters of French and American privateers. Byron no sooner came
into command than he also made a voyage to Boston, to see whether he
could not come at D'Estaing's fleet; but his usual weather attended
him, his ships were scattered by a tempest, and D'Estaing took the
opportunity of sailing to the West Indies, according to his orders.
Notwithstanding the agreement of the French to assist America, they
were thinking much more of recovering Canada or seizing on the British
West India islands for themselves.
The British, apprised of the views of France, determined to send a
fleet and troops to protect the West Indies; but, instead of sending
the requisite force from home, the Ministers ordered Clinton to send
five thousand men from New York. This was another example of the feeble
and penurious manner in which they carried on this war. Clinton had
recently sent three thousand five hundred men to Georgia, and now this
detachment of five thousand diminished his already insufficient army by
eight thousand five hundred men. It was, therefore, utterly impossible
that he could take another decisive step in America during this year,
and thus Congress was left to strengthen its army and to await fresh
reinforcements from France.
Commodore Hotham, with only five ships of the line, a bomb-vessel, and
some frigates, conveyed Major-General Grant and this force to the West
Indies, being nearly the whole way within a short sail of D'Estaing
and his much superior fleet, without knowing it. Grant's destination
was to protect Dominica; but, before his arrival, Marshal de Bouillé,
Governor-General of Martinique, had landed with two thousand men, and
had compelled Lieutenant-Governor Stewart, who had only about one
hundred regular troops and some indifferent militia for its defence, to
surrender. Grant being too late to save Dominica, turned his attention
to St. Lucia, being conveyed thither by the joint fleet of Hotham
and Barrington. They had scarcely made a good footing on the island
when D'Estaing's fleet hove in sight. He had twelve sail-of-the-line,
numerous frigates and transports, and ten thousand men on board, and
the English would have had little chance could he have landed. But
the British fleet resolutely attacked him, and, after several days'
struggle, prevented his landing more than half his troops. These were
so gallantly repulsed by Brigadier Medows, who was at the head of only
one thousand five hundred men, that, on the 28th December, D'Estaing
again embarked his troops, and quitted the island. The original French
force under Chevalier de Michaud then surrendered, and St. Lucia was
won, though Dominica was lost.
The first thing which occupied the Government on the opening of the
year 1779 were the trials of Keppel and Palliser. That of Keppel
commenced on the 7th of January, and lasted till the 11th of February.
The Court consisted of five admirals and eight captains; Sir Thomas
Pye, Admiral of the White, being president. Keppel was acquitted,
and pronounced to have behaved like a brave and experienced officer,
and to have rendered essential service to the State. This sentence
occasioned a wonderful rejoicing in the City, where Keppel's political
principles prevailed. The portico of the Mansion House was illuminated
two successive nights, and there were general illuminations throughout
London and Westminster. It had been well had the demonstration ended
there; but the mob took the opportunity of the guard which had been
stationed before the house of Palliser in Pall Mall being withdrawn
at midnight to smash in his windows, burst in the doors, and destroy
his furniture. The work of destruction once begun was soon extended.
The mob demolished the windows of Lord North and Lord George Germaine,
as well as of the Admiralty, Government being looked upon as the real
enemies of Keppel and accessories of Palliser. The next day, the
12th of February, Parliament and the City Corporation gave the most
unmistakable sanction to these proceedings. Both Houses of Parliament
voted thanks to Keppel: the Lords unanimously, the Commons with only
one dissenting voice. The Court of Common Council not only voted thanks
to Keppel, but presented him with the freedom of the City in a box of
heart of oak, richly ornamented, and the City was more brilliantly
illuminated than before, the Monument being decked out with coloured
lamps.
Palliser, incensed at these marked censures on himself, vacated his
seat in Parliament, and resigned his Governorship of Scarborough
Castle, his seat at the Board of Admiralty, his colonelcy of
marines, retaining only his post of Vice-Admiral, and demanding a
court-martial. This was held on board the _Sandwich_, in Portsmouth
harbour, and lasted twenty-one days, resulting finally in a verdict of
acquittal, though with some censure for his not having acquainted his
Commander-in-Chief instantly that the disabled state of his ship had
prevented him from obeying the signal to join for the renewal of the
fight. This sentence pleased neither party. Keppel thought Palliser
too easily let off--Palliser that he was sacrificed to party feeling
against Government.
In Ireland the effervescence assumed the shape of resistance to
commercial injustice. It was, indeed, impossible to condemn too
strongly the injustice which that country had endured for ages, and in
nothing more than in the flagrant restrictions heaped upon its commerce
and manufactures in favour of English interests. The Irish now seized
on the opportunity while America was waging war against the very same
treatment to imitate the American policy. They formed associations in
Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, and other places, for the non-importation of
British goods which could be manufactured in Ireland, till England
and Ireland were placed on an equal footing in all that related to
manufactures and commerce. Ministers, who had turned a deaf ear for
years, and almost for ages, to such complaints, were now alarmed,
especially as there was a rumour of French invasion, which might be
so materially aided by disaffection in Ireland. They therefore made
a pecuniary grant to relieve the commercial distress in Ireland, and
passed two Acts for the encouragement of the growth of tobacco and
hemp, and the manufacture of linen in that island. These concessions,
however, were not deemed sufficient, and the people formed themselves
into Volunteer Associations, appointing their own officers, and
defraying the cost of their own equipments. This was done under the
plea of the danger of invasion; but Government knew very well that
American agents had been very busy sowing discontent in Ireland, and
they saw too much resemblance in these things to the proceedings on the
other side of the Atlantic not to view them with alarm. The Marquis
of Rockingham, who had been well instructed in the real grievances of
Ireland by Burke, moved in the House of Lords, on the 11th of May, for
the production of all papers necessary to enable the House to come
to a full understanding of the trade of Ireland and of mercantile
restrictions on it with a view to doing impartial justice to that
kingdom. Lord Gower promised that these should be ready for production
next Session.
On the 16th of June, just as the House was growing impatient for
prorogation, Lord North, who earlier in the Session had made some
unsuccessful negotiations with the Whigs, announced intelligence
which put such prorogation out of the question. He informed the
House that the Spanish Ambassador had delivered a hostile manifesto
and had thereupon quitted London. On the 17th a Royal Message was
delivered, asserting his Majesty's surprise at this act of Spain,
and declaring that nothing on his part had provoked it. But it by
no means took anybody else by surprise, and the Opposition strongly
reproached Government for not giving credit to their warnings on this
head. In the Commons, Lord John Cavendish, and, in the Lords, the
Earl of Abingdon and the Duke of Richmond, moved that the fleet and
army should be immediately withdrawn from America, that peace be made
with those States, and all our forces be concentrated in chastising
France and Spain, as they deserved, for their treachery and unprovoked
interference. They called for a total change of Ministers and measures.
These motions were defeated, and Lord North, on the 21st of June,
moved for the introduction of a Bill to double the militia and raise
volunteer corps. The proposal to double the militia was rejected, that
to raise volunteer corps accepted. To man the Navy a Bill was brought
in to suspend for six months all exemptions from impressment into the
Royal Navy. The measure was passed through two stages before rising,
and carried the next morning, and sent up to the Lords. There it met
with strong opposition, and did not receive the Royal Assent till the
last day of the Session. This was the 3rd of July, and was followed, on
the 9th, by a Royal Proclamation ordering all horses and provisions,
in case of invasion, to be driven into the interior. The batteries
of Plymouth were manned, and a boom was drawn across the harbour at
Portsmouth. A large camp of militia was established at Cox Heath, in
front of Maidstone, and, in truth, this demonstration of a patriotic
spirit was very popular.
Spain having now, most fatally for herself, been persuaded to join
France in the war with England, turned her first attention to Gibraltar
which she hoped France would enable her to conquer. But France showed
no disposition to assist her to regain Gibraltar. At the same time,
the great object was to accomplish the union of the French and Spanish
fleets, which they deemed must then be invincible, and not only drive
the English from the seas, but enable them to land in England itself.
The French managed to muster fifty thousand men, whom they marched to
the different ports on the Channel, from Hâvre to St. Malo. By this
means, keeping England in fear of an invasion, their fleet slipped
out of Brest on the 3rd of June, under the command of D'Orvilliers,
and effected the desired junction with the Spaniards at Cadiz. The
French fleet consisted of thirty sail of the line; the Spanish, of
thirty-eight; making the united fleet sixty-eight sail, besides
numerous frigates and smaller vessels. Never, since the days of the
Armada, had such a mighty squadron threatened the shores of Great
Britain.
To oppose this tremendous force, our Admiral, Sir Charles Hardy,
had only thirty-eight sail. In the confidence of their overwhelming
strength, the Franco-Spanish fleet sailed directly for the English
coast. Hardy, who was a brave seaman, but somewhat past his prime,
endeavoured to prevent their insulting our shores, and pursued them
first near the Scilly Isles, and then towards the straits of the
Channel. On shore the panic was intense, the French and Spaniards
being expected every hour to land. But on the 31st of August, the wind
veering enabled Hardy to get the weather-gauge of them; and being now
in the Channel, he was prepared to engage their fleet, though so much
superior in numbers; and on shore great quantities of military and
volunteers had collected. Hardy anchored off Spithead. At the sight
of this combination of circumstances, the courage of the Spaniards
and French evaporated. They began to quarrel amongst themselves. The
Spaniards were for landing on some part of the British coast; the
French admiral contended that they would have the equinoctial gales
immediately upon them, and that many of their vessels were in bad
condition. The Spanish commander declared that, this being the case,
he would relinquish the enterprise, and return to his own seaports.
D'Orvilliers was necessarily compelled to return too, and retired to
Brest, where a pestilential disease attacked the French, from having
been so long cooped up in foul ships. Well might Lord North, on the
meeting of Parliament, say, "Our enemies fitted out a formidable fleet;
they appeared upon our coasts; they talked big; threatened a great
deal; did nothing, and retired."
In America, the belligerents were early afoot this year; but the
attention and the forces of the English were drawn from the States
to the West Indies by the determined attempts of the French to make
themselves masters of our islands there. D'Estaing, who was joined
by another French squadron under the Marquis de Vaudreuil, was early
opposed by Admiral Byron, who arrived at St. Lucia from the American
coast on the 6th of January. This Admiral Vaudreuil, on his way, had
visited our settlements on the coast of Africa, and taken from us
Senegal; but Sir Edward Hughes soon arrived there, and took their
settlement of Goree, so that it was a mere exchange of territory.
In June Admiral Byron was obliged to escort our merchant fleet to a
certain distance, and D'Estaing seized that opportunity to make himself
master of St. Vincent and Grenada, where the garrisons were weak. On
the return of Byron, on the 5th of July, he came to an engagement with
D'Estaing off Grenada; but the French admiral, after an indecisive
action, took advantage of the night to sail away, boasting of a great
victory. He now made for Georgia and Carolina, to assist the Americans
in endeavouring to wrest from us our recent conquest of Savannah, in
Georgia.
In fact, the chief scene of the war during this year continued to be
south. In September, D'Estaing arrived off Savannah, to co-operate with
the American forces in recovering that important place. He brought
with him twenty-four ships of the line and fourteen frigates, and
was moreover attended by a numerous squadron of French and American
privateers, besides carrying a considerable body of troops. On learning
D'Estaing's approach, General Lincoln and Governor Rutledge began to
march their troops towards Savannah, and sent a number of small vessels
to enable the French to carry their troops up the river, and land them
near the town. General Prevost, commander of the English garrison, made
the most active preparations to receive them. D'Estaing had agreed
to wait for the arrival of General Lincoln, with the South Carolina
force, but, with the want of faith characteristic of the man, on the
12th of September he landed three thousand men, and summoned General
Prevost to surrender in the name of the French king. Prevost claimed
twenty-four hours to decide, and this time he employed in strengthening
his defences. Before the expiration of this time Colonel Maitland, who
was on the march for Beaufort with eight hundred veterans, came in,
and Prevost returned for answer that he would defend the place to the
utmost. On the 16th, General Lincoln arrived, and was greatly incensed
to find that D'Estaing had broken the agreement to wait for him, and
still worse, had summoned the place in the name of France instead of
the Congress.
D'Estaing, who expected to have taken the place with little trouble,
greatly alarmed lest the English should seize most of the French West
Indian islands in his absence, urged an assault contrary to the wishes
of Lincoln, and this was made on the 9th of October. The forces, five
thousand eight hundred in number, were led on in two columns, but they
were received by such a raking fire from walls and redoubts, and from
the brig flanking the right of the British lines, that they were thrown
back in confusion; and before D'Estaing and Lincoln could restore
order, Colonel Maitland made a general sortie with fixed bayonets,
and the whole attacking force fled in utter rout. D'Estaing would now
remain no longer, but re-embarked his forces, and sailed away, to the
unspeakable chagrin of the Americans, who retreated in all haste, the
greater part of the militia breaking up and returning home.
[Illustration: LORD NORTH.]
The effect of the American war, so extremely unsatisfactory to the
nation, had now perceptibly reduced the influence of Lord North and
his Ministry. Their majorities, which had formerly been four to one,
had now fallen to less than two to one; and this process was going
rapidly on. The changes in the Cabinet had been considerable, but they
had not contributed to reinvigorate it. The removal of Thurlow to the
House of Lords had left nobody equal to him in the Commons to contend
with such men as Fox, Burke, Barré, and the several others. Wedderburn
had taken Thurlow's place as Attorney-General, and Wallace had stepped
into Wedderburn's as Solicitor-General. Lord Weymouth, who had held the
posts of Secretary of State for the North and South Departments since
the death of the Earl of Suffolk, now resigned, and Lord Hillsborough
was appointed to the Southern Department, and Lord Stormont to the
Northern Department. Neither of these changes was popular. The Duke of
Bedford's party had become more and more cool towards Lord North, and
in every respect there was a declining power in the Cabinet. It was at
variance with itself, and was fast losing the confidence of the public.
Lord George Germaine was still retained by the king as Secretary of the
Colonies, notwithstanding the disgust he had excited by the unfortunate
planning of the expedition of Burgoyne.
On the 25th of November Parliament was opened, and the king, in his
speech, made a strong appeal to the country for support against
the unprovoked war on the part of France and Spain. The Marquis of
Rockingham, in proposing an amendment on the Address in the Lords,
was extremely severe. He concluded by moving that every part of the
Address, except the title, should be expunged, and that, instead of
what then stood, a prayer should be inserted that his Majesty would
reflect on the extent of territory which marked the opening of his
reign, the opulence and power, the reputation abroad, the concord
at home, to which he had succeeded, and now on the endangered,
impoverished, enfeebled, distracted, and even dismembered, state of the
whole, after the enormous grants of his successive Parliaments, and
calling on him, as the only remedy of impending ruin, to dismiss his
present evil councillors, and summon new and more auspicious ones. The
language was crushing, but it derived its force from its undeniable
truth. Lord John Cavendish moved a similar amendment in the Commons;
and the Opposition declared that it was well that his Majesty's speech
expressed trust in Divine Providence, for Providence was the only
friend that his Government had now left; and that our arms, both on
sea and land, were paralysed by the scandalous practice of putting at
the head of the army and navy mere Court favourites, and by the want
of all vigour and sagacity of planning and following up our campaigns.
Fox went further, and asserted that weakness and stupidity could not
effect the wholesale shame and ruin that surrounded us; that there must
be treachery somewhere; and that, if this were driven a little further,
the people would seize on arms, and chase the miserable Cabinet from
its abused seat. Lord North made the best reply that the circumstances
admitted; but there were no symptoms of the Ministers resigning, or
being removed by the infatuated monarch, and the amendments were
rejected in both Houses, as a matter of course.
During this debate, the state of Ireland had been repeatedly alluded
to, and, on the 13th of December, Lord North brought forward his
promised scheme of Irish relief, which consisted in extending the
exportation of woollen cloths to wool, and wool-flocks, to all
kinds of glass manufactures, and in free trade to the British
colonies--privileges that it seems wonderfully strange to us, at the
present day, could ever have been withheld from any portion of the same
empire. The critical state of America, no doubt, had much to do with
the grant of these privileges, for all of them were conceded.
The ruinous expenditure of the war, and the continual difficulties into
which the Civil List had fallen, now roused throughout the country a
strong demand for economical reform. The Duke of Richmond introduced
the subject into the Upper House by moving, on the 7th of December,
that an Address be conveyed to his Majesty representing the distress
of the country, the heavy demands upon it for the complicated war, and
recommending a reduction of all useless expenses; it also set out that
profusion, so far from being strength, was weakness; that it behoved
all classes of officials to consent to a curtailment of the lavish
salaries; and that it would be a noble example in the Crown to take
the lead, which could not fail of enhancing the love of the people,
and diffusing an excellent influence throughout every department of
the State. His grace represented that the vast military establishment
by sea and land could not include less than three hundred thousand
men; that, since the beginning of the American war the expenditure had
added sixty-three millions of pounds to the Debt, and its interest,
eight millions, to our annual payments. The interest of the Debt had
now become of itself equal to the whole of our expenditure in years
of peace before. He laid much stress on the belief that the example
of the king would induce all orders of men to make equal sacrifices
to the needs of their country. Richmond declared that he had no wish
to curtail the pensions of those who had wasted their fortunes in the
service of their country, as the Pelhams, for the Duke of Newcastle
was said to have sunk five hundred thousand pounds during the years
that he so fondly adhered to office. He gave the Ministers and the
aristocracy credit for a disinterestedness which they did not possess.
They admitted the vastness of the expenditure, and that there was
wastefulness, and that they were desirous of economy; but they could
not believe that any reduction of the Civil List would be sensibly
felt, whilst it would reflect dishonour on the country, as if it were
incapable of maintaining the Crown in due credit. Lord Chancellor
Thurlow affected not to believe in the distress, or that any case of
public extravagance had been made out. The Duke of Richmond's motion
was negatived by seventy-seven votes against thirty-six.
But on the 15th of December, only eight days later, Lord Shelburne
followed up the question by moving that the alarming additions annually
made to the Debt, under the name of extraordinaries incurred in
different services, demanded an immediate check; that the distresses of
landed and mercantile interests made the strictest economy requisite,
and that the expenditure of such large sums without grants from
Parliament was an alarming violation of the Constitution. He showed
that these expenses bore no proportion to those of any former wars as
to the services performed for them, and stated plainly that the cause
was notorious--that the greater part of the money went into the pockets
of the Ministers' contracting friends. Lord Shelburne's motion was also
rejected. He then gave notice for a further motion of a like nature on
the 8th of February.
The matter was not to be lightly or easily dismissed. On the very
same day that Lord Shelburne made his motion in the Lords, Edmund
Burke gave notice of a series of resolutions which he should introduce
after the Christmas recess. He stated the outline of his intended
measures for economical reform. Whilst he was delivering a very fine
speech on this occasion, Fox came in from the House of Lords, where
he had been listening to the debate on Lord Shelburne's motion, and
warmly supported him, lamenting that there was not virtue enough in
the House to carry through so necessary--so patriotic a measure. "I
am just come," he said, "from another place where the first men in
this kingdom--the first in abilities, the first in estimation--are now
libelling this House." The announcement excited, as Fox intended, much
surprise, and he continued--"Yes, I repeat it. Every instance they
give--and they give many and strong instances--of uncorrected abuses,
with regard to the public money, is a libel on this House. Everything
they state on the growth of corrupt influence--and it never was half so
flourishing--is a libel on this House."
The corruptionists in Parliament were deaf to eloquence or
remonstrance; the base contractors sitting there, and the other vile
absorbers of the money voted by the country for the most sacred
purposes, for the preservation of the integrity and existence of
the empire, sat still in impudent hardihood; but the sound of these
stirring words was already out of doors. The City of London voted
thanks to the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Shelburne for their
motions, and for their promised resumption of the subject on the 8th
of February. A great meeting was called at York to induce that county
to prepare a petition for reform in Parliament. Many efforts were made
by persuasion and by menace to prevent these freeholders from meeting.
But the Marquis of Rockingham and Sir George Savile stood forward,
attended the meeting, and encouraged the freeholders. The meeting was
held on the 30th of December, and, besides these distinguished men,
was attended by peers, gentlemen, clergymen--the richest and noblest
in the county. A petition was adopted to the House of Commons in
the strongest terms. Before separating, this most important meeting
appointed a committee of correspondence, consisting of sixty-one
gentlemen, to carry out the objects of the petition, and still further
to prepare the plan of a national association for the promotion of the
great business of reform. The contagion spread rapidly; in numbers of
other counties, and in many of the leading cities, similar petitions
were got up, and committees of correspondence formed. The result was
that very soon, in the counties of Middlesex, Chester, Hants, Hertford,
Sussex, Huntingdon, Surrey, Cumberland, Bedford, Essex, Gloucester,
Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Norfolk, Berks, Bucks, Nottingham,
Kent, Northumberland, Suffolk, Hereford, Cambridge, Derby, Northampton,
and the towns of York and Bristol, Cambridge, Nottingham, Newcastle,
Reading, and Bridgewater, petitions were prepared, and in most of them
corresponding committees organised.
When Parliament reassembled, after the Christmas recess, the
great question of economical reform took the first place in its
deliberations. The great Yorkshire petition was introduced on the 8th
of February by Sir George Savile, who, as the forms of the House then
allowed, made a speech on its presentation. He was a small, weakly man,
but of the most upright character, and was listened to with the highest
respect. On the 11th Burke rose to bring forward his extensive scheme
of retrenchment and reform. It was a scheme of reforms so vast and
multiform as to require five Bills to include them. It dealt with the
sale of the Crown lands; the abolition of the separate jurisdictions
of the Principality of Wales, the Duchies of Cornwall, Chester, and
Lancaster; of the Court offices of Treasurer, Comptroller, Cofferer,
Keeper of the Stag, Buck, and Fox Hounds, of the Wardrobe, Robes,
Jewels, etc.; of the recently-instituted office of Third Secretary of
State; the reduction and simplification of offices in the Ordnance and
Mint departments; the Patent Office of the Exchequer; the regulation
of the pay offices of the army, navy, and of pensioners; and, finally,
the Civil List. Such a host of corrupt interests was assailed by this
wholesale scheme, that it was certain to receive a very determined
opposition; and it might have been supposed that it would be
encountered by the most rabid rage. But not so. The great tribe whose
interests were affected were too adroit strategists for that; they
were too well assured that, being legion, and all knit up together
from the Crown downwards, embracing every branch of the aristocracy,
they were safe, and might, therefore, listen to the fervid eloquence
of the poetic Irishman, as they would to a tragedy that did not affect
them further than their amusement was concerned. Lord North very soon
managed to put the Principality and the Duchies out of the range of his
inquiries. He declared that nobody was more zealous for a permanent
system of economy than he was; but then, unfortunately, the king's
patrimonial revenue was concerned in these Duchies, and therefore he
must be first consulted; and, what was still more embarrassing was,
that these proposals affected the rights of the Prince of Wales, and
therefore could not be mooted till he was of age; so that branch of
the inquiry was lopped off, under the gentle phrase of postponement.
When the discussion reached the reform of the king's household, Burke
was compelled to admit that a former attempt to reform this lavish
yet penurious household by Lord Talbot, had been suddenly stopped,
because, forsooth, it would endanger the situation of an honourable
member who was turnspit in the kitchen! The end of it was, that though
all expressed themselves as delighted and as acquiescent, almost
every detail was thrown out in committee. The only point carried was
that which abolished the Board of Trade, by a majority, however, of
only eight. The Board of Trade was ere long restored again. The other
portions of Burke's great scheme occupied the House through March,
April, and May, and then was got rid of by a manœuvre in the committee,
Burke declaring that he would bring the measure forward again next
session.