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 man?uvre—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[247] 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,[248] 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[249] 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.

washington at valley forge, by the camp fire. (see p. 247.)

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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[250] 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,[251] 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[252] 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.

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death of the earl of chatham. (from the painting by j. s. copley, r.a., in the national gallery, london.)

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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[254] 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[255] 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 ?le-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.[256] 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 man?uvring 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.

gibraltar.

from a drawing by birket foster, r.w.s.

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[257]

the saucy "arethusa" and the "belle poule." (see p. 255.)

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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[258] 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[259] 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 havre 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[260] 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.

[261]

lord north.

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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[262] 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[263] 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[264] 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 man?uvre in the committee, burke declaring that he would bring the measure forward again next session.

but the subject was not so easily disposed of. colonel barré, in the house of commons, only three days after burke introduced his great motion, declared that burke's measure did not go far enough; that burke did not mean to interfere with the enormous pensions and overpaid places already in possession; and that he would himself introduce a motion for a committee of accounts, to probe all these depths of corruption, and to examine into the army extravagances, which were excessive, and to him unaccountable. lord north, so far from opposing this motion, declared his surprise that no one had thought of introducing it before, and that he was extremely anxious himself for the reduction of all needless expenditure. the opposition expressed their particular satisfaction; but they were rather too precipitate, for north made haste to get the business into his own hands; and, on the 2nd of march, was ready with a bill of his own framing. the opposition were lost in astonishment; and barré denounced this perfidious conduct in the minister in terms of just indignation. the whole opposition, who found themselves outwitted, declared that the scheme, so far from being intended to relieve the country, was meant to shield existing abuses, and they accordingly resisted it to the utmost. north, however, by his standing majority of myrmidons, carried the bill through the house; and sir guy carleton, late governor of canada, and five others, were appointed commissioners. thus the whole motion was in reality shelved.

two more attempts were made. mr. crewe reproduced the bill to disable revenue officers from voting at elections, which was at once rejected. sir philip jennings clerke then reintroduced his bill to exclude contractors from the house of commons, unless their contracts were obtained at a public bidding. this was suffered, for appearance' sake, to pass the house with little opposition; but it was arrested in the peers by the law lords, at the head of whom were mansfield and thurlow, and thrown out.

on april 6th a great meeting was held in westminster, avowedly to add weight to the county petitions for economical reform, which were now pouring into the house of commons. fox presided, and was supported by the dukes of devonshire and portland. government, to throw discredit on the meeting, affected alarm, and, at the request of the middlesex magistrates, who were believed to have been moved by ministers to make it, a body of troops was drawn up in the neighbourhood of westminster hall. the indignation of the opposition was so much excited that burke, in the house of commons, commenting on this attempt to insinuate evil designs against the friends of reform, denounced the middlesex magistrates as creeping vermin—the very "scum of the earth;" and fox declared that if soldiers were to be let loose on the constitutional meetings of the people, then all who went to such meetings must go armed!

whilst these indignant sentiments were uttering, the petitions for economical reform were pouring in from all parts of the country in such numbers that the table of the house appeared buried under them. the house went into committee upon the subject, and then dunning rose and introduced his famous motion for a resolution in these words:—"that it is the opinion of this committee that the influence of the crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished." dunning declaimed in language bold and unsparing, and expatiated at great length on the alarming influence of the crown, purchased by the lavish expenditure of the people's money, the people thus being made the instruments of their own slavery. he censured in stinging terms the treatment of the economical plans of burke, the treacherous terms of approbation with which ministers had received them, and then had trodden on them piecemeal till they[265] had left of them the merest shred. he trusted the nation would still resent this audacious mockery of reform—this insult to the most distinguished patriots. this was the way, he contended, that this administration had again and again acted—adding ridicule to oppression. dunning's motion was carried, at a late hour of the night, by two hundred and thirty-three votes against two hundred and fifteen.

"no popery" rioters assaulting lord mansfield. (see p. 266.)

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encouraged by this unwonted success (for the words of the speaker, reminding them of the coming elections, had sunk deep into many hearts). dunning immediately moved a second proposition, namely, that it was competent to that house to examine into and correct any abuses of the civil list, as well as of any other branch of the public revenue. the resolution was carried without a division. immediately on the heels of this, thomas pitt moved that it was the duty of the house to redress without delay the grievances enumerated in the petitions of the people. lord north implored that they would not proceed any further that night; but this resolution was also put and carried, likewise without division. immediately, though it was past one o'clock in the morning, fox moved that all these motions should be reported. lord north, in the utmost consternation, declared this procedure was "violent, arbitrary, and unusual;" but fox pressed his motion, and it was carried, like the rest, without a division, and the report was brought up.

when the committee on the petitions next met, on the 10th of april, dunning, elated with his success, was ready with fresh resolutions. his first was that it was necessary for the purity and independence of parliament that the proper officer should, within ten days of the meeting of parliament in each session, lay before the house an account of moneys paid out of the civil list, or out of any part of the public revenue, to any member of parliament. this, too, was triumphantly carried, only to be followed by another from dunning, that the persons holding the offices of treasurer of the chamber, treasurer of the household, or clerkships of the green cloth, with all their deputies, should be incapable of sitting in the house of commons. here the[266] confounded ministerial members began to recover their spirit under the sweeping sentences passed against them, and dunning only carried this resolution by a majority of two. either they thought they had done enough by their late votes to satisfy their constituents, or ministers had found means to render them obedient by menacing losses from their side, for when dunning proposed a resolution that his majesty should be requested not to dissolve or prorogue parliament until proper measures had been taken to secure to the people the benefits prayed for in their petitions, the motion was rejected by a majority of fifty-one in a very full house. fox and dunning vented their indignation at this result on the ministerial phalanx, whom they declared to be the worst of slaves—slaves sold by themselves into the most contemptible thraldom. but their castigation was in vain; the troop was brought back to its primitive compliance, and defeated every future motion from the opposition.

whilst the opposition was in the dejection of disappointed hopes, suddenly there arose an explosion of popular opinion against the catholics, stimulated and led on by an insane fanatic, which threatened the most direful consequences, and produced sufficiently frightful ones—the so-called gordon riots.

we have already noted the excitement in scotland at the act which was passed in 1778 for the repeal of some of the severest disabilities of the catholics; and this had been greatly increased by the proposal to extend its operation by a second act to scotland. the fanatics of scotland were promptly on the alert, and there were dangerous riots in edinburgh and glasgow. but the same unchristian spirit had now spread to england, and protestant associations, as they were called, linked together by corresponding committees, were established in various towns, and had elected as their president and parliamentary head lord george gordon, a brother of the duke of gordon. during the spring of 1780 he presented several petitions from the people of kent, and he then conceived his grand idea of a petition long enough to reach from the speaker's chair to the centre window at whitehall, out of which charles walked to the scaffold. at a meeting of the protestant association, held towards the end of may in coachmakers' hall, in london, he announced that he would present this petition on the 2nd of june. resolutions were passed that the association and all their friends must go in procession on that day to present the petition. they were to assemble in st. george's fields; every one must have a blue cockade in his hat, to distinguish him from the enemies of the cause; and lord george, to stimulate them, told them that unless the gathering amounted to twenty thousand he would not present the petition. on the 26th of may he stated in the house of commons that he should appear there with the petition at the head of all those who had signed it. accordingly, on 2nd of june vast crowds assembled on the appointed spot, amounting to sixty thousand, or, as many asserted, one hundred thousand men. this formidable throng was arranged in four battalions, one consisting entirely of scotsmen, who received lord george with enthusiastic acclamations, and, after a vapouring speech from him, marched by different ways to westminster.

the lords had been summoned to discuss a motion by the duke of richmond on universal suffrage and annual parliaments, and lord mansfield was to preside in the absence of lord chancellor thurlow. mansfield had excited the particular resentment of these zealots by having acquitted a catholic priest charged with the crime of celebrating mass, and no sooner did he make his appearance than he was assailed with the fiercest yells and execrations. his carriage windows were dashed in, his robe was torn, and he escaped finally into the house with his wig in great disorder, and himself pale and trembling. the archbishop of york was an object of the particular fury of these protestants. they tore off his lawn sleeves and flung them in his face. the bishop of lincoln, a brother of lord thurlow, had his carriage demolished, and was compelled to seek refuge in a neighbouring house, where he is said to have made his way in women's clothes over the roof into another dwelling. the secretaries of state, lords stormont, townshend, and hillsborough, were rudely handled. it was found impossible to proceed with the orders of the day. the peers retired as best they might, one by one, making their way home on foot, or in hackney coaches, in the dark, and no one was left in the house except lord mansfield and a few servants.

the gordon riots.

from the painting by seymour lucas, r.a.

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[267]

the members of the house of commons had to run the gauntlet of these furies much like the lords. they pulled many of them out of their carriages, tore their clothes from their backs, and maltreated them, crying continually, "repeal the bill! no popery! lord george gordon!" the frantic multitude forced their way into the lobby of the house, and attempted to break into the house itself. they thundered at the doors, and there was imminent danger of their forcing their way in. meanwhile, lord george gordon and alderman ball were presenting the petition, and moved that the house should consider it at once in committee. an amendment was moved, that it should be considered on tuesday, the 6th; but there were not means of putting either motion or amendment, for the mob had possession of the lobby, and the serjeant-at-arms declared it was impossible to clear it. whilst this confusion lasted, lord george gordon exerted himself to excite the mob to the highest possible pitch. so long as members were speaking, he continued to go to the top of the gallery stairs, ever and anon, to drop a word to the crowd below likely to exasperate them against the particular member speaking. "burke, the member for bristol, is up now," he cried; and then coming again, "do you know that lord north calls you a mob?" this he repeated till the crowd was worked up to a maddening frenzy, and made so desperate a battering at the door, that it was momentarily expected they would burst it open. several of the members vowed to lord george, that, if his rabid friends did violate the sanctity of the house, they would run him through as the first man stepped over the lintel. these determined proceedings daunted lord george. he retired to the eating-room, and sank quietly into a chair. meanwhile, lord north had privately despatched a messenger for a party of the guards. till these could arrive, some of the more popular members went out, and used their endeavours to appease the rage of the multitude. lord mahon harangued them from the balcony of a coffee-house, and produced considerable effect. about nine o'clock, mr. addington, a middlesex magistrate, came up with a party of horse guards. he spoke kindly to the people, and advised them to disperse quietly, which, the exasperator being absent, many of them did. soon after came a party of foot soldiers, who were drawn up in the court of requests, and they soon cleared the lobby. the members then boldly proceeded with the debate, and, undeterred by the cries still heard from without, carried the amendment for deferring the consideration of the petition by a hundred and ninety-four votes, including the tellers, against only eight. the house then adjourned until the 6th of june.

imagining that the crowd would now disperse, the soldiers were dismissed, and the magistrates returned home. but this was premature. there were shoals of hot-headed fanatics, who were not willing to depart without some damage inflicted on the catholics. one division of these attacked the bavarian chapel in warwick lane, golden square, and another attacked the sardinian chapel in duke street, lincoln's inn fields, destroyed their interiors, and set them on fire. the engines arrived only in time to see a huge bonfire before the sardinian chapel made of its seats, and both chapels too far in flames to be stopped; indeed, the mob would not allow the engines to play. the soldiers, too, arrived when it was too late to do anything, but seized thirteen of the rioters.

the next day all seemed quiet; but at evening, the men having got their saturday's wages and their usual beer, there were some disturbances in moorfields, and the mob abused some of the catholics there. the next day, sunday, the 4th, fresh crowds assembled in the same quarter, and attacked the houses and chapels of the catholics, and this continued for the next three days. troops were sent to quell them; but, having orders not to fire, the mob cared nothing for them. some of the rioters took their way to wapping and east smithfield to destroy the catholic chapels in that neighbourhood; and others burst into and plundered the shops and houses of messrs. rainsforth and maberly, tradesmen, who had been bold enough to give evidence against the rioters taken on friday. another detachment took their way to leicester fields to ransack the house of sir george savile, the author of the bill for the relaxation of the penal code against the catholics. this they stripped and set fire to, and some of the pictures and furniture, as well as some of the effects taken from the catholic chapels and houses in moor fields, were paraded before the house of lord george gordon, in welbeck street, in triumph. the mob had now acquired a more desperate character. the fanatic members of the protestant association had retired in consternation from the work of destruction, seeing fresh elements introduced into it—elements not of simple religious frenzy, but of plunder and revolutionary fury. they had begun the disturbance, and the thieves, pickpockets, burglars, and all the vilest and most demoniacal tribes of the metropolis had most heartily taken it up.

the government was paralysed by the greatness of the evil. while the house of commons had[268] been sitting, the mob had attacked lord north's house, in downing street, close by; but a party of soldiers had succeeded in interposing themselves between the mansion and its assailants. the house of the minister was saved; but the gigantic mass of rioters then rolled towards the city, vowing that they would sack newgate, and release their comrades, who had been sent there on friday. on the 6th they appeared in vast numbers before that prison, and demanded of mr. akerman, the keeper, the delivery of their associates. their cry was still "no popery!" though their object was havoc: they were armed with heavy sledge-hammers, crowbars, and pick-axes; and on the keeper refusing to liberate the prisoners, they commenced a desperate attack on his doors and windows, and, collecting combustibles, flung them into the dwelling. it was speedily in flames, and, whilst it burned, the mob thundered on the iron-studded doors of the prison with their tools. but, as they made no impression, they formed heaps of the keeper's furniture, and made a fire against the doors. the fires spread from the keeper's house to the prison chapel, and thence to some of the doors and passages leading into the wards. the mob raised terrible yells of rage and triumph, which were as wildly echoed by the prisoners within, some of whom were exulting in the expectation of rescue, and others shrieking, afraid of perishing in the conflagration. the crowd, now more furious than ever, from greedily drinking the wine and spirits in the keepers cellar, rushed through the gaps made by the flames, and were masters of the prison. they were led on by ferocious fellows, who were but too familiar with the interior of the place. the different cells were forced open, and the now half-maddened prisoners were either rudely dragged out, or they rushed forth in maniacal delight. three hundred of these criminals, some of them stained with the foulest offences, and four of them under sentence of execution on the following thursday, were let out, to add to the horrors of the lawless tumult. they came out into the surging, roaring multitude to raise their shouts at the sight of the great prison, which had lately been rebuilt at a cost of one hundred and forty thousand pounds, in one vast conflagration. nothing was left of it the next morning but a huge skeleton of blackened and frowning walls.

the same evening the new prison of clerkenwell was broken open, and all the prisoners were let loose. these joined the drinking, rabid mass, and, in their turn, attacked and gutted the houses of two of the most active magistrates—sir john fielding and mr. cox. as they went along, they compelled the inhabitants to illuminate their houses, under menace of burning them down. everywhere they seized on gin, brandy, and beer, and thus, in the highest paroxysm of drunken fury, at midnight they appeared before lord mansfield's house, in bloomsbury square. he was quickly obliged to escape with lady mansfield by the back door, and to take refuge in the house of a friend in lincoln's inn fields. the mob broke in, and, having demolished the doors and windows, proceeded to destroy and fling out into the square the furniture, pictures, and books, of which their fellows outside made several bonfires. then perished one of the finest libraries in england, not only of works of law but of literature, which his lordship, through a long course of years, had been collecting.

the next morning, wednesday, the 7th of june, the consternation was universal. the shops continued closed, and people barricaded their houses as well as they could, many of them chalking "no popery!" on their doors, or hanging blue silk, the protestant association colour, from their windows. dr. johnson, in a walk from fleet street to see the ruins of the old bailey, describes the coolness and composure with which "the protestants," men and boys, were employed in plundering and stripping houses, unmolested by soldiers, constables, or any one. great numbers of the mob were going about, armed with iron bars torn from the railings in front of lord mansfield's, to levy contributions on the householders. some went singly; three mere boys were observed thus engaged in company; and one man, mounted on horseback, refused to receive anything less than gold.

a strong party, not satisfied with having destroyed lord mansfield's town house, set off to burn that at caen wood, near highgate. they were met and turned back by a detachment of cavalry. they were equally disappointed in their intended sack of the bank of england. they found this mine of wealth guarded by infantry, who had here orders to fire, and did it without scruple, killing and wounding a great many. they were more successful against the prisons. they broke open the king's bench, the fleet, the marshalsea, and all the other prisons except the poultry compter, and set at liberty all the prisoners. before the day had dawned, the whole sky was glaring with the light of conflagrations. the number of separate fires burning at the same time was counted up to thirty-six. had the weather been stormy, the whole of london must have been laid in ashes; but, providentially, the weather was perfectly calm. the scene of the greatest catastrophe was at the distillery of a mr. langdale, on holborn bridge. this gentleman was a catholic, and his stores of spirits were a violent temptation. they broke open his premises in the evening, and destroyed everything. they staved in his hogsheads of spirits, and others collected them in pails and in their hats, and drank voraciously. the kennel ran a mingled river of gin, brandy, and pure alcohol, and men, women, and children were seen on their knees sucking up the stream as it flowed! fire was set to the premises, and catching the spirits which flooded the floors, the flames shot up to the sky like a volcano. the unhappy wretches, who had stupefied themselves with the fiery fluid, perished like flies in the raging element. no such scene of horror had been seen in all these spectacles of violence and crime. the loss of mr. langdale alone was estimated at one hundred thousand pounds.

[269]

dr. johnson viewing the scene of some of the "no popery" riots. (see p. 268.)

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[270]

up to this point, the whole government and magistracy seemed as much stupefied as the poor wretches who had perished in the flames of the distillery. the king was the first to awake from this fatal lethargy. he summoned a council on the morning of the 7th of june, at which he presided, and demanded what they had to propose for the suppression of these disorders. at the king's question the cabinet appeared dumb-foundered. it was the general opinion that no officer could proceed to extremities against a mob, however it might be breaking the law, until an hour after the riot act had been read by a magistrate. this was a monstrous perversion of the meaning of that act; but, had even this been zealously followed out, the riots must have been promptly suppressed. luckily, at this moment wedderburn, the attorney-general, answered the king's interrogation boldly, that the riot act bore no such construction as was put upon it. in his opinion, no single hour was required for the dispersion of a mob after the reading of the riot act; and not even the reading of the act at all was necessary for the authorisation of military force where a mob was found actually committing a felony by firing a dwelling-house, and could not be restrained by other means. encouraged by wedderburn's contention, the king declared that that had always been his own opinion, and that now he would act upon it. there should be, at least, one magistrate in the kingdom who would do his duty. the council, gathering courage, then concurred, and a proclamation was issued, warning all householders to keep within doors with their families, the king's officers being now ordered to put down the riots by military execution, without waiting for any further reading of the riot act.

this proclamation was speedily followed by the steady march of soldiers to various quarters. at one moment was heard the loud roar of innumerable voices in the full commission of outrage, and at the next the rattle of musketry and the shrieks of the wounded and dying, followed by a strange silence. the first troops who commenced the bloody duty of repression were the northumberland militia, who had come that day by a forced march of twenty-five miles, and who were led by colonel holroyd against the rioters at langdale's distillery in holborn. a detachment of the guards at the same time drove the mob from the possession of blackfriars bridge. numbers were there killed, or were forced by the soldiers or their own fears over the parapet of the bridge, and perished in the thames. where the mob would not disperse, the officers now firmly gave the word of command, and the soldiers fired in platoons. little resistance was offered; in many quarters the inhabitants, recovering their presence of mind, armed themselves, and came forth in bodies to assist the soldiers. the number of troops now assembled in and around london amounted to twenty-five thousand, and before night the whole city was as quiet—far quieter, indeed—than on ordinary occasions, for a sorrowful silence seemed to pervade it; and besides two hundred men shot in the streets, two hundred and fifty were carried to the hospitals wounded, of whom nearly one hundred soon expired. but these bore no proportion to the numbers who had fallen victims to their own excesses, or who had been buried under the ruins of falling buildings, or consumed in the flames in the stupor of intoxication. the king's decision had saved london.

on tuesday, the 20th of june, the commons entered on the consideration of the great protestant petition, praying for the repeal of sir george savile's act for the relief of catholics. on this occasion burke and lord north went hand in hand. burke drew up five resolutions, which north corrected. these resolutions declared that all attempts to seduce the youth of this kingdom from the established church to[271] popery were criminal in the highest degree, but that all attempts to wrest the act of 1778 beyond its due meaning, and to the unnecessary injury of catholics, were equally reprehensible. in the course of july the rioters were brought to trial. those prisoners confined in the city were tried at the regular old bailey sessions; those on the surrey side of the river by a special commission. the lord chief justice de grey, being in failing health, resigned, and wedderburn took his place as lord chief justice, under the title of lord loughborough. his appointment gave great satisfaction; but this was considerably abated by his speech at the opening of the commission, in which he indulged in very severe strictures on the rioters, who had to appear before him as judge. of the one hundred and thirty-five tried, about one half were convicted, of whom twenty-one were executed, and the rest transported for life. amongst the convicted was edward dennis, the common hangman; but he received a reprieve. the trial of lord george gordon, who was foolishly accused of high treason, was postponed through a technical cause till the following january, when he was ably defended by mr. kenyon and mr. erskine; and the public mind having cooled, he was acquitted. probably the conviction of his insanity tended largely to this result, which became more and more apparent, his last strange freak being that of turning jew.

from this episode of fire and fanaticism we recur to the general theme of the war with spain, france, and america, in which england was every day becoming more deeply engaged. from the moment that spain had joined france in the war against us, other powers, trusting to our embarrassments with our colonies and those great european powers, had found it a lucrative trade to supply, under neutral flags, warlike materials and other articles to the hostile nations; thus, whilst under a nominal alliance, they actually furnished the sinews of war against us. in this particular, holland, the next great commercial country to britain, took the lead. she furnished ammunition and stores to the spaniards, who all this while were engaged in besieging gibraltar. spain had also made a treaty with the barbary states, by which she cut off our supplies from those countries. to relieve gibraltar, admiral sir george rodney, who was now appointed to the command of our navy in the west indies, was ordered to touch there on his way out. on the 8th of january 1780, when he had been a few days out at sea, he came in sight of a spanish fleet, consisting of five armed vessels, convoying fifteen merchantmen, all of which he captured. these vessels were chiefly laden with wheat, flour, and other provisions, badly needed at gibraltar, and which he carried in with him, sending the men-of-war to england. on the 16th he fell in with another fleet off cape st. vincent, of eleven ships of the line, under don juan de langara, who had come out to intercept the provisions which england sent to gibraltar. rodney had a much superior fleet, and the spanish admiral immediately attempted to regain his port. the weather was very tempestuous, and the coast near the shoal of st. lucar very dangerous; he therefore stood in as close as possible to the shore, but rodney boldly thrust his vessels between him and the perilous strand, and commenced a running fight. the engagement began about four o'clock in the evening, and it was, therefore, soon dark; but rodney, despite the imminent danger of darkness, tempest, and a treacherous shore, continued the fight, and the spaniards for a time defended themselves bravely. the battle continued till two o'clock in the morning; one ship, the san domingo, of seventy guns, blew up with six hundred men early in the action; four ships of the line, including the admiral's, of eighty guns, struck, and were carried by rodney safe into port; two seventy-gun ships ran on the shoal and were lost; and of all the spanish fleet only four ships escaped to cadiz.

bearing his prizes with him, rodney proceeded to gibraltar, carrying great exultation to the besieged rock by the news of such victory and the timely supplies. he sent on some ships to carry similar relief to our garrison at port mahon, and, after lying some weeks at gibraltar, he dispatched admiral digby home with a portion of the fleet, and then with the rest made sail for the west indies. digby, on his homeward route, also captured a french ship of the line, and two merchant vessels laden with military stores. this blow to the spanish maritime power was never altogether recovered during the war.

rodney, on reaching the west indies, found, as we shall see, a combined fleet of french under the count de guichen, and of spanish under admiral solano; but he could not bring them to an engagement, and, after a brief brush, they eventually eluded him, solano taking refuge in havana, and de guichen convoying the home-bound merchant ships of france. disappointed in his hopes[272] of a conflict with these foes, rodney sailed for the north american coasts. scarcely had he quitted the european waters, however, when the spaniards took a severe revenge for his victory over them at st. vincent. florida blanca, the minister of spain, learnt, through his spies in england, that the english east and west indian traders were going out under a very foolishly feeble escort—in fact, of only two ships of the line. elated at the news, florida blanca collected every vessel that he could, and dispatched them, under admirals cordova and gaston, to intercept this precious prize. the enterprise was most successful. the spanish fleet lay in wait at the point where the east and west india vessels separate, off the azores, captured sixty sail of merchantmen, and carried them safe into cadiz. the two vessels of war escaped, but in the east indiamen were eighteen hundred soldiers going out to reinforce the troops in the east.

this, though it was a severe blow to our trade, was but a small part of the damage which the active spirit of florida blanca did us. he promoted with all his energies the system of armed neutrality which had long been projected on the continent to cripple our power. england knew that if she permitted this process, there was little chance of her bringing any of her antagonists to terms; she therefore insisted rigidly on the right of search, and on the seizure of all such contraband articles under whatever flag they were conveyed. not only did holland supply france and spain in europe, but she allowed the american privateers to carry their english prizes into their west indian ports for sale. all this time holland was not only bound by the most immense obligations to great britain for the millions of money and the tens of thousands of men whom we had sacrificed for the security of her independence against france, but she was also bound by treaty to furnish us certain aids when we were attacked by france. from the year 1778 sir joseph yorke, our ambassador at the hague, had made continual remonstrances against this clandestine trade with our enemies; and france, on the other hand, had, by alternate menaces and persuasions, exerted herself to induce the dutch to set england at defiance. in this she succeeded to a great extent. much correspondence ensued, the dutch maintaining a specious neutrality, but still continuing to carry timber and naval stores to france. sir joseph yorke was therefore instructed to demand from the states the succours stipulated by treaties, and which might have been demanded the moment that france declared war against england. on the 26th of november, 1779, he received not only a positive refusal, but a fresh complaint of the interruption of their trade by english men-of-war.

whilst affairs with holland were in this position, count florida blanca, the spanish minister, had adopted the system of seizing all neutral vessels, of whatever nation, that were found carrying british goods, and conveying them into spanish ports as lawful prizes. this, as he calculated, raised the resentment of all the neutral powers—russia, sweden, denmark, prussia, holland, and the trading states of italy—who denounced these outrages on their flag. but florida blanca replied, that so long as england was suffered to pursue this system, spain must continue to make reprisals; that it was, however, in the power of the neutral nations to combine and defend their flags, by compelling england to desist. the result was as he had hoped. catherine of russia, who had hitherto considered herself an ally of england—who had, at one time, contemplated furnishing soldiers to assist in reducing the american rebels, and who protested against the monstrosity of france encouraging the colonies of england to throw off their allegiance—was suddenly induced to change her tone. on the 26th of february she issued her famous proclamation, "that free ships should make free goods." this meant that all neutral nations should continue to carry all kinds of articles to powers at war with one another, without search or question, except such goods as were expressly specified in treaties. sweden, denmark, prussia, france, and spain, all readily entered into this league, which assumed the name of the "armed neutrality," the object of which, though ostensibly to control all belligerent powers, was really to suppress the naval power of england. holland eulogised this league, but did not yet venture to join it; but prohibited the exportation of stores to our garrison in gibraltar, whilst her ships were busy carrying supplies to the spanish besiegers. sir joseph yorke, therefore, on the 21st of march, 1780, informed the states that, unless the stipulated help was furnished within three weeks, england would suspend, pro tempore, the regulations in favour of the dutch commerce. the states still refused to furnish the succours, and at the specified time the privileges in question were suspended, though count welderen still continued in london, and sir joseph yorke at the hague. it was evident that holland could not[273] long continue in this position, and frederick of prussia was soliciting catherine of russia to enter into an engagement to protect the dutch commerce in every quarter of the globe. if frederick could have prevailed, he would have stirred up a universal crusade against england; but catherine was not rash enough for this quixotism.

old newgate.

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we return now to the american campaign. sir henry clinton, at the close of the year 1779, proceeded to carry into effect his plan of removing the war to the southern states. the climate there favoured the project of a winter campaign, and, on the day after christmas day, sir henry embarked five thousand men on board the fleet of admiral arbuthnot. but the weather at sea at this season proved very tempestuous, and his ships were driven about for seven weeks. many of his transports were lost, some of them were taken by the enemy; he lost nearly all the horses of the cavalry and artillery, and one vessel carrying the heavy ordnance foundered at sea. it was the 11th of february, 1780, when he landed on st. john's island, about thirty miles from charleston. he then planned the investment of charleston with admiral arbuthnot; but he was not on good terms with that officer, and this threw great impediments in the way of prompt action. it was the 1st of april before they could break ground before the city. once begun, however, the siege was prosecuted with vigour. lord cornwallis was sent to scour the country, and so completely did he effect this, that lincoln was compelled to offer terms of surrender. these were considered too favourable to the americans, and the siege continued till the 11th of may, when the english were doing such damage to the town, and the inhabitants suffering so much, that they threatened to throw open the gates if lincoln did not surrender. in this dilemma, lincoln offered to accept the terms proposed by clinton before, and the british general assented to his proposal. on the 12th of may the americans grounded their arms. the news of this blow, which laid the whole south open to the english, carried consternation throughout the states; and, arriving in england at the close of the gordon riots, seemed to restore the spirits of the british.

the town of charleston being now in his[274] possession, sir henry clinton proceeded to reduce the whole province to obedience. he issued proclamations, calling on the well-affected young men to form themselves into military bodies, and to act in support of the king's troops, pledging himself that they should never be called upon to march beyond the frontiers of north carolina on the one side, or those of georgia on the other; and he assured the inhabitants at large of the utmost protection of person and property, so long as they continued peaceable and loyal subjects of the crown. in the meantime, lord cornwallis continued to enforce these proposals by the movements of his troops. could sir henry clinton have remained in this quarter, he would without doubt have steadily carried his victorious arms northward till he had everywhere restored the rule of england. but he was completely crippled by the wretched management of the miserable government at home, who seemed to expect to reconquer america without an army. at this crisis he received news that the americans were mustering in strong force on the hudson, and that a french fleet was daily expected on the coast of new england to co-operate with them. he was now compelled to embark for new york, leaving lord cornwallis to maintain the ground obtained in south carolina as well as he could with a body of four thousand men. his second in command was lord rawdon, a young officer who had distinguished himself greatly at the battle of bunker's hill, and who, like cornwallis, his chief, was destined, in after years, to occupy the distinguished post of governor-general of india, with the successive titles of earl moira and marquis of hastings. the chief business of cornwallis was to maintain the status gained in south carolina, but he was at liberty to make a move into north carolina if he thought it promising.

congress, alarmed at the progress of the english in south carolina, had made extraordinary efforts to reinforce the republican party in north carolina. on the fall of charleston, general gates, who had acquired a high but spurious reputation upon the surrender of burgoyne, was sent to take the chief command. in marching towards south carolina, the american army suffered severely from the tropical heat of the climate and the scarcity of food. gates led them through a country of alternating swamps and sandy deserts, called by the americans pine-barrens. the troops lived chiefly on the lean cattle which they found scattered through the woods, on green indian corn, and peaches, which were plentiful, being indigenous to the state of louisiana. lord rawdon, who was lying at camden, where he had halted his men to protect them from the heat, was joined there by lord cornwallis early in august. the entire force when united did not, however, exceed two thousand men, whilst the troops of gates amounted to six thousand. the british general, notwithstanding, advanced briskly to meet the americans, and on the evening of the 16th of august the two armies met rather unexpectedly, and some skirmishing took place, after which they halted in position till near daybreak.

when day dawned, cornwallis saw that the ground he occupied was so favourable that it rendered his inferiority of numbers of little consequence. he therefore drew out his forces for immediate action. swamps to the right and left narrowed the ground by which the americans could approach him, and forming his troops into two lines, commanded by lord rawdon and general webster, he attacked the americans under gates and quickly put them to the rout. the virginian militia ran most nimbly, and sought refuge in the woods. gates himself galloped away believing all was lost, and never halted till he reached charlotte, about eighty miles off. the only men who fought well were two brigades of regulars under the command of the german, von kalb, who kept his ground against the troops of lord rawdon for three-quarters of an hour, sustaining repeated charges of the bayonet unmoved; but von kalb fell mortally wounded, and the last of the americans then gave way and fled for their lives in all directions.

the american congress, which had imagined gates a greater officer even than washington, because he had captured burgoyne through the ability of arnold, though washington—from envy, as they supposed—had always held a more correct opinion, now saw their error. no sooner was this victory at camden achieved, than cornwallis dispatched tarleton after general sumter, who was marching on the other side of the wateree on his way into south carolina. tarleton started after him with a couple of hundred of cavalry, and rode so sharply that he had left half his little force behind him, when he came up with him near catawba ford, and fell upon his far superior force without a moment's hesitation, killing and wounding one hundred, and taking captive upwards of two hundred, with all sumter's baggage, artillery, and one thousand stand of arms.

cornwallis now announced to the royalists of[275] north carolina that he would soon send a force for their defence, and advanced to charlotte. he next took measures for punishing those who had pretended to re-accept the allegiance of england only to relapse into a double treachery. he declared that all such being captured should be treated as traitors, and hanged. these severe measures were carried into execution on some of the prisoners taken at camden and augusta, and others were shipped off to st. augustine. this system was as impolitic as it was cruel, for the americans were certain to adopt it in retaliation, as they did, with a frightful ferocity, when the royalists were overthrown in south carolina, and avowedly on this ground. lord rawdon, adopting the example, wrote to his officers that he would give ten guineas for the head of any deserter from the volunteers of ireland, and five only if brought in alive.

scarcely had lord cornwallis commenced his march into the interior of north carolina, and scarcely had he dispatched major ferguson with a corps of american royalists, to advance through the country towards the frontiers of virginia, when this corps received another proof of the wisdom of keeping out of the woods and hills. major ferguson was attacked near the pass of king's mountain by swarms of riflemen, many of them mounted, from virginia, kentucky, and the alleghanies who shot down and exterminated his followers almost to a man, the major falling amongst the rest. the victors gave a prompt proof of their apt adoption of lord cornwallis's teaching, by hanging ten of the prisoners. lord cornwallis was harassed by similar hordes of flying and creeping skirmishers. hearing the news of the slaughter of ferguson's force, he returned to charlotte, retracing his march through most rainy weather, terrible roads, and almost totally destitute of provisions. cornwallis fell ill on the road, and lord rawdon had to assume the command. it was not till the 29th of october that the army resumed its original position near camden; and general leslie, who had been also dispatched to co-operate with cornwallis in virginia, was recalled, but was obliged to return by sea.

the news of the approach of the french succours was brought by lafayette, who, much to the joy of washington, and of america generally, again reached the states, landing at boston in april. he announced that the fleet, commanded by the chevalier de ternay, consisted of seven sail of the line, with numerous smaller vessels, and brought over six thousand troops, under the comte de rochambeau. the french squadron reached rhode island on the 13th of july. washington thereupon declared himself ready for an attack on new york; but rochambeau replied that it would be better to wait for the expected and much larger fleet of de guichen. before de guichen appeared, the english admiral, graves, arrived, with six ships of war, thus increasing the english superiority at sea, and de ternay found himself blockaded in the harbour of newport, and rochambeau was glad to entrench himself on rhode island, and abandon all idea of attacking new york. sir henry clinton, on his part, planned an attack on rochambeau with the army, while the french fleet blockaded in newport harbour should be attacked by admiral arbuthnot. but clinton and arbuthnot were at variance, and the admiral did not promptly and cordially second the views of clinton. he went slowly round long island, to place himself in conjunction with the general; whilst clinton embarked eight thousand troops, and approached the position of rochambeau. but arbuthnot strongly contended against the attempt, declaring rochambeau too formidably fortified, and washington, at the same time, advancing from his position with a large force, suddenly passed the north river and approached king's bridge, as if meditating an attack on new york. these circumstances induced clinton reluctantly to return to new york. washington retreated to his old ground at morristown, and arbuthnot remained blockading de ternay before newport. neither party, therefore, could do more than be still for the remainder of the season. clinton was completely crippled for any decisive action by the miserable modicum of troops which the english government had furnished him, and the enemy now knew that the fleet of de guichen was not likely to arrive this season.

this fleet had enough to do to cope with rodney in the west indian waters. rodney, as we have hinted, with twenty sail of the line, came up with de guichen's fleet of twenty-three sail of the line, besides smaller vessels, on the evening of the 16th of april, off st. lucia. he came into action with it on the 17th, and succeeded in breaking its line, and might have obtained a most complete victory, but that several of his captains behaved very badly, paying no attention to his signals. the sandwich, the admiral's ship, was much damaged in the action, and the french sailed away. rodney wrote most indignantly home[276] concerning the conduct of the captains, and one of them was tried and broken, and some of the others were censured; but they were protected by the spirit of faction, and escaped their due punishment. rodney, finding he could not bring the french again to engage, put into st. lucia to refit, and land his wounded men, of whom he had three hundred and fifty; besides one hundred and twenty killed. de guichen had suffered far more severely. rodney again got sight of the french fleet on the 10th of may, between st. lucia and martinique; but they avoided him, and made their escape into the harbour of fort royal. hearing of the approach of a spanish fleet of twelve sail of the line, and a great number of lesser vessels and transports, bringing from ten thousand to twelve thousand men, rodney went in quest of it, to prevent its junction with the french; but solano, the spanish admiral, took care not to go near rodney, but, reaching guadeloupe, sent word of his arrival there to de guichen, who managed to sail thither and join him. this now most overwhelming united fleet of france and spain left rodney no alternative but to avoid an engagement on his part. he felt that not only our west india islands, but the coasts of north america, were at its mercy; but it turned out otherwise.

the spaniards had so crowded their ships with soldiers, and made such wretched provision for their accommodation, that the most destructive and contagious fever was raging amongst them. this was quickly communicated to the french vessels; the mortality was more than that of a great battle, and the combined fleet hastened to martinique, where they landed their soldiers and part of their seamen to recruit. they remained at fort royal till the 5th of july, only to disagree and quarrel more and more. proceeding thence to st. domingo, they parted, de guichen returning to europe, as convoy of the french homebound merchantmen; and solano sailing to havana, to co-operate with his countrymen in their designs on florida.

thus this mighty armada—of which such high things were expected—was dispersed; rodney, sending part of his fleet to jamaica, proceeded to join arbuthnot at new york, with eleven ships of the line and four frigates. the news of his approach reached the french and americans there, at the same time as that of the return of de guichen to europe, and spread the greatest consternation. to consider what was best to do in the circumstances, a meeting was proposed at hartford, in connecticut, between washington and rochambeau, which took place on the 21st of september. at this moment a discovery took place which had a startling effect on the americans, and was calculated to inspire the most gloomy views of their condition. general arnold, who had fought his way up from the humble station of a horse-dealer to that which he now held, had, on all occasions, shown himself an officer of the most daring and enterprising character. having been appointed military governor of philadelphia, after its evacuation by general clinton in 1778, as a post where he might recover from the severe wounds which he had received in the recent campaign, he began a style of living much too magnificent for his finances, for, with all his abilities, arnold was a vain and extravagant man. he married a beautiful young lady of that city of royalist origin. rumours to his disadvantage were soon afloat, originating in this cause, for whatever he did was regarded by the staunch whigs with an unfavourable eye. congress was the more ready to listen to charges against him, because, involved himself in debts incurred by his extravagance, he pressed them for large claims upon them, which they had no means to satisfy. commissioners were selected by them to examine his claims, and these men, appointed for their hard, mean natures, reduced his demands extremely. arnold uttered his indignation at such treatment in no measured terms, and the consequence was that he was arrested, tried by a court-martial, on various charges of peculation in his different commands, and for extortion on the citizens of philadelphia. some of these were declared groundless, but others were pronounced to be proved, and arnold was condemned to be reprimanded by the commander-in-chief. this put the climax to his wrath. washington, who had, in arnold's opinion, been as unjustly exalted and favoured for his defeats and delays, as he himself had been envied and repressed for his brilliant exploits, was of all men the one from whom he could not receive with patience a formal condemnation. this sentence was carried into effect in january, 1779, and arnold, stung to the quick, was prepared to perpetrate some desperate design. the opportunity came when he was placed in command of west point, on the hudson, which was the key to all intercourse between the northern and southern states.

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arrest of major andré. (see p. 278.)

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at the very time he received this appointment he was actually in correspondence with colonel robinson, an officer of general clinton's staff, declaring that he was become convinced of the more righteous cause of the mother country, and that he was prepared to testify this by some signal service to his king. it was at the beginning of august of the present year when arnold assumed his command at west point; and clinton lost no time in opening a direct correspondence with him, through which such singular advantages were offered. sir henry clinton employed as his agent in this correspondence a young officer of high promise in his profession and of considerable literary talents, major john andré, adjutant-general and aide-de-camp to sir henry. as clinton was naturally anxious to bring this hazardous correspondence to a close, he pressed arnold to come to a speedy decision, offering him rank in the army and a high reward in return for the promised services—namely, the surrender of west point, with all its dependent forts and stores, including, as a matter of course, the command of the hudson, and the terror and distrust which this act would spread through the american army. the absence of washington at the meeting with rochambeau at hartford was seized on as a proper opportunity for a personal and final conference on the subject. major andré was selected by general clinton to meet arnold on neutral ground. the place selected was on the western bank of the hudson, and clinton strongly enjoined him to enter on no account within the american lines, to assume no disguise, nor to be the bearer of any written documents. day dawned before the whole preliminaries were settled, though the chief point was determined—namely, that west point should be surrendered to the english on the following monday. andré was prevailed on to remain with arnold the greater part of the day; and then, on going down to the shore, he found that the boatman who had brought him out refused to carry him back. when andré returned to arnold at smith's house, he gave him a pass, and advised him to travel by land to king's ferry, and there to cross. he insisted that for this purpose he must assume a disguise, and travel under his assumed name of john anderson. so little was andré apprehensive of danger, that he not only disobeyed the injunction of his[278] commander-in-chief in this particular, but in the far more important one of carrying written papers, which he concealed in his boot.

he was proceeding in all apparent safety when, approaching the village of tarrytown, three militiamen suddenly sprang forward, and, seizing his bridle, demanded who he was. andré, being on neutral ground, exceeded his former incaution, and instead of ascertaining whether the men were americans, in which case arnold's pass was his security, he asked the men who they were, and being answered "from below," which was the pass for new york, replied, "and so am i." by this, discovering that he was a british officer, the men began to search him, and soon made prize of his fatal papers. warned in time, arnold escaped on board a british man-of-war. but very different was the fate of major andré. general clinton, the moment he was aware of his arrest, sent a letter to washington, stating that andré had gone on shore under a flag of truce, and, at the time of his arrest, was travelling under a pass from arnold, the commander of the district. clinton therefore requested washington to liberate andré immediately. to this letter washington did not reply till after a lapse of four days, and after the board of officers appointed for the purpose had declared andré a spy. he even rejected the last prayer of the gallant soldier that he might be spared the gibbet, and had him hanged.

during this year the americans continued to hope for relief to themselves from the progress of the armed neutrality, but derived little good from it, though, through their exertions, they beheld holland added to the open enemies of england. the dutch government, flattering themselves that, with nearly all the world against her, england must succumb, had long been secretly in negotiation with the insurgent subjects of england, and their treachery was now suddenly, by a singular circumstance, brought to light. captain keppel, cruising in the vestal frigate off the banks of newfoundland, in the month of september, captured one of the american packets. on the approach of the british boats to the packet, it was observed that something was hastily flung overboard. a sailor leaped from one of the boats into the sea, and succeeded in securing this something before it had sunk beyond reach. it turned out to be a box, which had been weighted with lead, but not sufficiently to render it so rapid in its descent as to prevent its seizure by the british tar. on being opened, it revealed a mass of papers belonging to an american emissary to the court of holland, and opened up a long course of negotiations, and an eventual treaty of peace and commerce between holland and our american colonies. the bearer of these papers was discovered on board the packet, in the person of henry laurens, late president of the american congress. these most important papers, together with their bearer, were sent with all speed to england. copies were forwarded to sir joseph yorke, our ambassador at the hague, who was instructed to demand from the states general the disavowal of the negotiations. the states general, confounded by the discovery of their clandestine negotiations, remained silent for a week, and then only replied by advancing complaints of violence committed by the british navy on their traders, and of its having insulted the dutch flag by seizing some american privateers in the port of the island of st. martin, under the very guns of the fort. sir joseph did not allow himself to be diverted from his demand, but again, on the 12th of december, a month after the presentation of his memorial, demanded an answer. no answer was returned. england was thus compelled to declare war against holland on the 20th of december, sir joseph yorke being recalled by the king, and count welderen receiving his passports in london.

the enemy, meanwhile, were on the alert, trying, by their fleets and armies, to assail us in almost every quarter. in the very opening days of the year—at the very commencement of january, 1781—the french made an attack on the island of jersey. they had sent across the channel a fleet carrying nearly two thousand men; but their ships met the common fortune that has ever attended invaders of britain: they were scattered by tempests, many of them dashed on the rocks of those iron-bound shores, and some driven back to port. they managed, however, to land eight hundred men by night, and surprised the town of st. helier's, taking prisoner its lieutenant-governor, major corbet, who thereupon thinking all lost, agreed to capitulate. but the next officer in command, major pierson, a young man of only twenty-five, refused to comply with so pusillanimous an order. he rallied the troops and encouraged the inhabitants, who fired on the french from their windows. the invaders, surrounded in the market-place, were compelled to surrender, after their commander, the baron de rullecourt, and many of his soldiers, were killed.[279] the gallant young pierson was himself killed by nearly the last shot.

the garrison of gibraltar was all this time hard pressed by the spaniards. florida blanca had made a convention with the emperor of morocco to refuse the english any supplies; those thrown in by rodney the year before were nearly exhausted, and they were reduced to grave straits. admiral darby was commissioned to convoy one hundred vessels laden with provisions, and to force a way for them into the garrison. darby not only readily executed his commission, to the great joy of the poor soldiers, but he blockaded the huge spanish fleet under admiral cordova, in the harbour of cadiz, whilst the stores were landing.

in america, all at the opening of the campaign seemed to favour the english cause. the army of washington, still suffering the utmost extremities of cold and starvation, began in earnest to mutiny. a pennsylvanian division of one thousand three hundred men marched out of their camp at morristown, and proceeded to princeton, carrying with them six field-pieces and their stores, and their demands were granted by congress. the success of this revolt encouraged others to repeat the man?uvre. on the night of the 20th of january a part of the jersey brigade, stationed at pompton, marched to chatham, and made precisely the same demands. but now seeing that, if this were suffered, the whole army would quickly go to pieces, washington sent general howe after them, with orders to surround them, and shoot them down, if they did not surrender; and if they did surrender, immediately to seize the most active ringleaders, and execute them. howe readily accomplished his mission; he reduced the mutinous, and shot their leaders.

in such very discouraging circumstances the american campaign began. whilst insurrection was in their camp, sir henry clinton dispatched general arnold to make a descent upon the coast of virginia. that general had been dispatched into that quarter, at the close of the year, with one thousand six hundred men, in ships so bad, that they were obliged to fling overboard some of their horses. arnold, however, first sailed up the river james, and landed at westover, only twenty-five miles from richmond, the capital of virginia. jefferson, who was governor of virginia, was seized with great alarm; for, though the militia of the state were nominally fifty thousand, he could muster only a few hundreds. he therefore hastily collected what property he could, and fled up the country, dreading to fall into the hands of a man so embittered against the americans as arnold was, who was himself well aware that they had determined to hang him without mercy if they caught him. arnold did not allow much time to elapse without action. the next day he was in richmond, and sent word to jefferson that, provided british vessels might come up the river to take away the tobacco, he would spare the town. jefferson rejected the proposal, and arnold burnt all the tobacco stores and the public buildings, both there and at westham. after committing other ravages, he returned to portsmouth, on elizabeth river, where he entrenched himself. on the 26th of march, general phillips, having assumed the command, in company with arnold ascended james river with two thousand five hundred men, took and destroyed much property in williamsburg and york town, ravaged the country around, and then sailed to the mouth of the appomattox, and burnt all the shipping and tobacco in petersburg. after other depredations, and forcing the americans to destroy their own flotilla between warwick and richmond, phillips and arnold descended the james river to manchester, and proposed to cross over to richmond. but lafayette having just reached that place before them with upwards of two thousand men, they re-embarked, and, after destroying much other property, especially shipping and stores, at warwick and other places, they fell down to hog island, where they awaited further orders.

an active warfare had been going on at the same time in north carolina. lord cornwallis had, however, no longer to compete with the inefficient gates, but with general greene, a much more vigorous man. on the 17th of january, colonel tarleton, who had been dispatched with a thousand men, horse and foot, to attack a body of americans under general morgan, came up with them at a place called cowpens. tarleton's troops were worn out by their long march, but that impetuous officer gave them no time to rest themselves, but fell on the enemy with loud shouts. the militia fled at once, and the advance of the english endangered the flanks of the continentals, and it became necessary to make a retrograde movement. this tarleton mistook for a retreat, so accustomed was he to carry all before him, and his men were rushing on without regard to order, when the americans suddenly faced about, poured a deadly fire into the british at thirty yards' distance, and then,[280] briskly charging, broke their already disorderly line. being closely pursued, they lost, in killed and wounded, upwards of five hundred men.

on hearing of the defeat of tarleton, cornwallis advanced rapidly, in order, if possible, to intercept morgan and his english prisoners at the fords of catawba. a rise of the water from the rains prevented his crossing that river so soon as he expected, and morgan joined greene, both generals, however, retreating behind the yadkin. the swollen state of the river and the want of boats also detained lord cornwallis at the yadkin, but he finally succeeded in crossing and throwing himself between greene and the frontiers of virginia, from which greene looked for his supplies and reinforcements. greene continued to retreat till he had also placed the dan between himself and cornwallis; but his militia had deserted so rapidly on his flight, that, on reaching the dan, he had not more than eighty of that body with him. greene now had the way open to him for retreat into virginia, and, cornwallis giving up the chase, marched leisurely to hillsborough, in north carolina, where he invited the royalists to join his standard. such was his success—numbers of royalists flocking in to serve with tarleton's legion—that greene, alarmed at the consequences of this movement, turned back for the purpose of cutting off all possible reinforcements of this kind, yet avoiding a general engagement. once more cornwallis advanced to chastise greene, and once more greene beat a retreat. this man?uvring continued till the 15th of march, when greene having been joined by fresh troops, thought himself strong enough to encounter the english general. he drew up his army on very strong ground near guildford court house, where cornwallis boldly attacked him, and, after a stout battle, completely routed him.

but the british were in no condition to take advantage of american exhaustion. at a time when the ministry at home had obtained the most magnificent grants from parliament—grants for ninety thousand seamen, thirty thousand soldiers, and twenty-five millions of pounds to pay for them—there was scarcely a fleet on the american coasts, and nothing which could be called an army. had cornwallis been in possession of an adequate force, he would speedily have cleared all the southern states. wherever he came, even with his handful of men, he drove the americans before him. he now took up his headquarters at cross creek, where he sought to rest his troops and recover his sick and wounded. he hoped there to establish a communication with major craig, who had been successfully dispatched to take possession of wilmington, at the mouth of cape fear river, but this was not very practicable, and as the country about cross creek was destitute of the necessary supplies, cornwallis himself descended to wilmington, which he reached on the 7th of april. colonel webster and others of his wounded officers died on the march. greene, with his fragment of an army, as badly provisioned as that of cornwallis, followed them at a safe distance.

at wilmington lord cornwallis remained about three weeks, uncertain as to his plan of operations. his forces amounted to only about one thousand five hundred men; he therefore determined, at length, to march into virginia, and join the expedition there. he made his march without encountering any opposition, reaching presburg on the 20th of may. thereupon lord cornwallis found himself at the head of a united force of seven thousand men. sir henry clinton's effective troops at new york amounted only to ten thousand nine hundred and thirty-one men, and the little detachment under lord rawdon only to nine hundred.

the very day that lord cornwallis had marched from wilmington, lord rawdon was bravely fighting with greene at hobkirk's hill, in south carolina. greene had not ventured to attack lord cornwallis; but he thought he might, by diverting his course into south carolina, induce him to follow, and thus leave exposed all north carolina to wayne and lafayette, as well as all his important posts in the upper part of north carolina. greene failed to draw after him cornwallis, but he sat down at hobkirk's hill, about two miles from the outposts of lord rawdon's camp at camden. lord rawdon, hearing that greene was waiting to be reinforced by troops under lieutenant-colonel lee, did not give him time for that. he marched out of camden, at nine o'clock in the morning, on the 25th of april, and quietly making a circuit through some woods, he came upon greene's flank, and drove in his pickets before he was perceived. startled from his repose, greene sought to return the surprise by sending colonel washington, a nephew of the american commander-in-chief, with a body of cavalry, to fall on rawdon's rear, as he was passing up the hill. but rawdon was aware of this man?uvre, and prevented it, still pressing up hobkirk's hill, in the face of the artillery, charged with grape-shot. greene's militia fled[281] with all speed, and rawdon stood triumphant on the summit of the hill, in the centre of greene's camp. but the success was not followed up, owing to the insufficiency of the english troops, and greene was able, without risking another engagement, to compel rawdon to retire to charleston. the american general encamped on the santee hills until september, when he descended on colonel stewart, who had succeeded rawdon. after a severe struggle at eutaw springs on the 8th of september, stewart retired to charleston neck, and all georgia and south carolina were lost to the english, with the exception of charleston and savannah. meanwhile, lord cornwallis only allowed himself three days' rest at presburg; he marched thence, on the 24th of may, in quest of lafayette, who was encamped on the james river. cornwallis crossed that river at westover, about thirty miles below lafayette's camp, and that nimble officer retreated in all haste to join general wayne, who was marching through maryland with a small force of eight hundred pennsylvanians. lafayette and wayne retreated up the james river, and cornwallis pursued his march to portsmouth. there he received an order from sir henry clinton, desiring him to look out for a position where he could fortify himself, and at the same time protect such shipping as might be sent to the chesapeake to prevent the entrance of the french. cornwallis fixed on york town, on york river, and there, and at gloucester, in its vicinity, he was settled with his troops by the 22nd of august. sir henry clinton wrote, intimating that he should probably send more troops to the chesapeake, as there was a probability that washington and rochambeau, giving up the attack of new york, would make a united descent on york town. wayne and lafayette were already continually increasing their forces above york town; but any such reinforcements by sir henry were prevented by the entrance of the comte de grasse, with twenty-eight sail of the line and several frigates, into the chesapeake, having on board three thousand two hundred troops, which he had brought from the west indies. these troops he landed, and sent, under the marquis de st simon, to join lafayette, much to his delight.

surrender of lord cornwallis, york town. (see p. 283.)

[see larger version]

[282]

rodney, who was still commanding in the west indies, had been on the look-out for de grasse, but, missing him, he had dispatched sir samuel hood after him, supposing that he had made for new york. hood had with him fourteen ships of the line, and, arriving at sandy hook on the 28th of august, he found that de grasse had then sailed for the chesapeake. admiral arbuthnot had been replaced by admiral graves, but graves had only seven ships of the line, and of these only five fit for action. taking the chief command, with these twenty-one ships graves set sail for the chesapeake, with hood as second in command. there, on the 5th of september, he discerned the fleet of de grasse at anchor, just within the capes of virginia, and blocking up york river with his frigates. graves had his nineteen ships, de grasse twenty-eight, and nelson could have desired nothing better than such a sight in the narrow waters of the chesapeake: not a ship would have escaped him; but graves was no nelson, and allowed de grasse to cut his cables and run out to sea. there, indeed, graves attacked him, but under infinitely greater disadvantages, at four o'clock in the afternoon. the night parted them, and de grasse returned to his old anchorage in the chesapeake, and graves sailed away again for new york.

meanwhile, washington and rochambeau were mustering for the march to the chesapeake. on the 14th of september washington reached the headquarters of lafayette, and took the supreme command, rochambeau being second, and the especial head of the french. the next day washington and rochambeau held a conference with the comte de grasse. de grasse told them that what they did they must do quickly, for that he could not remain on that station longer than the 1st of november; and it was resolved to act accordingly.

sir henry clinton had for some time been aware of the real destination of the united forces of washington and rochambeau. he must have seen that there was a determined resolve to crush, by the most powerful combination of american and french forces, the army in the south, and every exertion should have been made by him, with fleet and army, to release cornwallis from his peril. but, instead of sending direct reinforcements to cornwallis, and ordering the fleet to engage the enemy's attention, and, if possible, defeat de grasse in the chesapeake, he concocted a diversion in connecticut with arnold, which he fondly hoped would recall washington. sir henry clinton contemplated further expeditions—first against the rhode island fleet, and next against philadelphia; but these never came off, and matters were now every day assuming such an aspect as should have stimulated him to some direct assistance to cornwallis.

on the 28th of september the combined army of french and americans came in sight of york town, and encamped about two miles from the outworks. the next morning they extended themselves towards the left of cornwallis, but cautiously; and the english pickets slowly retired within the outer lines at their approach. that evening cornwallis received a despatch from sir henry clinton, dated september 24th, which gave the cheering expectation that he was duly sensible of the imminence of the danger, and of his responsibility. he said:—"at a meeting of the general and flag officers held this day, it is determined that above five thousand men, rank and file, shall be embarked on board the king's ships, and the joint exertions of the navy and army made in a few days to relieve you, and afterwards to co-operate with you. the fleet consists of twenty-three sail of the line, three of which are three-deckers. there is every reason to hope that we start on the 5th of october." on this promising intimation of speedy aid, cornwallis immediately drew in his small force from the extended outworks, and concentrated them within the entrenchments round the town. undoubtedly it was a measure calculated to save much life, which must have been lost in defending outworks too widely extended for the enclosed force; but it encouraged the americans, who did not expect to gain them thus easily. two thousand men took up their ground before gloucester. round york town itself washington, rochambeau, lafayette, and st. simon concentrated their forces. on the night of the 1st of october, the french on the right and the americans on the left drew nearer, and commenced breaking ground. six days were then spent in bringing from the ships fifty pieces of cannon, some of them very heavy, ammunition, and other military stores; in fact, as much preparation was made for carrying this single post as if it had been a regular and first-rate fortress. on the night of the 6th of october the french and americans began casting up their first parallel within six hundred yards of cornwallis's lines. by the 9th of october their trenches and batteries were completed, and that afternoon they opened a tremendous fire on the town. cornwallis replied to them with vigour,[283] but he found many of his guns on the left silenced, and his works greatly damaged. on the night of the 11th the enemy began their second parallel within three hundred yards of the lines. in its progress, for three days, cornwallis committed much havoc amongst them by opening fresh embrasures for guns, and pouring an incessant shower upon them of balls and shells. two redoubts on the left flank of the british more particularly annoyed them, and washington determined to carry these by storm. of course they were carried, and their guns then turned on york town.

the situation of lord cornwallis was now growing desperate. an attempt to destroy the enemy's batteries failed on the 16th. "at this time," he says, "we knew that there was no part of the whole front attacked in which we could show a single gun, and our shells were nearly exhausted. i had therefore only to choose between preparing to surrender the next day, or endeavouring to get off with the greater part of the troops; and i determined to attempt the latter." having conceived this desperate scheme of endeavouring to escape, cornwallis that night wrote to sir henry clinton, in cypher, telling him not to risk fleet or army in the attempt to rescue them. he was sure that something had prevented the fleet from sailing at the time proposed, and he sought to steal away with the bulk of his army, leaving a small number to capitulate for the town. the idea, with such troops of well-mounted cavalry at his heels, was a wild one, and there were other obstacles in the way. he must first ferry his troops across the river to gloucester, and, as he had not vessels enough to carry all at once, he had sent over part of them, when a violent storm arose, and prevented the return of the boats. this was decisive. with his forces thus divided, cornwallis had scarcely soldiers enough left to man the guns in york town, and there was nothing for it but to surrender.

accordingly, on the morning of the 17th, he sent a flag of truce to washington, proposing a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours, in order that commissioners might meet and settle the terms of surrender. they were soon arranged, and articles of surrender were signed by the respective generals on the morning of the 19th of october.

at two o'clock the york town troops marched out with their drums beating, their muskets shouldered, and their colours cased, and piled their arms. the number of those who remained effective now amounted only to four thousand; the rest, making up the total number to about six thousand, were lying sick or wounded. general lincoln, who had been so lately a prisoner of the english, was appointed to receive them, and the british prisoners had to march through two lines of the allied army, upwards of a mile in length, the americans on the right, and the french on the left. the different feelings with which the english regarded the french and americans was remarked. the english officers, as they passed along the enemy's lines, courteously saluted every french officer—a compliment which they withheld from every american one, even the highest. the surrender of cornwallis's army was the determining point of the war. the news of this decisive event reached london on the 25th of november. lord north walked about the room, exclaiming, "oh, god! it is all over!" the king received the communication with more firmness. in paris great was the exultation. franklin, who was there, and who, only three days before, had written to governor pownall that he never expected to see "this accursed war" finished in his time, now wrote to john adams, at the hague:—"i congratulate you on this glorious news. the infant hercules, in his cradle, has now strangled his second serpent;" and so delighted was he with his conceit of the serpent, that he afterwards had a medal cast embodying it.