INVESTIGATION RESPECTING THE CONDUCT OF GENERAL AND LORD HOWE.

The managers of the war-office were doomed to similar attacks as those of the admiralty. Early in the session General Burgoyne imputing his own misfortune and the failures of all other commanders, whether by land or sea, to the administration, had moved that all the letters written by himself and other commanders to government since the convention of Saratoga, should be laid before the house. Lord North readily granted these papers, and shortly after Sir William Howe, who was now in the house of commons, as well as his brother the admiral, made a similar motion for copies of all letters that had passed during his command between him and the secretary of state for America. It was only against Lord George Germaine that Howe wished to impute blame, and him he charged with interfering on all occasions with the management of the army in America; and of imposing restraints and schemes of his own, which were conceived in utter ignorance of the country which was the scene of the war. These papers were, also, willingly granted, and Lord North further consented that the house should go into committee for inquiring into the whole conduct of the American war. At the same time, an application was made to the house of lords, to permit the attendance of Earl Cornwallis, as a material witness. After this, however, Lord North endeavoured to put a stop to this inquiry, by asserting that Sir William Howe's character was fully cleared by the letters produced, and that government approved in the warmest manner of his services. But this attempt was attended with great odium, and the examination of witnesses was proceeded with. This examination lasted for two months, and the officers examined were, Lord Cornwallis, Major-general Grey, Sir Andrew Snape Ham-mon, Major Montresor, and Sir George Osborne, whose evidence went to establish the facts that the force sent to America was not equal to the task of subjugating America; that the colonists were almost unanimous in their enmity and resistance to Great Britain; that the nature of the country was beyond all others difficult and impracticable for military operations; and that there was no fairer prospect of success in any future attempt at conquest, than in those which had already been made. On the other hand, Major-general Robertson, and Mr. Galloway, a member of congress who had turned royalist, gave contradictory evidence on all these points, and the latter was severe in his censures on the military conduct of Sir William Howe. At the request of Howe, this witness was directed to attend again for cross-examination; but, on the day appointed, which was the 29th of June, the general not being in the house, advantage was taken of this circumstance to dissolve the committee, and thus no resolution was passed upon this subject. Burgoyne was somewhat more fortunate than Howe, as witnesses were heard in his favour and none against him. His witnesses were Sir Guy Carleton, the Earls of Balcarras and Harrington, Major Forbes, and Captain Bloomfield, who deposed that no general could be braver or more beloved by his army. At the same time they could not make out a case of good generalship in Burgoyne's crossing the Hudson, after the expedition to Bennington, or even give a good colour to that expedition, so that their only evidence went to show that which all men knew; namely, that Burgoyne was brave, persevering, and humane, and that in advancing to and staying so long at Saratoga, he had acted according to the best of his judgment. In the course of the examination, some of the witnesses extolled the bravery of the Americans in action; but it was also shown that Gates's army were nearly six times as numerous as that of Burgoyne's, and that the latter were half-famished, so that it did not require any extraordinary bravery to accomplish a victory other them.



RELIEF TO PROTESTANT DISSENTERS.

The spirit of toleration which displayed itself during the last session in favour of Roman Catholics, was again exerted in the present session on behalf of Protestant Dissenting ministers and school-masters. A bill to relieve them from some painful and absurd restrictions, was carried with great facility.



DEBATES ON THE TRADE OF IRELAND.

During the month of January, Lord Nugent, after drawing a forcible picture of the distress which existed in Ireland, gave notice of his intention to move for the establishment of a cotton-manufactory in Ireland, with a power of exportation to Great Britain, and a free trade to America, Africa, and the West Indies. Subsequently a committee was formed to consider the acts of parliament relating to the importation of sugars into Ireland. The intended relief, however, was as usual counteracted by commercial jealousy in England, and all that was done by the commons was to pass two acts, for the growth of tobacco and hemp, and the manufacture of linen in Ireland, and to make a pecuniary grant, in consequence of a message from the throne. But this boon was not sufficient to satisfy the desires of the Irish people, and possibly had it been a hundredfold greater, it would not have been deemed sufficient. It has always been the fate of that unhappy country to be disturbed by restless spirits—by men who, while they profess to seek the good of the country, seek only their own self-interests. On this occasion, many self-styled "patriots" resolved to follow the example of the colonists, and a non-importation agreement was set on foot in Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, and other places; the subscribers pledging themselves neither to import nor to use any British goods which could be manufactured in Ireland, till the Irish trade was freed from its shackles. In the midst of this ferment, as rumours were afloat of a meditated invasion by France, and Ireland was drained of its troops for the American war, the maritime towns demanded protection. Government was told by the lord-lieutenant, that the exhausted state of the public revenues rendered it impracticable to embody a militia, whence the people were given to understand that they might take measures to protect themselves. This was an ill-omened step for ministers to take, when the people of Ireland were everywhere displaying the feelings of rebellion. By it the serpent's teeth were sown, and they sprang up armed men. The Irish obeyed the call with alacrity. Volunteers were embodied, equipped, and disciplined at private expense, on every hand, and Ireland soon exhibited the animating spectacle of a nation in arms. Ministers appear to have been very early convinced of their error; for when they saw these armed associations in their full strength, they, with the people of England at large, prognosticated insurrection and civil war. Still there was little or no disposition displayed on the part of ministers to disarm the hostility of the Irish people by redress of grievances. After the discussion of Irish affairs had ceased in the commons, the subject was introduced in the Lords by the Marquess of Rockingham, who moved an address for documents which might enable parliament to pursue measures for promoting the common strength, wealth, and commerce of both nations. The marquess, who was well acquainted with the state of Ireland, took a severe review of the revenue, trade, and government, since the year 1755; and bitterly inveighed against ministers on the subject of the military associations. The necessity for these associations, he said, should have been prevented, or the people should have been legally commissioned to take up arms under officers named by the sovereign—the men who had taken up arms to repel invasion, might soon think of employing them in resisting injustice and oppression. To prevent such a consummation, in conclusion, he urged the necessity of redressing the grievances, and of adopting some remedy to the deplorable distresses under which the Irish people were groaning. The Marquess of Rockingham was warmly supported by the Earl of Shelburne; and the only arguments urged against the address by ministers were, the late period of the session, and the necessity of proceeding with caution, and upon minute inquiry and investigation. The result was that there was a kind of compromise between the Marquess of Rockingham and the Earl of Gower, president of the council—the latter pledging himself that a proper plan for the relief of Ireland should be concocted by ministers during the recess, and be ready to be laid before parliament at the opening of the next session. Ireland, therefore, for the present, was obliged to put up with a promise.



WAR WITH SPAIN.

On the 15th of June Mr. Thomas Townshend moved for an address, praying his majesty not to prorogue parliament, until the inquiry into the conduct of affairs in America should be completed. This motion was negatived, but, on the next day, Lord North gave some information which necessarily prolonged the session. He acquainted the house that the Spanish ambassador, after delivering a hostile manifesto to the secretary of state, had suddenly quitted London. This manifesto, North said, together with a message from the king, would be laid before parliament on the morrow. On the 17th, therefore, the message and the manifesto were introduced. In the message, his majesty declared, in the most solemn manner, that he had done nothing to provoke the court of Spain; that his desire to preserve peace with that court was uniform and sincere; and that his conduct towards that power had been guided by the principles of good faith, honour, and justice. He was the more surprised, he said, at the declaration of Spain, as some of the grievances enumerated in that paper had never come to his knowledge, and as those which had been made known to him had been treated with the utmost attention, and put into a course of inquiry and redress. His majesty's message concluded by expressing the firmest confidence in the zeal and public spirit of parliament, and the power and resources of the nation. His majesty's declarations concerning his conduct towards Spain were fully borne out by the manifesto, which was a loose rigmarole, in which scarcely anything else was clear than that war with Great Britain was fully resolved upon. The opposition in both houses took credit to themselves for having prognosticated, in the spirit of true prophets, a war with Spain, and taunted ministers with folly and blindness in imagining that such an event would not take place. Both houses, however, were unanimous in their indignation against Spain, and in their determination of supporting the war against the Bourbons. Addresses to this effect were agreed to; but Lord John Cavendish moved for another address, to be presented at the same time, praying that his majesty would give immediate orders for the collecting of his fleets and armies, and to exert the whole national force against the House of Bourbon. As this motion involved the withdrawal of the troops from America, ministers opposed it, and the secretary at war having moved an adjournment, it was immediately carried by two to one. In the lords, an amendment to the address, moved by the protesting Earl of Abingdon, was also rejected by a large majority; as was also a motion made by the Duke of Richmond, similar in its nature to that made in the Commons by Lord John Cavendish.



DEBATES ON THE MILITIA BILL.

On the 21st of June Lord North proposed that the number of the militia should be doubled, and that individuals should be authorised to raise loyal corps to assist in the defence of the kingdom. This was agreed to in the commons; but in the lords the clause enabling the king to double the militia was rejected, thereby leaving the bill a mere skeleton. When it was brought back to the commons thus mutilated, Lord North was taunted by the opposition with having at length, after spreading the spirit of disunion and discord on every hand, seen it enter into the very cabinet itself. In reply, North, with wonderful equanimity of temper, observed, that he could not agree in their lordships' judgment in considering his proposition impracticable: that his own experience as lord-lieutenant of a county induced him to believe that the militia could easily be doubled; but that his experience could not control the opinions of the other house, where there were so many lord-lieutenants of counties. However, he said, he accepted the power of augmenting the home force as crumbs falling from their lordships' table. A debate subsequently occurred on the question which was mooted by a member of opposition, as to whether or no the Militia Bill was a money-bill. It was insisted by some that it was such to all intents and purposes; that no amendment of the lords could be admitted in such a bill, without a surrender of the most valuable privileges of the commons; and that, therefore, the bill must be totally rejected. It was decided by a majority, however, that it was not a money-bill, and consequently it passed.



BILL FOR THE IMPRESSMENT OF SEAMEN.

On the 23rd of June, at a late hour of the night, the attorney-general moved for leave to bring in a bill for manning the navy, by resuming protections granted to certain descriptions of seamen, watermen, and their apprentices, and by taking away the right of habeas corpus from all persons of those classes impressed before the passing of this bill. The late hour at which this motion was made was purposely chosen, in order that the effect of the press-warrants might not be impeded by the disclosure which the newspapers would have made throughout the country, and in order that the fleet, on which the safety of the country depended, might be manned without impediment. The attorney-general admitted this, and the opposition could not deny the necessity of dispatch, or that there were no other means of manning the fleet; but they denounced the bill as a violation of sacred rights, and a treacherous irruption into the dwelling-houses of citizens. The bill, however—which was called the "Indemnity Bill," from its retrospective operation—was read twice on the same night, and when the house met again it was passed and sent up to the lords, who agreed to it, after inserting a clause in favour of colliers: it immediately received the royal assent.

{GEORGE III. 1779-1780}



PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.

Several attempts were made to bring about an address against a prorogation, but many members were now gone on their summer rambles, and those who remained were chiefly impatient for repose, whence all these attempts failed. On the 3rd of July, therefore, the king prorogued parliament. In his speech the king returned his warmest thanks to both houses for their great services and their long attendance; and at the same time expressed his entire approbation of all they had done, particularly of their measures respecting Ireland. The events of the war, he said, had not given France cause for triumph, and he trusted that that ambitious power would be compelled to wish that she had not, without provocation or cause of complaint, insulted the honour and invaded the rights of his crown. As regarded the hostility of Spain, he repeated, that no blame could be attached to him. He then complimented the high national feeling of the people by observing, that he considered it as a happy omen of the success of his arms that the increase of difficulties served only to augment the courage and constancy of the nation. He concluded by remarking, that it was impossible to speak of the continuance of the rebellion in North America without concern, and that he had given such unquestionable proofs of his disposition to put an end to those troubles, which led him to hope that the designs of the enemies of Great Britain could not long prevail against the interests of the colonists.



THE CAUSES OF THE RUPTURE WITH SPAIN.

Although the opposition were correct in their conjectures as to a final war with Spain, ministers were by no means so blind as represented by them. It had, indeed, required all the family influence of the greater branch of the House of Bourbon, and all the activity and skill of French negotiators to lead Charles III. into this new and unprovoked contest. The Spanish monarch remembered how much he had suffered from his last short war with England; he was alarmed also for the tranquillity of his own colonies, if encouraged by the example of successful rebellion; and he moreover shrunk from the unkingly action of fomenting insurrection and allying himself with rebels. These were barriers which the King of France and his negotiators had to break down before they could procure the Spanish monarch's aid in their designs. And in this they encountered a great difficulty. Charles III. assured Lord Grantham, that he knew nothing of the treaty between France and America until it was concluded; and his prime-minister, Count Florida Blanca, declared that he considered the independence of America as no less injurious to Spain than to Great Britain. Many overtures, he afterwards confessed, had been made, but his monarch had uniformly rejected the instances of France to acknowledge the independence of the United States. Subsequently, however, Charles III. was led to believe that revolution might flourish in North America without reaching the south; that the final hour of the British supremacy at sea, and consequently of the British empire was at hand; and that the united House of Bourborn would then have little else to do than to reach forth their hands and divide the spoils. The Spanish monarch then, with these visionary hopes in view, altered his line of conduct. On the first breaking out of a war with France he pretended great anxiety for maintaining his treaties with Great Britain, and expressed a compassionate interest for his brother the King of England, and his utter abhorrence of the proceedings of congress against so just and good a prince. He tendered his services as a mediator, and when it was hinted that the King of England could not submit a quarrel between him and his own subjects to another prince, he expressed his readiness to mediate in the French part of the quarrel alone, and to reconcile the differences existing between the courts of St. James's and Versailles. To this latter proposal it was replied, that it was inconsistent with national honour to admit the interference of a third power, till the views of France were known; and then Charles expressed his readiness to open the negociation himself, so as to spare both parties the humiliation of making the first step towards a peace. He suggested, that each government should transmit its conditions to Madrid, and that he should be allowed to draw from both a plan for the conclusion of a treaty. To this the British ministers assented, and the conditions they sent were comprised in this one article that, assuming the right of England to treat with her own colonies independently of foreign intervention, as an unquestionable principle, if France would cease her interference, and withdraw her troops from America, they would readily concur in establishing the harmony which had subsisted for fifteen years between the two crowns. On the other hand, the French ministers required that England should withdraw her forces from America; that she should acknowledge the independence of the United States; and that the French court should be granted the power of bringing forward additional demands for amending and explaining treaties. Such demands as these could not be conceded, and then the King of Spain offered these three different proposals of his own, as proper to produce a pacification namely, that there should either be a truce between England and the colonies for twenty-five years, during which a peace might be negociated, and the separate articles in dispute with France amicably adjusted; or that there should be a truce with France, including the colonies; or that there should be an indefinite truce both with the colonies and with France, to determine only after a year's notice, during which plenipotentiaries of England, France, and America might form a congress at Madrid, with Spain as a fourth party. This latter convention was to be signed by the American agents at Paris, subject to the approval of congress, which France was to pledge herself should be obtained, and in the meantime the colonies were to enjoy freedom of trade and independence, and the British forces were to be either withdrawn from America, or greatly reduced. The British ministers replied, that any such plan seemed to proceed on every principle which had been disclaimed, and to contain every term which had been rejected; and they declared, that if compelled to grant such extreme conditions, it would be more consistent with the dignity of the British nation to grant them directly to America, without the intervention of any foreign power. Before this final reply reached Madrid, however, the Spanish monarch threw off the mask, and ordered his ambassador to quit London, leaving the manifesto behind him as a justification of war. This manifesto contained nearly one hundred grievances; and not the least of these was, that Great Britain had insulted Spain by rejecting her mediation a mediation which was evidently commenced with the one design of inducing a rupture between the two nations.



SPANISH ATTEMPT UPON GIBRALTAR.

Before the rupture took place between England and Spain, the Spanish ambassador had delicately hinted to our ministers, that, if they would restore the rock of Gibraltar to his monarch, he would consent to remain neutral. This price, however, was deemed too high by our ministers for what must have been, after all, a doubtful neutrality; and hence, after war was declared, the first thoughts of the Spaniards were directed to the siege of that wonderful rock. Before hostilities commenced, indeed, Florida Banca, in order to facilitate this grand object, had entered into a regular treaty with the Emperor of Morocco; he calculating that, by that act, the Moors would be prevented from supplying the garrison of Gibraltar with provisions, as they had hitherto done, and that Ceuta, the other pillar of Hercules on the African coast, belonging to Spain, would be left unmolested by them during the siege. Having done this, a large army was collected at St. Roque, Algeziras, and the Campo near Gibraltar, and immediately after the declaration of war, this force began its laborious operations for the reduction of Gibraltar. But many events demand notice before the results of these operations are recorded, for not a gleam of success attended their operations during this year.



FRENCH AND ENGLISH FLEETS IN THE CHANNEL, ETC.

One of the earliest measures after war was declared by Spain, was the junction of the fleets of the house of Bourbon. On a sudden d'Orvilliers sailed out of Brest, with thirty French sail of the line, and being joined by thirty-eight Spanish ships of the line, he made his way for the English coasts. At this time our fleet, which did not exceed thirty-eight sail of the line, was under the command of Admiral Hardy; and while he was cruizing in the soundings, the French and Spaniards appeared off Plymouth. One ship of sixty-four guns and a number of coasting-vessels were captured by them; but after parading two or three days before Plymouth, they were driven out of the Channel by a strong east wind. The same wind which drove the French and Spaniards out of the Channel had prevented Hardy from entering it; but at length the wind shifted to the westward, and he, in sight of the enemy, then gained its entrance, and England was safe. For, although d'Orvilliers, conscious of his superior strength, wished to engage Hardy out of the Channel, he would not hazard a battle in the narrow sea, where the advantage of numbers would have been lost for want of sea-room, and where the navigation would have been dangerous. Hardy, therefore, having outmanoeuvred the French admiral, proudly anchored at Spithead; and soon after the coast was covered with troops, volunteers, and militia, while fresh ships were fitted out, and cruizers at sea were recalled to the channel. Such a formidable front was shown, that the French and Spaniards were compelled to retire. They sailed for Brest where they lay for several months inactive and useless, and where thousands of them died from a terrible sickness which had broken out among them while laying off the English coast. Added to this misfortune, the Spaniards, who had sent their ships to sea in the hope of achieving high and mighty enterprises, soon found that this naval war with England was to follow the general rule, and to cost them ships and wealth, which they could not well spare. In the course of this year the British captured a large Spanish frigate off the Western Islands, and another off Cape Finisterre; a Spanish register-ship, carrying a considerable treasure from Lima to Cadiz; a rich Manilla ship, said to be the richest taken since the galleon captured by Lord Anson; another plate-ship with 200,000 dollars in specie and a quantity of bullion, &c.; and finally, a great variety of small Spanish craft. At the close of the year, therefore, the Spanish monarch had reason to deplore his rashness in entering into this war.



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST INDIES.

During the year the transatlantic war was carried on with various success. In the month of January, Vice-admiral Byron arrived at St. Lucie with nine sail of the line, and there joined Rear-admiral Barrington. This compelled the Count d'Estaing to act on the defensive. He took refuge in Martinique, where he remained five months, and nothing could induce him to issue from his safe retreat. While here he was joined by some ships under Count de Grasse, and fresh land-troops also arrived from France. On the other hand, Byron's fleet was also reinforced by some ships under Admiral Rowley. Both fleets, however, remained inactive till Byron sailed away to escort our homeward-bound West India fleet to a certain latitude. The French admiral now detached a small force to St. Vincent, where the Caribs joined the French, and where the English garrison thus assailed capitulated. After this d'Estaing proceeded with his whole fleet and 9000 land-troops to Grenada. Lord Macartney, the governor, had only one hundred and fifty regulars, and about three hundred militia to oppose to him; but he made a brave resistance with this little force, and even repulsed the first assault of nearly 3000 French troops. His lines, however, were stormed, and after Macartney had retired into the fort he was compelled to surrender at discretion. Before he surrendered, however, Admiral Byron, who had returned from escorting the trade, appeared off the island, and attempted its relief. An engagement took place between the British and French fleets, in which some of the English ships were disabled, and the French lost 1200 men killed, and 2000 wounded. Night put an end to the action, and although in the course of the day the white flag was seen waving over the capital of Grenada, which was a proof that Lord Macartney had been compelled to surrender, Byron remained on the scene of action, hoping that the enemy would engage him again on the morrow. In the morning, however, he discovered that d'Estaing had gone back to Grenada and Byron bore away to St. Christopher. Great alarm prevailed among our remaining West India Islands, for d'Estaing had boasted that he would capture the whole during the summer; but he soon sailed away to Hispaniola, and then to the coasts of Georgia and Carolina to aid the Americans.



OPERATIONS IN GEORGIA.

After Lower Georgia had submitted to Colonel Campbell, he resolved to prosecute his success by an advance into Upper Georgia. In this expedition he met with few interruptions. On his approach to Augusta, the second city of the province, the American troops fled from the town, and the inhabitants took the oath of allegiance to the British monarch, and formed themselves into companies for their own defence. Campbell was now not far from a part of North Carolina where the majority of the population were known to be royalists, and he detached Lieutenant-colonel Hammond, with two hundred infantry mounted on horseback, to encourage them to take up arms. The progress of the royal arms in the Southern States was alarming, and the provincials resolved to arrest it. In the month of January, congress despatched General Lincoln to take the command of some regiments raised in North-Carolina, and to unite them with the remnant of the army of Georgia. Lincoln took post on the north bank of the river, about fifteen miles above the town of Savannah. He was thus posted and preparing for action when Colonel Campbell made his expedition into Upper Georgia. Soon after this Campbell returned to England, and Augusta was evacuated, as being too distant a post to be supported. Lincoln now marched along the northern bank of the river, with a view of crossing it and reconquering Georgia. In the meantime General Prevost left Savannah, and marched for Charlestown, the capital of South Carolina, in the hope of taking it by surprise. He appeared before that city on the 11th of May, and on the following day it was summoned to surrender. The summons was unheeded, and Prevost having viewed the lines, which could not be forced without a great loss of men, and knowing that the garrison was more numerous than his troops, and that Lincoln was hastening to its relief, retired towards Georgia. He took possession of John's Island, which was separated from the continent by a small inlet of the sea, commonly called Stone River. His intention was to have remained in that island until ammunition should arrive from New York, but discovering that Lincoln was advancing to Lower Georgia, he departed for Savannah, to defend the fortress, leaving Colonel Maitland, with a garrison of eight hundred men, to protect St. John's. An attempt was made by General Lincoln to cut off this force, but his attack was bravely repulsed, and the American general, dispirited by his non-success, attempted no further operations until the arrival of the French fleet under d'Estaing.



INEFFECTUAL ATTEMPT OF THE AMERICANS TO REDUCE SAVANNAH.

It was at the beginning of September that the French fleet arrived off the mouth of the Savannah River. Its appearance was so sudden that an English fifty-gun ship, a small frigate, and two store-ships were surprised, and, after some severe fighting, captured. As soon as d'Estaing arrived, Lincoln directed his march from South Carolina to Savannah. Before his arrival d'Estaing landed about 3000 men at Beaulieu, and marching straight to Savannah, summoned General Prevost to surrender the town to the arms of France. Prevost, who had called in all his detachments and garrisons in Georgia, and had put the town in the best possible state of defence, declined answering a general summons, and requested a suspension of arms for twenty-four hours. Imagining that this period was required to draw up terms of capitulation, d'Estaing granted these terms, fully calculating that, at the expiration of the time, Savannah would be taken without the waste of a single shot. Prevost's motive, however, for requiring so many hours before he gave his answer to the summons was, to give Colonel Maitland time to reach the city to aid in its defence. Maitland arrived, after a laborious march, and threw himself into Savannah with his eight hundred veterans, and then Prevost informed d'Estaing that the place would be defended to the last extremity. General Lincoln joined the French on the 16th, and after spending a few days in quarrelling with d'Estaing for not waiting for him, and for not summoning the place in the name of congress, instead of the French king, having made up the quarrel they commenced the siege. Their batteries were ready to open on the 14th of October, and, in the meantime, the beseiged had not been idle. The defences had been daily improved, and two successful sorties were made, in which many of the allies were killed and wounded. The batteries were at length opened: fifty-three large cannon and fourteen mortars kept up an incessant fire upon the town. By this time the besieging army, reinforced by the militia of South Carolina, under Governor Rutledge, amounted to nearly 10,000 men, while General Prevost's whole force did not exceed a fourth part of that number. The batteries played upon the town for five days, during which time no visible impression was made upon the works, and but little injury was done to the houses. In the midst of this firing, indeed, Prevost had contrived to mount nearly one hundred guns, and all the open or weak parts of the town were strengthened with impalements, traverses, abattis, and redoubts, the last being constructed of green spongy wood and trunks of trees, with the interstices filled up with mud and sand. Perceiving that he made no progress, d'Estaing became impatient and alarmed, for he feared that while he was taking Savannah, the British fleet in the West Indies might capture all the French islands. His officers also suggested that if the British fleet were to follow them to the Savannah River, the effect might be fatal while so many were employed in the siege; and that if they remained at the stormy season of the year upon that insecure coast, the fleet might be scattered by storms, and destroyed piecemeal by the British ships. Under these circumstances, contrary to the advice of General Lincoln, the count resolved to try the effects of an assault by storm, and on the morning of the 9th of October he made the rash attempt. Before daybreak, after a heavy cannonade and bombardment, and an unsuccessful attempt to set fire to the abattis, the French and Americans, to the number of 5000, advanced to the right of the British lines. They advanced in two columns; one being led by d'Estaing and Lincoln, and the other by Count Dillon, an Irishman in the service of France. The column under Dillon, mistaking its way, became entangled in a morass near the fortress, and exposed to its fire; and while great numbers were slain, the rest were unable to form. The other column advanced against a redoubt, but as soon as it was discovered, the allies became exposed to a continual blaze of musketry from its guns, and to a murderous cross-fire from the adjoining batteries, which mowed down whole ranks, and threw the head of the column into confusion. Other men were urged on to fill up the gaps; and the column at length got to the foot of the redoubt. Here the conflict became more dreadful than ever. For a few minutes the French and American standards were planted on the parapet, but they were soon hurled from thence. The fire of the redoubt and the batteries being aided by a well-posted armed brig flanking the right of the British lines, made the whole column stagger and reel like drunken men; and Colonel Maitland, seizing the critical moment, issued forth with a mixed corps of grenadiers and marines, and charged them at the point of the bayonet. This charge decided the contest. The French and Americans were driven far beyond the ditch, leaving behind them about nine hundred killed and wounded; while, on the part of the English, there were only fifty-five killed, wounded, and missing. D'Estaing himself was wounded, as were also several French officers of rank, and the Polish Count Pulawski here finished his career. The issue of this battle determined the siege: the allies immediately separated, the provincials retiring to their homes, and the French setting sail for the West Indies. D'Estaing had scarcely embarked when his fleet was dispersed by a storm; and while some reached their destination, the rest, with the count himself, sailed for France.



BRITISH INCURSIONS INTO VIRGINIA.

During the operations in Georgia, the British fleet under Sir George Collier, who had succeeded Admiral Gambier, had been attacking Virginia, in which attack he was aided by a detachment of soldiers under General Matthews. Their first attempt was an expedition to the Chesapeak, where they demolished Fort Nelson, the grand defence of the American dock-yard at Gos-port; and a similar scene of destruction was exhibited at the town of Suffolk, Kempe's Landing, Tanner's Creek, and other places in the lower part of the district. At the same time, the "Otter" sloop, and the privateers sailing far up the bay, took a great number of prizes, and burned, or caused the Americans themselves to burn, a great number of vessels. In the end, indeed, scarcely any American craft were left floating on these waters. The last exploit of this expedition was to demolish the fort and destroy the navy-yard of Portsmouth; when Collier and Matthews returned to New York, after an absence of only twenty-four days.



CAPTURE OF STONEY-POINT AND VERPLANKS.

A few days after the arrival of Collier and Matthews at New York, another detachment, under General Vaughan, and accompanied by Sir Henry Clinton himself, proceeded up the Hudson against Verplanks-neck, and Stoney-point, where Washington's people were erecting fortifications. A division of the army landed on the eastern side of the river on Verplank's-neck, while the commander-in-chief proceeded to the western side against Stoney-point. Both these posts, which commanded the Hudson, and by means of which Washington had kept up his communication between the middle and northern colonies, were captured, with the loss of only one man wounded. At Fort Lafayette, which was the main defence of Verplanks-point, all the garrison surrendered as prisoners of war; but, at Stoney-point, the garrison fled at the approach of the British troops. Sir Henry Clinton left considerable garrisons at these places, and then returned to New York.

{GEORGE III. 1779-1780}



BRITISH EXPEDITION AGAINST CONNECTICUT.

General Clinton, soon after his return to New York, proposed inflicting a severe chastisement on the Connecticut people, and tempting Washington down from the highlands to defend the sea-coast. For this purpose a detachment of land-troops under Major-general Tryon, supported by Admiral Collier, advanced on Connecticut. They first attacked Newhaven, where they destroyed the artillery, ammunition, and stores, with all the vessels in the harbour. Fairfield was next attacked, and having encountered a severe opposition by the inhabitants, when the place was captured it was reduced to ashes. The same fate awaited Norwalk and Greenfield; and Tryon then intended to make a descent at New London, the great rendezvous for the Connecticut privateers. As the militia of this state, however, were by this time joined by some regular troops detached from Washington's army, he deemed it expedient to return towards New York to obtain reinforcements. The fleet fell back, therefore, on Long Island, to wait for an additional supply of troops and ammunition. In this expedition much spoils were captured.



STONEY-POINT RE-CAPTURED, BUT DESERTED AT THE APPROACH OF THE BRITISH.

Washington, roused by these disasters, undertook operations which not only prevented Clinton from reinforcing Tryon, but compelled him to recall the whole of that devastating expedition. Before the garrison could put Stoney-point in any defensive order, he dispatched General Wayne to fall upon it by night, and the troops left there by Clinton were all either killed or taken prisoners. Wayne opened a fire across the river upon Fort Lafayette, expecting to see another strong detachment appear from the ranks of Washington on the land side of that fort. This detachment did not appear in time; for when Clinton discovered this reverse he sent a detachment up the river, in transports, to assist the garrison, and their arrival occurred almost simultaneously. On the arrival of the transports, the Americans gave up their brief siege of Fort Lafayette, and retreated, as did those likewise who had retaken Stoney-point. Clinton himself had followed the transports in full force, hoping that Washington would quit his position to defend Stoney-point; but when he found that his hope was fallacious he returned to New York.



BRITISH GARRISON SURPRISED AT PAULUS-HOOK.

The successful enterprise of General Wayne was followed by a similar enterprise against a British garrison at Paulus-hook on the Jersey coast. This was conducted by General Lee, who, on the 17th of July, fell suddenly upon that garrison, and killed about thirty and captured one hundred and sixty prisoners. The Americans, however, were speedily expelled from Paulus-hook, without having destroyed either the barracks or artillery. Their retreat was as disgraceful as their attack had been spirited and well conducted.



AMERICAN DISASTER AT PENOBSCOT.

During the month of June, General Francis Maclean, who commanded the British troops in Nova Scotia, proceeded with a detachment of six hundred and fifty men in transports, conveyed by three sloops of war, to the Bay of Penobscot, in order to form a settlement, and to establish a post which might serve the double purpose of checking the incursions of the people of Massachusets Bay into Nova Scotia; and to obtain ship-timber for the use of the king's yards at Halifax and other ports in America, He had already commenced the construction of a fort on the Penobscot River, when a hostile armament, consisting of 3000 troops, which had been fitted out by the executive government of Massachusets, appeared in the bay to thwart his designs. Being prevented from entering the harbour by the presence of the three English sloops of war, which were anchored right across the mouth; on the night of the 28th of June, the American troops climbed up some steep precipices on the opposite side of that tongue of land; dragged up some artillery, and erected a battery within a few hundred yards of the unfinished fort. But Maclean was prepared for this manouvre. He had filled up his bastions with logs of timber; had carried a sort of chevaux-de-frise round the fort; and had constructed platoons and mounted his artillery. He, therefore, returned fire for fire, and the American troops being chiefly militia, or undisciplined recruits, soon grew weary of the business, and longed to return. They were commanded by General Lovel, who perceiving that he could not effect his object with such lovers of home, applied to General Gates for a reinforcement of regular troops. A regiment was sent by Gates; but before this force arrived Sir George Collier came to the assistance of Maclean with a squadron and some land-troops; and the Americans, leaving their works, ran to their ships, embarked, and endeavoured to make for Boston harbour. But this was now impracticable. Two of the largest vessels, in endeavouring to gain the open sea, were intercepted, and one was captured; while the other ran on shore and was blown up by her own crew. The other American ships entered the mouth of the Penobscot River, where they were abandoned by the Americans, both soldiers and sailors, who landed and fled for their lives. Nearly all the ships were captured or destroyed by the British sailors, who were close in their wake; while the fugitives who had landed in a wild country, had to traverse a pathless desert for upwards of a hundred miles, before they could reach any human habitation. On their route a quarrel took place between the seamen and landsmen, and a battle was fought in which fifty or sixty lives were lost, and a great many more perished from fatigue and famine. This exploit terminated Sir George Collier's career. When he returned to New York he found himself superseded by Admiral Arbuthnot, and he returned to England. The season for action was not yet over, but a rumour that d'Estaing intended to attack New York, compelled Sir Henry Clinton to forego all thoughts of further operations, and he even withdrew the garrison from Rhode Island, for the purpose of concentrating his force.



AMERICAN RETALIATION ON THE INDIANS, ETC.

During this year the Americans took a terrible revenge on their old enemies, the Indians. At the head of 5000 men General Sullivan undertook an expedition against the Indian tribes beyond the Mohawk River and upon the upper course of the Susquehanna. In the month of August he encountered a body of eight hundred savages and two hundred whites, under Brandt, Butler, and others acquainted with the art of war; whom, after a bloody conflict, he defeated. Sullivan then penetrated into the very heart of their country, where his followers destroyed houses, corn-fields, gardens, fruit-trees, and everything that would afford sustenance to man or beast. Such were the positive orders of congress, and Sullivan proved himself to be their willing agent in the evil work. Congress passed a vote approving his conduct, but Washington, whose exertions were crippled by the expedition, in consequence of the great force employed in it, inveighed bitterly against it, and in the end Sullivan retired from public service in disgust. While this terrible chastisement was inflicted on the tribes northward of Pennsylvania and New York, similar expeditions were Kent out from the southern provinces for the same purpose. On the other hand, whilst the Americans were spreading devastation and laying waste the towns of their savage enemies, the Indians, whose appetite for revenge was whetted by their disasters, made incursions into the provincial settlements, and made severe retaliation.



SPANISH INCURSIONS.

As Spain had concealed her hostile intentions towards England until preparations for war were completed, it was not a matter of surprise to see her commencing hostilities on the other side of the Atlantic, with all the advantages of early information and previous design. No sooner was war announced than Don Bernardo Galvez, Governor of Louisiana, made an incursion into West Florida, and invested and captured a British fort garrisoned with five hundred men, at the mouth of the Ibbeville. The fate of almost the whole of the Mississippi was involved in the fall of this fort, for the Spaniards overran a district of 1200 miles in extent; and only left the eastern part of the province, with the strong fort of Mobile untouched. With equal alacrity the Spanish Governor of Honduras commenced hostilities against the British cutters of logwood in the Bay of Honduras, and plundered the principal establishment at St. George's Key. The logwood-cutters, who were chiefly sailors and men of a daring spirit, retreated before the Spaniards, and kept together in an inaccessible place, until the Governor of Jamaica dispatched Captain Dalrymple, with a small body of Irish volunteers, to convey to them a supply of arms. Sir Peter Parker dispatched a sloop of war to co-operate, and this sloop, having taken Dalrymple and his party on board, quickly drove the Spaniards from St. George's Key and all that part of the coast. The sloop was shortly after joined by a small squadron under Captain Luttrell, who had been cruizing to intercept two Spanish register-ships, which had taken refuge under the strong fortress of St. Fernando de Omoa. Dalrymple, Luttrell, and the chiefs of the British bay-men resolved to attack this fort, which was the key of the whole settlement of Honduras; and a motley force of log-wood-cutters, sailors, soldiers, and volunteers proceeded against it. They had no artillery available for the purpose, and therefore they resolved to take the fort by surprise and assault. As they approached they were discovered by the garrison, but the works were nevertheless carried by escalade; and the garrison were so panic-stricken at the bold movement, that the Spanish governor could not keep them to their guns. One hundred escaped by flight, and the rest, amounting to five hundred men, surrendered as prisoners of war. The assailants now made for the harbour in search of the register-ships; and although the greater part of the treasure had been removed to a place of safety, there was still a galleon in the harbour, and an immense quantity of quicksilver, which, with other objects that fell into the hands of the conquerors, were of the estimated value of 3,000,000 dollars. The loss of the quicksilver was severely felt by the Spaniards, and they offered to redeem it at any price. They also made liberal offers for ransoming the fort; but the captors, preferring the public good to private emolument, refused all terms. At the same time they restored the plate found in the churches, to procure the liberation of some logwood-cutters who had been taken at George's Key. A garrison was left to defend Fort Omoa, but the unhealthiness of the station led to its evacuation, and it was recovered by the Spaniards. They found the guns spiked, however, and the works for the most part demolished.



ACTION BETWEEN PAUL JONES AND CAPTAIN PEARSON.

One of the most active partisans in the American cause was the celebrated Paul Jones. This man was a native of Scotland, and the son of a gardener of Galloway. He had taken to the sea at a very early age, and had finally settled in Virginia. At the breaking out of the war he offered his services to congress, and a commission was given him, under which he cruised among our West India Islands, where he made many prizes. His nautical skill and his success were so great that he acquired the name of the best of all corsair captains. In 1777 he was appointed to the command of a French-built ship under American colours, and he then proceeded upon a cruise to the coast of Britain. Many were the exploits which he transacted. He took many prizes in places where the American flag had never before been seen; he made a descent at the mouth of the Dee, near to Kirkcudbright, and plundered the house of the Earl of Selkirk; and he made another descent on the Cumberland coast, spiked the guns of the fort at Whitehaven, and burned one or two vessels. He also cruised up and down between the Solway and the Clyde; scaring the whole coast, after which he returned to Brest, boasting that he had kept the north-western coast of England and the southern coast of Scotland in a constant state or alarm. In the summer of the present year he returned to cruise along our eastern coasts, having at this time a squadron manned by desperadoes of various countries under his command. Alarm spread from Flamboroughhead to the Frith of Tay, for the name of Paul Jones had become synonymous with all that is terrible. His great object this year was to intercept the Baltic trade, which was under the convoy of Captain Pearson, in the ship "Serapis," of forty guns, and Captain Piercy, in the "Countess of Scarborough," of twenty guns. This fleet arrived safely off the Yorkshire coast, when Paul Jones appeared to encounter it. Captain Pearson made a signal for his convoy to bear down under his lee; and he himself made way to get between the enemy's ships and the convoy. The "Countess of Scarborough" took a similar position, and while the enemy was advancing, the merchant-vessels made their way in haste to the shore. At length the squadron of Paul Jones, consisting of three large ships, a cutter, and a brig, reached the "Serapis" and the "Countess," and a terrible conflict took place between the former and the "Bon Homme Richard," a two-decker, carrying forty guns, and which was Paul Jones's own ship. The two ships were brought into such a situation that the muzzles of their guns came in contact, and in this manner the action continued with the greatest fury for two hours, during which time Jones, who had far more men than his opponent, vainly attempted to board, and the "Serapis" was set on fire ten or twelve times. The fire each time was extinguished, and Captain Pearson had the best of the battle; but, in the meantime the "Countess of Scarborough" had been disabled by the other ships of the enemy, and then one of the frigates came to the assistance of the "Bon Homme Richard." Almost every man on the quarter or main-decks of the "Serapis" was killed or wounded by the united fire of the enemy; and the calamity was increased by the accidental ignition of a cartridge of powder near one of the lower deck-ports, and the flames spreading from cartridge to cartridge all the way aft, blew up the whole of the officers and people that were quartered abaft the mainmast. In this state Captain Pearson was compelled to strike his colours, and Captain Piercy was under the necessity of following his example. The "Bon Homme Richard," however, was in a still more pitiful condition than the "Serapis." Her quarters and counter on the lower deck were driven in; all her guns on the deck were dismounted; her decks were strewed with killed and wounded; and she was on fire in two different places, and had seven feet of water in her hold. On the day after the battle Paul Jones was obliged to quit her, and she sank with a great number of her wounded on board. The prizes were carried by their captor into the Texel, and the French government gave Paul Jones thanks, in the name of Louis XVI., and conferred upon him the Order of Merit! Congress, also, at a later date, sent him a vote of thanks, and promoted him to the command of a new ship, called the "America!"



CHANGES IN THE MINISTRY.

During the recess, some partial changes occurred in the administration. Lord Stormont was made secretary of state, in the room of Lord Suffolk, deceased. Earl Bathurst was made lord president of the council, Earl Gower having resigned office in disgust; the Earl of Hillsborough succeeded the Earl of Weymouth as secretary of the southern department; and the Earl of Carlisle was nominated first lord of trade and plantations, which was an ancient office resuscitated. Mr. Thurlow had received the great seal, with a peerage, last session, and he was succeeded as attorney-general by Wedderburn, while Wallace took Wedderburn's place of solicitor-general.



MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament met on the 25th of November. In his speech the king called upon the two houses to exert their efforts along with him in defence of their country against the unprovoked attacks of their enemies; congratulated his hearers that the designs and attempts of France and Spain to invade this kingdom had been frustrated; exalted the exemplary conduct of the national militia; returned his cordial thanks to all loyal subjects who had stood forward in the present momentous trial; and recommended the state of Ireland to consideration. Nothing was said by his majesty concerning America or the Americans, but the commons were told that it was with extreme concern that his majesty saw the great and inevitable expenses which his naval and military forces would require. His majesty concluded by saying, that, trusting in Divine Providence, and in the justice of his cause, he was firmly resolved to prosecute the war with vigour.

The address was opposed in the house of lords by the Marquess of Rockingham, who moved an amendment, omitting every word which it contained except the title, and inserting a prayer instead, beseeching his majesty to reflect on the extent of territory, the power, the opulence, the reputation abroad, and the concord at home which distinguished the commencement of his reign; and now on the endangered, impoverished, enfeebled, distracted, and even dismembered state of his kingdom, after all the enormous grants of successive parliaments. The amendment concluded by requesting his majesty to resort to new counsels and new counsellors, without further loss of time, as the only remedy for the existing evils. In his speech, the Marquess of Rockingham censured the facility with which the two ambassadors, Lords Grantham and Stormont, had suffered themselves to be deceived by the craft of France and Spain; asserted that the clause in the speech which spoke of the blessings of living under his majesty's happy government, was insulting to the common sense of the house, as all those blessings were turned into curses; attacked the first lord of the admiralty on various points connected with his administration; attributed all the discontents in Ireland to the folly and bad faith of ministers, who had made promises which they had not performed; and, finally, denounced the war in America as bloody, malignant, and diabolical. In reply, Lord Stormont imputed a great part of the misfortunes which surrounded us to the incautious and violent language used in parliament. Lord Mansfield expressed his conviction that nothing but a comprehensive union of all parties could effect the salvation of the country. How far the temper of the nation and the state of parties might admit of such a coalition he could not decide; but the event, he said, was devoutly to be wished. The amendment was negatived by eighty-two against forty-one.

A similar amendment to that of the Marquess of Rockingham, was moved in the commons by Lord John Cavendish. In both houses, also, the arguments and invectives employed were allied in character. The ministers were accused of ruining both army and navy by their compliances with court predilections; by their fear and jealousy of every officer of merit; by their criminal tardiness; and by their want of a consistent plan of military operations. Charles Fox went a step further than most of the speakers in opposition. He declared that treachery and not ignorance must have prevailed in the national councils, to reduce the nation to so miserable a condition; and he warned ministers that when the nation was reduced to such a state of wretchedness and distraction that the laws of the land could afford no relief, the law of nature would put arms into the hands of the people, and then they, who had caused the evil, would suffer for their mal-administration. In reply, Lord North indignantly denied that any treachery was resorted to by ministers, and called upon the opposition to stand forth like men, and make good such vague accusations. Laws, he said, existed for the protection of the innocent; and if his accusers adhered to the laws, he had nothing to fear. Lord North, also, defended with considerable ingenuity the management of the war; asserting that, from its extensive nature, it was impossible to keep a force superior to the enemy at every point; and affirming that the fleets of France and Spain, which had been raised to the ruin of their finances, had gained neither honour nor advantage, and were already falling into weakness and decrepitude. The amendment was negatived by two hundred and thirty-three against one hundred and thirty-four.



LORD SHELBURNE ATTACKS MINISTERS IN THE CASE OF IRELAND.

Although Ireland had been misgoverned for centuries, yet opposition, in the course of these debates attributed every mischief in that country to the present ministers. In both houses assurances were given that satisfactory plans of relief were in contemplation, but even then opposition were not disarmed. Having procured a summons of the house, on the 1st of December the Earl of Shelburne moved a resolution, declaring ministers highly censurable for having neglected to take measures for the relief of Ireland, in conformity with the address of the lords to his majesty during the last session. In introducing this motion, the Earl of Shelburne declared that the government of Ireland had been abdicated, and that the people would be justified, by the principles of the constitution and the laws of self-preservation, in taking back its power into their own hands. In the course of his speech he read the address of both houses of the Irish parliament, which declared that nothing less than free trade would rescue that country from ruin; and he asserted that all classes of society concurred in this opinion. Ministers were defended by Lord Hillsborough, who maintained that no delay could be fairly imputed to them; that measures for the relief of Ireland must emanate from parliament, and were not to be entered upon without due information and consideration; and that ministers had been active in collecting such information and making arrangements, the result of which would shortly be laid before the house. The debate was chiefly rendered remarkable by some words uttered by Earl Gower, who had lately retired from the administration. After stating that he must, in fairness, oppose the motion, as ministers required a few days for their exculpation, he remarked:—"I have presided for some years at the council-table, but have seen such things pass of late that no man of honour or conscience could any longer sit there." The motion was rejected by eighty-two against thirty-seven.



LORD OSSORY'S ATTACK ON MINISTERS RESPECTING IRELAND.

On the same day that Shelburne made his motion, Lord North communicated some additional papers respecting Ireland, and gave notice, that he would, in about a week, move for a committee of the whole house to enter upon this subject. Opposition, however, seem to have considered Ireland a vulnerable point in the phalanx of the ministry; and before the time intimated by Lord North had expired, the Earl of Upper Ossory moved a vote of censure in the commons upon ministers for their neglect of the affairs of that country. This motion was seconded by Lord Middleton, and supported by Dunning, Burke, and Charles Fox, who, in general pursued the dangerous course of drawing parallels between the situation of Ireland and that of America. It was asserted, for instance, that ministers having failed in reducing the colonies by force, were ready to make large concessions to Ireland; but that the Irish people had suffered more from the loss of her share in the trade of America than from any other cause. It was also said, that if the thunders of the cabinet had not been hurled against Ireland; if Dublin had not been treated like Boston, and if Cork and Waterford had not been reduced to ashes like the towns of America, it was not through the enlightened policy of ministers, but from fear of the consequences of adopting stringent measures toward those refractory cities. These sentiments were exceedingly unwise, for at this very time armed associations and the non-importation agreements were in full force in Ireland, and a rebellious spirit displayed itself in the Irish parliament-house and throughout the whole length and breadth of the kingdom. In order to compel the British government to concede a free trade the Irish parliament had, indeed, according to the instructions received from their constituents, voted a money-bill for six months only, instead of two years, as usual; and the charges which opposition brought against ministers were as fallacious as they were unwise and unjust. This was fully proved by Lord North in his reply, who showed that the grievances complained of originated ages anterior to the existence of his ministry, and that the restrictions upon the trade and industry of the Irish people arose from our general system of trade; which, though conceived in ignorance and founded on prejudice, was so confirmed by habit that it seemed to become part and parcel of our very constitution. Lord North referred to the hostility which had been shown towards the attempts which had been made in the two preceding sessions to obtain a moderate relaxation of these restrictions, in proof of the truth of his assertions. Those who had undertaken the task, he observed, had been thwarted by their constituents, and by the people of England generally, as well as by the majority of the house. Something had been done, but more would have been done had it not been for the temper, prejudices, and habits of the people and the parliament. In conclusion, he contended that ministers had done more for Ireland than any other cabinet for the last century. They had enlarged the trade of that country; had given bounties to encourage the Irish Newfoundland fishery, and the growth of hemp and tobacco; had permitted the exportation of woollen cloth, &c.; and had conferred many other benefits on the people. The motion was negatived by one hundred and seventy-three against one hundred.



LORD NORTH'S PROPOSITION FOR THE RELIEF OF IRELAND.

Lord North brought forward his promised scheme of relief for Ireland on the 13th of December. This scheme consisted of three propositions: to allow a free export of wool, woollens, and wool-flocks; to allow a free export of glass and all kinds of manufactured glass; and to allow a free trade with all the British plantations on certain conditions; the basis of which was an equality of taxes and customs. In supporting these propositions Lord North entered minutely into the natural and inherent rights of Ireland; combated many inveterate prejudices; declared that the benefits of the two countries must be reciprocal and their interests mutual; and in short collected into one point of view all the liberal notions of commerce and policy which Burke and others of his party had long laboured to impress upon parliament. If Lord North was actuated by fear in making these large concessions, so also were the majority of the members in the house, for the very men who had clamoured against commercial concessions to Ireland, and had frustrated all measures in favour of this line of policy by their votes, now consented to the three resolutions, without the least opposition. Bills founded on the two first propositions were brought in, and passed both houses, and received the royal assent before the Christmas recess. The third proposition was delayed till the sentiments of the Irish concerning it could be ascertained. These sentiments were found to be favourable, and it was therefore soon carried. A few other benefits were also conferred on the Irish; suck as enabling them to become members of the Turkey Company, and to engage in the Levant trade. The whole appeared to give great satisfaction to the Irish nation. The acts were received as a boon, and great loyalty and affection were expressed. Unfortunately, however, ministers cut short their popularity by altering some bills, which gave great umbrage to the Irish people, and taught them even to desire independence. On this subject Dr. Miller writes:—"The bills altered on this occasion were not, as in the former case, money-bills: that folly the ministers did not venture to repeat: but one of them was a bill involving the dearest interests of the people; and the alteration was such as gave to the public mind the only impulse which it then required for aspiring to constitutional independence. The Irish parliament, not choosing that its military establishment should be longer regulated by a British mutiny-law, transmitted a bill of similar import. The minister, as if eager to indemnify himself for commercial concession by constitutional spoliation, introduced an alteration by which the lav/ was to be rendered perpetual; and the Irish parliament, though it passed the bill thus altered, was taught to look to freedom of constitution as the necessary safeguard to freedom of trade; to assert its own independence, while it unfettered the commerce of the country. When the minister had first, by the altered money-bills, alarmed the constitutional jealousy of the guardians of the public purse, he then, by another alteration, rendering the mutiny-law perpetual, manifested a desire of securing to government the uncontrolled direction of the military power. Language could not more forcibly exhort the people to be satisfied with no concessions merely commercial; but to insist that their country should be acknowledged as an independent, though not a separate state."

{GEORGE III. 1779-1780}



DEBATES ON ECONOMICAL REFORM.

While Lord North was endeavouring to allay the bad passions of the Irish people, a spirit of disaffection arose in England. The cause of this was the expenses of government: expenses which were for the most part unavoidable, but which in some cases may have arisen from lavish expenditure. But whatever was the cause, there was a long, loud, and universal cry in the country for economical reform, and it soon became the subject of debate in both houses of parliament. On the 7th of December the Duke of Richmond moved in the lords for an address to beseech his majesty to reflect on the manifold distresses and difficulties of the country; to represent that the waste of the public treasure required instant remedy, and that it was necessary to adopt that economy, which, by reforming all useless expenses, creates confidence in government, gives energy to its exertions, and provides the means for their continuance; to submit to his majesty that a reduction in the civil list would be an example worthy of his paternal affection for his people and his own dignity, and calculated to diffuse its influence through every department of the state; and to assure his majesty that the lords would readily concur in promoting so desirable a purpose, and that every one of its members would cheerfully submit to such reductions of emoluments as he might think proper to make. In support of this motion, the Duke of Richmond entered into a detailed statement of the existing vast military establishment; showed by a number of calculations the great increase of the national debt since the commencement of the American war; and urged the necessity of economical reform, suggesting that the king himself should set the example, that all classes of society might follow it. In the course of his speech, his grace contrasted the state of this country with the wise system of economy adopted by France under Neckar; asserting that our formidable neighbour was rising to wealth as fast as we were sinking in poverty. Yet with all his zeal for reform, the Duke of Richmond advocated the continuation of the pensions bestowed on the Pelhams, Walpoles, and Pitts, families of his own party, as being too sacred for the sacrilegious hand of parliament to touch. In reply, the lords in administration confessed that the expenditure was enormous, and that there had even been some want of economy; but while they made this confession, they opposed the motion, chiefly on the ground that it could not be of any great service, or at all adequate to the object proposed. It was insisted by them that the civil list could not bear any diminution; that it would be degrading to parliament, after having voted an augmentation, now to declare their inability to pay it; that the complaint of the waste of the public money was not substantiated by any kinds of proof; and that the nation was not so poor or reduced as the noble duke had represented. The motion was rejected by seventy-seven against thirty-six.

The subject of economical reform was introduced into the lower house by Mr. Burke on the 15th of December. Burke gave notice of his intention to propose some very important regulations after the Christmas recess, and in doing so, he also took occasion to extol the financial system of Neckar, to which he attributed the re-production of the French marine out of the wrecks and fragments of the last war. He anticipated, he said, a cool reception of the propositions he should make, since they would have a tendency to weaken court influence. He could only, however, make an offer, and if it was rejected the people must effect their own salvation. All the grievances of the nation, he observed, arose from the overgrown influence of the crown, and this influence was the creature of the prodigality of the commons. The operation of this influence, he said, was not confined to the superior orders of the state; it had insinuated itself into every section of the community. Scarcely a family in all England was so hidden or lost in the obscure recesses of society, which did not feel that it had something' to hope or to fear from the favour or displeasure of the crown. Government, he argued, should have force adequate to its functions, but no more; for if it had enough to support itself in abusing or neglecting them, they must ever be abused or neglected. Men would rely on power for a justification of their want of order, vigilance, foresight, and every other virtue or qualification of statesmen. The minister then might exist, he said, but the government was gone. He continued:—"It is thus that you see the same men, in the same power, sitting undisturbed before you, although thirteen colonies are lost—thus the marine of France and Spain has grown and prospered under their eye, and been fostered by their neglect—thus all hope of alliance in Europe is abandoned—thus three of our West India islands have been torn from us in one summer, while Jamaica, the most important of all, has been neglected, and every inquiry into that neglect stifled—thus Ireland has been brought into a state of distraction which no one dares to discuss." The disease of government, Burke remarked, was a repletion; the over-feeding of the stomach had destroyed the vigour of the limbs. He continued, that he had long ascertained the nature of the disorder, and its proper remedy; but as he was not naturally an economist, and was averse to experiment, he had not made hitherto any attempt to apply that remedy. Now, however, he was assisted by the temper of the times, and though he would not at that time disclose all the particulars of his plan, he would, nevertheless, state its end, objects, and limits. He proposed a regulation which would give L200,000 per annum to the public service, and annihilate a portion of influence equal to the places of fifty members of parliament, which would effectually remove the sources of corruption. This was the end and objects of his resolution. As regarded its limits, nothing, he said, which was held by any individual under a legal tenure would be invaded. Equity and mercy would be remembered in those cases where innocent persons had been decoyed into particular situations through the prodigality of parliament: the alterations would chiefly affect those who held offices from which they might be removed by ministerial arrangements. No employment really useful to the public would either be abolished or abridged of its emoluments, A fund, also, fully adequate to the reward of merit, would be left, and an ample provision would be secured to the crown for personal satisfaction, and for as much magnificence as was compatible with the distressed state of the nation. These propositions, Burke added in conclusion, were made with humility and integrity: he hoped that they would give confidence to the people, and strength to the government; that they would render the war vigorous, and peace refreshing. Burke's plan received high commendation from several members on his own side of the house, and especially by his friend and disciple, Charles Fox; but on the ministerial side of the house a profound and ominous silence prevailed. As Fox observed, it was evident there was not sufficient virtue in the house, or rather self-denial, to carry such a plan of economical reform.



CHAPTER XI.

{GEORGE III. 1780-1781}

Burke's Plan of Economical Reform..... Rejection of Lord Shelburne's Motion for a Commission of Accounts...... Ministerial Bill for Commission of Accounts..... Bill for excluding Contractors from Parliament rejected..... Motions regarding Places and Pensions..... Political Altercations..... Debates on the Increase of Crown Influence..... Lord North's Proposal respecting the East India Company..... General Conway's Plan of Reconciliation with America..... Popular Rage against the Catholics; Riots in London, etc...... Measures adopted by Parliament arising out of the London Riots..... Parliament Prorogued..... Trial of Lord George Gordon and the Rioters..... Admiral Rodney's success against the Spaniards..... Armed Neutrality..... Rodney engages the French Fleet..... Expedition against South Carolina..... Battle of Camden, etc...... Affairs at New York..... Treason of Arnold and Fate of Major Andre..... Maritime Losses sustained by the British..... War with Holland..... General Election..... Meeting of Parliament.

{A.D. 1780}



BURKE'S PLAN OF ECONOMICAL REFORM.

Although from the silence of ministers Burke might have presaged he fate of his proposed plan of economical reform, yet he was greatly encouraged to proceed in his task by the voice of the nation. During the Christmas recess, petitions were got up in its favour in almost all the countries and great cities of England, and associations were formed in order to support a reform. Counter petitions were indeed framed, and in some instances protests were signed, but still it remained evident that the public feeling was with Burke. It was while the petitions in favour of his plan were pouring into the house that he brought it forward. After delivering an eloquent speech, which Gibbon says was heard with delight by all sides of the house, and even by those whose existence he proscribed, he detailed his scheme. This consisted of five bills, comprising the sale of forest-lands; the abolition of the royal jurisdictions of Wales, Cornwall, Cheshire, and Lancaster; the abolition, also, of treasurer, comptroller, and many other officers in the household, with the treasurer of the chamber, the wardrobe, etc., the boards of trade, green cloth, and works, the office of third secretary of state, the office of keepers of the royal hounds, and of many civil branches of the ordnance and the mint, with the patent offices of the exchequer; the regulation of the army, navy, and pension pay-offices, with some other departments not under due control; and finally a better arrangement of the civil list so as to prevent for the future any accumulation of debt, without any improper encroachment on the royal prerogative. Lord North passed very high encomiums on the author of this plan, and assured the house that no member was more zealous for the establishment of a permanent system of economy than he was; but he intimated that subjects so numerous and various required time for reflection and as some of them affected the king's patrimonial income, he thought the crown should be consulted. All the bills, except that which related to the crown-lands and to Wales, and the counties palatine of Chester and Lancaster, were brought in, however, and the portions of the plan submitted to deliberation occupied a considerable part of the months of March, April, and May, and gave rise to many animated debates, and several close divisions. But, in the end, all the clauses were negatived, except that for abolishing the board of trade, and the only saving to the country by this triumph of the opposition, was about L6000 per annum!



REJECTION OF LORD SHELBURNE'S MOTION FOR A COMMISSION OF ACCOUNTS.

On the same day that Burke gave notice of his plan of economical reform, the Earl of Shelburne gave notice that he would, after the Christmas recess, move for a commission of accounts. In accordance with this professed intention, on the 8th of February the noble earl, therefore, moved for the appointment of a committee, to consist of members of both houses, possessing neither employments nor pensions, to examine the public expenditure and the mode of accounting for the same, and especially to inquire into the manner of making all contracts; and at the same time to take into consideration, what saving could be made, consistent with public dignity, justice, and gratitude, by an abolition of old and newly created offices, etc. In support of his motion the Earl of Shelburne exposed the profusion pervading all branches of government, and declared that his main object was to destroy that undue influence which pervaded both houses of parliament. The motion was seconded by the Earl of Coventry, who described the country as being in very reduced circumstances: rents were fallen, he said, the value of land was sinking, and farmers were on the high road to ruin. The Duke of Grafton and the Marquess of Rockingham followed on the same side; the latter declaring that a system had been established at the accession of his present majesty, for governing the kingdom under the forms of law, but really to the immediate influence of the crown, which was the origin of all our national misfortunes. The motion was opposed by Lord Chancellor Thurlow, and Lords Mansfield and Chesterfield, with other peers, who urged that the motion was a violation of the inherent, exclusive privilege of the other house to control the public expenditure. When put to the vote it was lost by a majority of a hundred and one against fifty-five.



MINISTERIAL BILL FOR COMMISSION OF ACCOUNTS.

Immediately after Burke had introduced his plan of economical reform, Colonel Barre, after declaring that he did not consider that reform sufficiently extensive, gave notice that he should, on some early day, move for a committee of accounts, to consist of a few men only, who would act with the consciousness that the eyes of the public were fixed on them. To the surprise of all parties, Lord North applauded this proposal, expressed his surprise that a measure of such obvious utility had not been thought of sooner, and declared that he was anxious to adopt any plan that appeared likely to promote economy, and reduce the public expenses to order and limit. The opposition congratulated the minister, and Colonel Barre said he would prepare a bill for that purpose; but while he was preparing it, Lord North himself brought in a bill on the 2nd of March, which proposed gentlemen who had no seat in parliament as commissioners of accounts. Barre complained of the underhand dealing of the minister, but said that he would concur in the measure, though he had been thus robbed of the honour of introducing it himself. Other members of the opposition were not so liberal. Although they were prepared to support the proposition, if left in the hands of the gallant colonel, they spoke against the whole measure; denounced it as a trick to create new places and salaries, and insisted that the commission would do no good. The bill, however, passed, and six independent gentlemen, among whom was Sir Guy Carleton, were appointed commissioners of accounts.



BILL FOR EXCLUDING CONTRACTORS FROM PARLIAMENT REJECTED.

Sir Philip Jennings Gierke again introduced his bill for excluding contractors from the house of commons. This time it was carried, and passed through all its stages with little opposition from the ministers; but it, was rejected in the upper house, as an illiberal stigma cast on a respectable body of men, and as a mean compliance with popular prejudices.



MOTIONS REGARDING PLACES AND PENSIONS.

On the 15th of February, Sir George Saville moved that an account of all places with salaries, and all pensions payable at the exchequer or out of the privy purse, with a list of the persons holding them, should be laid before the house. In making this motion, Sir George encountered a most violent opposition, and the debate was broken off by a sudden illness of the speaker. Subsequently it was revived, and Lord North then moved an amendment, restricting the account to such pensions only as were paid out of the exchequer, and excepting those paid out of the privy purse. This, however, gave such manifest dissatisfaction that the minister was obliged to qualify it by moving in addition, that the general amount of all pensions should be given, but without any specification of names, and without stating the sums paid, except in the case of those who were paid from the exchequer. But even with this qualification, though ably supported by the minister himself in a long and argumentative speech, and by Wedderburn, the attorney-general, and Mr. Dundas, lord-advocate for Scotland, the amendment was only carried by a majority of two, the numbers being one hundred and eighty-eight against one hundred and eighty-six. A similar motion was made in the upper house by Lord Howard of Effingham, but it was there negatived by fifty-one against twenty-four.



POLITICAL ALTERCATIONS.

In the early part of this session Mr. Adam left the ranks of opposition, and took his place under the ministerial standard. In doing so, he declared that he could not concur in the pretended necessity of new counsels, or new counsellors, since among those who stood candidates for office he was unable to single out one by whom the state was likely to be better served than by the present ministers. Charles Fox replied to Mr. Adam, and his reply, as reported in the newspapers, being thought to convey a personal reflection on Mr. Adam, a duel was the consequence, in which Fox was slightly wounded. Duels appeared likely to become the order of the day among members of parliament. In consequence of the sudden removal of two lord-lieutenants, apparently on account of their conduct in regard to county petitions, associations, and votes given in parliament, Lord Shelburne moved for an address, to desire that his majesty would be graciously pleased to acquaint the house whether he had been advised, and by whom, to dismiss the said two noble lords for their conduct in parliament. In the course of the debates on this motion, which was negatived, Shelburne indulged in some personalities at the expense of Mr. Fullarton, member for Plympton, and late secretary to Lord Stormont in his embassy to the French court. Fullarton complained to the house of commons of the behaviour of the Earl of Shelburne, and shortly after a duel was fought between them in Hyde Park, in which the noble lord was wounded. These transactions induced Sir James Lowther to observe, in the house of commons, that this method of fighting, in consequence of parliamentary debate and hasty words, seemed growing into such a custom, that it behoved the house to interpose its authority, as otherwise all freedom of debate would be at an end, and the British parliament would be reduced to the condition of a Polish diet. The friends of Mr. Fullarton said, it would be indelicate to enter into a discussion on the subject in his absence; and the friends of Lord Shelburne contended, that the words spoken by him were strictly parliamentary, and contained nothing which could be interpreted in a private or personal manner. But the house was not disposed to put its ban on this false code of honour. The conversation ended in nothing, except the hope that duels and wounds would make honourable members speak with better manners. This hope, however, proved to be fallacious. An altercation occurred on the 13th of March, between the speaker and Lord North himself, in which much bitter language was used. Negociations were in progress for the promotion of the attorney-general to the office of chief-justice in the Court of Common Pleas, which office had been promised to the speaker by the Duke of Grafton. Sir Fletcher Norton expressed much dissatisfaction at his being set aside for another, and Lord North denied that he was responsible for the promise of his predecessors. The consequence was that the speaker, from this time, joined the ranks of opposition, and loudly repeated their cries of crown influence, abuse of prerogative, and rights of the people. Being dissatisfied at not having his unjustifiable demands allowed, he suddenly turned patriot, so that if he lost, the people might congratulate themselves at having an advocate for once sitting in the speaker's chair of the house of commons.



DEBATES ON THE INCREASE OF CROWN INFLUENCE.

During the above debates county petitions were daily laid before the house, and by the month of April the speaker's table was almost buried beneath them. They were ordered to be taken into consideration by a committee of the whole house, and on the 6th of April a great public meeting was held at Westminster, with the advice and concurrence of the corresponding committee in the other parts of the kingdom, and with the avowed intention of giving weight to these petitions. On the same evening the house resolved itself into a committee, and Mr. Dunning moved his celebrated resolution, "That the influence of the crown had increased, was increasing, and ought to be diminished." Dunning remarked, that all the petitions agreed in one great fundamental point; namely, that limits ought to be set to the alarming influence of the crown, and to the expenditure of the public money by means of which that influence had been obtained. He then exhibited, in a continued series, the history and philosophy of constitutional law, and animadverted on measures which endangered British rights and liberties in former years. Afterwards he drew a highly-coloured and exaggerated picture of the conduct of present ministers, and endeavoured to show that it tended to produce similar mischiefs to those which had been produced by the counsels of the House of Stuart. In particular, he criticised the conduct of ministers with regard to Burke's economical plan of reform, which, he said, they were reducing to a nullity—to a thing naked and shorn, and useless to the country; and he expressed a hope that the people of England would resent the insults they had received from men who added mockery and contempt to oppression and neglect. Those who supported Dunning maintained that it was solely through the corrupt influence of the crown that Lord North had retained his office so long; that his sole occupation for years past had been to frame excuses and expedients, in order to procure supplies from year to year; and that he had neither method in his financial department, nor any comprehensive scheme of any kind. The speaker, less convinced by the eloquent pleadings of the petitions before him, than by his recent disappointment, took part with the opposition. He insisted strongly on the exorbitant power of the crown, and the increase of corrupt influence; and contended, that it was the duty of the house to attend to the demands of the petitioners. The effect which the arguments of the opposition had upon the country gentlemen was so great that ministers became alarmed. The lord-advocate of Scotland, Mr. Dundas, attempted therefore to stifle inquiry, by moving, that the speaker do leave the chair; and this failing, Lord North rose to defend his own conduct. He spoke at considerable length, and in the course of his speech declared that he was ready to retire from office whenever his sovereign and the people desired it; adding, that if he had continued so long in office, it was because the country had no faith in the wisdom and patriotism of his opponents. His speech seemed to be lost to the members of the house, and Mr. Dundas rose again to his rescue, proposing this time, as an amendment to the original proposition, the prefix of the words, "That it is now necessary to declare." This was carried by a majority of eighteen; and Mr. Dunning, pursuing his success, proposed and carried a second proposition—namely, "That it was competent to the house to examine into and to correct abuses in the expenditure of the civil list revenues, as well as every other branch of the public revenue, whenever it should seem expedient to that house." A third motion, strongly opposed to ministers, was also carried by Mr. Thomas Pitt, which set forth "that it was the duty of the house to provide immediate and effectual redress of the abuses complained of in the petitions." Nor was the minister permitted yet to retire to his peaceful slumber. Fox moved, that the three resolutions should be immediately reported; and though Lord North contended that this was unusual, violent, and arbitrary, the resolutions and reports were severally reported and received, and were agreed to and passed by the house without a division.