CHAPTER VI.

{GEORGE III. 1775–1776}

Debates on America..... Pacific Measure of Lord North..... Burke’s Plan of Conciliation..... Close of the Session..... Petition of the City of London..... Departure of Franklin..... Proceedings of the Americans..... Expedition to seize Stores at Salem..... Affair at Lexington, etc...... Meeting of the Assemblies and General Congress..... Battle of Bunker’s Hill..... General Washington..... Expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, etc,..... Expedition against Canada..... Disposition and Revolt of the Virginians..... Conduct of Congress towards New York, etc...... Proceedings in England..... Prosecution and Trial of Home Tooke, etc...... Meeting-of Parliament..... Changes in the Ministry..... The Militia Bill..... The Navy and Land Estimates..... Petition of Nova Scotia..... Petition of Congress..... Motions of the Duke of Grafton..... The Land-tax increased..... Burke’s Second Conciliatory Motion..... Lord North’s Prohibitory bill.

{A.D. 1775}

DEBATES ON AMERICA.

During the Christmas recess, ministers had received more alarming intelligence from America, coming down to the seizure of Fort William and Mary by the people of New Hampshire, as previously recorded. When parliament again met, therefore, which was on the 20th of January, the affairs of America became the prominent subject of discussion. Before that day it had been concerted between the Earl of Chatham and his friends that he should make one of his grand displays on the subject in the house of lords. After the minister had laid some important documents respecting the state of the colonies before the house, Chatham accordingly rose. He commenced by condemning all that the ministers had done, and by reproving them for their tardiness in communicating the American papers. He then congratulated their lordships upon the fact that the business was at last entered upon, by the noble lords laying these papers before them, and expressing a supposition that their contents were well known, he next made this motion: “That an humble address be presented to his majesty, to desire and beseech that, in order to open the way towards a happy settlement of the dangerous troubles in America, by beginning to allay ferments and soften animosities there; and, above all, for preventing, in the mean time, any sudden and fatal catastrophe at Boston, now suffering under the daily irritation of an army before their eyes, posted in their town; it may graciously please his majesty that immediate orders be dispatched to General Gage, for removing his majesty’s forces from the town of Boston, as soon as the rigour of the season and other circumstances indispensable to the safety and accommodation of the said troops may render the same practicable.” In continuation, Chatham proceeded to discuss the whole question: a question which, he said, demanded instant attention, as an hour lost might produce years of calamity. He remarked: “I will not desert for a single moment the conduct of this weighty business; unless nailed to my bed by extremity of sickness, I will give it my unremitted attention. I will knock at the door of this sleeping and confounded ministry, and will rouse them to a sense of their impending danger. When I state the importance of the colonies, and the magnitude of the danger hanging over this country from the present plan of mis-administration practised against them, I desire not to be understood to argue for a reciprocity of indulgence between England and America. I contend not for indulgence but justice to America; and I shall ever contend, that the Americans justly owe obedience to us in a limited degree; they owe obedience to our ordinances of trade and navigation. But let the line be skilfully drawn between the objects of those ordinances and their private internal property; let the sacredness of their property remain inviolate; let it be taxed only by their own consent, given in their provincial assemblies, else it will cease to be property. As to the metaphysical refinements, attempting to show that the Americans are equally free from obedience and commercial restraints as from taxation of revenue, being unrepresented here, I pronounce them futile, frivolous, and groundless. Resistance to your acts was necessary as it was just; and your vain declaration of the omnipotence of parliament, and your imperious doctrines of the necessity of submission, will be found equally impotent to convince or enslave your fellow-subjects in America, who feel that tyranny, whether ambitioned by an individual part, of the legislature or by the bodies who compose it, is equally intolerable to British subjects.” Chatham next drew a startling yet not unfaithful picture of the army of General Gage, which he represented as placed in a dangerous position, as being penned up and pining in inglorious inactivity, and as being alike an army of impotence and contempt, as well as of irritation and vexation. He then proceeded to declare that activity would be even worse than this inglorious inactivity, and that the first drop of blood shed in this civil and unnatural war would produce an incurable wound. Chatham next, by a strange infatuation, extolled the congress of Philadelphia for its decency, firmness, and wisdom, and even maintained that it was more wise than the assemblies of ancient Greece! He remarked:—“I must declare and avow, that in all my reading—and it has been my favourite study, and I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master-states of the world—for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult circumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the general congress at Philadelphia!” If Chatham did not take this view of the proceedings of the congress of Philadelphia out of sheer opposition to the existing administration, which it was his pleasure always to gall and oppose, then he must have been miserably blinded by the half-speaking papers, which no man in his senses could misinterpret, and which that congress had issued. Having passed this strange eulogium on that body, Chatham next called upon ministers to retract now that they might do it with a good grace, and asserted that they had derived their information from wrong sources, from selfish merchants, packers, and factors, and such servile classes of Americans, whose strength and stamina were not worthy to be compared with the cultivators of the land, in whose simplicity of life was to be found the simpleness of virtue, and the integrity of courage and freedom. He continued: “These true genuine sons of the earth are invincible. They surround and hem in the mercantile bodies, and if it were proposed to desert the cause of liberty, they would virtuously exclaim, ‘If trade and slavery are companions, we quit trade; let trade and slavery seek other shores; they are not for us!’ This resistance to your arbitrary taxation might have been foreseen: it was obvious from the nature of things and of mankind; but above all, from the Whiggish spirit flourishing in that country. The spirit which now resists your taxation in America, is the same which formerly opposed loans, benevolences, and ship-money in England: the same spirit which called all England on its legs, and by the Bill of Rights vindicated the constitution; the same principle which established the great fundamental and essential maxim of our liberties, that no subject of England shall be taxed but by his own consent. This glorious spirit of whiggism animates three millions in America, who prefer poverty with liberty, to gilded chains and sordid affluence, and who will die in defence of their rights as men—as freemen.” Chatham enlarged greatly upon this glorious spirit of Whiggism displayed on both sides of the Atlantic, asserting that it would finally compel the ministers not only to abandon their present measures and principles, however many noses they might count on a division, but to hide their heads in shame. He continued: “They cannot my lords, they cannot stir a step; they have not a move left; they are check-mated. It is not repealing this or that act of parliament—it is not repealing a piece of parchment—that can restore America to our bosom; you must repeal her fears and her resentments, and you may then hope for her love and gratitude. But now, insulted by an armed force at Boston, irritated by a hostile array before her eyes, her concessions, if they could be forced, would be suspicious and insecure; they will be _irato animo_, not sound honourable factions of freemen, but dictates of fear and extortions of force. It is, however, more than evident, you cannot force them, principled and united as they are, to your unworthy terms of submission. It is impossible.” Having been pathetic on General Gage in one part of his speech, Chatham now was witty upon him, comparing him with the great General Condé, who upon being asked why he did not capture his adversary Turenne, replied, that he was afraid Turenne would take him. Chatham then contended that nothing was left but to withdraw the troops from Boston, and to repeal all the acts of parliament. This, he imagined, might satisfy the Americans, and have the effect of binding them to an acknowledgment of our sovereignty, and our rights to regulate their navigation and commerce. Concessions, he said, must be made at some time or other, and they had better be made now, when they might do it as became their dignity. He concluded his speech thus:—“Every danger impends to deter you from perseverance in the present ruinous measures. Foreign war is hanging over your heads by a slight and brittle thread. France and Spain are watching your conduct, and waiting for the maturity of your errors. If ministers thus persevere in misadvising and misleading the king, I will not say they can alienate the affections of his subjects from the crown; but I will affirm, that they make the crown not worth his wearing; I will not say the king is betrayed, but I will pronounce the kingdom undone.” Chatham’s motion was supported by the Duke of Richmond, the Marquess of Rockingham, the Earl of Shelburne, and Lord Camden, who were, however, not fully agreed as to the propriety of recalling the troops, and who seem to have considered that proper concessions had not been made by the people of Boston, and that concessions made on the part of the British government on previous occasions had been misinterpreted in America, and had told to our disadvantage. On the other hand, the motion was opposed by the Earls of Suffolk, Rochford, and Gower, Viscounts Weymouth and Townshend, and Lord Lyttleton, who defended the recent acts of parliament, vindicated the legislative supremacy of parliament, and controverted the eulogy passed on the American congress, maintaining rightly that its acts and resolutions savoured strongly of a rebellious spirit. In the course of their arguments it was said that all conciliating means had proved ineffectual, or had only tended to increase the disorders; that if we gave way now from notions of present advantages in trade and commerce, such a yielding would defeat its own object, as the Navigation Act, and all other acts regulating trade, would inevitably fall victims to the interested and ambitious views of the colonists. This was a cogent argument, and Chatham rose to reply to it. He remarked, “If the noble lord should prove correct in suggesting that the views of the Americans are ultimately directed to abrogate the Act of Navigation and the other regulating acts, so wisely calculated to promote a reciprocity of interests, and to advance the grandeur and prosperity of the whole empire, no person present, however zealous, would be readier than myself to resist and crush their endeavours; but to arrive at any certain knowledge of the real sentiments of the Americans, it would first be proper to do them justice—to treat them like subjects before we condemn them as aliens and traitors.” Chatham then went over some of his previous arguments, especially contending that the right of taxing-was not included in legislation, and that sovereignty and supremacy did not imply that we could touch the money of the Americans, except by measures of trade and commerce. The motion was negatived by a majority of 68 against 18.

In submitting this motion to the house, the Earl of Chatham said that he had prepared a plan for healing all differences between England and America! This plan he afterwards submitted to Franklin, with whom he had recently much communication, and on Wednesday, the 1st of February, he submitted it to the house. He called it “A Provisional Bill for settling the Troubles in America, and for asserting the supreme legislative Authority and superintending Power of Great Britain over the Colonies.” In the speech made on this occasion, lie said, he offered this bill as a basis of measures for averting the dangers which threatened the British empire, and expressed a hope that it would obtain the approbation of both sides of the house. In stating the urgent necessity of such a measure, he represented England and America as drawn up in martial array, waiting for the signal to engage in a contest, in which it was little matter for whom victory declared, as the ruin of both parties was certain. He stood forth, he said, from a principle of duty and affection, to act as a mediator. In doing so, he represented that he would hold the scales of justice even-handed. He remarked, “No regard for popularity, no predilection for his country, not the high esteem he entertained for America on the one hand, nor the unalterable steady regard he entertained for the dignity of Great Britain on the other, should at all influence his conduct; for though he loved the Americans as men prizing and setting the just value on that inestimable blessing, liberty, yet if he could once bring himself to believe that they entertained the most distant intentions of throwing off the legislative supremacy and great constitutional superintending power and control of the British legislature, he should be the very person himself who would be the first and most zealous mover for securing and enforcing that power by every possible exertion this country was capable of making.” Chatham concluded by entreating the house to revise and correct the bill, and to reduce it to that form which was suited to the dignity and importance of the subject; and by declaring that he was actuated by no narrow principle or personal consideration, for though his bill might be looked upon as one of concession, it was likewise one of assertion. The bill which Chatham proposed was briefly to the following effect: That the parliament of Great Britain had full power to bind America in all matters touching the weal of the whole dominion of the crown of Great Britain, and especially in making laws for the regulation of navigation and trade throughout the complicated system of British commerce, etc.; that it should be declared that no military force could ever be lawfully employed to destroy the best rights of the people, while at the same time the authority of sending troops to the colonies of the British dominions should be maintained, independent of the voice of the provincial assemblies in the colonies; that no taxes for his majesty’s revenue should be levied in America without consent of the provincial assemblies; that the congress of Philadelphia should be legalized and empowered to meet again on the 9th of May ensuing, for the purpose of making due recognition of the supreme legislative authority and superintending power over the colonies, and of voting a free grant to the crown of a certain perpetual revenue, etc.; that the prayer of the petition of congress should then be granted, and that the powers of admiralty and vice-admiralty courts in America should be confined to their ancient limits, and the trial by jury in civil cases should be restored wherever they had been abolished, etc.; that all the recent acts of parliament which had been the cause of the agitation in America should be forthwith suspended; and that, in order to secure due and impartial administration in the colonies, his majesty’s judges in the courts of law, who were appointed in America by the crown with salaries, should hold their offices and salaries in the same manner as his majesty’s judges in England; _quamdiu se benè gesserint_. The bill which Chatham introduced concluded thus: “And it is here by further declared that the colonies in America are justly entitled to the privileges, franchises, and immunities granted by their several charters or constitutions; and that the said charters or constitutions ought not to be invaded or resumed, unless for misuser, or some legal ground of forfeiture. So shall a true reconcilement avert impending calamities, and this most solemn national accord between Great Britain and her colonies stand an everlasting monument clemency and magnanimity in the benignant father of his people; of wisdom and moderation in this great nation, famed for humanity as for valour; and of fidelity and grateful affection from brave and loyal colonies to their parent kingdom, which will ever protect and cherish them.”

There is full evidence that Chatham, in bringing such a bill as this before the house—a bill which was rather theoretical than practical—did not expect that it would be adopted. In a consultation over the bill between himself and Franklin, after certain suggestions made by the philosopher, none of which were adopted, he said that there was not time to make alterations and another fair copy; that neither of them expected it would be adopted; and that it might be afterwards amended. On the part of Franklin, no desire seems to have existed in his mind for its adoption. What he chiefly wanted, was another brilliant speech from the veteran statesman, that government might be further embarrassed, and the resistance of the colonies further stimulated. This appears to have escaped the penetration of Chatham. Sincere himself in the matter, he thought Franklin also sincere: otherwise there can be no doubt that he would have spurned him from his door. Franklin, in truth, took care to throw dust in the eye of Chatham. At a previous interview, he assured him that he had never heard any person, drunk or sober, express a wish for the disseveration of the two countries, or hint that such a thing would be advantageous to America. This he expressly states in a letter to his son, so that he stands condemned by his own handwriting of the most gross duplicity for ulterior purposes. It is pitiable to see a mind so highly gifted as was that of Franklin stoop so low in a matter of such momentous consequences The eyes of all America were turned towards him as their champion in England, and had he been so inclined there is little doubt but he could have procured great and lasting benefits to his country without the shedding one drop of precious blood. But his single aim was the dismemberment of the empire.

At the conclusion of Chatham’s speech, the Earl of Dartmouth, secretary of state for America, moved that the bill should lie on the table, till the papers referred to the house by his majesty should have been taken into consideration. On the other hand, the Earl of Sandwich moved that the bill should be at once rejected with the contempt it deserved. He could not, he said, believe it was the production of a British peer. It appeared to him the work of an American, and seeing Franklin leaning on the bar of the house, he pointed him out as its author, and as one of the bitterest and most mischievous enemies this country had ever known. To make any concession at this moment, he said, would be an abandonment of the whole cause of government, since the one grand aim of the Americans was absolute independence. At this very time, he asserted they were courting the trade of other nations, and he stated that he had letters in his pocket to prove that ships were being-laden at some European ports with East India produce and European commodities for America. Lord Sandwich was supported by Earls Gower and Hillsborough, and the Duke of Grafton, the latter of whom denounced the way in which the bill had been hurried into the house, as irregular and unparliamentary. The bill was supported by the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Shelburne, and Lord Camden, who analysed the laws proposed to be repealed with great severity, and pointed out the evils of foreign interference, and the danger of famine at home, from the discontinuance of supplies from America. Another party in the house, consisting of the Duke of Manchester, Earl Temple, and Lord Lyttleton, were for taking a more moderate course, that is, not to reject the bill thus summarily, on consideration of the exalted character of its proposer. An angry debate followed, in the course of which one noble lord mentioned with applause the candid proposal of a member of the administration for the bill to lie on the table. But this had the contrary effect to that which the noble lord intended. Lord Dartmouth instantly rose and said that he had altered his opinion, and that he could not accept praise offered to him for candour of which he was now ashamed. The Earl of Chatham rose to defend both himself and his bill from the numerous attacks which had been made in the course of the debate. He commenced by avowing that the bill was the offspring of his own creation, though he had sought the advice of Franklin. He then attacked his quondam colleague in office, the Duke of Grafton, with severity, and inveighed against the whole administration in the most bitter terms. He remarked:—“The noble duke is extremely angry with me that I did not previously consult him on the bringing in of the present bill. I would ask the noble lord, does he consult me? or do I desire to be previously told of any motion he thinks fit to propose to this house? His grace seems to be much offended at the manner this bill has been hurried. I am certain he could not be serious, if he gave himself a minute to consider how the case really stands. Here we are told that America is in a state of rebellion, and we are now got to the 1st of February, and no one step is taken to crush this rebellion: yet such being the case I am charged with hurrying matters; but whether my conduct may be more justly charged with hurrying this business into, or his grace with hurrying it out of the house, I believe requires no great depth of penetration to discover. As to the other general objections, I presume it will be recollected that the last day I submitted the proposition about withdrawing the troops, I then gave notice that I would present in a few days a plan of general reconciliation. Eleven days have since elapsed and nothing has been offered by the king’s servants. Under such circumstances of emergency on one side, when, perhaps, a single day may determine the fate of this great empire, and such a shameful negligence, total inaction, and want of ability on the other, what was to be done? No other alternative, in my opinion, remained, but either to abandon the interests of my country, and relinquish my duty, or to propose some plan, when ministers by their inaction and silence owned themselves incapable of proposing any. But even now let them speak out and tell me that they have a plan to lay before us, and I will give them an example of candour they are by no means deserving, by instantly withdrawing the present bill. The indecent attempt to stifle this measure in embryo may promise consequences the very reverse of what I am certain will be the case. The friends of the present motion may flatter themselves that the contents of the bill will sink into silence and be forgotten; but I believe they will find the contrary. This bill, though rejected here, will make its way to the public, to the nation, to the remotest wilds of America: it will in such a course undergo a deal of cool observation and investigation, and whatever its merits or demerits may be, it will rise or fall by them alone; it will, I trust, remain a monument of my poor endeavours to serve my country, and however faulty or defective, will at least manifest how zealous I have been to avert the impending storms which seem ready to burst on it, and for ever overwhelm it in ruin. Yet, when I consider the whole case as it lies before me, I am not much astonished, I am not much surprised, that men who hate liberty should detest those who prize it, or that those who want virtue themselves should endeavour to persecute those who possess it. Were I disposed to pursue this theme to the extent that truth would fully bear me out in, I could demonstrate that the whole of your political conduct has been one continued series of weakness, temerity, despotism, ignorance, futility, negligence, and the most notorious servility, incapacity, and corruption. On reconsideration I must allow you one merit, a strict attention to your own interests—in that view you appear sound statesmen and able politicians. You well know that if the present measure should prevail, that you must instantly relinquish your places. I doubt much whether you will be able to keep them on any terms; but sure I am such are your well-known characters and abilities, that any plan of reconciliation, however moderate, wise, and feasible, must fail in your hands. Such, then, being your precarious situation, who could wonder that you should put a negative on any measure which must annihilate your power, deprive you of your emoluments, and at once reduce you to that state of insignificance for which God and nature designed you.” Earls Gower and Hillsborough reprobated this severe language of Chatham, as calculated to inflame the public mind both here and in the colonies, and questioned if the noble lord would not, on some future day, if his age permitted, give another of the many proofs of his versatility, by acting with the ministers he condemned, and patronising the measures he now censured. Upon a division, the bill was rejected by a majority of sixty-one against thirty-two. Its rejection proved a fine theme out of doors for those adverse to the ministry. A vote of thanks was passed by the corporation of the city of London to Chatham, for his humane design; and Franklin enlarged upon the folly and madness of the ministers in rejecting it, although he had not expressed his approbation of it even to Chatham himself. He obtained, however, by its introduction what he most wanted—namely, a subject by means of which he could widen the breach between America and the “dear old mother country.”

In the meantime debates had taken place in the commons upon various petitions presented to the house, and especially upon one presented from Franklin, Bolland, and Lee, who prayed to be examined at the bar in support of the demands made by the general congress at Philadelphia. A motion, that this petition should be brought up, was negatived, on the ground that it would have the appearance of sanctioning the proceedings of the congress.

On the 2nd of February, Lord North, in the commons, in a committee of the whole house, moved for an address of thanks to the king for the communication of the papers. In introducing this motion Lord North intimated that a large military force was to be sent to America, and that the foreign commerce of New England and their fishing on the banks of Newfoundland were to be effectually stopped, until they should return to their duty. Fox moved an amendment, censuring ministers for having rather inflamed than healed differences, and praying for their removal. In doing so he descanted largely on the injustice of the motion for an address; predicting defeat in America and ruin at home. The amendment was negatived by a large majority, and, on a second division, the motion for an address was carried. It was reported on the 6th of February, when there was another warm debate, in which Wilkes, whose conduct on this subject was steady and consistent, took part. He remarked:—“Who can tell whether, in consequence of this day’s violent and mad address, the scabbard may not be thrown away by the Americans, as well as by us; and should success attend them, whether, in a few years, they may not celebrate the glorious era of the revolution of 1775, as we do that of 1608? Success crowned the generous efforts of our forefathers for freedom, else they had died on the scaffold as traitors and rebels; and the period of our history which does us most honour would have been deemed a rebellion against lawful authority—not a resistance sanctioned by all the laws of God and man, and the expulsion of a tyrant.” There is much truth in these observations; but in reply it was observed, that the present crisis had been produced as much by a zeal for their cause and a seditious spirit at home, as by the restless spirit of the colonists themselves; and that, while the proceedings of the Americans evidently tended to independence, and a future age might perhaps see them successful, it was the duty of all to unite in preventing the evil day from arriving at that period, and affixing an indelible stain on that age. At the commencement of this debate Lord John Cavendish had moved, that the address should be recommitted, but it was in the end negatived by two hundred and eighty-eight to one hundred and five.

A conference between the two houses on the address was held on the 7th of February, after which Lord Dartmouth moved, that the lords should concur in it; and on this motion the previous question was demanded. Another warm debate ensued. Lord Mansfield first rose, and, in a long and argumentative speech, he combated the arguments of those who maintained that the Americans were merely contending for exemption from taxation. He next minutely analysed the declarations of congress, and the acts of parliament of which they complained; in the course of which he insisted, that to annul any laws, except the acts of taxation, would be a renunciation of sovereignty. As a lawyer, he declared, from the documents before the house, that the Americans were already in a state of rebellion; and he condemned the taxes imposed in the year 1767, as the origin of the ferment in the colonies, and as tending to injure British commerce, inasmuch as they had furnished the colonists with a temptation to smuggle. On the other hand, Lord Camden, as a lawyer, denied that the Americans were in a state of rebellion, and drew sundry nice distinctions between actual treason and constructive treason. He also disclaimed all participation in the law for taxing America, as he had not been consulted on the subject. The Duke of Grafton complained of both these lords, and accused Camden of meanness and shuffling, in endeavouring to screen himself by accusing others; reminding him, that at the time the act was passed, he was lord-chancellor, and had signified the royal approbation of the act in his official capacity. Lord Lyttleton seconded the blow given to the ex-chancellor by his quondam colleague; but Lord Shelburne acquitted both Camden and the Duke of Grafton of approving the cabinet scheme for taxing America, and expressed a hope that public retribution would soon fall upon the author of the present despotic measures. The Duke of Richmond endeavoured to show that Lord Mansfield was its foster-parent; and a scene of mutual recrimination took place between them, in which other noble lords took an active part. Each one strove to lay the blame upon the shoulders of their opponents—all feeling that a blunder had been committed, which was likely to lead to the most disastrous consequences. This stormy altercation, however, terminated by the house agreeing to the address of the commons by a majority of nearly four to one. The king’s reply to the address was accompanied by a message to the commons, recommending an augmentation to the forces by sea and land; and, in consequence of this message, 2000 additional seamen and 4,400 soldiers were voted—an increase altogether inadequate to meet the contingency; especially as France was at this moment increasing her fleets, and getting many line-of-battle ships ready for sea, which many members justly looked upon with suspicion.

In pursuance of his plan, on the 10th of February, Lord North moved for leave to bring in his bill for cutting off the commerce of New England and their profitable fishery—excepting such persons as should procure from their governors certificates of good and loyal conduct, and who should subscribe a test, acknowledging the supremacy of the British Parliament. This bill was warmly opposed in both houses, on the grounds of confounding the innocent with the guilty—of destroying a trade which perhaps could never be recovered—and of cruelly starving whole provinces, and thus irritating the Americans to withhold debts due to the British merchants. In support of the bill it was argued, that as the Americans had resolved not to trade with England, it was but fair to prevent their trading with other countries; that as they had entered into associations to ruin British merchants, impoverish British manufacturers, and starve our West India islands, it was a justifiable act of retaliation to return their mischiefs upon their own heads; and that, if any foreign power had only offered a tithe part of the insults and injuries we had received from our colonists, the whole nation would have been aroused to advocate revenge, and the minister who would not have responded to the demand would have been inevitably ruined. The charge of cruelty was denied, and the bill asserted to be one of humanity and mercy as well as of coercion. The colonists had incurred the penalties of rebellion, and had, therefore, rendered themselves liable to military execution; but instead of proceeding to such extremities, government only proposed to bring them back to a sense of duty, by a restriction on their trade—that is, they were to be kept without food instead of undergoing corporeal punishment. It was stated, moreover, that they had too long imposed upon us with their threats of depriving us of their trade, hoping thereby to bend the legislature to a compliance with all their demands, until they had completed their plans for asserting their independence. As for American courage and resources, they were considered by the ministers and their supporters in both houses to be unequal to the task of contending with those of England. It was even wished by Lord Sandwich that the Americans could produce four times the number of forces it was stated they could bring into the field; he contending, that the greater the numbers the easier would be the conquest. He even gravely predicted, that if they did not run away, they would starve themselves into compliance with the measures of government, Taking these views of the matter, which were manifestly erroneous, the bill was sanctioned by large majorities. Another bill also passed very soon after it, laying similar restraints on the colonies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, for the hostilities they had exhibited in their sympathy with the people of New England.

PACIFIC MEASURE OF LORD NORTH.

Having adopted such measures as the above, it could hardly be expected that Lord North would lower his tone. Yet, to the surprise of all parties, and even of many of his own adherents, Lord North, in a committee of the whole house, moved the following resolution:—“That when the governor, council, and assembly, or general court of any of his majesty’s provinces or colonies, shall propose to make provision for contributing their proportion to the common defence, such proportion to be raised under the authority of the general court, or general assembly of such province or colony, and disposable by parliament; and shall engage to make provision also for the support of the civil government and administration of justice in such province or colony, it will be proper, if such proposal shall be approved by his majesty in parliament, and for so long as such provision shall be made accordingly, to forbear, in respect of such province or colony, to levy any duties, tax, or assessment, or to impose any further duty, tax, or assessment, except only such duties as it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce—the net produce of which duties last mentioned shall be carried to the account of such province, colony, or plantation exclusively.” Lord North endeavoured to show that this resolution arose out of the following passage in the address:—“And whenever any of the colonies shall make a proper application to us, we shall be ready to afford them every just and reasonable indulgence.” The terms of the resolution, he said, being such as in the hour of victory would be good and just, would afford a test as to the pretensions of the Americans. If their ostensible causes of opposition were real, he conceived that they must agree with such proposals, and that, if they did not agree with them, then it would be proved that they had other views and were actuated by other motives than those which they professed. He added:—“To offer terms of peace is wise and humane; if the colonists reject them, their blood must be on their own heads.” Burke, in his Annual Register, says, that the court party, who always loved a strong government in whatever hands it might be lodged, and accordingly had upon principle ever opposed any relaxation in favour of the colonies, heard these proposals with horror, and considered themselves abandoned and betrayed. Be that as it may, it is certain that opposition to the minister’s motion commenced on the treasury benches. The party, called “the King’s Friends,” at the head of whom were Mr. Welbore Ellis and Mr. Rigby, contended that Lord North’s propositions were in direct opposition to every principle and idea of the address; that the scheme was at variance with all the preceding acts and declarations of parliament, and designed to pay court to the opposition; and that they went to acknowledge that there was, in reality, something unjust and grievous in the idea of taxing the Americans by parliament. In fact, they denounced the whole matter as a shameful prevarication and a mean departure from principle, and boldly asserted that they would make no concessions to rebels with arms in their hands, or give their consent to any measure for a settlement with the Americans, in which an express and definitive acknowledgment of the supremacy of the British parliament was not a preliminary article. Mr. Ackland went so far, indeed, as to move that the chairman should leave the chair, or, in other words, that the committee should be dissolved and the house resumed without the resolutions being put to the vote. Lord North had never been in such a dilemma before, and it seems probable that he would have yielded to the storm he had unconsciously raised, had not Sir Gilbert Elliot and Mr. Wedderburne rose to his rescue. Sir Gilbert Elliot remarked, that the address contained two correspondent lines of conduct—the one tending to repress rebellion, for which measures of restriction had been resorted to, the other offering indulgence to those who would return to their duty. In the address this was necessarily intimated in general and vague terms; but was so far from being contradictory to it, that without it, the plan adopted at the beginning of the session would be defective and unjust. When Wedderburne rose, he declared that nothing was further from the intention of Lord North than a dereliction of the rights of parliament, or a yielding to the insolence of the Americans. What he really proposed was, to enforce the one and repress the other. For himself, he contended, that indulgence should be offered to such of the colonists as would return to their duty, but the contumacious should be proceeded against with an increased army and navy, with gallant officers, who were going to America to enforce the spirited proposition. He added:—“We have at length put the dispute upon its proper footing—revenue or no revenue.” The resolution being thus reconciled with the address, and Lord North having stated that the measure was designed to separate the grain from the chaff, and to disunite the colonies, the “king’s friends” were satisfied. This healing of the breach on the treasury benches, however, had the effect of widening it on the side of the opposition, who had been exulting in the strife. Fox rejoiced in the retrograde movement of the minister; but doubted the sincerity of the motion made, and predicted, that the Americans would reject them with disdain. He was followed by Colonel Barré, who indulged in bitter sarcasm upon Lord North’s recent embarrassment and danger from his friends, and said, that his motion was founded upon the pitiful and abominable maxim, _divide et impera_. It was to divide the Americans, and dissolve their generous union in defence of their rights and liberties; but, he added, “The Americans are not such gudgeons as to be caught with so foolish a bait.” Lord North had by this time recovered his fortitude and he defended himself with great spirit from the attacks which had been made upon him, and justified his motion, on the ground that it would have the effect of sifting the reasonable from the unreasonable—of distinguishing those who acted upon principle, from those who wished to profit by the general confusion and ruin—of dividing the good from the bad, and of giving aid and support to the friends of peace and good government. Burke next attacked the minister. He declared, that the measure was mean without being conciliatory, and that it was a more oppressive mode of taxation than any that had yet been adopted. It was proposed, he said, that the colonies were to be held in durance by troops and fleets, until, singly and separately, they should offer to contribute to a service they could not know, and in a proportion they could not guess, since ministers had not even ventured to hint at the extent of their expectations. This conduct he compared to that of Nebuchadnezzar, who, when he had forgotten his dream, ordered his wise men to relate what he had dreamt, and likewise to give him its interpretation. He added, that every benefit, natural and political, must be acquired in the order of things and in its proper season, and that revenue from a free people must be the consequence, not the condition, of peace. Dunning next followed, showering more sarcasms and more odious comparisons on the head of Lord North than any of the preceding speakers; but in the end the resolution was adopted by a majority of two hundred and seventy-four against eighteen.

{GEORGE III. 1775–1776}

BURKE’S PLAN OF CONCILIATION.

The present occasion was deemed by the opposition a favourable one for putting forth a plan of conciliation, the terms of which might, by comparison, reflect censure on that of Lord North. This task was committed to Burke, and on the 22nd of March he brought forward a plan comprised in thirteen resolutions. These resolutions went to repeal many acts of parliament, and to reform many regulations, but the foundation on which the whole rested, was the mode of raising a revenue from the colonists through grants and aids by resolutions in their general assemblies. In the opening of an eloquent speech uttered upon this occasion, Burke took a comprehensive view of the state of Britain as connected with America, and then stated the nature of his proposition. He remarked:—“The proposition is peace. Not peace through the medium of war; not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negociations; not peace to arise out of universal discord, fermented from principle in all parts of the empire; not peace to depend on the periodical determination of perplexing questions, or the precise marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government. It is simple peace; sought in its natural course and in its ordinary haunts. It is peace sought in the spirit of peace; and laid in principles purely pacific. I propose, by removing the ground of the difference, and by restoring the former unsuspecting confidence of the colonies in the mother country, to give permanent satisfaction to your people; and, far from a scheme of ruling by discord, to reconcile them to each other in the same act, and by the bond of the very same interest, which reconciles them to British government.” His plan of conciliation, he declared, was founded on the sure and solid basis of experience, and he asserted that neither the chimeras of imagination, nor abstract ideas of right, nor mere general theories of government, ought to receive any attention. He then entered into a copious display and elucidation of his subject. He dwelt on the spirit of freedom existing in America, asserting that their extreme notions of liberty arose from the peculiar religious spirit which existed in the colonies, which he termed a refinement on the principles of resistance, and which was carried with them on their first emigration from England. Law, also, he said, had fostered this high spirit of liberty, since the study of it was more universal in America than in any other country in the world, and since that study made them acute, inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defence, and full of resources. Burke next dwelt on the enlarged population of America, and the increased importance of her commerce, both in exports and imports, and animated by this view of their great and growing prosperity, he exclaimed in a lofty tone of eloquence:—“While we follow them into the north amongst mountains of ice, while we behold them penetrating the deepest recesses of Hudson’s Bay, while we are looking for them beneath the Arctic circle, thay have pervaded the antipodes, and engaged under the frozen serpent of the south: nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them, than the accumulated winter of the poles; while some of them strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others pursue their gigantic toils on the shores of the Brazils. There is no climate that is not a witness of their labours. When I contemplate these things; when I know they owe little or nothing to any care of ours, but that they have arrived at this perfection through a wise and salutary neglect; I feel the pride of power and the presumption of wisdom die away within me; and I pardon everything to their spirit of liberty.” The love of freedom, Burke contended, was the predominant feature in the cause of the Americans, and he pointed out two other causes which tended to increase its growth beyond those above-mentioned. One of these causes may seem parodoxical: it was that black slavery prevailed in the colonies! The possession of slaves, he said, was more than a counterpoise to the prevalence of the established church in some of the provinces, and he established his argument thus:—“I can perceive, by their manner, that some gentlemen object to the latitude of my description, because in the southern colonies the church of England forms a large body, and has a regular establishment. It is certainly true. There is, however, a circumstance attending these southern colonies, which, in my opinion, fully counterbalances this difference, and makes the spirit of liberty still more high and haughty than in those to the northward. It is that in Virginia, and the Carolinas they have a vast multitude of slaves! Where this is the case, in any part of the world, those who are free, are by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom. Not seeing there that freedom, as in countries where it is a common blessing, and as broad and general as the air, may be united with much abject toil, with great misery, with all the exterior of servitude, liberty looks amongst them like something that is more noble and liberal. I do not mean to commend the superior morality of this sentiment, which has at least as much pride as virtue in it; but I cannot alter the nature of man. The fact is so; and these people of the southern colonies are much, more strongly, and with a higher and more stubborn, spirit, attached to liberty than those to the northward.” Burke’s reasoning was unhappily sound. All the great nations of antiquity who fought with blood-stained swords, and with indomitable ardour for their own liberties, were great slave owners; eating the bread which was grown by the sweat of other men’s brows. This fact, however, redounds to the everlasting shame of the Americans, and the black stain on their annals is not yet wiped out: nay, it grows blacker and blacker as the period of their history rolls onward. Slavery is the plague-spot of that boasted land of liberty! The last cause of their thirst for freedom mentioned by Burke, was their distance from the seat of government. He remarked:—“Three thousand miles of ocean lie between you and your subjects! This is a powerful principle in the natural constitution of things for weakening government, which no contrivance can prevent. Seas roll, and months pass, between the order and the execution; and the want of a speedy explanation of a single point is enough to defeat a whole system. You have, indeed, winged ministers of vengeance, who carry your bolts to the remotest verges of the sea. But there a power stops, that limits the arrogance of raging passions, and says, ‘Hitherto shalt thou go, and no further.’ Who are you, that should fret, and rage, and bite the chains of nature? Nothing worse happens to you than to all nations possessing extensive empire; and it happens in all the forms into which empire can be thrown. In large bodies the circulation of power must be less vigorous at the extremities. Nature has said it. The Turk cannot govern Egypt, as he governs Thrace; nor has he the same dominion in Crimea and Algiers, which he has at Brusa and Smyrna. Despotism itself is obliged to truck and huckster. The sultan gets such obedience as he can. He governs with a loose reign, that he may govern at all; and the whole of the force and vigour of his authority in his centre is derived from a prudent relaxation in all his borders. Spain in her provinces submits to this immutable condition, the eternal law of extensive and detached empire.” Still Burke did not conceive the idea of proclaiming the independence of America. On the contrary, like Chatham, he contended for the general supremacy of parliament, and the rights of the crown, expressing at the same time his conviction that we had arrived at the decisive moment of preserving or of losing both our trade and empire. How to preserve it was the question, and he proposed that it should be done by concession and conciliation,—and not by force. The plan he proposed, therefore, to obtain this consummation was, to allow all the claims the Americans had set forth in their petitions and declarations, and by undoing all that the parliament had done respecting America, since the year 1765. His resolutions were briefly these:—That the colonies not being represented in parliament, could in no way be taxed by parliament; that the said colonies had been made liable to several subsidies, payments, rates and taxes, given and granted by parliament, etc.; that from the distance of the colonies, with other circumstances, no means had ever been devised for procuring for them a representation in parliament; that the colonies had each a general assembly that ought to tax and assess them; that these assemblies had often spontaneously granted the crown subsidies, etc.; that experience had shown that such grants made by the assemblies were more beneficial and conducive to the public service, than the mode of giving and granting aids and subsidies in parliament to be paid in the colonies: that the act for granting certain duties in the colonies, for allowing a drawback upon the exportation from this kingdom of coffee and cocoa-nuts of the produce of the said colonies, etc. should be repealed; that the bill for altering the course of trials in Massachusets Bay should be repealed; that the Boston Port Bill should be repealed; that the bill for altering the constitution of Massachusets Bay should be repealed; that the act of King Henry VIII., in regard to the trial of treasons committed out of the king’s dominions, should be amended; that the new regulations for appointing and paying the judges should be altered so as to meet the views of the colonists; and that the American courts of admiralty or vice-admiralty should be regulated in such, a manner as to make them more commodious to those who sued or were sued in them, and to provide for the more decent maintenance of the judges presiding in those courts. These propositions were vigorously combated by the ministers, and rejected by the house; and five days afterwards a scheme closely resembling Lord Chatham’s, proposed by Mr. Hartley, shared the same fate. Burke appealed to the public by printing his speech, but though it was read and admired, it was soon forgotten. On the other hand a defence of American taxation, published by his friend Dr. Johnson, in which he defended colonial subordination on the principles of the law of nations, and maintained that the colonists, by their situation, became possessed of such advantages as were more than equivalent to their right of voting for representatives in parliament, etc., had a great effect on the public mind, which was pre-disposed to admit his arguments. The voice of the nation was, in fact, in favour of the measures pursued by Lord North and his coadjutors in the ministry.

CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

Towards the close of the session Lord North moved an additional clause in the second restraining bill, to include in it the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, which was carried without a division. Burke, as agent for the colony of New York, presented a remonstrance from the general assembly of that province, but though Lord North admitted that the people of that colony had hitherto been peaceably inclined, he opposed the bringing up of the paper, upon the ground that parliament could not hear anything which called in question its right to legislate for the colonies, and it was refused. In both houses attempts were made to procure a repeal of the act for settling the government of Canada, but without effect. The remainder of the session was occupied in considering the annual motion of Alderman Sawbridge for shortening the duration of parliaments; in appointing a committee on the motion of Mr. Gilbert, to consider the poor laws; in voting the purchase of Buckingham-house for the queen, in lieu of Somerset-house, which was converted into public offices; and in settling financial measures. His majesty prorogued parliament on the 26th of May, after expressing his satisfaction at the course which had been pursued, and auguring the happiest results from the measures which had been adopted.

PETITION OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

At this period, the livery of London attempted to turn the royal counsels respecting America, by an address containing a remonstrance, in which the citizens of London declared their abhorrence of the measures which had been pursued for the oppression of their fellow-subjects in the colonies, and which they affirmed were carried into execution by the same fatal corruption which had enabled his majesty’s ministers to wound the peace and violate the constitution of this country. The petitioners prayed his majesty, therefore, to dismiss his advisers on the instant, as the first step towards a redress of grievances which alarmed and afflicted his people. This petition was presented by Mr. Wilkes, as lord mayor; a circumstance which doubtless embittered his majesty’s feelings in reply. This reply was explicit and emphatic. His majesty remarked:—“It is with the utmost astonishment that I find any of my subjects capable of encouraging the rebellious disposition which unhappily exists in some of my colonies in North America. Having entire confidence in my parliament, the great council of the nation, I will steadily pursue those measures which they have recommended, for the support of the constitutional rights of Great Britain, and the protection of the commercial interests of my kingdom.” Wilkes was prevented from making a reply by a hint from the lord in waiting, and the king directed a notice to be issued a few days after, that the king would not receive any address from the city except in its corporate capacity. This address had, indeed, been got up by a minority of the livery: the majority were in favour of the measures adopted.

DEPARTURE OF FRANKLIN.

During the month of April, while parliament was deliberating on the course to be pursued in the colonies, Dr. Franklin suddenly left England. Before he left he put in his protest against the measures adopted by the ministry and the British parliament, into the hands of Lord Dartmouth. On the evening before his departure, he had, also, a long interview with Burke, in which he expressed regret for the calamities which he anticipated as the consequence of ministerial resolutions, and again professed his attachment to the mother country, under whose rule America had enjoyed so many happy days. Yet there can be no question but that Franklin’s principal motive for leaving England was to widen the breach which existed between her and the colonies, and to aid them in the struggle for independence.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICANS.

In the mean time military preparations had been continued in America. Inflamed by publications and harangues on every side, the Americans had been active in preparing for the approaching contest. No thought of concession or conciliation was entertained: provincial and private meetings all breathed the language of defiance to the mother country, and threatened resistance to taxation, external or internal, as well as to every other act of coercion. A great impetus was given to the popular movement by the resolutions of congress. A few assemblies there were, indeed, as that of New York, who at first refused to admit these resolutions, but they were soon induced to join the confederation. Every province prepared its levies and its cannon and its military stores for the deadly strife. And at length that strife commenced. While the houses of parliament in England were yet echoing with the oratory of its empassioned members, the hillsides of America were reverberating with peals of musketry. The banner of revolt was first unfolded in the province where the spirit of resistance first showed itself—that of Massachusets Bay. The aversion which General Gage had shown to the adoption of violent measures and the forbearance of the troops had rather tended to increase than to allay hostile feelings in that province, and at length the proceedings of the people became so alarming, that the general was compelled to adopt measures to put it out of their power to effect mischief.

EXPEDITION TO SEIZE STORES AT SALEM.

Having received intelligence that a _depôt_ of arms had been collected at Salem, on the 26th of February, General Gage ordered a small detachment of troops thither for the purpose of securing it. It was on the Sabbath when this order was given, and the detachment proceeded by water to Marble Head, whence they marched to Salem. Before they could arrive at the town, however, the artillery was removed into the country. On discovering this, the field-officer in command of the detachment, hoping to overtake it, marched on, up the country, till he was stopped by a river. There was a drawbridge over this river, but upon his approach it was hauled up by a number of people on the opposite bank. The officer desired them to let this bridge down, which was refused, and perceiving a boat in the river he was about to make use of it for transporting his troops across the river. Seeing this, some country people who were nearer to it, jumped into the boat, and began to cut holes in her bottom with axes. A scuffle ensued between them and some soldiers, which would have ended in loss of life, had not a clergyman judiciously interposed to prevent such a catastrophe. By his interference the Americans were induced to let down the drawbridge, and the officer and his men then passed over. The day, however, was now far spent, and the artillery had been carried too great a distance for him to overtake it, and the officer deemed it expedient to march his men back to Marble Head, whence they re-embarked for Boston-neck. They were not molested on their retreat, but the country people considered this as a triumph and victory over them, and it materially assisted in raising the courage of the colonists.

AFFAIR AT LEXINGTON, ETC.

The next attempt to seize the military stores of the Americans, was attended with more serious consequences. Having heard that a quantity was deposited at the town of Concord, about eighteen miles from Boston, in the night between the 18th and 19th of April, General Gage detached the grenadiers and light infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, to seize them. The detachment was embarked in boats and conveyed up Charles River to Phipp’s Farm, where they landed, and proceeded in silence and haste towards Concord. But although this was done in the dead of the night, the New Englanders were not asleep. The detachment had not marched many miles when their ears were saluted with the firing of guns and the ringing of bells, the signals for alarm. When they arrived at Lexington they perceived the militia drawn up on a green on the high road, and Major Pitcairn riding up commanded them as rebels to lay down their arms and disperse. The latter part of this order was obeyed, but as the Americans were retiring several guns were fired upon the king’s troops from behind a wall, and from some adjoining houses. One man was wounded, and Major Pitcairn’s horse was shot in two places. Orders were now given to fire, and eight men were killed and many others wounded. By this time the grenadiers had joined the light infantry, and both proceeded together towards Concord. As they drew near a large body of American militia was seen drawn up under arms on a gentle eminence, and the light infantry was sent to disperse them. In this they succeeded, and they kept them in check until the grenadiers had accomplished the object of their expedition. After this they commenced their march back to Boston; but their backs were scarcely turned when a loud shout was heard that the “lobsters” were afraid of them. The militia had, by this time, been reinforced from the country behind, and militiamen, minute-men, and volunteers of every description, were pouring in from all quarters, to post themselves behind trees and walls, and in houses, near which the troops were to pass. Presently the work of slaughter commenced: an incessant though irregular fire began in front and on both flanks, and the main body of the militia fired upon them from the rear. And what made the attack more discouraging was, that the most destructive fire proceeded from men whom they could not reach, and whose presence was only known by the smoke and effects of their rifles. This continued through all their route back to Lexington, and had not General Gage had the forethought of sending a second detachment to sustain the first, there can be but little doubt that the whole body would have been annihilated. This second detachment met the first at Lexington, and Lord Percy, who was at the head of it, having formed his troops into a hollow square, enclosed the pursued—who were driven before the Americans like a flock of sheep, and gave them time for rest. When they were somewhat refreshed, Lord Percy slowly moved the whole body towards Boston. But even now they were not wholly freed from danger. The militia, who had been treading on their rear, were no longer seen, but every house, every wall, and every tree the troops had to pass, sent forth upon them bullets and rifle shots; the Americans taking care not to expose their own persons to danger. When they reached Boston they had left behind them sixty killed, and forty-nine missing, in addition to which they had one hundred and thirty-six wounded. The provincials had about fifty killed, and thirty-eight wounded; but their loss was more than compensated by the encouragement which this affair tended to give the Americans in general. Elated with the result, they termed it “the glorious victory of Lexington;” and they talked of nothing less than driving the king’s troops from Boston, and restoring the liberty and trade of that town. Instead of an immediate assault, however, they formed themselves into a blockade. Twenty thousand men, under the command of Colonels Ward, Pribble, Heath, Prescot, and Thomas, officers who had served in the provincial regiments during the last war, put themselves in cantonment, and formed a line nearly twenty miles in extent, with their left leaning on the river Mystic, and their right on the town of Roxburghe, thus enclosing Boston in the centre. Their head-quarters were fixed at Cambridge, and they were soon joined by a strong detachment of troops from Connecticut, under the command of General Putnam, who, as soon as he heard of the battle of Lexington, like another Cincinnatus, left his plough in the middle of the field, in order to fight the battles of his country. Putnam took up such a position with his detachment as to be able to support any part of the line that might be attacked; but General Gage remained perfectly inactive, neither attacking this line, which he might probably have done with effect, as it was without any military consistency, nor erecting any outworks to prevent any sudden advance upon Boston-neck.

MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLIES AND OF GENERAL CONGRESS.

While the Americans were thus in hostile array, the provincial congress of Massachusets adjourned from Concord to Water Town, about ten miles from Boston. It was resolved by this congress that an army of 30,000 men should be raised and established, whereof 13,600 should be of the province of Massachusets Bay. It was further resolved that a letter and delegates should be sent to the several colonies of Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, for further assistance and co-operation. Despatches were also sent to Franklin, in England, containing an account of the Lexington battle, and enclosing an address to the people of Great Britain, complaining of the conduct of the troops, professing great loyalty, but appealing to Heaven for the justice of their cause, and declaring their determination to die rather than sacrifice their liberty. At the same time the provincial congress made great exertions to clothe and pay the besieging army, voting a large sum in paper currency, for the redemption of which the faith of the whole province was pledged. They also formally declared that General Gage, by the late transactions, had utterly disqualified himself from acting as governor, or in any other capacity, and that no obedience was due to him, but that he ought to be considered an inveterate enemy. A similar spirit was exhibited in other provinces. At New York military associations were formed, and a provincial congress called; in Jersey the populace took possession of the treasury; and in Philadelphia, the very Quakers renounced their principles of peace, and took up arms as volunteers, under the pretence of self-defence. It was in this state of affairs that Lord North’s conciliatory propositions arrived. These were read first in the assembly of Pennsylvania by governor Penn, who expressed an anxious wish that all due consideration should be given them, and that, if possible, they might become instruments of restoring tranquillity to the country. It was determined by the assembly of Pennsylvania, however, that the union of the colonies to which they were pledged should not be deserted. Similar results followed the reading of them in other provincial assemblies, and all concurred in referring them to the general congress, which was in itself a rejection, since its legality would never be acknowledged by the British parliament.

The general congress met on the 10th of May. Its first acts were to frame resolutions for organising an army, and the emission of a paper currency, guaranteed by the united colonies; to stop all exportation of provisions to the British fisheries, and to every colony or island subject to the British government; to resolve, that by violation of their charter, the people of Massachusets Bay were absolved from allegiance to the crown, and might lawfully establish a new government; and to prohibit the negociations of bills of exchange or any orders issued by the officers of army and navy-agents, or contractors. They also established a general post-office under the superintendence of Dr. Franklin, who arrived soon after the meeting of congress, and who greatly helped forward the march of revolution. The congress, though still delaying their proclamation of absolute independence, pursued a course after the arrival of Franklin which no longer left their intentions doubtful to any man, by forming the plan of a confederation and perpetual union, the chief articles of which fully showed that such was their aim. After drawing up this plan the congress attended to the army, and they fixed upon Colonel George Washington to be their commander-in-chief. A committee was next appointed to prepare a declaration of the causes that induced them to take up arms against their mother country. After the adoption of this declaration, in which it was said “that they had counted the cost of the contest, and found nothing so dreadful as slavery,” Jefferson was placed on a committee with Dr. Franklin and others, to consider and report on Lord North’s pacificatory resolutions, which was denounced in the same spirit as it had been scouted previously by the provincial assemblies. Two days after this, and in the month of July, congress prepared a second address to the people of Great Britain, in which they vindicated themselves from the charge of aiming at independence—professed their willingness to submit to the acts of trade and navigation passed before 1763—recapitulated their reasons for rejecting Lord North’s proposals, and intimated the hazard the people of England would run of losing their own liberty if America should be overcome. Yet though this address breathed defiance to government, on the very same day another petition was drawn up to the king, which was more moderate than that of the preceding year, and even approached him in a supplicating tone. Addresses were also got up to the inhabitants of Canada, Jamaica, and Ireland, and finally to the lord mayor and livery of the city of London. It is difficult to reconcile the sentiments contained in these declarations, petitions, and addresses. While some passages breathed the spirit of bold and uncompromising defiance, others expressed loyalty of the most ardent nature to his majesty, and unalterable attachment to the mother country. The spirit by which congress was actuated is, however, clearly defined by their proceedings, and by the character of the men who composed it. There was one gentle Dickinson among the number, who still hoped for a reconciliation with Great Britain, but the majority of its members were akin in spirit to the fiery Jefferson, whose turbulency often showed itself during their deliberations. There was, however, no room to doubt as to the determination of the Americans to assert their independence, for, while this congress was sitting, events had occurred which proclaimed that determination to all the world in language which could not be misunderstood. Blood had again stained the soil of America.

BATTLE OF BUNKER’S HILL.

Towards the end of May 10,000 fresh troops arrived from Britain, under the command of Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton. As the gauntlet had been thrown down by America, and war had been resolved upon by the English, it might have been expected that active operations would have been commenced forthwith. Such was not the case. An English soldier remarked:—“We were kept on the Neck twisting our tails and powdering our heads, while the Yankees were gathering in our front and in our flanks like clouds.” It seems to be generally acknowledged that this inactivity was fatal to the cause of the British arms in America, and that if General Gage had employed the troops, so soon as he received such valuable reinforcements, he might have scattered the militiamen and raw troops which hemmed him in, like chaff before the wind. Instead of that, time was given them to increase their force,—to perfect themselves in military evolutions,—to give consistency to their loose lines, and to render the blockade more effective. At length, however, this dreamy inactivity was broken. On the 8th of June, grown bold by impunity, the provincial congress of Massachusets Bay resolved that the compact between the crown of Great Britain and that colony was dissolved by the violation of their charter; and they recommended the people to establish a new and independent government. Four days after this General Gage, still hoping to restore tranquillity without proceeding to extremities, issued a proclamation, offering a full pardon in the king’s name to all who would forthwith lay down their arms, excepting only Samuel Adams and John Hancock, whose offences were described as “being too flagitious to admit of any other consideration than that of condign punishment.” The proclamation declared that all those who should not accept the proffered mercy, or who should protect, assist, supply, conceal, or correspond with such, were to be treated as rebels and traitors. It also imported that as a stop was put to the due course of justice, martial law should be established till tranquillity was restored. This proclamation was considered by the Americans a prelude to hostilities, and preparations were made by them for a final contest with their mother country. And strange to relate they were still allowed to act on the offensive. On the night of the 16th of June a strong detachment of the blockading army passed unchallenged and unobserved over Charlestown-neck, and occupied Bunker’s Hill, which was situate at the entrance of the peninsula on which that town stood, and overlooked every part of Boston. In the morning General Gage saw this important and formidable height, which he had entertained some thoughts of occupying himself, covered with works which seemed to have risen as it were by magic, and with troops that were beginning to fire on Boston-neck and the shipping. The general now awoke from his slumbers. A battery of six guns was opened upon the Americans from Copp’s-hill in Boston, and about the hour of noon a detachment from the English army was carried across Charles River, which is about the breadth of the Thames in London, and landed upon the peninsula of Charlestown. This detachment was under the command of General Howe and Brigadier Pigott, who had orders, at all risks, to drive the provincials from their works, and to occupy the hill. The troops marched slowly, formed in two lines, but, on approaching Bunker’s Hill, Howe perceived that the works were of more importance than had been imagined, and that fresh columns of Americans were arriving every minute, and he therefore halted, and sent to Gage for a reinforcement. New troops were sent, and the whole, amounting to more than two thousand men, proceeded to the attack. In doing so Howe seems to have adopted the very worst mode which could have ben devised for attacking the provincials. Instead of leading the troops in the rear of the intrenchment, where there was no cannon to bear upon them, he led them up the hill right in front, where the American artillery was placed full in their faces. This was a most disastrous step. The troops were formed in two lines, with the light infantry on the right wing, led by Howe, and the grenadiers on the left, led by Pigott. In their front were a few small field-pieces and howitzers, which began to fire at intervals, during which the troops halted. In advancing the left wing was fired on from some houses in Charlestown, and in the conflict which ensued that town was set on fire and was soon burnt to the ground. The whole detachment now moved up the hill, and the Americans, secure behind their entrenchments reserved their fire till the British troops were almost close to the muzzle of their guns. They then opened a terrible discharge of cannon and musketry, and their volleys were so rapid and skilfully directed that the British troops recoiled, and many fled to the boats which had conveyed them, over the river. At this moment General Clinton crossed Charles River with a number of resolute officers, and having succeeded in rallying the fugitives he made them re-ascend the hill, and join in a general charge made on the Americans, with fixed bayonets. This time they succeeded. The provincials were driven from their works, and they ran for their lives down the hill in their rear. The troops took possession of Bunker’s Hill, but it was purchased at a great cost: 1050, including eighty-nine commissioned officers, being either killed or wounded, while the Americans scarcely suffered a third part of that loss.

{GEORGE III. 1775–1776}

GENERAL WASHINGTON.

General Washington was great-grandson to John Washington, a gentleman of respectable family, who had emigrated from England about the middle of the preceding century, and had settled at Potomac, in Westmoreland county, in the colony of Virginia. At this place the general was born, and after receiving a plain education, he learned something of the business of land-surveying, and was in the eighteenth year of his age appointed surveyor of the western part of the territory of Virginia, by Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of that country. After this, however, he embraced the profession of arms, and distinguished himself in the Canadian war, and especially on the day of Braddock’s defeat, when, at the head of the provincial militia, he covered the retreat of the British troops, and saved them from destruction. Subsequently, when the French were driven from Canada and the war was over, Washington quitted the army, and began his political life as a member of the general assembly, to which honour his valour had been the chief instrument of raising him. Shortly after his retirement he married a young lady, who brought him a large fortune, and for sixteen years his attention was principally divided between the management of his estates and his duties as a member of the provincial legislature. When the quarrel first commenced between America and the mother country he took no decided part, and when it became serious, he was one of those who still hoped to preserve the ties of allegiance which bound the colonies to the parent state unbroken. When the rupture became inevitable, however—when the sword had been drawn and blood had been shed, Washington stood forward as the champion of independence. Perhaps he was the more induced to take this step from an innate love of rank and power. He had joined the first congress at Philadelphia, and his high character and the conspicuous part he had borne in the Canadian war, caused him then to be appointed on all committees where military knowledge was requisite. Doubtless he foresaw that should matters be brought to extremities he would be called upon to take a prominent part in the strife. And in this view he was not mistaken. As before related, at the second general congress, when it was necessary to select a commander, he was unanimously chosen by his colleagues to the high office. It is said that he accepted the command with great diffidence, and it is certain that he did so in the spirit of a true patriot, for he declined all compensation beyond his actual expenses.

The choice which congress made of a commander was favourable to the cause of American independence. At this time Washington was in the prime and vigour of life, and his fame and deportment were such that he could command reverence even from the most fanatical part of the American troops, who were disposed to own no other leader except “the Lord of Hosts.” His bravery was proverbial, and his after operations sustained his fame. It was immediately after the battle of Bunker’s Hill that he was appointed commander-in-chief, and when he arrived at head-quarters in Cambridge, he found the blockading army considerably discouraged by the defeat sustained, and otherwise in no very satisfactory condition. Much had been done, but still more remained to be done. Complaining of his numerous deficiences, he thus wrote to congress:—“We have no store of ammunition, no tools for intrenching, no engineers to direct the construction of military works; we have no money, and want clothing: there is a total laxity of discipline; and the majority is not to be depended on in another action.” If the English had, at this time, made a general assault, the Americans must inevitably have been driven from all their positions, and the war would soon have been over. After the battle of Bunker’s Hill, however, the same listless inactivity prevailed as before, as though the capture of that hill was a full and final triumph. Thus favoured, Washington set about remedying his defects in good earnest. During the summer and autumn, he was occupied in organising his troops, collecting his military stores, and concentrating his forces. Perceiving that it would be madness to attempt an assault on the positions of the British troops, as some advised, he directed the formation of entrenchments and works to defend his own from attack. In order to give consistency to his lines he contracted them: the centre, including the reserve, and under his own command, being at Cambridge; the right wing, commanded by General Ward, resting on Roxburghe; and the left, under General Lee, near the Mystic river. The British troops were thus completely blockaded by land, and cruisers being fitted out by congress for the purpose of intercepting military stores and supplies destined for the British forces, considerable distress soon began to prevail among them; yet nothing was done to rescue them from their perilous situation. During the rest of the year the bands played “God save the King,” and the Americans, as if in the spirit of mockery, responded to the national anthem, by playing “Yankee Doodle.” In the midst of this inactivity, on the 10th of October, General Gage was recalled, and the command of the British troops devolved on General Howe.

{GEORGE III. 1775—1776.}

EXPEDITIONS AGAINST TICONDEROGA AND CROWN POINT, ETC.

Early in this year a party of Connecticut gentlemen, having procured a loan of money, concocted a scheme for surprising the important post of Ticonderoga, which was situate on a promontory near the junction of lakes George and Champlain, and the key of communication between New York and Canada. A few men were raised, which chiefly consisted of a hardy race called Green Mountain Boys, and Ethan Allen, a Presbyterian volunteer, was placed at their head. This force was unexpectedly joined by Colonel Arnold, who after the battle of Lexington had received a commission for the same purpose from the provincial congress of Massachusets Bay. Arnold agreed to act under Allen, and they proceeded together towards Ticonderoga. Captain Le Place, who commanded at this fort, was a friend of Ethan Allens, and taking advantage of this circumstance, Allen left his men in a wood hard by, and went to the captain, and induced him to lend twenty of his soldiers for the pretended purpose of assisting him in transporting some goods across the lake. Allen having obtained his request, next made the soldiers drunk, and then on the approach of night he drew his people from the woods, and hastened to the fort. There were yet about forty soldiers with the captain, but expecting no mischief there was not a single sentry on duty, and the followers of Allen rushed into the place undetected, and bade the soldiers lay down their arms. The captain asked by what authority they required him to surrender the king’s fort, to which Ethan Allen replied, like a Puritan of old times, “I demand it in the name of the Great Jehovah, and of the congress.” There was no alternative, and the captain responded to the demand: the place was captured with all its store of ammunition and provisions. Ethan Allen next turned his attention to the fort of Crown Point, which was reduced without any difficulty, as there were neither found guard nor garrison therein. Allen also surprised Skenesborough, a place occupied by Major Skene, with his son and a few negroes, who were all made prisoners. Intelligence of these events soon reached, congress; but though they rejoiced at the spirit of enterprise displayed by Allen and his men, they still feared that they might be charged with aggression at a time when they were expressing a desire of accommodation; and under these circumstances they recommended the committees of New York and Albany to remove the stores to the south of Lake George, in order that they might be restored when the breach was healed between Great Britain and her colonies.

EXPEDITION AGAINST CANADA.

On the return of Allen from this enterprise, Colonel Arnold consented to remain in garrison. Arnold, however, was not of a temperament to remain inactive. Seeing a small sloop of war lying at anchor, at St. John’s, at the north end of Lake Champlain, and feeling the importance of the possession of this vessel, which was the only armed vessel the English government then had in that water, he armed a little schooner, put some of the guns he had captured upon large flat-bottomed boats, embarked his men, and surprised and captured the sloop. Having begun his career with such success, Arnold projected more extensive operations. In the month of June he urged on congress the advantages of an expedition to Canada, and offered with 2000 men to reduce the whole province. His recommendations were adopted: 3000 men were sent, under the command of General Schuyler and Montgomery, to Crown Point and Lake Champlain.

This force embarked in flat-bottomed boats to cross the lake and descend the river Sorel, but when they landed they were attacked by a strong body of Indians, who obliged them to steer their way back and return to the Isle Aux Noix. Here Schuyler fell sick, and the command then devolved on Montgomery, a man full of courage and enterprise, and whom the Americans compare to Wolfe.

On the arrival of this invading force, General Carleton, governor of Canada, had only two regiments of about four hundred men each, at his disposal. These he ordered to Fort St. John, about twelve miles in advance of Montreal, where they were augmented by a few officers sent by General Gage. These officers arrived in July, and about the same time Colonel Johnstone arrived at the same place with seven hundred Indians of the Five Nations, all skilful in the use of the musket as well as the tomahawk. These Indians were ancient enemies to the frontier Americans, and they proposed an immediate attack on Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Carleton, however, thought proper not only to reject their offer, but to refuse their services in any shape. This was a sad oversight. Foregoing their enmity to the Americans, these seven hundred Indian warriors joined Montgomery, and he immediately resolved to lay siege to Fort St. John, the only place that covered Montreal. At the same time, Ethan Allen, who had now returned to the scene of action, conceived that he could take Montreal by a _coup de main_ in an easier direction. He attempted this with a hundred and fifty men in the dead of the night, but the adventurous Presbyterian was not only defeated, but captured, and put in irons as a felon and a traitor. In the mean time Montgomery had detached three hundred men with two six-pounders to reduce Fort Chamblée, situate on the tributary river Sorel, about five miles above Fort St. John. His principal object in advancing against this fort was to obtain sufficient ammunition wherewith to reduce that of St. John, and he succeeded to his utmost wishes. The fort was reduced, and Montgomery found plenty of ball, powder, cartridges, and arms in it, and he then pressed the siege of St. John’s with great vigour. The garrison offered a brave resistance, but it was all in vain: the fort was surrendered, and Montgomery dashed across the river and entered Montreal without opposition. As this town carried on an extensive trade, the American troops obtained a good supply of proper clothing, after which their commander, having secured the goodwill of the inhabitants by his liberal treatment of them, resolved to advance upon Quebec, the capital of the province. He carried out his resolution, although his volunteers, anxious to get back to their firesides, quitted his ranks by hundreds, and he had to leave a garrison in Montreal, so that when he put his men in marching order his force did not exceed four hundred men. But Montgomery hoped to meet Arnold under the walls of Quebec, and nothing daunted by the desertion of his soldiers, and the smallness of his force, he began to descend the St. Lawrence.

In the meantime Arnold had been entrusted with the execution of a daring plan of his own forming. At the head of 1200 men, consisting chiefly of New Englanders, he traversed the inhospitable deserts of the northern states into Canada; deserts which had never previously been trodden by the foot of a white man. Owing to the obstacles he encountered in his dreary journey, he did not reach the first Canadian settlements on the river Chaudière, which flows into the St. Lawrence, until the 3rd of November. On arriving there his troops were famished, having been long subjected to hunger, and reduced even to the necessity of eating the leather of their shoes. The first step of Arnold was, therefore, to divide them into separate companies, each of which ran off as fast as it could to obtain food, shelter, and rest in the vicinity of the mouth of the Chaudière. Arnold himself rested for two or three days at a small village, in order to circulate the manifestoes he had brought with him, and to allow his rear and stragglers to arrive. Having rested a few days, on the 9th of November Arnold reached Point Levi, on the right bank of the St. Lawrence, and immediately opposite to the town of Quebec. It has been conjectured that if he could have crossed the river at once, Quebec would have been captured. The wind, however, was so strong at the time of his approach, that he could not venture, and this gave time to Colonel Maclean and his Highlanders, who had been falling back from Fort Chamblée, taken by Montgomery, to get into the menaced city. On the 14th, the wind having, abated, Arnold crossed the St. Lawrence and landed in safety. On reaching Quebec he formed his men on the Heights of Abraham. But they were ill provided for maintaining a siege, having no artillery, and therefore Arnold proposed nothing more than to cut off supplies from the garrison till the arrival of Montgomery. For this purpose he descended from the Heights of Abraham and retired to Point Aux Trembles, twenty miles above Quebec. At this place he was very near taking General Carleton and his staff prisoners, for they had only quitted that place a few hours before his arrival. Carleton, however, escaped, and arrived in safety at Quebec, where he instantly set about making every preparation for its defence. Soon after the two American corps joined, and they marched together to lay immediate seige to Quebec. Montgomery had brought a little artillery with him, and about the 20th of December they opened a six-gun battery within seven hundred yards of the walls. Their artillery, however, was too light to effect a breach, and they were all, moreover, soon dismounted by the town-guns, fired by some seamen under the direction of Colonel Maclean. The American commanders now removed their guns to a safer distance, still continuing their ineffectual fire, with the hope of amusing the garrison, and concealing their design of making an assault in another direction. They now, in fact, were contemplating a desperate enterprise, and one to which it was a long time before they could obtain the consent of the officers and men. It was not, indeed, till the New Englanders were promised the privilege of plundering the town, that they would accede to the wishes of their commanders. But this golden bait was swallowed, and the men promised to do all that was wished. Accordingly, on the last day of this year, between four and five o’clock in the morning, and in the midst of a violent storm of wind and snow, it was determined to storm the place. The force was divided into four small columns for this purpose: two of which, under Majors Livingston and Brown, were to make feigned attacks upon the upper town, while the other two, led by Montgomery and Arnold, were to make real attacks on opposite sides of the lower town, where all the wealth of Quebec was deposited. Montgomery had succeeded in passing the first barrier, that of the block-house, and had reached the Pot-ash battery, which he was on the point of attacking, when he was shot dead, with Captain Macpherson, his aide-de-camp, and several other officers, with a well-charged gun from that battery. The rest of the column which he led instantly fell back, and in the mean time Arnold himself had been severely wounded. He was passing through the narrow street of the Faubourg St. Roque towards the Saut de Matelot, where there was a strong barrier with a battery of two twelve-pounders, one of which on his approach was fired, and shattered his leg in so fearful a manner that he was carried off the field to the rear in anguish. One Morgan now led the column, and he rushed forward and took this battery, and then pushed rapidly to another about forty paces distant. But here he was foiled. Guns loaded with-grape shot met him and his men in the teeth, while a fire of musketry was opened on both their flanks, so that they were compelled to retreat into some stone houses in the suburb of St. Roque. The attempt signally failed. In the end Morgan and his followers, to the number of 340 men, surrendered themselves prisoners of war, and nearly one hundred were slain. The rest still continued to blockade the city, encamping in the best manner they could behind the Heights of Abraham, and being still commanded by Arnold. They maintained their position for four long wintry months, and reduced the city to great distress, but they were finally compelled to give up the enterprise.

DISPOSITION AND REVOLT OF THE VIRGINIANS.

In the great southern state of Virginia Lord Dunmore, the governor, made a bold stand in support of the authority of the mother country. Knowing that it was about to be used against him, he seized all the gunpowder in the magazine at Williamsburgh, and put it on board a schooner then lying in James’s River. This, however, involved him in a quarrel with the corporation of that town, who demanded the powder back again. This was refused, and Patrick Henry, the orator, encouraged by the news of the victory at Lexington, excited some young Virginians to fly to arms, and placing himself at the head of them, set out on his march to recover the powder by force. He was prevented from making the attempt by some of the delegates to the general congress, who advised him to be satisfied with a sum of money offered in lieu of it by the king’s receiver-general. A few days after, however, Lord Dunmore was compelled to deliver up all the arms and powder that had been left on shore, and to take refuge with his family in the Fowey man-of-war then lying at York. At the same time, government-house was fortified and surrounded with artillery. A series of irritating messages and letters then passed between his lordship and the burgesses; the former declaring that his life was not safe among them, and the latter asserting that he had nothing to fear. Lord Dunmore, however, felt that he had cause for fear, and he resolved to defy the provincials. Having divested himself of all authority, he collected a small naval force, and carried on a sort of predatory warfare against the province. Previous to his taking refuge in the Fowey man-of-war he had stung the Virginians to the quick, by declaring that since they were so eager to abolish a fancied slavery, in a dependence on Great Britain, he would one day try how they liked an abolition of real slavery, by giving freedom to all their negroes and indentured servants, who were little better than white slaves. This plan he endeavoured also to put into operation. Having established his head-quarters at Norfolk, he proclaimed freedom to all slaves who would repair to his standard, and fight for the king. Most of the negroes who had the opportunity of escaping from their masters repaired to his standard; and if he could have opened a road to the slaves in the interior of the province, his measures would doubtless have been fatal to the planters. The Virginians, however, were on the alert, and they sent a force against him which compelled him to retire on-board again for safety. The Virginians then took possession of the town of Norfolk, but Lord Dunmore, incensed at their conduct, set fire to the wharfs, and the flames spreading, the whole town was soon reduced to ashes, and property was consumed to the value of £300,000. This was an unfortunate occurrence, for it totally alienated the Virginians from the British government. Lord Dunmore lingered in the river, or on the coast, till the following summer, when, unable any longer to obtain provisions, he joined the English army under Lord Howe. The cause for his lingering thus long in the river appears to have been the hope he entertained of being able to restore the affairs of government in the province. He had some reasons for entertaining such a hope, for there were many Virginians averse to the revolution or to its leaders, and who anxiously desired that the cause of government might prevail. This was clearly manifested at his departure for the main army at Boston-neck, for many prepared to follow him by land, convinced that there was no safety for men who entertained notions of loyalty. The houses, indeed, of all those who wished to preserve their connection with England, on whatever principles their wish might be grounded, were burnt to the ground, while their estates were destroyed and their lives kept in constant danger.

CONDUCT OF CONGRESS TOWARDS NEW YORK, ETC.

Although the province of New York had sent delegates to congress, and had been among the very first to attack the British settlements in Canada, yet great uneasiness was felt with respect to that colony. It was well known that many zealous loyalists lived in the province, and it was also defenceless and open to the king’s troops by sea. Under these circumstances congress appointed a Committee of Safety, consisting of some of the most determined of the revolutionists, who were appointed to take especial charge of this province. General Wooster was also directed to march into New York, with some regiments of Connecticut men, With the double object of keeping down the royalists, and preventing, if possible, the landing of any British troops. The presence of the Connecticut men, who quartered themselves near Haerlem, five miles from New York, did more harm, however, to the cause of the revolution than it did good, for it led to some severe quarrels between them and the New Yorkers, as well as provoked the naval force in the neighbouring waters. Congress, in fact, had much difficulty in preserving their cause in New York. On one occasion they even issued an order that all such arms as were fit for the use of the troops raised in the colony of New York, and which should be found in the hands or custody of any person who had not signed the general association, should be seized for the use of the said troops. At a later period, congress even went a step further than this; for they intimated to the members of the revolutionary government, that they were to arrest and secure every person in their respective colonies, whose going at large might, in their opinion, endanger the safety of the colony or the liberties of America. Warned in time, Tryon, the governor of New York, whom congress before had talked of seizing, retired on board the Halifax packet, still communicating, however, with the royalists on shore. In other colonies there was still less difficulty in sweeping away the king’s governors. In North Carolina, Governor Martin, after seeing his proclamation burnt by the common hangman, sought shelter on board a ship-of-war that was lying off Cape Fear: in South Carolina, Lord William Campbell, after vainly seeking to rally the royalists, was obliged to follow his example; and though in many of the other colonies the governors were not compelled to flee for their lives, yet their authority was eventually superseded, and they were compelled to bow to the storm by retiring from their seats of government. One common spirit pervaded the United Provinces of America, though it was more rampant in some colonies than others. The grand focus of rebellion was still at Massachusets Bay, where, towards the close of the year, in the course of predatory hostility, the town of Falmouth was cannonaded and totally destroyed, in revenge for some offence relative to supplies, and on the refusal of its inhabitants to deliver up its arms. In return for this injury congress passed an act, in November, granting letters of marque and reprisal, and establishing courts of admiralty for the trial and condemnation of British ships. Congress also determined to meet the force of Britain on her own element, and issued orders for building a fleet of thirteen ships. The garrison of Boston was supplied with provisions from England, a proportion of which was intercepted by the American cruizers and the troops suffered greatly, likewise, from the inclemency of the season. The inhabitants, also, shared in their calamities, and their sufferings were greatly increased by several edicts, issued by General Howe. Such was the state of America at the close of this eventful year.

PROCEEDINGS IN ENGLAND.

While America was in arms, England was in a state of agitation. It has been seen that soon after Wilkes had presented the violent address and remonstrance of the livery to the king, that his majesty informed him that he would receive no more petitions of the lord mayor and aldermen but in their corporate capacity. Wilkes converted this into a fresh wrong; and at the very next meeting of the common-hall another address, still more violent in its tone, was approved. The king resolved that he would not receive this petition sitting on the throne, and when this was reported to the livery they resolved that it was a direct denial of their rights; that the remonstrance should be printed in the newspapers; and that the city members should be instructed to move for an impeachment of the evil counsellors who had planted Popery in America, and were the advisers of a measure so dangerous to both the king and his people, as that of refusing to hear petitions. This latter resolution, however, was not founded in truth—the king had simply said that he would not receive it sitting on the throne, and the livery had resolved not to present it under any other circumstances. After all, the common-council thought proper to agree to a more moderate remonstrance, which his majesty received, and to which he replied, that, while the constitutional authority of this kingdom was openly resisted by a portion of his American subjects, he owed it to the rest of his people to continue to enforce those measures by which alone their rights and interests could be asserted and maintained. Irritated by these and other proceedings, government, on the 23rd of August, issued a proclamation for suppressing rebellion, preventing seditious correspondence, etc. Wilkes, as lord mayor, received orders to have this proclamation read in the usual manner at the Royal Exchange. This order was obeyed; but the patriot at the same time contrived to hold it up to the public contempt by causing it to be read by one of the city officers, attended only by the common-crier, contrary to the common rules of decency and to all precedent. Soon after this the petition of congress was laid before the king by Richard Penn and Arthur Lee, to whom the task of presenting it had been deputed. It was well known to all the world that the Americans had lifted up the standard of revolt, and were assembled in hostile array against his majesty’s forces. This petition, therefore, though it contained some loyal expressions, did not express the real sense of the body it proceeded from—the words of their mouths might be smoother than butter, but war was manifestly in their hearts. Hence his majesty very justly considered the whole thing to be an insulting mockery, and as congress likewise had neither been recognised by himself nor his parliament, he resolved to give it no answer. But it was the fate of the king, at this time, to have all his actions and words misinterpreted. Although no man in his senses, whether Whig or Tory, could have been so blind as not to see he was perfectly justified in adopting this resolution, since his troops in America had been slaughtered both at Lexington and Bunker’s Hill, yet it was interpreted into harshness and obstinacy. A loud outcry was raised against it by a portion of the nation, including more especially the Whig portion of the city of London. An address, containing 1171 signatures, and purporting to emanate from “the gentlemen, merchants, and traders of London,” was got up, which reiterated the sentiments contained in the city of London petitions, and predicting the most lasting and deadly consequences from the quarrel between England and America. Three days after this, however, a counter-address was presented to his majesty from another section of the merchants and traders of London, which was followed by others of a similar class from all parts of the United Kingdom. In fact, the great body of the nation was still on the side of the king and the government. Intelligence of the determined hostility of the colonists had the effect even of converting foes into friends. In the course of the autumn, the very liverymen of London, to the number of 1029, signed an ultra-loyal address, which contained stronger language than the counter petition of the merchants and traders of that great city, or of any other address presented on the same side of the question. It said:—“A malignant spirit of resistance to law and government has gone forth amongst the Americans, which we firmly believe has been excited and encouraged by selfish men, who hope to derive private emoluments from public calamities—from the councils, the persuasions, the influence of such men, may God protect your majesty! The interest, the honour, the sovereignty of your kingdom of Great Britain, are now at stake—as the guardian of those, we trust you will ever assist and preserve them.” The petitioners pledged themselves to use all their exertions in support of the laws and government, and finally implored his majesty’s clemency towards all those of the colonists who might return to their duty. There can be no doubt that ministers were active in procuring such addresses as these; but at the same time it is equally certain that the sentiments they contained proceeded from the hearts of the people. The outrages committed at Lexington and Bunker’s Hill had, in truth, exasperated the people at large, and this exasperation was increased tenfold when, at a later period, news arrived of the invasion of Canada. They saw that it was a rude attempt to pluck a jewel from the British crown, and it excited feelings of resentment in their breasts deep and lasting. Not a few Englishmen who maintained that the Americans were justified in taking up arms to assert their own rights were converted by this step adopted by congress. In a word, the cause of the mother country was generally considered just, and was, therefore, popular.

PROSECUTION AND TRIAL OF HORNE TOOKE, ETC.

Government was so well supported by public opinion, that wonder is excited at the serious notice which it took of some attempts made by a few factious demagogues of creating popular commotion, and of raising themselves into an unenviable celebrity. Among this class John Horne Tooke stood pre-eminently forward. Horne Tooke was first the supporter, and then the rival of John Wilkes, but he had now completely succeeded him in the favour of a certain dubious class of patriots. This was the natural consequence of tilings. John Wilkes having been raised to the dignity of lord mayor, and having regained his seat in parliament, although he was still in some degree a thorn in the sides of ministers, had become more circumspect than heretofore. He no longer harangued at the public meetings of the populace, and was hence looked upon as a renegade, and Horne Tooke stepped into his place. The supplanter proved as bold as the man he had supplanted—stern “patriot” as Wilkes had been. This was seen in the midst of the agitation into which England was thrown by the events which had happened in America. At a meeting of the “Society for Constitutional Information,” which had been formed in the metropolis from the wreck of the “Bill of Rights Club,” Tooke moved, “that a subscription be raised for the relief of the widows, orphans, and aged parents of their American fellow-subjects, who, preferring death to slavery, were, for this reason only, murdered by the king’s troops at Lexington and Concord, on the 19th of April, 1775.” No mention was made of the widows and orphans of the British troops, which had been mown down by the rifles of the Americans from their hiding-places. That was altogether another question: they might or might not be supported by government, since it was clearly evident, from Horne Tooke’s motion, that they had no business to obey the orders of their superiors. Horne Tooke’s humane motion as it stood, therefore, was adopted—a vote of £100 was carried, and ordered to be transmitted to Dr. Franklin. The members, however, generally comprehended the peril of the case, and hesitated to sign the order. But Horne Tooke was as bold as he was humane, and he took all the responsibility on his own shoulders by affixing his name to it. The whole affair was clearly too ridiculous for the notice of government; but he was nevertheless prosecuted, sentenced to pay £200, to be imprisoned one year, and to find securities for good behaviour during three more. This was just the thing the patriot wanted. He had an opportunity of making a sarcastic speech, and his hopes were elated by the prospect of enjoying a still larger share of the popular favour. Probably he felt certain that he should one day carry the city mace, like his ancient friend John Wilkes. The best way to crush a demagogue is to let him pass unnoticed. Notwithstanding, the offence of Tooke was a direct challenge to government, and if it had refused to notice such an insult, its authority might have been despised by the section he headed, and therefore greatly diminished. Government, however, laid itself open to animadversion, by committing Mr. Sayre, an American merchant, to the Tower, on a charge of high-treason. It was declared on oath, by Mr. Richardson, an adjutant in the Guards, that Mr. Sayre had told him he intended to seize the king at noon-day, in his way to the house when it again met, to carry him out of the kingdom, occupy the Tower, and overturn the government. This would have been clearly the labour of “another Hercules,” and the information should have been treated with a sneer of contempt; but Lord Rochford seems to have considered that the enterprise of this most magnanimous American was not impracticable, and he therefore committed him to the Tower. But whether Mr. Sayer proved the adjutant’s statement to be false, or whether the king conceived that he was in no danger, does not appear, but certain it is that the American was set at liberty, after five days’ incarceration, and Lord Rochford had to pay him £1000 damages, on a suit for illegal imprisonment.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament met this year on the 26th of October. The speech from the throne, on this occasion, was unusually long and energetic, and, as might be expected, its chief topic was the revolt of the colonies. His majesty remarked:—“Those who have too long successfully laboured to inflame my people in America by gross misrepresentation, and to infuse into their minds a system of opinions repugnant to the true constitution of the colonies, and to their subordinate relation to Great Britain, now openly avow their revolt, hostility, and rebellion. They have raised troops, and are collecting a naval force; they have seized the public revenue, and assumed to themselves legislative, executive, and judicial powers, which they already exercise in a most arbitrary manner, over the persons and properties of their fellow-subjects; and although many of these unhappy people may still retain their loyalty, and may be too wise not to see the fatal consequences of this usurpation, and may wish to resist it; yet the torrent of violence has been strong enough to compel their acquiescence, till a sufficient force shall appear to support them. The authors and promoters of this desperate conspiracy have, in the conduct of it, derived great advantage from the difference of our intention and theirs. They only meant to amuse, by vague expressions of attachment to the parent state, and the strongest protestations of loyalty to me, whilst they were preparing for a general revolt. On our part, though it was declared in your last session that a rebellion existed within the province of Massachusets Bay, yet even that province we wished to reclaim, rather than subdue. The resolutions of parliament breathed a spirit of moderation and forbearance; conciliatory propositions accompanied the measures to enforce authority; and the coercive acts were adapted to cases of criminal combination among subjects not then in arms. I have acted with the same temper—anxious to prevent, if it had been possible, the effusion of the blood of my subjects, and the calamities which are inseparable from a state of war; still hoping that my people in America would have discerned the traitorous views of their leaders, and have been convinced, that to be a subject of Great Britain, with all its consequences, is to be the freest member of any civil society in the known world. The rebellious war now levied is become more general, and is manifestly carried on for the purpose of establishing an independent empire. I need not dwell upon the fatal effects of the success of such a plan. The object is too important—the spirit of the British nation too high—the resources with which God hath blessed her too numerous—to give up so many colonies, which she has planted with great industry, nursed with great tenderness, encouraged with many commercial advantages, and protected and defended at such expense of blood and treasure.” His majesty continued, that it was now necessary to put a stop to these disorders, and that, for this purpose, he had greatly increased his naval establishment, and augmented his land-forces. He had sent, he said, Hanoverian troops to Gibraltar and Port Mahon, to replace such British regiments as should be drawn from those garrisons for service in America; and he had received friendly offers of foreign assistance. His majesty also professed his readiness to forgive the colonists when they became sensible of their error; for which purpose, to prevent inconvenience, he would give, he said, a discretionary power to commissioners to grant general pardons, who might, he thought, be likewise entrusted with authority to restore the free exercise of its trade and commerce to any colony on making its submission. He concluded by informing both houses, that he saw no probability of any impediment to his measures from the hostility of foreign powers, since they had expressed their friendly assurances.

The address proposed by ministers was, as usual, a mere echo of the speech, and an amendment was proposed in the commons, by Lord John Cavendish, recommending that the whole should be expunged except the _pro forma_ introductory paragraph, and that the following should be substituted,—“That they beheld with the utmost concern the disorders and discontents in the colonies rather increased than diminished by the means that had been used to suppress and allay them; a circumstance alone sufficient to give them just reason to fear that those means were not originally well considered, or properly adapted to their ends. That they were satisfied by experience that the misfortune had, in a great measure, arisen from the want of full and perfect information of the true state and condition of the colonies being laid before parliament; by reason of which, measures injurious and inefficacious had been carried into execution, from whence no salutary end could have been reasonably expected; tending to tarnish the lustre of the British arms, to bring discredit on the wisdom of his majesty’s councils, and to nourish, without hope of end, a most unhappy civil war. That, deeply impressed with the melancholy state of public concerns, they would, in the fullest information they could obtain, and with the most mature deliberation they could employ, review the whole of the late proceedings, that they might be enabled to discover, as they would be most willing to apply, the most effectual means of restoring order to the distracted affairs of the British empire, confidence to his majesty’s government, obedience, by a prudent and temperate use of its powers, to the authority of parliament, and satisfaction and happiness to all his people. That by these means they trusted to avoid any occasion of having recourse to the alarming and dangerous expedient of calling in foreign forces to the support of his majesty’s authority within his own dominions, and the still more dreadful calamity of shedding British blood by British arms.” An acrimonious debate followed this proposal, in which the opposition vehemently arraigned the principle and conduct of the contest; assumed the facts contained in the speech to be untrue; condemned the confiding such important fortresses as Port Mahon and Gibraltar to foreigners; and exposed the idea of conquest to ridicule. In reply, Lord North urged the necessity of regaining the colonies, and exposed the extravagant pretensions of the colonial assemblies, as well as of the general congress, and the encroachments on all the rights of the parent state. He also defended the conduct of ministers, maintaining that they had tried conciliation, but that the attempt had signally failed: lenity on the part of government and parliament being construed by the Americans into weakness and fear. Parliament had, he said, during the last session obviated the objections made to the right of taxing their colonies by permitting the Americans to tax themselves in their own assemblies; and yet not one assembly would offer a single shilling towards the common exigencies of the state. He observed, that to repeal every act passed relating to the colonies, since the year 1703, would indeed terminate the dispute, as from that moment America would be raised to independence: at the same time he vindicated those acts from the charge of being either ungenerous or unjust. The amendment was rejected by a majority of two hundred and seventy-eight against one hundred and eight, and the original question was then carried without a division.

A similar amendment was moved in the house of lords by the Marquess of Rockingham, and a debate equally warm ensued. Lord Gower frankly avowed that he with his brethren in office had been misled in their conduct with respect to American affairs. New York, he observed, had been forced into hostile measures by the insurgents of Connecticut, and he predicted that if the friends of government were well supported by a force from England, the colonies would be brought to a sense of their duty without the shedding of more blood. The Earl of Shelburne termed this prediction rash, and advanced it as an incontrovertible fact, “that the commerce of America was the vital stream of this empire.” At the same time, while he considered that the independence of the colonies would be the result of the contest, he confessed that this result would be the ruin of Great Britain. The house was next startled with the declarations made by the Duke of Grafton, now lord privy seal. His grace boldly condemned all the proceedings with regard to America during the last twelve months, asserting that he had been deceived and misled upon the whole subject, and that ministers had induced him to lend his countenance to those measures, by withholding information and misrepresenting facts. Grafton also declared that nothing less than a total repeal of all the American acts which had passed since the year 1763, could now restore peace and happiness, or prevent the most fatal consequences to this country: consequences, he said, which he could not think of without the utmost degree of grief and horror. He concluded by declaring that in his present ill state of health, nothing could have induced him to have left his house, but a conviction of his being right,—a knowledge of the dangerous state of the country, and a sense of what he owed to it, as well as to his conscience. The Bishop of Peterborough, who had spoken and voted for coercive measures in previous sessions, acknowledged a similar change in his sentiments to those of the Duke of Grafton, and imputed his previous views to misinformation, and deception on the part of the ministers. This defection, however, did not produce much effect in the house. Ministers descanted powerfully on the great question at issue,—using similar arguments to those which had been employed in the commons, and in the end the Marquess of Rockingham’s amendment was rejected by a majority of sixty-nine to twenty-nine, while the original address was carried by seventy-six to thirty-three, including proxies. A protest was signed by nineteen peers.

On the report of the address in the commons, the opposition took occasion to go over nearly the whole of the ground again. The main stand which they took, however, in this debate, was the measure of entrusting Gibraltar and Minorca, the keys of the Mediterranean, to Hanoverian troops. This they maintained was repugnant to the Bill of Rights, and an alarming precedent of foreigners introduced, and armies raised by a British monarch without the consent of parliament. It was, in fact, loudly denounced as illegal, and in the highest degree unconstitutional. In answering this objection, Lord Thurlow reminded the house that the clause in the Bill of Rights embraced no part of the king’s dominions beyond the limits of Great Britain; that it did not extend to the colonies; and that not a man had been brought, or was to be brought into the kingdom without the consent of parliament. Wedderburne urged similar arguments, and he, with others, represented the urgent necessity of the case, and the danger of delay. A precedent was also quoted for bringing troops into England at a critical period, inasmuch as Dutch troops had been brought over from Holland by George II. in 1745, during the rebellion in Scotland. In the midst of the storm by which he was assailed, Lord North acknowledged himself the adviser of this measure, and treated the opposition with much levity,—but he was obliged to yield to the representations of some of his friends, and to state in conclusion, that though he still considered he was right, yet as other gentlemen, for whom he had ever had the greatest deference, seemed to be of another opinion, he had no objection, notwithstanding any votes now given, that the question should be brought again, in a regular and parliamentary manner, before the house, when he would abide by their determination; and if the measure was found unconstitutional, he would rest a defence on the ground of necessity alone, and receive, as was usual in such cases, the protection of an act of indemnity. This was good parliamentary generalship. Many who would have voted against him, now veered round to his side, and upon a division, the address was passed as reported by a majority of one hundred and seventy-six against seventy-two.

On the 1st of November a similar conflict occurred in the house of lords. The Duke of Manchester moved in that house, “That bringing into any part of the dominion of Great Britain the electoral troops of his majesty, or any other foreign troops, without the previous consent of parliament is dangerous and unconstitutional.” This motion was supported by arguments that the clause in the Bill of Rights ought to extend to the colonies; that the Hanoverian troops would not be under the control of our military law, etc.; that it was not by any means advisable to put them in possession of Gibraltar and Minorca; and that the king had no right to maintain even in a colony, or conquest, or in any part of the British dominions, any other troops than were consented to by parliament. To these arguments it was replied, that the clause in the Bill of Rights specified “within the kingdom,” and also “in time of peace;” that the foreign troops were not “within the kingdom,” and that it was a time of war, and not of peace: that the expression, “within the kingdom,” did not include our colonies; and that should that latitude be given the expression, the rebellious state of America would justify the employment of British troops even upon the principles of the Bill of Rights. It was also argued that the king had at all times during actual war or rebellion, been competent to raise and keep up an army; that in such a case the Bill of Rights had made no distinction between an army of natives and an army of foreigners; that foreigners, since the revolution of 1688, had not only been hired, but even brought into the kingdom; and that there was an existing and paramount necessity at this time for the employment of such troops. Ministers prevailed: the previous question was moved and carried by a majority of 75 against 32. Two days after, a similar resolution was made in the commons by Sir James Lowther, and was there disposed of in a similar manner. About the same time the Bill of Indemnity passed the lower house, but in the upper house it was rejected, on the grounds that it was alike unnecessary and dishonourable to the administration.

CHANGES IN THE MINISTRY.

During the debate which followed the motion of the Duke of Manchester in the house of lords, the Duke of Grafton had denounced the introduction of foreign troops into Gibraltar and Minorca, as inconsistent with the tenor of Magna Charta. This, coupled with his former declarations as to the conduct and the measures of his colleagues, had the effect of obtaining his dismissal from office. The privy seal, which his grace had held, was given to the Earl of Dartmouth, and, to the surprise of all men, Lord George Sackville, who had been subjected by the sentence of a court-martial to much obloquy, and had recently taken a decided part in all the coercive measures, was made secretary for the American department. At the same time the Earl of Rochford retired, and was succeeded as secretary for the southern department by Lord Weymouth. But what created most astonishment was, that the young and profligate Lord Lyttleton, who had distinguished himself by the severity of his attacks upon the administration at the opening of this session, and who had been connected with Chatham and Temple, was called to the privy-council, and appointed to the sinecure office of chief-justice in eyre beyond Trent. Thus “bought,” he agreed to defend the very measures he had so energetically attacked.

THE MILITIA BILL.

In conformity with a passage in the speech from the throne, Lord North, on the 30th of October, brought in a bill for enabling the king to assemble the militia in cases of actual rebellion. On the second reading, this bill was warmly opposed, on the supposition that it gave the monarch such prodigious additional power, as to render him totally independent of the people. It was said to be, in fact, “empowering the crown to draw the militia out whenever it thought fit, as a pretence could never be wanted for the purpose, while there was a black Caribb remaining in St. Vincent’s, a runaway negro in the mountains of Jamaica, or a Hindoo rajah left on the coast of Coromandel.” In the end, however, the second reading of the Militia Bill was carried by the large majority of two hundred and fifty-nine against fifty. On the third reading several amendments were moved, but were all rejected, and it was finally carried with a rider, proposed by Sir George Saville, limiting the duration of the bill to seven years. In the month of December a bill was brought into the house of commons by Lord Mountstuart for establishing a militia in Scotland; but the house was so thin at the time, that it was scarcely discussed. The bill was reproduced in the course of the session, and was eagerly patronized by the Scotch members; but it met with a strong opposition from the English country gentlemen, and was finally rejected by a majority of one hundred and twelve against ninety-five. By its opposers the bill was considered both as unnecessary, and as a dangerous innovation; but the opposition, it would appear, chiefly arose from national prejudices: Scotsmen might, it was said, as they were subservient to ministers, if they obtained a militia, employ it against the liberties and constitution of England. Lord North supported the bill; but he found himself in the unusual predicament of voting in the minority.

{GEORGE III. 1775–1776}

THE NAVY AND LAND ESTIMATES.

The number of forces to be employed by sea and land in the ensuing year indicated great designs: 28,000 seamen, and 50,000 men for the land-service being voted. Yet great as this force was, it was not considered sufficient for the emergency even by the opposition, who said that the establishment was far too great for peace, and far too small for such a war as ministers were embarking in. This, indeed, was the opinion of Lord Barrington, secretary at war, who used his utmost endeavours, both with the ministers and the king, to obtain a force commensurate with the undertaking. He in particular urged the necessity of reducing America by means of a powerful fleet, stating it as his opinion that its reduction could never be accomplished by the army, which was the staff on which ministers rested. But it was in vain that Lord Barrington warned and advised his colleagues in office, and counselled the king. It was held, that at present the naval force must be accompanied with an army, and the estimates of ministers were made and carried accordingly. The sentiments of Lord Barrington on this subject are fully shown in a letter which he wrote at an earlier date to the Earl of Dartmouth, then secretary for America. In this letter he remarked:—“First, I doubt whether all the troops in North America, though probably sufficient for a pitched battle with the strength of the province, are enow to subdue it, being of great extent and full of men accustomed to fire-arms. If the Massachusets—with whom the inhabitants of Connecticut and Rhode Island are said to have made common cause—were conquered they must be kept under by large armies and fortresses, the expense of which would be ruinous and endless. Second, because the most successful conquest that can be imagined must produce the horrors and bloodshed of civil war. Third, because a conquest by land is unnecessary, when the country can be reduced, first, by distress, and then to obedience, by our marines totally interrupting all commerce and fishery, and even seizing all the ships in the ports, with very little expense and bloodshed. To this might be added the punishment of the factious chiefs by impeachment or bill, if their persons can be secured; but till then any judicial proceedings would provoke, not hurt, and confer the palm of martyrdom without the pain of it, which is the perfection of fanatical beatitude. In respect to the other colonies south of New England, a strict execution of the Act of Navigation, and other restrictive laws, would probably be sufficient at present; and a small addition of frigates and sloops would so execute those laws as to prevent all commerce with foreign states. Those colonies should also be left to deal with the Indians, the mother country withdrawing the establishments made since the beginning of the late war for the management of the Indian affairs, and kept up till this day at a great expense. Though we must depend on our smaller ships for the active part of this plan, I think a squadron of ships of the line should be stationed in North America, both to prevent the intervention of foreign powers, and any attempt of the colonies to attack our smaller vessels by sea.” Lord Barrington next advised the removal of the troops from Boston to Canada, Nova Scotia, and East Florida, till they could be successfully employed, and then continued: “If these ideas are well-founded, the colonies will in a few months feel their distress; their spirits, not animated by any little successes on their part, or violence of persecution on ours, will sink; they will be consequently inclined to treat, probably to submit to a certain degree; and in my humble opinion, the whole is then over, for then, with dignity, we may make them concessions.” Had this system of blockade been adopted, there can be little doubt but America would have been preserved to England, for the Americans had then no fleet or any formidable fortifications on their coast. The advice, however, was rejected, and Lord Barrington was only prevented resigning office by the express desire of the king. But though Lord Barrington not only did not concur in the plans pursued by ministers, but sought to set them aside, yet as secretary of war, he obtained the chief odium of their failure. The principal blame, however, seems to be attached to the king: the plans were in reality his own, and he imposed them upon Lord North and the administration.

PETITION OF NOVA SCOTIA.

At the opening of this session, a petition was presented to both houses from Nova Scotia, which proposed to grant to his majesty in perpetuity a duty of poundage, _ad valorem_, on all commodities imported into the colony, not being the produce of the British dominions in Europe or America, bay-salt only excepted, by which means the amount of the revenue would keep pace with the wealth of the province. Ministers conceived that this loyal petition would serve as an example to the other colonies, and therefore gave it their support. They suggested a duty of eight per cent.; but objections were drawn from the unproductiveness compared with the old duties, and the small chance of other colonies following the example of a district which had always occasioned an expense to government, and ministers themselves finally abandoned it: nothing was heard of the petition after it went into committee.

PETITION OF CONGRESS.

On the 7th of November, a copy of the petition of congress alluded to in the king’s speech was laid before the lords. On its presentation, the Duke of Richmond seeing Mr. Penn below the bar, moved for his being examined before they entered upon the discussion of the petition. This was rejected by a majority of fifty-six against twenty-two, and the noble mover then made another motion, that Mr. Penn should be examined on the next day, which, after a long debate was conceded. The examination was conducted by the Duke himself, and the opinions elicited from it were, that the members of congress were men of character and intelligence; that the people considered themselves able to resist the arms of Great Britain employed to enforce the obnoxious acts; that the war was begun in defence of their liberties, and not with any desire of obtaining independence; that unless conciliatory measures were immediately pursued, it was probable connexions with foreign powers would be formed, which they would not be easily induced to renounce; and that they were dissatisfied with the reception of their petitions, though inclined to acknowledge the authority of Great Britain in all matters, except taxation. Penn was an honest man, and doubtless sincere in his sentiments, but he had certainly been deceived, like many others, and even some members of the congress itself. On this evidence, however, the Duke of Richmond moved that this petition, hollow as it must have appeared to men of deep reflection, was sufficient ground for a conciliation of the differences existing between America and the mother country. He was supported by Lords Shelburne and Sandwich, but the refusal to answer the petition was defended by Lords Dartmouth and Lyttleton, and the motion was negatived by a majority of eighty-six against thirty-three. On the side of government the Americans were denounced by Lord Lyttleton as audacious rebels; their sentiments as insiduous and traitorous; and their expressions of loyalty, false and hollow. On the other hand, opposition justified their conduct, and patted them on the back by assurances, that their native courage and the nature of their country rendered them an invincible people. Indeed, it cannot be doubted, that the views taken by the opposition in the British parliament, and the sentiments which they uttered on every favourable occasion, had the effect of confirming the colonists in their opposition to government, and stimulating them to increased exertions in order to gain a free, full, and final triumph.

MOTIONS OF THE DUKE OF GRAFTON.

On the 15th of November the Duke of Grafton moved the following resolutions: “That ministers should lay before the house an account of the number of forces serving in America, with their several stations, etc., previous to the commencement of hostilities; that they should lay before the house the exact state of the army now in America; that they should produce all the plans that had been adopted for providing winter-quarters for those troops; that they should also produce an estimate of the forces now in Great Britain and Ireland; and that they should, finally, lay before the house an estimate of the military force necessary to be sent against America, with a precise account of the number of artillery, etc.” In opposing these motions, ministers argued that nothing would better please the Americans than a full disclosure of our measures and resources, and that such a disclosure would be contrary to every rule of office, as well as to every maxim of war and common sense. The debate wandered to the original causes of the dispute, and the real object and intention of congress; and after these grounds were again gone over—the opposition warmly contending that the Americans were not aiming at independence, and ministers as warmly contending, and indeed fully demonstrating that they were—the Duke of Grafton’s resolutions were negatived without a division. The chief speakers on the side of ministers were the new convert, Lord Lyttleton, who contended that everything proved the assertion; and Lord Mansfield, whose speech carried conviction to many minds which had before been perplexed with doubt upon the subject. Mansfield adduced historical facts to prove that the people of New England had been aiming at independence, almost from her earliest infancy; and he maintained that Great Britain could not concede any one claim which was demanded without relinquishing all, and admitting disseveration and independence. He concluded by warning the house that measures of conciliation would only furnish grounds for new claims, or produce terms of pretended obedience and submission.

THE LAND TAX INCREASED.

On the 13th of November Lord North moved in the commons that the land-tax should be raised to four shillings in the pound. An amendment was moved by the opposition that it should be three shillings instead of four; but this was negatived by a large majority, and the original motion was carried. War with America had been warmly advocated by the country gentlemen, and some of the opposition sarcastically congratulated them upon this enviable first-fruits of their coercive measures; while others attempted to gall them by declaring that it would prove a perpetual mortgage on their estates. To say the least of it, it was an ungracious return made by Lord North for their support, and it seems to have had the effect of considerably cooling their fiery ardour for war.

BURKE’S SECOND CONCILIATORY MOTION.

On the 16th of November, Burke again proposed measures of conciliation. After presenting a petition against the prosecution of the war, he moved “for leave to bring in a bill for composing the present; troubles, and quieting the minds of his majesty’s subjects in America.” This bill was formed on the model of the statute of Edward I., _de tallagio non concedendo_. He proposed in it the total renunciation of taxation; the repeal of all obnoxious laws and acts of parliament passed since the year 1706; a full amnesty for all offences; and a recognition of congress, in order to a final adjustment of the existing quarrel. In his speech, which occupied more than three hours, Burke did not conceal that his motion would involve a dissolution of the cabinet, and he justified this on the ground that ministers had brought the country to the very verge of ruin. He urged that delay was dangerous; that if the quarrel was continued the Bourbons would take it up; that this country was incapable of coping with America if thus seconded; and that America could be retained by her good inclinations alone. He observed, also, that three plans seemed to be afloat with regard, to America: the first, simple war with a view to complete conquest; the second, that of ministers, force mixed with negociations; and the third, peace grounded on concession. It was in the spirit of the last, he said, with which he made his motion. Burke’s principal opponent was Governor Pownall, who exposed many fallacies in his reasoning. Pownall denied that any renunciation, repeal, or amnesty would have any other effect than that of increasing the pride and resistance of the Americans. He also maintained that if repeal had any effect at all it must be extended as far back as to 1672, and asserted that the Americans themselves demanded a repeal up to 1763, of which Burke’s bill fell three years short. He remarked:—“They complain of the admiralty jurisdiction: now that is as old as the act of navigation. To my argument it is nothing how far this is right or wrong, grievous or otherwise; but the Americans complain of it; and, if the bill which is to afford redress and concede to their complaints must be effectual in order to gain their confidence, this bill does not go far enough.” The house, however, was of opinion that it went too far, for after all the best orators of opposition had contended for its principles, with vehement eloquence, it was rejected by a majority of two hundred and ten, against one hundred and five. But this was a nearer division than had taken place for a long time on these questions, and which was doubtless the effect of the recent increase of the land tax: there is much sympathy between men’s pockets and their opinions.

LORD NORTH’S PROHIBITORY BILL.

On the 20th of November, Lord North proposed a measure for the prohibition of all commercial intercourse with America. This bill authorized the commanders of his majesty’s navy to make prize of all American ships and goods, whether on the high-seas or in harbour; and a clause was inserted, which rendered every American taken in them liable to serve as a common sailor in our ships of war, and to be considered as a volunteer. As this prohibitory bill comprehended every species of commerce along the coast of the confederated states, all former acts, including the Boston Port Bill, were to be considered as repealed by it. A clause, however, provided for pardon to all revolters on their return to obedience, and commissioners were to be appointed to give effect to its terms, as well as to inquire into any real grievances of which the colonists might have to complain.

Lord North, in introducing this measure vindicated his own ministerial conduct. The dispute about taxation, he said, was not commenced by him, but by his predecessors in office; and, he asserted, that as he found the country and parliament determined not to surrender the right, he had embraced their cause. He added, that if the colonies, by appealing to arms, chose to make war the medium, he must pursue that medium, although he would constantly keep peace in view as the true point to be obtained. The minds of the opposition were inflamed by the bill and these declarations of the warlike minister. Fox especially declaimed against the bill, asserting that it tended to destroy all trade with America, and that it would cut off all hopes of future accommodation. In the course of his speech he accused the ministers of wishing to ruin our manufacturers in order that they might enlist in the army; and he concluded by moving as an amendment, that the whole body and title of the bill should be omitted, excepting only the portion which repealed the Boston Port Bill, and the restraining acts. The debate now grew hotter than before. It was argued that such a proposition would be a formal abdication of our government of the colonies, and might, with such omissions, be termed a bill for effectually carrying into execution the decrees of congress, by completing the union of Americans between themselves, and exciting them to make foreign alliances. The question being put, therefore, the amendment was rejected by one hundred and ninety-two to sixty-four. In the course of this debate, Lord Howe, who was soon to sail with the fleet for America, remarked feelingly that no struggle was so painful as that between his duty as an officer and as a man: if left to his own choice, he said, he would decline serving, but if commanded, he would perform his duty. To this General Conway replied, that a war with our fellow-subjects in America differed widely from, a war with a foreign nation; and that before an officer drew his sword against his fellow-subjects, he should first be convinced that the cause was just. Thurlow combated this notion with indignation, asserting that if such a doctrine was established, it must tend to a dissolution of government. In the course of the progress of this bill petitions from the West India merchants were presented, and council heard against it. It was also opposed in all its stages, and several amendments were moved in committee, but it finally passed as it was originally framed, by a majority of one hundred and twelve against sixteen only.

The debate on this bill in the house of lords was equally warm as that in the commons. In the face of all matter of fact, the opposition contended that the Americans were not in a state of rebellion: they had, it was conceded, taken up arms, but they were driven to it by violence, injustice, and oppression. Lord Lyttleton and Denbigh denounced these sentiments as an immoderate licence of language, and the latter peer asserted broadly, that those who defended rebellion were little better than rebels themselves, there being no wide difference between traitors and those who openly or covertly aided them! During the progress of the bill several amendments were proposed, but always ineffectually; and a petition was presented by the merchants of Bristol, praying that its operation might be suspended: the bill, however, was read a third time on the 21st of December, and was passed without a division. On the third reading it was defended, together with the whole conduct of government towards the Americans, by Lord Mansfield. Previous to this, intelligence had been received of the march of the two American armies to our Canadian frontiers, so that his lordship could now make a bolder stand against the arguments of the opposition. He remarked:—“We are now in such a situation, that we must either fight or be pursued;” and he illustrated his position by an anecdote related of a Swedish general, under Gustavus Adolphus, who, pointing to an advancing enemy, observed to his troops:—“My lads, you see those men; if you don’t kill them they will kill you.” His lordship then continued:—“If we do not get the better of America, America will get the better of us. They have begun to raise a navy; trade, if left free to them, will beget opulence, and enable them to hire ships from foreign powers. It is said, the present war is only defensive on the part of America. Is the attack on Canada a defensive war? Is their prohibiting all trade and commerce with every part of the British dominions, and starving our sugar-islands, acting on the defensive? No; though these people never offended us, we will distress them, say they, because that will be distressing Great Britain. Are we, in the midst of all outrages of hostility, of seizing our ships, entering our provinces at the head of numerous armies, and seizing our forts, to stand idle, because we are told this is an unjust war, and wait till the Americans have brought their arms to our very doors? The justice of the cause must give way to our present situation; and the consequences which must ensue, should we now recede, would, nay must, be infinitely worse than any we have to dread, by pursuing the present plan, or agreeing at once to a final separation.” This speech of Lord Mansfield obtained a ready response in the house by the almost universal approval of the peers assembled.