Chapter XIII: {george III. 1782–1784} (2)

At this time the siege of Gibraltar, and the resolute defence of its garrison attracted the attention of all Europe. After the relief afforded to the garrison in the preceding year by Admiral Darby, the Spaniards opened a dreadful cannonade and bombardment, from batteries on land and from large gun-boats in the bay. Under cover of this fire they continued their approaches and nearly completed their fourth line; but on the night of the 26th of November, a detachment under the orders of Brigadier General Ross, and accompanied by General Elliot, the governor, made a sortie, succeeded in spiking all the artillery, and then having dug mines and laid trains, they blew the fourth line of the Spaniards into the air. Previous to this, General Elliot had so improved his own formidable works that they were stronger than they were at the commencement of the siege, and the Spaniards for a time were lost in amazement, and relaxed their exertions against the wonderful rock. In the month of April, however, the Duke of Grillon, the conqueror of Minorca, arrived to take the chief command of the besieging army and their efforts were renewed. The Duke brought with him a numerous body of skilful artillery and engineer officers, and he was likewise joined by about 20,000 French and Spanish troops to aid him in the enterprise. The whole besieging force on land now amounted to full 40,000 men, and de Crillon had more artillery with him than had ever been collected on so narrow a point. Success seemed certain, and princes of the House of Bourbon, with along retinue of French and Spanish nobles, were present to witness the final triumph. Some time was spent in deliberating upon the plan of attack. A thousand projects were proposed and some were adopted and failed. At length the Chevalier d’Arcon, a French engineer, proposed a plan which seemed to ensure a complete triumph. This was the employment of floating batteries so constructed as to be impervious to shot and indestructible by fire. The bottoms of these batteries were made of massive timber, and their sides were secured with a rampart or wall composed of timber and cork, with an interstice between, filled up with wet sand. Raw hides were fastened on the outside, and to prevent the effect of red-hot balls a number of pipes were laid to convey water through every part, and pumps were provided to keep these constantly supplied. As the garrison had an opportunity for maintaining a fire right on the heads of their assailants, the besiegers contrived hanging roofs of strong rope-work netting, laid over with a thick covering of raw hides. These roofs were to be worked up and down by mechanism, and it was calculated that by their sloping position they would throw off the shot and shell of the garrison into the sea. Above eighty gun-boats and bomb-ketches were to second the operations of the floating batteries, together with a multitude of frigates and smaller vessels, while the combined fleets of France and Spain amounting to fifty sail of the line, were to cover and support the attack. On the isthmus also there were stupendous works, mounting two hundred pieces of heavy ordnance, and protected by 40,000 troops. In the whole the numbers employed by land and sea against the fortress were estimated at nearly 100,000 men. Time was required to complete the preparations, but at length they were completed, and the 13th of September was named for the grand attack. In the meantime General Elliot, aware that inventions of a peculiar nature were in preparation provided against every circumstance of danger that could be foreseen, and his vigilance had the effect of increasing the confidence of the garrison. General Elliot, however, was ignorant of the construction of the batteries until he saw them ranged before the fortress. It was intended to make one simultaneous attack on every part of the British fortifications, and on the appointed day, showers of shot and shells from the land-batteries and ships of the besiegers were directed against them. But the besieged were as much in earnest as the besiegers: shot was given for shot, and shell for shell. At one moment four hundred pieces of the heaviest artillery were playing on the garrison, and the fire was returned by incessant showers of red-hot balls and shells from the rock. The whole peninsula was involved in one terrible blaze, and the surrounding hills were covered with people, who assembled to behold the awful spectacle. The besiegers were sanguine of success, but their hopes were disappointed. For a time the floating batteries seemed to answer their expectations, for the heaviest shells rebounded from their tops, while the red-hot balls, just taken from old Elliot’s furnaces, made no visible impression on their hulls. By two o’clock, however, the effects of these fiery globes became visible. The floating battery commanded by the Prince of Nassau, and on board of which was the Chevalier d’Arcon, began to smoke on the side exposed to the garrison, and it was apprehended it had taken fire. Notwithstanding, the firing continued with unabated fury, and the fortification sustained some damage from the besiegers. At seven o’clock, however, all hope of taking the fortress vanished. By that time the red-hot balls from the garrison had taken such good effect, that the firing from the batteries ceased, rockets were thrown up as signals of distress, and nothing was thought of but saving the crews. The boats of the combined fleet were sent on that service, but it was found to be no easy matter to move the batteries from their moorings, and to have approached them within the range of the British batteries, and when they were expected every moment to blow up, was like rushing into the jaws of death. For five hours they continued in their original position, and in the mean time, the smoke of the batteries had burst into flames, and the fire from the rock was increased with terrific vengeance. At midnight the only flashes from the batteries were the flames that were consuming them, and the only sounds on board were the shrieks of the crew. Their danger was increased by a brigade of gun-boats, under the command of Captain Curtis, which sailed out, and by their low fire swept the batteries in the whole extent of their line, and effectually prevented the approach of the French and Spanish boats from coming to their aid. From the evening till the morning the sky was illuminated by the ascending flames of the batteries, and by the fire of the garrison and gun-boats. At five o’clock in the morning, one of the batteries blew up, and soon after, the whole of them were one vast conflagration. Many of their crows now threw themselves into the sea; and touched by the sight, the British showed themselves to be as humane as they were brave. The guns in the fortification ceased, and Curtis and his gallant crew exerted themselves in saving the shrieking and despairing Spaniards. Fearless of danger they dashed among the burning wrecks, snatched many from the fury of the flames, and others from a watery grave: about three hundred and fifty were saved by them from inevitable death. Captain Curtis himself was often in the most imminent danger, while thus showing mercy to the enemy, and, at one time, a pinnace in which he had thrown himself, was close to one of the batteries when it blew up. The pinnace was involved in one vast cloud of fire and smoke, and masses of flaming wood, and it was expected that the brave crew had perished. It was not so: as the smoke cleared away, the pinnace was seen still proudly riding on the waves. Her coxswain was killed, several of her crew were wounded, and one of the burning masses of timber had fallen into her, and had gone through her bottom, but the sailors saved her from sinking by stuffing their jackets into the cavity! In the end all the floating batteries were consumed, and the loss of the enemy, exclusive of that sustained by the troops on the isthmus, was computed at 1500 men, while the garrison lost only sixteen killed, and had sixty-eight wounded. It was a blow severely felt by the enemy; but a gleam of hope burst through the gloom which surrounded them, so that the siege was not immediately abandoned. It was known that Elliot’s stock of ammunition and provisions was greatly reduced, and it was hoped that the combined fleet collected in the narrow bay might be able to prevent any relief. That hope also proved vain. Lord Howe had set sail with thirty-four ships of the line, three fire-ships, and six frigates, having under his protection an immense convoy of transports and trading vessels, with all which, on the 11th of October, he passed between the shores of Europe and Africa, and through the Straits of Gibraltar. On the same day he succeeded in landing the cargoes of four of the transports without meeting with any interruption from the combined fleet; and, subsequently, a violent hurricane having driven the French and Spaniards on the Barbary coast, he landed all the stores and fresh troops which he had brought for the relief of the garrison. His task was completed by the 19th, on which day he repassed the Straits, and spread his sails for England. He was followed by the enemy, and on the 20th as they gained upon him off Cape St. Vincent, he lay in order to receive them. A partial engagement took place, but the French and Spaniards testified no anxiety to come to close quarters; and towards the evening they hauled their wind, and gave up all idea of battle or pursuit. Thus perished the hopes of Spain to recover a barren rock; but a rock, the price of which is above all value to a commercial country like England. For his heroic defence, General Elliot was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Heath field, with a pension annexed to the title similar to that bestowed on Rodney.

PROSPECT OF GENERAL PACIFICATION.

This final attempt upon Gibraltar was the last action of importance during the war. Every nation which had been engaged in the fatal struggle now sighed for peace, and admitted the policy of putting up the sword into its scabbard. Each found, by a review of past events, that, although their gains were great, then-losses greatly preponderated. Négociations were entered into, and the Empress of Russia, finding that England was not so near the verge of destruction as she imagined, now began to act as a fair and anxious mediatrix. Spain had not yet raised the siege of Gibraltar, and demanded the wonderful rock as the price of a treaty; but the empress told its monarch that he must give up all idea of obtaining it either by arms or treaty. France, Holland, and the United States were also told by her that they ought to moderate their pretensions. But the grand obstacle that stood in the way of peace, was removed by Great Britain herself; namely, the recognition of the independence of America. During the negociations with France and Spain, provisional articles between England and America were signed on the 30th of November, at Paris, by Mr. Fitzherbert and Mr. Oswald, on the one hand, and Dr. Franklin, Adams, Jay, and Laurens, on the other. This was contrary to the letter and spirit of their treaty with France, and was brought about by the treachery of the French minister, Vergennes. While he was urging the Americans to claim a share in the Newfoundland fishery, he was instigating the British government to refuse the concession! This double-dealing was detected; and in an interview with the American negotiators, Mr. Fitzherbert assured them that a share in that fishery would be allowed them, which had the effect of bringing the treaty between England and America to a conclusion. Vergennes complained of American chicanery, and still sought to set aside the treaty, by advising the English government not to make too ample concessions as regarded the boundaries to be assigned to the United States; but his character had become manifest, and his advice was not heeded. The British cabinet was, indeed, too desirous of peace to raise any undue obstacle against its attainment. Eight days before the separate preliminaries were signed, Lord Shelburne wrote to the lord mayor, acquainting him that the negociations promised a speedy conclusion; on which account parliament would be prorogued from the 26th of November to the 5th of December. At this time it was, indeed, considered that America was wholly detached from the league, and there was no anxiety about the prolongation of a naval war with the rest of our enemies. There was in truth, no fear of this, for France, Spain, and Holland had all suffered too much on the ocean to make them desirous of continuing hostilities. Pride might dictate haughty demands, but it was clear that they would rather abate them than renew the struggle.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament met on the 5th of December, when the king announced from the throne, that in pursuit of a general pacification, he had offered to declare the American colonies free and independent states, by an article to be inserted in the definite treaty. This was against his majesty’s wishes as is evident from the following remarks which he made in continuation. He said:—“In thus admitting their separation from the crown of Great Britain, I have sacrificed every consideration of my own to the wishes and opinion of my people. I make it my humble and earnest prayer to Almighty God, that Great Britain may not feel the evils which might result from so great a dismemberment of the empire; and that America may be free from those calamities which have formerly proved in the mother country how essential monarchy is to the enjoyment of constitutional liberty. Religion, language, interest, affections, may, and I hope will, yet prove a bond of permanent union between the two countries: to this end neither attention nor disposition shall be wanting on my part.” Among other topics in his speech, his majesty alluded to the valiant exertions of the army and navy; the economical reforms which would be necessary after so expensive a war; and the attention which the concerns of Ireland and India demanded. There was no regular opposition to the address in either house, but in the commons Fox suggested that it would be better to recognize the independence of America at once, and not to reserve it as one of the conditions of peace. Some severe remarks were also made in the house of lords, on the inconsistency of the minister, who, at a former period, had so strongly opposed the recognition of American independence; but who had now expressed his readiness to acknowledge it. In reply, Lord Shelburne said that he yielded to necessity, and that the full recognition of independence was still dependent on the conduct of France; if France did not consent to peace, it would be withheld. Several warm debates followed on the subject; and on the 18th of December, a division took place on a motion made by Fox, for copies of all the parts of the provisional treaty that related to American independence; which was lost by an overwhelming majority. After voting 100,000 seamen and marines for the service of the ensuing year, on the 23rd of December, the house adjourned for the Christmass recess.

{A.D. 1783}

PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE.

It was a prevailing opinion that negociations with France, Spain, and Holland would yet fail, and that a general peace was yet a distant event.

Nevertheless, during the recess, negociations came to a pacific conclusion. Preliminary articles of peace were signed at Versailles on the 20th of January; and the arrangements of the whole were as follow:—Great Britain acknowledged the thirteen United States as free, sovereign, and independent States, with advantageous boundaries, comprehending the countries on both sides of the Ohio, and on the east of the Mississippi. The right of fishing on the banks of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was also granted to the Americans. The right of navigation on the Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, was declared common to both powers. In the treaty, the loyalists were merely recommended to congress; but it was agreed that no new confiscations or persecutions were to take place. The right of fishing on the coast of Newfoundland, from Cape St. John on the east, round the north of the island to Cape Bay on the west, was likewise ceded to France. That power also obtained the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon and St. Lucie and Tobago in the West Indies; Senegal and Goree in Africa; Pondicherry, with other districts in the East Indies, were in part restored, and in part ceded, to France. The article of the peace of Utrecht, relative to the fortifications of Dunkirk, were moreover abrogated. On her part, France restored to Great Britain the islands of Grenada and the Grenadines, St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Christopher’s, Nevis, and Montserrat. In Africa, she likewise ceded the possession of Fort James and the River Gambia. Spain obtained the island of Minorca and the two Floridas, as the price of her exertions; but she gave up Providence and the Bahama islands to Great Britain: his catholic majesty, also, guaranteed to English subjects the right of cutting logwood in the bay of Honduras. Holland agreed to a truce, with the understanding that there should be a mutual restoration of conquests between her and Great Britain; but the exact terms of pacification were not yet arranged.

REASSEMBLING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament reassembled on the day appointed, and for a day or two was occupied in debates on the affairs of Ireland. The preliminaries of peace were laid before the house on the 24th of January and the debates which followed led to the overthrow of the ministry. This had been indeed determined upon beforehand; for Fox and Lord North, whose sentiments were as opposite as the poles, had previously entered into a coalition for that express purpose, to the astonishment of the whole nation. The struggle commenced on a motion made by Mr. Thomas Pitt, for an address of thanks to his majesty for ordering the preliminary articles of peace to be laid before the house. This motion, which was made on the 17th of February, the day fixed for the debate, was seconded by Mr. Wilberforce, and called forth all the rancour of contending parties. An amendment, withholding such approbation, yet assuring his majesty of their firm determination to adhere to the several articles for which the public faith had been pledged, was moved and supported by the combined adherents of Lord North and Mr. Fox; and, after a stormy debate, was carried by a majority of sixteen; the numbers being two hundred and twenty-four to two hundred and eight. An amendment, similar in principle, was moved in the house of lords, which was rejected by a majority of thirteen; the numbers being seventy-two to fifty-nine. Debates on the advantages and disadvantages of peace still continued; and on the 21st of February, Lord John Cavendish, among other resolutions, moved, “That the concessions made to the adversaries of Great Britain by the provisional treaty, and the preliminary articles, are greater than they were entitled to, either from the actual situation of their respective possessions, or from their comparative strength.” It was well known that Fox, with all his abilities, could not have succeeded in obtaining better terms of peace; and that he had expressed a readiness to make concessions equally ample as those made by Lord Shelburne. His whole party, also, had repeatedly declared that a high price must be paid for the inestimable blessing of peace. Yet now, he with others, men who had threatened Lord North with the block for persevering in the war, endeavoured, by all the means in their power, to depreciate the treaty which would bring harmony to the world. In the debate on the amendment he had condemned nearly every concession made; and he now set forth the desperate condition to which France, Spain, Holland, and even America, had been reduced by the war, as an argument why such ample concessions should not have been granted. He was answered by Pitt, who defended the treaty article by article; and vehemently condemned the “ill-omened and baneful alliance” which had been formed between the parties of Fox and Lord North. The chief subject of the debate was, in truth, the coalition of these parties; some condemning it, and others defending it from the hot attacks made upon it. There was full evidence that there existed no patriotism or principle in the matter: and that the sole object of those in power was to retain their places, and of those out of office to obtain power. The latter were successful: on a division, Lord John Cavendish’s resolutions were carried by a majority of seventeen, and Lord Shelburne instantly resigned.

THE COALITION MINISTRY.

Although Lord Shelburne resigned, yet the rest of the administration still clung to office. Mis majesty, it is said, sent for Pitt, and requested him to form a cabinet of his own. Pitt, however, probably conscious that he could not withstand the power of the coalition, declined; and day after day elapsed without any new ministry being formed. The house of commons adjourned from time to time, with the view of forwarding a new arrangement; but none could be made. Twice the king sent for Lord North, hoping to induce him to undertake the formation of a new administration; but as his majesty required that Fox should be given up, he was twice refused. In the meantime the business of the nation was suspended, and great confusion was created by this ministerial interregnum. At no time, in truth, was an able administration more necessary than at this time. Tumults were spreading throughout the kingdom, from the disembodying of the militia, and the discharge of seamen and sailors without pay; the treaty with France and Spain was not ratified; no commercial alliance was adjusted with America; and the affairs of the East India Company demanded instant attention. Seeing that there was no prospect of a new ministry being formed, on the 24th of March, Mr. Coke, one of the members for Norfolk, moved an address to the king, “that he would be graciously pleased to take into consideration the unsettled state of the empire, and condescend to comply with the wishes of this house, in forming an administration entitled to the confidence of the people.” Coke’s motion was carried with only four dissentient voices; and his majesty replied to the address, that it was his “earnest desire to comply with the wishes of his faithful commons.” Still nothing was done; and on the 31st of March, Lord Surrey moved another address, “assuring his majesty that all delays in a matter of such moment have an inevitable tendency to weaken the authority of government; and most humbly entreating his majesty, that he will take such measures towards this object as might quiet the apprehensions of his faithful subjects.” This motion was, however, withdrawn, on the assurance of Mr. Pitt, that he had that day resigned as the chancellor of the exchequer. The king was now obliged to yield: two days after this a new ministry was formed from the ranks of the coalition. In its arrangement the Duke of Portland became first lord of the treasury; Lord North secretary for home affairs; Mr. Fox secretary for foreign affairs; the Earl of Carlisle obtained the privy seal; Lord John Cavendish was re-appointed chancellor of the exchequer; Admiral Keppel was again placed at the head of the admiralty; Lord Stormont became president of the council; the great seal was given in commission to Lord Loughborough, Mr. Justice Ashurst, and Mr. Baron Hotham: while Lord Mansfield accepted the temporary office of speaker of the house of Lords; Lord Townshend became master-general of the ordnance; Burke was reinstated as paymaster of the forces; Charles Townshend became treasurer of the navy; Colonel Fitzpatric was made secretary at war; and Lord Northington was appointed to the government of Ireland. The usual changes took place likewise in his majesty’s household. The seven ministers who formed the new cabinet were, Portland, North, Fox, Cavendish, Keppel, Carlisle, and Stormont, the majority of whom were of the old Whig or Rockingham party. But, although the king had consented to this heterogeneous ministry, no pains were taken at court to conceal the dislike which was borne towards it; nor was this ministry looked upon with greater favour by the nation at large. They had obtained power by unworthy means; and this operated to diminish public confidence in their measures, whence it was not long before it was seen that this administration would share the fate of Lord Shelburne’s. It was an unnatural union of parties; and therefore its integral parts could never be so cemented together as to prevent their final separation.

RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH AMERICA, ETC.

After a long debate on the subject of parliamentary reform, which subject was brought into the house by Mr. Pitt, and was attended with no beneficial results, some important debates took place on the modes or arranging our commercial intercourse with the United States. A bill was passed in order to its promotion, repealing the restraining act; and other obstacles were removed by a temporary bill, vesting the power of making future regulations in the crown. Another subject which claimed the attention of the house, was the case of the American loyalists. Few believed that congress or the provincial assemblies would pay any attention to the recommendations of England, or that these loyalists would be allowed to recover their confiscated property. The care of providing for them, therefore, devolved on parliament. An act was passed appointing commissioners to inquire into their losses and services; and it was agreed in a committee of supply, that all American officers who had borne arms for the king should be allowed half-pay. As foreseen, congress, although they fulfilled the terms of the provisional articles on behalf of the loyalists to the very letter, paid no attention to the cold and formal recommendation of restoring their property; and subsequently a host of them soon found themselves compelled to quit their native country for ever. So numerous were the claims made upon the parliament, that in the whole they received more than twelve millions of money. This was noble generosity on the part of Great Britain, for at this time she had no money to spare. One of the first measures, indeed, or the new ministry, was to obtain a loan of twelve millions, and to put a stamp-duty on receipts, in order to meet, the expenses of the state—expenses which had chiefly been incurred by the recent war. During this war, in truth, England had increased her national debt by more then £130,000,000 sterling.

PITT’S PLAN FOR REFORMING THE TREASURY ETC.

In the course of this session, Mr. Pitt brought in a bill for making some economical reforms in the treasury. In his speech on this subject, he demonstrated that extravagant abuses existed; and his bill was carried in the commons, but lost in the lords. But though ministers could not countenance Pitt’s plan, they were under the necessity of producing one of their own. At the end of June, Lord John Cavendish carried a bill through the house, for abolishing certain offices in the exchequer, and limiting the salaries of others after the death of the present possessors. In consequence of a motion made by Pitt five months before, Lord John Cavendish also presented to the house a book, containing a list of accountants, who having received public money by way of imprest, had not yet accounted for it; and of those persons from whom balances of declared accounts were still due. By this book it appeared that a sum of about £44,000,000 sterling was still unaccounted for; and this induced Mr. Pitt to move an address to the king, requesting him to take measures for the recovery of this sum, and to prevent similar delinquencies for the future. This was objected to by ministers; but it was allowed to pass with a few trifling amendments. About the same time, Lord Mali on introduced a bill for preventing bribery at elections; and Alderman Sawbridge made his annual motion for a reform in parliament, both of which were negatived.

{GEORGE III. 1782–1784}

EAST INDIA AFFAIRS.

It has been seen that a select committee had been appointed to consider the state of the British dominions. This committee, in the prosecution of this inquiry, not only discovered corruption, fraud, and injustice in every department of the Indian government, but that the company’s finances were in a ruinous condition. In order, therefore, to rescue the British name from disgrace, and to secure our territorial possessions in India, Sir Henry Fletcher introduced a bill for “suspending the payments of the company due to the exchequer, and enabling them to borrow the sum of £300,000 for their relief.” This bill, which was declared to be only a branch of a larger plan, passed both houses with very little opposition; an impression generally prevailing among peers and commoners, that unless relief was afforded, bankruptcy was inevitable. Thus works profusion.

PETITION OF THE QUAKERS AGAINST THE SLAVE TRADE.

Towards the end of the session, a bill was introduced for regulating the trade of the African Company, in which there was a clause prohibiting its officers from exporting negroes. This encouraged the Quakers to present a petition for the total abolition of the slave trade: a petition that may be said to have laid the foundation of those generous and persevering exertions of gifted individuals, as Clarkson and Wilberforce, which finally succeeded in effecting the abolition of that loathsome traffic in the bones and sinews of man; which had for centuries been carried on without compunction.

SETTLEMENT ON THE PRINCE OF WALES.

On the 23rd of June, a message was delivered from the king to the house of commons, requesting means for a separate establishment for the Prince of Wales. The young prince had now attained his twenty-first year, and was of such extravagant habits, that his profusion was the talk of the nation. He was particularly intimate with Fox, and was linked in with the coalition ministry; and the Duke of Portland suggested to his majesty that a demand should be made of a hundred thousand a-year for his maintenance. The king, however, disliked the prince’s connexion with his present ministers, and therefore, he put his decided negative upon this proposal; asserting that he could not think of burthening his people with so large a grant, and encouraging his son in his extravagant habits. Ministers had bound themselves to procure this sum for their royal friend, but were obliged to submit to the king’s will; namely, that fifty thousand a-year should be allotted by himself out of the civil list, and that parliament should merely grant sixty thousand as an outfit. A vote to this effect was carried without opposition: the young prince giving a proof of his filial duty and public spirit, by signifying his desire that the king’s wish should be consulted, and his readiness to accept whatever he might think proper in his wisdom and goodness to grant. At the same time he continued his close intimacy with Fox, and gave all the countenance he could to a ministry which his majesty abhorred.

PARLIAMENT PROROGUED.

Parliament was prorogued on the 16th of July, his majesty intimating his intention to call the members together at an early period, in order to resume the consideration of the affairs of India. In his speech he expressed regret that he could not announce the completion of the definitive treaties.

EXECUTION OF TREATIES, ETC.

The greatest difficulty in the way of the settlement of the definitive treaties arose from Holland. On the 2nd of September, however, through the influence of France, Holland acceded to preliminaries of peace, by which all conquests on both sides were to be restored, except the town of Negapatam, in the East Indies, which was to remain in the possession of Great Britain. On the next day the definitive treaties with France, Spain, and America were signed, and that under the auspices of the men who had condemned the articles _in toto_. Soon after Mr. Adams arrived in London as ambassador from the United States. On his first audience at St. James’s, the king received Mr. Adams with much courtesy and kindness. He remarked to him:—“I was the last man in the kingdom, sir, to consent to the independence of America; but, now it is granted, I shall be the last man in the world to sanction its violation.” It is said that Adams retired from the monarch’s presence with altered sentiments as to his real character; and when at a later period Jay came into contact with the king, he was obliged to confess that in his representations of George III. in the American manifestoes and revolutionary documents, which had been chiefly written by him, he had overcharged the picture. Instead of being an unfeeling and savage tyrant, thirsting for the blood of his subjects, as he had set forth, he found that his majesty possessed many virtues, and that he was beloved by his subjects.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament reassembled on the 11th of November. The king’s speech on this occasion was brief but comprehensive. After noticing the conclusion of peace with France, Spain, and America, he urged attention to every possible means of recruiting the strength and resources of the nation; of rendering the necessary revenue as little burthensome as possible to his subjects; and of adopting new measures to prevent the numerous frauds which had been committed in the collection of the revenue. He particularly directed their attention to the affairs of India, remarking that their utmost exertions would be required to maintain and improve the valuable advantages derived from our Indian possessions, and to promote and secure the happiness of the native inhabitants. The address passed without opposition; Pitt himself expressing approbation of the ends of government, and promising his support.

FOX’S INDIA BILL.

Although in office, Fox was still unreconciled to the monarch. He felt, moreover, that by his ill-fated coalition he had forfeited the confidence of the people. Under these circumstances, he resolved to seek the restoration of his popularity, and to consolidate his power, by producing some great measure, which should at once charm and profit the nation. India afforded him a fine field for legislating, and with the assistance of Burke he concocted a bill for its government. He gave notice on the day when parliament reassembled, that he would produce this bill on the 18th of November, and when that day arrived he was in his place for that purpose. He moved for leave to bring in a bill for vesting the affairs of the East India Company in the hands of certain commissioners, for the benefit of the proprietary and the public. This memorable bill proposed to take the entire administration both of their territorial and commercial affairs from the directors and proprietors, and to vest it in the hands of seven commissioners, named in the bill, who were to be irremovable by the crown, except in consequence of an address of either house of parliament. These commissioners were to be assisted by a subordinate board of nine directors, to be chosen in the first instance by parliament, and afterwards by the proprietors. The bill empowered these commissioners and directors to enter immediately into possession of all lands, tenements, books, records, vessels, goods, merchandize, and securities in trust for the company. They were required to decide on every question within a certain time, or to assign sufficient reason for delay. They were never to vote by ballot, and were generally required to enter on their journals the reasons of their vote. Every six months they were to submit an exact schedule of accounts to the court of proprietors; and at the commencement of every session were to present a statement of their affairs to both houses of parliament. This act was to continue in force four years: that is, till the year after the next general election. It was accompanied by another bill, enacting regulations for the future government of the British territories in India. This second bill took from the governor-general all power of acting independently of his council; declared every existing British power in India incompetent to the acquisition or exchange of any territory in behalf of the company; to the acceding to any treaty of partition; to let out the company’s troops; to the appointment of any person removed for misdemeanour to office; and to the hiring out any property to any civil servant of the company. It also prohibited all monopolies; declared every illegal present recoverable by any person for his own benefit; and employed effectual means to secure the zemindars, or native landholders, in the possession of their inheritances, aiming particularly at the abolition of all vexatious or usurious claims that might be made upon them, by prohibiting mortgages, and subjecting every doubtful claim to the examination of the commissioners.

The disclosure of this scheme excited the greatest sensation in the house. By the friends of Fox it was espoused with zeal and enthusiasm, while it was attacked by his opponents with vehement indignation and energetic invective. On the one hand it was extolled as a master-piece of genius, virtue, and ability; on the other, it was denounced as a dangerous design, fraught with mischief and ruin. Pitt had promised his support in settling the affairs of India; but though he acknowledged that reform was wanted, it was, he said, not such a reform as this. He remarked:—“The bill under consideration included a confiscation of the property, and a disfranchisement of the members of the East India Company; all the several articles of whose effects were transferred by violence to strangers. Imagination was at a loss to guess at the most insignificant trifle that had escaped the harpy jaws of a ravenous coalition. The power was pretended, indeed, to be given in trust for the benefit of the proprietors; but, in case of the grossest abuses of trust, to whom was the appeal? To the proprietors? No; to the majority of either house of parliament, which the most contemptible minister could not fail to secure, with the patronage of above two millions sterling given by this bill. The influence which would accrue from this bill—a new, enormous, and unexampled influence—was indeed in the highest degree alarming. Seven commissioners, chosen ostensibly by parliament, but really by administration, were to involve in the vortex of their authority the patronage and treasures of India. The right honourable mover had acknowledged himself to be a man of ambition, and it now appeared that he was prepared to sacrifice the king, the parliament, and the people at the shrine of his ambition. He desired to elevate his present connexions to a situation in which no political convulsions, and no variations of power, might be able to destroy their importance and terminate their ascendency.” Other members resisted the bill with similar arguments, and Fox was compelled to call all his powers into action for its defence. After defending himself from the charge of violating the company’s charters, and observing that the arguments of his opponents might have been adopted with great propriety by King James the Second, he remarked:—“I am also charged with increasing the influence, and giving an immense accession of power to the crown. Certainly this bill as little augments the influence of the crown, as any measure that can be devised for the government of India, with the slightest promise of success. The very genius of influence consists in hope or fear—fear of losing what we have, or hope of gaining more. Make the commissioners removable at will, and you set all the little passions of human nature afloat. Invest them with power upon the same tenure as the British judges hold their station, removable upon delinquency, punishable upon guilt, but fearless of danger if they discharge their trust, and they will be liable to no seducement, and will execute their functions with glory to themselves, and for the common good of the country and mankind. This bill presumes the possibility of mal-administration; for every word in it breathes suspicion. It supposes that men are but men; it confides in no integrity; it trusts to no character. It annexes responsibility, not only to every action, but even to the inaction of the powers it has created. I will risk my all upon the excellence of this bill. I will risk upon it whatever is most dear to me—whatever men most value—the character of integrity, of present reputation, and future fame; these will I stake upon the constitutional safety, the enlarged policy, the equity and wisdom of the measure. Whatever, therefore, may be the fate of its authors, I have no fear that it will produce to this country every blessing of commerce and revenue; and by extending a generous and humane government over those millions whom the inscrutable dispensations of Providence have placed under us, in the remotest regions of the earth, it will consecrate the name of England among the noblest of the nations.” While this bill was pending in the commons, the East India Company and the city of London presented strong petitions against it; but it was carried rapidly through all its stages with large majorities, and Fox presented it at the bar of the lords on the 9th of December.

Fox had recommended his majesty to create several new Whig peers, in order to ensure the success of his measure in the house of lords. The king, however, declared, that he would not create any British peers on the recommendation of the present cabinet, and therefore he was obliged to commit his bill to that house as it now existed. It appears that he had still hopes of the concurrence of the lords; and although it was, on the first reading, reprobated by the Duke of Richmond, Lord Thurlow, and Lord Temple, yet still a division was favourable to its progress. It also passed on the second reading, which took place on the 15th; but on the following day counsel was heard on behalf of the company, and on the 17th it was moved that the bill be rejected. On this occasion Lord Camden spoke with great vehemence against the bill; declaring, that if it passed into a law, we should soon see the King of England and the King of Bengal contending for superiority in the British parliament. Ministers had been defeated by a majority of eight on the evening of the second reading, when the opposition moved for an adjournment till the next day, in order to give an opportunity of hearing counsel; but they were now doomed to suffer a more signal defeat. The bill was rejected by ninety-five against seventy-six.

There was a cause for this change of sentiment in the lords. On the 11th of December Earl Temple had a conference with the king, in which, having explained his ideas on the nature and tendency of the bill, his majesty became a convert to the views of opposition. By his explanation the royal indignation was greatly excited; the monarch considering himself as having been deceived by his ministers. Accordingly, a card was written, stating that “his majesty allowed Earl Temple to say, that whoever voted for the bill was not only not his friend, but would be considered by him as his enemy; and that, if these words were not strong enough, Earl Temple might use still stronger language.” The rumour of this soon spread, and on the evening of the 15th a conversation concerning it took place in the house of lords, in which Earl Temple declared, that he was not ashamed to avow the advice which he had given to his majesty, and would publish what he was empowered to communicate, when he should be properly called upon to do so. It was evident, therefore, to ministers and to all men, that the rumour was substantially correct, and on the 17th the subject was brought prominently before the members of the house of commons. Mr. Baker moved these two resolutions:—“1. That it is now necessary to declare that, to report any opinion, or pretended opinion of his majesty, upon any bill, or other proceeding, depending in either house of parliament, with a view to influence the votes of the members, is a high crime and misdemeanor, derogatory to the honour of the crown, a breach of the fundamental privileges of parliament, and subversive of the constitution of this country. 2. That this house will, on Monday next, resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to consider the state of the nation.” After an animated debate, these resolutions were carried by a majority of nearly two to one, the numbers being one hundred and fifty-three against eighty. A dissolution of parliament being now apprehended, Mr. Erskine moved, that whoever should prevent that house from discharging their duty in remedying the abuses which prevailed in the government of the British dominions in the East Indies, should be considered by them as an enemy to his country. This resolution was attacked as an invasion of the king’s prerogative, but it was nevertheless carried, by one hundred and forty-seven against seventy-three.

DISSOLUTION OF THE COALITION MINISTRY—PITT MADE PRIME MINISTER.

The above resolutions were designed as props to support the government, but they were swept away by his majesty. On the 18th he was employed in making dispositions for the formation of a new cabinet, and at twelve o’clock that night a messenger delivered orders to Fox and Lord North, that they should deliver up the seals of their offices without delay. The seals were sent, and, on the following day, Earl Temple was directed to send letters of dismission to all the other members of the cabinet. At the same time Pitt was appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer; the Marquess of Carmarthen and Mr. Thomas Townshend (created Lord Sydney) were nominated secretaries of state; Lord Thurlow was reinstated as lord-chancellor; Earl Gower became president of the council; the Duke of Rutland was constituted lord privy-seal; Lord Howe was placed at the head of the admiralty; the Duke of Richmond was made master-general of the ordnance; and Lord Temple was again appointed to the government of Ireland. Mr. W. Grenville and Lord Mulgrave became joint paymasters of the forces; Mr. Dundas, treasurer of the navy; Mr. George Rose and Mr. Steele, secretaries of the treasury; Mr. Lloyd, attorney-general; and Mr. R. P. Arden, solicitor-general. In the first instance Lord Temple had been made one of the secretaries of state, but he resigned this post under pretence of meeting the charge of tampering with the royal confidence, which was laid against him by the recent cabinet, more freely. It was predicted, that the new ministry would not exist one month; and looking at the formidable array of opponents which sat on the opposition benches on the evening of their acceptance of office, this prediction seemed certain of fulfilment. Pitt himself was conscious of his weakness, and doubtful of the result; but his administration, though commenced under such unfavourable circumstances, proved in the end one of the most memorable in the British annals.

EFFORTS OF THE OPPOSITION AGAINST THE NEW MINISTRY.

The first measure after the change in the cabinet was to issue a new writ for the borough of Appleby. This done, Mr. Dundas, treasurer of the navy, moved, that in order to carry the Land-tax Bill through the house in time to meet large payments that were to be made by the treasury on the 5th of January, the house should meet on the next day, Saturday, instead of being adjourned till Monday. As it was imagined that government meant to hurry over the voting of supplies, that it might proceed to a dissolution, this was opposed by Fox, and rejected without a division. On the Monday no opposition was made to the land-tax, but on the same evening Mr. Erskine moved an address to his majesty, not to dissolve the present parliament, but to be graciously pleased to hearken to the advice of his faithful commons, and not to the secret advices of particular persons, who might have private interests of their own, separate from the true interests of the king and his people. The house was assured that Pitt would resign if either a dissolution or a prorogation took place; but the motion was pressed and agreed to without a division. The answer of his majesty to this address was reported on the 24th, and it contained an assurance that he would not interrupt their meeting by any exercise of his prerogative, either by prorogation or dissolution. Opposition now seemed certain of the fall of Pitt and his coadjutors; and, as if impatient for their overthrow, Fox suggested that the recess should be a very short one, and it was resolved to adjourn only till the 12th of January.