In fact, all seemed to show that the critical time had come. Attempts were indeed made subsequently at reconciliation, but they were hollow, and the proposers of them knew that they were hollow. Henceforward an appeal to arms became almost certain, and the idea of claiming independence, as yet only existing in the minds of a few of the leaders, began to become prevalent. Virginia at once threw in her lot with Massachusetts. A fast was ordered on account of the Boston Port Act, and the governor dissolved the assembly. The leaders met at the Raleigh Tavern, and agreed upon a form of association against trade with England. Washington, hitherto hopeful of reconciliation, declared his readiness to raise 1000 men at his own cost for the support of the people of Massachusetts. In spite of all Government opposition, most of the colonies accepted the lead of Virginia, kept the fast, and agreed to the association, while, as a chief step in the direction of general revolt, a Congress was summoned at Philadelphia, and attended by representatives of the assemblies of twelve colonies, Georgia alone being absent. The English, too, understood that the two great Bills were little short of a declaration of war. Hutchinson was recalled, and General Gage was made Governor of Massachusetts, while Boston was filled with troops. Of course a quarrel between the new governor and the assembly was inevitable. The assembly was dissolved, and refusing to disperse, collected and sat at Concord, constituting thus in fact a rebel government, whose orders were implicitly obeyed. Gage had been obliged to fortify Boston Neck; as a counter measure the Concord assembly established a permanent committee of public safety, organized 12,000 militia, and enrolled minute men, or picked men from the militia bound to serve at a minute's notice. While things were thus drifting into war in Massachusetts, the General Congress issued a Declaration of Rights, setting forth the rights of the colonists as Englishmen, and declaring that the late Acts were infractions of these rights, and must be repealed before America would submit, and passed a resolution forbidding importation Acts of the General Congress. from England, the use of imported goods, and after the interval of a year exportation to England also. These, and other acts and papers of the Congress, acquired much weight by being to all appearance issued unanimously, an important advantage which was only gained after a trial of strength, in which the views of the advanced leaders were carried by a majority of one. When defeated on a scheme of reconciliation proposed by Mr. Galloway, and considered as a test question, the minority wisely accepted their position, and desisted from all protest, so that all the acts of Congress might have their full weight.

A general election in England in September of this year made it plain that the temper of the people was no less bitter and determined in the mother country than in the colonies. A large ministerial majority was returned ready to support any acts of coercion. The Opposition began by demanding papers in an amendment on the address, but the real Chatham's motions for reconciliation. 1775. struggle did not begin till January, when Chatham again expressed his opinion, moving the immediate repeal of the obnoxious statutes of the preceding year and the withdrawal of troops from Boston. The majority against him was overwhelming; none the less did he at once set to work, with Franklin's help, to prepare a scheme of reconciliation, though Franklin had probably neither much hope nor much wish that it should succeed. It was at first fairly received by Lord Dartmouth, the Colonial Secretary, but again Lord Sandwich and the Bedford party overawed their more temperate colleague, and it was rejected with scorn. The wisdom of some step in the same direction North's measure for the same purpose. seems however to have been plain to Lord North, who in a short time produced a scheme of his own. This did not go further than to say, that so long as the colonies taxed themselves with the approbation of King and Parliament no other taxes ought to be laid on them. It was much too late for any such trumpery measure.

It was indeed too late for any schemes of reconciliation, and the appeal to arms began. General Gage, who in spite of his representations had been left without reinforcements during the winter, could not see the Skirmish at Lexington. April 1775. preparations made for arming and supplying the militia, carried on by the provincial Congress, without taking some measures to prevent them. In April he determined to destroy the stores at Concord. Some militiamen, who were being drilled at Lexington, only dispersed after firing upon the troops; and when the soldiers, after destroying such of the stores as had been left at Concord, began their homeward march, they found themselves assaulted from behind every hedge and cover, and were compelled to seek refuge in a very distressed condition with a body of troops who had been sent to support them. The English loss was 270, while the rebels lost less than 100 men. This slight success raised the spirits of the colonists; militiamen crowded in from all quarters, and General Gage was blockaded in Boston. The rebels even ventured to attempt an expedition against the neighbouring province of Canada. A Bill passed Canada Bill. the preceding year in England had given a constitution to Canada. This colony, nearly wholly French, neither understood nor valued English institutions, and was firmly Roman Catholic in its religion. The constitution was wisely conceived in a more arbitrary spirit than would have suited Englishmen, and with great liberality established the Roman Catholic worship. The Americans, unable to see the wisdom of this, and Puritan in their own religious beliefs, fancied that Canada must be smarting under its wrongs, and that they should find hearty sympathy there. In this belief, and to open the road thither, two New Englanders raised troops on their own responsibility—Arnold, a horse dealer, and Ethan Allen—and advanced against the forts which held the valley of Lakes Fall of Ticonderoga. May. George and Champlain, which, with the valley of the Hudson, forms the natural road from New York to Montreal. They speedily seized Ticonderoga and Crown Point.

The first question which met the second General Congress was whether they should take upon themselves the responsibility of these actions or accept the conciliatory resolution of Lord North. There was no hesitation on the part of the Congress. Lord North's proposition was thrown aside at once; orders were issued against supplying any British force or officer; a national name was assumed—The United Colonies; coercive measures were decreed against any province which should refuse to recognize the authority of Congress; and on the flimsy excuse of a contemplated invasion from Canada, the actions of Allen and Arnold were acknowledged, and an attack on Canada organized. These were acts of rebellion and war, and the Congress, conscious that the die was cast, proceeded to appoint a commander-in-chief. Their choice fell upon Colonel Washington, a Virginian gentleman, and a member of the Congress, who had seen some service in the late frontier wars, and was much respected by his province. He was a powerful, somewhat silent man, of very strong sense, and great powers of self-control, possessing that commanding influence which Washington chosen commander-in-chief. is given by strong passion and enthusiasm habitually subdued, but just visible under a constant and calm exterior. His unquestioned honesty, his hatred of disorder, and his great simplicity of character, fitted him well to give dignity to a cause which ran the risk, if it fell into inferior hands, of degenerating into a selfish and riotous uproar.

Washington at once hurried to the seat of war, but before he arrived another battle had been fought. A narrow channel separates Boston from another town of the name of Charlestown, behind which rise two masses of high ground, known as Breed's and Bunker's Hill, from which Boston is commanded. Breed's Hill is the nearer of the two to Boston. It was natural to suppose that General Gage, whose forces had been raised to 10,000 men by reinforcements under Generals Clinton, Howe and Burgoyne, would assume the offensive, and at all events try to secure these hills. The Americans attempted to forestall him, and some rude defences were thrown up on the ridge of Breed's Hill. About 2000 English were sent to dislodge them. The Americans fought well, more than once the English drew back before their fire, but rallied by Clinton, they eventually took the position, driving the enemy, more than twice their number, in disorder along Charlestown Neck, where they were open to the fire of our ships. More than 800 of the English fell in the desperate struggle.

Although the insurgent troops were justly proud of the gallant stand they had made against disciplined forces, the army when Washington joined it was not such as a general would wish to command. Even in the late battle well authenticated cases of cowardice had occurred among the officers. The militia regiments of the various states regarded each other with jealous eyes; there was no sort of uniformity of dress, no trace of soldierly bearing; the soldiers showed little subordination to officers scarcely better than themselves; and, worse than all, there was a fearful deficiency of powder. It taxed the ability and temper of their new general to the full to bring the motley crowd into order. He exacted the sternest discipline, drew a sharp line between the officers and men, procured hunting shirts to supply the lack of uniform, and by unremitting toil gradually produced a tolerable army. Why General Gage looked quietly on while this process was being carried out it is difficult to say. Even setting aside the lack of ammunition, of which however he was fully informed, he had troops enough to have destroyed the enemy which were blockading him without difficulty, and might thus perhaps have ended the war at a blow.

The slowness which characterizes the English generals at the beginning of the war is probably to be traced to the prevalent idea that reconciliation was still possible, and that the terrible extremity of civil war might be avoided. Even at this very time the Congress was sending to the King a last appeal; but this document, known as the Olive Branch Petition, was not received in England. There was a technical objection to it which secured its rejection; it purported to come from the Congress—an illegal and unrecognized body. The Americans could scarcely indeed have expected that it would have produced any effect. It held out no hope of concession, but expressed only vague wishes for reconciliation. It probably served the turn of those who sent it by allowing them to throw the blame of the future war entirely on the English. It might have been wise on the part of the ministry, even thus late, to have accepted overtures of peace, but it would have been a stretch of wisdom which no man had a right to expect; for the Congress had undoubtedly by its action assumed a position of complete independence and hostility which a Government could scarcely be expected to overlook.

Even before the Olive Branch was sent the Congress had determined to take advantage of the successes of the preceding year, and had organized, under Generals Montgomery and Arnold, an attack upon Canada, which General Carleton was ill prepared to repel with less than 1000 British troops. While Montgomery crossed Lake Champlain and pushed on to Montreal, Arnold, with incredible labour, had made his way up the valley of the Kennebec, and so down the Chaudière, to Quebec. Unable to prevent the junction of the armies, Carleton hastened to throw himself into the capital, and upon the Heights of Abraham succeeded in checking their advance, with the loss of Montgomery their leader. Arnold could do no more than keep up a nominal blockade, so ably was the defence conducted, and the general who superseded him, meeting with no sympathy from the Canadians, was forced to withdraw in disorder beyond Lake Champlain.

Meanwhile the dilatory conduct of Gage, who had now been succeeded by General Howe, had lost Boston to the English. Washington had at length found himself strong enough to take and fortify the Dorchester Heights, which commanded the English lines on Boston Neck. A general engagement, which could scarcely have Howe retires to Halifax. March, 1776. ended otherwise than favourably to the English, would have still rendered the town tenable, and Howe was inclined to bring on a battle. But a continued course of bad weather frustrated his plans, and thinking that for military reasons New York, where the royal party was strong, would make a better base of operations, he determined to withdraw; he accordingly removed all his troops to Halifax, there to await promised reinforcements. So long were the fresh troops in coming that Howe had to leave Halifax without them. There was considerable difficulty in supplying him. The military arrangements of England have been constantly found inefficient at the opening of a war; it was only by purchasing troops at an exorbitant price from the Duke of Brunswick and the Landgrave of Hesse that the immediate want could be supplied. It was therefore only on a limited scale that Howe was enabled to carry out that plan for the arrangement of the troops which was afterwards continued during the war; and which consisted of making New York the centre of operations, to be supported by two subsidiary forces, the one acting in the Southern States, the other from Canada. In pursuance of this plan, he despatched a force against Charleston, in Carolina, under General Clinton, while he himself moved to Sandy Hook, thus threatening New York, whither Washington had hastened from Boston. He was there joined in July by his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, and found himself, with his reinforcements and with the troops which had been sent to Charleston and had returned upon the failure of the expedition, at the head of nearly 30,000 men.

Lord Howe brought with him full powers for himself and his brother the general, empowering them, in accordance with a late Act of Parliament, to receive the submission of any colony, and after such submission to grant pardon and redress. An Imperial nation, defied by its colonies and not yet beaten, could hardly offer more, and to those not thoroughly conversant with what was going on in America, it must have seemed that there was every chance of such terms being accepted. Never as yet had the chances of the insurgents seemed so small. It is true that the revolt had become universal; but the spirit of the commercial population of the Northern States was severely tried, and seemed to be yielding under the depression of trade caused by the war. The English army was for the time actually more numerous than that of Washington, whose troops, nominally but 27,000 strong, were diminished by illness or absence. Those who remained were in a miserable condition, and consisted chiefly of men enlisted for short periods, who could scarcely be properly drilled before they returned to their homes. But the state of feeling was no longer what it had been. It was no longer a question of pardon or redress. The more earnest and violent men had, as is usual in civil commotions, been coming more and more to the front. The idea of a total separation from England had been rapidly gaining ground; republican and democratic principles had made their appearance; the writings of Thomas Paine had been published, and so largely were his views received, that a declaration, issued by the aristocratic State of Virginia, served afterwards as the model for the Declaration of the Rights of Man issued by the revolutionists of France; and already, before the arrival of Howe with his offer of pardon, the extreme party had determined to check all lukewarmness and put an end to all chance of reconciliation by taking an irretrievable step. In June, Lee of Virginia proposed in Congress that the colonies should declare Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776. themselves independent. The numbers on division proved to be exactly equal, but Dickinson, the writer of the "Pennsylvanian Farmer's Letters," and the leader of the moderate party, consented to withdraw, and the motion for independence was thus carried by a majority of one. The document itself is not a very powerful one, but shows how abstract political views had become mingled with the original questions in dispute. It is based on the Declaration of Virginia, recapitulates all the real or fancied grievances of the colonies, and, with curious political dishonesty, attributes them all to the personal tyranny of the King. The Declaration of Independence, issued on July 4th, reached Washington's army just before Lord Howe's arrival; it of course rendered his pacific mission fruitless. The colonies had assumed the position of an independent nation, and claimed to be treated with all the respect due to such a position. Howe's letters to Washington were even returned unopened, because they were not addressed to him by his full military style and title.

To the English nothing now remained but to take advantage of the superiority of their troops. An attack upon the lines of Brooklyn, at the end of Long Island, separated from New York only by a narrow channel, was ordered. The Americans, in about equal numbers, came out of their intrenchments, and for the first time during the war a battle was fought in the open field. The victory of the English troops was immediate and complete. It was due only to Howe's want of vigour in pressing his success that Washington was able to withdraw his army to New York, whence, finding it impossible to hold his ground, he retired ultimately to the mainland, taking up a position at Kingsbridge, and leaving the city in the hands of the English. It was plain that the temporary militia of the colonists was useless against regular troops, and in spite of its republican dread of a standing army, the Congress at length listened to Washington's repeated representations, and authorized the enrolment of some regular troops. But for more than a year he was compelled to do his best with his old militia, and nothing but the continued and incomprehensible slowness of the English generals saved him from disaster. Step by step he was driven backwards, till he was compelled to cross the Delaware and leave the whole of the Jerseys in the hands of the English. The road to Philadelphia seemed open, and the Congress, in fear, withdrew to Baltimore. But the English, when they found that all the boats on the Delaware had been removed, quietly withdrew into winter quarters upon a very extended line, and waited in hopes of being able to cross the river on the ice. The time thus wasted lost them all the advantages they had won, and gave Washington an opportunity to recover. Eager to strike some blow which should raise the spirits of the colonists and enable him to fill the ranks of the army, he determined to take advantage of the weak and extended line of the English. On Christmas evening, trusting to the effects of the day's debauch, he crossed the river, and surprised and captured the garrison of Trenton. Cornwallis, who had the command of the advanced troops of the English, came to the rescue, but Washington Washington recovers New Jersey. Jan. 3, 1777. by another night march swept round the English army, and captured or destroyed two regiments at Princeton. He was unable to secure, as he had intended, the supplies at Gloucester, but before long he succeeded in clearing New Jersey of the English, and confining them, as before, to New York and Rhode Island.

Howe remained idle till June, thus allowing much time to the Americans, to whom time was everything. But in June preparations Threefold plan of the English. for a great joint movement were matured. Not only was the main army in New York again to resume the offensive, but advantage was to be taken of the possession of Canada, and an attack organized from that country. This branch of the combined movement was placed under the command of General Burgoyne. The cleft made by the valley of the Hudson is continued northward by the Lakes George and Champlain, and a natural road thus formed from Canada to New York. Down this the Canadian army was to march, assisted by the co-operation of Clinton, who was to lead troops from New York to meet it. Thus the disaffected provinces of New England would be severed from the rest of America.

Howe's army, which was now comparatively powerful, was expected to make its way through the Jerseys, and to complete the project of last autumn by capturing Philadelphia; but, finding Washington ready to oppose his advance, he suddenly withdrew his troops and embarked them in the fleet. He appeared for a moment off the mouth of the Delaware, but again, finding more obstacles than he had expected, took to the sea, and sailing all round the promontory between the Delaware and the Bay of Chesapeake, ultimately arrived at the top of that piece of water at the Head of Elk, nearly as far from Philadelphia as when he started. The time spent in making this long circuit enabled Washington to be fully prepared to cover Philadelphia. He took up his position in Brandywine Creek. He was there quite outmanœuvred. While one division of the English held the ground in front, another marched round and fell upon the rear and left flank, and completely routed his army. He still tried to hold the line of the Schuylkill, but it was passed by the English with little difficulty, and Philadelphia occupied. The capital was thus in the hands of the English, but the expeditionary character of the attack prevented it from being so effectual as a steady advance would have been, while it rendered the conquest nugatory by separating it entirely from New York, the real basis of operations. In some degree to correct this error, it became necessary to secure direct access by sea by the capture of the forts which held the mouth of the Delaware. For this purpose the English army was divided, one portion remained at Germanstown Battle of Germanstown. Oct. 4. to hold Philadelphia, and the rest were moved to the siege of the forts. Washington took advantage of the weakness of his immediate opponents and attacked the troops at Germanstown. At first he was successful, but a panic, such as not unfrequently seizes young and half-disciplined troops, changed his half-won victory to defeat. The forts of the Delaware were at length captured, and the operations of the English seemed to have been thoroughly successful.

It was indeed a moment of intense depression in the American army; nothing but the extraordinary patience and steadfastness Washington reorganizes the army. of Washington could have saved it. Half-disciplined troops, many of them inclined to desert, or to leave their standards as soon as their short time of enlistment was over, thousands without shoes, a commissariat ridiculously incompetent and notoriously fraudulent, a civil power inclined to meddle and complain of the military arrangements, such were some of the difficulties with which he had to contend. He managed in spite of all to keep his army together, and to induce his troops to go into winter quarters at Valley Forge, a wild but strong position among the hills on the Schuylkill river a little above Philadelphia. News from the North came to cheer him in his distressed condition.

Though successful in itself, the real object of Howe's expedition had not been obtained, it had not enabled the army of New York to go to the assistance of Burgoyne, and that general had been compelled to surrender with all his army on the 17th of October. In June he had advanced along the west side of Lake Champlain, and had taken the fortress of Ticonderoga, Fort Anne, and Fort Edward on the Hudson. Hearing that the Americans had supplies but slightly guarded at Bennington, on the road to the Connecticut river, he sent a small detachment to secure them. This was the beginning of his misfortunes; the difficulties proved greater than was expected, the expedition failed and had to retire in haste, with the loss of all its artillery. However, trusting to the co-operation of the army from New York, and of a force which was to make its way from the great lakes by Fort Stanwix down the upper Hudson and join him before Albany, Burgoyne continued to advance. He collected thirty days' supplies and crossed the Hudson, thus cutting himself off from Canada, and relying for safety upon his power of opening communication with New York. The militia of the neighbouring district at once rose behind him, thus completely severing his communications. His Indian auxiliaries had left him; he could not rely much on his Canadian troops, and now found himself in face of General Schuyler with 16,000 men. The help on which he had calculated did not come, Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger failed before Fort Stanwix, and Clinton was unable to leave New York. Burgoyne attempted an assault on the American position before Behmus's Heights, north of Stillwater, but failed. To advance seemed impossible, he therefore ordered a retreat, though this was scarcely less difficult. He had told Clinton that he could hold out till the 12th of October, and when that day came he was still close to Saratoga, and now neither retreat nor advance was possible. His boats upon the lake, which afforded him his sole means of procuring supplies or of transport, had been destroyed; he had no choice but to make some sort of surrender. On the 17th of October a convention was signed by which he surrendered his whole force to General Gates, who had assumed the chief command of the American troops. His army was allowed to march out of camp with the honours of war to the bank of the river, there to lay down their arms, and to be forwarded to England, under promise not to serve again during the war. Though the reception of the prisoners by both generals and men was most generous, and though Burgoyne lived as a guest in General Schuyler's house, the terms of the convention were not honestly fulfilled; Burgoyne, indeed, was allowed to return to England, but the main part of the army was detained in America for several years. The blame of this breach of treaty is held to attach to Congress only, and not to Washington.

This debate arose on a demand for an increase to the Civil List of £100,000 a year, and £600,000 to pay off the debts already owing. Under the existing circumstances the necessity for the measure was obvious, for the King's ordinary tradesmen were unpaid, and his servants' wages in arrears. The Civil List already amounted to £800,000 a year, and the known personal frugality of the King and Queen rendered the disappearance of so large a sum the more scandalous. In fact, nearly £600,000 had been spent since 1769 in secret service. It was easy to explain the insufficiency of the Civil List and the permanence of the ministerial majority in Parliament; not only had the Pension List been largely increased, but there were a swarm of sinecure officers about the Court, from grand falconers in the House of Peers to turnspits of the kitchen who sat in the House of Commons. The Civil List was increased, but the grant was accompanied by a strong expression, on the part of Sir Norton Fletcher, of the feeling of the House, that under the existing pressure of taxation such extravagant use of public money was much to be blamed,—words which were subsequently formally accepted by the House as their own.

The session closed with another effort on the part of the Opposition. On this occasion it was Lord Chatham who led the attack. He returned, after two years of illness, and still swathed in flannel, to move an address, urging the King to arrest the misfortunes in America. The measures he advised were unconditional redress of grievances, and repeal of all penal statutes; in other words, he would have granted all the demands of the Americans with the exception of their independence. But, while urging moderate counsels with regard to America, he blazed out at the idea of an alliance of the colonists with the French, and demanded instant war. American intrigues with France. His motion was of course lost. His fears of an alliance with France were not however unfounded; already, before the Declaration of Independence, Silas Deane had been sent over to Europe to try and make some arrangement. If the confession of the culprit is to be believed, Deane's handiwork was to be seen in the nefarious plans of a man called John the Painter, who in the December of the preceding year (1776) had attempted to fire the dockyards of Portsmouth. Again, immediately after the Declaration of Independence, Adams and Franklin had been sent over as accredited agents to make a commercial and defensive alliance with France. But though they had been well received both by the ministry and by the salons of Paris, where for the time Franklin was the fashion, their representations were mistrusted, and no real help was given. The French had no wish to engage in a failing cause, and continued to keep up an appearance of friendship with England, even, at the instigation of our ambassador, issuing, though probably intentionally too late, a lettre de cachet to stop the Marquis of Lafayette from sailing to join the colonists. He had no difficulty in avoiding it, and was present with Washington during the Philadelphian campaign. But the Court of France was in fact only watching the turn of events. The news of the defeat of Burgoyne had scarcely France acknowledges the independence of America. Dec. 1777. reached Europe before the independence of America was acknowledged and a commercial treaty made. In case of France becoming involved in the war with England, this treaty was to be extended into one by which France engaged to supply military assistance on the sole condition that America should never acknowledge the supremacy of Great Britain.

Already, by the time of the meeting of Parliament for the autumn session, rumours of Burgoyne's difficulties had reached England, though no news of his final disaster had arrived. The danger of war with France, to which Chatham had alluded in the spring, seemed to increase, and men's thoughts began to turn towards the great statesman who had before saved England in similar difficulties. Nor did Chatham refuse to respond to the general expectation; not for many years had he shown such activity as in this session. In moving an amendment on the address, he demanded the withdrawal of all troops from America, stigmatized with due severity the employment of savage Indians in the war, and strove to rouse the national spirit against France. But the energy and eloquence he exhibited throughout the session were unavailing. He consistently upheld the view that conquest of America was quite impossible, that it was worse than useless to carry on the war, and that all the demands of the colonists should be granted with the exception of independence. This, he said in the strongest words, it was impossible for England to grant. He relied, no doubt, on the natural hostility between the colonists and France, and it is possible that, had he been placed in office, his policy might have been successful. He was loved and trusted by the Americans; concessions from his hands might have been received. He was feared by France; his plan of removing the troops from America would have left the resources of England free for a foreign war; his threats and his name might have deterred the French from war. But certainly no other man could carry out such a policy, and so it was generally felt; North himself acknowledged the impossibility, and was most desirous of resigning; Lord George Germaine, who, disgraced at Minden as a military man, had become as member of the Government the chief supporter of repressive measures in America, was also preparing to give up his post. The ministry seemed on the point of giving way, and indeed the necessity for such a step was increasing rapidly. Early in December came the terrible news of Saratoga, and three weeks later the preliminaries of the treaty between France and the colonies were agreed upon, though the French ministry had not scrupled to cover their intentions by false statements on the matter.

The Opposition began to feel triumphant. Though still quite outvoted in the House, they knew that the majority turned with the ministry, whatever it might be; but they did not sufficiently reckon on the King's obstinacy. He had been right in his boast at the beginning of his reign; he was thoroughly English; he reflected and sympathized with the most vulgar feelings and prejudices of the people. The disasters in America had called out considerable enthusiasm in England; money had been largely subscribed for keeping up more troops, and the temper of the nation was evidently The King insists on Lord North retaining office. for pressing the war with energy, regardless of consequences. In vain did Lord North express his desire to resign, and declare the necessity of conciliatory measures. The King, strong in the popular feeling, reproached him for intending to desert him, as he called it. On further pressure he gave him leave to apply to Chatham and the Whigs, but only on the absurd condition, that they should join the present ministry, serve under Lord North, and carry out the same policy as the existing Government. He would not hear of the ministry being put frankly into Chatham's hands. As usual, Lord North yielded, and consented to stay in office. He even consented to bring in bills absolutely reversing all his own policy, and which could have come with good grace only from the Opposition. His Conciliation Bill, now in the hands of the ministry, was carried without difficulty, and all Lord North's Conciliation Bill. American demands, short of independence, were granted; all officers appointed by Congress acknowledged, and commissioners, with the most ample powers to discuss and arrange all points of quarrel, appointed. North still wished that, as this was in fact the Opposition policy, the Opposition should have the duty of putting it into effect; but the King and the course of events were too strong for him. The Conciliation Bill had hardly Rupture with France. passed when an open rupture with France took place. The treaty concluded on the 6th of February was notified in insulting terms to the English Court. Such a treaty was followed by the inevitable withdrawal of ambassadors, and war with France was in fact upon us.

To the Opposition it seemed as if the play had been played out. They were inclined for immediate submission. If England could not conquer America alone, what hope was there of conquering America joined with France with the whole house of Bourbon in its wake? They urged the immediate recognition of the independence of the colonies. Such, as has been before explained, were not the views of Chatham; his spirit rose with the idea of war with his old enemy, and he relied on his own ability, not indeed to conquer, but to conciliate America while he crushed France. His plan was never put to the test. On the 7th of April the Duke of Richmond moved in the House of Lords that all troops should at once be withdrawn from America, and a peace concluded, which of course implied the independence of the contracting parties. Chatham, very weak and ill, and against the advice of his friends, went down on purpose to oppose the motion. Scarcely able to walk, his feeble steps were supported by his son William and his son-in-law Lord Mahon. After hearing the Duke of Richmond's motion, he rose with difficulty, and resting on his crutch, and with his eyes looking unnaturally vivid in his shrunk face and under his great wig, he proceeded to make a vigorous reply. His voice was very low, and at times his memory failed, but here and there his eloquence rose to its old pitch, and he again thrilled his hearers as he recounted the dangers which England had outlived, and demanded whether the country which but seventeen years ago was the terror of the world "was to stoop so low as to tell its ancient inveterate enemy, Take all we have, only give us peace." The Duke replied in a weak speech; and Chatham rose again, eager to answer him, but before he could speak he was seen to gasp, to lay his hand Death of Lord Chatham. May 11, 1778. upon his heart, and to sink back, apparently dying. The death of this greatest of English statesmen put an end to all hope of a new policy. Unless the Americans received the conciliatory measures of Lord North well—which was most unlikely—the war must be fought out. Every honour was paid to the memory of Chatham. He was voted a public funeral in Westminster Abbey, and a monument, which is placed over the door at the west end of the Abbey, and represents him with his arm raised in the act of speaking. His debts were paid and a large pension settled on his family. Four Lords protested against these honours and the ministerial people kept chiefly aloof from his funeral. But the feeling of regret and admiration was universal. The Duke of Richmond's motion was of course negatived, and it remained to be seen what the Commissioners could do.

Before that question could be answered a subject was brought before the notice of Parliament and nation which was destined to play an important part and to take the place of the American contest as a party test. This was the question of Catholic relief. The laws still existing against the members of the Roman Catholic religion Laws against Roman Catholics repealed. were most severe in character. They had been enacted chiefly in the reign of William III., when England was still in mortal terror of the restoration of the malign influence of the Stuarts and their religion, and they bore the marks of their origin; many of them were indeed, as Dunning said in seconding the motion for their repeal, a disgrace to humanity. Sir George Savile, member for Yorkshire and a great Whig leader, moved the repeal of some of them; he had no intention, he said, of touching the whole penal code against Catholics, and was willing to substitute a test; but he moved the repeal of some of the most obnoxious laws. These were the law which punished the celebration of Catholic worship as felony in a foreigner, as high treason in a native, and the laws by which the estates of Popish heirs educated abroad passed to the next Protestant heir, by which a Protestant heir could take possession of his father's or other relative's estate during the lifetime of the real proprietor, and by which Papists could acquire property only by descent. The first law was so monstrous, and the others so evidently tended to foster the worst forms of family division and public informing, that their repeal met with little opposition. Dundas, Lord Advocate, promised a similar Bill for Scotland. This was the beginning of opposition. The Scotch were indignant at any sign of toleration, and organized a resistance which speedily spread into England. The Protestants found a mouthpiece in Lord George Gordon, a young man of slender intellect, and nearly mad on religious topics; although his principles were so unsettled that he died a Jew, he now threw himself with frenzied vehemence into the Protestant movement. The King, with his usual power of sympathizing with the narrower views of his people, took up the same side, and during the remainder of the reign Catholic emancipation served as a test by which to try whether his ministers would be subservient or not.

Meanwhile the Commissioners under the Conciliatory Bills had reached America (May 1778). It was at once plain that they were too late. The French alliance had been made known, and the Americans were as yet full of enthusiasm for their allies. For a time the influence of Washington had been shaken. His toilsome but inglorious work of reconstituting the army of Valley Forge had been unfavourably contrasted with the brilliant success of Saratoga; Gates, a man in every way his inferior, had been set up as his rival, and placed at the head of a war committee, which overruled Washington's advice and wishes. But the ridiculous failure of a plan which, in the interests of the French, the committee had suggested for attacking Canada had brought the Congress to reason, and their trust in Washington had been restored. The division of interests which had threatened the rising republic was thus healed, and the Commissioners found a unanimous feeling against entertaining their suggestions. Nor had the success of the English been such as to assist their views. After a winter idly spent in Philadelphia, Sir William Howe had been succeeded by Clinton, who had found it necessary to withdraw his army to New York, which with Rhode Island were the sole possessions left to England. The answer which the Commissioners received was therefore very decided. No such questions as were raised could be considered till the fleets and armies of England were withdrawn or the independence of the colonies acknowledged. The Commissioners could only retire, leaving behind them a manifesto threatening the utmost severities of war.

But, in spite of the confidence which the French alliance aroused in the minds of the Americans, the immediate effect of the treaty was not advantageous to them. A joint attack upon Rhode Island brought to light the dislike and jealousy between the new allies which Chatham had foreseen. The timely arrival of the English fleet compelled the French admiral, d'Estaing, to leave the coast. The Americans thought themselves deserted and gave up the siege. Their general, Sullivan, published an indignant general order, and addressed to Effect of the alliance between America and France. d'Estaing a sharp remonstrance. In deep dudgeon, he ceased for the rest of the year to assist the Americans, and acted wholly for French interests, trying to excite a national sympathy in Canada, and finally sailing away to the West Indies. For the time the French were almost as unpopular with the colonists as the English. In other respects the year's campaign was rather in favour of England. Georgia was occupied by an expedition sent from New York, and the Island of St. Lucia was captured from the French. But the object of the alliance was really obtained, for the war was no longer confined to America.

Resting on the support of the King, and backed in its American policy by the general feeling of the nation, North's ministry, in spite of the poor success which had attended our arms in America, had hitherto had an appearance of strength. It was now, after a struggle of a few years, to succumb to a succession of difficulties which brought to light its inherent inefficiency. The extension of the sphere of the war brought the first danger. A powerful fleet had been sent into the Channel under Keppel, which at the mere rumour of the approach of a superior fleet of the French retired. When strongly reinforced, it brought the enemy to action off Ushant, but after some hours' fighting the two fleets withdrew, without the slightest advantage on either side; not one ship of either nation had struck. To shield himself from the natural indignation felt at so ridiculous a result, Keppel tried to throw the blame on Pallisser, his second in command. As Keppel was in opposition, and Pallisser a Lord of the Admiralty, the recriminations of the admirals were taken up by their respective parties, and a vehement parliamentary war arose. At length Keppel succeeded in obtaining a court martial, but the people as well as the Parliament had joined in the quarrel; there were violent demonstrations in his favour, and the case being in fact prejudged, the trial ended in his triumphant acquittal. A far less complete and unqualified sentence of approval awaited Pallisser when he in turn was tried. Already it was evident that the hold of North's ministry was shaken; it had now to face a direct attack in Parliament. Burgoyne and Howe, both members of the House of Commons, were eager to throw all the blame of the recent miscarriages upon the shoulders of the Government; and an attack on the Admiralty was so successful, that Lord Sandwich was only rescued by a narrow majority from censure by the declaration of Lord North that he would resign were the censure carried. In his difficulties Lord North made some overtures to the Whigs, but all negotiations were rendered abortive by the restrictions placed on them by the King, who would indeed allow new ministers to be introduced, but would hear of no new measures. With the fatal facility which marred his character, North yielded to the King's stronger will, and remained in office against his own convictions, a mere official to carry out the policy of his master. His difficulties were further increased when Spain followed in the wake of France and also declared war; and the united fleets of the two countries assembled, apparently with the intention of invading England. In spite of a considerable exhibition of national spirit, it was all Sir Charles Hardy, who had command of the Channel fleet, could do to cover the coast of England and postpone a general engagement. Fortunately, though the allies were vastly superior in numbers, their ships were ill supplied and scarcely seaworthy, and they found it necessary to withdraw to their respective countries, leaving the Channel free.

But it was not only from abroad that dangers were gathering round England. The Irish, whom the people and Government of England have always regarded as a colony, and treated in the same Difficulties in Ireland. spirit of jealous selfishness that had alienated the Americans, began to think of following the example of these colonists. Their trade had always been avowedly governed and confined to suit, not Irish, but English interests. In addition to the usual restrictions, they had been suffering from an embargo on their provision trade with America, and their other industries were sinking in the general depression. When they saw Lord North proposing conciliatory measures, and promising relaxation of trade restrictions to America, they not unnaturally began to raise their claims to similar indulgences. Their requests were so reasonable that some small relief was given, but Lord North was afraid to carry out to the full a policy of free trade in face of the vigorous opposition of the great trading cities of England, where, with true commercial selfishness, any chance of a new competitor was regarded with vehement dislike. Burke was brave enough to speak heartily in favour of the Irish, in spite of instructions from his Bristol constituents; his bravery cost him his seat at the next election. With their fair claims thus trifled with, the Irish again learnt a lesson from America. What could not be got by asking might be yielded to an armed nation. On the pretext of an intended attack by the French on Belfast, soldiers were demanded. But Ireland had been denuded of troops for the American war; no troops could be sent. The inhabitants had now their excuse for arming themselves. Quite without disturbance, and with loyal protestations, volunteer corps sprang up all over the country; by the end of the year, in spite of the influence of Government, they numbered 50,000 men. In the presence of this army, with the Dublin companies in arms before the doors, the Irish Parliament of 1779 met. The national cause had found an energetic and eloquent leader in Henry Grattan. He moved an amendment to the address, demanding free trade as the national right of Ireland. The amendment passed unopposed, and was carried by the volunteers in triumph to the castle. Encouraged by this success, backed by the armed force around them, and by the populace of the city, the Parliament proceeded to the strong measure of granting supplies for six months only. Such events at once attracted attention in England, and votes of censure were moved by the Opposition on the Irish policy of the Government. But Lord North had also learnt wisdom from American affairs, and early in 1780 he passed Bills acknowledging the commercial equality of Ireland and a free export of their chief commodities.