himself, and requested all around him to bear witness CHAP. to the world, that he died like a brave man.' Arnold, in vindication of his conduct, published an address to the Americans, in which he exposed the factious and false pretences, by which congress had effected a separation of the colonies from the mother country; and had changed the whole nature of the war, by an alliance with the French, their natural enemies. He declared, that, preferring the sincere overtures of Great Britain to the insidious offers of France, he had long determined to retain his command only till an opportunity should occur of surrendering it; and of accomplishing some decisive action, which would prevent the farther effusion of blood. In a subsequent proclamation, addressed to those officers and soldiers of the provincial army who had the real interests of their country at heart, and were resolved to be no longer dupes of congress or of France, he made a strong appeal; but without effect: his account of his own conduct and motives was examined with great severity; and when he complained of the insults and hardships he had undergone, the wounds he had received, and the little hope he entertained of receiving any recompense from an ungrateful country, no one allowed this to be a sufficient justification of his attempt to betray his country's cause: it was impossible that he could deceive himself by such an illusion; the very efforts which he made to excuse his actions showed how the stings of conscience were rankling in his heart; and there can be little doubt but that Washington was right, when he wrote in a letter to a friend as follows:-'André has met his fate with that fortitude which was expected from an accomplished man and a gallant officer; but I am mistaken if Arnold is not undergoing at this time the torments of a mental hell.' The day after André's execution at Tappan, the continental army broke up from that vicinity, and removed first to Piramus, and soon afterwards to the neighborhood of the Passaick Falls; but no important E 2 XXII. 1780. XXII. 1780. CHAP military transaction distinguished the remainder of this campaign: Washington's great aim was accomplished, while he kept Clinton in constant apprehension of an attack on New York, and prevented him from sending reinforcements to lord Cornwallis, whose situation in the south was becoming very critical. In fact, the greatest pains and the most admirable finesse were employed by the American commander for this purpose; letters, expressive of such an intention, were written with a design that they should be intercepted; pretended deserters also gave false information to the British general; who by these measures, and a variety of judicious movements made by his antagonist, was completely deceived. Rodney returns to the West Indies. Sir George Rodney's observations, while he remained on the American coast, regarding the conduct of the war, were not very favorable to the British commanders: I must freely confess,' he says, in a despatch to lord Sandwich, November 13, 1780, 'there appears to me an inconceivable slackness in every branch of the war; and that briskness and activity, which are so necessary, and ought to animate the whole, to bring it to a speedy conclusion, have intirely forsaken it.' Soon after this declaration, he left the American shores, and returned to his old station in the West Indies. In the European seas, British commerce suffered some blows so severe as to spread a general gloom over the nation: admiral Geary indeed, who had the channel fleet under his command, made prize of twelve French merchant-men from Port-au-prince; but while he proceeded to the southward, in hopes of falling in with a detached squadron of French and Spanish ships, of which he had received intelligence, near fifty sail of outward-bound East and West Indiamen were taken by the combined fleets of the enemy, and carried into Cadiz: beside the immense value of the merchandise, many of these ships were laden with stores for different settlements; and their loss, with that of near 3000 men taken prisoners on board, so increased public dissatisfaction at the manner in which XXII 1780. the channel fleet was employed, that Geary soon after- CHAP. wards resigned the command; which was conferred on admiral Darby. The Americans also had their share of naval success in the capture of fourteen valuable ships belonging to the outward-bound Quebec fleet, off the bank of Newfoundland; and these concurrent losses, in their nearer or more remote consequences, affected all classes of people. affairs. The domestic affairs of this year demand only a Domestic short notice. On the ninth of June, the earl of Surrey, afterwards duke of Norfolk, and hereditary lord high marshal of England, renounced the errors of popery before the archbishop of Canterbury; and on the fifteenth of June, the dukes of Cumberland and Glocester, being reconciled to the king, went to court for the first time since their respective marriages. His majesty, for the purpose of animating his troops, devoted much time to visiting their encampments, and reviewing both the military and naval forces. His absence, and the distractions of public affairs, gave opportunities to the prince of Wales, of which he gladly availed himself, to escape from a life of restraint, now becoming peculiarly irksome; and the acquaintances which he formed at this period, with young, but more experienced noblemen, acted with injurious effect upon his future character. On the twenty-second of September, her majesty was safely delivered of prince Alfred, whose death took place August 20, 1782: on the first of November, prince Frederic was raised by brevet to the rank of colonel in the British army; and next month set out to travel on the continent, accompanied by colonel Grenville. Royal attention was at this time much engaged by the first development of a plan for Sunday-schools; and when Mr. Raikes of Glocester was soon afterwards at Windsor, the queen sent for him to the Lodge, and honored him with a long audience, in which he explained his whole system: at the conclusion, her majesty graciously observed, 'that she envied those who had the power of doing good by thus personally promoting the welfare of XXII. 1780. CHAP society; a pleasure, from which by her station she was debarred.' She not only sanctioned the benevolent plan of Mr. Raikes, but was throughout life an active encourager of the various institutions in and about Windsor for the instruction and amelioration of the lower classes. СНАР. XXIII. 1780. CHAPTER XXIII. GEORGE III (CONTINUED.)-1780. Meeting of the new parliament-Mr. Cornwall elected speaker— King's speech-Fox's attack on lord Sandwich-Lord North's reply-Rupture with Holland-Notice of it in the session of 1781-Associations appoint delegates-Mr. Burke brings forward the rejected bills of last session-Mr. Pitt's first speech in the house of commons-Other popular efforts-Altered principles of whigs and tories-Supplies, &c.-Other popular subjects discussed in the house-Mr. Sheridan's first speechSystem of associations and delegates approved-Evils in the marriage act corrected-Debates on it Different opinions of Fox and Burke on the subject-Fox's motion respecting the war-Pitt's speech, and defence of his father's principlesCommittees on East Indian affairs-Temporary bill continuing the company's monopoly-End of the session, &c.-East Indian affairs in the Deccan from 1778 to 1786-Attack on JerseyGibraltar relieved-Attacked by the Spaniards-Attack on Minorca―Combined fleets in the English channel-Naval action with the Dutch-Commodore Johnstone attacked by de Suffrein -Capture of St. Eustace-Confiscation of property-Farther operations of the fleets in the West Indies-State of affairs in America-Arnold's expedition to Virginia-State of the American army, &c.-Washington's resources- -Lord Cornwallis's Virginian campaign-Large naval force despatched from France under de Grasse-Siege of Cornwallis in Yorktown-His surrender to Washington-Reflections on the events of the campaign. of new THE new parliament met on the thirty-first of October; Meeting when it was soon found that returns were sufficiently parliament. favorable to the administration. The first debate was occasioned by the election of a speaker; for the hostility shewn to ministers by sir Fletcher Norton, during last session, precluded him from the hope of nomination by them: indeed lord George Germaine, after lamenting that the declining health of the late speaker |