Burke, and others, continued the attack, and vividly described the loss and disgrace the British arms had sustained. The solicitor-general, Wedderburn, attempted to check the torrent of words which were thus poured into the ears of the ministers; and Lord North moved the business of the day, which was to vote supplies; observing that these were indispensable, whether the war was to be prolonged, or a peace concluded.

On the 5th of December, Chatham moved for the production of copies of all orders and instructions sent to LieutenantGeneral Burgoyne. A long and tedious debate followed, upon the subject of the employment of Indian allies in America,

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LORD NORTH'S SPEECH.

and the motion was at length negatived, by a vote of forty to eighteen. Estimates were passed after much angry debate, fixing the number of seamen for the ensuing year at sixty thousand, and the number of troops to be employed, in America alone, at fifty-five thousand. The ministry had, by this time, become tired of the fire of motions, kept up incessantly by the members of the opposition, and on the 10th of December, a motion for an adjournment of Parliament for six weeks, was carried, in spite of a vigorous opposition.

On the reassembling of the Parliament, motion was followed by motion, for persons and papers, on various subjects, all of which were most ably supported, but lost, by the usual ministerial majorities. On the 17th of February, 1778, Lord North produced a conciliatory plan, which he said he hoped would yet prove effectual, and moved for leave to bring in two bills -one for declaring the intentions of the Parliament of Great Britain concerning the exercise of the right of imposing taxes within his majesty's colonies in North America- the other to enable his majesty to appoint commissioners, with sufficient powers to treat, consult, and agree upon the means of quieting the disorders now subsisting in certain of the colonies, plantations, and provinces of North America. He said that he had always been favourable to peace, that he had tried conciliatory means before the sword was unsheathed, and would gladly try them again. He continued in a speech, renouncing the right of taxing the colonies, and recommending that Congress be treated with as a legal body. The members of the opposition triumphed over the ministers, who, they said, were now, when too late, adopting a scheme long since proposed by themselves and rejected.

Fox congratulated Lord North on at length becoming a proselyte to the doctrines delivered by his honourable friend Burke, three years ago. But the time, he said, was now gone by; the plan was useless. He attributed all the mischief that had happened, to Lord North's total ignorance.

Fox also informed the House, that a report had obtained currency, that within the last ten days, France had actually

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signed a treaty with the Americans, acknowledging their independence, and entering into a close alliance with them.

When this was announced, Lord North remained for some. time perfectly silent. The question was put to him, whether he had been apprised of the important fact, and several gentlemen called upon him for an answer. Yet he remained. mute, until Sir George Saville pressed him in so direct and positive a manner, that he was constrained to confess that he had received the same intelligence; but as he had not been officially informed of it, he could not say that the report was either false or authentic.

The famous John Wilkes and others now attempted to take advantage of this occurrence, and asserted that these bills were merely meant to delude the Americans, as that people would now readily perceive. The two bills, however, passed both houses, after undergoing several amend

ments.

On the 17th of March, 1778, a message was transmitted to the house, from the throne, stating that information had been received from the French king, to the effect that he had concluded a treaty of amity and commerce with the revolted subjects of the King of England in America; in consequence of which communication, the British ambassador at Paris had been ordered home. His majesty now declared that he relied fully on the affection and zeal of his people, to repel the insult and maintain the reputation of the country. After delivering his notification, the French ambassador departed for Paris.

Lord North now moved an address to the throne; and an amendment was immediately proposed, recommending to the king to dismiss the ministers; the first address was, however, carried through both houses.

Many debates followed concerning the state of the navy, the methods employed by ministers in making contracts for supplies, and on Irish affairs. On the 19th of March, Charles Fox moved a vote of censure upon Lord George Germaine, as being the chief author of Burgoyne's misfortunes. The proposition was rejected, by a vote of one hundred and sixty

54

BURGOYNE'S DEFENCE.

four to forty-four; whereupon Fox indignantly tore to pieces a paper which he held in his hand, containing another proposition, and declared that he would make no more motions.

In May, a motion was made for a committee to examine into the causes of the loss of the northern army. Burgoyne rose to defend himself from the charges brought by some of the members of Parliament, and laid the blame of his unsuccessful operations in America upon Sir Henry Clinton and Lord George Germaine; the latter, he said, had tied up his hands by orders positive and unqualified, in instances where latitude should be given to a general, to act according to circumstances. Much of the blame of his miscarriages was by him laid upon Howe, for neglecting to send a co-operating force up the North river, in proper season.

By this time, several of the opposition leaders had determined to advocate the recognition of American Independence, as the only means of avoiding a war with that country and with France. Shelburne, Chatham, Camden, and others, were averse to that measure; and the great orator made his last speech in Parliament, on the 7th of April, 1778, deprecating in the most impressive manner, the dismemberment of the once noble British empire. He was brought into the house, by two of his friends, wrapped in flannel, pale and emaciated. Sickness and age had done their work. He rose from his seat with slowness and difficulty, leaning on his crutches, and supported 'under each arm by two friends, to oppose a motion offered by the Duke of Richmond, entreating his majesty to withdraw his forces from America. He took one hand from his crutch and raised it, casting his eyes upward, and said, "I thank God that I have been enabled to come here this day -to perform my duty, and to speak on a subject that has so deeply impressed my mind. I am old and infirm; I have one foot, more than one foot in the grave; I am risen from my bed, to stand up in the cause of my country-perhaps never again to speak in this House." At first, he spoke in a very low and feeble tone; but, as he grew warm, his voice rose, and was as harmonious as ever: oratorical and affecting,

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55

perhaps more than at any former period. "My lords," said he, "I rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me; that I am still alive, to lift up my voice against the dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy! Pressed down, as I am, by the hand of infirmity, I am little able to assist my country in this most perilous conjuncture; but, my lords, while I have sense and memory, I will never consent to deprive the royal offspring of the House of Brunswick, the heirs of the Princess Sophia, of their fairest inheritance. Where is the man that will dare to advise such a measure? My lords, his majesty succeeded to an empire as great in extent as its reputation was unsullied. Shall we tarnish the lustre of this nation by an ignominious surrender of its rights and fairest possessions? Shall this great kingdom, that has survived, whole and entire, the Danish depredations, the Scottish inroads, and the Norman conquest that has stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish armada-now fall prostrate before the House of Bourbon? Surely, my lords, this nation is no longer what it was! Shall a people that, fifteen years ago, were the terror of the world, now stoop so low as to tell their ancient, their inveterate enemy-Take all we have, only give us peace! It is impossible! I wage war with no man or set of men. I wish for none of their employments; nor would I co-operate with men who still persist in unretracted error; who, instead of acting on a firm, decisive line of conduct, halt between two opinions, where there is no middle path. In God's name, if it is absolutely necessary to declare either for peace or war, and the former cannot be preserved with honour, why is not the latter commenced without hesitation? I am not, I confess, well informed of the resources of this kingdom; but I trust it has still sufficient to maintain its just rights, though I know them not. But, my lords, any state is better than despair. Let us, at least, make one effort; and if we must fall, let us fall like men !”

The Duke of Richmond then rose to answer Lord Chatham, although he was evidently disconcerted at the course he had taken. When he concluded, Chatham rose to reply; but the