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CHAPTER XXXIX.

GEORGE III.

PERIOD OF THE AMERICAN WAR.

1760-1789.

Born at Norfolk House, St. James's. Buried at Windsor. Reigned 60 years. From A.D. 1760 to A.D. 1820. Archbishops of Canterbury.

Thomas Secker, A.D. 1758-1768. | John Moore, A.D. 1783-1805. Frederick Cornwallis, A.D. 1768- Charles Manners Sutton, A.D. 1805 1783. -1828.

Few princes have ever succeeded to a crown under more favourable circumstances than those which marked the accession of George III. Born and educated in England, he had not to contend with that dislike of foreigners for which the English have generally been remarkable. He was a man of sound moral and religious principles, and his sterling worth was appreciated by the great body of the intelligent people which he was called to govern. The hopes of the exiled family were now extinct. The influence of British character and power had at no time been more successfully exerted in all parts of the world. The history of England, instead of being (as formerly) the narrative of petty struggles between the feudal sovereign and his powerful vassals, now embraced the transactions of mighty empires in the East and West, with which the interests of British commerce and British ascendancy were closely interwoven.

The king was also happy in uniting himself to a princess of his own high character and principles. His marriage with the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburgh Strelitz took place in 1761; and during his long reign (the longest in our annals) the nation had the unspeakable blessing of the example of a pure and virtuous court. The king had been educated in high notions of his royal prerogative, and was somewhat unbending in his opinions. He was kind of heart and courteous in manner; and as his personal character contributed in no small degree to preserve his kingdom from the revolutionary principles which overthrew all that was sacred in France, so his memory will ever be cherished by Englishmen with affection and veneration.

The war continued for three years after his accession; and as a treaty, called the "Family Compact," had been secretly arranged between the French and Spanish courts, it became necessary to widen the war by proceeding to hostile measures against Spain. This resolution not having been taken so soon as Mr. Pitt advised it, he resigned his situation as minister. He was again in office for a short time, when he was created Earl of Chatham. He was now succeeded by Lord Bute, a personal friend of the king.

The British arms were eminently successful in the West Indies, and an honourable peace (called the peace of Fontainebleau) was signed at Paris in 1763; by which England was to retain Canada, with many of the West Indian islands that had belonged to France and Spain. The Floridas also were ceded to Great Britain by Spain; and divers advantages were also secured' to her in the East Indies.

As the growth of British power in the East was at this time rapidly advancing, it may be well in this place to describe its first origin. In the latter part of Elizabeth's reign a charter was granted to a company of merchants for the trade to India, which was then chiefly engrossed by the Portuguese. They established a settlement at Surat on the western coast of India, in 1612; and some years after, another at Madras, on the Coromandel coast; and one also at Calcutta, on the river Hooghly, in Bengal. Charles II. gave them the Island of Bombay, which he received in dower with his queen, and the isle of St. Helena in the Atlantic. The Portuguese by degrees lost much of the power which they had possessed in India, but the French and the Dutch established factories very similar to the English settlements. The vast continent of India was then governed by various native princes, who were often only nominally dependent on the emperor at Delhi, the successor to the Great Mogul.

These distant possessions of the several European states began, in process of time, to be involved in the wars which took place in Europe; and as the native princes were unavoidably engaged in these contests as allies of one party or the other, opportunities were gradually offered to the Europeans for territorial conquest and encroachment. The French were among the first to avail themselves of these

opportunities, and the English found it necessary to follow the same course, in order to maintain their own footing. The person who did more than any other to counteract the influence of the French, and to establish an Anglo-Indian empire, was Robert Clive, who afterwards became Lord Clive. The district in which Madras is situated was the scene of his first successes; but the capture of Calcutta by a native prince (1756) was the occasion of his being called to Bengal, which soon became the chief seat of British empire. At this capture of Calcutta the most horrible cruelties were practised on the English; of whom one hundred and forty-six persons were confined in a small room, twenty feet square, called the Black-hole; and after a night of unexampled horrors twenty three only were found alive in the morning. On Clive's arrival the face of affairs was changed; and after sundry transactions, an engagement took place at Plassey (1757) between the army of the nabob (which is a frequent title of the native princes) and the British troops, in which the latter were completely successful. This battle decided the fate of the British in India: and at the close of the seven years' war, it was plain that the British interests in the East were becoming too gigantic to be managed by a private company, without the control of the king's government. Some years, however, elapsed before any measure was taken to meet this emergency; and in the interval the Anglo-Indian empire had extended itself with rapid strides under Lord Clive and Warren Hastings, who became the first governor-general. Hastings was impeached by the House of Commons in 1788, on a charge of cruelty and oppression in his government of India. The trial was prolonged till 1795, when judgment was given in his favour.

Soon after the peace of Fontainebleau, Lord Bute resigned his office. For five or six years no ministry could be formed that enjoyed to any great degree the confidence of king or people, and the king's person and government were assailed by many scurrilous writers, especially by a demagogue named Wilkes, and by a person who wrote with much power under the name of Junius. Mr. Grenville, Lord Rockingham, and the Duke of Grafton, were successively prime ministers. At length Lord North was

placed (1770) at the head of the government; and his administration lasted during twelve of the most eventful years in the English history.

With a view to relieve the people of Great Britain from part of the burden of the taxes, it had been resolved by the ministry to tax the North American colonies; and in 1761 an act was passed to impose stamp duties upon them. This act was received in America with the greatest indignation. The colonists contended that as they were not represented in the imperial parliament, it was beyond the power of that assembly to impose taxes upon them. The act was repealed, but its principle was not abandoned; and in 1767 a tax was laid on tea and other articles imported into the North American colonies. Lord North determined to levy only the tax on tea; forgetting that it was not the amount of the duties which had occasioned all the ferment, but the principle of taxation adopted by the English government. The people of Boston in New England resisted the attempt to levy this obnoxious tax. order to punish them, an act was passed to impose restrictions on their commerce, and troops were sent to carry it into execution. The debates in parliament occasioned by this question were remarkable for the eloquence of Edmund Burke, Charles James Fox, and several other distinguished orators.

In

A congress of deputies from the several states now met at Philadelphia, and published a declaration of their resolution to defend their rights. The first engagement in this unhappy contest between the mother-country and her American provinces occurred (1775) at Lexington near Boston. The colonists came off with success, but were worsted at the battle of Bunker's-hill, near the same place, shortly afterwards.

Thirteen of the States, meantime, had formed themselves into an union, to be governed by delegates sent to the congress. Canada and Nova Scotia remained faithful to the mother-country. General Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, while Lord Cornwallis and General Howe were sent from England to bring them to submission. On July 4, 1776, a Declaration of Independence was put forth; but, notwithstanding the ability shown by Washington, and the courage of the undisciplined

colonists, the result of the war was favourable in general to England. It seems likely that its issue would have been different, but for the assistance which the colonists received from France. In the year 1777 nearly six thousand British soldiers under General Burgoyne were forced to lay down their arms at Saratoga; and in 1778 the court of France acknowledged the independence of the United States, and sent troops for their support. The example of France was soon followed by Spain; and the Dutch were perfidious enough to join the league against England.

An attempt was made in parliament to terminate the war by withdrawing the troops from America. The great Lord Chatham was brought from a sick bed to raise his voice against this proposal. He had opposed the measures which led to the war, but now protested against yielding to the dread of France. While engaged in the debate he sank down in a fit, and was carried from the house, apparently lifeless. He expired within a few days of this remarkable scene 1.

No very striking event occurred for a year or two; but in 1781 Lord Cornwallis, with seven thousand men, was forced to surrender to General Washington; and it became evident that the independence of the colonies must be acknowledged. Lord North retired from the government, and a ministry was formed under Lord Rockingham: but on the death of that nobleman a coalition took place between Lord North and Mr. Fox under the Duke of Portland, which was no less offensive to the whole nation than to the king, as these statesmen had been bitterly opposed to each other. Treaties of peace were now signed with America as well as with France and Spain (1783). It was some consolation to this country that the naval superiority of England had been maintained by Admiral Rodney in many brilliant engagements, and that the siege of Gibraltar by the united armaments of France and Spain had been baffled by the skill and bravery of General Elliot, who was made Lord Heathfield.

The appointment of Fox to office under these circumstances was scarcely endured by the king or country; and the fate of this ministry was sealed by the defeat of a

1 The sudden illness of Lord Chatham is the subject of Copley's celebrated picture in the National Gallery.

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