Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

that on tea. This impost was foolishly retained as a practical assertion of the right of England to tax her colonies. Though small in amount, its payment involved a principle of momentous importance, and was strenuously resisted by the colonists. They refused to receive the taxed tea into their ports, and denounced as traitors any who purchased it. The first cargoes subject to duty were brought into the harbour of Boston, the inhabitants of which were already on ill terms with their governors, and ready for some violent outbreak. This spirit soon found a vent. A body of young men, armed and disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships, overcame the crews, burst open the holds, and, in spite of a heavy fire from the land-batteries, cast the tea into the sea. This happened in 1773. The English legislature, thinking that a little severity would awe the colonists into submission, immediately passed bills, closing the port of Boston, and depriving Massachusetts of its charter. Soldiers were sent out to enforce these measures, and General Gage, with a strong military force, was stationed at Boston.

8. In 1774 deputies from all the American states met at Philadelphia for the purpose of consulting on the measures to be taken for resistance. No desire

was evinced as yet for separation, and the resolutions that were passed were uniformly of a defensive nature. Envoys were sent to England for the purpose of conciliation; but they met with no favour, and found their mission useless.

9. So far no blood had been shed; but in 1775 General Gage sent a detachment of troops into the interior to seize or destroy some military stores. Resistance was offered by the local militia; and an engagement took place at Lexington, the issue of which was doubtful. This was speedily followed by the forcing of the intrenchments on Breed's or Bunker's Hill, with a loss of nearly half the detachment sent on the service.

"The Americans who fell were revered as martyrs who had died in the cause of liberty: resentment against the British

burned more strongly than ever: the military arrangements, which had been adopted for defending the colonies from the French and Indians, were turned against the parent state. Forts, magazines, arsenals, were seized by the provincial militias; and the Lexington battle not only furnished the Americans with a justifying apology for raising an army, but inspired them with ideas of their own powers" (Ramsay).

10. Congress met again in 1776, voted that 20,000 men should be immediately equipped, and appointed George Washington, who had already distinguished himself in the Seven Years' War, commander-in-chief. On July 4, in the same year, they issued the Declaration of Independence, maintaining the American colonies to be an independent state. All chance was thus cut off of a compromise with the mother country. Nor can we wonder at this step. The population of the States amounted to nearly two millions and a half; the colonists had already exercised great forbearance; they were conscious of their power; they had able statesmen, like Franklin; they had able officers, like Washington; and they rightly calculated upon the support of those countries that were envious of England's commercial greatness.

11. General Howe succeeded Gage in the command of the military station at Boston; but, after a siege of several months, was compelled to withdraw to Halifax. In 1776 Washington took possession of Boston; and the same year the English, under General Clinton and Admiral Parker, made an unsuccessful attack on Charlestown. Howe succeeded, however, in driving the Americans out of Long Island, and in taking possession of New York. Meanwhile an attempt was made by the insurgent generals Montgomery and Arnold to annex Canada. It proved an utter failure; and the former lost his life in an attack on Quebec. On the whole, the results of this year's campaign were favourable to the English; but Howe did not follow up his advantages, and the rebels were allowed time to prepare for a fresh struggle.

12. Military operations were resumed in 1777 on a grander scale, and a scheme was formed for securing

a direct communication between Canada and New York. General Burgoyne was entrusted with the enterprise, but failed to carry it out; and, after two well-fought battles, was obliged to surrender to the Americans, with his whole army of 10,000 men. This loss was scarcely compensated for by the defeat of Washington at Brandywine, and Howe's capture of Philadelphia. The surrender of Burgoyne immediately induced France to acknowledge American independence. War was thereupon declared against that country, and a powerful fleet was equipped to prevent her from rendering the Americans any assistance.

13. No great events mark the year 1778. An engagement took place between the English and French fleets off the coast of America, but proved indecisive.

As long as the Americans continued the struggle singlehanded, Chatham, who believed that they did not aspire to independence, advocated concession; but when it became clear that they were bent on separating from the mother country, he gave his voice for a more vigorous prosecution of the war. Many were now becoming weary of the heavy taxation which the war had necessitated, and were for acknowledging American independence, but Chatham could not endure the thought of giving up through fear of foreign interference what had been denied on grounds of justice. On the night that the Duke of Richmond was to address the throne against the further prosecution of the war, he rose from his sick-bed to attend the House of Lords, and denounced the address with all his vigorous eloquence. "Shall a people so lately the terror of the world," said he, "now fall prostrate before the house of Bourbon? Is it possible? 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. Any state, my lords, is better than despair. Let us make our last effort; and, if we must fall, let us fall like men." The Duke of Richmond replied in a speech of great tenderness, and declared his utter ignorance of the means by which we were to resist the combination of America and France. At the conclusion of his reply, Chatham stood up, as if desirous of again speaking; but, before he could utter a word, he fell down suddenly in a convulsive fit. After lingering for a few weeks, he died, May 11, 1778, in the 70th year of his age.

GEORGE III.-continued.

1779-1820.

14. In 1779 Spain imitated the example of France, and in the following year Holland did the same. In America the two armies remained inactive, neither being in a position to carry on offensive operations. Gibraltar was besieged by the combined forces of Spain and France, and their fleets threatened the coast of England. To add to the difficulties of the Government, Ireland now evinced a spirit of disaffection, and disgraceful disturbances broke out in London and Edinburgh.

The pretext for the latter was the repeal of a penal enactment against the Romanists. Lord George Gordon, brother of the Duke of Gordon, a bigoted enthusiast, headed a movement for inducing parliament to recall this obnoxious measure. Accompanied by 20,000 men, whom he had assembled in St. George's Fields, he marched to the House of Commons to present a petition on the subject. The petition was rejected by a large majority, and the mob, on learning this, indulged in the wildest freaks of popular frenzy. The prisons were broken open; Roman Catholic chapels were burnt down; many private houses were ransacked and demolished; and, for nearly a week, London was at the mercy of an infuriate mob of thieves and fanatics. The authorities were at last obliged to call out the military, and hundreds of the insurgents fell before the riot was terminated. Lord George Gordon was tried for high-treason, but the charge could not be substantiated, and he was acquitted.

15. General Clinton, who succeeded Howe in the command of the army, took Charlestown in 1780, and, at the same time, captured several ships of war and about 6000 men. In 1781 he returned to New York, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command of the army in South Carolina. Cornwallis reduced the province to obedience, and obtained several brilliant victories; but, at Yorktown, he was suddenly surrounded and compelled to surrender to a combined force of French and Americans, under Lafayette and Washington. This

K

manœuvre decided the fate of the war. Henceforth England merely acted on the defensive.

16. The impolicy of protracting the war now became more and more evident; and an address to the crown for a cessation of hostilies was carried in Parliament. Lord North thereupon resigned, March 20, 1782, and a complete change ensued in the ministry. The Marquis of Rockingham was appointed first lord of the treasury; and with him were associated Lord Shelburne, Fox, Burke, and William Pitt. In spite of a brilliant victory obtained by Lord Rodney over the French fleet in the West Indies, and of the unsuccessful termination of the siege of Gibraltar, which had lasted for three years, negotiations were now set on foot for a general In 1783 the independence of America was fully recognised; and treaties of peace were concluded with France, Spain, and the United States, the same year at Paris.

peace.

The king, through whose obstinacy the war had been commenced, yielded to the suggestion of Shelburne with great reluctance. He is reported to have said to Adams, the first envoy of the United States to England, "I was the last man in the kingdom to consent to the independence of America; but, now it is granted, I shall be the last man in the world to sanction violation of it." The chief terms of the treaties were: (1) that the thirteen United States should be recognized as free and independent; (2) that England should cede to France Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Pierre, Miquelon, and all the settlements in Africa and the East Indies taken from her during the war; (3) that Minorca and the Floridas should be given up to Spain; (4) that Holland should have restored to her all places which she had lost during the war; (5) that England should have an equal right with the Americans to the navigation of the Mississippi; (6) that the United States should enjoy the right of fishery on the banks of Newfoundland.

6

17. Shelburne's ministry was broken up soon after concluding the Treaty of Versailles, and was succeeded by a coalition' cabinet, of which the leading member, though not the nominal head, was Charles James Fox. Like its predecessor it was of short duration. Fox

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »