He regarded the ultimate development of events. had few supporters in Parliament; he was unable to effect a junction with the Marquis of Rockingham; he and Burke were at issue; and the Ministerial majority was so strong that it was hardly possible to break it down. The wishes of the King prevailed with the Government. Lord North found himself unable to carry out his temporising policy, and, at a Cabinet Council held on the 12th of January, 1775, it was resolved to interdict all commerce with the colonists, and to stigmatise as traitors and rebels those who had set themselves in opposition to the policy of the mother country. On the 20th of the same month,-papers relating to America being then laid before the House of Lords, Chatham moved to address the King for immediate orders to remove the forces from the town of Boston. The speech which he then delivered was one of his most effective bursts of oratory; and it was listened to by Franklin and many other Americans. Vindicating the colonists in their opposition to the English Parliament, he said :— 1 "Resistance to your acts was necessary, as it was just; and your imperious doctrine of the omnipotence of Parliament and the necessity of submission will be found equally impotent to convince or to enslave. The means of enforcing thraldom are as weak in practice as they are unjust in principle. General Gage and the troops under his command are penned up, pining in inglorious inactivity. You may call them an army of safety and of guard; but they are, in truth, an army of impotence; and, to make the folly equal to the disgrace, they are an army of irritation. But this tameness, however contemptible, cannot be censured; for the first drop of blood, shed in civil and unnatural war, will make a wound that years, perhaps ages, may not heal. Their force would be most disproportionately exerted against a brave, generous, and united people, with arms in their hands and courage in their hearts; three millions of people, the genuine descendants of a valiant and pious ancestry, driven to those deserts by the narrow maxims of a superstitious tyranny. And is the spirit of persecution never to be appeased? Are the brave sons of those brave forefathers to inherit their sufferings, as they have inherited their virtues? Are they to sustain the infliction of the most oppressive and unexampled severity? They have been condemned unheard. The indiscriminate hand of vengeance has lumped together innocent and guilty; with all the formalities of hostility, has blocked up the town of Boston, and reduced to beggary and famine thirty thousand inhabitants. But his Majesty is advised that the union in America cannot last! I pronounce it a union solid, permanent, and effectual. Its real stamina are to be looked for among the cultivators of the land; in their simplicity of life are found the integrity and courage of freedom. These true sons of the earth are invincible. Every motive of justice and policy, of dignity and prudence, urges you to allay the ferment in America by a removal of your troops from Boston, by a repeal of your Acts of Parliament, and by demonstrating amicable dispositions towards your colonies. On the other hand, to deter you from perseverance in your pre sent ruinous measures, every danger and every hazard impend ;-foreign war hanging over you by a thread; France and Spain watching your conduct, and waiting for the maturity of your errors. If the Ministers persevere in thus misadvising and misleading the King, I will not say that the King is betrayed, but I will pronounce that the kingdom is undone; I will not say that they can alienate the affections of his subjects from his crown, but I will affirm that, the American jewel out of it, they will make the crown not worth his wearing." Chatham's motion was supported by the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Rockingham, Lord Camden, and Lord Shelburne; but the vast majority of the peers treated it with scorn and indignation By some, the great Liberal statesman was accused of openly preaching sedition, and he was held personally responsible for events which were but too likey to take place in America. Such, indeed, were the views of the King himself. On the speech being scribed to him, he bitterly denounced Lord Chatham, and looked forward, with indecent eagerness, to the time when death, or the infirmities of age, should rid him of so troublesome an enemy. Reply ing, at the close of the debate, to the strictures of his opponents, the mover of the address to the sovereign reiterated his conviction that the Ameri cans should be exempt from all taxation which they had not authorised by their own representatives Yet even he granted to the mother country the right of regulating the commerce of the whole Empire: while Rockingham, though supporting the motion still clung to his original view that the Act declaring the supremacy of the English Parliament was just and proper. Amongst the minority of eighteen who voted for the motion, against the sixty-eight who opposed it, one peer was to be found whos presence on the popular side is remarkable. Thas was the King's youngest brother, the Duke of Cumberland. George must have been annoyed at such a defection; but the largeness of the majority comforted him. He thought that the votes of a few 1775.] CHATHAM'S CONCILIATORY BILL. 129 irresponsible lords would overawe the rising spirit Chatham inclined to destroy all control of the and youthful genius of democratic America. Undiscouraged by the fate of his motion, Chatham, on the 1st of February, made yet another effort to avert civil war. He presented to the House of Lords a Bill, which he entitled, "A Provisional Act for settling the Troubles in America, and for asserting the Supreme Legislative Authority and Superintending Power of Great Britain over the Colonies." It was affirmed by this Bill (which its author described as a basis for measures of a conciliatory character, such as might avert the dangers of disruption by which the Empire was menaced) that the Parliament of Great Britain had full power to bind America in all matters touching the weal of the whole British dominions, and especially in making laws for the regulation of navigation and trade throughout the complicated system of British commerce; that no military force could ever be lawfully employed to destroy the best rights of the people; yet that the power of sending troops to the colonies should be maintained, independently of the voice of the colonial Assemblies. The measure furthermore provided that no taxes for his Majesty's revenue should be levied in America without the consent of the colonists; that the Congress of Philadelphia should be legalised, and empowered to meet again on the 9th of May, for the purpose of making due recognition of the supreme legislative authority and superintending power of the British Parliament, and of voting a free grant to the Crown of a certain perpetual revenue; that the prayer of the petition of Congress should then be granted, the powers of Admiralty and Vice-Admiralty courts in America be confined to their ancient limits, and trial by jury in civil cases be restored wherever it had been abolished; that all the recent Acts of Parliament which had been the cause of agitation in America should be forthwith suspended; and that, in order to secure due and impartial administration in the lonies, his Majesty's judges in America should hold their offices and salaries in the same manner as in England, viz., quam diu se bene gesserit (so long ds they should conduct themselves properly). At the conclusion of the Bill it was expressly declared that the colonies in America were justly entitled to the privileges, franchises, and immunities granted by their several charters or constitutions; and that the said charters or constitutions ought not to be invaded or resumed, unless for misuser, or some legal ground of forfeiture. So little was even Lord colonies by the mother country, that he made a very distinct and emphatic statement to the contrary. If, he said, he could bring himself to believe that the Americans entertained the most distant intention of throwing off the legislative supremacy and superintending power of the British Parliament (which, however, had he been correctly instructed, he would have known really was their intention), he would himself be the first and most zealous mover for securing and enforcing that power by every possible exertion that England was capable of making. The Bill was in some respects a very good one, and at an earlier stage of the quarrel it might have effected its avowed object. But it is certain that, had it been sanctioned by the English Parliament, it would not, in their then mood and temper, have satisfied the Americans. In the composition of his measure, Chatham consulted Franklin, and the latter, while .thinking that it might serve as a starting-point for ulterior arrangements, frankly confessed that it was inadequate to the wishes of his countrymen. Neither the English statesman nor the American politician expected that the Bill would pass; it was indeed quite obvious that it would be cast out; and its production seems to have been intended for no other end than to force the Ministry into a more emphatic declaration against the Americans, into a position still more irreconcilable, and thus to strengthen the opposition of the colonists. The measure was encountered by Ministers with a flood of vituperation. It was condemned as the work of Franklin, whom Lord Sandwich described as among the bitterest and most mischievous enemies of England; and in the end it was rejected without even being allowed to lie on the table of the House, although the Dukc of Manchester, Earl Temple, and Lord Lyttleton were for adopting a middle course, and, out of respect for its illustrious author, would have allowed the Bill to be introduced, so that it might be read and debated. The consciousness that America would not accept the proffered terms had probably something to do with this summary repudiation of the Bill; but a wiser statesmanship would rather have determined on putting the Americans in the wrong by offering a fair measure of conciliation. The Government of the day preferred to sow the storm, and it was not long before they reaped the whirlwind. CHAPTER XV. Joint Address to the King from Lords and Commons-Debates in the Two Houses-Augmentation of Sea and Land ForcesBill for restraining the Trade and Commerce of New England--Conciliatory Proposals of Lord North-Opposition of the Court Party-The Proposals affirmed by a Large Majority-Burke's Plan of Conciliation-His Speech on bringing forward a Series of Resolutions-Arguments of that Statesman on behalf of American Liberties, and against their Subjugation by the British Government-Rejection of the Government Proposals by the Colonial Governors-Communications between Franklin and Lord Howe with a View to Conciliation--Proposals of the Government and of the American AgentFranklin's Interview with Burke-Question as to Franklin's Motives with regard to England-His proposed Memorial to Lord Dartmouth, and Departure for America-Dr. Johnson's Tract on the American Question-Extracts from, and Remarks on, that Production. HAVING achieved their double victory over Lord Chatham, Ministers at once proceeded to the development of their own plans for meeting the existing troubles in America. On the motion of the Government, a joint address to the King was carried in the Lords and Commons, the members of which declared their opinion that a rebellion actually existed in the province of Massachusetts; besought his Majesty to pursue the most effective measures for ensuring due obedience to the laws and authority of the supreme Legislature; and solemnly pledged themselves, together with their lives and fortunes, to support the sovereign in the maintenance of the just rights of the Crown, and of the two Houses of Parliament, against all rebellious attempts to infringe them. The proposal for this address was brought forward in the Lower House by Lord North on the 2nd of February, 1775, the day after the rejection of Chatham's Bill for the pacification of the colonies; and it led to a very animated debate. In his opening speech, the Premier intimated that a large military force was to be sent to America, and that the foreign commerce of the New Englanders, together with their fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, would be effectually stopped until they returned to their allegiance. Charles James Fox, then in the spring-time of his brilliant career, moved an amendment censuring Ministers for having rather inflamed than healed differences, and praying for their removal. With great eloquence and power of reasoning, he vindicated the Americans in the course they had taken, and upheld their determination to assert the right of all Englishmen to tax themselves, and to retain a due control over the Government to which their interests were entrusted. Dunning declared that the colonies were not in a state of rebellion, but were only resisting the attempt to establish a despotism in America, as a prelude to the same system in the mother country. On behalf of the Government, Wedderburn, the Solicitor-General, addressed the House with his usual vehemence, and some of the speakers on the same side disgraced their cause and themselves by venomous and highly injudicious mockery of the colonists, their religion, character, and modes of life. It was the fashion in those days to describe the Americans as cowards, who would run at the first sight of an English regiment; and imputations to this effect were freely made in Parliament. When known in America, they must have contributed greatly to exasperate the people, and undoubtedly they rendered still more mortifying the ultimate discomfiture of the Royal army. Fox's amendment was negatived by a large majority, and the original motion was carried. When the address was reported, on the 6th of February, the opposition was renewed. Lord John Cavendish earnestly deprecated civil war, with its concomitant, a foreign war; and Wilkes, then member for Middlesex and Lord Mayor of London, exclaimed, "Who can tell whether, in consequence of this day's violent and mad address, the scabbard may not be thrown away by the Americans, as well as by us, and whether, should success attend them, they may not in a few years celebrate the glorious era of the revolution of 1775 as we do that of 1688?" A proposal that the address should be recommitted was disallowed, and on the following day it was introduced into the Lords, after a conference between the two Houses. In the Upper as in the Lower Chamber, the questions involved were warmly discussed. The Marquis of Rockingham bluntly declared that he would risk neither life nor fortune in support of the measures recommended. He affirmed that four-fifths of the nation were opposed to the address-a fact of which he could have had no certain knowledge, if fact it were; and he promised that, having set out by supporting the cause of the people, he would never, for any temptation whatsoever, desert or betray that cause. A great deal of personality and mutual incrimination marked the debate. Both Lord Mansfield and Lord Camden disavowed having had anything to do with the original Act for taxing America, which they condemned as the origin of the existing dispute. Camden was reminded by the Duke of Grafton that he was himself Lord Chancellor at the time the law passed, and must therefore have been a consenting party to it. The Duke of |