The majority voted down every proposition to elicit full information respecting operations in America, and on the 23d of May his majesty, after expressing a hope "that his rebellious subjects would yet submit," prorogued Parliament.
The evacuation of Boston was approved by the king and his ministers, and on the day when the announcement of the event was made in London, Lord George Germaine May 3, 1776 wrote to Howe, deploring the miscarriage of the general's dispatches for the ministers, **
praising his prudence, and assuring him that his conduct had "given the fullest proofs of his majesty's wisdom and discernment in the choice of so able and brave an officer to command his troops in America."
Thus ended the Siege of Boston, where the first decided triumph of American arms over the finest troops of Great Britain was accomplished. The departure of Howe was regarded in England as a flight; the patriots viewed it as a victory for themselves. Confidence in their strength to resist oppression was increased ten-fold by this event, and doubt of final and absolute success was a stranger to their thoughts. "When the siege of Boston commenced, the colonies were hesitating on the great measures of war; were separated by local interests; were jealous of each other's plans, and appeared on the field, each with its independent army under its local colors. When the siege of Boston ended, the colonies had drawn the sword and nearly cast away the scabbard. They had softened their jealousy of each other; they had united in a political association; and the Union flag of thirteen stripes waved over a Continental army." ***
Few events of more importance than those at other large sea-port towns occurred at Boston after the flight of the British army. The Americans took good care to keep their fortifications in order, and a full complement of men to garrison them sufficiently. **** This fact
* A Dutch or German dish, made of cabbage.
*** It appears that Howe sent dispatches to England on the 23d of October, 1775. by the hands of Major Thompson, and those were the last from him that reached the ministry before the army left Boston for Halifax. Major Thompson was afterward the celebrated philosopher. Count Rumford. He was a native of Woburn, in Massachusetts, and was born on the 26th of March, 1753. He early evinced a taste for philosophy and the mechanic arts, and obtained permission to attend the philosophical lectures of Professor Winthrop at Cambridge. He afterward taught school at Rumford (now Concord), New Hampshire, where he married a wealthy young widow. In consequence of his adhesion to the British cause, he left his family in the autumn of 1775, went to England, and became a favorite of Lord George Germaine, who made him under secretary in the Northern Department. Near the close of the Revolution he was sent to New York, where he commanded a regiment of dragoons, and returning to England, the king knighted him. He became acquainted with the minister of the Duke of Bavaria, who induced him to go to Munich, where he became active in public affairs. The duke raised him to a high military rank, and made him a count of the empire. He added to his title the place of his marriage, and became Count Rumford. He was in London in 1800, and projected the Royal Institution of Great Britain. His wife, whom he abandoned, died in 1794 in New Hampshire. Count Rumford died August 20th, 1814, aged sixty-one vears. His scientific discoveries have made his name immortal. He bequeathed fifty thousand dollars to Harvard College.
*** Frothingham, page 334.
