CHANGE IN THE MINISTRY.
During these proceedings in parliament Mr. Fox, who, before he became foreign secretary, had insinuated in the commons that he possessed the means of detaching the Dutch from the French, offered to Holland a renewal of amity on the terms of the treaty of 1674. Mr. Fox had also been endeavouring to conclude a peace with the Americans, the chief terms of which were the recognition of the independence of the thirteen American colonies, and for the rest a status quo ante bellum. No progress had been made in these negociations—for they were obstructed by the great powers of Europe—when the Marquess of Rockingham died, which put an end to the cabinet. Immediately after his decease the king sent for Lord Shelburne, and placed him at the head of the cabinet, which so deeply offended the Rockingham party that they resigned: Fox, Burke, Lord John Cavendish, John Townshend, the Duke of Portland, as governor of Ireland, and others at the boards of treasury and admiralty instantly threw up office in disgust. In consequence of their resignations, Mr. Thomas Townshend was made foreign secretary; Lord Grantham obtained the secretaryship, which had been held by Lord Shelburne; William Pitt was raised to the post of chancellor of the exchequer; Colonel Barré was made paymaster of the forces, while Mr. Dundas was appointed treasurer of the navy in his room; Sir George Yonge succeeded Mr. Townshend as secretary of war; Lord Temple undertook the lieutenancy of Ireland; and Mr. Pepper Arden was made solicitor-general. The promotion which attracted most attention was that of William Pitt, who was only twenty-three years of age, and wild, by his promotion to the post of the chancellor of the exchequer, became leader of the house of commons; and that at a time when the pecuniary concerns of the country were, from the long and expensive war which still raged, in a state of great embarrassment. Fox and his associates were accused of heat and precipitancy, and of having committed the whole Whig cause by their sudden resignation, whence, on the 9th of July, Fox thought proper to defend his conduct in the house of commons; maintaining, that he and his colleagues could not act with honour and benefit to the country, either under or in conjunction with Lord Shelburne. In his speech, he arraigned the conduct of the new first-minister, and General Conway rose in his defence. While he lamented the retirement of Fox, Conway said, that in a cabinet of eleven ministers, there must be some shades of difference; but he denied that these were sufficient to justify the resignation of Fox and the other friends of the deceased marquess. Mr. Pitt was more severe in his remarks upon Fox than General Conway. He accused him of being more at variance with men than their measures, and of having resigned in pique and from disappointed ambition, rather than on any public ground. This language might have been just to a certain extent, but there were doubtless other reasons more cogent than pique and animosity for the retirement of Fox, as he was at this time in a desperate state of poverty. Be this as it may, the severity of Pitt was the commencement of a long conflict between him and Fox.
GEORGE III. 1782—1784
PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament was prorogued on the 11th of July. News had been recently received of a victory gained by Rodney, which restored the naval supremacy of England in the western world; of the relief of Gibraltar, and of the poverty and embarrassment of France and Spain, as well as the absolute pauperism of the American congress. Although, therefore, overtures had been made for peace with the Americans, on the basis of independence, yet, in his speech, the king did not show himself disposed to go thus far if it could be avoided. He remarked:—“Nothing can be more repugnant to my feelings than the long continuance of so complicated a war; but should the want of a corresponding disposition on the part of the enemy disappoint the hopes of terminating that calamity, I shall still rely on the spirit, affection, and unanimity of my parliament and people to support the honour of my crown and the interests of the nation. The most triumphant career of victory would not excite me to aim at more than reasonable terms of pacification; and I have the satisfaction to add, that I see no reason which should induce me to think of accepting less.” Recent pages indeed show, that his majesty was always averse to a recognition of the independence of America, and if ever he had given his consent to the proposals Fox had made, it must have been wrung from him under a consciousness that his cause was hopeless. As for Lord Shelburne he still adhered to the dogma of Chatham, and was as averse to the independence of America as the king himself, whence there is a stronger reason than private pique and animosity that Fox should have resigned. Had he not done so he must have acted against his own conscience, which should ever be consulted by man, whether acting in a private or public capacity. He who acts against the dictates of his own conscience is unworthy of the public esteem or confidence.
VICTORY OF RODNEY.
All our leeward islands, except Barbadoes and Antigua, had been conquered by the enemy, after which the fleets of France and Spain projected an expedition against Jamaica, A reinforcement was despatched under de Guichen, and Admiral Kempenfelt was too weak to intercept his progress. In the meantime Rodney arrived at Barbadoes, and soon after put to sea with the intention of joining Sir Samuel Hood, who had been vainly endeavouring to relieve the island of St. Christopher, which was assailed by the Count de Grasse, and a land force under the Marquis de Bouille. Rodney met Hood returning from St. Christopher’s, which had been captured in spite of his exertions to save it; and upon his information that de Grasse had proceeded to Martinique in order to prepare for a grand attack on Jamaica, Rodney sailed with the whole British fleet to St. Lucie, in order to watch his movements. On the 8th of April a signal announced that de Grasse was coming out from Fort Royal Hay, upon which Rodney weighed anchor, and set sail in pursuit of him. At day-break on the following morning the enemy was discovered at Dominique, but continued calms prevented a close action. The van of the English, indeed, engaged the rear of the French; but a breeze springing up, de Grasse took advantage of it, and sailed away. Rodney, however, still pursued, and towards the evening of the 11th the headmost ships of the van gained so much on one or two of the enemy’s ships, which had been damaged in the recent engagement, that de Grasse thought it necessary to bear down for the purpose of protecting them. Rodney now hoped to force him to battle; but as it was evening, he called in the foremost ships, and forming a close line of battle, he plied to windward all night. By this movement, however, he prevented the retreat of the enemy, and on the morning of the 12th the two fleets, ranged in opposite lines, engaged with the greatest fury. The fleets were about of an equal number, but the ships of de Grasse were of higher rates than the British, and had superior weight of metal. Victory was long held in suspense, but about noon Rodney executed a manouvre, which had never before been practised in naval tactics, and which was attended with complete success. Taking advantage of a freshening breeze which sprung up, his own ship, the Formidable, supported by the Namur, the Duke, and the Canada, bore down with all sail set on the enemy’s line, within three ships of the centre, and succeeded in breaking it. By this manouvre the French line was broken and thrown into confusion, and the rest of the division following, Rodney wore round and doubled on the enemy, by which those ships which had been separated from the others were placed between two fires, without hope of assistance. The battle, notwithstanding, lasted till sunset, at which time Rodney’s exertions were crowned with complete success. Six of the enemy’s ships, among which was the Ville de Paris, de Grasse’s own ship, were captured; one was sunk, and another blew up; and the shattered remains crowded all the sail they could make for Cape François, and in the morning were out of sight. Sir Samuel Hood was despatched in pursuit of the fugitive ships, and coming up with five sail off Porto Rico, he captured two ships of the line and two frigates. Thus, in the whole, the French lost ten ships of the line and two frigates, and the victory was considered as one of the most decisive ever obtained by the naval prowess of Britain. The loss of the French, in killed and wounded, was terrible. Their ships were crowded with land-troops, who only served to swell the carnage: their killed alone is estimated at 3000 men, and their wounded at double that number; so that, taking the prisoners on board the captured ships into computation, they must have sustained a loss of nearly 12,000 men. On the side of the British the loss, in killed, was less, than two hundred and fifty, and in wounded about 700. By the victory Jamaica was saved, and the dominion of the ocean recovered, and the intelligence of it excited great exultation among all ranks of people. Sir George Rodney received the unanimous thanks of parliament, with a peerage, and a perpetual annuity of £2000 was annexed to his title. Sir Samuel Hood was also made a baron in the peerage of Ireland, and Admiral Drake and Commodore Affleck, who had distinguished themselves in the engagement, were made baronets. The news of Rodney’s victory reached London about the middle of May, and it is probable that if it had happened two months earlier, Lord North’s administration would still have been in existence. So great was the impression which the success made on the people, that Rodney’s praise resounded from one end of the kingdom to the other; and many a “Rodney’s head” met the gaze of travellers both in the towns and villages of all England. But although ministers were compelled to give their meed of praise to North’s favourite admiral, yet it was evident that they did not look upon his newly-gained honours with an unjaundiced eye. The Rockingham administration had previously superseded him by naming the Whig Admiral Pigott to the command in the West Indies, and the order for recalling him was never cancelled. This conduct, which was as unwise as it was unjust, produced the deep indignation of the people, and created a bad impression of his ministers’ integrity on the mind of the monarch. It was probably from this cause that the king is said to have received the resignation of Fox with marked satisfaction. True patriotism knows nothing of party, but rejoices in the welfare of the country, be it promoted by either Whig or Tory.