PROCEEDINGS IN ENGLAND.
While America was in arms, England was in a state of agitation. It has been seen that soon after Wilkes had presented the violent address and remonstrance of the livery to the king, that his majesty informed him that he would receive no more petitions of the lord mayor and aldermen but in their corporate capacity. Wilkes converted this into a fresh wrong; and at the very next meeting of the common-hall another address, still more violent in its tone, was approved. The king resolved that he would not receive this petition sitting on the throne, and when this was reported to the livery they resolved that it was a direct denial of their rights; that the remonstrance should be printed in the newspapers; and that the city members should be instructed to move for an impeachment of the evil counsellors who had planted Popery in America, and were the advisers of a measure so dangerous to both the king and his people, as that of refusing to hear petitions. This latter resolution, however, was not founded in truth—the king had simply said that he would not receive it sitting on the throne, and the livery had resolved not to present it under any other circumstances. After all, the common-council thought proper to agree to a more moderate remonstrance, which his majesty received, and to which he replied, that, while the constitutional authority of this kingdom was openly resisted by a portion of his American subjects, he owed it to the rest of his people to continue to enforce those measures by which alone their rights and interests could be asserted and maintained. Irritated by these and other proceedings, government, on the 23rd of August, issued a proclamation for suppressing rebellion, preventing seditious correspondence, etc. Wilkes, as lord mayor, received orders to have this proclamation read in the usual manner at the Royal Exchange. This order was obeyed; but the patriot at the same time contrived to hold it up to the public contempt by causing it to be read by one of the city officers, attended only by the common-crier, contrary to the common rules of decency and to all precedent. Soon after this the petition of congress was laid before the king by Richard Penn and Arthur Lee, to whom the task of presenting it had been deputed. It was well known to all the world that the Americans had lifted up the standard of revolt, and were assembled in hostile array against his majesty’s forces. This petition, therefore, though it contained some loyal expressions, did not express the real sense of the body it proceeded from—the words of their mouths might be smoother than butter, but war was manifestly in their hearts. Hence his majesty very justly considered the whole thing to be an insulting mockery, and as congress likewise had neither been recognised by himself nor his parliament, he resolved to give it no answer. But it was the fate of the king, at this time, to have all his actions and words misinterpreted. Although no man in his senses, whether Whig or Tory, could have been so blind as not to see he was perfectly justified in adopting this resolution, since his troops in America had been slaughtered both at Lexington and Bunker’s Hill, yet it was interpreted into harshness and obstinacy. A loud outcry was raised against it by a portion of the nation, including more especially the Whig portion of the city of London. An address, containing 1171 signatures, and purporting to emanate from “the gentlemen, merchants, and traders of London,” was got up, which reiterated the sentiments contained in the city of London petitions, and predicting the most lasting and deadly consequences from the quarrel between England and America. Three days after this, however, a counter-address was presented to his majesty from another section of the merchants and traders of London, which was followed by others of a similar class from all parts of the United Kingdom. In fact, the great body of the nation was still on the side of the king and the government. Intelligence of the determined hostility of the colonists had the effect even of converting foes into friends. In the course of the autumn, the very liverymen of London, to the number of 1029, signed an ultra-loyal address, which contained stronger language than the counter petition of the merchants and traders of that great city, or of any other address presented on the same side of the question. It said:—“A malignant spirit of resistance to law and government has gone forth amongst the Americans, which we firmly believe has been excited and encouraged by selfish men, who hope to derive private emoluments from public calamities—from the councils, the persuasions, the influence of such men, may God protect your majesty! The interest, the honour, the sovereignty of your kingdom of Great Britain, are now at stake—as the guardian of those, we trust you will ever assist and preserve them.” The petitioners pledged themselves to use all their exertions in support of the laws and government, and finally implored his majesty’s clemency towards all those of the colonists who might return to their duty. There can be no doubt that ministers were active in procuring such addresses as these; but at the same time it is equally certain that the sentiments they contained proceeded from the hearts of the people. The outrages committed at Lexington and Bunker’s Hill had, in truth, exasperated the people at large, and this exasperation was increased tenfold when, at a later period, news arrived of the invasion of Canada. They saw that it was a rude attempt to pluck a jewel from the British crown, and it excited feelings of resentment in their breasts deep and lasting. Not a few Englishmen who maintained that the Americans were justified in taking up arms to assert their own rights were converted by this step adopted by congress. In a word, the cause of the mother country was generally considered just, and was, therefore, popular.
PROSECUTION AND TRIAL OF HORNE TOOKE, ETC.
Government was so well supported by public opinion, that wonder is excited at the serious notice which it took of some attempts made by a few factious demagogues of creating popular commotion, and of raising themselves into an unenviable celebrity. Among this class John Horne Tooke stood pre-eminently forward. Horne Tooke was first the supporter, and then the rival of John Wilkes, but he had now completely succeeded him in the favour of a certain dubious class of patriots. This was the natural consequence of tilings. John Wilkes having been raised to the dignity of lord mayor, and having regained his seat in parliament, although he was still in some degree a thorn in the sides of ministers, had become more circumspect than heretofore. He no longer harangued at the public meetings of the populace, and was hence looked upon as a renegade, and Horne Tooke stepped into his place. The supplanter proved as bold as the man he had supplanted—stern “patriot” as Wilkes had been. This was seen in the midst of the agitation into which England was thrown by the events which had happened in America. At a meeting of the “Society for Constitutional Information,” which had been formed in the metropolis from the wreck of the “Bill of Rights Club,” Tooke moved, “that a subscription be raised for the relief of the widows, orphans, and aged parents of their American fellow-subjects, who, preferring death to slavery, were, for this reason only, murdered by the king’s troops at Lexington and Concord, on the 19th of April, 1775.” No mention was made of the widows and orphans of the British troops, which had been mown down by the rifles of the Americans from their hiding-places. That was altogether another question: they might or might not be supported by government, since it was clearly evident, from Horne Tooke’s motion, that they had no business to obey the orders of their superiors. Horne Tooke’s humane motion as it stood, therefore, was adopted—a vote of £100 was carried, and ordered to be transmitted to Dr. Franklin. The members, however, generally comprehended the peril of the case, and hesitated to sign the order. But Horne Tooke was as bold as he was humane, and he took all the responsibility on his own shoulders by affixing his name to it. The whole affair was clearly too ridiculous for the notice of government; but he was nevertheless prosecuted, sentenced to pay £200, to be imprisoned one year, and to find securities for good behaviour during three more. This was just the thing the patriot wanted. He had an opportunity of making a sarcastic speech, and his hopes were elated by the prospect of enjoying a still larger share of the popular favour. Probably he felt certain that he should one day carry the city mace, like his ancient friend John Wilkes. The best way to crush a demagogue is to let him pass unnoticed. Notwithstanding, the offence of Tooke was a direct challenge to government, and if it had refused to notice such an insult, its authority might have been despised by the section he headed, and therefore greatly diminished. Government, however, laid itself open to animadversion, by committing Mr. Sayre, an American merchant, to the Tower, on a charge of high-treason. It was declared on oath, by Mr. Richardson, an adjutant in the Guards, that Mr. Sayre had told him he intended to seize the king at noon-day, in his way to the house when it again met, to carry him out of the kingdom, occupy the Tower, and overturn the government. This would have been clearly the labour of “another Hercules,” and the information should have been treated with a sneer of contempt; but Lord Rochford seems to have considered that the enterprise of this most magnanimous American was not impracticable, and he therefore committed him to the Tower. But whether Mr. Sayer proved the adjutant’s statement to be false, or whether the king conceived that he was in no danger, does not appear, but certain it is that the American was set at liberty, after five days’ incarceration, and Lord Rochford had to pay him £1000 damages, on a suit for illegal imprisonment.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament met this year on the 26th of October. The speech from the throne, on this occasion, was unusually long and energetic, and, as might be expected, its chief topic was the revolt of the colonies. His majesty remarked:—“Those who have too long successfully laboured to inflame my people in America by gross misrepresentation, and to infuse into their minds a system of opinions repugnant to the true constitution of the colonies, and to their subordinate relation to Great Britain, now openly avow their revolt, hostility, and rebellion. They have raised troops, and are collecting a naval force; they have seized the public revenue, and assumed to themselves legislative, executive, and judicial powers, which they already exercise in a most arbitrary manner, over the persons and properties of their fellow-subjects; and although many of these unhappy people may still retain their loyalty, and may be too wise not to see the fatal consequences of this usurpation, and may wish to resist it; yet the torrent of violence has been strong enough to compel their acquiescence, till a sufficient force shall appear to support them. The authors and promoters of this desperate conspiracy have, in the conduct of it, derived great advantage from the difference of our intention and theirs. They only meant to amuse, by vague expressions of attachment to the parent state, and the strongest protestations of loyalty to me, whilst they were preparing for a general revolt. On our part, though it was declared in your last session that a rebellion existed within the province of Massachusets Bay, yet even that province we wished to reclaim, rather than subdue. The resolutions of parliament breathed a spirit of moderation and forbearance; conciliatory propositions accompanied the measures to enforce authority; and the coercive acts were adapted to cases of criminal combination among subjects not then in arms. I have acted with the same temper—anxious to prevent, if it had been possible, the effusion of the blood of my subjects, and the calamities which are inseparable from a state of war; still hoping that my people in America would have discerned the traitorous views of their leaders, and have been convinced, that to be a subject of Great Britain, with all its consequences, is to be the freest member of any civil society in the known world. The rebellious war now levied is become more general, and is manifestly carried on for the purpose of establishing an independent empire. I need not dwell upon the fatal effects of the success of such a plan. The object is too important—the spirit of the British nation too high—the resources with which God hath blessed her too numerous—to give up so many colonies, which she has planted with great industry, nursed with great tenderness, encouraged with many commercial advantages, and protected and defended at such expense of blood and treasure.” His majesty continued, that it was now necessary to put a stop to these disorders, and that, for this purpose, he had greatly increased his naval establishment, and augmented his land-forces. He had sent, he said, Hanoverian troops to Gibraltar and Port Mahon, to replace such British regiments as should be drawn from those garrisons for service in America; and he had received friendly offers of foreign assistance. His majesty also professed his readiness to forgive the colonists when they became sensible of their error; for which purpose, to prevent inconvenience, he would give, he said, a discretionary power to commissioners to grant general pardons, who might, he thought, be likewise entrusted with authority to restore the free exercise of its trade and commerce to any colony on making its submission. He concluded by informing both houses, that he saw no probability of any impediment to his measures from the hostility of foreign powers, since they had expressed their friendly assurances.
The address proposed by ministers was, as usual, a mere echo of the speech, and an amendment was proposed in the commons, by Lord John Cavendish, recommending that the whole should be expunged except the pro forma introductory paragraph, and that the following should be substituted,—“That they beheld with the utmost concern the disorders and discontents in the colonies rather increased than diminished by the means that had been used to suppress and allay them; a circumstance alone sufficient to give them just reason to fear that those means were not originally well considered, or properly adapted to their ends. That they were satisfied by experience that the misfortune had, in a great measure, arisen from the want of full and perfect information of the true state and condition of the colonies being laid before parliament; by reason of which, measures injurious and inefficacious had been carried into execution, from whence no salutary end could have been reasonably expected; tending to tarnish the lustre of the British arms, to bring discredit on the wisdom of his majesty’s councils, and to nourish, without hope of end, a most unhappy civil war. That, deeply impressed with the melancholy state of public concerns, they would, in the fullest information they could obtain, and with the most mature deliberation they could employ, review the whole of the late proceedings, that they might be enabled to discover, as they would be most willing to apply, the most effectual means of restoring order to the distracted affairs of the British empire, confidence to his majesty’s government, obedience, by a prudent and temperate use of its powers, to the authority of parliament, and satisfaction and happiness to all his people. That by these means they trusted to avoid any occasion of having recourse to the alarming and dangerous expedient of calling in foreign forces to the support of his majesty’s authority within his own dominions, and the still more dreadful calamity of shedding British blood by British arms.” An acrimonious debate followed this proposal, in which the opposition vehemently arraigned the principle and conduct of the contest; assumed the facts contained in the speech to be untrue; condemned the confiding such important fortresses as Port Mahon and Gibraltar to foreigners; and exposed the idea of conquest to ridicule. In reply, Lord North urged the necessity of regaining the colonies, and exposed the extravagant pretensions of the colonial assemblies, as well as of the general congress, and the encroachments on all the rights of the parent state. He also defended the conduct of ministers, maintaining that they had tried conciliation, but that the attempt had signally failed: lenity on the part of government and parliament being construed by the Americans into weakness and fear. Parliament had, he said, during the last session obviated the objections made to the right of taxing their colonies by permitting the Americans to tax themselves in their own assemblies; and yet not one assembly would offer a single shilling towards the common exigencies of the state. He observed, that to repeal every act passed relating to the colonies, since the year 1703, would indeed terminate the dispute, as from that moment America would be raised to independence: at the same time he vindicated those acts from the charge of being either ungenerous or unjust. The amendment was rejected by a majority of two hundred and seventy-eight against one hundred and eight, and the original question was then carried without a division.
A similar amendment was moved in the house of lords by the Marquess of Rockingham, and a debate equally warm ensued. Lord Gower frankly avowed that he with his brethren in office had been misled in their conduct with respect to American affairs. New York, he observed, had been forced into hostile measures by the insurgents of Connecticut, and he predicted that if the friends of government were well supported by a force from England, the colonies would be brought to a sense of their duty without the shedding of more blood. The Earl of Shelburne termed this prediction rash, and advanced it as an incontrovertible fact, “that the commerce of America was the vital stream of this empire.” At the same time, while he considered that the independence of the colonies would be the result of the contest, he confessed that this result would be the ruin of Great Britain. The house was next startled with the declarations made by the Duke of Grafton, now lord privy seal. His grace boldly condemned all the proceedings with regard to America during the last twelve months, asserting that he had been deceived and misled upon the whole subject, and that ministers had induced him to lend his countenance to those measures, by withholding information and misrepresenting facts. Grafton also declared that nothing less than a total repeal of all the American acts which had passed since the year 1763, could now restore peace and happiness, or prevent the most fatal consequences to this country: consequences, he said, which he could not think of without the utmost degree of grief and horror. He concluded by declaring that in his present ill state of health, nothing could have induced him to have left his house, but a conviction of his being right,—a knowledge of the dangerous state of the country, and a sense of what he owed to it, as well as to his conscience. The Bishop of Peterborough, who had spoken and voted for coercive measures in previous sessions, acknowledged a similar change in his sentiments to those of the Duke of Grafton, and imputed his previous views to misinformation, and deception on the part of the ministers. This defection, however, did not produce much effect in the house. Ministers descanted powerfully on the great question at issue,—using similar arguments to those which had been employed in the commons, and in the end the Marquess of Rockingham’s amendment was rejected by a majority of sixty-nine to twenty-nine, while the original address was carried by seventy-six to thirty-three, including proxies. A protest was signed by nineteen peers.