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versaries, and to fix all the odium upon them." BOOK And it was indeed sufficiently evident, from the. whole conduct of the business, that the minister, 1777. on this as on other occasions, was not admitted into the inmost recesses of the royal cabinet.

On the 9th of April, 1777, a message was delivered by the minister from the king, in which his majesty expressed his concern in acquainting the house with the difficulties he labored under from the debts incurred by expences of the civil government, amounting on the 5th of January preceding to upwards of 600,000l. And the house on this message resolving itself into a committee of supply, the minister moved, "That the sum of 618,000l. be granted, to enable his majesty to discharge the debts of the civil government; and that the sum of 100,000l. per annum, over and above the sum of 800,000l. be granted as a farther provision for the same." This gave rise to a vehement debate. It was affirmed to be a measure of the grossest impropriety and indecency to bring forward such a demand in such a season of national distress and calamity; when burdens are accumulated upon burdens, to tell a people already sinking under their load, that the grandeur of the crown is not sufficiently supported, and that an increase of taxes is necessary in order to increase its splendor! But even this plea, however inade

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BOOK troops had already past over, now made a rapid march by different routes back into the Jerseys, in the hope of surprising general Washington at Quibble-town; but on the first intelligence of this movement, the American general, penetrating the design, re-possessed himself of his former strong position at Middlebrook :--and knowing that lord Cornwallis, at the head of a strong detached corps, was advancing by a circuitous route to the right, he fortified the passes of the mountains on that side of his camp; so that lord Cornwallis, who had defeated in his march a considerable body of the enemy under lord Sterling, and who hoped to have co-operated with general Howe by securing the passes in the rear, was compelled reluctantly to retire.

The whole plan of attack being thus frustrated, general Howe came to a second and final resolution of evacuating the Jerseys; and, in both his retreats, such havoc, spoil, and ruin, were made by the forces under his personal inspection and command, as were well calculated to obviate the suspicion that any secret partiality to America yet remained in the breast of the English general.

A great part of the summer had now elapsed, and the primary object of the campaign had proved wholly abortive. In vindication of the conduct of sir William Howe it was alleged,

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that to bring the enemy to action was impos- BOOK sible; and to advance to the Delawar, through a country entirely hostile, and with such a force in his rear, would be no better than madness. But if so, the war itself was evidently no better than madness, as these difficulties were precisely such as they had every reason previously to expect. Another project, however, was now to be tried, and preparations were made for a grand naval expedition. On the 23d of July the whole army, leaving only a sufficient force for the defence of New York, embarked on board the fleet, and after a long and tedious voyage, as might be expected from the periodical prevalence of the southerly winds, the troops were landed at Elk Ferry, at the head of Chesapeak Bay. General Washington, who after being for many weeks kept in anxious suspense as to the destination of the British army, had recently passed the Delawar, upon this intelligence took possession of the heights on the eastern side of the river Brandywine, which

"The Amazing advantage the enemy derive from their ships and the command of the water, keeps us in a state of constant perplexity and the most anxious conjecture. are not yet informed of their destination, nor can any plausible conclusions be drawn respecting it. What renders the matter still more difficult and confused, is their extreme inactivity and delay."Vide Washington's Letters, (July 25.)

BOOK falls into the Delawar below Philadelphia, with

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an intention to dispute the passage. By daybreak on the 11th of September the British army advanced in two columns: the right, commanded by general Knyphausen, marching directly to Chad's Ford; and the other column, under lord Cornwallis, taking a circuit to the left, in order to cross the forks of the Brandywine, and attack the enemy on the right flank. Both were in a considerable degree successful; the first after a severe conflict forcing the passage of the ford, and the latter surprising and totally discomfiting the brigades commanded by Sullivan, which composed the right wing of the American army. The approach of night prevented the royal army from pursuing its advantages, and the loss of the Americans did not exceed thirteen hundred men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, to which that of the British bore a very large proportion. The marquis de la Fayette, a young French nobleman, who had recently entered as a volunteer into the American service, and count Pulawski, a native of Poland, distinguished themselves by their gallantry on this occasion. General Washington, on the disaster of Brandywine, retreated towards Philadelphia; but on the advance of general Howe, not deeming it expedient so soon to risk a second engagement, he withdrew, and the English

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beyond your majesty's highest expence; but all BOOK this, SIRE, they have done in the well-grounded confidence, that you will apply wisely what they 1777. have granted liberally." The countenance of the king plainly indicated how little acceptable was this unexpected liberty. On the return of the speaker and the attendant members, the thanks of the house were nevertheless immediately voted him; yet not without exciting the secret and acrimonious resentment of the king's friends, or prerogative party; one of whom, Mr. Rigby, took occasion in a subsequent debate to arraign the conduct of the speaker with unusual vehemence, as conveying little less than an insult on the king, and as equally misrepresenting the sense of parliament and the state of the nation. The sentiments delivered at the bar of the other house, he said, were not those of the house of commons; he for one totally disclaimed them; and he had no doubt but the majority of the house thought with him. The speaker appealed to the vote of thanks which had been passed, as a proof that he had not been guilty of the misrepresentation imputed to him: and the minister, uneasy at the altercation, intimated his wish that the subject might not be farther discussed. But Mr. Fox, immediately rising, declared, "that a serious and direct charge having been brought, the question was now at issue. Either the speaker

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