Delphi Complete Works of William Godwin 1st ed. (2022), page 308
part #1 of Delphi Classics Series
Disappointed in the inauspicious event of the administration which he had formed with so assiduous care; and mortified, at the impolitic proceedings, of which he had been, however designedly, in some measure, the occasion, he laid, for some time, his head in the obscurity of retreat. But even there, the voice of the people reached him. He was roused from supineness and slumber. He came forward, to face his own treacherous friends, together with those new associates, whole principles, he had ever considered, as inimical to liberty. He even seemed, to have risen from the grave, that erewhile had half closed upon his head; and to have caught, once more, all the vigour and animation of unworn youth. He shook off all his long infirmities. He managed not his declining years. With ambitious eagerness, he presented himself upon every occasion; and where the artillery of opposition had made an impression, upon the defences of the cabal, he was ever foremost to mount the breach. Together with him, he brought a small, but chosen phalanx The blunt, the honest and the artless earl Temple. The accomplished, the elaborate Lord Shelbourne. And lastly, his excellent friend, the lord chancellor, sagacious and penetrating, unmoved by wiles, unawed by power.
With this addition to the strength of minority in the house of lords, that party appeared, every way, so respectable, as to divert the attention of the people, almost entirely, from the proceedings of their representatives; upon whom it has usually been fixed; but who had, in a great measure, alienated their affections, by their conduct in the affair of Mr. Wilkes. The session commenced, with a motion, for an amendment to the address, by lord Chatham, promising, with all convenient speed, to take into consideration the causes of the public discontents, and particularly the affair, from which they were supposed, to have originated. This amendment was supported, with much energy and decision, by lord Camden. The consequence was his immediate dismission from office. The seals were offered to Mr. Charles Yorke, who is said to have accepted them with reluctance, through the personal intreaties of his sovereign; and who survived his appointment only three days. He was supposed to have put an end to his own existence, in consequence of his remorse, for the disgrace, he imagined himself to have sustained. Terrified by so many concomitant circumstances; the discontents of the people; the hostility of his old patron; and the present unfortunate event; the duke of Grafton deserted the helm of government; and lord North, who had been, for some time, the minister of the house of commons, was appointed to succeed him.
The administration of lord North will ever make a principal figure, in the history of this country. It must be acknowledged, in his favour, that the feeds of those calamities, by which his story is so eminently distinguished, were remotely sown, before his accession to office; and that he came forward, at a very alarming and critical period. His appointment was evidently, in some measure, the effect of necessity. If was by chance, that he was placed at the head of affairs. But it has been the distinguishing characteristic of the present reign, that those appointments, which were, at first, the most evidently temporary, have almost universally, in the end, proved the most permanent.
If this nobleman had never possessed so conspicuous a post, one may almost venture to say, his abilities would never have been thought of. His politics have surely had a sufficient trial, and the event has decided upon their merit. His boasted skill in finance, seems to have partaken of the nature of fairy money, and, when it was called into use, vanished from the touch. If he had any abilities it appears to have been in debate. At the same time, his voice was harsh, and his manner unwieldy. His speeches were never illuminated with one ray of genius; and, when he aimed at animation, he became an object for laughter. But he possessed a sleepiness, and a phlegm, from which it was just possible for him to be roused. The philippics of opposition seldom broke in upon his repose. And, as they simply played upon the surface of his brain, without wounding his mind, he was able to retort them with a buffoonery, that was admired, because it was unresembled. He had the first-rate quality of being able to talk long, without embarrassment. He was able too, to state a matter of complicated calculation, with considerable clearness. In this respect, the day, in which he opened the budget, was the very acme of his glory.
In some things, his lordship resembled Mr. George Grenville, one of his predecessors.
Lord Chatham had ever considered this man, as a useful drudge; and acknowledged, that he had been frequently indebted to his researches. Lord North had served the witty, the volatile Mr. Charles Townshend, in the fame capacity; and that gentleman is said, so have entertained a similar contempt for him. In one respect however, the nobleman in question, was perfectly opposite to his predecessor. Mr. Grenville was shrewd, sagacious and inflexible. Lord North seemed to have no sentiments of his own. He maintained, with the same unvaried countenance, a system today, the very opposite of the system of yesterday. Like the Desdemona of Othello’s distempered imagination, he could “turn, and turn, and yet go on.” He seems to have no objection to the execution of measures, which, at the same time, he professed to disapprove. I am afraid, this is the very worst feature, that can belong to a political character.
These changes however did not make any immediate alteration in the face of affairs. Lord Chatham prosecuted his object, without intermission; and tried every means for the gratification of the wishes of the people. He endeavoured, both by resolution, and by the bill, to reverse the proceedings upon the Middlesex election. He moved to censure the minster, who had advised the king’s answer to a remonstrance, upon that subject, from the city of London. And he endeavoured to obtain, from the house of lords, an address to the sovereign, for what was then so eagerly desired, and the dissolution of parliament. But all his eloquence was in vain. Ministers did not even seem to study the plausible, and never engaged heartily in the debate, till they came to the division. This venerable hero was repeatedly called down, by the youngest, and least considerable of the peers, for what they pretended to consider, as an undue warmth of expression, — His perseverance however, did not go undistinguished. The city felt a suitable gratitude, and voted their thanks to him for his conduct.
There is somewhat remarkable in the speech he delivered, in support of a motion, for augmenting the number of seamen. He concluded with these memorable words: “Although, my lord, “ said he, “ it seems to be so unsettled among us, whether we shall put on the armour of defense; — a question, at worst, if carried in the affirmative, which cannot but be considered, as an act of prudence; — I do now pledge myself to this honourable house, for the truth of what I am going to assert: that, at this very hour, that we are sitting together, there has been a blow of hostility struck against us, by our old inveterate enemies, in some part of the world.” — This prediction was, almost immediately verified, in the affair of Falkland’s islands.
Political prophesy is a discriminating particular in lord Chatham’s character. He willingly indulged himself in it; and he was perhaps very seldom mistaken. Much was undoubtedly owing to his intelligence; and much to that sagacity, without which, he pronounced extrinsic intelligence to be nothing. But this is not all. There is an enthusiasm; if you will, an inspiration, that is connate to all original genius. Nature seems to delight, to own, and to vindicate it, in all it’s effervescences.
In the mean time, this is perhaps one of the most extraordinary instances of the kind, that is to be met with in history. It may therefore be worth while to attempt to analyze it, and distinctly to assign its various causes. The character of Britain had palpably been sinking for several years in the eyes of Europe. The affair with Corsica had, at once, demonstrated this circumstance, and increased it. Warlike preparations were commenced in the ports of France and Spain. The continuance therefore of the general tranquility was become precarious. But there is something peremptory and circumstantial in the prediction I have related, that these considerations do, by no means account for. The object of the preparations was apparently uncertain. We were, at present, in full, peace; and, if its duration were precarious, the immediate commencement of hostilities was much more so. It was improbable, that the enemy should begin, by a precipitate attack, upon a distant and unimportant part of the empire. The attack made no part of any regular system; and there-sore, as the part of such a system, it could not be developed.
The territorial right to the islands in question, was a matter, involved in the utmost obscurity. The Spaniard however had invaded our possession, without any previous discussion, and in full peace; and had stripped us of it, with circumstances of deliberated insult. This proceeding certainly demanded exemplary reparation. They seemed however much disposed, to procrastinate the negotiation. At length, by the mediation of France in the hopes of whose warlike assistance they appear to have been disappointed, they consented to replace every thing in it’s former situation. The acceptance of these terms might have been ascribed to a spirit of moderation. No object of dispute could certainly be more frivolous, or more unworthy of plunging half mankind in the horrors of war. It came out however, some time after, by the confession of the French ambassador, that, in order to obtain these terms, we were obliged to stipulate, on our part, the finally evacuating the disputed islands, and in being the first to desist from our warlike preparations.
Proceedings, like these, though the last article was, at that time, only suspected, Were so much the reverse of the haughty and decisive manners of lord Chatham, that it is not to be wondered at, that he strained every nerve, to obtain a parliamentary stigma, upon the conduct of the British negotiators. He compared the present compromise, to the famous convention of sir Robert Walpole, that led the way to the war of 1739; and asserted the probability of a similar event.
With that unchanging perseverance, that constitute so leading a trait of his character, he brought forward, once again, the affair of the Middlesex election. In order however to vary the subject of discussion, he digressed into a stricture, upon some recent particulars, in the conduct of our courts of justice, that were thought to infringe, upon that invaluable characteristic of the English constitution, the trial by jury. The person, who was principally pointed at, in this affair; and who did not meet the discussion, with that readiness, which the public desired, was the celebrated lord Mansfield. He was nearly of the same age with our hero; and they came forward, about the same time, to general observation. He was the greatest of all lord Chatham’s contemporaries upon the public stage. The celebrated compliment of Pope to him, is not less just, than it is beautiful; that nature had left it in his choice, whether he would be a Tully, or a Maro. Minute observers have pretended to discover in him, something of the vindictive, and something too much of art. He has been uniformly accused, of leaning towards the principles of despotism. In the mean time, the firmness of his judgment, and the honourable uniformity of his conduct, will not permit us, for a moment, to doubt of his sincerity, in all the sentiments he professes. That however, which we dare not blame, we may have leave to lament.
The session closed with an affair, that, at once, revived all the democratical ardour, that had attended the proceedings against Mr. Wilkes. An imperfect account had long been given, in the public papers, of the debates of the house of commons with impunity; though there was a standing order against it. At this time, a member thought fit to complain of the misrepresentation he had suffered; and the printers were immediately ordered into custody. Three of them were soon after apprehended, and severally carried before the lord mayor, and the aldermen Wilkes and Oliver; who discharged them from confinement, and bound them over to prosecute their captors. Inflamed at this instance of contempt, the house committed Mr. Oliver and the chief magistrate to the tower. Some difficulty arising, concerning the manner of Mr. Wilkes’s appearance before them, who claimed, as a member; his conduct passed without animadversion. The two prisoners were attended to confinement by the acclamations of the people. They were followed by the thanks of their fellow citizens. And the day of their liberation was celebrated, with every mark of festivity and triumph. The dislike, that parliament had incurred, was so far swelled by this business, that lord Chatham employed it, as a strong additional argument, when he renewed his motion, to address the king to dissolve them.
In the following session, his lordship came forward, as the advocate of religious liberty, in support of a bill for the relief of Protestant dissenters. The year 1772 was undistinguished by any remarkable event. The popular spirit began, at this time, to subside; and has since remained, for the most part, in a state of languor and inactivity. The strength of opposition in parliament was also decaying; Mr. George Grenville was sometime dead, and lord Chatham began, once again, ot withdraw himself from the public theatre. It was now that the character of the minister began, most visibly, to give a colour to the public counsels. Generally slow: anon, decisive, with a veil of constitutional modesty, violent, under the guise of phlegmatic moderation. This temperature was exceedingly visible, in the measures, that were now adopted, respecting the East India company. The scheme of lord Chatham, whatever it was, was compromised, by his successors in office, in consideration of a large annual subsidy, to be paid to government; which, it afterwards appeared, the company could ill spare; but the payment of which they preferred, to that invasion, which was threatened, of their territorial claims. At this time, they became so embarrassed in their affairs, as to be obliged to discontinue the subsidy; and even to demand, from government, a considerable loan. The minister, beholding the company prostrate at his feet, considered this, as the time, to assert his supremacy. Without actually depriving them of their possessions, he established a parliamentary assertion, that they held them by sufferance, and in consequence, passed a great number of vexatious regulations; which threw a considerable weight of influence into the scale of government, but which were little less obnoxious, than would have been the most peremptory and unqualified proceedings. At the same time, he seemed willing to grant them some compensation.
Administration had long triumphed in the success of their American measures. They saw, however not openly, the tea imported, and the tax, in some measure, submitted to. They did not know, that the stillness, that prevailed in that country, was the stillness of reflection; and they could not perceive, that their minds were progressively alienating from dependence upon Britain. They fancied, they saw them reconciling, by degrees, to unlimited submission: things, they believed, had continued long enough, in their present course: this was the time to act with decision. Accordingly they imagined, they should effect two purposes, at once, by granting to the East India company, who heretofore had never exported her own commodities, the liberty of exporting tea, in whatever quantity, without being subject to the usual impositions. Thus encouraged, the company shipped a considerable quantity for America.
No sooner had the account of these things crossed the Atlantic, than America rose up, as one man; and all the colonies, without previous concert, resolved, not to permit the cargoes to be landed. In most places, the vessels, perceiving their voyage to have been to no purpose, peaceably returned. At Boston, and other places, this was refused. Finding, therefore no other remedy, and persuaded, that the tea would be brought on shore, by degrees, and their resolves evaded, a considerable party of the inhabitants went on board, in disguise; and having, without interruption, destroyed the cargoes, immediately dispersed.
Matters were thus brought to a very serious crisis. The minister, who, in the foregoing session, had trampled upon a defenceless commercial company, now imagined, he could do the same with three millions of people, stretched over a wide continent, of fifteen hundred miles in extent: with a people, whose ancestors had left their native fields, and fled to the uncouth deserts of America, in pursuit of liberty; and who themselves, nursed in the lap of strenuous freedom, were now in the first stage of cultivation, hardy, laborious, intrepid, and enterprising. Administration owed all it’s misapprehensions concerning them, in a manner, to one source; the misinformation of the provincial governors. It had been observed, in the commencement of the last war, that the Indians, almost universally, sided with the French. Their commanders, persons of generous blood, and gentle demeanour, won over the natives, by their accommodating manners and their equitable conduct; while ours, men, for the most part, of broken fortunes, and ruined character, employed no management, and understood no policy. Posterity will look back astonished, to see their ancestors, sacrificing their dearest possessions, to the precipitation of a very few obscure individuals, in their origin base, and in their persons contemptible.
In this manner them misled, administration determined upon measure of the boldest description. Their policy was comprised in four acts of parliament; for shutting up the port of Boston; for changing the government of the province of Massachusetts-bay; for adjourning the trial of delinquents in America, from one of the colonies, to another, or to great Britain; and for extending the limits, and granting an establishment to the French system of policy and religion in Canada. — In the course of this session, and a little previous to the disclosure of the above system, opposition obtained a most invaluable acquisition, in the person of Mr. Charles Fox.
CHAPTER VIII
Meeting of the general congress. — Lord Chatham’s conciliatory plan. — Coercive measures pursued. — Commencement of the war. — Declaration of independency. — Campaign of 1776. — Expedition from Canada.
THOUGH, IN THE year 1770 lord Chatham had come forward, with an apparent determination, from thenceforth to take a regular share, in the parliamentary deliberations; he however found himself irresistibly baffled by the encroachments of disease. From his youth, he had been the martyr of an hereditary gout. Scarcely any person was ever subject to that painful distemper, in a greater degree. For some years, before his death, he was, in a manner, confined to his chamber. It was only, at distant intervals, that he could tear himself from the couch of imbecility; and appear, in his darling character of a senator, and upon his proper theatre, the great council of the nation. But rare, as these appearances were, they acquired, from that circumstance, an additional splendour. It was no longer proper, for this hero of a former age, to waste his efforts upon a vulgar theme; or, in any case, to join in the cry of a party, or view situations, through the medium of private affection. Aloof from the herd of listed combitants, it became him, as it were, to dictate his sentiments from a more elevated station: and he seemed to require a theme, new, as his situation; and large, as his godlike soul. And such a theme was provided for him.
