BRITAIN. 



693 



The French relinquished all their possessions on the 

 continent of North America ; and the whole of that 

 continent, to the east of the Mississippi, was yielded to 

 Britain. The islands of Martihico, Guadaloupe, 

 Marigalante, and Deseada, were yielded to the 

 French ; the island of Cuba, to Spain ; the other con- 

 quered islands were allowed to remain in the power of 

 the British ; the possession of Senegal, in Africa, was 

 secured to Britain ; and Goree was yielded to France. 

 The East India Company restored to the French all 

 their possessions in Asia, on condition that they should 

 maintain neither forts nor troops in Bengal ; and 

 Manilla was resigned to the Spaniards, who in return 

 allowed the British to cut logwood in the Bay of 

 Honduras. In Europe, every thing was restored to 

 that state in which it had been before the war. This 

 peace was concluded in Paris, on the 10th of February, 

 1763. 



The terms of this treaty were not such as the coun- 

 try had expected. Pitt, who had retired from office 

 some time before, characterised it as ' ' obscuring all the 

 glories of the war, surrendering the dearest interests 

 of the nation, and sacrificing public faith, by an aban- 

 donment of its allies. Lord Bute, ' the new favourite,' 

 as he was called, felt himself unable to keep his ground 

 as premier against the opposition, now composed of 

 the ablest and most distinguished men of the country, 

 and, making a merit of necessity, gave in his resigna- 

 tion, and was succeeded by Mr George Grenville. A 

 general coalition of parties was soon after attempted, 

 but without success, and party-spirit raged with more 

 keenness than ever. Among the political publications 

 of the day, the " North Briton," edited by John 

 Wilkes, member of Parliament for Aylesbury, was 

 distinguished by its boldness and virulence. A prose- 

 cution was commenced against its author; but the 

 proceedings established against him, only tended to es- 

 tablish him more and more as the idol of the people. 

 The new minister, however, got parliament, after a 

 hot debate, to declare the 45th number of the North 

 Briton " a false, scandalous, and seditious libel ;" and 

 after this petty triumph, plunged himself into new and 

 still more threatening difficulties. During the war 

 which had been undertaken chiefly for the defence of 

 the colonies in America, upwards of 72,000,000 had 

 been added to the national debt. When the ardour of 

 conquest had abated, the payment of the interest of a 

 debt so enormous excited many complaints. It ap- 

 peared to the people of Britain to be extremely just, 

 that the Americans, on whose account great part of 

 the debt had been incurred, should assist in the pay- 

 ment of the interest. The Americans, on the other 

 hand, did not deny the justice of subjecting the co- 

 lonies to taxes, but insisted that if the British parlia- 

 ment claimed the right of taxing the colonists, these 

 colonists had a right to be represented in parliament, 

 in order that, like other British subjects, they might 

 be taxed only in consequence of their own consent. Mr 

 Grenville, however, was tenacious to his purpose, and 

 introduced a bill for imposing certain stamp-duties on 

 the American colonies and plantations. General Con- 

 way and colonel Barr in vain opposed the measure, 

 and protested against the right thus assumed by the 

 legislature ; the minister carried his point, and the 

 memorable decree went forth which proved such a 

 monument of British folly. Mr Grenville's party, 

 however, was shortly after this supplanted by the 

 Rockingham administration, which effected an impor- 

 tant concession to the American colonies ; but its 

 measures gave offence to a high personage ; and Mr 

 Pitt, now advanced to the peerage, by the title of the 

 Earl of Chatham, was directed' to form a new ministry. 

 The new administration renewed the foolish plan of 

 taxing the colonies ; and, on Lord North's introduc- 

 tion into it, lord Chatham again retired from office. 



Nothing could be more impolitic and unfortunate than 

 North's administration for twelve successive years. 

 The act of 1767, imposing certain port-duties, was 

 followed by the appointment of an American board of 

 commissioners ; and all the representations and com- 

 plaints, as well as the demonstrations of excited feel- 

 ing on the part of the Americans, were utterly lost on 

 the infatuated ministry. In 1775, lord Chatham's 

 bill for settling the troubles in America was rejected 

 by a majority of sixty-one to thirty-two voices ; and 

 next day lord North moved an address to the king, 

 declaring America in a state of rebellion. The result 

 of the struggle which now ensued betwixt the mother- 

 country and her colonies was such as had been foreseen 

 by every unprejudiced observer. London, in the 

 month of J une, 1780, exhibited a frightful scene of 

 confusion and riot, in consequence of the popular agi- 

 tation on the subject of the Roman Catholic relief bill, 

 fomented by the insane conduct of Lord George Gor- 

 don. A heavy misfortune was also experienced this 

 year, in the capture, by the Spaniards, of the East and 

 West India fleets in the Bay of Biscay. The famous 

 confederacy established by the empress of Russia, un- 

 der the name of the Armed Neutrality, aimed a severe 

 blow at our continental connexions at this juncture ; 

 and the appearance of Hyder Ally in the East threat- 

 ened the safety of our possessions in India. The 

 raising of the siege of Gibraltar, the taking of St 

 Eustatius, the action betwixt the Dutch and British 

 fleets, on the Dogger-bank, and the capture of a large 

 part of the French Indian fleet, form the principal 

 events in the concluding years of North's administra- 

 tion, who was driven from the helm in 1782. 



The marquis of Rockingham, as first lord of the 

 treasury, and the carl of Shelburne and Mr Fox, as 

 secretaries of state, had conducted the new adminis- 

 tration for a short period, when the death of the former 

 nobleman led to new ministerial arrangements, and 

 Mr Pitt, the son of lord Chatham, was appointed 

 chancellor of the exchequer. On the 30th of Novem- 

 ber, 1782, the long-protracted struggle betwixt Bri- 

 tain and her American colonies was brought to a 

 close, by the signing of provisional articles of peace 

 at Paris. But ministerial propositions having been 

 rejected in the meeting of parliament after the recess, 

 a resignation followed, and the celebrated coalition 

 ministry, with the duke of Portland as first lord of the 

 treasury, and lord North and Mr Fox as secretaries 

 of state, was organized. This ministry enjoyed a 

 mere ephemeral existence. On the rejection of the 

 India bill, the two secretaries were required to deli- 

 ver up their seals of office, and a new ministry was 

 appointed on the succeeding day, at the head of 

 which Mr Pitt, then only in his twenty-fourth year, 

 was placed as first lord of the treasury and chancellor 

 of the exchequer. The affairs of Ireland and India, 

 and the impeachment of Hastings, were among the 

 first subjects which occupied the attention of Mr Pitt's 

 ministry. A treaty of defensive alliance between 

 Great Britain and the United Provinces, and a similar 

 treaty with Prussia, were signed in 1788. The dis- 

 cussion on the regency bill engrossed the attention of 

 parliament in the ensuing session. 



The situation of France in the following year pre- 

 sented an object of engrossing and overwhelming 

 interest to all Europe ; nor was Britain die least in- 

 terested spectator of that extraordinary moral and 

 political revolution which now convulsed her heredi- 

 tary foe. Burke's " Reflections on the French Re- 

 volution," Paine's celebrated " Rights of Man," and 

 Macintosh's " Vindiciae Gallicse," contributed not a 

 little to direct and inflame the zeal of the conflicting par- 

 ties in this country, whose violence in several instances 

 carried them far beyond the bounds of moderation. 

 On the execution of Louis, an order was issued for the 



