108 COUNT RUMFORD. 



and sensible ; by a strange concurrence of events, he is 

 now Under-Secretary to the American Secretary of State, 

 Lord George Germain, a Secretary to Georgia, Inspector 

 of all the clothing sent to America, and Lieutenant- 

 Colonel Commandant of Horse Dragoons at New York ; 

 his income from these sources is, I have been told, near 

 TjOOO^. 1 a year a sum infinitely beyond his most 

 sanguine expectations.' 



As the prospects of the war darkened, Thompson's 

 patron in England became more and more the object of 

 attack. The people had been taxed in vain. England 

 was entangled in Continental war, and it became gra- 

 dually recognised that the subjugation of the colony 

 was impossible. Burgoyne had surrendered, and the 

 issue of the war hung upon the fate of Cornwallis. On 

 October 19 he also was obliged to capitulate. The 

 effect of the disaster upon Lord North, who was then 

 Prime Minister, is thus described by Sir M. W. Wrax- 

 all : ' The First Minister's firmness, and even his pre- 

 sence of mind, gave way for a short time under this 

 awful disaster. I asked Lord George afterwards how 

 he took the communication. " As he would have 

 taken a ball in his breast," replied Lord George ; " he 

 opened his arms, exclaiming wildly, as he paced up and 

 down the apartment during a few minutes, ' God ! it 

 is all over I"" 



To Thompson's credit be it recorded, that he showed 

 no tendency to desert the cause he had espoused when 

 he found it to be a failing one. In 1782 his chief was 

 driven from power. At this critical time he accepted 

 the commission of lieutenant-colonel in the British 

 army, and returned to America with a view of rallying 

 for a final stand such forces as he might find capable 

 of organisation. He took with him four pieces of 



1 This Dr. Ellis considers to be a delusion. 



