640 



BRITAIN. 





Britain, the mother country should never relax till America 

 acknowledged the supremacy of Britain. The Ame- 

 ricans, on the other hand, as soon as they heard of 

 the bill for shutting up the harbour of Boston, for 

 abolishing the charter of Massachussets, for quarter- 

 ing troops in America, and for other coercive mea- 

 sures that were in preparation, testified a deter- 

 mined spirit of resistance. Yet this determination, 

 though firmly, seemed not to be willingly adopt- 

 ed; so many of them were connected with Bri- 

 tain by commercial ties, that the prospect of a civil 

 war presented the most terrific ideas. 



When General Gage arrived with fresh forces at 

 Boston, they addressed him in strong, but respect- 

 ful Urms; and declared that they were ready to pro- 

 mote a reconciliation on any terms consistent with 

 their rights as British subjects. Their remonstrance 

 was, however, disregarded. A general congress of 

 deputies from all the states was now loudly demand- 

 ed by the Americans ; and, in the mean time, the 

 committee of correspondence at Boston, bound them- 

 selves by a solemn agreement, to suspend all com- 

 mercial correspondence with Britain. It was in vain 

 that General Gage protested against these proceed- 

 ings. The congress of deputies was appointed to be 

 Proceed- held at Philadelphia, and the American magistrates 

 ings of the informed the several governors, that their power was 

 conpress of no more. The congress consisted of 51 delegates, 

 iM^f'd'l St aru ^ commence ^ with an address to the governor- 

 general, in which they set at defiance his endeavours 

 to overawe their proceedings. His authority was in 

 fact gone ; he could not even procure the lowest me- 

 chanics to erect barracks for his soldiers. The reso 

 lutions of the congress, on the other hand, had all 

 the validity of laws. They proceeded to draw up a 

 petition to his majesty, a memorial to the people of 

 Great Britain, and an address to the colonies in ge- 

 neral. Having finished these addresses, they ad- 

 journed, after a session of 52 days. 



Proceed- A new British parliament assembled towards the 

 ing* in par- en d o f 1774, . but the discussion of American affairs 

 cm ' was at first studiously avoided by the ministry. 

 When the subject was opened, their language was 

 still expressive of contempt for the rising spirit in 

 the colonies ; and it was even intimated, that the ap- 

 prehensions of a war were wholly chimerical. The 

 estimates were formed entirely upon a peace esta- 

 1115. blishment ; the army remained on its former footing; 

 and, what was most of all surprising, a reduction of 

 4000 seamen took place from the 20,000 voted in 

 the last year, Lord Sandwich, first lord of the ad- 

 miralty, declaring, that he-knew the low establishment 

 proposed would be fully sufficient for reducing the 

 colonies to obedience. The petition from the con- 

 gress to the king, having been referred by his ma- 

 jesty to the House of Commons, the American a- 

 gents, Dr Franklin, Mr Bollan, and Mr Lee, pe- 

 titioned" the house to be heard at the bar, in its sup- 

 port. But the ministers alleged, that the congress 

 was no legal body, and refused to give them a hear- 

 ing. A similar fate in the upper house attended 

 Lord Chatham's bill for settling the troubles in A- 

 merica ; and the very day after the rejection, a mo- 

 tion was made by Lord North, to declare America 

 in 8 state of rebellion. On this momentous occasion, 



the strength of that -patty which had combated the 

 hostile system towards the colonies, was considerably 

 increased ; they divided on this occasion, 106 against 

 288. They were joined by the rising tak-nts of Charles 

 Fox, who had lately been dismissed from the trea- 

 sury bench, for displaying a spirit not sufficiently 

 submissive. Though the feelings of the British na- 

 tion were at this period torpid or undecided with re- 

 cpect to America; yet the triumphs of admimstra. 

 tion, in rejecting all the plans of conciliation proposed 

 by Lord Chatham, Mr Burke, and the other k-aders 

 of opposition, were not undisturbed by many remon- 

 strances from important bodies in the nation. The 

 city of London remonstrated ; the West India mer- 

 chants and planters petitioned against measures, 

 which threatened to involve them in ruin. The de- 

 claration of America being in a state of rebellion was, 

 however, immediately followed up by a bill for re- 

 straining the trade and commerce of Massachussets- 

 Bay and New Hampshire, the colonies of Connecti- 

 cut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation, in 

 North America, with the British and West india 

 islands ; and to prohibit their fisheries on the banks 

 of Newfoundland. After so strong a measure, some 

 surprise was excited, when Lord North advanced a 

 conciliatory motion, of which the purport was, that 

 when the Americans should propose to make such 

 provisions for the support of their civil government 

 as should be approved of by his majesty and the par- 

 liament, the British government would abstain from 

 taxing them, and confine themselves to their com- 

 mercial regulations. Some of the zealots of the mi- 

 nister's friends, expressed alarm at the extent of this 

 concession ; while the friends of America justly de- 

 rided it as nugatory, since it was tin- right, and not 

 the mode of taxation which the colonies disputed. 



In the mean time, the military preparations, on the 

 side of the Americans, had proceeded with ardour. 

 The cannon and stores, belonging to government, 

 were seized by the provincials, in Rhode Island and 

 other places ; as, on the other hand, General Gage 

 had seized a number of warlike stores, deposited in 

 the vicinity of Boston. Having received intelligence 

 of a considerable magazine deposited in the vicinity 

 of Boston, the British commander detached, on the 

 night preceding the 19th of April, 800 grenadiers 

 and light infantry, under Col. Smith, who proceeded 

 in their march with great silence ; but by the firing 

 of guns and ringing of bells, they at length percei- 

 ved themselves discovered ; and, on their arrival at 

 Lexington, at five in the morning, they found a com- 

 pany of militia drawn up on the green. With these 

 men, the advanced guard of the king's troops ex- 

 changed fire, and the Americans, after losing a few 

 men, retreated After which, the royalists proceed- 

 ed to Concord, and destroyed the stores. On their 

 return, the passage of a bridge being disputed by the 

 provincials, a skirmish ensued, with the loss of a few 

 men on both sides : the people rose in all quarters, 

 and by a scattered but destructive fire, from behind 

 trees and hedges, they made the British suffer con- 

 siderably. A second body of troops, which Gene- 

 ral Gage had the prudence to send to Lexington, 

 secured their retreat, and they returned to Boston 

 about sunset, after losing 300 men, while the loss of 



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