770 ENGL 
poffibility of attack. The Sr. Michael, of feventy-two 
guns, having feparatgd from the fleet, ran on-fhore on the 
rock of Gibraltar, and was taken pofleflion of by captain 
Curtis. After fully executing the purpofe of his de- 
flination, lord Howe fet fail for England. The enemy 
making their appearance off Cape St. Vincent, Octo¬ 
ber 20, the Britifli admiral lay-to, in order to receive 
them ; but they kept at fo great a diftance, that the can¬ 
nonade, which lafted from about five in the afternoon till 
ten at night, did little damage; and his lordfliip, having- 
no prelfing reafons for renewing the fight againft fo fupe- 
vior a force, continued his voyage without further molcfta- 
tion back to Portfmouth. The governor of Gibraltar, 
general Elliot, for his gallant and heroic defence of that 
fort refs', was mod defervedly railed to the peerage by the 
title ef baron Heathfield, and a penfion annexed to the title 
equal in amount to that granted to fir George Rodney. 
This was the luft military tranfadlion of importance 
during the continuance of the war in Europe; and thus 
the career of Britain, after her repeated' misfortunes, 
terminated with great fplendour and eclat. All the bel¬ 
ligerent powers were now inclined to liften to her over¬ 
tures of pacification. The independence of America 
being virtually recognized by England, and a refolution 
againft offenfive operations having palled the houfe of 
commons, the war with the colonies was, in fact, at an 
end. The original purpofe of France, that of detaching 
the colonies from the parent country, being accompliflied, 
file could have no motive to perfevere in a war, the ex¬ 
pence of which was enormous, and the further fuccefs 
uncertain. Spain, after extraordinary exertions, having 
failed in her grand objedts, the recovery of Gibraltar 
and the conqueft of Jamaica, had little reafon to flatter 
lierfelf that her future efforts would be more fuccefsful ; 
and Holland had neither the inclination or the ability to 
continue the war alone. 
During the negociation with France and Spain, provi- 
fional articles of pacification between Great Britain and 
America were figned on the 30th of November, 1782, by 
which the thirteen provinces were declared free and in¬ 
dependent ftates ; and, by a boundary line very favour¬ 
able to America, the whole country fouthward of the 
lakes on both tides of the Ohio, and eaftvvard of the 
Mifiiflippi, was ceded to the colonies, with a full parti¬ 
cipation of the fifheries on the banks of Newfoundland, 
and the Gulf of St. Laurence. In return for which, the 
congrefs engaged to recommend to the feveral ftates to 
provide for the reftitution of the confifcated eftates of 
the loyaliIts. But this recommendation eventually proved 
nugatory and ufelefs; and this wretched portion of his 
majefty’s American fubje£ts migrated in great numbers 
to the inhofpitable- wilds of Nova Scotia, and the barren 
fiiores of the Bahamas. See the article America, vol. i. 
p.465, &c. 
Preliminary articles of peace were figned between Great 
Britain, France, and Spain, on the 20th of January, 1783. 
By this treaty Great Britain guaranteed to France the 
if]and of Tobago, and reftored that of St. Lucia; alfo 
the fettlements of Goree and Senegal in Africa ; and the 
city of Pondicherry, with her other conquefts in the eaft, 
accompanied by fome additions of territory. Laftly, the 
claims of Britain refpefting Dunkirk were exprefsly re- 
linquifhed ; and .on her part, France agreed-to reftore, 
Tobago excepted, all her valuable and important con¬ 
quefts in the Well Indies. His catholic majefty was al¬ 
lowed to retain Minorca and Weft Florida, Eaft Florida 
being alfo ceded in exchange for the Bahamas. Holland 
having rejected the former advances of the Englifli court 
towards an accommodation, it was refolved that the ftioutd 
not efcape with total impunity; and the Britifli plenipo¬ 
tentiaries were directed to offer the reftitution of the 
Dutch fettlements in the pofleflion of England, with the 
important exception of Trincomalee, which their high 
niightinefles declared they could not reconcile witli the 
profeflions of moderation on the part of his Britannic m*w 
A N t>. 
jefty. On the other hand, Holland demanded an inderrt^ 
nification for the Ioffes and expences of the war, a preten- 
fion which the Englifh negociators peremptorily rejected 
as totally inadmiflible. 
' Upon this peace lord North’s famous motion of difap- 
probation was brought into the houfe of commons. His 
lordfliip wiflied not, however, “ to fet the negociations 
afide, however derogatory of the honour and intereft of 
Great Britain ; nor to put thofe who advifed them under 
peril of punifhment, how much foever it was deferved.” 
Such was the candour of the noble lord, and fucli his 
indulgence to thofe guilty of the crime of refeuing the 
nation from the ruin which impended over it, as the ine¬ 
vitable refult of that fatal fyftem which had been fo long 
patronized and fupported by the noble lord. Mr. Fox 
now rofe, and declared “ liis perfeft concurrence with 
the fentiments expreffed by lord North ; and in Hill more 
bitter terms reprobated the peace as the 1110ft difaftrous 
and humiliating that had ever difgraced any country. He 
had been accufed, (he faid,) of having formed an union 
with the noble lord, whofe principles he had oppofed for 
feveral years of his life ; but the grounds of their oppo. 
fition were removed, and lie did not conceive it to be ho¬ 
nourable to keep up animofities for ever: He was happy 
at all times to have a proper opportunity to bury his re. 
fentments, and it was the with of his heart that his friend, 
lhips fiictild never die. The American war was the fource 
of his difagreement with the noble lord ; and that caufe 
of enmity being now no more, it was wife and fit to put 
an end to the ill-will, the animofity, the feuds, and the 
rancour, which it engendered. It was a fatisfadlion to 
him to apply the appellation of friend to the noble lord'; 
he had found him honourable as an adverfary, and he had 
no doubt of his opennefs and fincerity as a friend.” But 
by a very great and refpedtable part of the houfe, this 
execrable coalition , which opened a perfectly new feene 
of things, was moft indignantly received. Mr. Powis 
laid, “ This was the age of ftrange confederacies. The 
world had feen great and arbitrary defpotsftand forth the 
protedhors of- an infant republic : France and Spain had 
combined to eftablitli the rifing liberties of America ; the 
houfe now furveyed the counterpart of this picture—a 
monftrous coalition of oppofite principles—the lofty a f- 
fertor of the royal prerogative joined in alliance witli the 
vvorfliippers of the majefty of the people 1 
By this coalition the duke of Portland was placed at 
the head of the treafury ; and lord John Cavendith was 
re-appointed chancellor of the exchequer; lord North 
and Mr. Fox were nominated joint fecretaries of ftate, 
the firft for the home, the latter for the foreign, depart¬ 
ment ; lord Keppel, who had recently refigned on account 
of his difapprobation of the peace, was again placed at 
the head of the admiralty; lord Stormont was created 
prefident of the council; and lord Carlitle was advanced, 
to the poft of lord privy feal. The great feal was put 
into commifllon ; the ciiief-juftice Loughborough, fo dif- 
tinguifhed for political verfatility, being declared firft 
lord commiffioner; the earl of Northington was appointed 
to the government of Ireland ; and Mr. Burke reinftated in 
his former poft of paymafter of the forces. The coalition 
was, however, the theme of univerfal difapprobation : 
all thofe bitter and opprobrious expreflions of contumely 
and reproach againft lord North, with which the fpeeches 
of Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke had been for fo many years 
filled, were now recalled to the general recollection :— 
when lord Chatham “ wiflied that the vengeance of the 
nation might fall heavy upon the minifters;—when Mr. 
Fox declared, “ that lie would purfue even to the fcaf- 
fold the authors of the public ruin ;—and when Mr. 
Burke affirmed, “ that lie had articles of impeachment 
actually framed againft lord North, whom he ftigmatized 
as a ftate criminal.” In fhort, the coalition was univer- 
fally branded as a’grofs and palpable facrifice of every 
fentiment of honour, confiftency, and reftitude, on the 
altar of private intereft and ambition. 
One 
