abounded in action, and exhibited viciffitudes of fortune fingularly important and interesting.

The intelligence of the fucceffes attending the British arms on Long Island and at New York reached England fome time before the meeting of parliament, which was convened October 31, 1776. In his fpeech from the throne, the king, with unguarded and undignified intemperance of language, informed the two houses," that fo daring and defperate was the fpirit of thofe leaders, whofe object has only been dominion and power, that they have now openly renounced all allegiance to the crown, and all political connection with this country; they have rejected, with circumftances of indignity and infult, the means of conciliation held out to them, and have PRESUMED to fet up their

REBELLIOUS CONFEDERACIES as INDEPENDENT STATES. If their TREASON be fuffered to take root, much mifchief muft grow from it to the prefent fyftem of all Europe." His majesty was happy to inform them, "that the fucceffes already obtained had been fo important as to give the ftrongeft hopes of the most decifive good confequences; but notwithstanding this fair profpect, it was neceffary at all events to prepare for ANOTHER CAMPAIGN." Addreffes, the echo of the fpeech, were brought forward in both houses; but an amendment, which was

in reality another addrefs in a totally different ftrain, was moved by lord John Cavendish in the house of commons, and the marquis of Rockingham in the houfe of lords, containing a mafterly recapitulation of the manifold errors of that fyftem which had caufed the entire alienation, and at length the open revolt, of fo large a part of his majesty's once loyal and affectionate subjects. It concluded with the observation, "that a wife and provident ufe of the late advantages might be productive of happy effects, as the means of establishing a permanent connection between Great Britain and her colonies, on principles of liberty, and terms of mutual benefit. - We fhould look," faid this truly excellent and admirable addrefs, "with fhame and horror on any events that should bow them to an abject and unconditional fubmiffion to any power whatfoever annihilate their liberties, and fubdue them to fervile principles and paffive habits by the mere force of foreign mercenary arms.'

The speech from the throne, under the established and decorous pretext of its being the fpeech of the minifter, was treated with the most contemptuous and farcaftic feverity. "Where," it was afked, "are thofe mighty leaders to be found whom the Americans obey fo implicitly, and who govern them with fo defpotic a rule? They have no grandees among them; their foil

is not productive of nobility; in no country are there in fact fo few individuals poffeffed of a commanding or extenfive influence; the prefident of their fupreme affembly is a merchant ; the general of their armies a private gentleman. Nothing could be more evident, than that a sense of common danger and of common fuffering had driven them to the neceffity of creating leaders who were poffeffed only of fuch powers as the people had thought it expedient to entrust them with. In the fame fpirit of FALSEHOOD it is afferted, that the Americans had rejected with circumstances of indignity and infult the terms of conciliation offered them.' The truth was, that no terms had been offered them but the offer of pardon on unconditional fubmiffion, which the minifters well knew they would never accept; nor was even this mock offer made till the whole fyftem of irritation and oppreffion was completed by the injuftice and cruelty of the Capture Act, by which they were put out of the protection of the law, and their property held out as common spoil. The position in the speech, fo undeniably true, 'that no people ever enjoyed greater happiness, or lived under a milder government, than thefe now revolted colonies,' implied the feverest cenfure on those who had fo wantonly and wickedly departed from a system which had produced fuch noble and wonderful effects." The expectation of unanimity

unanimity from the prefent fituation of affairs was, however, faid to be of all the parts of this extravagant speech the most ridiculous. "What! shall we at last concur in measures, because all the mischiefs which we originally predicted have ultimately refulted from them? Have minifters the unparalleled effrontery to call upon us to give OUR fanction to that fatal fyftem which we in vain warned and implored them to shun, and which perfifted in muft terminate in utter ruin?" On a divifion, the amendment was rejected in the house of commons by a majority of 242 to 87, and in the houfe of peers by 91 to 26, fourteen of whom joined in a protest, in which the proposed amendment was verbatim inferted, in order that it might remain as a perpetual memorial on the journals of that house.

In a few days after the addresses were prefented, lord John Cavendish, exhibiting in the house a printed paper, purporting to be a proclamation of his majesty's commiffioners in America, called upon minifters to inform him as to the authenticity of it. This being acknowledged, his lordship expreffed in the strongest terms his astonishment at the contempt and indignity offered to the houfe, who, through the medium of a common newspaper only, were at length informed that they ftand engaged to America to undertake a revifion of all thofe laws by which

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the Americans had conceived themselves to be aggrieved. Notwithstanding the resentment he felt as a member of the houfe at this minifterial infolence of conduct, his lordship faid that he felt a dawn of joy break in upon his mind at the bare mention of reconciliation, whatever color the measures might wear that led to fo defirable an event. The great object of restoring peace and unity to this diftracted empire outweighed fo far with him all other prefent confiderations, that he not only would overlook punctilios on this account, but even fuch matters of real import as would upon any other occafion call all his powers into action. On thefe grounds his lordship moved, "that the houfe fhould refolve itself into a committee to confider of the revifal of all acts of parliament by which his majesty's fubjects in America think themfelves aggrieved." The minifters, though thrown by the furprise of this motion into some perplexity, alleged in their vindication, that the paper in queftion was not of fufficient moment to be laid before parliament, being no treaty nor part of a treaty, but barely a preliminary which might poffibly lead to one. That a public proclamation, fubmitted to the general infpection upon the walls and houfes of New York, could not however be intended to be kept from the knowledge of parliament; and they conceived the authority