An invasion of Jersey by the French served to evince the courage of its defenders, who, after their foes had in a manner seized the island, engaged them in the town of St. Helier, and forced them to resign their supposed conquest. The siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards did not lead to the conclusion which they desired. Relief was repeatedly afforded to the garrison: the fortifications were diligently and skilfully repaired after all the attacks of the besiegers, whose successive works were destroyed in spirited sallies. Minorca was invaded by the troops of both powers, but the courage of the garrison delayed the surrender of the chief fortress of the island, until six months had nearly elapsed from the investment: disease then enforced submission.

An engagement with the Dutch in the British Ocean, and one with the French in the West Indies, were the chief naval actions of the year. In the former, Hyde Parker contended against Zoutman, who, with eight sail of the line, could not, though his men fought with great spirit, defeat or repel six, and lost one of his ships in consequence of the damage which it had received. In the other conflict, sir Samuel Hood was the antagonist of the count De Grasse, who, though his fleet bore to the English squadron the proportion of four to three, and had also the advantage of the wind, kept a cautious distance, so that only the van of his opponent, and a part of the centre, could get into action. Five of Hood's ships were so injured, that the French commander seemed inclined, on the following day, to risk a close engagement: but sir Samuel made such movements as checked and disconcerted the count. In the night, the English retired, and the French pursued with more ostentation than effect. M. De Grasse afterwards sailed toward Tobago, to prevent the relief of that island; which, though bravely defended by governor Ferguson, was reduced after a course of devastation. Encouraged by this success, the admiral resolved to assist Washington in a grand scheme for the retrieval of the affairs of the republic, injured by the depreciation of paper currency, by frequent ravages and depredations, and by a decline of popular zeal.

The provincials had commenced the campaign in Carolina by a defeat of colonel Tarleton at the Cow-pens; and, though they were not victorious when they engaged Cornwallis at Guildford (with as great a superiority of number as they had in the battle of Camden), they made considerable havoc among his

repaired since the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, either by the Austrians or by the Dutch. See Part II. Letter xxiii. where the Barrier-Treaty is repeatedly men. tioned.

troops. That commander having advanced into Virginia, where Arnold the American then acted in the British service, they hoped to overwhelm lord Rawdon : but he routed them at Hobkirk; and colonel Stuart, meeting them at Eutaw, repelled them after a fierce contest.

But these successes of the British only served to render their final overthrow more humiliating. General Washington, in several letters which fell into the hands of the English, pretended that New York would speedily be attacked by the allies; and Clinton, anxious for the preservation of that post, suffered earl Cornwallis to remain unassisted in Virginia. The station chosen by this officer was York-town, which, as well as Gloucester, on the opposite banks of the York river, he fortified against a sudden attack. Here he was soon attacked by the French and Americans, of whose united forces Washington acted as generalissimo; and the chief commanders of the French troops were the count De Rochambeau, the marquis De la Fayette, and St. Simon. The last of these officers had brought a reinforcement from the West Indies under the convoy of M. De Grasse, who, while the troops were passing up the river James to the camp, sustained an attack from admiral Graves. The engagement was far from being general, as the French wished to avoid a collision; and it had not the effect of preventing De Grasse from blocking up the Chesapeak against British intrusion. York and Gloucester were now besieged, and a constant cannonade was kept up from batteries abounding with artillery. The garrison of each post resisted for some weeks; but, when the state of the works precluded a longer defence, Cornwallis proposed a Oct. 19. capitulation. The troops were considered as prisoners

of war, to the amount of about six thousand men; and the ships in the harbour became prizes to the French'.

This disaster made a strong impression upon the public mind in Great Britain. It tended to produce a general conviction of the impolicy of continuing the war, and a regret for the useless sacrifice of lives and consumption of treasure with which its protracted course had been attended. Yet the obstinacy of the ministers seemed invincible. They were, indeed, less arrogant; but folly and prejudice were still the chief ingredients in their composition. They hoped to retain the confidence of a submissive senate; but in this respect they were disappointed; for a majority of the house of commons at length refused to support

1 Marshall's Life of General Washington.-London Gazette.

A.D. them. It was voted 1, on the motion of general Conway, 1782. that the war ought no longer to be prosecuted for the impracticable purpose of subduing the colonies. The parliamentary tide having thus turned itself against the ministers, they reluctantly resigned their offices. The two posts which Mar. 27. lord North had so long filled, were respectively transferred to the marquis of Rockingham and lord John Cavendish. Mr. Fox succeeded lord Stormont as secretary of state for foreign affairs, while the earl of Shelburne followed the earl of Hillsborough in the home department. Lord Camden was placed at the head of the council: the duke of Grafton became keeper of the privy seal, the duke of Richmond master of the ordnance, Conway chief commander of the army, and Keppel first lord of the admiralty.

A general pacification, the repression of the influence of the crown, and the grant of the claims of Ireland, were expected from the marquis and his associates. To accelerate the first object, a negotiator was dispatched to Versailles; the second aim was promoted by several judicious statutes; and, after a due investigation of the other business, all control over Ireland was relinquished by the British legislature.

The marquis did not long enjoy his high station. He died about three months after his appointment, respected as a man of honour and integrity, and beloved for his private virtues. He was succeeded by the earl of Shelburne, who, on the resignation of lord John Cavendish, procured for Mr. William Pitt (son of the popular earl of Chatham) the post of chancellor of the exchequer. The earl of Shelburne not having acquired the full confidence of the Whig leaders, Mr. Fox disdained to act with him; and, retiring from office, renewed his opposition to the court. This conduct, which had an air of disinterestedness, was justly imputed by the public to disappointed ambition. Mr. Fox wished for the nomination of an ostensible premier who would submit to be guided by his dictates; but his majesty did not consult that aspiring minister on the subject.

The maritime success of this period, though the despatches of Rodney were brought while Mr. Fox was in power, was not derived from his administration; for an order had been sent for the removal of the gallant admiral from his command. Hood had been unable to prevent the reduction of St. Christopher's, which the French, however, did not gain without a considerable

1 By a majority of 19.

loss of men. After its surrender, Rodney, Hood, and Drake, took signal vengeance on the enemy. Their fleet exceeded that of the count De Grasse in number; but all their ships could not be brought into action. Between Guadaloupe and Marie

galante, the French were drawn into an engagement by the manœuvres of Rodney; and, when a close fight had April 12. continued for five hours, his own ship and three others broke their line, gained the wind, and threw their whole fleet into disorder. Yet, for six hours and a half more, they resisted with desultory efforts; and then a confused retreat announced the triumph of their antagonists, who sent one ship to the bottom by a single broadside, took the celebrated Ville de Paris and four other ships of the line, and greatly damaged the vessels that escaped from the battle, two of which were captured in the following week. Six thousand of the vanquished (nine thousand by some accounts) were killed or wounded, and nearly one thousand of the victors. Rodney hastened with the captive count to Jamaica, where he was hailed as a deliverer; for the inhabitants had been menaced with an attack from an eventual junction of the French and Spanish fleets1.

The defence of Gibraltar by land procured to general Eliot a reputation equal to that which Rodney had acquired by his exploits on the ocean. A formidable attack, in a new mode, required every exertion that he could make. M. Arçon, who was reputed a skilful engineer, had superintended the construction of ten naval batteries, or floating towers, provided with above two hundred guns, and so elaborately formed and fortified, that bombs and even red-hot balls, it was thought, would not penetrate the sides or materially injure the roof. The allied besiegers, to the number of forty thousand men, were ready to take advantage of the effect of these machines, and storm the fortress. Aided by a fierce cannonade from the land, the floating batteries fired with great regularity upon the works Sept. 13. which defended the rock; but the garrison sustained the attack with firmness, and sent forth continued volleys of shells and balls from the morning until after midnight. From two of the battering ships flames were then seen to issue; and the alarmed Spaniards intimated their danger, to the confederate fleet in the bay, by numerous rockets. Boats were sent to take away the men: but a British flotilla advanced to obstruct the efforts of the enemy for the rescue of those individuals. When,

1 London Gazette of May 18, 1782.

however, most of the other ships were in flames, the English desisted from hostility, and saved as many of their foes as they were able to relieve. All the floating machines were at length destroyed, and the confident hopes of the besiegers annihilated, particularly after lord Howe, though he had only thirty-four sail of the line to contend with forty-four, had increased the strength and supplied the wants of the garrison'.

The war in India, at the same time, did not languish. The appearance of sir Eyre Coote in the Carnatic checked the conquests and ravages of the enemy; and that commander, in the summer of the year 1781, thrice attacked, with a small force, the troops of Hyder. He drove them, on each of those occasions, from the field of battle; and, in the succeeding year, he again prevailed over the army of the Mysorean chief. Tippoo, however, continued the war, after his father's death, with unbroken spirit, and with occasional success. Four engagements occurred between the British and French fleets in the Indian Seas, after sir Edward Hughes, who commanded the former, had assisted in the reduction of Negapatam and Trincomalè. Much blood was shed in these actions, without naval capture. Suffrein found an opportunity of retaking Trincomalè, which he restored to the Dutch.

The prospect of peace was for a while obscured: but its cheering light at length broke forth. The emperor of Germany, having contracted a partiality for France, saw with pleasure the difficulties in which Great Britain had involved herself, and encouraged other powers to treat her with disrespect; yet he thought proper to offer his mediation, as did also the unfriendly czarina. The king accepted their offers, which, however, had little influence on the treaty. During the negotiation, the French court bestowed great attention upon the affairs of an inconsiderable state, not however undistinguished in history. For a long period, the dissensions of the aristocratic and democratic parties had seriously agitated the republic of Geneva. Rousseau favoured the latter; but, the council having condemned his Emile and his Contrat Social, and ordered the seizure of his person, he found it expedient to abscond. The people remonstrated against the decree of arrest, and proposed a reference of the case to the general assembly. The senate and the council, on the other hand, claimed a right of withholding from that assembly, at their discretion, any of the representations or pro

Gazettes of Nov. 7 and 16.