The Reign of George III. (Continued.) page 6

For this Keppel was much blamed, as it was considered that the papers might have been made out in order to deceive him. The number of the French fleet, however, soon proved to be correct, for, during Keppel's absence, it sailed out of Brest, under the command of admiral D'Orvilliers. Keppel returning with his squadron augmented to thirty vessels of the line, found D'Orvilliers out at sea, and the Lively, twenty-gun brig, which he had left to watch the motions of the French, surprised by them in a fog, and captured. On the 27th, Keppel came up with D'Orvilliers off Ushant, and instantly gave battle. The two fleets passed each other on different tacks, keeping up a furious cannonade for two hours. Keppel then signalled his second in command, Sir

Hugh Palliser, to wear round and renew the attack; but Palliser had received so much injury, that he could not or did not obey the signal. Keppel, therefore, bore down to join Palliser's division, and formed afresh for the fight. But by this time D'Orvilliers was making way for Brest, claiming a victory. Night came down, and the next morning the French fleet was nearly out of sight. On this, Keppel returned to England to refit, much oat of humour with the conduct of Palliser. D'Orvilliers had two more ships of the line and considerably more frigates than Keppel, and had done much injury to his fleet; but Keppel had killed and wounded more men.

On the 18th of August D'Orvilliers again put to sea, and proceeded to cruise off Cape Finisterre. To prevent his proceeding to America, or intercepting any of our merchantmen from coming from the West Indies, Keppel sailed again on the 23rd, but stretched out westward, and did not this time fall in with the French admiral. His movements enabled our East and West India traders to reach home in safety, whilst, on the other hand, our privateers and cruisers captured a great number of French merchantmen; but this did not satisfy the public, who were anxious for a great victory, to punish France for her interference, and this led to mutual altercations and recriminations betwixt Keppel and Palliser, which, however, fell into the next year.

Returning to America, we find congress and their commander-in-chief reduced to such extremities, that they were compelled, if they were to continue the contest, to resort to such arbitrary actions as would have caused the Americans to rave in the extreme of execration, had they, or a hundredth part of them, been perpetrated by the English before the revolution. The English were paying solid gold for whatever they obtained from the country people; the Americans in. a paper, now reduced to one-twentieth of its nominal value: their twenty dollar notes being worth only one dollar in specie. The consequence was, that the country people contrived to steal through the American lines by some means, and convey their provisions to Howe's camp; and the equally certain consequence was, that Washington's soldiers were reduced to starvation, which was only one of their miseries, for they were so naked that their legs and feet froze, and had in great numbers to be amputated. The congress sent Washington orders to seize anything that he wanted, and he was compelled to seize, giving these worthless notes in payment, or he would soon have had no army at all. He ordered the farmers within seventy miles of Valley Forge to thresh out half their corn by the 1st of February, and the other half by the 1st of March, under penalty of having the whole seized as straw. But the farmers only threshed it out to conceal it; and, when they could not conceal their property, they became desperate, and resisted the foragers with arms. Washington saw that a second civil war was likely to grow up, and warned the congress that they must find some other means of feeding and clothing the army, or it must cease to exist.

And there was every prospect that it would soon cease to exist, unless some extraordinary measures were resorted to. Washington informed congress that men as well as provisions would fail; that voluntary enlistment was out of the question for recruiting an army in a state of starvation, and whose fingers and feet were rotting off with frost! There was no remedy but by impressment. Here was a pleasant predicament for this sensitive nation, who could not lately endure that they should be simply asked for taxes by the English! But, though it startled congress at first, they were compelled to sanction this last breach of every principle of personal freedom. The recruits thus obtained by being forcibly kidnapped and torn from their homes and employments deserted in great numbers to Howe's camp, carrying the tale of the misery and want that existed at Valley Forge.

That Howe, under such circumstances, did not sally forth and sweep away these half-frozen and three-parts famished men, which, as a modern historian has observed, he might have done as easily as to sweep a swarm of frozen flies from a dead wall, has only one mode of explanation - it was not the will of the Great Disposer of Empires.

Howe all this time lay comfortably at Philadelphia, as if no great interest was depending, and as if he had no responsibility to regard, or no power to maintain. Instead of being on the look-out for information which might enable him to take advantage of the enemy, this information was showered upon him daily. One sudden rush and active assault, and the whole American army in this quarter had ceased to exist. But no such thought crossed this fattest of Sybarites. He continued to sit at his luxurious table, to enjoy his game at cards, and his officers and soldiers continued to practice all the license of the most dissipated nature that ever was heard of in history.

In this city of sober, domestic, and moral quakers they gave way to the most scandalous debauchery and disregard of all order and decency. " A want of order and proper subordination pervaded the whole army; and if disease and sickness thinned the American army encamped at Valley Forge, indolence and luxury, perhaps, did no less injury to the British troops at Philadelphia. During the winter a very unfortunate inattention was shown to the feelings of the inhabitants, whose satisfaction should have been vigilantly consulted, both from gratitude and from interest. They experienced many of the horrors of civil war. The soldiers insulted and plundered them, and their houses were occupied as barracks, without any compensation. Some of the first families were compelled to receive into their habitations individual officers, who were even indecent enough to introduce their mistresses into the mansions of their hospitable entertainers. This soured the minds of the inhabitants, many of whom were quakers.

" Gaming of every species was permitted, and even sanctioned. This vice not only debauched the mind, but, by sedentary confinement and the want of seasonable repose, enervated the body." Howe was expecting his recall, in compliance with his own demand, and this probably added to his otherwise unexampled carelessness and neglect of the most palpable opportunities of completely routing Washington, who all this time was assailed by the intrigues of the Conway Cabal for his ruin. Amongst these endeavours, was one for alienating from him La Fayette. For this purpose an expedition was planned against Canada, and La Fayette, as a Frenchman, was appointed to the command, hoping thus to draw to him the Frenchmen of Canada. Not a word was to be breathed of it to Washington; and Conway and Starke, two of the most malicious members of the cabal, were to take command under La Fayette.

On the 24th of January, Washington received a letter from Gates, the president of the Board of War, commanding him to send one of his best regiments to Albany, on the Hudson, for a particular service, and inclosing another to La Fayette, requiring his immediate attendance on Gates. Gates found, however, that La Fayette was not to be seduced from his attachment to Washington. He would not accept the command, otherwise than as acting in subordination to his commander-in-chief; and that he should send all his dispatches and bulletins to him, at the same time that he furnished copies to congress. He went further: he drank the health of Washington at a dinner given him at Gates's own house, thus compelling the whole clique of his enemies to do the same.

La Fayette demanded appointments for several French officers in his army, which were complied with, and he was told that he would find a force of two thousand five hundred regulars at Albany, a large body of militia further on, and some money in specie, as well as two millions of dollars in paper, which, in fact, was of little more value than waste paper.

The vain Frenchman verily believed that he was going to restore Canada, not to America, but to the French crown - a fear which began to haunt congress after he had set out; but the fear was needless. When La Fayette reached his invading army, instead of two thousand five hundred men, it amounted to about one thousand two hundred, and the militia were nowhere to be heard of. Clothes, provisions, sledges, were all wanting, and, instead of leading his troops, as he was directed, to Lake Champlain, whence he was to proceed to Isle aux Noix to blow up the English flotilla, and thence, crossing the Sorel, to descend the St. Lawrence to Montreal, he gave up the expedition with a sigh, and returned to the camp of Washington.

There the remainder of the winter was spent in foraging to preserve existence, and this gave rise to some sharp skirmishes. In these the spirit of vindictiveness was carried to a pitch such as the oldest soldiers or officers declared that they had never witnessed. This was occasioned by the total disregard by the Americans of any engagements that they entered into, or of the usual courtesies by which civilised nations endeavour to soften the horrors of war. In this respect, congress and the soldiery were equally conspicuous. In one of these skirmishes, in which colonel Mawhood surprised and routed a body of American foragers near Quinton's Bridge, the only Englishman killed was a hussar, who had captured an American, and given him quarter, but, on advancing to seize others, was immediately stabbed by this man from behind. The habitual practice on the part of the Americans of this perfidy enraged our soldiers, and made them unnecessarily cruel.

Congress continued to set to the whole nation the most demoralising example of contempt of all engagements, and of that chicane and duplicity which, the best friends of America must admit, has always too much marked its government. The conduct of congress was moreover, marked by that hasty spirit of insult and vindictive retaliation so unfavourably contrasting with the calm dignity of an old and powerful state - a feature distinguishing the American government in after times, as evidenced in the affair of the Island of San Juan, and the fear arising from resistance to their slave-trading propensities at sea. Besides the flagrant breach of the treaty with general Burgoyne, the constant quibbles and tricks of congress obstructed the regular exchange of prisoners. On one occasion Howe agreed to liberate a certain number of his prisoners at New York for the same number of English prisoners in the hands of congress; but in this case, even Washington, who, to do him justice, was generally greatly ashamed of the conduct of his own government, insisted that as some of these prisoners died on their way home, as many living English prisoners should be kept back for them, on the plea that they died from want of proper support during their confinement - a want equally prevailing amongst the prisoners on both sides, and arising from the congress's own carelessness of the comfort of their captured soldiers. It was not likely that a power, whose army at large was suffering every species of privation, should be very prodigal of comforts to the prisoners in its hands; hence the English and German soldiers suffered dreadfully in their captivity amongst the Americans.

Howe endeavoured to remedy this, and, after many strong remonstrances, he at length obtained from Washington a permission that he might send an escort under a quartermaster from Philadelphia, to carry food and clothing to the poor English prisoners. But the escort, though proceeding under guarantee of a passport from Washington himself, were fallen upon by a strong party under lieutenant-colonel Smith, at the express command of the American Board of War, and detained. This was done on pretence that Howe had prevented provisions being sent by water to the American prisoners. Washington knew that the pretence was groundless, and sent immediate orders for the liberation of the English party. But it was too late; the Americans had lamed the horses, and plundered the stock of clothes and provisions. Soon after, Washington sent a proposal for American commissioners to visit the American prisoners, and inspect their condition; but Howe very properly refused, unless Washington granted a similar privilege to English commissioners, and, moreover, gave proof that his passports should be respected. Howe was the more resolved on this head from having learned that many of the American prisoners exchanged, who were said to be dead, and for whom, therefore, English prisoners had been kept back, were alive!

Washington, who was greatly ashamed of the truthlessness of his countrymen, entered willingly into arrangements with Howe for a cartel, and commissioners were appointed to settle the details; but, the moment congress heard of it, they passed a resolution nullifying all that the commander-in- chief had done. By such acts congress had not only forfeited all the confidence of the English commanders, but in a great measure with their own countrymen. They were reduced now to only twenty-five members, the different states refusing to send up fresh delegates to a body which set at defiance all the principles on which human affairs can be securely based. Washington, from whose life by Marshall we draw all these facts, and which are much more strongly stated by the English authorities, now represented that, unless a different course were pursued, all intercourse betwixt the two nations for the amelioration of the evils of war must cease; that there was an end of all public faith and honour; that his own character was being totally destroyed; and the sufferings of the prisoners and the feelings of their friends must be extremely aggravated. This had the effect: they cancelled their recent resolutions, and Washington renewed his negotiations. But so thoroughly was Howe disgusted with the unprincipled conduct of congress, that he refused to enter into any engagements for exchange of prisoners with that body, but only with Washington, and it was finally on this basis the exchange was effected.