322 NORTH'S OVERTURE TO THE WHIGS. CH. XXIII. munication with some of the Whig leaders. But this negotiation, like that of the preceding year, was rendered futile by the conditions with which it was clogged. His Majesty's idea of a change of ministry was merely the substitution of one individual for another. A change of measures was absolutely prohibited. The Duke of Grafton might come into office, but he was to have no will of his own. Lord Howe might preside at the Admiralty, but on the express understanding that he should zealously concur in prosecuting the war in all the quarters of the globe.* Such terms were mere mockery; and Lord North, afraid to meet the increasing difficulties of his position, afraid to retreat from it, remained in office, nominally at the head of affairs, but really the passive and servile tool of irresponsible power. The combined fleets of France and Spain, consisting of sixty sail of the line, besides a large proportion of frigates and smaller craft, appeared in the Channel early in the summer. The English Admiral, having only thirtyeight ships of the line, did not think it prudent to venture upon an action. England had never appeared in such danger of invasion. But it afterwards proved that the danger was more apparent than real. The immense armament which insulted the coast consisted in a great part of inferior ships, ill-found and badly manned. Disease raged among the crews to such an extent, that many of the ships were little better than floating hospitals. No cordiality existed between the Allied Commanders, and no plan of ope. rations appears to have been concerted between them. Had an enterprising and ardent officer been in command of the British squadron, he would probably have required some better reason for not fighting, than the mere fact that the enemy were superior in num Combined fleets of France and Spain. 1778. NAVAL MANŒUVRES. 323 bers and weight of metal. Sir Charles Hardy, the cautious veteran who had succeeded Keppel in the command, afterwards told Lord North that, had he known the state of the enemy's fleet, he would not have hesitated to offer battle. The allied fleets manoeuvred for several weeks in the Channel, but no enterprise of import- Allied fleets in ance was attempted. The Spanish Admiral the Channel. was for landing troops immediately on the coast. The Count d'Orvilliers, on the other hand, maintained that a naval engagement must take place before such a decisive measure could be safely adopted. While these questions were dividing the Allied Commanders, autumn approached; and the Spaniard, dreading the effect of the equinoctial storms upon his crazy ships, determined to return to port. The French Admiral had no alternative but to do the same. Early in September the vast armada retired from thé British waters, its only achievement having been the capture of an English frigate. The immediate apprehension of an invasion had aroused the old English spirit. Public bodies and individuals came forward with large subscriptions. Several noblemen offered to raise regiments in their respective counties. The common people, though disliking and even despising the profession of arms, yet in the presence of danger were at once animated by a military spirit. The militia was readily recruited; and seamen, tempted by large bounties, provided by voluntary contributions, came forward in sufficient numbers. In fine, the spirit and energy displayed throughout the country were not very encouraging to the prospect of invasion. The war was carried on languidly in other parts, and was confined mostly to petty affairs, Siege of which made no change in the relative Gibraltar. position of the belligerents. The only undertaking of importance was the siege of Gibraltar, which had 324 COUNT D'ESTAING AT SAVANNAH. CH. XXII. been formed by the Spaniards in the month of June. But this fortress, in itself all but impregnable, was well defended by General Elliot, with an efficient garrison of six thousand men. In the West Indies some active operations took Count d'Estaing place. Early in 1779 the British fleet at Savannah. was fully equal to that of the enemy. But no general engagement took place. The advantage, however, was on the side of the enemy, who took the two small islands of Granada and St. Vincent. An attempt on a large scale was made by the Count d'Estaing, assisted by the Americans, to recover Georgia, which had been taken by Colonel Campbell in the preceding December. The French Admiral, with the greater part of his ships, appeared before the town of Savannah; and having landed ten thousand men, a force more than double that of the garrison prepared to take the place by regular approaches. But after an ineffectual cannonade of five days, during which his works were interrupted by two successful sorties, D'Estaing determined upon an assault. The storming-party consisted of four thousand five hundred men, in two divisions; one of which was led by Count Dillon, and the other by D'Estaing himself. Dillon's column, having mistaken the road, was dispersed by the artillery of the garrison; and the Commander-in-Chief was gallantly repulsed. The French, after a desperate conflict, which lasted two hours, retreated to their ships, leaving fifteen hundred killed and wounded. The loss of the British was no more than forty-two. This was the last exploit of the Count d'Estaing. A more unfit person for an important service could hardly have been selected. D'Estaing was neither a sailor nor a soldier. He treated the Americans and their cause with undisguised contempt, nor did he render them any service which could compensate for his insolence. Indeed, the American arms made no progress what 1778. PIRATICAL OPERATIONS OF PAUL JONES. 325 ever in the campaign which commenced with the French alliance. While the great fleets of France and Spain were making empty demonstrations in the Paul Jones. Channel, an adventurer, whose name has acquired a romantic notoriety, was terrifying the northern coast by his daring exploits. Paul Jones was a native of Scotland, and had passed his early years in the merchant service. When the American war commenced he was living in Virginia, and readily availed himself of the opportunity to improve his desperate fortunes by taking service with the insurgents. He was appointed to a ship with a roving commission, and signalised himself by the rapidity of his movements and the piratical character of his achievements. At this time he was hovering off the coast of Yorkshire, with three small frigates and a brig, waiting the arrival of the Baltic ships under convoy of two frigates. Captain Pierson, who commanded the convoy, had only time to cover the retreat of the merchantmen before he came into contact with Jones's squadron. A desperate engagement ensued; Pierson, attacked by two ships, each nearly a match for his own, was forced, at length, to yield the unequal conflict, but not without having inflicted such injury on his opponent's ship, the Bon Homme Richard,' that she sank soon after the action. After having taken his prizes into a Dutch port, Jones returned and threatened the capital of Scotland. His intention, no doubt, was to have landed, according to his practice, and carried off what booty he could; but a strong westerly wind carried him out of the Firth of Forth, and frustrated his design. The French The French alliance, so far from giving confidence and stability to the operations of the main army, and the authority of Washing- unoj ular in ton, had a contrary effect. The indefatigable energy and imperturbable patience of the America. 326 WASHINGTON'S OBJECTIONS TO AN CH. XXIII. Commander-in-Chief had hardly been able to sustain the patriotism of his countrymen, and suppress their fatal jealousies, even when the success of their cause depended entirely on their own constancy and cordial co-operation. We have seen the difficulty which Washington experienced in keeping the unwarlike militia to their standards, and in overcoming the selfish reluctance of the people to make personal sacrifices for the common good. He had now to encounter new obstacles. In answer to his appeals for more troops and renewed exertions, the Americans insisted that the worst was over. England, distracted by the formidable demands upon her military resources, which had arisen in consequence of the rupture with the great European monarchies, would no longer, they argued, press the war in America; and they might depend upon their French allies to keep the enemy in check. The Congress, which in its earlier days had been governed with such firm and vigorous counsels, had deteriorated rapidly since the commencement of the war. The plague of faction, to which every popular assembly is prone, had impaired its unity of purpose. The best men, disgusted with the intrigues of low and selfish natures, had seceded; others had withdrawn, to attend to their private affairs; and this great assembly, whose virtue and wisdom had been the admiration of Europe, was fast becoming a mere junto, subservient to the policy of France. A project for the invasion of Canada, originating in the Cabinet of Versailles, had received the ready approbation of Congress. But before this step was finally adopted, the minority prevailed so far as to ask the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief. The folly of such a proceeding was pointed out by Washington with unanswerable arguments. He showed that the demands in money and men which would be required for such an expedition would entirely drain the resources of the states, already |