foreign enemy and a volunteer who joins in an insurrection. Unhappily, Washington, while he acknowledged the merit and the courage of André, and was very reluctant to sanction his being put to death, could yet perceive no difference between his case and that of an ordinary spy. On the 2nd of October André was hanged in the camp. His execution leaves a blot on the fair fame of Washington never to be effaced.

CHAPTER XIV.

DISSOLUTION OF 1780-SESSION OF 1780-81.

THE dissolution of the Parliament which had been elected in 1774, took place on the 1st of September, 1780. It was on this dissolution that Mr. Burke lost his seat for Bristol, and that he made the famous speech, on giving up the contest, which is to be found in his works. It was at this election also that Mr. Fox was returned for the first time for Westminster, having defeated his competitor, Lord Lincoln, by a large majority. In a letter written during his canvass, he says: "Everything depends upon the choice of this Parliament, for, notwithstanding the boast of Ministers, it is quite clear that we shall rather gain than lose, which will make the thing very near."*

The general election, however, did not make any great alteration in the numbers of the respective parties. Many seats were in those days in the hands of the Treasury; a number of others, making, together with the Treasury boroughs, a majority of the whole House, were in the absolute possession of individuals whose interest led them to the support of the Minister. Thus the sound of the national voice was often lost amid the corners and crannies of the House of Commons. But, in truth, the nation had not

yet made up its mind to renounce the hope of subduing America, and the successes of Lord Cornwallis enabled Ministers to open the session, which began on the 1st of November, with a boastful and confident speech :—

"By the force which the last Parliament put into my hands," the King was made to say, "and by the blessing of Divine Providence on the bravery of my fleets and armies, I have been enabled to withstand the formidable attempts of my enemies, and to frustrate the great expectations they had formed; and the signal successes which have attended the progress of my arms in the provinces of Georgia and Carolina, gained with so much honour to the conduct and courage of my officers, and to the valour and intrepidity of my troops, which have equalled their highest characters in any age, will, I trust, have important consequences in bringing the war to a happy conclusion."

An amendment to the address having been moved by Mr. Grenville, Mr. Fox spoke with his usual talent in its support. Ridiculing the profuse eulogies which Mr. de Grey, the mover of the address, had pronounced upon a long list of officers, he exclaimed—

"Quem virum aut heroa lyrâ vel acri
Tibiâ sumes celebrare, Clio ?"

The division was 212 for the address and 130 for the amendment.

Mr. Fox's speech gave great satisfaction to the electors of Westminster; they not only in their committee of association highly applauded the firmness with which "he exposed the pernicious principles and destructive measures of an abandoned Administration," but, alluding to the duel of the past year, they resolved, "That this committee, being sensible that the firm, constant, and intrepid performance

of his duty will probably render him, in common with other distinguished friends of liberty, the object of such attacks as he has already experienced, and to which every unprincipled partisan of power is invited by the certainty of a reward, most earnestly exhort the inhabitants of Westminster to do their utmost, by every legal measure, to preserve to the great body of citizens by whom he has been elected, and to his country, the benefit of his services, and the inviolable security of his person."

Mr. Adam made a complaint of this resolution as a personal threat to himself. After a good deal of discussion, the House passed to the orders of the day.

On the 26th of February Mr. Burke's renewed bill for the reduction of the civil list was rejected by 233 to 190. On this occasion Mr. Sheridan and Mr. John Townshend made their first speeches. But, above all, Mr. William Pitt spoke with a fluency, a precision, a dignity, and a method which are usually the acquirements of many years of practice. Lord North declared it was the best first speech he had ever heard.* The effect appears to have been prodigious. By no one was Mr. Pitt's success more warmly greeted than by Mr. Fox. Lord Holland has related an anecdote, which illustrates the presence of mind of the young orator: "As Mr. Fox hurried up to Mr. Pitt to compliment him on his speech, an old member, said to be General Grant, passed by and said: 'Aye, Mr. Fox, you You may well do so;

are praising young Pitt for his speech. for, excepting yourself, there's no man in the House can make such another; and, old as I am, I expect and hope to hear you both battling it within these walls as I have Mr. Fox, disconcerted at

done your

fathers before.'

*Horace Walpole.

the awkward turn of the compliment, was silent, and looked foolish; but young Pitt, with great delicacy, readiness, and felicity of expression, answered: 'I have no doubt, general, you would like to attain the age of Methuselah.'” Before long Mr. Fox had an opportunity of testifying in public the admiration he had avowed in private; and early in the following year, in praising a speech of Mr. Pitt, he said "he could no longer lament the loss of Lord Chatham, for he was again living in his son, with all his virtues and all his talents."*

One of the most prominent subjects of debate in the session of 1781 was the loan. Upon this topic Mr. Fox's abilities shone no less than upon every other.

In order to explain this matter it is necessary to recur to general principles in regard to a national debt. When a country engaged in war finds a difficulty in raising by taxes the sums necessary for its yearly expenditure, and has recourse to a loan, it is obvious that this expedient charges upon a succeeding generation the burthen of the actual expenditure. For this reason the resource of borrowing should be employed with great reserve. For if a nation can be buoyed up by the excitement of war, the hopes of conquest, and the gambling chances of victory, without any corresponding increase of taxes, the game would be played with eager readiness; the motives for hostilities would be lightly examined, and the distant bloodshed of a battle would cause only a transient sorrow. It is desirable, therefore, that the expenses of a war should, as far as possible, be defrayed by the generation which encounters its hazards; and that no more burthen should be placed on posterity than is absolutely required by the weight of the existing * "Romilly's Correspondence," vol. i. p. 192.