Obrázky stránek
PDF
ePub

1757.]

SUBSIDY TO THE KING OF PRUSSIA-TRIAL OF BYNG.

219

brethren in America," he looked back upon the success of this first measure of his bold statesmanship: "I remember, after an unnatural rebellion had been extinguished in the northern parts of this island, that I employed these very rebels in the service and defence of their country. They were reclaimed by this means; they fought our battles; they cheerfully bled in defence of those liberties which they attempted to overthrow but a few years before." As the war minister of George II., Mr. Pitt had to modify some of his former opinions with regard to continental alliances. He brought down a message from the king on the 17th of February, to ask from his faithful Commons that they would assist his majesty in maintaining an army of observation to protect his electoral dominions, and to fulfil his engagements with his good ally the king of Prussia. This was the first day that Pitt had entered the House of Commons since his accession to office. His appearance there had been delayed by continued illness. He followed this demonstration of his individual opinions, by moving a grant of 200,0007. in compliance with the message. Fox twitted his rival with a saying of the previous year, that "German measures would be a mill-stone about the neck of the minister." Yet Pitt was not inconsistent in proposing this measure. He had told lord Hardwicke, in September, 1755, that " he thought that regard ought to be had to Hanover, if it should be attacked on our account."+ Lord Mahon has very justly defended Pitt against the sneer of Fox. "The French were preparing to invade the Electorate, not from any injury, real or pretended, which the Electorate had done them, but notoriously and avowedly as a side-blow against George II.,—as a retaliation for the measures which his majesty had adopted in British America." Hanover was about to be attacked on our account. Walpole, with reference to the Prussian subsidy, bitterly remarks, "One cannot say which was most ridiculous,-the richest prince in Europe [Frederick] begging alms for his own country, or the great foe of that country [George] becoming its mendicant almoner." § Frederick of Prussia commissioned the British envoy to express his thanks to Mr. Pitt for his speech of the 18th of February; and to inform him that he regarded the resolutions of Parliament as the strongest assurances that can be given of the favourable and friendly disposition of the British nation towards him. Pitt, in his reply, expressed his "sentiments of veneration and zeal for a prince, who stands the unshaken bulwark of Europe, against the most powerful and malignant confederacy that ever yet has threatened the independence of mankind." ||

Amongst the difficult questions which the recently formed Administration had to deal with, was that of the fate of admiral Byng. A Court-Martial upon the unfortunate officer commenced at Portsmouth on the 28th of December. In every town and village through which the admiral was conveyed from Greenwich, escorted by horse-guards, he was insulted by the populace. The trial lasted till nearly the end of January. Before the close of the proceedings, the Court-Martial had submitted a question to the Admiralty-whether they were at liberty to mitigate the 12th Article of War,

* Thackeray-"
-"History of William Pitt," jun., vol. ii. p. 339.

+ Doddington-"Diary," Sept. 2, 1755.

History, vol. iv. p. 196.

§ "Memoirs of George II.," vol. ii. p. 314.

"Chatham Correspondence," vol. i. p. 224 and p. 226.

220

BYNG'S EXECUTION-PITT DISMISSED FROM OFFICE.

[1757

which was in these words: "Every person in the fleet, who through cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, shall, in time of action, withdraw or keep back, or not come into the fight or engagement, or shall not do his utmost to take or destroy every ship which it shall be his duty to engage, and to assist and relieve all and every of his majesty's ships, or those of his allies, which it shall be his duty to assist and relieve, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of a court-martial, shall suffer death." The Admiralty returned for answer that the Court could not modify the Article of War. The unanimous verdict was, that admiral Byng had not come under that Article by treachery or disaffection; but that he had not done his utmost to relieve the castle of St. Philip, or to defeat the French fleet; and he was therefore adjudged to be shot to death. But the Couri also agreed to recommend the admiral to the mercy of the Crown. Byng, rejoiced at being acquitted of cowardice, heard his sentence with composure. It was perhaps difficult for the Crown to exercise its prerogative of mercy, amidst the popular clamour for the execution of the sentence. "Pitt and lord Temple," says Waldegrave, were desirous to save Byng; "but to avoid the odium of protecting a man who had been banged in effigy in every town in England, they wanted the king to pardon him without their seeming to interfere." The king, he adds, "not choosing to be their dupe, obliged them to pull off the mask, and the sentence against the admiral was not carried into execution till, by their behaviour in Parliament, they had given public proof of their partiality." It is a singular commendation of the king, that he wished to damage his ministers by exhibiting them opposed to a popular cry. They had the House of Commons with them, in their desire for mercy. Pitt told this to his sovereign. "Sir," said George, "you have taught me to look for the sense of my subjects in another place than the House of Commons." Every effort to save Byng was made in vain. His execution was delayed, whilst a Bill passed the Commons to absolve the members of the CourtMartial from their oath of secresy, as it was alleged that they had something of importance to say with regard to their sentence. The Bill was sent to the Upper House. But the law lords, Hardwicke and Mansfield, having examined all the members of the Court-Martial upon oath, and finding that they could not declare their knowledge of anything which had passed previous to the sentence which would show it to be unjust, or of any undue practice or motive to influence the sentence, the Bill was rejected. The 14th of March was fixed for the execution of admiral Byng. He was shot on the quarterdeck of the Monarque, in which he had been confined; and to the last he displayed a calmness and resolution which were sufficient of themselves to exonerate him from the charge that, in his neglect of his duty, he had acted from a want of that courage which is the most essential, as it is the commonest, attribute of every sailor and every soldier, whatever rank he may hold in the service of his country.

At the beginning of April, 1757, Pitt, Temple, and Legge, were suddenly dismissed from their high offices. The nation could not understand this. One feeling, however, prevailed-that these ministers had laboured to benefit the nation, and that pitiful court intrigues had been too powerful for them. Smollett, whose "Continuation" of his History was nearly contemporaneous, speaks very vaguely of " the old junto," who had "found the new associates

1757.] NATIONAL FEELING-COALITION OF NEWCASTLE AND PITT. 221 very unfit for their purposes." The Memoirs of the earl of Waldegrave, which were not published till 1821, throw light upon the proceedings of the royal closet. In February this nobleman saw the king; who expressed his dislike to Pitt and Temple in very strong terms. The Secretary, his majesty said, made him long speeches, which might be very fine, but were above his comprehension. Temple was pert, sometimes insolent, and when he meant to be civil was troublesome. "Go to Newcastle," said George; "tell him I do not look upon myself as a ing whilst I am in the hands of these scoundrels; that I am determined to get rid of them at any rate; that I expect his assistance, and that he may depend on my favour and protection." Newcastle was quite ready to second the king's wishes; but he thought it more prudent to get the supplies first, and obtain an acquittal of himself and his colleagues of 1756, under the Inquiry pending in Parliament.* The duke of Cumberland, Waldegrave says, pressed the king very strongly that Pitt and Temple should be turned out without further deliberation; and that a new Administration should be formed, before he went to Hanover to take the command of the electoral forces. To depend on Pitt for supplies; to have the popularity of Pitt ravish half his laurels, if fortune should once smile upon him, were apprehensions, as Walpole alleges, which made the duke urge his royal father to take such a perilous step. When the dismissal of the ministers was known, without any official delinquency or public misfortune being made a charge against them, the voice of the nation was expressed in the most unequivocal manner. Pitt and Legge received the freedom of London from the Common Council, presented in gold boxes. A dozen corporations of great cities followed the example. "It rained gold boxes,' says Walpole. Pitt kept very quiet. He took no decided part in the Inquiry about Minorca, which resulted, not in a vote of approbation or a vote of censure, but in a long recapitulation of the circumstances, ending in declaring that no more ships and no more troops could have been sent on that service. Twelve weeks were now spent in negotiations for the formation of a government. Newcastle was sent for. The duke, dreading Pitt's popularity, wished to coalesce with him. Pitt would not accept office, without the entire direction of the war. Newcastle then told the king, under a solemn promise, that he would have nothing to do with so intractable a man. The old scheme of Newcastle and "his footmen," as the king termed the duke's ministerial dependents, was then resorted to. That would not answer; and Newcastle and Pitt were brought together again, by the mediation of lord Chesterfield and lord Bute. The king was enraged that Pitt had once more been applied to, under the violation of Newcastle's pledge. George then tried his own hand at making a ministry; and proposed to associate his personal friend, lord Waldegrave, with Mr. Fox. Lord Holderness, one of the Secretaries of State, and the remaining powerful body of the Newcastle "footmen,"-powerful in their votes, if not in their abilities,-threatened to resign. There was no resource. Pitt saw that if his magnificent boast, "I am sure that I can save this country, and that nobody else can,"—if that grand ambition was to be realized, he must not trust alone to oratory or popularity; he must command parliamentary support. Newcastle

* Waldegrave, "Memoirs,"p. 96.

[ocr errors]

222

AFFAIRS OF INDIA-BLACK HOLE AT CALCUTTA,

[1757.

could bring that capital into a political partnership. The king had no choice. He empowered lord Hardwicke to negotiate with Newcastle and Pitt. The eloquent Commoner again became Secretary of State upon his own terms. The influential duke returned to the head of the Treasury, without any real power in the direction of the great affairs of the nation, at a memorable crisis in its fate. On the 29th of June, commenced what is emphatically termed "Mr. Pitt's Administration." It mattered not to contemporaries or to posterity, who was First Lord of the Treasury, or who presided over the Admiralty, or who was Commander-in-chief. It was "Mr. Pitt's Adminis tration."

From the Midsummer of 1756 to the Midsummer of 1757, whilst England was lying under the dread of foreign invasion; calling for vengeance on those who had lost Minorca; distracted by political rivalries,-events were taking place in the most distant settlement of the East India Company, of which the nation had no instant cognizance, but which were as important to its future destiny as the changes to be produced by the altered character of its government. There first came, slowly travelling for months from the Ganges to the Thames, the news of a terrible atrocity of oriental despotism, which filled every heart with grief and indignation. Six months later the report came of a swift retribution, inflicted by the hero of Arcot; and six months after that, the great intelligence arrived, that a victory had been won -the victory of Plassey, which raised the British merchant-settlers of India into the condition of conquerors and dictators, and laid the foundation of an empire which can scarcely be contemplated by us at this day without a mixed feeling of awe and of pride. The fearful tragedy known as that of the Black Hole of Calcutta took place on the 20th of June, 1756, after the city had been taken by the Subahdar of Bengal. Calcutta was retaken by Clive on the 2nd of January, 1757. The battle of Plassey was won by Clive on the 23rd of June of the same year. We must briefly relate these consecutive events.

The rulers of Bengal, Orissa, and Bahar, called Subahdars, or Nabobs, professed to hold allegiance to the Great Mogul, but really exercised all the powers of sovereignty. They dwelt at their capital city of Moorshedabad. In April, 1756, Surajah Dowlah, a cruel, debauched, and ignorant boy of nineteen, succeeded his grandfather as the lord of these vast provinces. He coveted the wealth which he imagined was accumulated in the British factory of Calcutta ; and he marched from Moorshedabad to Fort William with a great army. The governor, and the English captain in command, escaped in terror, and left the defence of the factory to the servants of the Company. The Subahdar having bombarded the fort for two days, further resistance was unavailing. Mr. Holwell, a civil officer of the Company, who had been chosen to act as a commander during 'the two days of their defence, was called before the despot. He was dissatisfied to have found only fifty thousand rupees as his prize; but he assured Mr. Holwell that the lives of himself and of his fellow-prisoners should be spared. There were a hundred and forty-five men, and one woman, of this devoted company. They were to be secured for the night in the dungeon of the fort. Into that den, eighteen feet by fourteen, with two small windows, were these hundred and forty-six adults forced by the ferocious guard that the tyrant had set over them; and the door was

1757.]

SURAJAH DOWLAH OCCUPIES CALCUTTA.

223

closed. Mr. Holwell spoke from the window to an old offi cer, who appeared to have some human pity, promising a reward of a thousand rupees if a portion of the prisoners by his influence could be removed to another room. The officer went to make his humane attempt. He returned to say that the Nabob was asleep, and could not be disturbed. Of that night of horror, the relation given by Mr. Holwell is one of the most powerful narratives of the extremity of suffering which was ever penned. The expedient of the prisoners to obtain more room and air, some sitting down, never to rise again, through their companions falling upon them; the calling out to the guard to fire and relieve them from their misery; the raging thirst; the delirium; the stupefaction; the many dead trampled upon by the few living,-these are horrors without a parallel in history or fiction. An order for the release of the prisoners came from the Subahdar at six o'clock in the morning. One hundred and twenty-three had been released by death. The English lady survived, to endure the harder fate of being consigned to the haram of the Subahdar. Surajah Dowlah called for Mr. Holwell. Unable to stand, he was borne before the despot, who exhibited no remorse for the acts of his murderous guards. All he talked of was buried treasure. He sent Mr. Holwell and two of the chiefs of the factory to his capital as prisoners; the

[graphic][subsumed]

Calcutta, from Fort William. From a Print by Orme.

others were set at liberty. Fort William was occupied by a Mohammedan garrison of three thousand men; and the victor returned to Moorshedabad, and decreed that, in honour of his triumph, Calcutta should be called by the name which signified the Port of God.

Colonel Clive, upon his return to India, had co-operated with admiral

* Printed first in the "Annual Register" for 1758.

« PředchozíPokračovat »