government, and testified it by concession; without meriting the approbation of conciliatory measures. He pursued a line of conduct which these irresolute sentiments dictated; and which produced the effect foretold by those who were best acquainted with the situation of the colonies. He brought in a bill for the repeal of the late act for imposing duties on certain articles payable in America, that on tea only excepted,† which was passed by a majority of 204 to 142.*1 It was well known that it was not the weight of the taxes, but the right of taxation without representation, which was the matter of complaint to the colonists; and therefore that the smallest tax would be equally offensive with the greatest. The revenue accruing from the duty on tea, which was only £16,000 a year, they thought, could not be the object of government: and the dignity of the state was expressly provided for by the declaratory act of 1766. It was, therefore, considered as an expedient to draw them from their ground; which, if not guarded against, would soon be followed by further steps for the execution of the favourite design of American taxation.-A desire to please all parties was perfectly agreeable with the premier's general character; which was marked with humanity, benevolence, and liberality; and which wanted strength of mind, not intellectual talents, to render him one of the greatest as well as the most amiable men of 66 66 + March 5. Whatever were the sentiments of the other members of administration, those of the new premier appear to have been such as are attributed to him by the sagacious monsieur Favier.-After speaking of the policy of preserving a great degree of self-confidence in the people by an affectation of it in themselves," They, (the ministers)" says he, in the silence of the cabinet, coolly "appretiate the ideal fortune, the factitious resources, the unnatural expedients which sustain the "edifice of state. They perceive the disproportion, the disjunction of the parts which compose it, their natural tendency to decline and dissolution; the convulsions in Ireland; the approaching and inevitable danger of a rupture between the colonies and the mother country; the exces"sive weight of the national debt; the continual issue of specie or bullion necessary to provide "for foreign trade; the danger of a failure of public credit, and, at the same time, the necessity "of augmenting the national debt, on account of the impossibility of laying new taxes, and " even of providing funds, in case of a new war with France."-Such appear to have been the feelings with which lord North contemplated the approaching contest, and to have been the cause of that timidity with which he entered upon it. And, if he was deceived in his ideas, it was not because he wanted information or because he reasoned ill from past events; but because the national resources never had been before proved: indeed the most sanguine could scarcely flatter themselves that the state could have exerted the strength which was displayed in the American war. Politique de l'Europe. 2. 59. 1 Annual Register. 1770 · VOL. II. 1770 66 of his age. It is possible he might have no other view in reserving this The public attention was diverted, for awhile, from the feuds occasioned by a difference of opinion on the Middlesex election and the affairs of America, by an act of hostility on the part of Spain; which, in the result, was attended with some humiliating circumstances that tended to lower the ministry in the eyes of the nation.-The Malouine, or Falkland's Islands, lying in the 52d degree of south latitude, off the western coast of America, were discovered by captain Davies in 1592. They were but little regarded till the present century; when, a spirit of discovery and adventure, and a desire of extending our commerce, leading our navigators to the south seas, the expediency of having some friendly port near the straits of Magellan was suggested by lord Anson, who grounded his advice on his own experience. In 1764, when the active spirit which had been employed in war was turned to pacific enterprises, captain Byron was sent to make a settlement settlement on these islands, in the name of his Britannic majesty.-So desirable a possession did not escape the notice of Choiseul, the French premier; whose greatest ambition it was to compensate for the losses which his sovereign had sustained in the late war, and to pave the way for their recovery. The adventurous monsieur de Bougainville, on his voyage to the south seas, made a settlement on these islands in the name of the French king, in the same year. But Lewis, desirous to secure the friendship of the catholic monarch, ceded to him his pretensions to these islands two years after. Such was the state of things in the autumn of the late year, when, in consequence of some altercations on the subject, captain Hunt, who was stationed there, was ordered by the Spanish governor of port Solidad to leave the islands. A large force being brought against him, and not thinking himself properly empowered to act under such delicate circumstances, that officer sailed for England, to receive further instructions, and arrived there in the month of June. The whole force then consisted of two frigates, commanded by captains Maltby and Farmer. And these officers, finding themselves overpowered by the arrival of five frigates from Buonos Ayres, were constrained to capitulate.-A further indignity awaited the British flag. The Spanish commandant, not content with the security given him, that the English vessels should not depart till after a time prescribed, took off the rudder of the Favourite sloop. This being at last restored, the English officers, indignant at such an insult on their honour, sailed for England; where they arrived in the month of September. Under this cloud were the affairs of government when the parliament assembled.A negotiation had been opened with the court of Madrid.|| And the ministry exerted themselves with energy to prepare for defence. But this was not sufficient to screen them from severe animadversions on their conduct, in not having availed themselves of their abilities and the zeal which is ever displayed when the national honour is concerned, to make their preparations at an earlier period. The most unfavourable comparisons were drawn between the present state of the kingdom, when its enemies were encouraged by our unpreparedness to attack and insult us, and that in which it was seen at the close of the late war, when the whole naval 1770 1770 naval force of the house of Bourbon, after its greatest exertions, was 'brought to crouch before the British flag; which rode triumphant in every quarter of the globe.-The Spanish court was now called on to disavow the proceedings of the governor of port Solidad: and this not being complied with, Mr. Harris, the English ambassador, was recalled from Madrid. These transactions gave occasion to a further change of ministry before the close of the year. Lord Weymouth, being dissatisfied with the conduct of the negotiation, resigned his office as secretary for the southern department; † which was given to the earl of Rochford; who was succeeded by the earl of Sandwich in the northern. 1770 HOLLAND. A RUPTURE with the elector Palatine was threatened at this time by a warm altercation respecting certain duties claimed by the Dutch states on the Rhine. Warlike preparations were made on both sides. But the affair was amicably adjusted by the intervention of the emperor, the king of Prussia, and the elector of Treves; and the navigation of the Rhine was again opened. ‡ + a 1770 FRANCE. SHOULD reflection steal upon the king in the hours of retirement, or should a representation of the miserable condition of his people and the embarrassment of the state force it upon him, it was feared that a natural rectitude of sentiment, or a sense of danger, might lead him to adopt measures destructive of that system of things on which the ministers and courtiers who surrounded him depended for their honours and emoluments. It was their concern, therefore, to render him insensible by a life of dissipation, pation, to remove objects of misery as far as possible from his sight, and to 1770 frustrate every effort to open his eyes to the demerit of those who enjoyed his confidence. A remarkable instance of such artifice occurs at this time. The king had soothed the Bretons by a restoration of their parliament. But neither an experience of his majesty's grace, nor his resentment, could prevent the assertors of national rights, who still possessed considerable influence among them, from proceeding in their purpose of bringing the duke d'Aiguillon to punishment for his maleconduct as their governor, and giving complete redress to the patriotic de Chalotais; who, although rescued from the death which was about to be inflicted on them through the base machinations of that nobleman, were still suffered to continue exiles from their native province and their dearest connections, whilst their enemy was protected under his sovereign's wing. A spirited memorial was now addressed to the throne by a committee of the provincial states in their favour. After adverting to the exile of the attornies general, when their innocence had been proved, "Even God, of whom you are the living image," said they, "cannot punish the innocent. The declaration of innocence and infliction of punishment at the same time are impossible to the Almighty; it would be blasphemy, indeed, to attribute to him so odious "a contradiction.-We can never conceive that those whose honour is not "called in question, and whose feelings your majesty has condescended, by repeated declarations, to set at ease, should not be perfectly innocent, " and still less can we conceive how those whose innocence is vindicated "can experience the fate reserved to criminals." They then went on to describe in a pathetic manner the unhappy doom of those for whom they humbly implored justice.-The ministry feared the effect of so moving a complaint, so forcible a representation of violated justice: and for that reason they sent it back to the commissioners; making a merit of not having exposed them to his majesty's indignation by presenting it. 66 • The parliament of Bretagne, mean-while, was collecting evidence against the duke d'Aiguillon.-When those about the king who were in the interests of that nobleman were informed of these proceedings and heard the national clamour which the rejection of the memorial had occasioned, they |