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XLVII.

July.

CHAP. fore noon of the twenty fifth, tidings of the Bunker Hill battle reached the cabinet, and spread rapidly 1775. through the kingdom and through Europe. "Two more such victories," said Vergennes, " and England will have no army left in America." The great loss of officers in the battle saddened the anticipations of future triumphs; the ministry confessed the unexampled intrepidity of the rebels; many persons from that time believed, that the contest would end in their independence: but difficulties only animated the king; no one equalled him in ease, composure, and even gayety. He would have twenty thousand regular soldiers in America by the next spring. Barrington, the secretary at war, was of opinion, "that no such number could be procured;" he therefore entreated the secretary of state to give "no expectation of the kind in the despatches going out to the colonies;" and he wrote plainly to his sovereign: "The proposed augmentation cannot possibly be raised, and ought not to be depended on." But George the Third, whose excitement dispelled hesitation and gloom and left in his heart nothing but war, threw his eye confidently over the continent of Europe, resolved at any cost to accomplish his purpose.

Aug.

The ministers were of opinion that Gage, at an early day, ought to have occupied the heights of Dorchester and of Charlestown; and he was recalled, though without official censure. For the time, the command in America was divided; and assigned in Canada to Carleton, in the old colonies to Howe. Ten thousand pounds and an additional supply of three thousand arms were forwarded to Quebec, and notwithstanding the caution of Barrington, word was

XLVII.

1775.

Aug.

sent to Carleton, that he might depend upon a re- CHAP. enforcement of regular troops, that it was "hoped the next spring to have in North America an army of twenty thousand men, exclusive of the Canadians and Indians." The first contribution was made by the king as elector of Hanover; nor did he drive a hard bargain with the British treasury: his predecessor, through Newcastle, took so much for the loan of Hanoverian troops, that no account of the payment could be found; George the Third asked only the reimbursement of all expenses. His agent, Colonel William Faucett, leaving England early in August, stopped at the Hague just long enough to confer with Sir Joseph Yorke on getting further assistance in Holland and Germany, and straightway repaired to Hanover to muster and receive into the service of Great Britain five battalions of electoral infantry. They consisted of two thousand three hundred and fifty men, who were to be employed in the garrisons of Gibraltar and Minorca, and thus to disengage an equal number of British troops for service in America. The recruiting officers of Frederic of Prussia and of other princes environed the frontier with the express design of tempting them to desert; for they were supposed to have an aversion for the sea. The port of Ritzebuttell, near the mouth of the Elbe, in the territory of Hamburg, was selected as the place of their embarkation, which was courteously promoted by the senate of that republic. It was the fifth of October before they got on board the transports, and then a strong south-west wind that blew incessantly for several weeks, locked them up till the afternoon of the first of November.

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CHAP. XLVII.

Three days after the arrival of the news of the Charlestown battle, Rochford, the secretary of state, 1775. called the attention of De Guines, the French ambassaJuly and dor, to the dispute with the colonies; and remarked that Aug. 66 many persons of both parties were thoroughly per

suaded that the way to terminate the war in America, was to declare war against France." De Guines suppressed every sign of indignation or of surprise; and encouraged the secretary's communicativeness. It was declared to be the English opinion, that England now, as before the last peace, was a match for Spain and France united; that, in the event of a war with those powers, America, through fear of the recovery of Canada by France, would give up her contest and side with England. Rochford repeated these remarks to the Spanish minister, from indiscretion, or in the hope to intimidate the two courts; but as the ministry had no object so dear as that of keeping their places, it followed that if the nation should clamor for an attack on the house of Bourbon, they would at once become belligerent. The subject was calmly revolved by Vergennes; who was unable to imagine, how sensible people could regard a war with France as a harbor of refuge; especially as her marine, which had been almost annihilated, was restored. "The English cabinet is greatly mistaken," said he, "if it thinks we regret Canada; it may come to pass that they will themselves repent having made its acquisition." He felt the want of gaining exact information on the state of opinion in America. For that end accident offered a most trusty agent in De Bonvouloir, a French gentleman, cousin german to the Marquis de Lambert; a man of good judgment and impenetrable secrecy.

XLVII.

1775.

He had been driven from St. Domingo by the climate, CHAP. had returned by way of the English colonies, had, at Philadelphia, New York, Providence, and near Bos- Aug. ton, become acquainted with insurgent Americans; and he reported that in America every man was turned soldier; that all the world crowded to the camp of liberty. The proposition to send him back to America was submitted by the ambassador at London through Vergennes to Louis the Sixteenth, who consented. Here is the beginning of his intervention in the American revolution. Neither his principles nor his sentiments inclined him to aid insurgents; but the danger of an attack from the English was held before his eyes, and on the seventh of August Vergennes could reply to De Guines: "Be assured, sir, the king very much approves sending Bonvouloir with such precaution that we can in no event be compromised by his mission. His instructions should be verbal and confined to the two most essential objects; the one, to make to you a faithful report of events and of the prevailing disposition of the public mind; the other, to secure the Americans against that jealousy of us, with which so much pains will be taken to inspire them. Canada is for them the object of distrust; they must be made to understand that we do not think of it at all; and that far from envying them the liberty and independence which they labor to secure, we admire the nobleness and the grandeur of their efforts, have no interest to injure them, and shall with pleasure see happy circumstances place them at liberty to frequent our ports; the facilities that they will find there for their commerce will soon prove to them our esteem." With

XLVII.

Aug.

CHAP. these instructions Bonvouloir repaired to the Low Countries, and after some delay found at Antwerp an 1775. opportunity of embarking for the colonies. His report might open the way for relations and events of the utmost importance. Yet all the while the means of pacifying America were so obvious that Vergennes was hardly able to persuade himself they could be missed by the English ministers. The folly imputed to them was so great, and was so sure to involve the loss of their possessions, that he called in question the accounts which he had received. The ambassador replied: "You say what you think ought to be done, but the king of England is the most obstinate prince alive, and his ministers will never adopt the policy necessary in a great crisis, for fear of compromising their safety or their places."

The affairs of the United Colonies were at that time under discussion in the heart of the Russian empire, the ancient city of Moscow, at the court of Catharine the Second. The ruling opinion in Russia demanded the concentration of all power in one hand. From the moment the empress set her foot on Russian soil, it became her fixed purpose to seize the absolute sway and govern alone. Though she mixed trifling pastime with application to business, and for her recreation sought the company of the young and the very gay, she far excelled those around her in industry and knowledge. Frederic said of her, that she had an infinity of talent and no religion; yet she went over to the Greek church and played the devotee. Distinguished for vivacity of thought and judgment, for the most laborious attention to affairs, very proud of the greatness and power of her empire,

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