Spain, were successively adding island after island in the West Indies, to their respective monarchies, and the power of Great Britain seemed to be every where reduced to the shadow of its former greatness. In this state of things, while the two fleets were separated, that of the Spanish Admiral, at Hispaniola, and that of the Count de Grasse at Martinique, Admiral Rodney formed a junction with Sir Samuel Hood, and with their united fleet, amounting to 36 sail of the line, came up with the Count de Grasse on the 8th of April, on his way to join the Spanish Admiral. The two fleets were nearly equal, the Count having two ships less than Admiral Rodney. Some partial skirmishing continued for three or four days, in which two of the French ships were entirely disabled; and on the 12th, at 7 in the morning, a general action commenced, which lasted for near twelve hours. This circumstance alone is sufficient to show that the battle was fought with undaunted bravery on both sides; but our brave friends and allies, who had so lately quitted the Chesapeake in the triumph of victory, were now compelled to yield to British prowess. The slaughter on board the French ships was almost incredible; on board of one ship alone, upwards of 400 were killed. Eight ships fell into the hands of the enemy, and among them the Count's flag ship, the Ville de Paris, of 110 guns, and 1300 men. This signal victory completely turned the tide of affairs in the West Indies, and prevented the further prosecution of the schemes of conquest which had been planned by the allied powers.

The siege of Gibraltar which soon followed, and the successful resistance of General Elliott against the most extraordinary combination of military en

gines, that the ingenuity of man, intent upon destruction ever invented, put an end to the war in Europe, each of the three great belligerents having now met with such a defeat, as respectively disposed them to think of peace.

The successful negotiation of Mr. John Adams, had in the mean time, procured the acknowledgment of American independence by the States General of Holland, and by his indefatigable exertions, a treaty of alliance and amity was soon signed between the two republicks. Mr. Adams also succeeded in obtaining a considerable loan of money, which in the exhausted state of their resources, proved a seasonable and acceptable offering to his countrymen.

The long continuance of the war, and the disasters which it brought with it to all classes of people, rendered all preparation for its further prosecution extremely unpopular through every part of the British empire. Petitions to his Majesty, setting forth the delusions of his ministry, the alarming increase of burdens on the people to support a war which could never accomplish the subjection of the revolted colonies, were presented from all parts of the kingdom. Various motions were made in parliament tending to declare the injurious effects of any future attempts to reduce the Americans to obedience, and the necessity of a general peace to restore the exhausted energies of the nation. The fate of these motions from time to time showed the declining influence of the ministry, until at length on the 27th of February, General Conway, whose exertions had been unremitted, obtained a majority on his motion, for an address to his Majesty; praying "that he will be pleased to give directions to his ministers not to pursue any longer

the impracticable object of reducing his majesty's revolted Colonies by force, to their allegiance, by a war on the continent of America; and assuring his majesty that his faithful commoners will most cheerfully concur with him in such measures, as may be found necessary to accelerate the blessings of returning peace." The debate on this motion occupied the house until 2 o'clock in the morning, and so great was the joy manifested on its being carried, that serious apprehensions were entertained by the secretaries of state, that the city would become the scene of alarming tumult. On the 4th his majesty answered his commons that in pursuance of their advice, he would take such measures as should appear to him the most conducive to the restoration of harmony between Great Britain and the revolted Colonies." This was not such an answer as General Conway had expected, or intended to produce by his address; there was still too much of that insincerity, and indefinite expression, which characterized the ministry, and the General had no disposition to trust to their equivocal construction. He, therefore, after the usual vote of thanks, brought forward two other motions. 1. "That nothing could so essentially promote the great objects of his majesty's paternal care, as the measures his faithful Commons, had humbly, though earnestly, recommended to his Majesty ;" and 2d. "That the House will consider as enemies to his Majesty and the country, all those who should advise a prosecution of offensive war on the continent of North America." The meaning of these could not be mistaken; and though some feeble opposition was made to them by the declining ministry, they passed without a division.

On the same day, it was thought proper to take the command of his majesty's forces in America, out of the hands of Sir Henry Clinton, and place it in those of Sir Guy Carleton. There is something inexplicable in the policy, by which the English ministry conducted their American affairs, from the earliest appearance of rebellion, down to the glorious close of our revolution. Continually resolving upon decisive measures, they were as continually thwarted by the employment of inefficient means of execution. Sir Henry Clinton, to whom a force had been entrusted, at all times adequate to the annihilation of the American army, if it had been properly directed, had not a single attribute of a great General. With only zeal enough to be active in the prosecution of a petty system of warfare, that required neither boldness of design, nor acuteness of judgment, he should never have been placed in a sphere that demanded the continual exercise of both. He had neither foresight enough to look beyond the present moment, nor energy to compensate for his want of sagacity. He would have done well under the orders of Sir Guy Carleton, or Cornwallis; but if the war had continued for years longer, his genius could never have raised him to the first rank. At the conclusion of the war, when there was no longer occasion for the exercise of military talents, Great Britain called to the head of her armies one of the first Generals of the age, who had been suffered to pass the most important period of her struggle, in the inactive employment of a civil government. By what extraordinary infatuation this imbecile system of operations was so long kept up by the British rulers, would puzzle the profoundest statesman. We have reason, however, to congratulate ourselves, on the son

tinuance of their blindness, whatever may have been the fatality that produced it.

The adoption of the motions of General Conway, gave unequivocal evidence, that the ministers had lost the confidence of the nation, and a consequent change became indispensable. On the 20th of March, therefore, Lord North, whose unhappy administration had reduced his country to the verge of dissolution, gave notice that his Majesty had determined to change his ministers, and in a speech of considerable interest, in which he spoke of the trying scenes through which he had for so many years conducted the affairs of government, and which, he might have added, were all produced by his own perverse system of policy, he took leave of the house as minister. The Marquis of Rockingham was placed at the head of the new administration, but made it one of the conditions of his acceptance, that there should be peace with the Americans, and that the acknowledgement of their independence should be no bar to its attainment.

The hopes excited in England by the appointment of a man of Lord Rockingham's known integrity and talents, and of principles so completely in accordance with the wishes of the nation, were but of short continuance. The death of this amiable nobleman on the 1st of July, produced new difficulties, and new scenes of confusion in the ministry, as it was followed by the promotion of Lord Shelburne, to the vacant place, who it was known was strongly opposed to the acknowledgement of American independence. Lord John Cavendish and Mr. Fox immediately resigned their places, the former as chancellor of the exchequer, the latter as principal secretary of state. The reason assigned by Mr. Fox for this step was that the system in which

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