The History of England, From the Accession of George Iii. to the Close of Pitt's First Administration, 1760-1801

CHAPTER I.. The King and Bute.

THE KING AND BUTE.

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25 Oct., 1760. Accession of George III. 1 National feeling 1 The king's education and character 3 His plan of government 6 His first cabinet 8 Influence of the Earl of Bute 11 The civil list 13 1761. The war in Germany 13 7 June. Capture of Belle Ile 15 The king's covert attack on the whig ascendency 15 Opposing views with respect to the war 17 The general election of 1761 19 25 Mar. Bute secretary of state 20 8 Sept. The king's marriage 21 Bute's unpopularity 22

CHAPTER II.. The Peace of Paris.

THE PEACE OF PARIS.

1761. Negotiations for a peace 23 France and Spain act together in negotiation 25 Pitt maintains British honour and interests 26 Pitt and his colleagues 28 5 Oct. Pitt resigns office 31 2 Jan., 1762. The family compact. War declared against Spain 32 Frederick of Prussia offended 33 25 April. Newcastle's resignation. Bute succeeds to the treasury 34 The war in Germany 35 British conquests: Martinique, Havana, Manila 37 Negotiations with France 38 A majority in the commons secured 39 The terms of peace 40 10 Feb., 1763. Definitive treaty signed at Paris 42 Mar. The cider tax 43 11 April. Bute retires from office 44

CHAPTER III.. The Grenville Administration.

THE GRENVILLE ADMINISTRATION.

1763. The new ministers 45 April. The North Briton, No. 45, and the general warrant 46 Aug. The king's attempts to strengthen the administration 48 Sept. Changes in the administration 49 Nov. Proceedings in parliament against Wilkes 50 19 Jan., 1764. The commons expel Wilkes 51 Violation of the privileges of parliament 52 Grenville's economy 53 Great Britain's colonial policy 54 1763. Defence of the American colonies 58 10 Mar., 1764. The stamp bill proposed 59 22 Mar., 1765. The bill enacted 60 American resistance 60 The right of taxation 62 Unstatesmanlike policy 63

CHAPTER IV.. The King, the Whigs, and Chatham.

THE KING, THE WHIGS, AND CHATHAM.

1765. The king and Grenville 64 April-May. The regency bill 65 The weavers' riot 66 16 July. A whig administration formed under Rockingham 67 Its weakness and difficulties 68 Jan., 1766. Pitt on American taxation 69 Burke, his character and political principles 70 Mar. Repeal of the stamp act. The declaratory act 71 July. Pitt forms an administration, and is created Earl of Chatham 73 His foreign policy 74 Sept.-Nov. "A forty days' tyranny" 76 Feb., 1767. Chatham incapacitated by disease 76 June, 1763. Revolt of Mir Kasim 77 23 Oct., 1764. Battle of Baxar 78 June, 1767. Parliamentary interference with the E. India Company 79 1767-69. Haidar Ali's invasions of the Karnatic 80

CHAPTER V.. Growth of the King's Power.

GROWTH OF THE KING'S POWER.

1767. C. Townshend and the new American duties 82 The ministry in Chatham's absence 85 Jan., 1768. Junction with the Bedford party 87 Feb. The Nullum Tempus bill 87 Massachusetts heads resistance to the revenue acts 88 1 May, 1769. Partial repeal of the new duties decided on 90 1761. Condition of Ireland. Rise of Whiteboyism 91 The government of Ireland 93 1768-69. Octennial act and augmentation of Irish army 94 1768. The general election of 1768 94 Wilkes returned for Middlesex 95 10 May. Riot in St. George's Fields 96 1769. Wilkes and the Middlesex electors 97 French annexation of Corsica. Faltering policy of ministers 98 Arrears of the civil list 99 The Letters of Junius 99 Chatham in opposition 100 28 Jan., 1770. Grafton resigns. North forms an administration 102 Triumph of the king's policy 103 Discontent with the constitutional machinery 103 Chatham and Burke differ on character of needful reforms 105

CHAPTER VI.. The King's Rule.

THE KING'S RULE.

1770. Two parties in the opposition 106 The struggle in parliament 107 April. The Grenville controverted elections act 108 5 Mar. The "Boston massacre" 109 Chatham and his city friends demand a dissolution 110 They are foiled by the king 111 Dispute with Spain concerning the Falkland islands 112 England's foreign policy 114 1770-71. Changes in the ministry 115 The law of libel 116 The house of commons and the printers 117 1772. Religious toleration 118 The royal marriage act and C. J. Fox 119 June, 1773. Affairs of E. India Company. North's regulating act 121 May. Clive's acquittal 122 The king's political predominance 123

CHAPTER VII.. The Quarrel With America.

THE QUARREL WITH AMERICA.

1772-73. Resistance to law in America 124 16 Dec., 1773. The Boston tea-riot 126 29 Jan., 1774. Franklin before the privy council 126 The penal acts 128 The Quebec act 129 5 Sept. First meeting of a continental congress 132 The American loyalists 134 The general election of 1774 135 Opinion in England on the American crisis 136 Feb.-Mar., 1775. Bills and resolutions for conciliation 138 The Americans prepare for war 139 19 April. Fighting at Lexington and Concord 140

CHAPTER VIII.. The Colonial Rebellion.

THE COLONIAL REBELLION.

April, 1775. The American army at Cambridge 143 May. Americans seize Ticonderoga and Crown Point 144 English opinion on the outbreak of war 144 15 June. Washington appointed American commander-in-chief 146 17. The battle of Bunker hill 147 The invasion of Canada 151 31 Dec. Defeat of the Americans at Quebec 152 The king hires German troops 153 17. The evacuation of Boston 155 May-June, 1776. The Americans chased out of Canada 155 Spread of the idea of separation 156 28 June. Unsuccessful attempt on Charleston 157 4 July. Declaration of American independence 158 1775. The war generally popular in Great Britain 158 The opposition in parliament 159 The state of the navy 161 Nov. North's prohibitory bill 162

CHAPTER IX.. Saratoga.

SARATOGA.

27 Aug., 1776. The battle of Long Island 164 15 Sept. British take New York 165 11, 13 Oct. Carleton's victory on Lake Champlain 166 8 Dec. Washington retreats across the Delaware 167 26. The surprise of Trenton 168 Partial secession of whigs from parliament 169 Impressment for the navy 170 1777. Arrears of the civil list 171 Plan for co-operation between Howe and Burgoyne 172 June-Nov. Howe's campaign. Battle of the Brandywine, Sept. 11 173 American camp at Valley Forge 175 6 July. Burgoyne captures Ticonderoga 176 His difficulties, distress, and failure 177 17 Oct. The convention of Saratoga 179 Responsibility for the disaster 179 6 Jan., 1778. Alliance between France and the Americans 181 Why England had not yet subdued the Americans 183

CHAPTER X.. War With France and Spain.

WAR WITH FRANCE AND SPAIN.

1777-78. The opposition and the war 186 Mar., 1778. The king's refusal to allow Chatham to form a ministry 187 11 May. Chatham's death 190 Constitutional importance of the issue of the war 191 Abuses in naval administration 191 27 July. Naval action off Ushant 193 Progress of the war in America 193 Lord Howe and Count d'Estaing 194 Mistaken naval policy of Great Britain 195 Aug., 1779. Combined French and Spanish fleets in the Channel 196 The war in various parts of the world 196 12 May, 1780. The surrender of Charleston 198 Jan.-Feb. Rodney's relief of Gibraltar 198 17 April. His indecisive action off Dominica 199 Ireland's grievances 200 1779. The volunteers 202 Removal of restrictions on Irish trade 202 1779-80. Activity of the opposition in England 202 2-7 June. The Lord George Gordon riots 205

CHAPTER XI.. Yorktown and the King's Defeat.

YORKTOWN AND THE KING'S DEFEAT.

Mar., 1780. The armed neutrality 208 20 Dec. Dispute with the Dutch: war declared 209 Defence of Gibraltar 210 5 Aug., 1781. Battle of the Dogger Bank 212 1780. General election and the new parliament 212 2 Oct. The fate of Major Andre 215 3 Feb., 1781. Rodney takes St. Eustatius 216 July, 1780. French squadron at Rhode island 218 16 Aug. Cornwallis's campaign in the south: battle of Camden 219 17 Jan., 1781. Battle of the Cowpens 221 15 Mar. Battle of Guilford 222 May. Cornwallis in Virginia 223 How England lost command in the American waters 224 19 Oct. The capitulation at Yorktown 225 Causes of the disaster 225 Reception of the news in England 226 Events in the war with France and Spain 227 Mar., 1782. The second Rockingham ministry; the king's defeat 229

CHAPTER XII.. The Rout of the Whigs.

THE ROUT OF THE WHIGS.

1782. Attack on the corrupt influence of the crown 231 May. Legislative independence conceded to Ireland 232 12 April. The "battle of the Saints" 234 Last scenes of the siege of Gibraltar 236 1780-84. War in India and in the Indian waters 236 Quarrel between Fox and Shelburne 238 July, 1782. Shelburne forms a ministry 240 30 Nov. Preliminaries of peace between Great Britain and America 241 The American loyalists 242 3 Sept., 1783. Definitive treaty of Versailles 242 State of parties in parliament 243 The coalition between Fox and North 244 April. The Coalition ministry 245 May. Pitt's motion for parliamentary reform 246 Warren Hastings in India 247 Nov.-Dec. Fox's India bills 249 Dec. The Coalition ministry dismissed; Pitt prime minister 251 Struggle on the question of a dissolution 251 25 Mar., 1784. Parliament dissolved 254 General election: "Fox's martyrs" 254

CHAPTER XIII.. Social and Economic Progress, 1760-1801.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS, 1760-1801.

General character of the period 255 Amusements, gambling, racing, the drama, etc. 256 Travelling and the state of the roads 258 Literature: poetry, fiction, and serious prose works 259 The arts, architecture, painting, etc. 262 Natural science 263 Voyages of discovery 263 Religion 264 The criminal law 265 The prisons and transportation 266 The police system 267 Increase of trade and manufactures 268 The mercantile system and laissez-faire 269 Steam and water power: iron manufacture 270 Canals 271 Manufacture of textile fabrics 271 Failure of domestic industries 272 Wages of agricultural labourers 273 Regulation of corn trade 273 Improvements in agriculture 274 Enclosures 275 Combinations of workmen to raise wages 277 The poor law 277 Sufferings of the poor and specially of factory children 278

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