THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Seventy-five years have passed since Lingard completed his History of England, which ends with the Revolution of 1688. During that period historical study has made a great advance. Year after year the mass of materials for a new History of England has increased; new lights have been thrown on events and characters, and old errors have been corrected. Many notable works have been written on various periods of our history; some of them at such length as to appeal almost exclusively to professed historical students. It is believed that the time has come when the advance which has been made in the knowledge of English history as a whole should be laid before the public in a single work of fairly adequate size. Such a book should be founded on independent thought and research, but should at the same time be written with a full knowledge of the works of the best modern historians and with a desire to take advantage of their teaching wherever it appears sound.
The vast number of authorities, printed and in manuscript, on which a History of England should be based, if it is to represent the existing state of knowledge, renders co-operation almost necessary and certainly advisable. The History, of which this volume is an instalment, is an attempt to set forth in a readable form the results at present attained by research. It will consist of twelve volumes by twelve different writers, each of them chosen as being specially capable of dealing with the period which he undertakes, and the editors, while leaving to each author as free a hand as possible, hope to insure a general similarity in method of treatment, so that the twelve volumes may in their contents, as well as in their outward appearance, form one History.
As its title imports, this History will primarily deal with politics, with the History of England and, after the date of the union with Scotland, Great Britain, as a state or body politic; but as the life of a nation is complex, and its condition at any given time cannot be understood without taking into account the various forces acting upon it, notices of religious matters and of intellectual, social, and economic progress will also find place in these volumes. The footnotes will, so far as is possible, be confined to references to authorities, and references will not be appended to statements which appear to be matters of common knowledge and do not call for support. Each volume will have an Appendix giving some account of the chief authorities, original and secondary, which the author has used. This account will be compiled with a view of helping students rather than of making long lists of books without any notes as to their contents or value. That the History will have faults both of its own and such as will always in some measure attend co-operative work, must be expected, but no pains have been spared to make it, so far as may be, not wholly unworthy of the greatness of its subject.
Each volume, while forming part of a complete History, will also in itself be a separate and complete book, will be sold separately, and will have its own index, and two or more maps.
Vol. I. to 1066. By Thomas Hodgkin, D.C.L., Litt.D., Fellow of University College, London; Fellow of the British Academy.
Vol. II. 1066 to 1216. By George Burton Adams, M.A., Professor of History in Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
Vol. III. 1216 to 1377. By T. F. Tout, M.A., Professor of Medieval and Modern History in the Victoria University of Manchester; formerly Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.
Vol. IV. 1377 to 1485. By C. Oman, M.A., Fellow of All Souls' College, and Deputy Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford.
Vol. V. 1485 to 1547. By H. A. L. Fisher, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of New College, Oxford.
Vol. VI. 1547 to 1603. By A. F. Pollard, M.A., Professor of Constitutional History in University College, London.
Vol. VII. 1603 to 1660. By F. C. Montague, M.A., Professor of History in University College, London; formerly Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
Vol. VIII. 1660 to 1702. By Richard Lodge, M.A., Professor of History in the University of Edinburgh; formerly Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.
Vol. IX. 1702 to 1760. By I. S. Leadam, M.A., formerly Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.
Vol. X. 1760 to 1801. By the Rev. William Hunt, M.A., D.Litt., Trinity College, Oxford.
Vol. XI. 1801 to 1837. By the Hon. George C. Brodrick, D.C.L., late Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and J. K. Fotheringham, M.A., Magdalen College, Oxford, Lecturer in Classics at King's College, London.
Vol. XII. 1837 to 1901. By Sidney J. Low, M.A., Balliol College, Oxford, formerly Lecturer on History at King's College, London.
The Political History of England
IN TWELVE VOLUMES
Edited by WILLIAM HUNT, D.Litt., and REGINALD L. POOLE, M.A.
X.
THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND
FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. TO THE
CLOSE OF PITT'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1760-1801
BY WILLIAM HUNT, M.A., D.Litt. PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1905
The production of this book, which was ready in April, has unavoidably been postponed by the Publishers
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The King and Bute.
PAGE 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 22CHAPTER II.
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 GermanyCHAPTER III.
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 63CHAPTER IV.
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 Mír Kásim 77 23 Oct., 1764. Battle of Baxár 78 June, 1767. Parliamentary interference with the E. India Company 79 1767-69. Haidar Alí's invasions of the Karnatic 80Growth 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 105CHAPTER VI.
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 123CHAPTER VII.
The Quarrel with America.
1772-73. Resistance to law in AmericaCHAPTER VIII.
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 162CHAPTER IX.
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. 11CHAPTER X.
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 205CHAPTER XI.
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 André 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