good expedient, and where inconveniences must be balanced rather than advantages fought. The troops made the beft amends for the difficulties of their fituation, by the patience with which they endured an unremitting duty and the greatest fatigues, as well as by the firmness and intrepidity with which they ftood a fire of fhot and fhells, which has feldom been exceeded in magnitude. The French expended 16,000 fhot and fhells in the fiege, 3000 of the latter being of the first dimenfions; and the fire of the Americans was not lefs.

The British fleet and army arrived off the Chefapeak on the 24th of October, being five days after the furrender of York Town. They foon received the unwelcome tidings; but as they were only reports, they waited fome days, until the misfortune was fully authenticated. The French fleet, fatisfied with their prefent fuccefs, made no manner of movement; and the only object of the expedition being now loft, the British commanders neceffarily returned to New York.

Such was the iffue of the Virginian war. The lofs of Lord Cornwallis's army was too heavy a blow to be foon or easily recovered. It was evident, that it muft entirely change the nature of the war on the fide of Great Britain; and that it could no longer be carried on offenfively by land, at least to any confiderable extent. Indeed the furrender at York Town, may be confidered as the clofing fcene of the whole continental war in America. There are few periods in hiftory more capable of rouzing attention and exciting reflections; whether we confider the original policy, and the difcuffions which enfued; its various events, and fudden changes of fortune; on one fide the magnitude of the preparations, and diftance of operation from the feat of power, and on the other, the difficulties, pertinacy, and final fuccefs of the refiftance; or whether we confider the effect this revolution may in future operate on the political state of the whole human race, we fhall in every refpect find it extraordinary. Undoubtedly a new fcene is opened..

T is not a little remarkable, that the riots in the year 1780, which tended to the direct fubverfion of all order and government, fhould have been the means of affording a ftrength to adminiftration, which few other events could at that time have produced. The fcenes of enormity exhihited by those frantic rioters in the metropolis, ftruck all men with horror, and (by a natural, though a mif taken effect) inspired a general dread of all popular meetings, however legal or peaceable. These difpofitions reached to the county meetings, petitions, and affociations, and confequently to all applications for redrefs of grievance, and fchemes for a reform in the reprefentation of the commons houfe of parliament.

If minifters themfelves were not to be led away by fuch an opening of advantage, their retainers and partizans were lefs fcrupulous in their zeal, and too much alive to their own interefts, to flip the occafion. No means were unpraçtifed to he impreffions of

terror, which were already fufficiently operative. The fuccefs was equal to the industry. They found the rich, the timid, and the indolent, already of their party; and moderate men, who are naturally lovers of order, while they could not but approve of whatever tended to the prefervation of good government, did not always draw a proper line of diftinction between the mad outrages of fanatics, and the fober conventions of freemen, upon their most important and dearest interests.

As the violence of party feldom admits of any great nicenefs in the means of obtaining its purposes, fo truth, and fairnefs of reprefentation, were not much attended to, in the unceafing efforts ufed to profit of the prefent occafion. It was whispered, and industriously circulated, that the oppofition were the fecret authors of the late riots; that they were the confequence of a fettled scheme for the utter fubverfion of the ftate; that perfons of rank and condition were disguised among the mob,

and

good expedient, and where inconveniences must be balanced rather than advantages fought. The troops made the best amends for the difficulties of their fituation, by the patience with which they endured an unremitting duty and the greatest fatigues, as well as by the firmness and intrepidity with which they stood a fire of fhot and fhells, which has feldom been exceeded in magnitude. The French expended 16,000 fhot and fhells in the fiege, 3000 of the latter being of the first dimensions; and the fire of the Americans was not lefs.

The British fleet and army arrived off the Chesapeak on the 24th of October, being five days after the furrender of York Town. They foon received the unwelcome tidings; but as they were only reports, they waited fome days, until the misfortune was fully authenticated. The French fleet, fatisfied with their prefent fuccefs, made no manner of movement; and the only object of the expedition being now loft, the British commanders neceffarily returned to New York.

Such was the iffue of the Virginian war. The lofs of Lord Cornwallis's army was too heavy a blow to be foon or easily recovered. It was evident, that it muft entirely change the nature of the war on the fide of Great Britain; and that it could no longer be carried on offenfively by land, at least to any confiderable extent. Indeed the furrender at York Town, may be confidered as the clofing fcene of the whole continental war in America. There are few periods in history more capable of rouzing attention and exciting reflections; whether we confider the original policy, and the difcuffions which enfued; its various events, and fudden changes of fortune; on one fide the magnitude of the preparations, and diftance of operation from the feat of power, and on the other, the difficulties, pertinacy, and final fuccefs of the refiftance; or whether we confider the effect this revolution may in future operate on the political state of the whole human race, we shall in every refpect find it extraordinary. Undoubtedly a new scene is opened.

CHAP.

T is not a little remarkable, that the riots in the year 1780, which tended to the direct fubverfion of all order and government, fhould have been the means of affording a ftrength to administration, which few other events could at that time have produced. The fcenes of enormity exhihited by those frantic rioters in the metropolis, ftruck all men with horror, and (by a natural, though a mif taken effect) inspired a general dread of all popular meetings, however legal or peaceable. These difpofitions reached to the county meetings, petitions, and affociations, and confequently to all applications for redrefs of grievance, and schemes for a reform in the reprefentation of the commons houfe of parliament.

If minifters themselves were not to be led away by fuch an opening of advantage, their retainers and partizans were lefs fcrupulous in their zeal, and too much alive to their own interefts, to flip the occafion. No means were unpraçtifed to increase the impreffions of

terror, which were already fufficiently operative. The fuccefs was equal to the induftry. They found the rich, the timid, and the indolent, already of their party; and moderate men, who are naturally lovers of order, while they could not but approve of whatever tended to the preservation of good government, did not always draw a proper line of distinction between the mad outrages of fanatics, and the fober conventions of freemen, upon their most important and dearest interests.

As the violence of party feldom admits of any great nicenefs in the means of obtaining its purpofes, fo truth, and fairness of reprefentation, were not much attended to, in the unceafing efforts ufed to profit of the prefent occafion. It was whispered, and induftriously circulated, that the oppofition were the fecret authors of the late riots; that they were the confequence of a fettled fcheme for the utter fubverfion of the ftate; that perfons of rank and condition were difguifed among the mob,

and

and were their real leaders; that the trials of the rioters would bring out the moft alarming and aftonishing difcoveries; and that French gold, American politics, and republican principles, would be found at the bottom of the whole business. A language not very remote from fome part of this, was faid to be held from fome of the feats of juftice.

Incredible and impoffible as thefe tales were, and whatever imputation it may bring upon the general stock of good fenfe of the nation, certain it is that they were not unfuccessfully propagated. The affurance on the one fide, and the credulity on the other, were fo ftrong, that the report of a nobleman of one of the first and most ancient families in the kingdom, being killed among the rioters on Black-Friars bridge, and of his body being immediately thrown over into the Thames to prevent difcovery, was not only for feveral months very generally credited, but the appearance of his name in the accounts of the public tranfactions in his county, was not able to cure the delufion; and that perfons far above the common rank, in London, were fo confirmed in the opinion, that it was with aftonishment they beheld him in the house of peers in the following winter.

The wretched timidity and imbecility of the magiftracy in the metropolis, together with that apparent weakness of the inhabitants, which, in part proceeding from that defect, and in part from that unprepared condition incident to long quiet and fecurity, had laid them open to the violence of a contemptible rabble, were topics which were applied with

great fuccefs, to fhew the insffi-; cacy, in all cafes, of the civil authority in affording protection, and the neceffity of a military force for preferving order and good government. This doctrine went likewife to reconcile the people to the authority, with which, under colour of the riots, the military power, throughout the kingdom, had been endued, of acting immediately from its own motion, independently of the civil magiftrate.

By all thefe means, operating together upon the paffions of the people, the dread of mobs, riots, and the exceffes unto which popular meetings are apt to lead, seem-ed to have abforbed all the other difcontents of the nation, which became as it were extinct and forgotten. The invincible jealoufy of military power, which had fo long characterized this country, grew familiarized to the afpect of camps and garrifons, and gradually gave way to impreffions, which, if they had been lafting, threatened the worst confequences to liberty. Any government, the worst that could be, was thought preferable to a state of anarchy; and the harfheft defpotifm did not prefent to the imagination evils fo immediately dreadful, as the fury of an enraged rabble.

Befides the effect of their real apprehenfions, fo many objects of novelty, aftonishment, and horror, ferved entirely to fill up the imagination, and to draw the attention of the people away from all other public concerns. And even when this effect was in fome degree worn away, the minds of men were ftill agitated, and their attention ftrongly drawn, by the fucceeding trials and impending fate

of