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Policy of Lord
Bute.

POLICY OF LORD BUTE.

CH. II.

The principles upon which Bute professed to conduct the administration were, as we have seen, plausible enough. His foreign policy was to be that of peace, and the abandonment of continental connections. At home, prerogative was to be rescued from the hands of faction, and restored to independence; while the system of government by bribery and corruption was wholly to cease. We shall now see how these principles were carried out. The first step towards the emancipation of prerogative, it is to be supposed, had been already taken, by the dismissal of the chiefs of parties and the introduction of new men into the principal offices of the State. Bute's reprobation of those odious means which former administrations had employed for the purpose of securing parliamentary support equally to the most wise and beneficial as well as to the worst principles of policy, seemed to evince a sincere reliance on the efficacy of his principle of government by prerogative; and it must be admitted that he did not resort to those means until he found he could not go on without them. The design of restoring peace, and severing England from a connection with German politics, was to be commended; not so his mode of carrying it into effect. In those enterprises, for the accomplishment of which he relied upon his own resources, he signally failed. But he succeeded in bringing about a peace, and detaching England from German connections, because the genius of his predecessor had foreseen, and provided the means of successfully prosecuting, the war which Bute had vainly thought evitable. The impulse which Pitt had given to the war in fact continued as long as his successor was disposed to carry it on; and thus, perhaps, in a great measure, prevented any disaster or mischance which might have resulted from inferior management.

After the conquest of Canada, Pitt had projected

1762.

WEST INDIA EXPEDITIONS.

Expedition

Martinique.

85

an expedition against Martinique, the most important French possession in the West India islands, purposing, with a view to the against Spanish war which he saw impending, that the same force should afterwards be directed against the Havannah. A squadron, under the command of Admiral Rodney, and the land forces which had been employed in North America under General Monckton, were despatched on this service; and early in the year 1762, intelligence arrived in England that Martinique, and with it, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and a chain of islands extending from Hispaniola almost to the continent of South America, had surrendered. Thus the whole of the French possessions in the Caribbean seas were reduced, for the island of Dominica had fallen a few months before. The fall of Martinique, which had been pronounced impregnable by the French engineers, produced a deep impression at Paris, and even throughout Europe. Still it was thought that the Havannah, from its great strength, might Fall of the be successfully defended. But a reinforce- Havannah. ment arriving from England, this great enterprise was undertaken with that zeal and energy which Pitt may be said to have restored to the British arms. All the difficulties which the art of the engineer could oppose to invasion, and a garrison equal in numbers to the British assailants, were not, perhaps, the most formidable obstacles which they had to encounter. A climate and a season destructive to the European frame, caused more havoc in the British ranks than the resistance of the enemy. But success at length rewarded indomitable perseverance, and the Havannah-the richest prize of the whole war, and one which determined its event as far as Spain was concerned-yielded to the British flag. Fifteen

*

* Sir R. Lyttelton to Pitt.-Chatham Corr.

86

Attack on the

REVERSES OF THE BOURBONS.

CH. II.

sail of the line, besides smaller ships and merchantmen, together with treasure to the amount of three millions sterling, formed a part of this conquest. Within a few weeks after this great event, Philippine an attack upon the Philippine islands belonging to Spain in the Indian Archipelago, which had been planned by Pitt, was carried into execution, with success, by Sir William Draper, the English officer commanding at Madras.

islands.

Thus, without a single reverse, except the occupation of St. John's, Newfoundland, by the French for a few weeks, had a series of victories effectually humbled the pride and insolence of the allied house of Bourbon. On the con

Humiliation of the house of

Bourbon. tinent of Europe, likewise, the family encountered defeat. The Spanish forces had made considerable progress in Portugal; but on the appearance of the British auxiliaries they were forced to retreat; and, in a short time, they evacuated the Portuguese territory. Frederick, with Russia at his side, instead of opposed to him, was enabled to retrieve the position he had lost the year before; and though the aid of Russia was withdrawn in the middle of the campaign, in consequence of the demise of the Crown, and another change of policy at St. Petersburg, he was still, as he had always been, more than a match for Austria alone. In Westphalia the British and Hanoverian army, under Ferdinand, were victorious. They recovered Göttingen, and thus the French were driven out of Hanover. Defeated in a pitched battle, the French army took shelter under the cannon of Cassel. The siege of Cassel was formed, and that strong garrison which formed a base for the French operations in Northern Germany, surrendered to Ferdinand. With this operation the war in Germany terminated.

Bute, whose eagerness for peace would probably have found as ready an argument in disaster as in

1762.

BUTE'S ANXIETY FOR PEACE.

87

triumph, now made overtures to France and Spain, through the medium of the Sardinian Negotiations for minister, and meeting with a ready re- peace. sponse, the preliminaries were actually arranged before intelligence could arrive in England of the result of that great expedition to the Havannah, which had been despatched by Bute himself, although planned by his predecessor. The conquest of the Philippine islands in like manner reckoned for nothing. Undertakings which had tasked the greatest abilities of both services were regarded as of no account in the negotiation; for it was agreed that any conquests made by the British arms, and not yet known—a term which was of course meant to apply to these particular enterprises-should be unconditionally restored. Grimaldi, the Spanish minister, was not so improvident. He delayed signing the preliminaries until advices should arrive from the West Indies; willing, in case of favourable tidings, to improve the position of his court in the negotiation, and calculating, as well he might, from the conduct of the British Government, that, however great the success of their fleets and armies, they would still be willing to conclude a peace upon the same terms. Nor was he altogether mistaken. Had it rested with Bute, no advantage whatever would have been demanded, in consideration of restoring all those invaluable possessions of Spain in the Indian seas, from which she derived one of her proudest titles. What were the Havannah and Manilla against the remotest chance of missing the peace? Happily, however, councils somewhat more in accordance with sober policy prevailed in the English cabinet. It was insisted upon that, for the sake of appearances at least, some equivalent should be required for such important concessions. An equivalent-a nominal one, indeedthough perhaps the best that Spain could afford, was readily yielded in the extensive but barren and

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CONDITIONS OF THE PEACE.

CH. II.

useless province of Florida; for, notwithstanding that the French Court had endeavoured to frighten the Duke of Bedford and Lord Bute with the wrath of the Marquis Grimaldi, in the event of the smallest compensation being required from Spain for the restitution of Cuba, there can be little doubt that both De Choiseul and Grimaldi were as anxious for peace as Bedford and Bute, although the Bourbon ministers acted with too much discretion and regard for the dignity of their respective courts to make it quite so manifest.

As there could be no real difficulty in the way of Treaty of peace negotiation when the party, who was in a signed. Nov. 3. position to dictate its terms, declined this advantage, and was prepared to make almost any concession, the treaty of peace was signed at Fontainebleau on the 3rd of November. The principal articles were the same as had been proposed by the French Court the year before, and modified by Pitt. The whole of the French provinces in North America were ceded, with liberty to the French settlers to retire, or, if they remained, to enjoy the unrestricted exercise of their religion. The French were confirmed in the right of fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, which they had acquired by the treaty of Utrecht. In the West Indies, England retained Tobago, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Granada; and restored Martinique and St. Lucia. In Africa, the French obtained the restitution of one of their settlements, Goree, which Pitt had refused. In the East Indies, the French were to have no military occupation, but their factories were restored.

With regard to Europe, it was agreed that France Conditions of and England should withdraw altogether the treaty. from the German war. Hesse and Hanover were to be evacuated by the French troops, together with Wesel and Gueldres, her retention of which had in the former negotiation been made a