not the despicable rabble too many have supposed them to be.' In spite of this the English people thought that the war would soon be over. They were many and the Americans were few. Their soldiers were well disciplined, and the Americans had no regular soldiers at all. But the Americans were fighting for their own land, and for their liberty. Before long they issued their Declaration of Independence, declaring that they were a free

nation, and would submit to King George no longer. The Americans had a difficult battle to fight. They were sometimes victorious, and sometimes beaten. The British forces seized on New York, and kept it to the end of the war. After that the Americans surrounded a British army under General Burgoyne at Saratoga, and forced it to surrender. They had a great man to lead them, George Washington. He was not merely a good general, but he was patient

and modest, utterly regardless of himself and ready to suffer anything rather than injure his country. Yet, after two years of war, in spite of all Washington's heroism, the American army was almost starved to death. The horses died for want of forage, and for six days the men had no meat. There was scarcely a pair of shoes to be found in the whole

camp.

7. The Alliance between America and France.— Help came to the Americans from France. The French had not forgotten how the English had treated them in the last war, and they were glad to find an opportunity of taking their revenge. They engaged to make war with England till America was acknowledged to be independent. Lord North was frightened, and offered to do anything that the Americans wished if they would not ask for independence. Chatham himself could not make up his mind to agree to that. He was old and ill, and he went to the House of Lords to call on Englishmen not to give way before France. 'As long,' he said, 'as I can crawl down to this House, and have strength to raise myself on my crutches, or lift my hand, I will vote against giving up the dependency of America on the sovereignty of Great Britain.’ The Peers listened respectfully, but they could hardly hear his words. He was not what he once had been. He repeated the same sentences and could not recollect what he had intended to say. After an answer had been given him, he rose to speak again. He staggered and fell, struck down by apoplexy. His son and son-in-law-the son the

young William Pitt who was one day to be Prime Minister-hastened to carry him away. In a few days he died.

8. The End of the War.-If Chatham had been living, and had been ruling England, he could not have stopped the Independence of America. Fighting went on, and Spain joined France and America. At last an English army, under Lord Cornwallis, was

shut up in Yorktown. The Americans hemmed it in on the land side, and a French fleet blocked it up by sea. Cornwallis was forced to surrender. When the news reached England in 1782, every one knew that it was no use to struggle longer. Lord North gave up his office, and Rockinghain again became Prime Minister. Besides giving offices to his own. followers, he gave some to the chief men amongst

Chatham's followers, of whom the principal was Lord Shelburne. Before peace was made Admiral Rodney gained a great victory over the French by sea, and a large French and Spanish fleet, which was trying to take Gibraltar, had to give up the attempt in despair. Before Gibraltar was freed Rockingham died, and the king named Shelburne to succeed him. Shelburne made arrangements for peace, though the actual treaty was not signed till after he had left office. In 1783 the Independence of America was acknowledged in the treaty.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

FROM THE END OF THE AMERICAN WAR TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

(1783-1789.)

1. Shelburne turned out of Office.-Lord Shelburne did not remain Prime Minister long. The friends of Rockingham in the ministry did not like him, and they thought that the king had no right to choose the Prime Minister. Their leader, now that Rockingham was dead, was Charles James Fox, who was one of the ministers under Lord Shelburne. Fox was a great orator, and the most amiable of men. He had, however, quarrelled with Shelburne, and he and his friends resigned their posts rather than hold office under him. They were no sooner ont of office than they wanted to get back again, and though they were Whigs they actually went so far

as to make an agreement with the Tory North and his friends to attack Shelburne. All through the American War Fox had been speaking all kinds of evil of North, so that the friendship which was thus suddenly made was not likely to be respected. The two parties, however, which were led by Fox and North had together more votes in the House of Commons than the party led by Shelburne. They therefore succeeded in turning him out, and a new ministry was formed which is known as the Coalition Ministry, because Fox's friends coalesced, or joined together, with those of North.

2. The Contest between Pitt and the Coalition Ministry. The Coalition Ministry did not last long. It proposed a law about the government of India which offended a great many people, and the king turned it out of office. The king appointed young William Pitt, the son of Chatham, to be Prime Minister. No one so young as he was had ever been Prime Minister before. He was only twenty-four. Fox and North had many more votes in the House of Commons than he had, and the House voted that he ought to resign. He told them that he would not, unless they could show that he had done something wrong. Week after week the numbers who voted for him grew more, and the numbers who voted against him grew less. There were at that time a large number of members of Parliament who would vote for anybody who was likely to remain in office, because they expected to get offices for themselves and their friends, which would bring them money, and they did not care the least whether the

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