esenting the
bill to the king the speaker, Sir Fletcher Norton, dwelt on the
magnificence of the gift, and added that the commons were confident that
he would apply wisely what they had granted liberally. Though the court
party in the commons declared that he had not expressed the feeling of
the house, he received a vote of thanks for his speech. Towards the
close of the session Chatham was sufficiently recovered from his long
illness again to attend parliament, and moved an address to the crown to
put an end to the war. He pointed out the danger of foreign
intervention, and declared that France was already destroying our
commerce. The idea of conquering America was absurd; America would not
be conquered by the loss of ten pitched battles. He was against American
independence, but this country, he said, was the aggressor, and "instead
of exacting unconditional submission from the colonies, we should grant
them unconditional redress". His motion was negatived by 99 votes to 28.

[Sidenote: _THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN._]

A fresh plan for obtaining the mastery of the line of the Hudson was
already in course of preparation. Burgoyne, who returned home in
December, obtained the command of the northern army, and, on February
28, laid a project of campaign before the government. He proposed to
secure Ticonderoga and the lakes, and march down the Hudson to Albany,
where he was to effect a junction with Howe, previously detaching a
small force to create a diversion by advancing from Oswego and down the
Mohawk river to Albany. The object of this plan was to open
communication between New York and Canada, cut off New England from the
southern provinces, and enable Howe to operate in the south with an
overwhelming force. He pointed out the difficulties of the proposed
march and suggested alternative schemes; but his first project was
chosen by the king, and he was ordered to carry it out. The projected
campaign, if successful, would have been disastrous to the Americans.
Its success depended on Howe's co-operation. An invasion by distinct
armies, such as Burgoyne proposed, with bases far apart and acting on
converging lines, can only be undertaken with safety when
intercommunication is secure and co-operation assured. Otherwise one of
the invading armies is liable to be crushed before it can receive help
from another, specially when, as was the case here, the enemy can act on
lines interior to those on which the invaders move. Burgoyne