r ascribing all the faults of government to an interior
cabinet. In support of this, Richmond quoted Chatham's declaration,
"that when he entered the king's closet, he found the ground rotten, and
himself duped and deceived." The measures of government were defended
by the lord-chancellor, Lord Stormont, and the Earl of Hillsborough, and
the amendment was rejected by seventy-five against thirty-one.

On bringing up the report of the address, the debate was renewed, in the
course of which William Pitt delivered a speech which was applauded by
both sides of the house. In his speech Pitt protested against the house
pledging itself by the address to continue the American war; asserted,
that no two members on the treasury-bench agreed in sentiment, or
were in heart sincere friends; denied that the war was either just or
necessary; spoke with horror of the fate which awaited the American
royalists by the capitulation of Lord Cornwallis; and expressed a hope,
that if ministers persevered in their present course, they might meet
with a fate equally severe. Burke also animadverted in glowing terms
on the capitulation of Lord Cornwallis, and the omission of any article
which would secure the American loyalists from the vengeance of their
countrymen. He remarked:--"It is a horrid spectacle which must meet the
eyes of a prince of the blood, (Prince William Duke of Clarence,) who
cannot sail along the American coast without beholding the faithful
adherents of his father hanging in quarters on every headland." This
was literally true; but the fact is, the headlands of America had been
decorated with gibbets from the very commencement of the war, and the
surrender of Lord Cornwallis had nothing to do with the matter. As for
the fall of Cornwallis, it was not an ignoble one; for his handfull of
men could scarcely have been expected to hold out against the united
arms of France and America. One member, Mr. Courtenay, in reply, justly
observed that his chains were wreathed with laurels; that he was an
ornament to his profession; and that he was entitled to the highest
dignities that could be conferred upon him by his sovereign. The report
was adopted by one hundred and thirty-one against fifty-four.

{GEORGE III. 1781-1782}

CENSURES ON RODNEY AND VAUGHAN.

On the 4th of December Burke moved for a committee of the whole house,
"to inquire into the confiscation of the effects, wares, and merchandise
belonging to his majesty's new