To the Gentlemen, Clergy, and other Voters of the Town of Preſton.

THE reſponſibility for political conduct, and perhaps for all conduct, which every Repreſentative owes in a certain degree to the nation at large, and particularly owes to his immediate Conſtituents, becomes a more forci⯑ble duty upon me from the many private friend⯑ſhips with which I am honoured among you.

The criſis in which I write is another reaſon for this addreſs. Never, ſurely, was there a time in which it was ſo important for Conſti⯑tuent and Repreſentative to underſtand each other; nor ever was there one when more ſyſtematic pains were taken to ſet them at va⯑riance.

My firſt purpoſe is to explain to you the cauſes which have induced me to withdraw myſelf from a ſtation, in which (till it is known that my offers of ſervice were rejected) I might be ſuppoſed capable of ſerving my country in her extremity with ſome effect. Theſe cauſes ſhall be ſtated faithfully. It is the intereſt and pride of the innocent and in⯑jured to be ingenuous.

[2] For the better underſtanding my caſe, it may be neceſſary to take a ſhort retroſpect of ſome of the leading principles and ſituations by which I have been governed.

I had been a member of the Houſe of Commons nearly an entire Parliament be⯑fore I became a candidate for Preſton. The teſtimony of my conduct during that time, of which I was moſt proud, was the approba⯑tion of Lord Strange, under whoſe auſpicies I firſt offered myſelf to your favour. It was my happineſs to be his relation; but it was my higheſt honour that he was my friend by choice. You knew him well—His natural affections were ſtrong; but his public virtues were inflexible; and no family connection or intereſt, unaccompanied with opinion, could have influenced his recommendation for a truſt from the people.

The ſyſtem upon which I had acted the preceding Parliament, and upon which I con⯑tinued to act in the ſeat your favour gave me, was ſhort and plain;—a conſtitutional ſupport of the Crown—a liberal reliance on thoſe who then conducted the public meaſures—but an independent claim to free opinion and free con⯑duct upon every occaſion in which my judg⯑ment called upon me to depart from my gene⯑al line.

Government gave me countenance and gave me favours; but never at the expence of thoſe principles: and I reflect with pleaſure and [3] gratitude on the ſanction you have given, Gentlemen, to this aſſertion, by having, after thoſe favours from the Crown, elected me with uncommon marks of your approbation.

Conformable to the principles I have ſtated, notwithſtanding my general ſupport of admi⯑niſtration, I had found myſelf obliged ſome⯑times to oppoſe the meaſures of the Court; particularly in the debates upon the Conven⯑tion relative to Falkland's Iſland; upon the proceedings relative to the Caribbees; and up⯑on the perpetuity of Mr. Grenville's bill. In the motion I made for the committee of en⯑quiry into the ſtate of the India Company, and through the whole progreſs of that long buſineſs, I acted without the participation of the Miniſters; and ſuch accidents of ſepara⯑tion had ariſen between Lord North (the ſup⯑poſed leading Miniſter) and me, that, although I bore reſpect to his character, no two perſons, not in direct enmity, could live at a greater diſtance. Such was my political ſituation when I was called to the American ſervice in the year 1775.

It is known to thoſe who employed me, and I have often declared it in public, that I was involuntarily called to it. I was not with⯑out profeſſional reaſons for wiſhing to decline it; but I had many others, ariſing from ſuch perſonal circumſtances as moſt naturally and ſtrongly affect the human mind—They are not unknown to you.

[4] I ſtated theſe ſentiments when the King's intention of employing me was communica⯑ted, adding, that powerful as they were, they ſhould be made ſubſervient to the principles I had ever held of a ſoldier's duty; and if his Majeſty thought me, then the laſt and humbleſt upon the liſt of his major-generals, to be neceſſary to the ſervice of the ſtate, I ſhould forego any idea of excuſing myſelf upon the plea of my private circumſtances. I was aſſured, in terms very honourable to me, that his Majeſty was decided in his choice of generals, and I immediately declared my rea⯑dineſs to obey.

Thus engaged, I reſolved to dedicate my⯑ſelf to my new ſituation. I ſaw the national objects to which it opened. I had uniformly ſupported the principle then held out by the Miniſters—the ſupremacy of the King in Parliament; and from truly public ſenſations, I endeavoured to put myſelf upon as good terms as poſſible with the Firſt Lord of the Treaſury. I ſuggeſted a command at New-York with four regiments (it was the very beginning of the troubles) with a view to ne⯑gotiation, not to arms. The idea ſeemed to be much approved; but I am not maſter of the ſecret and political circumſtances that pre⯑vented its being adopted. I am now inclined to believe that had the meaſure taken place, the war would have been prevented; or at leaſt [5] it would have begun with that important place being in the King's government.

In the courſe of the enſuing campaign (if the blockade of Boſton can be called by that name) my efforts to be of uſe in the public ſervice were not confined to the immediate line of my ſtation, but were exerted at large, and received very flattering teſtimonies of appro⯑bation at home and abroad.

Late in the winter of 1775 I returned to England. The King's Miniſters ſaw and ac⯑knowledged, that in the reaſons for that re⯑turn, my zeal for the public ſervice kept pace with the anxieties of my private ſituation. It entirely prevailed over them, when very early in the ſpring I was called upon for ſervice in Canada. It may be ſuppoſed that I ſolicited that deſtination (as by ſome it was ſuppoſed that I had ſolicited the former one). The contrary was ſo true, that I would have pur⯑chaſed a redemption from the ſervice, would my principle of public honour have permitted, with the laſt ſhilling of my military income. At the time I embarked, acute diſtemper was added to pain of mind, ariſing from the family diſtreſs I before alluded to, and the circumſtan⯑ces requiring my continuance in England were become much more affecting than the year before.

My endeavours in the campaign under Sir Guy Carleton, in 1776, were alſo thought worthy commendation; and before my re⯑turn [6] I was pitched upon for the command of the troops deſtined to make a junction with Sir William Howe from Canada.

I had now ſuſtained the ſevere private miſ⯑fortune which I had ſo long dreaded. Em⯑ployment in the field was the beſt relief that could be offered to affliction; and for the firſt time ſince the war I was earneſt to go to America.

I have ſlightly touched this progreſs of my late ſervice, to ſhew that the ſituation in which I was placed in the year 1777, was not one of private favour, court intrigue, or perſonal ambition, but naturally devolving to me from occurrences and from general opinion. Whe⯑ther that opinion was juſtly founded, this is not the place to diſcuſs. An account of the campaign, in the part where I commanded, will forth with be ſubmitted to the public in a detail of the facts proved before Parliament, and in other authentic documents. In the mean time let me be permitted to ſay, that however freely cavillers and ſpeculatiſts may have treated my military conduct, none have diſputed the prin⯑ciple and zeal which actuated my endeavours.

With thoſe claims, Gentlemen, to the coun⯑tenance and good-will at leaſt of government, I proceed to relate the treatment I received.

I had expreſſed, in my private letter from Albany to the Secretary of State, my ‘"con⯑fidence in the juſtice of the King and his Councils to ſupport the General they had [7] thought proper to appoint to as arduous an undertaking and under as poſitive a direc⯑tion as a cabinet ever framed."’ I had in the ſame letter given an opinion of the enemy's troops, upon near inſpection of their numbers, appointment and diſcipline.

Furniſhed with theſe materials, and ſup⯑ported by the fidelity with which I had acted, it was not thought expedient I ſhould have acceſs to the King. What other facts might have been cleared up by my interview, and were wiſhed not to be cleared up, the Secre⯑tary of State^* only can inform the world. Di⯑rect means of effecting my excluſion from the King's preſence were not practicable; for the caſe was unprecedented. The pretext adopted was as follows.

It was ſuggeſted that an enquiry ſhould be made by a board of General Officers into the cauſes of the miſcarriage of the Northern Ex⯑pedition; and a court etiquette was invented, the foundation of which in reaſon or pre⯑cedent I am not acquainted with, viz. that the perſons whoſe conduct was ſo put in queſtion, ſhould not appear at Court pending the enquiry. No difficulty of the competency of ſuch a court was then ſpoke of, or perhaps [8] thought of, by any but the dark deſigners of my ruin; the meaſure therefore could neither affect his Majeſty nor his Court with any idea of farther hardſhip than the delay of a few days to my appearing in his preſence.

This arrangement had been prepared by the Secretary of State, in the interval between the notice of my arrival at Portſmouth, which he received in the evening, and my viſit to him in Pall-Mall, which was before noon the next day.

It will naturally be ſuppoſed that the ſtate in which I ſtood was the firſt ſubject of converſa⯑tion; on the contrary, I was received with much apparent kindneſs; explanations paſſed, but they were friendly; I was heard attentive⯑ly, through a report of all the tranſactions ſub⯑ſequent to the Convention of Saratoga, and I was led by degrees, and without ſuſpicion of inſidiouſneſs, to the moſt confidential com⯑munication, on my part, of facts, obſervations, and opinions, reſpecting very important ob⯑jects.

If the meaſure of denying me acceſs to the King had been undecided before, this conver⯑ſation was of a nature to produce a deciſion; for it opened truths reſpecting the diſpoſitions of the people of America, and the ſtate of things there, very different from the ideas which (it is now known, from the line taken by the Se⯑cretary of State in the late enquiry) were pre⯑valent in the governing Councils of this king⯑dom.

[9] It was not 'till after the matter of my com⯑munication was exhauſted, that the Secretary of State drew from his pocket an order, that I ſhould prepare myſelf for an enquiry: at which I expreſſed my fulleſt ſatisfaction, till he follow⯑ed the order with the information of the eti⯑quette I before mentioned, that I was not to ap⯑pear at Court.

Having pitched upon this expedient for no other end than to exclude me from the preſence of my Sovereign, he could hardly be in pain about the event. If the General Officers ap⯑pointed for a Board of Enquiry, ſhould co⯑incide with the notion that my parole was of ſuch a nature as to bar their proceedings, this would put off my acceſs to the King to a very long day: but if the General Officers ſhould not enter into theſe ideas, be had a reſource left. He could not be unapprized, that ſuch a court was held by high authorities in the law to be illegal; and if I was not to ſee the King until an illegal or queſtionable court ſhould make a valid report, I was never likely to en⯑joy that honour. Either way I was not to have the benefit of an Enquiry; but he was to have the advantage of the pretence of one, in order to ſhut the door of St. James's againſt me. This has been made apparent beyond all poſſibility of doubt, by every part of his ſub⯑ſequent conduct: but at that time, though I ſaw a diſgrace was intended me, I was not able to eſtimate the full extent of it.

[10] Thus prevented in my intended appeal to the King, and as I have fatal reaſon to believe, the King's ear ſecured againſt me, attempts were not unthought of to deprive me of a voice in Parliament. A great Law Officer of the Crown, made, in the form of legal doubts, a long and methodical argument againſt my compe⯑tence to any civil duty or function: but it was not found ſo eaſy to exclude me from your ſervice, as it had been to deprive me of counte⯑nance at Court; and miniſters only ſhewed by that abortive attempt, what their motives were, in thoſe attempts in which they had been more ſucceſsful.

Though the late time of the ſeſſion, and the abſence of Sir William Howe and Sir Guy Carleton, who were ſuppoſed to be parties, furniſhed plauſible arguments for poſtponing a Parliamentary Enquiry in the ſummer of 1778, it was evident the temper of the Houſe of Commons was inclined to adopt it at the en⯑ſuing meeting.

In the beginning of June, I received the con⯑ditional order annexed. [App. No. 1.] Tho' it bears the King's name, it was avowedly a Let⯑ter of the Cabinet; and there remained no longer a doubt in my mind, that my ruin was made a meaſure of ſtate. Few adepts in the ſcience of oppreſſion could have formed a deſign bet⯑ter fitted to its end; and it was likely to be ſucceſsful, whatever part I ſhould take. If I went—my character was loſt irretrievably—the falſehoods and aſperſions that have ſince been [11] refuted in the face of thoſe who propagated them, were already gone forth: the numbers of my army, and of that oppoſed to me, were already groſsly miſtated; contradictory char⯑ges of ſloth and precipitancy, as the temper of men at the moment ſeemed inclined to either, were ſupported with uniform perſeverance:—my friends were ſtated to be my accuſers; and even my integrity, with regard to pecuniary truſts, was glanced at.

If I ſtayed, the King's order (as it was fal⯑laciouſly called) was a ſpecious topick; and it was not difficult to foreſee, that it would be put into the hands of gentlemen that well knew how to make the utmoſt of it by art and opportunity. My anſwer [App. No. 2.] drew from the cabinet their ſecond letter [App. No. 3.] and I give them the ſatisfaction of knowing, that I felt all they could wiſh I ſhould feel from the repetition of their ſeveri⯑ty. I ſaw in it at once a doubt of my veracity reſpecting my health, and the moſt contemp⯑tuous diſregard of all other principles upon which I had claimed a right of ſtaying in this country.—Fundamental principles, I thought them, of juſtice and generoſity due from all governments to thoſe who ſerve them zea⯑louſly, and in ſome governments held doubly due to ſuch as in their zeal have been unfor⯑tunate.

It muſt be obſerved, that the miniſtry kept a profound ſilence, both to myſelf and the pu⯑blic, reſpecting the ratification of the conven⯑tion. [12] The ſame ſilence they maintained even in Parliament long after its meeting. They were perfectly appriſed, that the enemy had ſome time before made the want of that rati⯑fication the ground of their refuſing to give effect to the part of the treaty which was fa⯑vourable to the troops. They knew alſo, that one of the principal objects of my return to England was to negotiate in behalf of that de⯑ſerving body of ſoldiers and ſubjects. Their deſire of my delivering myſelf into captivity, at ſuch a time, and under ſuch circumſtances, juſtified ſomething more than a ſuſpicion, that in my abſence in was intended either to lay to my charge ſome breach of faith with the ene⯑my; or to renounce the treaty from the begin⯑ning; and by my ſurrender, to transfer the act from the nation to my perſon. Theſe are the only two caſes which I believe can be produced from the hiſtory of nations, wherein an officer, who had made a convention with an enemy, had been delivered up to them. The ratifica⯑tion of the treaty afterwards is no proof that ſuch intentions did not then exiſt.

I will make no farther obſervations, gentle⯑men, upon this firſt correſpondence between the War-Office and me; nor ſhould I have troubled you with theſe, but that great pains are taken to divert the attention of the public from the pretended order, to my behaviour ſince the receipt of it. I in no wiſe ſeek to evade the public judgment upon any thing I have done: but I claim from the impartial and [13] the candid, a conſideration of the pretended or⯑der itſelf, in its principal parts, viz. the ground upon which it is founded; the novel ſpecies of cruelty which it ſuppoſes within the power of the Crown; and laſtly, the exerciſe of ſuch doctrine by men who were parties, and againſt the man whom they were called upon by their ſtation and their honour to confront.

Nothing farther paſſed during the receſs of Parliament. I availed myſelf of a diſcretio⯑nary power, as I had a right to do, and I made it no ſecret, that had a direct order been ſent me, I ſhould have laid all my commiſſions at his Majeſty's feet.

During the laſt ſeſſion of Parliament, an enquiry was inſtituted. The detail of the at⯑tempts made by the Miniſtry to defeat it, is too notorious to be neceſſary upon this occa⯑ſion. They at laſt contrived, that it ſhould be left imperfect: but in ſpight of every ma⯑nagement, it had anſwered my purpoſe ſo far, as to ſix upon record a body of evidence, that I would not exchange for all that power could beſtow. It is a juſtification of misfortune by the voice of Honour. It is there apparent what the army under my command, who felt moſt and ſaw beſt, thought of my actions.—The affections of my gallant comrades, un⯑ſhaken in every trial, labour, famine, captivi⯑ty, or death, enable me to deſpiſe the rancour of a cabal and all its conſequences.

The moſt important purpoſe of my return to England having been anſwered by this [14] vindication, I thought the ſacrifice of my com⯑miſſions, the fruits of the greateſt part of my life, not to be neceſſary. I knew by expe⯑rience, what I had to apprehend in point of health from an American winter; but I ſcorn⯑ed to plead it. Conſcious of my integrity, I abandoned my public accounts to the rigorous ſcrutiny of office; and I took occaſion publicly to declare, that ſhould it ſtill be thought expe⯑dient to deliver me back to the enemy, and a poſitive order ſhould be ſent me for that pur⯑poſe, I ſhould, as far as in me lay, obey it.

I do not believe any man who knows me doubted the ſincerity of that intention. I am perſuaded, the framers of the letter of the 24th September were particularly convinced of it. The man who embarked in the ſituation I did, in the year 1776, could hardly be ſuppoſed to want fortitude to undertake an American voy⯑age, in the ſituation in which I made the de⯑claration. An order, therefore, which I could have obeyed without committing my honour, would not have effected my ruin. Time and circumſtances furniſhed more ſecure expedients; which I ſhall now open.

Occaſions were taken to viſit my offences upon my friends. Examples reſpecting my neareſt connections need not be pointed out, when I am addreſſing myſelf to any part of the county of Lancaſter. But the principle extended far more wide; and did not the ap⯑prehenſion of farther hurting the men I love [15] reſtrain me, I could produce inſtances of hard⯑ſhip in the diſtribution of military preferments, that no impartial perſon will impute to any other cauſe than the kindneſs and friendſhip of the parties to me.

Theſe inſtances of perſecution, it was well known, affected me deeply. There were others yet more irritating.

In the courſe of the ſummer, the apprehen⯑ſions before entertained of an invaſion, by the declaration of government, became a certain⯑ty. Hardly a Britiſh ſubject could be found ſo low, ſo feeble, or even ſo profligate, as to be exempted from ſervice; while uncommon premiums were raiſed by begging, and diſtri⯑buted to volunteers, the goals, and even the feet of the gallows, were reſorted to for other recruits.

In this declared dilemma, I know govern⯑ment were not ſtrangers to my intention of fighting my own regiment as colonel; or, ſhould its deſtination not admit the honour of meeting the enemy in that capacity, of offer⯑ing myſelf as a volunteer in the ranks of any corps that might be more fortunately ſituated.

Theſe ſeveral feelings, and many others in⯑cident to an oppreſſed man, were doubtleſs duly conſidered; for at the criſis when they could operate moſt forcibly, it was thought proper moſt to inſult me; at the criſis when the King's ſervants openly announced, that not a ſhip or a ſoldier could be ſpared from our [16] internal defence, a ſentence of baniſhment was ſent me, and even that not in an or⯑der, but a reprimand—a ſubmiſſion to igno⯑miny was required of me; for to put me wholly out of a capacity to draw my ſword at ſuch a moment, was virtually, in point of diſgrace, to break it over my head. My ene⯑mies might have ſpared ſuperfluous provoca⯑tions. This alone would have ſufficed to prove their ſagacity, and to effect their purpoſe. Let it not be ſuppoſed they want knowledge of the human heart. There are among them, who can diſcern its receſſes, and have the ſkill and the triumph to make a ſoldier's honour and ſenſibility the inſtruments of his own de⯑ſtruction.

I could no longer brook the treatment I re⯑ceived. My letter, of the 9th October to the Secretary at War, [App. No. 5.] contains my general ſentiments. I ſhall now proceed to ſtate to you, the principles of my parliamen⯑tary conduct ſince my return from America, for which I hold myſelf peculiarly and ſtrictly accountable to you, and which I have only poſtponed hitherto, to avoid interrupting the relation of my other proceedings.

I am ready to confeſs that I have been a de⯑termined oppoſer of the King's Miniſters, but my oppoſition has been the cauſe and not the conſequence of my ill treatment. Severity, ingratitude, or even injuſtice, though exer⯑ciſed againſt me in the degree you have ſeen, [17] I ſhould think very inſufficient reaſons for ſuch a determination. He would ill deſerve the truſt of his country in its preſent exigen⯑cy who could act againſt men in public ſta⯑tion, upon any reſentments unconnected with public wrongs.

Gentlemen, I will take the matter ſhort. If the ſtate of the nation, in its wars; in its negociations; in its concerns with its remaining colonies; or in the internal policy and govern⯑ment of theſe kingdoms, can afford the ſmal⯑leſt countenance to an opinion of integrity and capacity in adminiſtration, I am ready to abide every cenſure for being, what I am, a deter⯑mined enemy to it. I have been in a ſituation to ſee, that in a complicated and alarming war, when unſupported by any alliances, the king⯑dom was left ſolely to its own native military force, that ſole reliance was diſcouraged and depreciated. I ſaw a ſyſtematical deſign of vilifying and diſgracing every officer whom theſe Miniſters had ever employed by ſea or land; and thoſe moſt who ſtood higheſt in the opinion of their ſeveral profeſſions. The ruin of officers forms almoſt the whole of their mi⯑litary ſyſtem; and if I have experienced my full meaſure of their hoſtility, it only ſhews the extent of their plan; having furniſhed lit⯑tle elſe than my zeal and induſtry as a title to their malevolence.

As to their political plan, its object is to impoſe upon the nation from ſeſſion to ſeſ⯑ſion. [18] Far from profiting themſelves, or ſuf⯑fering others to profit by bitter experience, they exiſt by bringing forth a ſucceſſion of de⯑ceits. I cannot ſhut my eyes againſt my own certain knowledge of ſome of the moſt fatal of theſe deceits reſpecting America; nor re⯑ſtrain my juſt and natural indignation at their effects, without forfeiting every feeling for my country.

If this explanation appears warm, be aſſured it is the warmth of conviction. Had my ſen⯑timents been leſs ſincere, my lot would have been very different.

But, in theſe times when ſo little credit is given to principle in political matters, you may perhaps be told, that I have been follow⯑ing the dictates of party, and deluded by vain expectations of popularity to ſacrifice myſelf to their purſuits. My friends, I am ſure, would treat ſuch an imputation with the ſame contempt they do every other illiberal cen⯑ſure; but I owe it to truth and propriety to juſtify them. The men with whom I have the honour to act have no objects, but to ſave their country; if they had, they might long ago have obtained them; and they would ſcorn to accept, as I ſhould to offer, an union upon any other terms than a participation of that cauſe.

My actions have been the mere reſult of my own ſentiments. My reſignation in particular was made upon the impulſe of honour as it ſtruck my own breaſt: and why ſhould it be [19] thought ſtrange? I hope that under that in⯑fluence alone, I am capable of greater efforts than any I have made in relinquiſhing the libe⯑ral accommodations of a life, to which I have been uſed; and of retreating into the compe⯑tence of a very private gentleman. It comes recommended by the reflection, that after being entruſted with a conſiderable coffer of the ſtate, and other opportunities opened of obtaining wealth at the undue expence of the public, my fortune is leſs than it would have been, had I never ſerved in the American war.

It would be very contradictory to my ſenti⯑ments of your characters to think this avow⯑al could be prejudicial to me at Preſton. In one of the moſt violent election conteſts known in England, and in ſome reſpects the moſt expenſive, the pooreſt among the voters, I mention it equally to the honour of both parties, were uncorrupted. Should therefore the integrity of my intentions appear in this appeal, and the paſt independence of my con⯑duct be conſidered as a pledge for the future, I have no fear that the reduction of between three and four thouſand pounds a year, will be an obſtruction to the honour of ſerving you.

The truſt of my country in parliament is too ſacred in my ſenſe to be renounced, while I am thought worthy to be continued in it. As for the other objects which moſt intereſt the multitude, and once intereſted me, my [20] temper or my misfortunes have made them matters of perfect indifference—My ambition is dead; my occupation is gone—the humble arrangements of my new ſtate are made; and and my whole proſpects or hopes on this ſide the grave, concenter in the preſervation of my friendſhips, and the tranquility of my conſcience.

I have the honour to be, with the trueſt reſpect, affection and attachment,