Burgoyne and his whole army had surrendered at Saratoga.
CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST GREAT BRITISH DISASTER
John Burgoyne, in a measure a soldier of fortune, was the younger
son of an impoverished baronet, but he had married the daughter
of the powerful Earl of Derby and was well known in London
society as a man of fashion and also as a man of letters, whose
plays had a certain vogue. His will, in which he describes
himself as a humble Christian, who, in spite of many faults, had
never forgotten God, shows that he was serious minded. He sat in
the House of Commons for Preston and, though he used the language
of a courtier and spoke of himself as lying at the King's feet to
await his commands, he was a Whig, the friend of Fox and others
whom the King regarded as his enemies. One of his plays describes
the difficulties of getting the English to join the army of
George III. We have the smartly dressed recruit as a decoy to
suggest an easy life in the army. Victory and glory are so
certain that a tailor stands with his feet on the neck of the
King of France. The decks of captured ships swim with punch and
are clotted with gold dust, and happy soldiers play with diamonds
as if they were marbles. The senators of England, says Burgoyne,
care chiefly to make sure of good game laws for their own
pleasure.
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