Johnson expressed it, "insulted" both Houses of
Parliament. The cowed ministry did nothing to check the
disturbance. The mob burned Newgate jail, released the prisoners
from this and other prisons, and made a deliberate attempt to
destroy London by fire. Order was restored under the personal
direction of the King, who, with all his faults, was no coward.
At the same time the Irish Parliament, under Protestant lead, was
making a Declaration of Independence which, in 1782, England was
obliged to admit by formal act of Parliament. For the time being,
though the two monarchies had the same king, Ireland, in name at
least, was free of England.
Washington's enemy thus had embarrassments enough. Yet these very
years, 1779 and 1780, were the years in which he came nearest to
despair. The strain of a great movement is not in the early days
of enthusiasm, but in the slow years when idealism is tempered by
the strife of opinion and self-interest which brings delay and
disillusion. As the war went on recruiting became steadily more
difficult. The alliance with France actually worked to discourage
it since it was felt that the cause was safe in the hands of this
powerful ally. Whatever Great Britain's difficulties about
finance they were light compared with Washington's.
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