=Spain and Holland Involved.=—­Within a few months, Spain, remembering the steady decline of her sea power since the days of the Armada and hoping to drive the British out of Gibraltar, once more joined the concert of nations against England.  Holland, a member of a league of armed neutrals formed in protest against British searches on the high seas, sent her fleet to unite with the forces of Spain, France, and America to prey upon British commerce.  To all this trouble for England was added the danger of a possible revolt in Ireland, where the spirit of independence was flaming up.

=The British Offer Terms to America.=—­Seeing the colonists about to be joined by France in a common war on the English empire, Lord North proposed, in February, 1778, a renewal of negotiations.  By solemn enactment, Parliament declared its intention not to exercise the right of imposing taxes within the colonies; at the same time it authorized the opening of negotiations through commissioners to be sent to America.  A truce was to be established, pardons granted, objectionable laws suspended, and the old imperial constitution, as it stood before the opening of hostilities, restored to full vigor.  It was too late.  Events had taken the affairs of America out of the hands of British commissioners and diplomats.

=Effects of French Aid.=—­The French alliance brought ships of war, large sums of gold and silver, loads of supplies, and a considerable body of trained soldiers to the aid of the Americans.  Timely as was this help, it meant no sudden change in the fortunes of war.  The British evacuated Philadelphia in the summer following the alliance, and Washington’s troops were encouraged to come out of Valley Forge.  They inflicted a heavy blow on the British at Monmouth, but the treasonable conduct of General Charles Lee prevented a triumph.  The recovery of Philadelphia was offset by the treason of Benedict Arnold, the loss of Savannah and Charleston (1780), and the defeat of Gates at Camden.

The full effect of the French alliance was not felt until 1781, when Cornwallis went into Virginia and settled at Yorktown.  Accompanied by French troops Washington swept rapidly southward and penned the British to the shore while a powerful French fleet shut off their escape by sea.  It was this movement, which certainly could not have been executed without French aid, that put an end to all chance of restoring British dominion in America.  It was the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown that caused Lord North to pace the floor and cry out:  “It is all over!  It is all over!” What might have been done without the French alliance lies hidden from mankind.  What was accomplished with the help of French soldiers, sailors, officers, money, and supplies, is known to all the earth.  “All the world agree,” exultantly wrote Franklin from Paris to General Washington, “that no expedition was ever better planned or better executed.  It brightens the glory that must accompany your name to the latest posterity.”  Diplomacy as well as martial valor had its reward.