There was a sentiment in his favor even among Americans at the time when he arrived at Boston. It was remembered that he was brother to the gallant and generous youth, Lord Howe who fell in the flower of his days, on the banks of Lake George, and whose untimely death had been lamented throughout the colonies. It was remembered that the general himself had won reputation in the same campaign, commanding the light infantry under Wolfe, on the famous plains of Abraham. A mournful feeling had therefore gone through the country, when General Howe was cited as one of the British commanders who had most distinguished themselves in the bloody battle of Bunker’s Hill. Congress spoke of it with generous sensibility, in their address to the people of Ireland already quoted, “America is amazed,” said they, “to find the name of Howe on the catalogue of her enemies—_she loved his brother_!” General Henry Clinton, the next in command, was grandson of the Earl of Lincoln, and son of George Clinton, who had been Governor of the province of New York for ten years, from 1743. The general had seen service on the continent in the Seven Years’ War. He was of short stature, and inclined to corpulency; with a full face and prominent nose. His manners were reserved, and altogether he was in strong contrast with Howe, and by no means so popular. Burgoyne, the other British general of note, was natural son of Lord Bingley, and had entered the army at an early age. While yet a subaltern, he had made a runaway match with a daughter of the Earl of Derby, who threatened never to admit the offenders to his presence. In 1758, Burgoyne was a lieutenant-colonel of light dragoons. In 1761, he was sent with a force to aid the Portuguese against the Spaniards, joined the army commanded by the Count de la Lippe, and signalized himself by surprising and capturing the town of Alcantara. He had since been elected to Parliament for the borough of Middlesex, and displayed considerable parliamentary talents. In 1772, he was made a major-general. His taste, wit, and intelligence, and his aptness at devising and promoting elegant amusements, made him for a time a leader in the gay world; though Junius accuses him of unfair practices at the gaming table. His reputation for talents and services had gradually mollified the heart of his father-in-law, the Earl of Derby. In 1774, he gave celebrity to the marriage of a son of the Earl with Lady Betty Hamilton, by producing an elegant dramatic trifle, entitled, “The Maid of the Oaks,” afterwards performed at Drury Lane, and honored with a biting sarcasm by Horace Walpole. “There is a new puppet-show at Drury Lane,” writes the wit, “as fine as the scenes can make it, and as dull as the author could not help making it.”[2] It is but justice to Burgoyne’s memory to add, that in after years he produced a dramatic work, “The Heiress,” which extorted even Walpole’s approbation, who pronounced it the genteelest comedy in the English language.