Excerpt from The New Illustrated History of England, Vol. 4 of 4

The news of the surrender of Yorktown reached England on November 25th, 1781, only two days before the meeting of Parliament. The King showed no signs of surrender, but the Opposition were in great spirits. Disasters in the West Indies continued at the close of the year and the beginning of the next. When Parliament resumed after Christmas resolutions condemning the Ministry were rejected by only small minorities. Indeed, an address moved by General Conway begging the King to put a stop to the American War was lost only by a single vote. At last on March 20th, when there was an address upon the paper begging for North's dismissal he resigned. It is said that members, anticipating a long debate, had ordered their carriages late in the evening, and that Lord North's was the only one in waiting. As he stepped into it in the midst of a heavy shower of rain, he said to his disappointed antagonists, You see, gentlemen, the advantage of being in the secret.

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