themselves with the idea that Pitt would be hurled from his eminence in a few hours. The contest was therefore continued. The house having resolved itself into a committee, Fox moved a resolution, declaring "the payment of any public money for services voted in the present session, after parliament should be prorogued or dissolved, if such events should take place before an act should have passed appropriating supplies to such services, to be a high crime and misdemeanor." This was carried without a division, and, following up his attack, Fox moved and carried, in the same manner, another resolution, deferring the second reading of the Mutiny Bill till the 23rd of February. Fox now paused, and Lord Surrey stood forward, in order to strike a more decisive blow. He moved, "That, in the opinion of the committee it was peculiarly necessary that, in the present situation of his majesty's dominions, there should be an administration which has the confidence of this house and the public." This resolution was also carried without a division; and Lord Surrey then moved, "That it was the opinion of the committee that the late changes in his majesty's councils were immediately preceded by dangerous and universal reports that his majesty's sacred name had been unconstitutionally abused to affect the deliberations of parliament, and that the appointments made were accompanied by circumstances new and extraordinary, and such as did not conciliate or engage the confidence of the house." A warm debate followed this motion, which continued till past six in the morning, when Dundas moved an adjournment, which, on a division, was lost by a majority of fifty-four—the numbers being one hundred and ninety-six to one hundred and forty-two. Nothing further, however, was done on this occasion, and the house at length adjourned at half-past seven in the morning. It met again on the 14th, when Pitt moved for leave to bring in a new bill, for the better government and management of the affairs of the East India Company. In the previous debates Pitt had declared that he had accepted office upon one single, plain, intelligible principle, by which he desired to stand or fall with the people; namely, to save the country from Fox's India Bill, which threatened destruction to its liberties. His own bill, which he explained at great length, was in its turn severely criticised by Fox. No opposition, however, was made to Pitt's motion, and it was read a first time on the 16th, with very little debate on its merits. After this, on the same night, the committee on the state of the nation resumed its functions; and Lord Charles Spencer moved a resolution, expressive of "the necessity of an administration that should have the confidence both of the house and of the country, which, as the present ministers have not, their continuance in office is contrary to constitutional principles, and injurious to the interests of the king and people." Mr. Powys, though himself in opposition, denounced this motion as premature, unprecedented, and unjust; but it was carried by a majority of twenty-one, the numbers being two hundred and six against one hundred and eighty-five. During this debate Mr. Powys expressed a wish that there should be a coalition between Fox and Pitt, and when the house met on the 20th, other members joined in this wish. Fox, himself seemed to think that their union was feasible, but Pitt repeated a declaration which had been made by his opponent on a previous evening; namely, that a union not founded on principle would be fallacious and dangerous. Pitt, indeed, was still resolved to brave the storm; for, in answer to an assertion of Fox that his majesty's ministers held their places in defiance of the opinion of parliament, he declared, "that nothing but a sense of his duty to the public kept him in office, and that he could not quit it with so much honour as attended his coming into it." Fox now altered his mode of attack. Conceiving that he should lose ground by making any more motions of a personal nature, especially before the fate of Pitt's India Bill should be decided, he set himself to work to defeat that bill. A long debate took place upon its second reading, which was on Friday, the 23rd, and on the motion for its commitment, it was rejected by two hundred and twenty-two against two hundred and fourteen. Exulting in his victory, Fox then moved for leave to bring in another bill, similar in its principles to his former one, and this being given, he called on Pitt to state explicitly whether he intended to prevent its progress by a dissolution of parliament. For a long time Pitt sat silent as a statue, nor would he have spoken at all had not General Conway rose, and, with great warmth, called upon him to explain his conduct for his own honour. But even then Pitt gave no answer to Fox's question; only rising to call General Conway to order, for asserting that the ministry, "originated in darkness and secrecy, maintained themselves by artifice and reserve, and existed by corruption;" and that they were "about to dissolve parliament, and to send their agents round the country to bribe the electors." The same question was put to Pitt on a future day, and he preserved the same haughty silence; whence, on the 26th, Mr. Eden moved a resolution, declaring the firm reliance of the house on his majesty's promise, that they should not be interrupted either by a prorogation or dissolution, from taking into consideration the regulation of the East India Company, and for supporting the public credit. In reply, Pitt observed, that he did not see how the royal word could be considered pledged to the extent of the motion; but, he added, that as a dissolution would be attended with great disadvantage, he would not advise any such exercise of the royal prerogative. Opposition might have been satisfied with this explicit declaration, but nevertheless Mr. Eden's motion was pressed and agreed to without a division. The house then adjourned to the 29th, and in the meantime a meeting of some of the leading men of both parties met at the St. Albans-tavern, in order, if possible, to bring about a coalition. At this meeting am address was agreed upon, and sent, by a deputation, to the Duke of Portland and Mr. Pitt, entreating them to communicate with each other, and expressing a hope that this would lead to a cordial co-operation. All the exertions of the St. Albans-tavern meeting, however, were unavailing. The Duke of Portland and Mr. Pitt communicated with each other, but as the former made the resignation of the latter a sine qua non, no union could be formed.

The house reassembled on the 29th, but on the motion of Fox, it was again adjourned till the 2nd of February. This adjournment was moved in order to give more time for the consideration of a union of parties; but when the house met again they were still as far from a coalition as ever. Under these circumstances Mr. Grosvenor, member for Chester, who had presided at the St. Albans-tavern meeting, moved a resolution, to the effect that the situation of public affairs required the exertions of an united administration—an administration entitled to the confidence of the people, and such as might tend to put an end to the divisions and distractions of the country. In the debate which this motion occasioned, Fox charged Pitt with preferring his own understanding to the collected wisdom of the house, and of causing a breach between the legislative and executive government. In reply, after alluding to the fact that the people were in favour of the late ministerial changes, Pitt expressed his determination not to quit office, inasmuch as he saw that nothing but evil would come from his resignation. At the same time he added, that he was but little attached to office, and that, if he could see a strong and well-connected government ready to succeed him, he would cheerfully retire. Mr. Grosvenor's motion was carried, and Mr. Coke then moved, "that it was the opinion of the house that the continuance of the present ministers in office is an obstacle to the formation of such an administration as may enjoy the confidence of the house, and tend to pacify the country." This motion was also carried, and on the next day Mr. Coke, after expressing his regret at seeing Pitt still in office, moved that these two resolutions should be laid before his majesty by those members who were of the privy-council, which motion was likewise affirmed. In order to give time for knowing what effect this communication to his majesty would produce, the committee on the state of the nation was postponed till Monday, the 9th of February; and in the meantime the house was informed by Lord Hinchingbrook, that he had laid the resolutions before the king, and that his majesty had signified his intention of taking them into consideration. But no communication was made from his majesty on this subject before the 18th, and in the interval its members were occupied in canvassing the proceedings of the upper house, and in measures of revenue and finance.

Up to this time the lords had taken no share in the struggle between the king and his "faithful commons." Pitt, however, had already commenced his career of making peers, and these, with others, now began to exhibit their zeal for his cause. Lord Howard of Effingham moved two resolutions in direct opposition to, and levelled at, those which had recently been passed by the commons. The first of these declared, that an attempt in any one branch of the legislature to suspend the course of the law was unconstitutional; and the second asserted, that the authority of appointing the great officers of the executive government was solely vested in the crown. Both these resolutions were carried by a majority of nearly two to one; and the commons thought it necessary to pass a counter-resolution, which asserted that the house had not assumed any right to suspend the execution of law, or done any thing which could be deemed unconstitutional.

On the 11th of February the subject of a union of parties was once more discussed in the commons. Fox made a conciliatory and even complimentary speech, but Pitt was still firm in his intentions. He observed, that whatever might be his disposition to coalesce with Fox, there were other persons of the same party with whom he would never act. As this observation referred chiefly to Lord North, that nobleman rose, and declared with great frankness, "that although averse from yielding to the prejudices or caprice of any individual, he would not be an obstacle to the formation of such a firm, extended, and united administration as the present state of the country required." After this the house resolved itself into a committee of supply, and the ordnance estimates were voted without a division. On the next day Lord John Cavendish moved, that the house should resolve itself into a committee on the Receipt Tax Act, and Pitt himself voted in the majority, thereby declaring his approbation of the principles of the bill.

Before his majesty made any reply to the resolutions presented to him, the St. Albans-tavern association prevailed upon Pitt to agree that a message should be sent in the king's name to the Duke of Portland, expressing a desire that his grace should hold a conference with Mr. Pitt for the purpose of forming an administration, "on a wide basis, and on fair and equal terms." This message was sent, but the Duke of Portland still required Pitt to resign before he negociated; and this attempt to form a coalition of parties proved, like the former, to be of no avail. Open war, therefore, continued between the two parties, and its violence increased when, on the 18th of February, after the order of the day had been read for taking the supplies into consideration, Pitt intimated, that his majesty had not thought proper to dismiss his ministers, in compliance with the resolution of that house, and that they had not resigned. Fox, in reply, expressed his astonishment at this declaration, and declared that such language had not been heard in the house since the revolution; and that the commons had never before received such a reply from a prince of the House of Hanover. Enraged thereby, Fox moved, that the report of the committee of supply should not be received till the 20th, which motion was carried by a majority of twelve only. The friends of Pitt saw in this small majority a ray of hope that he would ultimately triumph, and the opposition seemed to think so likewise, for some eagerly desired a compromise. Pitt, however, declared, that he would enter into no compromise or stipulation for passing the vote of supplies, and therefore he still stood upon his own grounds. On the 20th Mr. Powys moved a resolution, humbly requesting his majesty "to take such measures as might tend to give effect to the wishes of his faithful commons." This mild resolution did not please Fox and his party, and an amendment was moved to insert the following words—"by removing any obstacle to the formation of such an administration as this house has declared to be requisite in the present critical situation of affairs." As this amendment aimed at the dismissal of ministers, a long and stormy debate ensued, in the course of which Pitt delivered one of the most eloquent speeches ever uttered within the walls of the house of commons. But no eloquence could break down the obstinacy of the house; for the motion, with the amendment, was carried by a majority of twenty; and Fox, pursuing his triumph, moved and carried an address., to be presented to his majesty on his throne by the whole house, praying him to dismiss his ministers. The report of the ordnance estimates was then brought up and agreed to without a division, after which, between five and six in the morning, the house adjourned.

The address voted by the commons was presented on the 25th, when his majesty in reply, stated that he had heard no valid charge against the ministers of his appointment; that all proposals for a coalition, though seconded by himself, had proved abortive; and that he could not see in what way the public interest was likely to be promoted by the dismissal of his cabinet. He added:—"Under these circumstances, I trust my faithful commons will not wish that the essential offices of executive government should be vacated until I see a prospect that such a plan of union as I have called for, and they have pointed out, may be carried into effect." The efforts of the opposition now grew more violent. The house met on the 27th to hear the report of the king's answer; and on that occasion Lord Beaumont moved, first, that the report should be taken into consideration on the 1st of March, and then that the house should adjourn to that day. To the first of these propositions Pitt made no objection, but as the object of the second was to delay the supplies, and this delay would cause serious evils, inasmuch as they related to the navy, he strongly resisted such a hazardous measure. His arguments told even upon the opposition, for though the motion was carried, it was only by the small majority of seven; the numbers being one hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and sixty-eight. But the struggle was not yet over. On the 1st of March, Fox moved and carried another address to the king, which directly asserted the right of the commons to advise his majesty on the exercise of his prerogative, and by virtue of that right, specifically requesting him to dismiss his ministers. The commons carried this address to the king on the 4th of March, and were told in reply that his majesty still entertained the same sentiments he had formerly expressed. On the same evening it was agreed, upon the motion of Fox, that this reply should be taken into consideration on Monday, the 8th of March. In the meantime Pitt was once more defeated. On the 5th, Fox moved that the committee on the Mutiny Bill, which stood for that day, should be adjourned till Monday, which was carried by a majority of nine; the numbers being one hundred and seventy-one against one hundred and sixty-two. But this was Fox's last triumph in this memorable struggle. On Monday the house was crowded to excess. Strangers had even taken their seats in the gallery as early as ten o'clock in the morning, in expectation of witnessing this last struggle in the trial of the two great parties in the house of commons. Before the debates commenced, however, Sir James Lowther, after complaining that he had not been able to find room for a friend, and stating that he had reason to believe there were strangers there not introduced by members, insisted upon the standing order of the house for excluding all strangers being carried into execution; and the gallery was forthwith cleared. When this was done, Fox, after accusing his sturdy opponent with insolent and unconstitutional conduct, declaring that a union of parties was now impracticable, and lamenting the disgrace and ruin which this struggle had brought upon the country, moved, as a last measure, another address to the throne, which repeated at greater length the prayer for the removal of ministers; expressing the surprise and affliction of the house at receiving the answer to its former address, and vindicating the loyalty of the commons, who were said to be incapable of desiring to lessen the prerogative of the crown. Pitt sat silent, and the task of defending the conduct of ministers fell upon Dundas, who did so with great ability. The debate lasted till midnight, when the house became impatient to divide. It was an anxious moment for both parties, and loud and vociferous were the cheers on the ministerial benches, when it was found that Fox had this time only a majority of one in his favour; the numbers being one hundred and ninety-one against one hundred and ninety. The struggle was, indeed, now over; for the opposition acknowledged the majority of one only as a defeat. Henceforth they tried no more divisions: the Mutiny Bill and supplies were voted readily, and the Appropriation Act was no more brought forward. Pitt's triumph was complete: and yet he deemed it prudent to strengthen his cause by a new election; lest the opposition should again rally and retard his measures. Reports to this effect were soon spread abroad, and the subject was brought before parliament on the 22nd of March, by Sir Grey Cooper, who declared that such a step would be both daring and unwarrantable under present circumstances. The subject was renewed on the next day, when the report of the committee of supply was to be brought up, but though Pitt was eagerly questioned on the subject by Lord North and other members of the house, he still preserved silence. The house, however, did not have to wait long for the confirmation of the report. On the 24th, the king went down to the house of lords, and put an end to the session by prorogation; at the same time declaring that he felt it to be a duty which he owed to the constitution and the country, to recur to the sense of his people, by convoking a new parliament. The sentence of dissolution was soon pronounced, for it appeared in the next day's Gazette.



A GENERAL ELECTION.

Pitt had good reasons to believe that a general election would result greatly in his favour. There can be no doubt, indeed, that if he had adopted such a measure at the first, that he would have been spared the trouble of contending with the opposition. At the same time if parliament had been dissolved on an earlier day, it is probable that he might not have had such bright prospects for the future. Every day his conduct seemed to gain him friends among the people; while on the other hand the popularity of his rival rapidly decreased. There were two grand causes which led to the decay of the popularity of Fox; namely, his coalition with Lord North and his party; and his India Bill, which arrayed against him not only the influence of the East India Company, but also of almost all the good citizens of London. The city of London had, indeed, showed much sympathy with the youthful premier, Pitt, in this memorable struggle. At the latter end of February, they voted him the freedom of the city, which they presented to him in great state at the house of Lord Chatham, in Berkeley-square, whence he was conducted by the committee to a grand dinner at the Grocers'-hall. What sentiments were entertained towards him may be gathered from the speech which Wilkes, the chamberlain of the city, made on this occasion. After lavishing much praise on Pitt, he thus alluded to the parliamentary contest, which was then at its height:—"I know, sir, how high you stand in the confidence of the public: much is to be done, but you have youth, capacity, and firmness; it is the characteristic of a true patriot never to despair. Your noble father, sir, annihilated party; and, I hope you will, in the end, bear down and conquer the hydra of faction, which now rears its hundred heads against you. I remember his saying, that for the good of the people he dared to look the proudest connexions of this country in the face: I trust that the same spirit animates his son: and as he has the same support of the crown, and of the people, I am firmly persuaded that the same success will follow." But the sentiments which the people of England entertained towards Pitt and his rival were more fully manifested, during, and by, the results of the election. The Pitt candidates were returned on every hand by triumphant majorities, and not less than one hundred and sixty of the old members of opposition lost their seats, and were sent back to private life with the ludicrous appellation of "Fox's Martyrs." But it must not be supposed that this result was entirely owing to the popularity of the young premier. The press, that mighty engine for good or evil, had been set to work to undermine the power of the coalition, and lampoons and satires on Fox and North had been printed daily and scattered throughout the country. Moreover, as Pitt had from the first contemplated a dissolution of parliament, every influence which a government could command had been employed in his favour. Finally, the youth of Pitt, and the bold stand he had made against his opponents, had a powerful tendency to gain him the support of the nation. Though inexperienced, men saw in him the future champion of parliamentary reform; and the powerful antagonist of that aristocratic confederacy, against which his father had exerted his talents. The star of Pitt was, in truth, in the ascendant; while that of his rival set in gloom. Fox was returned to parliament, but it was with some difficulty that he obtained a seat. He was a candidate for Westminster, and had a majority on the poll over Sir Cecil Wray, but the high-bailiff, by a scandalous partiality, refused to make a return in his favour. Fox brought an action against the bailiff in the court of king's bench, and obtained considerable damages; and in the meantime, he secured a seat for the borough of Kirkwall, in Orkney, by which he exposed himself to the ridicule of his enemies as a person banished to the "Ultima Thule."

{GEORGE III. 1784-1786}



MEETING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT.

The meeting of the new parliament took place on the 18th of May. In his speech, the king expressed great satisfaction at meeting the house at this time, after having recurred, in so important a moment, to the sense of his people; and recommended to their most serious consideration the framing of suitable provisions for the good government of our possessions in the East Indies. The addresses in both houses contained strong expressions of gratitude to the king for having dissolved the late parliament; and amendments to omit these expressions, on the ground of unanimity, were negatived by large majorities. The attention of the house was first directed to the conduct of the high-bailiff of Westminister, in refusing to make the return in favour of Fox; and he was directed to attend at the bar of the house to defend his conduct. In his defence, he said, that having ground to suspect the validity of many votes, taken in the course of a poll of six weeks' duration, he had granted a scrutiny, and that he could not make the return till this scrutiny terminated. Counsel was heard on both sides as to the legality of his conduct; and after long pleadings, it was moved and carried, that "the high-bailiff do proceed in the scrutiny with all possible dispatch," thereby justifying the unwarrantable step he had taken. The principle of party spirit prevailed over a sense of justice, for the scrutiny of an election is nothing more than a revision of the poll itself, and if such revision cannot be completed before the period at which the writ is returnable, he is bound by his office and oath to make the return agreeably to the poll as actually taken. So the counsel on the side of Fox argued; but the justice of the house was set aside by the spirit of party, if not revenge.



ACTS TO PREVENT SMUGGLING, ETC.

At this time there was a deficiency of three millions a year in the revenue of the country. This was principally owing to a failure in the estimated produce of taxes imposed by Lord North during the war with America. There were, however, other causes at work to produce this deficiency, and not the least among them was the universal practice of smuggling. This practice was, indeed, at the close of the American war, carried on to an almost incredible extent; government being too much employed to keep a strict watch over the trade of the country. It is calculated that forty thousand persons were thus engaged; and Pitt deemed it expedient to bring in a bill for the prevention of smuggling in general, and then to propose regulations applicable to those articles which formed its principle support. By the bill for the prevention of smuggling, the right of seizing certain vessels with their cargoes, under particular circumstances, was greatly extended; the building of such vessels was prohibited; the owners of armed vessels were obliged to procure licences; the rules respecting clearance were enlarged; and the act of resisting his majesty's ships and officers was made a capital felony. In order to aid this bill, Pitt brought forward two others: one directed against contraband trade in tea, and the other against that in spirits. That with reference to tea was of great importance, for it was at this time considered a staple commodity of the smuggler. In fact, more than seven million pounds of that article were smuggled into the country annually; while only about five millions were sold by the East India Company. To prevent this evil, Pitt proposed to reduce the duty upon tea from fifty to twelve and a half per cent., which was not more than equal to the expense of smuggling. The same principle was maintained in the bill directed against the contraband trade in spirits. Great frauds had been committed on the distilleries at home; and Pitt proposed a bill by which the duties payable on British spirits were regulated and enforced; while those on foreign duties were considerably reduced. As these reductions, and especially on the article of tea, would occasion a great loss to the revenue, Pitt proposed to increase the tax on windows in proportion. All these resolutions were passed, after much debate in the commons, by large majorities; and they met with little or no opposition in the house of lords.



THE BUDGET OF 1784.

On the 30th of June, Pitt produced what is called the budget, which included the subject of taxation. In his speech he discussed the ways and means for defraying the expenses of the services of the present year; the loan; the funding a portion of the unfunded debt; and new taxes. A loan of six millions was found requisite for the current services of the year, besides the ordinary sources of income; and this he proposed to throw open to public competition; the biddings being sent in, sealed up, and afterwards opened in the presence of the governor and deputy governor of the Bank of England. At this time the navy and victualling bills, with the ordnance debentures, which formed a considerable part of the unfunded debt, amounted to about fourteen millions; nearly the half of which he proposed to fund at five per cent, stock, and to make irredeemable for thirty years, or until twenty-five millions of the existing funds should be extinguished. Beyond this, there was in the market about seven millions in bills and debentures, which bore an interest of four per cent. These bills, with the new fund and the new loan, required an interest of nearly one million pounds sterling; and Pitt undertook to find taxes which should produce that sum. He proposed duties on hats, ribands, coals, gauzes, horses, linens and calicoes, candles, bricks and tiles, paper, and hackney-coaches; and he also proposed licences to dealers in exciseable articles, and certificates to kill game. In commenting upon these taxes, the young premier observed:—"It would be idle to suppose that all the taxes in this long catalogue were unexceptionable; but the necessities of the public leave us no option to deal otherwise than openly and fairly. The wants of government are many; the finances of the country have been much reduced; and it is proper to look our real situation manfully in the face." Pitt could speak and act the more boldly because the necessities of the government were not of his own creation; and his manliness, together with the ability he displayed in his financial detail, gained for him the applause even of his most determined opponents. Fox said, with reference to his management of the unfunded debt, that "too much praise could not be given him." The only tax, indeed, which met with decided opposition, was that on coals, which was justly represented as oppressive to the poor, and injurious to our manufactures. This he relinquished, as he did also that on hops, which was to have been included in the exciseable articles, introducing in their stead, taxes on gold and silver plate, lead exported, race-horses, licences to sell ale, and postage of letters. Pitt also introduced regulations regarding the privilege of franking, which were calculated to increase the revenue of the post-office. On the whole, the introduction of this budget, though the nation was already exhausted by taxes, had the effect of greatly increasing the youthful premier's popularity.



PITT'S INDIA BILL.

In the midst of this popularity, Pitt brought forward his celebrated India Bill. This may be considered under three separate heads. 1. A new establishment at home, with powers extending over the affairs of the East India Company. 2. Regulations to be applied to India. 3. The erection of a court in England for the trial of offences committed in India.

The first of these heads consisted of a board of control, which was to be composed of six commissioners, holding the rank of privy-counsellors, and comprising the chancellor of the exchequer and one secretary of state; and four others holding offices of such emolument as precluded the necessity of a salary. The members of this board were to be appointed by the king, and removable at his pleasure; and they were authorised to check, superintend, and control the civil and military government, as well as the revenues of the company. It was their duty also to inspect and countersign all the despatches transmitted by the court of directors to the different presidencies. The directors were enjoined to pay all due obedience to the orders of this board, touching the civil and military government and revenues; but in case such orders should at any time in the opinion of the directors, relate to matters not connected with these points, they were left at liberty to appeal to his majesty in council, whose decision was to be final. In all cases of secrecy, and particularly such as related to peace or war with the native powers of India, the commissioners were to have the power of sending their orders to the local government of India, through a secret committee of the court of directors, which committee could in this case only be considered as the vehicle of instruction to the local authorities of India.

The regulations applicable to India related to the government. Pitt proposed that the government in each of the three stations should consist of a president and counsellors; that the president of Bengal should be governor-general; that the commander-in-chief should be one of the council, and next to the governor-general; and that the commander-in-chief at Madras and Bombay should take similar rank at each of those stations. The government of Bengal was to have control over the other presidencies, and the appointment of governors, commanders-in-chief, and other members of the council, was to be vested in the directors; they, together with the king, having the power of recalling the governor-general, as well as every other person employed by the company. All promotions, whether civil or military, were to be made according to seniority, and in progressive succession, unless for some urgent case to be transmitted to the directors; and each government was empowered to apprehend all persons guilty of carrying on an illicit correspondence, and either bring them to trial in India or send them to England. In order to prevent ambitious projects, the supreme government was not permitted to enter into an offensive treaty, or to make war, without the command of the directors, against any power which had not commenced, or given full proof of its intention to commence hostilities. Provisions were also inserted in this bill relative to the settlement of disputes with the Nabob of Arcot, and the redress of complaints of injustice and oppression, exercised against the Zemindars, or great hereditary landholders of India, who had either been dispossessed of their lands, or subjected to exorbitant demands, by the officers of the East India Company. This part of Pitt's bill also regulated the ages at which writers and cadets should be appointed, as well as the number proper to be sent out; prohibited the acceptance of presents; and required that all servants of the company should, after the 1st of January, 1787, deliver an oath within two months after their arrival in England, respecting what part of their property was, and what was not, acquired in India.

In the third part of Pitt's bill, he proposed that a high tribunal should be created for the trial of Indian delinquents, which tribunal was to consist of three judges, one from each court; of four peers, aad six members of the House of Commons, who were authorised to act without appeal; to award, in case of conviction, fine or imprisonment; and to declare the party convicted incapable of again serving the company. No person, holding any office under the crown during pleasure, or who had ever been in the Indian service could become a member of this court.

Such were the three grand features of Pitt's India Bill. As might have been expected, his opponents were sedulous in pointing out its defects. Burke, who had no mean share in the composition of Fox's India Bill, the great outcry against which had been that it went to increase, in a most dangerous degree, the influence of the minister, said, that Pitt's bill, in reality, vested in the crown an influence paramount to any that had been proposed by the bill of his opponent. On this subject, also, Fox remarked:—"By whom is this board of superintendants to be appointed? Is it not by his majesty? And is not this giving power to the sovereign for the ends of influence, and for the extension of that system of corruption which has been so justly reprobated? The last parliament, to their immortal honour, voted the increasing influence of the crown to be inconsistent with public liberty. The right honourable gentleman, in consequence of that vote, finds the influence probably unequal to the great objects of his administration. He is therefore willing to take the present opportunity of making his court where he knows our late doctrine will never be acceptable; and the plain language of the whole matter now is, that the patronage of India must be appended to the executive power of this country, which otherwise will not be able to cany on schemes hostile to the constitution, in opposition to the house of commons." Fox objected to the bill on other grounds. He remarked, that the bill established a weak and inefficient government, by dividing its powers—to the one board belonged the privilege of ordering and contriving measures; to the other, that of carrying them into execution. Theories, he said, which did not connect men with measures, were not theories for this world: they were chimeras with which a recluse might divert his fancy, but they were not principles en which a statesman would found his system. He maintained, that by the negative vested in the commissioners, the chartered rights of the company, on which stress had been laid, were insidiously undermined and virtually annihilated. Founded on such heterogeneous principles, how, he asked, could such a government be other than the constant victim of internal distraction? As for the appeal allowed from the decisions of the board of control to the privy-council, that was only the appeal from the aggressor transformed into the character of a judge, and was therefore in the highest degree nugatory and ridiculous. Against the clauses of the bill respecting the Zemindars, Fox entered his strong protest. In his opinion they ought to be rated by a fixed rule of past periods, and not of a vague and indefinite future inquiry. He stigmatized the new tribunal as a screen for delinquents, and as a palpable and unconstitutional violation of the sacred right of a trial by jury. As no man was to be tried but on the accusation of the company or the attorney-general, he contended, that the delinquent had only to conciliate government in order to his remaining in perfect security. He would venture, he said, to pronounce this part of the general system of deception and delusion, a "bed of justice," where justice would for ever sleep. With regard to the East India charter, Fox insisted that it was as much violated by this bill as by his own; but on this important point, at least, the difference was palpable and striking; for while Fox's bill took away commerce from the company, the other left it solely in their hands. By Pitt's bill, indeed, the management of their commercial concerns was guaranteed to them, and they were only divested of that political power which they had abused, and of that civil authority which for a series of years they had shown themselves to be incompetent to exercise, Many other objections were started, and during the progress of the bill through the house, several amendments were moved and adopted, but its main features were preserved, and the bill finally passed both houses with triumphant majorities. In the whole, twenty-one new clauses were added to the bill, which were distinguished by the letters of the alphabet; and Sheridan humourously suggested that three other clauses should be affixed, in order, as he observed, "to complete the horn-book of the present ministry;" The minority in the lords, in a protest, branded the bill as a measure ineffectual in its provisions, unconstitutional in its partial abolition of the trial by jury, and unjust in its inquisitorial spirit. But though Pitt's scheme was not perfect, yet in many points of view it was preferable to that of Fox; and even its errors were magnified by the prejudice of party spirit.



BILL FOR THE RESTORATION OF FORFEITED ESTATES IN SCOTLAND.

The last measure which came before parliament during the present session was a bill introduced by Mr. Dundas, for the restoration of estates in Scotland to the heirs of those who had forfeited them in the rebellions of 1715 and 1745. In making this proposition, Mr. Dundas declared that it was, in his opinion, worthy of the justice and generosity of the house. There was not one of the families comprehended in the scope of it, he said, in which some person had not atoned for the crimes and errors of his ancestors, by sacrificing his blood in the cause of his country; and he declared that the sovereign had not, for a long series of years past, a more loyal set of subjects than the Highlanders and their chieftains. He did not, however, propose that the estates should be freed from the claims existing against them at the time of their forfeiture, as this, he argued, would be establishing a premium for rebellion. Such sums, amounting to about L80,000, he suggested, should be appropriated to public purposes; L50,000 of which he recommended should be employed in the completion of the grand canal reaching from the Frith of Forth to that of Clyde. This liberal measure was received in a manner that did honour to the feelings of the house; the leaders of both parties joining in eulogising it. The bill passed the commons without any opposition; but when sent to the lords it met with a most determined resistance from the restored chancellor Thurlow, who expatiated on the ancient maxim that treason was of so deep a dye that nothing but the total eradication of the person, name, and family out of the community was adequate to its punishment. On a division, however, Thurlow was left in a great minority, and the bill passed, much to the satisfaction of the public.



PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued on the 20th of August, the king expressing his warmest thanks to both houses for their zealous and diligent attention to the public service. His majesty dismissed his parliament with the satisfactory conviction that he had established a ministry to his own mind, and that he had nothing more to fear from the coalition which had so long disturbed his peace. At the close of the session, indeed, the popularity of Pitt was at its height, and his power was established—a power which remained unbroken for seventeen long and eventful years.

{GEORGE III. 1784-1786}



THE STATE OF IRELAND.

At this period Ireland was in a very disturbed state. During the year 1783, an assembly of delegates, from the volunteer corps, assembled in the provinces of Antrim, Ulster, Leinster, and Munster, for the pur-pose of consulting on measures proper to be adopted to effect a reform in parliament, and a national convention was appointed to be held at Dublin on the 10th of November. Such was the posture of affairs when the Irish parliament, which had been recently elected, met on the 14th of October. The first measure of this parliament was to vote thanks to the different volunteer corps for their public services; after which, a resolution, proposed by Lord Mountmorres, "that, in the present state of the kingdom, it was expedient that there should be a session of parliament held every year," received the sanction of both houses.

The national convention assembled on the day appointed; and the Earl of Charlemont, generalissimo of the volunteer corps throughout the kingdom, was elected president. At this meeting the Bishop of Deny moved that a committee should be appointed to digest a plan of reform. This motion was adopted; and in a short time the committee thus reported their opinion:—'"That every protestant freeholder or leaseholder, possessing a freehold or leasehold for a certain term of years, of forty shillings value, resident in any city or borough, should be entitled to vote in the election of member for the same that decayed boroughs should be enabled to return representatives by an extension of franchise to the neighbouring parishes; that the suffrages of the electors should be taken by the sheriff or his deputies on the same day, at the respective places of election; that pensioners of the crown, receiving their pensions during pleasure, should be incapacitated from sitting in parliament; that every member of parliament accepting a pension for life, or any place under the crown, should vacate his seat; that each member should subscribe an oath that he had, neither directly nor indirectly, given any pecuniary or other consideration, with a view of obtaining the suffrage of any elector; and that the duration of parliament should not exceed the term of three years." This report was received with applause, and resolutions to the effect were passed unanimously.

On the next day Mr. Flood moved, in the Irish house of commons, for leave to bring in a bill for the more equal representation of the people in parliament; a motion which was rejected by a large majority, as the proposal was made at the point of the bayonet. After this an address to the king was voted in both houses, expressive of the sense of the blessings they enjoyed under his auspices, and assuring him that they were determined to support inviolate the present constitution with their lives and their fortunes.

The conduct of the Irish parliament was reported to the national convention by Mr. Flood on the 1st of December, when a resolution was simply passed to the effect, that they would individually carry on such investigations as might be necessary to complete the plan of parliamentary reform. The convention seems to have thought that they were going too far, and that it would be better somewhat to retrace their steps, for on the next day an address was voted to the king, on the motion of Mr. Flood, in the name of the delegates of all the volunteers of Ireland, expressive of their loyalty and duty; claiming the merits of their past exertions, and imploring his majesty, that their humble wish to have certain manifest perversions of the parliamentary representation of that kingdom remedied by the legislature, in some reasonable degree, might not be attributed to any spirit of innovation, but to a sober and laudable desire to uphold the constitution, to confirm the satisfaction of their fellow-subjects, and to perpetuate the union of both kingdoms. On the 13th of March, in the following year, Mr. Flood renewed his motion for parliamentary reform, which was again rejected; and then the object was relinquished in despair.

The people of Ireland, however, were not yet quiet. They had many grievances which required redress; and it can form no matter of wonder that they lifted up the voice of complaint. Their next call was for protecting duties, to foster the infant manufactures of that country, and to compel the inhabitants to consume the produce of native ingenuity and industry. This subject was brought before the Irish house of commons on the 31st of March, by Mr. Gardiner, who implored the house to copy the conduct of England, France, and other countries in this respect; and moved for a high duty on woollens imported into the kingdom. This motion was rejected by a large majority; and the disappointment of the people was now kindled into rage. So critical was the state of Dublin at this period, that it was deemed necessary to countermand the embarkation of several regiments destined for the East Indies, and to furnish the garrison in that city with an extraordinary supply of powder and ball. Before the session was closed, the people were somewhat appeased by an address which was voted to the king, and which represented the distressed state of the kingdom, and prayed for the establishment of a more advantageous system of commerce between Ireland and Great Britain; but there were still restless spirits in that unhappy country, and these sought again to disturb the public mind. On the 7th of June, a meeting of the aggregate body of the citizens of Dublin was convened by the sheriffs, and in which resolutions were passed declaratory of the right of the people of Ireland to a frequent election and an equal representation. In an address to the people of Ireland, this meeting proposed the election of five delegates from each county, city, and considerable town, to meet in Dublin on the 25th of October, in national congress. Resolutions similar to those passed by this meeting were agreed to at a general meeting of the freeholders of the county of Dublin, which was held on the 9th of August; and a petition was also voted by these freeholders, praying a dissolution of parliament. These measures met with decided opposition from the government of Ireland. The 20th of September having been fixed upon as the day for electing five delegates to represent the city of Dublin in national congress; before that day arrived, Mr. Fitzgibbon, the attorney-general, wrote a letter to the sheriffs, threatening them with a prosecution if they should take any part in the election. This menace alarmed the sheriffs, and prevented their interference; but the delegates were chosen, and a resolution was passed, declaring the conduct of the attorney-general to be a violation of Magna Charta. The attorney-general filed informations against the high-sheriffs of various counties for convening and presiding at similar meetings; but the national congress met, and passed several resolutions, importing that the appointment of that assembly, and the steps that had been taken, were in conformity with the constitution of Ireland; after which this congress adjourned to the 25th of January. On the same day that the Irish congress met, the second session of the parliament of Ireland commenced, when Mr. Orde, secretary to the lord-lieutenant, laid before the house a series of commercial regulations, which had been digested during the recess into a regular system. Two plans were formed; one of which was a system of mutual prohibition, and the other a system of mutual admission. Mr. Orde moved eleven propositions in conformity to the latter, which were all ratified by a decisive majority, after much violent discussion.



MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

{A.D. 1785}

Parliament reassembled on the 25th of January. In his speech, the king alluded to the success which had attended the financial measures of the last session, as an encouragement for parliament to renew the consideration of such salutary objects; and he recommended the two houses to apply their utmost attention to the adjustment of such points in the commercial intercourse between this country and Ireland, as were not yet finally arranged. In both houses the addresses were carried without a division.



THE WESTMINSTER SCRUTINY.

The first business which engaged the attention of the house, was the state of the Westminster scrutiny, which had now continued for eight months, at a great expense, and only two parishes out of seven had been gone through. It was calculated that as one of the parishes scrutinized was a small one, it would take three years to scrutinise the whole. Under these circumstances, the electors petitioned the house on the subject, and the high-bailiff and his counsel were in consequence examined at the bar of the house, touching the practicability of proceeding with greater dispatch. The high-bailiff frankly confessed that it would not take less than two years to finish the scrutiny; and Mr. Welbore Ellis, now in opposition, moved that he should obey the writ, and make a return of the precept; that is, that he should declare those elected who stood highest on the poll. This was negatived by one hundred and seventy-four against one hundred and thirty-five; and another motion, of a similar tendency, moved by Colonel Fitzpatrick, at a subsequent date, was likewise rejected, though only by a majority of nine, the numbers being one hundred and forty-five against one hundred and thirty-six. This small majority was ominous, inasmuch as it indicated that there was a change in public opinion upon the subject; and encouraged by it, on the 3rd of March, Alderman Sawbridge brought forward the motion for the third time. Pitt, whose proceedings on this subject reflect no credit on his feelings, moved the question of adjournment upon this repeated motion, and had the mortification of being left in a minority of thirty-eight; the numbers being for the adjournment one hundred and twenty-four, and against it, one hundred and sixty-two. After this the main question was put and carried without a division; and on the next day Lord Hood and Mr. Fox were declared duly returned. Yet the house, while it condemned the scrutiny as inexpedient, still maintained its legality; for when, on the 9th of March, Mr. Francis moved a resolution for expunging that of the 8th of June preceding, by which it was authorised, he was left in a minority of one hundred and thirty-seven against one hundred and forty-two. It is said that Mr. Pitt engaged in this discreditable affair from the conviction, that, within a reasonable time, a decided majority of legal votes would be substantiated in favour of Sir Cecil Wray; but it would rather appear that it was from the enmity which he bore to his rival, Fox. This, indeed, is borne out by the debates on the subject, for the speeches of Pitt teem with bitter invective against his opponent; which, perhaps, may have been a leading cause in the change of sentiments that took place among the young premier's friends. There is in the nature of man, enlightened by education, an utter abhorrence to the spirit of persecution; and it must be confessed that Pitt exhibited much of that spirit in this affair of the Westminster scrutiny. And that Fox was looked upon in the light of a martyr is evident from the words of Pitt himself. In one of his speeches, having accused his rival of filling his speech with everything that was personal, inflammatory, and invidious, he remarked:—"I am not surprised if he should pretend to be the butt of ministerial persecution; and if, by striving to excite the public compassion, he should seek to reinstate himself in that popularity which he once enjoyed, but which he so unhappily has forfeited. For it is the best and most ordinary resource of these political apostates to court, to offer themselves to persecution for the sake of the popular predilection and pity which usually fall upon persecuted men; it becomes worth their while to suffer, for a time, political martyrdom, for the sake of the canonization that awaits the suffering martyr; and I make no doubt the right honourable gentleman has so much penetration, and at the same time so much passive virtue about him, that he would be glad not only to seem a poor, injured, persecuted man, but he would gladly seek an opportunity of even really suffering a little persecution, if it be possible to find such an opportunity." In this extract is at once seen the animus by which Pitt was actuated in this contest; and the light in which the house and the public were disposed to look upon the object of his unseeming vindictiveness. A generous conqueror never persecutes, or exults over a fallen enemy.



PITT'S REFORM BILL.

These petty and unworthy proceedings were followed by a subject more worthy the attention of the statesman. Pitt had twice failed in his attempts to reform the house of commons, but, notwithstanding, he still determined to persevere, having pledged himself "as a man and a minister," to promote this great cause. He renewed the subject on the 18th of April, when he brought forward a plan of reform: the specific proposition of which was to transfer the right of election from thirty-six rotten boroughs to the counties and great unrepresented towns; giving a compensation in money to the owners and holders of the rotten boroughs so disfranchised; the bill also proposed to extend the right of voting in county elections to copyholders. It has been doubted whether Pitt, at this time, had any sincere desire for parliamentary reform, although he had pledged himself to exert his influence to the utmost for securing the measure. There does not seem, however, to be any good reason for this doubt; for it is a well-known fact that he brought it forward, if not in direct opposition to the wishes of the king, yet at least without his expressed approbation. Knowing the aversion which his majesty felt to disturb this part of the constitution, he laid the heads of his plan before his royal master, from whom he received this honest and candid reply;—"Mr. Pitt must recollect that though I have ever thought it unfortunate that he had early engaged in this measure, yet I have always said, that as he was clear of its propriety, he ought to lay his thoughts before the house; that out of personal regard to him, I would avoid giving an opinion to any one, on the opening of the door of parliamentary reform, except to him: therefore I am certain Mr. Pitt cannot suspect me of influencing any person on this occasion. If others choose, for base ends, to impute such a conduct to me, I must bear it, as former false suggestions." Yet, notwithstanding the king was so cold upon the subject, Pitt brought it forward with great energy in the house. At the same time, his speech seemed to indicate that he was not sanguine of success, although he felt assured that the minds of men were more enlightened upon the subject than at any former period. He remarked:—"The number of gentlemen who are hostile to reform, are a phalanx which ought to give alarm to any individual upon rising to suggest such a measure. Those who, with a sort of superstitious awe, reverence the constitution so much as to be fearful of touching even its defects; have always reprobated every attempt to purify the representation. They acknowledge its inequality and corruption, but in their enthusaism for the grand fabric, they would not suffer a reformer, with unhallowed hands, to repair the injuries which it has suffered from time. Others, who, perceiving the deficiencies that have arisen from circumstances, are solicitous for their amendment, yet resist the attempt; under the argument that, when once we have presumed to touch the constitution in one point, the awe which had heretofore kept us back from the daring enterprise of innovation might abate, and there was no foreseeing to what alarming lengths we might progressively go under the mask of reformation." In support of his bill, Pitt argued that the plan which he proposed was coincident with the spirit of those changes which had taken place in the exercise of the elective franchise from the earliest ages, and not in the least allied to the spirit of innovation; that so far back as the reign of Edward the First the franchise of election had been constantly fluctuating; that as one borough decayed and another flourished, the first was abolished and the second was invested with the right; that even the representation of counties had not been uniform; and that James the First in his proclamation for calling his first parliament, directed that the sheriffs should not call upon such boroughs as were ruined and decayed, to send members to parliament. But no arguments could prevail; and Pitt, having made no use of his ministerial influence to bring over converts to his scheme, was doomed to suffer a signal defeat; the bill was thrown out by two hundred and forty-eight against one hundred and seventy-four; and the premier never ventured to bring the subject before the house again. Nay, in a few years he even became a determined opponent of all change or amendment in the representation. It is from this cause, chiefly, that he is suspected of insincerity at this period: but his bosom friend, Wilberforce, at least deemed him sincere upon the subject, for he writes with reference to it in his diary, that Pitt had a "noble patriotic heart;" a sentiment to which a previous private conversation gave rise. It is in the closet, when man unbosoms himself to a friend, that his real intentions are best discovered. No conclusion can, indeed, be drawn upon the matter of Pitt's sincerity from his subsequent opposition to parliamentary reform, for many causes may have operated upon his mind to lead him to change his line of conduct. He may have opposed it out of deference to his majesty, or he may, after some years' experience, have seen that the machine, as then constituted, worked better under his auspices than he had anticipated. Man is a creature of change: to-morrow he may hold opinions from conviction, the very reverse of those which he holds to-day.



PITT'S FINANCIAL MEASURES.

Early in this session, Pitt brought in three several bills for the better auditing and examining the public accounts, and for the regulation and reform of the public offices, all which bills passed with great applause; though not without some stern opposition. In connexion with this subject he mentioned, that, from an inquiry which had been instituted into the accounts of different persons from whom the sum of L40,000,000 was due to the exchequer, L257,000 was ready to be paid: he also mentioned that further sums would be recovered still, as the examination of accounts proceeded. On the 11th of April, Pitt likewise made a communication which was at once satisfactory to the house, and creditable to his financial abilities. In moving for an account of the net produce of the taxes in the quarters ending January 5th and April 5th, for the two last years, he said, that the bills passed last session for the prevention of smuggling, and the regulations adopted for the collection and management of the different branches of revenue, had worked so well that, together with the extension of trade and commerce, they had already produced such an increase in the produce of the taxes as to justify a hope that the income of the country, would, in the next year, not only equal the expenditure, but afford a surplus, which might be applied to the gradual liquidation of the debt. Yet with such a prospect Pitt found himself compelled to call for more taxes from the house. He opened the budget on the 9th of May, and in doing so he said that the supplies which had been voted amounted to L9,737,868; and that the ways and means fell short of that sum by about L1,000,000, which deficiency must be made good by new taxes. Accordingly, several new taxes were proposed; among which was a tax upon female servants, calculated to produce L140,000, and an additional tax upon servants, calculated to produce, in addition to the former one, about L35,000. Pitt also proposed a tax on retail shops, calculated at L120,000 per annum; a tax which proved particularly obnoxious, as was also that on servants. Most of the taxes which Pitt proposed, indeed, encountered much opposition; but the bills enacting them were carried after several divisions, with, however, some modifications, in order to obviate some of the principal objections. The modifications introduced were likely to render them less productive than Pitt originally expected; and to supply this deficiency, taxes on attorneys and on warrants were imposed; the game duty was increased, and coach-makers were obliged to take out a license. One great cause which led to these new imposts proceeded from the remaining part of the floating arrear of debt, consisting of navy bills and ordnance debentures, at five per cent, stock, the interest of which amounted to about L400,000 per annum. Pitt was led to the adoption of this measure because it was found that these bills and debentures had a great effect in depressing the public securities.



THE AFFAIRS OF IRELAND.

From the time that Pitt first became prime minister, the state of Ireland had occupied his anxious attention. In 1784 the Duke of Rutland had been appointed lord-lieutenant of that country, and no important step was taken by him in his government without Pitt's advice and direction. Under the guidance of the youthful premier, the duke had been enabled to check the formidable spirit of turbulence and innovation which had recently exhibited itself, and the Irish people were apparently satisfied with his government. It was manifest, however, that there was still an under-current of disaffection, and that nothing but a complete change in the commercial relations of the country could afford effectual relief to the people, and render them permanently tranquil. Under these circumstances, therefore, Pitt spent a considerable time in deliberation with influential and intelligent persons respecting a new plan of commercial intercourse between the two kingdoms; and notice of his intention was given to the large trading or manufacturing towns, and a committee of privy-counsellors was appointed to receive their information or suggestions relative to such an object. The resolutions which Mr. Orde moved in the Irish parliament, as noticed in a previous page, were the result of these conferences, and these resolutions being transmitted to the king, accompanied with an address, Pitt brought them before the British parliament. In doing so, he observed, that from the revolution up to a recent period, the system of commerce established between the two countries, had been to make Ireland subservient to the interests and opulence of England. Ireland, he said, had not been suffered to profit either by the bounties of nature or the skill of her own inhabitants. Some relaxation of this system, he admitted, had taken place at an early period of the present century; more had been done in the reign of George the Second; and within a few years, Ireland had been permitted to export her produce and manufactures, and to have a share of the colonial trade. At this moment, however, he remarked, the intercourse between England and Ireland remained on the old footing, except on trivial points; no material alteration having been made in the exportation of British manufactures to Ireland, or the importation of Irish manufactures into Great Britain. To this he attributed the dissatisfaction which existed in Ireland; suggestions having been made for subjecting our produce and manufactures to what were termed "protecting duties," for the purpose of preventing their introduction into the country. He continued, that having abandoned the old system of commercial domination, and having wisely and justly put the Irish people into a position of profiting by the gifts of nature and the productions of skill, no one could wish or expect that the commerce between the two kingdoms should remain in its original condition. There were, indeed, he argued, but two possible systems for countries situated in relation to each other, like England and Ireland: one of these was to render the smaller completely subordinate and subservient to the greater; and the other was to allow to each a just participation of advantages. This system of equality, however, in which there was to be a community of benefits, he said, demanded likewise a community of burdens. Hitherto there had been gratuitous surrenders of advantages, without looking to the slightest compensation; in which respect his system differed from those of his predecessors, his being founded on a plan of reciprocal benefits. Pitt then proceeded to explain his system, as contained in the resolutions transmitted from Ireland, and which consisted of these three general heads; first, he proposed that all foreign articles imported directly into Great Britain, should hereafter be importable under suitable provisions through the medium of Ireland; secondly, that the produce or manufacture of either country should be importable into the other, under a proper regulation of countervailing duties, drawbacks, and bounties; and thirdly, that Ireland, in return for these bounties, should contribute to the expense of maintaining the colonies, and protecting the commerce of the empire; her contribution being of such a nature as to keep pace with the gain derived from the new system. Having thus stated the nature of his plan, Pitt moved a preliminary resolution "for finally adjusting the commercial intercourse between the two kingdoms; admitting Ireland to a participation in the commercial advantages of England, and securing in return a permanent aid from that country, in the protection of the commercial interests of the empire." The consideration of this subject was deferred for a week, in order to give time for the reception of accounts and estimates; and it was intimated that a further delay would be acceded to if there should be a sufficient reason for its proposal.

At first, the vastness of this plan seemed to keep the public mind in a state of suspense. For nearly a month, indeed, after its introduction, no indications of serious or determined opposition were discernible, although Fox, when the subject was first started, pointed out many objections to its provisions. Endeavours, however, were soon made by the opponents of Pitt's administration to convince the public that the mercantile and manufacturing interests of England were intended to be sacrificed to those of Ireland; and at length great apprehensions and jealousies were created in the commercial world. Petition after petition was presented against it; every one being led into the belief that Pitt's bill would ruin his own particular branch of trade. So great was the outcry raised against it, that the house resolved to examine the merchants and manufacturers at their own bar; and two months were occupied in hearing evidence on the subject. In the end, the anti-liberal feeling which prevailed compelled Pitt to subjoin a variety of restrictive clauses, binding Ireland to adopt whatever navigation laws might be hereafter enacted by the British parliament; prohibiting the importation of any West Indian commodities, not the produce of our own colonies, into Ireland, or thence into Great Britain; and forbidding Ireland to trade to any country beyond the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellen, so long as the charter of the East India Company should be in existence. The bill, with even these restrictions, did not pass without great opposition and warm discussions; some members maintaining that Pitt was giving too little, and others too much to the sister kingdom. It was carried up to the lords on the 30th of May, and various amendments were there made, which were subsequently adopted by the commons; and on the 29th of July an address was presented to the king by both houses, acquainting his majesty with the steps which had been taken in this affair: adding, that "it remained for the parliament of Ireland to judge of the conditions, according to their wisdom and discretion, as well as of all other parts of the settlement proposed to be established by mutual consent." Parliament now adjourned to a distant period; and on the 30th of September it was prorogued by royal proclamation.

In Ireland, Pitt's bill was doomed to meet with a more powerful opposition than it had met with in England. This opposition arose from the restrictive clauses which the minister had been compelled, by the clamour of the merchants and manufacturers, to introduce. Thus the provision respecting the navigation laws was considered an infringement on the legislative independence of Ireland; while the appropriation of the surplus hereditary revenue, and the prohibition of trade to the East Indies, were represented as reducing the country to a state of slavery. All the alterations and additions were, indeed, denounced by the Irish people; and numerous petitions were presented against the bill. The strong feeling which existed against it was exhibited in the Irish parliament, when, on the 12th of August, Mr. Orde, the secretary of the lord-lieutenant, moved for leave to bring in a corresponding bill. This motion was carried; but it was only by am majority of nineteen, which was equivalent to a defeat; and a few days afterwards, when the secretary moved the first reading and printing of the bill, he declared that he should proceed no further with it during the present session. The failure of this plan was a severe mortification to Pitt, who had laboured for nearly twelve months in perfecting it as far as its complicated nature would allow; but he looked forward with great confidence to a change of sentiment, which he anticipated would take place at no very distant period. Had Ireland accepted it, she might have avoided many of those evils which she was subsequently called upon to endure; for it would have prepared the way for the great measure of the union, which, when it took place, was attended with much corruption and violence. But it was the tendency which the bill had to effect or bring about this consummation, that chiefly gave rise to the long and loud outcry against it. Grattan denominated it "an incipient and creeping union," in which light it was looked upon, and hence abhorred, by the Irish people. On its abandonment great joy was exhibited in Ireland; public illuminations were held in all the populous towns, as though the people had obtained some great victory. Thus this bill, which was originally intended to communicate solid and lasting advantages to both countries, had the effect of rousing commercial jealousies, awakening national prejudices, and of greatly disturbing the public tranquillity; a singular fate, and one which shows the folly and the madness of the bad passions of human nature.

{GEORGE III. 1784-1786}



CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS.

At this time Holland was suffering greatly from the effects of the American war. Its finances were embarrassed; its colonies were, for the most part, in the hands of the French; and the country was torn to pieces by intestine divisions. Encouraged by these circumstances, their neighbours and rivals, the Belgians, sought to make Ostend the centre of a great trade, and a place of export and import to and from the East Indies. Seeing their helpless condition, indeed, the Emperor Joseph threatened the very existence of the United Provinces as an independent nation. Ever since the conclusion of the war of succession, the fortresses of the Austrian Netherlands had been deposited in the hands of the Dutch, and garrisoned by them, for the double purpose of defending the Netherlands and Holland, and of forming a bulwark against the inroads of the French. These were secured to them by the barrier treaty; but as early as the year 1781, the Emperor Joseph had determined to do away with this treaty, and to take possession of these fortresses; alleging that the Dutch misapplied the money which he was bound to pay for their support; that they had shamefully surrendered some in the war of 1741, and were allowing the rest to fall into decay; and that they left thin and defective garrisons in them. Accordingly, when the Dutch had committed a sort of political suicide, by sacrificing their old alliance with England, and uniting their forces with those of the House of Bourbon in defence of the Americans, the Emperor Joseph, who was the only real guardian of the barrier treaty, demanded precise accounts of the revenues of the barrier, and of the sums expended on the fortifications. This demand was accompanied with threats; and the States-general, yielding to necessity, withdrew the Dutch garrisons from the barrier; and Joseph began to dismantle the fortresses and sell the materials. He had scarcely begun this work, when the States-general felt great apprehensions for the frontiers of their own provinces; and measures were adopted for putting their own fortresses along the Scheldt into a state of defence. At the same time, the people of Holland were furiously excited by these events; and the Orange party pointed to the open barrier and the rising port of Ostend, as proofs of the mischiefs brought by the French party upon the country in renouncing the alliance with Great Britain. Neither the return of peace with England nor the mediation of Frederic the Great of Prussia could allay the animosities existing between the two parties; and encouraged by them, the Emperor Joseph advanced sundry new claims, and assumed a tone of haughty dictation towards the States-general. Thus he claimed possession and sovereignty to the city and country of Maestricht, and the free navigation of the Scheldt; the latter of which claims was made in order to re-elevate Antwerp to her ancient commercial importance. The States-general, alarmed at his menacing attitude, during the year 1784, sent two plenipotentiaries to Brussels, in order to treat with the emperor's agents for an amicable arrangement; but the very night after their arrival some Austrian troops entered the territories of the Dutch republic, and took possession of Fort Lillo; while others crossed the frontiers at another point, and pulled down the Dutch flag from the custom-house. The Dutch were alarmed and enraged at these aggressions; and troops were ordered to Maestricht and to the different garrisons of the Scheldt, in order to protect them from the enemy. Fresh disputes, however, arose between the states and the stadtholder concerning the rights, or the limits of their respective powers, so that the movement of these troops was greatly retarded. The only refuge which the Dutch had seemed to be in the French; and they implored the mediation of Louis XVI. between them and the emperor, who was his wife's brother. Louis made a favourable reply to this request, but in the mean time the breach had become wider. Finding that the navigation of the Scheldt was not readily conceded, the emperor Joseph was resolved to bring the question to issue. A vessel, manned by Flemings, was dispatched by him down that river, with orders to pass the Dutch fort at New Lillo, and not to lower its flag or submit to the search of the guard-ship stationed there, except by compulsion. This vessel was allowed to pass, but a similar experiment was afterwards made, and the Dutch this time fired a gun over her, and sent officers on board to make the search. The emperor now insisted upon his right to the sovereignty of the whole of the Scheldt, from Antwerp to the sea, and he further claimed a free navigation and uninterrupted commerce to and in both the East and West Indies. At the same time, Joseph prepared two armed vessels to assert the right claimed in the Scheldt, and to provoke an open act of hostility. These vessels were to proceed, one from Antwerp to the sea, and the other from the sea to Antwerp, and the vessel that descended was attacked by a Dutch armed cutter, and fell into the hands of the Dutch. War now seemed inevitable. On hearing of this event, the emperor recalled his ambassador from the Hague, broke up the negociations at Brussels, and marched an army of 60,000 men from the Austrian dominions to the Netherlands This army did not arrive at its place of destination however, till it was winter, and as the Dutch had broken down a dyke, in order to prevent its advance, instead of beginning hostilities on their arrival, the Austrians went into winter-quarters. During the winter, little or nothing was done, either in war or negociation, and when the spring arrived, it became known that the emperor was negociating for the exchange of the sovereignty of the Low Countries for the electorate of Bavaria. In this scheme he was favoured by his great ally, the Czarina Catherine, but Frederic the Great of Prussia immediately formed a confederation among the princes of Germany, including the King of England, as elector of Hanover, to oppose, and defeat it. For some time the emperor seemed resolved to persevere in his designs, and to brave this hostile league; but he soon formed other projects, and finding that he could not rely on the assistance of the Czarina of Russia, and that the Bavarians were hostile to his rule, he forewent his intention. In the meantime, the Dutch had concluded a commercial league and close alliance with France, and, soon after, the French ministers went actively to work as mediators between them and the emperor. Negociations were carried on during the summer, and in September, after the deputies of the States-General had apologised for the insult offered to the emperor's flag, when he attempted to force the navigation of the Scheldt, preliminary articles were signed at Paris. A definitive treaty was signed in November, by which the emperor's sovereignty over that river, from Antwerp to the limits of Saftingen in Flanders was recognized; but from that point to the sea, it was guaranteed to the States. The free navigation of Antwerp was thus frustrated. The emperor also renounced his claims to Maestricht, but the States agreed to surrender the forts Lillo and Liefkenshoek, and to make compensation in money to his imperial majesty for giving up Maestricht, and to his Netherland subjects for the damages they had sustained by the defensive inundations. Several mutual concessions were also made of villages and districts, so as to give each party a better frontier, and it was agreed that neither of them should possess forts or batteries within cannon shot of the limits of each other's territories. Two days after this treaty was signed, the compact between the French and Dutch was concluded, and it was ratified on Christmas day. Thus this quarrel, which threatened at one time to lead to another European war, was happily settled; but Holland was still rent to pieces by faction.



CHAPTER XV.

{GEORGE III. 1786-1787}

Meeting of Parliament..... Bill for the Fortification of the Dock-yards it Portsmouth and Plymouth..... Pitt's Financial Measures..... Debates on India, etc...... A retrospective View of Indian Affairs..... Attempt on the King's Life..... Treaties with France and Spain..... Affairs of the Prince of Wales.

{A.D. 1786}



MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament re-assembled on the 24th of January. In his speech, the king expressed great satisfaction at the prosperous condition of the country, in the extension of trade, the improvement of revenue, and the increase of public credit, and said that he relied on their continued zeal and industry for the further advancement of these important interests. His majesty also informed the houses that the disputes which had threatened the peace of Europe, had been brought to an amicable conclusion, and that he continued to receive friendly assurances from foreign powers; but at the same time, he recommended particular attention to our naval strength. He added,—"But above all let me recommend to your attention the reduction of the national debt."

In the debate which followed upon the address, Fox condemned the whole of our recent foreign policy. Ministers were reproached by him for not cultivating continental alliances, and for their negligence in all their foreign negociations. It was owing, he said, to their criminal misconduct, that the House of Bourbon had been enabled to conclude their advantageous compact with Holland, and he maintained that great danger was to be apprehended from the union of three such maritime powers as France, Spain, and Holland, in a confederacy against England. Fox also attempted to prove that the accession of his majesty to the Germanic confederation, as Elector of Hanover, would give mortal offence to the Emperor Joseph, and would indispose him to an alliance with Great Britain in the event of a future war. He argued, that it was our interest to conciliate and captivate Austria, as the only power in Europe able to keep France in awe. Fox next adverted to a favourable opportunity for an alliance with Russia, which had been lost, and then condemned a commercial treaty, which government had begun to negociate with France. The experience of past ages, he said, proved that England always prospered in proportion as she had relinquished her commercial connexions with that country. He concluded his speech with making some strictures on the Irish propositions and the India Bill. Pitt replied in a cold sarcastic tone, and the address was carried without a division.