tertained by any leader of opposition; but a sufficient display of power had already been made to occasion some apprehension. Surmises had been expressed on the subject; and in public meetings and party publications, where responsibility imposed no restraint, the topic was discussed according to the dictates of anger or fear. CHAP. LVI. 1784. Proceedings 10th. An explicit declaration on the subject of supply was made, and a display of the power of opposition exhi- respecting bited, when the report of the committee, so far as re- supplies. lated to the ordnance estimates, was moved for. Mr. Fox said, that, in the present situation of affairs, it was not surely expected that the House would proceed to vote supplies, until it should be known whether his Majesty would give any or what answer to the resolutions of the House, especially as the vote proposed, would be conclusive and a pledge. Yet he denied all intention of refusing, although he meant to suspend, the supply; and, as the House was not fully attended, it was agreed that the report should be recommitted. When it was again brought up, Mr. Pitt, having stated 18th Feb. that his Majesty had not, in compliance with the resolutions of the House, dismissed his ministers, nor had they resigned, Mr. Fox, with uncommon warmth, declared that such language had never been heard in that House since the revolution, or at least since the accession of the present royal family. What was it, but a flat and peremptory negative to the sentiments and wishes of his Majesty's faithful Commons, who, ardently desirous of the public welfare, and the honour of every branch of the legislature, had taken the most cautious and delicate means, not only of preventing a breach, but even of closing it when made? He urged the House to waive the question of supplies for a very short period, that gentlemen might come, on a future day, perfectly awake to the situation in which they were placed. The particular supply now moved for was not immediately indispensable, and no material disadvantage could accrue from a very short adjournment. He shuddered to debate a proposition of such mag СНАР. 1784. Motion by 20th. Mr. Eden's amendment. Debate. nitude. "furori." "Tempus inane peto, requiem, spatiumque He moved that, instead of "now*," the report be received on" Friday." In debating this proposition, the proceedings of the members, who met at the Saint Alban's Tavern, and the causes of the failure of that negotiation, were much discussed. The division, even when the most qualified sense was put on the motion, was far from triumphant, the majority being twelve only†. With this effort, the attempts of the opposition on the subject of supply ended; but more direct measures were pursued for effecting the expulsion of the ministry. Mr. Powys, who, on several occasions, had appeared to struggle for the establishment of an united administration, moved an address, requesting that the King would take measures for giving effect to the declared wishes of the Commons. He hoped that Mr. Pitt would consider, again and again, before he determined on persisting in opinions diametrically opposite to those of the House. What were the supports to which he looked? The confidence of the House of Lords! Their address had not one word directly in his favour. It was a mere neutral manifesto. The people were, undoubtedly, on his side; but they were attached to his personal virtues and accomplishments. The glory of his father's public life shed a lustre on him; but the people could not ground their attachment on any thing he had yet achieved for the country. This motion not appearing sufficiently pointed, an amendment was proposed by Mr. Eden, and adopted by the mover, referring to obstacles which impeded the formation of such an administration as the House had declared to be requisite. In a vigorous debate, topics of general policy and personal reflection were unsparingly resorted to; but the speeches, although eloquent and able, afford little * That is Wednesday. † 208 to 196. This measure was termed, by a writer of the day, "tacking "Mr. Fox to a money bill." Second Letter to à Country Gentleman, p. 15. CHAP. LVI. 1784. instruction from their profoundness, or amusement from their novelty. The motion was carried by a majority*; and an address to the King, recapitulating its terms, was sanctioned by a majority of twenty-onet: Address voted. the House did not rise until five o'clock in the morningt. 66 answer. To this address, the King answered, that he was 25th. deeply sensible how highly it concerned the honour of The King's his Crown and interests of his people that public affairs should be conducted by a firm, efficient, united, and extended administration, entitled to the confidence of his people. "I shall always," he added, " be desirous of taking every step most condu"cive to such an object; but I cannot see that it would, in any degree, be advanced by the dismission "of those at present in my service. I observe, at the "same time, that there is no charge or complaint suggested against my present ministers, nor is any one or more of them specifically objected to; and "numbers of my subjects have expressed to me, in the "warmest manner, their satisfaction in the late changes "I have made in my councils. Under these circum"stances, 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." 66 66 66 Motion of Mr. Powys moved, first, that the King's answer 17th. should be taken into consideration on the ensuing Mr. Powys Monday, which was agreed to, with little observation. thereon. He then proposed that the House should immediately adjourn until that day. In the debate, much heat was * 197 to 177. 177 to 156. In this debate, Sir Richard Hill, a gentleman of known piety, frequent in citation of the Holy Scriptures, and brother of the pious and benevolent Rowland Hill, quoted, as apposite to the present attempt of the opposition majority, a burlesque address of Parliament, and the answer of Charles the Second, written by the celebrated and profligate Earl of Rochester. The reference to such an author, by such a man, was remarked on in the House, both with pleasantry as to the contrast between the author and recitor of the passage, and with severity as to the times from which it was drawn. Nor was Sir Richard forgotten, when the sins committed in the House were castigated with the lash of the press. See Probationary Odes and Criterions on the Rolliad. CHAP. 1784. 1st March. Speech and motion of Mr. Fox. Debate. Mr. Pitt. displayed; the delay being treated as a mere manœuvre to obstruct the grant of supplies, and other public business: but it was carried by a majority of seven*. On the day appointed, Mr. Fox pressed on the consideration of the House the peculiar circumstances in which they, the people of England, and the constitution of the country were placed by his Majesty's answer. He reviewed some transactions of the late reign, to shew that no power or pretension could enable a minister to retain his station when the confidence of the House of Commons had been withdrawn. He recapitulated all the grounds of complaint so often urged against the manner in which the cabinet had been formed, and repeated all the sentiments calculated to inspire the House with a resolution to maintain their own rights and dignity. He moved an address, representing the satisfaction of the House at his Majesty's benevolent assurances; but, with all humility, claiming a right and a duty to advise him on the exercise of any branch of his prerogative, and requesting that he would enable them to form a new administration, and would previously remove his present ministers. In the debate, it was argued, that, although no specific charge could be made against ministers, want of confidence was a sufficient ground for their removal, without any defined accusation. Many members spoke in support of the ministry, and Mr. Pitt vindicated himself against the charge of being averse to union, and seeking to annihilate the privileges of the House; but he felt equally obliged to defend the just and constitutional prerogatives of the sovereign. Their right to advise could not be disputed; but he could not allow that their vote of disapprobation should, ipso facto, bind and compel the sovereign to dismiss his ministers, or oblige them to resign. The sins of the present administration had been stated; and one of the most glaring was, that the late ministry were dismissed against the sense of the House. To * 175 to 168. GEORGE III. LIB GENERAL LI University MICHAR LVI. 1784. maintain that the King could not dismiss or retain Address 4th Mar. the Further In answer to this address, his Majesty repeated his desire to form such an administration as they recom- King's answer. mended; but was convinced that object could not be attained by the dismission of his present ministers; and repeated his former observation that no specific charge had been advanced against any of them. This answer was sufficient to extinguish all hopes, if they really existed, that the King's firmness might ultimately yield to repeated attacks. It was received with appa- proceedings. rent surprise and indignation, and when the consideration of it had been fixed for the ensuing Monday †, an objection was successfully made to entering on any other business until that should have been disposed of, which concerned the privileges and dignity of the House. The supplies and the mutiny bill were therefore deferred. answer. Expectation was raised to the highest pitch for the 8th. Debate debate; and, probably, it was not disappointed; for Mr. on the King's Fox came prepared to express, in the full energy of his powerful oratory, the feelings which laboured in his bosom: but the debate is only imperfectly reported‡, 189 to 201. That is, in four days: the 4th was Wednesday, and Monday the 8th. The cause of this defect is thus given by the compilers of the Parliamentary Debates -The expectations of the public were so uncommonly excited to hear the important proceedings of the House this day, that members took the trouble of going down with their friends to procure them admission to the gallery at ten o'clock in the morning. By eleven, the place allotted for strangers was crowded; and the gentlemen sat with the utmost patience from that hour till four in the afternoon without any business. At that time counsel were heard on Nisbett's divorce bill; and just as the House was proceeding to the important business for which the relations and friends of the members had undergone so much fatigue, Sir James Lowther rose, and complained that, on bringing down his friend, the brother of the member for St. Alban's, he found it impossible to procure a seat in the gallery, though it was only half-past three; and this being the case, and also because he had reason to believe that there might be strangers in the gallery not introduced by members, he insisted on carrying into force the standing order, |
