of parliament, and that of naming the ministers to be employed, I cannot but feel, as far as regards my person, that I can be no longer of utility to this country, nor can with honour continue in this island.

Again the king says,

I cannot conclude, without expressing my fullest approbation of the conduct of Mr Pitt, on Monday; in particular his employing a razor against his antagonists, and never condescending to run into that rudeness, which, though common in that house, certainly never becomes a gentleman. If he proceeds in this mode of oratory, he will bring debates into a shape more creditable, and correct that, as well as I trust many other evils, which time and temper can only effect.'

From this time to the close of the sessions, eight motions were made, pointed specifically against the ministers. The four last were carried by majorities of seven, twelve, nine, and at the last, of one. It may be proper, however, first to state, that the commons, in order to repel the disguised attack of the lords, appointed a committee to examine the journals for precedents, touching the discretionary power of the house of commons, and afterwards passed several resolutions, asserting their dignity and privileges.

We are obliged reluctantly to omit in this place the extracts, which we had prepared from speeches of Mr Fox, Mr Pitt, and lord North, made by occasion of one of these motions, the last of which, particularly, is characterised by its spirit and manliness.

Mr Pitt at last thought proper to make a distinct and explicit declaration on the 18th of February, that his majesty had not thought proper to dismiss his present ministers, and that ministers had not resigned. It is said, that Mr Fox made, on this occasion, one of the most ingenious, powerful, and masterly speeches which he ever pronounced. Indeed, whoever reads the discussions of this day must be filled with delight and wonder at the matchless eloquence of this extraordinary man, at the ingenuity, the perpetual variety, the pathos, the indignation, the bold and terrific prophecies, the apparent liberality, the most devoted patriotism, all expressed in such rapid and overwhelming language, that even the reports enchant, persuade, and convince us. We no longer wonder that he should have been equally worshipped and dreaded, and that lord Mulgrave in his coarse and most repre

hensible language should have said, that he reckoned Mr Fox the most dangerous character that had ever appeared in this country.' Mr Burke's name does not appear in these debates, and under the direction of Mr Fox, assisted by lord North, Mr. Sheridan, and occasionally Mr Powys, never were the opposition benches so brilliant, never so triumphant, as during these two months, and perhaps never, not even during the days of sir Robert Walpole, was such violent, personal, and acrimonious language employed in parliament. Mr. Fox said,

In his opinion the matter was nearly at a crisis. Was not this the first answer of the sort that ever had been received by the house from a prince of the Brunswick line?"

He proceeded to say,

That his majesty had a legal right to appoint whom he pleased, and even to continue those he had appointed to be his ministers, in opposition to the sentiments of this house, he pretended not to dispute. But he was certain, on the other hand, the public money was trusted with the house of commons, whose right to distribute that money was at least not less legal. When, therefore, either the one or the other of these rights were asserted in the extreme, he could consider it in no other light, than as a challenge, and the party thus defied was bound in duty to its own honor, calmly and deliberately to consider with itself, whether it should take up the challenge or not.'

Mr Pitt spoke at great length in reply; but we have room only for this extract.

Many of the right honorable gentleman's arguments had been addressed personally to him, but with what propriety, gentlemen of feeling and delicacy would judge. There were points in personal honor, which no man of spirit could for any object whatever forego; and whatever were his connexions, or attachments, he hoped never to forfeit feelings, without which he could not retain, consistently, any opinion of himself. He would, therefore, declare once for all, that he considered his personal honor deeply and inseparably concerned in the present situation which he held; and that he would not, on any account, first resign, and then stoop to negotiate.'

We have not often reason to admire the eloquence of lord Nugent, but as he proposed a method entirely new, though certainly a very pleasant one, of removing differences, we venture to solicit the reader's forbearance for detaining him a moment, and to recommend to his attention and practice the

noble earl's recipe for reconciling ministers; and we make no doubt, that it will be found equally efficacious with persons of less consideration.

'It was not the first time that he had been instrumental in effecting a conciliation between two great men, who had much greater cause to be at variance than the two right honorable members. The two great men were Mr Pelham and lord Granville. His lordship had appointed to meet at his house, and their meeting was to be kept a profound secret. One repaired to his house quite muffled up, so that it was impossible for any one who saw him to know him. He just introduced them to one another and left them to themselves. He took care, in the mean time, to have a good supper ready for them, of which they partook; they drank heartily after it; the wine put an end to the reserve on which they had acted; they spoke freely; confidence was established between them; they became sincere friends and remained so, and cared not the next day who knew the story of their interview. Thus was this coalition, (and by the bye, this shewed he was a friend to coalitions,) effected in a single night over a glass of good

wine.'

On the 8th of March the coalition, in great agony, and after long struggling, breathed its last gasp. The rumor having gone abroad, that most important proceedings were about to take place, the gallery was crowded at a very early hour, but no full and satisfactory report has been preserved, owing to the ill nature of sir James Lowther, called by Junius the petty tyrant of the north,' who, having arrived late with a gentleman, whom he wished to introduce, and finding no seat vacant, moved that the standing order of the house, that not strangers should be received unless introduced by members,' should be enforced. Many members interfered and entreated, protested and remonstrated; but the honorable baronet insisted upon exercising his right, and it appears that the reporters partook of the fate of those who were excluded. In consequence of which circumstance, the whole gallery was left in possession of sir James Lowther's friend. The manifesto of the coalition, read by Mr Fox on this occasion, has, however, been preserved. It was accepted by a majority of one vote in three hundred and eighty-one votes. It is much admired as a composition; but it contains little beyond a repetition of those opinions which were advanced by the coalition during this discussion.

Mr Pitt,' says his biographer, sent to his majesty at Windsor an account of what had passed this day in the house of commons, and received the following answer: "Mr Pitt's letter is undoubtedly, the most satisfactory I have received for many months. An avowal on the outset, that the proposition held forth is not intended to go farther lengths than a kind of manifesto; and then carrying it by a majority of only one, and the day concluded with an avowal, that all negotiation is at an end, gives me every reason to hope, that by a firm and proper conduct, this faction will, by degrees, be deserted by many, and at length be forgot. I shall ever with pleasure consider, that by the prudence, as well as rectitude of one person, in the house of commons, this great change has been effected; and that he will ever be able to reflect with satisfaction, that in having supported ine, he has saved the constitution, the most perfect of human formation."

Finally,

'Mr Powys, who in the beginning of the contest had voted with Mr Pitt, but in the course of it had taken a different line, followed sir Matthew White Ridley, and " acknowledged with regret, that, notwithstanding the manly stand made by the majority, of which he had the honor to be one, Mr Pitt had conquered the house of commons, and that he held his situation in defiance of their addresses; he gave him credit for his firmness; he had carried the point he had undertaken. The house was, indeed, conquered; for, though a vote of the commons could once bestow a crown, it could not now procure the dismission of a minister."

With this expression we shall finish the account of this memorable and most interesting discussion. We sincerely regret that the nature of this journal has compelled us to prescribe very narrow limits for our extracts, and fearing that we have not been able to present the subject with that fullness and relief, and point, which it most truly merits, we beg to recommend to the particular study of our readers the chapter of Dr Tomline's memoirs, which contains a history of these proceedings, and which, indeed, we consider the best written in the work; though we cannot avoid making the observation, which we do with the best feelings imaginable, and merely to confirm a remark made in the outset, that with the exception of a small portion of matter, this chapter is composed from the parliamentary history of that year. The mutiny bill and the army extraordinaries were agreed to without a division, and the king came to the house of lords and dissolved parliament, which had been sitting six years.

Whatever may have been the public or private views and motives of Mr Pitt and Mr Fox, this, in reality, was nothing less than a contest, which of those gentlemen should be minister of Great Britain. Mr Pitt supported the prerogatives of the crown, Mr Fox the privileges of parliament, and Pitt prevailed against the coalition for the same reason that Mr Fox had before prevailed against lord North,-the people were with him. Thus in the course of two years, we have two undoubted instances of the direct and unfailing power of the people at large over the house of commons. Mr Pitt waited till he was convinced that he might safely make the appeal, till he perceived that Mr Fox's coalition with lord North and his India bill had given a disrelish and distrust of that party to the community; for no man can say, that any minister since the revolution has had the folly and the madness to resist, even for a week, the sense of the people of England, expressed by their representatives in the house of commons. If the same members had been returned to the sixteenth parliament, the king would probably have gone to Hanover and Mr Pitt to the tower, or, it might have been, to the scaffold.

But at the same time we entertain no manner of doubt that, notwithstanding the support of the king and the people, notwithstanding the possession of the highest intellectual endowments, notwithstanding all the weight and popularity attached to his name, Mr Pitt must have yielded to the majority of the house of commons, he must have submitted to interpret phrases and accept conditions from the duke of Portland, if it had not been that he felt himself inspired, exalted, and fortified by the most spotless and unshaken integrity, by the purest patriotism and disinterestedness. At all times, and in all places, these high qualities were acknowledged and commended in Mr Pitt, both by treasury and opposition. Whatever might have been said of his haughtiness, of his pride, of his austerity, the hardened and desperate opponents of Mr Pitt, in the bitterest moments of debate and defeat, extolled his virtues. Fox, in the midst of those heroic harangues, which we cannot believe have ever been surpassed except perhaps by Mr Sheridan and lord Chatham, when he appeared to be grinding into dust thrones, lords, and ministers, could stoop from his high career, and with tears in his eyes, exclaim, as if he felt that the great moral character of Mr Pitt made his strongest efforts impotent and without effect, as if the in