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not for a moment think of a coalition with men who, in every public and private transaction as ministers, have shown themselves void of every principle of honor and honesty."* And yet, notwithstanding these philippics, which almost seem to have been delivered as if to make a coalition impossible, Fox now deserted his old political companions, and joined hands with the very object of his fiercest denunciation. The Coalition thus formed voted down the Shelburne ministry in February, 1783. The debate which preceded the final vote was one of the most remarkable in English history. The subject immediately at issue was a vote of censure of Shelburne's government for the terms of the treaty closing the American war. North assailed the treaty, as bringing disgrace upon the country by the concessions it had made. Fox spoke in the same strain, having reserved himself till the latter part of the night, with the evident purpose of overwhelming the young leader of the

*Fox's Speeches, II., 39.

House by the force and severity of his presentation. But the moment he sat down, Pitt arose and grappled with the argument of his opponent in a speech that has seldom been surpassed in the history of parliamentary debate. Lord North spoke of its eloquence as "amazing," and, although the Coalition was too strong to be broken, it made such an impression that there could no longer be any doubt that Pitt was now the foremost man of

his party.

In the course of the speech Pitt intimated that even if the vote of censure came to pass, the king might not feel called upon to accept the decision. He declared it an unnatural Coalition, which had simply raised a storm of faction, and which had no other object than the infliction of a wound on Lord Shelburne. Then in one of his impassioned strains he exclaimed: "If, however, the baneful alliance is not already formed,-if this ill-omened marriage is not already solemnized, I know a just and lawful impediment,—and in the name of the public safety, I here forbid the banns."

But all availed nothing. The vote of censure was passed, and Shelburne's ministry tendered their resignation. The king hesitated. He was unwilling to bring the Coalition into power, because he had an insurmountable repugnance to Fox. He sent for Pitt, and urged him in the most pressing terms to accept the position of Prime-Minister. But Pitt, with that steadfast judgment which never deserted him, firmly rejected the flattering offer. The most he would consent to do was to remain in the office he then held till the succession could be fixed upon. The king was almost in despair; and thought seriously of retiring to Hanover. It was Thurlow that dissuaded him from taking so dangerous a step. "Nothing is easier than for your Majesty to go to his Electoral dominions;" said the old Chancellor, "but you may not find it so easy to return when you grow tired of staying there. James II. did the same; your Majesty must not follow his example." He then assured the king that the Coalition was an unnatural one, and could not

long remain in power without committing some fatal blunder. After six weeks the king reluctantly submitted, and appointed the Duke of Portland as the Prime-Minister, and North and Fox as the Chief Secretaries of State.

The end came sooner than Thurlow had dared to anticipate. The Coalition ministry was formed on the second day of April, 1783. During the first week of the following session Fox brought forward his East India bill, which had for its object the entire remodelling of the government of the English domains in the East. The measure was in direct defiance of the wishes of the king. In view of the circumstances of Fox's coalition with the Tories, it is not singular that many thought the scheme a desperate measure to intrench the Coalition so firmly in power that the king could not remove them. Pitt opposed the measure with great energy, and with so much skill that it soon became evident that he spoke the sentiments of the thinking men of the nation. The debate on the question lasted twelve days, and was

closed by a masterly review of the question by Fox. The Coalition was so strong in the lower House that the final vote was 217 to 103 in favor of the measure.

But in the House of Lords its fortune was different. At an interview with Lord Temple, a kinsman of Pitt's, the king commissioned him to say to the members of the House "that whoever voted for the India bill were not only not his friends, but that he should consider them his enemies." This message was widely but secretly circulated among the Lords. Thurlow denounced the bill in unqualified terms. Though the ministry fought for the measure as best they could, when the question came to a final issue, it was rejected by a vote of ninety-five to seventy-six. At twelve o'clock on the following night a messenger conveyed the orders of the king to the chief ministers to deliver up the seals of their offices, and to send them by the under secretaries, "as a personal interview on the occasion would be disagreeable to him." The following day the other

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