their pride restrained them from retali- | a Scot. All the hatred which flowed ation. Like the princess in the Arabian tale, they stopped their ears tight, and, unmoved by the shrillest notes of abuse, walked on, without once looking round, straight towards the Golden Fountain.

from these various sources soon mingled, and was directed in one torrent of obloquy against the treaty of peace. The Duke of Bedford, who had negotiated that treaty, was hooted through the streets. Bute was attacked in his Bute, who had always been consi- chair, and was with difficulty rescued dered as a man of taste and reading, by a troop of the guards. He could affected, from the moment of his ele- hardly walk the streets in safety withvation, the character of a Mæcenas. out disguising himself. A gentleman If he expected to conciliate the public who died not many years ago used to by encouraging literature and art, he say that he once recognised the fawas grievously mistaken. Indeed, vourite Earl in the piazza of Covent none of the objects of his munificence, Garden, muffled in a large coat, and with the single exception of Johnson, with a hat and wig drawn down over can be said to have been well selected; his brows. His lordship's established and the public, not unnaturally, as-type with the mob was a jack boot, a cribed the selection of Johnson rather wretched pun on his Christian name to the Doctor's political prejudices than and title. A jack boot, generally acto his literary merits: for a wretched companied by a petticoat, was somescribbler named Shebbeare, who had times fastened on a gallows, and somenothing in common with Johnson ex-times committed to the flames. Libels cept violent Jacobitism, and who had on the court, exceeding in audacity stood in the pillory for a libel on the and rancour any that had been pubRevolution, was honoured with a mark lished for many years, now appeared of royal approbation, similar to that daily both in prose and verse. Wilkes, which was bestowed on the author of with lively insolence, compared the the English Dictionary, and of the mother of George the Third to the Vanity of Human Wishes. It was mother of Edward the Third, and the remarked that Adam, a Scotchman, Scotch minister to the gentle Mortiwas the court architect, and that Ram-mer. say, a Scotchman, was the court painter, and was preferred to Reynolds. Mallet, a Scotchman, of no high literary fame, and of infamous character, partook largely of the liberality of the government. John Home, a Scotchman, was rewarded for the tragedy of Douglas, both with a pension and with a sinecure place. But, when the author of the Bard, and of the Elegy in a Country Churchyard, ventured to ask for a Professorship, the emoluments of which he much needed, and for the duties of which he was, in many respects, better qualified than any man living, he was refused; and the post was bestowed on the pedagogue under whose care the favourite's son-in-law, Sir James Lowther, had made such signal proficiency in the graces and in the humane virtues.

Thus, the first lord of the treasury was detested by many as a Tory, by many as a favourite, and by many as

Churchill, with all the energy of hatred, deplored the fate of his country, invaded by a new race of savages, more cruel and ravenous than the Picts or the Danes, the poor, proud children of Leprosy and Hunger. It is a slight circumstance, but deserves to be recorded, that in this year pamphleteers first ventured to print at length the names of the great men whom they lampooned. George the Second had always been the Kministers had been Sir RMr. P, and the Duke of NBut the libellers of George the Third, of the Princess Mother, and of Lord Bute did not give quarter to a single vowel.

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It was supposed that Lord Temple secretly encouraged the most scurrilous assailants of the government. In truth, those who knew his habits tracked him as men track a mole. It was his nature to grub underground. Whenever a heap of dirt was flung up it might well be suspected that he was at work in some

foul crooked labyrinth below. Pitt storm which was about to burst. Yet turned away from the filthy work of was he a person to whom the court, opposition, with the same scorn with even in that extremity, was unwilling which he had turned away from the to have recourse. He had always been filthy work of government. He had regarded as a Whig of the Whigs. He the magnanimity to proclaim every had been the friend and disciple of where the disgust which he felt at the Walpole. He had long been connected insults offered by his own adherents to by close ties with William Duke of the Scottish nation, and missed no op- Cumberland. By the Tories he was portunity of extolling the courage and more hated than any man living. So fidelity which the Highland regiments strong was their aversion to him that had displayed through the whole war. when, in the late reign, he had attempted But, though he disdained to use any to form a party against the Duke of but lawful and honourable weapons, it Newcastle, they had thrown all their was well known that his fair blows weight into Newcastle's scale. By the were likely to be far more formidable Scots, Fox was abhorred as the confithan the privy thrusts of his brother-dential friend of the conqueror of Culin-law's stiletto.

loden. He was, on personal grounds, Bute's heart began to fail him. The most obnoxious to the Princess Mother. Houses were about to meet. The treaty For he had, immediately after her huswould instantly be the subject of dis- band's death, advised the late King to cussion. It was probable that Pitt, the take the education of her son, the heir great Whig connection, and the multi- apparent, entirely out of her hands. tude, would all be on the same side. He had recently given, if possible, still The favourite had professed to hold in deeper offence; for he had indulged, abhorrence those means by which pre- not without some ground, the ambitious ceding ministers had kept the House of hope that his beautiful sister-in-law, Commons in good humour. He now the Lady Sarah Lennox, might be began to think that he had been too queen of England. It had been observed scrupulous. His Utopian visions were that the King at one time rode every at an end. It was necessary, not only morning by the grounds of Holland to bribe, but to bribe more shamelessly House, and that on such occasions, and flagitiously than his predecessors, Lady Sarah, dressed like a shepherdess in order to make up for lost time. A at a masquerade, was making hay close majority must be secured, no matter to the road, which was then separated by what means. Could Grenville do by no wall from the lawn. On account this? Would he do it? His firmness of the part which Fox had taken in this and ability had not yet been tried in singular love affair, he was the only any perilous crisis. He had been ge- member of the Privy Council who was nerally regarded as a humble follower not summoned to the meeting at which of his brother Temple, and of his bro- | his Majesty announced his intended ther-in-law Pitt, and was supposed, marriage with the Princess of Mecklenthough with little reason, to be still favourably inclined towards them. Other aid must be called in. And where was other aid to be found?

burg. Of all the statesmen of the age, therefore, it seemed that Fox was the last with whom Bute the Tory, the Scot, the favourite of the Princess Mother, could, under any circumstances, act. Yet to Fox Bute was now com

There was one man, whose sharp and manly logic had often in debate been found a match for the lofty and im-pelled to apply. passioned rhetoric of Pitt, whose talents Fox had many noble and amiable for jobbing were not inferior to his qualities, which in private life shone talents for debate, whose dauntless forth in full lustre, and made him dear spirit shrank from no difficulty or to his children, to his dependents, and danger, and who was as little troubled to his friends; but as a public man he with scruples as with fears. Henry had no title to esteem. In him the vices Fox, or nobody, could weather the which were common to the whole school

of Walpole appeared, not perhaps in their worst, but certainly in their most prominent form; for his parliamentary and official talents made all his faults conspicuous. His courage, his vehement temper, his contempt for appearances, led him to display much that others, quite as unscrupulous as himself, covered with a decent veil. He was the most unpopular of the statesmen of his time, not because he sinned more than many of them, but because he canted less.

He felt his unpopularity; but he felt it after the fashion of strong minds. He became, not cautious, but reckless, and faced the rage of the whole nation with a scowl of inflexible defiance. He was born with a sweet and generous temper; but he had been goaded and baited into a savageness which was not natural to him, and which amazed and shocked those who knew him best. Such was the man to whom Bute, in extreme need, applied for succour.

the importance which he had lost, and confront Pitt on equal terms.

The alliance was, therefore, soon concluded. Fox was assured that, if he would pilot the government out of its embarrassing situation, he should be rewarded with a peerage, of which he had long been desirous. He undertook on his side to obtain, by fair or foul means, a vote in favour of the peace. In consequence of this arrangement he became leader of the House of Commons; and Grenville, stifling his vexation as well as he could, sullenly acquiesced in the change.

Fox had expected that his influence would secure to the court the cordial support of some eminent Whigs who were his personal friends, particularly of the Duke of Cumberland and of the Duke of Devonshire. He was disappointed, and soon found that, in addition to all his other difficulties, he must reckon on the opposition of the ablest prince of the blood, and of the great house of Cavendish.

But he had pledged himself to win the battle; and he was not a man to go back. It was no time for squeamishness. Bute was made to comprehend that the ministry could be saved only by practising the tactics of Walpole to an extent at which Walpole himself would have stared. The Pay Office was turned into a mart for votes. Hundreds of members were closeted there with Fox, and, as there is too much reason to believe, departed carrying with them the wages of infamy. It was affirmed by persons who had the best opportunities of obtaining information, that twenty-five thousand pounds were thus paid away in a single morning. The lowest bribe given, it was said, was a bank-note for two hundred pounds.

That succour Fox was not unwilling to afford. Though by no means of an envious temper, he had undoubtedly contemplated the success and popularity of Pitt with bitter mortification. He thought himself Pitt's match as a debater, and Pitt's superior as a man of business. They had long been regarded as well-paired rivals. They had started fair in the career of ambition. They had long run side by side. At length Fox had taken the lead, and Pitt had fallen behind. Then had come a sudden turn of fortune, like that in Virgil's foot-race. Fox had stumbled in the mire, and had not only been defeated, but befouled. Pitt had reached the goal, and received the prize. The emoluments of the Pay Office might induce the defeated statesman to submit in silence to the ascendency of his competitor, but could not satisfy a mind Intimidation was joined with corconscious of great powers, and sore ruption. All ranks, from the highest from great vexations. As soon, there- to the lowest, were to be taught that fore, as a party arose adverse to the the King would be obeyed. The Lords war and to the supremacy of the great Lieutenants of several counties were war minister, the hopes of Fox began dismissed. The Duke of Devonshire to revive. His feuds with the Princess was especially singled out as the victim Mother, with the Scots, with the Tories, by whose fate the magnates of England he was ready to forget, if, by the help were to take warning. His wealth, of his old enemies, he could now regain | rank, and influence, his stainless pri

At last Fox went so far to take a legal opinion on the question, whether the patents granted by George the Second were binding on George the Third. It is said, that, if his colleagues had not flinched, he would at once have turned out the Tellers of the Exchequer and Justices in Eyre.

The

vate character, and the constant attach- His old friends could not conceive ment of his family to the House of what had possessed him. "I could Hanover did not secure him from gross forgive," said the Duke of Cumberpersonal indignity. It was known that land, "Fox's political vagaries; but I he disapproved of the course which the am quite confounded by his inhumagovernment had taken; and it was nity. Surely he used to be the bestaccordingly determined to humble the natured of men." Prince of the Whigs, as he had been nicknamed by the Princess Mother. He went to the palace to pay his duty. "Tell him," said the King to a page, "that I will not see him." The page hesitated. "Go to him," said the King, "and tell him those very words." The message was delivered. The Duke tore off his gold key, and went away boiling with anger. His relations who were in office instantly resigned. A few days later, the King called for the list of Privy Councillors, and with his own hand struck out the Duke's name. In this step there was at least courage, though little wisdom or good nature. But, as nothing was too high for the revenge of the court, so also was nothing too low. A persecution, such as had never been known before. and has never been known since, raged in every public department. Great numbers of humble and laborious clerks were deprived of their bread, not because they had neglected their duties, not because they had taken an active part against the ministry, but merely because they had owed their situations to the recommendation of some nobleman or gentleman who was against the peace. The proscription extended to tidewaiters, to gaugers, to doorkeepers. One poor man to whom a pension had been given for his gallantry in a fight with smugglers, was deprived of it because he had been befriended by the Duke of Grafton. An aged widow, who, on account of her husband's services in the navy, had, many years before, been made housekeeper to a public office, was dismissed from her situation, because it was imagined that she was distantly connected by marriage with the Cavendish family. The public clamour, as may well be supposed, grew daily louder and louder. But the louder it grew, the more resolutely did Fox go on with the work which he had begun.

Meanwhile the Parliament met. The ministers, more hated by the people than ever, were secure of a majority, and they had also reason to hope that they would have the advantage in the debates as well as in the divisions; for Pitt was confined to his chamber by a severe attack of gout. His friends moved to defer the consideration of the treaty till he should be able to attend: but the motion was rejected. great day arrived. The discussion had lasted some time, when a loud huzza was heard in Palace Yard. The noise came nearer and nearer, up the stairs, through the lobby. The door opened, and from the midst of a shouting multitude came forth Pitt, borne in the arms of his attendants. His face was thin and ghastly, his limbs swathed in flannel, his crutch in his hand. The bearers set him down within the bar. His friends instantly surrounded him, and with their help he crawled to his seat near the table. In this condition he spoke three hours and a half against the peace. During that time he was repeatedly forced to sit down and to use cordials. It may well be supposed that his voice was faint, that his action was languid, and that his speech, though occasionally brilliant and impressive, was feeble when compared with his best oratorical performances. But those who remembered what he had done, and who saw what he suffered, listened to him with emotions stronger than any that mere eloquence can produce. He was unable to stay for the division, and was carried away from the House amidst shouts as loud

as those which had announced his arrival.

A large majority approved the peace. The exultation of the Court was boundless. "Now," exclaimed the Princess Mother, "my son is really King." The young sovereign spoke of himself as freed from the bondage in which his grandfather had been held. On one point, it was announced, his mind was unalterably made up. Under no circumstances whatever should those Whig grandees, who had enslaved his predecessors and endeavoured to enslave himself, be restored to power.

received by the House with roars of laughter. He had sense enough to be conscious of his unfitness for the high situation which he held, and exclaimed in a comical fit of despair, "What shall I do? The boys will point at me in the street, and cry, 'There goes the worst Chancellor of the Exchequer that ever was."" George Grenville came to the rescue, and spoke strongly on his favourite theme, the profusion with which the late war had been carried on. That profusion, he said, had made taxes necessary. He called on the gentlemen opposite to him to say This vaunting was premature. The where they would have a tax laid, and real strength of the favourite was by dwelt on this topic with his usual prono means proportioned to the number lixity. "Let them tell me where," he of votes which he had, on one parti-repeated in a monotonous and somecular division, been able to command. what fretful tone. "I say, sir, let He was soon again in difficulties. The them tell me where. I repeat it, sir; most important part of his budget was I am entitled to say to them, Tell me a tax on cider. This measure was where." Unluckily for him, Pitt had opposed, not only by those who were come down to the House that night, generally hostile to his administration, and had been bitterly provoked by the but also by many of his supporters. reflections thrown on the war. He The name of excise had always been revenged himself by murmuring in a hateful to the Tories. One of the chief whine resembling Grenville's, a line of crimes of Walpole in their eyes, had a well known song, "Gentle Shepherd, been his partiality for this mode of tell me where." "If," cried Grenville, raising money. The Tory Johnson" gentlemen are to be treated in this way Pitt, as was his fashion, when he meant to mark extreme contempt, rose deliberately, made his bow, and walked out of the House, leaving his brother-in-law in convulsions of rage, and everybody else in convulsions of laughter. It was long before Grenville lost the nickname of the Gentle Shepherd.

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had in his Dictionary given so scurrilous a definition of the word Excise, that the Commissioners of Excise had seriously thought of prosecuting him. The counties which the new impost particularly affected had always been Tory counties. It was the boast of John Philips, the poet of the English vintage, that the Cider-land had ever been faithful to the throne, and that all But the ministry had vexations still the pruning-hooks of her thousand more serious to endure. The hatred orchards had been beaten into swords which the Tories and Scots bore to for the service of the ill-fated Stuarts. Fox was implacable. In a moment of The effect of Bute's fiscal scheme was extreme peril, they had consented to to produce an union between the gen- put themselves under his guidance. try and yeomanry of the Cider-land | But the aversion with which they reand the Whigs of the capital. Here-garded him broke forth as soon as the fordshire and Worcestershire were in a crisis seemed to be over. Some of flame. The city of London, though them attacked him about the accounts not so directly interested, was, if possible, still more excited. The debates on this question irreparably damaged the government. Dashwood's financial statement had been confused and absurd beyond belief, and had been

of the Pay Office. Some of them rudely interrupted him when speaking, by laughter and ironical cheers. He was naturally desirous to escape from so disagreeable a situation, and demanded the peerage which had been