330

POPULARITY OF SIR RICHARD HILL.

and to uphold by the single force of his giant arm, the weight of a tottering nation.

During the debates on the India Bill, the House always heard Sir Richard Hill with interest, and often called for him. His rising was a signal for the cessation of all bitterness. He was one of those openhearted cheerful Christians, whose smile brought all companies into the pleasant mood; and whether he addressed the House of Commons, or the less formidable assembly of a meeting of country gentlemen in his own county town, while he was speaking, gloom and ill temper fled away. He was liked by all classes of persons; for he had always some good-natured speech ready for every one, the effect of which was greatly increased by his well-known honesty, and his very gentlemanlike address. I heard an aged and most respectable magistrate of Shropshire say, "We thought nothing of any public meeting, at Shrewsbury, if Sir Richard Hill was not there, and were all on the look-out for him till he came; and when he arrived, there was such shaking of hands, and so much pleasant talk, that every one was in good humour." All this, mingled as it was with the truest piety, caused even those who sneered at his religion to say of him, " he is a good and agreeable man." But besides these qualities, which always made the House of Commons willing to listen to him, he possessed the art of laying open in the most original manner, the weak parts of the arguments of those from whom he differed, which added to the conviction of every man who heard him, that his words expressed the honest opinion of his heart, made it natural he should be attended to. No man exposed with more acuteness and wit, the absurdity of the coalition between Lord North and Mr. Fox, the issue of which he foresaw from the

HIS RESPECT FOR MR. PITT.

331

first moment it was announced. The quotations from Scripture which were so much objected to, were given by him to shew that he believed Christianity to be the firmest pillar of the state, and the Bible the surest guide to national prosperity, happiness and order. At times, however, his religious zeal and constitutional vivacity carried him too far; but the instant he perceived his error, he at once avowed it with almost unequalled candour. Yet when he saw that it was his religion alone that gave offence, he defended himself with admirable power and boldness, and did not scruple to tell the wealthiest and most talented of his fellow-senators, that without a knowledge of the way of truth, their riches were poverty and their acquirements vanity. Such was the plainness of speech he allowed himself on these occasions, that he startled even his pious friend Mr. Wilberforce; yet when we review the days in which he lived, we cannot but admire the character of a man whose society was courted, as his was, by the very persons whom he did not hesitate for an instant, to warn of their faults in the plainest possible language.

I do not find, upon Mr. Pitt's first accepting the situation of Prime Minister, that Sir Richard Hill took his usual part in the debates. He seems rather to have watched his opening movements with anxious silence. The wonderful firmness, however, of this extraordinary statesman in that convulsion of the political elements, which would have irrecoverably cast down any ordinary human being, won his admiration and support. When the helm of Government was first placed in his youthful hand, he had to guide his course through rocks and quicksands, which on all sides threatened a certain and speedy shipwreck. He was embarrassed by the confusion of the affairs of India, on which the opinion of the

332

MR. PITT'S DIFFICULTIES AND FIRMNESS.

House of Commons was pledged against that of the Lords, and his own; he was called upon to check the innumerable frauds by which the revenue was injured, and to devise means for augmenting a deficient and inadequate public income, while he maintained public credit and contrived means for reducing the national debt; and in the midst of cares like these, he had to listen to the outcries of unquiet Ireland, the vociferous claims of American loyalists, and threatening whispers of severance from foreign allies. Appalling as was this prospect, the waves of danger swelled as he approached them; yet, in the midst of all, he carried himself with a coolness, magnanimity and disinterestedness, that surprised his opponents, delighted his friends, and won for him the gratitude of his sovereign and country, together with the admiration of the whole civilized world.

The history of that eventful struggle has been too often narrated to need repetition here. The rejection of Mr. Pitt's India Bill, the addresses to the throne, the manœuvres of the opposition, the adverse demonstration on the part of the Prince of Wales, the accusations of secret influence, the hostile decisions of parliamentary majorities, are well known to the world. The first occasion during this remarkable contest, on which I find any memorandum of a speech of Sir Richard Hill amongst his papers, was when Mr. Duncombe presented his petition from the county of York for a more equal representation of the people in Parliament. Mr. Pitt manifested on that day the most consistent adherence to his former views of the question of reform; but Lord Surry chose the opportunity to attack him violently on the point of secret influence, whereby alone he avowed the

1 January 17, 1784.

1

LORD SURRY. SECRET INFLUENCE.

first minister had been brought into office.

333

His Lord

ship acknowledged that his eminent qualifications fitted him for the high station he had been called upon to fill, but he deprecated as unconstitutional the means by which it had been assumed. The object of Lord Surry was evident, but he was foiled by the dexterity and honesty of Mr. Pitt. Even Mr. Fox made a very quiet speech on the occasion, acknowledging the force of some of his great adversary's remarks, particularly those in which he stated the impracticability of forming a cabinet of one opinion on the question of reform. It was on this night that Sir Richard Hill rose to rebuke the opposition on a very tender point, which will be best understood by giving the substance of what he said. He did not enter upon the topic of reform, as he conceived the time for that was not come. What called him up, was the accusation of secret influence, of which so much had been advanced that he needed not to repeat any part of it. But he begged to ask, while honourable gentlemen were complaining of secret influence over the House of Lords, whether there was no danger of any over their House? Then he proceeded, "If, Sir, the unhappy period should ever arrive, when an heir apparent to the crown should be seen within those walls, either directly or indirectly attempting to influence the votes of members, either by words or otherwise, would the House of Commons brook such a sight? Would they not think their honour was sullied, their independence tarnished, their privileges invaded?" The question thus put produced no slight sensation. Sir Richard also made a happy allusion to the name facetiously given to the House of Lords by some speaker the same evening, who called it the House of Correction; and certainly in many difficult cases that august assembly has well de

334

MR. PITT'S INDIA BILL. DEBATE.

served this name in any sense but an invidious one. For its corrections of many errors the country owes that house a debt of gratitude, which it can only pay by uniformly supporting its dignity and privileges against every aggression. Immediately after this debate, when the petition was ordered to lie upon the table, Mr. Pitt presented his India Bill, which was read a first time and ordered to be printed. On this occasion, he did not refuse Mr. Fox the time for consideration which had been denied to the former India Bill, but consented to a delay of two days at his request. Lord Charles Spencer immediately proposed a motion, couched in terms of the deepest hostility to ministers, and the mode in which they had been appointed. Mr. Powys, who had great weight in the House, strongly opposed this motion; but he blamed the proceedings while he lauded the talents of the leaders of both parties. He disapproved the manner in which Mr. Pitt had obtained office, and deprecated the coalition of Mr. Fox with Lord North, which nobleman he feared was the chief obstacle to a most desirable consummation-a union between the two great politicians just mentioned. Mr. Fox took advantage of this remark to declare that he neither courted nor avoided such a union, if it could be formed in the prospect of permanence and on sound general principles; he also defended his former coalition. At the same time he accused the Government of having arrived at power by treachery, and a conspiracy against the constitution, though he added by way of softening down these observations, "I venerate the character of the young man who holds the reins of government at present; I admire his virtues, and respect his ability.' After several speeches, of which that of Mr. Dundas was considered the most powerful, Mr. Pitt simply threw