COMMITTEE ON THE STATE OF THE NATION. 335 himself on the candour of the House, and declared that if this motion passed before his India Bill was discussed, they would condemn him " unheard, unknown, untried, unconvicted." Nevertheless, the motion was carried by 205 to 184 giving a majority of 21. The next meeting of the House was in committee on the state of the nation. In consequence of what Mr. Fox had said, a rumour had arisen that a negotiation was on foot for effecting the union between him and Mr. Pitt, to which Mr. Powys had alluded; and upon this pretence Mr. Rolle postponed a motion for the production of papers, of which he had given notice. Mr. Fox rose at once, and vehemently denied the truth of the report, and declared the postponement of a motion on such grounds was most indecent. At the same time, he professed his astonishment that ministers could continue to hold office after the last division; but to give them leisure to reflect, he would advise the postponement of that day's committee till Monday, when if they did not give his Majesty such advice as circumstances demanded, the House should take some step which would compel them to resign. Yet he acknowledged before he sat down, that as far as the union proposed was concerned, he was no man's enemy, but he would have gentlemen consider the practicability of uniting persons of almost irreconcileable principles. Mr. Pitt, in reply, echoed this sentiment to the full; and declared that he was ready, in committee on the state of the nation, to explain and defend the motives which induced him to continue in office. On this occasion Sir Richard Hill observed, that Mr. Fox had greatly changed his opinion about the importance of majorities and coalitions; for only three sessions before he had placed his back to the lobby door, and cried out, "No coalition, no Treasury bench." He knew how to 336 MR. WHIGHOUSE AND MR. TORYMAN. accommodate himself to the maxim he found most convenient. He then concluded some very pointed remarks with the following humorous story, the drift of which the previous history will have rendered sufficiently plain. There were two neighbouring farmers, Sir, who for many years had regarded each other with such extreme enmity, that they declared they could not trust themselves together in the same room. The name of one was Whighouse, the other Toryman. At length farmer Whighouse said to farmer Toryman, 'You and I can never thrive in the world by all this jangling and snarling-I have a proposal to make to you by which we may both get money apace, and provide for our numerous and clamorous families. We have both of us a great deal of dirty work to do, and if you will lend me your horses to draw me through the mire, I will lend you mine, so come let us join our teams together.' Says farmer Toryman, 'Why, I like your proposal very well, but I fear our horses will not pull together.' To this Mr. Whighouse replied, 'Never fear that; we must pat them, and feed them, and coax them, and give them some fine trappings, which will make them as tractable as possible, so that they will carry either of us, though we are not very light weights, or do anything else we want.' So all former animosities were presently forgotten, and on every occasion they called one another My good friend,' 'My worthy neighbour,' &c., which, to be sure, made the other neighbours laugh. At length things took a serious turn; for these two men became overgrown and overbearing, and began to encroach upon their neighbours, to break down their fences, and were actually proceeding to try and get possession of their very deeds and leases, when a worthy gentleman in that part of the country thought it right to inform their land lord of their proceedings, who dismissed them from their farms, and put in worthier tenants. Now, Now, without any further explanation of the moral of this my story, I will conclude by saying to old England, De te fabula narratur." The effect of this humorous description of the consequences of the far-famed coalition, may be readily imagined. Indeed it might almost be fancied that Mr. Rowland Hill had made it, so like is it to what he would have said, had he been in Parliament. Mr. Fox, disconcerted by the non-resignation of Mr. Pitt, and chagrined by the majority not being larger, confined himself that night to declamation, hazarding no further motion till the fate of the new India Bill was decided. Z CHAPTER XIV. MR. PITT AND THE OPPOSITION. ANSWERS. ADDRESSES TO THE THRONE, AND REPRESENTATION TO THE KING. SIR RICHARD HILL'S NO GOOD AC END OF THE SPEECH AND VERSES. LORD NORTH VERY ANGRY. DIVERSION. REJECTION OF MR. PITT'S INDIA BILL. MR. Pitt's India Bill was negatived on its second reading by a majority of eight, and subsequently rejected without a division. Upon this Mr. Fox obtained leave to bring in another Bill, which he avowed would be similar in principle to the one before refused by the House of Lords. Expecting that this measure would be met by Mr. Pitt with a dissolution of Parliament, he called upon him to say whether he meant to take that step or not. Mr. Pitt's silence on this occasion pro duced a vehement debate, and loud demands for the declaration of his intentions; but he continued unmoved, till General Conway accused him of sending agents to 1 The numbers were 222 and 214. MR. PITT AND THE OPPOSITION. 339 bribe the electors. Upon this, he rose to order, and challenged the General to produce an instance of the corruption alleged, but assured the House he should not follow the example of his intemperate language, and concluded with the words which Livy describes Scipio as having applied to Fabius, si nullá alià re, modestia certè et temperando linguæ, adolescens senem videro. All the force of the opposition was applied in vain to break his resolute silence, and the House adjourned till the following day, the unusual one of Saturday, with the most ominous menaces, mutterings, and upbraidings. The next day the attendance of Members, whose countenances betrayed their deep anxiety, was uncommonly numerous, and such was the sensation produced on the youthful Minister's entrance, that Mr. Powys became so unnerved that he sobbed aloud when he rose to speak. He contented himself with putting this question to Mr. Pitt-" May the House expect to be in existence, and to meet again on Monday next?" Mr. Pitt, after some hesitation, replied that he had no intention to give such advice to the crown as would prevent their re-assembling on that day. Mr. Powys expressed his satisfaction, and an adjournment till Monday took place. Upon mature consideration, Mr. Pitt declined dissolving the Parliament at the then trying juncture, for he had the sagacity to mark the symptoms which shewed that a period more favourable to his objects would soon arrive. Threats and invectives were reiterated against him night after night, with equal violence, and almost in the same words; but he asserted that "his heart, his principles, his hands were pure," and that neither clamour, artifice, or unfounded imputation should ever divert him from the course he thought it his duty to pursue. He felt that the nation would not long continue indifferent or |