The general opinion was, that there would be an immediate dissolution.But Pitt wisely determined to give the public feeling time to gather strength.On this point he differed from his kinsman Temple.The consequence was, that Temple, who had been appointed one of the Secretaries of State, resigned his office forty-eight hours after he had accepted it, and thus relieved the new government from a great load of unpopularity;for all men of sense and honour, however strong might be their dislike of the India Bill, disapproved of the manner in which that bill had been thrown out.Temple carried away with him the scandal which the best friends of the new government could not but lament.The fame of the young prime minister preserved its whiteness.He could declare with perfect truth that, if unconstitutional machinations had been employed, he had been no party to them.
He was, however, surrounded by difficulties and dangers.In the House of Lords, indeed, he had a majority; nor could any orator of the opposition in that assembly be considered as a match for Thurlow, who was now again Chancellor, or for Camden, who cordially supported the son of his old friend Chatham.But in the other House there was not a single eminent speaker among the official men who sate round Pitt.His most useful assistant was Dundas, who, though he had not eloquence, had sense, knowledge, readiness, and boldness.On the opposite benches was a powerful majority, led by Fox, who was supported by Burke, North, and Sheridan.The heart of the young minister, stout as it was, almost died within him.He could not once close his eyes on the night which followed Temple's resignation.But, whatever his internal emotions might be, his language and deportment indicated nothing but unconquerable firmness and haughty confidence in his own powers.His contest against the House of Commons lasted from the 17th of December 1783, to the 8th of March 1784.In sixteen divisions the opposition triumphed.Again and again the King was requested to dismiss his ministers.But he was determined to go to Germany rather than yield.Pitt's resolution never wavered.
The cry of the nation in his favour became vehement and almost furious.Addresses assuring him of public support came up daily from every part of the kingdom.The freedom of the city of London was presented to him in a gold box.He went in state to receive this mark of distinction.He was sumptuously feasted in Grocers' Hall; and the shopkeepers of the Strand and Fleet Street illuminated their houses in his honour.These things could not but produce an effect within the walls of Parliament.The ranks of the majority began to waver; a few passed over to the enemy;some skulked away; many were for capitulating while it was still possible to capitulate with the honours of war.Negotiations were opened with the view of forming an administration on a wide basis; but they had scarcely been opened when they were closed.
The opposition demanded, as a preliminary article of the treaty, that Pitt should resign the Treasury; and with this demand Pit steadfastly refused to comply.While the contest was raging, the Clerkship of the Pells, a sinecure place for life, worth three thousand a year, and tenable with a seat in the House of Commons, became vacant.The appointment was with the Chancellor of the Exchequer: nobody doubted that he would appoint himself; and nobody could have blamed him if he had done so: for such sinecure offices had always been defended on the ground that they enabled a few men of eminent abilities and small incomes to live without any profession, and to devote themselves to the service of the state.Pitt, in spite of the remonstrances of his friends, gave the Pells to his father's old adherent, Colonel Barre, a man distinguished by talent and eloquence, but poor and afflicted with blindness.By this arrangement a pension which the Rockingham administration had granted to Barre was saved to the public.Never was there a happier stroke of policy.About treaties, wars, expeditions, tariffs, budgets, there will always be room for dispute.The policy which is applauded by half the nation may be condemned by the other half.But pecuniary disinterestedness everybody comprehends.It is a great thing for a man who has only three hundred a year to be able to show that he considers three thousand a year as mere dirt beneath his feet, when compared with the public interest and the public esteem.
Pitt had his reward.No minister was ever more rancorously libelled; but, even when he was known to be overwhelmed with debt, when millions were passing through his hands, when the wealthiest magnates of the realm were soliciting him for marquisates and garters, his bitterest enemies did not dare to accuse him of touching unlawful gain.
At length the hard fought fight ended.A final remonstrance, drawn up by Burke with admirable skill, was carried on the 8th of March by a single vote in a full House.Had the experiment been repeated, the supporters of the coalition would probably have been in a minority.But the supplies had been voted; the Mutiny Bill had been passed; and the Parliament was dissolved.
The popular constituent bodies all over the country were in general enthusiastic on the side of the new government.Ahundred and sixty of the supporters of the coalition lost their seats.The First Lord of the Treasury himself came in at the head of the poll for the University of Cambridge.His young friend, Wilberforce, was elected knight of the great shire of York, in opposition to the whole influence of the Fitzwilliams, Cavendishes, Dundases, and Saviles.In the midst of such triumphs Pitt completed his twenty-fifth year.He was now the greatest subject that England had seen during many generations.
He domineered absolutely over the cabinet, and was the favourite at once of the Sovereign, of the Parliament, and of the nation.
His father had never been so powerful, nor Walpole, nor Marlborough.
