Memoir.9 of the Life of the Right Hon. IVm, Pitt. 



626 



liad resiffuod. On tlie il(h of Febnaty, 

 the gfiideineti appear to have been eoii- 

 viuced (liat froi)) their inability fo stir- 

 niouut (his diHieuHj-, their exertions 

 at present must be useless, and they 

 passed a resolution to that eft'ecl. They 

 ajjreed, Jiowevcr, to meet at laist once 

 a week, durini; the session of parlia- 

 ment, for the purpose of availinsr them- 

 selves of any opportunity which might 

 present itself of promoting the great 

 object which they deemed " absolutely 

 necessary at that particular juncture." 

 What passed in the House of Commons, 

 on the nth of this month, in the irre- 

 gular debate which took place upon 

 Mr. Eden's motion, again revived the 

 hopes of these gentlemen ; and at a 

 meeting two days afterwards, they 

 r.nanimously passed the two following 

 resolutions:—" To represent to the 

 Right Honourable William Pitt, and 

 the Right Honourable Charles James 

 FoN, the Sitisfaction we have received 

 from tlie manly, candid, and explicit 

 avowal they have respectively made of 

 their public views : and to intimate to 

 them, (hat, in consequence of this mu- 

 tual explanation, we entertain a most 

 assured hope, that such an administra- 

 tion as the House of Commons has una- 

 nimously declared to be requisite, may 

 be obtained by an unicm consistent with 

 principle and honour ;" and. " That 

 ih(^ thanks of this meeting be given 

 to the Right Honourable Frederick 

 lyord North, for the ])ublie and volun- 

 tary declaration he has made, of his 

 si]icere and earnest desire to promote, 

 as far as depends on him, a cordial and 

 permanent union." 



In (umsequcncc of the eagerness for 

 an union of parties, repeatedly express- 

 ed by these gentlemen, and also by 

 many others in the House of Commons, 

 Ml-. Pitt, desiroTis that no backward- 

 ness upon the subject should be im- 

 jnded to him, thought it right, as the 

 most probable means of accomplishing 

 the wishes of so many respectable men, 

 to advise the King to propose an inter- 

 view between (he Duke of Portland and 

 himself (Mr. Pitt) for the purpose of 

 endeavouring to form an administration 

 including themselves and their respec- 

 tive friends. This suggestion was re- 

 ceived by his Majesty with considerable 

 surprise and agitation: and the next 

 morning he wrote to Mr. Pitt the fol- 

 lowing letter, datjd Feb. 1 jth, 17S4. 

 Qucois House, 30 m. past 10 A. M. 



Mr. Pitt is so well apprised of the niorli- 

 ficatioa 1 feel at any possibility 9f ev^ 



agtiin seeing the heads of opposition h» 

 public employments, and more particularly 

 IMr. Fox, whose conduct has not been more 

 marked ag-ainst my station in the enipiro, 

 than against my person, that he must at- 

 tribute my want of perspicuity in my con- 

 versation last nig-ht to that foundalion ; yet 

 I should imagine it must be an case to his 

 mind, in conferring with the other confi- 

 dential ministers this morning', to have on 

 paper my sentiments, which are the result 

 of unremitted consideration, since he left 

 me last nig^ht ; and wiiich he has my con- 

 sent to communicate, if he judges it right, 

 to the above respecfal>le persons. 



My present situation is perhaps the most 

 singular that ever occurred, either in Ihe 

 annals of this or any other country; for 

 the House of Lords, by a not less majority 

 than two to one, have declared in my fa- 

 voiu- : and my subjects at larg-e, in a much 

 more considerable proportion, arc not less 

 decided ; to combat which, the opposition 

 have only a majority of twenty, or at most 

 of thirty, in the House of Commons, who, 

 I am sorry to add, seem as 3et williug to 

 prevent the public supplies. Though I 

 certainly have never much valued popu- 

 laritj-, j'ct I do not think it is to be de- 

 spised when arising from a rectitude of 

 conduct, and when it is to be retained by 

 following the same respectable path, which 

 conviction makes me esteem that of duty, 

 as calculated to prevent one branch of tlie 

 legislature from annihilating the other two, 

 and seizing also the executive power, to 

 which she has no claim. 



I confess I have not yet seen the smallest 

 appearance of sincerity in the leaders of 

 opposition, to come into the only mode by 

 which 1 could tolerate them in my service, 

 their giving up the idea of having the ad- 

 ministration in their hand^-, and ccming in 

 as a respectable part of one on a broad 

 basis ; and therefore I, with a jealous eye, 

 look on any words dropped by them, either 

 in parliament, or to the g-cntlemcn of St. 

 Alban's tavern, as meant only to gain those 

 gentlemen, or, if carrying farther views, 

 to draw ]Mr. Pitt by a ncgociatiou, into 

 some difficulty. 



Should the ministers, after discussing 

 this, still think it advisable that an at- 

 tempt should be made to try, whether an 

 administration can be formed on a real, 

 not a nominal, wide basis, and that Mr. 

 Pitt, having repeatedly, and as fruitlessly, 

 found it impossible to get even an inter- 

 view on what opposition pretends to admit 

 is a necessary measure, I will, though re- 

 luctantl}-, go personally so far as to autho- 

 rise a message to be carried in my name 

 to the Duke of Portlaad, expressing a de- 

 sire that he and 3Ir. Pitt may meet to con- 

 fer on the means of forming an adminis- 

 tration on a wide basis, as the only means 

 of entirely healing the divisions which stop 



the 



