264 Memoirs of the lute Right Hon. CJiarles James Fox. [Oct. 1, 



minifters, take rcfujre in the Houfe of 

 Peers ; on the contrary, he remained in 

 the midil of Ills partifuns, who Itill fonned 

 ;i numerous b;ind, hiaved all tlie cla- 

 mours of Ills adveriaries, defied their 

 threats, and declared liimfelf ready to 

 meet any inquiry they might wifli lo inlii- 

 tute. 



Mr. Fox obtained the otHcc of Secre- 

 fciry for Forcis^n Atfaiis, in the fpring of 

 1782, while the jMarqul^ of Uockinfihaui, 

 the molt uniform lionell and uprieht lialel- 

 maii whom we ha\e polfellcd lince the 

 Itevohuion, was nominated Firl't Ford of 

 the 'rreaUiry. IMuch was expetled from, 

 aud much, it nnili be owned, was per- 

 formed by a minillry, the molt reipctla- 

 klc of any that has been feea in England 

 during the prefent reign. But the fud- 

 den death of the nobleman jull men- 

 tioued, at once afflicted the nation and 

 divided the friends of liberty, while the 

 e.\-minilter and his adherents knew how 

 to derive advantage from the ftorni, and 

 reap benefit from the difmay that unhap- 

 pily enfued. 



A difpute, ;is had been forcfeen, im- 

 mediately took place about who flioiUd 

 fuccecd as Firfi Lord of the Treafury. 

 The candidates were, Lord Shclburne, 

 afterwards Marquis of Lanfdowne, and 

 the prefent Duke of Portland ; the fa- 

 vour of the King made the intereft of the 

 former preponderate, and a I'chifm hav- 

 ing enfued, Mr. Fox retired in difguft. 

 As the Earl of Chatham was accuftomed 

 to obferve " that he would never be re- 

 fponlibie for actions which he did not di- 

 rett," fi) the Secretary of State, when he 

 withdrew, remarked, " that he had de- 

 termined ne\cr to connive at plans in 

 private, which he could not publicly 

 avow.'' 



What thofc pluns may have been, we 

 are left to gucls. We have reafon to be- 

 lieve, that the only olienlible difpute in 

 the cabinet was relative to the independ- 

 ence of America, which Mr. Fox wifhed 

 to grant as a boon, while Lord Shel- 

 burae dchred to confer it in the maimer 

 of a bargain : the fccret, and perhaps 

 leading caufe, on the prefent occalion, 

 originated in friendlliip to the Duke of 

 Portland, then a very popular nobleman, 

 wliofe excluiion liad produced the nioft 

 fatal jealoulics among the bell friends of 

 liberty. 



Mr. Fox now refumed his old frat, 

 facing the Treafury bench, while his for- 

 mer colleague, the Earl of Shelburne, 

 was bulled in concluding a peace with 

 France, Spain, Holland, and the United 



States of America. This nobleman, al- 

 though pofielied of great talents, forgot 

 to adopt the mofl obvious meauii for en- 

 furing his own flifety. In the firfl place, 

 he (lid not call a new parliament, and in 

 the next, he omitted to f'ecure the im- 

 menle advantaj;cs refulting from the 

 prels, which, in a free country, will al- 

 ways influence, if not govern, the nation. 

 But even as it w as, he would have tri- 

 umphed, but tor a molt odious as well as 

 impolitic coalition, fuppofed to be bottom- 

 ed on ainbitionulone, and deflitute of any 

 common principle of union. 



The pnlitical f'ucccfs of ]\Ir. Fox and 

 Lord !Noith was, however, c])hemeral. 

 M'hile they agreed in no one great niea- 

 lure for the ronmion good, the nation 

 feemed to unite as one man againfi them; ' 

 and the King lun ing become jealous of 

 his prerogative, on the introduction of ' 

 the " luifl India Bill," they were obliged 

 to retire, but not until means had been 

 reforted to, which no friend of the coiilti- 

 tution could either advife or pradtife. 



A phenomenon in the political world 

 now took place, for a ftripling, juft of 

 age, upborne on the wings of royal and 

 popular favour, fucceeded to the poll of 

 Premier, and kept it for upwards of 

 twenty years. William Pitt, the younger 

 foil of that William Pitt, Earl of Chat 

 ham, who had been the rival of Henry 

 Fox, Lord Holland, to a greater portion 

 of eloquence than his father added all his 

 ambition. He wivs the firfl miniller, lince 

 the acceflion of the houfe of Hanover, 

 w ho dart d to remain in place in defiance 

 to the declared lenfc of the Houle of 

 Commons; and fiich was the gulhbility 

 of the nation, tiiat merely by ufing the 

 magic founds of peace and econoHjy, he 

 contrived to involve it in moje wars and 

 debts than any other fiatefinan fince the 

 Conquell. Un great occaflons he dif- 

 played an extraordinary portion of ta- 

 lent, but yet he, at the fame time, did 

 not blufh to floop to cunning and chi- 

 canery, for his fole aim w as fuceefs, and 

 he was determined either to obtain or to 

 prefeiTC it at all hazards. Such wai the 

 opponent with whom the fuliject of this 

 memoir had now to contend fijr the go- 

 vernment of the empire ; fuch the man, 

 who could only be prevailed upon to re- 

 linquifh it with his life ! JMeanwliilc, the 

 tide of popularity liad fct in fo flrongly 

 againft Air. Fox, that at the general elec- 

 tion, in 1T84, many of his friends lofV 

 their feats in the Houfe of Commons*, 



Thef'c wtre jocofely termed Fox'': Mar- 



tjn. 



and 



