34 
intimate conncctions in tbe city, in 
the bank, in the India house, and 
jn most of the great trading corpe- 
rations, and were able to communi- 
cate a party impulse to these bodies 
whenever it suited their purposes. 
In all the public offices, in all the 
boards of revenue, customs, excise 
and taxes throughout the kingdom, 
in all the civil and military depart- 
ments of the state, the superintend- 
ants, subalterns, and clerks were in 
general persons who had been in- 
debted to the ex-ministers for their 
places, who had looked up to them 
for further preferment, and who 
now trembled lest they should suffer 
from their disgrace. Among the 
disearded adherents of the late mi- 
nisters, it happened, that all those 
were included, who had ever served 
as secretaries of the treasury under 
Mr. Pitt, and they who know the 
interior of our government, will be 
at no difficulty to understand, of 
what importance to the new oppo- 
sition was the acquisition of so many 
persons of that description. In short, 
the whole of that noisy, bustling, 
forward, self sufficient part of the 
community, which is usually most 
loud and zealous on the side of go- 
yvernment, was at present, when best 
affected towards the ministers, silent 
and indifferent, but more frequent- 
ly openly hostile to them, or se- 
cretly employed in thwarting their 
measures and reviling their charac- 
ters. This sort of opposition, de- 
spicable asit may appear, is doubly 
injurious to the ministers against 
whom it is directed, because every 
individual of this description, who 
‘adds one to the number of their op- 
ponents, takes one at the same time 
from the natural strength of their 
government. ‘The new opposition, 
thus constituted, direeted their at- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
tacks, at first, exclusively against the 
Foxite part of the administration ; 
but, when they found, that their 
flattery and cajolery were thrown 
away upon lord Grenville; that 
their praises of his talents were un- 
heeded ; their expressions of con- 
fidence in the integrity and sound. 
ness of his principles reccived with- 
out gratitude or reward ; and that 
even their admonitions on the un- 
worthiness of his colleagues, though 
intended solely for his benefit, were 
slighted by him and disregarded ; 
their resentment quickly overleap-~ 
ed the, boundaries to which they had 
originally confined their hostilities, 
and all parts of the «administratiou 
began to share alike in their cen- 
sures and invectives. 
But thegreatstrength of the new op- 
position, lay in the opinion which they 
were careful to circulate,that theyhad 
the secret wishes of the court in their 
favour; and many circumstances, it 
must be confessed, tended to impress 
the public with a suspicion, that at 
Jeast the new ministers had little of 
hearty support in that quarter. It 
was notorious, that the necessity of 
the times had alone brought about 
the change of administration. It 
was observed during the first months 
after the new ministers came 
into office, that the persons con- 
nected with the household seldom at- 
tended in their place, when the mea- 
sures of the new government requir. 
ed support, and that when any de- 
cent excuse could be given for their 
conduct, they were always ready to 
vote against it. The language of 
that description sof persons, best= 
known by the name of courtiers, 
was from the beginning unfayour- 
able to the new ministers. As the 
administration declined in popula- 
rity, because the greatness and suc- 
cess 
cee 
