\ 
Fox. 
FOX. 
in a vote, declaring the terms of pacification inade- 
quate, the treaty was condemned by Parliament, and 
he administration consequently resigned. A new ca- 
binet was formed under the Duke of Portland, and 
Lord North and Mr Fox became joint Secretaries of 
State,—a coalition, which some have considered as fix- 
ine sp on the political character of the latter; while 
have marked it with high approbation, as,a laud= 
able suppression of party feuds for the good of the coun- 
try. It was certainly, at the time, somewhat revolting to 
the moral feelings of the nation, and served to uce 
a deep impression of the insincerity of public men, The 
only transaction of im during this administra- 
tion, was the India Bill\of Mr Fox, which he intro. 
duced with great ability, and which the House 
of Commons by a strong majority. It was represent- 
ed by its naryoomire asa wise and s.rescue of the 
natives ia from oppression ; but was censured, 
on the other hand, as not merely an unwarrantable vio- 
lation of the India Company’s charter, but also asa 
measure full of to the constitution, inasmuch as, 
by lodging the who eof India in a few per- 
sons, 12 produced a of political influence, which 
might be equally cious, whether it was added or 
opposed to that of the crown, Some suggestions of this 
nature, privately conveyed to the royal ear by a 
out of administration, ‘caused its failure in the ee 
of Lords ; and a new administration was formed under 
Mr Pitt, in the face of a majority of the House of Com- 
mons. In consequence of a dissolution of parliament, 
many. of Mr Fox's friends lost their seats in the 
ae gs pet ee pyrene ye Westminster was 
made the ect a severe scrutiny, of 
which be oul id 
\ chiefly t 
harass the ministry, yet neither can it be denied, chen in 
te. He 
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: 
i 
: 
observed by the other coun« 
try, He condemned also the propositions for assimi- 
lating the commercial ne tary for England and 
Ireland, which nothi tthe jealousy of politi- 
cal independence in the latter have 
enabled the opposition to set aside. He resisted es- 
pecially the regency bill, during the king’s illness in 
1788 ; a question in which the two great political lead- 
ers of the country seem to have, in, some , OX. 
changed political principles. It was | by Mr 
Fox, that the two Houses of Parliament hail no other 
power than to declare the Py Hg vacancy of*the 
throne, and. that the Prince of ‘ales had then an un- 
questionable right, without any limitation in.the pre= 
rogatives of ty, to assume the vacant place. Mr 
Pitt protested against this doctrine, as little less than 
“ treason against the constitution ?’ and maintained the 
533 
right of Parliament both to appoint a regency, and to 
limit its powers, as circumstances might direct. He 
admitted, indeed, the expediency of nominating the 
Prince as , and of leaving him unfettered by any 
council ; while Mr Fox also conceded the adjudication 
of the Prince’s right to be the privilege of Parliament. 
It is scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion, that each 
were in some measure, perhaps insensibly, sway- 
ed in their political views, by their own a sions 
and ex i ~The bill was suppo only by a 
small majority; but the king's recovery happily pre- 
vented ail farther discussion of its principle, which is 
perhaps one of the most delicate that can be publicly 
itated. 
aes Fox displayed all the vigour of his talents in 
ing the trial of Mr Hastings ; and it is worthy of 
remark, that the second article of the charge, of which 
he was the mover, was admitted by Mr Pitt as con- 
taining matter of impeachment. He succeeded also in 
resisting the design of the premier to prevent, by an 
armed mediation, the occupation by Russia of the con- 
uered territory between the Bog and the Dneister ; and 
thus probably saved the country from being involved in 
an expensive and unwarrantable contest. In a few in- 
stances, these rival leaders are found to have concurred in 
supporting some of the most important measures of fi- 
nance, and most essential principles of the constitution. 
Mr Fox su Mr Pitt’s motion for reforming parlia-_ 
ment; b ishing 36 rotten boroughs ; and approved 
of the bill for establishing a sinking fund. On the 
other hand, he received the concurrence of the minis« 
ter in his declaratory acts for asserting the right of ju- 
ries to judge in cases of libel. But the most gratifying 
instance of their agreement appears in the measures 
which were proposed for the abolition of the slave 
trade ; and, throughout the whole of this cause, so in- 
teresting to humanity, the character of Mr Fox is 
placed in the most favourable point of view. He en- 
tered, from the first, and with the greatest ardour, in« 
to the condemnation of that infamous traffic; and, 
without waiting for any enquiry into its accidental bar« 
barities, or its impolicy, wished, as every man 
of right feelings must have done, to denounce it at 
once, as, in every aspect, iniquitous and inhuman, He 
was one of the many excellent and enlightened indivi- 
duals in Great Britain, who hailed, with friendly feel- 
ings, the rising liberties of France in the commence- 
ment of the year 1789; but it has been considered as in- 
some measure de from his political sagacity, that 
he did not sooner detect, in the progress of that revolu- 
tion, the principles of anarchy with which it was fraught. 
It was in the year 1790, inva debate on the army. esti~ 
mates, that French revolution was first noticed in 
the British Parliament; and Mr Fox having expressed 
his approbation in eral terms, Mr Burke took oc- 
casion to point out anime which it threatened to 
regular governments... This drew areply from Mr Fox, 
guarding his commendations of the French patriots, 
yet differing from the doctrines of his friend ; and, 
though speeches were full of strongly compli- 
expressions, a separation was unequivocally 
implied between these two eminent characters, who 
so long pursued their political career as the most 
faithful associates. Even in a-succeeding session .of 
Parliament, after the King of France had remained 
another year as a prisoner in his capital, Mr Fox is 
understood to have characterised the revolution in that 
country as a stupendous and glorious edifice of liberty, 
Fox. 
