052 



Britain. 



sional 

 ed at 



articles of pacification with America-were sign- 

 nulll v " " L Pa " S ' and On the ' 20lh f January 1733, they 

 " 17SS. ' were si K n? d witn France and Spain. The thirteen 

 '. United Provinces were declared tree ami independent 

 America' SUteS> and b ? a boundary very favourable to America, 

 signed. tlie whole country southward of the lakes on both sides 

 of the Ohio, and eastward of the Mississippi, was ceded 

 to the colonies, with a full participation of the 

 eries on the banks of Newfoundland and the Gulf of 

 St Lawrence. In return for this concession, the Con- 

 gress engaged to recommend to the several States to 

 provide for the restitution of the confiscated estates 

 of the royalists, a recommendation which proved, as 

 might have been foreseen, entirely nugatory. By 

 the treaty with France, Great Britain guaranteed to 

 that power the island of Tobago, and restored St 

 Lucia ; also the settlements of Goree and Senegal, in 

 Africa; and the city of Pondicherry, with our con- 

 quests in the East, and some additional territory. 

 Our claims respecting Dunkirk were expressly re- 

 linquished. France, on her part, agreed to restore 

 all her valuable and important conquests in the West 

 Indies, Tobago only exc pted. His Catholic majesty 

 was allowed to retain Minorca and West Florida, 

 East Florida being also ceded in exchange for the 

 Bahamas. The preliminaries with Holland were sub- 

 scribed much later in the year. By these the States 

 General yielded and guaranteed to his Britannic Ma- 

 jesty the town of Negapatam in the East Indies, 

 with its dependencies ; the restitution of it being, 

 however, left open to be treated for on the offer ofa 

 just equivalent. 



When the terms with France, Spain, and Ame. 

 rica, were submitted to parliament, they underwent 

 the severest animadversions. It waa now that a coa- 

 lesced opposition sprung up, which, while it astonish- 

 ed the nation by its novelty, for a time overwhelmed 

 all resistance. Mr Fox, in his indignation at the 

 conduct of the Shelburne party* did not hesitate to 

 unite his strength with his old and avowed antago- 

 nist, Lord North. Mr Fox defended the union, by 

 declaring, that the question of American indepen- 

 dence being now at rest, he had no desire to perpe- 

 tuate his enmities with a salesman, whose views 

 were directed, like his own, to displace from power 

 a ministry composed of men who had been unfaith- 

 Jul to their principles ; and his object, he avowed, 

 was, by the joint force of their friends, to ensure a 

 great and popular administration. The nation at 

 large viewed this coalition with disapprobation. Our 

 business is only to record its effects. Such was the 

 strength of the united opponents, that in two in- 

 stances they outvoted the ministry. A motion for 

 addressing his majesty for a new choice of servants 

 was victoriously carried ; and on the 2d of April the 

 Formation Cabinet council was thus formed anew. The Duke 



"' f Portland was t appointed first lord of the treasury; 



Lord North and Mr Fox, principal secretaries; Lord 

 John Cavendish, chancellor of the exchequer; Lord 

 Keppel, first lord of the admiralty ; Lord Stormont, 

 president of the council ; and the Earl of Carlisle, 

 keeper of the privy seal. If the coalition which had 

 formed the present ministry was unpopular, the career 

 of their most formidable opponent, Mr Pitt, was at 

 this time calculated to excite the highest expectations 

 IB the public of an enlightened and patriotic states- 

 man. He stood forward as the most active cham- 

 pion of reform. In a former session he had made a 



B R I T A I N. 



Sept. 2. 



Coalition 

 between 

 Mr Fox 

 and Lord 

 North. 



rf a new 



.ministry 



general motion for an enquiry into the state of re- 

 presentation. He now brought forward a specific 

 plan for adding an hundred members to the county 

 representation, and abolishing a similar number of the 

 obnoxious boroughs. His plan, though supported 

 by Mr Fox, was negatived by a large majority. 



For some time the total derangement of the finances Affairs 

 of the India Company, and their utter incompetency the K;IS 

 to govern the vast territories of which they had ob- I'liaO 

 tained possession, by very questionable means, had pan ^ 

 become too evident to admit of contradiction. The 

 evil was notorious; the only difficulty was to devise 

 an adequate remedy. On the 18th of November, 

 Mr Fox introduced a bill, by which he proposed to 

 take from the directors and proprietors the entire ad- 

 ministration of their territory and commercial affairs, 

 and to vest the management of them in the hands of 

 seven commissioners irremoveable by the crown, ex- 

 cept in consequence of an address from either house 

 of parliament. The act was to continue in force for 

 four years, and was accompanied by a second bill, Fo)[ > 5 Ir 

 containing regulations for the future government of Bill. 

 India. The greatest commotion was, however, ex- 

 cited by the disclosure of this plan ; while it was on 

 one side of the house extolled as a master-piece of 

 genius, virtue, and ability, it was on the other repro- 

 bated as a violation of chartered rights, and an am- 

 bitious design of ministers to make themselves im- 

 moveable and despotic, by assuming the power and 

 patronage of India. The India . ompany, the city Passec 

 of London, and other chartered bodies, petitioned or tlle co 

 entered into resolutions against the bill. It passed "*' 

 the Commons, however, though in the Lords it was ' 

 rejected by a majority of 95 to 76. This rejection 

 is to be traced to a proceeding deservedly repro- 

 bated. On the 1 1th of December, Earl Temple de- 

 manded a conference with the king, in consequence 

 of which a card was handed about, intimating that 

 his majesty allowed Earl Temple to say, that who- 

 ever voted for the India bill, was not only not his 

 friend, but would be considered as his enemy ; and if 

 these words were not strong enough, Earl Temple 

 might use whatever words he might deem stronger or 

 more to the purpose. A change of ministry was Minis 

 immediately resolved upon; and on the 18th of De- again 

 cember, a message from his majesty arrived to the chaug 

 two secretaries of state, demanding the seals of of- 

 fice. In a few days, Mr Pitt was appointed first 

 lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer; 

 the Marquis of Carmarthen, and Mr Thomas Towns- 

 end, (created Lord Sydney,) secretaries of state; 

 Lord Thurlow, lord chancellor ; Earl Gower, pre- 

 sident of the council ; the Duke of Rutland, lord 

 privy seal ; Lord Howe, first lord of the admiralty ; 

 the Duke of Richmond, master of the ordnance; 

 and Mr Henry Dundas, treasurer of the navy. 



The majority of the House of Commons, however, Mr Pi 

 still adhered to the dismissed ministers : they addres- retain- 

 sed the crown, to pray that the alarming reports p '? ce 

 which had gone forth, of an intended prorogation, ^ 

 or dissolution, might not be realized ; to which they of par' 

 received an explicit answer from his majesty, that mem. 

 after their adjournment they should not be disturbed, 

 by being either prorogued or dissolved. When the 178 

 house assembled, after the Christmas recess, the ma- 

 jorities of the opposition still continued, and exhibit- 

 ed, at once, the novel spectacle of a minister holding 

 his place in contempt of the voice of the commons, 



