the greater safety declare, that if every shilling of that fictitious property was real and forthcoming, a bill of this nature was not therefore the less necessary. I thought we were fully understood upon this point, from the opening speech in this business, which did not so degrade the measure as to say it originated in the poverty of the company, which, as my noble friend rightly remarks, was the smallest reason for its adoption, and which opinion is not, as the right honourable gentleman insinuates, "shifting," but recognising and recording the true grounds of the bill. If any misunderstanding then, has hitherto taken place upon this head, it will, I trust, cease henceforth, and so odious a libel upon this country will not pass current, as that sordid motives only induced the government of England to that which we were bound to do, as politicians, as christians, and as men, by every consideration which makes a nation respectable, great and glorious!

Having vindicated the bill from this aspersion, and founded it upon that basis which every honest and sensible man in England must approve, I may be allowed to say that some regard may be had even to the mean and mercenary upon this subject (a portion of whom we have here, in common with all other countries.) Will such men endure with temper a constant drain upon this kingdom, for the sake of this monopolizing corporation? Will those, for instance, who clamour against a two-penny tax, afford, with good humour, million after million to the East India company? The sinking fund is at this moment a million the worse for the deficiency of the company; and as the noble lord* says, an extent must in three weeks arrest their property, if parliament does not interpose or enable them to discharge a part of their debt to the crown. Let those, therefore, who think the commerce ought to be instantly separated from the domi. nion (were that at this time possible) and who think it ought to be left wholly in the present hands, reflect,

14

that the formation of a vigorous system of government for India is not more incumbent upon us, than the establishment of the eastern trade upon such prin. ciples of solidity and fitness, as shall give some just hopes that the publick may be speedily relieved from the monstrous pressure of constantly supporting the indigence of the company.

*

I have spoke of myself very often in the course of what I have said this night, and must speak still more frequently in the course of what I have to say: the house will see this awkward task is rendered indispensable, infinitely more having been said concerning me, during the debate, than concerning the question, which is the proper subject of agitation. The right honourable gentleman says, that nothing ever hap pened to give him an ill impression of my character, or to prevent a mutual confidence. He says rightly; there have been interchanges of civility, and amicable habits between us, in which I trust I have given him no cause to complain. But after pronouncing a brilliant eulogy upon me and my capacity to serve the country, the honourable gentleman considers me at the same time the most dangerous man in the kingdom. (Mr. Pitt said across the house, " dangerous -only from this measure." To which Mr. Fox instantly made this reply) I call upon the house to attend to the honourable gentleman; he thinks me dangerous only from this measure, and confesses, that hitherto he has seen nothing in my conduct to obliterate his good opinion. Compare this with his opposition during the last and the present session. Let every man reflect, that up to this moment the honourable gentleman deemed me worthy of confidence, and competent to my situation in the state. I thank him for the support he has afforded to the minister he thus esteemed, and shall not press the advantage he gives me, further than leaving to himself to reconcile his practice and his doctrine in the best manner he can.

Mr. William Pitt.

The honourable gentleman could not for one night pass by the coalition, yet I think he might have chosen a fitter time to express his indignation against the noble lord* than the present moment. An attack upon the noble lord in his presence would bear a more liberal colour; and the cause of his absence now, would surely rather disarm than irritate a generous enemy. There are distinctions in hatred, and the direst foes upon such occasions moderate their aversion. The coalition is, however, a fruitful topick, and the power of traducing it, which the weakest and meanest creatures in the country enjoy and exercise, is of course equally vested in men of rank and parts, though every man of parts and rank would not be apt to participate the privilege. Upon the coalition, the honourable gentleman is welcome to employ his ingenuity, but upon another subject alluded to by him, I shall beg leave to advise, nay even to instruct him.

In what system of ethicks will the honourable gentleman find the precept taught of ripping up old sores, and reviving animosities among individuals, of which the parties themselves retain no memory? This kind of practice may incur a much worse charge than weakness of understanding, and subject a man to much greater imputations than are commonly applied to political mistakes of party violence. The soundness of the heart may be liable to suspicion, and the moral character be in danger of suffering by it, in the opinion of mankind. To cover the heats, and obliterate the sense of former quarrels between two persons, is a very distinguished virtue; to renew the subject of such differences, and attempt the revival of such disputes, deserves a name which I could give

* Lord North.

† Lord North left the house, in a state of indisposition, about midnight.

Alluding to the passage of that famous speech of Mr. Fox's, which produced the duel between him and Mr. Adam, quoted by Mr. Pitt.

it, if that honourable gentleman had not forgotten himself, and fallen into some such deviation. He values himself, I doubt not, too much, again to make a similar slip, and must even feel thankful to me for the counsel I thus take the liberty to give him.

An honourable gentleman under the gallery,* to whom an abuse of the coalition seems a sort of luxury, wishes that a starling were at the right hand of the chair to cry out disgraceful coalition! Sir, upon this subject I shall say but a few words.

The calamitous situation of this country required an administration whose stability could give it a tone of firmness with foreign nations, and promise some hope of restoring the faded glories of the country. Such an administration could not be formed without some junction of parties: and if former differences were to be an insurmountable barrier to union, no chance of salvation remained for the country, as it is well known, that four publick men could not be found, who had not, at one time or other, taken opposite sides in politicks. The great cause of difference between us and the noble lord in the blue ribband no longer existed; his personal character stood high; and thinking it safer to trust him than those who had before deceived us, we preferred to unite with the noble lord. A similar junction, in 1757, against which a similar clamour was raised, saved the empire from ruin, and raised it above the rivalship of all its enemies. The country, when we came into office, bore not a very auspicious complexion; yet, sir, I do not despair of seeing it once again resume its consequence in the scale of nations, and make as splendid a figure as ever. Those who have asserted the impossibility of our agreeing with the noble lord and his friends, were false prophets; for events have belied their augury. We have differed like men, and like men we have agreed.

*Mr. Martin,

A body of the best and honestest men in this house, who serve their country without any other reward than the glory of the disinterested discharge of their publick duty, approved that junction, and sanctify the measure by their cordial support.

Such, sir, is this coalition, which the state of the country rendered indispersable; and for which the history of every country records a thousand precedents; yet to this the term disgraceful is applied. Is it not extraordinary, then, that gentlemen should be under such spells of false delusion, as not to see, that if calling it disgraceful makes it so, these epithets operate with equal force against themselves. If the coalition be disgraceful, what is the anti-coalition? When I see the right honourable gentleman* surrounded by the early objects of his political, nay his hereditary+ hatred, and hear him revile the coalition, I am lost in the astonishment how men can be so blind to their own situation, as to attempt to wound us in this particular point, possessed as we are of the power of returning the same blow, with the vulnerable part staring us directly in the face. If the honourable gentleman under the gallery wishes that a starling were perched up on the right hand of the chair, I tell him, that the wish is just as reasonable, to have another starling upon the left hand of the chair, to chirp up coalition against coalition, and so harmonize their mutual disgrace, if disgrace there be.

With the same consistency, an honourable gentleman calls us deserters!us! a few cold and disaffected members fall off, then turn about, and, to palliate their own defection, call the body of the army deserters! We have not deserted; here we are a firm phalanx. Deserted indeed we have been in the moment of disaster, but never dejected, and seldom complaining. Some of those who rose upon our wreck, and who eagerly grasped that power which we had the labour of erecting, now call us deserters.

* Mr. Pitt.

+ Mr. Jenkinson, Mr. Dundas, &c. sat near Mr. Pitt.