The parliamentary proceedings in the summer session of 1808 were remarkable as indicating the existence of three or four distinct parties, amidst an almost general concurrence in support of the war. These parties were, first, that of the Ministry and their usual followers; next, that of the Grenvilles and Mr Windham, who had all along blamed the peace of Amiens, and predicted that it would prove a mere truce ; thirdly, that of Mr Pitt and Lord Melville, who, after approving that peace, had, on the continued aggressions of Bonaparte, become ardent supporters of war; and, fourthly, that . of Mr Fox, with a part of the old Opposition, who were of opinion that the war might have been avoided. So far were the last from being numerous, that a motion, made on 23d May, to express the con currence of Parliament in the war, found a minority of only ten in the Peers and sixty-seven in the Com mons. A subsequent measure, in the same spirit, an act for arming a large part of the population, was carried in July by a great majority ; and similar ar dour was evinced in submitting anew to war taxes, particularly to a 5 per cent. Income-tax. After the adoption of several other measures of the kind, and a most interesting session of nine months, Parliament was prorogued on 12th August. ' The next session opened on 22d November, and discovered the same alacrity for the prosecution of the war, mixed, however, with a growing oppo sition to ministers. Mr Pitt had, from the begin ning of the war, forebore to commend them, and, since the failure of a negotiation to bring him in to office, had assumed a language occasionally hos tile. He continued to support their propositions for the public defence, and frequently improved them in their progress through Parliament ; but he disclaim ed all personal connection with ministers, and at last treated them as incapable of originating any measure of vigour or utility. This disposition could hardly fail to be turned to account by those busy inter.
rnediaries, who find means to combine the efforts even of opposite parties for the purpose of getting into power. On 15th March Mr Pitt, aware of the side on which the public was moat alive to alarm, brought forward a motion for an " Inquiry into the management of the Navy." On this occasion, severe as was his language in regard to Lord St Vincent, then at the head of the Admiralty, he received the support of the Opposition, and had on his side 130 votes against 201. From this time forward the strength of Ministers was visibly shaken. On 28d April Mr Fox brought forward an eagerly expected motion on the defence of the country, in which Mr Pitt joined, with great animosity against the Ministers. The division was 204 against, and 256 in favour of Government; a majority of 52, which, in a second de bate, on 25th April, was reduced to 37. Soon after this ministers resigned, and Mr Pitt, called to the royal presence, was desired to form an administra tion, with the exclusion, however, of Mr Fox. This
peremptory order, and Mr Pitt's too ready acquies cence in it, proved the source of the greatest diffi culties. The Grenvilles had recently so connected themselves with Mr Fox and his friends, that a se paration would have been altogether dishonourable ; and their united strength, joined to the occasional support of Mr Addington's adherents, was the cause, during the remainder of the session, of very strong divisions-against the new ministers, particularly in the Commons. Their chief measure, entitled the Additional Force Bill, was carried by only 265 to 223. The session soon after closed, but not with out passing a corn bill, evidently intended to dispose the landed interest to submit to the new taxes, and which prohibited the importation of foreign wheat whenever our own should be at or below 63s. the quarter.
Before the opening of next session, an overture, suggested, it is said, by the Sovereign personally, was made to Mr Addington. After some discussion it was accepted, Mr Addington receiving the Presi dency of the Council for himself, and corresponding situations for his friends. With this support mini sters met Parliament ; and, in one of the first great questions, the approval of the war with Spain, ob. tained the concurrence of 313 votes against ,106. In subsequent divisions, the majorities, though less decisive, were considerable, until 6th April, when Mr Whitbread brought forward a most interesting dis cussion on the Tenth Report of the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry, which implicated Lord Melville. This question, debated in a full house, produced a division of 216 against 216, when. after an anxi ous pause, the resolutions moved by Mr Whitbread were carried by the casting vote of the Speaker. This led immediately to the resignation, by Lord Melville, of his office of first Lord of the Admiralty, and was followed by his erasure from the list of privy councillors. Some time after, his Lordship' was, at his own desire, heard before the House of Commons, and, while he acknowledged that tempo. rary irregularities in the appropriation of the public money had taken,place when he was Treasurer of the Navy, he disclaimed, on his honour, the alleged par• ticipation in the profits of Mr Trotter, who had acted as his paymaster. But the expectations of the public were raised, and a prosecution, in some shape or other, was indispensable. A motion for an impeach ment before the Lords, made by Mr Whitbread, was lost by 272 to 195 ; but the Addington party joining Opposition in a motion for a criminal prosecution, the latter was carried by 288 against 229. Lord Melville and his friends, dreading this more than an impeachment, found means, by a sudden division of the House, to rescind the vote to that effect, and to decide on an impeachment before the Lords.