Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 45.djvu/378

 retracted on 21 Dec. his acceptance of the seals of a secretary of state, he was 'led almost to despair' (, i. 50). By the 23rd he had 'hastily patched together an administration composed of men wholly inadequate to the work before them' (Bland Burges Papers, pp. 66-8). His cabinet of seven contained no member of the commons besides himself. He alone, therefore, was to bear the main brunt of the battle. An immediate dissolution was expected (Life of Wilberforce, i. 48). Pitt was determined to appeal to the electorate ; but he was equally determined not to dissolve until public opinion was strongly on his side. Fox, on the other hand, was set on preventing a dissolution, and hoped to drive Pitt from office by votes of the existing house. Pitt employed the recess in framing an India bill which, while establishing a board of control as a state department, left the patronage to the company. On the meeting of the commons on 12 Jan. 1784, Fox proposed, as a means of preventing dissolution, that the house should at once go into committee on the state of the nation. In the debate Pitt loftily defended himself against charges of intriguing with the king. He was in a minority of 39. The attack was renewed on the 16th, when the opposition majority was 21. On the 23rd Pitt's India bill was rejected by a majority of eight, and violent efforts were made in vain to provoke him to disclose his intentions. The king, who regarded him as his one hope of salvation from the men he hated, was in despair, and wrote that he thought a dissolution necessary for the preservation of the constitution. But Pitt remained firm. A body of 'independent' members proposed, and the king assented, that Pitt should meet the Duke of Portland with a view to a combination, and on 2 Feb. the house voted that a united ministry was necessary. Pitt refused to resign office as a preliminary to union, and declared that as the right of dismissal did not rest with the commons, a minister might constitutionally retain office against the will of the house. He denied its right to express a general want of confidence without specific charges. The proposed compromise failed. The tide began to turn at the same time. The clerkship of the pells, worth 3,000l. a year, fell vacant, and, instead of taking it for himself, Pitt won universal admiration by bestowing it on Colonel Barré [q.v.] on condition that he surrendered a pension of greater value, which was thus saved to the country. The king helped him by creating some peers on his nomination. The lords on 4 Feb. declared strongly in his favour, and the East India Company was on his side. On the 28th the freedom of the city was presented to him at a banquet. As he returned his carriage was attacked opposite Brooks's, the club frequented by his opponents, and he escaped with difficulty. This outrage excited much indignation. Fox's majority sank to twelve on 1 March. He proposed to delay supply, and Pitt cast on him the odium of endeavouring to throw the country into disorder. Addresses in Pitt's favour were presented to the king from many towns, and in the commons he succeeded in obtaining votes of supply. On the 8th Fox's 'Representation' to the king against the ministers was carried by only one vote, and the next day the Mutiny bill was passed without opposition. The victory was won, and the king dissolved on 24 March, the day fixed by Pitt (see, Hist. of England, iv. 297-308; , Const. Hist. i. 83). Throughout the struggle Pitt was aided by the mistakes of Fox, but he owed his victory to his own skill and determination. At the general election of 1784 he was returned for the university of Cambridge, and kept that seat during the rest of his life. His triumph was assured by the rejection of 160 of Fox's party, and he was at this date supported by a greater degree of popular favour than had ever been accorded to any minister. In the debate on the address Pitt's majority was 282 to 114. He at once turned his attention to the nation's finances, which were in grave disorder. The interest of the funded debt, the civil list, appropriated duties, and the expenses of the services exceeded the permanent taxes by 2,000,000l, and there was an unfunded debt of about 14,000,000l., of which the bills were at 15 to 20 per cent, discount. Towards funding this debt Pitt issued a loan of 6,500,000l., for he would not disturb the money market by going too fast. Consulting only the interest of the country, he took the then novel step of offering the loan for public tender, and accepting the most advantageous terms. He dealt a decisive blow at smuggling by lowering the duties on the articles most largely smuggled, while he increased the smugglers' risks by the 'Hovering Act.' The duty on tea he reduced from 119 to 12½ per cent., ad valorem, providing for the anticipated loss by a window tax. The success of this measure established his reputation as a financier. In his budget he proposed various taxes calculated to return 930,000l. (, i. 483-507;, Hist. of Taxation, ii. 184-7). In this and all his schemes for taxation he aimed at making all classes contribute to the revenue without pressing unfairly on any. Nor, though there was much that was new