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40 the nation. The worst immediate effect of the triumph of Shelburne was that which it exercised upon Fox himself. For almost the only time in his life, he seems to have allowed the sense of his personal injuries, and the injustice with which he had been treated, to affect, if not to overcome, his devotion to his political principles. He formed that coalition with Lord North which indeed avenged his own wrongs and seated him in office in spite of King and court, but which damaged him irreparably in the opinion of his countrymen, and remains a blot upon a most illustrious career.

The effect of this strange alliance was not long in manifesting itself. The new Ministry was formed in July, 1782, and on the 20th of January, 1783, the preliminaries of peace, whereby the independence of the United States was recognized, were signed in Paris. On the 24th of the same month the conditions of the treaty were discussed, and the existence of the coalition for the first time made known to Parliament. Fox and North both attacked the provisions of the treaty, although neither then nor at any subsequent stage of the discussions did they endeavour to prevent the acceptance of the conditions to which the nation had, as they held, been improperly committed. As soon as the alliance was known, it was felt that the fate of the Ministry was sealed. There were regret and dismay in the minds of many Liberal leaders, and still stronger feelings among the majority of the people outside; but the bonds of the Parliamentary party were too strong to be broken, and the followers of Fox and those of North, who had so often waged bitter war with each other, now marched in an unbroken and irresistible phalanx to attack the government. On the 17th of February the Ministry were defeated in the Commons. On the 21st a like calamity befel them, and Shelburne resigned. Under ordinary circumstances this would have ended the matter, and the victorious opposition, commanding a strong Parliamentary majority, would have taken office. But the King was determined not to admit Fox to his council, if he could by any means prevent it; and in this determination he,