Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/89

Rh There were few who believed that peace would be permanent; but it was supported by Pitt and Fox, and Grenville and Windham could rally very little opposition in either House. Another member of the old opposition, Tierney, had for a time left the party and taken office under Addington. His secession, if it really amounted to that, was not of serious consequence at the time, and he rejoined his friends when, at a later date, they had to contend against the repression and tyranny which followed the final close of the great war.

There was as little belief in the stability of the new Ministry as in the permanence of the peace. Many people thought that Addington only held office to keep the place until his old friend and leader Pitt could consistently return. The Premier himself took a very different view of the position and of his own importance, and his opinion was strengthened by the terms of confidence and almost of affection which grew up between him and the King. So it fell out that the end of the peace came before that of the Government, but it was all the more strongly felt that the one event could but be a prelude to the other. In a time of peace Addington might manage to hold on to place with a friendly sovereign, a subservient Parliament, and with Pitt willing to stand on one side. With a great war raging, the conditions were entirely changed. Parliament, while still obedient, did not conceal its opinion as to the desirability of Pitt's return to office, and the great man himself no longer pretended to feel confidence in the ability of his successor. As for the King, he was constantly hovering between sanity and insanity, and his confused mind, played upon by the small tactics of Addington, was unable to understand the real necessities of the case. In this state of affairs, the position of the Liberal party became a matter of increasing importance. A complete estrangement between Addington and Pitt seemed likely to make an efficient Government impossible without an alliance by one of the rivals with some of the Whig leaders. The majority in the Commons might rather be called ministerial than Pittite, although a large part of it would gladly follow the old chief, if he were once more