d himself freed from the
great minister whose temper was so alien from his own. But it was with a
yet greater sense of relief that he saw him followed into retirement not
only by Lord Grenville, but by nearly all the more liberal section of
the ministry, by men like Windham and Lord Spencer, the representatives
of the "Old Whigs" who had joined Pitt on the disruption of their party
through the French Revolution. Such a union indeed could hardly have
lasted much longer. The terror which had so long held these Whigs in
their alliance with the Tories who formed the bulk of the administration
was now at an end; and we have already seen their pressure for a more
liberal policy in the action of Lord Fitzwilliam as Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland. But the question of Emancipation finally brought about a
restoration of the natural position of parties; and from this moment the
old Whigs, who accepted Lord Grenville as their head, fell into alliance
with the more revolutionary Whigs who had remained faithful to Fox. The
Whig party thus became again a powerful element in English politics,
while in face of the reunited Whigs stood the Tories, relieved like
themselves from the burthen of an alliance which grew hourly more
distasteful. The bulk of the old Ministry returned in a few days to
office with Mr. Addington at their head, and his administration received
the support of the whole Tory party in Parliament.

Without the walls of Parliament however the nation looked on such a
change with dismay. Addington was regarded as a weak and narrow-minded
man; and the favour with which the king welcomed him was clue to a
consciousness of their common bigotry. Of Lord Hawkesbury, who succeeded
Lord Grenville in the conduct of foreign affairs, nothing was known
outside the House of Commons. It was with anxiety that England found
itself guided by men like these at a time when every hour brought darker
news. The scarcity of bread was mounting to a famine. Taxes were raised
anew, and yet the loan for the year amounted to five-and-twenty
millions. The country stood utterly alone; while the peace of Luneville
secured France from all hostility on the Continent. And it was soon
plain that this peace was only the first step in a new policy on the
part of the First Consul. What he had done was to free his hands for a
decisive conflict with Britain itself, both as a world-power and as a
centre of wealth. England was at once the carrier of European commerce