cedent was fresh in the minds of all men.
The weapon which had reached Fenwick might reach Duncombe. A bill of
pains and penalties was brought in, and carried through the earlier
stages with less opposition than might have been expected. Some Noes
might perhaps be uttered; but no members ventured to say that the Noes
had it. The Tories were mad with shame and mortification, at finding
that their rash attempt to ruin an enemy had produced no effect except
the ruin of a friend. In their rage, they eagerly caught at a new hope
of revenge, a hope destined to end, as their former hope had ended, in
discomfiture and disgrace. They learned, from the agents of Sunderland,
as many people suspected, but certainly from informants who were well
acquainted with the offices about Whitehall, that some securities
forfeited to the Crown in Ireland had been bestowed by the King
ostensibly on one Thomas Railton, but really on the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. The value of these securities was about ten thousand pounds.
On the sixteenth of February this transaction was brought without
any notice under the consideration of the House of Commons by Colonel
Granville, a Tory member, nearly related to the Earl of Bath. Montague
was taken completely by surprise, but manfully avowed the whole truth,
and defended what he had done. The orators of the opposition declaimed
against him with great animation and asperity. "This gentleman,"
they said, "has at once violated three distinct duties. He is a privy
councillor, and, as such, is bound to advise the Crown with a view, not
to his own selfish interests, but to the general good. He is the first
minister of finance, and is, as such, bound to be a thrifty manager of
the royal treasure. He is a member of this House, and is, as such, bound
to see that the burdens borne by his constituents are not made heavier
by rapacity and prodigality. To all these trusts he has been unfaithful.
The advice of the privy councillor to his master is, 'Give me money.'
The first Lord of the Treasury signs a warrant for giving himself money
out of the Treasury. The member for Westminster puts into his pocket
money which his constituents must be taxed to replace." The surprise
was complete; the onset was formidable; but the Whig majority, after
a moment of dismay and wavering, rallied firmly round their leader.
Several speakers declared that they highly approved of the prudent
liberality with which His Majesty had requited the