nothing was too high for the revenge of the court, so
also was nothing too low. A persecution, such as had never been known
before and has never been known since, raged in every public department.
Great numbers of humble and laborious clerks were deprived of their
bread, not because they had neglected their duties, not because they had
taken an active part against the ministry, but merely because they had
owed their situations to the recommendation of some nobleman or
gentleman who was against the peace. The proscription extended to
tidewaiters, to gaugers, to doorkeepers. One poor man to whom a pension
had been given for his gallantry in a fight with smugglers was deprived
of it because he had been befriended by the Duke of Grafton. An aged
widow, who, on account of her husband's services in the navy, had, many
years before, been made housekeeper to a public office, was dismissed
from her situation, because it was imagined that she was distantly
connected by marriage with the Cavendish family. The public clamor, as
may well be supposed, grew daily louder and louder. But the louder it
grew, the more resolutely did Fox go on with the work which he had
begun. His old friends could not conceive what had possessed him. "I
could forgive," said the Duke of Cumberland, "Fox's political vagaries;
but I am quite confounded by his inhumanity. Surely he used to be the
best natured of men."

At last Fox went so far as to take a legal opinion on the question,
whether the patents granted by George the Second were binding on George
the Third. It is said that, if his colleagues had not flinched, he would
at once have turned out the Tellers of the Exchequer and Justices in
Eyre.

Meanwhile the Parliament met. The ministers, more hated by the people
than ever, were secure of a majority, and they had also reason to hope
that they would have the advantage in the debates as well as in the
divisions; for Pitt was confined to his chamber by a severe attack of
gout. His friends moved to defer the consideration of the treaty till he
should be able to attend; but the motion was rejected. The great day
arrived. The discussion had lasted some time, when a loud huzza was
heard in Palace Yard. The noise came nearer and nearer, up the stairs,
through the lobby. The door opened, and from the midst of a shouting
multitude came forth Pitt, borne in the arms of his attendants. His face
was thin and ghastly, his limbs swathed in flannel, his crutch in h