ought to strengthen the
defence; but it had almost collapsed when, about 4 a.m. of 9th April,
Wilberforce arose. At once Pitt bent forward and sent an eager glance
down the Treasury bench at his old friend; for the verdict of a
conscientious and independent member at such a time is decisive.
Speaking with the calm of deep conviction, the member for Yorkshire
declared against Melville, whereupon Pitt sank back with signs of deep
pain. The division showed 216 for and 216 against the motion of censure.
The Speaker, Abbott, turned deathly white, and after a long and trying
pause gave the casting vote against the Government. Then the pent up
feelings burst forth. The groups of the Opposition united in yells of
triumph; one member gave the "view holloa," and others shouted to Pitt
to resign. He meanwhile pressed forward his hat to hide the tears which
stole down his cheeks. Fitzharris, son of Lord Malmesbury, and a few
devoted friends formed a phalanx to screen him from the insolent stare
of Colonel Wardle and others who were crowding round the exit to see
"how Billy Pitt looked after it"; and he was helped out of the House in
a half unconscious state. The blow told severely on a frame already
enfeebled by overwork and worry.[709]

Whitbread's further motion for impeachment was rejected (11th June), but
a similar motion succeeded a fortnight later. Public opinion, however,
soon began to veer round and pronounce the conduct of the Opposition
rancorous. Melville's relative, Sir Charles Middleton, in a letter to
Wilberforce, denounced it as sheer persecution, seeing that the nation
had suffered no loss, and Melville had served it many years with
indefatigable zeal. As for Melville, he retired to his Highland seat,
"Dunira," and in the last letter which he wrote to Pitt, dated 11th
November 1805, expressed gratitude for Pitt's recent message that his
energy at the Admiralty had largely contributed to the triumph at
Trafalgar. Melville's feelings further appeared in the postscript, that
Nelson's death was "enviable beyond expression," as placing "his fair
fame beyond the reach of caprice, envy, or malevolence."[710] Pitt did
not live on to see the vindication of his old friend. On 12th June 1806,
after a trial of twelve days in Westminster Hall, the Peers acquitted
Melville on all the ten counts, the prosecution failing to prove that he
had benefited by Trotter's irregular use of the sum of L10,000. It is
worth noting that Whitbre