ieved. On
the 19th of March, Lord North sent a message to the king, intimating
the necessity of his immediately resigning. His majesty replied, that he
should be at St. James's Palace on the following day, when he would see
him, and in that interview Lord North tendered his resignation. He rode
direct from his majesty to the house of commons, where Lord Surrey was
waiting to make his motion. On his arrival it was moved:--"That the Earl
of Surrey be now heard;" on which Lord North rose and calmly told the
house, that as the object of the intended motion was the removal of
his majesty's ministers, such a motion was become unnecessary, as the
present administration was no more! He moved an adjournment of five days
to allow time for new arrangements, to which the house agreed, and Lord
North then left the treasury-bench, where he had presided for twelve
years as the supreme personage in the house of commons. He retired from
office a poorer man than he came into it: a noble proof of his integrity
of conduct. His income would have been insufficient for the education
and maintenance of his numerous children, had not his majesty been
pleased to secure him in the office of lord warden of the cinque ports.
On his retirement he received flattering compliments from his adherents,
while opposition were not ashamed of exhibiting a glowing exultation
at their triumph. So marked was this exultation in several of his
opponents, that Burke, more generous, and more noble, exhorted them to
guard against those passions which distort the human mind, and severely
censured them for their ill-timed and misplaced joy. He also pointed
out to them the great expectations which the nation had aright to expect
from them after their manifold declarations, and set before them the
difficulty of the task which they had to accomplish. Wise men there
were among them: but it is a question whether under the circumstances
in which Lord North was placed, they could have guided the helm of the
state with greater steadiness or greater skill.

THE NEW MINISTRY.

In the ranks of the opposition there were two parties: one which
contended for the complete emancipation of the colonies; and the other,
though opposed to the principle of taxation and the continuance of
hostilities, which still wished to maintain the principle of supremacy
over the colonies. At the head of the first of these parties was the
Marquess of Rockingham, and of the second, the Earl of Sh