o conceal the dislike which was borne towards it; nor
was this ministry looked upon with greater favour by the nation at
large. They had obtained power by unworthy means; and this operated to
diminish public confidence in their measures, whence it was not long
before it was seen that this administration would share the fate of Lord
Shelburne's. It was an unnatural union of parties; and therefore its
integral parts could never be so cemented together as to prevent their
final separation.

RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH AMERICA, ETC.

After a long debate on the subject of parliamentary reform, which
subject was brought into the house by Mr. Pitt, and was attended with
no beneficial results, some important debates took place on the modes or
arranging our commercial intercourse with the United States. A bill was
passed in order to its promotion, repealing the restraining act; and
other obstacles were removed by a temporary bill, vesting the power of
making future regulations in the crown. Another subject which claimed
the attention of the house, was the case of the American loyalists.
Few believed that congress or the provincial assemblies would pay any
attention to the recommendations of England, or that these loyalists
would be allowed to recover their confiscated property. The care of
providing for them, therefore, devolved on parliament. An act was passed
appointing commissioners to inquire into their losses and services; and
it was agreed in a committee of supply, that all American officers who
had borne arms for the king should be allowed half-pay. As foreseen,
congress, although they fulfilled the terms of the provisional articles
on behalf of the loyalists to the very letter, paid no attention to
the cold and formal recommendation of restoring their property; and
subsequently a host of them soon found themselves compelled to quit
their native country for ever. So numerous were the claims made upon the
parliament, that in the whole they received more than twelve millions
of money. This was noble generosity on the part of Great Britain, for at
this time she had no money to spare. One of the first measures, indeed,
or the new ministry, was to obtain a loan of twelve millions, and to
put a stamp-duty on receipts, in order to meet, the expenses of the
state--expenses which had chiefly been incurred by the recent war.
During this war, in truth, England had increased her national debt by
more then L