ce, the committee on the state of the nation was postponed
till Monday, the 9th of February; and in the meantime the house was
informed by Lord Hinchingbrook, that he had laid the resolutions before
the king, and that his majesty had signified his intention of taking
them into consideration. But no communication was made from his majesty
on this subject before the 18th, and in the interval its members were
occupied in canvassing the proceedings of the upper house, and in
measures of revenue and finance.

Up to this time the lords had taken no share in the struggle between the
king and his "faithful commons." Pitt, however, had already commenced
his career of making peers, and these, with others, now began to exhibit
their zeal for his cause. Lord Howard of Effingham moved two resolutions
in direct opposition to, and levelled at, those which had recently been
passed by the commons. The first of these declared, that an attempt in
any one branch of the legislature to suspend the course of the law
was unconstitutional; and the second asserted, that the authority of
appointing the great officers of the executive government was solely
vested in the crown. Both these resolutions were carried by a majority
of nearly two to one; and the commons thought it necessary to pass a
counter-resolution, which asserted that the house had not assumed any
right to suspend the execution of law, or done any thing which could be
deemed unconstitutional.

On the 11th of February the subject of a union of parties was once more
discussed in the commons. Fox made a conciliatory and even complimentary
speech, but Pitt was still firm in his intentions. He observed, that
whatever might be his disposition to coalesce with Fox, there were
other persons of the same party with whom he would never act. As this
observation referred chiefly to Lord North, that nobleman rose, and
declared with great frankness, "that although averse from yielding to
the prejudices or caprice of any individual, he would not be an obstacle
to the formation of such a firm, extended, and united administration
as the present state of the country required." After this the house
resolved itself into a committee of supply, and the ordnance estimates
were voted without a division. On the next day Lord John Cavendish
moved, that the house should resolve itself into a committee on
the Receipt Tax Act, and Pitt himself voted in the majority, thereby
declaring his approbation of the prin