om I have always been rather
hostile till of late years, when I heard he was more religious." It has
been assumed, because Pitt did not make this a cabinet question, that he
was lukewarm in the cause of abolition; but it is clear if he had done
so, he could not have carried it before parliament, and the country were
prepared for it. Up to this period the temper of the public mind may be
discovered in these noble sentiments of the poet Cowper:--

"Canst thou, and honoured with a Christian name,
Buy what is woman born, and feel no shame?
Trade in the blood of innocence, and plead
Experience as a warrant for the deed?
So may the wolf whom famine has made bold,
To quit the forest and invade the fold:
So may the ruffian, who, with ghostly glide,
Dagger in hand, steals close to your bedside;
Not he, but his emergence forced the door--
He found it inconvenient to be poor.
Has God then given its sweetness to the cane--
Unless his laws be trampled on--in vain?
Built a brave world, which cannot yet subsist,
Unless his right to rule it be dismissed?
Impudent blasphemy! so Folly pleads,
And, avarice being judge, with case succeeds."

At this time, however, the labours of Wilberforce, Clarkson, and their
friends had prepared the majority of the country and of parliament for
alleviating the sufferings of the human race; some there were still
whose avarice led them to defend the inhuman system of trafficking in
the blood, bones, and sinews of man; but the many now saw its iniquity,
and were prepared to wipe the foul stain from the annals of England.

PARLIAMENT PROROGUED, ETC.

Various discussions arose during this session, financial and general,
respecting the affairs of India. Mr. Paul, with the assistance of Sir
Philip Francis, "that adventurous knight" prepared charges against
the administration of the Marquis Wellesley; but on the 4th of July
he declared that he was not ready to go into these charges, and it
was agreed that this business should stand over till next session.
Parliament was prorogued on the 23rd of July.

[Illustration: 321.jpg PORTRAIT OF CHARLES JAMES FOX]

DEATH OF FOX.

This session had been a harassing one to Fox. Canning, bound by the
chains of party, assailed him and his colleagues on every measure
brought forward, whether excellent or otherwise. Ministers, moreover,
were not only harassed by his bitter sa