te of confidence. At this point the Coalition
vanished. It was not, however, till the month of March that he succeeded
in crushing his formidable opponents; and having thus demonstrated the
real strength of his Government by the most constitutional means, he
dissolved the Parliament--an alternative which a less confident and
conscientious Minister might have justifiably availed himself of long
before. The appeal to the people was enthusiastically responded to; and
when the next Parliament met, an amendment on the Address, moved by Lord
Surrey, was rejected by a majority of 76. Mr. Pitt's Government was now
established on the firmest basis.

Throughout these proceedings, Lord Temple maintained a strict reserve.
Except when his opinions were solicited on the subject of Ireland, he
does not appear to have tendered his advice, or in any form to have
identified himself with the Government. His regard for Mr. Pitt isolated
him from a prominent participation in public affairs at this crisis; for
as he would not act against the Administration, and was precluded from
the opportunity of serving it as he desired to do, no choice was left to
him but that of a friendly neutrality. He still continued,
notwithstanding, to feel a deep interest in Irish affairs; but it was
limited almost exclusively to his private letters, and even in this
shape he abstained from all direct interference. Lord Northington, who
is said to have been invited by Mr. Pitt to retain the Lord-Lieutenancy,
remained in office till February, when he was displaced by the Duke of
Rutland. In the interval, Lord Temple's silence on all matters relating
to the government of that country, has left scarcely any traces of his
feelings or opinions in the scanty correspondence of this period.

On the 8th of January, writing to General Cuninghame, whom he had
formerly recommended to the command in Ireland for his "superior
fitness," and who had recently applied for it on the resignation of
General Burgoyne, he intimates his position very clearly:

Variety of circumstances have placed me in a situation wholly
divested of power or of official information; so that in the
present moment I do not even know whether General Burgoyne is
still in command or not; still less do I know the ideas of
Government upon it.

General Cuninghame, in reply, expresses the regret which he felt, in
common with others, that his Lordship, who had occupied so conspicuous a