late to that House, he was told that a petition, with a numerous list of subscribers, had been just presented, the prayer of which was, that he might be impeached. He was told it came from the Royal Exchange, and being desirous to see who were the subscribers, he took it up, when the very first name he cast his eye upon was that of one of his particular friends, an Alderman of London. The next day the Alderman called on him, when he told him he did not expect to see him again in his house. The Alderman, Sir William Stephenson, stared, and asked him, "Why so?" He explained that he had seen his name to a petition desiring that he might be impeached; when the Alderman replied with indifference, "Oh, aye, I did sign a petition at the Royal Exchange, which they told me was for the impeachment of a minister; I always sign a petition to impeach a minister, and I recollect that as soon as I had subscribed it, twenty more put their names to it." But in supporting the Bill he urged that the borough franchise should be further extended, especially at Belfast, where the borough was in the hands of twelve persons; that the right of Parliamentary representation should be accorded to the Roman Catholics; that the payment of tythes, "the ever fruitful cause of disturbance and outrage," should be transferred from the occupier to the owner; that the clergy should be compelled to reside on their benefices; and that remedial legislation generally should be constantly kept in view.[1]
While Pitt by this great measure was recalling the peaceful triumphs of his earlier and better days, he was persevering in his unfortunate Continental policy. A fresh coalition had been formed against France. The triumphs of the Archduke Charles in Germany and of Suwaroff in Italy during the absence of Bonaparte in Egypt in 1799, gave unusual hopes to George III., who thought he recognized the visible interposition of Providence. Pitt contemptuously rejected the offers of the First Consul on his return from Egypt to treat, and Lord Grenville once
- ↑ Parliamentary History, xxxv. 167.
