m was
but slowly coming into its own, and again and again party lines all
but disappeared. The recurring rivalry of Whig and Tory elements,
however, brought about gradually a habitual recognition of the
responsibility of ministers, and this responsibility, in turn, reacted
to accentuate party demarcation. The efforts of George III. to revive
the royal prerogative had the effect of calling into existence a body
of new Tories, not Jacobite, but Hanoverian, who supported the king in
his purpose, and at the same time, of driving the forces of opposition
to a closer union and more constant vigilance. Throughout the century
the tone of party politics was continuously low. Bribery and other
forms of corruption were rife, and the powers of government, both
national and local, were in the hands regularly of an aristocratic
minority which ruled in its own interest. The high-water mark of
intrigue was reached in 1783 when the old Tories, led by Lord North,
allied themselves with the old Whigs, led by Charles James Fox, to
retain power and to curtail the influence of the king. The coalition
was unsuccessful, and the defeat of Fox's India Bill, in December,
1783, became the occasion of the younger Pitt's elevation to the
premiership, followed within three months by a national election which
precipitated an end of the seventy years of Whig ascendancy.

[Footnote 211: See p. 39.]

*153. The Tory Ascendancy, 1783-1830.*--Throughout the ensuing forty-six
years, or until 1830, the new Tory party continued almost
uninterruptedly in power, although it is to be observed that after
1790 the composition and character of this party underwent important
modification. The first decade of the period covered by the Pitt
ministry (1784-1801) was a time of incipient but active propaganda in
behalf of constitutional, financial, and social reform, and the
government was not disinclined to favor a number of the changes which
were projected. The outbreak and progress of the Revolution in (p. 146)
France, however, completely altered the situation. The great
landowners, who constituted the dominating element in the Whig party,
detested the principles of the Revolution and were insistent in season
and out upon war with France. They secured the support of the
parliamentary classes generally, and Pitt and his colleagues were
forced to surrender to the apprehensions and demands of these
elements. The war was declared by France, but it