his restoration had already produced, he, in three days,
voluntarily quitted the helm; and his majesty acquiesced in the measures
proposed by the opposite party. The seals were re-delivered to the duke
of Newcastle and the earl of Harrington; Mr. Pel-ham, and all the rest
who had resigned, were reinstated in their respective employments; and
offices were conferred on several individuals who had never before been
in the service of the government. William Pitt, esq., was appointed
vice-treasurer of Ireland, and soon promoted to the place of
paymaster-general of the forces; at the same time the king declared him
a privy-counsellor. This gentleman had been originally designed for the
army, in which he actually bore a commission; but fate reserved him a
more important station. In point of fortune he was barely qualified to
be elected member of parliament, when he obtained a seat in the house
of commons, where he soon outshone all his compatriots. He displayed a
surprising extent and precision of political knowledge, an irresistible
energy of argument, and such power of elocution as struck his hearers
with astonishment and admiration. It flashed like the lightning of
heaven against the ministers and sons of corruption, blasting where it
smote, and withering the nerves of opposition; but his more substantial
praise was founded upon his disinterested integrity his incorruptible
heart, his unconquerable spirit of independence, and his invariable
attachment to the interest and liberty of his country.

The quiet of the ministry being re-established, the house of commons
provided for forty thousand seamen, nearly the same number of land
forces, besides fifteen regiments raised by the nobility on account of
the rebellion, and about twelve thousand marines. They settled funds for
the maintenance of the Dutch and Hessian troops that were in England,
as well as for the subsidy to the landgrave. They granted three hundred
thousand pounds to the king of Sardinia; four hundred thousand pounds
to the queen of Hungary; three hundred and ten thousand pounds to defray
the expense of eighteen thousand Hanoverians; about three-and-thirty
thousand pounds in subsidies to the electors of Mentz and Cologn; and
five hundred thousand pounds in a vote of credit and confidence to his
majesty. The whole charge of the current year amounted to seven millions
two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, which was raised by the land
and malt taxes, annuities on t