that is a union of people holding different opinions. The followers of Fox and North together were now more numerous than those of Shelburne, and they succeeded in turning him out of office. What is known in history as the “Coalition” government of Fox and North was now formed. It had a large following in Parliament, but people outside thought it was wrong that Tories and Whigs, who had been abusing each other so bitterly for so many years. should go into the same government. The king, too, was displeased, partly because he hated Fox, and partly because the ministry was too well supported. At first he could do nothing; but when Fox brought in a Bill for the better government of India, the king induced his friends in the Lords to throw it out, and then- made this an excuse for forcing his ministers to resign. He now called on William Pitt, a young man of twenty four years of age, to become Prime Minister. Pitt was the second son of William Pitt, the great Commoner, and although young in years was old in knowledge, ability, and self-confidence. In vain, Fox and North outvoted him in Parliament, and tried to force him to resign. The king gave him his influence and support, and when, a few months later, the king dissolved Parliament, and called upon the people to elect their representatives, it was found that the nation was so strongly with Pitt that few of the followers of Fox and North were able to keep their seats. Pitt was now Prime Minister with a large following in Parliament and in the country, and the king was content to let him rule. For seventeen years without a break, from December 1783 to February 1801, he remained in power, guiding and controlling the affairs of the nation as no man had done since the days of Walpole.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE STRUGGLE AGAINST NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
1. William Pitt the Younger.—One of Pitt's first acts was to pass an India Bill, in 1784, which gave the Government control over the political acts of the East India Company. This was done
