The speech of the Opposition leader decided the question. No man on his
side would venture beyond the line which he had drawn; and the
resolutions of Government were triumphantly carried, after a brief
appeal from me to the loyalty and manliness of the House. I placed
before them the undeniable intention of the cabinet to promote the
public prosperity, the immeasurable value of unanimity in the parliament
to produce confidence in the people, and the magnitude of the stake for
which England and Ireland were contending with the enemy of Europe.
Those sentiments were received with loud approval--my language was
continually echoed during the debate, I was congratulated on all sides;
and this night of expectancy and alarm closed in a success which
relieved me from all future anxiety for the fate of the Government.
The House broke up earlier than usual; and, to cool the fever which the
events of the night had produced in my veins, I rambled into one of the
spacious squares which add so much to the ornament of that fine city.
The night was serene, the air blew fresh and flower-breathing from the
walks, the stars shone in their lustre, and I felt all the power of
nature to soothe the troubled spirit. Some of the fashionable
inhabitants of the surrounding houses had been induced by the fineness
of the night to prolong their promenade; and the light laugh, and the
sound of pleasant voices, added to the touching and simple charm of the
scene. A group had stopped round a player on the guitar, with which we
made a tolerable accompaniment to some foreign songs. My ear was caught
by a chorus which I had often heard among the French peasantry, and I
joined in the applause. The minstrel was ragged and pale, and had
evidently met with no small share of the buffets of fortune; but,
cheered by our approval, he volunteered to sing the masterpiece of his
collection--"The Rising of the Vendee"--the rallying-song of the
insurrection, a performance chanted by the Vendean army in the field, by
the Vendean peasant in his cottage, and which he now gave us with all
the enthusiasm of one who had fought and suffered in the cause.