THE DYNASTS ACT
'Twill be well earned. The bathing is unmatched Elsewhere in Europe,—see its mark on me!— The air like liquid life.—But of this matter : What argue these late movements seen abroad ? What of the country now the session's past; What of the country, eh ? and of the war ?
PITT
The thoughts I have laid before your Majesty
Would make for this, in sum :—
That Mr. Fox, Lord Grenville, and their friends,
Be straightway asked to join. With Melville gone,
With Sidmouth, and with Buckinghamshire too,
The steerage of affairs has stood of late
Somewhat provisional, as you, sir, know,
With stop-gap functions thrust on offices
Which common weal can tolerate but awhile.
So, for the weighty reasons I have urged,
I do repeat my most respectful hope
To win your Majesty's ungrudged assent
To what I have proposed.
KING
But nothing, sure,
Has been more plain to all, dear Mr. Pitt, Than that your own proved energy and scope Is ample, without aid, to carry on Our just crusade against this Corsican. Why, then, go calling Fox and Grenville in ? Such helps we need not. Pray you think upon't, And speak to me again.—WeVe had alarms Making us skip like crackers at our heels, That Bonaparte had landed close hereby.
PITT
Such rumours come as regularly as harvest.
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