A bitter mortification awaited Mr. Pitt. As faithful in his friendships as in his political engagements, he had remained sincerely attached to Lord Melville, notwithstanding the coldness which had arisen between them during the Addington ministry. Upon returning to power, he had called his friend to the Ministry of the Marine, of which he had recently been treasurer. Naval construction had been much neglected by Lord St. Vincent. Melville pushed it forward with much zeal. The order and superintendence, however, were not equal to the activity. A paymaster appointed by Lord Melville was convicted of having appropriated public funds. Soon after his patron was accused of being implicated in these malversations. It was impossible, he said, to render an account of the sums which had passed through his hands, and of which a part had been used for secret service. {406} Justly convinced of the honesty of Lord Melville, but equally disturbed by his mismanagement and the bad intentions of the opposition towards him, Pitt resolved to defend his colleague at all hazards. Among his partisans, and even in the cabinet, the dissatisfaction was profound, and opinions were much divided. When it came to a vote, the independent members awaited the decision of Mr. Wilberforce; he rose slowly, avoiding the glance of Mr. Pitt, which still entreated him. "I am forced," said he, "to vote for Mr. Whitbread's resolution of censure. I am profoundly shocked at the guilty conduct of Lord Melville, and I am unable to refuse to satisfy the moral sense of England." The house was equally divided, and the speaker cast the deciding vote. Abbott, the speaker, much troubled, voted for the resolution. "I sat wedged close to Pitt himself, the night we were left 216 to 216," writes Lord Fitzharris, son of Lord Malmesbury, "and the speaker, Abbot, after looking as white as a sheet, and pausing for ten minutes, gave the casting vote _against_ us. Pitt immediately put on the little cocked hat that he was in the habit of wearing when dressed for the evening, and jammed it deeply over his forehead; and _I distinctly saw the tears trickling down his cheeks_. We had overheard one or two, such as Colonel Wardle (of notorious memory), say, they would see how Billy looked after it. A few young ardent followers of Pitt, with myself, locked their arms together, and formed a circle, in which he moved, I believe, unconsciously, out of the House; and neither the Colonel nor his friends could approach him." {407}