On the morrow the contention was renewed. The language of the
country party was perceptibly bolder and sharper than on the
preceding day. That paragraph of the King's speech which related
to supply preceded the paragraph which related to the test. On
this ground Middleton proposed that the paragraph relating to
supply should be first considered in committee. The opposition
moved the previous question. They contended that the reasonable
and constitutional practice was to grant no money till grievances
had been redressed, and that there would be an end of this
practice if the House thought itself bound servilely to follow
the order in which matters were mentioned by the King from the
throne.

The division was taken on the question whether Middletons motion
should be put. The Noes were ordered by the Speaker to go forth
into the lobby. They resented this much, and complained loudly of
his servility and partiality: for they conceived that, according
to the intricate and subtle rule which was then in force, and
which, in our time, was superseded by a more rational and
convenient practice, they were entitled to keep their seats; and
it was held by all the Parliamentary tacticians of that age that
the party which stayed in the House had an advantage over the
party which went out; for the accommodation on the benches was
then so deficient that no person who had been fortunate enough to
get a good seat was willing to lose it. Nevertheless, to the
dismay of the ministers, many persons on whose votes the court
had absolutely depended were seen moving towards the door. Among
them was Charles Fox, Paymaster of the Forces, and son of Sir
Stephen Fox, Clerk of the Green Cloth. The Paymaster had been