Chapter XVII: Appendix: I (1)

CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF LORD BUTE.

(Vol. i. p. 10.)

Walpole is correct in stating that “Mr. Pitt had been for some time on the coldest terms with Lord Bute.”

What was the original cause of this coldness does not appear. Among the Elliot MSS. is a long letter from Lord Bute to Sir Gilbert Elliot, dated the 30th of April, 1760, expressing deep regret at the interruption of the “fraternal union” which had previously subsisted between him and Mr. Pitt, and empowering Sir Gilbert to use the first favourable opportunity to bring about a reconciliation.

Efforts were accordingly made by Sir Gilbert to satisfy Mr. Pitt, and they elicited a long statement from the latter of his grievances, which is not very intelligible, except that jealousy at the superior favour and influence attained by Lord Bute at Leicester House was his most prominent feeling. When Lord Bute and Mr. Pitt met at Kew on the King’s accession, no intercourse had taken place between them for some months; on that occasion some mutual civilities passed and nothing more.

The meeting between Lord Bute and Mr. Pitt, after the council, (_supra_ vol. i. p. 9,) was at the request of Lord Bute, and not of Mr. Pitt, and it was sought by the former in the hope of his being able to recover Mr. Pitt’s regard. He made every concession that the nicest honour could have required, to Mr. Pitt’s private feelings, and expressed unqualified approbation of his public conduct, even with respect to the war, and ended by offering him his cordial and sincere friendship. Mr. Pitt’s answer certainly held out no prospect of any reconciliation; it is cold and repulsive. He makes it plain that he would insist on entire and uncontrolled power in the cabinet; and the language in which this determination is expressed must have been most unpleasant to Lord Bute, as conveying an implied censure of his political views, which he admitted were to give disinterested assistance, as the King’s friend, in carrying on the government.[213]

The position which Lord Bute thus designed for himself was as visionary as that “Patriot King” described by Bolingbroke; but Lord Bute was himself a visionary, and if Mr. Pitt had possessed the tact and temper of Sir Robert Walpole, he might have gained such an ascendancy over Lord Bute as to make the latter instrumental in carrying on his government. But Mr. Pitt too heartily despised and disliked Lord Bute to condescend to manage him, and there were others without the same fastidiousness, who soon turned the vain ambition of that nobleman to their own account. It was his constant interference, as well in public measures as in the disposal of patronage, that led to his appointment to the Secretaryship. Some of the Ministers thought, and wisely too, that his being a member of the Government would make him less dangerous.[214] Their own intrigues, however, led to his further elevation, the natural and inevitable result of which was, his utter failure and precipitate fall.

Walpole, in more mature age, expressed a more favourable opinion of Lord Bute than will be collected from this work. He says:--

“Lord Bute was my schoolfellow. He was a man of taste and science, and I do believe his intentions were good. He wished to blend and unite all parties. The Tories were willing to come in for a _share_ of power, after having been so long excluded,--but the Whigs were not willing to grant that share. Power is an intoxicating draught; the more a man has, the more he desires.”[215]

The most able character of Lord Bute, and a masterly one it is, has been drawn by Lord Chesterfield.[216] No one can read it without admiring the knowledge of the world, sagacity, and fine discrimination of its author.

“Duchess told me,” says Lord Malmesbury,[217] “that in 1762, when Lord Bute came in, it was in consequence of the Duke of Devonshire and Lord Rockingham going to the King, and saying that if his Majesty meant to be directed by Lord Bute’s counsels and advice, he had better bring him forward at once. This he (the King) did, and that when Lord Bute went out early in 1763, it was because he thought, by offering his resignation to the King, that his Majesty would press him to remain in and add to his power and influence; but the contrary arrived: and the Duchess said her mother and the King used to laugh together at the Rockinghams and Lord Bute having been the dupes of their cunning. The first lost their offices, which they wanted to keep, and the latter the office he was ambitious of retaining.”--Dec. 4th, 1794.

When the Duchess of Brunswick spoke of events which had happened thirty years back, strict accuracy of recollection could not be expected from her, and she is hardly entitled to belief in opposition to contemporary authorities. Lord Bute’s letters--his declarations to his friends--his known disposition--all combine in furnishing the strongest evidence that his wish to quit office was perfectly sincere. Letters are still extant in private repositories, amply sufficient to prove that for some time at least after his accession, the King placed unbounded confidence in Lord Bute; and the power exercised by that nobleman in providing for his dependants on his retirement, as well as the universal impression at the time, not only of the public but of the persons likely to possess the best information of what was passing at Court, betray no indication of any change in the King’s feelings. Indeed, whatever might have been his Majesty’s defects, inconstancy was not one of them.

II.

DR. THOMAS, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER.

(Vol. i. p. 75.)

He was the son of a Colonel in the Guards, who died poor. In early life, he had to struggle with many difficulties and disappointments. “By much exertion,” to use his own words, somewhat abridged, “he became a popular preacher in the City. He had a turn at St. Paul’s, when Bishop Hare was present. The Bishop liked his sermon, sent for him, heard him a second time, and then gave him a prebendal stall. Having thus got his foot on the ladder, he mounted rapidly.”[218] He was a man of sense and learning, and of unexceptionable character. He gained little influence or weight at Court; perhaps he had the prudence not to seek it. The King certainly liked him, and paid him frequent visits at Farnham Palace, after his promotion to Winchester. He died in 1781.

III.

GEORGE THE THIRD AND MR. MACKENZIE.

(Vol. ii. p. 175.)

Sir Gilbert Elliot’s account of the interviews between the King and his Ministers, just before the removal of Mr. Grenville, corresponds generally with Walpole’s narrative. It proves how reluctantly the King gave up Mr. Mackenzie. His Majesty, indeed, did not yield until he was driven to an unconditional surrender; and, after appealing in vain to Mr. Grenville’s sense of honour, in obliging him to depart from the engagement he had made to Mr. Mackenzie, he used these expressions, “I will not throw my kingdoms into confusion; you force me to break my word, and you must be responsible for the consequences.”

The indignation felt by his Majesty on this occasion, he took no pains to conceal. The Duke of Bedford’s remonstrance, strong as it may have been, certainly did not irritate the King to the extent that Walpole has stated, or Sir Gilbert Elliot would have commented on it severely, which he has not done. The only reply made by the King to the Duke’s demand of additional confidence was, “that the confidence necessary for the despatch of business, he had given them; as to favour, they had not taken the way to merit it.”[219]--E.

IV.

LIBEL ON THE KING OF SPAIN.

TO THE EDITOR OF “THE LONDON MAGAZINE.”

SIR,

A Letter in one of our public prints, reflecting upon his Catholic Majesty, being everywhere mentioned as the principal cause of an apprehended war with Spain, I have sent you that celebrated production for the entertainment of your readers, as it is extremely difficult to meet with a genuine copy, and as a spurious paper may possibly be foisted on the world without the interposition of _official_ authority.

I am, Sir, &c.,
A CLERK IN OFFICE.

_The imputed Libel on the King of Spain, said to be a principal Cause
of the apprehended War, as it was complained of by the Spanish
Ambassador to the Secretary of State._

TO THE GAZETTEER.

Your correspondent Seneca seems mightily pleased with the _bon-mot_ of G---- the Second. I agree with him, there is a good deal of humour in it, but a _bon-mot_, before it can be fully allowed as such, ought to be founded strictly in truth. If G---- the Second’s _bon-mot_ is relative only to the unwise of the House of B----k that were born before the commencement of the present century, or that were born in Germany, it may probably have truth for its foundation. But I would start even the Duke of C---- against any one of the three crowned heads of the Bourbon family. There seems to be a distinct climax amongst their three Bourbonian Majesties. The King of Sicily’s eldest brother, we all know, was put aside from the throne because he was an absolute, irrecoverable idiot; his present Majesty of Sicily is, I conceive, just one remove from his brother.

The next crowned head of the Bourbon family, I mean the King of Spain, may be allowed to be one remove and a half from his Sicilian Majesty, if weighed in the scale of intelligent or intellectual beings.

As a proof that the King of Spain is removed somewhat more than a degree and a half from downright idiotcy, I will relate a story of him, which will convince any fautor of monarchical government that his Most Catholic Majesty is endowed with sufficient understanding to govern the rich and powerful kingdom of Spain, or, indeed, any other kingdom in Christendom, according to the modern standard of Bourbonian kings.

Some few years ago, Charles the Third, his present Catholic Majesty, who is passionately fond of hunting, had accoutred himself as usual for the chase. It was in the month of January, and the weather at the extremest point of cold. The snow began to fall in such broad flakes that the poor King was absolutely prohibited the chase that day. The servants about his person were ordered to lay three or four dozen of watches before their royal master, in order that he might amuse himself with the delightful and instructive pastime of winding them up. It seems even this King affects and is allowed all the pageantry, ceremony, and parade of regal state. His servants, thus having brought him the watches, retired, and left him all alone. It is remarkable of this crowned head, that, like Cicero, he is _nunquam minus solus quam cum solus_; that is to say, he never perceives the least difference whatever between a solitude and a multitude.

I take the winding-up of thirty or forty watches to be an operation which must soon fatigue the mental faculties, and those faculties fatigued make room for the exertion of the bodily powers; accordingly, we are told that his Majesty, who is an enemy to idleness and inaction, the moment he had wound up his watches, immediately perceived by dint of instinct that the weather was extremely cold. To counter-operate the inclemency of this sharp season, what could his Majesty do? His servants had left his hunting-whip in the room with him; this room was hung with gobelin tapestry. The vivid colours and lively figure of an Arabian steed, ready saddled, was represented to the life. His Majesty, who is not easily deceived, immediately approaches the highly-coloured arras, attempts to mount his Bucephalus; the pictured stirrup fails to admit his kingly foot, and, O dire mishap! plump falls the Majesty of Spain on the resplendent wax-rubbed floor. Long did this mighty monarch, over whose wide-extended dominions the sun never ceases to shine, ponderate in his kingly breast, whether he should severely correct the resplendent wax-rubbed floor, or whether his hunting-whip would not fall with greater justice on the still prancing, proud Arabian steed. Wisely did Charles the Third distinguish between primary and secondary causes. The saddled palfrey, therefore, could not but appear to be the proper and immediate object of royal resentment. This weighty point determined, and Charles having thus acted the two parts of juryman and judge, there remained only the executioner’s part for him to perform. Instantly he sprung from off the floor, and with his three-thonged hunting-whip, during thirty-four minutes, two seconds, and a-half, with hand uplifted, _sublimi flagello_, flogged the unmoving, unmoved stately quadruped. At length, half-drowned and half-suffocated in his own unfragrant exudations, which copiously oozed out at every pore, the King, quite spent, again involuntarily rushed rumbling down upon the resplendent wax-rubbed floor. Alarmed at this unusual noise, the guard attendant in the outer room, breaking through all order and every etiquette of Madrid’s solemn stately-marching court, quickly rushed in the apartment royal, and found their monarch, Cyrus-like, weltering, if not in reeking gore, at least in reeking sweat.

The faculty, called in, all stunned aghast! and they themselves shivering with cold intense, much wonder whence the cause of all this burning heat, which thus unknown had overpowered their King. When straight, as rising from a trance and starting into life again, thus oracularly answered Charles the Third:

“Be not surprised that thus I sweat, for by this watch of Graham’s make, thirty-four minutes, two seconds, and a-half, have I been flogging with this whip, whose ponderous handle is of massy gold, that high-stomached quadruped, whose traitorous hoof hath twice extended my whole length upon this floor.” Much more spoke he, while every word was to the full as pertinent and wise.

From these outlines, characteristic of this crowned head, your readers will perceive I had strong reasons for saying that Charles the Third, King of the Two Indies, is rather more than a degree and a-half less unwise than his son, Ferdinand the Fourth, King of the Two Sicilies.

In my next letter I will draw the picture of that other crowned head of the Bourbon family, Louis the Fifteenth, King of Navarre.

ONE WHO PAINTS TO THE LIFE.

V.

EXTRACTS FROM THE MS. LIFE OF THE DUKE OF GRAFTON, BY HIMSELF,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF WALPOLE’S MEMOIRS OF GEORGE THE THIRD, WITH SOME
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.

Charles second Duke of Grafton, Lord Chamberlain and Knight of the Garter, grandson to Charles the Second, had three sons, all of whom died before him. Lord Augustus Fitzroy, the only one that left issue, was a captain of the navy; like his grandfather, the first Duke, he was a bold and active seaman, and having of course great interest, he seems to have been constantly employed. In one of his first cruises, happening to be on the American station, he fell in love with Miss Cosby, the daughter of Colonel Cosby, the Governor of New York, and married her, without waiting for his father’s consent, when he was only seventeen years old. His career was brief, for he died at Jamaica, in his twenty-fifth year, of a fever contracted at the unfortunate attack on Carthagena, where he had served on board the Orford man-of-war.

Lord Augustus left two sons; the younger entered the army, and having distinguished himself at Minden and other engagements during the seven years’ war, rose high in the army and held various posts at Court. He was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Southampton. He died in 1797. The present Lord Southampton is his grandson.

Augustus Henry, the eldest son, who eventually succeeded his grandfather as Duke of Grafton, was born in October 1735. After receiving his early education under Mr. Newcome at Hackney school, a seminary of high repute in that day, he was removed to Peterhouse, Cambridge, and remained a sufficient time at the University. He was committed by his grandfather to the care of a Genoese governor, and sent on what was called the _grand tour_. Pursuing the beaten track, he visited the south of France and Switzerland, wintered at Naples and at Geneva, and, returning by Germany and Holland to Paris, passed five months under the protection of the British Ambassador, Lord Albemarle, by whom he was introduced to all the gaiety, and, judging from the character of his patron, most probably the dissipation of the capital. He came back to England, on attaining his majority, to be elected member for Thetford, a borough which the vicinity of Euston placed under the control of his family, and took his seat in the House of Commons in the beginning of the session of 1756.

Lord Euston (as he had now become by the death of his uncle) had far from neglected the cultivation of his mind during his travels. Besides consulting the various historical works relating to the countries which he visited, it appears that he read Mr. Locke’s Treatises with great attention, and the principles of government there laid down guided him throughout his long life. If he departed from them it was from inadvertence, and not from design. Thus he acquired early a reputation for intelligence and accomplishments, which caused him on his arrival in England to be placed with Lord Huntingdon, who passed for the most promising young nobleman of his day, in the household then forming for the Prince of Wales, who had just attained his majority. The Prince wished him to be the Master of the Horse in preference to Lord Huntingdon, but the latter having the Duke of Newcastle’s interest, obtained the nomination, and Lord Euston, with some reluctance, accepted the inferior post of Lord of the Bedchamber. He held it only a few months. The service happened to be unusually constant, owing to the absence of some of his colleagues and the illness of others, and he found it so irksome, that, on finding Lord Bute indisposed to afford him any relief, he resigned. The Prince parted from him with marked reluctance, which was so little shared by Lord Bute, that the latter was believed to have made an unscrupulous use of his influence in order to effect the removal of a formidable competitor.

On the death of the Duke of Grafton in May, 1757, which was occasioned by a fall from his horse, Lord Euston succeeded to his title, as well as to the large possessions attached to it.

This elevation brought with it, as usual, the smiles and favours of the Ministry on a young nobleman whose rank and wealth, and evidently no common parts, seemed to destine him for an important share in the government of the country. The Duke, however, at first appeared to shew a decided preference for a retired life. He was eagerly addicted to field sports: and took equal pride and pleasure in his pack of hounds, which made Wakefield the resort of the keenest hunters of the day. Newmarket, too, had unfortunately strong attractions for him. Above all, he had a home which had not yet lost its charms; for in January, 1736, he had married the Hon. Miss Liddel, only child of Lord Ravensworth, with the fairest prospects of happiness. The beauty, grace, and talents of the Duchess have been celebrated by contemporary writers, nor was she less entitled to praise for higher qualities. She had a warm heart and was susceptible of strong attachment.[220] The Duke was fully capable of appreciating her merits; and there is no reason to suppose that the first years of their union were clouded by any serious differences.

In 1761, the Duke made a tour with the Duchess and his two elder children on the Continent; and it was only on his return in the following year, that he seems to have entertained serious thoughts of taking a more active part in politics.

EXTRACT I.

But to return to Mr. Grenville’s Ministry, which had been supported by great majorities (except on the debate on General Warrants) in both Houses, we can but remark that the vexatious and impolitic acts that were passed in the year 1764, and at the beginning of 1765, under these mighty majorities, were rapidly working out the greatest distresses and losses to the country.

The Administration met the Parliament in 1765, with great confidence in their own strength, and too little attention to those steps by which they had ascended to their power. The illness of the King during the session awakened the duty of Parliament to bring forward a Regency Bill, which was early suggested by the King himself. The Bill was accordingly brought into the House of Peers, and there passed, though so drawn as to exclude the Princess-Mother from being nominated Regent. In the Commons, this affront was taken off by the insertion of her Royal Highness’s name, and by the amendment carried up, and agreed to by the Lords; when the Ministers had the mortification of being obliged to submit to bear that affront which they had destined for others.

The evident intention of the King’s principal servants in this business, sealed their own overthrow; and as they had never been graciously considered in the closet, the consequences which would naturally follow were easily foreseen. Yet some were so blinded with ambition as not to be aware of the slippery ground on which the Ministry stood; and it was observed with surprise that Mr. Charles Townshend, in particular, a short time after, accepted the post of Paymaster, on the dismission of Lord Holland, who had, on the retreat of Lord Bute, given up the lead of the House of Commons to Mr. George Grenville.

My friends very justly reproached me for idling my time away in the country, during a great part of this session; without attending sufficiently to that duty in Parliament which became my station, and was expected from me. They, however, treated me with more attention than such conduct deserved; for I was by them constantly acquainted with all that was passing in the political world, and the Opposition had so little expectation of being called upon to take a part in Administration, unless under and by the recommendation of Mr. Pitt, that even when the coolness between the King and his servants was apparent to all mankind, to act under Mr. Pitt became the general voice, and was our principal wish.

It may not be amiss to insert Lord Rockingham’s letter, which brought me up to attend the Regency Bill, as it may serve to shew the light in which the Marquis and his friends considered the Bill on its introduction; and, afterwards, it will be proper to enter into some detail on many negotiations and occurrences that followed.

“April 24th, 1765.

“MY DEAR LORD,

“His Majesty came to the House to-day, to open the affair of the
Regency Bill. I enclose to your Grace the speech. Our Address was
only in general terms, to congratulate upon his Majesty’s recovery,
and to thank him for his care and foresight, &c., in providing
for the security of the country, &c., and to promise that we will
proceed in this matter with all expedition. Nothing was said in
our House by any of our friends. Lord Temple and Lord Lyttelton
went away before the Address was moved. The Bill, I expect, will
be brought in on Friday and read the first time; and it would not
surprise me if a second reading and commitment should be pressed
for that day or for Saturday.

“Upon so great a point I cannot refrain expressing my earnest wish
that your Grace should not be absent. Your Grace will observe,
by the Speech, that it is not intended that the Regent shall
be appointed by the Act; but left to the King by instrument to
nominate either the Queen or some _one of his Royal Family_. It is
said, that by this description, a certain great lady is excluded:
how far it is so, I am not certain. But supposing it was so, yet a
fresh objection lies from the unusualness of the Regent not being
nominally inserted. There are other parts expected in the Bill
which will be liable to great objections, and I doubt not but that
there will be some Lords who can and will make their objections.

“Lord Temple, yesterday, wished I would have sent an express to you
for to-day; but the time was so short that your Grace would scarce
have arrived in London before three o’clock this evening; and,
indeed, I doubted whether anything would have been entered upon in
the House today.

“I have more expectation on what may pass on Friday; but even on
that I have hesitated for some hours whether to send to you or no,
as I would not willingly occasion you a long journey to little
purpose: the very chance of a debate deserves your attention, and
in that light I will hope to apologize for my venturing to do what
I now do.

“I am ever, &c.
“ROCKINGHAM.”

“Grosvenor-Square,
Wednesday Night, 12 o’Clock.”

Notwithstanding there had been many reports of dissensions among his Majesty’s Ministers and servants during the course of the whole winter, and particularly towards the conclusion of the session, no authentic accounts ever reached me of them, nor of the King’s displeasure at their conduct and behaviour to himself, till I received an express from the Duke of Cumberland. The letter, written by his Royal Highness, was brought to me at Wakefield Lodge, the 14th of May, at night. It contained an intimation of the King’s intention of _changing his Administration_, of taking in their places those whom his Royal Highness said both _he_ and _myself_ had wished in power, and adding a desire of talking _public as well as private affairs over with me_. This summons was instantly obeyed, and I got to Cumberland House even before the Duke was called. He sent for me to come immediately into his bedchamber, and opened the discourse by telling me that, though he was only commanded by the King to intimate his present dispositions to employ Mr. Pitt and the Lords Rockingham and Temple, yet he was confident that he should be forgiven if he stretched his commission by adding me to the number, saying at the same time, with his usual goodness, that he had that regard and opinion of me that he could not avoid wishing to hear my thoughts and inclinations, as well for myself as for my friends, on such an occasion. After expressions of this sort, the Duke told me that he had had some knowledge of his Majesty’s intentions before the Regency Bill was brought into our House; but, as he had endeavoured to dissuade the King from bringing it in at so short a notice, and when so little time was left to consider a matter of that importance, he had humbly begged to decline giving his Majesty his opinion of men, as he was sure those whom he might recommend would not undertake that Bill, so drawn, and pressed at such a moment.

The behaviour of the Ministers on that occasion, who wished to exclude the Princess Dowager, was such as neither answered their own design nor in any way turned to their honour, but put the finishing-stroke to the dislike the King had already conceived against them. After Lord Halifax had moved that the King might in that Bill be empowered to name as Regent any one of his Royal Family, descendant of George the Second, they thought their end was answered; but soon saw the meanness to which they were obliged to bend by assenting afterwards to the amendment proposed, and made to it in the Lower House, of allowing the Princess Dowager, by name, to be added to those who might be Regent. The defeat of their design was not the only consequence of their attempt, which was plainly seen through; and the Princess was naturally expected to resent this affront. Their servility in submitting was sufficient to add in the King’s mind a contempt of their characters to that disgust he already had for men who had brought an odium on his Government, and who had not, as he expressed, served him with decency in the closet.

The King, in this situation, and a few days before the intended prorogation of Parliament, sent for the Duke of Cumberland, asked his advice in forming such an Administration as would please his kingdom, and carry weight and credit both at home and abroad,--two points of which he was sensible the country as well as the Crown stood in need. The Duke, penetrated with this mark of the King’s favour, and more with the return of His Majesty’s confidence, expressed his sensibility of both; but added, that he was certain that the King would not, in any shape, mean that he should engage in an affair of such delicacy and real consequence in any manner derogatory to his honour. “Give me leave, sir,” said the Duke, “to observe, that I should hurt that honour, as well as lose the esteem of the world, if I was forming an Administration in which Lord Bute should have either weight or power.” After every assurance given by the King on this head, the Duke could no longer doubt of the sincerity of such a proposal. Much conversation then passed on the means of forming a new Administration, and the Duke left the King, commanded by him to think fully upon it. His Majesty had intimated, however, his _wish_ to have Lord Northumberland at the head of the Treasury,--a proposal of which, in the hurry of so many and important matters, I sincerely think the Duke did not immediately weigh the consequence; but he soon afterwards saw it, and had the satisfaction also to find that the King himself abandoned it when it was shewn to him to be inconsistent that so near a relation of Lord Bute’s should hold so great a post of business,--for, let his professions have been ever so satisfactory to those who were to act with him, the world would still deem the Treasury in the hands of a lieutenant of Lord Bute’s, and would consider such a step incompatible with all the former conduct and professions of those who were to form the new Administration.

This was the Duke’s account of what had passed: he then sounded my own inclinations, and whether I wished anything in such a change for myself, or what for my friends; he told me he both disapproved and much lamented that I was so much retired from the world, and not giving, in my rank, every assistance which my country had a right to require of me. I answered his Royal Highness, with many thanks for the favourable opinion he had of me, that I was very sensible that my power of serving my country he rated infinitely beyond my abilities; but that no one could in his heart wish it better, nor would go further to serve it; and that I did not mean to retire another year so much from the world as I had done. I expressed, next, that the small experience I had early in my life of a Court, had made me take a resolution which was every day strongly confirmed, that no inducement could lead me to take a Court employment; but that I was ready to undertake any one of business, provided I was satisfied that I could go through such an office with credit to myself and without prejudice to my country: that I owned my wish was to have my brother, Colonel Fitzroy Scudamore, and some other friends, who had been sufferers on my account, replaced, which would sufficiently shew my intentions, and to be left myself to applaud and forwardly to support the measures which I was confident would be pursued by an _honourable Administration_. Indeed, such appeared to me, and does still, the way in which I could have been of the most use. The lower posts of business were not fit for the rank I stood in, nor were the greater more fit for the total inexperience I had of any office. Whereas, the support of a man who was looked upon as steady in his conduct, and not famed for supporting all Administrations, would have given weight to a cause, if I could have been allowed to have served it without being in place.

The Duke was not satisfied with my answer, and proposed and pressed me to be at the head of the Board of Trade, which I begged to decline, looking upon it in a very different light from what I found his Royal Highness did, as I really thought it as difficult a post as any whatever. As this transaction was not to transpire at that time, I asked the Duke’s leave to return into the country again that very day, which I did. I should have mentioned before, that whilst I was with the Duke, he asked me this question,--whether I thought an Administration could be formed (principally out of the minority) without Mr. Pitt? On my assuring him that my opinion was, that nothing so formed could be stable, he said, he hoped there was every reason to think he would engage, as Lord Albemarle had been with him the day before, and that his Lordship thought he saw it in a favourable light.

With these hopes I left London, and in a few days afterwards had the mortification to see them blasted, by receiving a fresh messenger from the Duke of Cumberland, desiring my immediate attendance in London. A letter, written by Lord Albemarle by the Duke’s order, dated at night, May 22nd, brought me this account in words to this effect,--that the Duke had been five hours with Mr. Pitt at Hayes, without prevailing on him to take a part; that the King was the next morning to answer some _questions_, to be put to him by his present Ministers, in one of which his Royal Highness was personally concerned, and that the Duke desired my support on the occasion. Lord Albemarle also adds, that the King had been most insolently treated by his Ministers, and shamefully abandoned by those who should have profited by this occasion to serve their King and country. On receiving this account, my first step was to go instantly to receive his Royal Highness’s commands, whom I found just going to Court to know the King’s determination. He told me, however, in a few words, the advice he had given to the King the night before, and referred me to Lord Albemarle for the whole of what had passed since I last waited upon him, commanding me also to wait upon him on his return from St. James’s, and to dine with him. Lord Albemarle’s account tallied so exactly with what the Duke afterwards related to me, that it is needless to repeat both. His Royal Highness said, that finding Lord Temple cooler on the subject than he expected, and that Mr. Pitt was also less forward since Lord Temple’s arrival in London, he had explained to the King the absolute necessity there was of every object being removed that might prevent Mr. Pitt’s taking a part, and hoping even to have his Majesty’s assurance that many measures might be redressed, and some wholly broken through, to make it more satisfactory to Mr. Pitt on entering upon his Ministry.

On the preceding Saturday, the King had sent for his Royal Highness, and had told him, in the kindest terms and most explicit words, that he put himself wholly, in this affair, into his hands; that he saw plainly the propriety of his advice. For which reason he ordered him to go the next morning to Mr. Pitt, with full powers from him to treat with Mr. Pitt, and to come into the constitutional steps he had before mentioned as essential to the country; as also, that his Majesty was not backward to lean to his foreign politics, if he (Mr. Pitt) should think it most beneficial, when he saw how affairs then stood. His Royal Highness told me that he had patience to attend to very long discourses, which Mr. Pitt held on the subject, in which the Duke declared he could not always follow him: as he was sometimes speaking of himself as already the acting Minister, and then would turn about by showing how impossible it was for him ever to be in an employment of such a nature, and always would end by observing that if such and such measures were pursued, he would _applaud_ them loudly from whatever men they came. Mr. Pitt also told his Royal Highness, that if an Administration went in on such ground as he had laid down, he would _exhort_ his friends--nay, his brothers, to accept; but that he doubted much whether the latter (meaning Lord Temple and J. Grenville) would.

Mr. Pitt’s plan abroad was, for a close union with the northern Courts of Germany, together with Russia, to balance the Bourbon alliance, to which the Duke gave the answer I before mentioned, and that the King was ready to support Mr. Pitt in any alliance that he should judge the most valid to check any attempts that might arise from the family compact of the House of Bourbon. At home, Mr. Pitt lamented (and in which the Duke most sincerely joined) the infringement on our constitution in the affair of the Warrants, left still undecided, though twice before Parliament; the army degraded, as well as our liberties struck at, by the dismission of officers who had taken the part in Parliament which their consciences prompted them to, so much to their honour, though contrary to their interest; and in addition to these, should be taken into consideration the propriety of rewarding the uprightness of Lord Chief Justice Pratt at such a crisis, by giving him a peerage. To Mr. Pitt’s question to the Duke, whether the Great Seal was promised to Mr. Charles Yorke? his Royal Highness could only answer, that he could not say how far the King had engaged himself with that gentleman. The Duke did not tell me what I afterwards heard from Mr. Pitt, that the Duke had that day mentioned it to be the King’s _wish_ to have Lord Northumberland at the head of the Treasury. If it was mentioned, it is very clear that it was almost as soon dropped; and I am confident that it was not, that day, the Duke’s desire any more than that of Mr. Pitt. In which case, I think it was possible that it was named more to feel Mr. Pitt’s notion or affections to that quarter, or perhaps, by a policy very unnecessary with so great a man, thinking it might be a concession that would please, when he found that Lord Temple would be agreeable to the King in that office. His Royal Highness, often, as he told me, pressed Mr. Pitt to chalk out to the King a list of such as he would wish to fill all the posts of business, which, the Duke answered for, the King would instantly adopt. This was to no purpose; and the Duke was obliged to return to Richmond with the unpleasant account of his ill success.

The day following, the Duke, by his Majesty’s command, was employed in endeavouring to form an Administration without Mr. Pitt, and to that end Lord Lyttelton was sounded, to be placed at the head of the Treasury, with Mr. C. Townshend as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. These gentlemen both thought the ground too weak to stand long upon, and wished to decline it. The latter of them accepted the Pay Office, two days after, under the old Ministry. Many different posts were thought of and proposed for me, during this _arrangement_, but none of them ever came to my ears till my coming to London, as it was unnecessary I should know of them till the greater posts were fixed on and accepted. The King, on the day following, disappointed of this plan also, with his present Ministry at the door of the closet, ready to resign, was under a difficulty, and in such a situation that he knew not which way to turn. The Duke’s advice then was, as the lesser evil of the two, to call in his old Administration rather than to leave the country without Ministers while the town was in a tumult, raised against the Duke of Bedford by the weavers, and the House of Lords passing the most strange as well as violent resolutions.

On the Wednesday morning Mr. Grenville, in the name of the rest, acquainted the King that, before they should again undertake his affairs, they must lay before him some questions to be answered by his Majesty; on which the King, taking him up, said, “_Terms_, I suppose you mean, sir; what are they?” Mr. Grenville answered, that they should expect further assurance that Lord Bute should never meddle in the State affairs, of whatsoever sort; that Mr. Mackenzie (his brother) should be dismissed from his employment; that Lord Holland should also meet with the same treatment; that Lord Weymouth should be named Lord-Lieutenant to Ireland, and that Lord Granby should be appointed Commander-in-Chief. He then left the King, from whom they were to have their answer the next day. Mr. G. Grenville, on that day also, took the lead in the name of the rest; and the King, advised by the Duke of Cumberland, except in that point relating to himself, told them he would never give up the possibility of employing his uncle on an emergency, which he should do if he put any one in the post of Commander-in-Chief; that he assented to the others, though against his opinion; and that he supposed they would not press him to break his word, which he had given to Mr. Mackenzie; but that he was ready to give up the management of the Scotch affairs, if they would leave him in as Privy Seal to that kingdom. On their still insisting on his total dismission, the King was obliged to assent; and then, by their friends, they were considered as much stronger than they ever had been.

This affair being thus concluded, after having paid my duty at the King’s levee, I returned again into the country, and soon waited upon his Royal Highness, at Windsor Lodge, during the races. The Duke of Cumberland was over at Hayes the day after I went back to Wakefield Lodge; and though Mr. Pitt had two long conferences, in consequence, with the King, and in the latter on Saturday, May the 19th, had expectation that a thorough change would have taken place, according to the fullest of our wishes. Our hopes, however, were strangely thwarted by the disinclination of Lord Temple, who made such use of the mention of the Earl of Northumberland for the Treasury, as to stagger Mr. Pitt himself, as I conjectured. But the cause of the failure of this negotiation was imputed differently, according as the partialities and prejudices of political men led them to represent it: that no obstacle arose from his Majesty, I am perfectly assured. Those with whom I chiefly consorted were much inclined to blame Mr. Pitt, who, as they said, had _carte blanche_ from the King. Mr. Pitt, on the other hand, would not allow that this was the case; and he observed that the expression itself was unfit to be used on such an occasion; and Mr. J. Grenville had assured my brother that Mr. Pitt was much hurt to find the latter offer, _to which he had acceded_, broken off before Mr. Pitt had returned his answer. Mr. J. Grenville added, that the reconciliation with George Grenville did not regard the public.

In the meanwhile, I received a letter from my brother, who mentioned the conversation alluded to with Mr. J. Grenville, in which that gentleman had also declared his own thoughts on the late negotiation, adding, that Mr. Pitt desired much an opportunity of explaining the whole to me. My brother pressed me strongly from himself, as well as from Mr. Meynell and other of my friends, to see Mr. Pitt as soon as possible, in order that I might be able to clear up and put a stop to divisions that this whole affair had made among friends eager to defend the part those to whom they were most attached had taken in it. I returned for answer to my brother, that I must have some plainer certainty of such a wish of Mr. Pitt’s, and that I would desire him to go to Hayes to know whether the case was as represented, and to lay before him my thoughts of his conduct on the occasion, which, partial as I was to him, even to me appeared unfathomable, and to want great explanation: I even offered, in case of anything having been misunderstood, that I should be too happy to be thought worthy of being employed by him, either to get explained or renewed a measure that appeared to me the only one by which our King and country could attain their ancient glory. Immediately on the receipt of my letter, my brother went to Hayes, and having heard from Mr. Pitt the whole relation, he transmitted the chief purport to me that same evening in the following letters.

“London, Wednesday, May 29.

“DEAR BROTHER,

“At the end of my conversation with Mr. Pitt, I asked if I should write word to you that he was resolved not to renew the negotiation; he said, _Resolved_ was a _large_ word, and desired I would express myself thus: ‘_Mr. Pitt’s determination was final, and the negotiation is at an end_.’ These are his own words. As to your coming, he shall be extremely happy to have the honour of seeing you, but would be ashamed to bring you to town for so little an object; yet, if you should come to London, would not only be proud to see you at Hayes, and talk things over, but, if he could walk on foot to London, and pay his respects to you, he would do it. Having said this, at your own leisure, any time within a week or so, if you come to London, he should think himself happy to see you at Hayes.

I am, &c.,
“CHARLES FITZROY.”

* * * * *

(Without date.)

“DEAR BROTHER,

“My other is a formal answer to my commission; this is a private account of my conversation at Hayes, as near as I can recollect the different heads, and shorter in substance. Mr. Pitt two hours incessant talking. It is quite private between us--I mean you and myself. 1st, I found he had not been acquainted with J. Grenville’s conversation with me; upon my telling it to him _in part_, he said, it might have come from Lord Temple, but that the different periods were not exactly stated. He then went through every part of what had passed, and made his remarks with several refinements upon _manner_ and _words_, and often declared his unwillingness to engage again in office. He rested the whole objections of this negotiation upon the transactions, opening with the King’s wish to have Lord Northumberland at the head of the Treasury: at the same time he expressed that he, _Mr. Pitt_, did not desire Lord Temple should be there; but that he thought the whole transaction a phantom, and could never have been intended serious. He declared it impossible for him and his Royal Highness to talk a different language as to fact, but that nothing like _carte blanche_ was ever hinted. (N.B.--he thinks that an improper phrase, as it sounds like capitulating.) He talked much of Revolution, families _personally_ from their weight but unconnected and under no banner. For all _that_ was factious. He mentioned the great popular points: restitution of officers, privileges, &c., &c., change of system of politics, both domestic and foreign; said everything you would like, and resolved nothing but retirement. I must add the highest commendations of his Royal Highness, his judgment, abilities, integrity, &c., &c.; but said, that ‘no man in England but himself would have brought such terms,--no, not even Lord Bute.’ He left me totally in the dark, further than I could easily distinguish he thinks that it was not meant to have it _his_ Administration.

“For God’s sake, see him! it must not be to-morrow, as he has his reconciling dinner with George Grenville: _this he told me_. The Duke of Cumberland goes to the birthday, so you may come on Monday, if you will, to see Mr. Pitt, and take the birthday on Tuesday, if you like it. Adieu.

Yours,
“C. F. R.”

It was not to be wondered at, if his Majesty, under these circumstances, was led to try every practical means by which he could form an Administration capable of relieving him from the irksome situation in which he stood with his present servants. Among others, I was myself commanded by the King, through the Duke of Cumberland, to wait on Mr. Pitt at Hayes, and to bear to him his Majesty’s wishes to be informed what steps would be the fittest for his Majesty to take in order to constitute an Administration of which Mr. Pitt was to be the head, and which might, through a confidence of the principles and abilities of the other Ministers, give satisfaction to his people. His Royal Highness told me, that if I had any doubt as to the authority, I might receive it from the King himself.

I was young and unsuspicious, and, moreover, perfectly relied on the honour of those who were then present at this conference at Windsor Great Lodge, when the King’s commands were communicated to me; and I desired no other authority. Since that time, experience would probably have stopped me from undertaking a commission so critical, and, I may add, so hazardous; yet I received the satisfactory declaration from all parties, that I had discharged my commission faithfully.

Mr. Pitt received me with the usual kindness which I had constantly met with from him ever since he first knew me at Stowe, when I was a boy from school; indeed, his obliging attention had been daily increasing. He appeared to be much pleased with the subject of the message I brought. He talked over many weighty political considerations and situations in a very open manner; some of which were to be considered as going no further than my own breast. The rest I was desired to report. In a visit of more than two hours, he concluded, that with every sense of duty to his Majesty for his obliging condescension, he could not, but to the King himself, state his views, and what would be his advice for the King’s dignity and the public welfare.

Mr. Pitt did see the King in a day or two after this, and again on June the 22nd. But, alas! it will appear by the following letters, that he was much disappointed in the warm expectation he had formed.

“Pall Mall, Saturday, June 22d, 1765.

“MY LORD,

“Having had an audience again to-day of his Majesty at the Queen’s house, I find myself under a necessity of expressing my extreme desire to have the honour of a conversation with your Grace. Did my shattered health permit, I would have had the pleasure of being my own messenger to Wakefield Lodge; as it is, I trust your Grace will, in consideration of my sincere respect and attachment, pardon the great liberty I take in desiring that your Grace would take the trouble of a journey to town. I am going to sleep at Hayes, where I find it necessary for me to be, as much as may be, for the air; and shall be proud and happy to have the honour of waiting on your Grace, at my return to London, Monday night, in case you should be then arrived,--or some time on Tuesday next. A letter would but ill convey what I have to impart; I therefore defer entering into matter till I have the satisfaction of meeting; and will only say, that I think the Royal dispositions are most propitious to the wishes of the public, with regard to _measures_ most likely to spread satisfaction. When your Grace arrives, you will hear with your own ears, and see with your own eyes, which will be better than any lights I can convey. I have the honour to be, with perfect truth and respect,

“Your Grace’s most obedient and most humble servant,
WILLIAM PITT.”

* * * * *

“Hayes, Tuesday Evening.

“MY LORD,

“It is with extreme concern that I am to acquaint your Grace that Lord Temple declines to take the Treasury. This unfortunate event wholly disables me from undertaking that part which my zeal, under all the weight of infirmities, had determined me to attempt. As in this crisis I imagine your Grace will judge proper to come to town, I trust you will pardon the trouble of this line, and believe me, with true respect and attachment,

“Your Grace’s most faithful, and
Most obedient humble Servant,
WILLIAM PITT.”